*Drip! Drip! Drip!
"Is it raining?"
These were Hajime's first thoughts after regaining consciousness. His eyes were still half closed and his mind was still in a mess. The sound of a liquid dripping in his face woke him up. But something was wrong, this liquid doesn't feel like the usual rain. This liquid was warm and emits a pungent smell which was very unpleasant. It also had a weird taste, it's bitter and also quite salty. Hajime then realized that something was amiss.
He slowly opened his eyes and looked above his head. But all he could see was a blurry image. It was a round object, not just one but two. It was slightly plump and it was gray. Below those round objects were leg-like branches. It extended to the very bottom of something which looked like an animal's hooves. The round objects slowly moved away, a few moments later and it was replaced by something that looked like a face. The image became clearer. It was really a face. Not just any face, but a rhino's face. "Is it really a rhino? Why is its eyes red? Is that a horn? But it's too long. It is about 24 inches. The size of 2 rulers."
While Hajime was still confused, the red-eyed rhino suddenly grunted. Smoke came out from it's nose. Which totally woke him up.
"A rhi.. rhinoooo!!!" exclaimed Hajime who was now sweating profusely.....
He immediately stood up and looked at the rhino. Above the rhino's head appeared a holographic green health-bar that says.....
(* Red-eyed Rhino
*Level: 10)
In that moment, Hajime finally remembered what happened.
....
He was at his room, sitting on his desk while facing his computer. He was about to play a new popular video game called World of Arcadia. This game was still new. Yet it was already famous throughout the whole world. It was his first time trying to play the game. After watching the game's introduction and reading the instructions. He proceeded to the next step which is choosing and setting up his game character. After pondering for a while, he finally decided on what role to choose. He wants to be a swordsman.
When he was finally done setting up his character, he found the button which says *START*, and then he clicked it....
A blinding light suddenly came out from his computer which covered the whole room.... Without realizing it, he already lost his consciousness. And when he woke up, this was the situation that he was in.
...
"Am I in....inside the g....game?!! Is this the World of Arcadia?!!!" thought Hajime who felt like his heart was about to come out from his throat. His heart was beating so fast that he could even hear the sound of it. Then he looked in front of him, and once again saw the red-eyed rhino who now looks somewhat angry because it was growling.
The red-eyed rhino probably thought that he was dead.
"Was that really rain? Or the rhino's p....pee?"
The red-eyed rhino was now snorting loudly. It was moving one of it's feet back and fort scratching the ground. It now looked like a bull who was about to tackle a person just like what you see in the movies.
And in that moment only one thought came into Hajime's mind...
RUN!!!!
Hajime then started running as fast as he cpuld. He was running like his life was on the line cause it probably is. He was scared out of his wits. He ran so fast like a madman without even looking back. He avoided the trees which were blocking his way in the dense forest. Then he finally got an idea. He saw a huge tree and immediately climbed on it. He sat on one of the tree's branches and looked down. He saw the red-eyed rhino who was also looking at him. Hajime then felt relieved. He thought that he was really going to die. The red-eyed rhino continued to growl at him. It did not immediately leave and it seems like it was waiting for Hajime to climb down.
While he was on the branch of the tree, his mind finally got clearer and the situation finally sank in to his mind...
"How did this happen? This is impossible! No matter how many times I try to think of it, this should be impossible! But how am I here?" lots of thoughts were now bombarding Hajime's mind. Confusion, fear, anxiety. But weirdly enough, he somehow feels excited at the same time.
The red-eyed rhino stayed at the bottom of the tree for about an hour before it finally gave up and went away.
After waiting for a few moments to make sure that the red-yed rhino was really gone, Hajime then climbed down from the tree.
After descending from the tree, Hajime heaved a sigh of relief. He was finally safe.
His suspicions earlier were now proven and he was totally convinced that he was really inside the World of Arcadia. The smile on his face became evident after realizing this. As a gamer, this should be the best thing that could ever happen. Living in the game that you like. You can be who you want to be in the game. You can do anything you want. And most of all, you can escape your boring life and start a new one. But still, he was wondering if he can still logout from the game and login whenever he want.
He started searching his body for any clue, he tried various ways to make the logout option appear. But it didn't. He also tried to access the shop where he could buy equipments, but he couldn't. And after trying so many gestures that might open the settings, he was finally able to do so. By simply waving his hand from left to right, a holographic screen appeared in from of him.
(*Ito Hajime
*Level: 1
*HP: Unknown
*Attack: 70
*Magic: 30
*Defense: 30
*Magic defense: 20)
"What the heck is going on?!!How do I access the shop?!! And how am I supposed to logout?!! And why in the world is my HP unknown!!!!!!"
Hajime was starting to freak out.
...
Hajime checked his current equipments, but he was deeply disappointed. All he has is a knife with a blade about 8 inches long and the handle was 5 inches long. It somehow looks like a mini sword because it has 2 edges. He also has no armor or any other protective equipments.
"Just how am I supposed to survive in this game with this crappy knife?"
thought Hajime while lamenting on his current conditions...