Imaginary World Helmet (IWH)….a special device created in the year 2031. This device takes on the appearance of a helmet, but it is more than that! It's a gateway into another world.
"What kind of world?" You might be asking. Well the answer is simple, but it is also quite complicated. This helmet can bring you anywhere, and it can allow you to do anything!
I'll be honest, at first I thought this was a step backwards in the art of science. Making a helmet that allows you to play games, seems like a waste of time to me. But once I got my first look at another world, THE other world. Life became a lot more interesting, and I soon grew just as excited as a four year old on Christmas day when I managed to get a hand on one. I realized that the virtual world has more to it than simple science.
....
I remember the day I came home. My dad was out and my mom was working again. My dad had sent me a text. He told he that he had left something in my room. Thinking it to be something of importance I soon made my way upstairs.
To my horror, it was nothing like it. No in fact I was worse. There lying on my bed was a brand new IWH. It hadn't even been opened yet. Naturally my first instinct was to throw this thing in the garbage the moment I saw it. I despised this thing, why would I want it anywhere near me? But then, a thought entered my head.
If what the rumors online said were true than these things had sold out. They were extremely rare and when you did come across one it was often expensive. How did my father manage to get his hands on one of these? If he had spent a lot of money on it, I couldn't just throw it away. That would quite literally being throwing away money. I sighed with defeat.
"If it's here, I may as well try it out, right?" I asked myself. As if for some kind of conformation. I don't know why I did it, but it was a way to justify my action. I soon took the helmet and equipment out of the box and set it up. The tutorial itself wasn't hard to follow, so it was no problem.
I lied down in bed, ready for the worse. I powered on the helmet and shut my eyes.
As I opened my eyes once more, I was no longer in the comfort of my bedroom. I was surrounded by trees. Great oak by the looks of it. I gazed down at my clothes. Gone was my traditional clothes. Now I was wearing what seemed to be some sort of leather tunic. I was already unimpressed. Aren't games like this supposed to have you create your character or something? So why am I here? Now?
I felt around my back and found a sword rested behind me in its sheathe. I groaned. Perhaps the game would grow to be more interesting if I found a town, or perhaps other players? I didn't know where to begin looking so I walked in a random direction.
"Perhaps this game would be a lot better if it gave me some instruction?" I thought to myself. I noticed that the sun was setting in this world. Did time move faster here than in my own world? I sighed once more. How much longer do I have to walk?
A low growling nearby captures my attention. A monster that could never exist in real life had suddenly appeared right behind me. I wasn't worried though. It was just a game after all. What reason would I have for being afraid of a simple fire horse. The monster continued to approach me. I got myself in a fighting stance. I wasn't really the best when it came to fighting, but if I die I'll just retry like any other game, right? Wrong. I was so wrong.
The fire horse charged at me and pierced me with something sharp. I felt myself cough up blood. Wait a minute. Blood!? Real blood!? No. This is a game, but if this really was a game. I grabbed my chest in an attempt to stop the bleeding. My attempts were pointless though. If this truly was a game, then why did this hurt so much!?
"This can't be real, right?" I asked myself. The fire horse seemed to react to my words by swaying from side to side. A game where the enemies can understand you? A game where you start off with no weapon? What kind of stupid game is this!? Despite its somewhat peaceful nature the fire horse began to approach me once more. I didn't understand. If this was a game, how could I feel pain!? What was this place? I closed my eyes and braced myself for the impact of the fire horse's finishing blow, but it never came. Instead I heard the voice of a girl.
"CHUMARUUUUU!" Said the voice. I opened my eyes to see the fire horse had stopped its attack and had turned around. There behind it was a girl. The girl had orange hair with red streaks in it. Her hair was tied into two twintails. Almost as if trying to imitate fire. She wore a bright orange dress, with several jewels on it. She was pretty short too. Almost as short as a kid. You'd probably mistake her for one if you saw her. It was mesmerizing to say the least. The girl finally reached me and began panting heavily.
"I've been looking for you everywhere! Where have you been Chumaru?" The girl asked the fire horse. The fire horse began to sway back and forth again and made strange cooing sounds. The girl nodded her head as if she understood the damn thing. The girl then turned to face me.
"I see. In that case, I'm sorry if my stupid familiar caused you any trouble."
"A familiar? Mythological Beasts summoned to aid those who summoned them as if they were their master?"
"That's right!"
The girl clapped her hands with a happy smile. I don't know why, but something about that smile really pissed me off.
"You must be a new player. I mean you don't have a weapon, right?" She asked me. She crouched down to my level and extended her hand for me to take. I refused and sat up on my own. I stared her down, the smile never left her face.
"So, you're a player like me then?"
"That's right! Level 110 Super fire mage Keki the great at your service!"
The girl did a strange pose you would expect to see in anime or manga.
"Pleased to meet ya!"
The girl began to pet her horse familiar and gave me a wide grin. I returned her smile with an expression of pure hatred. I could tell just from the sight of her.
"I don't think we're going to get along'" I thought.