Far away from the Shrine of Beginning was another starter area, the place known as Beginners' Castle, a mediaeval town with a long concrete path connected to a pure white quartz spawn platform.
"Hey Emi, have you seen them yet?"
"No, I have not, and do not call me Emi, you weirdo."
"The crowd around the central plaza has become denser now. I thought there were only meant for around a hundred students, but from the look of things, this castle might contain more than a few hundred players." Ji-Soon spoke with astonishment.
"Not just that, but have you noticed something odd?" Emiko questioned.
"Yeah, I do; it's not just students we're surrounded by but also adults with different... shades?"
Ji-Soon stuttered a little bit before pausing to tilt his head upwards, only to be greeted with a frightful reality. Screams and panics vibrated through the castle as people pushed and shoved one another in an attempt to escape the two large boulders raining down from above.
As chaos erupted, Ji-Soon managed to crack a grin of disbelief. "Well, they say the odds were never in our favour, but I didn't think we'd be caught between a rock and a hard place—literally!"
Emiko shot him an exasperated look. 'He's going to make me kill myself,' she thought, squinting the bridge of her nose. "Why did I have to get lost with you out of all people?" She muttered under her breath.
I observed the digital universe through these dreary eyes as I drifted across the crimson terrain. I suddenly had an instinctual intuition that sent chills down my spine. I quickly glanced behind me as I caught a glimpse of her companions' auras leaving the west side of the shrine in the distance. There must be more than a few thousand individuals there, since it feels like there are many life forms present. I could also detect a significant affinity for the abundance of life auras to the north of me. Something is amiss with this game; the foreboding environment is crushing even my spirit body.
The centre of the blood-red sky slowly let through a dark, dusk-like material. It almost demonstrated how nasty it was as it descended, but rather than hitting the ground, it paused; instead, it started to alter its shape. The stony paths in front of the Shrine of Beginning burst as it landed, throwing boulder fragments throughout the flat field. As the creature approached them, Tang-Ji noticed a sentient entity with arms as long as the town's gate.
As it approached, Tang-Ji's gaze locked onto the monstrosity—its arms stretching impossibly long, shadowing the entire walkway. Her hands shook, fingers cold and rigid as she clutched the edge of the wooden balcony, her breath catching in shallow, uneven bursts. The creature's blazing eyes seemed to pierce her, each pulse of light hammering at her core, rooting her in place.
Without warning, the beast swung its jagged limbs, tearing chunks of stone from the ground and sending them hurtling towards the shrine. The massive projectiles crashed against an ethereal blue barrier, ricocheting off with a deafening crack. Around her, voices rose in panicked shouts, a chaotic symphony of dread echoing through the shrine as players scrambled, barely managing to shield themselves.
"A barrier... a mob shouldn't be able to target a safe zone. How is that even possible?" Kazami's voice wavered, his eyes fixed on the encroaching threat. He took a shaky breath, then hissed, "We need to run. This place isn't safe anymore."
Although he was aware that this was a protected area and that it would be impossible for a mob to enter, his thoughts exploded into millions of firecrackers as he sprinted while gripping Tang-Ji's arm. Before they could leave the massive shrine's centre square, Tang-Ji and Kazami were both startled by an ominous voice.
"Greetings, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to my realm. My name is Kyushu Aiuchi, and I welcome you all to Yuyami Kyuden."
Kazami knew exactly who this was. This person, who was both a game designer and a genius in the field of quantum physics, was the one responsible for raising VIRM Tech, which even a few years ago was just one of many small companies, into one of the leading companies in the field.
As hardcore gamers, both Tang-Ji and Kazami respected Kyushu deeply. They bought all the magazines that featured him and had read his few interviews until we almost knew them all by heart. We could almost see him in the white lab coat he always wore by just hearing his voice. Although I've only ever talked to him a few times when we were on that holiday, the fact remains that the man was deemed to be dead almost a decade ago.
"That's absurd; that man should be dead," Kazami whispered to himself in terror.
Kyushu: "Currently, you might all be confused, as you asked yourself why a high-level boss is there, spawned in front of all the beginner's towns. Perhaps you're all wondering why many people from different nationalities are in the game, despite this being a Japan-exclusive game. Well, to put it bluntly, for all of you players, as of now, more than 1 million players across the world can no longer log out of Dusk Protocol."
Tang-Ji and Kazami both stood still, petrified at the beast roaring on the other side of the blue field.
Kyushu: "As of right now, there are three beginning cities, and each one of them is guarded at the front gate by a high-level boss. In a few moments, you will have two choices: either stay in that town and cling to hope with your Leere or fight a battle that will ensure your death. There will no longer be a safe place to hide."
"No longer a safe place to hide? What does he mean by that?" Tang-Ji murmured, knowing exactly what those words meant deep inside, yet the reality was so terrifying that her mind just simply denied the ultimatum.
Kyushu: "From this moment onwards, once your avatar health bar reaches zero, you will be permanently deleted both from the game and the real world. The SSD capsule will flood with a highly toxic chemical, destroying all your cells and instantly taking away your life. You can either lose your life to damage taken or lose it to a timer. As of right now, a timer has been set to 2400 hours, the equivalent of 100 days. If the game is not cleared by then, all players remaining will be simultaneously cast into the vortex below the castle. In other words, everyone will die."
The rowdy crowd of more than a few thousand players stood still in silence.
Kyushu: "And to make sure everyone understands the situation you are in, the capsule of the SSD is durable enough to withstand a focused laser beam or a heavy round from military tank ammunition. There will be no outsider interfering with my creation; your only source of survival now is to rely on your soul, or, should I say, on your Leere. In mere moments, there will no longer be a safe zone; this is not a bug in the game but a feature that I've implemented. Keep that in mind, players; there will be no place to hide. That will be all from me. I would wish you all the very best, but unfortunately, not a single soul will leave this tower alive."
There was a long, faint scream. However, the majority of the players just could not believe it or were unwilling to accept what they had been told, so they either stood there with a slack-jawed look or grinned wryly.
Tang-Ji's mind made an effort to deny what Kyushu had just stated. Her knees, however, abruptly started trembling, and her body betrayed her thoughts. As her knees wobbled, she staggered back a few steps but managed to stop herself from falling. Kazami collapsed to his knees like a ragdoll, his limbs now too heavy for his body, his face expressionless with shaded rings shrouding his eyes.
"He's only doing it to appeal to us, like a cool story quest, right? How could he possibly pull it off? Stop making jokes and let us go. We can't spare the time to participate in your pathetic opening ceremony. Yes, surely everything here is merely an event. An opening performance, yes?" Shouted among the ruckuses. "Something's wrong; the usual logout command isn't working," said a woman's voice next to Tang-Ji, along with many other confused players. "I can't logout either!" "What the hell is this?" "Let us out asshole!"
Tang-Ji quickly raised her two fingers above her vision to begin a swiping motion to activate the menu command. As she scrolled down to settings, she was faced with a grim reality: there were no log-out buttons; instead, a message came up, blocking her UI setting.
SYSTEM ANNOUNCEMENT: COMMAND LOGOUT HAS BEEN DISABLED BY ADMIN.
While aimlessly drifting away in thoughts from dozens of game settings on the white projector, she noticed a distinctly quiet but steady hum. She tilted her head up towards the sky, only to be jolted by a sizzling noise.
"Something's wrong with the safe zone." Kazami said it in disbelief.
The UI of the barrier briefly blinks, gently creating a buzzing sound before fading away, leaving sparks of dust behind. Tang-Ji's thoughts spun wildly, colliding with one another. 'What happened to the safe zone? This can't be real... can it? Isn't this supposed to be a game?'
Her breaths came in short, erratic gasps as she stared at the empty screen, her fingers trembling over the pop-up menu. Frantically, she searched for the logout button, but her efforts were met with nothing—just hollow icons and unresponsive commands.
Everyone stopped motionless as an eruption burst loudly over the horizon, and the sky darkened. Kazami's eyes widened in terror as he slowly turned his head in apprehension at what had produced the thunderous outbreak.
The creature was spotted just a few green icons away with a red cursor above its head,
The creature started to speed up, perhaps in response to the fleeting masses, reaching the innermost layer of the shrine in a matter of seconds. It had made its way inside the tower, almost unnoticed by everyone. Despite being utterly terrified, Kazami was helpless to move.
"Move, please... move, you braindead fool!" He cried.
The monster crept closer, but Kazami's body made no sound in response. Though muffled, the fearful screams of the crowds that the monster had scooped up or crushed beneath the collapsed buildings were still audible to him. Tang-Ji quickly rushed to Kazami, who lay still in the cacophony of screaming, gripping his shoulders while shaking him rather violently for a girl her size. She had gone entirely unnoticed by him; his body froze like a stone statue.
"Get going, Kazami!" Tang-Ji grabbed his arm and started dragging him away, screaming, "This is no place to die!"
Out of the corner of his eye, Kazami noticed the beast's appendages flailing in their direction, snapping him out of his trance. He quickly shoved Tang-Ji out of the way and received a crushing blow as his body was launched lifelessly across two large halls, sacrificing most of his health points. He gasped in pain, despite the enemy in front of him and the world around him being digital.
Before entering this game, I observed Kazami along with Tang-Ji for many years. The moment he stumbled on an article written by one of the beta testers, I should have suspected something. The article described an abnormal stinging sensation the player felt when struck by a monster. A game where all injuries to an avatar produce a realistic sensation of pain is known as a Pain Tolerance System, a feature that is bundled with the Minerva system to improve the immersion of virtual reality. The pain felt in this game could be even greater than the pain felt in reality, as the brain would normally secrete chemicals that would decrease the pain or end up in a coma as a defensive mechanism. However, since the body is already in an unconscious state, the pain experienced here could potentially fry one's own central nervous system, inevitably taking their life.
Kazami felt winded, with sharp, stinging pain circulating through his body as he crawled helplessly to a pile of rubble to prop himself up. Tang-Ji dashed to his side, calling his name, but received no answer.
"Kazami? Kazami?! Hey, speak to me!" Tang-Ji panicked as she continued to shake Kazami's lifeless body.
Kazami lay unresponsive.
"What the hell was that?" He thought to himself while trying to stay conscious. "Was I hit by a truck or something?" He groaned and twitched in pain as his ears began to stop ringing.
In the heat of the moment, Tang-Ji formed an idea—a ludicrous one at that, but one she believed might work and save at least the injured Kazami.
"This is still a game; therefore, I should still be able to fight back," she murmured, disregarding the warning Kyushu had made earlier, or rather, she was simply refusing to accept his words.
'I don't know why Kazami looks like he's in all that pain, but I have to try using that Leere thing. After all, the only way to beat monsters in any game is to use its own combat system.' She shuddered at the thought of fighting the monstrous being before her, but she knew it could potentially be life or death.
Tang-Ji reached out with her trembling right hand in an instance of desperation and clenched her teeth, anticipating the arrival of something. Anything that would get her out of here, something that would save her, but to no avail.
"What? Why isn't anything happening? Isn't this how we normally summon a weapon in these games?" Her voice trembled as she repeatedly reached out into the empty space before her.
"Come out! I summon you! Release!" She continued to cry out useless commands.
"Why, dammit, why isn't it appearing? I've done this before; why can't I do it again?"
She gasped in dismay, the panic setting in as her eyes began to well up with tears. She looked up at the horrifying creature as it let out a defensive roar.
Her face began scrunching up as the tears that rested in her eyes began to trickle down her cheeks.
The weary Kazami turned his head to face Tang-Ji standing in front of him, crying while desperately trying to force out her Leere.
The sheer panic of the situation muffled out Tang-Ji's cries as Kazami's vision began to soak itself in a pit of inky mercury.
—------------—------------—------------—------------—------------—------------—------------—------------—------------
Like opening a dryer in the middle of a cycle, the warm sun and humidity detained his face. He entered the sidewalk and began to stroll along it.
"Kazami, wait for me!" A voice came from behind. It was a girl named Hoyeon who put on her jacket before approaching Kazami barefoot.
Hoyeon was Kazami's childhood friend and was also the first person to give him everything.
Kazami kept moving. "We have to return before the sun sets," he said, worrying about Hoyeon's health.
Suddenly, she grabbed his arm and uttered, "Wait. Just take a look at me, Kazami. I'm scared of the dark. Please don't let go of me," as she dug her fingernails into his skin.
He forcefully closed his eyes, just to open them again to view the argument's final night.
Why Kazami? Hoyeon cried out, "Why did you hurt me?"
"Because you're a moron for allowing another person's suffering to ensnare your own life. You are allowing his self-centred criticism and issues to cause you pain. SNAP OUT OF IT!" He yelled.
"Why did I do it? The girl whom I call family, the person who showed me what happiness was, the person with whom I made a promise. Why did I hurt her?" Kazami now spoke to himself in a trance state.
"YOU BITCH, I'VE HAD ENOUGH WITH THIS!!! Every day, you let yourself get toyed with by that guy; do you have a crush on him or something?" Kazami's rage continued.
"Please, Kazami, I'm sorry; just forgive me." Hoyeon begged him.
"FORGIVE YOU? You have lied to me so many times about this; you said you would block him, and you said you wouldn't torture yourself anymore. Yet you continue to starve yourself—for what purpose? You are damaging your health over some online asshole."
"He's suffering as well, Kazami; please understand; I can't let him go, and he won't let me. Please understand..." Hoyeon's eyes were swollen red, along with her cheeks, which had black-and-blue marks.
"It's funny how seeing you gives me both joy and sadness at the same time. The hardest thing is watching someone you love, love someone else. I thought you were healing me, but no, you broke me even more." Filled with anger, Kazami's vision began to become distorted.
"Please, Kazami, wait!" Hoyeon reached out her arm to embrace his aggression before disintegrating into particles and crashing to the ground in front of Kazami. His body was swallowed by a shadowy emptiness, which then dragged his feet down into the pitch-black abyss. While his body was progressively consumed by the darkness, he could hear his voice yelling and screaming at Hoyeon.
"Why Kazami? Why?"
"I thought we had a dream together."
"I thought you truly cared for me."
"I thought you and I were meant to be."
"I loved you with everything I had."
"You're so selfish."
"You're manipulative."
"You're so cruel."
Hoyeon's voice continued to play over and over in Kazami's thoughts as he observed his own body beginning to suffocate beneath the weight of those words. He could feel the heaviness of his eyelid, and the voices around him whispered feelings of envy and hate, tempting him into a long coma. However, before he could finally close his eyes to this never-ending nightmare, his name was called.
"KAZAMI!!"
Regaining his consciousness slowly to the battlefield, Kazami threw a glance to the top left of his vision, only to notice Tang-Ji being on the slimmest hit point from her body, blocking the beast's rampage.
"I can't let the same mistake happen twice. I can't let anyone else get hurt because of me. Even if I am nothing but a filthy monster that snaps out at those around me, I'd rather die trying to atone for my sins than sit there and do nothing," Kazami whispered meekly.
Gritting his teeth, Kazami slowly pushed himself up to rush his way to the crying Tang-Ji. In an instant, he dashed across the rumble as he hovered over a radiant light shining beneath his body, slamming himself on the ground in between Tang-Ji and the monster. As he came to a stalemate with the beast, it let out another deafening roar before going on the offensive. The shadow of a massive arm loomed overhead, its surface lined with jagged spikes, poised to crash down on the two exhausted players.
His left foot launched off from the ground with full force as he placed his imaginary weapon on his right shoulder. Kazami's spine was assailed by the acceleration, which should not have been conceivable given his real-life agility. His body was blasted diagonally into the sky with a gunshot sound, leaving a small crater beneath him. He closed his eyes and began to visualise his deepest desires manifesting as a weapon to protect the defenceless Tang-Ji.
Kazami swung his arm with all of his body, with a flash of blue light coming from his open palms. The beast lunges forward, its massive claws slashing through the air just inches away from him. A dazzling flashing light filled the entire damaged shrine and released the tension before the man and beast clashed. Bright golden flames consumed Kazami's right hand, revealing a blade. "Level 1 deployment, rush technique: Vertical Assault," a consecutive three-hit combo ability tore into the beast's digital flesh.
Tang-Ji's gaze locked onto Kazami's face, the sharp lines of his expression cutting through the chaos around them. His eyes burned with an intensity she hadn't noticed before—focused, unwavering, as if nothing could tear him away from the fight. 'Strong.' That was the only word she could think of. She had never truly realised it before, but Kazami was so strong—the kind of strength she had always wished she could possess. 'So strong...' The thought lingered, slipping away with her consciousness. As her world dimmed, Kazami's figure remained the last thing she saw, a beacon of strength, before everything went dark.
The Night Elder's enormous frame suddenly lost strength, causing it to stagger backwards while its spiky arm was propelled by the gigantic blade. Its hands went slack as the creature was dazed by the attack motion.
In MMORPGs, this is known as a CC (crowd control) move, or, in other terms, a short stun ability to partially or completely disable one or more players or mobs.
A popped-up menu suddenly appeared to the right of Kazami's vision with a notification.
Before the beast was able to regain its footing, an explosive item negotiated, driving the beast headlong down into the virtual concrete.
"How do you like that bastard?" A voice came screaming from behind Kazami and Tang-Ji.
"Everyone, it doesn't matter if we are under levels; this is a skill-based MMO, not a level-based one. Those who want to survive in this game follow me and rush this bastard," shouted the older-looking players as masses of green icons darted into action with their unique Leere's ready to battle.
"Hey, are you alright?" A player emerged from behind Kazami, who was in the midst of catching his breath. Tang-Ji was not too far away from Kazami, who was moving sluggishly towards him. Both of their health bars were in the red zone. "Here, use this and get out of here." Another voice came behind Tang-Ji, who hurled two sparkling objects towards them.
Kazami tried to catch both of the items; however, his right arm fell completely numbed after he activated his Leere, resulting in him catching the item with his mouth. This broke the tension, however, as one of the players giggled at Kazami's odd behaviour. The player who threw the item slowly approached Kazami while holding a device of sorts; it almost resembled a tablet. His player's name could be seen above his wavy black hair; the name displayed above him was highlighted blue.
The monster began hurling multiple rocks towards Kazami, who was still in a daze from the aftermath.
He quickly grabbed hold of Tang-Ji, who was now unconscious from the shock. He turned his body towards the quick-approaching projectile, and as a shield, he grabbed tightly onto Tang-Ji before closing his eyes, praying that their current health was enough to tank another barrage.
However, with a chilling gust of wind, a long white serpent-like creature materialised right above the two defenceless players.
"Devour..." a distant whisper caught Kazami's sensitive ears.
Within a single second, it gobbled up the stone fragments, leaving chunks of solid crumbs dropping from its gigantic jaws before letting out a deafening snarl towards the boss. Fearfully, Kazami opened his eyes and stared up at the creature hovering above him. It was a massive beast made entirely of bone, shaped like a snake, with slithers and writhes. Its elongated form winds its way through the sky, scraping against the stone path with its size, emitting an eerie, bone-chilling sound. In a blink of an eye, the terrifying beasts that saved them from being crushed by the boulders suddenly vanished without a trace.
"Huh? What the heck was that?" Kazami uttered it in astonishment.
He quickly traced his eyes around the ramshackle town before stopping at the top of a rubble approximately two buildings away from them.
The players stood on the fountain of the town's rumble and glared down at Kazami with bloodshot eyes, who's still holding onto the unconscious Tang-Ji.
"Get out of here, you two, unless you want to get killed," he said with a monotone voice, but it was loud enough that Kazami could hear it through the chaos. The name of the player could be seen displayed underneath the green cursor above his head:
Kazami quickly darted away. He could feel his muscles straining under the weight of Tang-Ji's unconscious body. He manoeuvred skilfully through the ruined town, adrenaline surging through his virtual veins as he fought against time.
The mysterious boy under the strange username observed the two helpless players escape to the north side of the Shrine of Beginning. He uttered a long sigh before murmuring to himself.
"At least you're not completely incompetent like you once were. I'll only let you go this time for her sake. The next time we meet, I will show you what it feels like to be the vulnerable one. After all, you can't change the world without getting your hands dirty. In a world where death can be just a click of a button away, I wonder if you can still think of life the same way I used to."