So like, you know how there are status boards in games? And you can see your stuff? Well, this guy, right? he looked like an anime fan; an anime shirt, heavily overweight, glasses, all the anime fan stuff. Also, he picked a stick as his weapon. Like an idiot. Anyway, He's been screaming random cliche lines in some broken English for the entire walk.
"Open inventory! Status! Main screen!" Stuff like that. Oh yeah, We've been walking for about 15 minutes. People soon formed little friend groups or walked by themselves if they didn't have any friends. The anime guy obviously walked by himself. Then he shouted, "Status window!" While swiping three fingers in the air. He looked really excited all of a sudden like he was reading something. The excitement quickly turned into the most disheartened face I've ever seen. I decided to copy his movements and try it myself. I swiped three fingers horizontally and whispered "Status window" to avoid any unwanted attention. I saw a few other students also copy the weeb, but what really caught my attention was a white see-through board floating in the air. Seriously, is this a game or what?
Looking at the board, it was no bigger than a computer screen. The text read,
Itaru Nagaro
Level: 1
Health status-
Stats-
Skills- LOCKED
Magic- LOCKED
Family- LOCKED
Criminal record: none
I tried tapping on the "Health status" option, but my finger passed through it like a hologram. So I tried imagining the health status window, and a second white slate popped up
Itaru Nagaro
Vital organs: 100%
Head-: 100%
Torso-: 100%
Arms-: 100%
Legs-: 100%
Blood: 10 pints, 100%
Blood type: B+
Blood type, too? How convenient. I imagined the health status disappearing, and it did. Going back to the main screen, I noticed how three of the sections are locked. I can't even see my own family? That's pretty sad, I thought, opening the stats window. Maybe I'm secretly powerful?
Itaru Nagaro
Stamina: 100%
Speed: 6 f/s
Strength: 95 Lbs kinetic force on average (last 5 days)
Pretty bare bones if I say so myself. I thought it would be a stat system like in video games, with HP, dex, strength, etc., but I guessed wrong. Also, 95 pounds feels pretty strong for a guy who doesn't hit the gym. Closing out all the screens, I smack both my friends on the head and inform them of the status screen. Finally, I noticed their weapons: Bean chose a spear, and Skela chose a stick. A stick. Seriously, first the Weeb, and now Skela? Anyway, I watch them swipe their fingers and shout the status window. So much for being unnoticed. I feel a lot of eyes glace our direction. Ignoring the looks, I focused on the two idiots exploring their newfound status window
"Hey, hey, what's your blood type?"
"Uhh, I have… zero negative blood?"
"Dude, seriously? Shouldn't you be dead or something?"
"Nah, cause my heart is pumping blood, so any minute, it should say 1"
"Oooh, I have AB positive."
"Doesn't that mean you have two bloods in you?" Bean asked. He then suddenly gasped.
"Skela… I think you have AIDS…"
"What? How???" Skela asked in a very distressed tone.
"I don't know, man. Must be from Yuki."
"Yuki does NOT have AIDS!!! …right? Wait, what's an AIDS?"
"I mean, Yuki does look diseased."
"…Is this just a set-up to make fun of my cat?"
"…No. I am actually concerned for your health, I promise," Bean said with the most ineffective puppy eyes ever. I was completely done with these fools. I thought of killing them here and now. To quell my anger, I decided to listen in on what Hana and Renho were talking about.
"So, you wanna explain why you picked a mace?" Hana asked
"I don't know, I thought it looked cool. Probably really bad in hindsight."
"Well, that's debatable. Maces can smash and destroy, while swords are more for accurate swings."
"At least I didn't pick a bow or spear or something," Renho chuckled.
Before they could say more, I informed them of the very cool status window function and also watched them explore similarly to Bean and Skela
"What's your strength, Hana?" Renho asked
"125 pounds of kinetic force"
"What does that mean"
"I don't know, I'm not a physics major."
"It means she's a gorilla," I chimed
"I will end you." She said, holding up her sword.
I laughed it off, slightly fearing that she'd actually end me.
Anyway, for the first time in a while, I focused on our surroundings.
Walking through the forest is a very enlightening experience. Never got to do it much while in the real world. Speaking about the real world, I feel a lot less regret or sadness than I should. I think. I left a few friends there, but friends come and go. My family, mom, and dad, well, let's say I've already had enough time to grieve about them. No, they're not dead, it's weird. Anyway, the main point is that I don't miss them. Honestly, the thing I missed most was the ramen.
I noticed that everyone was pretty quiet on our hike through the woods. Some of the groups were chatting around, but everyone just followed the group in front of them silently. I guess they half expect this whole thing to be a sham. A prank for a TV show, and as soon as we exit the forest, we get a hundred thousand yen each. Like that would happen. While Skela wasn't looking, I nudged Bean on the shoulder and handed him the flower I picked up earlier.
The guy's face lit up with more joy than when you give a toddler a piece of candy. And brighter, and he'd be classified as a light bulb. Bean the light bulb. I kinda like that.
Further, along our journey, some of us could spot the looming walls around the city. They were built with large gray bricks, with the top layer wider than the sides to stop people from climbing over. The closer we got, the more details we could see. Vines have started their journey up and down the walls, aided by some moss and other greens. Guards were stationed at the top of the walls, about 1 per few feet, surveying the outside and the inside of the town. On the left was a small harbor, with only a single wooden boat parked in front of the dock. The right was filled with fields of wheat, taking up every inch it could before being cut off by two intersecting rivers.
"It looks like a fort," Renho remarked
"Maybe it is," I replied
A long, awkward silence ensued.
"Maybe it is," my sister said, copying exactly what I had said.
Renho forced out a chuckle and said, "I hope not." Wow. So this is how it feels to get ghosted. Not cool. Bean silently patted my shoulder in a small comfort, while appreciated, still did not fix the fact I was being blatantly ignored.
Crossing a bridge over a small but hard river that divided us and the town, our small army of about 220 college students finally showed up at the gate. The leather-armored guards were very stiff and had a very tight grip on their spears as if we were rabid animals about to strike at any moment. Professor Ayuto (yes, that's his name) took the lead, "Excuse us, we are refugees looking for help and shelter. Would you be so kind as to let us in?" It sounded like he rehearsed this so many times. "I'll have to um… check with an official first.." a bell chimes four times, and after a while, a classy-looking man in a black suit emerges from the door of the gate. "And why was I summoned here?" The guard leans over and whispers something to the dazzling man. "Oh, oh my, I see. Well, the walled city of Calchester welcomes you, weary refugees, with open arms! We just need you to answer some security questions, and you are free to stay as long as we'd- I mean, you'd like. Sorry, this is my second language". Despite this being his 'second language,' he had perfect pronunciation and grammar. Wait. How'd I know this? I never even heard of this language before and yet I can understand it. We don't get skills, but can we understand their language? This shit is rigged.
"Sure. What are the questions?" The professor didn't even seem to notice that we stopped speaking Japanese since we got here. Infact, even I didn't notice until just now.
"Yes.. where did you all come from?" The man asked.
"Err… the village of Japan" Seriously? Village of Japan? We are done for. "It's east from here."
"But, you arrived from the west?"
Yup. Our saga ends here. We're gonna be deemed suspicious and get shot down like dogs.
"We uh, didn't notice the town until we passed it."
During the conversation, a man came up to me. He had a black uniform with a golden petal crest instead of the normal pink petal crest on his chest. He was an honor student. He had a sword and buckler like mine equipped. Whispering into my ear, he said, "Hey, I don't like the vibe this place gives off. Like, if this is a city, shouldn't there be people entering and exiting all the time? We haven't seen a single person besides that man and the guards." He's right. There hasn't been a single person outside the gates since we saw the town. Even if it's a desolate town, there are way too many guards on the walls for it to be barren of people or visitors. "I'm planning on making a group and ditching this place, making a settlement ourselves at the place we arrived." then, he swiftly faded into the crowd to recruit more people.
"And why do you refugees have weapons?" I hear, focusing back on the conversation. I was around the front of the crowd, so I couldn't help but listen to it. Plus it was mostly silent. Nobody was talking besides the professor and the official.
"We are an armed village; we tried to protect ourselves... but those things."
Things? What things?
"What things?" Exactly. "You mean the oddities? The gray people?"
"Err, sorry?"
"The oddities. The gray human-looking things, smart as us, just weaker."
"Uh, yes. Those things. They swarmed our village, and we were forced to run."
A look of concern washed over the official's face
"How terrible! We get it. You are free to enter our gates." A smile formed on the official's face. It looked almost artificial in nature.
"Come on, students, let's go inside"
Around three-fourths of the students hesitated to go in. After some time, around half the student body decided to go into the gates. Around 120 of us remain outside.
"And you good fellows?" Asked the official
The man who talked to me walked to the front. "We.. will be going on our own path."
I thought I heard a tch from the official as he went back inside the gates, but I was probably just imagining it.
As everyone went back to their friend groups, I met back up with Hana and the rest.
"Everyone still here?" I asked
Before I could say much else, the guy who told us to stay announced himself
"My friends! My name is Dikyu, but you can call me Kisa-San!" I hear a few giggles from the students. I don't get what's so funny. "We will be going back to the spot we first started, as it is flat and has a water source nearby! The official said something about human-looking monsters, so stay on your guard! Groups who can fight come in front!" After a few murmurs, around 6 groups of 5 go up the the front. "I'm sure you guys are smart enough to know what a column is! I want a left column and a right column! Swords and maces on the outside! Spears behind them! Archers in the back! The people with the sticks in the center! The outside is the side that faces the forest! It is fine if you walk out of formation! Just try to stay in formation for now!" After about 5 minutes of shuffling, we got into a very impromptu and thick line of students. Around 12 or 13 students long and 7 students thick, sure there were some gaps in the archer stick and spear lines, but it's good enough. I found myself between my sister and Renho, with Bean, of all people, next to me. "Don't stab me, Kay?" I asked him
"no promises!" He responded. Sly bastard.
"The people that are afraid to kill! Imagine them to be an enemy from a video game! To be not real! Your adrenaline will do the rest! Do not falter! Bows! Do not shoot at enemies in combat! Do not shoot at the enemy if a friend is behind them! Spears support the first line by stabbing between or over them! Again! Do not falter! Stay in formation!" Is this guy a drill sergeant? What's with the orders?
"Erm," someone interrupted. "Why do we gotta be in formation?"
"Good question! Didn't you hear the guy in the suit? There are monsters in the forest! This isn't Earth anymore. We have to be prepared. Any more questions?" After a moment of silence, we trekked toward the original spot where we had woken up. The group was deathly silent as we walked toward our destination. We walked for about 10 minutes until Dikyu held his hand, signaling us to stop. Without the sound of our own footsteps, we could now clearly hear the shuffles of something that surrounded us. The rustling bushes I first assumed were caused by the wind now gave off a more sinister aura. With a moment of hesitation, fear, and disordered bumping, about everybody drew their weapons and steeled themselves.