Prologue


    The Forsaken Kingdoms, the most popular MMORPG released in 2053 attracting over150millionof players after10years of release.


    It was a popular VRMMORPG that has been released after that the Neuro-Gear,theN-Gearhas been discovered.


    The Forsaken Kingdoms was a fantasy game, the player could only create one and unique character which makes the game more realism, thedeveloperswere working hard to make the game more enjoyable for the players.The graphism were exceeding the beta-testers, the freedom of choices within orthe background story of the gamemarveledthe hearts of the players becoming one of the top recommended VRMMORPG.


    The game associated withE-Sport, becoming even more popular. ThePvP''ssystem mode, the Arena Mode attracted the eyes of the competitive players which was then discovered by the fans watching those competitive players. Reaching a state that was no longer ignored by the entire world which gained the attention of the E-Sport.


    The tournaments which were organized every year attracted even more players into the game, new servers were created every month and today was finally the patch 9.0 as well as the sixth yearof its release.


    "Waoh, this patch was really long."


    Amano Hasegawa, one of the beta-tester who discovered the game since its opening was waiting impatientlyfor the download of the patch 9.0 to finish, after finally waiting for more than3wholehours, thelong patch 9.0 finally ended, clicking on the "Play" button from his computer.


    "Let''s start playing,Soujiroumust be waiting for me."


    Today, Amano had a meeting with his teammates at 15:00 P.M., since it was already 15:03, he hurriedly directed towards the N-Gear and entered inside the machine.


    Closing the N-Gear''s door, he wore his N-Gear helmet and activated it. The N-gear helmet detected the game launching from the computer through the connection cable joined by the N-Gear machine and severallistsof servers appeared in front of Amano.


    Amano choosesone of thenew serversthat opened with the Patch 9.0,a message "Do you want to create a character" popped out.In the Forsaken Kingdoms, new servers were created everypatch.One needed to recreate a new character in order to play on the newserversandonlyone character could be created per server.


    "If I''m remembering correctly, the name of theserver wechooseat that time should be... Ah, thereStormfurry."


    It was an interesting feature from the game that every player loved and the new servers were gradually becomingcrowdedservers, therewereseveralreasonstothat.


    First one was because of the competitive players.


    The tournaments that were organized by the gamemasters every year were only held on the new servers, it was a way to increase the popularity of the new servers.


    The second reason was to give the player a new chance to become the top players of the new servers.


    There were alsoPvEpro guilds in the Forsaken Kingdoms, those pro guilds were aiming to the top by conquering the new servers.The names of the players were always engraved on the first players to kill the new raids that were released, the glory of that feat attracted a lot of people to recreate a character.


    The third reason was the new classes, the new classes were only available on the new servers until the next patch.


    On that patch 9.0, 12 classes were released and the players who wanted to try the new classes that didn''t want to wait for the next patch were interested to test them were coming to the new servers to test them before deciding to change their classes. It was a good way for the company to make money, since changing classesrequiredreal money.


    Witharesolved determination, Amano''s true feelings came out from his mouth, the traces of regrets he held from losing the qualifications still remained within him but he truly felt that with the harsh training that he received with his teammates, he was feeling confident enough.


    "This time,Horacìonwillbecome the champions!"


    One of the reasons why Amano recreated a character on the new servers was the first one;to participate in the incoming tournament.


    Hewas one of those competitive players,anon-popular and newlyproplayer thatdidn''t succeed to win thequalificationswith his teammatesandwant to trywinning the next tournament onthenew servers.


    "This should be good, this is perfectly matching me."


    Amano always createsnew characters which always looks like him, eventhoughit was a VRMMO, he didn''t want to change his realappearance.


    It was something he couldn''t do due to his deceased parents, Amano was feeling ashamed of being his parent''s child if he wasto modify his lookeven if it was a game, his features whichresembled his deceased father, and his eyes which were the same ashis deceased mother, it was something that Amano couldn''t resolute to change.


    Creating his character, which amazinglyresembles hisIRL''sportrait,size, and body mass,Amano confirmed his choice and entered the game.


    ******Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.


    Summoning circles appeared at every corner of thetown, remembering his first time on the game, Amano was absentminded looking atthe new playerssummonedone by onenext to him.The joyful conversations could be heard from everywhere, the place was crowded as if it was a parade or some kind of events going on.


    "This game is really amazing, this is my first time playing aVRMMO!"


    "Shall we create a party together?"


    "I killed a rare boss to get this sword!"


    "Want to sell beginnersarmor gear!"


    The shouts from the new players could be heard from everywhere, the atmosphere was the same as when he first started the game, an agitated crowd of new players.That just showed how popular the new servers were.


    ''Youfinally logged in, wewerewaiting for you.''


    Avoice echoed in his mind, Amano recognized this voice, it was one of his teammateas well ashis childhood friend,SoujirouSeta.


    SoujirouSeta was one of the first friends in elementary school, they played together for a short period of times, but Amano never forgets about him after moving out due to his parent''s accident.


    Openingthe gamemenu, Amano acceded tohisfriend listandactivated the mind chat.


    ''Sorry for the wait, I downloaded the patch just afterwakingup.''


    ''Oi, oi you were sleeping until now?! Well, as expected ofyou whoplayeduntilthemaintenanceyesterday...''


    Amano could somehowimaginethe amazed expressionofhis childhoodfriend,Soujirouwas showingthrough his tone. Hewrylysmiledand asked.


    ''Where are you guys right now?''


    ''We are near the guilds''building, you know where is it right? Right after reaching the shop''s district,once you seethe guilds''buildingturn to the right.''


    *****


    There were several plazas in the shop''sdistrict, and the largest of them was called the shop''s district''s center.It was filled with stalls selling vegetables, spices, and other such commercial products.


    Amidst the crowds, the stall-owners energetically shouted their sales pitches to the people walking by, while the older women haggled with the merchants as they looked for reductions. Drawn by fragrant scents, young men purchased skewers of roasted meat which oozed with warm juices.


    Amano, who was excitedly walkinginsidethe shops'' district''s center was directing towards the guilds'' managementbuilding, crossing the shop''s district, he followed a narrow road.


    "What''swrongguys?"


    Noticing the tense atmosphere filling theair surroundingsSoujirouand Kaname who were talkingwith each other with aserious expression showing on their faces,Amano asked.


    "Something feels wrong about that patch 9.0."


    Seeing his childhood friendSoujirouwith that kind of serious face,Amanocalmlyasked.


    "What do you mean?"


    "You still didn''tnoticeuh?Did you visit the food stalls near the shop''s district?"


    Listening toSoujirou''squestion, Amano recalled the shop''s district he just visited a few seconds ago. The shops were busy, the atmosphere was lively and we could even smell the delicious scent of thegrilledmeatwhile walking.


    ''Wait, the scent?!''


    Showing a shocking expression,Soujirouinterrupted Amano''s thought.


    "Seems likeyou finally noticeduh, yeah itfeelslike everything is realin the gamesince we logged in afterthatpatch.Look at your gamemenu,canyoulog out of the game?"


    "Don''t tell me..."


    Opening his gamemenu, the logout button couldn''tbe seen, shaking his headwithashockingexpressionaffirmingthat he couldn''t log out of the game.


    "Not only the scent but also the sense of touch and others emotions has been integrated into the game... Orthe correct sentenceshould I say,it''sthat we integrated into the game?"


    ''Trapped in a game huh, like theseIsekaifantasy stories...Well, it''s not that important to me though,it''s not like I have a family that is waiting formenora lover...''


    Amano was anunfortunate child, anorphan, his parents died from an accident when he was stillsix years old,his grandfather took care ofhimuntilhigh schoolbutalsodiedbefore he could graduate, finding a new jobafter graduatingand renting anapartmentthrough his grandfather''s acquaintance, Amanodiscovered the beta-test of The Forsaken Kingdoms on the internetand became one of the beta-tester of the game.


    It has been10years since he discovered the game, the only pleasure that he had after losing his family was this place,The Forsaken Kingdomswhere he metonce againhis childhood friend,SoujirouSeta.


    Amanowho couldn’t endureany morethe silence from both KanameandSoujiroutried to change the topicsby askingSoujiroua question.


    "Since we can''t log out, for now,it''s totally useless toargue aboutit, let''sforget about that fornow....Soujirou, did you tried to fight themonstersnear the townor to finish some quests?"


    Soujirouwho regained his composure after hearing Amano''s words after a short pause answered.


    "I was waitingfor youguys, so I didn''t fight any monsterneither did complete a questbutaccording towhat I''veheard from theplayers who came out of the village, it seems that the fights were more realist thanthe last patch.Some gave up in grinding and returned inside the town while otherskeepfightingmonsters to get accosted to itbutmost of themonly thought that it was a new feature from the patch 9.0..."


    Listening to Kaname''s information, Kanamecalmly listened to what his childhood friendexplainedandhesitateda little whilebefore askingsomething that worried him after discovered that he could no longer logout of the game.


    "Did...you heard anything aboutthe players who died?"


    Hearing Amano''s worried tone,Soujirousaid ina relieving tone.


    "Yes,I was also worried at the beginning, but when I visited the church, the players who diedresurrectedcorrectly without troubles."


    Amano relaxed after hearingSoujirou''sanswer, the thought of dying in his favorite game was making him uneasy, after hearing that he could resurrect, he was feeling more confident about living in this world.


    "I see,ifthere''sno problem about dying without resurrecting, thenlet''s started questing to earn some moneytospendit for tonight''s dinner."


    Koujirouwho realized that he forgot to inform them about another important information suddenly stopped Amano said.


    "No, it''s not a good idea to search for quests right now, it seems since welog into the game, the questswereno more repeatable. Once a player or the party who took it were the only one able to complete the quests, the others who were waiting to receive the quests couldn''t receive it anymore. With non-repeatable quests and in addition to the fact that this place is the beginners'' town,thiswill be probablyhard to find a quest."


    Nodding atKoujirou, Amano suggested.


    "I see, the best choice available to us rightnow,isto grind levels by fighting monsters as well as getting used to the fights. We should probably learn our professions before leaving the town as well."


    Followed by Amano''s suggestion, Kaname nodded while saying a short sentence.


    "I agree with Amano."


    "It''s decided then."


    SaidKoujirouwith a wry smile on his face looking at Kaname with a resigned expression. ''That''s right,Kaname is a battle junky after all... Between the quests or fighting monsters, Kaname would obviously choose the latter.''


    Directing towards the town''s entrance, Amano,Koujirou, and Kaname left the town.