《Reincarnated into an Unfinished Online RPG》 000: Buried in Ice Hot...it''s so hot. I''m sweating so much my face dripped Lake Biwa onto my keyboard. It''s my 20th year with Ashikaga Soft and I''ve never experienced a year as hot as this year in Japan. Every year is hotter than the last, sure. But this year the air conditioning in the entire building has burnt out, and yet management keeps us here at our desks, before sunrise and after sunset. "Do your best, Satou-san." says my boss Amane. She''s lucky she''s cute. It helps spare me the embarassment of being ordered by a someone younger than men. Haah...it can''t be helped.If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. Ashikaga Zaibatsu is planning on launching a "mobile game" store alongside its new smartphone, and we''ve been pressed to get that store online for the day one launch. Of course, we could do it like the Chinese and Koreans. Just release an unfinished product and update it later. But this is Japan, the world leader in software and technology. We will never compromise on quality. Never. NEVER! I type code furiously into the keyboard, determined to squish all the bugs! My computer is screaming at the precision and genius of my efficient code. Do your best, computer. Wait, I think my computer is actually screaming. No, we don''t have speakers in the office. Where''s the screaming coming from? And why does my throat hurt all of a sudden? Why is it getting dark? ... Amane-san? My boss is looking over my face. Why is she so close? Hehe...well, I think I''ll enjoy this view for a little while... ... ¡¸...heat casualty...¡¹ ¡¸...multiple patients...¡¹ ¡¸43 degree temperature...¡¹ ¡¸Start an IV and put him on ice!¡¹ Voices... I see shadows moving around. They''re saying things, but I can''t h-hear anymore... Cold...it''s so cold. 001: Cloud-Kill I see white. White, stretching infinitely into the distance. Now I see blue. Bright blue. My vision starts to clear up and I see black outlines. Movement. Colors become lines, lines become shapes, shapes become... Breasts?! "Is this Satou-sempai? He looks different." (??) "It''s him, I''d recognize that lecherous smile anywhere." (???) There''s good reason to smile, though! "Satou-san, are can you hear us?" (??) "Satou-sempai, wake up please!" (???) Ahre? I realize that two of my kouhai are seated right in front of me. They''ve been speaking to me for some time, apparently. "Good morning, Tachibana. Good morning, Hina-chan." (Makoto) I greet them while staring at Hina-chan''s breasts. "Sekuhara." (Hina) "Sempai...show some modesty please." (Tachibana) "Sorry, my vision was blurry and I didn''t know where I was looking." (Makoto) I avert my gaze from Hina-chan''s shapely chest and look around. The three of us are seated on a round park bench. It''s smooth like marble and there''s an umbrella overhead. Or, it acts like an umbrella. It''s really "A cloud..." (Makoto) And that isn''t the only cloud. The "white" I''ve been seeing are clouds, stretched out like pavement across a brilliant, blue sky. The table feels like it''s bobbing up and down. we''re floating on a cloud. The bench we''re seated at is on a patio etched on a cliffside made of cloud. Behind us is a smooth ramp, leading up higher and lower, to areas obscured by wispy clouds floating above our heads. Tachibana and Hina-chan are dressed in their normal work attire. None of us show any signs of the heavy sweating we were going through in the Ashikaga Millennium Building (our HQ). "Sempai...did we die?" (Tachibana) Tachibana asks a stupid question. "Haah? Tachibana, look at your clothes. Weren''t you soaked in sweat a minute ago?" (Makoto) "Ah, yes?" (Tachibana) "You too, Hina-chan?" (Makoto) "I''m dry right now." (Hina) "Well that''s evidence enough we''re not dead. None of us crossed the Sanzu River." (Makoto)This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. I don''t know about Tachibana, but I don''t have the money to pay the Datsueba. I would have tried to swin across. Oh, my cute kouhai are giving me strange looks. "Don''t mess around, sempai!" (Tachibana) "Isn''t this clearly heaven?!" (Hina) Heaven? You mean Christian Heaven? "What the hell!!! Tachibana, Hina-chan, what are you two doing dragging me into your religion''s afterlife?? I''m no Catholic!" (Makoto) "NEITHER ARE WE!" (Both) Well shit. ... Tachibana and Hina-chan are holding each other and sobbing. I don''t really blame them. It looks like our brains and bodies melted in that damn heat wave and we somehow ended up in the Christian afterlife. Where else would there be a city park, complete with benches, playground equipment, and lamposts, atop the clouds? That damn Amane... There were rumors. A stunnigly beautiful 24-year old woman making it into middle management in a company like Ashikaga is unheard of. She either had tremendous motivational skills, a great night game, or both. Being a virgin I sacrificed my health on that slim chance. I put in the extra hours and even did Amane''s ''club activities''. Since she took charge of our department I fell to heat exhaustion twice, both times in Winter. Who knew you could overheat when it''s cold outside? I should have figured it wasn''t worth it. But I was thinking with my little brain. And also my ochinpo. Well, Amane''s hopeless anyway. With at least three members of her staff dead she''ll not only miss the app store launch, she''ll probably go to prison too. But as for us, what do we do now? "I have no idea." (Makoto) "Eh?" (Both) "Ah, no, I was just thinking what we should do now." (Makoto) The "park" extends ininitely in front of us but the marble equipment is few in number. Most of it is far away from our becn as well. I can barely tell the equipment is in use... Oh, hey. Maybe they just appeared, or were there the entire time, but right now I see hamster-sized red dangos on the playground equipment. The blobs are swinging on the swings and sliding down the slides. I squint a bit and I can see they have some tiny, hummingbird-sized bat wings. And on the dangos themselves you can make out a crude face, like a Jack-o-lantern. "Hey...we have company." (Makoto) Tachibana and Hina stop and look around at the red dangos. "Kawaii..." (Hina) "Eh." (Makoto + Tachibana) I don''t think they''re cute? They look edible, if anything. My stomach isn''t growling but I wouldn''t object to eating something. "Perhaps they''re angels? What else would be found in Heaven?" (Hina) I don''t know enough about the Christian religion to call them angels, but my idea of an angel was a beautiful woman in a revealing white toga, with feathery wings. Bat wings...wouldn''t they be demons? "I think we should stay away from them. Something about those creatures feels off." (Makoto) I''m also getting a bad feeling about this. Since after Hina-chan spoke up, all the creatures in sight are making their way towards us. "It''s worth a shot to talk to them, though? What''s the worst the could happen?" (Hina) "Tachibana?" (Makoto) "I agree with Hina, sempai. This isn''t the time to skip after work drinks and mahjong." (Tachibana) But wasn''t that you brat?! "Haah, well, then you go with her. There''s no way down off this plateau except to the ground where the dangos are." (Makoto) "I''m off." (Tachibana) "Have a nice trip." (Makoto) My kouhais descend down the ramp behind me, disappear beneath the cloud cover, and emerge on the bottom cloud to meet the crowd of dangos. Hina-chan, without any caution at all, walks up to the crownd and bends down, her hands on her knees. One of the winged dangos lands on the ground and hops up to her. "Ohayo!" (Hina) Hina gives a big smile and flashes a peace sign. She''s really cute, goddamn. It''s easy to forget she''s 10 years older than Amane, she doesn''t look her age at all. Tachibana pulls up behind Hina-chan during her greeting to the crowd of red dangos. Oh, the "King Dango" is giving her a big smile, too. ... A really big smile. ... A smile that''s currently bigger than Hina-chan herself. "Hawawa??" (Hina) Hina''s pupils dilate, her mouth hangs agape as she looks at the stretchy, smiling dango. Suddenly, "POP!" Hina''s cute face, well proportioned breasts, and wide back disappear into thin air. Her waist and legs fall to the ground, enciting a frenzy with the crowd of dangos, who rush forward clapping their jaws like Spanish castanets! "Hapapapapapapapapa!" "What?!" (Tachibana) Tachibana''s foot vanishes and he falls forward into into the ball pit. "SEMPAI, HELP ME!" (Tachibana) Tachibana reaches out to me, but only for a moment before his shoulder is consumed, the outstretched, orphaned limb splashing down into the waves of red. In spite of the feeding frenzy I can''t tell if there was any blood. Or if there was blood, and I just coudn''t tell because it matched the color of the dangos. Goodbye, Tachibana, Hina-chan. You were kind, if fearless, dumb kouhais. Now as for me, I should get going? I mean if if I don''t get out of here I''ll be eaten too right... But I can''t move a muscle. My arms, my legs, my neck... I''m glued to the marble bench. 001: Stiff One I''m sitting at a marble table, on a plateau built out of cloud, overlooking a horde of hungry monsters bickering over scraps of flesh and shards of bone. Body parts that were once part of my two kouhais, Tachibana Taberu (éÙʳ) and Hanesaku Hina (ÓðÁÑër). They were hard workers who spent too much time together in the copy room. Despite all their efforts they were never able to fix it, it would always leak on the carpet when no one was looking and gave off an awful smell. Everyone hated that room, except those two. For that, I will commit them to memory. Or I would, if my brain cells were willing to copy them to memory. Right now, not bone, body, or breath is moving. The red death hobble up the ramp, toward my position. They''re faster than they look and I doubt I could have escaped if I wanted to. My face is unmoving. But out of the corner of my eye I can see that only few dangos actually climbed to my plateau. The monsters hop around the table, hop on the table, but appear to ignore me for unknown reasons. I can hear several disappearing into the distance, their hopping fading as they descend back down the ramp. But one has stayed, standing in front of me. I don''t make eye contact but it must see me there. The monster crawls onto my hand. It feels like a water balloon rather than a slime or jelly. Suddenly, I feel a warm sensation on my right hand, but I still do not move. I feel no pain, but I fear the monster has dug into my hand''s flesh. I dare not look down. Time feels like it has stopped. The seconds take minutes to pass. And finally, with a squeal of delight, the monster leaps off the plateau, and hoppinh mad into the distance. I am alone on my mountain. Yet I still can''t move. I cannot breathe. My brain is starting to fade to black again, as it did half a day ago. It can''t end like this. Not again. I won''t let myself suffocate. I have so much to live for.This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it. My name is Satou Makoto. I''m 41 years old. I live at Kojimachi Millennium Garden 16F, 5-chome Koujimachi, Chiyoda-ku Tokyo 102-0083. I don''t take care of my skin. My favorite baseball team is the Nippon Ham Fighters but my favorite player is Derek Jeter. I am a programmer who has written everything from an app store to those apps that take over the iPhone''s calendar and spam them with virus alerts. Without my hard work, where would Japan be today? At the mercy of China and Korea, and their cheap Filipino labor! Without me, without Ashikaga, Japan might be addicted to cheap gacha style games where you collect cute girls, instead of expensive pachinko style machines where you unlock high quality anime cutscenes. Didn''t know Ashikaga Soft writes the firmware for those pachinko machines, did you? We control 80% of the market. The remaining 20% is SEGA, who we own 60% of. In essence, we own 100% of the market, Cool isn''t it? Amazing isn''t it? Just the thought of Ashikaga''s dominance in electronics is turning me on. Blood flows into my genitals. I start to hyperventilate. Welcome home oxygen. Blood flows into my brain, the fear paralysis rapidly fading away. My memory is coming back from the brink of oblivion. Goodbye, Tachibana, Hina-chan. Why didn''t they listen to me? Or rather, why did I not listen to them? Why did I, after seeing my kouhai get eaten, freeze instead of run? Moe memories flow back. Red dango? No, I already knew what those creatures were, I just had to remember...
IMP
The lowest class of demon from the 2003 Massive Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game (MMORPG) Sugar Maple. Normally harmless, they feed on fear. But in the absence of fear, they feed on flesh.
I didn''t recall this information at the time. It was sheer luck that I saw those imps and was afraid. Or perhaps instead of luck, it was just common sense? No matter how I justify it, Tachibana and HIna-chan were the dumb ones. Would they approach a wild animal they never saw before with no sense of caution, like a tiger or wolf? Well, it''s in the past now. I stand up. Something falls off my right hand. I hadn''t noticed it, but it''s a pink goo. In the goo are some shards of glass, some hair... And one of Hina-chan''s brillaint, blue eyeballs. "The King Dango..." (Makoto) I swear, one day, I will avenge this humiliation. I wipe the back of my hand on the edge of the table, smearing Hina-chan''s remains all over the sleek marble. I say a brief prayer for the bakas. Clearly, this isn''t Heaven. Wherever I and my coworkers went after we seemingly died, we have flesh and blood bodies and can die again. So, I don''t think the Christian God will strke me dead for offering a Shinto prayer in his realm. I stand up and shake my head. I was afraid of the imps, I was afraid of the unknown, but it is now known. Imps like that came from a video game I played, years and years ago. When I look around this landscape isn''t familiar to my eyes, my hands comfort me with the muscle memory of many years of rehersal. Without any further thought, I head up the downslope behind me, marching confidently toward a new future. ... ... ... Or, I would. It''s hard to walk with this thick plank of wood between my thighs, swaying side to side. What am I going to do about this? Where am I going to do about this? I look around. There isn''t a soul for kilometers. All that''s here is some Hina-chan paste drying on the marble table. ... Hina-chan... Hina-chan''s brilliant blue eyes pop into my mind. "Sorry, Hina-chan..." (Makoto) My future was put on hold for 22 minutes. 001: A Tale of Two Dumps I really have to take a shit. I''ve been walking for hours. I can feel it in my legs. There''s no way to keep track of the passage of time in this area. The space outside of the cloud road is obscured by thick cloud cover, and it feels like the source of light moves from above to below, rather than East to West. But my legs are conditioned to know how far 10 km is, because that''s roughy the distance from my apartment to the Tokyo Dome, where I would watch the Hams crush the Yomiuri Giants. That''s right, whenever I watched the games in person at Biggueggu, the Hams would win and the Giants would lose. So I made sure to buy as many tickets to Hams games and attend them in person. That''s why my legs are so athletic. And that''s how I know I''ve been walking for far longer thn 10 km. My last memories of the office happened at 4:00 afternoon JST, and I had had a big lunch that day consisting of...everything that wants to come out now. Guu. I keep walking in the hopes of finally arriving at "Olympia Skywalk". If this world were a video game, simply leaving that "field" would have automatically taken me to Olympia Skywalk. That''s a big "if". It resembles the video game Sugar Maple but this isn''t a video game. At least not for me. There are no stat screens, level ups, or experience points that I can see. Or skills. Or anything like magic or superpowers that I''ve encountered.Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work! In the original game, the world map was divided into "towns" and "fields". Quite simply, towns were safe areas where monsters didn''t appear. Fields were danger areas where monsters made habitat. The area my kouhais and I spawned in was the first "field" in the Himmler Cumulonimbus, a ''continent'' of islands in the sky made of a solid type of iron cloud, Cumulonickel. The iron cloud is more buoyant than the air in this region, and floats atop the air like islands do the ocean. In fact, if I were to dive off one of these clouds, I would immediately die due to the toxicity of and thickness of the air. It''s not breathable to the lungs, eyes or skin. Below Himmler is Sugar Maple''s greatest mountain range, Goering Peaks, and because of the toxic air the only safe passage is through the Olympus Tor, a 99-floor stone tower connecting the Himmler Cumulonimbus and the town of Goer''s Hamlet. Olympus Tor isn''t a town, each floor is a "field" and the monsters there in the original game were high level. At my current strength, there''s no way I could ever hope to mke it down to Goer''s Hamlet. So the only option is to go the opposite direction. Himmler is not the beginner region of the game. In fact, you could call it the endgame region, despite being designed to be midgame. And that''s because Sugar Maple is an unfinished game. The developers, Wisent, abandoned the game for future development and instead turned their attention to a sequel, Sweet Sugar Maple or Sugar Maple II. I won''t say tht Sugar Maple was a big part of my childhood. I was 17 when it came out, and I played it for a single year before going to university and working for Ashikaga Soft. I have fond memories of many other games from my youth, expriences that I shared with long gone friends, and I didn''t even like Sugar Maple all that much due to the lack of care from the developers. But it does hold one special place in my heart. It was the last video game I ever played before... ... There. About 1000 meteres away from me, I can see the clouds open up to a wide, open expanse. Even from this distance, without my glasses, I can recognize it. ... Without my glasses? I had scarcely realized that I was able to see just fine without glasses. Could this be one of my isekai CHEATS?? What other powers do I have?! I was so excited by the potential of getting a cheat, I loosened my anal muscles a bit. A wet sensation dribbled out. The mechnical grinding of all that walking had taken a toll on my large intestine. I have two options. I can spare my trousers and give the walkway a new coat of paint, or I can try to preserve my dignity and risk shitting my pants as I waddle to the finish line. My intenstines are bubbling, the clock has started. I have seconds to react. ... ... ... You want to know what this plot thread and I have in common? We both have no ends. 001: Dont tempt fate "Ahahahahahaha!!" I''m currently being laughed at by the woman in front of me. She had the fortune (?) to witness my embararssing disagreement with my intestines, and my mad dash to the restroom. I didn''t have the luxury of worrying about spectators, but having been seen in such a state, it stings. It really stings. I swear, one day, I will avenge this humiliation. "I''m sorry..." (Girl) This woman, actually a young girl, continues to laugh. She''s a sharply dressed girl in a tour guide outfit, completely blue with a low cut skirt. Black stockings, black heels, white gloves, and a cute hat that''s too small for her head. The outline of her dress indicates she has the curves of an adult, but she''s incredibly short. She''s at least 30 cm shorter than me. Even shorter as she''s hunched over, hands on knees, laughing. I''m just standing here with a frown on my face. Can we get on with this? .... "Ahahahaha!" ..... Looks like she''s done. She looks up at me, ready to greet a new customer. Yosh. "Excuse me..." (Makoto) I barely get a word out and her pupils dilate. Cheeks puff out. "Ahahahahaha!" She continues to laugh. What the hell? How can any one person laugh this much? Yes, I made a fool of myself, but I''m clean right now. And that incident is already long in the past! The girl is on her knees again laughing. Irritated, turn around and walk away. Let''s give her some time. I still haven''t done much exploring in this "town".If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. ... Olympia Skywalk is visually distnct from the "field" I spawned in. Unlike that "field" where you walked directly on the cloud, the Skywalk has a thick floor of polished marble separating foot from foundation. It''s much easier to run on a solid, hard floor than on what is essentially walking on a mattress. From my memory the Skywalk is about 1.6 square km in surface area. It has equally spaced lampposts with a magical-feeling flourescent light emitting from the cage, with the occassional garbage bins next to them. In the lore of the game the bins are a type of MIMIC monster that feeds on garbage. It served as a place to empty your useless items without dropping them on the ground, which could get you a littering penalty from the GAME MODS (GM). There are bathrooms spaced 200 meters apart. Their original use in Sugar Maple was a location where you could customize your avatar''s apperance with purchases from the Cash Shop. The Cash Shop was accessible through a special game menu, but it had a physical store one very continent. That store served to do nothing but promote dumping cash into the game. Speaking of that store, it''s here too. The center of Olympia Skywalk is the Inn, where dead players respawn and where live players go to restore their HP and status. Surrounding the Inn are the small tourist shops that make up Olympia Village. Currently, all the shops are locked up and there isn''t a soul in sight. The sky is darkening but the lights keep the area quite bright. The merchants might have gone home for the evening, but it''s strance since the skywalk is supposed to be open 24/7. That''s because the primary purpose of this town is as a dock, loading/unloading passangers and anchoring ships from the various planned continents in Sugar Maple. I say "planned" because only one dock was ever used, the airship down to Newberry Island. Nobody could ever progress far enough to catch one of the other ships. Right now, there''s no ships anchored. The ship to Newberry Island launches once per day, And it''s getting dark. I''ve explore the entire area of the Skywalk and there''s nothing new to discover. I guess it''s time to go to sleep? I walk over to the inn. There''s no lights on in the building. Nothing left to do but wait for dayroll I guess... I enter the building. It''s pitch black, but there are some lights on the floor indicating where the paths are. No receptionist. Self-serve? There''s no bedrooms on the first floor. I have to climb the stairs to get to the first hall of rooms. I try to open the nearest door. Click. Locked. I try the one next to it. Click. And the one next to that. And the one next to that. And that. And that. .... ARE ALL THE ROOMS OCCUPIED? That might explain why none of the shops are open. Everyone''s asleep?! Or maybe the rooms are locked by default. I don''t know what it is. The inn is only 2 stories tall but the hallways seem to stretch into infinity, I kept trying over and over to find an open room and finally found one after hours of trying! I''m exhausted, of course. Think about what I''ve done today. I worked half a shift at work, died, got reincarnated in a parallel world similar to a video game I played over 20 years ago, saw my kouhais get eaten by demon imps, walked half a day on a cloud highway, and had lower bowel distress in front of a cute tour guide. I''m ready to check out. I don''t even turn on the light in the bedroom. I just immediately strip down. Yeah. I sleep in the nude. I always have because I can get an extra day out of my undergarments by not sleeping in them. When you sleep with clothes on, no matter how little, you sweat more at night than if you go in naked. You start to smell more quickly the longer you wear underwear. Why don''t I use a new pair? Well, I used to. Until I ran out. Amane had me working 98 hours per week, there''s almost no time for basic self-care, cooking, and chores. Sleeping naked was one of my secret techniques to coming into work looking, smelling, and workng clean. Or at least, cleaner than my coworkers. I think I mentioned Tachibana and Hina-chan always had that bad copy room smell hanging around them? I slide into the bed. It feels smaller than I was expecting. My head hits the pillow and my eyes immediately close. Sigh. This feels earned. Finally, this chapter in my life can end. No jokes, no twists, no cliffhangers. Just sleep. Oyasumi. 002: Miss Understanding Mhm. I slowly open my eyes to a brightly lit room. Soft, white light is pouring out of the blindless window, indicating that a new day has come. From the intensity it''s probably the middle of morning. I feel sluggish but far less tired than I was last night. I swallow some saliva. I try moving my legs, which had also fallen asleep. I wiggle my toes to try and restore sensation. Then I realize there''s a thick log I can barely feel, lodged beyween my legs. "Well. I need to do something about this." (Makoto) I don''t usually wake up hard. It only happens about once a week, usually if I''m dreaming right before I wake up. I start to stroke. I''ve found this is the fastest way to soften myself up. "Hah, hah." (Makoto) I grab some of the think sheet and start to rub on that. I always try to something other than bare hand when rubbing so I don''t chafe. However, the blanket gets tugged away from me as I try to grab it.Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon. "Ah?" (Makoto) I look at the pillow to my left. Did the pillow just pull my blanket? The pillow looks like it''s about to fall off the bed, and it''s stretching the blanket. I reach under the sheet to try and pull it back...and I feel something harder than a pillow. "Eh?" I look under the sheet. The beautiful back of a naked woman greets me. "Howaaaaaaaaaaaa?!" (Makoto) I reflexively scream and leap the other direction. But the blanket was still on me! It holds on tight as I tumble off the bed, and I slam into the marble floor. "Guh!" (Makoto) Why the hell is there a naked woman here? Wait. This room was occupiiiiiiiiied? I strip off the sheets and stand up. Shit. I''m so screwed. I''m going to go to jail. My face is going to be plastered across the Yomiuri Shimbun. I''m going to get housed in a cell with No! What am I going to do? "There''s only one thing I can do..." (Makoto) I need to make the best out of this bad situation. I reach down to my wood. I need to enjoy my last jut as a free man. But I only grab air. "Even you have abandoned me...little bro." It''s seems there''s a faster way to soften up. I look at the naked woman sleeping on the other side of my bed. When I pulled the mattress she changed positions from her side to her back. I can see her contours through the thin white sheet that covers her like a veil. I can confirm, she is indeed naked. And also... "Still asleep?" (Makoto) With all my yelling and thrashing around I would think she would wake up. Or scram for help. Or punch me into outer space. Or all of the above. "Maybe I can sneak out?" (Makoto) It''s a plan. I''m a virgin but I''m also a herbivore. I don''t have the guts to take advantage of this situation. I grab my business suit and carefully open the door. As I''m about to exit, I turn around to the sleeping woman and take one final look at her draped body. ¡¸¤´¤á¤ó¤Ê¤µ¤¤, ´Ë¤ì¤ïÐФ­ß`¤¤¤Ç¤¹¡¹"I''m sorry, this is a misunderstanding." (Makoto) ¡¸»‚¤É¤Î,¤¢¤ê¤¬¤È¤¦¤´¤¶¤¤¤Þ¤¹¡¹ "Thank you, Miss Understanding." (Makoto) I step outside and quietly close the door behind me. 002: Boxers and Briefs "S-Safe." (Makoto) I immediately put on my business suit. I don''t even look around first. There''s nobody in the hall anyway. There''s no boxers or undershirt, both were sacrificed in the traumatic experience from yesterday. After buckling my belt, I notice that the stairs down to the first floor are right next to Miss Understanding''s room. Hm? Last night, I could have sworn I walked down a long hallway to get to this room. Well, whatever. I walk down to the first floor and smell something tasty. I turn right into a room where food is being placed out onto a long serving table by a woman dressed as a maid. "Excuse me miss, is this food available for purchase?" (Makoto) I don''t have any money on me, but it''s possible the food is being put for free to guests. "Ojou-san...my, you are a sweet one to this old lady, aren''t you." (Maid) She sounds like an old lady. I can''t tell because her face is away from me, but I figured she was young from her athletic-looking figure. "I''m sorry." (Makoto) She turns to face me. "Pay it no mind Guest-sama." (Maid) Face of a crocodile. "Please, feel free to eat this food." (Crocodile Maid) ¡¸¥ï¥Ë¤¤¤¿!¡¹ "There''s a crocodile!" (Makoto) "Oh my, you knew the name of this Juanita, Guest-sama?" (Juanita)If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. Ehhh?? ... I ended up not eating a lot from the breakfest. It was a Western-style ''continental breakfast'' with a lot of salty, sugary foods. "Honestly, it''s no good." (Makoto) I complained to Juanita who just bowed her head. She didn''t make the food so I felt more bold to complain about it. Western food is just inferior to Japanese breakfast. Even if we''re talking about instant food like chikin ramen, it''s still going to taste better and be healthier than pancake, egg, and bacon. I''d do anything for some rice and miso but it can''t be helped. Despite her scary face, Juanita is a sweet old lady. She''s been working at the Olympia Village for 50 years. That''s a kind of dedication I can admire! She and most of the staff do not live in the village itself. They take a special shuttle to an employee camp on a small island floating below Olympia Skywalk. Access to the dock is through a basement in the Grand Hotel. "But I thought the village was open 24 hours? Why does everyone have to leave for the evening?" (Makoto) "Makoto-sama, the village is not open 24 hours. We do not have enough staff to meet such a demanding schedule, and the number of adventurers who come here is too low to support our labor." (juanita) Adventurers. The NPC-term for "player characters" in Sugar Maple. Players begin as "classless" on the tutorial area, Horn Island. They''re expected to learn the game mechanics before taking the small airship down to Newberry Island, where the first leg of the game takes place. Horn Island is only accessible by classless and cannot be returned to once players touchdown on Newberry Island. I remember reading about the scrapped plans in a blog post a decade after Sugar Maple was shut down. From the number of docks in Olympia Skywalk, a idea for the game was to have the airship route from Horn Island to Olympia Skywalk as the true "end game". Hidden beneath Horn Island were many legendary, poweful monsters, with the final dungeon being beneath the island. But after game development was abandoned, with only a skeleton staff to maintain the servers, this plot line wouldn''t come to pass. Instead, shortly before the server shut down, Wisent had Horn Island "fall" onto Newberry Island, destroying the world and releasing all these monsters onto an unprepared, charred husk. I thought the entire idea was stupid as hell. The game was already dying, and just making it impossible to play with many end-stage bosses as ordinary encounters is guaranteed to kill interest in the game. It was impossible to progress past Goering Peaks, which ws solidly in the "mid game" plan of development, so there was no way individual players lounging on Newberry Isle around level 80 were going to handle the end stage bosses, who required full parties with levels over 2000 to beat. "..." (???) "Ah? Er, what were we talking about?" (Makoto) "The other Guest-sama has awoken, and she''s approaching us as we speak." (Juanita) Other Guest-sama? I recall the beautiful body in the bed next to me. Bracing myself for the possibility of seeing the woman walking naked around the inn, I turn around. A stunningly beautiful adventurer, clad in a purpe skirt, with a chainmail bra and thigh-high brown socks, descends from the second floor. I instantly recognize her as both the beautiful bedmate, and my former boss "Amane!" (Makoto) 002: INSERT XXXX "I see you are awake. I know we slept together, but I don''t recall giving you my name." (Amane) "D-don''t recall? What the hell''s that. Did you lose your memory? You told me to call you Amane." (Makoto) Amenogawa Amane. It''s weird to call your boss by her first name, without honorifics, but Amane told me to do it because "Amenogawa-san" is too long. Of course, I could just call her boss, like everyone else, but "That''s no good." (Past Amane) So I just ran with it. "I have not lost my memory, how ridiculous an accusation. Last night was the first time we''ve met, I''m sure." (Amane) "I''ve worked under you for two years, Amane." (Makoto) "Could you stop calling me that? You have a good face, but a bad attitude." (Amane) Good face? ME? I look like your typical middle-aged salaryman. Since when would I be considered good looking, and to someone like AMANE? This office lady with a supermodel''s figure. I was so shocked by the compliment my brain went over the conversation we were having, and I noticed something out of place. "Wait, you knew we slept together, naked?!" (Makoto) What''s with that!?! "Of course. Your door was the only unlocked room, so without any other options, I got in bed with you." (Amane) "HUUUUUUUUUUH??" (Makoto) The room was empty, afterall?! I had no reason to be afraid, no, the opposite! "You''d get in bed naked with a man you''d never met before??" (Makoto) "Of course not. I''d only sleep naked with the man I fell in love with." (Amane) So she was in love with me all this time? Since she forcced me to call her Amane? Wait. "Last night was the first time we''ve met, I''m sure." (Past Amane) "It was love at first sight?" (Makoto) "That''s right." (Amane) "How do you feel about me now?" (Makoto)You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story. "Pity and disgust." (Amane) What''s with this womaaaan. Shit. Who would have thought she would have been offended by me misunderstandng the situation and leaving her to sleep? How was I supposed to know the room was EMPTY? I don''t really get it, but if Amane is into me, I can''t let this get away from me! I bow. "I''m sorry for offending you. Please go out with me." "Apology accepted and no thanks." (Amane) She''s still mad? "I''m not mad, there''s something you''re misunderstanding here. I got in bed with you because I could only restore my HP in a bed. And there was no way you could do anything to me, because your level was truly pitiful." (Amane) Level? HP? What''s with these game terms. I know this world resembles Sugar Maple but it''s clearly not a game. And Amane was born the year Sugar Maple came out, there''s no way she could be famiiar wth this game. "Levels? What do you mean by that?" (Makoto) Amane gives me a puzzled expression. "Perhaps, you don''t know? Anything? What you are, or how you look?" (Amane) ??? Amane shifts her weight onto her back leg, crosses her arms and closes one eye. "I see. So that''s how it is. I have the quickest solution to this. Come." (Amane) She beconed me to the opposite side of the first floor. We approached a stand with a vase on it. Behind it, on the wall, was a mirror. "Look at your reflection. Do you not see a name above your head?" (Amane) I gazed into the mirror. There was no name above my head, but that''s not where my eyes were drawn. They were drawn to the hadsome youth starting back at me. Early twenties, Japanese face with youth, the kind of face that would sell music CDs based on the cover. A male idol''s face, and one that vaguely looked like me, but with all the imperfections hammered out. "Who is this?" (Makoto) ... After the shock wore off, Amane explained to me that she had the "power" to see names of PCs and NPCs floating above their heads. She could investigate their stats, and had access to an extra dimensional inventory where she could place items. Those were all game functions of the original Sugar Maple, but in this context, I could only think of them as "Cheat." (Makoto) "I''d prefer the term blessing." (Amane) Cheat. Cheat cheat cheat cheat cheat cheat cheat cheat cheeeeeeeeaaaat. Why?! Why did Amane get Appraisal, stat menus, and item storage, but not me?! Is it because I''ve played Sugar Maple before? Is knowlede of the game that powerful that you would deny me even the most basic menu fuctions? What the heeeeeelll!!! "It''s not fair." (Makoto) "I''m sure god-sama granted you a special skill as well." (Amane) "God-sama? You met god?" (Makoto) "I did." (Amane) Goddamn bullshit. "Liar." (Makoto) "It isn''t a lie. God-sama apologized to me for allowing a ''rogue heat wave'' to kill my department, so as an apology he reincarnated us into a fantasy world with video game mechanics." (Amane) I feel like I''m going to cry. "I don''t believe in a god I''ve never met. This can''t be real." (Makoto) "All of my former subordinates met with god-sama and were granted special skills. And we all look the same. That''s how I know I''ve never met you before." (Amane) The only thing different about me now are my looks and my improved eyesight. Are those my "cheats"? And I never met this "god-sama" either so I have no idea what she''s talking about. "Your people, can they all see the screens?" (Makoto) "That''s right." (Amane) ... I think back to Tachibana and Hina. They were awake before I was, and they knew who I was despite my changed apperance. Or did my apperance remain the same while I was in the field, and it changed when I entered Olympia Skywalk? "I can''t see your name." (Amane) "Huh?" (Makoto) "Last night, the name above your head said ''sleeping naked handsome man''. Right now, it just says "Handsome man''." I seem to recall plot relevant characters in Sugar Maple having their names hidden with tricks like that. "But the color of your name is red, indicating you are not an NPC. You are a player like me." (Amane) "So, adventurer." "What is your name?" INSERT COIN. INSERT COIN. INSERT COIN. 002: Cut to the Chase "Do you feel like talking today?" (Makoto) "Of course! It''s my job, Guest-sama" (Tour Guide) Amane and I are in front of the Tour Guide who laughed me to bed yesterday. The two of us searched all the buildings in Olympia Village, looking for people or information. It seems aside from Juanita, there''s barely any NPCs in the village. Most of the buildings are closed down. I was an anticipating a ghost town based on my experience in Sugar Maple, but even I was taken aback by how empty this "real" world should have been. There''s a grocer, a pawn shop the deals in magical goods, and a nurse who heals wounds. There''s NO Quest NPCs, the type of characters who would give you a task where you can get stronger or obtain a stronger item. Just those basic job NPCs and Juanita, who is not just a maid but apparently the Adventurer''s Guild receptionist. Yet, Juanita does nothing quest related, as the guild''s branch is just the Olympia Hotel. The worker NPCs are friendly but ignorant outside of their inventory. So the only person who might have any information is... "You." (Amane) The tour guide nods approvingly. I notice that she''s still wearing that sharp dress, but a detail I missed is she has arrow ears unbefitting of a human. She''s some kind of demihuman, huh. I don''t remember what the tour guide looked like in the original Sugar Maple. "Normally, you''d be correct. The tour guide would be the person to explain this wonderous place to the new Guest-samas. But unfortunately for you, I am not a tour guide!" (Tour Guide?) She starts to laugh. Her mouth is so wide I can see her fangs. Fangs?? "What do you mean?" (Amane) "A tour guide? What''s that? Do you really need a tour of such a small village? If you''ve made it to Olympia Skywalk, you should be rather strong, yes? Why would you need a tour?" (Not Tour Guide) "If you''re not a tour guide, what are you?" (Makoto) "I''m a bus driver!" (Bus Driver) "Ah. Oh." (Makoto) "Eh?!" (Amane) I look at Amane, while showing my open hand to the smug-looking bus driver. "Bus drivers, cab drivers, and light rail engineers operate under the ''Tele-Taxi" system. They operate magical machines that can teleport you to any place you''ve visited before." (Makoto) "Touma-kun, how do you...?" (Amane) Oh, right. Now that I know Amane thinks I''m a different person, I introduced myself as "Touma" rather than "Satou Makoto". I''m happy my old boss is alive, but she''s not my boss anymore and I don''t want to be told what to do. If I were told what to do, though, I''d still do it with 110% effort! "C~orrect! I don''t talk about places, I take you to places! That isn''t to say I''m not knowledgable, but don''t compare me to a mere tour guide!" (Bus Driver) Tele-Taxis are one of four ways to move around the maps in Sugar Maple. You can go from location to location on foot or vehicle, like bicycle, skateboard, hoverboard or ship. You can use wormholes, but those connect only fixed locations and they are scattered about. Wormholes do not teleport PCs between continents. You can use Tele-Taxis, and you can use warp scrolls that will exit you from any place to the nearest town. Tele-Taxis are the most powerful of transportation in the game, as you can teleport between continents or teleport to any "field" you''ve previously visited. You can even teleport to a boss area in a dungeon! But the power of this teleportation is matched by the steep cost of renting the taxi, and the limitation that you cannot go to new areas using a taxi service. The only place the Tele-Taxi could not take the player is Horn Island, the tutorial continent. But I read on a dev blog long ago that the service could teleport you into the final dungeon, which was below the Cardinal Temple on Horn Island, accesible only at the end of the game. So even that rule could be bent. "Allow me to introduce myself!" (Bus Driver) "I am Mariposa san Andrea, driver of Olympia''s Mabus, the only Tele-Taxi service above the Goering Peaks!" (Mariposa) "Mhm, that sounds impressive indeed." (Amane) "Amanogawa-san, Himmel Cumulonimbus is the only explorable area above the Goering Peaks. She''s using your ignorance of the area to sound big and important." (Makoto) "R-rude!! How dare you say such a thing!" (Mariposa) The bus driver buffed her cheeks and started hitting my chest. "Please forgive me Andrea-san, your beautiful face doesn''t deserve the expresson you''re making!" (Makoto) I said beautiful but I think a more accurate adjective would be "cute". Andrea-san is very attractive, second only to Amane, and is easily the best looking person in this 6 person village. Her demihuman features add a flair of exotic charm that just adds to her apperance.This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience. "Beautiful?" (Mariposa) She stops and gives me a puzzled look. "D-did I offend you...I meant it." (Makoto) Does she not get compliments often? "I''ve never been called beautiful in my life..." (Mariposa) She does not get compliments often! "Afterall, because of these, no man would ever want me..." (Mariposa) She starts to motion toward the chest area where breasts normally would be. It''s come to that?! "Andrea-san, in my country, men would go to war over a woman as beautiful as you." (Makoto) Not a lie, my department went to war over Amane. "Somehow, I''m getting irritated listening to this flirting." (Amane) Mariposa put her hands to her cheeks, miming embarassment or satisfaction. I''m glad she''s feeling better. But it looks like she''s starting off into space. "Andrea-san..." (Makoto) "It''s san Andrea." (Mariposa) Huh? "You two can call me Mariposa-san. "san" is a particle for nobility among my species, the papilla. The language of humans uses "san" as an honorific and it can get tedious addressing me as "san Andrea-san"." (Mariposa) It''s a pleasure to meet you, Mariposa-san. ... "So, where would you like to go? Back to Newberry Island? The first ride is free!" (Mariposa) I make a frown face. "I''ve only been to one other place...the first field south of town." (Makoto) "Eh?!" (Mariposa + Amane) "Amnogawa-san too?! (Makoto) Why was she surprised? Didn''t she see my level? "You haven''t even registered Newberry Island? You mean to say, you are adventurers who weren''t born on Horn Island?" (Mariposa) Born...I guess that''s how the NPCs would phrase it. "Touma-kun, I am concerned for a different reason than Mariposa-san. You''ve expressed knowledge about this world you couldn''t possibly know." (Amane) "You are quite perceptive, Amanogawa-san." (Makoto) "Then..." (Amane) "To answer your question, I have some scattered memories of this place, and one such memory is of the Tele-Taxi system." (Makoto) "Old memories...I see, so you have been to this world before?" (Amane) "Y-yes." (Makoto) Technically maybe kind of sort of. "Then tell me...why did we come to this world? Why did God-sama select us to come here?" (Amane) I''m not sure how to answer that, not having met the God-sama she refers to. But if I were to explain the plot of the original game... "Amanogawa-san, we are here to slay the Demon King." (Makoto) I saw Amane swallow her saliva. "Y-Yes! The Adventurer''s Guild was established to help any individual who would take up arms against Maou-sama, who threatens the very stability of the world!" (Mariposa) A Demon King is often the final boss in online RPGS, and Sugar Maple was no different. If anything, it was a pioneer and one of the first MMORPGs to feature a Demon King antagonist. Demon Kings have a variety of origins and a range of power levels. Some can merely be the champion of a race of mazoku, others could be some super powerful asura-like being. I''ve never seen the one in Sugar Maple and I''m skeptical it was even put in the final game, but it exists as the flavor-based reason for players to go on an adventure in the first place. "So if we slay this Demon King...what happens after that?" (Amane) Why are you asking me? "I don''t know that much. Shouldn''t your God-sama have explained it to you?" (Makoto) "He didn''t say anything of the sort. He merely apologized to me and outined the powers he was giving me. He didn''t even say where he was going to reincarnate me, or as what." (Amane) "Well, what did he say to the others with you?" (Makoto) "I assume you mean my beloved subordinates...none of them were with me." (Amane) Huh? "You weren''t reincarnated together?" (Makoto) "No. In fact, I have not met any of my subordinates. The first human I''ve met is you, a reincarnator unrelated to the heat wave incident." (Amane) Did I reincarnate before Amane? Tachibana and Hina-san were right by me when I awoke, so I had assumed we had reincarnated together and got separated after the fact. "Amane-sama, I could not help but overhear you use the word "reincarnation" over and over. Perhaps...you and Touma-sama are isekaijin?" (Mariposa) We both looked at Mariposa-san. "That''s right." (Makoto) "I see...that explains everything." (Mariposa) Mariposa looked a little down. Her slit eyes lost some light. "I have met many of your companions. Some were already aware of the Demon King legend, while others had to learn about this world from me. All of them are headed down Olympus Tor with the intent of settling in Goer''s Hamlet. "How many did you meet?" (Makoto) "Yesterday, I met about 10-15 humans, all of whom descended into the tower." (Mariposa) I get it. It seems like some of my coworkers were familiar with Sugar Maple or Sweet Sugar Maple and the Demon King plot. They don''t care that the region we''ve spawned in is the midgame, they''ll settle in this area and try to level up enough to cross through the Murder Mines. 10-15 humans is about 2/3rds of our department. With Tachibana and Hina-san dead, that means 3-6 people are on Newberry Island, Horn Island, or...somewhere else in the world. Although if they did manage to spawn in the Unknown Continent, they''re as good as dead. "What should I do?" Amane asks nobody in particular, but she says it in a way that addresses herself. As a woman who lived a very linear life to the top of power, I''m sure the unprecedented freedom she''s now feeling has left her at a loss for what to do. "Amanogawa-san, I can''t tell you how to live your life. But I can tell you how I intend to live mine. Unlike you, I have no special abilities. I''m classless and my level is the lowest. The region we''re in isn''t made for beginners like me, if I go out there, I will die." "My only hope is to leave this place, and go back to the beginner area, and hope I survive." (Makoto) Amane listens to my speech in silence. I can see pity in her eyes. She knows that I''m useless and would be dead weight if I stayed here. "If you leave for those regions, will you ever come back here?" (Amane) "No." (Makoto) "Why?" (Amane) "Amanogawa-san, without blessings, i could never be a match for you. I could never be a match for anyone. If there was any hope of me slaying the Demon King and returning home, it''s beyond my abilities in this world." (Makoto) It''s fruitless to try anyway. The monsters in the Murder Mines and flying above the Goering Peaks are beyond the strength of what is achievable through grinding. You could grind for decades and only gain a single level past 50, and be completely unable of beating such monsters. The second class advancement NPCs and quests were never implemented in the game. Some of those Quest NPCs are supposed to be here in the Skywalk, and they''re MIA. Amane is strong, but she only has a first job class. Tachibana and Hina-san were killed by the weakest of mid tier monsters right outside of town. The Demon King is an impossible dream, and more importantly...why would you do it? Was that boiling cauldron of a planet we called Earth really worth all this effort and sacrifice to go back to? I did not hate my life. I worked hard but it was rewarding, and I lived fairly luxuriously compared to most salaryman. But none of my family is left live and all my friends and coworkers died with me. There''s nothing left for me in Japan, and if anything, I should make it my mission to tell this new world how amazing Japan is. I do wish I got to see the Hams win the Nippon Series... "So." (Makoto) "I will stay in this world and live out the rest of my life. I won''t raise a finger against the Demon King. I''m sorry if this is hard to hear." Mariposa looks concerned, while Amane looks defeated. "I had a feeling. It''s a pity. I feel like with your low level and classless, you secretly might have the highest growth potential. But it doesn''t matter if you have nothing tying you to Japan." (Amane) "Yes." (Makoto) "I can''t live like that, Touma-kun. This isn''t my world and I left too much behind. If you will not party with me...or even just accompany me down the dungeon, this may be our last meeting." (Amane) "And a memorable one it has been." (Makoto) Sorry, Amane. I met you two years ago and chased after you all that time in my own way. In this world, things will be different. You will have to chase me.