~Real World~
The silence of the classroom always gave James the shivers. So quiet, yet so many loud people in the classroom. The teacher was giving out instructions for their homework assignment. Which, in his opinion, was very lame. He yawned, hardly listening to what the teacher said, then looked around at the other kids. Some were twiddling their thumbs, nerds were reading their books, the books being hidden from the teacher’s site, and finally, the girls passing notes, all of them being secret, yet all of them were usually caught. While the teacher had her back turned, writing an equation on the chalkboard, one of the girls tossed a note to her friend, the note passing James’s desk. James grabbed it in mid-air, almost grinning at the girl’s faces. He quickly looked through it, the content not being of too much importance. ‘This class is so boring.’ ‘Yeah, I agree.’ It was the kind of stuff that everyone would say about school, except for the nerdy kids. But the final thing on the note had something different. He looked at it, but was not able to read all of it. Something stopped him. Something called ‘the teacher’.
“Mr. Shakehard, you know the rules. No passing notes.” She walked over and put her hand out, the palm ready to take the note and destroy it. James put it in, giving a quick glare at the girls that said, “You are so dead.” The teacher walked back to the chalkboard, grabbed a garbage can, and headed back to one of the note passing girls. “Please spit out your gum, Ms. Agnore,” she asked. The girl stared at her for a moment, then spit out. I looked at her, a blank expression on my face, the note forgotten. That teacher seriously had eyes in the back of her head. She knew everything. “Now, let’s continue on…” She started writing on the chalkboard again, making the whole class give a sigh. She looked back at the class, an angry look on her face. The class immediately went into helpless little angel mode, making it seem like they were all pretty little angels that loved school. Well, they hated it, but they didn’t show it at all. She looked back and started writing on the chalkboard, but the bell rang before they could do anything. She yelled some homework assignments out before the class disappeared through the doorway, a weekend filled with fun coming their way.
“That teacher seriously has eyes in the back of her head,” one of the kids said. His name was Jake. Jake, one of his classmates, who, like him, had to deal with the notes being passed. He had gotten caught just as many times as he had, but he usually complained and somehow got the girls in trouble. James opened his locker, grabbing his backpack and a few books. At least he didn’t have much homework to do.
“Yeah, I totally agree,” he told him, slamming his locker shut and heading to the stairs. James sighed as he jumped down the stairs, taking two steps at a time. That teacher was like the devil, only not as bad. A girl passed him, then tossed a note in front of him. James caught it in mid-air while he jumped two steps. The girl raced down the steps, disappearing in a quick crowd of freshmen. It was the same note that the teacher had caught. He stared at the bottom for a second, his eyes widening already, but then threw it in the trashcan. He wanted to jump, but he didn’t want to show his expression, or tell it to anyone. A girl liked him! Well that was a first. Well, a first in his whole freaking life. James opened a door and walked outside, grabbing his bike and opening the lock. He jumped on, already starting to pedal. His house was not that far off. And his mom would want to hear how the first week of school went all together. And he was so not telling her about the girl and such. He was surprised someone would even have the guts to tell him. He shut his eyes for a moment, trying to think why, but opened them, seeing a road come up. Biking across the road, he came into his neighborhood, his house being the first one to the right. He braked and got off, setting his bike behind one of his trees. No one wanted a bike around here so he didn’t care to set it in the garage. He walked and opened the door to his house, his mom immediately greeting him.
“So, how was school?” she asked, sounding like someone who had a four year old for a son. Well, this was his mom, always embarrassing him every few moments. Right now was fine, but if that happened at school, he would burst.
“Fine,” he said in a cheerful voice, immediately heading up the stairs to his room. She didn’t answer, but only smiled. He couldn’t wait to get to college. Skipping steps, he dropped his backpack on the stairs and walked into his room, grabbing his new issue of ‘The World’ magazine, a new magazine that had just come out, giving tips, areas to play in, and good party members to have, plus the items that were only found in certain areas. He looked at the front cover, a Long Arm, Wavemaster, and a Twin Blade fighting off a huge dragon. It looked like a huge area. It sounded extremely fun, but he wasn’t high enough yet to do it. If they had a Twin Blade in their party when he went with Urufu, they would’ve looked just like it. He started reading through articles, than skipped to the back, a few tips there, and a few important articles coming by. But one caught his eye, the article being extremely important. ‘Coma’ was the title.
James immediately closed the article and jumped into his seat, looking at his E-mail, then the BBS. There wasn’t much there. There was an article read as, ‘Important, have you seen this person’ thing, but not much. A coma while playing an online game was extremely important. Even though he hadn’t read the article, he knew that something was wrong with the game. And it was extremely important. James slipped on the VR goggles, than looked at the BBS one last time. There wasn’t anything for help and such. There was from a newbie, but that wasn’t much. He wasn’t a newbie anymore. Scrolling through it, he clicked back and looked at the button read as, ‘Log In’. Today was a day that he would try and make good, cool, and fun. Clicking the icon, he looked at the words, Username and Password. Now was the time to leave his room and travel to a virtual world. He typed in his username and his password without a word, than clicked Log In.
Username: Shenmock
Password: *******
Loading…
Welcome to The World
~Mac Anu~
The swift descent of gold rings told him that he had logged in. The crowds of ‘The World’ overwhelmed him for the first few seconds, but he eventually felt like he was part of the crowd. The smell of stinky socks overwhelmed him. If only the VR goggles had a nice smell to them. And plus, he seriously needed to clean up his dirty clothes. He took a few steps forward, taking in everything. The people, the stores, the bridge, and a few other things: all part of Mac Anu. Taking a few steps down the stairs, he stood there for a moment, the title of the article overwhelming him for a moment before he calmed down. It was all just too much for him, but he just wondered if he should just stop playing it all together. But that wasn’t a choice for him. Quitting meant never coming back. And never coming back was not acceptable. After he had gotten himself into a clan, made a few friends, and gone through dungeons. No way. Not even getting into a coma would scare him. Or maybe he was just overreacting a bit. He was scared, but he couldn’t see anything happening to him that would cause a coma.
A crowd of people were all gathered at the bridge, most of them just looking out at the calm water. The sun was already setting, the tower where he had fought zombies still there, ticking away as it reached another hour. He walked past the party members, listening to the conversations. Most of them were based on the words, ‘Oh, you got a level up. Nice job!’ Others were based along the lines of, ‘you got a good item. Good for you.’ Shenmock leaned against the fence that blocked them from falling in and looked out at the wonder, the sun making the water sparkle in the sunset. People stared in awe at it. It was almost like seeing the real world sea, only much better. But something caught his attention. A Twin Blade and a Heavy Blade were having a conversation over a field that had to do with a field. It was a field that didn’t have too many monsters, but there was one thing about it that caught his attention.
“Yeah, they say that this dark voice whispers hints to you,” he said.
“It sounds hard,” the Heavy Blade said, a pinch of fear in his voice.
“Yeah, the monsters are kind of like the newbie kind, but sometimes it confuses and sends you into a room with monsters that are stronger then you.”
“What are the keywords?”
“Great Someone’s Gate,” he answered. “It’s a level five field.”
Shenmock’s eyes widened with excitement. A field that whispered hints to you, that was like an event field. Shenmock immediately set off to the Chaos Gate, determined to get through that field and grab some items. An event field always had good level ups and items. It was something that he always wanted to get. He trembled with more excitement as he walked up the stairs, people coming and going from the Chaos Gate, making it a bit harder to get there. People were calling all kinds of fields, all being from level one to level fifteen. If you wanted a higher level, you would have to go to a different server. He stuck with this server, not even trying to get close to that place. Once to the Chaos Gate, he held up his hand. “Great, Someone’s, Gate!” he yelled, his hand held high. The familiar sensation of golden rings picking him up off the ground and teleporting you to a field came over him, the loading screen coming up, the words ‘Great Someone’s Gate’ coming up on his screen. It was field time!
~Great Someone’s Gate~
The golden rings descended into the field, leaving a single Long Arm alone in the field. Shenmock shivered the second he got there. It was a snowfield, the clouds being gray, cool snow coming down to gather up on his hair. Shenmock shook his head, wiping off the snow. Shenmock examined the field a bit more. A tall castle stood at the edge of the field, only one monster portal blocking it. If he could see it from here, he must be close. Snow covered the grounds, grunty food peeping from rocks and screaming their names so you would grab them. He didn’t want a grunty so he didn’t care to take one. A few trees were out in the distance, not a leaf in sight. And then there was a few portals surrounding him, Shenmock not planning to take on any of them. If he wanted to, he would do it. But he didn’t feel like taking on portals today. He wanted to find out what this dungeon was like and he wasn’t planning to waste much time.
Shenmock headed in the direction of the dungeon, narrowly escaping a few portals that he wanted to avoid, some being a bit harder to avoid then others. He went on towards the dungeon, sprinting past the grunty food, snow being swept off the ground behind him. It was a great sensation that made him feel like he wasn’t in a virtual world anymore, he was in the real world running past portals and heading to destroy monsters, grab some good treasure, and…do some homework. That part of it brought him down a little, him having to work on a few things, than having dinner. But after that he was free. Maybe he would at least get some fun out of his day after all. Shenmock slid to a halt before the dungeon, a portal spinning in his way. Shenmock held his spear up, reminding himself that he would use the one in his previous quest. He liked the feel of it so he had used it instead of any other ones out there. Spinning it around, he slid it behind his back and put his hand out, his fist open to show his palm like he was going to shoot blasts of lightning at his enemies (which he wasn’t). He took a step forward, then another, and another, and another, until the portal finally realized there was a player approaching. It swung around, the light seeming to shoot out like meteors. Until, that is, it disappeared, a white light coming out to reveal two Cadet Valkyries.
These two idiotic monsters (in Shenmock’s opinion) had spears as weapons like them. Yet having two was double trouble, especially when you had to fight one while the other tried to get you. He spun his spear again, pointing it at both of them and charged, ready to slice some of their heads off. He remembered the day before when he had played a game where you used a spear as a weapon, the creators of the game making every use for it possible. That was the thing he liked about it. It was like an idea giver to him. Shenmock’s swung his spear and dealt an uppercut hit to the Valkyrie’s chin, then spun kicking out with his foot, using a certain movement to make it spin around like someone was using topspin on him. It landed on the ground its eyes seeming to go round and round like a Merry-Go-Round. Shenmock faced the other, blocking a swing from a spear and tripping it, only to see that the monster was way ahead of him, his hands landing on the ground, letting him launch himself back and prepare his spear again. Shenmock charged, swinging his spear like some barbarian. The monster did likewise. But he had made a grave mistake when he did that, cuts and bruises landing on his sides when the monster hardly got anything. Jumping back, Shenmock raised his spear and sprinted forward again, ready to make this thing a dinner plate (not for him).
This time Shenmock took more precautions, dodging and ducking when necessary and never swinging it like a madman. That was always someone’s greatest weakness. Kicking out, he set it off guard. With not a moment to waste, he started swinging his spear, his hand moving like he was stretching it. It was more like watching a wheel go round and round, only his hand was doing that and dealing many hits to its chest. Shenmock was forced back when its partner dealt a roundhouse kick to his cheek, making him fly back into the snow. Shenmock wiped blood from his cheek, the two monsters a few feet away, both pointing his spear at him. Shenmock put a stern face on, his spear held high and ready for battle. He would take a slow approach this time. Maybe they would do the same. Taking a step forward, Shenmock tilted his spear downward, but that was the only thing it took to get them riled up for some serious brawling. Both of them charged. Maybe not… Shenmock charged at them, his spear in a different position now. Shenmock crouched down, leaping over them. It was amazing to see the surprise on their faces. They didn’t even raise their weapons. He landed on the ground, his position a little crooked, but that was what he wanted. Bending down, he grabbed the monsters collar, using all his strength to fling it out into mid-air. The monster was sent soaring into the air, his head landing on a rock and banging. His controller vibrated for a moment, but the monster’s body went limp fast. Even though it wasn’t dead, it was dazed for the time being.
But in that time its fellow partner had a chance at him. It swung and landed a slash on his back, making him shiver, his controller shaking furiously. He whirled around, still a stern look on his face. “Gan Zot!” Shenmock yelled, raising his spear and swinging it into thin air. A brown aura surrounded him, his hair moving back and his green headband swinging around on his head. It didn’t fall off, but it was close to it. The ground rumbled for a moment before dark chunks of earth came from the ground. Seeing the horror on the monsters face when it came out made Shenmock laugh. The snow seemed to leap out of the ground and fly for cover. Cover meant him. Snow landed on his face, quickly falling off due to the aura around him. The monster landed with a thud on the ground, its body limp, death showing everywhere on his face. Due that he was stronger and better than before, the spell took much more effect. And then Gan Zot was just a pretty strong spell all together. Ghostly features crossed its face, its feet started to turn gray. The monsters eyes were still open, the features of death still showing on its face. For a second Shenmock had feelings for it, yet after three seconds he was done, the data already swallowing it up to transport it away and bring it to another dimension where dead monsters who were dead went. Maybe there was a place where monsters killed by Shenmock lay. That would be pretty sweet. Well, to him at least.
Shenmock had almost forgotten that he still had a battle at hand. Whirling around, he faced the Cadet Valkyrie, the cadet approaching him, still looking a bit dizzy, but its stern look blew it away, leaving nothing but anger and hate left in its eyes. It held up its spear, its stern face looking deathly now. Then, without question, it sprinted forward, its feet barely touching the ground as it ran. Ran towards its destiny. Shenmock pointed his spear at the monster and sighed, his finger coming up. “You idiot,” Shenmock muttered, staring at the monster with cold hatred. It couldn’t do anything more than charge with unmatched speed. And it wasn’t even swerving to the side or anything like that. That was partly lame, but he knew CC Corp. couldn’t make them that smart. If only they had thought about the people who played this game. “Triple Doom!” Shenmock yelled just as the monster was close enough. A white aura surrounded him, giving him the familiar sensation of his hair being blown back and feeling like he was standing on a cliff enjoying the wind. Shenmock did a front flip, swinging his spear down. That was a new thing. The skill sliced it in half, being too much for the monster to handle. It was done for. The monster opened his mouth, nothing coming out, then fell to the ground, the ghostly features coming up on him, his body turning gray like his partner. Shenmock spun his spear around and slipped it away, glad that he had gotten some excitement squeezed into his battle.
Shenmock turned to face the dungeon, the castle seeming to loom over him. He looked up. It didn’t look half like a castle. It looked like one of the corners of a castle, not the full thing. But he could just call it a castle. Shenmock walked into the darkness, the black loading screen coming up, and milliseconds later teleporting him to the entrance. Shenmock stared at it. This was a castle after all. A bloody red carpet lay out before him, much less like a pop star’s carpet. Marble pillars held the ceiling high, the marble not being breakable. Probably the work of CC Corp. The walls were no different from his first dungeon adventure. Blood was still washed on them, leaving the no stain effect there, perplexed to the spot. Shenmock shivered and walked forward, still seeing his icy breath come out of his mouth. Shenmock stared at the ceiling, spider webs dropping down, flies immediately falling prey to the spiders. Flies were so stupid, especially in games. He continued down the path, still staring in awe at the effects of this field. But something made Shenmock jump out of his skin, something awkward, and something that the Heavy Blade and Twin Blade had mentioned. Voices.
Protecting someone will always bring greater strength to the player, the Voice said.
“What the-,” Shenmock said, looking around to confirm that no one was there whispering in his ears. “What was that voice?” he asked himself, thinking out loud. It was probably the event that was here. But he remembered the words. “Protecting someone will always bring greater strength to the player,” he repeated, trying to make sense of the words. He was pretty good at riddles and this one seemed not to be one. More like some advice said in a strange way. The Voice meant that if you protected someone precious to you, you would have greater strength. Or they could mean party members, but he thought it was the first one. Shenmock knew that he would hear this voice throughout the dungeon, the voice probably giving riddles on which way to go or telling him advice if it was a room with only one way like the beginning. First Floor could be read at the top right of his screen, giving out the map of the room. He headed on, ready to take on some more monsters. He opened the door, moving in, than closing it behind him, a T shaped room lay before him.
It was like the other one, only torches stuck out of the walls, lighting his way there. A portal stood in the way, the shining golden ring spinning rapidly around, and the light making the room sparkle. Not as much as Mac Anu, but it was a pretty good sparkle in his perspective. Sprinting across the room, he made the distance between him and the portal in seconds, sandals not slowing him down, but his freezing feet doing so. Once there he started wiping it on the carpet, then faced the portal, his spear held up and ready to battle. The portal spun around, shedding its golden light, before it opened, leaving two Sky Fish in its wake.
The descriptions said it all. They were fish that floated around, the only thing making them deadly being the part where they could poison you if you weren’t careful. Shenmock licked his lips for a moment, watching the Sky Fish’s expressions change to horror. He laughed, being sarcastic about that part. He wouldn’t eat one of those things if his life depended on it. Eating poison meant an instant trip to Game Over land. Shenmock sprinted forward, getting a running start, before jumping into the air, then spinning around in an arc to swing his spear down on the monsters face. Landing on the ground, he kicked out, landing a hit on the Sky Fish before swinging his spear to whack its partner across the face, a scar coming across it. Both Sky Fish went on the offensive side, swinging their tails at them, than staring at him coldly, Shenmock now on the ground, slapping his head for his bad approach. He got up with no hands and swung his spear, starting to spin around. “Juk Rom!” he yelled, raising his spear, than jumping back, trying to be a safe distance from the tornado.
The monstrous tornado swallowed up the Sky Fish and left cuts and bruises on it, the monster seeming to scream for help from its partner. The green aura surrounded Shenmock, his hair coming back, his eyes gleaming with excitement. But all the Sky Fish did was float there, suffering badly from the tornado. Once Done, Shenmock jumped, stabbing it straight in the chest to make a cabob out of it. He swung his spear away, already disgusted by the digital guts that hung out, seeming to be lifeless. “Triple Doom!” Shenmock yelled, unable to get it off. A white aura surrounded him, the power of the skill coming to his muscles. He brought it upward and sliced it up, bringing the monster to an end. He had used two skills, a slash to the face, and finally bringing it down to the ground. That would be enough to finish one off. Now for the other one, Shenmock thought. But a familiar purple surrounded him, giving him the sensation that brought his spirits down: poison.
A familiar sensation came over him, draining all the energy out of him, a familiar wash of pain coming over him. He had gotten poisoned before. Now was the time to get out of it. Luckily he had grabbed three Antidotes just in case he had a bit of trouble. He gulped one down, the glass already slipping away from his grasp, disappearing from sight, leaving only two Antidotes left. Shenmock faced the monster, feeling better than ever.
The poison had worn off and he was ready for some serious action. He jumped and swung forward, the Sky Fish immediately dodging the attack. Kicking to the right and landing a surprise hit on the Sky Fish, he turned to the left, the Sky Fish now facing his back. He swung his spear backwards, landing a hit on its side, then back flipped, skimming over its body and landing on the other side. He stabbed it, blood spraying the ground and hitting his headband and face, the Headband finally having a single stain on it. “For your information you’re part of a food group,” he yelled into its ear, making sure it could hear him. Swinging it like it was some kind of sushi on a stick, he smashed it into a wall before slipping it off, the monster spinning over to hit the other wall.
Still floating, it charged, blood and bruises covering its body. Shenmock almost grinned, running forward to meet it in battle. Shenmock ran forward, took a great leap, and…double over in pain? The tail had met his feet in mid-air, making him do a back flip, and land on his head, pain washing over him. Shenmock was dazed for a moment, nausea seeming to overwhelm him. He felt like puking due that he had so much blood in his face, plus he had opened his mouth, cursed, gotten blood in his mouth, and felt even worse. He coughed for a moment, spitting out the blood that had gotten into his mouth. Blood was especially disgusting. He couldn’t see why Count Dracula was so addicted to it.
Getting up, Shenmock faced it again, his spear held high and ready to make some food out of this thing. He was hungry, but he wasn’t going to go to drastic measures. If he were camping it would be an option. Since he wasn’t, he wouldn’t get close to eating it. Shenmock this time stayed on bare ground, running forward, his feet not even making a sound on the red carpet. Spinning around, Shenmock attacked its blind spot, catching a blind spot on the Sky Fish’s side. Jumping up while he had a chance, he kicked out, the Sky Fish giving enough momentum to get a back flip in their. “Die!!!!!” Shenmock yelled, his voice echoing through the dungeon. He jumped and thrust his spear into the Sky Fish’s head, bringing the monster to an end, sushi finally being made out of it. Shenmock almost smiled, but only dropped down to the ground, the gray monster floating to the ground and disappearing in a flash of data. “Well, that’s done.”
It came again.
Go the Wight way, the Voice said in a very childish voice.
Shenmock repeated the words afterward, than looked around, his face blank. Go the Wight way. It sounded so strange when the Voice said it. It meant that he would have to go right. Shenmock was about to go when the W on the right way caught his attention when he repeated it. The W had to stand for something. Whack? Well? West? Wait! Shenmock almost jumped out of his skin in excitement. The W on the word meant he had to go west. If he was wrong, then he would have to take the other way, but he had a feeling that he was right. The doors opened on both sides, making him jump for a moment. Shenmock looked to the left, sure that it was the right way to go. He darted over to the open door and burst through the open door, the black loading screen coming up for a millisecond before revealing the next room.
He had been right. He had gone the right way. Sometimes he amazed himself, even if it was some of the easiest riddles to figure out. He just didn’t like that child’s voice. It reminded him of when he was little. Not his favorite thing to talk about. Especially when his mom was around. A square room lay out before him, skeletons leaning against the sides, their heads decapitated. Shenmock shivered and turned his attention to the doors. Two sturdy metal doors stood out on the west and north side. Shenmock liked those metal doors. They just stood out. It was exactly the thing you would find in a castle unlike these portals. Turning his attention towards the portal, he seized his spear from his bag and leveled his spear so it was pointed at the portal. There wasn’t much scenery in this room. There was only blood, skeletons, monsters, and the stench of death (which was his dirty socks) in James’s room. Shenmock neared the portal until the portal finally started spinning rapidly, now knowing that he was here and he was prepared for battle. “Repth,” he muttered, knowing that if he continued on in this bloodstained way, he would likely die. The green aura surrounded him, green light digging into his wounds to make them better. Shenmock took an audible sigh of relief, looking at them in satisfaction before facing the portal again. Now was the time to act! Shenmock watched as it glowed and released the monsters of the portal: two Sword of Chaos.
Shenmock readied his spear. These monsters had pretty high defense. These, like the Disco Knives, had a sword. The only thing extra was a shield, making it have pretty high defense. Shenmock readied his spear. These two monsters would be hard to beat. Compared to the Cadet Valkyries these things were extremely strong. “Finally, a challenge,” Shenmock said, crouching down, his spear still in the same exact position as it was before. He didn’t like the looks of these things. He never liked Disco Knives, but these things. They could be trouble. Shenmock took another step forward, hardly ever blinking, trying to keep his eyes on both of them. Both of them glided forward, barely hovering above the ground. It almost seemed like they still had some kind of armor on that made it clank and move, but Shenmock knew that wasn’t it. With one quick movement, he raced forward, spinning around to deal a blow to the sword, depleting its HP a little. The sword, as if never hit, came down on him, being quite powerful, but Shenmock had the upside since he was a Long Arm. He was swift and powerful, that was all he needed to say. Taking a step back, he escaped the sword, panting already from the strength of the attack. “Juk Rom!” he yelled, swinging his spear.
A green aura surrounded him immediately, the words of the spell being all it would take to activate it. The usual sensation of the spell washed over him, wind coming up to blow his hair back, seeming to make him look like he was standing at the edge of a cliff in the middle of a wind storm, no rain at all. And it felt good. The whirling tornado of leaves appeared out of nowhere, ascending upward to meet both of them, the monsters being too close together. The armor seemed to whirl around, sending strange noises into his ears that made him wonder if there was an actual guy behind it in full body armor. The monsters collapsed, their swords and shields clattering to the ground as Shenmock prepared his spear again, pointing it at the now getting up monsters. Spinning his spear around, he faced the monsters, preparing to destroy them and get through to the next room. One of the swords wriggled around a bit, a white aura surrounding it. Shenmock sprinted forward, cursing under his breath. He hadn’t seen that the monster was casting a strengthening spell on itself. That would be extremely bad. And it happened. Shenmock jumped, spinning in an arc and landing a blow on the second monster, that one being the one that had increased in strength. Ducking from a sword swipe, Shenmock swung his spear, dealing a blow to the monster that sent it hovering back a few feet away.
Jumping to dodge another sword swipe, Shenmock swung twice sideways at the other, dealing a pretty good blow to its sword. A cut to his back gave him the feeling that he had let his guard down. He turned around, watching as the monster that had the strengthening spell swung again. Shenmock ducked and rolled to the side, then jumping back, preparing his spear for another assault on the two monsters. Both were pretty slow to react so if he used speed to his advantage, he had this match down. But the attack that it had used had done increasingly good damage, making him look much worse. Now he looked more like a bloody mess.
Racing forward, one arm raised with the spear in it, the other at his side, ready to cast a spell when needed, Shenmock swung his spear, preparing another attack. The spear clanged against the shield, making James’s controller vibrate violently, the controller almost falling out of his hand. Shenmock pulled his spear back, staggering back just in time to dodge a swipe from the monster’s sword. “Okay, not a good approach. I need to aim for the sword, not the shield,” Shenmock muttered to himself, saying it out loud in front of him giving him a better feeling. He charged forward at the monster with the strengthening spell, his eyes burning with confidence. “Take this!” Shenmock yelled, swinging his spear, jumping, then swinging his spear, the spear clanging against the sword, dealing a bit more damage to add on to its damage meter. Shenmock ducked and rolled to the side as the sword swiped sideways and came down to the floor in a swift motion. Kicking out with his foot, Shenmock kicked the shield out of the way, leaving a quick blow to him. “Die,” he muttered under his breath, swinging his spear and smashing the sword. With another quick spin, he dealt another two blows. “Now for the final touch,” Shenmock said. “Triple Doom!” He swung down, slicing the monster clear in half, the aura barely coming around him as he did. His hair was swept back off his neck, pointed in the direction of the sturdy metal door. The monster fell limp to the floor, the ghostly features coming to it, everything about it turning gray. With one final gray spot to finish off, the monster descended into pure data, never to be seen by a player again. This monster was finished. Now was the time to fight the next one.
But as soon as those thoughts came, he was sent to the ground, his figure spinning around as if Rock Lee had just dealt a Konoha hurricane to him. Shenmock spun, already feeling blood spray out around him. He felt like he was on the Tilt-a-Whirl, only much worse. Finally the spinning came to a halt, letting him get up again to face it. His eyesight was blurry, yet he could tell that the monster was gliding toward him. “Crap,” he muttered, raising his spear. He shook his head for a few moments before coming back to himself, the vision no longer blurry. The monster swung. Shenmock ducked. A spear came up, slashing at the sword, then the figure jumped back, the monster standing there as if nothing happened. The sword had a few cuts from his spell and a cut from his spear, but nothing that bad. That was the worse part. He wanted to kill it quickly so he could move on. The monster swung again, making Shenmock think on his toes. He held up his spear in defense, than ducked, again taking a huge swipe at it. He was met by the shield of the monster again, the controller in James’s hand vibrating again, James having to get a hold of it before he could go and focus on playing again. Shenmock shook his head and ducked, rolling away again and taking a swing at the monster. It caught the sword off guard again, Shenmock acting quick on his toes. The sword was swung again, this time Shenmock going to drastic measures. He jumped on the sword, jumped off and took another swing, getting on the swords blind spot. He hit it again, the sword this time turning back to face him. It swung three times, once sideways, another diagonally, and another forward, making Shenmock bring his spear in defense. Both the sword and spear could not hold on forever so Shenmock decided to end this fight swiftly and silently. Changing his angle, he got it so the spearhead was against the sword. “This fight…” Shenmock cut through the monster’s sword, ending its life forever. The monster’s sword and shield turned gray, the features taking over their bodies. Within milliseconds they were gone, disappearing in a flash of data. “…Is over,” he finished.
Shenmock sighed, slipping his spear back behind his back and stretched his arms. What an exciting battle. Fighting two new monsters that were around your level. And it had been a pretty good one too. Something bothered Shenmock again. The voice was probably about to give him some kind of hint to go somewhere. Shenmock looked around, than heard the echo of the voice again, this time the voice sounding casual. As usual, there was not a person in sight, the user of the voice being completely invisible.
Darkness will swallow people up and never spit them out. Light shall teach them ways of good, making them some of the best people in this world. Three directions: north, south, or east. Follow your heart to your destination Shenmock.
Shenmock almost fell back and landed to the floor. He repeated it again, making sure he hadn’t just been hearing things. The dark side of his heart wanted to go north, but the light side wanted to go south. Going back wasn’t an option for him. He had to find out how this voice knew his name and so many things about him. Was it all in his head? Was it in the dungeon, or what? He knew one thing was for sure, it knew him very well, and he had an idea that this wasn’t an event. This was someone else’s doing and he wouldn’t be able to fight it. He couldn’t fight something invisible. Now was the time to decide. Which way to go? Would he choose the light side in him or would he choose the dark side of him? Shenmock sat down and thought for ten whole minutes, not even realizing that he had just sat there for that long. Finally, he got up. Darkness would swallow him up and never get him back. Light would give him power, friends, and a good life. He gave out an audible sigh. Light was the way to go. He loved darkness so much that he had forgotten that he was literally afraid of it. Light was his way, and something inside him told him he had chosen the right answer. His way was south. He headed in that direction, the metal doors already opening up for him. He held his breath as he walked through the passageway and into the next room. Was he right?
The next room made Shenmock smile. For the first time in a long time, he gave a long bright smile, anger going away. Had his personality changed this much? Was he really this happy now? Shenmock whooped once, jumping into the air and yelling, “Yes!!!!!!” The red carpet stood out before him, pillars on all sides, not a skeleton or blood in sight. Without question, Shenmock sprinted forward, still jumping, energy pumping into him like some possessed person with unlimited energy. Shenmock did a front flip, than finally realized he was overreacting. He fell back on the carpet and stared at the passageway to the second floor. Was life really like this? Was being happy always like this? It felt so good, yet sometimes he just wanted to be casual like nothing ever made him mad. He sighed with relief, looking up at the ceiling, the spiders feasting on their prey. Shenmock got up and headed down the stairs, the red carpet leading down the dark passageway. But before he entered, the voice talked again, making Shenmock jump and look back, the hairs on his back prickling.
Don’t let excitement get to you. There are many challenges yet to come. Be cautious and especially, be ready for battle.
Shenmock took the words in and sat on the staircase, thinking about what it had said. Battles were yet to come. He sighed and looked around, still wondering if there were any people coming to talk to him. He got up, sighed, and continued on through the passageway, his eyes fierce and ready for battle at a moments notice. The first room of the second room was like any other in the dungeon. A red carpet stood out before him, blood splattered over it, probably made for people slipping into what seemed to be a sea of blood, but was only a bit of blood and a red carpet. The pillars on side had a few cracks on them, but nothing bad. Torches hung out from them, lighting his way to the door (to victory in his opinion). A few skeletons lay on the sides, their heads decapitated and the chains on them rusty from how long they had been there. Probably a thousand years for CC Corp., but only maybe three years or something in real life. Shenmock raced forward, his spear already out, the advice from the voice still ringing in his ears. If he didn’t listen, he would die quickly. So, he decided to listen to something wise. Wisdom was always a virtue, especially in his verdict.
He continued through the next room into a V shaped hallway, him being at the bottom of it. Left or right, left or right. He expected the voice to come, but it didn’t. Know was the time for him to decide. He chose right because it was always the right way. He laughed to himself, still looking at the sides. Skeletons with no heads were down in cages, leaning against the life-sized cages. Ropes held from the top of the dungeon indicated more skeletons, their heads being hung. Shenmock stuck his tongue and muttered, “Bleh,” under his breath. How disgusting. He wouldn’t be surprised if a girl came over and screamed high enough for people in the Aqua Capital to hear her. That would be pretty crazy. And he would laugh while other people covered their ears. Shenmock waved the thoughts away and continued down the corridor, passing the bloodstained walls and walking down the red carpet. He walked through the sturdy doors and into the darkness, still wondering if he had gone the right way.
A C-shaped room came up in front of him, a door in the middle and a door at the end, him coming through the one at the bottom. He looked at his map, a portal sticking out in the middle. Sharp thorns stuck out on the ground if you jumped, probably stopping your fall by splitting yourself in half. He knew it was just for show, not for throwing things off of. He expected an invisible wall there and continued on, passing a barrel that probably held items. He ignored it. Seizing his spear from his back, he leveled it so it was pointed at the middle of the portal, the golden portal gently spinning around, and the unknown markings on it still not revealing what they actually said. That would be yet another mystery of ‘The World’. It bothered him that all those mysteries that were unsolved just stood there, waiting for someone to solve them. And that was just what he was doing. He was solving the mystery of this dungeon and he wasn’t planning to have anything stop him while he solved it. He approached the portal, the portal already realizing that he was standing before it, waiting to destroy some monsters. It spun around like some ferocious beast and revealed two Headhunters, both monsters being dark element and hard monsters to beat. That was the thing he hated about Headhunters. They were big, slow, and holding skulls. He had faced off against one when he was with Faust and Baron. But right now he was stronger than before, he had a spear, and he wanted to kill these things quickly and get through this dungeon. Readying his spear, he charged. The familiar red words of ‘Battle Mode On’ flashed across his screen as he charged the two hunks of meat that stood in that spot, ready to be destroyed by a single puny Long Arm only half their size.
Shenmock leaped into the air like a cat, spinning his spear around to stab the monster. “Triple Doom!” he yelled, stabbing down into the monsters chest. The white aura surrounded him, giving him strength that made him think he could run around the world in three days (more like a year). Shenmock almost grinned, watching his spear cut into it. Seizing it out of its body, Shenmock looked at it. He stared at it for a moment before realizing that the dark stuff was blood seeping out. He put on a disgusting face, still looking at it. Blood gushed out of its chest, dripping down its chest and tapping down on the floor. The monster looked down at him and swatted Shenmock aside with its sword, bringing his HP down pretty low. Shenmock fell to the ground, spinning around and falling in a heap about ten feet away. “Ouch,” Shenmock muttered, using his spear to pull himself up. He glared at the monsters with cold hatred, but held up his hand instead, seeming to cast a spell, but doing a completely different thing.
“Repth,” he said openly, the monsters clearly hearing the spell that he had cast. The green aura came around him, the aura seeming to seep into his wounds, bringing his HP back to full. Shenmock relaxed a little, seeing that he had full HP. Shenmock sighed. Beating these things with this spear was useless. He looked over his items, examining the ones he had gotten from his last quest. Most of the accessories that he had gotten weren’t much of a status increase, but he needed this, and now. Shenmock slipped on some of the new armor and armed himself with one of his newest spears, the Gold Spear. One of his new accessories crossed out Gan Zot and gave him the ability to use the water element. Rue Zot. And he liked the water element. It was his element that he would try and focus on getting the equipment that used the element right. Pointing his spear at the two monsters, Shenmock put on his stern battle face. Both monsters looked intimidating but he had beaten one of them at level three (with the aid of Urufu of course). Since he was twice the level now, he would seriously leave some bloody stains on those skulls. Shenmock charged his spear held in the same position. He felt like an Indian, but he seriously didn’t care what he looked like in the heat of battle. He just cared about kicking this monster’s ass!
Ducking and rolling forward to dodge two quick swipes from the Headhunter, Shenmock yelled, “Double Sweep!” A white aura surrounded him, his hair flying back, his eyes gleaming with excitement. Slashing wildly, Shenmock spun in a full circle, jumping as he did, the attack seriously slapping some sense into the monsters for a second. Blood sprayed, Shenmock swinging his spear like a pole. If this had been on big screen as a slo-mo scene, it would’ve been one of the coolest scenes in history. With the attack done, Shenmock leaped back and spun his spear around, pointing it at the two Headhunters, his position low like a Long Arm’s should be like, his face glowing, and his confidence nearing 90 percent. This was what Long Arm’s should’ve been like. This was what Shenmock was going to be like, one of those guys who seriously destroyed the monsters and jumped away, leaving the monsters with no room to escape. He started forward again, looking at his HP, being a stupid thing for him to do. It was at full of course, mainly because he had just used a Repth. He approached, taking time and taking all the precautions needed. Finally, both Headhunters started forward, their steps making up a proportion of what distance was between the two. Shenmock looked up at the heaping masses of monster that looked down at him and swung their sword. For a second, Shenmock stood there, welcoming death, but he snapped back into reality, just in time to block against the blade. Jumping up and letting his spear go, he landed on the blade, the blade being a little bit bigger than him. Dashing forward, the distance being only a few steps, he swung three times before the Headhunter actually swung the sword, swatting him off like a fly. The sword came crashing down again, Shenmock having to roll over to the side, the sword making a cut on his arm, blood starting to ooze out of it. If he had moved a second later, he would’ve had one less hand. That was a pretty bad sign.
Jumping up again, Shenmock charged forward, swinging his spear like a maniac, trying to get a few good hits on them before getting blown back. Well, he had just found the tactic of the battle. These monsters were n00b monsters, the kind of monsters that would stare down at him for a moment before realizing that their HP was depleting. He took to their legs, trying to get some good hits on it, succeeding in it and getting some good damage on it before getting blown back again, Shenmock being one of the more stupid Long Arm, but used his brain whenever there was a hard battle plan. Shenmock continued to use the plan, once, twice, thrice, until the first Headhunter lay dead at his feet, the ghostly features appearing on its body, the skull and its whole body disappearing in a flash of data, leaving Shenmock, injured and panting, and the Headhunter who probably had about 70 percent of its HP left. That, in Shenmock’s perspective, was a lot. And it was bad too. The monster swung its blade, Shenmock being hit back due to his lack of energy. Blood sprayed out of his hands, the blade having cut past his spear. The words, “Repth,” escaped Shenmock’s lips, Shenmock feeling the healing light come around him. It felt like the cool breeze from the beach had come back, leaving Shenmock to stare up at the ceiling, only to see a blade come down. Shenmock’s eyes widened, his figure already rolling to the side, then swinging his spear, taking a proportion of its HP away. Well, at least Shenmock thought. His spear had five more attack then his other one so he could hit pretty hard and deal some pretty heavy damage. That, in Shenmock’s perspective, was a major accomplishment that would change the battle.
Leaping back, Shenmock prepared his spear for another charge, but the Headhunter was quick on its toes (if it really had toes…). Dodging to the side, Shenmock dashed forward almost like Rock Lee trying to attack Gaara, his spear held high. A hand blocked, but Shenmock had planned two steps ahead. Pushing his spear against the hand, he pushed over it, doing a front flip and bringing his spear down, nearly cutting it in half. The monster, as if he had done nothing to it, dealt an uppercut with its sword, nearly chopping Shenmock’s head off. He flew a few yards away, Shenmock sliding to a stop. He got up, his knees buckling together, his figure shaking. James felt himself shake for a moment. If he had a fever, he was going to be so mad. Dashing forward, his figure still shaking a bit, he prepared for a finish. Ducking, he dodged a punch, then had to roll over to dodge a swipe from the sword, the sword grazing off his back, a bit of blood spraying off. Ignoring his wounds, Shenmock stabbed into its chest, feeling himself drive into the mass of guts inside its body. He sighed, closing his eyes as he pulled out his spear, blood dripping out of the end. “Double Sweep,” he yelled, meaning to seriously sweep this monster into the depths of data where it belonged. He spun around, his spear seeming to come by him like it was alive. Twice he hit, and those two hits were enough to defeat it. The monster fell back, Shenmock staring down at it, the white aura disappearing and his hair dying down. The ghostly features came upon it and within a second, it disappeared into data, leaving Shenmock there, his Gold Spear still in hand. Again, the voice came right after the heat of battle.
Hot will lead you to trouble and cold will lead you to monsters…
Shenmock sighed. Now that was troublesome. What did hot and cold mean and what was trouble, some secret thing that would definitely kill you? The meaning hit him like a rock, Shenmock being very intelligent, the hot and cold reminding him of a game that he had played in first grade. The game wanted you to find something and they said it was hot or cold. Those were the hints to find it. Shenmock looked at his position, him being closest to the west door, and being farthest from the north door. Shenmock shook his head from one door to the other. He sighed and thought he would kill himself afterward. Trouble was the way to go. Shenmock turned to face the doorway. Shadows lay out in front of him, the door meaning so many things to him. He stepped forward through it, fear clutching at his side. Darkness swallowed him up, then plopped him back where he should be, an empty room. A single boy stood in the middle, being a little smaller than him. This seemed like a mistake.
The boy turned instinctively around, his features being like what a regular Heavy Blade would look like. Shenmock slipped his spear into his bag, seeing that there was no need for this, this figure probably being an NPC or something. It was as simple as that. “So, I guess you chose trouble. You’re the first to do that,” the boy said, the voice making Shenmock shake. It was the voice. The door closed behind him, Shenmock already seizing his spear from his back and having it at his side. The boy grinned like an evil minion, already pulling out a blade that looked like a Heavy Blade’s weapon. Shenmock’s eyes widened. That was a player, but how?
“Who are you?” Shenmock questioned, confidence coming out of his voice, not a pinch of fear coming from it.
“Who do you think this is?” the boy shot back, his blade at his side, the boy leaning on it, the blade in the ground. He started twiddling his thumbs, still keeping his eyes on Shenmock. This wasn’t right.
Shenmock thought for a moment, but the answer came easily. “A hacker,” he answered, venom escaping his voice, Shenmock being on the offensive side. His eyes glowed with anger.
“Bingo,” the boy said, his smile widening even more. Shenmock’s eyes glared with hatred for the people who abused the game. The boy took his blade out and pointed it at Shenmock. Shenmock charged, his spear ready to rip this boy’s heart out. Hackers were people who abused the game, left it for trash, and laughed at people. This boy would be one of the dead hackers soon. Shenmock swung, light exploding into his eyes, Shenmock feeling his figure fall back, his HP zipping all the way down to 10 percent.
Shenmock stared at the boy, the boy already slipping away his blade, seeming to be annoyed by Shenmock. Blood covered his chest, Shenmock’s face being a bloody mess itself. The boy laughed. “You are such a useless player,” he said, even more venom escaping his voice than Shenmock’s. “I’ll leave you here. I don’t care to watch players die in fields.” Gold rings flashed around him, the hacker not even having to use a Sprite Ocarina. Shenmock got up, but fell down almost instantly, the ground starting to shake below him. It wasn’t a spell, but what was it? Shenmock fell back, his eyes full with fear, fear for dying in this field after all that training. What did hackers find in this game? Shenmock found that he couldn’t use anything to get out. This was a hopeless game. It just had to leave him for trash.
Shenmock closed his eyes, but immediately opened them, golden rings descending upon him, Shenmock being completely clueless. What was happening? He appeared in the field, his features being the same as they were before, blood still sprayed all over his figure. He gated out, seeing that if he stayed, he would die. And he wasn’t going to die just like that.
Shenmock appeared in Mac Anu, the blood having disappeared, his figure being completely full on HP. He looked around, his eyes still bulging. He logged out, his body shaking a little in the real world. He tore off the headset, grabbed a garbage can, nausea washing over him. He barfed in the garbage can, feeling a bit better, but not feeling great. He felt woozy, his whole body still shaking, darkness seeming to clutch him like a dark hand. Shaking wildly, James fell on his bed and put the covers over him. Tomorrow was definitely not going to be a school day. ‘The World’ was one of the most horrid places Shenmock had ever seen, seeing that hackers polluted it. But there was one thing he knew for sure: he was going to continue playing this game until he found the truth behind the lies. He was going to die trying…
