When I got home and opened my door, a notice welcomed me. It said I have packages. The packages were sitting neatly on the center table of the living room, caged in a red box with fake metallic texture. It also had the Red Bullet’s logo printed on the lid. While I was readying myself and the bed to avoid body strain, Soryu was making the last touches on the gear; plugging the wires, manual installations and every preparation. When she was done, she rushed towards me. She gently placed the Nerve Gear. The gray, circular gear only covered my eyes though it was transparent enough to make my surroundings dim.

“Are you ready, unnie?” Soryu questioned me.

“Ready as I’ll ever be?” though there was a pretty obvious hesitation on my voice.

“Starting!”

My vision suddenly went black but it didn’t take so long for the bursting colors to welcome me. The background was white. The colors were sort of pulling me forward but then, it stopped.

“WELCOME TO FANTASIA ZERO!” said the female mechanical voice.

After the brief welcome, I was literally teleported to a room where there were full of silver, shining and floating neon blue hexagons. The floor was consisted of hexagons too. The whole set up made me feel like I was in that movie… What was it again?

Tron? Tron Legacy?

Oh yes. Tron.

I was too immersed on the surroundings as I didn’t realize there was a little girl bounded in that somewhat heavy looking machine. She seemed fine though.

“Welcome to the world of Fantasia Zero, rookie. I’m Prototype Seul Ri of the Character Creation.”

“Uh… Nice to meet you…?” I don’t even know myself why I answered that. This mecha girl didn’t give me the “automated” feel.

“Please select a race.” The mecha girl told me before four holograms appeared above me. Each was labeled;

“Human”

“Elf”

“Half-breed”

“Mecha”

Humans are… obviously humans. Elves are what you know are those flawless, long-eared creatures. Half-breeds are creatures who are Half-human and Half-animal while Mechas are mechas… machines… yeah.

“Please keep in mind that once you picked a race, it can’t be undone.” Seul Ri added.

’I guess I have to pick carefully or else I’ll regret it and die with boredom.’ I said on my mind.

I tapped on the mini screen below, selecting the Elf race.

“ELVES ARE GUARDIANS OF NATURE. THEY ARE HALF-BREEDS’ ALLIES BUT ARCHNEMESES OF HUMANS AND MECHAS! ELVES SPECIALIZES ON MAGIC SPECIFICALLY ELEMENTALS. IN FANTASIA ZERO, THEY RESIDE ON GAIA’S FOREST.” Explained the high-pitched mechanical voice, obviously not spoken by Seul Ri.

“Second step is Class Selection. Please pick your main class.” This time, weapons appeared at the same time, moving in circles.

“Swordsman - Sword”

“Archer - Bow”

“Mage - Staff”

“Rogue - Daggers”

Doing the same movement, I tapped on the third option.

“Mages. Mages are magic users. They can deal mass destruction and mass support as well. They are the strongest in terms of MATK and MDEF (Magic Attack and Magic Defense) but the weakest in PATK and PDEF (Physical)! Work hard to become Fantasia Zero’s strongest mage!” the mechanical voice explained once again.

“This is the last question, rookie. Would you like to use your real name or not?” Seul Ri asked.

“My nickname.” Wait… does she know my nickname? … Stupid me.

“You’re now all set.” Wait.. she knew?! “You’ll now be teleported to the City of Altaria. Enjoy your adventure and good luck.”

As she spoke, my body was disintegrating to small white particles.

3… 2…

“Kamsa, Seul Ri!” I shouted to make sure she can hear me.

1!

Everything went blank again but after a millisecond, I involuntarily opened my eyes.

I was in a city that was giving me the medieval feel. It was so different compared to the area where there’s nothing but machines, holograms and robots.

The features were way better than the real world but I doubt our people can’t achieve this kind of environment. Not to mention, they were too many players. Some were newbie-looking and some are pro-looking due to those heavy looking armors. The number of players wasn’t enough to crowd the whole place. This place is too big.

While my eyes wandered around the city, a notice appeared in front of me with a beep.

“Do you want to start the tutorial?” an X and O button lied under the question.

“Oka…y… !” I accidentally tapped on the X button.

I got used that “Yes” buttons are always on the left side and I realized that this game has Japanese features.

I walked miserably towards a bench and sat there, disappointed on my whole                              humanity.

I sighed, “… gonna… tutor myself… congratulations…” I sat there innocently as I searched for my starting line. Damn, this city is too big to find a portal or something that can lead me to the battlefield.

A player, particularly a boy, passed by in front of me. He was mounted in a griffin with incredibly large white wings, walking so dignifiedly. The owner and the mount attracted so much attention. That guy must be a hundred level even though he’s not that heavy-armored type. He seemed more… vulnerable.

Well, he’s not the main matter here. It’s me. The stupid me. The clumsy me. Seriously. How did I become one of the Top 3 Enforcers…?

Jinja…. How can I know the things if I skipped the whole tutorials.

I stood up from my seat and walked to who knows where.

For the second time, there was a buzz again. The information about it appeared.

The castle didn’t seem to be off-limits so I made my way inside to a secluded corner. The gift contained a pink box and a letter.

I tapped my finger on the blue button that represents yes. After that, a shining baby blue crystal appeared from a light. As it was floating, a voice was speaking.

“Do you remember me? It’s me! It’s me! Seul Ri! Are you quite surprised that I am talking to you even though I’m just programmed for the Character Creation? Sorry to pop your bubble but I’m actually a human too! I’m also part of the Development Team yet I won’t tell you my job but I know your job, You! During our meeting, we were scanning you. Uh… wait no… that’s not the matter here! This is just my own will and not planned from the start. I’ve decided this on my own that whoever talked to me or like, you know, thanked me, will received a simple gift from me. You’re actually the second person to do that. I’ve taken like of you, You -ah. I’ll be accompanying you for a week but after that, you’ll be on your own just to be fair with the other players. So that’s it. I hope you’ll like the present!”

Message end.

I was taken aback because I thought I was only talking to a program but it actually made me smile. I put my right index finger and middle finger together and pulled downwards. This motion is to see the Main Menu and I’m going to see my inventory to see the item. (I learned it a while ago when I saw the others players do it during my lamentation at the bench.)

The notice made my mouth hanging open. I’m not really a fan of games but to receive a legendary item? I know how it feels, bro. In addition, it was my first day in the game and I’m getting this treasure, for FREE! FREE!

Yes.

Gentle wind blew away, strong enough to make my hair flow smoothly with it. An attractive pink light shined as it go down from the air above down to my eye level. With a silent pop, a silver-haired winged woman appeared, floating in the air so naturally.

“The contract has been made.” The female angel placed her hand to her chest and bowed to me.

“Uhm… okay…? Please take care of me.” I awkwardly said. She was too beautiful to be true.

Below my HP bar was hers. She didn’t have a level but her HP was exactly 80,000. I felt so ashamed to be with such strong spirit to be with me who barely make it to level 2.

The spirit followed me elegantly wherever I go. I noticed that the other players were whispering to each other as they looked at me weirdly. Are they talking about how weak am I?

I’m in a game. It was natural to see arrogant and boastful folks.

“…What’s your name?” I was really getting awkward. She didn’t seem to be don’t-talk-to-me-you-stranger type. Even so, I feel uncomfortable.

“It’s Yu Me.” She gracefully answered.

“Yume? Does that mean ‘dream’?” I said.

“In Japanese, yes.”

“So… Yu, tell me where the battlefield is. For new users, by the way.”

“Of course. Follow the direction of 2 o’clock. If we keep walking there, we’ll reach an open forest. Slimes will be your first opponents.”

“Okay, Let’s go!” I said excitedly.

Next chapter will be in minutes! ^.^