.hack//AI Buster - Volume 1 - Chapter 1.2

Chapter 1.2 - Town Mac. Anu . 

.: 1 :.

"What in the world is going on?" I muttered beneath my breath.

Below me, a gondola floated down the canal beneath my second story window. I watched it pass, trying not to think about the truly strange and unexpected turn of events. I knew she was waiting behind me, but I needed a moment.

The sound of trad.itional Irish music played in the background. There was a Gaelic theme in this town that I found rather soothing. That's why I chose Mac· Anu as my home. Or at least that's why I chose it as the homeland of my character, Albireo.

(Delta) Server Zone:
Root Town, Port Town, Mac · Anu

It was good to be home, Ot as much of a home as you can have in T he Worl d. Colorful flags flutte red majestically along the cobblestone streets across from the canal. They represented Mac · Anu, which means Son of Goddess. Each flag bore the town's crest along with the town's symbolic elements: wind and water.

•••

Mac · Anu is a root town where players begin their journeys. There, players can buy whatever equipment they might need ( weapons, armor, potions, in formation) and later store their acquired treasures. For those with mote nloney than they know what to do with, such as myself. it is even possible to rent a home or a hideout.

There is teally no point in renting a home, but if you have the gold to spare, it serves as a status symbol and allows you to display your trophies.

I watched the gondola continue north along the canal, until it disappeared underneath an arched bridge. The canal cut across the middle of the town leading toward the Chaos Gate. These gates are the only way to enter or leave the towns and arc protected by a spell to keep monsters at bay.

The gates also act as teleportcrs. By selecting three words, such as dark, inaccessible, and ruins, a player can gate-in to the rea lm of his or her choice. The three words act as coordinates. In rhis case, the player will end up at the dark, inaccess ible ruins.

Once in the field, characters can explore. It is always possible to gate-out of an adventure and return home, but never in the middle of a dungeon. To do that, a player will have to rerum to the surface first.

Even the surface has its dangers. T he World is in the midst of a constant and violent battle between spirits and demons. Just because a player isn't wandering through a dungeon doesn't mean he or she can't be killed by whatever monsrers roam the land.

A powerful Spirit Shield is cast to protect the towns from these creatures. But the Chaos Gate still remains the weak seam in the fabric of the protective spell. Hence, the gates are also heavily guarded.

•••

I turned from the window and spoke her name under my breath. "Lycoris."

Her hair rustled gently like the canal water below. Her eyes remained closed, her face an enigma.

She hadn't uttered another word since she said my name in the dungeon. The great thing about The World is that all conversations can be reviewed. Even the spoken ones are recorded as text. I pulled up our earlier conversation and scrolled through rhe dialogue:

Lycorisis: Thank you, Albireo.

Albireo. No two names can be alike in The World. I had spent three days thinking of names before I found one I really liked.

I spent another day on my character's design: boyish face, sinewy body, about twenty-years-old. I chose brown skin and black hair done in a wolf cut, unique even to The World.

I was equipped with sleeveless scale mail, leather gauntlets and boots, and a halberd (basically a spear with an axe blade at the end) as my primary weapon.

Of the six professional categories a player can choose from, I specialize in Pole Arms, which includes spears, pikes, and halberds. The other five include:

Blade User

Twin User (Weapon in each hand)

Heavy Blade (Two-handed wea pons)

Heavy Axe

Wave Master (Spell-user)

Every weapon in The World is ranked by a number. If the number of two different weapons is the same, then spears and poles would retain a higher attacking power.

In other words, I would have the advantage over someone with a sword of equal value. The price to pay for that advantage was a limitation on armor. What I gained in attack, I lost in defense. But this was evened out by my personal Wave.

My avatar's upper arms were adorned with three white hexagons representing his Wave, earth.

There are six different realms that magic can be drawn from: earth, water, fire, wood, thunder, and darkness. Each realm provides unique strengths tbar allow its follower to launch different kinds of attacks or give extra defenses.

I switcbed my perspective to third-person. The view drew back, and I could see my avatar still holding hands with Lycoris.

"Albireo." She said it so fluently. With her voice! That was the troubling part. It couldn't have been preprogrammed. No two names can be alike in TheWorld. That way each player has a unique name. It would be impossible to program every duracter's name just for this event. There were too many.

It's possible they could have articulated all the vocal sounds and put them together to form any name, but whenever computers do sims like that, they always sound awkward and inarticulate. She spoke my name perfectly.

How was she able to do that?

I moved Albireo around the room. Lycoris followed him everywhere.

How long was this going to last? I really didn't want to adventure with a kid tagging along. I guess I would have to see this event through before I could get rid of her. After all, that's how I got here in the first place. Once she took my hand, we had teleported from the dungeon to my home.

The only way to teleport out of a dungeon is to use Sprite Ocarina. But even that just teleports you back to the surface, not back to your home. Nothing can teleport you back home, that would involve breaking The World protocol.

Someone knocked on my door.

I switched back to first-person POV.

By targeting the door of my home, r enabled the conversation with whoever was on the other side.

"Who's there?"

I didn't have any player friends close enough for me to invite to my home. In fact, I've never allowed anyone inside my home. Lycoris was th e first visitor-and she was forced upon me.

"Help!" called a voice.

What now?! I wondered.

"I'm being attacked by a creature!"

It was a female voice, very young, but that didn't mean anything. The player's real voice might've been disguised by a voice changer. For all I knew, the person running the d1aracter could've been a forty-year-old man living in his mother's basement.

"It's about to kill me! HELP!!!"

If the player had shouted that loudly in their real home, their neighbors would've called the police. But this couldn't be a monster, not running around a root town. These were safe havens.

"There are no monsters. It's impossible," I said.

"Tell that to that ... thing!" the voice screamed.

"It's just a scary-looking character. Maybe it's a Player Killer?"

"It is NOT a player. It's a monster! Ahhhh!"

That's it. I'd had enough. I turned away from the door and saw a I;rge, swooping shadow fall across the floor of my room. It was the shadow of something with wings. I ran to the window.

Flying outside was a harpy, a creature with the upper torso of a human woman and the lower torso of a raptor with wings and daws.

In other words: a monster.

I looked past her and noticed a host of other creatures storming the town. Players were hard at work defending Ihemselves against the surprise onslaught. The evening sky was alive with demons; the streets flooded with creatures.

Then I remembered. At least once evety few months, a ',1"ged attack against a root town would occur.

"This thing's too powerful for me!" the voice screamed.

Annoyed, I threw open the door. Sure enough, there was a goblin with an oversized spiked mace. The goblin's target was a cute girl with long, flowing hair down to her waist.

She was clearly a Wave Master. She wore a pointy which's hat, a necklace, knee-high leather boots, and a revealing white bikini with a triangle and zigzag design representing her thunder Wave. H er only weapon was a long wand, ineffective for hand-to-hand combat.

I targeted her. H er name showed up on my screen: Hokuto.

"Good evening, Hokuto."

"Save the pleasantries and kill this thing!"

"What makes you think I'm so tough?"

"You own a home, don't you? You don't get that rich selling ale at the inn."

The goblin whacked her again. She tried defending herself, but she reacted too late. Her own swings were wild and panicky. I found it amusing.

"Your character's pretty cute."

I knew I shouldn't be flirting. She could be a kid. Assun1ing she's even a she.

"Thanks. Why don't you be the hero and save this damsel in distress," she teased.

"I think you can handle a simple goblin:' I countered.
"Is that what this is? What's it doing in town? Wait ... is this supposed to be an event?"

"Yeah. Monsters break through the Spirit Shield and invade every so often. The announcement's displayed on the official website page."

She must've been new to the game 1I0t to know this, I thought.

"Who wastes tilne reading that crap?"

"Me, I guess."

"Are you gomg to stand there, or are you going to help?"

"I'm thinking about it. Maybe you wouldn't be in this situation if you kept up with the boards."

"Fine. I'll read the boards religiously from now on. I'll memorize them. Just kill it!" 

Whack! The goblin hit her over the head. It sounded painful.

I had long ago memorized the types of weaponry in The World so I would know how tOllgh my opponents were. Hokuto's wand was very low-level, a beginner model, in fact. Anyone playing the game fo r even a few hours should've been able to upgrade.

"Are you a newbie?"

"I'm being sliced up by a lousy goblin! What do you think?"

I laughed.

"Don't just sit there!"

The goblin hit her again, but I was safe from its attacks. Nothing can happen to a player inside their home. Other characters may only enter if they're invited. And I wasn't about to invite either her or the goblin.

"Why can't I get inside?"

"You need an invite." She reaLly didn't kn ow the rules.

"Then do it!"

"Not a chance. I don't team up with other players or join parties. I'm a loner,"

"Let me in or I'll die."

The goblin continued hitting her mercilessly. Whack, whack, whack!

But she wasn't dying. Was she using healing spells? I didn't notice her casting anything. H er health gauge should have been critically low by now.

"There's an old gaming adage: That whid1 doesn't kill you makes you stronger."

"Thanks for the wisdom, jackass." She finally managed to dodge one of the goblin's blows. "You better hope I die. Because if I don't, I'm coming back to kill you."

I laughed. As if a first-level character colud challenge me.

"Jerk!"

Whatever. I was about to shut the door when Lycoris appeared in front of me. Hmmm ... if she was in front of me, that would mean that she left my home. Alldif we were still holding hands that meant I...

I shifted to third-person. We were both standing in the hall now. She had dragged me from the safety of my home.

"Damn it!" I grumbled as two additional goblins appeared from around the corner in attack mode.

"Danm it!" I said louder switching back to first-person POV. Then I used my attack skill-double sweep!

My spear arced sideways in a large semicircle. It only took one hit. Both goblins fell instantly. So did the third. It was a big sweep.

"It's about time you did something:' said the witch kid. Before I could make a snide comment, Lycoris spoke. "Look for their boss." It sounded like a command.

"Lycoris?"

Earlier, she ignored my every question. Now she was giving me orders!

"Find their boss, Albireo."

Again, she used my name.

As part of the invasion event there is always a boss, or commander, usually a high-level creature or evil warrior, who leads the attack. They are always the toughest creatures to fight.

Apparently, the invasion event was somehow connected to the Lycoris event. I guess that meant my adventure was continuing. I had to see it through. If nothing else, I had to learn how she was able to say my name.

"All right, Lycoris. I'll search for him."

"Thank you, Albireo."

It was time to go outside and face the flood.

Mac • Anu's main street was in absolute chaos.

Spells er upted like fireworks. Weapons and claws were flailing. Even the game's background music had switched to a frenzied symphonic score to match the danger level everyone faced.

The stteets were quickly filling with ghosts, players who died during the game. When a creature is killed, its body slowly vanishes from the screen. When a player dies, their character remains a silhouette, marking the place of their demise like a permanent shadow.

I heard someone's voice nearby. "Judging by the hellish nature of our enemy, I bet the boss is some kind of--"

A heavy blow from a giant ogre cut him off. The player's avarar instantly turned to shadow. He was dead.

Someone else finished the dead player's thoughts in my chat window:

Orca: The boss must be some kind of demon!

The voice chat system i.nstantly translated the speaker's words into text.

"Probably a greater demon," I mused. But unlike the other voices, no one could hear mine.

There are different modes of chat in The World: Talk, Party, and Whisper. Talk Mode allows everyone within a certain radius to hear you. Party Mode, the most common, limits your conversations to those in your immediate group, usually your friends. Only those on a shared list could hear each other, and anyone else is excluded from listening. Whisper Mode allows you to directly talk to another person without anyone else overhearing.

Experienced players can quickly alternate through these modes, allowing a more sophisticated level of conversation than in reality. For example, a character could say something in Talk Mode, heard by all, then quickly switch to Whisper Mode and bad-mouth someone right next to them. Of course, you have to be careful you're in the right mode when you say a rude thing, or it could lead to lTouble. Even ghosts can still chat with members of their party to plead for resurrections.

Because of these different modes, I wasn't bombarded by the hundreds of player voices surrounding me. Most people were in Party Mode so they would only communicate with their friends.

I was currently in Party Mode, but as a loner. I had no friends listed, meaning no one could hear me.

Someone in Talk Mode said, "We have to find the boss and kill him if we want to put an end to this invasion."

Orca: I agree. Let's go.

My brain ran through the various types of creatures we'd be up against so I could figure out what kind of boss might be in conunand. The majori ty of the creatures were a mix of goblins, ogres, harpies, and bats. Goblins and bats were nothing, but to command ogres and harpies would require a demon of great power.

Running through the main street, I was targeted by every creature I encountered. H aving to deal with each creature before I cOlJd pass was becoming tedious.

Suddenly, four giant ogres surroun ded me, barring my way like a wall of flesh. I could hear their simulated breathing through my speakers.

I shouted a command: "Double sweep!"

My halberd flashed through the air.

The breathing ceased. Their bodies toppled onto each other, piling into a small mountain before fading away like mist.

"Awesome!" someone shouted.

"He's powerful!" someone else yelled. Cheers leapt up all around me. I suddenly found every player's eyes turned toward me. Then someone began clapping.

Actions such as clapping can easily be typed into a keyboard with "/clap" so avatars would simulate the command. Using these commands allows avatars to express a wide range of emotions and actions.

I didn't have time for their gratitude. I was looking for the boss. It was the only way to see through the Lycoris event.

I pushed my way through the throngs of characters and crearures. When I reached the base of the arched bridge that crossed the canal, all hell broke loose.

A great cloud filled the air and then, with a mighty roar, burst into flame, turning nearly every character on the bridge into ghosts.

I found him.

The demon was more than twice as large as the ogres I had fought. Its head had two mighty horns and bat-like wings that spread wickedly ITom behind its back. When the creature smiled, a forked tongue wagged ITom its mouth and a pitched tail waved triumphantly. The monster resembled Satan.

My perspective trembled with every movement the demon made. This creature was powerful.

The remaining players near the bridge panicked. Some quickly tried to resurrect their fallen comrades with spells and reviving potions, but anyone reconstituted was returned to death an instant later wben the demon unleashed its second attack.

The monster's power was unparalleled. Some of the weaker players felt it was unfair.

"This is a violation of the rules!" someone shouted.

The demon's third attack finished off everyone left on the bridge. There were only ghosts filling its expanse.

An eerie silence fell. There were no more resurrections. The dead remained dead. Everyone within the demon's range was annihilated.

"I've never seen anything so powerful," a voice said, dumbstruck.

"It's unstoppable," someone else echoed.

Turning, I noticed more characters appearing in town. Having heard of the event, people were logging in to get a glimpse of the powerful demon. At the same time, they were keeping their distance so they wouldn't lose their characters' lives. Few of them even had the power to damage the demon, much less take it on with any chance of winning.

I was amazed to see how many people could log in without slowing down The World's server. A voice brought me back to the matter at hand.

"Defeat the demon."

It was Lycoris speaking. Throughout the mayhem, she had managed to remain by my side.

"There will be other warriors who wish to share in this glory." I spoke in character.

"Defeat it, Albireo."

"As you wish."

There wasn't time to plan. If I was going to win MVP, I had to attack before any other high-level characters showed up.

I kept my POV in first-person. Seeing Lycoris running along beside me would have been too distracting during battle.

I charged.

The devil towered over me, forcing me to look up.

"Primary attack," I commanded.

My spear lashed out, sttiking the foul creature. It groaned with rage and flashed its menacing f.1ngs at me in a wicked evil grin.

Its wings flapped, creating an explosive wind, before it unleashed the same spell that had just annihilated everyone on the bridge.

A black sphere crashed down, engulfing me before turning into a flash of fire.

I was expecting the worst, but I wasn't expccting thisIlly hcalth gauge flashed red. I hadn't been this badly injured since my earliest days of gaming. As a solo playet, there would be no one to resurrect me if I died. I could lose Albireo.

I quickly cast a fighting spell, upping my attack skills and toughening my defenses while downing a Full Recover Potion. My health turncd back to green.

For now.

I launched a series of deadly attacks, spending as many skill points as I could. I knew the demon would have far greater endurance than any creature I had ever fought before.

The monster released a barrage of attacks that forced me to constantly drink healing potions to stay alive.

This fight was getting expensive.

My halberd made a distinctive noise when I attacked. Sudddenly, I heard a new sound-somebody had joined the fray.

To an outsider, it might seem generous that someone would jump in to help, but in reality, they were hoping to strike the deathblow before I did. It was a competition. Whoever killed me creatme would gain a large number of experience points.

Without warning, others joined the fracas. Like a pack of animals, they sensed weakness. The demon was being attacked on all sides.

But some players had jumped in too soon, and the demon turned them to shadows, or knocked them off the bridge and into the river.

I continued to attack, but in the melee, it was too difficult to determine me extent of damage I personally was inflicting.

The beast suddenly reeled and I knew it was time.

"Triple attack!"

A fierce combination of blows, the last being the most punishing, came from my weapon.

The monster fell.

My health gauge wasn't far from death either, and I quickly downed a few more rejuvenation potions to bring me up to normal levels.

The demon slowly faded, leaving behind a series of curses on my text screen before disappearing completely. Knowing the beast would probably be resurrected for another event in several months made my victory less satisfying.

After a monster falls, the computer calculates the MVP, or who did the most damage. While the player who strikes m e deathblow gains a disproportionate amount of credit for me damage they did, I didn't have to worry about the others who tried to grab on to my glory. I knew I would win.

I could hear others chatting in Talk Mode around me. 

"Who got the MVP?"

"Who do you think?"

"I bet it was that Pole Arms. He attacked the demon first,"

"Yeah, but who got me deathblow?"

"Who knows, too many people were attacking. Could've been anyone."

I smiled. A moment later, a chest feU into my view. When a chest is awarded, only the player who wins can see or open it. It would take the others a moment to check their screens to see who was declared MVP. When they did find out, I heard those who were in Talk Mode groan.

"Congratultions."

It was Orca. I looked up and saw him for the first time. He was a muscular, bare-chested Blade User. I switched to Talk.

"Thanks." I wasn't really interested in a conversation, so I turned away from him, targeted the chest, and then opened it.

"What did you get?"

I stared at the chest in disbelief.

"Was it worth it?" he asked.

"Uh ... sorry. I have to go."

I had to apologize as I pushed past his character and f1ed down the street toward my home.

.: 3 :.

Lycoris' words repeatedly scrolled down my chat window as I led her down the side street and back home.

Lycoris: Please give me the rae.cyl.

Despite my attempts to ignore her, she wouldn't shut up.

"Please give me the rae.cyl."

It was a loop. She wouldn't quit unless I gave in to her request. It was the only way to proceed to the next phase of the event.

"Please give me the rae.cyl."

I toggled trade and gave it to her.

The file name was different, but it had tbe same unusual extension, "cyl." Could it be specific to The World?

I hated to be rude to the Blade User, but how could I explain that the treasure I won was some kind of encoded file? Besides, I hated drawing attention to myself, and I wasn't looking for company on my adventures.

I entered my building and headed back upstairs.

•••

Hokuto: There you are!

Her words f1ashed across my screen as she practically yelled them into my ear. I really wasn't in the mood for this.

Hokuto was waiting in front of my door. I targeted her so we could speak to eadl other.

"I see you survived the invasion."

"No thanks to you."

"I'd say you owe me a big thanks. I did kill the goblin."

"You were going to leave me to die. It was an accident that you popped out of your home. You weren't going to help me at all."

"Yeah, well ... you're weIcome."
"Hmph!" Her avatar's face switched to a furious expression and her arms folded in indignation.

"Are you one of those people who go online just to work out your real world frustrations?" I asked.

"What?! listen, Al ... Albion ... Alborio ..."

"It's Al-beer-ee-oh!"

"Whatever:" She snorted.

"You don't have to shout all the time."

Why was she so noisy? And bothersome? And blocking my doorway?!

"I can hear you without you shouring. You don't have to be insulting as well."

Her avatar switched from furious anger to extreme rage.

It was the highest degree of anger she could type in. At least I knew it wouldn't get any worse.

"Insulting? How am I being insulting?"

"By mocking my name? What if instead of Hokuto I called you Hoochie? How would that make you feel?

"You wouldn't dare!"

I wouldn't, but only because I was courteous. Besides, why was J being intimidated by a frrst-Ievel character? I could kill her with one swing if I wanted to.

"Look, I spent three days coming up with my name. I don't appreciate-"

"Three days!"

"Yeah,"

"Three days on that name?"

I sighed. She didn't get it. She wasn't into The World like most of th e players I had encountered.

"It's common courtesy to be polite to strangers, especially since we don't have any idea who we could be in real life. For all you know, I could be your school principal."

She was so insolent she had to be a teenager.

"So sorry. I didn't know you made up the rules of The World."

"It's not my rule. It's a commonly accepted rule of the online world everywhere. I'm sure you must have learned about this when-"

Why was I wasting my time?

"I've had enough. Goodbye."

I removed my target from her.

"Wait!" she shouted.

"Stop shouting!" I shouted back, before realizing she couldn't hear me. I targeted her again.

"Stop shouting."

"You're insanely high-level, aren't you? You blew away the goblin in one shot. But when you could've easily saved me, you didn't."

"There's no rule that says I have to save every player I see who's about to be killed."

"What about your 'courtesy'?"

"You're responsible for your own destiny in this world. You can thrive or die in The World at your own risk."

"That's not very nice."

"I still saved you, didn't I? Why are you so upset? Get over it. If you keep complain ing, I'll report you to the GM."

"Who?"

"The Game Master." She still didn't get it. "The system administrators. They monitor everything."

"Why?"

"You can be f1agged for being overly rude and obnoxious,"

"How would they know?"

"The log."

Hokuto: •• •• •••

She typed that in to represent silence. I continued. Dawn newbies.

"It's a record of ollr conversation. Everything we say is recorded by the log. And based on the common sense of The World, you would be considered at fault."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah."
"It keeps everything you say?"

This was exasperating. "Yes. Every shout, every rude word, every obnoxious comment."

"Then it would have a record of your sexual harassment."

"What?! What are you talking about?"
"Now who's shouting?"

I couldn't help myself. This girl, if she was a girl, was too much.

"That's it. 1'm reporting you."

"Go ahead. And I'll report you. Tell me, which is more serious-someone who is merely rude or someone who is sexually harassing? You said I'd be flagged for my comment, but what would they do to you?"

I'd be blocked from The World.

"Yeah, but you're lying."

"Oh, really? And what about when you called me cute. You gawked at me, too,"

"That? I was just ... that was just my impression of your character."

"Wouldn't sound good coming from someone who could be my high school principal."

"But I'm not your ..." She had a point. I had said some stupid things as well. But just because I called her "cute" iniside the game didn't mean I was sexually harassing her. However, if she reported it, the report would still be a mark on my file, even if it was a false one. Sometimes the system could be used against you roo easily.

"How do you want to play it?" She was gloating. I could hear it in her voice. H er avatar's expression changed as well. She kept her arms crossed, but a wicked smile played across the witch's lips and she threw her head back. The expression she chose was "triumphantly smug."

Why wouldn't she go away?

"What do you want?" I asked.

"Your address."

"My what?"

"Give me your member address! I want to be friends!"

"Friends!" This was too much of a price to pay.

My head ached. I needed some aspirin.

"I'm waiting. Or do I report you to the system administrators?"

I toggled her an invite.

According to legend, if you invite a vampire into your home, you render yourself powerless against the creature. That's how I was feeling now.

"What a dump!" Hokuto said as she entered.

"Please, don't insult-"

"Why don't you have any furnirure? Are you poor?"

"--my home."

Apparently, she doesn't realize how much money it costs just to rent a place.

"I prefer a minimalist look."

"Yeah, but I read some gaming magaz ine that described how people completely decked out their homes any way they wanted."

"Uh-huh."

"Not you, though."

"Guess not."

A rare moment of silence followed as she looked around the place. Unfortunately, it didn't last.

"Let's decorate."

"What?"

"C'mon, it'll be fun."

"For who?"

"This place is boring. It's drab. It's an eyesore."

"And it's mine. So leave it alone,"

"Yeah, but it's ours now."

Ours? She didn't just say that. Did she?

"We'll place a SOt1 here, get pink curtains, maybe some throw rugs ... oh, and over there we can put a fountain, or tnaybe a statue."

"Absolutely not."

"We'll have to get rid of this grungy table."

"Did you hear me?"

•••

An hour later, we were walking along the main street of the town. It's hard to believe that this was the site of a major battle a short while ago. But in rhe game world, once an event is over, it's over. Everything quickly returns to normal. Already, players were back to haggling over the prices of the merchants' wares and looking for the best deals.

"Where's a good place to buy magic armor?"

"Go to the Greedy Fighter."

"Where's that?"

"You need to go to a different server. Try (Sigma)."

A little earlier, some of these same people were cheering my victory over the demon; now they didn't even remember me.

"Look at this idiot." Hokuto pointed out a stocky character with a giant muscular body and a tiny head who was carrying an awkward-looking, heavy axe. He was screaming at someone.

"They said it was a magic potion, but instead it's just normal healing water that you can buy off any cleric for a gold piece!"

Hokuto laughed.

"You think it's funny?"

"Of course. It's like he's advertising how stupid he is. I wouldn't be surprised if someone else rips him off in the next five minutes."

"Then learn rrom his mistake and don't scream in the middle of town."

We stopped at one of the shops and I targeted the owner, a stout fatherly merchant behind the counter.

"Welcome," he said in a friendly, enthusiastic voice. "I have many wares to sell. W hat are you interested in?"

A window appeared on my screen listing everything available.

"Not exactly like shopping at Saks;' said Hokuto.

I gave her the silent treatment.

Albireo: •••••••

"Don't do that, it's annoying."

"You did it earlier."

"No, I didn't."

"Whatever. Just hurry up and pick what you want."

I hardly paid attention to the display and just hoped she wouldn't pick out anytl1ing too expensive. After all, it wasn't her money she was spending.

"You know what this reminds me of?"

"Hm?"

"It's like a couple choosing their fu rniture when they're moving in together for rhe first time:' She typed in the command "/smile" and her avatar smiled.

I hoped she didn't think that applied to us. How did I let myself get roped into this ridiculous situation?

I saw her screen highlight several items. When she highlighted a couch, I decided to end the shopping spree.

"All right, that's the last item."

"What? But there's more stuff I wanna buy."

"You bought too much already."

I had a Feeling she would've bought out the store if I'd let her.

I heard another d,aracter, a heavy Blade dressed as a samurai, arguing with the merchant.

"Come now, don't be so rigid. Cut me a discount. After all, look how much I've purchased from you."

He must be a newbie. He's talking to the merchant as if he's a character and not an NPC. It doesn't matter how much you buy, the prices are always the same.

It was time to go home. We left the building loaded with the new nlrniture. One of the advantages of purchasing in cyberspace, you never need a 1110ving van.

Hokuto sounded more pleased once she finished arranging everything we'd purchased.

"There now! This isn't so bad. This place is starting to shape up." Hokuto typed "/yes" a couple of times, nodding twice.

The room looked awful. In no time, my carefully carved-out home had been transformed into Hokuto's private hideaway. The worst was the pink curtains.

"Are you satisfied, princess?"

Using a shortcut conmland, I shook my head. I found that there were five basic actions worth programming as shortcuts:

"/look " (stare)
"/yes" (nod)
"/no" (shake head)
"/duck" (shrug)
"/bye" (wave goodbye)

From my past experience, these actions usually covered just about any situation. I didn't think there were enough shortcuts for Hokuto to choose from. She was all over the emotional range, though her favorites seemed to be:

"/look_hard" (stare hard)
"/enth_yes" (nod enthusiastically)
"/vig_no" (vigorously shake head no)
"/infur" (look infuriated)
"/trium_smug" (throw head back arrogantly)

"Well . . . it's probably getting near your bedtime. Shouldn't you log out?"

"What? It's only nine 0'clock.Who do you t1,ink I am, some elementary school brat who sleeps with a baby blanket and pees in her bed at night?"

Hmm, she's older than I thought. Maybe junior high or high school age, but definitely no older.

Instead of leaving, she sank down into the sofa. "Hey! Once you exchange member addresses, you can form a party, right?"

Any player who would ask suc!, a stupid question shouldn't have the tight to sit on an 198,000 GP sofa.

"Yeah,"

I pulled up the address list. It used to be empty. Now one name haunted its otherwise empty space: Hokuto.

"How long has it been since you joined The World?" I asked.

"A week."

No wonder she's so inexperienced. Doesn't matter. I can remove her from my address list anytime, and block her from sending messages in the future. Once she's gone, I can sell all of this girlish furniture, even if I do take a big loss. Then I can buy back my favorite table.

"Hey! I have an idea!"

"We're not getting any more decorations for this place"

"Let's form a party together!"

"What?"

"Why not? We exchanged addresses, so let's do it! Please! Please! Please!"

Hokuto's avatar smiled brightly.

"I'm a solo player. H aven't I mentioned that like six hundred times?"

"Oh, boo-hoo, you like to play solo. Who cares? It's more fun to be in a party."

"Not for me."

"Well that's what I want to do."

"If you keep acting like this, no one will ever want to form a party with you."

"Acting like what?"

"Selfish!"

Silence. 1 stared at her and she stared at me. She was still sitting on the couch, but her avatar remained perfectly motionless. Then I heard her over my headphones. It was very fainr, very guiet at first, but then it got louder, though I could tell she was trying to hold back.

She was crying.

"Oh, no. Don't tell me you're ... you're not .. . crying .. . are you?

She tried to choke back the tears, but it was useless. Why didn't she hit "mute" if she didn't want me to hear?

Her avatar finally moved. She got up and walked toward the door. It was odd to see her avatar's face looking so neutral while hearing the choked-back sobs coming from somewhere far away.

"I'm going." is all she said.

"Going? Where? Are you going outside to cry?"

"Yes. And I'll tell everyone that you abused me."

Give me a break. The log would back me up on this one. I couldn't recall ever having a worse day inside the game world. This was too much. But I still felt bad about making her cry.

"Look ... I'm sorry,JJ I hit an action c01llmand so my avatar would appear sorry as well.

"Really?"

"Yes. I mean it. I shouldn't have said that to you."

"So you admit it's your fault."

I muted my sigh, then continued, "Yes, it was all my fault. You don't have to go outside and cry. I wish you wouldn't cry at all."

She was definitely in junior high. She couldn't possibly be any older.

"If you're sorry, then you'll form a parry with me."

I hit mute before the string of curses left my lips. I didn't wanr her to start crying again.

My silence didn't go over well. She began to whimper.

"All right! We'll," I coulcLl't believe I was saying this, "form a party."

I used the "/smile" command, which I hardly ever use, just to be nice about it, Then I pulled up the address list, selected Hokuto's nanle and sent an Uinvitdtion" to form a party.

"There, I invited you, Select 'OK' and you'll be-"

"Invitation Accepted" flashed across Iny screen before I could finish. Added to the lower part of my screen were Hokuto's health and skill point gauges.

"Yaaay!"

The tears that sounded so real a moment ago were now gone. Was she faking it?

"Oh, no,"

"Now what's wrong?!"

"There's some kind of spirit in here."

What is she talking about? Is she insane?

"A spirit?"

"Guarding you? A girl."

Hokuto's eyes moved away and targeted something else in the room. Then I remembered. Lycotis.

"Didn't you see her before?"

"No. She just appeared the moment we became a party."

I didn't think of it before, but no one else had seemed to react to Lycoris when I was fighting or walking around the town. Apparently she was only visible to me. Well, me or anyone in my party.

But if she was invisible to anyone outside of the party, then for all I knew, there could be other invisible Lycoris characters floating around with other adventurers.

"Interesting."

"What's 'interesting'? Who is she? I thought you liked to work alone?"

"Her name is Lycoris. She's an event character."

"What's an event character?"

"Someone who begins an event, such as a quest or an adventure. Like a king who sends out adventurers to rescue his daughrer, or a shady character who sells you a treasure map and later tries to steal tlle treasure from you. Each one begins some kind of event."

No, it wasn't possible for there to be more than one of each event character. What if two different groups teamed up to form a new party? It wouldn't work if each group was at a different stage of the event. Some players might have progressed further than the others and that would screw up the adventure. There could only be one Lycoris event per server.

"Will yo u stop mumbling to yourself?" Hokuto yelled.

At the same moment, there was a knock on the door.

"Oh, no."

"What is it?"

In all my time in the game, no one had ever visited me. Now it was happening twice in one day.

.: 5 :.

"Hello! D o you remember me? We fought the boss together."

His name was displayed in my voice chat window. It was Orca, the guy who asked me what was in the chest after I killed the demon. I wonder if he named himself after the killer whale.

"Sorry about dropping in on you like this, but I saw you in front of the shop earlier and-"

"You followed me home?"

"Well, not at first. But thell I thought it would be best to talk to you. I didn't mean to upset you."

"Not at all:'

"Good:' His voice suddenly changed rone. "You seem like a brave and hearty warrior. It would be an honor to buy a drink for such a valiant man as yourself."

He was role-playing. Sometimes people scoff at those who take the game roo setiously, but it's widely accepted as another way to enjoy the game on a deeper level. After all, ro le-playing doesn't end when you choose your warrior class. There are secondary careers such as Informants who sell information on how to conquer the game for money, Traders who broker the items to be traded, and Singers and Comedians who perform on the street corners. One could even consider the Cobalt Knights to be a warrior subset.

I looked over Orca's avatar. H e was a giant of a figure. His upper body was a ball of Illuscles covered only by a harness-belt and a piece of heavy shoulder armor. He carried his sword sheathed on his back. HisWave symbol was painted in white like an X cri sscrossing his face and cl,est. The white paint stood out in deep contrast to his dark green skin and copper-colored hair. For some reason, his midsection and lower arms were normal flesh tone, but everywhere else was green. He had chosen a truly wlique look.

I set my chat mode to Whisper so that we could converse alone.

"What do you want?"

"I was impressed by the way you fought so fearlessly earlier. Without regard to your own well-being, without anyone to back you up or resurrect you should you fall, you still rushed in to attack the foul creature who corrupted this town with its vile presence and rained his evil armies down upon ..."

"Please, get to the point."

"I have a proposition, demon-slayer."

"Go on?"

"I suggest that we should, er, well, that is ... why don't we exchange member addresses?"

"Member addresses?"

"Yeah. So we could team up. You know, you could join our party."

Not again!

"What do you think?"

I cleared my throat. "I don't exchange member addresses with anyone. That's just the way I prefer to play. I'm sorry but you should look elsewhere."

"What about her?" He pointed past me.

Her? Could he see Lycoris? I turned. Hokuto stepped forward.

"Hello there! What're you talking about?"

The fact she was inside my home proved that we'd exchanged member addresses. I quickly continued. "She's the only exception I've ever made. Anyway, I don't like to form parties."

"But you've formed a party with her."

As if on cue, Hokuto butted in. "What is it? What're you talking about? I can't hear a word you say."

I switched to Hokuto and whispered, "Please, let me finish." Then I cut back to Orca, so she couldn't hear. "There's a reason she's here, but it's far too complicated to get into right now and ... wait a minute. Did you say 'join our party'?"

"Uh, yes. I have a partner:' Orca turned sideways and beckoned someone forward. Another Blade User appeared from around the corner of the hallway. I recognized him as another one of the players who jumped into the battle with the demon.

Orca introduced us. "His name is Balmung! He's my gaming partner."

"If he's a solo player, you shouldn't force him to join us." Balmung sounded annoyed.

I switched to Talk Mode. It is the only way to have a conversation with two or more players of another party. Of course, you can never tell what secret conversations are going on behind the scenes.

"How do you do, Salmung?" The name Balmung refers to the name of a famous sword in German mythology. Most common names from mythology or epic tales were quickly taken in the early days of The World. The fact that he had this name meant he'd been playing a long time.

Balmung resembled a valiant kn ight. Beneath his shock of white hair, he had classically handsome Features, wore bright plate mail, and was armed with a thin, long dagger- a rare and highly ranked weapon.

I zoomed in on his face. It was almost too handsome, suggesting that the playet behind the character might be self-conscious about his looks in the real world. I wondered how young he was. It's a bit of a generalization, but most players over the age of twenty-five find it embarrassing to play the classic hero and prefer a more rugged character much like Orca had chosen.

"Hey, guys, what's up?" Hokuto couldn't have been more out of place in this group. I jumped to Whisper Mode and asked her to stay quiet and listen.

"So you're looking for a third to fill out your party?" I asked. The World limited parties to three players.

"That's right! It's not easy to find someone who's at our level. It's even more difficult finding someone that he approves of." Orca pointed at Balmung.

Balmung stared at m e. "It's unusual to play solo inside The World."

The World recommends forming parties, only to ensure grearer survivability and hence, greater enjoyment of the game. The only advantage of solo play is you get to keep everything you find.

"Maybe. But I get more experIence points if I don't have to share with a group."

"Balmung used to be solo until he teanled up with me."

"Oh," I looked at Balmung with renewed mterest. "Did you reach your current level as a solo player?"

"For the most part. I belonged to a party when I first started the game, but that didn't last long. I've been solo the entire time until I met Orca."

"That's pretty amazing."

"I find playing solo actually helps you survive. You don't get killed by your teammates' mistakes." His voice indicated a bitter experience from the past.

Of the two, Orca was clearly tbe more sociable one. He must have charmed Balmung into joining him.

"What is your plan once you acquire your party? I bet there's hardly an area now that you two couldn't conquer together. Why add a third?" These two were already in the top one percent of the more than fifteen million online players.

Orca responded. "As a matter of fact, we've recently discovered just such an area."

"Really? W hat's it called?" I asked.

"The One Sin," Balmung muttered.

His words brought a moment of silence.

.: 6 :.

I invited Orca and Balmung into my home. The One Sin wasn't something to be discussed in the hallway.

Orca was the first to comment as he looked around. "What a ... cute home. I wouldn't have expected this from you."

"I decorated this room," H okuto proudly stated.

"Yeah, I had nothing to do wirh it," I emphasized.

"Those curtains hurt my eyes," Balmung muttered. When I looked at them, I realized rhey hurr mine as well. I hate pink. What was I rhinking?

We all sat down.

"Don't tell rhem anythi ng about Lycoris," r whispered to Hokuto. Clearly, they couldn't see her or they would have commented on the little girl hold ing my hand by now.

"Why not?"

"'Why not' what?" asked Orca. Hokuto had responded to me in Talk Mode, not Whisper. I forgot she'd only been playing a week and wouldn't be proficient in the subtleties of conversation that existed.

I could see Balmung looking at me. He knew I had whispered something to her. I could tell he was probably doing the same with Orca now. Ir gave me a second to talk to Hokuto.

"You don't need to reply. I'm in Whisper Mode, which means only you can hear me, so just listen quietly. Lycoris is ... well, it's something we should clear together without letting the others know about it."

I would have preferred to clear the event on my own. But I had to keep her quiet about it. Players like Orca and Balmung were well connected in The World and kept up with the message boards. If they knew of Lycoris, they would start threads to learn more and soon word would get out about the little girl dressed in red. I didn't want that. The one advantage of having a newbie in my group was that she wasn't connected to anyone or anything in

The World. And I already knew she didn't bother with the boards.

"Got it!" she said.

Orca turned to her again. "Got what? What are you talking about?"

Why wouldn't she listen?! I decided to quickly change the topic. "So tell me about The One Sin, Orca."

"Right;' said Orca. I could tell he was beginning to have his doubts about me.

"I heard it's the highest difficulty level within The World," I continued.

"It's more than that. These days it's become infamous as a Player Killer of all levels. Even mid-level characters are killed without so much as slaying a single guardian. It's supposed to be impossible to conquer and they say no one is strong enough to stand up to the event's boss."

"But that's just a rumor,"

"You've heard of The One Sin then?"

"Yes."

"Do you know the three coordinate words to get there?"

"I think they're Captive, Fallen, and Angel. I've been there before. Not that I tried conquering the area."

Balmung leaned in. "It's impossible ... for a solo player."

"Because you can't be resurrected".

"But The One Sin can be conquered," Orca asserted.

"Why do you think that?"

Balmung answered this time. "If there is an event so difficult that it cannot be cleared, that's a bug in the system. That would mean The World is flawed."

Orca jumped in. "And we don't believe that. We think it's a good game and if it is good then there must be balance."

"That's why you believe you can conquer the area? Because it would mean The World is defective if you couldn't?"

"Absolutely! I believe in this world." Orca nodded his head.

I was beginning to like Orca. Not just the character, but the player behind him. I wondered how old he was. Most players were young, even the "old-timers."

"You two really love The World, don't you?"

Orca was surprised by my question. "Of course! So do you, Albireo, or you wou ldn't have developed your character this far. You must be attached to him."

"You're right about that."

Balmung stared in my direction. "Albireo?"

"Yes?"

"We recognize most of the weapons in The World just by looking at them. But yours ..."

"You mean this?" I held up my halberd. But this was no ordinary halberd, and its beautiful decorative design set it apart as a rare item. Clearly Orca and Balmung had been whispering about it.

"Where did you get it?" Orca asked. "Is it a reward from an event? What's the name of the spear?"

"I'm afraid I can't tell you."

"Why?"

"It's a secret."

"Secret?" Balmung sounded skeptical.

"I wont tell you. Leave it at that."

Balmung continued, "I hope it's not a cheat item."

Orca jumped in. "Balmung! Enough!" He turned toward me. "I'm sorry, Albireo, he didn't-"

"No. It's a legitimate concern. I understand why you would think that since I wasn't straight forward with you. It's the Divine Spear of Wotan."

"What's that?" Orca asked, but I knew Balmung would understand its origin.

"The legendary spear from the 'Ring of the Nibelung.'" Balmung responded.

"I figured you would know."

Balmung nodded, but Orca still looked puzzled.

"One interpretation ofWagner's opera is that Wotan's Spear is what carries out the God's order, and is treated as the symbol of both contract and authority."

"Opera? " asked Orca.

"A composer created an opera based on the epic poem 'Song of the Nibelungs.' It's from a mixture of Germanic and Icelandic legends that Wagner put together in what is known as the 'R ing of the Nibelung.' It's about a dwarf who steals some magic gold that he hopes will make him all-powerful. Instead, he brings about a series of events that eventually causes the fall of the Gods. One of those Gods is Wotan. The hero in the epic is Siegfried and I named myself after the sword he carried, Balmung."

"I had no idea you were so knowledgeable, Balmung."

"I based my name upon the legend. It's truly magnificent. You should look into it sometime."

Orca shrugged. "Yeah, maybe." Orca clearly preferted hack-and-slash adventure over the subrleties of myth and story.

"The question is," Balmung continued, "where did you get it?"

"He doesn't have ro tell us that," Orca said.

"No, it's all right. I don't want there to be any misunderstandings between us. I'll be direct, but I trust' I have your confidence in this matter."

They both agreed.

"This spear is from the era of Fragment."

"You mean the beta version?" Orca's voice turned up a notch. "Albireo, YOLl were one of the original test players?"

"Yes."

"Awesome! That's totally awesome, isn't it, Balo1ung?" Orca was excited. "Balmung was one of them, too!"

"You were a test player for the beta version?" That meant he'd been around longer than I thought. No wonder he was able to obtain a name from myth.

Orca continued, "I heard only 1,024 players were selected from the general public. Damn, I'm jealous!"

Balmung remained silent.

"This spear cannot be obtai ned in the current version of The World. That's why I didn't want to talk about it."

"Of course! Something from Fragment . .. it's a true artifact. I'm sure there's no shortage of players who would want it. Pretty badly, I imagine."

"I have no intention of giving it up. But if others knew, then I'd be constanrly bothered by players wanting to make me offers in trade."

"Not to mention someone who might try to kill you for it. At least you're powerful enough not to worry about that."

"Again, I would like your reassurance. Since I was straight forward with you, hold my confidence dear and don't say a word about this spear to anyone else."

"I'll forget we ever talked about it." Orca smiled.

I typed in and returned the gesture.

Orca changed tones. "So, Albireo, let's get back to the matter at hand."

"I'm sorry, but I can't join your parry." I didn't mean to be so blunt, but I wanted to make it as clear as possible.

"I see ..."

"Let me explain. rill currently in the middle of an event. I'm afraid I n111st continue until it's over. I can't leave. Sorry about that."

"Well, it's disappointing:' Orca sighed. "But it can't be helped."

"I just want you both to know, you guys are the very first players I felt like forming a party with inside The World."

Orca smiled brightly. "That's great to hearl"

"I'll keep your addresses. If you happen to need help, send me a message. Although I can't team up, I still might be able to help out in an emergency."

"Thanks!"

"I'm online pretty much every day."

"Me too! Except when I have exams. That's the only time my parents forbid me to play online." Orca's younger than I thought. He's probably still in high school.

"Yeah, there's no greater threat to The World than parents."

"Doesn't matter how high-level you are, they're the one boss that's impossible to defeat." He laughed.

Balmung got up. "Let's go, Orca. We're done here."

Orca stood, still laughing. "All right. Balmung hates to hear about real life in The World."

"Don't talk about something that's so irrelevant," Balmung shot out bitterly.

"You see. O h well, it just proves how much he enjoys the game."

"Orca !" Balmung yelled.

"I understand how you feel, Balmung."

In fact, I was quite similar to him. I admired both of them, Orca for his warmth and directness, Balmung for his Iove of the game.

"We're challenging The One Sin tomorrow morning at nine a.m. Wish us luck."

"Good luck. I mean it."

•••

They left. Even though we had just met, I felr like I was saying goodbye to friends. It had been a long time since I felt that way. Actually, I hadn't felt this good since I first played in The World and everything was new and exciting.

"They seem pretty coo. 1" I d turne toward Hokuto. "you can unzip your mouth now."

Hokuto let out a gasp of air. She breathed in and out dramatically to show how restrained she was.

"I impressed. You were surprisingly quiet."

"Because I didn't understand a word you said!"

How could she? Most newbies wouldn't understand the intricacies of what we were discussing. But it didn't matter, the game was what you made of it. It was there for everyone to enjoy at any level.

I yawned. "It's about time I drop out."

"Drap out.,"

"You know, log our. I have to leave the game."

"Wait. You're going? Now?!"

I selected the logout command. I realized I probably shouldn't return to my home for a while. In fact, I wondered if maybe I should abandon it altogether. Then I could block Hokuto so I wouldn't receive messages from her anymore. That way, I'd be done with the wearisome wicked witch.

Hokuto looked at me. "What's wrong?"

Several seconds passed.

"Why aren't you leaving? Say something."

"I can't do it."

"Can't do what?"

"I can't log out,"

I switched to third-person POY. I could see all three characters, Albireo, Hokuto, and Lycoris, standing in the middle of my gaudily decorated home.

I realized Lycoris had been quiet ever since I handed her the second item.

"You can't log out?" Hokuto asked.

"I can't pull myself out of the game screen."

Normally, if a player selects the logout command from the root town, the screen returns to the top page of The World. It's like placing a bookmark where you last left off. But this time it wasn't working.

I knew it couldn't be the system. ALTIMIT OS is infallible. Problems such as disconnections, which happened all the time in the old era, never happen anymore.

Never!

There wasn't even an error message saying why it wasn't working. I was stuck in the game.

"I got it!" Hokuto said. "Why don't you call that person you mentioned? The ones who keep their eyes on everything. The BM?"

"You mean the GM?"

"Yeah, the systems guys!"

CC Corp., which runs the game, always has operators ready to help if a problem or glitch should occur. They are on twenty-four-hour standby in case a problem develops. But the problems they deal with are outlined in the User
Agreement, and I didn't think it would include this.

"It isn't proper to call up the system administrators for a troubleshooting problem."

"But aren't they supposed to support the users?"

"Yes, But they're only to be used in an emergency. So far, this isn't one. Usually when something like this happens, it's temporary. It'll probably fix itself in a moment."

I decided to take it easy. After all, this wasn't really a big deal.

"Maybe it's the girl."

"Who? Lycoris?"

"Yeah. Maybe she doesn't want to let Al go?

"AI? Who's AI?"

"You. Your name's too long and complicated sounding, so I'm going to call you AI. And I think I'll call her Lyco. It's better, don't you think?"

I rolled my eyes and hit the dot, dot, dot key for silence, indicating I had no opinion on the matter. I thought it best to let her do what she wanted. It was better than arguing.

"Hey, AI."

I sighed. "What?"

Hokuto stood up from the sofa, and approached me so closely that her face covered my entire screen. 

"Your eyes are two different colors. One is blue and the other is yellow."

"I know. That's what I wanted."

"Why? Are you trying to look cool?"

"AFK," I shot back.

"AFK?"

"It means 'Away From Keyboard.' I'm leaving my PC with-out disconnecting. My character will remain where he is."

"Wait. What about me?"

"Go play outside. I'll disband the party."

I selected "disband." Hokuto's HP disappeared from my screen. On her screen, Albireo's gauge should have disappeared, too.

"Good night." And good riddance.