.hack//AI Buster - Volume 2 - Chapter 4.2

.: 2 :.

I was alone when three giant caterpillar creatures ambushed me. T knew it would be hard to play solo, but I didn't realize bow hard it could be.

I defended with my shield and swung hard with my sword, inflicting a nasty wound on one of the monsters. Unfortunately, the third creature flanked me and scored a hit. I was paralyzed by the creature's venom.

Being alone, I had no comrades to help me recover from the toxin or defend me in my weakened state. I was as good as dead.

I almost threw the controller down, when a bright flash appeared. Spiritual energy formed into ice arrows that rained down on the creatures, killing them in one sweep.

It was the first time I'd ever seen a high-level summoning spell.

I turned to find who cast the spell command. Emerging from the trees was a high-level Wavemaster, wearing a colorful blue robe and carrying a staff of water-spirit summoning. It was a rare, high-level item. I shuddered, knowing I was in the presence of great power.

"Thank you." I bowed as soon as the fee ling returned in my limbs.

"You're playing solo as a Blade User?" He spoke in a high-pitched boy's voice. As he came closer, I realized his avatar was merely a child. He removed his hood. His cherubic face reminded me of Cupid.

"If you're playing solo, make sure you have good equipment. Don't focus on attack or defense levels, think about status and spells."

"Is playing solo difficult?" I asked.

"It's best to join a party, but if you insist on playing solo, try being a Twin User or a Heavy Axe."

"I think Twin Users are overrated," I said angrily. "Of course I'm biased. Yesterday, I was burned by one."

I then told him what happened.

"The guy was a real hero, eh?"

"More like a real jerk."

"Once burned, twice shy?" the Wavemaster chuckled.

"I don't want to team up with anyone like that again. But I needed to join a party to raise my levels quickly."

He shook his head. "Character levels and player levels are two different things. Even if a character achieves a high level, a mediocre player will remain mediocre. No matter how many experience points you gain, you can't improve the level of your personality!"

"Have you met any high-level players like that" I wondered, intrigued.

"Sure!" He smiled. "Once I help a player and become friends, I like to betray their trust and kill them." He pointed his staff at my avatar and targeted me. "The look on their faces is such a rush!"

I was speechless. He was a Player Killer!

"Just kidding!" He dropped his arms. "But there are players like that."

Suddenly, I didn't like him anymore, even if he did save my life.

I took a deep breath, searching for something safe to talk about. "What's (he purpose of playing online games?"

"Purpose., "

"Why waste time growing a character and paying game fees, then losing hours of my life when there's no real ending or objective?"

"You seem like a smart kid." I wondered how he knew that I was a kid in real life. "It sounds like your friend couldn't find a purpose, so she left The World."

"Maybe the game ends when you get tired of it."

"There are two types of players in The World: those who like it, and those who don't. Eventually, both kinds quit, only those who don't like it quit a lot sooner than those who do."

"When did you start playing The World?"

"When it was born ."

"You've been playing since the first release?" I gaped.

"That's one way of putting it."

"But you've never gotten tired of it after all these years?"

"Do you get tired of living? Of course not! In some ways, this is my life. That's why I never get bored."

He moved closer and asked, "Do you know about the dot-hackers?"

"Uh, I guess not," I responded, stupidly.

"Hidden somewhere in The World is a parry destined to solve the final puzzle."

"The World has an ending?" I asked, surprised.

"Of course, it could be just a rumor. It's dangerous to believe in online rumors. When you pass on a rumor to another player, you become an instigator. If you wish to pursue a rumor seriously, you need to develop a discerning ear for what's real and what's false."

I made Brigit nod and asked, "Are dot-hackers heroes?"

"In a fantasy RPG, a hero is someone who saves the world, right?" he asked.

"Sure. Everyone wants to be a hero."

"Then they'd want to be a dot-hacker."

"Who are dot-hackers? And how did they get that name?"

"The gossipers named them."

"So you don't know who they are?"

He smiled. "It's a fleecing rumor. The CC Corp. denies the existence of the Last Puzzle and there are no official statements regarding dot-hackers. They say they don't respond to any rumors. Period."

"So you could be making all this up?"

"Why would I do that? Besides, their response is perfectly logical. After all, if there were an end to the game, why would people pay money to play it afterward?"

I crossed my arms. "The World wouldn't survive if it really had an ending."

He brightened. "Maybe the Last Puzzle is a rumor CC Corp. started for publicity!"

"That's a possibility," I said.

The Wavemaster chuckled. "But I doubt it. The rumor wouldn't go away no matter how hard they tried to stop it. It just wouldn't disappear, and they tried real hard to make it go away."

"Where did you hear this rumor?"

"Rumors will always be vague. It's pointless to clarify rumors as they adjust and adapt to the rime and place. But I heard there were CWO original member. of the dot-hackers, Kite and Black Rose, a Twin User boy and a Heavy Blade girl."

"Who are you?" I asked.

"It's a rumor, after all. You don't have a discerning ear yet." The Wavemaster of water-spirit summoning looked at me. "But, now, this information, like a tipple on a calm surface, will enhance you. What you do with those feelings is up to you. Only you can decide. r might know more about The World than you do now, but I don't know your future. I can only follow events after the fact, You have to choose your Own future."

He then turned his back on me and walked away.

Later, I checked his name on the chat log. When I looked it up in the Japanese-English dictionary, I found out his name meant rumor.