Akira Kageyama, a perfectly ordinary boy with a perfectly ordinary life.
Well, if you count being bullied nearly every day normal that is.
From the anguish of the peer pressure he received continuously, his personality became distorted. Twisted into someone who wanted nothing to do with real life.
Yes, his true life now is in a fantasy world.
Meet Fantasma Online, a popular VRMMORPG set in a classic medieval era world, complete with humans warring against the Demon Lord.
Now, you might be thinking, """"Well, that sounds pretty generic"""". If you do, then you can't be more wrong in your assessment.
For you see, the main selling point of this game is not the visible conflict between the two races, but the stealth race between the two of them to discover the long lost civilization of Fantasma.
Yes, the whole game is about that grand mystery, Players are encouraged to solve the many puzzles in the game world to gain prestige and treasure.
And Akira was one of them.
Indeed, after giving up on real life Akira went full on out into playing the game. He had always been obsessed with solving any puzzles he found since he was a kid, so he refused to let any puzzle in the game unsolved.
And thus, he became the strongest player in the game. Not just from his character level but from the legendary Fantasma equipment he had. He owned the Pure Obsidian sword, the sword with the highest attack in the game, far surpassing any other swords. And he was the sole owner of that sword, as a reward for unearthing the Reversed Garden, one of the major Fantasma ruins of the world.
However, one day, just as he thought he was about to solve what he thought was the last puzzle of another major Fantasma ruin, a blinding light suddenly enveloped him. And when he could open his eyes again, he was standing in a familiar place. It was the castle where every new player spawned.
But wait, how was it that the NPC king and princess now are able to talk freely, unlike the usual fixed responses they only have? And his logout button is now gone?
Could it be? Did the game just become reality?