“Hey, Fujimoto.”

I glanced up wearily from my desk, my hand poised to scribble a few more sentences into my essay. My friend, Okazawa Reiji, was grinning at me.

“What’s the matter, Okazawa?”

“You free after school?”

The question I hated the most. Of course I wasn’t free after school. I was a very busy person. If I didn’t have homework or stuff to study, then I was busily writing stupid stories and uploading them to the Internet to get flamed (don’t even know why I bother). I was “never free” – I always had something to do whether it was after school or during the holidays.

That said, my schedule was flexible. If people needed my help or wanted to hang out, I could adjust my activities to accommodate the new event.

“If you need anything, just tell me,” I growled. “Get straight to the point.”

“There’s a game I want to introduce you to.”

“Sorry, no money.”

I immediately rejected him flat-out, but Okazawa struck the back of my head.

“Listen until the end, you idiot!”

“Sorry,” I muttered, rubbing the back of my head and wincing at the sting. Why was I friends with this guy again?

“It’s free, just so you know. Anyway, just follow me. We’re going to the gaming parlor!”

“That sounds pretty shady,” I remarked suspiciously, but Okazawa frantically shook his head.

“No, that’s not what I meant! We’re not going to a pinball parlor or game center, okay? It’s a virtual reality center! With official tournaments and stuff! You play Pokémon or Digimon, right? It’s sort of the same thing. Except in virtual reality!”

“Hmm…that sounds intriguing.”

“I know, right? I remember you’re pretty good at Digimon…”

“No, I’m pretty good at Warhammer 40,000 and that’s a strategy game.”

That said, I wasn’t averse to trying new things, and commanding monsters was just like commanding an army. Or maybe it was completely different. It didn’t matter, it was a game, and games were fun.

“All right. Let’s go.”

“Great! Let’s wait for Yukino and we’ll go!”

I raised an eyebrow at that. Yukino Maika was Okazawa’s childhood friend if I wasn’t mistaken. And it was clear to everyone except Okazawa himself that she had a crush on him. If this was supposed to be some sort of date, I didn’t want to get involved and be a third wheel. That would be extremely awkward…

As expected, Yukino was staring at me warily when I showed up. She turned to Okazawa, who was beaming obliviously.

“I invited Fujimoto to join us for a Virtual Monster session!”

“…I can see that.” she sighed, and then turned to me with a bright smile. “Welcome, Fujimoto-kun. I hope you enjoy the game. Reiji and I really love it.”

“Thank you.”

I tried to hang back and let the two lovebirds flirt, but as usual, Okazawa remained oblivious to the hints Yukino was dropping by clinging closely to him. He consistently turned back to me and bragged about his exploits in the game.

“You see, you can evolve your monster, and depending on what food you feed it, it’ll grow in a specialized direction! I like attacking, so I nurtured my monster to be an attacker-type, with Power Berries and Iron Claws…oh, those are special types of food that you can collect from the virtual world by defeating NPCs…”

“I taught him that,” Yukino remarked, trying to keep the irritation out of her voice. Yeah, Okazawa was so dense I felt like punching him. He was showering me with too much attention even though Yukino was right beside him.

“Oh yeah! Yukino taught me that! I’m eternally grateful to her! Did I tell you that she was also the one who introduced the game to me?”

“You just did.”

I was beginning to feel exhausted just from trying to keep up with the conversation and endure Yukino’s displeasure. She wasn’t angry at me. It was fortunate that she was a nice enough girl to tolerate my presence without being irritated, but it was clear that she was less than satisfied with Okazawa’s obliviousness.

I found ourselves heading for the city district, which kind of made sense. A virtual reality center had to be located in some sort of hi-tech environment. A futuristic skyscraper, perhaps. This was no Akihabara, but it was close enough, housing the city’s electronics and games. I looked around eagerly at the modern skyscrapers, expecting Okazawa and Yukino to lead me into one of them, but the couple/two childhood friends walked right past them.

“?”

I swallowed and hurried after them. For some reason, we were going into a less populated part of the district, where a couple of ramen stores and gyuudon stores were lined up in a row. Okazawa and Yukino stopped in front of what looked like an ancient house that originated from the Edo period. They passed through a curtained door and entered.

“Pardon the intrusion!”

I gaped at them as they walked past an old lady, who was seated at the counter, knitting silently. She barely registered our presence, nodding her wrinkled head ever so slightly before returning to her task. I stared at the two childhood friends, baffled at their boldness, but wordlessly followed them after bowing apologetically to the old lady.

“It’s here.”

Yukino’s irritation had disappeared, replaced by excitement as she led us to an elevator hidden at the back of the house, behind yet another curtain. That was the only hi-tech equipment I saw in the entire traditional wooden Edo-period house.

“The virtual reality center?”

I couldn’t stop myself from asking. Okazawa’s grin told me everything I needed to know. I sighed and followed them into the waiting elevator, watching as Yukino hit the only other button on the panel. Well, that wasn’t entirely accurate – there were buttons to open and close the door, as well as an emergency bell button.

The elevator chimed as it came to a stop, and its doors slid open to reveal the basement.

My jaw dropped.

Unlike the traditional-looking house above, the basement was the very picture of futuristic hi-tech that I had anticipated. Over a hundred students and young adults lounged around on comfortable sofas while watching dozens of holographic screens that displayed almost anime-like videos. I stopped to peer at one of the screens.

There were two guys shouting as they rode what looked like gigantic, dragon-like monsters that tore and ripped into each other with claws and spiked tails. The buildings around them were reduced into rubble, crumbling as the two monsters wrestled into them.

“Yeah, you can watch matches out here,” Yukino informed me. “Virtual Monsters have become an e-sport, and they’ve attracted a lot of sponsors. Its viewership has reached millions worldwide!”

“Cool.”

I didn’t know what else to say. It was as if I had walked into another world.

“New players should go that way,” Okazawa explained, directing me toward the center of the VR center. I nodded blankly and hollowly proceeded to that direction. Already there were a few people sitting on a hi-tech seat with helmets and haptic gloves seemingly welded onto their heads and hands. There was one guy whose equipment was connected to a screen.

“Oh…and you have a hydra!”

The commentator was a lady in a…well, seductive uniform. The usual short miniskirt that revealed a lot of thigh, and a blouse designed to emphasize her cleavage. I wondered if she was there to commentate or to serve as eye candy. Probably both.

“Congratulations!”

The guy yanked off his helmet and haptic gloves to stare at his hydra in wonder. He cheered and pumped his fist into the air in delight.

“Register at that counter and wait for your turn,” Okazawa informed me. He and Yukino were standing off to the side, eagerly waiting for my turn. I raised an eyebrow, but nodded and proceeded to the touch-screen counter, where I punched in my personal particulars and information.

“The game will generate a monster based on your attributes and personality,” the commentator explained to the newcomers who were lining up to sit in the chair. Fortunately, there were so few of us, so it didn’t seem that I need to wait long before I received my turn. “You can level up and evolve your monsters through PvP and PvE, and the former provides a lot more experience points and cash rewards. You can use the in-game currency to purchase special food and nutrition to boost the growth of your monsters as well.”

I raised my eyebrow at that. In other words, the game most likely ran on microtransactions. The rich players would gain an advantage by purchasing these special foods and nutrition with real money, thus getting ahead of the rest of the pack. That soured my mood a little.

Well, since I’m already here, I might as well give the game a try. If it ends up being unaffordable, then I just have to drop the game and move on to something else.

Glancing at the screens, I watched another battle, this time between a gigantic insect-type monster against a flaming eagle. The latter was hurling fiery feathers that ricocheted harmlessly off the super-hard shell that encased the insect-type monster, who bared its mandibles and fangs. Giant wings opened up and buzzed as the kid riding his charge urged it to attack the darting eagle whose rider held on tightly to its feathers.

I watched, transfixed by the incredible scene, only to snap out of the spell when the commentator gently tapped my shoulder.

“It’s your turn, sir.”

“Oh, sorry.”

I felt embarrassed, especially when attracting the stares from amused participants. Glad that I was the last one in line, I donned the helmet and gloves. Quelling a feeling of anxiety that rose when my vision disappeared into darkness, I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, and then waited for further instructions.

“Just relax. The machine will sync with you in a second.”

I nodded slightly, wishing I had taken off my glasses before putting on the helmet. My glasses were slipping uncomfortably off my nose and I had no way of pushing them back up, not with the helmet obscuring my face.

And then the world suddenly glowed, a dazzling variety of colors bombarding my senses. I sucked in a breath from surprise and then forced myself to calm down.

“All right, it’s done.”

The commentator’s cheerful voice filled my ears once more, and I eagerly pulled the helmet off my head. Jumping off my seat, I twisted around and looked at my screen expectantly.

“…”

“Oh, you’re pretty lucky! The system has decided to grant you two monsters.”

“Huh?”

I stared at the commentator, baffled, but she merely smiled.

“It’s not unusual. Several of the top players have several monsters. Sometimes the system produces multiple monsters. Take care of both of them, all right?”

I nodded dumbly as the commentator patted my shoulder, and then mumbled my thanks before I staggered toward my friends. Behind me, I saw a puppy and a snake on the screen. The commentator was punching something into her holographic touch-screen and then printed out two cards for me to read. I accepted them gratefully.

“Oh, how lucky!” Okazawa complained when I rejoined them. He stared at the puppy and the snake cards in my hand. “I can’t believe you managed to get two monsters!”

“Yeah…I was really lucky. I guess.”

“I’m not sure about that.”

““Huh?””

Both Okazawa and I turned to stare at Yukino in disbelief. She was looking at the two cards in my hand, concerned.

“Having two monsters right from the get-go is very difficult. You’ll have to take care of both of them and sustain them with the same income as everyone else. As a result, you will have to split the nutrition and special food between both your monsters while others can dedicate all their stuff to just one monster. In other words, those with only a single monster will grow and evolve them twice as fast as you will. As a beginner, you simply cannot afford to match the others in terms of in-game income. And not only that…”

She took the cards from my hands and studied them, her face clouding over.

“Your monsters’ stats are…relatively weak. Weaker than normal.”

“W…what?”

I retrieved the cards from Yukino, but the monsters’ attack, defense, speed, evasive and luck stats made no sense to me. Without anything to compare except each other, I couldn’t tell if they were good or bad.

“My Goudou had 1.5 times of both your monsters’ stats when I started.”

Yukino shook her head ominously.

“Not only are your monsters weaker, you also have to split your income when nurturing and feeding them…wow, you really drew the short end of the stick.”

“W…well, Fujimoto is really smart, isn’t he? He’ll figure something out!”

I knew Okazawa was trying to be encouraging, but somehow his words made me feel worse. I scratched my head and plastered a smile.

“Well, at least they look cool.”

“Y…yeah! They look really cool! I wonder what they’ll look like when they evolve! I’m sure it’ll be worth raising both of them!”

“As long as they don’t force me into microtransactions,” I muttered under my breath. No way in hell was I paying a single cent just to level up my monsters. Well, given that the game was free, I didn’t mind paying a bit, but from history, I knew microtransactions often ended up rising to tens of thousands yen. Not something a student like me could afford.

“Oh, you don’t know?”

Yukino stared at me apologetically.

“There are no microtransactions for this game. You only need to buy the specific console if you want to play the game, which is relatively cheap. About 5,000 yen. Other than that, you don’t have to spend a single yen for anything else. Everything is bought with in-game currency.”

“Oh, the console is for you to grind in PvE at home,” Okazawa added. “But you don’t have to buy it if you don’t want to. You can just come here every day and play in the VR center. It’s also more fun and social that way.”

“Okay.”

I nodded as the information sank in. the good news was that the other players wouldn’t pull ahead to that much of an advantage thanks to having more cash than me. That still didn’t solve my current predicament, though.

Well, I would just play with my two monsters and see how it went. Winning wasn’t everything, as long as I had fun. Besides, I wasn’t a competitive gamer. All I needed to do if I was sick of getting my ass kicked was buy the console and indulge in PvE. At least I was more confident in that…

“In any case, let’s try a game, shall we?”

“Yeah! Don’t worry! We’ll protect you!”

As I proceeded to the “arena”, which was a space that consisted of about twelve virtual reality seats lined up in a row, I learned that there were no levels, but just evolution stages.

“The current stage of your monsters is the baby stage.”

“No kidding,” I muttered at Okazawa’s insight as I stared at the puppy and tiny serpent depicted in my two cards.

“The next stage is the growing stage, then the matured stage. That’s usually where people hit a bottleneck, but the very best players will evolve their monsters into the perfect stage. Those who achieve that get to compete in the top leagues as elite players.”

“Perfect,” I grumbled disinterestedly. All of that sounded too far away. Top leagues? Elite players? There was no way I would get that far.

“And among those elite players, those who can evolve their monsters beyond the perfect stage and into the ultimate stage become professionals and compete in the prestigious GVL series!” Okazawa continued excitedly, completely unaware that I wasn’t the least interested.

“GVL series?” I repeated.

“It’s a professional league,” Yukino explained and brought a finger to her chin. “Global Virtual League, I believe.”

“I see.” I closed my eyes and held back a sigh. “So what stages are your virtual monsters at?”

“Matured,” both of them chorused in unison. That figured. It would be big news if either of them had gotten their monsters to the perfect stage.

On the other hand, this meant we were only going to participate in the lower leagues, so I wouldn’t be facing off against a perfect stage Virtual Monster anytime soon. At least I wouldn’t get crushed so one-sidedly.

But if I face off against a matured stage monster with my baby stage monsters, wouldn’t I just get slaughtered?

I scratched my head, but Okazawa, as if sensing my worry, clamped a protective hand on my shoulder.

“Don’t worry! Yukino and I will protect you! And you’ll get income from participating in any game, regardless of whether you win or not!”

“But you get more if you win,” Yukino added somewhat unnecessarily. Way to bring my morale down. But she was merely stating a fact, so I didn’t blame her.

We reached the arena we were assigned to. While each arena could house twelve players, there were at least twenty arenas in the vast underground cavern, which meant up to 240 players could play at any one time. More if those with a console linked up to the cloud server that the company that produced the game, Bannin, maintained.

The commentator who handled the newbies was standing there, studying the currently empty screens. Well, the holograms weren’t exactly empty – it was filled with a large, seemingly abandoned cityscape. I studied it, wondering if we were supposed to fight in there. Then, following Okazawa and Yukino, I strapped myself into one of the seats and began putting on the helmet and haptic gloves. Once more, I found myself veiled in darkness.

“All right, everybody! Are you ready?”

The commentator’s muffled voice pierced through the helmet. This time, I had remembered to take off my glasses, so I felt a little more comfortable. That said, I wasn’t given any time to appreciate the feeling.

Light filled my vision, almost blinding me.

No…wait…my eyes were closed. How was I seeing lights?

Before I could find an answer, I suddenly found myself standing in a street, under the shadow of the buildings I saw on the holographic screens just a few minutes earlier. Checking my condition, I saw that I had been digitally replicated down to the last molecule. I was wearing my school uniform and glasses, even though I had taken them off in reality.

“Wow…this is amazing.”

I honestly hadn’t heard of such advanced technology before. To think they were capable of producing a digital avatar perfectly identical to the real thing…I was impressed.

“Now…I should go look for Okazawa and Yukino before I run into anyone else.”

Unsurprisingly, neither of them were nearby. I must have spawned in a totally different location. Gulping, I glanced around, only to hear a bark.

“Eh?”

Right behind me were a puppy and tiny snake, almost exactly the same monsters as the ones displayed on my cards.

“Oh…you guys are…!”

I didn’t know whether to feel relieved or to laugh. Honestly, my monsters looked pathetic, curling or coiling helplessly into a ball and looking up at me pitifully.

“I’m supposed to fight with you guys?”

I felt a spike of irritation. What the hell was this game? How did they expect me to win with such weak monsters? I mean, I appreciated being given two of them, but their awful stats, and not to mention Yukino’s ominous warning continued to ring in my head.

Man… this game sucks.

Sighing, I crouched and scooped both the puppy and snake into my arms. Well, there was no point complaining. I was already in the game. Might as well play it.

“Let’s look for Okazawa and Yukino.”

Pushing my glasses up my nose, I was surprised at how real the sensation was. Even though this was virtual reality, I could feel the plastic frame on my fingers and my nose. It was as if they were the real thing.

They really pulled out all the stops to emulate reality, huh?

I could even feel the soft fluffy fur of the puppy and the cool, smooth scales of the snake. Oh, and the heat emanating from the warm-blooded puppy whereas the lack of warmth radiating from the cold-blooded snake. Not only sensations, even temperature.

Bannin was really amazing, creating a game and virtual reality as real as this.

“So where do I begin looking?” I wondered out loud, staring at the urban cityscape before my eyes. Now that I thought about it, I had no idea how the game mechanics were supposed to work. How do I communicate with teammates? There was no speak function as in normal games, and I didn’t have any headset with me. And I wasn’t sure how the fighting was supposed to take place. Was it like normal strategy and first-person shooter games where we started killing each other the moment we spawned? Of course, I would have to encounter the opponent first, but in normal games, I was sure that we were supposed to spawn with our teammates.

Then I realized that unlike in normal games, we didn’t actually register our team and form a proper party.

What is this, free for all?

Well, that made sense. This was virtual reality, so our actions were unrestricted by AI. If we decided to ally and not attack each other, then that constituted an alliance. Still, it would be more convenient if we could spawn right next to an already established party. That said, I supposed this allowed room for us to form new alliances with strangers.

I wasn’t very optimistic about that, though.

Just when I was thinking that a large shadow loomed over me. I froze, hiding behind a building, as something colossal turned around the corner. As I thought, it was a monster the size of a house, lumbering across the road and inadvertently trampling on streetlamps and traffic lights. It resembled a gigantic hound, with blue, spiky fur and claws the size of a small car.

I gulped.

“Sniffed out anything yet, Lupine?”

A spiky-haired boy was grinning as he rode on the gigantic wolf, safely nestled in the nape of its neck. He was scanning the area eagerly, straining to find a victim. I knew at that moment that he wouldn’t be interested in allying himself with anybody.

Briefly closing my eyes, I tried to assess my situation.

That size…is that a matured stage monster?

There was no way my tiny baby stage monsters could stand up against a colossal creature like that. This wasn’t fair. It was like throwing a beginner against a veteran. I would literally get stomped. Clenching my fists, I pressed my back against the concrete wall, which felt as real as any building wall that I had leaned against in reality.

Where are Okazawa and Yukino?

I gritted my teeth, trying to suppress my fear. This was a mistake. Actually, what the hell was this game? Shouldn’t they pit beginners against other beginners? What was the point of sending us newbies with baby stage monsters if we were just going to get crushed by the more experienced and powerful players? They talked about having a top league filled with gamers possessing perfect-stage monsters, so shouldn’t there be a baby-stage monster league for beginners and newbies?

I regretted not asking about that.

“Aha!”

The spiky-haired boy crowed suddenly. And then at his urging, his Lupine smashed the building where I was hiding, showering me with rubble.

“What the hell…?!”

Looked like the environment was destructible. This wasn’t like normal games, where the environment was indestructible and no matter how many explosives or missiles we launched from our Titans or heavy weapons, the buildings remained intact. I had to run.

“Whoa!”

I slid under the gigantic wolf, still cradling my puppy and snake in my hands. The huge monster snarled and tried to twist around, but its bulk hindered its movement. I skidded past the monster and bounced to my feet.

Go, go, go!

Carrying my two baby monsters, I sprinted round another corner, trying to get away from the dude’s line of sight.

“Ha ha! Lucky!”

However, the guy didn’t sound discouraged. Rather, he sounded pretty pleased.

“I can’t believe I ran into a noob! As my first encounter! Woohoo! Free victory points! Go get them, Lupine!”

I knew it. The spiky-haired boy was a power gamer, a bully who enjoyed picking apart newbies. I had encountered my fair share of them online, and it wasn’t a pleasant experience being taunted and trash-talked to by superior gamers who took pleasure in slowing ripping me and my army apart and mocking my supposedly lousy skills.

The building behind me was demolished as the wolf monster charged through it, skidding across the ground before bounding after me. There was no way I could outrun that thing.

“Can’t you guys do something!?” I snapped at my monsters, frustration mounting. I knew that people were watching this battle from the outside, and were probably laughing at how pathetic I looked, running away from an opponent.

The puppy and snake merely stared at me with wide, innocent eyes. Gah, they might be cute, but they were entirely useless in battle.

My only hope is to run until I find Okazawa and Yukino.

They had matured stage monsters too, right? Then they could help me. They could stand up to the guy behind me.

Where are they?!

Fuck this game. This wasn’t fun at all. I was hoping that it would be like Pokémon or Digimon with a steady progressive system, but throwing a baby-stage monster newbie owner right into the fray was downright dumb. I regretted ever agreeing to come along for the game.

“Woof?”

I glanced down at the puppy and my heart melted a bit. Okay, maybe it wasn’t so bad. I got to meet these guys after all. I wasn’t sure if it was just me being delusional, but I felt some sort of bond with them. They were my monsters, not anyone else’s. And if I wasn’t so occupied with running away, I would be looking forward to grooming and evolving them, just as I did with the other monster games. Plus I had the privilege of having two monsters. It might be difficult at first, but once I got over it, the rewards would be awesome.

For now, I should stay grounded in the present and find a way to escape my persistent opponent. Or hunter. Or bully.

This was too one-sided – there was no way I could call this a duel. It was outright bullying. I glanced up at the artificial sky, which looked as blue and real to me as the outside world. Were the spectators enjoying this? Did they enjoy watching people get creamed?

“Just die already!”

The spiky-haired boy hollered. A shadow suddenly shrouded me in darkness, and despite myself, I glanced back, only to see a massive paw descend on me.

That was when my two baby-stage monsters jumped out of my arms and charged at the Lupine. The both of them struck the massive paw and bounced off, crashing heavily onto the ground. It was only natural. There was no way they could win against something of that size.

However, their attempts were more than enough to deflect the paw by just a few centimeters. I stumbled and fell, only to watch the paw obliterate the ground right next to me.

Just a few centimeters in my direction and it would be me flattened to a bloody paste on the ground. I gulped.

Did my monsters just save me?

“Guys!”

I scrambled over to where my monsters lay, stunned and semi-conscious. Above, the spiky-haired guy growled at being thwarted.

“What the hell?”

“Bye!”

I barely had enough time to throw back a retort before scooping up my monsters and running right inside a building.

“You’re not getting away!”

The spiky-haired boy hollered, and at his command, his Lupine smashed through the building I had just dove into, gouging a huge hole in the concrete and smashing apart the interior. Behind me, furniture and objects flew about, crashing against the crumbling walls as the Lupine smashed its way through. Unlike Titanfall 2, I couldn’t seek safety under the impenetrable cover of a building. The damned monster could level the structure I was hiding in!

Thankfully, its immense size proved detrimental to traversing the building, and it was slowed down by the walls and concrete. Even though it could smash past them eventually, its movements were impeded by the solid interior of the building.

That bought me more than enough time to outrun it.

“Huff…huff…huff…”

My lungs were burning. Even though this was virtual reality, the sensations felt indistinguishable from reality. I could feel the exhaustion gripping my limbs, the breathlessness in my chest, and the solid ground beneath my feet. I didn’t know how Bannin did it, but they really replicated everything perfectly in this virtual reality, not just the environment but even the human body and its senses. If I hadn’t known better, I would have thought I had been transported into another world entirely.

I skidded out of the other end of the building, staggering into the open. For a brief moment, I paused, glancing right and left to see which direction I should run toward, but the growl and thunderous destruction behind me forced me toward the right. I twisted around and ducked into the building around the corner, hoping to lose the pursuing beast.

No such luck.

The Lupine burst free from the building, and finally free of any structural hindrance, was able to chase me at full speed. It rounded on the corner, closing in on me, even as I sprinted as quickly as I could…

“Fujimoto! Get down!”

I blinked at the familiar voice, and then instinctively obeyed, throwing myself to the ground. From the front, a golden beam of destructive energy and a series of earth spikes fired out from two colossal figures ahead.

“What?!”

The spiky-haired boy didn’t have enough time to react or evade. He screamed as his monster was struck by the monstrous beam and pierced by the deadly rows of earth spikes, which tore massive holes through the hound-like creature’s body. The Lupine crashed onto the floor, its corpse smoldering for a few moments before it slowly disintegrated into floating pixels.

The Lupine’s owner himself had fallen to the ground, unconscious before he winked out of virtual reality. One second, he was there, and the next second, he was just… gone.

“Yeah!”

Riding on their respective monsters, Okazawa and Yukino slapped high-fives with each other. I watched in awe as they approached me. Okazawa was perched atop a huge, winged dragon in blue and red scales, while Yukino was riding on the back of a colossal lion-type monster, holding onto its golden, kingly mane.

“Okazawa! Yukino!”

“Hey, Fujimoto! Great job!”

I pushed my glasses up my nose as I linked up with them, feeling extremely relieved. My puppy and snake stirred in my arms, slowly recovering from the brutal blow from earlier. I studied the two matured stage monsters enviously, hoping that my guys would someday evolve to be as powerful as either of them.

My prospects weren’t looking good though.

“So this is your Goudou?” I asked Yukino, staring at the majestic, lion beast. Yukino beamed and nodded.

“Yeah, he’s a beauty, isn’t he?”

“Yeah…”

“And this is Ryusuke!”

Okazawa proudly boasted as he patted the blue scales of his dragon’s spiked head. I raised an eyebrow but nodded.

“Hmm, he looks really cool.”

“Yeah, he is! He’s awesome! The most incredible partner ever!”

I didn’t argue with that, remembering that the golden beam emanated from the dragon. That was a pretty powerful blow. The earth spikes must have come from the lion-like Goudou then.

“Thanks for saving me.”

“Oh, no. we should thank you for acting as bait and luring that guy to our position.”

“…huh?”

There was something about Yukino’s words that puzzled me. I stared at her, confused. Maybe I was reading too much into it, but did that mean they had been using me all this while?

“…”

It was falling into place now. How I was spawned in a different place from them, and how they ended up together. This was no coincidence.

“Sorry, Fujimoto. But this is how the game works. The strong eat the weak, survival of the fittest and all that. You want to win, you have to be ruthless.”

Okazawa grinned at me. I bit my lip but didn’t reply. I felt cheated, but I wasn’t in any position to complain. It did make sense. I didn’t like it, but a lot of the win at all costs players behaved in a similar manner.

For now, I would just stick with them and then ditch them at the earliest opportunity. I couldn’t criticize them, not when I probably would end up using them as a stepping stone…

“Well, now that your job is done, I hope you don’t mind doing us another favor.”

Yukino was smiling as well. I didn’t like that ominous expression at all.

At the snap of her fingers, Goudou stomped on the ground. Immediately, the ground around me erupted as earth spikes lanced upward, similar to what I saw earlier when she hit the Lupine with that attack. Fortunately, I wasn’t as huge as the Lupine, so I was somehow able to evade the earth spikes by fumbling around while cradling my poor monsters.

Unfortunately, Yukino had expected that, and she had designed her attack to trap me in a solid ring of spikes.

“What are you doing?!” I yelled.

“Farming victory points,” Okazawa replied matter-of-factly. He patted Ryusuke, who nodded. The dragon’s maw opened, and golden energy began accumulating in it as it directed the beam toward me.

I felt cold perspiration running down my back.

“You…”

Newbie-crushing. I had heard of this as a gamer. Veteran, experienced gamers would invite new gamers to participate in a game along with them, only to turn on them and farm them for victories and experience points. They were player-killers who recruited newbies just to hunt them for their own benefit.

I should have known.

“…bastards!”

The word never left my mouth. My two monsters and I were disintegrated by Okazawa’s attack, and everything turned black.

The next thing I knew, I was back in my seat. I yanked my helmet and gloves off, feeling a bitter taste in my mouth. Looking up at the screen, I watched Yukino and Okazawa slapping high-fives once again and congratulating each other for fooling me.

Backstabbing traitors…

I thought they were friends.

My shoulders slumping, I slid off the chair and trudged toward the exit.

“Hey…sir.”

I turned around. It was the commentator. She was looking sympathetically at me. I bit back a retort and waited.

“You forgot your cards.”

She raised her hand, and I saw my two monster cards between her fingers. I gritted my teeth.

“I don’t need them. Sorry, but I don’t think I’ll be playing this game again.”

“I’m sorry about your terrible experience. I really am.”

The commentator sounded sincere. She glanced back at the screen, where Okazawa and Yukino were now riding off to search for fresh prey.

“Unfortunately, such incidents are pretty common. It’s pretty detrimental to the game too…a lot of new players end up getting discouraged after being tricked like that.”

If you knew that, why didn’t you prevent it?

“It’s hard to tell which players are being sincere in inviting their friends, and which gamers have more…nefarious motives. And as you know, the game has a huge player base. It’s hard to keep track of who are the trustworthy ones and who are not.”

As if reading my mind, the commentator explained. Not that it was doing a whole lot of good. I felt resentment simmering inside my chest, but I knew she wasn’t to blame. She wasn’t the one who encouraged such behavior.

“I’m Katsuragi Kirino, a commentator for the lower leagues. I actually don’t approve of such behavior, but it’s not against the rules. That said, I’ve been trying to tell the higher-ups to do something about it, because it’s spoiling the game, especially for new players like you.”

“Yeah, consider me another victim.”

“Wait.” Katsuragi raised a hand. “Do you mind following me for a few minutes? I promise it won’t take long.”

I frowned. “Don’t you have commentating duties?”

“Oh, Suzuki-san can handle that.”

Over at the virtual reality consoles, I spotted a man in his late twenties excitedly speaking into the microphone. Even though we were indoors, he was wearing sunglasses. To look cool, I suppose.

“And there aren’t many players left, so there’s not much for me to commentate anyway.”

“…”

I studied Katsuragi for a few moments and then nodded. It wasn’t as if I had anything to lose. Taking the cards from her outstretched hand, I followed her.

“Here are the portable consoles,” she explained, bringing me to the sales counter. My eyebrow twitched. Did she bring me here to sell me something? Even after such a terrible experience?

As if realizing what she had just done, Katsuragi bowed apologetically.

“I know you’re probably still fuming over earlier, but hear me out.”

“…sure.”

“The consoles…they cost about 5,000 yen, but I can give you a discount. If you become a member, I’ll sell one to you for 3,000 yen.”

I raised an eyebrow at that. That sounded like a good deal, but…

“…why should I buy it?”

“PvE.” Katsuragi glanced at the screens. “Right now, we provide free virtual reality services for PvP because of leagues and stuff. And lots of people come here to watch.”

I saw spectators buying popcorn and drinks from the food and beverage counters. Oh, so that was where they made their money as well. I did find it odd that they were just letting people play here for free, but I guess it made sense to have other sources of income that weren’t as visible to the gamers. A strategic business move.

“But if you want PvE, you’ll need one of these. You can log in and play the game at your own time and pace.”

PvE. Yeah, the only game mode I excelled in. that said, I had other games to play at home. Why should I bother with this?

Then I glanced at the cards in my hand. Closing my eyes, I recalled how my monsters tried to save me. Their cute, puppy eyes. Their innocent expressions. Their courage and loyalty.

I might as well give it a try.

“All right…”

My allowance for this month was going to be hurting, but 3,000 yen shouldn’t be too much, especially if I took it from my savings. Taking a deep breath, I decided to take the plunge.

“I’ll sign up and buy the console. Do you have an ATM where I can draw some cash?”

*

I stared at the console, feeling a bit of doubt.

I ended up buying it after all.

“Well…since I have it, I might as well try it.”

Taking a deep breath, I took my glasses off before putting the helmet on. Unlike the hi-tech chairs and consoles available for players in the virtual reality center. The console only provided a helmet and a pair of haptic gloves connected to what looked like a small, hi-tech box of switches and wires.

Is this safe?

I wondered if I might accidentally fry my brain by hooking into the machine, but decided to risk it. After all, they wouldn’t sell unsafe stuff. Not if they wanted to preserve Bannin’s prestigious reputation. And I hadn’t heard anything about unfortunate accidents in the news.

Then again, I hadn’t heard anything about this game until Okazawa and Yukino told me about it. Apparently, it was popular, though. A quick google search turned up plenty of websites and tactics dedicated to the game.

“Let’s hope this works.”

I had glanced through a walkthrough and a tactics page before beginning the game. The advice people provided on the official forums seemed good and decent. And to my chagrin, there were people warning about newbie hunters.

Too late for me, but I had decided to post there to warn any future gamers.

For now, I flicked the switch on and waited as the inside of my helmet was immediately filled with dazzling colors.

I blinked, finding myself in a forested area. A bark sounded beside me, and I turned around to see my puppy and snake waiting for me. They ran and slithered toward me excitedly and I picked them up, marveling at how fluffy and soft they felt. They reminded me of stuffed animals, and despite being a guy, I liked stuffed animals.

“Good to see you guys again.”

“Woof!”

“Hiss!”

Even though they were just digitally created AIs, they somehow behaved like actual animals with their own personalities. Both my puppy and snake snuggled against me, and I realized I hadn’t given them any names.

“Well, I’ll just call you Puppy and Snaky.”

I was too lazy to pick their names. Besides, I would change their nicknames when they evolved or something. From what I knew, their names and species would totally change upon evolution, so whatever names I picked for their baby stage were pointless.

They didn’t seem to mind. Cuddling in my arms, they seemed to go to sleep. I sighed at that.

“Come on, guys. We’re going to train. I’m going to whip you guys into shape.”

I closed my eyes briefly and remembered the humiliation and pain I suffered under Okazawa and Yukino’s betrayal. I had to grow stronger. I was going to change myself, become someone so powerful they would regret ever trifling with.

If I had to spend years grinding endlessly to evolve my monsters into the matured stage, then I would do just that. I would make sure to crush those bastards who looked down on us newbies and bullied us.

“We’ll begin in the beginner’s area of the forest,” I told my monsters, who stared at me. Somehow they understood me, for they were shrinking back in fear. I raised an eyebrow at their reaction. What the hell? Weren’t they monsters? They were supposed to fight, weren’t they? “Come on, guys. You want to get stronger, don’t you?”

Neither of them responded positively. I shook my head in disgust. What was I doing, taking part in a buggy game like this? But since I had already spent the 3,000 yen, I might as well get my money’s worth.

Not caring about my monsters’ apprehension, I marched right into the forest, looking for NPC monsters to fight against. According to the walkthrough, the monster encounters should scale to my monsters’ stage, meaning I didn’t have to worry about running into creatures far too powerful for my baby stage monsters to defeat.

As I expected, small plant-like monsters shaped like baby trees or stick insects emerged. Twin leaves sprouted from their wooden heads, and three huge holes or big woodgrain gave the impression of eyes and mouth.

Cherry pickers. A type of NPC monster that often spawned as enemies. They should provide item drops that boosted the defense of my monsters and help them in their evolution.

“Well, if you guys want to grow stronger, you’ve to work for it!”

I dropped my puppy and snake right in front of the horde of cherry pickers. The two of them stared at the approaching monsters for a few seconds, and then ran/crawled back to me, absolutely terrified. They clung to my legs.

My shoulders slumped and I glared at them in disgust. You’ve got to be kidding me! They were monsters! Weren’t they supposed to fight? I never had this problem in Pokémon or Digimon. This was getting ridiculous.

“Go beat them!” I snapped. Both of my monsters continued to cling to my legs, staring at me pitifully, but I remained unmoved.

What kind of stupid game was this? First I ended up getting bullied by a newbie crusher then I got backstabbed and betrayed by my classmates just so I could provide them victory points, and now my monsters were refusing to obey me and fight.

I resisted the urge to kick them.

“Go fight them,” I snarled through gritted teeth. The two monsters recoiled, suddenly realizing that I might be scarier than their opponents. They looked at each other, trembling from fright, and then turned to look at the cherry pickers.

And then they charged.

*

“You’ve got to be kidding me.”

I held my head, trying to reconcile with the facts. My monsters were so weak they ended up getting overwhelmed by the cherry pickers, which forced me to intervene to save them. For the record, even a human like me could beat up the cherry pickers. Yeah, in the end, I was the one who kicked and stomped the cherry pickers into oblivion and gained quite a bit of defense cherries.

I stared at my useless monsters, suppressing the desire to yell. This was beyond stupid. In what monster game was the player supposed to fight in place of his monsters? If I could beat the monsters up on my own, then I didn’t need to tame monsters. I might as well just play a virtual reality roleplaying game and upgrade my class!

Alas, those options were not open to me, so I merely gathered the cherries and threw them angrily at my wounded monsters.

“Eat them,” I snapped, trying to keep my temper in check.

Both Puppy and Snaky stared at me, still shivering from fear, and they obeyed, scarfing the cherries. Tears leaked from their eyes. What the hell, were they trying to guilt-trip me or something?

I sighed.

“Look here, guys.”

The both of them raised their heads to look at me. I jabbed a finger at them.

“You want to grow stronger, don’t you?”

Neither of them responded, other than to lower their heads.

You’ve got to be kidding me…

“What kind of stupid game is this?!” I yelled into the heavens, causing my monsters to cower. I glared at them, and then sighed and shook my head. “What’s the use of having you guys if you can’t be bothered to even fight? What’s the point of this stupid game? To play house with monsters and have tea?”

I kicked the floor, and with a flick of my hand, summoned the log out window to leave the game in disgust.

This was getting stupid.

*

The next few weeks, I would occasionally log into the console during my spare time, after I finished my homework, and try to grind. Or at least as much as I could grind with my useless monsters. Despite me doing the majority of the combat and feeding them, they didn’t seem to grow or evolve. As I expected, their growth wouldn’t be fast if they didn’t actually fight. It was painstakingly slow, and my patience and temper were fraying thin from their lack of progress.

I hadn’t talked much to either Okazawa or Yukino and had avoided the virtual reality center altogether. There was no point returning there just to get my ass kicked. I had no choice but to stick to my console and play at home.

I say play…but this isn’t fun at all…

I didn’t know why I invested so much time into this game when it clearly wasn’t rewarding.

“Why do I even bother?”

I could have spent the time on other more fun games, but I found myself watching my two monsters resentfully as they devoured a bunch of meat that dropped from silver hounds that I defeated. With a log.

Puppy and Snaky looked up at me again with those huge, cute eyes of theirs, and I averted my gaze with a curse. Yeah, they were cute, but if I wanted cute I would play Pokémon or with my stuffed animals. I didn’t need to play this game. I didn’t know what continued to draw me in. But I was just wasting my time around here.

“Well, enjoy your meal, guys.”

I raised my hand and got ready to log off, only for a sudden roar to interrupt the serene peacefulness. I was almost thrown off my feet as the entire area began to shudder, huge tremors rocking the ground.

“What the…?”

Was this a monster? That couldn’t be. The walkthrough said that we shouldn’t be encountering monsters above the baby or growing stage in this area. The enemies were supposed to scale according to my monsters. Yet…

I watched in shock as something massive burst out from the trees. Writhing appendages stretched out from what seemed like a bloated body, and pincers clicked incessantly. The ugly monstrosity seemed like a cross between a beetle and a pitcher plant, with vines and claws, and acid dripped from its mandibles.

Smoke rose from the ground where the acidic drool struck the grass. Again, the particle effects and photorealism of the virtual reality environment was astounding.

Not that it mattered at the moment.

“Well, I don’t have time to fight you today. Sayonara, pal.”

Waving, I conjured the log off window.

Nothing happened.

“…eh?”

A small window appeared, telling me I couldn’t log out during a monster encounter.

“You’ve got to be kidding me! You’re telling me I’ve to fight against that creature!?”

That was definitely a mature stage monster. NPC or not, it was not something either my monsters or I could win.

“F…!”

I scooped up my monsters and began to run, but the bug thing pursued us, its pincer-tipped vines writhing and lashing out in our direction. Both my monsters cowered in fear in my arms, like the useless buggers they were.

If they were a bit stronger and braver, then I wouldn’t be running like an idiot!

I cursed under my breath, half a millimeter away from considering throwing my monsters at the bug thing so that I could escape. It might sound callous, but I seriously was sick of wasting time with monsters that couldn’t fight.

It didn’t matter. There wasn’t much time to contemplate any of the options, for the bug thing ensnared my leg with one of its vines and tripped me up. I crashed onto the floor, my two monsters spilling out of my hands.

“Damn it!”

I kicked at the vine, but to no avail. The bug thing drew me closer to its clicking mandibles, and I could feel its putrid breath blowing over me like a gust of disgusting wind.

My shoulders slumping, I resigned myself to death. Well, it didn’t matter. This stupid game sucked. Maybe I would be automatically logged out after the monster killed me. That was fine by me. I was sick of wasting time in this game.

Then something struck the bug thing. The monster snarled as it twisted around, its vines loosening around me. Confused, I instinctively kicked out and freed myself, scrambling to my feet and widening the distance between us. Glancing up, I saw the reason. Puppy and Snaky had lunged at the bug thing and bit deeply into it.

“You guys…”

I was astounded, but then I was suddenly reminded of that time when the spiky-haired boy attacked me. Didn’t they risk their lives and charged at the Lupine to deflect its paw slightly, just so I would be saved?

I clenched my fists, feeling a bit of guilt creeping into my heart. For some reason, I had thought they were digital characters…weapons or tools that existed only to obey my commands. I had gotten frustrated and impatient with them because they didn’t behave like any of the monsters in my game. But I never considered that they did so because they weren’t just digital creations.

For some reason, they had a life of their own, their own personalities and characteristics. Ghost in the machine, an awakening AI, whatever you call it, they were much more than pixelated images in a virtual reality world.

“I’m sorry, guys…”

I closed my eyes as my two monsters were flung off. They hit the ground right in front of me before bouncing helplessly. As the bug thing lumbered toward them, I dove forward and wrapped them in a protective embrace.

“I’m really sorry…”

For treating them as tools. For being so impatient with them. For not seeing them as the individuals that they were.

I had missed the whole point of nurturing and raising monsters. I wasn’t supposed to train them and send them into battle like the other games. I was supposed to nurture and raise them like actual living things. To consider their feelings.

“Damn it…”

Closing my eyes, I waited for the killing blow. I promised to treat them better the next time I logged in. To stop the brutal training regimes and feeding them weird food. This wasn’t a monster versus monster game. It was a pet-raising simulation.

“I’ll see you guys again later.”

The vines slapped down.

They never reached me.

The next thing I knew, my monsters glowed white. Puppy and Snaky were enveloped in a blinding aura, and their shapes seemed to change and enlarge. They expanded rapidly, pushing my arms away. As I stumbled back, I watched in awe as they grew and changed into something else, each of them growing to half my size.

Instinctively, I understood what was going on. They were evolving into the growing stage.

Puppy evolved into a black terrier, while Snaky evolved into a red salamander. The both of them sprang to life immediately after their evolution was completed, ducking the vines. My salamander was first to react, his jaws opening to unleash a torrent of flames on the bug thing. The monstrosity screeched as it staggered back, its writhing appendages set ablaze.

And then my terrier landed behind it. With a bark, he blasted the bug monster with an icy breath, freezing large swathes of it. The bug thing staggered forward, only to be immolated by an inferno from my salamander.

I watched the battle unfold in awe. Even though they were both only growing stage, they were making use of their numerical advantage to outflank and attack the matured stage bug thing from multiple directions. Their attacks weren’t doing lethal damage, but the accumulation of fire and ice that bombarded the creature relentlessly was slowly taking its toll.

“Gr…!”

The bug thing lashed out, but both the terrier and the salamander deftly dodged, while unleashing fiery and freezing torrents from midair, striking home. The bug thing staggered again, and I watched, amazed, as my salamander burned away the last of its vines.

Then my terrier delivered the finishing blow, freezing the core of the bug thing’s body with his breath. I stared with bated breath as the bug thing turned into ice, and for one terrifying moment, thought it would break free.

And then it shattered, turning into a drop item.

I could finally exhale in relief. Standing up, I cautiously approached the huge fruit-like thing that landed on the ground, half-expecting it to leap up and attack me. When it didn’t, I picked it up.

“Woof!”

“Hiss!”

I straightened and turned to my two monsters, who were happily running toward me in delight. I patted their heads.

“Great job, guys.” I saw that they were eying the fruit I had just picked up, so I split it and gave it to them. “Here’s your reward.”

While they wolfed down the divided fruit, I realized something was different about them. In the past, they weren’t that eager to consume the drop items or food from the previous monsters that I had defeated.

And it might be my imagination, but they seemed a little more…aggressive.

Sighing, I knelt down beside them and stroke their necks.

“Sorry, guys. I’ll make sure to treat you better next time.”

*

There was no next time.

Ironically, once I achieved my goal of evolving my monsters, I ended up regretting it. I missed the times when they were gentle, shy baby stage monsters. Now they were aggressive, more ferocious creatures, spoiling for a fight. Gone were the days where they would huddle against me, looking up at me with cute, puppy eyes. Now that babyish expression was replaced by glowing, passionate enthusiasm for a fight.

I had gotten my wish, and now I regretted that I ever asked for it. I should have treasured the time when my monsters were still cute little cowardly babies.

But there was no turning back. Like my monsters, I had to move forward.

“Ready, guys?”

I was pulling on gloves and pushing up my glasses right after logging in. Apparently, I could buy equipment for myself with the in-game currency that I earned from fighting.

“Woof!”

“Hiss!”

Terrier and Salamander eagerly curled around my legs and snuggled against my waist as they responded happily. I nodded and glanced forward. The forest ahead was in an uproar, countless trees shaking wildly as something massive stomped through them.

“Let’s go, guys.”

My monsters acknowledged my command and the three of us sprinted toward the forest, even as an ogre burst out of the trees, roaring.

We still had some ways to go before I could finally participate in the big leagues and exact my revenge on Okazawa and Yukino, but I knew for sure that we were slowly but surely growing stronger.

It was only a matter of time before we fully matured into battle-hardened veterans. Not just in the physical sense of my monsters evolving into the matured stage, but also me as a gamer.

I was never going to repeat that mistake again. I was going to grow stronger and become a professional gamer. Not just for my sake, but also for my monsters.

The ogre swung its paw, but all three of us jumped up and over the massive hand. I landed on it before running toward its head. Meanwhile, Terrier and Salamander outflanked the hulking behemoth and rained down fire and ice attacks from both sides. While the ogre staggered, I ran along the length of its arm and kicked it in the face, hearing a satisfying crunch as I broke its nose.

Yeah…I, no, we were definitely getting stronger.

As I landed on the ground, getting ready to resume my attack, I smirked.

Watch out, Okazawa and Yukino. We’ll be coming for you.

And then I charged.