Entering World Online…

“Who’s that crazy Negativer over there. Why’s she laughing like that?”

“She’s not even using any skills. Wait, she’s got no subclass! Are you joking!”

“Look at her, she must be roleplaying a Summoner. She’s got so many monsters around her. You know that Neutraler class Monstermancer? She must have a friend who’s modding them to be really strong for her. How else could she get a flaming bird look as a Negativer? I wonder if they’re dating.”

“She’s probably a guy anyways. Maybe she’s tricking him, those people are the worst.”

“I don’t know, look at that monster. Phoenixxer? That sounds lame. I didn’t know you could make one that casts area of effect damage though, isn’t that something more high level?”

“Let’s go. I don’t want to be late to the raid.”

“Maybe I should roll a Negativer…”

I heard them, but I didn’t mind. It was nice having an audience, I’ve learned that lately. Negativer? Positiver? You could put in lots of emotion after all! Although it originally only let me put in negative thoughts, but I just lead them into positive ones.

An impression of a painting can change with a single stroke out of place, and in that single stroke what can be held?

Too many strokes, it gives the wrong impression. Too little, it doesn’t give enough. I was giving the monster enough to come alive on it’s own. I felt it, like looking off the precipice of a cliff. The depth of the canvas was thin, but my emotions behind each stroke weren’t.

Am I a genius? Am I a genius!?

I kept on pouring in more and more, making drawings on the canvas in my mind.

One canvas.

One painting.

A whole world in one glance.

Hero! No, wait it’s Iroas here. I’m not mad at all. I’m not. But, I want to see your face when I show you my greatest monster! Divorce her in that instant! He won’t, won’t he.

I remembered back to earlier that month. My new hope was given to me then.

Entering Augmented Reality…

“The test is done. Looks like it was what I thought, you overloaded your safeties.”

“They can overload?”, I said.

“You must have done something really strenuous lately. Usually, they need time to adjust. Your brain is like a muscle too, you know? I’m going to give you some stabilizers, make sure you’re not using the brain chip at all when you inject it. It goes in your thigh.”

“Not using the brain chip? Why?”

“It disables the safeties for a little so they can reset. Why are you smiling?”

“O-oh, I’m just glad there’s something to take for this. I was worried. How long are the safeties off? I don’t want to go into system shock…”

“It won’t even be ten seconds. Make sure to not use your chip for a whole minute afterwards, just to be sure.”

System shock… can I handle that?

“What’s system shock like?”

“Depends on the way it happened, but mostly it’s not that bad. The safeties are made so that they can just lock you out in case of consistent overload. You’ll usually just get locked out of the system and maybe get a bad headache, dizziness, or vomiting. The real danger is if you keep having this happen to you and the drug doesn’t work. Make sure to go to a doctor if the overload symptoms keep happening.”

I can handle it!

Entering World Online…

I know this is dumb. I know that I’m going to make Mom cry if something bad happens.

This feels like something I want to pour every drop into my life into.

In an instant, if it’s a miracle, can I turn everything around?

All those years of frustration in one instant like magic?

What will be born in that instant? I wanted to see it. A canvas, filled with a painting, me within the boundaries of that frame.

I’ll keep enough attention out of the game world to inject the stabilizer, I was practicing. Don’t look down on hard work.

As long as it was setup just right, I could just press my thumb.

Let this world see it, I wanted them to see it. Monster, hero, who did I want to be born? My monsters were getting smarter lately. It got kind of scary when my newest Phoenixxer made bird calls that I never heard. Was that from within me? I got excited. Maybe, this game was pulling something deeper out of me. Far deeper than I’ve ever gone or understood about myself.

Just what could I see in myself, if I could summon something wonderful from the depths?

Who did I want to make?

They have to be strong. Heroic, but not like Iroas! Loyal, a fallen kingdom, a Hero-King of legend, like the Epic of Gilgamesh. Hero of Heroes, the King of kings. But, something that makes him relatable.

He can’t be perfect, Gilgamesh was too perfect so the god’s cloned him and made his clone fight him. I think? I can’t remember!

How about a troll? I thought of those people earlier. A perfect anti-hero. I saw the canvas in my mind.

A red cloak floating in the wind.

Covered in dark green hair fluffy, like christmas.

His fallen kingdom behind him.

The weight of guilt is his only burden.

He carries on, as he walks through the snow with relentless gait.

That’s when, he’s called to another world by a beautiful girl.

He’s taken aback. He would say something like, “Who are you?”

He’s too strong for anyone to control. Rather, it insults him.

Who does the king of the fallen kingdom bow down to, no one!

Who is this girl to me! Hmph, I’ll continue on my journey, even in this strange land, to assuage my pain.

H-he’s perfect.

I injected the stabilizer into my thigh. Final and first stroke!

“Troll Hero-King of the Legendary Fallen Kingdom! Ahgo! ‘Monster Summon’!”

I heard a voice. Is that laughing? Isn’t this bad? Did I get banned?

Cmd…Ahgo Designation [Player] added...

Notification...Ahgo has joined the raid group.

Notification...Ahgo has left the raid group.

Player? Raid?

The troll hero-king’s red cape covered his body. It blew into the wind, revealing his three noble eyes and funnel shaped stalk ears topping his burly framed back. He was clad in dark green fur, and snow swirled around him. Did I summon snow too? His level was ?? for some reason, what’s that? He’s a Negativer, subclass...

He looked up.

“The sky… where am I? I remember, walking away from my kingdom with every step.”

Subclass Hero-King.

He looked at me.

“Marry me!”

Wait, that’s a troll. I’m not that desperate, why’d I say that.

“A human? I’ve traveled far. This place, this kingdom, where am I? And, I refuse your proposal.”

Turned down? My heart sank. I finally said it and… no, wait.

“I summoned you! You’re my creation! Let’s go destroy Iroas’s guild!”

“You, a human calls me their servant?”, he growled.

Oh no. I set this up didn’t I. Well, he can’t kill me. For real I mean.

I felt the world go black.

Entering World Online...

The human in front of me fainted. A pity. I will not slay a fallen opponent. That insult, I will be merciful. If she dies in this land unattended by me, that will be her fate. I will not save her.

I could not save my kingdom. Now, a new land, a city rising like a legend taken form. Plains with wind rustling grass, a dollop of snow surrounding my form, and the blue sky above me.

A nation of power stands before me.

“Reminds me of home. Maybe there, I can find an ending. Farewell, ‘Summoner’”

I walked off, the last of the snow falling off me into the golden plains.