Key:

( ) = Speaker

{ } = POV

[ ] = Titles

Location: Tokyo, Japan

{Rex Yamamoto}

Date: 0 days since merge

The game world that had merged with ours was known as Jukaria. It came from a game known as Endless Adventure, an online fantasy MMORPG that had become popular around 3 years ago. It had many features that were similar to other fantasy games, such as a guild system and dungeons. These features could pretty much be found in any kind of fantasy based MMORPG, however, what made this game stand out was the massive class system that the developers had created. Ranging from jobs such as Knight to Smuggler, the game gave you a great amount of freedom in terms of how you wanted to play , with over 72 different classes already implemented into the game since launch. You weren't even restricted to one class! You could take on and learn as many class's as you wanted as long as you had fully mastered the class or classes you had already chosen. It sounds completely unbalanced, right? Well, not necessarily.

Although you could become extremely powerful in game, the amount of time it takes to master a single class accumulates to around 120 hours. That's 5 full days of non-stop gaming, and when taking into account that the average gamer can only play for a maximum of 4 to 5 hours a day, it would take them around a whole month to complete one mastery. Not only that, but to prevent farming, players who had multiple classes were faced against monsters who's stats had at least been doubled, and this essentially doubled the amount of time it would take for you to master a class.. Thus, many decided not to as they believed it was more tedious than it was worth. Pops and I had managed to get our hands on a couple of pre-order copies and became addicted. Up till now, I've only managed to complete and master 5 classes. Even Pops, a NEET who spends a large amount of his day just playing the game, has only mastered 14 classes, though that in itself is already absurd.

Now we see that world in front of us. I was shocked at what had happened overnight, however I could only scowl at Pops's next words.

"Hehehe, this looks like it'll be fun! Why don't we head out there and go on some adventures? Let's make a name for ourselves in this new world, ok Rex?" (Pops/Takeru)

"Oi, what's with you? Suddenly bringing up the topic of leaving to go on an adventure.... don't you know what the hell is waiting for us out there?" (Rex)

"Fortune, fame, glory, I don't see the problem in leaving this place to go make our name in this new world. You should know that I only pursue things that interest me." (Pops/Takeru)

"Have you forgotten what else is out there? From what it looks like we're in the middles of the Scorching Wastes. The Wastes are home to sand scorpions, basilisks, cockatrice, and even the occasional herd of sand-burrowing giant centipedes! If we met encountered any of these monsters while we're out there, we'd be dead!" (Rex)

"Hey hey, calm down, all we need to do is get to the Paradisial Plains and we'll be safe!" (Pops/Takeru)

This cocky bastard! The Paradisial Plains are most likely a few hundred kilometers away! How does he expect us to get over there!?

"Course we can't take the car. Although it's a hummer that was specifically made to drive off-road and could probably get us across the Scorching Wastes, we would eventually run out of fuel, and I don't really fancy the idea of abandoning it out there. It would just be a waste. We could bring extra fuel cans with us, but if we ever encountered a dragon or any other monster that could breathe fire, those extra fuel can would most likley become a hindrance. With that in mind, I guess we'll just have to hoof it!" (Pops/Takeru)

I gave him a good sock to the head after that last comment, yelling "Put some more thought into your plan! Don't just wing it!!"

"Ok, ok! I get it! Like you said, if we encountered any giant centipedes or basilisks, we definitely wouldn't survive the encounter. However, we could still probably take on a cockatrice or sand scorpion. Those are still around the size of a cow, and it's still possible to penetrate their skin with a regular sword. I'm a master at using both a katana and pistol, while you specialize at close combat due to the various martial arts styles you've learnt in the last few years. Of course, those close combat skills won't really help in terms of fighting these two, but, it does at least raise our chances of victory against them. Since I actually have a katana and a desert eagle still safely locked away and hidden, the chances of victory are even higher. Furthermore, assuming some of the game's rules still apply, the chances of encountering a basilisk is less than 10% due to the rare items they drop, and the chances of even seeing a giant centipede, let alone a heard of them, are less than 0.01%. This gives us a pretty good chance of making it to the Paradisial Plains. Now hold on a second..." (Pops/Takeru)

Pops left the couch and headed toward his room. After a few minutes he came back with a freshly printed map of the new world.

"According to this map, and assuming the measurements aren't off, we're around 1,200 km away from the plains, and if we did decide to use the car, it would take us at least 12 hours if we drove at 100km/hr. However, due to the unnatural terrain given that the Scorching Wastes is pretty much a desert, the distance is probably greater. We'd also have more likely a chance of getting there safely if we walked rather than drove, as the chances of the car tipping over are a lot higher. Given this information, if we walked a total distance of 100km or so a day, we could still arrive there in a bit under 2 weeks. So what do you say Rex? I know you want to head out as well..."(Pops/Takeru)

Damn him, 100km per day in that scorching heat will be tiring as hell, and we would probably start slowing down after the first few days. But, he was right, like him, I too wanted to explore the new world that had appeared before us. This world we live in had nothing left to offer. Around a century ago, everything about this world had practically been discovered. The only places left to go were the bottom of the ocean or into space. Neither of those frontiers really appealed to me, mainly due to the fact that if anything went wrong, your chances of survival would be null. Suffocating to death was definitely on the top of my list of "Ways I Don't Want to Die". Furthermore, discovering anything of interest was pretty low with the world's current level of technology. Chances of finding other civilizations within our solar system were pretty much confirmed to be impossible, and the bottom of the ocean just didn't appeal to me, mainly due to my own fear of drowning.

This new world, however dangerous, still had much to offer in terms of satisfying one's yearning for adventure. A childhood fantasy that tends to fade with the passing of time, that fantasy now had the chance of truly becoming a reality. And so, I made up my mind. With our minds made up and plans finalized, we prepared for the journey. 3 days later, we set off into the Sorching Wastes.

I will take that childhood fantasy, and turn it into my reality.