ONLINE GAMERS {ARC 1 CHAOS IN ASTRAL CITY} CHAPTER 10

There where faces around him.

There were many dark faces around him.

Laughing faces.

A new but familiar feeling washed over him.

“A dream.”

He understood that it was a dream. A dream he had seen many times in the past. The dream took many forms each time, but it was always the same dream. If he had to describe it, it was like seeing the same movie over and over but from different angles each viewing.

◆◆◆

Takashi awoke from his painful slumber and was greeted by the feminine curves that now made up his body, the soft supple skin and long blonde hair were two things he was certain he could never get used to.

He brought his hand to the top of his chest kneading away at the bust as if confirming something.

“Is this really me…” The underwear clad Hime asked herself.

Takashi lay in bed staring up at the ceiling for only a few seconds, but those few seconds felt like an eternity.

Whether it was this world, or the real world he didn’t feel like getting up in the morning, or ever, for that matter. But for some reason he always woke up early.

He couldn’t lie in bed forever, the owners of the house—the Kobayakawa’s, had provided him with food and a place to stay it was only fair that he does his part and work.

Those who don’t work don’t eat as the saying goes, he thought to himself.

Sliding his finger down to bring out the system menu, he equipped the kimono.

Hime had plenty of other clothes in her inventory storage but, the idea of wearing something girly was less than ideal for Takashi.

Hime didn’t even wear a bra.

“Time to get to work.”

After a quick inspection of the kimono, Takashi got to work. It was about five in the morning when he got done cleaning the house and by six, he got started with preparing breakfast.

The Kobayakawa family typically got up by seven.

“Oh, you are up rather early Hime-chan, you’ve already prepared breakfast?”

The lady of the house greeted Takashi. He still wasn’t used to having someone greet him so cheerfully every morning.

“…G-good morning, ma’am...” Hime replied back with a bow awkwardly.

As he stood there, unsure of how to act, he noticed the smile on miss Kobayakawa’s face.\

The man of the house greeted Hime in his usual cheerful tone. A smile on his face.

“Good morning Hime-chan, lovely morning, isn’t it?”

“G-good morning, sir…”

“Sup Hime-chin.”

“M-morning Kobayakawa-san…” Hime replied.

“That’s no good. I told you to call me Miyu.” She gave Hime a jab on the shoulder.

Miyu the eldest daughter of the house whom was about the same age as Takashi was the hardest for him to get a read on.

“Hime neechan!”

Shouta the youngest son of the family came running straight into Hime’s hands prompting her to carry him.

Takashi had been living with this family for more than a few months but he still wasn’t sure how to act around them. Even as they all had breakfast together, he simply sat quietly and ate a small portion.

“Miyu. You could stand to learn a lot from Hime-chan.”

Miyu rolled her eyes.

“Just look at how polite and well behaved she is. Her parents must be proud! Players do have parents, right?”

“Y-yes…” Takashi clarified.

“They must have raised her well. You should try to follow her example, Miyu.”

“Maybe Hime had better parents…” Miyu whispered grumpily.

◆◆◆

What’s going on…?

He attempted to grasp the situation. That he found himself in.

“Miyu…”

“Where does mama get off comparing me to you… just cause I’m not up at four in the morning like you doesn’t give her the right to talk down to me and compare the two of us huh, Hime-chan?”

“Sure.”

“I tend the farm, bath Shota, and school work! But she never appreciates it.”

The usually sleepy-eyed Miyu was ranting adamantly to Takashi. She was lazily sitting on a chair in nothing but panties and looking like she didn’t care Takashi was even there.

He had been living with them for a long while and it seemed Miyu was more than a little comfortable around Takashi, or rather Hime.

Takashi was incredibly uncomfortable right now; the only reason Miyu was being so defenseless around him was because she didn’t know the player and avatar were different genders. He had been living with them for a long while, but he wasn’t sure how to broach the subject.

“…Miyu chan…um.”

“I know.”

“Huh… know what?”

Miyu let out a lazy yawn.

“That you’re a guy, right? That is what you wanted to tell me, isn’t it?”

“How did you—"

“I’m what’s a special NPC.”

“Special NPC?”

“I give quests to players as you already know; I know a little bit about the foundation of our world and about you players. You players inhabit bodies to use in this world that were created for you or something like that.”

But that still didn’t explain how she knew Takashi aka Hime wasn’t a girl.

“Hmm… let’s just say it’s a woman’s intuition.”

Miyu didn’t want to get in too deep on the topic because she wasn’t entirely sure how the character creation system worked, she had a vague idea at best, but nothing concrete, which was still more than what Takashi knew.

Takashi himself hadn’t created his avatar so he wasn’t too sure how it worked either; all he knew was that this meant she knew he wasn’t...

“…it doesn’t make you upset that I’m...”

“Why would it? Hime-chan is Hime-chan.”

Eh…

Her matter of fact replies, caught Takashi off guard, her sentiment was endearing even if he hadn’t chosen this body and avatar.

That said her loafing around in her underwear was still less than ideal to him.

“Plus, why would I be embarrassed to let you see me in my panties you’ve already seen yourself plenty of times by now, I doubt my meager lingerie would turn you on. Does it?”

Hime’s face turned a bright red.

Miyu wasn’t just teasing Hime, she genuinely believed there was no issue. Her way of thinking was completely wrong! In the face of her genuine innocence Hime couldn’t bring herself to admit that she still got turned on by her own nude body, or from seeing Miyu.

Takashi cursed his weak male heart.

Completely unaware of the inner turmoil going on in the heart of Tsurugi Hime Miyu returned to her rant.

◆◆◆

“Sometimes I wish mama would just disappear you know?” She said with a lazy sigh.

It wasn’t as if she was ranting about Hime.

Her complaints were more so directed at her mother. Takashi had no reason to admonish her, the old him would have nodded along and waited for her rant to end but, those words words struck a nerve for some reason.

SOMETHING SNAPPED.

“You shouldn’t say things like that!”

“…?”

“I don’t know your relationship with your mother and no two people can have the exact same connection even so, you should treasure your mom and dad! They won’t always be around. Don’t let petty fighting ruin something precious.”

“Hime-chan? No…I’m sorry.”

“….ah.”

Realizing that he had said a bit too much Takashi took off.

He left the Kobayakawa house hold and went deep into the mystic forest to get some air. Miyu who was both sleepy and emotionally mature enough to know when to give Hime some space went to sleep.

“That’s the most I’ve ever heard Hime-chan speak, hmmm…at times like this it’s best to take a nap.”

And so, she fell asleep.

Takashi was walking around the forest somewhere near where he first met Percival. He felt horrible.

“Why did I go off on Miyu like that?” Tsurugi Hime muttered to herself.

Kobayashi Takashi would never.

He would never.

Who he was as a person, his entire individuality as an individual, his identity and sense of self were all going to disappear the longer he stayed here.

His chest was on fire, every step felt heavy, he wanted to forget, he wanted to bury the memories deep within his heart, but most of all he wanted…

“Do you want to die?”

That was when she appeared.

At some point a lone girl dressed in white had snuck up on him from behind. No, she wasn’t just dressed in white.

She had white hair.

She had white skin.

She had white lips.

She had white.

She was white.

She was white.

She was white.

White…

Takashi was threatened by the overwhelming presence of WHITE he felt behind him. It wasn’t the kind of pressure you got from encountering a player that was stronger than you, it was more like the intense feeling of fear and anxiety you got from a near death experience.

Takashi held his breath…

This feeling had nothing to do with the game, this person just naturally exuded death from every orifice, of their very being.

“Hello Hime,” she said.

Her voice was angelic.

“Wh-who are you? How do you know who I am?” Hime asked.

The girl tilted her head to the side as if in a gesture to reply “Who am I?” the answer was obvious.

White

She was white, demure, lovely resplendent, heavenly white. She was just so painfully white. It was so painfully white that if felt ominous almost sinister.

“Hmm… A name? I can’t just give you, my name. A name is crucial you know? When a villain first makes their appearance it’s important, they leave a mark on the audience! A strong name is a key factor you see! A name needs to be memorable and inspire fear in all who hear it! A name needs to be given at precisely the right moment and time!”

Takashi stared at her dumbfounded he couldn’t understand what she was talking about.

“Oh, another good idea for a villain name is to make it pure and innocent that way it contrasts the violent heinous acts the villain commits!”

“I-I’m sorry what…?” Hime blurted out.

She was rumbling on and on as if to an invisible audience. She completely ignored Takashi. The girl spoke as if she herself and what she herself had to say where all that mattered in the world.

“That’s right! It goes without saying, but I am your enemy Tsurugi Hime.”

“My enemy?”

“Teehee.”

The girl giggled, and then her shape dissipated. —No, it was an optical illusion. She simply moved too fast for an untrained eye to see.

The next instant, she accelerated with a single step, leaping into an attack with a thrust that should have hit Hime ending the encounter.

<<Auto react>>

Hime instinctively evaded.

“Wow, you actually dodged it!”

Her intense attack slammed into the air, she leaped backwards, then upward, then left, then right. Her movements slipped past the defined rules of gravity it was like watching her leap off of thin air. She attacked in every possible direction, and each time Hime dodged as if it was the most natural thing to do.

“Whoops, I missed again…?” She didn’t miss and she knew it.

The girl in white could tell just by looking at her, the second ranked level nine Tsurugi Hime was a complete noob.

The only explanation was level difference. Hime was a level nine who excelled in physical stats and The girl in white was around level six so basically even if she managed to land a hit on Hime her durability would nullify most physical damage.

“That said I keep on missing all my shots? I wonder why?”

Hime’s eyes were big white round circles <<Emotion effect>>, an in-game emotion effect indicating confusion.

“H-huh? What are you talking about? What’s going on? Why are you trying to kill me?” A confused Hime could barely blurt out a reply.

To her it was like the girl in White was appearing and disappearing in every which direction.

White sighed.

She’s a complete novice, she can’t even use her own avatar correctly, and even if I land one it won’t kill her… But at this stage Boss could kill her no problem…but that would be boring, she needs to get stronger.

Among the level nines Tsurugi Hime had the highest physical stats, strength speed and raw power wise no one on the astral continent could beat her.

The fact that she couldn’t perceive the girl in White’s movements was only because the player controlling her—Takashi, had no experience, no idea how to control Hime and hadn’t trained one bit.

White came flying down from above aiming for the top of her head Hime evaded effortlessly for the umpteenth time.

The way she was dodging was unnatural.

It had to be some kind of skill helping her dodge. White had been relentlessly attacking Hime for at least three minutes, she had developed a theory about the skill Hime was using.

Hime felt something wrap around her neck, chest, arms, butt and legs.

Her face turned red as a tomato. “Wh-what is this?”

One of the White girl’s skills landed a direct, unmistakable hit, but her opponent showed no signs of damage.

Even so the angel of death laughed.

“AHA HA HA HA I get it now!”

“G-get what? What do you want from me?”

“I see now! So that’s why the world’s ranking system holds you in such high regard even with your low Magic Potential, Tsurugi Hime. You can dodge nearly every attack… But you aren’t perfect you can still be killed!”

“THIS IS SUCH GREAT NEWS! YOU CAN DIE! YOU CAN DIE!”

The white girl was enraptured in some kind of violent ecstasy. <<Emotion effect>> The girl in white became a chibi avatar, she danced around like she’d won the lottery.

Takashi was completely lost; he found himself completely bound tight by a thousand tiny threads that were riding up in places he would rather not say...

“Are these spider threads?” he said to himself.

Although they felt tight, and bound him completely, it might have been an overexaggeration to say he was trapped. Hime made a slight unconscious move and all the threads instantly snapped.

“Oh… Well, you can be killed but I suppose my magic skills won’t cut it. I guess at best all I can do is make the curves of your figure pop out with bondage play, huh?”

Her last comment earned her a blush from Hime. “What do you want from me? Why do you want to kill me?”

“Take care sword princess loved by the world.”

With a dignified chuckle she disappeared.

Takashi was left there alone and confused, who was that woman and why did she want to kill him.