New Game

The world of Aioria. Covered with vast land, rich forests, unlimited water, and large-scale mountains. Its many inhabitants made full use of its resources, needing to use very little of their magic prowess, and lived peacefully for hundreds of years. However in the year 1054 a powerful mage named Calibash changed their lives forever. Said to be a prodigy in every field and looking for a challenge to suppress his boredom, he effortlessly summoned many mythical beasts; ogres, fairies, goblins, dragons, sacrificing the many stars in the night sky, causing chaos across the world. In order to protect themselves and attempt to return to their lives to normal, the people were forced to take up weapons and train their magical abilities. Even 300 years later, the fight against Calibash continues.

At least that’s the synopsis for the hit MMO “Starfight”. Originating in Japan and created by the company Komi Company 5 years ago, it became a worldwide phenomenon within its first year and one of the top-rated in its category. It developed so quickly the servers initially couldn’t keep up, causing them to expand with 3 servers, each designated for different countries and time zones, but players can choose to join whichever they want. It was considered to be an amazing feat for such a small company. That’s also where my story takes place, in a town in Japan. Here at Sakurai high school is the start of my life-changing story.

April 24th 2018

The cool spring breeze fills the halls as the students enter the bustling school. Whether they walk to class alone or meet up with friends, many already have a routine with this being the 3rd week into the new semester.

Standing a few feet beside the door to class 2-B is a young man with short, wavy hair. Unlike most other students, he’s simply leaning against the wall. Watching and waiting.

He lets out a yawn and he takes his cell phone out of his pocket to check the time, 8:18 am, still just over 10 minutes until class begins. As boredom starts setting in, he hears something that catches his attention; “Good morning Sun!” a female student shouts from the classroom door. Surprised, he looks up and watches a girl with short black hair and a glistening smile run past him to the other students.

His eyes follow her as she cheerfully greets her friends. He overheard many conversations as he waited and that one name stuck in his mind. It was enough of a distraction to make him forget how long he’s been waiting. He leans his head against the wall behind him and looks to the ceiling,

“Sun...what a unique name.”

The starting bell chimes and the halls are quickly vacant, leaving only the young man who is then approached by a teacher. He turns towards her as she speaks.

“Thank you for waiting. I’m your teacher, Ms. Takahara. Follow me and you can introduce yourself to the class.”

The young man complies and follows her into the room without saying a word.

Before entering, the students were already discussing the boy in the hallway. Since he’s by this classroom door, many automatically assume he is a transfer student. Some are worried and others excited by what a new student could bring to the class.

The chatter continues until their teacher walks to the front and immediately asks them to quiet down. As silence fills the room, all attention is now on the teacher and young man. As expected, she announces he is a new student who will be joining them starting today. She doesn’t state his name and steps aside to allow him to introduce himself.

Looking towards the class with a moderate expression and slight bow he simply says, “My name is Takomi Ryuuji. Thank you.”

However, after hearing that name some students think it sounds familiar and begin whispering to each other. Was there another student with a similar name? A teacher? Someone famous? They remain confused since no one can come up with the correct answer.

I initially decided to keep to myself and not say anything besides my name. Then when they started to whisper, I couldn’t help but snicker and tell them exactly what they wanted to hear. After all, there’s no way they will be able to figure it out for themselves.

Losing control already, the teacher starts to get nervous and is about to speak up, but Ryuuji beats her to it. Smiling from ear to ear he gathers everyone’s attention once more;

“My name may sound familiar because I am the son of the founder of Komi Co., Takomi Akihiko, the creator of the hit MMO ‘Starfight’.”

Taken by surprise, an uproar begins as the students fawn over him, “That’s amazing you have to give me some cheats!” “Are you one of the 4 legendary players too?” “He must know all the best farming areas!”

However, not everyone feels that way. Some students scorn at Ryuuji’s attitude, or sigh at the reaction, including the 3 girls from earlier. Sitting in the same corner at the far left of the classroom, they look at each other, trying to understand the commotion as it unfolds. They each admit to not having played the game, nor have they been around people who discussed it. Without that knowledge, they’re left more confused by everyone’s reactions. Sun takes another look at the new student, disgusted by his grin as he takes in all the praise.

The uproar lasted a few minutes until Ms. Takahara was able to calm them down. She tells Ryuuji to take the empty desk in the back row to the right. After taking his seat, he leans back, still with that same grin.

‘This is the best!’ I thought, excited that this will be no different from how I was treated at my previous school. Any time during break, for the rest of the day and following week, people would hover around my desk. I told them about “top secret” future updates for the game, some cheat codes, my recommended dungeons, and major achievements the game made. A few students asked for company tours and I tried to pass it off as something that’s never done before, although that was a clear lie. I think that’s when some people started getting suspicious. Then the question I was dreading finally came up.

One morning before class, three students are surrounding Ryuuji’s desk, waiting for homeroom to begin. Then one girl brings up something completely different.

“Hey, I was thinking, why did you transfer? From what it sounds like, with your family’s money, you should have no reason to.”

Put off by the question, Ryuuji’s glee fades. He knew they would ask this eventually and gave them the best reply he could think of.

“We decided to move and I wanted a school closer to home. Something within walking distance, you know?”

I tried to change the subject back to Starfight without giving them a chance to respond, but I could tell by their expressions that they weren’t satisfied with my answer. Suspicion grew more with less people hanging around me afterwards. Fear started setting in, but I tried to keep that thought out of mind. Then, exactly 1 week after transferring, I had an unexpected encounter that changed everything.

May 1st 2018

That evening at the supermarket Takeda Grocery, Sun from Sakurai high school is buying some items for dinner. Her mother didn’t realize they were low on vegetables and stock and asked her to stop by after school. Sun had no reason to turn her down and agreed to go shopping, despite wanting to go straight home instead.

After gathering everything she came for, Sun goes right up to a register, feeling lucky there’s no line. She places her few groceries on the counter as the cashier speaks. Being a new employee, he holds up a script, covering part of his face.

“Welcome to Takeda Grocery, where we are always happy to serve. Do you have a rewards membership-”

“Rich boy Takomi Ryuuji?”

Immediately recognizing the voice she is forced to hear every day, Sun can’t help cutting in.

The cashier drops the piece of paper and slowly lowers his hands, surprised to see a familiar face. They never spoke to each other, but he knows this is the classmate he saw on his first day, who also sits in the back row a few seats away from him.

Unsure of what to say, he simply watches as his equally surprised classmate tries to comprehend the situation. Sun lowers her eyes to see the uniform that says the name of this store, indeed making him an employee. She then looks at his face.

“Rich? And working here? Maybe not...”

Wanting to avoid eye contact at all costs, Ryuuji looks down and starts ringing up her groceries, moving quickly as he panics.

“You must be confusing me with someone else.” Ryuuji says to try repairing the situation. It has no effect and she responds in a sharp tone.

“As if I could forget the face of someone who constantly begs for attention every day.”

Ryuuji lets out a sigh, having no choice but to accept what is happening. Although they are both clearly unhappy with this encounter, he knows he can’t send her off without some kind of explanation. Disgruntled, he looks up to face her.

“Fine, do you have a few minutes to talk? My shift just started, but I can try to take a short break.”

“I assume if I don’t comply you’ll just chase me down later anyway so, sure. I’ll wait outside.” Sun responds in a high pitched, sarcastic tone.

She pays for her groceries and takes her bag, heading outside to wait without exchanging another word. Like I would do something like that. Ryuuji thinks to himself as he watches her walk away.

Ryuuji needed to help some customers who got in line after her so a few minutes pass until he is able to take his break. His boss wasn’t very happy since this is their busy hour, but he promised it would be real quick.

Outside, he notices her sitting on a bench. Ryuuki takes a moment to prepare himself, taking a deep breath in and letting it out.

Encountering a classmate at a job shouldn’t be a big deal to anyone. Even the school allows students to work when they’re informed, but it’s the one thing Ryuuji wanted to avoid. Not to mention this store, Takeda Grocery, is an hour long train ride from their school. He figured the odds of seeing anyone familiar were slim. Rather than sit, he stands on one side of the bench and speaks up, still avoiding eye contact.

“Your name is Sun, right? So what are you doing out here? I tried to find a job far from the school to avoid this mess.”

“You got my name right.” Sun raises her hand to her mouth and gasps. “As one of the few girls who never spoke a word to you, I’m honored you remembered.”

Now who has the bad attitude? Ryuuji tries not to focus on that since he knows he hasn’t been much better at school and gives an honest response, “It’s kind of hard to forget a name like that.”

“So you can have a normal conversation.” After observing him in class, Sun didn’t think that was possible, especially between the two of them. Mostly because she reached the limit of his bragging. She then answers his initial question.

“I simply live around here, there’s really nothing more to it than that. And since you seem unaware, you can go to a high school that’s a distance away as long as you apply and are accepted.”

Hearing that, Ryuuji hangs his head. He thought his plan was perfect, the best way to keep his job a secret, and now finds out that hour-long train ride may all be for nothing. Sun notices Ryuuji’s reaction and ponders.

“Well, you shouldn’t have to worry. I don’t recall seeing any of our classmates shop here at least.”

“I assume that means you’ll keep all this a secret?”

“You mean about you working? I have no idea why you are, but I have no reason to tell anyone.”

“I appreciate it.”

Relieved, Ryuuji takes a seat on the bench. Sun can’t help laughing in return. Bothered by that, he turns to her.

“Was it really that funny?”

“Sorry, I couldn’t help it. That’s probably the first time I heard you say anything nice since you arrived at school.”

Sun expects Ryuuji to shout as he defends himself or something along those lines. However, those simple words don’t trigger anything like that. Instead, Ryuuji looks towards the ground, almost staring off into space.

“I guess I may come off as rude most of the time. I just…wanted to remain in the good spotlight for as long as I could. Pretend like life is still how it was before.”

Not understanding his vague words, Sun wants to ask what he means, but isn’t given the chance. Ryuuji actually stayed out here longer than he planned and would like to avoid getting yelled at by his boss. He says his goodbye and heads back inside.

Sun shrugs her shoulders, deciding it not worth trying to analyze his words right now.

Ryuuji finished work at 10pm when the store closed and the train arrived in his hometown shortly after 11pm. He exits the train station down the stairs, alongside a few others, and reaches his arms up to stretch after the long ride.

With nothing else to do for the rest of the way home, he looks up to the night sky. Despite being too bright to see much, he can still spot a few dimly lit stars. It instantly reminds him of Starfight, causing him to contemplate whether he has the energy to play tonight.

Recently on the days when Ryuuji works after school, he’s been going straight to bed, and it looks like this will be another one of those nights. Being out from morning till night is exhausting and hasn’t gotten any easier.

Walking home without any distractions, the time is now 11:28pm. At a large apartment complex, he uses the elevator to reach the third floor. He stops at door ‘316’ and uses his key to unlock it.

Inside, none of the lights are on except the TV which is enough to illuminate the area. He places his school bag on the ground and proceeds to remove his shoes. Once finished, he hears a voice.

“You’ve been coming home so late recently, any reason?”

Although he’d rather avoid it, Ryuuji enters the room, disgusted by what he sees. Various empty alcohol bottles and cans are scattered on the table and floor, with bundles of garbage from food mixed in. Then there’s his father who is sitting up on the couch looking straight at his son with empty eyes, in addition to messy hair, a stubble beard, and stained clothing.

This isn’t anything new. They moved in 3 weeks ago and his father hasn’t taken care of himself since then. It’s just another thing that’s tough to get used to, not that anyone should have to.

“I guess I didn’t tell you. I got a job at a grocery store. They sometimes schedule me after school.”

“Normal kids discuss this with their parents beforehand.”

Ryuuji can’t believe what he hears. Did he just use the word ‘normal’ to describe something? The so-called father who has become a useless waste of space, doing nothing more than drink all day, eating when he remembers to, and sleeping at odd hours. He does pay for this apartment, but that’s all with his mass amount of savings that he refuses to share.

The negative thoughts pile up, causing Ryuuji to shout.

“And normal parents don’t sit around and drink all day!!”

Despite showing clear rage towards his father, the man’s expression remains unchanged. The two simply stare at each other until Ryuuji scoffs at the conversation entirely. He stomps down the hallway and into his room, slamming the door behind him.

That man is supposed to be my father. Somehow he was fired from his own family company and it was sold off to another company shortly after. He just came home one day and said we had to move and I had to change schools. Then, after moving here, he sat on the couch to drink his days away. He didn’t help unpack anything, refused to talk about what happened, and was hardly ever awake when I was home. I tried not to let it bother me, but I was forced to look at it each day. A constant reminder.

“How long is this going to continue? The news of Komi Co. being sold should be released to the public any day now.”

He nervously laughs at the thought of everything being revealed. Filled with fear and anxiety, Ryuuji knows he won’t be able to sleep and decides to login to Starfight until he’s calm enough. He ends up playing for a few hours until he falls asleep at his desk.