Caught In Virtual World (HotTexasCowboy & BadAnime)

[BadAnime]

Kirisame Hikaru was, for all intents and purposes, an ordinary college student. There's nothing distinctive about his appearance He wasn't short, but he wasn't tall either. He wasn't skinny, but he wasn't heavy either. He has short black hair and dark eyes, just like many other young Asian man of his age. There's nothing distinctive about his personality either. He is timid, geeky and everything, about what you'd expect from a computer science major. Really, apart from his good grades and exceptional computer skills, there was nothing special about him.

This exceptional skill, however, was (probably) what got him selected to be the sole playtester of the first full sensory immersion VR game in the world, known simply by its working title Virtual World at this point. While VR games and associated hardware had been around for a while now, this level of immersion hadn't been attempted yet. Hikaru was, of course, excited as he sat down into the comfy chair and connected himself to the central server of the game. With the sensation like being showered in blinding light, he find himself indsie the game...

...As a girl?! Well, he had heard that there's only one player character available at the moment, but he didn't expect...still, it seemed to be a traditional fantasy setting, so if 'she' is just be killing monsters and looting treasures, it doesn't matter if she's a girl as long as she has good stats. She found a mirror in her item inventory and looked herself over. She had long, light brown hair, and eyes of the same color, curvy body wrapped in white leather armor, and alluring thighs covered by white leggings. "Not bad," she thought, blushing slightly.

 

[HotTexasCowboy]

After "she" had had a little time to look herself over, there was a voice "behind" her. Kirisame was finding it perfectly natural to think of the game as an environment, and it was already giving him a sense of immersion, with noises around and behind, making "her" twist and look, the "world" adjusting immediately to any movements. It was uncanny and amazing.

The noise that had attracted her was some kind of town crier type. He was rather fat and dressed in a simple monk-like robe, holding a scroll and reading it out in a booming voice. "Here ye, here ye," he proclaimed. "The noble King Artanimus seeks any brave adventurers to quest for the five fire gems stolen from the Crown of Power. Separated, the gems are useless, but united in their place in the Crown, they allow Artanimus to rule the Kingdom in peace and abundance. The gems must be recovered from whatever vile thieves accomplished the perfidious robbery--"

The crier suddenly froze; in fact the entire world did except for Kirisame's character. After a moment, there was a glimmer against the blue-purple sky, and a rectangular window opened up as if from a different dimension. Within the window was the head and shoulders of a middle aged man, partly balding and wearing thick glasses. He peered at Kirisame with a slight ironic smile.

"So let me interrupt with a few rules for you, my valiant gamer," he said, finishing up with almost a cackle. "Shodonna is a magical place that exists solely in the virtual game, but it will seem completely real to you. You see, that bulky helmet of wires you put on to connect to the server is a remarkable piece of biotechnology. In effect, it has interspersed itself between your conscious actions and the human muscles that would carry them out. Likewise, it now controls the visual, aural, and touch receptors of the brain, giving them the sights, sounds, and feelings of the game environment. Even heat, cold, wind, and other effects the brain interprets are under the control of the game. What you see, hear, feel, sense, smell, are all generated by the virtual environment.

"But that's only the begining. Your muscle control has been hijacked to control your character within the game. When you direct your legs to walk, it is your heroine who will walk. When you move your arms, your body, your fingers, even wiggle your eyebrows, it all happens to the character. Everything she experiences, you will experience, and every move you make, she will make for you.

"Of course, the downside of this is that your body itself no longer responds. Go ahead: try and raise your arms to take off the helmet. See? The girl in the game is moving her hands to her head, and you are "feeling" her hair and her head. But outside the virtual world, nothing has happened. You haven't moved, and the connection to this world is still unbroken. So the situation is this: you can't release yourself from the game. Your body is stuck where it is, because you can't make a move in the real world to release it. And your mind, all your senses and movements, are in this, the virtual world of Shodonna. Don't worry, your body can survive a long time in this state. When your character eats in the game, your body will experience the infusion of nutrients needed to survive. When she sleeps, you will rest, but still within the game. When you awaken, it will seem that it is she who is awakening. You will feel every hit and punch, every sword cut and the tight grip of bonds that hold her. And any other sensations she is subjected to.

"How do you escape? It's simple. Your character has a quest to fulfill. To find the missing gems of the Crown of Power and return them to King Artanimus. Once that is accomplished, the game is finished, and you will be released to the non-virtual world. You'll have to gain experience and magic as you travel to be able to face the threats of the quest, of course. Don't worry, the game won't kill you, but you may have to learn some hard lessons of the dangers of adventuring. Still, I have every expectation you will enjoy all the things that happen to you here. Good luck!"

The window shrank and popped out of existence in the same manner it had appeared, and a few seconds later the crier was suddenly resuming his message, calling on adventurers to follow him to the Great Hall to be charged by the King for the recovery of the gems.

 

[BadAnime]

"Wait, what?! What do you mean, I can't log out?!" Hikaru blinked, flabbergasted by the sudden development. "I thought this was supposed to be a game?!" she exclaimed trying to remove the helmet, but touched her hair instead. "No one told me anything about these stuff!!" she exclaimed, wanting to continue with questions such as "Why me?!", "Why am I a girl?!" or "What's this all about?!", but the man disappeared before she could ask, and she didn't really think she would get any real answers anyways. Instead, she simply sighed and walked toward the crier. It was a bugger that she couldn't log out on her own terms, but that's not unheard of for some MMORPGs, and all she needed to do was clear this game. She might not be much in the real world, but she was quite capable and experienced with video games. Besides, the man said it himself: she couldn't die in this world, so why not lay back and enjoy the game, as unexpected as the situation might be? "I'm the valiant adventurer that you seek!" she declared to the crier, drawing her rapier and feeling its weight and texture in her hand, trying to stay perfectly in character. "With this sword of mine, I swear to bring the gems back to the King! Lead the way, messenger!"

 

[HotTexasCowboy]

The messenger looked down at the girl before him, his eyebrows raised in what might easily be interpreted as disdain. "Bravely spoken," he pronounced, but there was a heavy undercurrent of sarcasm. But he looked around and there were no others coming up to volunteer. "Very well," he intoned, "come with me, young woman." He turned and walked along the street, until they reached the most dominant building in the city. The castle was circled by a guard wall, manned with human soldiers, with turrents at the corners. This castle could surely withstand an army's attack, but had had its greatest treasure stolen?

Passing down a broad corridor through several sets of guarded, double doors, they at last entered a large receiving hall with a raised throne at the far end. The man who sat in this throne had once been young and mighty. His body still had remnant of his once young virility and strength, but he slumped in his chair like an old man suddenly weary. He perked up slightly at the entrance of the herald, but seemed to slump again at the sight of the young woman in his wake.

"You?" he groaned, annoyed at his would-be hero. He struggled to pick up a large broadsword at his side. "Once I wielded this sword and conquered a kingdom. With the five fire stones, I made it mine and ruled it in peace and prosperity. Even as I grew old, the stones enforced my power, repelled all invaders, kept my people free of disease, to live their lives prosperous and free by my grace. And then..." It was if the very breath was being sapped from him. "Five bandits, armed with strength and magic, stole into my castle, to the vault at its heart, and removed the five fire stones from their setting in the crown."

He reached beside him and pulled up a simple crown, made of iron, with five placements for mounting stones around its brim, all now empty. "The singing crown now lies silent and powerless," the King spoke in mourning. "The stones have no power apart from the crown, nor the crown without the stones. As gems, they have little worth. The only goal of the thieves must be to weaken the kingdom and leave it open to enemies."

The king lapsed into silence. The herald cleared his throat hesitantly, then spoke. "There are reports of the brigands leaving the city by the road into the Drederan Wilds. To the West. Everyone knows how dangerous those Wilds are, so no one until now has dared to pursue."