File 01: Start

A Chapter by Nichole Angela

Chapter 1

File 1: Start

(Not really resourceful on titles...)

"HAAAAH!" a girl was rushing towards me with a silver sword in hand (whoa...a weird way to officially open this series, but...oh well). She was clad in a silver breastplate over her green dress. Black leggings were wrapped in her legs. Her feet were protected with long, brown combat boots (talk about weird outfits on the opening of the first chapter).

We are currently battling each other in a forest (You'll find out the answer to why we are here in a little while. Be patient). The night sky looks so beautiful with the full moon hanging in the sky. Millions of stars are sparkling in the sky like it was very tiny shards of glass scattered on the back of an illustration board (Uh...no comment).

I instinctively prepared a defensive stance as she continues to cut the distance between the two of us. (Hah! The protagonist won't let this chance to show off slip within his hands). I look like a courageous knight in my lightweight armor, metal boots and a crimson sword (I am cool and I won't let anyone interfere with it). Hordes of trees are currently watching our petty battle.

I tightened my grip on the leather hilt of my crimson sword and held it to my right side. I positioned my right foot a step away as I lifted the sword in a stabbing position. It is high enough to become parallel within eye level.

I saw the girl flinch but she still continued to run to my direction anyway. I took a deep breath before my crimson sword started to emit a faint red light. Then I ran.

CLAAANG!

A single metallic sound from the clash of our swords echoed in the forest before it was replaced by a suspense silence. The silence lasted for a few seconds before we heard a snap coming from one of two swords.

The girl gasped when she looked down at her sword. The half top of her silver blade dropped to the ground with a thump before it completely shattered. It left a clean cut on the half sword that is in her hands. Her eyes widened in disbelief as she watched her sword snapped into two as the tip of my sword collided with her blade.

I smirked when I saw that opportunity (tsk tsk tsk. Rule no. 1: do not show an opening to your enemy or else...you know). It only lasted for seconds but that was enough to give me a good chance to attack. I turned her surprise to my advantage (*evil smile*).

(I'm not boasting but I just wanted to say that this lasted only for a single second. Don't scold me) I instantly twisted the hilt of my sword to make the blade to show its flat side. It briefly shined as the moonlight hit it. Within one swift move, I made her stumbled to the grassy ground. I swiped my sword horizontally and watched as the flat blade made a contact with her armor. The force quickly made her fall down with an "Ouch!"

I took a step forward towards her sitting figure. Before she can recover, in case that she do some clever tactics, I pointed the tip of my sword to her. She looked up at me with a defeated expression.

"I-I forfeit." She sadly whispered as she averted her gaze from me.

I began sheathing my sword before proceeding in helping her stand (I'm such a gentleman). I quickly offered my hand and she wordlessly grabbed it to help her stand.

Then a pair of message appeared in front of us. The two of us received contrasting letters, making us react differently from each other.

I know that she wanted to kick or smack it though that would make her look crazy. It was like announcing a cry to the world saying; Hey! This girl right here is happily throwing attacks at a simple, holographic message that can't be harmed! (That would seem very...uh...how should I put this...crazy? No, not crazy. Perhaps very insane)

The messages steadily hovered for a while before completely vanishing like a bubble that just popped.

It was like they were really made to annoy one of us.

I can't restrain myself to flash a victorious grin as I compared mine to hers.

Mine says:

Congratulations! You win! ^_^ (I would like to add, "within a matter of seconds")

Hers says:

You lost freak! :P

It made a vein pop in her head with annoyance. She forced herself to remain calm by talking to me.

"Not again. With one strike? That was an insane move even though you're just a level above me."

I shrugged "Who knows? Maybe it was pure talent. I may be a natural game master!" (Insert evil laugh there. A kid that boasts in the most natural way, that's me. Bow)

She slumped her shoulders and let out a sigh as the incomplete sword in her hand completely shattered "...But I bought this in an expensive price in the guild. They said that it was sturdy (Aww...poor girl).

I placed a hand on the sheath that is loosely hanging on my waist. It's metallic surface sends a cold, but calming aura to me "It is not about the quality of the weapon but the techniques of the user" (random words of wisdom. Well duh, it was already commonly used). I always believed in that saying. I often tell that to myself whenever I have upcoming battles. No matter how strong your weapon is, the fatal flaw that can lead to your defeat still resides within you. Weapons just support your skills and nothing more. You just need the right strategy and the right timing to use each weapon to your biggest advantage.

The surroundings then shattered away, making it look like millions of diamonds sparkling at the same place and at the same time.

Soon, we found the two of us standing in another room.

I opened my eyes, expecting to get a clear view of the room but my expectations failed me. As my eyelids rises, the dominant color that I saw was Black. Everything was black as if I didn't opened my eyes. Was there a black out? (I am NOT blind okay?)

"Hey! Take it off already!" A girl's voice rang in my ears. It brought me the answer to my question. The game helmet was still covering my head, causing me to see nothing else but darkness (Silly me).

I placed both my hands to the side of the helmet and whispered, "Release".

As I slowly lifted the helmet, a standing figure of a girl came into view.

The girl in front of me is a 10 years old girl with 4 ft. of height. She is clad in her favorite sleepwear, a cotton long sleeved shirt and pajamas. Don't worry she is barefooted and there's nothing to laugh. Rest assured that it doesn't stink like a rotten onion. The design of her clothes is girly...TOO girly for me. Pink teddy bears whose facial expressions are like :3 were imprinted on the fabric from top to bottom (Oh god...it really brought me to tears because of laughing so hard back then).

I often tease her about it but for the sake of making our conversation peaceful, I restrained myself from pointing it out that night (It causes a bloody argument, literally, that's why).

Long and flowing black hair ran from her head up to the level of her elbow. She has a She was staring at me with her forest green eyes.

"Hey, you just lost."

"Yeah Yeah...I know. No need to remind me that. Now remove that silly smirk on your face or...Ugh..." she rolled her eyes. "You look like a crazy parrot when you’re like that you knows that?"

I shrugged at the idea and was about to walk away but the white armbands which was connected to the black game console prevented him from doing so. Oh by the way, I forgot to introduce my favorite game console that we were using earlier. (Drumrolls) It was a 30th century, state of the art, high class, modern and revolutionary gaming machine, advanced motion sensory, brain wave converter, customize high speed processors, micro technological hard drives, 5426 per second data transmitters, holographic optic images which can be adjusted.

...W-wait...Huff...G-give me some time to catch my breath....

(I shouldn't have read that manual. It has a freakin' long list of definitions with it)

In short, it was the most realistic visual console ever made. For the sake of non-techy kids out there, I'll speak human again. This game console is consist of 3 important items. The first one is the main console (Note: It only reads robotic discs. Oh yes I mean small robots that changes form to fit into various sizes) which is now steadily sitting on our LED floor. The lights are currently turned off so it looks like a cloudy glass. The second part was the Helmet. The helmet's job was to be placed on the head. Joke. Sorry for the random corny jokes (Be used to this). Well, anyway, it does the important job of converting the actions that you are thinking INTO the game. How do you move like neither running nor walking without banging yourself to death at the wall? That's when the grip, the third and last part, comes to the rescue. These white arm bands are connected to the console and two four metal posts that floats around the user. These metal posts, believe me or not, when the arm band is attached to its body, it can restrain a 500 pound man. It was due to its natural strong capacity. When it sensed that the user has the armbands and the armband's ends were attached at the posts, it will automatically harden itself. This safety precaution prevents the players from cracking their skulls open by aimlessly running towards a hard wall (and lead them to a worthless death. That would be a...stupid suicide).

The game console whose name was ____ and made by ____(I personally censored this for the safety of this story because of copyrights. Bow) is a state of the art and high quality game that lets you experience gaming to the top level. This console lets you dive into the game's world as if you really exist there. I will end my game review with a 10 stars (You think it's cool. Then die from jealousy. I cannot hand them over to you).

I carried the black helmet with tinted visors between my hip and my right arm. That's when we heard the shouting voice of our mother.

"Hey it's already midnight! Stop playing that already! You still have classes tomorrow!"

"Yes mom!" We replied in unison.

"You lost so you owe me a lunch tomorrow 'kay?" I turned to the girl in front of me.

"W-what? But you cheated!" She reasoned.

Then I quickly went to bed to avoid her. The bed's foam jumped as I suddenly dived in.

"FIY, it is not cheating. It is called skill."

"Hmph! Fine. I'll sleep now too." she stomped her feet on the floor as she went to her own bed which is just on the opposite side of the room.

As I tucked under the warm blankets, I thought:

"It can't be helped. There is no such thing as fair after all. Justice is twisted. Only a few remains pure and clean. That's how the world works. It is like a car. Its fuel is deceit and its controls are the human minds. You will just end up penniless or defeated if you fight it. It is like bringing yourself in front of the car so that it can hit and run you. But who knows? Maybe hope is not yet lost in this distorted world. Maybe someday, at the right time, it will change to how it should really be."

I was about fall asleep but!

Before I forgot, I just want to inform you that the girl earlier was my sister.

The cold wind that is coming from the air conditioner and the warmness of the bed soon forced me to drift into a peaceful sleep.

Current score:

Me: 15 wins 0 loss

Sister: 0 wins 15 loss

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