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Rin Airi, a young girl with long white hair, pale skin, and ruby eyes gazed over the landscape of Aincrad; the fictional world of the latest expansion to the popular MMO, ALfheim online.
Though Rin was hardly new to videogames, she was unfamiliar with MMO’s and she looked around, trying to get her bearings. Normally, the games she played would open with a tutorial of some sort, an objective, and a clear directive that she was to follow. However, as she stood in the empty field on the edge of the root town, she wasn’t sure where to begin. There were no instructions of where to go, or what to do. It was open and freeing, and yet at the same time, a bit intimidating.
Her friends had often told her how much fun MMO’s could be, but as she was typically a solo player, she didn’t much care for them. That, and she also favored games with a strong narrative story; an element that most online games neglected. However, she had been convinced to try SAO after the rave reviews that the game received on popular websites that she followed. It was praised for its extreme immersion, character customization options, and intuitive combat system.
With reluctance, she had purchased a copy of the game and created an account. She knew that she would be walking into a whole different world, and one that was already well established. Though the expansion was still relatively new, the base game had been around for several years. Taking a deep breath, she began to make her way towards the large city in front of her.
The city was alive with movement as players rushed to and fro, some trying to find their friends, some manning shops in the square, and others searching for the best deals to be had. Rin’s eyes were wide as the world around her came to life. She had tried virtual reality games before, but being that they had always been single player experiences, it was unusual to see other players in the same place she was in. The patterns, movements, and actions of the NPC’s had always been predictable. Now, however, she was surrounded by others players, each with their own agendas and ideas.
As she stood there, a girl in a beautiful red dress walked by her. The color immediately caught Rin’s eye, and she looked at it longingly for a moment before looking down over her own drab garb. Sighing, she looked up once more and saw a shop in the distance. There were several beautiful dresses in the window, and while she was sure she wouldn’t be able to afford any of them, she saw no harm in looking.
Moving through the busy crowds of people, Rin eventually reached the shop. It was a rather regal store, with items and outfits that appeared to be extremely expensive and or rare. Decorations and furniture for the games housing system could be seen arranged dramatically to accentuate its finery, and outfits hung from the shelves. There were even a few players modeling the clothes near the changing rooms where one could try on the outfits.
Before long, a man in an expensive coat walked up to her.
“Excuse me, ma’am, but a gentleman just paid for your order. He gave me very specific instructions that I was to let you pick out whatever you wanted.” Her eyes lit up with surprise and she stared at the shopkeeper in disbelief for a moment.
“W…what?” She stammered. The shopkeeper smiled and shook his head.
“Don’t worry, this isn’t the first time that he’s done this. He likes to help new players get a start, so he’ll randomly cover someone’s order. All he asks is that you pay it forward when you have a chance to.”
“Th..that’s very generous, but it’s too much!” Rin couldn’t believe what she was hearing. While there were some kind players out there, she was used to normally seeing the endless stream of trolls that doted forums and message boards for the games she normally played. The idea of a player randomly giving away a large sum of money to a complete stranger was unheard of. Even people in real life didn’t do that.
“He was very insistent, and he’s one of my best customers, so I really can’t afford to upset him. He may not seem the most cuddly of people on the outside, but he’s got a very good heart. You’ll have to forgive me for not saying more, but he prefers to remain anonymous.” At this point, a devilish glint came into the shopkeeper’s eye, and he gestured over to a set of outfits on the back wall. “So, that being said, if I may direct your attention over to this rack, I think we have something that will be just perfect for you.” Still a bit stunned by the whole experience, she followed without protest.
In a display case near the back wall, a beautiful white, Victorian dress with minor red accents floated in a rotating display case. A high black neck streamed down the dress to the area just below the top of the sternum where it furled into a ruffled lace pattern. Below that, the white fabric was accented by light red crisscrossing ribbons that both served as a decorative accent as well as to hold the two halves of the dress together. The skirt was the same white fabric that composed the upper part of the garment, however this bore red accents on the hips in the form of lose fabric that hung delicately from intricate white lace. Black fabric could be seen below this, and was evident on the sides of the legs where the white fabric receded. It was the most beautiful piece of gear that Rin had ever seen and her eyes lit up when she saw it.
“That’s beautiful!” Her tone was excited, though the shopkeeper could tell that she would never accept it on someone else’s dime.
“Indeed it is. It’s a one of a kind as well. It was an event item, and I had to pay a pretty penny to get my hands on it. I swear the Dev’s were just trying to make a buck by not making it bound, but, we’re lucky it wasn’t because here we are now. Now, it does cost a lot of money, being an exclusive and all, but just let me….” His voice trailed off for a moment and he drew a line down in the air with his finger. A menu screen popped up and he began busily typing in the air. “Let’s see, now. Here we go, and….” He trailed off for a moment again before a low ping sounded near him and he began clicking through different menu’s again. “Ah, good! All signed and sealed then.”
Rin cocked her head slightly. “What is?”
The shopkeeper smiled and removed the dress from the display case. “I sent your benefactor the request to make sure that he was willing to purchase this dress for you, and he wired me the funds. So, here you go.”
She was dumbstruck, and her eyes stared vacantly for a moment. The shopkeeper leaned down to once again be in her direct field of vision.
“Well, go on and take it. It’s already paid for.” She shook her head, bringing her back to her senses.
“T..thank you so much! This is incredible!” A moment of realization seemed to overtake her, and she turned quickly back to the shopkeeper. “Please, sir, I know he prefers to remain anonymous, but you have to tell me who purchased this for me so I can at least thank them.” The man smiled and shook his head.
“You aren’t the first to make that request, but he has made it explicitly clear that I am not to reveal his identity. He would surely boycott me if I did, and I can’t afford that on my conscious, or my wallet.” Rin gave a low bow in gratitude and took the item. “If you’d like to wear it right now, you’re welcome to use one of our changing rooms.” She nodded gratefully before blushing slightly.
“Well…the thing is, this is my first day playing a VRMMO, and…I’m not sure how to access the inventory in a VR game.” The man laughed gently before smiling.
“That’s alright, I’d be happy to show you.” She nodded and the man began to explain.
****
A few minutes later, she walked out of the boutique, twirling in the entrance, watching the expensive fabric spin in the breeze. Even though it was virtual, the cloth felt soft on her skin, and despite its extravagant nature, it was extremely comfortable to wear.
When Rin had purchased the game, she had been given a 2,000 Cor grant as a starter pack. Thankfully, she still had all of her money, though she wasn’t sure of the best way to make more. From the reviews she had read, this world was made to simulate reality in every way possible, meaning she would need to purchase food, find shelter at night, and even sleep. These things, while exciting gameplay opportunities, also provided a level of confusion to those uninitiated to the world of VR MMO’s.
She took a deep breath in and opened her menu, pulling up her map.
“Alright, so from what the shopkeeper said, I just need to head out and find some monsters to kill if I want to make some more Cor. I have 2,000 now, but judging from the prices I’ve seen already, that won’t get me very far.” She sighed and dropped her head. “Looks like I got taken for paying extra for the starter pack.” The pack she had purchased was to help players get ready for the expansion of returning to Aincrad. Though it technically took place within the game of ALfheim online, the currencies used by the two areas were different. In ALfheim, the currency Yrd was used, as opposed to Aincrad which used the Cor, which was short for Coin of Radius. Thankfully, it was possible to transfer your Yrd into Cor, and vice versa, depending on where you planned to spend your time. Prices also varied in the different areas, but the length of time it would take to transfer from Aincrad to ALfheim meant most people would often purchase their items wherever they happened to be at the moment.
She had begun to make her way out of the root town known as the “Town of Beginnings”, and back towards the gate which led to a large open field area. She had been thinking about some of the things that she had read and been told about the game, as well as musing about her dress as she walked, and consequently wasn’t paying the closest attention to her surroundings. She was jarred from her thoughts as she bumped into something and staggered back, struggling to keep her balance.
“Oh, I’m sorry, I wasn’t watching where I was going.” She looked up to see two men with large avatars towering over her. The one that she had bumped into stepped forward and grabbed her wrist.
“You need to watch where you’re going!” Rin winced at his strong grip and nodded, bowing slightly in apology. “You’re right, it was my fault. I’m very sorry.”
“You’re sorry? That’s all you’ve got to say for yourself?” The man was all but shouting and he pushed her backwards. She again staggered back before looking up at the two with frightened eyes. “Where does a newbie like you get off talking to someone like me that way? What’s more, where does someone like you get an item that rare and expensive?” He pointed to her dress before mockingly licking his lips. “I bet I could sell that for a lot of Cor, what do you think?” The man asked as he looked to his friend. The second man laughed in response and smiled.
“Yeah, that’s an event item, if I’m not mistaken. Why don’t we just take that as repayment for your clumsiness and we’ll call it even.” Rin grit her teeth and stepped backwards, unsure of what to do. She didn’t know the layout of the area, so running wasn’t a good option, but she couldn’t fight either, as she didn’t even have a weapon besides the weak “Rusted Iron Sword” that all players began the game with. The man in front took a single step forward before stopping dead in his tracks. His face went white and he quickly jumped back away from her. “I….is that who I think it is?” His friend asked, displaying a similar reaction. The first man nodded, and after exchanging a quick look of panic, the two took off in the other direction, leaving Rin standing relieved and bewildered in the street.
“What….just…..” Her voice was barely above a whisper as she saw the two massive men run in the opposite direction. She turned around to see a young man with golden hair standing above her. He wore a dark blue T-shirt over a skintight, black long-sleeved shirt that extended down his arms and over his hands, creating fingerless gloves. Over top of this, he wore a red trimmed, white long coat with the sleeves rolled up. “Can…I help you?” She offered warily.
“Yeah, I was just wondering if you’d share with me where you got that dress?” His voice was deep, though it carried an uninterested bored quality that matched his half opened eyes and relaxed stance.
“From the Boutique over there, why?”
“Well, it’s a really rare item that could only be obtained from an event or if someone sold it. I was just wondering how a level one managed to acquire it.” He looked down at her out of the bottom of his eyes, not bothering to lower his head.
“O..oh, well, someone bought it for me. I honestly don’t even know who it was. They just paid for it and told the shopkeeper to give it to me. It was kind of strange to be honest.”
“Yeah, that does seem strange.” He let out a bored sigh before signaling to a bridge near to where they were. “Listen, if you have a moment, I’d like to talk with you for a minute.”
“Sure.” Her voice carried a slight bit of reluctance, but as she had been given to reason to be suspicious of this man’s motives yet, she agreed.
“Cool. Let’s get out of the street first though. ‘Kay?” Rin nodded and followed him over to the bridge. Once they were there, he leaned against the stone rail and looked out over the water. “So, given that you seem like you just logged in for the first time, I’m gonna guess that this isn’t just an alt, which means I can also assume you don’t know what the significance of that dress is, right?” Rin shook her head, now curious. “It was a special item created for the game in coordination with a certain guild. There was a competition held, and the winner was awarded with that dress as the prize. Of course, you can guess that this means that only female avatars were allowed to participate. I just happen to be a member of the guild that put on that event.”
Rin looked up in surprise to hear this.
“What guild was it?” The man ran his fingers through his long shaggy hair before continuing.
“The guild is called Crestfallen and the girl who was able to win the competition was given that dress in recognition, and also crowned the ‘Princess of Crestfallen’.” He sighed before continuing. “Unfortunately, there was a bit of a falling out with the girl who won, and she quit the guild and basically pawned the dress. We’ve been trying to track it down ever since then.” He looked back over the water and mumbled under his breath. “Imagine my surprise finding it here.”
Rin looked down. “Oh…I guess that’s why the item is called the ‘Princess of Crestfallen’.” The man nodded, though he said nothing. “I suppose you’ll be wanting the dress back then, if it means that much to your guild.” She drew a line with her finger, pulling open her menu.
The man shook his head.
“Hold up there. First, you don’t want to do that here unless you want to strip in public.” Rin blushed deeply and quickly closed the menu. “Second, I don’t want you to give me the dress. You found it and purchased it. Therefore, it’s yours. However, I would like to keep it in the guild if at all possible.” She looked at him in confusion.
“Okay, but, I thought you said you didn’t want it back.”
“I said I didn’t want you to give it to me. Technically, whoever wears that item is the ‘Princess of Crestfallen. So, if you’re up for it, how about you join the guild?” Rin looked at him in astonishment.
“You want me to join your guild?”
“Normally, you’d have to pass through several different trials to prove that you’re strong enough to be a member of Crestfallen, but, that item is kind of like a free entry card. I’m not gonna ‘make’ you join or anything, but if you want to, your welcome here.” She hesitated briefly, carefully studying his bored expression as he stared out over the crystal water.
“I’m flattered. Really. But, I’m more of a solo player, honestly.”
“That’s no big deal. I’m not a big fan of groups myself. You don’t have to be social just because you’re in the guild. I’d ask that you’re at least cordial to the other members, but you don’t have to get buddy-buddy with anyone if you don’t want to.” His expression didn’t change from its regular bored gaze as he spoke, and there seemed to be little interest present in his voice. “In all honesty, there are a few people who are only members because they can find work easily. See, we kinda have a reputation of strength, so lots of players will hire us to run difficult missions for items, pay us to run them through raids, or even just hire a body guard if they’ve ticked off the wrong player.”
“That’s really cool, but…why would you want me in the guild? I mean, I just started the game. I don’t exactly fit with you guilds reputation.”
“Yeah, like I said, normally, you wouldn’t qualify because of the tests you’d have to pass. However, you’re the exception because of that item. I won’t try to tell you otherwise; that dress is the only reason we’re even talking. It would mean a lot to the morale of the guild to have their princess back.
Rin thought for a moment in silence. Ordinarily, she would never have even considered joining a guild. However, this game was something completely different, and she saw the benefit to having a group of strong, experienced players to help her out. That, and it would probably help to provide her with some of her basic needs like food and shelter.
“Will your guild be alright with someone like me joining?” The man shrugged.
“They’ll probably be upset initially, but I have a feeling that they’ll get used to you. Who knows, you might even make some friends along the way.”
Rin looked down thoughtfully, pondering the situation for a moment. She looked back up with a smile and nodded.
“Alright, if you wouldn’t mind having me, I’d be honored to be a part of the ‘Crestfallen’ Guild.” The man nodded without looking away from the water. He drew a line in the air with his finger and his menu appeared. He clicked through a few different screens before two boxes popped up in midair in front of Rin. A small caption above them read “You have been invited to the Crestfallen Guild. Would you like to join?” The button on the right was a green tile that bore the word “accept”, and the one on the left was a red tile upon which was written “reject”. She raised her hand to the accept button and held it there for a second. She couldn’t believe that she was even playing an MMO, let alone considering joining a guild. She let a slow, heavy breath escape before clicking the “accept” button.
Almost in the same instant that she had accepted, the man was standing straight again, his back to her. “Welcome to Crestfallen. Swing by the guild HQ sometime if you get a chance.” He looked over his shoulder at her. “By the way, what’s your name?”
She blushed, realizing that she’d forgotten to both tell him her name, and to ask for his.
“It’s Rin. Yours?”
The man turned away again, and began to walk deeper into the town.
“Yamen.” She could barely hear him on account of the direction that he was facing, and the ever increasing distance between them.
Her eyes softened and a small smile appeared on her face. When she spoke, her voice was low, clearly not meant to be heard by anyone else.
“It’s nice to meet you, Yamen.
****
The crystal like shards burst into the air as Rin’s blade cleaved through one of the weak monsters that composed one of the opening fields many trash mobs. She was breathing heavily, and a bead of sweat rolled down her forehead as she collapsed to her knees.
“I can’t believe I’m so physically tired from a video game. It’s feels like my muscles are actually controlling every swing of this sword.” She looked down at the rusty blade. For the past hour, she had been tirelessly grinding mobs, attempting to level up and get better gear. To her dismay, she had received only a pittance of Cor, no gear, and only a small amount of experience. “How is anyone supposed to get anywhere in this game if it takes this long to gain a single level?” Her words fell unheard as she was the only one in the massive field.
Suddenly, the ground shook as though something extremely heavy had been dropped near her. She looked up but couldn’t see anything near her. A large cliff loomed some distance behind her, but there was no evidence that any rocks had fallen. She looked down to the soft earth to see the small stones that littered the ground vibrate with the repetitive boom. She began to count the length of time between each step, and soon realized that they were consistent.
“That sounds like.....footsteps!” The air in front of her distorted and a massive chameleon like monster materialized out of thin air. She gasped in panic and leaped to the side, narrowly dodging the swing of its massive clawed hand. This world was virtual, and yet, she felt terrified. Even though it was merely a collection of pixels, it felt real. Her vision immediately focused, and she felt her heart rate increase. “Why is there such a high level monster in a starting area?”
She slid along the ground, shifting her feet so as to alter her trajectory to end up behind it. Dashing in, she delivered a hard blow to the base of its spine. The monster howled, though its health remained largely intact. Her eyes widened and she once again jumped into the air as it retorted with a swipe of its curled tail. A cloud of dust and debris flew into the air as the tail easily ground through the soft dirt, tearing up the landscape.
Rin landed hard, dropping to on knee and holding her hands out in front of her. Her class was one that allowed her to use both offensive weapons such as swords, spears and staves, as well as magic for both offense and support. Her DPS was considerably lower than a player who had spec’d into a sole DPS class, but the combination of offense and support was how she preferred to play.
She had tried physical attacks, and whether because her weapon was too weak, or because she didn’t have high enough stats, she knew that brute force wasn’t going to cut it. Her only other option was magic. With the starter pack that she had purchased, she had been given several skill scrolls that would allow her character to learn some higher level spells much sooner. When the shop keeper had showed her how to open her menu, she had immediately activated these scrolls, adding the spells to her available roster.
“I throw the flame of a demon, call the exploding death, to throw down the army of the forest.” As she recited the incantation, magical runes began to flow around her. As she finished the spell, a large fireball emerged from her hand and shot forward at a great speed. The Chameleon monster turned around just in time for the fireball to impact it in the center of its chest. A cloud of smoke rose high into the air as the spell exploded on the monster. A loud roar pierced the air as the creature fell backwards, landing on the ground with a crash.
Rin dropped to her knees. The use of such a high leveled skill had dropped her MP to nearly zero. Surprisingly, this left her feeling extremely weak and dizzy. Her body felt heavy and she tried in vain to move. There was nothing she could do but stare helplessly as the monster struggled back to its feet, its charred flesh rippling as its muscles contracted in anger.
It took three heavy steps closer to her and raised its massive clawed hand above its head. It was over; there was no way to dodge, no way to fight back, no way to survive.
The monster dropped its hand towards her, and Rin closed her eyes, waiting for the end to come.
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