Online

Day One - Meeting Him

Game Vision

I whirl past some guards as the two behind me try to tackle me to the ground. "Stop! Thief!" One of the AI guards call out. Then, out of the blue, appears another player, stopping my path. "Thief, please return your stolen items immediately. Or I will be forced to turn you in." He demands. His shadow sword cast an intimidating shadow on the sword. Above his head read his name and level, 'Malachite, LVL 94'. "No way. You might be level 94, but I'm not scared." I mutter as I pull a cape over my head. Hiding your face hid your name and level if I remember correctly. He glances up and looks puzzled for a second before regaining his calm gaze yet again. "What's your name and level?" He asks. "None of your business." I bark at him before trying to get around him. He lifts me up by my cape and puts me on his back. "Put me down!" I pound on his back. I hear him chuckle as I hit his back with my fists, causing me to hit harder. "You're so small, how do you fight anybody?" He says. "I manage with stealth." I mumble with a tint of annoyance. I hit his neck with my fist, causing him to drop me. Taking the chance, I bolt to the city gate to get to a thieves den. He recovers quickly though and is almost right behind me without seconds. Suddenly, I'm jerked back by a force pulling on my cape. Hesitantly, I remove my cape and continue running. I feel his eyes staring in awe at my level. 'Furess, LVL 158' is what he would've read. His movement skill must've been really high for him to catch up to me in a matter of seconds. He tackles me and pins me to the ground. "Furess. Hand in your stolen items right this instant!" He demands. As I take in his features, I notice small dark purple cat ears on his head. I smile as I pet his head. "Stop that." He says grumpily. I giggle and reveal my own crimson cat ears and tail. "Nekojin stick together, right?" I say cheerfully. He clenches his teeth but nods reluctantly, he obviously didn't like me. "Now erm...let me up please." I plead. He smirks and looks at my evilly. "Say 'nya'. Like all the other cat girls do." He teases. "No way! I will not say that!" I glare at him. He motions towards a guard and gets ready to call for them. "Nya." I say quietly. He looks back down at me and laughs. "Say it louder." He commands. "Nya!" I yell. Everyone turned their head towards me and laughed. He gets off of me and begins walking back into the city. 'Hmph, what a jerk.'

Real Life Vision

The headset was warm when I took it off my head. I had been playing for a long time hadn't I? Looking at the clock, it read '1:52 am'. My eyes widened in disbelief, I'd never spent that much time on the game. Causing me to jump, my stomach grumbles. 'I missed dinner again..' I thought to myself. Even though my head said to just go to bed and eat in the morning, my stomach demanded for me to eat something right this instant. Patiently, I put my silver-white hair into pigtails and sneak into the kitchen. Not being able to decide what to eat, I quickly pick up an apple and rush back to my room. Before I could make it to the safety of my room, my fiery-haired brother stood before me. "I told you don't stay in that game too long." He scolds me. "Sorry Sebastian." I murmur quietly. "Snake is asleep, you should be fine to play a little longer." He pats my head and disappears into his bedroom. Sebastian has given me the clear to continue playing my game after I ate, but I decided against it to get a decent amount of sleep.

Next day - Game Vision

I adjust to the bright rays of sunshine as I stepped out from the shadows. The guy I had met yesterday was stopping a different thief today. Feeling bad for the poor thief, I step in and distract him. "You." He says spitefully. "Please, contain your excitement." I comment. The thief, as I expected, fled as soon as Malachite turned his field of view away. He clicks his tongue and turns back to find the novice thief ducking behind a building. "Well, it's been nice talking to you, Malachite. But I've ought to go," I begin walking away and lazily wave my hand to him, "places to be, people to rob." I smile cheekily, not that he could see. His aggressive yet non-threatening growl caught my attention, making me slow my pace slightly. There were plenty of buildings to climb and even more shadows to disappear into, so him attacking was the least of my worries. Suddenly, a hand grips my tail and tugs on it harshly and I couldn't help the yelp that escaped my lips. "Furess." His voice sounded. It was deep. Most of the AI and other players had turned towards us. Some were even swooning over Malachite. He wasn't aware that I would turn around and slap his cheek, leaving a bright red mark on the left side of his face. Stunned, he places his hand on his cheek and looks at me in shock, this is when the guards decided to come in and interfere. They roughly hand cuff us both and haul both of us to jail, because of assault and theft. Both of which were MAINLY mine. "Great, now my perfect record is tainted." He scowls at me. "Maybe you shouldn't have grabbed my tail then." I reply in a stone cold voice. "Maybe you shouldn't have interfered!" He shouts slightly. "Maybe you shouldn't have tried to stop me." I narrow my eyes brows at him in a scolding manner. He shakes his head and sighs. "How long are we in here for?" He asks, silencing our fight. A guard walks past our cell, patiently eyeing us. "Not for long." I grit my teeth as I pull open a grate in the ceiling, revealing a small crawl place. "What the..?" His confusion was thick in his voice, which admittedly made me smile. "Escape route. Now if you don't wanna spend jail time, give me a boost and I'll help you out." I put out my hand for him to shake it, but he doesn't. "I don't believe you-" before he finishes, I chuck a pouch of jewels at him. "If I ditch you, I lose my jewels. Keep them after I help you, and I won't hesitate to end your life." I threaten him. He shakes the bag slightly to check how many jewels were in there. The quiet clank of the gems gave him more than enough evidence that I wasn't lying. Reluctantly, he lifts me by my waist and into the crawl space and because I stick to my word, I pull him up with me. "You're so heavy." I whine as I nearly stumble back. "That's all the muscle." He flexes his biceps before nudging me to keep going. The small tunnel was covered in dust and small bugs had found refuge here. Just before we could get out of this bug filled space, he grabs my leg. I fall on my stomach because of this. Trying to breathe for air I hear him mumble, "I want to enjoy the view for just a little longer." Even though I was breathless, I got out of that tunnel before he could object and grab me again. When we get out, some of his fan club are waiting for his arrival. "Look! He saved her!" One girl called while another shouted, "What a valiant rescue!" 'Do they not know he's a pervert!?' I thought. "I'm not a pervert, I just needed you to hurry up." He protests and winks. "You could've just asked." My words were venomous and filled with embarrassment. As I looked up at him smiling down at me, I felt my heart skip. "Anyways, I have to log off," I wave him off and walk away but just before I exit I say to him, "meet here tomorrow?"

Hello to everyone reading this small authors note! This is the first chapter of 'Online', my new original book! There a quite a lot of references this chapter but the plot, characters and story belong to me. If this story is similar to anything else it is merely coincidence. Thanks for reading the first chapter and I hope you enjoy!