*Manuel*
The strange girl leads us inside. The walls of the store must have been made sound proof during remodeling for us not to have heard all the chatter going on in here. It's like a full on gaming convention in here.
"Come," the mysterious girl says as she signals for us to follow.
My neighbor stares in awe at the various white and black pods spread throughout the store. There has to be like a hundred of the seven-foot-tall cocoon looking things.
"So cool!" I yell, drawing a few stares.
My neighbor snickers as my face reddens.
The stange girl goes on ahead without us and climbs up a platform in the center of the room where several attendees are gathered.
She picks up a microphone from its stand and puts it close to her lips.
"Hello everyone. Our last two beta testers are here! So get ready to dive!" She snaps her fingers and the pods suddenly snap open, releasing a cold, thin mist.
What? Already? That was fast.
Calm down, Manuel. You got this. Just imagine yourself like those MMORPG anime protagonists. Oh, God! Who am I kidding? I will totally end up being a side character!
The strange girl stares at me for awhile. A chuckle escapes her lips.
"Ah, sorry. Zoned out a little there. As I was saying, you may dive now. There are staff by the pods for those of you who require assistance entering. Upon diving you will be asked several questions that will determine your experience. Please answer these truthfully. This world will grant some of your dreams. That is why this game bares the word 'heaven' in its title."
What about 'sword'? I hope that it only refers to the fun, playful kind of swordsmanship and not the battle to the death kind. If so then the game should be renamed 'Hell's Sword Online'.
My next door neighbor signals goodbye before making her way to one of the pods.
I walk over to the one next to her and enter it. The crystalline glass door shuts as soon as I sit down. There doesn't seem to be any kind of button to open it from the inside. There is only a 11x8 tablet and a helmet. I touch the tablet and see several pages of information appear. One of them is a waiver that prevents me from suing should I get hurt.
Great. These people definitely expect something to happen.
Stupidly I press okay and sign my name. Hoping that I didn't just sell away my life. The black helmet drops down from above and fits my head nicely. Almost as if it were designed for me. Probably was if the onwer of this place is a psychic.
Shutting my eyes, I drift to sleep.
***
"You're about to ascend to the world of Alta Luna," a feminine voice calls out. I find myself floating upward toward a green light which illuminates the sea of darkness.
"Who are you?" I ask.
"My name is Lua. I will be your guide throughout this journey," the voice responds. "Now. Tell me yours."
"I'm Manuel Angeles."
"Good. Now tell me more." A dark skinned girl manifests in front of me. She touches my face and gives me a pearly white smile. "I see. You're twenty-two and without a job. You will find a lot of work within Alta Luna. May you succeed in your endeavors. Now, go back to sleep. Once you awaken you might not recognize yourself, but don't be alarmed."
Everything goes black once more.
***
I open my eyes. All around me are flowers. Their snow white color reminds me of that of Lua's hair. Is this her domain? I look around in search for her but find nothing.
I push myself off the ground and take survey of my clothes. My jeans have been replaced by black pants. Black boots have taken the place of my black sneakers. A silver and blue armor plate covers my chest while a white fur coat covers the rest. My hair is no longer black, having been dyed white. The length of it now long and somewhat messy instead of short and cropped.
On the side of my pants is a giant triangular sheath with a chain sticking out. I pull on the chain but it seems to go on for several feet. After what feels like forever, I see that it's attached to a blade.
"Like your weapon?" Lua's voice rings. She manifests behind me like some ghost, causing me to jump forward and point my weapon at her.
"Don't appear like that! Want to give me a heart attack?"
She snickers. "Cute reaction."
I lower my weapon. Her laugh, where have I heard it before? "Where are we?"
"The field of beginnings. All of the beta players are here. Including that girl whom you were with."
My mouth opens wide. "How do you know that?"
"I..." She warps over to the other side of the field. "Am what one could call a 'goddess'. You're not the only player whom I am assisting. Right now 999 other Luas are assisting the other players as they awaken. Come, staying here isn't safe."
My hands grip the chain tightly. "Are monsters going to appear?"
"Yeah. If you die in this game then you will..."
"Die in real life?"
"Tsk. No. You'll be kicked out of the project. These first three days are crucial for those of you who seek to see more of Alta Luna and to reap the rewards of the real world."
Real world? Way to break the fourth wall there.
Lua's eyes widen. "Monsters are coming."
"H..h... h!" a voice screeches as if scared. It's a girl's voice.
"Hey!" Lua yells, pointing at the opposite direction. "Do you want to die? You need allies!"
"I'll make some later. Right now someone needs my help."
"Fine. Do as you please." Lua vanishes into thin air.
I rush to the source of the sound but it's hard to make out anyone within the thickness of the grass and wild flowers. With my blade I slash through the upper layer of the grass until I come across a black haired girl with pale blue eyes laying on the ground. Her eyes are directed toward one of the various mountains jutting out of the landscape.
Several six foot tall imp looking things prowl through the grass between the mountain and us.
"Damn it," I yell, raising my weapon. "Did you injure yourself?"
"I... I..." The girl looks at me with the same look as my neighbor.
"Wait. Are you..." Several imps jump out of the grass and lurch toward us.
The girl yells. As she does, lightning fries the imps on the spot. Did she do that?
I sheath my weapon and pick up the girl. To my surprise, she isn't heavy at all. That or this world has increased my physical strength.
"Calm down. I'll get you to safety."
"Pretending to be the hero?" Lua's voice rings in my head. "Foolish mortal. This girl is going to be nothing but dead weight to you. Even if she does possess above average magic."
"Shut up!"
The girl in my arms blinks as if confused.
"Not you. Uh. Hello. I'm Manuel. Did you by any chance meet a black haired boy who greeted you like this?" I salute her.
Her lips curl into the same smile my neighbor gave me.
I grin back at her.
"I'll take that as a yes. Well, I didn't expect us to see each other so soon." A dozen more imps pop up in front of us.
The young mage hugs me tightly as more lightning rains down on the imps.
"What level are these things?" I question.
"Level two. That girl just achieved level two herself. You however are still level 1," Lua responds mentally.
"Hey. Can you tell me what this girl is thinking?"
"Really? That's an invasion of privacy."
"I want to communicate with her!"
Lua lets out a loud sigh. "Fine, fine. Wait a sec. Hmm. She seems to be thinking what a dashing young man you are."
My face reddens. "Really?"
Lua bursts into a fit of laughter that scares the girl. "No. She only said that her name is Adriana and that she's thankful that you saved her. Hmm. She also wishes for you to leave her behind."
"Leave her behind?"
"You heard me. She doesn't want to be a burden to those of this world like she is to those in reality."
"You aren't a burden," I yell, causing Adriana to look up at me. "I might not know you, but I don't think that you're that kind of person. You seem like a hardworking girl."
"She says that you should mind your own business and not speak of that which you don't know," Lua translates. "Manuel. Don't try to pressure her. You're better off leaving her behind. This world, it's too dangerous for someone like her."
"I can't believe that an NPC like you can say that! Who programmed you anyway?" I bark.
Lua grows quiet.
"Suits her right!" I run as fast as I can as the main imp hoard closes in on us. There's no way that I can stop them even with Adriana's help. The way things are looking, only one of us can survive.
I stop and sit Adriana down on a patch of red flowers. "Use your magic to protect yourself."
I'll distract them. Hopefully someone will find her before the hoard reaches her.
I twirl my weapon and rush straight at the army, leaving a shocked Adriana behind.