The coffee machine hummed loudly, slowly grinding the ingredients within. After a few seconds, it spewed out a stream of hot, black liquid into a paper cup resting below. The stream ceased before the coffee could reach the brim. Akasuki sat the cup down on the kitchen counter and started pouring cream from an open foil packet.
After stirring the cup with a teaspoon, she picked it up to gulp down a heap amount of coffee, savoring the creamy taste as it journeyed down her throat. She then exhaled a heavy sigh, a smile beginning to form on her dull, morning face.
Nothing like a good cup of joe to start the morning.
It was a another summer morning in the International Ohmeikan House, home to the college students at Nagoya University. The building was relatively quiet as most students either went home or went somewhere else for the summer.
Akasuki, on the other hand, had no reason to go home since her parents were barely there to begin with and she didn't like going to the beach. During the summer, all she really planned on doing was playing Chromatic World, watching anime, and reading fantasy novels.
She sighed, looking back at her boring life. Some days she wished it was more exciting.
Having finished her morning coffee, Akasuki left the kitchen to return to her room. As she turned a corner, she nearly collided against a moving desktop, luckily jolting back in time.
"Hey!" she shouted at the person carrying it, "Watch it!"
"Tch," the carrier clicked their tongue in annoyance, "Maybe if you had possessed a notable bosom, they would've bounced off the collision."
Akasuki knew that annoyed, heavy tone from anywhere and she regretted having to meet with that person at all times.
Before her stood a slightly obese young man. His attire screamed nerd and he even had the glasses to match that archetype.
"What are you doing on the Girl's floor, Michishige?" Akasuki asked, placing a hand on her hip.
"Well if you must know, I, Michishige," the nerd said, pushing his glasses up while still holding his desktop, "Just purchased this new desktop from a seller on this very floor."
"For a cheap price too!" said a boy wearing similar clothing behind him, grinning and perversely eyeing at Akasuki, "Hello, Miss Humiya."
"Oh god, you brought your little brother here too?" Akasuki looked at the pair with disdain.
The Koike brothers were bigger otakus than herself and known troublemakers throughout the university. Michishige alone was enough, getting angry at the slightest insult towards his interests and hitting on every passing female possible.
"Just so you know, Humiya," Michishige said, "I, Michishige, have yet to forgive you for your incomprehensible display of victory in our last Cross X Blade PvP* match."
"That was freaking two months ago. You're still hung up on that?"
"I, Michishige, refuse to admit defeat to a half bit gamer such as yourself!" Michishige declared, gritting his teeth, "Come now, little brother. Let us not waste time on this ruffian."
"See you later, Miss Humiya." his brother winked at Akasuki and the two departed towards the elevator.
I think I just lost a few brain cells back there.
After her unpleasant encounter with the brothers, Akasuki finally reached her room. She used her card key and slide it down into the slot, unlocking the door, and then the knob to open it.
The room was half clean and half a mess, like most shared college dorms. She didn't bother much to clean the room for most of the stuff that laid about were papers left over from the examination period.
Per usual, her roommate had the air conditioner set on medium due to summer heat.
Speaking of her roommate, Akasuki glanced at her as she sat down at her desktop.
She was reading a fashion magazine, laying down on her stomach in a loose shirt and sport shorts. She was Akasuki's polar opposite, having desirable curves and breast that any men would fall for in an instant. Her long luscious black hair and entrancing blue eyes furthered her appeal.
"Hey, Akasuki," her roommate waved at her without turning her attention away from the magazine.
"Hey, Hasegawa." Akasuki greeted. Without another word, she grabbed her VR headset. Hasegawa didn't have much interest in her hobbies, so the two didn't talk converse much.
Just as she was about to place the headset on, Hasegawa wrapped her arms around Akasuki's neck from behind, much to her surprise.
"W-What is it?!" Akasuki asked, startled by her roommate's odd action.
"Can I watch you play?" Hasegawa asked in a plain tone, "I'm bored."
"You're bored enough to watch me play video games? Okay, I guess, just don't ask me about every single thing."
Hasegawa nodded and Akasuki turned the computer monitor on for her to watch the game. Her roommate was indeed odd. She came from an upper class family, yet held no desire for expensive possessions nor acted snobby.
Akasuki opened the game and placed on her VR headset. Soon afterwards, the green text appeared...
Welcome to... Chromatic World.
Akasuki's avatar dropped into the game world, appearing right in front of the First Guild building. The world still remained its gloomy self, not a thing altered since the last time she logged on.
"About time you got here," Moriko said, walking towards her with Euno at her side, "We got the supplies ready and a map to the first dungeon."
"Good thing," Akasuki said, smiling, "We better be on our way then."
"Always like you to head right out the door." Euno said, smirking, "Lead the way, dear freelancer."
"Oh, by the way, guys. Today, Hasegawa is watching us play." Akasuki informed her party as they began to walk out of town.
"Your roommate?" Euno questioned. "Thought you said she'll be off to Tokyo during vacation?"
"Nah, she changed her mind at the last minute. Oh, she told me to say hello to you two, and asked how you're both doing."
"I'm good, Hasegawa," Euno answered. "Taking a much needed break too."
"So am I." Moriko answered, "Though I'm working at my uncle's pet clinic part-time so there are times I won't be on."
"Hasegawa said that's nice and asked why your avatar is so different from ours, Moriko."
"That's because I'm a Level 5 Beast Tamer." Moriko said. Akasuki briefly explained to her roommate about the game before she continued, "Since the class excels at stamina and agility, I'm wearing less clothing to increase my own."
"I don't think there would be much of a difference if you wore a little bit more." Euno commented.
"Be quiet. At least I'm not wearing bikini armor."
"Hasegawa said Euno would probably pass out from nosebleeds if that happened." Akasuki snickered.
"I'll have you know that I have no problems with my nose capillaries." Euno refuted, a small blush appearing on his cheeks.
Throughout the rest of the journey, the party encountered few monsters, riding them with ease. They had already established that Akasuki would be their DPS* Tank*, Euno would the strategist and healer, and Moriko would be the AoE DPS*.
After five minutes of walking, the party reached their destination. Before them, the entrance that would lead to the first dungeon stood. Without wasting a second, they entered.
The flicker of lit candles showcased the narrow hallways of the dark ruins. Crumbled black stone laid scattered among the cracked ground, foreign text embedded the walls. Tall stone pillars forever supported the ceiling overhead. Dust and decay filled the air of aged landscape, thankfully the party wasn't able to breathe in it.
"Here I thought the first dungeon would be a cave or something," Akasuki said, "Still, there isn't much about this place to brag."
"At least it brings the feeling of something big coming up." Euno said as the party strolled down the hallway.
Despite seeing many dungeons before the ruins gave off an ominous sensation the further they traveled in. No enemies sprung out of corners, much to their surprise.
Akasuki expected to fight off a few so she could finally level up to Soldier class. After gaining four levels, a freelancer could upgrade their class to either Soldier, Mage, Marksman, Beast Tamer, or Performer. From there, they could branch out to higher classes and gain various amounts of skills to use.
As of now, she was a Level 4 Freelancer and she had very few skills in her arsenal to use aside from standard sword strikes.
"So, have you heard about the recent PKing*?" the beast tamer asked, attempting to take her mind off of the atmosphere.
"PKing?" Akasuki questioned, "There's already player killing?"
"Yep," Euno answered with a nod, "There's already a small party formed dedicated to PKing. It's bad enough thousands quit the game and refunded their copies due to the sudden rule change, now there's people who are killing everybody possible."
"Tch, bastards." Akasuki scoffed. She expected to play the game for entertainment, but Player Killers easily infiltrated without a care to the new rule. She didn't enjoy PKing at all, seeing it as simply being an asshole to fellow players.
It didn't take long for the scenery to change. Exiting the narrow hallway, the party ended up in a wide open area. The ceiling was no longer above them, instead the gray cloudy sky took its place, which didn't alter the mood in any way.
Across the area laid four separate entrances that led to four individual hallways. Akasuki figured the ruins had much more within to explore then expected. The party stepped forward, preparing to head down another hallway.
However, a loud, chilling howl stopped them in their tracks. Immediately, they glanced around in shock. Their heartbeats increasingly pounded as seconds slowly went by, fear running down their spines.
Another howl resonated, this time more vivid. Before they knew it, a large figure sprang up into the air and landed inches away from them.
Akasuki felt her blood run cold upon seeing the creature. Its intimidating red eyes glared deep into their souls, baring sharp fangs that shined like silver. Its thick, pitch black fur stirred by the slight breeze of the roaming morbid wind.
The creature's form resembled a wolf's, yet its size easily towered a human's.
"T-This can't be... the first boss... right?" Euno could barely speak, too shocked to utter a complete sentence.
Unfortunately, dark crimson text materialized as the great dark wolf slowly approached them.
Malus
Canarius the Tenebrous
Terminology:
Tank: Takes damage for the group, protecting the others from being attacked.
DPS (Damage Dealing): Kills most of the enemies and deals most of the damage onto the enemy.
AoE (Area of Effect) DPS: deals damage to multiple targets simultaneously.
PvP (Player versus Player): Players engage in an established duel, usually one on one, but can further up to war sized battles.
PKing (Player Killing): Unauthorized PvP where a player kills another player, causing them to lose a life.