14:26 1st Light of Nüng of the 441st Order
Eastern Capital, Liweirumesia
Another stream of light began forming at the central ground’s centre. The light gathered up into a silhouette of a person. A few seconds later the light dissipates, revealing a body of a young figure. The young man blinked a few times before looking down on to his body. He sees that he was wearing a plain white garment with nothing else. He turned his gaze up to scan the surrounding, he now sees many other people, of different races standing all around the venue, chatting to one another. This has confirmed him one thing. He had successfully joined the Godsbbound Online server. He walked forward, away from the pedestal. A few moments later the pedestal began to glow once more and another figure appeared on it.
The young man decided to walk up to the monument closest to the pedestal and leaned his back on to the pillar, eyes onto the pedestal and waited.
He noticed that there were a few people who tried to approach him, but then backed away suddenly. What has happened? Why were people backing away from him so repulsively as if he was some sort of a wild dog chained to a tree? He glances sidewards to see a reflection by the pillar, there he saw was his own face. Although he had selected his race as a human race, his eyes were sharper than that of a snake. The young man tried to quickly change his facial expression, ‘ no, I can’t be frowning, she will be here any minute now and I needed to act normal! ‘, as he thought to himself.
Momentarily, as if right on cue, another light began forming into a silhouette that was slightly smaller than the previous one. Once the light dissipates, it revealed a petite figure. A young human girl wearing a simple white garment stood there with her eyes closed. Once she opened her eyes, it revealed a pair of sparkling chestnut-colored pupils. She’s now restlessly looking all around herself. The young man, having seen this started to smile. He approached the pedestal while looking at the young girl.
“Excuse me, are you perhaps Chiyo?” asked the man in a calm manner.
It took a few second before the young girl to register what she just heard, then the young girl’s eyes opened widely.
“You are… You are Ken Onii-chan!”
The girl with a surprise expression jumped from the pedestal into her Brother’s bosom.
Kenichi catches her in mid-air and both of them started to hug each other warmly.
Although Kenichi looked as if he was indifferent, he is currently struggling to hold back his tears of happiness of being able to hug his sister like this again.
After a while, they both let go of each other, and Chiyo started the conversation,
“Wow! Ken Onii-chan looked so cool in here, and much taller than last time I saw you!”
“I modelled this character after myself in real life you know! So if you said I’m cool here it’s the same as calling me cool in real life!”
“Ha Ha~ Never in a million years!!”
They both laughed. As Chiyo started to walk forward, she notices something incredible.
“AH! Look at me Ken Onii-chan! I am Walking! I am actually walking!”
She started to walk in different paces, different posture and different height while laughing out loud to attract her brother’s attention.
Kenichi watched as his sister was achieving what they have been trying to achieve for many years now. He can no longer hold it.
“Ken Onii-chan?”, called Chiyo as she glanced sideways towards Kenichi.
“N-Nothing! I’m glad! I’m very happy for you, Chiyo!”
His voice cracked suddenly, ruining his cool atmosphere. The warmth slowly filled his lungs, his heart rumbles causing him nausea. He could felt the stream of tears started to leak from his eyes.
“So...So glad”, now his face just turned ugly from running snot mixed with a puddle of tears.
“Ahh...Onii-Chan stop crying! Many people are here you know! You are embarrassing me~!!”
With both of their faces flush for different reasons, the younger sibling tried her hardest to calm her big brother down. While the onlookers gathered around the two of them to look at this confusing scene.
“Chiyo! Chiyo~ I’m sorry I cried! I was just so proud of you that the tears wouldn’t stop”, begged the brother who tried to talk to the pouting sister walking ahead of him.
“Hmph!”
It has been a while since Kenichi was able to tease Chiyo like this. Before then it was very hard and inconvenient to talk to her using a machine helper, having the luxury to be able to talk to her back and forth right away is truly the best feeling he felt all year. But perhaps he doesn’t want to ruin the good mood they started with. Kenichi walked in closer to Chiyo silently without letting her noticing. Then he placed his palm on top of her small head.
“Wha-” exclaimed Chiyo as she felt a warm sensation on the top of her head.
“It’s a head pat”, said Kenichi as he slowly rubs the top of her head slowly.
“Thank you for always trying your best”, “you have endured for the longest time, today let’s make the most out of it!” encourages Kenichi, as he reaches his other hand and forms it into a fist near her.
Chiyo looked away into the direction that Kenichi wouldn’t be able to see her face.
“Hm”
Chiyo raised her fist and attempted to fist pump back to Kenichi. Although she missed, Kenichi adjusted his fist to be able to receive her pump. Although she meant to not let him see her face, he could slightly see the tears brimming at the corner of her eyes. Suddenly he felt a twitching movement in his hand that is on top of her head.
He lifted his palm up to see he was covering some sort of accessories on top of Chiyo’s head.
“uh...Chiyo?”
“yes…?”
“Are these dog ears?”
Kenichi asked Chiyo while he attempted to pick her ears up.
“AH! WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?” shouted Chiyo as she quickly covers her ears with her hands with embarrassment.
The big brother was confused by his sister’s behaviour. Didn’t he just touch her accessories? Was it perhaps something he shouldn’t have touch?
“Th-This is...These are my ears…They are sensitive...so please...don’t touch them so suddenly!”
Kenichi realizes his mistake. He didn’t notice them before as they completely blended in with her hairs making them almost inconspicuous. But there was something else he realizes from this as well.
‘Virtual organs and limbs are connected to the nervous system as well’
There were many mysteries that contributed to the realism of this game. This was one of them. How was this even possible? Virtual limbs that connected to the nervous system. That just sounds scientifically impossible. But that might also be just the reason why this game would live up to its hype. It will be the gaming industry’s next standard for a Triple-A standard.
Kenichi made a mental note of that and looked back at his sister, who was currently staring daggers at him.
“Ah...Sorry about that Chiyo. I promise won’t touch them without your permission again”
Chiyo, with her face still flustered, relaxed her vigilance.
“If you understand, then that’s alright, Ken Onii-chan”
“You look good in them”, complimented Kenichi, while looking at his cute little sister.
Chiyo paused. She looked back at her brother with a deadpan expression, “so even my brother thinks that I look like a dog, huh”
Kenichi dug his own grave. He felled for her hook, line and sinker and worsened her mood instead.
“Uh...no, that’s not what I- I mean well...you look cute...not..ugh”, he didn’t know how to rebound back. But his hopes weren’t all lost as Chiyo suddenly laughed next to him.
“HEHEHE I was only teasing you Ken Onii-chan! I know what you mean so you don’t have to worry!”, replied Chiyo while she stuck her tongue out and closing one of her eyes.
Maybe perhaps due to the fact that in recent years, they had been talking in a slow-paced conversation with each other, and so they never get to play jokes on one another. This had made Kenichi remembers how cruel and unfair Chiyo’s jokes are sometimes.
“Wow!”
As Chiyo came across a vantage point that covers the entirety of the Capital. She was left in awe by the fascinating sight. The endless skyline that seems to extend indefinitely stretches from the rim of the mountains to somewhere on the other horizon. Streaks of pristine white clouds described how pure and untainted this world was in comparison to the real world. Starting from the edge of the gulf to the end of the border, rows of houses and buildings made from jade and stones stood. The roof on each house was decorated gracefully with ornamented arches, vibrant posters and shimmering lanterns. The general vibe Chiyo felt just by looking was the warm welcome this world has given to her, to Kenichi and to everybody else in this game right now.
She spotted a couple, that was wearing what seems to be a simple set of clothing, strolling towards her. They noticed Chiyo’s gaze towards them and waved back at Chiyo, suddenly emerging behind them was 2 small children, they tugged on to the man’s trousers seemingly too shy to wave back at Chiyo. The couple looked back at their children and resumed their stroll.
Kenichi, who was beside Chiyo the whole time, spoke up while Chiyo was still looking at the back of the family walking down onto the streets below.
“Chiyo, did you know that they weren’t real people?”
“Un…..huh? What did you just say?”
Chiyo looked back in disbelief”
“Ken Onii-chan, are you talking about that family that walked passed us?”
“It’s true. Those family that was walking passed us just now was not player characters, they were just regular NPCs”
Chiyo looked back at the family and back to her brother’s face to verify the truth told by her brother.
“I don’t believe it! Their facial expression and movement were so realistic!”
“Chiyo, look at the color of the Names above their head, tell me what color is that?”
Chiyo focused on the names that are slowly getting smaller and smaller as the family is getting out of her line of sight.
“They were...Green?”
“Okay, now look at my name,” said Kenichi as he now points his thumb at himself.
“It’s...It’s Blue! They are different!”
“Exactly. I also see this when we were at the pedestal, other NPCs all have their name written in Green”
Kenichi speaks, while he recalls what he had gathered in a short amount of time.
“At first I thought that it was strange too, that soldiers and armed guards near the cathedral all have their name in Green, but the players were all blue. But now I am sure that these two colors are what separates between NPCs and PCs.”
Chiyo having learned a new piece of information turned her head in excitement back towards the streets, hoping to see that family again, but they have left her lines of sight already.
“I’ve never seen such a realistic NPCs before, Ken Onii-chan. Out of all the games we played in, this game’s physics, as well as the environment, looks too realistic, it is almost as if we’ve been transported to the otherworld!”
Kenichi looked at the smiling Chiyo and laughed.
“Haha, is that so? Well now that we’ve arrived in the other world, we should get going! Chiyo”
Replied Kenichi, as he hopped out from the fence he was sitting on.
Chiyo’s slanted her face sideways.
“Where are we going, Ken Onii-chan?”
“We are going to go meet a friend of mine, he had been waiting to play this game as much as we did”
Chiyo having heard that walked along with her brother, up the streets.
And I would like to not be lazy so that I can write my books that I really want, but unfortunately ……