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Reality Break Ch. 01

By: TheTask



Note: This is basically a teaser chapter, though a long one, of the next large scale story series I want to do after TLL. I'll be finishing up TLL before I do any more work on this. I'm not sure on the format or main plotline I want to do for it yet, though I'm thinking of turning this into a series with several smaller plots each with their own selection of chapters. I could really see myself having fun with this type of story. Also, be warned, as I am a male, I cannot comprehend the female mind. Still, please comment and give me your thoughts on the story in general, in terms of characters, plot, sex, and anything else. 

*

"Oh, hey! Believe it or not, you're our millionth customer to purchase this game!"

A cheery voice echoed through the spacious, though messy, room that could only belong to a girl in college.

"You're not kidding?"

A second voice responded to the first, though this one was more out of curiosity than surprise.

The first voice spoke again, though out of annoyance, "Yea, that's what the clerk said when I bought this. Really, I was only buying a gift for my cousin's birthday since he said he really wanted this game."

"You're cousin? Isn't that that Martin person that carries around that camera at those family reunions you brought me to? He's funny!" The second voice laughed as it reminisced.

"Hailey... Please shut up, I know you think he's cute an all, but PLEASE! Keep it in your pants." The first voice was now visibly annoyed.

Hailey only laughed some more and took it in stride, "Oh come on, I obviously don't think of him that way, he's too young in the first place... But he is just so cute! Still is, how old is he anyways, Glasie?

Glasie rolled her eyes and honestly replied, "When you first saw him, I think he was eleven. Though I believe he is now sixteen. Still, he really wanted this game, but he said that his parents wouldn't let him buy it as it is rated eighteen plus. Though he somehow managed to get them to let him have the game if someone bought it for him."

Hailey took the said game and surveyed it with squinting eyes, "Let's see here... So this game is called 'Rebellions'... I wonder why? And because you were the millionth buyer, you got two copies of this game?"

Glasie shrugged, "Yea, I went up to the clerk with a copy of the game and that's what he said. I went to that really popular electronics place so I guess there were a lot of people buying this game, it seems really popular too, this 'Rebellions' game. I've seen commercials and everything advertising this as the next big game in virtual reality. Also, because I was the millionth, I was given a free 'Red Set' VR player." Glasie forced a smile at the end of her words. In all honesty, she really wanted a VR player, though she didn't have nearly enough money to afford one, culinary school isn't cheap after all.

Hailey frowned mockingly, "Awwww, you're so lucky... Those VR sets are super expensive! The cheapest one doesn't even go past eight hundred dollars. Yet you get one for free! THERE IS NO JUSTICE!!!" In her mock despair, Hailey slammed her hands down on Glasie's shoulders.

Glasie laughed while pushing Hailey's hands off, "Cut out the noise, you'll scare the kids!"

"You still refer to these icky rat things as kids?"

"Hey! Sock and Kitty are not rats! They are cute and friendly ferrets!" Moped Glasie as she stroked her hand across her pet ferret, Sock, who happened to be dashing by.

Glasie loved cute animals, especially ferrets since she first saw them in a pet store when she was six. Ever since then, she pleaded and begged her parents for one, though it never came to her. And since she moved out, her first non-college splurge was on those two ferrets and various objects which one needed to take care of such an animal. Admittedly, it was an extremely stupid purchase, though Glasie never once regretted it and had come to love her pet ferrets quite a bit.

With the topic going off course even more, Hailey said, "Shouldn't those rats be bad in your place? I mean, you've got tons of decorative glassware, wouldn't they destroy them?"

Glasie picked up Kitty who was sniffing the bag which Glasie had carried the two copies of 'Rebellions' in and answered, "Nope! They only run on the floor and furniture, they, for some reason, are quite gentle around the glass. Maybe they know how much I love them and glass and play nice around the fragile glass?

Glasie also owned a collection of various glass objects. One would think that such a collection would be expensive to maintain and add to, but it was the opposite, as all the glassware she obtained was either donated or given to her, or she paid for it cheaply at various garage sales.

The two friends conversed some more about random topics until Hailey glanced at a nearby clock and suddenly looked rather frantic. "Ah! I should leave like right now. Almost twenty minutes for my job. Still, you have fun with your shiny VR system and game; I'll come over some other time. See you at school!"

As Hailey grabbed her belongings and put on her coat to brush off the strangely cold spring, Glasie snuck behind her and held Kitty at head's height in order to scare her good friend. Glasie found it immensely entertaining to scare Hailey with her pets, much to Hailey's chagrin. Hailey looked behind and freaked out for several seconds at the sight of the ferret's face at point blank range, panting heavily after. She, in good fun, menacingly pointed a finger at Glasie and left the door out of the apartment building.

"Good girl, Kitty. Ok then..." Silence then permeated the abnormally spacious apartment. The pitter-patter of the ferret's feet as it traversed between the hard floor to the carpeted areas was quite relaxing to Glasie, almost like her beloved rainy days. 

Unlike most people, Glasie adored rainy days; she didn't even when for weeks straight did it rain.

Glasie grabbed a tube of wrapping paper in and proceeded to wrap Martin's gift tightly. When she was satisfied, she moved herself to a couch and stared at the 'Red Set' VR system. All her life, Glasie had never played a single game. Sure she watched her friends and relatives play quite a few of them, and she was very interested in them as well, but she never wanted to actually play one. Her main excuse was that pushing buttons and moving analog sticks did nothing to improve upon a person's skills. Yet ever since the invention of the VR system several years ago, the gaming industry traveled straight into a cyclone of strangeness.

Companies went broke and bailed out, while some made quite the profit. The introduction of a convenient and easy to use VR system proved quite unpredictable to the economy. Though eventually, and very recently, the markets became relatively quite. At least until the introduction of the game 'Rebellions'.

Calling itself the most advanced VR game in existence, it undoubtedly turned many people's heads. The developers, who belonged to a company named 'SonataCraft', let many testers and ordinary gamers play the game for a small, but enticing, while. And their reviews of the game were astonishingly positive. It was as if every VR game created so far could be flushed down the toilet in order to make way for 'Rebellions'. It was the first working VRMMO. It had graphics that equaled reality, and a fighting system that couldn't be improved on in any way. Thus those who paid attention were obviously interested in buying the game and flocked to the game stores to camp out and buy the first copies of the game.

Even though the game had only been out for barely more than a week, more than several hundred thousand copies had been sold. And when three weeks passed, around a nine hundred thousand million copies had been sold. It was only recently that it reached one million copies sold, with Glasie apparently being the one-millionth buyer of this game. And even then, there were basically no negative comments to be had about the game. Of course there were those who insulted the game out of spite or those who were doing everything in their power to find fault in the game, but they were largely ignored.

Yet one colony of complaints originated around some of the game's features. These complaints were the loudest and were what gravitated the entire anti-VR groups to keep going. It focused on two things, first was the nudity and sex, and the other was the pain. Though courts disallowed these complaints as 'SonataCraft' made it expressly clear that the game was eighteen plus and that such features existed. They made sure that every player was warned several times over by the features in order to stop too many misunderstandings. In the game's manual, there were apparently a number of procedures one had to follow when playing the game, though few bothered to follow them.

Glasie lived in one of the largest populated cities of her country, and thus the biggest retail electronics store was finding it quite difficult to keep its shelves of 'Rebellions' stocked. Though Glasie had managed to persevere and acquire not one, but two copies of the game due to her position of being the one-millionth buyer.

As Glasie mulled the day over, she found herself somewhat aroused. Mainly due to the stress of being in such a crowded store, Glasie found herself wanting to remove the stress she acquired. Being one to hate being steady with one person at her young age, Glasie never held a steady boyfriend in her life, though she had been with several partners, of both persuasion, when it came to bed. She considered herself bi, though she also considered herself straight romantically.

Still, that wouldn't stop Glasie from the occasional masturbation session to relieve herself. And because of those needs, she bought herself a small range of toys.

Moving to her bedroom, Glasie perused her collection of toys, while rubbing her somewhat damp snatch inside her panties, and procured two items. One was a ridged, purple vibrator; the other was twenty-two centimeter hard dildo.

Placing the two toys on her bed, Glasie proceeded to remove her clothes, first was her tank top and bra and second was her jeans and panties. She pushed and teased her endowed chest, which contained a healthy C cup set pair of tits. When it came to sex appeal, Glasie knew how to pull it off, though she rarely tried and thus looked rather plain to most people's eyes.

Keeping one hand on her breasts, Glasie rolled and played with her hardening nipples. The other hand slowly snaked its way down to her pussy and tickled the tip of her clitoris. Shivering from the contact of her own fingers, Glasie moaned audibly and proceeded to stimulate herself to her first orgasm. Glasie was quite pleased with her ability to quickly come to a climax, and not a weak one, but generally an exceptionally powerful and pleasing climax.

Glasie pulled both of her nipples forward firmly and pleasurably. She rubbed circles around her areolas and squashed her bust together. She squeezed her tits tightly together, causing the nipples to rub against each other and cause the hot sensations to race towards her head. Glasie moved one of her hands back towards her pussy and proceeded to once again tease her clitoris. Though after several minutes of this attention, Glasie couldn't resist placing two of her thicker fingers at the entrance of her pussy and slowly but surely push them in.

After several cute mewls, Glasie found herself not satisfied with being gentle, and without hesitation, she thrust her fingers in as deep as possible. That did it, as her moaned wildly at her impending orgasm. Waves of pleasure throbbed around her body and up towards her brain, frying what rationality she had for the time being.

Glasie, to stifle the noise, moaned face down into a pillow and continued to thrust her fingers in and out of her wet folds at a practically exponential rate. Yet why stop there?

Utilizing her free hand, Glasie grabbed the vibrator and moved it towards the back of her butt. Continuing her rampant, though slowed down, thrusting of her fingers, Glasie rubbed the vibrator between the cheeks of her butt, she also coated the toy with the juices from her snatch. With several deeps breaths, Glasie teased and prodded the tight entrance of her butt with the tip of her purple vibrator. She removed the hand at her nether folds and placed it on the dildo, which she would take advantage of soon, in preparation. And on the count of three, Glasie abruptly shoved the vibrating toy into her ass with great jubilation.

Immediately switching it onto a medium setting, Glasie found herself unable to stay quiet and let out a long, constant moan into the pillow. She thrust the vibrator in and out of her ass several times, savoring the exceptional sensation from the vibrations. Yet Glasie didn't stop there, as she had one more toy to pleasure herself with.

Like with the vibrator, Glasie coated every centimeter of the dildo and inserted several centimeters of the toy into her pussy that was still enjoying the feeling of her fingers.

With a tight grip on both toys, Glasie forced herself into a fetal position on her bed and proceeded to thrust them both into her tight holes simultaneously. She could help but receive another rapturous orgasm from the delicious sensations. Her eyes widened and her mouth gaped open at the sudden wave of pleasure entering the depths of her clouded, erotic mind.

With the tumult of a crowd, Glasie climaxed twice more at the hands of her toys. Trying various positions that normally would have her sandwiched between two guys. She even pulled out the dildo on several occasions and lustfully tasted her own juices, savoring the sweet taste of her essence in her mouth.

Yet she eventually grew tired and found herself drifting off to a blissful sleep. Interrupting proceedings, Glasie removed the toys and wrapped them in a cloth and deposited them back into the drawer she kept them before succumbing to the allure of dreamland.

-

Two days passed, and since then, Glasie handed off the gift wrapped game to her cousin Martin's vexed parents. Though they were appreciative of the thought of their niece giving their son a gift for his birthday, they admonished the fact that it was THAT gift in particular. Still, Martin was exceptionally happy, giving his cousin a rare hug.

Glasie enjoyed the cake and time with family that she rarely found time for. In reality, she had plenty of time to visit family, though she made many excuses in order to avoid overexposure to her family. Yet when she did visit, she enjoyed her time.

Two days had passed, and Glasie had yet to find herself touching the VR system in her apartment. Two days she had spent a majority of her time staring at the system and game, curious about them in general. Two days it took before Glasie finally felt motivated to actually plug in the VR system and try out the game.

"Huh... The 'Red Set' VR system is a top of the line product with various features that we will explain here... Blah blah blah. Hmmm, I plug this here and that there and this anywhere and I'm done. Oh joy!" Declared Glasie sarcastically.

A VR system is resembles a sort of closed visor helmet that one would find in a medieval movie or renaissance fair. A carbon-fiber frame covers the majority of the head to provide protection in case of something randomly falling on your head. It has a translucent visor that connects from both sides of the frame and covers every centimeter of your vision. Several small wires with pads attached to it dangled down, which connected to a user's cheeks, those put the user into a sort of sleep before the user can actually delve into VR. Another set of smaller wires and pads attached to a person's forehead, which apparently stimulated the brain's amino acid levels or something that Glasie couldn't understand. A panel on the underside of the helmet frame was found to be able to slide off to the side, which unveiled several intimidating looking needles that barely reached a width of several hairs. This was reported to be one of the more dangerous parts of the VR system, though it was needed to transmit various sensations of all types, be it temperature, movement, sight, tastes, smells, noises, emotions, and even pain and pleasure. Though it was harmless if one put on the helmet right, and there were sensors to tell a user if they had put on the helmet on right, and it would not activate until the user did.

Glasie prided herself on the fact that she was scared of very few things, at least in the mundane world. She began to be even more curious on what she would discover in a world created from virtual reality. Just what could she find and believe in the world of 'Rebellions'.

Glasie inserted a power cell into the VR system. In order to run, a VR system needed a stable power source which could come from a power cell or an outlet, yet it was said that it be better if it had both sources. She plugged the VR system into an outlet of her bedroom. She noticed that a single power cell could last for twenty-four hours, which may not seem all that long, but was quite an exceptional amount of time due to the power needed to run a portable VR system.

Glasie perused the back of the box containing 'Rebellions.'

[Enter and explore a frightening and exciting world that can only end when your imagination runs out!]

[Feel the full weight of the sensations you feel in everyday life in the world of Rebellions!]

[Choose from three sets of races and the sub races within those: The humans! The Elves! And the Beast Races!]

[Create a character of any race that resembles you and decide what to do from that point!]

[Form groups up to seven and guilds of infinite size in order to interact with the friends or your life and the ones you make in here!]

[Fight in exciting battles that can train your reflexes and wit to mysterious levels!]

[Formulate important strategies to combat other players or creatures that require guile, deceit, and deception!]

[Enjoy a class and leveling system that allows you to take advantage of any spell or weapon combination you wish!]

[Interact with the flora and fauna of seven different continents that base off of Earth's continents!]

[After all... There really is no telling what you can find in a world that is within your mind!]

"Really... They sure know how to entice you." Admitted Glasie. She wanted even more to try out the game now that she read the basic description of the game.

Just how many different kinds of creatures could be in here? How many cute ones? Will there be any ferrets? Why is it called 'Rebellions'? Just what in the world is it that attracts everyone to this game?

These questions raced through Glasie's head, with it centered mainly on questions relating to the mystery of why is a virtual world so enticing. Still, one can't find out without at least trying it out first.

Glasie placed the VR system on her head, taking two long minutes to find a comfortable position that was deemed safe by the system for use. She lay down on the bed, with the pillow under the carbon fiber frame helmet. To keep herself warm, Glasie placed a thin sheet on her body. Assuming the required position, Glasie kept her legs straight and her arms right next to her torso.

The visor had several lights flinging around, which Glasie controlled with her eyes. Technology nowadays allowed people to controls various actions with the movements of their eyes, though it was somewhat finicky and expensive. Still, Glasie opened the window that led to the 'Rebellions' game start up. With three blinks, Glasie soon found herself falling asleep, due to the pads on her cheeks, with her eyes drifting off towards darkness.

As she fell asleep, the panel slid off to the side and painlessly inserted the thin needles into her head, bypassing the skull and effectively situating into the parts of the brain each needle was responsible for.


Reality Break Ch. 01



And the game begins.

-

"Hello and welcome newcomer to 'Rebellions'!"

An annoying mix of cheerfulness and monotone voice forced Glasie to open her eyes. She was standing up in a void of glittering blue, red, and green.

"My name is Aria, and I am computed moderator that will help you through the process of creating a character and delving into the game."

Aria huh?

"But first, let me warn you about the game. All of the sensations that people feel in life are effectively translated into this reality. Basically, our warning is that you will feel the pleasant along with the very unpleasant sensations that we feel in everyday life, AKA pain."

That doesn't sound good.

"You will feel the pain you experience in combat or various mishaps and the sensation will be transferred to your brain. Though please understand that this pain is not real, as your body in real life will not be receiving any actual wounds, only the sensations. Also, for psychological safety reasons, the pain that transferred to your mind will be no where near as extreme if one encountered the injuries in this game in real life."

Then I'll have to be extra careful.

"We wanted to emphasize planning and caution. As people, who play games where there is no severe penalty, often find themselves throwing caution to the wind and going into a practically suicidal state to accomplish their goals in the game."

I sure won't.

"Also, prolonged exposure to any VR game, may give unwanted symptoms to a player that causes them to see certain things in the game in real life. Otherwise known as 'Reality Break'. We encourage you to keep game sessions to less than seven hours. Though cannot force you to stop or keep going. 'Reality Break' should only occur in those who play the game almost 24/7."

I can do that, as I still have school and work to go to.

"Now that the warnings are done with, let me now help you through the character creation process!"

Right, there were three sets of races...

"There are three sets of races: the Humans, the Elves, and the beast races. The Human races include the Humans obviously, the Dwarves, the Half Elves, and the Tieflings."

Being a human seems rather boring, why play a game like this if you're going to be what you already are?

"The Elven races include the High Elves, the Dark Elves or Drow, the Undine, and the Orcs or Barbarian Elves."

Eh? Orcs are elves? Well, ok.

"And the beast races include the Wolfkin, the Catfolk, the Hawkmen, and the Changelings."

Oooooh, those sound fun... But I don't want fur or feathers. Eh, wait a second.

Glasie then spoke to the computed moderator, "Why can I only see myself as a female?"

The computed moderator answered the question effortlessly, "In order to keep serve populations and guild fluctuations and other such things to a minimum, we only allow one character to each player. They may delete the character at any time and start anew, though all their progress will be lost. Also, we only allow a player to be a character of their gender, so as to stop certain misunderstandings."

That seems sensible, but that's also stupid at the same time. Glasie made her opinion known, "I though we're supposed to create the character we want? Why can't I be male?"

Aria continued her emotionless voice, not once wavering in her words and said coldly, "Your request to play a character opposite of your gender is being processed to the game developers and moderators, please wait several seconds while you are given an answer."

Glasie was confused, was playing a male character that much of a problem? While initially she was just curious, wondering why was it that you could only a play a character that is your gender, though after mulling it over for several minutes, she was increasingly attracted to the idea of playing a whole different persona who even was a different gender. It was not like her entire game experience rested on being one gender, though she realized that how she interacted with other players, be they male or female, their reactions towards her would differ depending on her gender.

Aria soon came back to life as her answer was given, "Your request to play a male has been processed and accepted."

Glasie was surprised, though she was slightly happy at the response, "Really? So cool, I can kick some ass with my manly visage at night and be the beautiful and sexy female at night." Satired Glasie.

-

"Hey Lars, I thought I saw a window pop up there for a second."

"Huh? Well, I had my elbow on the board, so I guess I must of pressed something that made it go away. Probably nothing to worry about."

"Righto then, back to work."

-

"Now please chose a race, if you would like, I can show you what your character would look like as the various races." Said the monotone Aria.

Hmmm, just what race should Glasie pick? Just out of curiosity, Glasie asked, "Can you show me as those beast races? I'm curious what they look like. The wolf one first."

"Very well." Aria waved her hand and the area besides her shimmered and a body soon appeared. Apparently, it was a model of what Glasie would look like if she were a male Wolfkin.

It looked nothing like werewolves of the movies and TV shows she had seen, and thankfully so as that particular genre Glasie had gotten sick of quite a while ago. The Wolfkin was wearing basic clothing: a long sleeved shirt and jeans, though Glasie assumed that was not the only clothes she could wear. Its features included: Wide eyes that seemed like one could stare in forever and never reach the end of the chasm, a body of greyed fur that covered the model's entire body though it thinned down in certain areas like the chest and face, a shaggy tail which resembled an overgrown patch of weeds, and a thick snout which covered a row of vicious though docile teeth.

Glasie surveyed the rest of the beast races, perusing the various odd features. The Catfolk were just like the Wolfkin, though with cat features. The Hawkmen, which had majestic wings, and while they could not fly like birds, they could float and glide off of high places. And the changelings, which actually started out as humans, though they could grow certain features of various other animals, apparently this race congregated a bunch of other animals into one race.

Then Glasie requested to see the human races, though she ignored the human race itself. She first saw how she looked as a male dwarf. Expecting to see an exceptionally short and bearded stout man, she found herself surprised at what she saw. The dwarves were about forty centimeters shorter than the average male human. And while they did have a respectable set of facial hair, Glasie saw that it wasn't as overgrown as they were in the movies. All in all, the dwarves looked like a rather physically fit version of a shorter human. Moving on the Half Elves, Glasie saw that compared to humans, they were thinner and more lithe, though apparently less so that the actual elves. And once she saw the Tieflings, which she had never heard of before, she found herself quite surprised, though in a good way. Seeing a human with demonic attributes was somewhat surprising, though she liked what she saw. Short horns, a wriggling tail, and colored skin was the main features of a Tiefling, though they also had menacing eyes and were about ten centimeters taller than the height of an average human.

Still, Glasie had yet to see the elves. Moving on to the elves, Glasie first saw the High Elves, and instantly fell in love. It was as if a normal human male underwent a complete overhaul, keeping their best features while adding on to that. The new model had a sort of beautiful feminine grace coupled with a male's virility. Her character had longer than average set of red hair, along with flawless skin that was without a hint of tan but also without it being too pale, the elf model also was visibly taller than a normal human, about twenty to thirty centimeters taller. Still, if Glasie had to find fault, it was that the male elf model was without too many rugged and manly features, though she completely ignored that. If she had seen this model somewhere outside of this game, she would have instantly fell in love and try her best to go out with him. Glasie wanted nothing more than to choose this model as her character, completely ignoring the other elven races, and that she did.

"Yes! I definitely want to be a male High Elf!" Exclaimed Glasie to Aria.

As if the nonhuman entity suddenly gained emotions, Aria smiled and said flawlessly, "Alright then. Now this is exactly what you would look like if you were a male and a High Elf."

I'm such a beautiful man...

"Now we proceed to the classes. In 'Rebellions', there are five base classes, the warrior, the rogue, the ranger, the mage, and the priest. Note that these are base classes and they will and should not define how you play the game. At any point you wish, you can switch from being a warrior to a mage. There are also numerous class archetypes subdivided in between the classes, such as a cross warrior and rogue Duelist class, or a cross priest warrior Paladin class, or even an ranger Sniper class. There are no restrictions as to what style you wish to play. Though take note that depending on which base class you choose will determine the level of some of your stats and the basic gear you start off with, so in the long run, what base class you choose will not be that important. Just choose what you wish to try out at first and if you are not satisfied, you may pick up any type of play style you wish."

Hmmm, this is a toughie.

"Warriors are mainly the slow melee types, though they are not restricted to that and can be exceptionally fast and nimble on their feet. Rogues are generally a stealth type class, though they can be loud and as visible as they wish. Rangers are generally a ranged type class, though they can pick up melee weapons if they so wish. Mages are divided into fire, water, earth, and air mages, though they are not restricted to one type of magic. Priests are divided into light and dark magic, and like the mages, they are not restricted to one magic and can even utilize weapons like mages."

Why not just be a basic class? Glasie had an idea of what she wanted to do. She knew she wanted to do some sort of melee fighting, and she knew she did not want to be slow or stealthy. Still, considering Aria's words, Glasie figured she could immediately change how she wanted to fight from the get-go.

With a decision in mind, Glasie made her choice, "I would like to start off as a rogue class... Though I definitely won't be stealthy."

"Very well, you will begin as a High Elf rogue. There are now only two steps left, choosing your base stats and your name."

Base stats?

"Their are numerous stats which depict a character's style over the course of playing this game. The warrior stats are strength and endurance, which affect your melee ability and stamina. The rogue stats are agility and endurance, which affect your stamina and how nimble you are. The archer stats are perception and agility, which affect your senses and how nimble you are. The mage stats are perception and focus, which affect your overall power in magic and your sense towards magic and other things. The priest stats are focus and strength, which affect your ability to cast various spells and your power regarding spells. The final stat, which does not fall into any one category, is luck, which I'm sure you can guess what it does. Like with the classes, please not that what you choose here will and should not force you to play one way in the long run, though it will give you a decent boost in the early levels depending on where you put your stats. Also, the only stat that will not change over time is luck, though it can be affected by equipping various lucky objects.

Right when she was told, Glasie immediately understood and knew what she wanted to do. It was as if the soul of a veteran game player had infected her body. Glasie's logic was that if a certain stat could not be increased from this point on, in this case it would be luck, why not put all of the given points into luck?

Glasie was given ten points to put in any stat she wished and she made that choice to put them all in luck.

Aria showed no concern as to where Glasie put them in, only reacting when she was finished and repetitiously continued her monotone voice, "Now for the final step, please choose a name for your character. We request that the players keep their name simple and do not add various numbers, symbols, or foreign characters of any type. Please make your name easy to read and say aloud so that players will not have any difficulty saying your name out loud. Also, unlike most MMOs, there may be more than one player with the same name, mainly because there are other ways to tell people apart than by just name."

"A name? I honestly don't know." Glasie was at a roadblock. Being one to have never played a videogame before, she never paid much thought in naming fictional characters. Her first though went to various elven names from various fiction stories and movies, though she didn't particularly care for any of those. Then Glasie decided to name her character with a word that describes a part of her identity. Her first though went to her ferrets, though she didn't want to name her male elf ferret, sock, or kitty, as they were too nonsensical. Then as if the points she put in luck immediately went into effect, a certain word popped in her head and resonated with her entire being. It was a simple word; one that many people used in everyday life though hardly paid much attention to it as a name. And this word as a name felt quite ingenious to Glasie. It used part of her name and was the name of the various objects in her apartments that she loved, namely her glassware. Her name would be "Glass". Thinking about it some more, Glasie noticed that the normal clear and pristine color of glass windows was comparable to the complexion of her character's skin, pristinely beautiful. Glass, just like her elf's skin, could be blemished and covered in dirt and dust, but it could always be cleaned to the pure condition it once was.

"I want to name my character... Glass." It was a simple word, yet it was now a name of a character's identity. As of now, in this game, Glass enters the world and to his life.

Aria then took a cheery tone, "Alright then! Your 'Rebellions' character will be a male High Elf rogue named Glass with all of his points put into luck. Congratulations on completing the character creation process and please enjoy the world of 'Rebellions'.

The large expanse Glasie had been standing in for some time, designing her character, suddenly shimmered into various lights, and as if a blanket was slowly being pulled over a person's eyes, the world suddenly was revealed to Glass. The first thing Glass noticed was that he was no longer female, instead, he was now in possession in a male body of that High Elf that he so adored. The red hair Glass owned outside of this world and now in this world flowed like strands of fresh silk, and as soft as silk as well.

Glass was also wearing a set of leather padding that covered vital areas of Glass' body, though certain spots were left uncovered so as to increase mobility. Glass also had a short sword fastened to his belt with a simple iron dagger fastened next to his sword. He felt around his body to discover he no longer had breasts. He almost felt compelled to fondle a certain other area located at the groin, though he resisted that urge. He lightly touched his elongated ears, which seemed unusually receptive to noises. His facial features seemed more defined, and all in all, he seemed infinitely more masculine than he did outside of this game.

"Holy hell... This is amazing. This really is a completely different world, VR is so amazing!" Glass lit up like a bonfire and bounced around giddy with excitement.

Glass then admired the environment he was placed in. In this particular area, there was a small hamlet situated behind him that was apparently located on top of a high cliff. Facing the hamlet was a foreboding forest filled with various species of pine trees, some of which seemed even taller than a redwood or thicker than a sequoia. Some of the branches of the trees arched down and touched the ground, as if inviting someone to climb on and travel along the tree's branches. The needles of the trees held every hue of green imaginable, with the trunk and bark taking on a thick chestnut color. Scraggly clouds were placed in seemingly random positions in the sky, though it was a relatively clear day. A bright yellow sun was located some ways near the horizon, signaling that dusk was approaching. The hamlet in question took on an appearance similar to a classic though slightly rich medieval town. Various townspeople went about their tasks, none of which seemed human to Glass. Perhaps they were also computed characters like Aria?

Glass seemed to remember reading something in the game manual about the computer characters, also known as NPCs, and the players themselves being so alike, that one couldn't even tell them apart unless they looked very closely. Still, there was certain ways people could tell if a person was an NPC or not, though Glass didn't pay attention to them.

Glass took a single step forward. His male body seemed just as natural to him as his female body outside of this game. Even so, it took some getting used to when controlling this body, which annoyed Glass.

Still, that was part of the fun when exploring a completely new world generated from the imaginative minds of people. Glass knew that he could never hope to create something as expansive and creative as this.

Out of the corner of his eye, Glass saw a person running. This person resembled one of the human races, apparently a Half Elf, he was running along one of the large tree branches until he reached a low spot, which he jumped off and dashed off in the same direction.

That was without a doubt another player. After observing the Half Elf that just raced through Glass' eyes, he instantly became more aware of the other players in the area. Several groups of them were animatedly talking next to buildings in the town. Some were walking or running in various directions. One was even eating some food on a rooftop of one of the hamlet's buildings. Yet two players caught Glass' eyes.

Two players, one that looked like a Tiefling and the other, which had to be a Human, were currently engage in a duel. Several players crowded around the duel, spectating and making diverse range of comments. While Glass couldn't hear the quieter words, he could assuredly hear the more outspoken players who were shouting out words of encouragement or insults. Glass soon lost interest in the duel when it ended, as it only took several strokes of the Tiefling's sword to end the Human player's existence.

Glass remembered in the manual that when a player died, they would resurrect at the nearest town and would receive a penalty that would eliminate all or a portion of the player's progress towards their next level. It apparently wasn't a serious penalty, though enough to stop players from being too reckless.

Yet Glass soon noticed several stares directed towards him, though he had no idea why.

In this day and age, the line between males and females when it came to gaming was largely diminished, though there was still a noticeable male aura of dominance in games, when it came to VR games, that dominance had completely vanished. And thus in the various players in the area, there was roughly an equal amount of male and female characters.

Glass wasn't sure why people were staring at a new player like him. It was as if a prominent celebrity suddenly found himself surrounded by fans or paparazzi.




Reality Break Ch. 01



One thing he did notice that most of the attention he was getting was coming from the female players. If he looked over in the direction of one of these female players, they would immediately shy away or turn a shade of red. Perhaps they felt somewhat sick or hot?

Still, Glass felt somewhat uncomfortable among the numerous stares in his way, so he set forth to explore more of this place. He moved towards the direction of the hamlet, more specifically, the edge of the cliff the town was situated on. He strolled through the quaint village, meandering about in no particular set path. He found himself greatly enjoying the sights the town had to offer.

The streets were paved with simple cobblestone that allowed easy access for carriages or other wheeled implements to easily access the streets. There were lampposts on every corner and every several meters on the longer streets that would illuminate the streets at night. Various plants were growing around the area, with most of them being lovely and delicate morning glory that draped over the walls of most buildings. Thistle plants grew on some of the grassy areas along with several other types of dazzling flowers accentuating the harmonious beauty of the village. The atmosphere of the place in general was quite pristine, as if no sorts of corruption could penetrate the area.

Even as Glass walked along the streets, he managed to turn female's heads, many of which tried to hide their pointing fingers and stares. He looked in the direction of one of these females, apparently a Dark Elf player, who blushed and moved her gaze away. Glass had no idea what her problem was, but he ignored her.

Eventually, he came to the cliff the town was situated on top of, only to find his breath taken away. He stopped in front of a fence designed to keep players from accidentally falling off, though if one wanted to, they could jump off, or if they were a Hawkman, they could glide off of the cliff. Still, what Glass saw completely destroyed what expectations he had of this world, or more accurately, it completely halted his mind, forcing him to gasp and stagger at the sheer beauty of the sight.

What he saw from the cliff was a magnificent city bathed in the golden sun. It was squished in between two cliffs, both of which had towns, one of which Glass was currently in. Glass couldn't see the end of the cliffs, though he assumed the city stopped at one point. It was as if the famous Hanging Gardens morphed into an entire city. Staggeringly pretty greenery adorned almost every building's rooftops, many of which even had full trees. On one side of the city held an inspiring temple that resembled a mix of a mosque and a church. Several colossal statues stood guard at the entrance of the temple, both with giant stone weapons. Off in the distance, he could see one Hawkman making the jump and glide into the city, eventually landing on one of the many gardenesque rooftops.

Glass wanted nothing more but to enter that city, but how? He couldn't glide like a Hawkman. His eyes eventually traveled to a gondola that without doubt had the function of taking players down form the cliff villages into the city. Perhaps that was the only way non-winged players could enter the city. No matter, that was the only viable option Glass saw.

He trotted off towards the gondola with a bounce in his step, clearly enjoying himself. There was a small line for the gondola, thankfully it wasn't terribly long or else it probably would have taken quite a while for Glass to enter the city. Taking a spot in the line, Glass waited patiently.

Once again, several female gazes turned towards him, for reasons Glass couldn't fathom.

Unbeknownst to Glass, a single female player got in line behind him with the sole purpose of following the handsome High Elf player. The reason why all these female players were staring at Glass was the same reason that one girl was getting in line, all because they have never seen such a handsome player. They figured he was some sort of model that perfectly conjoined feminine grace and masculine virility. And because a player's character was supposed to be closely modeled after the players themselves, all of the female players figured they stumbled upon perfect specimen of a man. Still, they had no idea of knowing that Glass was actually a female in real life as there had never been a single player in this game that played a character opposite of their gender.

Glass was completely oblivious to the numerous female players' piercing gazes. He had no idea that he was so handsome to the numerous girls and women of this game. While he previously greatly admired his character's body when he was female, he could not fathom that the reason behind all these stares was for that reason. In fact, Glass felt somewhat perturbed, the constant staring made him fairly uncomfortable.

Eventually the line came up to him. Glass found himself standing in front of a human character, most likely an NPC, asking for the fare to the gondola.

Wait, fare? What fare? I've got no money...

Indeed, one obviously should pay a fare when it came to public transportation, and apparently with game money that was called cogs. The coins resembled miniature ornate cogwheels, hence the slang name for the money. On the main menu, which any player can pop up at any time, there was a banking type system in which players can deposit their cogs and withdraw whenever needed. Basically, say you had one hundred cogs in a bag, you pressed the deposit button and the bag of cogs disappeared. And then if you wanted around fifty cogs back to pay for something, you would put in the amount you wanted and press withdraw and a cloth bag would appear in your hand with the amount of cogs you wanted. Because of this annoying process, many players carried around a bag or two of cogs on their person, though they were susceptible to pickpocketing, which was actually allowed in the game.

Still, in this case, Glass had no idea what cogs were or that he needed them to pay for the gondola fare.

The again asked for money with a tone that resembled a grumble and forced happiness at the same time, "Th' fare is ten cogs, pay and you can go down in th' gondola. No hagglin'."

Glass rubbed his head before talking out loud unintentionally, "Ah damn... I don't have any money."

Fortunately, a savior was found in the female player that was behind Glass, "Here you go! Ten cogs for the fare." The girl said as she passed a bag that must have contained ten cogs.

Glass nodded his head thankfully and passed it on to the fare taker. The NPC counted out the cogs just like an actual person would do and placed the money in a box nearby before pointing a thumb behind him at the arriving gondola. The person who gave Glass the cogs gave ten more to the fare taker and followed Glass into the gondola. For some reason, there were no more people in line to take the gondola and that made Glass and the generous female player the only occupants of the slowly moving cabin.

Glass made his gratitude known to the female player, "Ah, thank you very much for that money. As you can probably see, I'm brand new to this game."

The female player was a fellow elf, though a member of the Undine race. The undines were apparently what you could call the aquatic race, like the Hawkmen are the flying race. This particular undine had skin with a pinkish blue hue, she had fin like ears, glossy hands and lips, a well proportioned body, and all in all... Quite a pretty person. Glass had no idea whether this person was just as attractive in real life as in this game, though he decided there was no point in judging people by their looks in a VR game.

The undine girl spoke with a rosy voice, "Really, it's no problem! You looked like a new player so I just wanted to help out. May I ask your name? I'm Blossom."

That is quite a flowery name that really seems to suit her, that was what Glass though before he replied amiably, "My name is Glass. So, how long have you played this?"

Blossom seemed somewhat excited as blood rushed to her head, for reasons unknown to Glass. She was talking to probably the most handsome and beautiful male player she had seen yet. If she could, and she did, Blossom would attach every positive adjective to Glass possible. With vigor, Blossom answered the question put to her, "Well, 'Rebellions' has been out for roughly a month... So I'd saaaaay, about three weeks now? Though due to certain... Complications, I've been unable to play the game seriously until several days ago and I haven't spoken to many people so far. That's why I am, um... Somewhat excited to be talking with a brand new player that has yet to play very much. Even so, I'm not terribly experienced in this game yet, I haven't done many of the serious events and boss fights. I've only trained against normal creatures and players."

And that was the truth. Blossom had already fought a variety of creatures, and several bosses. She had even fought a couple players with the wins mostly in her favor.

Glass, upon looking up the available public information about Blossom on his screen, noticed several things. The first was that she was level nine, she was a base mage class, and she apparently loved strawberries. When you know a player's name, you can look up their public information they set to public. Which among the possible bits of public information are a player's level, their class archetype, their base stats, their money, their guild or group affiliation, and various bits of personal information. Glass had yet to set his public information so it was all set as the default private information.

Glass found himself continuing the conversation, "Well, I literally just started playing this game like thirty minutes ago, and I've yet to fight anything. It's... I really can't fathom how majestic the places are here."

Blossom prodded Glass for more information mainly because every new player's public information started out as private, "So what's your class? What do you do outside of the game? Do you like strawberries?"

"Rogue, though I don't want to be stealthy... I'm in college. And yes, though I prefer raspberries." Glass found himself matching the quick pace of Blossom, who seemed enthusiastic when talking to him.

Blossom blessed her luck, she just met an extremely pretty and handsome player and she was becoming his friend, maybe they can even group up together? Just as she was about to ask, fortune turned her way.

Glass wasn't sure why Blossom was so flustered, perhaps she was tired? Still, he was thankful to have found such a nice person, especially in a type of game where you can keep your anonymity and still resort to merciless bullying or hate like in real life. He wasn't well versed in the type of language used by the players but he still asked politely, "If it's at all possible, would you mind showing me around the place?"

Score! Blossom praised various deities in her mind from Yahweh to the almighty Odin. "W-Well, how about I add you to my friends list and we group up? It'll be easier to keep track of one another if we do that." Blossom counted the seconds that went by until Glass replied.

Which he did, and quite eagerly at that, "Yea, sure! Though I don't know how to do that yet. I guess I pull up the menu?"

What Glass was talking about was the main menu that any player can pull up in front of their face mentally. It will only show up on the player's screen and no other player will see it. It gave a list of options: a log out button, a vague map, guild/group button, friends list, player database for looking at a player's public information, and an inventory because it would be impossible to carry everything one would need comfortably.

Just as Glass was about to go to the friends list, a notice showed up asking if he wanted to become friends with Blossom, which he accepted before he even noticed.

Blossom smiled amicably, her moist lips revealing a set of crystal white teeth. "Super, alright, now let me send a group invite. Groups let people see where their party members are at all times and we share items and money more easily if we weren't in one. Also, a group is permanent until it is disbanded, though I hope we won't have to do that soon."

Glass immediately accepted the group invite just like the friend request. Once he did, he noticed that a cartoonish face that resembled Blossom appeared on the vague map in the main menu.

They continued to talk about various things until the gondola reached its end, landing in a seemingly normal part of the city. Though Glass could still see that breath taking sights still, it obviously seemed rather lackluster when compared to the view from the cliff, but that was to be as expected.

Before the two walked five meters away from the gondola, an event happened.

A small group of people, who were obviously players, walked up to Blossom and Glass. A Changeling, who must have been the leader of the group, walked up to Blossom and began a conversation, "What's up, Blossom? Been a while since I've seen you. Seriously, come around here some more so I can talk to you."

Blossom, who was clearly annoyed, rolled her eyes and blandly said, "Look, Demonz (the player's name), you're obviously too douchey and sad to attract many women, and the same goes for me. Please die in a fiery plane crash. I'm currently busy at the moment if you haven't noticed."

Demonz turned his oversized cranium towards Glass and did his best to look menacing, "Really? This is a bloody level one noob (online slang for new player). You're really going to waste your time carting around this weaksauce?"

How very eloquent.

On a side note, Glass, with Blossom's help on the gondola, had set his public information to show his levels and class archetype, which was currently set as a rogue and level one.

Glass wasn't sure how to take this Demonz fellow's words, as this was his first time conversing with a type like this in a game. While he had a suitable repertoire of insults and comebacks when he was Glasie, this was an entirely new situation. Still, he improvised, "Hey, leave her alone, she obviously doesn't like your behavior. And this 'noob' here can obviously tell the difference between us, and it's not in your favor you tanned Guido." Demonz here reminded Glass of the people whom he found extremely annoying, basically the type of people who applied fake tans and still went out with their 'bros' to go to the beach for some tanning.

Demonz look perplexed, "I'm sorry, what did you just call me?"

"My bad, apparently my comeback was too cultured and refined for your insecure and miniscule brains." Glass deliberately used large words to confuse the less than educated player.

Completely ignoring Glass, Demonz turned back to Blossom, "Still, despite this little annoyance. Come join my guild and we can have some serious fun then, if not, then stay out of Archangel's territory, namely, this city." He then looked down on Glass, "And we better not see you around here, you're definitely on my shit list. I won't go easy on you even if you're a level one."

Then like some wannabe gang, Demonz led his posse into the city.

"That was... Unpleasant." Glass commented.

"Yea, sorry about that. Still, thanks for sticking up for me. He's been on my butt every single time I enter this city, which I need to in order to sell stuff and trade for supplies. Still, if we can't enjoy the city because of him and his guild, then let's go and enter the wilderness and fight your first enemies!"

While Glass was slightly depressed at the fact that he wouldn't be able to tour the city with people like Demonz were around, it didn't mean he couldn't enjoy the other places and scenery. Besides, he could always come back here and explore another time. "Alright then, I'll follow you since I don't know where I'm going."

"If you check your map, you should see seven continents, right? Well each of them are based off of the continents of Earth, thus we are now in Atarea, the continent based off of North America. And this city, Sandy Oasis, is literally an urban oasis surrounded by a large forest with some mountains. This forest is where we'll fight some low level enemies for you start off with."

Glass obediently listened to Blossom's explanation of the basic geography of the current area, he was quite interested.

The two walked a straight line out of town, following a pathway that went along the edge of the cliff so as to avoid any of Demonz's friends. The gondolas were one of two ways to enter the city, excluding gliding in if you're a Hawkman, with the other way heading out the main entrance of the city. The main entrance poked out through the cliffs, which had an archway overhead where travelers could walk across from one cliff to the other. They kept a steady pace as they made their way to the edge of the pine forest with unusually large trees.

Soon, Glass' first NPC enemy was in sight, a basic wolf.

"Alright, wolves are pretty easy enemies to fight, just make sure they don't pounce on you and push you to the ground, if that happens, I'll intervene. Though I bet it won't!" Cautioned Blossom as Glass pulled out his shortsword.

It was strange, as it was the first time Glass had ever held a weapon in his life. Even back outside of VR, as Glasie, he never held an object with a threatening intention. It was quite exciting, he felt himself getting that anxious feeling telling himself to not embarrass himself in front of Blossom.

!!!The wolf howled and sped off towards Glass with the intent to attack its prey. It jumped for his neck with its fangs outstretched. Glass just barely managed to dodge, falling to the ground as he did before picking himself back up again. The wolf inched closer and Glass slashed his sword several times when the wolf got too close. He imitated what he saw in the movies and crouched down low, patiently waiting for the wolf to get close. Sure there were probably easier ways to fight, but this is what Glass came up with at the spot.

By a random bit of misfortune, Glass tripped over a rock as he was pacing around. He expected the wolf to attack then, but unexpectedly, right when he hit the ground, another a second wolf jumped right over him, aiming for the Glass that was still standing before he tripped.

"Shit that was lucky..." Indeed it was, a second wolf was about to attack him but he tripped and managed to dodge the unknown attack.

Before the wolf could turn around, Glass stabbed the creature in the stomach with his shortsword, instantly ending the NPC enemy's life. The first wolf jumped up and attacked by pushing Glass to the ground, but his sword was in a position where the force of the wolf pushed itself onto the tip of the sword, ending the second NPC enemy's existence.

"Ooooh! That was cool! You were pretty lucky there." Cooed Blossom as she clapped her hands as if congratulating an opera performance.

"Yea, I didn't expect that second wolf. Still, I fought my first two enemies and won! Sweet." Glass cocked his head to the side, "Eh? I gained a level?"

"Yea, a player always gains a level after killing its first enemy. Though you slew two this time, so you're already on your way to level three." Informed Blossom, she knew quite a bit about this game.

"So what do I get in leveling up?"

"Well, depending on what stats you were focusing on, you gain an increase to your base stats, check to see which ones increased. If you were doing a lot of melee fighting, carrying around heavy stuff like certain armors, or if perform lots of demanding priest spells, you get strength. If you were running around and doing lots of exhausting stuff, you gain endurance. Depending on your dodging and movements and reflexes, you get agility. If you focus on your senses and do allot of aiming for ranged attacks, you get perception. If you work a lot with spells, casting and what not, you get focus. Luck is the only unchangeable stat except if you equip luck boosting items." Blossom continued to speak with the fervor of a monk's sermon, "Also, depending on what skills you create, they will get slightly more powerful. I don't really know how to explain all the technical details, but say that if you were in a large battle, your level won't matter that much when compared to a one on one fight."




Reality Break Ch. 01



"Grooooooaaaaah"

A large roar pierced the scene. Both Glass and Blossom frantically searched around for the source of the roar, hoping it was only another player. Yet no players were in sight as they had walked quite a ways into the forest.

Blossom then perked up, as if she remembered something, though she still looked scared, "I know what that roar comes from, a Dire Wolf. They are much stronger than normal wolves and you shouldn't see them this distance into the woods, they are usually further away."

Glass then asked, "Can we fight it? I bet you're strong enough to take it down."

Despite the compliment, Blossom still looked worried, "If I did, I would still have a bit of trouble with it. And at your level, you definitely wouldn't stand chance all by yourself. Let's retreat for now anyways."

At least, that is what they wished they could do.

Panting furiously was black and brown furred bestial wolf that was many times larger and scarier than the normal wolf. Its eyes contained the fury of a thousand computer generated creatures that it had slain. Numerous bites and bloody scratches adorned its hide and displayed them as if it was proud of its war wounds. Drips of nasty saliva pooled below its mouth as its tongue dangled from between a gap in its menacing teeth.

"Nice doggie?" Joked Glass, though he kept his cautious demeanor ready to move if he could react in time.

It pounced, rushing towards Blossom first. With a girlish scream, Blossom tried her best to escape to the side, though just barely. Glass stepped forwards and attempted to stab the dire wolf's hide in order to distract it from Blossom. The blade barely penetrated into its flank, though it still drew crimson blood. The dire wolf didn't care in the slightest, as it knocked Glass back with the flick of its paw.

Blossom unleashed a lightning spell, discharging it at the dire wolf's face. At least this time the dire wolf let out a hurt growl as it felt the attack hit the side of its head. The lightning left behind the smell of burnt dog hair. Then with the other hand, Blossom another lightning spell, letting it attack the dire wolf's face this time. Again, it let out an anguished wolfish cry as it ignored the pain and dashed towards Blossom.

Its speed was phenomenal, though definitely not even close to the fastest in this game, Glass speculated. The High Elf player stood back up, doing his best to shake off the pain of the bruises he just accumulated. That Aria person was right, while the pain wasn't close to the actual levels he was supposed to get, it still hurt like hell.

"Yaah! Get away from me! [Zephyr Launch]!" Apparently this was the name of a special ability, as Blossom pointed her palm at the ground and a burst of high-speed winds came forth, pushing her off the ground. And just in time too, as the dire wolf swept its claws downwards, aiming for the Undine mage who had just launched herself off the ground. Blossom still wasn't used to using that ability, while she did practice her landings, whenever she used it in an actual fight, it always went the way she didn't want it.

As a result, Blossom launched herself off the ground in the complete opposite way she wanted, smashing against the trunk of a tree. She fell to the ground, which was several meters away, and let out a painful groan. She was too dazed to react to the creeping dire wolf that took its time stalking towards Blossom.

"No, no! Got to think of something..." Yet Blossom was not alone.

"Take this you overgrown Scooby-Doo!" Yelled Glass as jumped onto the leaning leg of the dire wolf, ran along the wolf's back, and stabbed into the beast's head. Apparently the head was a weak spot for the wolf, as its hide was like steel armor everywhere else for his level two self. The soft flesh gave away easily this time as Glass' short sword found its way to the wolf's skull, and somehow there was enough force to dig its way past the bone.

The dire wolf reacted instantly, unleashing a deafening roar into the wilderness as it recoiled from the pain. Glass held onto his sword, which was still embedded in the wolf's head, with all his might as if he was on a mechanical bull. He grabbed a loose tuft of fur as tightly as possible with his left hand and held on for dear life as he pulled out the sword. That only caused the dire wolf to act even more fiercely as it shook its head in several directions in attempt to knock off Glass.

Blossom had collected only one ability so far, as a player could create one every five levels, and since she was only level nine, her only special spell was [Zephyr Launch] which was mainly designed for running away from the detestable Demonz. Still, she could attack with normal spells. She really like lightning type attacks, though she could never figure out why, and thus she made the air element her focus when choosing the Mage class.

With this in mind, Blossom charge up two more bolts of lightning, ready to strike when the dire wolf's head slowed down. She didn't want to accidently hit Glass in the dire wolf's insane frenzy.

Glass could barely make out Blossom hesitating with her magic, "Don't mind me! I'll be fine, just attack the darn thing! Please?"

Blossom couldn't resist laughing at Glass' out of place politeness. She smiled as she nodded even though he couldn't make out her movements in the blurred light from moving too fast. The Undine drew her hands back and tossed both bolts of lightning, at the same time, at the dire wolf. One missed in the dire wolf's thrashing, but the other struck dead center in the dire wolf's forehead. Coincidentally, the bolt of lightning just barely struck between Glass' flailing legs that were lashing about violently, he was very lucky there.

The lightning managed to stop the dire wolf from moving about as it recoiled seemingly slow from the pain. Glass barely had enough time to get himself together and attack before the dire wolf got its senses back. In one quick motion, Glass stood up, grabbed onto the beast's hair by its eye, and stabbed the short sword into its eye.

Before the dire wolf could react to the pain, Blossom rushed in. She used [Zephyr Launch] to jump up to the dire wolf's other eye, and amazingly was on target this time, and shot another bolt of lightning in the dire wolf's second eye. While that was happening, Glass stabbed his sword into several spots where the flesh was weak, adding even more injuries to what was there.

The dire wolf swooned about, reeling from his blindness and injuries before slumping over onto its side.

Breathing heavily, both people stood up and collected themselves. Their eyes met and they both began to laugh uncontrollably.

"I can't believe it. I honestly can't believe that we just took out a dire wolf. I mean, I'm a level nine, yea, but you're a level two and you still managed to do that much damage." Blossom then added, "And for your information, a dire wolf is like a level fifteen creature. Though level varies among monsters. This one in particular is level fourteen."

Glass smiled, "I thought I was going to die even though this is just a VR game. This is so much fun! I even gained another two levels because that dire wolf was a higher level"

Blossom then put up a wry expression, "Yea, it's just a VR game..." For a second, Blossom seemed as if she was depressed about something, though her expression turned back to her usual fun self, "I gained a level too, so I'm level ten now. That means I can create another special ability."

"Hey, it's saying I've got some loot from the dire wolf." Informed Glass.

Blossom let out a fake 'oooooh' before telling Glass another bit of information about the game, "When you kill a monster, it may say you got some loot from the creature, so definitely check if you can use it or sell it. If you accept it, it'll go into your inventory"

"Huh... I've acquired something called a 'Fang Sword', it's another short sword like I've got, though slightly longer. Sweet! I've already got myself a new weapon!" Glass was quite giddy.

"Cool! Equip it and check it out, its obviously better than your starter weapon since it came from a level fourteen dire wolf."

Taking several seconds, Glass opened up his inventory and took out the 'Fang Sword'. The short sword he started out with at the beginning of the game disappeared and went into his inventory, being replaced with the new weapon. Glass moved his hand down to the new weapon and pulled it out of its sheath. It looked quite dangerous... Perfect.

The length from pommel to the tip was about fifty centimeters. The pommel itself looked like it was carved from that dire wolf's fangs. A thing length of dire wolf fur colored a light peach covered the pommel, giving it a stable and warm grip. The pommel was attached to a cross guard with more deadly looking fangs which somehow molded into each other giving a smooth finish leaving no cracks behind, it was also polished giving it a pristine sheen. The blade itself was made out of a strange steel alloy that went on for the rest of the fifty centimeters; the tip was curved slightly, resembling a saber. Though it was anything but a saber in actuality. The metal seemed to have double tempered edges. All in all, it was a fabulous weapon for a level four player.

"I seriously have to test this out sometime..." Mused Glass.

"Eh? You can't play anymore?" Blossom said somewhat sadly.

"Well, several hours have passed, and I've got to get to work soon. Though I promise I'll be back on tomorrow to play some more!" Encouraged Glass. He really wanted to keep playing with his new friend, though he still had things to take care of outside of the game.

The two big their farewells and Glass pressed the log out button in the main menu.

Blossom stood all alone, sitting next a large tree root as she drank a health poultice to heal the bruises she gathered from the fight with the dire wolf. The Undine girl wryly smiled. While she was very happy to have made a friend in the extremely handsome High Elf player, she didn't know what to do. She couldn't leave the game, nor did she have many other friends. All she could do was find something to entertain herself, sleep in the property she bought in game and wait until the next day to play with Glass.

-

In a certain hospital, there lay a lithe, wiry girl. She had just turned eighteen several weeks ago. The girl had pale skin, as the sun revealed from the hospital window barely provided enough rays to tan the girl's skin. She had set of silky pale blonde hair that was ruffled by the pillow and bed. If one were to apply makeup and various other products to get the girl ready for an outing, she would undoubtedly be called a pretty woman or girl. Yet now she resembled a sleeping fairy of the myths.

She was sleeping peacefully with a certain carbon fiber frame VR system covering her head that was currently playing the 'Rebellions' game. The girl had always loved exciting fantasy type games, playing a character that could resemble her in every way of her looks and personality, though it could do everything she wanted to do but couldn't. Ever since the introduction of the VR system, did the girl find herself getting more and more into her persona.

Yet one day, the girl partook, unwillingly of course, in a bus accident as she made her way to school. She was unable to wake up from her accident, though she was very much alive. Being the only survivor of the bus crash, of course authorities wanted to question her, though she never woke up. Months passed as the girl continued to sleep through her coma, eventually a year came by. Then someone came up with the crazy idea of installing VR systems in hospitals and having them hooked up to patients in comas. 

The girl was the first test subject, with the parent's consent. The girl, after being attached to the VR system, though she had woken up from an apparently restful nap, only to find out she was actually in a coma and was now in a virtual space. Obviously the girl had trouble believing in such a sci-fi happening, yet the doctors who partook in the experiment made several impossible things happen in the virtual space and convinced the girl it was true.

The experiment was a success and eventually other patients began to have themselves attached to VR systems. In order to stifle the girl's boredom, she had doctors and relatives bring in the rumored VR games, only to find them boring and bland... At least until a game calling itself the most advanced VR game to date arrived, namely, 'Rebellions'.

And thus, Blossom, the beautiful Undine mage was born, living the life of adventure that the girl had always fantasized about when playing non-VR games.

Eventually, the girl was told that it was very unlikely that she would wake up from her coma, as a certain non-lethal disease invaded her body. The girl's parents was influential in the hospital board and had quite the fortune as well as decent insurance, so the girl was allowed to stay asleep and play the life of an Elven adventurer until she might one day be cured.

Yet the girl was still unsatisfied, as she would never experience the romance that all little girls dreamed of... At least that was until she met High Elf player named Glass. Still, it was nothing more than infatuation, yet one can hope, can't they?

*

End note: I would appreciate it if anyone would comment and tell me what you think about this story in general. Don't bother with telling me about grammar or spelling errors, I have those in every story since I'm too lazy to get an editor. 



Reality Break Ch. 02



Note: Like I said, I'd be starting this once my other story finishes. I implore you to enjoy this story, whether for its story or sex (there won't be a large amount, be warned). Also, I was supposed to have an editor for this story... But she was a no show and I was too lazy to wait.

*

"Y-you're serious? Someone's breaking into our servers? That's impossible, isn't it?"

"From outside of the building, yea it is, but someone right now is hacking into the game from inside our building. They're in room three. GET SECURITY IN THERE NOW! I'M NOT ASKING AGAIN DAMN IT!" A voice started out calm, but immediately lost its cool.

Currently, an unknown assailer broke into SonataCorp headquarters where all of the servers and Rebellions' mainframe and interface were located. Basically, if someone wanted to screw directly with Rebellions' programming, SonataCorp HQ was the only place to do it.

"Yes sir, security team two and three are heading there now..." A minute passed. "Sir, security team three has engaged the intruder, they are under heavy fire, no casualties yet."

"Get Hagdorf down to the room, find out what the intruder was after or did. Rebellions has only just been released, we're not about to lose this cash cow to a measly break in."

The subordinate dipped his head and pulled out a smartphone, "Hey, Hags, we had an intruder break into Rebellions. They're hunting him down as we speak. Amazing, right? Someone was actually stupid enough to do that! Still, Riktor wants you to get down to room three and find out what happened. Ok, yea, sure, gotcha."

Half an hour later.

"Sir... Security teams two and three pursued the intruder to the rooftop."

"And?"

"The intruder... Jumped off."

"What? He... Or she, just broke into our building, tampered with Rebellions for god knows what, and jumps of the goddamn roof? What the fuck!"

"Whether is was actually suicide or not we can't tell, it's too dark out. The intruder might have brought a chute or a wing suit for all we know."

"Eh, forgot about those things. We'll get on that damn intruder later, does Hagdorf have what I need to know yet?"

"Let me check. Hags, you figured it out yet? Uh huh, alright, I'll relay that."

"And?"

"Well, apparently, the intruder installed a program into Rebellions."

"What kind of program?"

"It registers as a virus, but the nature of the program that Hags decoded tells us that it takes form in Rebellions as an AI."

"Bullshit..."

"I'm completely serious, sir."

"A fucking AI? A virus as an AI program? Interesting. Where will the AI take root?"

"Well, considering that our HQ is located in the States, logic dictates that the AI will spawn in the North America based continent, probably around Atarea."

"Alright... Send get the mods down there, wait, that's Aria's area, right?"

"Yes sir."

"Alright, have Aria investigate the AI, track it down. We'll decide what to do when we find it."

-

"NOOOOOOO! BLOSSOOOOM!" Glass cried as his teammate and partner, the Undine mage Blossom.

The reason for his desperate cry was that they were both engaged in an extremely tough battle against a mob boss (mob is general slang name for enemy NPCs, with the boss being the leader. The boss in question was called the "Alpha Wolf".

Each group of mobs, be it wolves, bandits, or even slimes all had a leader, or a boss. The Alpha Wolf was the boss mob of the wolves in this area. 

"I'll avenge you! I won't let him get away!" Cried Glass again, increasing the dramatic tension.

Glass stabbed at the biting Alpha Wolf with his Fang Sword. However, the wolf was too fast. It jumped backwards and landed on its hind legs. Right after, it let out a sharp howl, calling its fellow wolves to help it out.

'Glass, I'm not actually dead. I respawned.' Blossom told Glass through the private team chat. 'You can't fight a boss by yourself, just run away!'

In order to talk with friends and teammates, there are private channels available for use where players can talk to each other provided they are on the same continent.

"Hell no! I must avenge you!"

'You do realize that we can just get back together and fight the boss again, right? No player can defeat a boss alone unless they're like at least ten levels above its level. Oh hey, here you are.' Blossom sighed and turned around to look at her partner, Glass. "This is just too funny! Hahaha!"

A beam of light shimmered next to Blossom, once it dissipated, Glass appeared next to her in all his majestic glory. No matter how many times Blossom saw Glass, she could not believe just how handsome he was. The majority of the Elven race models never could barely compare to Glass. Considering how the player models are closely modeled after their actual person, the person behind Glass must be a beautiful male model. Blossom could not her luck when she got the chance to monopolize Glass as her teammate.

"Well, I've more or less gotten used to walking around as an Elf. Still, it's really hard to get used to the stat boosts accordingly." Complained Glass as he checked his base stats.

Currently, Glass and Blossom, while still not at the same level, have gained several levels since they first teamed up. Glass gained six, while Blossom gained half that, three.

"Don't worry! I'll help you get used to this. Just, um, come on more so we can play together." Blossom reddened and looked away while Glass cocked his head aimlessly.

Glass: Level Ten High Elf Rogue, Classification - N/A

Health: 400, Mana: 400

Base Stats: Strength- 8, Endurance- 8, Agility- 14, Perception- 11, Focus- 5, Luck- 15,

Special skills: Fang Bite, Perceptive Evade

Your base stats increased automatically each level; depending on which stat you emphasized your play style during that level. The algorithm that decided what stat went where was not revealed by the company, much to the players protest. Though without a doubt, it was relatively fair for all players, no one could deny that. Luck was the only stat that never increased without the help of items or skills; going by that logic, Glass put all of his initial stat points into luck.

As for Glass' special skills, which he received when gaining his fifth and tenth level: Fang Bite was named after his sword and it allowed a faster than normal stab with any short sword or dagger, it emphasized quickness over damage. Perceptive Evade increased Glass' perception ability in the middle of a fight until his next successfully dodge. It was well known that low perception can be a problem in a fight, and that perception isn't as useful in a fight. So Glass created an ability to counter that.

Blossom: Level Twelve Undine Mage, Classification -- Aeromancer

Health: 350, Mana: 750

Base Stats: Strength- 6, Endurance- 7, Agility- 9, Perception- 14, Focus- 16, Luck- 7

Special skills: Zephyr Launch, Lightning Rod

Blossom's skills were purely air magic based, though she wanted to specialize even further than that eventually. Zephyr Launch allowed a gust of high-pressure wind to erupt from her hands, which she could use to launch herself, other players, or objects. It is a useful, though unpredictable, support ability. Lightning Rod could absorb a certain amount of lightning magic, or natural lightning and store it as extra power.

"Still, this game is really fun. Grinding just levels is one thing, but there's obviously more to do, right?" Asked Glass.

Broken from her reverie of staring at Glass' elegant features, Blossom quickly put an answer together, "Of course, though it would be easier and more fun to do them at a higher level. There are a bunch of professions ranging from trap making/disarming, cooking, blacksmithing, alchemy, poisons, to even caretaking of animals. There's a bunch to do there. There is also PvP, or player versus player combat. You can do that by dueling, team combat, gladiatorial arenas, guild wars or battles, city sieges, and there are plans in development to create a continental battle as an annual event. You can buy property, provided you have the large sums of money for it, and decorate your house or castle, depending on what you buy. You could operate or manage a store that sells weapons, victuals, supplies, armor, and jewelry. You can hunt and tame animals, though that's a profession. Take on quests from the various NPC guilds and organizations. And I'm only touching the surface here."

Between Blossom's words, Glass could be heard saying, "Oh, that's sounds interesting." "Sounds fun for a guy like me." "Fight other players? Awesome!" "Jeez, that's a lot of stuff."

"Well, if we want to do the more serious stuff, we should expand our group. I don't know why, but for some reason normal group sizes can be up to seven." Grimaced Blossom. 'If we do that, I'll have to share Glass... Beggars can't be choosers I guess.'

"Oooh, what's that?" Glass saw something off in the distance while Blossom continued to talk about groups and what they should do for one.

Since he had never played a single video game in his life, Blossom found that his attention was easily diverted by almost anything. However, she failed to notice Glass happily dashing off towards the object of his interest like a deranged deer.

"Considering I'm a mage, and you're most likely going to end to end up as a duelist classification. We will definitely need some a meat bag base warrior to act as a tank. We'll need a healer as well, maybe a druid or a monk, who knows. Uh, Glass? HEY!" It took several long seconds for Blossom to notice Glass' disappearance into the vast world of Rebellions.

"I should find him before he gets into any trouble... Or worse, finds a girl." The pretty Undine mage suddenly found herself worried. "Eh? Why can't I message him? It says Glass is online, and he isn't private..."

"The player you are messaging is not available? What the heck does that mean?! Can't be a glitch, something like this should have been fixed long ago. Ah... I better find him on foot."

-

"Oh shit! My curiosity just had to bring me in the middle of the damn nest!" Glass had found himself located in the main spawn point of a group of NPC enemies. These were not the wolves from before, but Gnolls, diminutive furry humanoids.

Two already attacked Glass, both were equal his level and ready to kill the intruder. Glass used his Fang Bite skill to dispatch the first that clumsily lunged for an attack with its jagged sword.

It didn't kill the gnoll instantly, though it did reduce its HP (health points) by half. Glass then instantly activated his Perceptive Evade, dodging dual attacks from both gnolls. Glass stepped back and ready his short sword. He chopped down at the full health gnoll, taking away a fifth of its health. He barely managed to deflect an attack and retaliate with a quick stab into the first gnoll's face, killing that one by hitting its vulnerable spot.

"Yea! One down, come on!" The remaining gnoll released a loud shriek and flailed its arms at Glass. The gnoll managed to hit Glass once, taking away forty points of health before being grabbed on the shoulder by Glass and stabbed to death. "These guys aren't that tough. We can probably farm them for easy experience. Though they are lower level than I and Blossom."

Swish!

Three more gnolls appeared before Glass, as well as their boss, Ripfur.

The gnolls were the same, ragged clothing and jagged swords. Ripfur however, held a small glimmer of regality. He wore similar clothing that the NPC and player nobles would wear in the major cities and he wielded a long staff with a white crystal embedded at the top.

"Uh oh, I can't do this without Blossom, I'm not nearly high enough level to solo this guy." Glass rationalized the situation quickly and swished his head to both sides, searching for an escape.

"Um, hello?" A new voice entered the scene.

"Who are you?"

"I'm..." The voice, which belonged to a girl, spoke slowly. Without a doubt, this girl was quite a pretty sight. While Glass did not have the time to look at her information, he could instantly tell that the girl was the basic human race. And she was without a doubt a player. She wore the basic clothing all new players started out with, but her level was exactly the same as his, ten.

"Don't bother, let's get out of here first!" Glass shouted to the newcomer.

"Why? Are these creatures not hostile? The girl seemed confused, as if she didn't realize the seriousness of the situation.

Though it was a game, would it not be better to not incur a death penalty?

"You won't be able to do that, not even with me, we're both too low level to take on this many NPCs and their boss!"

"Ah, really? Um, if it is not too much trouble, what is an NPC?"

Glass didn't even try to sound surprised, he wanted to get out of here safely and not incur a second death penalty. "Ahhhh, just come with me!"

"Eh, why? I've been told to eliminate all hostile enemies."

"What in the world are you talking about- WHAT!" Glass swiveled his head, exasperated at the strange questions of the girl. Right when he did just that, Glass witnessed an amazing spectacle that shouldn't be possible for a level ten.

The girl pulled out the starting melee weapons for a ranger, dual daggers, confirming the girl's base class as a ranger. She simply walked forward and cut apart the weaker gnolls that attacked her, leaving four left before her.

"She just killed three gnolls in an instant. What the hell...? That's... Really cool, I wanna help!" Glass flashed a smile under his strange gaze. "I'll help you, if we don't win, we'll at least have had a fun fight!"

The girl cocked her head, confused, but stood by Glass when he came forward. He drew his Fang Sword and blocked the incoming attack from the boss gnoll's guard. He managed to land a score of small attacks, reducing the enemy's HP down to a fourth of its original health. And with a quick Fang Bite attack, the enemy was defeated.

Glass looked to his side and saw the girl already killed two more gnolls, though in the process, she lost about a half of her health with a berserker style of combat.

"Seriously, how do you still have the beginner's gear if you're this good and a level ten?" Glass wondered out loud.

"I guess... Virtual programming?"

"Huh, whatever that is. What's your name, anyways?" Glass almost forgot one of the most important things when meeting someone, asking their name.

"Ah, that. I wasn't designated one. I wonder why?"

"You weren't designated one... What are you- Uh oh, that boss is looking pretty ancy. All right, I'll try to keep it busy; you do as much damage as possible." Glass gave his basic plan to the girl, who nodded in agreement.

"Perceptive Evade... And a quick Fang Bite!" Glass activated those two skills in quick succession.

Ripfur raised his staff and cast a spell. A small wall of mud emerged from around him and absorbed the blow. He pulled out quickly before the mud enveloped his short sword and hand.

Glass watched as the girl circled around with some pretty impressive speed. She saw Glass' drastic situation and immediately slashed Ripfur's back, causing the gnoll to whine like a dog and swipe at his attacker. She jumped back and kept a defensive stance.

"Ah! Thanks, I almost got enveloped by that mud." Glass said honestly while breathing for his very life. The cool sensation of the mud confused his mind for a second. It didn't come to him that he was slowly sinking into Ripfur's clutches.

No matter how many times Glass felt it, engaging in such a thrilling, though painful, battle like this was a powerful rush. The game, Rebellions, was designed to induce sensations of pain when you're cut, bruised, or burned, though to a much lesser degree lest some players feel the reverb in their real bodies. It made people feel like they were actually going to die in dangerous moments. This was just one of many.

However, Glass was happy that such a strange high wasn't the only joy he got out of this game.

Ripfur began channeling, through growls and spittle, his strongest earth spell, Mudslide.

"I don't know what this spell does exactly, we need to stop him quickly!"

The girl nodded and sprinted towards Ripfur at one end while Glass did the same at the other. Only two seconds passed until both players reached Ripfur and struck with their bladed weapons, to no avail.

The boss gnoll's casting speed was too fast, and Mudslide finished. As they were located on a gently sloped hill, the Mudslide came from the higher elevated end. Without mercy, the wall of mud slammed into both Glass and the girl. The impact itself reduced their health by twenty-five percent, a large portion, even considering the power of boss NPCs.

The Mudslide diverted around Ripfur, who was dancing around and snarling in animalistic glee. The two players were carried a small distance before slamming into a large boulder, with the mud continuing to flow onto them, draining their health at a continuous rate.

Safe haven came in an unlikely form. "I guess... Elevation Shift?" The girl was completely calm, despite being pounded by dirty and bulky mud.

The ground before the boulder which diverted the mudflow, sprouted into a wall, sending the mud around the two players.

"W-what'd you do?" Glass was sure that it was one of the girl's special skills, so he asked.

"I did not realize that I could make special skills... So I made one fit to save us." The girl answered as if her words were completely natural. "Elevation Shift, a ranger and mage skill that allows the ground to shift upwards or downwards depending on the amount of mana used."

Glass, while relieved, couldn't help but react with a handsome awkward smile. "Just how did you create a special skill so quickly and convenient enough to save our butts?"

"I don't know. I also created a skill called Long Throw. Please distract the hostile for me."

Glass hesitated only a second before nodding and rushing out from the earthen wall. The Mudslide's duration had ended and what remained was a soft bed of fertile silt. Thanks to his high agility, Glass found it exceptionally easy to slalom his way through the impeding ground.

The enemy boss, Ripfur released a loud snarl and shot forth a flurry of mud bolts. The boss, after using its most powerful spell, found itself low on mana and could only reply on the lost cost bolt attacks. Every spell caster used bolt spells as their basic attack, like Blossom's lightning bolt attacks.

Glass had a decent perception, so he could see most of the incoming mud bolts and deftly avoiding the majority while blocking the others. Two managed to get past and hit Glass in the left leg and heart, reducing his HP to only thirty-four points. His new friend had better pull through or else he would die.

He finally broke into melee range with Ripfur and the NPC and player engaged in a battle of close weaponry. Glass decided to save Fang Bite for later, instead opting for a sliding attack with his Fang sword.

Ripfur had slathered mud on his claws and made them harden, giving him a set of armor-piercing fingers. The gnoll jumped to the side, with difficulty considering it was a mage NPC and not a melee focused boss. No matter the stats, level, or experience, any ranged oriented character was notably weaker in melee combat.

Glass pursued and kept a steady offensive going, not letting the gnoll get in a single chance to attack with his claws. Even so, the higher leveled boss would not give in or let Glass even scathe the gnoll's gnarled robes.

In the back, the mysterious girl was lining up the perfect shot with her Long Throw skill. This particular skill allowed her to toss one of her daggers with guided accuracy at any opponent with a distance dependent on her perception. Glass didn't know the girl's stats, but he could only place his confidence and hopes in the girl now.




Reality Break Ch. 02



The girl pulled back her arm with a dagger in hand. Her eyes remained stalwart, keeping a monotone expression on her face as she found the perfect moment to throw.

Most players would attempt to toss at the area where the enemy would soon go, leading the target. The girl aimed directly for Ripfur, despite him continuously backpedaling thanks to Glass' persistent offense. And with special skills like these, there was an automated process that assisted players in their aim. Yet to Glass, it seemed as if the girl was performing the throw with her own skill, as if she knew how to throw daggers like some sort of ninja.

The dagger wheeled threw the air upon release. Before Glass or Ripfur could realize, the dagger found its way into the gnoll's ear canal. It moved fast enough to have no need of leading the target, it had reached ludicrous speed.

While there was a health counter for NPCs, if you hit them in a critical area, like the brain for a humanoid, instant death was achieved. Not only was killing a boss via critical spots incredibly tough, considering their stats and skills, doing such with only two people was an awesome feat.

"Wow, you actually got him that easily. Seriously, who are you?" Glass had to know.

"I wasn't designated one."

"What does that even mean? Everyone's got to choose a name when they first play this game. Mine is Glass because I love glassware."

"I... See. What is an acceptable name then?" The girl tilted her head as if baffled by the very concept of names.

"You really don't have a name, do you? Well, tell me about yourself. If we brainstorm, we can probably think of a decent name for ya!"

"I know that I was given a purpose before entering Rebellions."

(A purpose?) "What do you mean?"

"I... Do not know, yet."

"Well, that's not much help. Well, you're fairly pretty..."

"I'm... Pretty? What does that mean?"

(She's an odd one.) "You look attractive, especially for the Human race in this game. Though I can't say much, considering I'm very new to this game myself. Let's see... You have such beautiful hair, a vibrant red too!"

The girl stroked her lustrous mane. She seemed to take Glass' word to heart even though he couldn't tell through her bored expression.

"I got a good name for you- Scarlet. It's a normal name that takes into account your great hair!" Glass played with the girl's, now known as Scarlet, hair. He felt compelled to braid and see what the magnificent locks looked like while at its best with any assortment of hair products.

Glass, realizing his odd behavior, retracted his hands and tried to act more like a man. He was betraying his true nature by playing with Scarlet's hair, though she didn't seem to mind or care.

Scarlet bored her gaze through Glass and asked, "Why is it that you are a male... Yet your profile suggests you are a female?"

What?

"Ah, uh, what are you talking about? You can't play this game without playing your own gender after all. You're female after all, right?" Glass frantically tried to refute and escape the reality behind the question.

"I am not female. Nor am I male. I am a virus."

Three solid statements and three impossible statements.

"A virus... Just what are you talking about?"

"I am a virus designed to perform a certain function, which I have yet to understand. I am not a player, I am an AI, Artificial Intelligence."

Glass didn't even know what to think. What Scarlet was said had to be impossible. There was no possible way that such a declaration could be true. Yet he could clearly see nothing but realistic truth in her voice. "Wait, just WAIT a second... An AI? We may have VR technology, but there's no way we have any artificial intelligence!"

"My existence proves otherwise."

"An intelligent virus, should've called you Vira or something..."

"Why do you show concern?"

"Well, a virus is supposed to perform some sort of malicious act. Yet, there's no way I can see you do anything malicious of the sort. I don't see you screwing up the NPCs or messing with the environment. So far, you're playing the game like any normal player."

"I have the same capabilities as any player. Though in the end, I am a virus."

"Nope!"

"Huh?"

"You're Scarlet. A Human Ranger who just helped me kick the ass of a level twelve boss named Ripfur. I don't know or can't tell if you really are some sort of AI, but you're definitely Scarlet to me!"

"Ah..." Scarlet's eyes wavered, though they tightened up again quickly.

"Hey, I know, join my party with me and Blossom! You're really strong at this game, you'd be a fantastic help."

"I guess." A nonchalant answer came to Glass.

Glass took Scarlet's monotone in stride and enthusiastically bobbed his head. "Well, I'll have to ask Blossom if it's alright, since she's in the same group as I. I'm sure you'll be fine, however."

And with Scarlet being senselessly pulled along, Glass took off for the southern hamlet beside the Sandy Oasis town. A desert-like town made of mud bricks and rough stone, Sandy Oasis was a warm city filled with fantastic sights. It was set between two cliffs, where two other smaller towns were located with gondolas to take you down to the main city. However, due to annoyances in the city, Glass and Blossom decided to make the southern hamlet their meeting place.

Ten minutes of brisk walking eventually led the two to the hamlet and an inn called the Lion's Fang. Thanks to the sensory implants a VR system had, Glass could fully taste the simple, though delicious, dishes.

However, breakfast, lunch, or dinner was not the main purpose for his visit.

When Glass walked in with Scarlet close behind, many eyes, especially from the female cliente, focused on him. The High Elf didn't really feel the weight of the gazes so he nonchalantly walked in and towards a corner booth.

All of the female players, and a couple guys too, marveled within their minds of the sheer oppression Glass' player model. Extravagant looks, slender body, and silky hair all resounded within the patrons' minds. If Glass bothered, he could have eavesdropped on some of the whispers that soon came from everyone's mouths.

"Is he a model or actor?" "He has to be... Sooo handsome!" "He's so hot!" "Right!!!" "But... There's a girl sitting with him, she's really pretty too..." "Damn, he's taken?" "I so would've asked him to drink with me." "They look really good together." "I really want that guy all to myself!" "Haha, at least share!" "It says he's already in a group, probably with that girl." "I'd leave my guild in a heartbeat and team up with him..."

This and that, along with a few curses from some of the male patrons, could all be heard through the bar. A waitress with the usual barmaid outfit came forward to the booth Glass and Scarlet sat in and took orders.

Glass asked for some water for he and Scarlet as they were only waiting for Blossom.

Eventually, a familiar frantic face came in and fled over to Glass.

"Uh, hello, Blossom. Meet Scarlet, she should join our group."

Blossom immediately sat down and drank out of the glass of water that was poured for Glass without knowing, much to his distress, and sighed. "I tried talking to you through private chat so many times! Each time, it said, 'This player is not available at the moment.' But it didn't say you were offline or declining to talk to anyone, so I thought maybe it was a glitch. Just where did you go?"

"Huh? I also tried chatting to you through private chat when I was walking over to the Lion's Fang. I didn't get the same message as you though, I just got some sort of 'Error' sign each time."

Glass had already speculated that maybe this was the result of Scarlet, but he quickly declined the thought. An AI virus was still too fantastic of a thought for him. Even so, it didn't mean there was something wrong with Scarlet herself. And there was a single lingering feeling in Glass' mind that told him that Scarlet was telling the truth.

Blossom smiled through her shiny Undine skin, "It doesn't matter I guess, we could still find each other all right." She frequently shot looks at Scarlet from time to time, wondering whom this player was.

Glass asked if this Scarlet could join the group, and Blossom wasn't against the idea of expanding their group at all. It was just the fact that Glass had asked if such a pretty girl could join that irked her most of all.

"Well, I guess it would be ok... After that failure with the Alpha Wolf boss, it would be prudent to get a larger group. What can you do, um, Scarlet?" Blossom tried to keep an open mind.

"I guess I am a ranger with an Elevation Shift and Long Throw skills." Scarlet glanced at Glass who only nodded before answering.

"Elevation Shift? That's a rare skill."

"Don't worry about her skills, I met her when I was ambushed by a gnoll boss! We actually managed to kill it thanks to both of her skills."

Blossom opened her eyes widely. Slaying a boss, with only two level tens, was quite a feat. They had to have had a large amount of luck to even hope to have a chance of winning. "You're not kidding? Did you get any loot?"

Glass frowned and rubbed the back of his head, "Nothing special this time, though we both managed to level up to eleven." He added in with the point of his finger.

"Well, that's good. It's too bad you guys didn't get any loot from it, but gaining a level is always good."

The three talked some more, though the conversation never got around to the true identities of both Glass and Scarlet. The cause of this was Glass previously saying, "Scarlet, please don't tell anyone that you know I'm a girl outside of this game. Also, don't go around saying that you're an AI or a virus for that matter. Whether it's true or not, you can have big problems with the admins."

Scarlet had agreed without hesitation, though her reply seemed mechanical in a way. Things would get annoying if their oddities behind their identities were public knowledge.

"Well, if we're going to get more members in our group, we really need a type of healer. Just about any will do. And considering that copies of Rebellions are still being sold by the thousands every day, there's no end to the new players. So we'll have plenty to choose from."

Scarlet remained silent and monotone, but she paid attention. Glass did the same, but hummed under his breath.

"Since I just invited you to the group, Scarlet, there are three of us in the group. We can have four more players join us until our group is maxed. Obviously, the more players we have, the more enemies and bosses we can take on, but we'll have to divide up the money and items. We'll be fighting stronger enemies, and with the help of a group, we'll definitely win. Heck, with a group, we can probably enter a tournament or two for some big rewards!"

"Well, how do we go about recruiting people for our group?"

"I learned there are a couple ways. There are several NPC guilds, which are completely different from player guilds mind you. There's the Mercenaries' Guild for players who want to hire out their skills for players, groups, or teams. An Adventurer's Guild for players looking for a stable group to play with, we'll probably head there." Blossom moved her head around, as if trying to slosh up some ideas from the bottom of her mind. "And another viable option is to head to an arena. People often go there to fight for money against monsters or other players and many groups and guilds go there for recruitment. Because of that, the arena has been known to be a good place to show off to prominent teams. There isn't one in Sandy Oasis though. So we'll have to go to Castle Port, it's the biggest city in Atarea."

"I like the sound of that! Sounds like a fun place to go to!"

"Well, Glass, in order to get there, we need money for public transportation. We have enough for tickets and little left over for the two of us, but we'll need some money to get Scarlet a ticket."

"Is that so... You don't happen to have any money, do you?"

"Money?"

"Cogs, that's the currency in this game."

"Oh. Cogs are currency, I see. Yes I do have some."

"Really? How much? Maybe we'll be lucky enough to have all we need for three tickets."

"How much is required?"

"Around three-hundred cogs for a single ticket to Castle Port." Blossom answered, curious to see how much Scarlet had.

"Ah, that is good. I only have two thousand cogs. We won't run out then."

"Two thousand cogs? I see... TWO THOUSAND COGS? R-r-rich!" Blossom seemed normal at first, but then slammed her webbed palms on table and reacted loudly.

Glass also widened his eyes, but not to the level of Blossom's outburst considering he didn't know himself how many cogs one needed to be called rich in this game.

"Is that not enough?"

"No! That's more than enough! We could make the trip to AND back, all three of us! And with a teammate or two if we're lucky!"

"That's very good then." Scarlet never flinched once or opened her eyelids wider than what they were when initially entering the inn. Even in front of Blossom's reaction, she remained strangely monotone and quiet.

The people around in the bar were completely the opposite. Of course everyone would react when someone yelled out loud a large quantity of the game's currency.

Noticing everyone's stares, Blossom shyly sat back down and suggested, "Uhm, let's go out and train as a new team for a little while."

Glass snapped his fingers as he checked the current time. "Ah, I promised to meet someone at eight tonight. It's going on seven and I want to be ready."

Blossom, slightly depressed, asked, "You're going offline... When will you be back on?"

"Well, I've got classes tomorrow as well, so I guess around four."

"Ah yea, you said you're in a culinary school... You should try cooking in the game some time!" The Undine tried to brighten up her mood.

She never liked it when Glass went offline. As she had no choice but to keep playing and live in the Rebellions world. It was extremely depressing for her. However, whenever Glass was playing with her, she always was happy and having fun. Not only because of his good looks, but he was her first true friend in her forced reality.

Scarlet stared at Glass with unblinking eyes. "You... Will be offline, Glass? What does that mean?"

Blossom looked at the ranger, confused at the odd words. Glass coughed and said, "It's when a player goes out of the game. Don't worry. Just enjoy yourself here. Ah, Blossom, I need to tell something to Scarlet in private for a moment."

"Eh, what? Ah, all right..." Blossom was left hanging at the inn. "Wait a second! At least pay for the tip!" Blossom couldn't complain for long, as she was the only one to actually order something that required money.

...

"If you really are an AI program, then you obviously can't come out of Rebellions. So I guess you'll have to live here." Glass rubbed the top of his head as he considered the predicament.

"I see."

"You have plenty of cogs, so you can probably live in a luxury inn back in the Sandy Oasis if you want. Or you can stay here. Just remember, send a mail to this address if you need help..." Glass wrote down his email address on a slip of paper.

For convenience, all papers holding information were catalogued in a memory bank exclusive to each player. Glass handed the slip to Scarlet, which disappeared into a hundred different flakes that flew into the wind as it was saved to Scarlet's information index.

"Ah, thank you."

"Even if you're a virus AI, you seem just like any other player. I don't know what you were programmed to do, but you can call on me whenever you want." Glass flashed an immaculate smile that was improved upon exponentially by his dashing looks.

Even though she was only a generated AI, Scarlet couldn't help but break her monotone expression and blush just barely under her eyes. Perhaps it was a part of her programming, Scarlet couldn't tell nor cared. It was something different.

"Ah, t-thank you."

"A repeat, huh? Well, I'll be on a soon as possible tomorrow."

Glass patted Scarlet on the shoulder and proceeded to log off. The girl looked around, surveying her surroundings before overhearing a commotion nearby. A distressed scream notably pierced the area, a scream belonging to Blossom.

Investigating the predicament of her new teammate, Scarlet moved towards the source of the sound: in the middle of a large circle of players. Scarlet didn't know anything about the general culture of the players, so she waded through the crowd until she saw the center.

What she saw was apparent, but she asked a Hawkman player beside her what was going on anyways.

"PvP duel! Between that chick Blossom and that one Archangel guy that hangs out around here!" The Hawkman player replied enthusiastically with a turn of his head before focusing back on the ensuing battle.

Indeed, Blossom and a member of Archangel were engaging in a Player versus Player battle. Observing like some sort of Triad group, the player named Demonz, as well as his friend, stood by. The two, as well as the one fighting Blossom, were all members of the guild that officially ran Sandy Oasis, Archangel.

Guilds, clans, tribes, or whatever an association of players called themselves, could, if they gained enough notoriety and power, run various territories. Archangel had quickly gained power and numbers large enough to gain sovereign rule over the large city and the area around it including small villages and outposts.

At this moment, Blossom was pushing back the Archangel member drastically. Her opponent, named Cuisinart, was a level 14 Dark Elf mage, apparently of the Nightblade classification (cross Rogue and Mage).

"Wind Step!" Cuisinart unleashed his Wind Step ability, which allowed the user to literally walk on air. It had charges, which increased to its max amount of charges when left alone. The Dark Elf jumped up on the air, high above Blossom's head and raised his sword.

Blossom smirked and said, "Zephyr Launch" She sent a gale spiraling from her hand aimed at the ground. The result was Blossom launching herself in the air, as high as Cuisinart, and with a lightning bolt charged up in her other hand.

"Eat this!" With a cry, Blossom shot the bolt directly into Cuisinart's head.

The pain was instant to Cuisinart, who flew back down, recoiling from the pain. Eventually, the Dark Elf recovered and looked around for his opponent. "You're still up there?!" The player cried as he saw that Blossom was still floating in the air, holding onto a massive bolt of lightning.

"If you can't handle that level of pain, or even dodge a single lightning bolt... You obviously can't stop my Lightning Rod's attack!" Blossom said arrogantly, but correctly as well.

True to her words, Blossom was absorbing a large bolt of lightning from the sky, thanks to her Lightning Rod skill. Holding on to the bolt like a fireman's pole, Blossom slid down the pole like a fire-woman herself. As she moved down with increasing speed, the massive lightning bolt flew down with her and struck Cuisinart with magnetic precision.

You could practically see Cuisinart's skeleton as electricity coursed through his flesh and bones. His health was already considerably low from Blossom's constant lightning bolts, but her final attack from her Lightning Rod skill put the icing on the cake.

Blossom had received some damage of her own, it was near impossible to not retain full health after a PvP duel, but she showed clear superiority with her health still above three-fourths of her total health points. "Almost every single time I see you, you try to pull lame flirtation attempts in order to get me into your guild! Just stay away from me, Christ!" Blossom exclaimed.

Demonz showed an annoyingly confident smile, "Someone as cute as you should just come along nicely... Let me guess, that one jackass High Elf from the other day seduced you or something?"




Reality Break Ch. 02



"Just stay away from me. You can't even beat me yourself!"

"That gay ass High Elf prick seriously must have fucked something over in your mind-"

"SHUT UP!"

"Whoa."

"His name is Glass, and from what I've seen from him, he's obviously a much better guy than you. Much more good looking, nicer, handsome, kind, and... Well, he's obviously much better than a nuisance like you!"

"Damn bitch!" Demonz walked over and raised his hand in order to slap Blossom. He could dish it out but he certainly couldn't take it.

"Please do not harm my teammate." Scarlet had traversed the distance from the crowd over to the group in less than a second and stopped Demonz' arm.

"F-fucking bitch! Ouch!" Demonz cried out in pain from the intense grip the new girl had around his arm. He couldn't even feel blood flowing to that limb anymore.

"My response banks tell me that you apparently have no knowledge of how to insult someone other than basic insults with 'Bitch'. Please come back when you have gained a suitable repertoire of basic English."

Blossom snickered as she stepped next to Scarlet, "Ouch, burn..."

Demonz wrenched himself from Scarlet's grip and looked around at the laughing audience. Feeling embarrassed, Demonz grew hot with anger. "Fu-fucking bi... You can't go talking like that to a high level member of Archangel like that! You won't be able to play Rebellions peacefully around Sandy Oasis again!" Sputtered out the Changeling player.

While Demonz forced out a selection of unimportant words, Blossom whispered to Scarlet, "How good are you at this game?"

Following suit by whispering back, Scarlet answered as dictated by her programming's honesty. "If you mean for me to engage in a duel with Demonz, I am positive I can easily defeat him."

"I heard that bitch! Fine then, let's fucking duel!" Demonz stereotypically floundered about and sent Scarlet a duel challenge.

"Ah... How do I accept?" Scarlet asked Blossom.

"Oh, a duel request window should have popped up. Just press accept, though check the-"

*Duel beginning- Scarlet [Level 11 Wanderer] Vs Demonz [Level 23 Crypt Knight] and Genghis [Level 15 Smiter].

"Special rules..." Blossom's words trailed off after the duel announcement.

What Blossom meant were the special rules that players could attach to certain duels. Demonz took advantage of those rules and added in the special rule of allowing an extra person on his side.

Demonz simply smirked and readied his battleaxe while his partner for the duel, Genghis, put his staff at the ready.

Before Blossom could protest, Scarlet said in a strangely confident monotone, "Do not worry. I will eliminate all hostiles."

Blossom meekly nodded in half amazement and half admiration. "So cool..." Her words almost seemed out of breath.

In the crowd, which opened up even more to allow for a larger arena for the duel, many whispers and thrilled voices could be heard: "A LEVEL 11 GOING AGAINST a 15 AND 23?" "It's slaughter I tell you." "Yea, man, Archangel's gonna WIPE!" "You guys learned nothing about this game? Other than gear with a moderate amount of better stats, higher levels really only get extra skills. That doesn't mean they can still win." "Such BS, the Wanderer is obviously gonna lose. A cross Ranger and earth Mage classification has no chance against those two." "Crypt Knight and Smiter, the former is a cross Warrior and dark Priest classification... A Smiter is a pure Priest classification." "I think I'll play for the rookie here. Fifty cogs on the Wanderer!"

As with the last shout, many bets were being placed between the numerous players. Most of them were obviously in favor of Demonz and Genghis, but a small few animatedly placed nominal sums of cogs in favor of Scarlet.

All PvP battles began with a countdown of ten to sixty seconds, ten for duels and sixty for full group battles. In rare one on two battles, the countdown began at ten seconds anyways.

10... Scarlet pulled out her dual daggers.

9... Blossom gulped and stepped back.

8... Genghis narrowed his eyes.

7... Demonz licked his lips.

6... A spectator dropped his drink.

5... Pouches of cogs bounced in the air.

4... Blossom shifted her eyes back and forth.

3... Demonz lost some sweat.

2... Genghis decided what to start off with.

1... The crowd grew silent in anticipation.

0... Scarlet whispered, "Long Throw."

A dagger instantly found its way in Genghis' chest, decreasing his HP by a fourth right off the bat. She dashed forward and pulled the dagger out with incomparable speed and stabbed it twice more in different spots of the Smiter's chest.

"Gah! H-Hymn of Protection!" Genghis barely managed to utter out the name of his special skill. A barrier of light surrounded Genghis who recoiled from the pain of being pierced thrice in the chest. Although the sensation was lessened by fifty percent, it still hurt with the pain comparable of a large hypodermic needle entering his chest three times.

Scarlet, seeing the invulnerable barrier, immediately turned her attention to Demonz who had his axe raised. The Changeling player yelled the name of the special skill he was using, "Soul Slash!"

Scarlet raised both her daggers in an attempt to block the skill. Yet the axe passed through the daggers and her basic armor, slashing down her chest and decimating her health by a sixth.

"What's that skill?" A crowd member asked the person besides him.

"A friend of mine uses a similar skill, it let's the player strike at a player's 'Soul'. Basically, your weapon can pass through all tangible objects. It does low damage though because of its cheapness."

Scarlet absorbed the new information as she stepped to the side. Normally a player would cry out in pain, that was what Demonz was thinking. Yet the girl before him completely ignored the pain and kept on moving, what insanity.

Scarlet watched her opponents. She learned two of the special skills both opponents were using. Apparently Genghis' Hymn of Protection gave him an invincible barrier that couldn't be penetrated by anything, not even his magic. Until the barrier ran out, Scarlet knew she could focus her undivided attention on Demonz.

Right now, Demonz decided not to wait and plodded over to Scarlet. He tested the waters by slicing several times at his opponent.

The two engaged in a series of attacks. Scarlet only did so because she wanted to find out what Demonz other special skills were. Eventually, Demonz did just that.

Under his breath so that Scarlet couldn't here (which she did), Demonz whispered the name of his second special skill, "Boiling Blood." However, he didn't aim it at himself or Scarlet, but at Genghis.

The Half Elf player clutched his head in pain as he felt his body grow hot. "GYAAAAAAHHAH! F-FUUUUCK!!!" Genghis screamed and roared as he felt his blood boil. It almost felt like every bloodstream in his body began to flow backwards.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" Blossom screamed at the top of her lungs.

Demonz smirked and pulled back his axe. "Boiling Blood, though I amplified the pain a bit accidentally, it damages a player from the inside out while increasing their attack power. I can use it on enemies and allies alike. Now COME ON, GENGHIS! Let's not let this BITCH think she can get the better of us!"

Genghis stuttered over the ground as if in a painful drunken stupor. Twenty seconds passed of tenseness passed until Genghis finally stood upright with bloodshot eyes. Raising a hand, Genghis said in a funereal tone, "Solemn Purge."

A beam of light course through Genghis' fingertips and connected at the palm of his hand.

Apparently the skill required time to charge, as Demonz immediately went on the offensive. He swung his axe like a berserker around, allowing no possible escape for Scarlet. At least he thought that was the case.

"Elevation Shift."

As Demonz thrust his axe and chin forward, a column of stone and pavement erupted from the ground and clocked the Changeling in the chin.

Elevation Shift didn't only shift the earth up, it could shift it downwards as well.

Scarlet had placed two hands on the ground. One for the column of earth striking Demonz in the chin, and the other interrupting Genghis' spell by forcing him to collapse in a brand new pit of murky cement.

Sprinting over to the boiling Smiter, Scarlet moved both daggers to Genghis' neck. "This will be painless." She performed a cross slice with both daggers, reducing the rest of the priest's HP to zero and forcing him to respawn.

"Even with Boiling Blood's boost, I guess he didn't seem like much. Fucking weak little bitch."

Demonz' excessive cursing and insufferable attitude turned off many players in the scene. Some forced themselves to stay, like Blossom. Others either didn't care or remained for the sake of their bets. However, not a single person didn't find themself disgusted with Demonz and his personality.

"Why did you make him suffer?" Scarlet still didn't understand the motives behind the casting of Boiling Blood on Genghis.

"Eh? The hell you're talking about?" Demonz made a disgusted face, "I didn't make him suffer. I made him stronger with my special skill. Now take my Plague Edge!"

Demonz unleashed his third special skill, Plague Edge. His axe's edge glowed a faint green reminiscent of apples.

Scarlet looked straight into Demonz' eyes. "Do you like watching others suffer?"

Demonz attack Scarlet, diagonally slashing. The girl narrowly deviated the attack by pushing it off to her side with both daggers.

"Like I said, I didn't make him suffer. I just gave him a boost. I do it to a lot of people, and it's kinda funny to see their reactions."

Blossom heard a female player whisper to a friend in the crowd, "Why is such a guy so highly ranked in Archangel? Record this so we can report him."

"Boiling Blood hurts people, dearly. Yet you do not care..." Scarlet couldn't comprehend the concept.

"OH, you mean it HURTS them. Yea, I know it hurts people. But c'mon girl! It's for the good of the win after all. I'll use it again... And again, and again, and again, and goddamn again if I need to. Like I give two shits in the end, the pain is only simulated after all. We feel a lot better after we win, obviously, which I'll be doing RIGHT NOW!"

Demonz' axe, infused with the special skill, Plague Edge, managed to land a small cut on Scarlet's waist.

Demonz spoke again, releasing a sick laugh on the side that gravely annoyed Blossom. "Plague Edge gives my axe a coating of any plague or disease and infects my enemy when I cut them. Right now you're infected with Necrotic Tetanus. It's gonna hurt reaaaaal badly right about... Now." Demonz hesitated several seconds until he said the word 'Now'.

Scarlet simply titled her head in confusion. She wanted to say this, "As an AI, I do not feel pain. Shall I simulate the sensation?" But she didn't, as she promised Glass to not reveal her true nature.

"Hey, why aren't you squirming? I should be finishing you off on the ground like five seconds ago."

"Do you enjoy watching those in pain?"

Demonz scrunched up his forehead, "Don't make me out to be some fucking sadistic guy. I can be caring sometimes."

(Yea right... You're such a tool.) Blossom confirmed within her mind.

"I was told to eliminate all hostiles... Yes, you are hostile."

Scarlet seemed to finally realize something in her mind. As if one of life's greatest paradigms was solved within the virtual mind of Scarlet.

"The fuck you're talking about?"

"Protocol dictates that I eliminate all hostiles." Scarlet sheathed her daggers and her eyes turned from her virtual green into a grid. "Accessing the reality of the player, Demonz." Scarlet's right arm glowed a bright sapphire blue with her trimmed fingernails emitting trails of teal.

"Whatever, bitch. I'll just cut up if you stand there. Even if Plague Edge didn't work, I'd easily win anyways." Demonz spun around and gained momentum for his axe.

"Beginning breakdown."

Demonz yelled out the name of his final special skill, "LICH'S GIFT!" A ghostly skull wearing a cabalist's hood and robes appeared behind Demonz. This was his strongest and most powerful skill, he couldn't use it too often in a fight.

Scarlet's entire body glowed various faint shades of blue, no one would notice this unless they were standing right next to her and inspecting her skin.

The spirit Lich behind Demonz cackled and guided Demonz' attack.

Scarlet pulled her palm back as far as her arm would let. She took a single step and entered Demonz' range before his eyes could even register the female's presence. 

"The fu-!" Demonz couldn't even let his last full word be a curse word.

Scarlet clasped her blue palm on Demonz's forehead and slammed the Changeling player's body onto the ground. She completely halted his momentum and even broke through his strongest attack.

Demonz body shook as if under the effects of a seizure. Ten seconds passed until what transpired ceased and the duel was announced in Scarlet's victory.

Blossom blinked twice and shifted uncomfortably. No one wanted to break the silence. The awkwardness of the situation could be cut through with a butter knife.

"Wait... What?" A single random voice broke the silent crowd.

-

"IIIIIT'S YOU! Glasie! Whaaat's up girlio?"

"You're drunk aren't you?"

"NooooooyEAPPERS!"

"What the heck does that even mean, Hailey?"

"It meeeeaaaansssss that you neeeed to drink this!"

"I call it the Pistol-whip."

Glasie had gone out to a local bar with her friend Hailey. They went here often because a friend of theirs, Natasha, played bartender on Thursdays and Fridays. While Hailey and Glasie had known each other since high school, they only met Natasha a couple months back at this very bar. Even so, the three had become fast friends.

"Why do you always have to give your weird concoction the most violent names?" Glasie wondered out loud.

Natasha smirked deviously, "Oh come on, it isn't too violent this time. Not like my world famous Prolapse Special!"

"No, that one was just plain disgusting. Just like its name."

"Well, I guess it was good that I didn't make that one public. Would've tarnished what little rep this rathskeller has!"

"Well, give me something at least half decent this time."

"GIVE HER A CINNAMON SCREW!"

"O-Kay! One Cinnamon Screw coming up!"

"W-Wait! I don't like cinnamon..."

The three girls each enjoyed the outing in their own way. Hailey was already drunk, which proved hilarious enough for Glasie and Natasha to take short video clips. Glasie pondered the various quirks and situations she had experienced playing Rebellions as the handsome Glass. And Natasha racked up quite a profitable set of tips for the night.

Eventually, the conversation between the two non-drunk girls turned towards the usual: men.

"Hailey can have any pick of the guys here tonight who want to get laid. She's quite easy when she's drunk."

She rung true, a fairly tall person was hitting on Hailey already. Both were drunk and both were probably going to continue to be so until Glasie or Natasha brought their friend back to the sober side.

"You'd have the hardest time. Guys are always intimidated when they try to talk to you, bartending girls are always the toughest."

"Not so! A guy just has to be nice, semi-good looking, and give me a healthy tip!"

"Isn't that just like a prostitute?"

Natasha stammered at first, "Uh... Well, what about you? Find any good fish lately?"

Rolling her eyes, Glasie answered, "None in real life."

"What's that mean?"

"Well, I've recently begun playing one of those virtual reality games, Rebellions."

"Oh, really? I've heard about that game. Apparently all of the player models, race aside, closely resemble what they look like in real life. I get it now, you found a cute guy in that game?"

"Yea..." Glasie sighed knowingly, swooning mentally at her player model.

"What's that mean, again?"

"Well, there's a player named Glass in that game. He's a super hot elf in that game. I'm not joking when I say I've never seen such a handsome person in my entire life. He's... So... Damn... Hot and cute."

"You don't often put those two adjectives together."

"Well, you know I'm bi, right? Not with you or Hailey of course."

"That hurts my feelings! So am I, your point is?"

"Let's say he has the perfect mix between male and female features. Glass has the graceful and smooth features of us girls and the sharp masculinity of the men."

Natasha imagined the guy Glasie was describing. While the description was vague, it sounded like she said, the most handsome person ever. "Well, I don't know about this Glass guy himself." While polishing a glass, Natasha pointed at a guy sitting down in a chair on the far side of the bar. "But what about him? He seems right up your alley."

The man in question was drinking a beer by himself while looking at the VT (virtual terminal) display. Virtual terminal displays were simple pieces of technology that projected a monitor screen in front of a person. There were public VT displays in every public building. Some people even brought portable ones with them. However, to those who wished privacy, VT displays were not for them as unwanted eyes could see what was being projected from behind.

As for what he was looking at, the man was simply browsing a news website while drinking an average beer. He was at least 180 centimeters tall with a head of short harsh black hair. He had sophisticated looks and a slender body that seemed toned by regular exercise. No doubt that Natasha and Glasie weren't the only ones who had their eyes on him. It's best to strike while the iron is hot, that was Natasha's motto.

"Looks like he needs a refill, go bring him a drink for you and him! Go get 'em!" Natasha slid the surprised Glasie a beer and playfully pushed her along.

"Eh, what?!" Glasie looked at her sides for Natasha. All she found was air as Glasie unintentionally made her way over to the man while her friend had fled the scene since second one.

"...Can I help you?" The man already asked before Glasie even got a chance to speak.

"Um, would like a refill?" Glasie couldn't help but start off awkward.

While she was no stranger to talking to strangers, talking to one for the sole purpose because he's good looking was different for her. The grand total of partners she had been with amounts to four, three guys and one girl. The first two were boyfriends right after high school. Like most hormone infused teens, Glasie introduced herself to sex fairly quickly. Yet she soon learned that such an intimate act was better left for intimate couples, right after a random encounter with her third guy. A couple months ago was when Glasie found that her preference went both ways after a comically funny generic and stereotypical lesbian curiosity romp. The past aside, Glasie preferred guys romantically and didn't mind either gender when satisfying urges.

The handsome guy raised an eyebrow before replying, "Mm, thanks... You're still here?" He exchanged bottles and tossed that rude comment out nonchalantly.

"Excuse me?"

"Ah, shit! Sorry, I was talking to the guy on the VT." Like the man said, he was talking to someone through the VT display. Apparently done with his digital conversation, he slashed away the VT display with the wave of a hand. "Yea, sorry about that. Your name? Mine is Petres." The handsome man named Petres spoke apologetically. He seemed to speak with a quick tone that seemed to go through his words at a quick pace. Also, despite the name, the man did not speak with an accent.

"It's Glasie, with an ie. What were you talking about with that person? It seemed important." In an effort to move the introductions away and the conversation forward, Glasie posed a question.




Reality Break Ch. 02



"Ah... Think of it as contracting. I given some follow up work on my last job." Petres spoke hesitantly.

Apparently work was a taboo topic, Glasie took a mental note. "Well, it can't be all that bad. Nowadays, contracting work in a whole is basically gone."

"Well, my work is a little bit different. It centers on virtual programming. Like you said, MHs have all but cornered the physical labor workforce. Engineering, especially in the technology department, is one of the few safe havens from MHs." Petres sighed and took a large gulp of beer.

Along with virtual reality technology, cyberneticists have long since successfully created the first Metal Human, or MH. Metal Humans was the slang term for androids and robots. They even went as far as creating synthetic skin, hair, nails, and eyes for the MHs. However, MHs have never reached the public markets, despite there being hundreds of safety protocols installed. So far, MHs have been used primarily for military and labor purposes. Like Petres said, MHs are less than useless when it comes to anything but physical work. The reason for that, as MHs were technically very advanced computers, was unknown.

"I'm going through culinary school and I've seen a couple MHs myself. While they can do basic meals, they are not known for their creativity. As long as if I can find a good restaurant, my job area is fairly stable."

"Culinary school? What can you cook?"

Glasie bobbed her head in deep thought, "Well... My favorite to make is a raspberry dessert tart."

"Raspberries are good, and the tart sounds rather sweet when it comes from you." Glasie blushed slightly at those words. Petres continued, "I assume desserts are your area of specialty?"

"Yup! Though it's not like I can't make any good entree dishes. I make a mean crisp blackened chicken."

"Spicy and sweet, that combo fits you..."

...

"Spicy and sweet? That's a lame line."

"Hey, it worked, didn't it?"

Evidently. Petres smothered Glasie's mouth with another kiss. At this point, the two, both inebriated to a certain point, were making out in Petres' hotel room. The former was currently living in a long term arrangement with a fancy hotel that was only a kilometer away from Glasie's current abode, what a convenient convenience.

Glasie went on the offensive, by extending her talented tongue into her partner's mouth. As desserts were her favorite kind of food, she frequently wiggled her tongue around to slather the flavor into her brain. It was only fitting that her tongue could be put to other uses.

She kissed with fanatical devotion. She sucked in Petres' lips and pulled his tongue into her mouth. She exchanged globs of saliva, most of which fell between their two sets of lips and onto the freshly cleaned bed.

Intoxication took hold within both their minds, convincing them that now was the time to get heavy. At almost the exact same time, both parties went volatile. Petres moved both hands from behind Glasie's back and onto her sizable breasts. Not terribly large, but also not too small. Yes, her breasts perfectly fit between Petres' fingers and sloshed around softly like powdery snow.

Glasie also placed her hand between Petres' legs, groping and instantly finding a hard erection. (Hmm, decently sized.) Smiling through the kiss, Glasie rubbed through the dense fabric separating herself from his organ.

Their clothes didn't stay much longer on their bodies. The two removed their lips from one another and stared at each other as they mutually stripped themselves of any remaining garments, underwear and all.

Being the winner of the stripping race, Petres latched on to both erogenous sections of Glasie's body. With a devious smirk embedded on his face, he went down and licked around the tender folds of his partner's wetness. He spread both of Glasie's legs and licked his lips. With two fingers, Petres probed around Glasie's tight depths, slipping one finger in after several seconds teasing. With a slip of the tongue, he sucked and teased around the nether lips of Glasie's region.

The receiver of such attention bit her lower lip and stared upwards. Glasie wasn't too receptive down there, but she still fully felt the pleasurable sensations that shocked her core. She felt a hand smothering her ample chest, squeezing the nubs in the center of her gracious orbs of flesh. Her hair sprawled about in the air as she shook her head in rapture.

"Ah, yes! Ri-right there! I might cuuum soon..." To Glasie, it felt rather early to have an orgasm already, but she couldn't deny what she was feeling inside her body.

Apparently hitting a sweet spot filled with sensitive nerves, Petres focused his finger's ministrations in the same spots from just now. Adding fuel to the fire, he lowered his tongue and licked under the small hood. Yup, that did it.

"Ayaaaah!" With a scream of intense pleasure, Glasie climaxed around Petres' fingers, arching her back and flinging her limbs back in pleasure. "So great..."

"I do what I can." Said Petres confidently.

"Then I guess it's my turn. Lay back my good sir." Glasie pushed Petres onto the clean sheets on his back. Laying down a small rain of pecks on his face and chest, Glasie crawled backwards, dragging her breasts along his body down to the groin. She rubbed the thick shaft long her cheek, dragging her tongue around the length and head.

Though she couldn't remember exactly, Glasie believed Petres had probably the largest member she encountered to date. Though, technically speaking, her Rebellions' character Glass might have a decently sized one too. Glasie had yet to bring out her inner pervert and check out her own character's nude male form. Now that she thought about it, Rebellions allowed certain illustrious activities of the night to go on inside their game, though only within private areas.

Tossing away all unrelated thoughts, Glasie nibbled softly on the shaft's head with her lips while dancing the tip of her tongue along the slit at top. She cupped the sack beneath and teased the balls inside. Lifting the shaft aside, Glasie rolled the jewels around her tongue and sucked in both consecutively.

Returning her attention to the main article, Glasie hummed as she sucked in the skin around the shaft. Giving miniature deep kisses along the shaft. Glasie coated nearly the entire member in her saliva, lubing the monster up for when the main course came around. Which was now...

"Uhnn!" A short grunt came from Glasie's mouth as she lowered her dripping snatch onto Petres' cock. Toys were one thing, the real thing made her far more cautious than needed.

Petres himself observed the seductive process of the attractive girl slowly forcing his dick into her heavenly pussy. Because of his work, it wasn't too often that he could get laid. In fact, this was probably the most attractive girl he had personally been with yet. A brilliant set of red shaded hair, perfectly sized tits, a pretty face, proportioned body, and interesting personality. Some women just had it all.

Glasie widened her lips, engulfing a large breath of air as she filled up her insides to the brim. The intruder felt larger than it looked as it took control. By herself, she only made it half way deep, and seconds later, she found herself vigorously bouncing on top of Petres' thick cock. She could feel the outline of the cock head pushing aside her pulsing walls and probing the entrance of her womb. Glasie felt hands grab her waist and butt. Gruff and nimble fingers pressed into the soft flesh of her round ass.

Glasie delightfully squealed at the sudden contact in conjunction of the rapid pounding her sensitive pussy received. She clamped down with her walls, squeezing and milking the cock the thrust inside her churning region.

A pleased groan came from Petres' vocals. Glasie saw a content face with an inwardly curved smile on her partner's face. She flashed a frenzied smile of her own, though it soon broke after another wave of pleasure erupted thanks to the constant stabs of Petres' cock entering Glasie's pussy.

Two dainty hands steadied Glasie's body on Petres' chest. She marveled at how well built and hairless it looked from her cowgirl position as she rode his cock wildly. She never really liked an excess amount of hair, resulting in her shaving around her vagina and leaving a hairless zone. Either way, Glasie liked the way she looked. She also liked having someone appreciate how she looked and devour her appearance, and Petres was doing just that.

Glasie moaned into Petres mouth as they exchanged another deep kiss consisting of serious tongue wrangling. Leaving a connecting strand of saliva behind, Glasie moved her body back and raised her butt in the air. She left the mushroom head of Petres' dick covered by her quivering lips. Releasing a deep breath of air, Glasie gasped and slammed her crotch back down all the way on the thick cock. She felt the cervical walls pushed aside and allowing a hot shaft poke inside the deepest part of her slick region.

"Dammmnnnn..." A loud, drawn-out groan of intense pleasure slithered from Petres' mouth. He, quite literally, exploded in spasms of pleasure and movement.

Glasie wiped the sweat off her brow and said through rampant thrusts into her battered pussy, "D-don't worry... Gawd! I'm protected!"

Glasie, after giving the seal of approval, felt a wave of that sticky white stuff into her depths. Her insides were plastered what could be considered a new shade of white. The force of Petres individual spurts hitting the back of her womb made her go crazy with pleasure, resulting in her own explosive climax.

Being the more vocal of the two, Glasie made her presence known to anyone residing in the hotel rooms in any direction. "Fuuuuuuck! Oh gawd yessss! So god damn gooood!" And various other crazed remarks distorted by the intense waves of electric pleasure clashing with her mind.

Glasie looked down to see Petres' thick cock hilted in her pussy and semen slipping out the side of her sopping entrance. She didn't even want to think anymore... Life just felt way too good.

-

It was the next day. Glasie had left Petres' hotel room and returned to her apartment. The two people had exchanged addresses for their PTs (Physical Terminals, different from Virtual Terminal displays in that it is a physical touchpad screen, as well as mobile and private). PTs are meant for mobile use while VTs are meant for static use. After talking for a bit after waking up from their tryst early in the morning, the two decided that they would like to give it shot and make it more than just a one night stand. Though Petres made it clear that his work demanded he travel every once in a while.

Either way, Glasie eventually belly-flopped onto her couch with a lame breakfast set on the table aside. Using the voice activation system, Glasie turned on the large VT located on her wall to the national news channel.

In this day and age, the media was sorted into three categories: the traditional local news, international and political news, and entertainment. There were channels solely dedicated to such networks, Glasie just happened to have the VT turned on to the entertainment news channel.

As she munched passively on a bowl of surprisingly tasty peanut butter cereal, Glasie paid attention to a story involving the game she played, Rebellions.

"A large blow has been dealt to SonataCorp and a call to arms for the numerous anti-virtual reality activist groups."

The channel switched newscasters from an attractive female to an attractive male.

"Yes, like my colleague said... The mental disorder known as 'Reality Break' has always been an attractive choice for anti-virtual reality debates."

The VT showed a picture of a person whose face seemed slightly familiar to Glasie, though she didn't remember from where or who.

"The most common occurrence of Reality Break results in a person simply misjudging their abilities, like thinking they could jump several meters high or lifting large quantities of mass or weight. While that is remedied by re-recognizing their bodies capabilities, it is overshadowed by the next level of Reality Break."

"More severe cases of Reality Break involve a person seeing hallucinations or hearing sounds that belong in the virtual program the person participated in. Level two Reality Break cases may vary in many different terms and its symptoms vary wildly. However, the symptoms for level two Reality Break are not severe enough to warrant a third severity level."

"Yet, only last night, doctors in a Washington state hospital have identified the first case of level three Reality Break."

Glasie raised an eyebrow at this announcement and continued to pay attention with a slightly louder volume.

"Of what has been disclosed about level three Reality Break's nature is not much. Apparently, level three is severe enough to cause a person to believe that they are living a completely different reality, very similar to the one they experienced. They are unable to believe that they lived any life prior to experiencing level three Reality Break."

Glasie whispered to herself, "That's pretty bad..."

"Personal information of the patient who has been experiencing level three Reality Break has not been disclosed. Though we have learned of his account name when playing the game Rebellions, where he first experienced Reality Break. The man was a player going by the moniker of 'Demonz'. Families of the player..."

"So that's why..." Glasie remembered why she recognized the face of the patient.

In Rebellions, a player's physical appearance outside of the game, facial features and all, affected how their player model would look. The Demonz inside the game clearly resembled the photo of his actual body. In Glasie's case, she believed that she resembled how she would look as a man.

From what Glasie remembered of Demonz was that he wasn't a very pleasant person. In fact, he was a total jerk and a complete douchebag undeserving of life. Well, that was what Glasie thought before. "No one, not even any of Bond's nemeses deserves that..." Glasie didn't mean to add any humor in poor taste, but it fumbled out of her lips. "Just what happened to you to get like this?"

-

"Ah, you're back! How was the wedding? Was the bride pretty? Find any cute guys?"

Facing the onslaught of questions was a stern faced girl draped in sheets and blankets and holding on to a PT device. Voice and visual chat was simultaneously activated, allowing the two girls to converse while seeing each other's appearance.

"Nessie... Shut up. You woke me two hours into my sleep. I only got to sleep at five AM last night, so go die."

Nessie wasn't the real name of the person residing within the PT screen. People who worked for SonataCorp frequently referred to one another with their player names. The sleepy and cranky person was no different in that regard.

"Why so serious, Aria? Yea, I'm sorry about that, but we have a serious situation that we need you to attend to. I was asked to brief you immediately, but you obviously can wait until after a good night's rest to work."

"Fine, what?"

"Someone infiltrated SonataCorp HQ the other day and uploaded a peculiar program."

"That does sound bad."

"At least care a little bit about it. Well that'd contradict what I said... Well, whatever, you're tired. The program, we managed to divulge its nature to be a type of virus, an AI virus at that."

"An AI virus? Yea, I may be tired, but you can't fool me."

"No jokes here, for once. Anyways, the virus was directly involved in an incident that may seriously damage Rebellions' reputation. Well, we believe that in any case. We think it was involved in the first ever case of level three Reality Break of a player that frequent the area you moderate. Please go and investigate the virus AI. If needed, Riktor has authorized mod abilities outside of your moderated area."

"Whatever, I'll handle it when I wake up after I get back my sleep THAT YOU STOPPED ME FROM HAVING!" Aria yelled as she flung her PT aside on her spacious bed and tossed her head back in sleep.

The PT was still on and running. The PT showed Nessie's face with wide eyes, "Whoa..."

Note: For those who read this far, I hope you enjoyed part two of this story.

A small message for those who are interested: I do plan on having a full group join Glasie/Glass in this story, up to seven characters. As of now, I have four reserved slots: Glass, Blossom, Scarlet, and one more character whom I will reveal soon. As for the other three slots, post any ideas on what you may like to see, in terms of genders, class, or even personality. IF, and I stress IF, I like the idea, I may use or modify it for my tastes. Though that's if anyone suggest something. 



Reality Break Ch. 03



Note: In the previous chapter, I showed some of the character's game stats. While I think that's a semi interesting concept, I'm not going to bother doing so anymore, though I'll keep doing the health and mana numbers for fights. It's too much information to keep a handle on and consistently update with every chapter. Hell, I even hand my own little algorithm for the stat increases, I guess I have my own personal demon of sloth residing in me. 


Reality Break Ch. 3 - Blood Savant 


"Wow... You're right. There really are some neat spots in your hair? Are you sure those VR systems are safe?"

"That's a GOOD question, Hailey." Glasie exclaimed as she allowed her head to be perused by her friend's fingers. "I looked it up, when those needles enter your head, they loosen up inside your brain and they get all wriggly! Like worms!"

"Ugh, don't give me that image. Whenever you mention worms, I can't eat gummy worms for a week."

"Uh, maybe that's because they, y'know, LOOK like worms?" Glasie asked with an excessive amount of sarcasm.

"Still, it's scary to think about these needles entering your head and can play with your mind at will. I mean, what if they control your mind to go rob a bank or something?" Hailey pushed away Glasie's pet ferrets after talking. She didn't care for rat-like creatures.

"First off, there have been less than two percent successful bank robberies in the past decade thanks to MH security and the near impossible to hack software. And second, that stuff only happens in movies, like the Matrix." Glasie rolled her eyes.

"I should watch that again... Well, whatever. Think I should give Rebellions a shot? I should be able to borrow or rent out my brother's virtual system." Hailey rolled her eyes to the back of her head as she relaxed her body. "Maybe we can play together or something."

(Uh oh...) "Well, I fully recommend the game. I found virtual reality an extremely thrilling experience. However, I've joined a group of some really interesting people, so if you do join the game, we'll have to play separate." Glasie found her excuse very awkward and unreliable, but it was all she could come up with on the spot. 

Thankfully, Hailey's simple thought process looked past the excuse. "Eh, whatever. Well, you don't work today, do you? And you're on vacay from class. Looks like you get to spend some time with your Red Set VR system. Don't go all Reality Break on me and Natasha! See you later." 

Hailey grabbed her gear and dodged the ferrets dancing around her on the floor as she escaped Glasie's apartment.

Glasie also said her goodbyes and brought back both ferrets, Sock and Kitty to a comfortable pillow that they soon fell asleep on, intertwining their tails. 

There was nothing interesting on the news. Much of it was a recap on the level three Reality Break case found the other day. Everything else concerned local news and the fresh onslaught of anti-virtual reality groups. 

Eventually, Glasie's thoughts turned to her new friends in Rebellions: Blossom and Scarlet. Since the three of them were all heading to a brand new city to find four more teammates. What kind of unique personalities would she find? After all, her other two teammates consisted of an advanced virus AI program and a personality with an odd mix of confidence, optimism, and somber energy. Of course, not that she could say much in that regard. After all, she was playing the games only transgender character, it was impossible for a player to play a character opposite of their gender. 

Glass, her persona in game, was a male High Elf with the rogue class. Whenever she entered Rebellions, it almost seemed as if a different personality took over, a jovial and naturally curious male personality. And she just had to stress the male part... 

-

"We managed to find out a digital footprint left behind by the infiltrator's access." The voice sighed. "We could at least pinpoint the basic location of the virus AI program. Just pull out the in map and you'll see the relative area of the program to you. The signal should get stronger the closer you get to it. While there have been no problems yet, we cannot be optimistic enough to believe that nothing will happen."

Aria relaxed her body and opened her eyes as she logged in to Rebellions. Currently, the moderator was sleeping in a bed in a lavish home she purchased. 

All players could purchase private property. There were many player run shops that sold all sorts of items from potions to soul stones. Others bought lodges close to ingredient rich areas like hunting grounds, lakes, flower fields, mines, and even farms. Some player organizations pooled cogs together to purchase large fortresses or landmasses that other players could congregate in. Any player who purchased property could designate it as private, public, or accessible to only a select few like friends or guild mates. 

The best part of the whole property business was that all SonataCorp employees that played Rebellions had a number of benefits, a piece of free, extravagant, and personal property was given. What Aria chose was a quaint two story home with the basics as well as all the tools needed to fuel her interests. It was situated by a beautiful waterfall that diverted into four different falls at irregular points. Nearby was a lovely farming village named Vibrant Shine filled with NPCs of all varieties and frequented by numerous players who visited mainly for the resources. 

"That's a lot more than I expected. So this large circle shows the general location of the virus? And the closer I get, the stronger the signal gets and the smaller the circle gets. Yea, I pretty much got it." Aria hesitated for a moment before adding in some more. "Do I get overtime for this?"

"PUHAHAHAHAHAW! Thas' a good one... We'll see." The voice disappeared and the connection vanished. 

Aria spit out of her window, imagining the owner of the voice getting spat on. "Damn you, Riktor. You give us moderators this job and SAY we'll get benefits. But most of them are only in the game!" Aria lamented. She wouldn't quit, god no, why do that? This was actually a well-paying job compared to the majority of work out there. Still, it wasn't like SonataCorp wasn't screwing over its employees in some way. 

Aria looked at her map, seeing the visible virtual circle that enveloped a good portion of the map. "Let's see... The virus program is definitely in Atarea... Though the circle also borders Orinta." 

The names of the seven continents modeled after the ones outside of the game were: Atarea (North America), Satarea (South America), Orinta (Asia), Europa (Europe), Targeya (Australia and Oceania), Lumisia (Africa), and Icea (Antartica). There were other islands and areas that were not a part of the continents, but the majority of game activity happened on the seven continents. 

"Most likely, if it wants to stay inconspicuous, it should reside in the major towns and move around. Right now the circle encompasses these four major towns in Atarea and one in Orinta: Sandy Oasis, Castle Port, Vance Line, Dead End, and Grand Fall in Orinta." Aria mulled her choices over until she decided on a course of action. "Let's start in Castle Port since it's closest. If the circle gets smaller, then I simply know I'm heading in the right direction. Tooooo Castle Port and mayhaps I find the source of overtime pay and a hot new guy to boot!"

-

"Tooooo Castle Port and mayhaps we find some good income and teammates to boot!" 

"Uh, Glass..."

"Yea!"

"You're in public transportation, people still notice you."

"Oh! Ok. Ah, sorry folks!" 

Glass waved apologetically for his random outburst inside the train.

Many complained that there was no easy fast travel transportation except for hard to make portals. Those cries soon died down when they saw the worthwhile experience the developers made public transportation. Currently the trio consisting of Glass, Blossom, and Scarlet were garnering gazes galore as they rode the train.

Girls flocked their eyes to and fro from Glass to his companions, either cursing them for hogging the handsome player or congratulating their luck for teaming up with him. Guys did the exact same, but switching Glass' position with the two girls. 

A couple of times, male players tried to talk to both Blossom and Scarlet. Blossom simply rebuffed them, even subtly insulting them much to the audience's amusement. Scarlet answered their flirtations with confused looks and words, eventually those who tried got too frustrated to continue and left her alone. Blossom shot intimidated gazes towards all the female players who even thought of approaching Glass, thus eliminating that threat to her possible future romance.

Now that she thought about it, Blossom did feel a bit pitiful. (Still, how can I when I can't even get cured and wake up?)

As she grew depressed, she failed to notice Glass staring at her from the side. 

Glass saw that his friend was gazing mournfully at the scenery out of the train window. Currently, the train was stopped in a farming village situated on a cliff with a beautiful waterfall. "Hey, Blossom, what's wrong?"

Blossom, shaken out of her bleak trance swung around to find Glass' face only centimeters away from hers. "Ah, G-Glass! W-What are you doing?" Surprised and embarrassed to be put into that situation, which to prying eyes could look like a pair of lovers kissing. 

"Well, you were looking depressed... C'mon, just smile! Even a simple smile can turn the foulest of moods!" Glass revealed a wide smile on his handsome face, a smile that would melt even the most frigid of nuns. 

Blossom couldn't help but smile in return, though it took a good couple of seconds to compose herself. She laughed at first, but she quickly flashed a genuine smile back. 

"See? That easy! Your turn Scarlet, c'mon, smile for Blossom." Glass pointed his finger at blank Scarlet.

As always, it was hard to read her expression. Scarlet tilted her head, clearly baffled in how to accommodate Glass' request. It was almost as if she had never smiled in her entire life, at least that was what Blossom thought.

"Hahaha, well, maybe next time then." Glass, watching Scarlet's comical attempt in smiling patted her on the shoulder to reassure her. "Hm, I'm hungry. Considering this is a train, there must be a dining cart, right?"

Blossom quickly answered, "Yes, near the middle of the train there should be dining cars and a bar."

"Right then, I think I'll have myself something to drink. Would either of you like something?" Glass asked politely with the grace of an elite butler.

Alcohol was served freely in this game, anyone underage (In the past decade, the age of consent, drinking, smoking, and drug use age was all lowered to seventeen) would, when drinking the game's alcohol, taste and experience alcohol free drinks. Basically, instead of water to wine, it was wine to water.

"No thank you."

"Same."

"Well aren't we cheery? Remember to smile girls, beautiful ladies like you look ten times better with a charming smile on your face!" Glass mocked an army salute and gallivanted towards the dining car.

"He is certainly a character, right Scarlet?" Blossom wasn't too sure on how to converse with Scarlet yet. Certainly she helped her out in defeating Demonz and his entourage, but she was still a strange fellow. Her skills were no doubt there, but Blossom was still suspicious in how the red haired player dealt the finishing blow on Demonz.

"He is... Interesting."

...

"And what's this concoction named?" Glass asked the bartender.

"An Ectoplasmic Burst." Being an NPC, the bartender replied nonchalantly at Glass' handsome player model. However, the fellow patrons could not say the same. 

The bar car was filled with players enjoying a good drink while conversing about in game events. Glass managed to hear a snippet of a conversation between a female Hawkman player and a male Dwarf player that went like this:

"I heard that a guild in Lumisia got one of the godly weapons."

"Seriously?! Those are the rarest weapons in the game! You can't even get them from the strongest bosses out there!"

"Well, this guy, Gallagher, I think he's supposed to be at least level fifty something Pyromancer. He got the godly weapon called Surtr's Sword."

"There have only been five godly artifacts found so far... The Ruyi Jingu Bang and Kusanagi Blade in Orinta, the Smoking Mirror in Atarea, Apollo's Bow in Europa, and now Surtr's Sword in Lumisia. Jeez, I'd love it if I could just find one randomly."

Glass pondered what he heard. From what he learned, the highest tiered magical items were called godly artifacts. The second strongest, which really could be called the second strongest considering the rarity of godly artifacts, were mystical artifacts. Then from there were legendary, draconic, holy/unholy, runed, musical, elemental, magical, and finally common. Glass' Fang Sword was a member of the runed family.

On the subject of godly artifacts, there were only twenty confirmed names which could only go to twenty people including the five already found. Whether there were more than just those twenty, no one would know until they found one that was not on the confirmed twenty.

"AH! MY APOLOGIES! I AM INCREDIBLY SORRY!" A strident voice rung through Glass' ear canal.

"Seriously? You made me trip like that and embarrass me on purpose. Sorry my ass!" And the other voice cried with great annoyance with a hint of playfulness. She was likely enjoying this exchange.

"YES! I PROSTRATE MYSELF BEFORE YOU TO SHOW MY REGRET!" 

(What the hell?) The strident voice said something odd which caused the majority of heads, including Glass, to turn around to see the spectacle. 

A male Tiefling player was doing as he shouted, prostrating himself before a female Catfolk player.

"Whatever, I need to get on my work." Actually, now that Glass thought about it, the voice and appearance of the Catfolk player seemed very familiar, but he couldn't place his finger on it. The player left the car and moved herself to the back of the train. 

(Well, I guess it doesn't matter. About that guy...) "Uh, hello."

The previously prostrating player stood up and resolutely sat next to Glass with the straightest posture he had seen in a long time (Glass hasn't seen his own posture yet). 

"Hello my good sir! Allow me to introduce myself!" The Tiefling player was overly friendly, though Glass, strangely enough, wasn't turned off by it.

"No, you don't need to-"

"MY NAME IS SONG HA-SUP! I am the greatest player EVER! Well, I hope to one day. Since you're obviously not from my country, just call me Song for short. What might your name be, good sir?"

Glass actually found himself quite interested in the player. While he didn't respond with the fervor of Song's extreme, he replied in the same way. "My name is Glass! I may not be the greatest player yet, but I plan to be even better than me fellow hopeful greatest players to be!"

"Ahah! Glass-Nim is it? Very good! Where might you be headed Glass-Nim?" 

"To Castle Port, my group and I, which only consist of three so far, were hoping to find some good teammates to advance through the game."

"Kakeh! I see! That is good news indeed for this Hyung! Please let me make my pitch, I am sorry to say I have no resume to give, but please hear me out!"

Glass raised his eyebrows and leaned back while sipping the Ectoplasmic Burst. "By all means."

"Song Ha-Sup! I am not very high leveled, only sixteen so far! However, I am an able healer for any team! I am a base class Priest with the Blood Savant classification." Song proudly puffed out his chest and splayed out his hand and placed his fingers on his bosom.

Glass, Blossom, and Scarlet decided to grind up their levels for a little while before deciding to head to Castle Port. The main reason was that each of them were close to level fifteen which is when a player could create a new special skill. A player could create a special skill every five levels until they reached level fifty where a player could only create a special skill every ten levels until level one-hundred, the highest level a player could reach.

As for the process of creating a skill... A skill had to be related to the class a player chose. The example in this case will be Magister class, a cross Mage and Ranger class. The main purpose of this class is to provide long range and widespread magical attacks. Suppose a player with that class wanted to create a skill called Earthquake. The player chooses the type, which is an AOE (area of effect) Earth spell. They then balance out the damage output, duration, range where the epicenter can be placed, casting distance, mana usage, extra effects, and for some spells the level of pain. None of the effects can be too over powered or the player will risk decimating the other stats of the skill. To most players, creating an ability seems daunting and complicated at first, but the majority had found it quite easy the second time. 

As of now, Glass and Scarlet were both level sixteen with Blossom being level seventeen. 

Glass had created an ability he called Lunge Leap, it allowed Glass to instantly close the distance between him and his opponent while making a sharp lunging stab to a player, NPC, or random spot in the game.

Blossom created a skill called Fairy Zap which allowed her to toss multiple balls of electricity in the air which flew around. The balls did relatively little damage, but a player that ran into several would find his health bar severely depleted. It was designed to hinder enemy movement. And the more electric balls she tossed, the more mana she consumed.

Scarlet, under Glass' guidance considering her hidden nature, created a skill named Ground Stalagmite. Though wordy, it allowed Scarlet to create one or more stalagmites from the ground to attack her opponents. The more she created the more mana she used. 

"So, um, Song, how does a Blood Savant heal then?" Glass asked curiously.

"We Blood Savants are honorable and find that in order to heal blood and flesh, we must donate it with our own or that of the fallen enemy! While it is not a pleasant thing to think of, yes, Blood Savants do not need to worry about wasting mana stores when it comes to healing! That is why we are superior to the Priest classes that use light magic as compared to our dark magic!" Song gave a short enthusiastic description of his strengths.

"Why do you want to join my group anyways, Song?"

"Mainly because nobody else wants me to join theirs! Hahaha!" Song laughed at his slightly pathetic answer as if it was his intention to sound that way. "Well, if I had to give a more serious answer... It would be that you're kind of like me. Because this is a virtual reality game, people experience living a second life and treat it too seriously. They don't realize that this IS virtual reality, it isn't real life. You're like me in that we don't seem to take virtual reality too seriously." Song had abandoned his cheerful voice for a more solemn one.

"I guess I understand what you're getting at. This is a game; we should treat it as such and just enjoy what it has to offer." Glass nodded knowingly.

"EXACTLY! I mean, I was looking at some international news one day. Through Naver (Korean search engine), I just happened to see an article about Rebellions. Since you're American, you've probably heard about that level three case of Reality Break, right? It's people like those who take the game too seriously and look where that got him." 

(Demonz, that mean guy. I only saw him once, but I didn't know him enough to know if he took the game seriously or not.)

"Well, depressing stuff aside... I, Song Ha-Sup, would greatly enjoy the chance to join you, Glass-Nim, in your quest for all things bountiful!" 




Reality Break Ch. 03



Glass dispelled the depressing thoughts like Song and returned the enthusiastic words. "I, Glass, welcome you to our group! Together we will grow prosperous and awesome!" 

In the train car, those who listened in on their conversation by choice or chance had weird looks on their faces. It turned out the extremely handsome High Elf player was just as weird as the Tiefling player who so rigorously bowed before. 

...

"Hm? Scarlet, someone is joining our group... A Tiefling Blood Savant, that's a rare class." Blossom did what most people did when passing the time in a train, by watching the scenery and reading. Though she just now noticed Glass invited a new player to their group. 

As she was the initial starter of the group, Blossom was the group leader. Eventually, out of girlish embarrassment and affection, she offered Glass the group leadership position. Being the group leader was a pretty basic thing, you could invite/kick people in or out of your group, choose who got what loot when they defeated a boss (though there are some restrictions even for a group leader, like he or she can't take all of the loot), and few other unimportant actions. 

Blossom didn't know how to progress her relationship with Glass. She was unable to appeal to him outside of the game due to certain circumstances, nor did she know much about him in general. She was lost. As of now, she only wanted to make sure that those who joined her group did not attempt to get as close as she wanted to Glass. Scarlet seemed uninterested in romance, though Blossom could not fathom what went on behind that expressionless face. 

As of the new teammate, Blossom thanked the fact that it was a male... Though that didn't mean he couldn't be gay. (Wait, Glass isn't gay, is he?) 

While Blossom went through several different scenarios between Glass and other men of his caliber, Scarlet formulated a reply to Blossom's initial sentence. "It appears to be a healer. According to you, we only need a tank, a decent melee damage dealer, and either a ranged support or damage dealer."

(As monotone as always...) "After we get a full group, we'll be able to take on stronger bosses and pave a way to the top of the players in this game. Though of course that sounds much easier in words. Hum, we're nearly at Castle Port."

In game, the distances between various points were similar to the distance between points in Earth. SonataCorp arrogantly believed and stated that their game would be so popular that the size of the virtual world wouldn't be a problem considering the vast amount of players that would be playing the game. Apparently they believed correctly. Population in the world had reached around seventeen billion at this point. Leaders had gotten together and did their best to solve the problem of the population explosion. Not only did experts manage to effectively to sort out expanses of land suitable for human development, engineers also managed to build many homes not only on the surface, but the underground as well. Space travel, while improved upon greatly, did not allow colonization of other planets just yet. Though there have been many experiments, ongoing as well.

In any case, public transportation between places like Sandy Oasis and Castle Port was sped up so players didn't have to spend numerous hours traveling between transportation hubs. The trip to Castle Port only took the three of them around an hour long. 

"Blossom! Scarlet! Allow me to introduce the two of you to my new friend, Song!" Glass appeared before the two of them with one hand gesturing towards a male player and the other on that player's shoulder. "He'll be joining us as our healer!"

"My name is Song Ha-Sup, though please call me Song! It gives me great pleasure to meet the two of you! I may be young, but I live for the day when I become a great healer that devotes his life to his friends!" Song proudly puffed out his chest and bowed deeply, he even accidentally hit his forehead against the table the two girls were sitting at. Stumbling back in pain and landing on his butt, Glass and Blossom both laughed while Scarlet revealed a rare bemused smile.

Blossom could tell instantly that Song wasn't a bad person. While he was strange and eccentric, he seemed like a fun person to have in the group and liven things up. "Well, if you're joining us, you're going to have to show off your healing skills to the max. We're going to create a full group and reach the top!" Blossom thrust a lively finger into the air towards the virtual heavens.

"OF COURSE! I SHALL SACRIFICE BLOOD AND LIMB FOR THE GLORY OF THE ALMIGHTY GLASS-NIM'S GROUP!" Song doubled up on Blossom by thrusting his hands in the air and screamed loudly enough to be heard several train cars back.

Ignoring all of the turned heads, Glass raised an eyebrow and calmly said, "That's a good point Song. We got to come up with a group name; we can't keep calling us Glass' group all the time... Though it has a nice ring to it." Glass stroked his smooth chin and beamed.

Blossom reddened in seeing the handsome pose from Glass but kept her calm and agreed. "That's right. Most groups, at least the more permanent ones, generally give themselves a group name. If we do that and register as an official group, we can sign up as a group for official events like tournaments or contests."

"I see, well, first off we need to come up with a group name, any suggestions?"

"I'VE GOT A GREAT ONE!" Song shouted once again before soothing his voice and saying, "'The Sexy Squad'! Because we have the beautiful Blossom and Scarlet, the handsome Glass, and the egregious SONG HA-SUP!" 

"Uh, first of all... That name is far too strange and egregious is an auto-antonym, Song." Glass pointed out two things at which Blossom furiously nodded her head at. "Scarlet, do you have any ideas?" Glass didn't know what he was trying to accomplish by trying to ask Scarlet that question. He knew about the mysterious nature behind her, and he still wasn't sure if he believed it or not that she was an AI program, and a virus at that.

"I have no preference nor do I have any ideas." Scarlet replied as blandly as always. Despite having a mysterious beauty about her that was complemented by impassioned scarlet hair, it was slightly dampened by her emotionless personality. Though many would say, Glass included, that was what was so intriguing about her.

Pressing for an answer, Glass pursued. "Oh c'mon, Scarlet, it doesn't have too inventive or interesting. Anything off the top of your head. All the members of our soon to be top group should put something in. My suggestion is 'The Unholy Angels', because sometimes falling just isn't enough for an angel!"

Blossom rolled her eyes. For all of Glass' great looks and vibrant personality, he had some of the weirdest ideas sometimes. "I put forth 'The Magnificent Seven'. Seven because that's the number for a full group, and that is the name of the last movie I watched with my dad and mom..." Then Blossom drew to a whisper, "Before I couldn't see them anymore."

She spoke very quietly on that last part. She thought that spoke low enough for Glass, Scarlet, and Song to not hear. All three of them did in fact hear her words and each of them chose not to press her for why she said them. It sounded painful to talk about and the three decided to continue their original conversation for the sake of moving on.

"I am not able to formulate a decent name, but I like Blossom's suggestion the best." Scarlet's word had barely any passion to them, but Glass could see a hint of color.

"I'm with Scarlet then! Song?" Glass moved his gaze over to the Korean player.

The zany Song shook his head and quickly responded, "Yea, 'The Magnificent Seven it is! Though we'll need three more people before it'll make sense as a group name anyways."

Blossom forced a wry smile, "Thank you..." 

...

Aria sat down in her chair and focused on her virtual meal. Though expensive, players could purchase an accessory for their VR systems which could feed players as they experienced any virtual world so that they did not need to leave for meals. In fact, the supplement was very similar to what hospitals gave their patients. IV fluid was vastly improved upon in the past decade to be very nutritious and healthy.

Originally thought only of an accessory for the lost and misguided VR addicts, SonataCorp gave each of their game moderators that accessory so they could continue working through meals. Many employees didn't bother and saw the technology add on as an attempt for SonataCorp to get their employees to work longer shifts. Aria personally didn't mind, as it allowed her to experience strange and delicious virtual cuisines while her body was fed a nutritional diet 

In fact, Aria was currently enjoying her meal, which consisted of blackened chicken seasoned to perfection, buttered and salted eggs on the side, a crispy pepper salad, and iced tea. Her furry ears twitched delightfully while her tail swished around in elation. She loved more than anything, even more than cute guys, a freshly prepared delicious meal. 

Right now, Aria enjoyed her meal on the dinner car of a train in Rebellions' public transportation system. The train just happened to make a short stop in Vibrant Shine as it continued on its course to Castle Port.

This meal gave her a chance to ignore that weirdo from before, a strange Tiefling player who had tripped her either accidentally or intentionally. It wasn't like he pissed her off, since that could easily happen to her. No, it was more like she wanted to be pissed off, but the player was far too nice and forgiving to give her a chance. She wanted more than anything to be given a chance to beat him into the ground in a duel, which she could have easily done given her skill in this game. Alas, the moment the player prostrated himself before her, she gave up. In game, Aria was a Catfolk player, base class Mage, with a Battlemage classification (Warrior/Mage). 

As she ate, Aria's thoughts flashed back to when she was waiting for the train. She was checking the map and saw the circle from the virus locator program she was given, it was getting smaller and smaller. The circle was supposed to get smaller whenever a foreign program, in this case the virus AI, got closer. She found it odd. The only way for the circle to get so small so quickly is if the virus AI was coming to her. Then as the circle shrunk down to the point where the circle enveloped only Vibrant Shine and the area around it, the circle expanded back to its original massive size.

(It must have been a glitch in the locator program that Riktor gave me, that insufferable corporate snob... Whatever, if it's just a glitch, it shouldn't be too serious. I'm not getting paid overtime so I see no need to report back every little occurrence. I'll begin my search in Castle Port anyways.) Aria irresponsibly ignored her duties and blissfully ate her meal.

-

In each continent, there were numerous arenas. However, in each continent, there was a main arena in that continent's largest city. And Castle Port just happened to be the largest city in Atarea. The arenas were all based off of the Roman Coliseum in general design, but the architecture was always based off of the continent's chief ancient cultures. In Atarea's case, Castle Port's arena was made with Aztec and Mayan architecture in mind.

A stoic pattern of carved stone decorated the entire arena. Instead of a circular center, the matches took place in a square center with a sandy ground with irregular patches of virtual blood. It was no wonder that this game was given a mature rating and even had its own booklet filled with warnings about what transpired in the game. 

Glass noted the contrast of the arena's architecture compared to the rest of Castle Port, which had a mixture of 13th century medieval style and 17th century colonial style architecture. Glass found it all the more interesting because of that. In fact, there was a match going on between two teams of three.

Information was displayed on sides of each screen giving the team names, player names (if they didn't mind revealing them), player levels, and player classes. 

For the current fight, team one consisted of a Paladin (Warrior/Priest) which kept the battle's focus on him, an Archon (Mage/Priest) which provided healing and support, and an Archer (Ranger) that provided long range attacks and damage. Team two consisted of a Dragoon (Warrior/Ranger) that fought in melee with a spear, a Hydromancer (Mage) that provided healing and ranged magical attacks, and a Thief (Rogue) that nimbly attacked from all sides.

"Hey, Blossom, who do you think is going to win?" Glass asked the girl on his left.

The four group members sat together and watched the scene with varying interest. Scarlet listlessly stared down at the arena, analyzing the individual strengths and weaknesses of each player. She speculated that she could defeat five of the six in individual duels, with the Hydromancer being the sole victor. Blossom preferred not to watch fights, but to participate considering the fact that she could watch these fights twenty-four seven. However, she still spectated with interest so that she could find a suitable fifth teammate for their group. Song Ha-Sup was fervently cheering on team one, which consisted of the Paladin, Archon, and Archer mainly because he liked the way the female Archer player "handled" the bow as he put it. He mentioned that his skill set was in healing, not planning, so he watched the match for purely entertainment. And finally, Glass, wanted to see how various classes went up against other classes. Considering how he was the group leader, he at least needed to compile a vaguely encyclopedic knowledge about in game tactics and more. 

"Well, I can't say too much since special skills play a big part in this game and I have no idea, however... The forerunners of each team, the Paladin for team one and the Dragoon for team two are very similar in their melee skill. Because of that, it boils down to whose special skills can surprise the other. Still, they both have healers to keep each other alive, the Hydromancer healer for team two is more combat oriented than the Archon in team one. Hopefully the Hydromancer doesn't lose focus and attempts to attack instead of heal, the moment he does that, they'll probably take a step back too far from winning and eventually lose. Lastly, the support damage dealers... The Archer in team one is their key, she needs to keep the Thief from team two at bay while trying to kill or interrupt the Hydromancer's healing. As for the Thief, she also needs watch out and harass the enemy team frequently; the moment she overextends herself, she'll die because Thieves generally have very low health and little armor... Ah, there it goes." Blossom's long winded explanation was interrupted by the realization of her small prophecy.

The Thief dashed around after initially seeing what she thought was the Archer paying sole attention to the healer for a few moments. The Archer actually did do that, she focused her sights on the Archon after firing an arrow that seemed like a missed shot at first. In fact, the Archer was reserving one of her special skills called Redirection. It allowed the Archer to change the destination of any of her arrows that were in the air to any point she wished, but only once until she used the skill again. Other than that, Redirection was a fairly normal skill, though it was perfect for catching the enemy off guard.

The redirected arrow shifted its angle by nearly one hundred eighty degrees and struck the Thief in the knee, crippling her and forcing a cry of pain. The Thief fell to the ground and feebly activated one of her special skills called Dust Toss, which allowed her to grab any amount of sediment off the ground and expertly form an improvised temporary smokescreen for one or more enemies for a short duration. It was her only ranged attack, and it was more than useless if she or a teammate couldn't follow up on it.

The Thief's ally, the Hydromancer, cast a healing spell quickly on the Thief, but found he was too late as team one's healer, the Archon rushed to the Thief and finished it off with a lethal blow. 

Team two's Dragoon finally saw his chance to rush in considering two of his opponent's allies were occupied and activated a skill. He stabbed wildly, pushing the Paladin back for several seconds before thrusting his spear into the ground. A dark circle formed beneath the enemy Archer's feet. The Archer failed to react to the circle and found a spear tip violently bursting from the circle on the ground and piercing her jaw. He had contemplated attacking team one's healer that way, but the Archon had used a type of shield to nullify an attack from before, and he didn't want to waste a chance to eliminate an opponent. 

Blossom whispered to her teammates, "If her Perception was high enough, she could have reacted to the attack in time to escape unscathed. Oh well."

The Archer already had accumulated enough damage that the spear instantly took her out. As of now, team one had its Paladin and Archon while team two had its Dragoon and Hydromancer. 

"In team matches like these, usually the forerunner is defeated last considering they are usually slow and don't do as much damage. Generally the healers are the first to be targeted and taken out if possible, if not then, then take out the support and extra damage dealers. Though considering that both teams only consist of three instead of a full group..." Blossom seemed contemplative as she continued to explain her thoughts on the fight to Glass. "Hm, Glass?" And it seemed she was talking to empty space, Glass had disappeared once again. "Um, Scarlet, where did Glass go?" She asked worriedly. Blossom, of all people, knew just how easily the handsome player could get sidetracked.

Scarlet stared as expressionlessly as always into Blossom's eyes and replied blankly, "He said something caught his interest and he would soon be back."

"No need to instant message him then I guess... Knowing him, he'll probably get lost or in some sort of trouble, however." Blossom chuckled softly to herself.

Song shoveled some popcorn into his mouth before adding in his own set of words. "Don't worry, I may not have been with your group for very long, but I do know one thing: Glass-Nim is quite a capable man with few faults!" 

Song's interpretation of Glass' personality made Blossom smile. The pretty Undine player didn't know why she liked Glass so much. Of course looks aren't everything; she was a firm believer of that philosophy. However, Blossom knew that she did like him and hoped that Glass would one day see her the same way... Even if they could never meet in the real world, as her condition wouldn't allow it.

Scarlet stared silently at the arena. She knew the secrets to the predicaments to Glass, Blossom, and Song Ha-Sup. Although, as she is an AI, she did not know what to do with the information nor cared about it in the first place. Right now, what drove Scarlet were two things: Finding out the purpose behind her creation and enjoying what time she had with her group. 

-

As of now, Glass excitedly was walking down the main street in Castle Port.

Being the largest city in Atarea, it was filled with various players of all races and class. Some were sitting around and pondering their next move while others were gathered together in a group and conversing. Some were barking out item names looking for a quick sell, some were operating a stall with different types of goods that catered to every possible interest, and some were actually owning a piece of property and playing their wares and services. 

Glass saw a group of around ten players each wearing a small cape that reached halfway down their back with an emblem designed like a two headed lion. (That must be a guild or a clan or something...) 




Reality Break Ch. 03



Every Guild, Clan, Tribe, Legion, and other large scale player groups must have a symbol or design that identifies them on their outfit at all times. It could be in the form of a cape or tabard, or maybe even a tattoo, but the one rule is that it must be accessible to anyone's eyes. (Well, I don't want to join a group like that just yet, eh?)

Glass was interrupted by a female Dark Elf player who ran up to him from that very group he was just observing. "Ah, yes, how may I help you?" Glass didn't even need to ready himself for the encounter, his voice and mind instantly switched focus to the newcomer. 

The Dark Elf player faintly blushed and instinctively tilted back as the extremely handsome player smiled in her direction. "I, um, my name is Minerva... What's yours?" The player softly introduced herself and then shouted out her request immediately after in nervousness. 

Unperturbed, Glass spoke, "Minerva is it? That is quite a pretty name, especially for you. I, on the other hand, am Glass since I like glassware." 

Minerva widened her eyes and shook her head to dispel all useless thoughts. She wasn't going to lose just because of a compliment and some sweet words. "I'm a member of the Guild, Dune Lions. A silly name, yes, but we're still a large guild with around 5,000 members." (In Rebellions, the average guild size is roughly 900 members.) Minerva coughed in her hand and continued, "Please accept an invitation to Dune Lions."

(And I just told myself I didn't want to join one of these anytime soon... Oh well, might as well see what they're offering and politely turn them down.) Glass rubbed the top of his head, "Uh, why? I'm only level 16, not very high and I'm not all that great."

Minerva saw no need in being secretive behind her reasons. As she was one of the top ranking members of Dune Lions, she and her fellow high ranked players were given the order to recruit a few attractive players for the sole reason of making their Guild look better. Not that she wasn't attractive herself, far from it as several people outside of the game had rated her looks quite highly. She and her nine fellow players from Dune Lions were here for recruitment. 

Finally free from being overwhelmed by Glass' impeccable looks and nonchalant nature, Minerva continued her persuasive assault. "I was asked to recruit some handsome players like you to our Guild. Don't worry, you'll still get plenty of benefits upon joining and the advantages of joining a guild as prominent as ours are quite large. Right now our guild is looking to use improved recruitment type styles with a spokesperson like you so we can bolster our numbers so that we can rival the largest guilds someday soon. We'll also pay you as a spokesperson as a bonus too!"

Glass raised an eyebrow as he pondered her persuasive power. (I'm sure joining a guild like that would have its advantages... But I'm more interested in my group for now.) "Ah, I'm sorry. I'm in a group which I'm having fun with and I don't plan on joining a guild yet... Though I'll keep Dune Lions in mi-" Glass was suddenly cut off by an annoyed yell from elsewhere.

A good ten meters away was a male Dwarf player bearing the same half-cape as Minerva and a familiar looking female Catfolk player. (She's from the train with Song Ha-Sup...) Glass told himself silently.

The girl, being a member of the Catfolk race, had the notable feline features. For clothing, she wore seemingly heavy armor plates with a forest green coloring. She also wore a dark green hood laced with mystic runes on the fringe, though it was currently draped on her back.

The Dwarf player looked clearly annoyed as the Catfolk player looked the same but more lax. "Seriously?! All I did was invite you to Dune Lions and you bloody insult me? Christ!"

The Catfolk player rolled her eyes and sarcastically said, "Like I'd join a guild where a rude fatass like you is in. Besides, I'm working right now." 

"It's a fucking game! Who the hell works in a goddamn game?"

"Damn it, Donner, be nicer and polite. You'll obviously never recruit anyone that way. Otherwise, what's the problem?" Minerva ran over towards the commotion between her fellow guild mate, Donner, and the Catfolk player. Glass followed close behind as he was somewhat involved.

"I WAS POLITE! Well, at first... Still, all I asked was, 'Would you like to join our guild, Dune Lions?'" Donner waved his hands in the air.

(It's my first time being so close to a Dwarf player. It must not be a terribly popular race. Not as short as I expected.) As Glass observed, Donner was only as tall as halfway of Minerva's chest, 140 something centimeters. 

"Yea right, you were like this, 'Oi! Join our guild, Dune Lions 'cause you'll never get anywhere better!'" The Catfolk player formed a mock representation of Donner's face which was fairly stupid looking. 

Donner, growing red with anger, shouted, "How about this? Let's duel! And if you lose, you join Dune Lions and if you win I'll leave you bloody alone!" 

The Catfolk player smiled maliciously, "I don't mind... But some of my skills are support oriented so how about we involve these two in the same bet? If we lose, I and this handsome High Elf will join your guild, and if we win, you'll leave us alone. Ok? Cool!" 

"Eh?" Glass could only grunt in reaction as he tried to process what flew past his ears. 

"Oh don't worry, you and I will make a great team and kick some fatass ass!" The Catfolk player slapped Glass on his back and whispered in a seemingly flirtatious manner into his ear, "By the way, my name is Aria, yours?" 

"Uh, Glass. I don't actually want to be involved in a guild..." Glass said as he tried to deny reality.

"Don't worry. Let's see, you're a Duelist? Ok I'll cast some spells and we'll blitz at them! And if you win, I'll rewaaard you!♪" Aria flippantly sidestepped until both she and Glass were at equal distances away from each other and their opponents.

"Seriously, Donner? Fine, I'll participate this time but don't do this again. You know people don't like it when you are arrogant towards them." Minerva took her position as Donner shrugged and did the same.

PvP duels were not uncommon in the slightest in Castle Port, and players soon learned to make way when one occurred. Already, a large circle had appeared in the street leaving openings on the far edges for others to pass through if they were uninterested. 

A monotone announcer voice filled the air as each participant of the duel agreed to fight. 

Duel beginning- Donner [Level 19 Berserker] and Minerva [Level 22 Duskcaller] Vs Glass [Level 16 Duelist] and Aria [Level 25 Battlemage].

Betting opened up on the sides like usual. "The Duelist is so hot! GO GLASS!" "Though the levels are everywhere, I'd say this is fairly even, right?" "Hey, Riker, what are the classifications for these guys?" "Alrighty, for those who don't know in this crowd, A Berserker is a full Warrior, Duskcaller is a cross Priest and Rogue class, Duelist is a cross Rogue and Warrior, and a Battlemage is a cross Mage and Warrior." "Gonna be quick with this much melee oriented classes..." "Bettin' all my cogs on me right now on the Duelist and Battlemage." "You're sure confident."

The countdown began at twenty seconds. 20...19...18...17...16...15...

"What if we end up losing?" Glass asked his partner for this duel. 

"I have some connections, don't worry! I am a player moderator working for SonataCorp after all, so if they don't leave me alone, win or loss... I'll give that fatass an unbelievable amount of pain and suffering, MUAHAHA!"

(Scary.)

14...13...12...11...10...9...

"Besides, I doubt we'll lose in the first place."

Glass marveled at Aria's confidence, "How so? I've no doubt your good, but I'm not all that experienced in PvP combat."

"Call it women's intuition, a man like you, as attractive as you are, wouldn't know about it."

"Haha, yea..."

8...7...6...5...4...3...2...1...0!

Each of the four players drew their weapons and jumped back towards their comrade. It almost looked like a coordinated gymnastics events. Glass drew his Fang Sword while Aria pulled from her back a large claymore. Opposite of them, Donner pulled out two hand axes while Minerva whispered a word and summoned a long sword made of dark magic presumably because of one of her special skills. 

Next to Glass, Aria mumbled the name of a special skill, "Gale Cut." She quickly slashed her sword horizontally at her opponents and a sharp wind screamed off. However, as she did that, she pulled on Glass' arm and pushed him into the forceful wind while whispering just loud enough for him to hear, "Ride the wind and take out the Dark Elf or at least keep her busy until I finish off the fatass!"

Nodding as he was pushed away, Glass literally rode the arc of wind that moved towards their opponent's position. 

"Check it out! He's ridin' the wind!" "That's pretty rare to see, but it's possible."

Minerva clicked her tongue and yelled, "Dark Blades!" Dark Blades was the same skill that granted her original long sword.

She used it again and summoned many more dark swords that crowded around her arm until it looked like a hunchbacked porcupine. Out of excitement, she nearly drained her entire mana pool in creating the swords. She thrust forward with her numerous swords in Glass' direction closed her eyes in reflex towards the speeding wind. 

Glass definitely saw himself getting painfully skewered until he decided something dangerous was in order. Gritting his teeth, he was just barely able to recite the name of his newest skill, "Lunge Leap! C'mon let's DO THIS AWESOMELY!" Glass accelerated into the air, and with the added speed and momentum, nothing could match his speed. It would take a whole lot of luck to be able to land safely exactly where he wanted, and luck he had.

Silence purveyed the audience as they stared dumbstruck at the result: Glass spread eagle above Minerva as if he was freefalling from an airplane, and his short sword piercing Minerva's face. The damage from the stab and the Gale Cut along drained her health down to a little above ten points, the momentum forcing her down to the ground and smacking her head against the pavement took the rest of her health away and she instantly respawned at the nearest church. Glass, out of sheer luck managed to front flip as he touched the ground and rolled forward until he stopped his momentum with his feet resulting in a perfect landing. 

"Holy shit... That's beyond lucky at that point!"

One audience member just barely managed to utter that out.

The entire time, Donner was just as dumbstruck at the awesome spectacle and failed to see Aria's incoming attack. 

Aria, being the only one unfazed, slashed downwards with her claymore, ripping past what little armor the Dwarf had and pressed a palm against his chest and said, "Volcano Palm." 

Like a point blank shotgun blast, Donner went flying into the side of the closest building on the other side of the street as a clump of fire shaped like a palm hit him in the heart.

"And followed by a Piercing Bolt!" Aria aimed the tip of her claymore at Donner and fired off a sharp icicle that pinned the Dwarf to the building' wall.

Unable to react, Donner slammed into the building and found himself attached to the wall before his health depleted and respawned to the nearest church.

"I GOT THAT ALL RECORDED! TO THE INTERNET IT GOES!" After those words, cheering erupted from all sides of the audience as they celebrated the victory of Glass and Aria. 

"Hmm, let's get out of here, teleport up!" Before the crowds could overwhelm them, Aria latched on to Glass' shoulder and teleported out.

...

"Eh what?"

"Short range teleportation is a player moderator exclusive ability. So basically, I'm being paid to play this game."

Aria and Glass had teleported into one of Castle Port's numerous inns, one that Aria just happened to have rented a room in.

"Oh wait, NOW I remember you... You're the nice lade that helped me when I was creating this character!" Glass enthusiastically pointed at Aria with two fingers.

"That makes me feel old..."

"Oh, sorry, you're actually probably just a year or two older than I am so no biggie."

As if a predator eyeing its prey, Aria stared at Glass warmly. Her eyes seemed to bore holes directly into his body. "Now what's a handsome specimen like you doing out here?" 

"Playing the game, I guess." Glass nervously sipped the drink he ordered.

Whispering to herself quietly, Aria said, "He's quite dense..." Then speaking out loud, she said, "A normal answer, hmmm? Well, I'm here because I want to get to know better the cute guy I was fighting just now. That was an amazing move you pulled off, any girl would want to get their hands on you after that."

"Really?" Glass asked, clearly misunderstanding what Aria said. "What do you mean?"

However, as Glass misunderstood, Aria took it as a sign of playing coy. Usually the girl played coy, but she found it unbearably attractive, especially when coupled with Glass' looks. "I meant for you to glide along my Gale Cut and keep her busy... I didn't expect you to take advantage and leap forward with your own skill and take her out so easily. Even though this is a virtual reality game, you can't even see stunts like that actually helping without assistance. And you perfectly landed too!"

"I was just lucky."

"Modesty and you go well together, but you shouldn't be modest about that. Even if you did have a high luck stat, that would be tough to pull off. You really impressed me, and I like it when a hot guy like you impresses me." Aria flirted nonchalantly.

"Ah, thanks."

Aria couldn't tell if he was playing hard to get or not, but whatever it was, he was playing the game well. Time to get forward... "I purchased a private room in this inn, quite a spacious one too. Come join me for a little bit, or a long bit, upstairs." Aria smiled seductively as that connotations to her words finally got across to Glass.

(Wait, is she asking me to...)

Rebellions is a game for teenagers and adults. However, some of the content is purely adult oriented, like alcohol and drug use (it is impossible to get addicted and the effects to many drugs can be detrimental or beneficial to your in game character). However, there was also one big feature to the game which attracted a more perverted cliente, sex. Players are unable to enjoy the act or do anything related to sexual acts like getting naked in public and must be done within the confines of a private room or property. Of course, like in game alcohol, it is impossible for an underage player to engage in the act. Many players, especially couples, took advantage of the capabilities. However, as this was a virtual reality game, it was like experiencing sex with your own body, so it was not like players went into a lust driven frenzy.

(I'm a girl... Well, I'm a guy in game; I don't even know how this works! ) "Uh, but I-"

"Uh-uh. I'm not going to let a tease like you get away now, let's go!" Aria pulled Glass by one arm and nonchalantly dragged him upstairs.

Unable to comprehend what exactly was occurring and what may soon happen, Glass' mind was overloaded with thoughts. It's not that he didn't find Aria attractive, as he was interested in both persuasions. It was the mere fact that he wasn't a guy outside of Rebellions. He was the game's sole player who was playing a character opposite of his real gender, a girl. How those who were hermaphroditic were handled, he had no idea. All he did know was that he was being dragged into a romp with Aria where he had to use gear he was never equipped with in the first place.

(I wonder how it would feel) Glass found himself caving in to the temptation. It was an online game after all, it's not like he had to meet Aria outside in real life. (It would definitely be an interesting experience, and I never got anywhere with Petres... So why not?) Glass mulled it over in his mind, but he soon fell in to the perverted suggestion of using his new man parts to engage in man's natural desire to mate. (Other than pushing it in, all I got to do is what I do normally when I'm with a girl. I can do that!)

Now that he thought about it, Glass had never gotten a good look at his body without clothes or armor on. She had only seen his player model that time when he first created it, so now was a good chance to get a little more acquainted...

Glass followed Aria until they reached the inside of the room she had purchased. Wooden walls, floor, and ceiling were all that adorned the sides except for a single window and several landscape paintings. 

"Now, I may be playing this game on account of work, but that doesn't mean I can't indulge in the local flavor." Aria brushed her head and cat-like ears. 

Glass took in the full visage that is Aria: A rather pretty, if not sultry, player with thin fur like a cat and other features that a feline would own. On her head she had pointed ears that twitched with excitement, a little pink nose, dark blue narrowed eyes, and even whiskers. On her entire body was a thin set of fur tinted blue. As Glass and Aria began slowly stripping themselves of the heavier armor, Glass saw some of Aria's other interesting physical features. 

(Jeez, she's much bigger than me in real life...) Glass noted as he observed Aria pull aside her breastplate. Though he couldn't get a good idea of the size through the undershirt, Glass estimated she was at least a D cup.

"Hmm, so you like 'em big, do you?" Aria turned her smile from a sarcastic sweetness into something more lascivious. "I like them this way too. Since you're obviously going to be doing more than just seeing, go to town."

Glass, who was now free of his leather armor and now in a loose fitting shirt and worn pants, formed a thrilled face and went along with Aria's suggestion.

Upon seeing Glass' expression, Aria laughed softly. "No matter how handsome the guy, they will always get this way upon seeing a good pair of tits, especially mine♪."

Glass approached the confident Aria, who was rightfully so, and wasted no time in placing his hands on top of her breasts. 

Even through the fabric, Glass could feel the warmth from her bosom. Aria's feline fur even extended to her voluminous orbs, save for the sweet center. 

Glass didn't knead too roughly or softly. He firmly pressed his fingers down as if feeling Aria's breasts through the fabric, or more accurately, as if the fabric never existed at all. Glass felt up Aria, slightly envious with her for the size of her chest. 

"Eh, I prefer to have my meal served this way." Glass intentionally used a corny line as he flashed another one of his smooth smiles. He pushed he hands under Aria's shirt and lifted the fabric while resting his face against the lovely flesh.

"Ah!" A shrill squeal that didn't befit the Catfolk player left her lips as she felt skilled hands ravish her chest.

Originally, Aria didn't even mean to go this far, it wasn't like she slept with a decent looking player every so often. If it wasn't for Glass' unintentional charming behavior, she doubted that she would even go anywhere. There was something about him, aside from looks, that just drew Aria too the High Elf player.

Aria, while shivering from the movements of Glass' hands, lifted her shirt off of her body and tossed it to the floor. She did the same with Glass, taking away his loose shirt. She admired the body underneath. A player model closely resembles what a person looks like in real life, though doing away with inherently unattractive attributes (with the player's permission) like weight, though there was always a physical reminder of their weight so as to decrease the chances of level one Reality Break. So it was without a doubt that Glass, who didn't show a hint of excessive fat, was taking care of his body.




Reality Break Ch. 03



Glass owned a smooth chest free of hair and visible outlines of all the prominent muscles. Now all he needed to know was how he checked out down below...

Glass moved his lips down to Aria's breasts, gracefully licking the tips of both nipples. He cupped the breasts underneath and held them aloft at eyes view as he knelt down for better access. Soon after, Glass gently bit down on the left nub and rolled it around in his lips. On the other side, Glass simultaneously pinched Aria's other nipple before moving back to the large orb before his hand.

"Oh my, you're doing great right there. Yessss..." The last word seemed to slither out of Aria like steam as she felt herself grow increasingly aroused. She lifted her foot and pressed it against Glass' crotch, pleasantly surprised to find someone hard and ready. "Looks like someone's little elf wants some action!♪"

(Eh, they call it that too? God, it feels so weird!) And rightfully so since Glass, who actually wasn't a man, was feeling the pleasure of a man for the first time in his life. Even though the stimulation wasn't much, the raw feeling proved potent enough for Glass to jolt upright and softly whimper. 

"Now that's a cute reaction there. It makes me want to tease you so much more, or I would if I didn't need it as badly as you." Aria flashed a slightly scary smile as she considered the prospect of teasing Glass a little longer, but as she said, she also needed it quite badly. And there was a very hot guy right here willing to give it to her.

(I'll need to summon all my willpower to not release too early. God, it feels so flipping weird... Good, but weird.) Glass kissed along Aria's neck who returned the favor with her wet tongue on his earlobe. 

The pants and underwear of both of them seemed to slip away thanks to the friction and sweat from rubbing their bodies together. Fueled by a new form of lust, Glass groped every part of Aria's body, making sure that it wasn't just groping but massaging as well. Somehow, Glass was able to keep enough of his rationale safe in order to give back the same amount of pleasure Aria gave him.

A solid two minutes passed until both parties had no remaining garments and were staring at each other's body while in a loose embrace. 

"Seriously, do you realize just how hot of a body you've got?" Aria complimented Glass honestly. Even though High Elves was a naturally attractive player race, no one could be this good looking without being so in real life.

Glass took the compliment in stride with a shrug, closed eyes, and a smile. "Well, I have to say the same about you. You can probably make any race in this game look good. Though I have to you you're quite good looking already!" 

"A smooth talker, aren't you? I can't stand it anymore, I'm putting it INNNN!" Aria pushed her body up in the air and lined up her dripping entryway with Glass' cock. 

Glass had to say that he looked good even down there. While his interesting penis wasn't abnormally big, it had to at least be a good 20 centimeters (little below eight inches). Glass also had a nice toned butt with some decently muscular legs below him. 

However, as he felt his weird shaft enter Aria's snatch, he felt a brand new sensation that he literally had never felt before. A wet wall constricted around his cock tightly the further it went into Aria's pussy. It felt completely different from being penetrated, that was literally all Glass could think about. Mustering a good deal of strength, Glass lifted Aria's body into the air until only the head remained inside and plopped her back down, repeating the procedure for a good while. He stared salaciously at the sight of him nearly bottoming out each time he lowered Aria's body down and thrust into her pussy. Each hard thrust he sent her way allowed his cock to push in a little deeper each time until he finally managed to lower Aria's luscious butt down to the base of his shaft.

This entire time Glass could feel Aria's legs wrapped around his back, forcing their bodies together. He could feel the player's large breasts push into his chest as they squeezed tighter together. He formed a good grip on Aria's ass and bounced her even more wildly as the two found various spots on their partner's body to kiss. Even though she was a Catfolk player and had thin fur covering her body, Aria didn't look remotely disgusting in Glass' eyes and even stole her lips a couple times. He worked his tongue into her mouth whenever and felt the rough tongue lick back as they exchanged saliva.

At this point, Glass was at a loss on what to do other than keep pounding his strange appendage into Aria's ravishing body. He was worried that he wasn't doing enough to get Aria off, but that didn't seem to be a problem as Aria screamed rather loudly.

She had her arms and legs wrapped around Glass' body as she allowed her body to be thoroughly fucked by the handsome High Elf player. "HOLY HOT DAMN! I'M FUCKING CUMMING!"

The strangely abrupt, outright, and... Strange proclamation surprised Glass, but he grunted in response and said, "I'll return the favor soonnn. I d-definitely can't last... Much longer!" 

Aria whimpered and nodded past Glass' shoulders with shut eyes and a blissful face. Glass could feel her big tits bounce and rub along his skin each time she bounced on his crotch. Below them they stained the virtual bed sheets with their juices.

"T-then let me encourage you!" Aria pulled her head back and smiled the complete opposite of the definition of sweet.

Glass widened his eyes as he felt the walls around his cock clamp down and milk his shaft for whatever was inside. It took him only ten seconds, ten seconds that seemed to last an eternity, for his to blow his load.

Though they couldn't see it, Glass poured rope after rope of that special male sauce into Aria's deepest part of her nether region. As it was a VR game, neither had to worry about birth control, so there was that bonus as well. Aria must have came again one she felt Glass push a large amount of his sticky semen into her pussy, and eventually, her womb.

He marveled at the strange, but sensational, feeling that was the male orgasm for the first time. He cussed numerous times within his head as he relished the full force of the pleasurable feeling that wracked his mind.

Pulling out of Aria's quivering snatch, but refusing to let go of his partner, Glass breathed heavily as he tried to process what happened. Aria who was just as reluctant as Glass just hummed and gently patted him on the head.

"I'll need to add you to my friend's list. You're far too interesting to leave my sights now.♪" Aria smiled widely and simply pushed Glass' head into her cleavage.

"Ah ha... Hahaha." Glass could only laugh as he continued to feel the aftereffects of his first time climaxing as a male.

-

"Hmm, maybe I'll see you again some other time. Perhaps a nice date outside of the game?♪"

"Uh, yea, I'll have to pass. Although it's not because I dislike you or anything."

Glass and Aria were dressing up and saying their goodbyes. Glass was quite embarrassed and blush a little bit each time his eyes came into contact with Aria's arousing genitalia. Aria took note of that and put her body in a seductive pose every chance she could.

"I at least convinced you to add me to your friends list, so I'm fine anyways."

"Yea, it would be good to talk to you again."

"Oh? Are you sure you want to just talk?"

"Uh..."

"Don't worry, I'm not that kind of girl... Except when a cute guy like you is involved, and especially you. Otherwise, goodbye for now as well."

"Goodbye milady!" Glass regained his vigor and bowed before turning around and walking away before Aria had a chance to tease him again.

It was only when he was halfway across the street the inn was located on when he finally remembered where he originally saw Aria. "That's right! She was the person who helped me create a character... But then if that was the case, wouldn't she know I was actually a girl? Well, whatever, she didn't say anything if she knew."

A voice appeared in his head, which was the case whenever another player began a private chat. 

'Glass, I think we found another guy to join us.' Blossom's melodic voice appeared within Glass' head as she spoke to him.

'Really, what is he? Is he awesome? Oh he's got to be awesome if he's going to join the Magnificent Seven!' Glass spoke back. To other watching him, it would look like he was talking to himself, at least until they realized it was a private chat.

'He's a male Wolfkin Guardian, a full warrior classification. Scarlet went somewhere I don't know, so Song and I decided to watch one more battle until we gave up for now and we saw a one on one fight in one of the smaller arenas and this guy showed up.'

'What did he do to impress you? I mean, a cute girl like you would be hard to impress after all.'

Glass didn't see it, but his nonchalant compliment caused Blossom to blush madly on the other side of the chat. 'Hu, um, he got through his fight without taking a single blow, even with the other guy's weird special skills. Song managed to catch him after the fight before any other groups got him and he seems interested in joining us!'

'Heck yea! I'm heading right over!'

'The Wolfkin guy promised to meet us tomorrow, so don't get your hopes up. I sent Scarlet a message saying to reconvene at this inn tomorrow, the Jester's Knee. So Song, Scarlet, the Guardian guy, you and I will all meet there tomorrow.'

Glass checked the time: it was ten to seven at night. 'Yea, I should get off soon. I'll be able to make it tomorrow, but I have a few shifts of work the next few days, not long ones at least.'

'Oh... Then I'll see you tomorrow.'

Glass thought he heard a tinge of melancholy in those words. 'Hey, let's have some dinner before I get off, I'll pay.'

'Yes!'

-

"You're not shittin' with me here?"

"You wish I'd do a fetish that disgusting. No, I'm not, the virus AI is definitely in Castle Port, first major town I entered too! The circle got all buggy like you said it would once it got too small the moment I got to Castle Port (though I didn't check the map until after I hung out in the city first)."

"Right, it will be hard to cover Castle Port all by yourself, sooooo... Good luck!"

"WAIT A DAMN SECOND RIKTOR! At least give me a little bit of help here, you can't honestly expect a single person to scour a city for a virus AI that looks and acts like another player."

"You're right, and I'm kidding. We can't spare everyone, so there will be at least eight more player moderators and two company administrators coming to help, happy?"

"I'll be damn happy when you give me a damn raise!"

"Eh? Is that Hagdorf calling me name? I'll be just a second Hags! Oh I'm terribly sorry. We'll have to handle that request of yours another time. Bye now!"

"Rat bastard... Well, at least I met, and did, that cute guy today. If only I had a boyfriend like that..."

-

"I wondered what happened... You did that without any orders. Strange, ONE didn't program a function for you to utilize the breakdown with that weird motivation." A man stood in front of a beautiful red-haired girl and was accessing a virtual keypad and monitor in front of her. 

"I see, for the purposes of blending in you took a designation more natural for this environment... You're quite efficient in that category, Scarlet." The man rubbed his head, pondering many things in his head. "Well, I see no harm in the name, might as well let you keep it."

Scarlet remained motionless. Whether she could hear what the man was saying or not, she showed no signs. 

"You making that one kid get level 3 Reality Break, that wasn't intended at all... I've been looking all over this game for you. Well, we were going to have you do it eventually. Hell, go crazy and make a hundred people go crazy, I'm fine with that." The man sighed and looked at Scarlet. "The heck am I doing? Talking to a damn AI like she can understand whatever I'm saying. Alright, let's have you break down one more person tonight..."

-

In a certain hospital of a small Asian country, there lay two children.

These children, a boy and girl, were quite young and couldn't have been more than eleven or twelve years old. These children were also twins and had an older brother who cared about them deeply.

However, those two children were not lying down on the hospital beds for fun. They were strapped into the normal hospital gear that monitored their heart rate and other important information. They also had the specialized IV fluids that catered to certain genetic conditions the twins shared. The children were also not lying down on the beds because of that very genetic condition, they were suffering from a mental disorder known as level two Reality Break.

Their genetic condition, which was actually not known about before their admittance into the hospital, made their minds more sensitive to virtual reality, or in layman's terms, they felt it more. By chance, the two kids were engaging in a virtual reality game their brother owned, only to end up suffering from level two Reality Break after finishing. 

They children no longer saw themselves as what they originally were, but what they played as in the game. They ceased to become siblings to their brother who took care of them. 

Obviously the hospital bills to keep them hooked up to the machines were quite expensive. However, the twin's guardian, their brother, was given the option to use the children as research material for the brand new genetic phenomena. Unable to pay for the bills himself, the brother could only agree.

Like many patients in a coma, they had the option of entering virtual reality to speak with relatives and doctors, however, that was not the case with those who suffered from level two Reality Break. Those who suffered from it were only able to take on the persona of what they believe they are, until the day that they snap out of it and return to normal life. As of now, not a single person who has suffered from level two Reality Break has been able to.

"Hey there..." An Asian man who was at least twenty years old, walked into the hospital room. He silently strode over to a solitary stool between the two beds which had been there since the last time he visited. Placing an arm on both of the children's' shoulders, he stared up at the ceiling and said, "I made some new friends today on that new game I've told you about."

He looked to his left to find his younger brother and then to his right to his younger sister. "They're all interesting people. Especially the group leader, he's just as fun as I am!" The young man smiled and continued, "Well, first off there's a pretty red haired girl named Scarlet. She's super fast and skilled, I only got to see her fight a little and I know she's good. She seems quiet and unapproachable at first, but I can definitely tell she enjoys our group." The man looked at his little sister who seemed to smile the more he spoke. "Then there's another girl named Blossom, she's great mage who loves her lightning. It's pretty obvious, but she's fallen for our group leader. Other than that, she's like our main strategist who plans everything; you will love her when you meet her someday." Then he nudged his little brother's shoulder. "And you will be a big fan of this guy, our group leader Glass-Nim! He has to be an American supermodel or something. I mean, wherever I went with this guy, ALL of the female players swooned after him. You should've seen the looks of all the girls when they saw Blossom and Scarlet talking with him so easily. Even I was looked upon with envy! Despite all that, he does not seem to keep the stares in mind or let it go to his head. He is a really honest guy and understands... Everything."

A doctor walked into the room, a nice older lady who seemed rather flustered with work. "Ah, you are..."

"Song Ha-Sup."

"Right, you're their guardian, some college people are coming in to perform some more research."

"It won't harm them, right?"

"Of course not, they would never harm research subjects."

"Purely because they are research subjects... Yea, I get it, not because they are my little brother and sister."

Song Ha-Sup walked to both of his siblings and kissed them on the forehead before saying goodnight and I'll see you again soon to each one. With a grim smile, he took one last look at them and left.



Reality Break Ch. 04



Note: This chapter had several hindrances including me being sick for a week, receiving a cut on my eye (hurt like a bitch for a day and it's fine the next), and of course Christmas in which I find great Christmas joy in shooting carolers with super soakers. Otherwise, in lieu of a long wait, this chapter is several thousand words longer than I wished, but whatevs. Also because it's a longer chapter than usual, there will be a mistake here and there, though please bear with me. In the end, please enjoy the chapter.

Reality Break Ch. 4 – Rambunctious Subterfuge

"And how is school treating you, Glasie?"

"Rather well this year, much better than the previous. I really like the classes and people I'm involved with."

"I should hope so, culinary school doesn't sound boring. It's probably a fun place to learn in."

"Well, like all schools, it has its up and downs. About a week ago, someone was improvising a sort of soufflé. It looked good and all, but the moment he cut into it, it literally exploded and molten chocolate got on my arms."

"Fffff, ouch, sounds painful."

Glasie nodded in agreement as she rubbed her arms. Right now, she was talking to her mother via a PT device with video chat. Though using a VT would provide better quality and resolution than the mobile PTs, the physical terminal just happened to be close by.

"It wasn't serious; I recovered easily thanks to the efficient burn treatment available at school. Also, my teacher, Atoine Augousto got selected into the finals for a prestigious competition back in France. I think it's called the Meilleur... Something. Well he got into the finals for the M.O.F of Pastries. Anyway, how about your work?

"The usual, though we made a massive sale to another corporation called ONE."

"I've never heard of them..."

"I doubt you would, they're a fairly small business, though it has the money to back them up. ONE apparently stands for Original and Neoteric Electronics. They bought a large quantity of MHs the other day, and of our new Demi-5 line of MHs. You know how MHs are looking more and more like humans everyday thanks to some innovations, and we put the latest of those on our most advanced line of MH yet, the Demi-Human 5 Robot."

"Oh yea, those came out recently, about a month or two ago. (Around the same time Rebellions came out)" Glasie scratched behind her ears as she pondered the coincidence.

"Why don't you get an MH? I'll give you a big discount since you're direct family. Our new Demi-5 is really convenient, it'll help you make meals, do chores, shopping, chauffer you around, and it can even take care of OTHER needs, hahaha."

"Mom... No."

"Eh, what?"

"Just... No."

"Haha, well, good luck in school and class as always!" Glasie's mother cheerfully laughed as she blew off her daughter's condescending remarks. Her mother made those sorts of jokes far too often for Glasie's taste.

Her mother's image on the physical terminal vanished and returned to the main menu for video chatting service. 

"Ah, so tired from a straight shift at work from class. That's right; I made an appointment to meet everyone and another person to convince him to join our group. Though he wouldn't agree to meet us if he wasn't interesting in the first place, would he? Ah, whatever." Glasie stretched out her limbs as she moved herself to her bed.

On a shelf close by, there rest the Red Set VR system she had won from the contest. Connected to the red box was a slim and flimsy looking wire that was actually made with a sturdy and flexible material. "God, balancing this, school, and work is annoying. Though they've taken a slight dip, my grades are more or less the same and my body always seems to feel rested enough even after I use the VR system."

Glasie's two pet ferrets danced around in a pile of socks which she lazily stripped from her feet. "I haven't been paying enough attention to you guys... I've got a good hour left until I meet my group, so why not?"

Her two pet ferrets, Sock and Kitty perked their heads up and dashed around in seemingly random directions upon their owner's arrival as if in glee.

-

"Hey guys, did you hear?" Asked a fairly high-pitched, male, and authoritarian voice.

"'Bout what?" The one who replied spoke lazily as the person was utilizing a VT. The person, being a she, snorted a small amount of air out of her nose as she noticed she was using a virtual terminal device inside a virtual reality game. It was small bit of irony.

"There was another occurrence of level three Reality Break, and it came from a guy in our guild." The male stared dumbstruck as he mouthed off the article he was reading. "There's a picture of the guy and I definitely see that raggedy face of Donner there. Besides, he's just as short too."

"That's in really poor taste, Exi..." The girl scrunched her face in derision, "Well, he wasn't a good guy; he really annoying and mean actually."

"I heard the other day, while we were all recruiting, that he and Minerva got in a two v two duel with someone he pissed off."

"Did he and Minerva lose?"

"Yup, and in less than ten seconds too. I watched a recording of it that went viral on the internet and they were up against a Duelist and a Battlemage, with the Duelist being level 16 and the mage being around level 25. Though in fairness, the sheer speed in which their opponents began their attack, and the massive luck involved, overwhelmed them. They could barely register what was happening in the first place."

Suddenly, with a small blip, a guild wide announcement window appeared before them.

"Whoa, is Daison really doing this? Isn't that rather rash?"

"I have no clue what's going on, but... Wow."

Just like the two, many more that were in the same guild were fascinated and amazed at the reasoning behind what the message said. It called for the removal of Minerva and Donner from the guild. 

-

"I'm hungry, I'm thirsty, I'm tired, I wanna eat some candy... Blossom? What's wrong? *gasp* Don't tell me you also want some candy? Can I borrow some money?"

Glass, at the moment was doing his best to tease his friend inside the virtual reality game, Rebellions. She happened to mention just how nice and amiable some kids could be, and Glass decided to prove her how wrong she was. It was not that Glass hated children or disliked them, far from it. However, since Glass was the oldest sibling of a nuclear family consisting of five, and having quite a few younger cousins, Glass was quite used to the frivolous and generally unbearable behaviors of younger children. 

Blossom smiled wryly, "You have the strangest sense of humor."

"I'll take that as a compliment."

"You should, because you never fail to cheer me up and make me laugh." Blossom went from a sarcastic smile to a sincere one. Being a member of the Undine race of Elves in the game, her face seemed to shimmer like a fresh pool of water. In fact, it seemed as if the area around here glowed like a star reflected in that same pool of water. 

Blossom, upon realizing the implications of her words, blushed and averted her eyes from Glass' piercing gaze.

"I'm great, aren't I? Just say when you need Glass to cheer you or someone else up!"

Blossom blinked and regained her composure. It was very hard to do so when you were the companion of probably the most handsome player in the game. After all, if he looked this good in-game, and the player's model closely resembled what they looked like outside of Rebellions, Glass could quite possibly own competition level looks. And that wasn't all. Blossom still couldn't believe that Glass was this great personality wise. Though she was merely going along with the positives, Blossom could only fantasize about what could happen, as she would never be able to fulfill the dream many young girls had of getting married.

"It seems I must being my work already... Shall I tell a corny joke? It'll be a-maize-ing!" Glass, with all attempts in being serious, spouted out the worst joke he knew, fully intent on making Blossom laugh.

He succeeded.

Minutes later, Glass and Blossom arrived at their destination, an inn strangely named the Jester's Knee. They agreed to meet there in order to persuade another player to join their group. Both were fairly confident he would join, as why would he go to the trouble to meeting them a second time if he wasn't? Song Ha-Sup wasn't on at the moment, though a quick message via an in-game VT said he would be on shortly. 

Scarlet was apparently offline as well. While that seemed normal for Blossom, since she thought the brilliant red haired player was simply another player, it was anything but for Glass. He alone knew Scarlet's true nature, as a virus artificial intelligence. So far in the world, no person, company, or group had been able to develop an AI, or an artificial intelligence. An AI referred to only what was thought possible in fiction, a sentient artificial intelligence. While Glass wasn't certain if Scarlet truly was an AI or not, his gut feeling knew it to be so. 

(I sure hope you're okay, Scarlet...)

...

Inside the Jester's Knee tavern was quite a number of characters. Perhaps they were drawn by the virtual establishment's odd name. 

On one table, a couple of players were playing a game of cards they called, "Cheat Without Getting Caught". Two other players were competing to see who would stop hitting their head against a wooden pillar. And then there was quite possibly the strangest group of all, consisting of a High Elf, Undine, Tiefling, and a newcomer Wolfkin. It wasn't the racial diversity of the players that could be considered strange. It was the sheer effect each of their unique personalities had on one another.

"Just like that, you'll join our group for the long term?" Glass asked.

"Sure." Replied the Wolfkin player. The large player, as the majority of all Wolfkin players were, had introduced himself with the moniker of Coolidge, after the 30th president of the USA (though the country no longer calls itself that). 

"Um, we saw it yesterday, but can you assure us that you're a very competent tank? Also, how does the Guardian classification work with that role?" Blossom, apparently taking on the role of the brains of the group, decided to gather information about their new teammate. 

"Well... Guardian's use heavy armor and pole weaponry. I'm very good at negating projectiles with said weapon. In a one on one fight... I'll win. Fighting in a team, I'll be fine with a good healer." Coolidge's voice seemed dry and less than lively.

"Don't worry my good lad, I, Song Ha-Sup, shall heal you with perfection! A true Blood Savant never allows his comrades to go without being at their peak fighting condition!" Song proudly thumped his chest and thrust his other arm towards the ceiling in an overly dramatic way. Accompanying Song's drama was Glass with a vigorously nodding head and cheerful eyes followed by Blossom that cowered from the oncoming gazes in the tavern by scooting closer to Glass.

Coolidge scrunched his eyebrows in a confused face before nodding. 

"Now that we've got our meat shield, all we need is a good melee fighter with a DPS focus and one more whose position can vary... Right, Blossom?" Glass turned his head to Blossom, who at the moment was very close to his body.

Now noticing the distance between herself and Glass, Blossom blushed and separated herself before responding. "Y-yes, though I would like to try to do some sort of group dungeon or boss fight before we get a full group in order to see what we need exactly."

"Why, I bet it doesn't even MATTER what we go up against. With Glass-Nim's magnificent sword skills, Lady Blossom's arcane mastery over lightning, the indomitable Scarlet's fearsome speed, our new friend, the stoic Coolidge and his without a doubt there skills, and last but not least, I, SONG HA-SUP who is known as the greatest Blood Savant of the ages can surely take on any challenge!" Then after giving a thoughtful look, "However, I suppose being prudent is also a worthy course of action."

Coolidge curled he wolfish mouth and snout. "I have a suggestion."

"Really?"

"There's an out of the way cave where I first started playing... Near Sibling Lakes. It has powerful monsters and probably a boss or two close to our level range." In order to show everyone, Coolidge pulled out a VT with his personal map out for his fellow teammates to see. He zoomed in on an area where two large lakes appeared with slivers with a small sliver of land between the two. "These two lakes are modeled after the two deepest lakes in North America, the Great Slave Lake and Crater Lake. There are two underwater entrances to the cave I found... Most players won't look underwater for a cave system like this. At the time, I was too low leveled though to get very far."

"That sounds perfect; this is a good find, Coolidge. Though I think, just in case, we should get a sixth team member before we head there...? Oh, Scarlet is back online. Let's meet up with her and introduce you to her, Coolidge. We'll also tell her of our new plan: Find a sixth team member and head to the underwater dungeon at Sibling Lakes."

Coolidge blinked with a blank look on his face. As he was a Wolfkin player, it was hard for Glass to discern any emotion other than confusion from the player's face. 

"Ah, I forgot something, something important." Glass clapped his hands together in absolute horror as he remembered what exactly he forgot.

"Huh? What did you forget?" Genuine worry came from Blossom.

"I forgot... I forgot that I really am hungry."

"Uh-" "As expected!" "..." Each of Glass' teammates reacted uniquely.

-

A girl's eyes were opened. They opened to the sight of a man passing by with a pan of freshly baked bread. Though the crisp smell that wafted over to her told her it was real, it was obviously not. 

Anything that seemed real to her could not truly exist except in a simulated reality.

After all, she was, in the end, a computer program, albeit a very complex one.

Scarlet shook her head, dissolving the groggy feeling the game's virtual fatigue away from herself. Normally, a program like her wouldn't even register normal physical feelings, yet she registered just that. Scarlet couldn't comprehend just how this could happen in the first place since she first appeared in that forest.

Wandering the forest, she came upon him, Glass. She wasn't sure what to think after he offered to be her friend. She wasn't sure about anything at all. Scarlet then soon became friends with a girl named Blossom and eventually another man named Song Ha-Sup. And supposedly, everyone was supposed to meet a new member of their team today.

Wait a second...

(As far as I know, I don't have the capabilities to leave the game or even sleep. I can wait for prolonged periods of time, but I'm always conscious of my doing so.)

Scarlet surveyed her surroundings. She was in the same general area as yesterday, the bustling metropolis of Castle Port. Numerous players went about their business while there were also a few NPCs doing their part as normal townspeople. 

Scarlet rubbed her stomach. (It seems that I require more sustenance.) Although when a player ate food via a virtual experience, it was obvious that their real body did not receive the food. Scarlet was slightly different regarding that matter. She and Glass discovered that in order for her, for lack of a better term, "survive" she needed to eat food and partake in liquids. Fatigue did not affect her nor did she require sleep which seemed odd since other basic needs for life affected her.

'Scarlet? Where were you?' And there was Glass talking to her via private chat. 

Not wasting any time, Scarlet replied back. 'The map places me in Colto Street, near the Hollow Hospital.'

On the other side of the chat, Glass processed the two landmarks. Of course he hadn't memorized the name of every landmark in the game, which would take no less than a several thousand page encyclopedia. Still, he checked the map and soon found Scarlet's relative location.

'Geez, you're on the other side of Castle Port. How did you get there?'

'I don't... Know'

'Eh? How does that work out? I mean, you're an AI program, we know that... So how did you get from one area to another?'

'...'

Glass led the investigation between the two as he took Scarlet's silence as the go ahead first. 'It definitely wasn't another player, you can't initiate player versus player combat without both sides consenting. We learned that you can't go unconscious without you being able to register anything that happens to you. Really, the only explanation I see is that something in your programming, or the person/group that programmed you did something.'

Glass' purposely recited his words in an ominous tone that fit him entirely. 

Scarlet stood entirely still more out of a decision that moving at all was pointless. 'I see, that is very much possible. If that is the case, I will most likely unable to refuse official commands given by my protocol and programming.'

'We have no choice but to worry about that then... I trust you, Scarlet; you would never do anything bad, especially not against your friends!'

Scarlet stared ahead emotionlessly, though a small smile made its presence known and it was filled with peculiar warmth. To anyone who just happened to look at her face just now saw nothing out of the ordinary, just a pretty girl smiling. To Glass, if he was able to see it, he would surely be surprised.

'Well, Scarlet, meet us around half way at... The Solemn Orarrium, I'll introduce you to our tank, Coolidge and we will also be looking for a sixth team member. Once we get our sixth, we'll be heading to a secret dungeon Coolidge knows of.'

'Yes, Glass.'

The private chat window disappeared and Scarlet immediately set forth for the Orarrium. However, Scarlet didn't make three steps before someone stood before her.

"Yea... This is definitely it. I found the virus right off that bat, lucky me." The voice belonged to a male High Elf player accompanied by a male Orc player. Scarlet searched her memory banks but saw neither of them.

"What do we do now? Aria is the head of this force, shall we report to her?" The Orc player asked his comrade.

"Heck no, why do that when we can get an obvious bonus and prestige from reporting directly to Riktor with the virus in tow?"

"That's obviously not a safe option-" The Orc was cut off by his comrade.

"HEY, dumbass, Aria is a complete frigid bitch. If we report back to her of our success, there's no way she won't take all the credit for herself."

The Orc sighed and shrugged.

"You two seem to be under the misunderstanding that I will be going with you."

"Obviously... Hey, the virus is talking to us, creepy."

"I understand the implications behind your sentence and I find it rude."

"Hey, get Riktor on the line; I'll subdue the virus... It's getting strange."

Scarlet watched the High Elf player pull out a wicked harpoon. Like most harpoons, it was roughly a meter long from haft to tip. Instead of one, the harpoon had two hooks which were situated at a ninety degree angle from one another and both were barbed. In his other hand, he had a round shield similar to the ones Vikings wielded.

"I don't think he'll mind if I cripple it."

"Be careful, Dussel, we have little information on the virus' capabilities." Warned the Orc player to his ally, Dussel.

"Pf, what can it do? It's just a computer program, it's not like it has any decent programming in it." Dussel stated arrogantly.

With that, Dussel thrust his harpoon without warning with alarming speed. He nearly caught Scarlet off guard, thankfully her unnatural reflexes saved her and she moved her body aside. As she did so, she pulled out her dual knives. 




Reality Break Ch. 04



Ever since she joined Glass' group, they made it a point to improve her gear, not that she cared much. As of now, she had equipped a set of magical werebear leather armor which improved each her perception, luck, and agility by a fair bit. Apart from her armor, Scarlet also wore a brown shoulder length shawl and hood which was supposed to increase the overall effectiveness of her five senses. Lastly, Scarlet also had a new set of knives which were elemental level weapons: the Volcanic Shards. 

As the name suggested, the Volcanic Shards were daggers blessed with fire magic. Scarlet cut the air as she brought own to Dussel's neck and attempted to slice open his jugular. 

"The virus seems capable of self-defense... Well, it would be too easy if it wasn't. And it's fast too, though I'm faster than a damn program!" Dussel cried to no one in particular. As Dussel blocked the dagger with his shield, which resulted in hot sparks, he shouted out the name of one of his skills. "Baldr's Blessing!" 

Light from around there area swirled around him and congregated in his lower body. It seemed to seep in through the openings of his armor and into his skin. As befitted the skill, Dussel began to glow faintly as a result of taking in the light. He smirked and kicked the ground. Dussel vaulted into the air, performing a backflip the belonged to the skinny and lithe Olympic gymnasts. 

"Magnetic Spear!" Dussel shouted out another name of a skill and spun in the air before casting out his harpoon. At this point, he began floating in the air as he concentrated the light from his blessing into his feet to propel himself upwards. Magnetic Spear allowed Dussel to toss his spear and return it to himself by manipulating the magnetic pull between him and whatever he threw, his harpoon in his case.

The harpoon raced towards Scarlet with frightening momentum and force.

"Elevation Shift." The paved ground of the street shot up, forming a pillar of dirt and rock before Scarlet. The harpoon struck the pillar, resulting in a loud impact and a miniature vertical crater formed.

The noise attracted surrounding players, many of which swiveled their head around like a flock of flamingos. 

Scarlet could have paid attention to the various voices, but chose not to. She did not want to flood her process with useless information herself when she should focus on the battle before her.

"Hey, Doto, mind getting rid of everyone?" Dussel asked his Orc comrade.

"Yea, Riktor isn't available; I might as well help you subdue her." Doto the Orc pulled out a VT and pressed several buttons. "Z-C-T-8-K-TKOW. Please get rid of the bystanders." Doto recited some sort of activation code. "Alright, everyone has been teleported away and the immediate area is designated as an admin only for now. I'll join you in taking her down."

"There's no need man! I've got this. It's just a virus that just HAPPENED to be able to take on the form of a player in our game."

"Maybe so, but's it seems very skilled. And you cannot expect the person who created her to be so lax and not give her ways to defend herself."

"Just sit still for chrissakes!" Dussel pulled back his magnetized harpoon. "Hah, my harpoon is still magnetized and it used up that skill until it recharges, might as well skewer it!" The High Elf player tossed with all his might at Scarlet. The harpoon seemed to fly even faster than last time.

"Long Throw." Scarlet pulled her body backwards as she tossed one of her knives at nearly the exact moment Dussel did.

"Gah!" Not expecting the retaliation, Dussel received the knife in his shoulder and fell to the ground. The wound in his shoulder and the collision with the ground quartered his health. "Fuck! No matter how skilled the programmer, they can't account for this many possibilities in a virtual game! God damn virus!"

"Scarlet." Scarlet blatantly said her name without emotion.

"Eh?"

"My name is Scarlet."

"Oh, how cute, the virus has a designation."

Scarlet's voice became sterner. "My name is Scarlet. It is neither a designation nor an acronym. It is... A precious name that Glass gave me because of my hair color."

"Hah?! A damn name? Is this some sort of aberrant program?"

"I'm curious. Aria and Riktor weren't specific about the details behind the virus. It's really odd that it is so adamant about acting like a human. It thought your earlier comments were rude, it has a sense of self preservation, and it was given a "name" by this Glass character. Whatever, we're not computer scientists, let's just subdue the virus and contact Riktor."

"Fine, I'll attack from this side, you flank it." After being pressured by his comrade, Dussel finally agreed to his assistance. 

Dussel clutched his wounded shoulder; he pulled out the dagger and let it drop. Before the dagger hit the ground, it disappeared in a shimmer of fiery light and reappeared in Scarlet's free hand. This wasn't an ability, any player who throws there weapon can choose to have it returned to them no matter where it is at a significant cost to their mana. 

Scarlet kept her eyes trained on both foes, periodically switching back and forth between her targets, watching for any movements. She observed Doto pull a two handed warhammer from his back and strike the ground in a ritualistic manner. She pointed a dagger at each enemy, carefully waiting and observing. If she attacked either one, the other player would surely take advantage.

"Lunge Leap and a kiiiiick!"

"Wah!" Doto cried out more in fright than in pain as Glass appeared out of seemingly nowhere, use one his special skill, and kick Doto straight in the side of the head.

"What the hell?!" Dussel sputtered as he swung his shield around to block a simple staff attack that belonged to Song Ha-Sup. 

"You harmed our Miss Scarlet and attack her with no reason! Furthermore it is without the authorization of an official duel that you attacked our fair lady! Glass-Nim, permission to use my ultimate attack?" Song jumped back several meters and spun his staff around until he slammed the haft on the ground.

"Yea, go ahead! I'll take care of this guy!" Glass pulled out his short sword and ducked. Thanks to his Perceptive Evade ability he activated beforehand, he was just barely able to see the Orc player reel back to normal with his hammer swinging dangerously.

"Very good! Now, ye offender of the justice, I, Song Ha-Sup sentence you to death with Raizel-Nim's classic attack! It is only fitting that a Blood Savant uses a blood based special attack ability! Blood Field!" While Song was a healer, that didn't mean he can't have abilities to defend himself, Blood Field was meant for that purpose.

Using the blood from Dussel's wound and a wound Song opened up on his body (self-inflicted injuries meant for Song's healing and offensive abilities gave him significantly less pain than average wound), he was able to create a small cyclone of blood around his body. 

Song's mana pool trickled down immensely. Activation of the ability took 300 points of mana while keeping it alive took twenty points per second. Blood Field was without a doubt one of the more powerful magical attacks out there.

"Blossom, please keep him occupied for me while I unleash my attack!" Song asked politely.

"Sure." Blossom ran over to the scene, finally catching up to Glass and Song with Coolidge in tow. Blossom charged two lightning bolts in her hands and immediately fired one after the other at Dussel. 

Dussel grit his teeth and blocked both bolts with his round shield. "Who the hell are you people? Let me guess you created that thing?" He cried out as he hunkered behind his shield. 

Ominous drops of blood flew around the street. They seemed to collide together and form larger droplets. "I don't know what you're talking about, but you are obviously an enemy!" Song waved his arms around like some sort of dancer, guiding the Blood Field around Dussel. "You cannot face this!" Song clapped his hands together and the swirl of blood that flowed around Dussel slammed together on his body. 

You could see the High Elf player writhe around in fear and pain as he tried to swat away the blood as if it was a swarm of locusts. To top it off, Blossom supercharged a bolt of lightning in both hands and shot it at Dussel's head, taking out the player.

On the other side of the area, Glass was taking care of Doto the Orc. Originally the High Elf player wanted to take him out quickly before the Orc composed himself and proved to become a sizable menace. However, Glass wasn't able to be that lucky. 

By sheer luck, Glass managed to roll out of the way of a backwards fist from Doto. He didn't expect the Orc to attack without his hammer. 

Behind Glass' current position came Coolidge's voice. "Do you need help?" The Wolfkin towered over the kneeling Glass and asked his question calmly. 

Glaring at Doto who had a nervous expression, Glass looked up at his new teammate before smiling. "Yes please!"

Without warning, Coolidge pulled out a short metallic rod from his belt before extending it into a full length staff with spear tip. The spear had a green flag fastened to the bottom of the spearhead with a strange bottom to the staff end that resembled the head of an ornate laborer's hammer. As for his armor, he wore a set of magic steel chainmail with thin, but strong, plates around his breast, back, sides and crotch. The armor was designed less for protection and more for mobility, which a Guardian needed.

Coolidge knocked aside another one of Doto's fist with his own and thrust his spear at his sparsely armored body. It was almost as if Doto resigned himself to his fate and just stood there and accepted the spear into his chest.

Coolidge widened his eyes as he saw what the Orc was doing, though it was too late to call back his spear as it was already embedded inside.

"Berserk!" Doto activated his special ability unique to the Berserker classification for Warriors. It allowed a player, in exchange for pain and damage to their body, to gain a special buff which could come in the form of a stat boost, damage increase, speed increase, or other such buffs.

"Nope, not gonna let you." Glass appeared from behind and said, "Fang Bite." He stabbed Doto multiple times until the player disappeared in a beam of light. Satisfied with their work, Glass looked around and said, "What was that all about?"

-

"Unauthorized PvP combat, is that a glitch or did they hack the game?" Blossom spoke to everyone as the five players walked in a group in Castle Port. "I heard there were in game events for quests and other such stuff where you will be forced to do some PvP combat against one or more people."

Scarlet looked as stoic and emotionless as ever as she walked between Blossom and Glass. She knew exactly the reason why and how those two were fighting her, but Glass had told her to keep a secret about anything involving her nature as a virus AI.

Song piped in with another curious question. "I find it equally strange there were no other players around there other than us and the two possible perpetrators. Perhaps it was a group only zone?"

"If that's the case, then it most likely was an event, I can't think of any other reason. Either way, Scarlet are you sure you're okay?" Genuine worry came from Blossom.

"Yes."

"Do not worry, the one wound Scarlet received, by accident mind you, I healed perfectly!" Song raised his staff in the air with a triumphant feeling to it. 

Glass' cheerful smile attracted the eyes of many female players as the group walked by. Not only were the eyes concentrating on him, but many male gazes rested on Blossom and Scarlet. However, most of the thoughts of the people who stared at the group commented on how peculiar the five looked together. It was an odd array of players, no matter how you looked at it. 

"Hey, Coolidge, you don't talk much do you? You're like Scarlet in that regard." Glass made the comparison between the two players innocently.

"I talk enough."

"Apparently not it seems, it's not like it is a bad thing, but why do you talk so little?"

"There's no need. I can talk more if you'd like." Coolidge said sincerely. If anything, his personality fit his race the most out of the entire group, the role as the stolid and stalwart Wolfkin Guardian. 

"Don't feel the need to do that for us, talk as much or little as you want." 

"Okay, still, may I make a suggestion for a teammate?"

"First a dungeon AND a teammate? You're really pulling your weight, Coolidge!" Glass exclaimed enthusiastically. 

"My cousin plays this game and she was recently kicked out of her guild for reasons unknown to me. She fits the role of ranged support and DPS perfectly."

"What's her name and class?"

"Minerva and Duskcaller, it is a Priest/Rogue classification."

"Oh heeeeey, I remember her from yesterday! I dueled her for some reason I forgot!" Glass said excitedly.

The entire group stared at him with various emotions: intrigue from Song, surprise from Coolidge, blank interest from Scarlet, and worry from Blossom at the implications of what could be derived from his words. 

"That's right, you told me about that when we ate dinner last night, but it's weird that one of the people you dueled turned out to be Coolidge's cousin." Blossom stroked her chin with a curious expression.

"Hey, Coolidge, can you message her to see if she's interested in joining? I mean, if she isn't in a guild anymore, then why not if she's interested?"

"Very well, shall I mention you?"

"No reason why not, perhaps she'll much more willing to join after hearing about my greatness!" Glass laughed, mocking his own sense of sarcasm.

Song laughed along with him while Coolidge and Blossom rolled their eyes. Scarlet, as always, stared listlessly at Glass' strange behavior. She still couldn't understand how to react to various situations or actions. The only things that seemed to, for lack of a better term, excite her was combat and Glass. She felt her insides churn and grow hot. Her mind focused entirely on either of the two when either one caught her eyes. 

Scarlet had lagged slightly behind of the group, as she pondered the strange feeling. "Just what is this feeling?" She asked quietly.

Glass wouldn't have heard what she said if not for his high perception; he stepped back to talk to Scarlet. "It's called an emotion. It doesn't really matter what kind it is, but if you're really feeling emotions, I think that's a wonderful thing." Glass placed a hand on his chest, where the heart would be, and his other hand on Scarlet's shoulder. He closed his eyes and smiled sincerely and graciously.

Any other female would have melted and swooned to various degrees and intensity (even Blossom). Scarlet simply stared at Glass with an odd mix of stone face and blushing cheeks. 

Glass frowned. "I believe I remember telling you that every girl is prettier when she smiles!"

Scarlet cast her gaze downwards. "A smile you say. Mimicking the facial expression is possible, but the smile you're referring to is impossible."

"How so?" Glass asked curiously.

Scarlet would have been mournful if she knew how. "I'm not capable of a true smile. I wasn't given the capability to smile." 

Glass made a face that was similar to a person eating a live insect in a game show. He shook his head in disbelief. "Who told you that? Who told you that you can't smile?"

Scarlet didn't hesitate in her reply. "No one." It wasn't a matter of denying or refusing the ability to smile, but a matter of not getting her hopes up. Scarlet never once realized that hope was just another emotion that all humans shared with one another.

"That's right, there's no such thing as being unable to smile. Anyone can smile as long as if they have the inspiration, you're no different, Scarlet. Who ever created you clearly has no idea what they're doing. There's clearly emotion in you. It doesn't matter if you're a virus AI or a synthetic creation given life like in some sci-fi, everyone has the capability to smile." Glass blinked as he realized how slightly corny his words were. Still, he meant every syllable. 

Scarlet's mouth curved slightly, but soon went back to its normal form. "I will try." 

"Now, let's move onward and seize the day!"

-

"You're completely bullshitting me. You two FUCKTARDS did WHAT?" A voice of rage was directed towards a High Elf and Orc player, more so towards the High Elf. The owner of the voice sounded completely flustered and enraged that any attempts to calm it would be deemed futile. 

The two being yelled at was Dussel and Doto with the one yelling belonged to Aria. However, she wasn't the only one mad, Riktor, their boss, accompanied the loud conversation (through a VT screen) with tired eyes. 

"Ok, Aria, you're a decent girl... Calm down and rationally assess the stupidity of these two." Even her own attempts to calm down didn't work. "Deep breaths, count to ten, eat a strawberry tart, or whatever calms you down best." Several seconds passed until Aria resumed the actual purpose of the conversation. "Let me grasp the situation for the imaginary jury that would condemn you if there was one... You met the virus and engaged it and even in a two on one situation, you both lost?"

Dussel snorted while rolling his eyes. "I guess I forgot to mention that the virus has backup. Around four players appeared out of nowhere and took us both out without much time to react and accommodate to the situation."

Doto apologetically added in, "He's right, whoever these people were, they were skilled enough to take us out, which is no mean feat confidence aside. Before they arrived, we fought the virus to a standstill. It capable in self-defense and might have even more defense capabilities or whatnot."

Riktor finally piqued up. "That's not good. I suspected it to have such, it would be unusual for whomever to have created the virus to not give it some sort of defense mechanism... What I did not expect was for it to have help. Can you confirm these players to be legitimate humans and not similar programs?"

"While I believe the newcomers to be human and not additional viruses... I found the virus' behavior to be odd."

Dussel nodded in agreement with his partner. "He's right; there was something off about the virus. It didn't act like a virus or a synthetic program. Maybe it was programmed to do so, but it had human qualities."

Aria sent a look towards Riktor who eyed her in return. They, along with a select few in which Dussel and Doto were not included in, were the only ones who knew about the virus' true nature: as an artificial intelligence.

"Don't bother thinking about that. Send a full report to me later, dismissed." 

Dismissed like army grunts, Dussel and Doto shrugged and logged off of Rebellions. 

"So what do you think, Aria?" Riktor asked with a skeptical tone.

Aria cracked her knuckles. "I think you should give me a raise."

"I always say, I think you would be a great comedian."

-

Inside the Castle Port Arboretum sat Minerva. She was wallowing over two things, her removal from Dune Lions and revelation of her fellow ex-guild mate Donner becoming the second victim of level three Reality Break. 

As a participant of virtual reality, like several billion other humans of this planet, Minerva obviously knew of the peculiar mental illness known as Reality Break. It could make people hear, smell, and see things that were real when they actually weren't. For example, there was a story a while back when she was around eleven years old where a man committed suicide because he thought he could see a road off to the side of the suspension bride he was walking on. That was level one Reality Break, it wasn't as serious, but it could still cause problems with a person's everyday life. There was also level two Reality Break. Minerva recalled another story where there was an attempted assassination on a politician because the person who attempted the assassination believed he was a member of the Triads (which were currently gone, but other groups had taken up hold by the gap they left) and was ordered to kill the politician. Level two Reality Break caused people to assume mistaken identities, similar to split personality disorder but on a more serious level. Level two was greatly affected by the type of virtual experience the participant engaged in.




Reality Break Ch. 04



Then in the last week, two people had suffered from level three Reality Break, and probably more people under the radar. Of what Minerva learned, level three Reality Break, or RB3 for the lazy, caused a person to live a completely different life in a completely different world. It sounded similar to level two Reality Break, or RB2, but it was most certainly different. RB2 made people believe they were something else, maybe an assassin or a pro wrestler inside Earth. What was different about RB3, in the first case of the player Demonz, was that he believed he was a member of the Changeling race inside the world of Rebellions as if it was actually real and the Earth never existed. He believed he was his class, the Crypt Knight, and he had to enact his evil plans, whatever his insane mind concocted. Not only that, but RB3 showed more obvious wear and tear on a person's mind and brain to the point that it seemed to affect their body's processes with their internal organs.

To be honest, Minerva never really cared nor like Donner. Still, she couldn't help but feel sorry for the player and his family that had to go through such a tragedy. Still, Donner probably lived halfway around the world; it wasn't like Minerva had to visit him in his hospital bed. It was best to feel sorry for him for a little while and get on with her life.

"...When is he going to get here?" Minerva wondered out loud as she stretched her legs amongst the flower beds from the bench she sat on.

Minerva was a Dark Elf player who was a member of the Duskcaller classification, a cross rogue and priest class. Of their stats, Duskcallers usually focused on Agility, Perception, and Focus, with the main stat being Perception. Minerva wore black leather armor with similarly shaded cloths that draped around the armor which didn't look like they won't belong on a cult cabalist (which incidentally is another rogue/priest classification). For a weapon, she had a miniature hand crossbow which she could easily pull out at any time with either hand. For melee combat, Minerva relied on her Dark Blades special skill which allowed her to create numerous dark swords in her hands or the air depending on how much mana she had.

As for her looks, Minerva didn't think she looked

Currently she was waiting for her cousin who said he was in a group that was looking for two more people and recommended her since she was recently kicked out of a guild. She was thankful for the offer and was legitimately interested in joining, but every time she was reminded of her being kicked out for that asinine reason, Minerva winced.

The reason for being booted out was for losing that duel the day before Donner was affected with RB3. "For fuck's sake!? Who the hell gets kicked out of a guild simply for losing A, and I stress A, duel." Several people in her guild and outside the game have commented on her foul mouth, so she often forced herself to use faux politeness, right now she was far too pissed off to be polite. Also, Minerva was correct when she said she lost a duel, as she had never lost a single one beforehand, at least not after gaining a few levels and understanding the game.

Minerva loved gardens, not the act of gardening, but the finished product. She often lazed about in the various beautiful gardens of Rebellions in order to relax and think about various things. There was far more beauty in this world than there was outside of the game. There was far more color and vibrancy to the lands of Rebellions when compared to the area she lived in and most of Earth in general. She told herself many times that when she became a high enough level to safely travel, she would visit as many places as possible in each of the game's seven continents. Atarea was extremely large, far bigger than many of the game worlds of the previous years. Yet it was only one continent, and there were six more waiting for her to see and explore.

Out of the corner of her eye, Minerva saw her cousin. In actuality, thanks to her high perception, she heard and even smelled his presence before seeing them but decided to wait for him and his group mates to come to her. She took a deep breath, inhaling the crisp air and prepared herself mentally to meet her cousin, whose in game name is Coolidge and the people in his group.

Turning around with a smile on her face that was not overly friendly but not overly cold, Minerva attempted to greet the players. "He-H-H-Hello." She saw him.

"Hi there! We meet again, Minerva!" He spoke with a cheerful tone that didn't seem to care that she fought him in a duel the other day, in fact, his voice was as smooth as glass.

"Hello..." Minerva said again under her breath as she stared wide-eyed at quite probably the most handsome player she had ever seen, Glass. Screw photo-shopped pictures on the internet of hot men (not that she looked on the internet for those pictures in the first place). Glass was without a doubt the most perfect specimen she had ever seen. It was a given that every player model was closely designed after what the player looked like in real life, and it was also a given that each player model was had their overall attractiveness increased... However, Minerva would believe it if Glass said he looked exactly like he did in game in real life, minus the High Elven features. 

Broken out of her reverie, her cousin Coolidge immediately went into introductions. "This is Blossom, an Aeromancer and the tactician of our group, and this is Glass whom you seemed to have met before. There is also Song Ha-Sup, a Blood Savant healer and Scarlet, a Wanderer who are buying supplies for the group at the moment. Glass and Blossom, this is my cousin Minerva, though she is a few levels higher than us, please allow her to join the group."

It wasn't like a high level player couldn't join a group of low levers and vice versa. However, most players agreed to best enjoy the game, every player in a full group must be at least within ten levels of each other, though in large scale groups the level gap could be larger. 

Minerva coughed and regained her composure and spoke with an honest politeness that didn't suit her true personality. "Ahem, um, yes, it's a pleasure to see you again Glass. I, uh, heard from Coolidge that you are looking for another person to join your group?"

Blossom narrowed her eyes at Minerva as if she could read her mind, but she remained silent.

"Yup, though I may have beaten you in a duel, it was obviously because of extreme luck. I've no doubt you're actually quite skilled in this game with your class. Please join our group!" The handsome player curtly bowed his head.

His words and formal gesture threw Minerva's mind around, she was at a loss for what to say next but managed to mumble through it. "I don't mind..."

Blossom had certain suspicions in her mind, and they were more or less confirmed. Still, she made Glass the group leader so she couldn't complain on his choice of group members. (Maybe I should mark some territory? No I'm not clingy and Glass and I aren't involved... Still.) 

Placing her hand on Glass' shoulder and leaning in closer than usual, the pretty Undine player, with a partially embarrassed look, stood next to Glass and faced Minerva. "Welcome to the group and I hope we get along."

Minerva's eyes slanted as if looking down the sights of the game's ranged weapons. "Oh yes, I hope we get along." 

As Blossom and Minerva tried to stare each other down, Glass innocently looked back and forth between the two, thinking (Neat, seems like they're friends already!). Only Coolidge could tell what was really happening behind the lines as he released a throaty chuckled beneath his wolfish grin.

-

"That'll be fifty cogs my good sir."

"And here are fifty cogs for you my good store owner!"

Song Ha-Sup reached into a money purse for fifty cogs, Rebellions' currency, and handed it to the store owner. He and Scarlet were in the store to buy supplies for the upcoming excursion into the underwater dungeon at Sibling Lakes. 

Entering a dungeon, even a fairly low level one, was no small deal. Many dungeons were located deep within the game's vast wilderness far from any town or outpost. There were a few dungeons located near towns or even in towns themselves such as the Sunken Cathedral of the Grotto located underground Europa's largest city of High Romalia. 

When Coolidge shared his map with everyone in his group, the map data was automatically transferred to each player and what Coolidge had explored was now available for each player to see on the map. They did the same back and each player shared their map data with one another. Blossom had noted while everyone was walking together that the closest area which had the important NPC shop owners which had supplies for a dungeon was the town of West Log, a town similar to what settlers would have made after settling down in fresh land. On a side note, any player could purchase maps from a store or map data from another player for cogs. This was an easy strategy to gain cogs quick for higher leveled players when selling their map data to fresh new players.

That said, Blossom told Song and Blossom to go get supplies for six people. Blossom had made Scarlet the group treasurer (which Glass found to be an excellent job for the virus AI considering the mathematical capabilities her programming gave her) so she held all of the cogs she, Glass, and Blossom had made when grinding before reaching Castle Port, which was no small number. The group had plenty of funds to purchase as many supplies they needed to last their delving into the dungeon and then some. 

Right now the two were buying food supplies from an NPC run shop. It was not like a player needed to eat to survive in the game, but it was nice to taste the delicious food the game had to offer. Plus, various delicacies and ingredients offered special benefits and buffs. Cooking in this game was often compared to potion making. 

Scarlet stared at the vast selection of food ingredients which ranged from cuts of strange fish exclusive to the game to a neat arrangement of herbs. While Scarlet was not a good judge of character, she noticed that Song had a rare serious face on him as he decided what to buy, though he resorted to his normal personality when conversing with the NPC as if the virtual shop owner was a real being. (Is that how people talk with one another outside of this world?) Scarlet pondered, though she didn't remain with the question in mind for very long.

"Miss Scarlet, let us acquire the rest of our provisions our fantastic group needs for the dungeon!" Song said loudly to his teammate.

A simple nod and Scarlet followed the boisterous Tiefling player to their next destination, a player run potion shop.

...

Song Ha-Sup was having as much fun as ever. Even though he was currently buying shops with probably the most silent and apathetic person in existence, he was truly having fun with his mundane task. Besides, he could tell through that cold exterior that Scarlet was just begging to smile and laugh as much as he did, and he'd be damned if he didn't succeed in making Scarlet do both one of these days. 

Well that would be for another time.

"I say my good citizen of Castle Port, what useful potions are you selling for a group that needs to go through a dark and scary dungeon?"

Song faced a player ran stall which seemed to cater exclusively to those in need of potions. Vials and flasks of all shapes and sizes each filled with a mixture of interesting color. Behind the stall was a player interacting with advanced alchemical gear which were being used for potion making at the moment (Alchemy, or transmutation, is a different profession than potion making but the same devices can be used for both professions). Next to him was an open door which seemed to hold various ingredients for potions, at least as far as Song could see. It was probably that player's private property.

The player, who was a Catfolk and most likely a classification of the Ranger class, turned around and stroked his chin. "Well, really depends on what you're group's good at. I'll just tell you the potions most people buy when going to a dungeon and take your pick." The Catfolk player pointed at seemingly random potions as if making a mental list in his mind before sweeping a portion of the table clean. The potions he swept away disappeared before they hit the ground as they entered his inventory for him to drink or place out at a later time. 

The player soon listed off each potion he recommended and placed them on the cloth covered table as he spoke. "First off is Nocturnal, the benefit is obvious, it lets you see in the dark with the effect increased depending on a player's perception. Metal Skin, it makes a player's skin tough and more resistant to damage, depending on the metal used in making the potion, the stronger the effect; I'll sell a few stronger ones if you want. Hover, this is an expensive one, it lets a player fly for a good few seconds. The Lucky Draft, it basically makes a player luckier, though relying purely on luck is a stupid idea if I ever heard one. Heightened Senses, as it says, it increases the effectiveness of a player's senses. Similar to that one, Heightened Reflexes does the same but to a player's reflexes. My, can't believe I forgot Health and Mana potions, well no need to explain those..."

Doing his best as a salesman, the Catfolk player introduced several more potions.

With Scarlet at his side, Song had already decided what to buy. "Might I know the name of the skilled wordsmith who convinced I, Song Ha-Sup to buy your most bewitching draughts and elixirs?" There was no need to know a player's name in order to purchase or trade with one another, but Song wanted to know the Catfolk player's name purely out of civility.

"Sure thing, call me Dante." The Catfolk player shrugged and gave his name.

"Since Miss Scarlet handles our group's funds, please delegate with each other over the actual purchase. We would like-"

...

Fifteen minutes later found Song Ha-Sup and Scarlet completely done with their shopping. After visiting Dante's potion stall, the player recommended the two go to his twin brother Vergil's store which sold general survival supplies like different kinds of torches and lights, bandages and medicine (in case a group's healer was out of commission or for groups with no healer), and soul gems/stones. 

Song and Scarlet had also purchased items from stores that sold miscellaneous consumables, basic repair kits (they didn't amount to real repairs performed by NPCs and players but were better than nothing), and much more. 

They walked towards the group rendezvous point which was located in the northeastern point of Castle Port at an inn called the Fantastic Flagon, incidentally a player operated tavern.

-

All six of the Magnificent Seven's (six) group members were seated at a round table in the corner of the tavern. Starting with Coolidge, the order of seating went Coolidge, Minerva, Glass, Blossom, Scarlet, and lastly Song Ha-Sup. 

While the group didn't notice it, they were once again bombarded with envious looks from all angles. 

"So what is our group name exactly?" Minerva questioned Glass sweetly.

"Oh? Why it is the Magnificent Seven minus one! It shall truly by the Magnificent Seven once we gain a seventh member, but we'll put that goal on hold for now." Glass smiled as effortlessly and elegantly as always with wide eyes as he spoke between bites of his meal. 

"It was my idea." Blossom grumbled with a slightly irritated tone.

"Hm? Oh yea, Blossom chose this great group name that'll surely impress any other group out there."

"They'll hear of the Magnificent Seven's magnificence from High Romalia of Europa to Center Pole of Icea!" Song voiced out merrily as he partook of the establishment's alcoholic beverages.

"Let's settle with perfecting ourselves as a group first..." Coolidge advised quietly.

"..." Scarlet was silently nearly the entire time, she was far too busy experiencing what felt like a barrage of fluctuations in her thought processes, Glass told her that what she felt was taste. 

"Mmm, this is pretty good, though not as good as mine." Glass mentioned as he bit into a nougatine based pastry.

"Eh, do you like to make pastries, Glass?" 

"I don't just like to make them, it's my job! I'm taking classes in a culinary school with my focus being desserts and pastries! Heck, the chef who teaches my classes even said he was going to base the sugar sculpture in a contest he's participating in off of a design of mine! Though he's of course going to make plenty of adjustments to the end piece obviously, after all I'm still an amateur when it comes to sugar sculptures."

Blossom rolled the new information she learned about Glass in her head. She cursed herself for not asking what Glass did for a living sooner, maybe there is another question she can ask? "Ah, Glass-"

"Speaking of which Glass, you know you can cook in this game, you should make some amazing desserts for us sometime." Minerva wasn't forward enough to use 'Me' instead of 'Us' in her sentence. She wanted nothing more than to flirt, but it would far too awkward in front of the group she just joined, especially in front of her cousin and this woman who was obviously interested in Glass. While she wasn't sure about Scarlet, Minerva didn't consider her a threat for now. 

(This is a good chance! I actually would've left Dune Lions if Glass asked me to join his group anyways. To think I'm in the same group as this hottie, I have to be one of the luckiest girls in Rebellions right now!) Minerva shouted from within her mind. She continued to converse with her new group while her mind's thought process took a turn. (I mean, it's not like I'll ever get the chance to be with him outside of this game... Even if I knew him personally, he would never go for me, not with my malady.)

Her depressing reverie was interrupted by Glass lowering his head to her face, though he kept a respectable distance in order to not be seen as a creep. "Just smile, that's all one ever needs to do in order to gradually feel and be better."

Wordless, Minerva earnestly thought about Glass' words before gleefully smiling as asked. He was right, what good did it do to be depressed in a videogame that was designed for its participants to have fun?

The conversation around the table grew louder and more intense with every passing minute. While there was the occasional lull, it was soon consumed by random topics that reached the groups interest. It was getting late, and for some of the players, time to get off.

"Tomorrow shall be the day, the day WE, the MAGNIFICENT SEVEN... Minus one, shall set out in search of this dungeon that houses foul beasts and beings! Alas, I, Song Ha-Sup cannot stay online for much longer this night. I bid you, my fair comrades good night in a foreign language!" (It was actually impossible to say words in a foreign language unless specifically disabled for certain words thanks to the modern age's translators)

Song logged himself out and disappeared in a radiant yellow beam of light that disappeared into the dark sky."

Soon after, Coolidge and Minerva said their respective temporary goodbyes.

A simple, "Good night." And Coolidge logged off.

Minerva also said good night, but it was fairly obvious (to Blossom) that she emphasized her words to Glass. 

Now there left Glass, Blossom and Scarlet. 

Glass turned himself towards the two pretty girls. The sudden movement which ended up showing Glass' full splendor to Blossom made the Undine player blush. She thought that she would be used to this by now, but it got her every time.

"I myself am feeling somewhat tired, but there's something I want to go check out by myself, so I'll leave you lovely ladies by yourself for now. Though of course if there is an emergency, you can always count on me, I'll definitely come to your aid!" Glass performed a gentleman's bow from the 1800s that did not seem out of place when he did it. 




Reality Break Ch. 04



Blossom always felt sad and remorseful when Glass left her, but she knew it was necessary. He didn't live inside a virtual world like she was forced to. He of course wouldn't live out his life inside a videogame willingly. Blossom would never truly be able to find a place in Glass' heart neither in the real world nor in the game, so why did she try? Blossom didn't know, but an inkling of emotion inside her believed that it was desperation or a sense of false hope. However, Blossom never ceased her dreaming.

-

"Aria, three of the players logged off with the other three separating themselves. Their descriptions? Let's see... One male and two females, one of which being the virus. The male is a High Elf with attire for a Rogue based classification. The female is an Undine with Mage based attire and the virus is a Human female with Rogue or Ranger attire."

Talking to Aria through a concealed VT device was a Changeling player with features akin to a ferret. Judging by her garments, a player would naturally suspect her to be have Priest or Mage as her base class (She is a Spiritualist actually, a Priest exclusive classification). Her name is Termina. 

"Eh? Alright, we can do that." The feed was cut between the two and Termina turned around. Termina wasn't alone. Next to her were two men who, like her, were player moderators. "Aria said to follow them, we'll have to separate. I'll take the High Elf. Jierks, you take the virus and Joshua will take the Undine."

The male players nodded in acknowledgement. Termina wasn't their superior, but they didn't mind following orders when it came to matters like this. Focusing their eyes on their respective targets, the three moderators split up.

Termina acted like a normal pedestrian player browsing and walking through Castle Port, though her eyes stayed on her target as if they were boring holes through the back of his head. Concentrating on the High Elf a little too much, she roughly bumped into the side of a player standing still and talking to his friend. 

Not perturbed but still recognizing the sudden contact, the player cried out. "Whoa there!"

"Ah, sorry! I'm really sorry!" Termina bowed quickly at the player and peered out of the corner of her eye to see if the High Elf saw the small commotion, he did.

But the High Elf turned away and continued on his course as if nothing was the matter. (Good he didn't suspect anything, I think.) Relieved, Termina said sorry once more to the player and resumed her shadowing. 

Termina noticed that as she walked, many players, mostly female, turned their eyes to look at the High Elf as if he was some celebrity. (Perhaps he is a famous player or something?) Termina thought to herself. Considering she was the moderator of a district inside Orinta and not Atarea, she didn't know much about the player celebrities of this continent. Back in Orinta, there quite a few players who were recognized by name and picture, mainly those who were leaders of strong guilds, powerful frequenters of the arenas, and the two players who owned the two Godly weapons: The Ruyi Jingu Bang and the Kusanagi Blade. There were also a few famous real world celebrities who played Rebellions and considering player models resembled their actual bodies, it was hard to remain a secret in game.

"Wait... Where did he ago?" While Termina was musing inside her mind, her mark had disappeared from her eyesight. She didn't have a terribly high perception, but you didn't need it in order to see your eye's normal distance. Termina frantically swiveled around while standing still like some office chair as she tried to regain the sight of her mark.

"Uh, hello?" 

A voice interrupted Termina's trance like state from behind. It was the High Elf player staring at her like she was mentally challenged.

"Eh, um, ah, nnnnnghn..." Termina mentally broke down upon being approached by the High Elf for two entirely different reasons. The first was that her cover was blown by the target she was pursuing. The second reason was never before had she met such a sexy guy. (Is he some sort of Adonis or an angel made flesh?) She could barely even ask herself that question in her mind as she stuttered out various sounds.

"Why are you following me?" The High Elf player bluntly asked.

While Termina tried to process the situation, the High Elf player had a look that seemed to squint as if judging Termina for her facial features. (Eh, am I ugly? Is there something in my teeth? Did I screw up my makeup?) "Nononononononono!" Like a child going spastic over a brand new toy, Termina sputtered out her words.

As if worried about her health, the High Elf player spoke. "Uh, Miss, are you okay? Here, sit down for a moment." The High Elf gestured to a marble bench they just happened to be in front of and helped her sit down. "I'm not a doctor or anything, but just take deep breaths." 

Termina convulsed and breathed in deeply, heeding the High Elf's advice. She almost choked on the breath of life once she saw the High Elf sit down next to her and cushioning her side. (H-h-he's sitting next to me! S-stay calm! Stay alert! He's in league with the virus; he may try to do something!) 

However her fears never came to fruition as the High Elf calmly waited for Termina to recover from what he assumed to be a panic attack of some sort. 

After a good solid minute of waiting, the High Elf spoke up. "Ah, my name is Glass, what's yours?"

(My name huh?) "T-Termina..." As she introduced herself, she noticed that this Glass seemed genuinely relieved that she was ok, not that there was anything wrong with her in the first place except stumbling over her tongue.

"Termina huh, that fits a cute girl like you well." Glass complimented honestly.

Termina felt her face grow hot as the blood rushed to her cheeks. (I won't fall for that. He's probably trying to seduce me.) Termina falsely interpreted Glass' intentions and attempted to put up a strong front before her foe (?). "Thanks, though I don't fall for petty flattery." (Wait, was that a little too strong?)

Glass raised both of his eyebrows before resigning into a chuckle. "Haha, no don't worry about that. It's just simple politeness and honesty!" Glass closed his eyes and smiled, revealing what was probably (unknown to him) his most effective and heartwarming expression. It was neither weird nor excessive, it was simple warmth that accepted everyone and could melt the most frigid of hearts.

Would Termina fall to this sincere expression, or would she stand resolute and keep her distance against the one she was shadowing.

"I, um, *cough* see." (Is this really the type of person who would collaborate with those who created the virus? I just can't get him. Still, I mustn't shirk my duty, though maybe I can...) What Termina decided in her mind was quite odd, she admonished herself for thinking of it but she never tossed the idea away. (No, I couldn't... I can't fraternize with the enemy.) Termina looked up at Glass' inquisitive face that seemed more innocent and attractive every time she looked at it. (Still, he's incredibly hot... Maybe I can get some information out of him by doing this. Alright, no regrets!)

"Glass."

"What's up?"

"Would you, um... WOULD YOU LIKE TO GET TO KNOW EACH OTHER BETTER?" Shouted Termina with all the power her beastly lungs could offer.

Visibly taken aback by the sudden storm of words, Glass blinked with wide eyes for several seconds. In his normal voice and sublime expression, Glass replied earnestly. "Of course. Let's change venues since, well..." 

Termina was confused by what Glass added on for a few blind seconds until she looked around. There were several players sniggering and laughing as if entertained by a comedy act while some of the female players commented things like: "Good find." "She's soooo lucky." And, "I'd want to do him that badly too." Embarrassed by all the looks, Termina nodded and followed suit as Glass rose.

"There should be a tavern over there, the Blind Prince, shall we?" With manners, grace, and elegance, Glass smiled and offered his hand to Termina.

...

Time passed and that found Glass and Termina inside the tavern aptly named the Blind Prince, mainly because of its comedic menu which showed fancy names for simple foods and vice versa. 

The two sat at a table in the corner of the establishment on rustic chairs. Termina, who sat in the corner seat facing Glass, fidgeted awkwardly in her seat. She occasionally brought her hands up from her lap in order to drink the beverage she ordered, a soda since she said didn't care for alcohol. Glass rocked his head from side to side as if accepting the fact like it was nothing after ordering authentic mead from some fantasy novel or game. 

Termina was largely uncomfortable because she had no idea how to progress the strange situation. Here she was, trying (and failing miserably in her mind) to seduce the High Elf player who was most likely in league with the group who created the dangerous virus. 

Since combat armor was restricted in bars, taverns, inns, and other such buildings, players often purchased a set of casual clothing in the style of the game or of the real world for these moments. Termina, like most girls in the game, bought not one outfit but many. Right now she wore what she considered to be "sexy". It consisted of a top that revealed her shoulders and showed a decent amount of her chest, the top was also partially connected to silky sleeves that were draped on her arm like any other shirt. For her lower body, she wore tight fitting pants made of a sort of elastic cloth colored just right so it didn't look out of place; they covered down to her ankles.

She wasn't sure what to wear to in order to seduce a guy of such high standards; in fact she was certain that she chose poorly.

Glass on the other hand greatly admired Termina's body, even before he began drinking alcohol. He certainly did not consider her unattractive, quite the opposite. It also helped that she was a Changeling with properties of her favorite animal, ferrets. Termina had a long fluffy tail from her behind with short wispy ears, a cute pink nose, and skin that had coloring to it like any normal ferret. (While it sounds weird in writing), Glass told himself, (She looks extra cute when dolled up in those clothes and like an animal as if fresh from a Halloween party.) 

(It's times like this when the guy takes the lead dummy!) In theory, Termina was right, but still, she was the one trying to seduce not the one being seduced. (Without his armor on, he's even cuter than before... Is it because of the natural High Elf features? No, nobody can be that hot in this game if they weren't hot in real life.)

Termina looked straight at Glass, who was already staring at her with friendly eyes. Averting her gaze, Termina blushed. Determination set within her depths and the Changeling player slammed her palms on the table. 

The tavern was already quite rowdy, so nobody except Glass was attracted by the noise. "Glass, um, I think you're very hot." Termina said assertively with her eyes clamped shut as if trying to shield them from the sun.

Glass blinked blankly until he replied with. "Well thanks; I too, think you're very pretty." He set down his mug to show his seriousness and rested his chin on his upturned hands that held each other. 

(Alright, no more weakness, I need to bring him into a private room!) A goal in mind and Termina found herself ready to face Glass. She didn't waste any more time in her words, and without undulation, immediately voiced her intentions to the handsome player. "I know this is sudden, but would you like to, um..." Even with her mind steeled, Termina still had trouble doing what she was so focused on doing.

Neither crude nor indecent, Glass picked up on what Termina was saying and articulated for her. "You would like to go into a private room with me?"

Termina blinked and said. "Yes, I would like to go into a private room with you... Wait-!" Because Glass had said exactly what she wanted, she repeated the words and found herself embarrassed in doing so and tried to refute her hard work much to her ire. 

"I'm definitely not one of those people that do whatever they can to get into a girl's pants, though I certainly don't mind doing so, especially if that girl is as cute as you." Termina recoiled and blushed at Glass' smooth wordplay. "If you don't want to, I'll drop the issue since it would be pretty rude of me not to, but would you like to go rent a private room with me?"

"..."

...

Minutes later, Glass pressed his body against Termina and kissed her expertly, pushing his tongue into her mouth. He accidently bumped her into a wall of the private room they rented, resulting in a loud smack (private property is soundproof and impenetrable except in certain cases, this is not one of them). 

Termina lightly jumped up and allowed her legs to be lifted by Glass which she swiftly wrapped them around the High Elf's back. She returned the kiss with lustful vigor, extending her tongue into Glass' mouth.

The two, like any salacious kiss, exchanged saliva as they reapplied their lips onto one another's mouth over and over again. With the fervor the two were going at, some of Termina's makeup began to slightly run off her face, though it still failed to destroy any essence of her beauty according to Glass.

Glass used his tongue to lick Termina's lips and the area around her mouth before plunging it back into her mouth. Termina opened her eyes and stared straight into Glass' lusty grin with a sultry smile of her own. She wrapped her tongue around the intruder in her mouth to the best of her abilities.

It didn't take too long for the two to get past making out and into groping. Termina reached her arms around and grabbed onto Glass' butt while leaning back with her neck but keeping her lips connected with Glass' face. They swung from the wall onto the bed with Glass being below Termina, allowing her easier access to his body. 

Relinquishing the kiss, much to Glass' reluctance, Termina lewdly grinned and reached past Glass' lips and nibbled on his earlobe, a simple but time proven tactic. 

Glass groaned quietly in the air as Termina began to administer gratuitous attention to the head and neck. Looking for a little action himself, Glass reached his arms around and upped the ante by sending one hand under Termina's top and the other hand groping her cute butt. He reached his fingers down her pants and delicately caressed the soft flesh that lay inside. Glass softly squeezed the creamy orbs.

It was Termina's turn to moan as he arched her back and squealed delightfully in the air. Though it was basic movement, Glass' every touch sent static through her skin and up her spine. "Y-you're so good at this... Sooo gooood!" Termina mewled, rolling her Os at the end.

Glass smirked and pressed his index finger against the button centered on one of Termina's breasts. "I haven't had very many partners, but I learn quickly. Though you look adorable with it on, you should slip out of those restrictive clothes you have on." As if physically persuading the Changeling girl, Glass exercised his fingers even more energetically, his fingers darting around as if possessed. 

Termina pouted. "Hmph, only if you do the same, we have to be on equal grounds to negotiate." She somehow managed to resist the sensations just long enough to legibly say those words.

Glass' mouth curled into a half smile, though it was undoubtedly a full smile in his mind. "Sure thing!" 

Termina pushed herself off of Glass and reached for the bottom of her top. She waited for Glass to pull his shirt off of his chest, revealing a chest that wasn't overly muscled, but well defined. Whether it was the results of his body outside of the game or what was given to him when he created his character, it still looked amazing.

Glass watched with great interest as Termina revealed her own chest. Her breasts weren't very large, a B cup, but nonetheless, they looked great, especially on her body type. Glass noted that her overall appeal wasn't in one particular area, but in her body shape. She was slim and had slight curves that made Glass want to explore even further. Termina had a slightly petite form, but that just added to her overall cuteness. Bounding over to Termina's half-naked body, Glass wrapped his hands around her waist and pressed down on the supple skin. He placed his lips on Termina's neck and kissed, applying suction. 

Termina's lips slowly formed a pleased and lazed smile as she held on to Glass while he kissed her neck. Without her realizing, Glass had a lecherous thought which made him gently guide Termina's hand down to his groin.

Upon realizing the location of her hand, Termina blushed a strawberry red, but she remained still, only moving her hand in order to tease Glass' erect dick through what little clothing he had left. 

"Now what sort of negotiations shall we have?" Glass whispered into Termina's ear, at the end of his sentence, he blew a puff of cool air into the lobe.

Termina shivered, though her body quickly heated up. "We should negotiate you out of those pants so I can get you ready." The pretty Changeling licked her lips at the end of her sentence signaling her hunger like a succubus. 

Glass craned his neck to solicit another kiss from Termina's wanton lips while he reached his arms down and snaked his pants off. The moment he revealed his crotch, out came an impressively hard shaft warm with increased blood flow.

Termina gasped slightly when Glass' erect member came into view and she admired it with a passionate stare. Grinning like a kid eating a donut, she softly squished the head of the shaft together.

As if the Changeling girl was pressing against all the pleasure in his cock, Glass groaned with pleasure that seemed to flow into his body like a waterfall. As Glass eloquently considered all of the analogies he could consider his current situation, Termina interrupted his train of thought by going down with her mouth.

A wet, warm sensation filled Glass' prick as Termina engulfed it within her mouth. She curled her tongue around the head, licking the underside of the tip and pushing her supple tongue forwards as much as possible. Termina administrated superior oral talent on Glass' cockhead while she massaged the frail sack underneath with loving care.

Glass looked upwards as he reveled in the sense of pleasure that was greatly foreign to him until yesterday. (I could seriously get addicted to this...) He returned his eyes downwards to see Termina looking directly at him. He swore that he could see a smile appear out of both corners of his mouth, so he smiled back.

(Geez, my switch got turned on thanks to him. I was supposed to be doing something important, but I don't really care anymore, mmhmm!) Termina glared in a lustful manner at Glass once more before furiously returning her focus on his exquisite shaft. 

A few minutes passed and the only sounds exchanged between the two were slurping and sucking sounds from Termina while Glass ushered out the occasional groan of pleasure. Termina got more and more into the blowjob as time passed. She felt her snatch getting wet with each passing second as self-lubrication flowed from her tight region.

Noticing exactly that, Glass smirked widely and formulated an idea. Since Termina was on her side while she sucked on Glass' cock, he reached over and lifted Termina's lower half of her body with abnormal flexibility and strength. 

"Wah!" AA surprised cry came from Termina as she found herself lifted in the air. Her moist lips were hovering centimeters away from the object she was so busily sucking earlier. Termina stuck out her tongue and teased the tip of Glass' cock while he maneuvered her body into a position where they could both receive mutual oral stimulation.




Reality Break Ch. 04



Glass lowered Termina's back end gently over his head. The Changeling player's knees hit the bedding, keeping her vaguely propped up. Glass licked his lips and stretched his arms at the sight of Termina's dripping pussy right above him. Now they were in a sixty-nine position.

Glass looked down his body. He could see Termina aggressively sucking on his stiff cock. He watched for a few seconds as the cute Changeling girl lick the side of his dick while cupping his balls and forcing her mouth back down his shaft.

(Seems like I should give her a little attention in return.) Considering Glass' ventures outside of this game weren't restricted to a single gender, he knew how exactly to please another girl, to a certain extent as no one was the same person in the bedroom.

Glass extended his tongue and swished it against the lips that covered up the entrance to Termina's insides. He tasted the sweet juices that resembled a tangy mixture that wasn't too far from an exotic fruit. Glass reached around and grasped Termina's velveteen butt and pressed down. His fingers were groped the soft cheeks and squished them together like they were a blob of pliable cookie dough. The furry tail swished around Glass even extending a finger down to Termina's back entrance and teased the tight hole. 

Soon, the dual stimulation from both her bottom entrances reached Termina's brain. She tensed up and felt her nipples get hard. Though that never stopped her from pleasing her partner's erection, Termina demonstrated that by working her lips even deeper down his shaft, almost bottoming out. Unfortunately she wouldn't be able to completely take his cock in her mouth in this position, but Termina was feeling bliss in this state nonetheless. Unbeknownst to her, her efforts were about to be rewarded.

Termina, every time her lips went more than halfway down Glass' throbbing cock, her tongue wrapped around the pole and jerked it off like a miniature hand. Since her tongue was a result of her being a Changeling, she learned how to do this little trick by, believe it or not, eating a Popsicle. Not paying attention to what Glass was doing below her, the moment she felt his touch on her ass and vagina, she went wide eyed and reflexively forced her lips down as far as possible. That alone brought her what she desired.

Glass wordlessly moaned into the air with closed eyes as he came, hard. He felt his shaft burn with luxurious satisfaction as the unfamiliar white stuff burst from his cock and into Termina's mouth.

Surprised, but also anticipating the sudden injection, Termina removed her mouth and stroked the thick pole as it pulsed like an intense heartbeat. She watched the urethra at the head split open and release rope after rope of sticky goo flew out different directions. The majority of the warm seed splashed onto her forehead and hair. Thankfully it would be a simple matter to clean it since this was a game.

"Wow, so much came out, you're quite a virile guy, Glass." Termina encouraged frivolously as she gently squeezed out the last of Glass' orgasm with her fingers.

Glass persevered through the intense orgasm and focused himself on readying Termina's slickened snatch for his shaft which was already beginning to recover. He pulled apart the cute Changeling girl's pussy lips and licked the insides. Glass nuzzled the sensitive nub which he found was hiding just under Termina's hood, waiting for something to stimulate it and reveal it to the fresh air. "Just get me hard and ready again and I'll get you more than ready." Glass winked as he tossed the intentionally cheap line Termina's way.

At this point, Termina wouldn't blush at anything anymore. She simply lasciviously smiled and brought Glass to full hardness. She sucked his balls while rubbing the cockhead with her thumb. She teased the head with her pointed nipples and rubbed her face against the shaft like it was a comfy fur pillow.

A short amount of time passed and they found themselves in roughly the same position, only Termina was pointing the other way. Her mouth was smooching and licking all around Glass' head while her wet vagina was being probed by an impressively vigorous cock. 

Glass' hands were positioned right where they were before, on Termina's ass. Noting this, she chuckled and said, "You like my butt, huh?"

"Of course, it's much better than mine after all." Glass not only meant this humorously, but he did think that her butt was a tad bit more sexually attractive than the one his other body had, not that he minded in this case. 

Termina, obviously thinking he meant it humorously, laughed out loud with tears in her eyes. "Feel free to fuck me as hard as you want as retribution!" 

Taking that as the go ahead, Glass lowered Termina's hot body on his groin. His prick, which was so deftly teasing the sopping entrance before, was now enveloped by the warm walls from all sides. His dick was attacked from every direction by constricting walls that closed and milked his shaft as if that was the whole point of copulation (which it technically is). 

Termina arched her back like some sort of rodent as her eyes seemed to bulge out of their sockets when her wanting tight pussy was finally stretched open by that thick slab of cock meat. She muttered an incomprehensible sentence before her vocal capabilities were reduced to nothing more than succulent moaning of pleasure. Occasionally Glass heard her cuss out accompanied by a prayer to some deity. 

Thanks to the sheer volume of juices Termina's snatch was producing, Glass had no trouble thrusting his cock as deep as he could manage. Even so, despite that, the Changeling player's hole was very tight and continued to stay that way no matter how thoroughly ravaged it was by Glass.

Termina placed both of her palms on Glass' chest and lifted her upper body for all its splendor. Glass, whose hands were now on his partner's thighs, soaked in the view, continuously thrusting his crotch upwards while slamming Termina's body onto his appendage.

Termina, while not voluptuous or curved, had that slim sort of look that belonged to a naturally skinny and petite girl who ate quite healthily and required minimal exercise. Glass envied that sort of body type since he, like most women (outside of virtual reality) needed to watch their figure. He would love nothing more than to leave his figure to a hype-speed metabolism...

(What the hell am I thinking about?) Glass ridiculed his own thought process as his mind wandered from what was more important: Fucking a beautiful girl named Termina.

He focused solely on being a piston, bucking his hips and forcing his cock deep into Termina's insatiable pussy. He pried open her inner walls with each thrust, only to find himself being fought back as her walls clamped down on every thrust in order to bring him to another orgasm.

Termina brought her mouth to Glass' ear and nibbled the lobe. She whispered huskily in a sultry tone, "You know, you've made me come twice already, feel free to blow your load in me whenever. I'm sure you're having a tough time not doing so."

Whispering back, Glass said, "How'd you know? Well, I'll pour every last bit of juice into your womb then!"

Termina shivered at the thought of the idea. "Mmm, make that three times... Ahhnnn!" Her words trailed off into a moan as she climaxed a third time as she said. 

This time around, Termina's tight walls clamped down so hard, that they ultimately caused Glass' downfall.

"Fuck!" Glass grunted roughly and slammed down Termina's body as hard as possible, dazing the poor girl, as he unloaded his biggest load yet since taking advantage of his male body. 

Glass had bottomed out in Termina's tender snatch, letting him follow through with his words. As if his earlier orgasm had no effect of his current one, he unleashed rope after rope of baby fuel into Termina's furthest reaches of her womb.

Both players cried out in pure elation. If not for the soundproof walls of private rooms, surely every person in the inn would have heard the results of their coupling. 

A mix of juices, from both genders, slowly leaked out from Termina's nether region around Glass' indomitable shaft. As if a great weight was lifted off the both of them, the two partner's relaxed and left themselves to the afterglow and fatigue into a blissful sleep.

-

"Termina! Termina! TER-MI-NA!"

"Aghelstein!" Termina cried out a random congregation of letters as she woke up to a familiar voice screaming in her ear.

Normally, no one could speak to another player unless both parties agreed to chat, this however was an emergency line reserved for the game's moderators and administrators. 

"Finally, I've been trying to reach you for hours! Where in hell are you?"

The one who was calling Termina was Aria. 

"Ah, shit, I'm so sorry Aria! I was following your orders to see where those three who were with the virus went. And well..." Termina wanted nothing more than to find a deep hole dug by an oil well and bury herself while simultaneously digging deeper until she reached Earth's core, only then would she be able to hide her shame. (I-I just need a decent excuse! And besides, I don't think he truly is involved with the virus...) Termina was obviously referring to Glass, whom she shamelessly tried to seduce and fell in to his pace whether that was his intention or not.

"Well what?" Aria asked, prodding for an answer.

"I was initially caught, but the player didn't seem to know I was following him for ulterior motives. If he did, then the outcome would be different. I conversed with him and I do have reason to believe he is not involved with the virus- Or at the very least, doesn't know of the virus' true nature and may be a bystander. Either all that, or he is very good at lying and hiding his involvement."

"Interesting." Aria clasped her palms together and intertwined her fingers as she pondered the information. "If that is the case, then it is quite possible the female Undine and the few who logged off before may not know the virus' nature like your target. Of course this could all be an elaborate ruse, but let's hope not. Fuck, if only those two idiots from before could give a decent report. Please give a report on the High Elf player's description and personality just in case however."

"Yes, ma'am." Termina thoughtlessly gave her reply, but soon realized her blunder.

"Ter-mi-na?♪"

"Ah, I'm sorry!"

"That won't do. After all, I'm still a young lady whose emotions run wild like a teenager fresh out of puberty!" Though obviously untrue, Aria battered down what little defenses Minerva had. Ma'am was a taboo word when referring to Aria after all.

-

"Yessir, right away sir, eh? Thank you sir." A young man ceased the contact with his PT device. Unlike most modern citizens of the first world, the young man refused to use VT devices under the pretense that it depreciates one's cognitive abilities. Though there was little scientific evidence to support that theory, the man stuck by his policies. He only used VT devices when his personally modified. PT device was unavailable. What he was currently using was a virtual form of his PT device.

"Wow, it seems that you were more than successful, as evidenced by my superiors praise." The young man stared at the female form in front of him. "What am I thinking, talking to program."

The man operated his PT terminal, entering in a sequence of buttons that would seem incomprehensible to anyone except a genius of talent similar to him. After all, he was one of the core programmers that created the virus AI known as RV1, or Realty Virus One. RV1 was the product of the company known as Original and Neoteric Electronics, as for why they created the virus...

"I'm to move forward. RV1, you will perform a breakdown on two target, specifications on who do not matter..."

-

There is a family that has endured four great tragedies. Each of these four also happened to the younger generation of the wide family. 

Two girls and two boys were forced to endure and face death, sadly one of them did end up dying.

The eldest of the four, a boy, entered the military at the age of eighteen. He was an honors student who was actually accepted to Berkeley, but he decided to follow suit of the males in his family and join the UANA Marines. 

The UANA, or United Alliance of North America, consists of six countries: the United States of America, Canada, Mexico, the Bahamas, Jamaica, and lastly Cuba. Two more countries would join a decade later. The countries on their own create their own laws, but there are overriding Alliance laws which affect the overall performance of the Alliance in general. 

Going back to the original point, the eldest boy joined the Marines of the UANA. At the time of his entering, there were no serious conflicts, and the eldest enjoyed a vague sense of relaxation for a time. Alas, strife always has a way of popping up like weeds. 

The First Oil War was basically a heated border conflict between Saudi Arabia (which had enveloped Oman, Yemen, Qatar, Bahrain, and the UAE) and Iraq (who had enveloped Syria, Jordan, and parts of Iran). This was the prelude to the much larger conflict known as the Resource Crisis of 2033. The UANA, an open ally of Saudi Arabia sent troops to assist the great oil baron of the Middle East. The Revised Soviet Socialist Union, or RSSU (which had brought into their fold Ukraine, Belarus, two of the Baltic States, and Georgia), was actually a secret ally of Iraq and sent in their own forces.

A large battle incurred which eventually enveloped a few other nations. If anything, the only nation in the world that survived considerable backlash from the Resource Crisis of 2033 was the European Union as they had converted much of their economy into a non-fossil fuel focused one, though not entirely.

What heralded the end of the war was a nuclear explosion from the UANA had launched off because of cowardly order from one of their generals (he was dishonorably discharged later). The bomb had landed in Transcaucasia, destroying a large Soviet force. After the explosion, the Soviets launched a retaliatory strike with an equally powerful bomb into British Columbia after Soviet troops resigned from the territory. The war ended soon after. 

The eldest boy had not actually died by the second blast, but the aftermath. What comes with a nuclear bomb is as equally devastating, if not more, than the blast itself. The eldest boy died a peaceful death after being put into sleep because of great pain.

The eldest girl of the four, who was a cousin to the boy who died, suffered the next tragedy. She went into a catatonic state after being raped repeatedly and forced to watch other girls being raped. The sex slave ring she was kidnapped into was obliterated after a sting operation and she was rescued, though that didn't bring her out of her eternally shocked state. In fact, her mental trauma was so severe, that not even entering a virtual world allowed her to move freely.

Fortunately, there were a few "cures", for lack of a better term, and she managed to break free of her trauma. However, she occasionally relapsed when under mental stress even barely similar to her experience.

The next boy of the family, who was a brother to the previous girl and a cousin to the first boy, endured another tragedy a year after his sister's rescue. He was taken by a serial killer who had an odd affinity for the tongues of his victims. He lost his tongue to the serial killer but managed to escape after an incredibly lucky fire next door. The boy managed to ID the serial killer and he was caught and put to death for his crimes. The boy wasn't able to talk any longer. He was given the option of artificial voice implants, but he hated the mechanical and faux sound to them, as he feared being teased or bullied. So the boy elected to be silent and learn sign language. After growing up a bit, the boy played a virtual reality game and rediscovered his voice, though he still declined to talk often.

The last of the tragedies, a girl the same age as the previous boy and a cousin to each of the previous three, endured the final tragedy. Fortunately for her, her tragedy wasn't anything as violent or traumatizing like the previous three. 

Nowadays, the current transportation system was reduced to an algorithmic system of roads nearly completely redesigned from scratch. Most public transportation was done underground with individual cars that went to many different destinations the participant wished to go to. However the majority of the population still used their own methods of transportation on the roads. While engineers and workers were rebuilding a section of roads in order to fir the new system, all traffic was diverted onto several wide streets in the city the girl lived in. All it took was for one traffic incident for the girl to lose use of both her legs to the severest extend save for losing the limbs entirely.

There were methods to reattach nerves and other vessels in the body so that one can make use of their limbs again, however it was very expensive and risky. Opting to not go for the procedure, the girl and her family now had to live with the girl being an invalid. Even without taking advantage of the procedure, there were ways to move beyond paralyzation. Wanting nothing more than to explore nature, as was her favorite pastime, the girl considered it. However, as if in spite or out of a sense of despair, the girl never reached out to those methods. Only when she discovered the world of virtual MMOs did she find the joy of exploring nature once again.




End Note: Whether in the next chapter or future ones, I may do a gay sex scene simply because Glass/Glasie is bi and is not restricted to men/women in either persona. Would anybody mind or even be interested in such a scene with Glass? Of course that is if the story allows it.