Ascension: Online

The room we were in was small, with a black ceiling, floor, and walls. Like the hallway we had just come from, it was illuminated by white lights carved into the left and right sides of the walls, and the overall shape was like that of a flattened hexagon. Luckily, there was only one way to go, not counting the corridor of sawblades we had come from, which was blocked off now by sliding doors. Hopefully, this place would remain straightforward like so deeper in.

Oh, and no more death corridors, please.

As we moved towards the slightly descending inclined plane that was the only way to go, however, a hologram suddenly appeared in front of me. I looked around and saw that the other three had all received the same thing, and all had the same confused expression on their faces.

"What is this...?" I muttered, and read what was displayed.

[New Primary Quest]

[Corruption]

[Investigate the source of the corruption by exploring deeper within the Vault.]

"Corruption...?" Ichigo frowned. "The hell is this? We triggered a quest?"

"Seems like it," Furuwa said. "I've seen this quest name before. There is a special quest type under the 'Quests' tab of our System called 'Vaults'. Apparently, we have to complete this Corruption primary quest before being able to access 'Vault' quests."

"I can confirm," I added briskly.

"But this bloody 'corruption' they're referrin' to..." Jim fell into thought. "Ya don't think they mean the thing causin' the Magic Beasts to become hostile?"

"Oh, yeah... now that you mention it, I do remember hearing something like that from that captain NPC," Ichigo murmured thoughtfully. "But given that this is a primary quest, it's gotta have some good rewards, right?"

I nodded. "It should. But that's only if we manage to complete it. Let's go."

With that, I headed down the ramp, the others closely following behind me.

******

- Meanwhile, the Earthen Reality Plane -

(Hina's Perspective)

I got it - the AR set. At around noon, I had left for the store Kaze-kun and I had bought the AR set at. Unfortunately, they had been out of stock there for any more AR sets - even the most expensive ones. So, I had to walk on foot to the next nearest one, which was about 7 kilometers away. After buying it, I had to walk 9 kilometers back to the house, for a total of 16 kilometers with no break in between. It took me about 4 hours to do so, and when I got back to the house, although I was eager to just meet Kaze-kun again as soon as possible, I needed to take a break first after that long and tiring walk. I still had time, after all.

I took a shower, ate a little bit of food, and finally prepared to put on the helmet and dive into alternate reality-

Then, the doorbell rang.

I gritted my teeth in frustration and went downstairs to open it. It was my parents. I frowned.

"Mom...? Dad? Why are you two here? It's only..."

I checked the clock hanging on the wall.

"... It's only 5."

"Yes, we know, sweetie. We decided to come home early today to spend some more time with you," my mother said. "I know it's been tough, and..."

She sent my father a look, and he sighed. "Look, Hina... I'm sorry. Ascentech ended up turning down the interview for unknown reasons. Apparently, they didn't want public exposure for whatever reason... I was unable to ask them about Kaze."

I clenched my fists. "It's... alright, dad. I understand."

My parents exchanged glances, and my mother spoke.

"Hina, go change. Let's eat out tonight."

"H-Huh? Why?"

Taken by surprise, I couldn't help but stutter out those words.

"To take your mind off things, obviously," she replied. "We will get Kaze back. But in the meantime, you have to keep up a good mental state."

"B-But..."

But I needed to go see Kaze-kun right now...!

"No 'buts', Hina," my father looked at me with stern eyes. "I'm sure Kaze would like you to take it easy as well."

"..." I fell silent. Perhaps... that was true.

I took a deep breath, and decided to just go along with my parents' wishes. I could enter the game once we got back.

After I changed, we headed out.

*****

It was a good dinner. The food was delicious and the environment was beautiful, but my mind just wasn't in it. My head was filled with thoughts of Kaze-kun and Kaze-kun only. Perhaps I was a bit obsessive... but for some reason, I was just extremely attached to him. It may just be because we were siblings, but... my heart told me there was something else. Something I couldn't quite place my finger on.

By the time we got back from eating dinner, it was around 7 PM. After the second shower today, I hopped onto Kaze-kun's bed and attached the AR set I had bought on my head. I plugged it in, and after reading the instructions, strapped on the velcro belt and pressed the power button.

I felt the world fade to black, as a gentle voice whispered into my ear.

[Welcome to Alternate Reality, player.]

Despite having lost all sense of the real world, I felt myself smile.

*****

- Inside the Vault -

(Kaze's Perspective)

After descending the ramp, we found ourselves staring at an open hallway. It was very wide, unlike the sawblade corridor we had been in earlier. Once again, it was lit up by white lights on the walls, and outlined by bright green lines. From what I could see, the corridor slowly turned leftwards, at two 135 degree angles, like an octagon. Beyond that, I had no idea where the passageway led. It was beyond my line of sight after the turn.

But after the sawblade corridor experience, none of us were exactly eager to immediately go.

"What do you think? Another trap?" Ichigo asked, scratching his head.

"Well, that sawblade corridor wasn't really a 'trap'," I said. "We just dawdled for too long. In my opinion, they actually left us plenty of time. If we had jogged from the beginning, we would've all made it with plenty of time to spare."

"True, but... that's in the past," Furuwa muttered, crossing her arms and tapping her foot impatiently. "Right now, we're talking about this wide hallway in front of us."

"I mean, with this place bein' this wide, I doubt 'em bloody sawblades would be effective, ay?" Jim shrugged.

"That's true... unless they increase the speed at which the blades close in. I doubt it though," I replied.

Ichigo looked over at me. "So... you're saying this is safe?"

"Not necessarily. In my opinion, there should be some other sort of danger here, just not sawblades coming in from the sides."

"Yeah. Otherwise, it would be too easy," Furuwa muttered. "This is still a video game. There's got to be some kind of challenge to it."

"So? Want me ta go first again?" Jim retorted with a smirk.

"Personally, I believe Igarashi-kun should go first. As seen earlier, he is the fastest among us. If anything happens, I am sure he can escape."

Really, Furuwa? What the hell did I do to piss you off? The attitude I showed back when we first met, perhaps? No... wait, was it because she crashed into me just now and we both crashed onto the floor? But that's her own fault, not mine!

I tried my best to speak in a calm voice. "Actually, er, I would prefer not to go first. I used up all of my energy already earlier."

This was a lie. I still had plenty of stamina left. But I needed to convince them not to make me go first and be the scapegoat.

"Let's see what the others think then," Furuwa said.

Haha! You blundered, Furuwa! Ichigo had just said he wanted to become my friend, there's no way he would sell me out her-

"I, uh, agree?" Ichigo hesitantly raised his hand.

... You're kidding me, right?

"I don't care who bloody goes first, as long as it ain't me again," Jim said with a loud chuckle.

"And there you have it," Furuwa looked at me with a triumphant smirk on her face.

I sent her a dead look in response and sighed in resignation. "Fine... I'll do it."

I glanced at the wide corridor, and slowly took a step forward. Nothing happened. And then, sighing in relief, I moved my back foot as well, bringing it forward to take another step.

However, the moment I did, a loud rumbling noise ensued, followed by the familiar whirring sound of... yep, sawblades.

"Oh, shit."

[Trial of the Sprinter: Begin.]