Chapter 3: Log in

I put myself in the virtual gaming pod. This gaming pod was used by my mother's. She used to lie here while I played and waited until she woke up. Every time, she would leave so tired. And this is the only pod I have been using.

It looks like it's hard for me to get in considering my disability but I'm used to it. Once inside, I connected the plug to the socket on my nape. I move a bit, making sure that my body is comfortable. I waited a little bit longer until 10 pm. That's the time she said I must start and finish the character creation at 10:30 pm. Isn't this a little too strict? I wonder why that is. . .

To start, I say, "Power on." Holograms appear above my face. "Launch Shannia."

The icon of Shannia glows bright and then I could see nothing. Seconds later, it requires me to input my name. That's when I opened the file Alice sent me. It says that I have to input the name, "CancerAssassin". A weird name, in my opinion. Not that I could think of a better name. This is a different game genre so I'll do whatever she says.

There are different kinds of weapons. Greatsword, sword, spear, bow, gun, dagger, mace, war hammer, and others. I am free to choose whatever I want but she said I should choose to wield a dagger.

Even in the character customization, she provided me with a code to automatically create the appearance of the character. What I got is a black-haired, fit-bodied, six-footed, light-skinned guy. The race is called "Anthropa" which I figure out might come from the word, "Anthropology" which means the study of human beings. The character looks human, so it makes sense. There are other two races called "Angelus" and "Daemon". They must be representing angels and demons.

The last thing written on the instruction is to enter this coordinate into the desired spawn location. What does that mean? Anyways, let's just do it. It's 10:30 now and it's time to finish it.

There, done. For a moment, there is nothing but a white view. Then I see the ground. My feet are against it. I always do this before logging in to any game. Standing on my own two feet is everything I could ask for.

Then gasps of surprise startle me. I look around and see people, all staring at me. Some of them have wings, and some have them small.

"A human!" someone screams and magically summons their weapons to attack me.

I feel my chest rushing with fear as they appear to slow down in my perception of time. Maybe this is adrenaline. But. . . this is a game. How could they put this much detail?

A black figure circles around me a hundred times in a single second. My attackers are blown away just as an obsidian claw grabs my wrist. I feel my arm about to be ripped off of my shoulder as I suddenly got pulled. The next thing I know is that I'm high up in the sky.

"Welcome!" the person who is grabbing me announces.

Up here, just now, I can see her face. She's a demon, showing her long fangs as she grins. Her skin is all glassy black like after lava cooled down. She has red glowing horns that branch out like a deer's. However, they're glowing red hot. She has burning-hot armor and holds a war hammer in her left hand. I look around. We're high up in the clouds, literally! The whole city is sitting on a cloud! There are other towns at the distance on other clouds. I would need wings to get there. Well, these angels do.

"Alice?" I ask.

"Yup!" she affirms just as we start to go back down and land on a roof. The impact destroys it and we land on the dinner table of a family of angels. They scream in panic as they run away.

"Sorry!" I apologize.

"Follow me!" says Alice, already running out to the street.

With her claws, she punctures a thick manhole cover and throws it away. Then she jumps in and I follow. It was a deep fall!

"ARGH!!!" Why didn't I use the ladder?!!

Face-first, I splatter in the muck at the bottom. A terrible taste lands on my tongue. A terrible smell chokes my throat. My face hurts so much! Then I hear her laughing as she's holding fire in her hand.

"Wait, let me clean you," she says.

Gushing water comes out of her other hand and hit my face. I feel the water in my eyes, teeth, and nose. It hurts! I cough, falling back until my back hits the wall.

"What are you doing?!" I ask, feeling pain.

When I open my eyes, her face is close to mine. Her red eyes are full of death and hellfire. "Accept," she says.

"Accept what?" That's when I start to notice a notification. It's a mail about marriage. "What is this?"

"Let's marry."

"What? I don't—"

"Just do it! We don't have much time!"

"Alright!"

I accepted just like she said. She draws her face closer and our lips touched. She's warm. . . and sweet. Her fangs are lightly touching my lower lip. I'm anxious that she might bite it off but I couldn't retreat. I can taste her breath in my mouth. My face suddenly feels hotter and my chest is racing faster.

So, this is what a kiss feels like. . .

Then a notification congratulates us on our marriage. What the hell? This is a bit unsettling.

"Come on," she says.

She's so fast going through these maze-like sewers. It's like she lives down here because she doesn't hesitate to make a turn. Minutes later, she jumps up and busts out of the manhole cover above.

"Jump!" she yells from up there.

I don't even know if I can jump that high but I won't know unless I try. So, I bend my knees and kick the ground with my two feet. I hit the wall and come tumbling out of the hole. I crash to the ground and she helps me get up. We run into the street once more. Angels are darting at us in fear.

"Where are we going?" I ask as we run.

"We're going to steal the Angel's Bane."

"What is that?"

"I'll tell you later but right now, I'll tell you where it is." She points up and forward. There is an unnaturally long staircase leading up to a golden gate above. "I need you to open that freaking door for me!"