To Another World

Two days later, and he felt like nothing had happened at all.

With his feet propped on his desk, he played Volsunga as he always had. This time, though, in the privacy of his own room in his gaming house. With the amount of money that pumped into Volsunga, one would have expected him to have a decked out room, but it was bare.

After all, he didn't need anything more than a good gaming setup. Being good at this game was his job, his life, and being at the top meant everything to him. The rush of winning, the thrill of cheering crowds – all of that made him feel alive, kept him going.

His teammates, though, were a little less motivated. Even now, they had gone out to eat dinner at some fancy restaurant, their pockets brimming with the multi-million cash prize that he'd won them. A few hours later, and they'd come stumbling back drunk.

Itsuki yawned. The season was over, so he had plenty of time to just sit back and relax. So he did. Not by going out and getting drunk, but by playing the game with a new character and coaching newbies that wanted his help.

"Oh, don't go there," said Itsuki.

On the other end of the voice chat, a deeper male voice responded.

"Sorry."

Itsuki shook his head as he saw an elven ranger stumble into a suspicious pile of leaves on the forest floor. The elf fell straight into a pitfall trap where slimes started to assault him.

"It's fine, it's fine." Itsuki's character, an armored insectoid knight, leaped into the pit with common broadsword and wooden shield at the ready.

A few minutes later, and the insectoid and elf stood amid a pile of dissolving slimes. The elf's health bar blinked red while the insectoid's stayed a healthy green.

"Don't try to use piercing and slashing damage against slimes," said Itsuki. "Notice how I put away my sword and used my shield to bash them?"

"I noticed." The elf materialized a wooden club that replaced its bow. "Should I have switched to this?"

"Not a great idea. Check your status and make it available so we can both see it."

Username: 12345678

Race: Elf

Level: 10

Class: Ranger

Sub-Class: Sniper

Current Health: 15/100

Current Spirit: NONE [Locked. Only available for Melee Classes]

Current Mana: 40/100

Attributes

HP: 10

VIG: 10

MP: 5

STR: 8

DEX: 20

INT: 11

WIS: 7

FTH: 4

Skills:

-Snipe

-Volley

Spells:

-Tracking

Status

-BURDENED

-ARMOR CORRODED

Itsuki nodded.

"See that burdened debuff? That means you don't have enough vigor to carry a heavy weapon like a club," said Itsuki. "Make sure to level vigor if you want to tank damage. It lets you wear heavier armor and also boosts their efficiency. Though as a ranger, you probably don't want to be lugging around huge weapons and giant sets of armor."

"Understood. Then what should I do if I fall in a pit like that?" said the elf's player. "I only have a bow."

"It's really simple: just don't fall in."

Traveling through the Sleeping Forest – the name of the beginner's area – made it seem like it'd be a calm, relaxing old place.

Hardly the truth.

Volsunga had a reputation to keep as a difficult, teeth-gritting, keyboard smashing game. There were pitfall traps everywhere, invisible monsters, plants that emitted toxic gases that dealt continuous damage, and ambushes from feral beasts that knocked out huge chunks of health.

Itsuki remembered the very first time he'd gone through the Sleeping Forest. He'd died over thirty times, and each death set him back all the way to the start. Volsunga was stingy about save spots, and in this area, you only got one right before the area boss.

The elf player didn't have a single idea how to play the game, so Itsuki figured he'd die over fifty times before making it to the boss. And then fifty more deaths trying to beat that. But he had Itsuki to guide him through, and that made the Sleeping Forest a breeze.

Itsuki pointed out every single trap, ambushing monster, and poisonous plant. He showed shortcuts and tricks like jumping up certain trees and areas to break aggro from monsters. What would have taken three hours to get to the first save spot took thirty minutes under Itsuki's expert guidance.

The two rested in the save spot, a clearing in the forest standing before two massive stone doors, ancient and worn by time. The doors led the way into a vine-infested temple that tapered like a pyramid.

"How are you feeling?" said Itsuki.

"Good." The elven player's mic crackled for a second. "I can see why they call you the best in this world."

"This world? That's a weird way to put it, but yeah, I guess I am the reigning world champion in duels and team deathmatches."

"Champion, eh? I did not choose wrong."

"Choose wrong?" Itsuki scrunched up his brows, trying to figure out what this weird guy meant. "Oh, yeah. I'm about the best coach you can get for this game. For sure you chose right."

"What lies behind this door?" said the elf, ignoring Itsuki.

Itsuki shrugged. He didn't feel too offended. Some people were weird, and he could accept that. "That's the first boss. Called the Ancient Culler, but he definitely isn't as bad as he sounds. Uses a shortsword and spear to get noobs familiar with the weapon ranges. He's about twice as big as a player character so that noobs get used to fighting with larger, stronger humanoids. Has slow attack patterns that switch to fast ones depending on how low his health gets."

"You know this world through and through, huh?"

"Well yeah, it's sorta my job to."

"Do you ever think that you want to start anew?"

"Like a new character? I'm doing that right now."

"No. As in, would you want to explore a new world and become a champion once more? I can sense the boredom in your voice, the way you explain these details with such clinical precision. There is no excitement, it's as if you're just reading off a list."

A long pause.

"Yeah." Itsuki adjusted his headset. He remembered how good he felt when he won the world championship and how, just two days later, he felt nothing at all. The first time he won, he'd ridden the high of victory for months. Now, it felt a little empty. "Honestly, I would like to start from the ground up and become the best again, but this game's the biggest on the market, and I'm really not into shooters."

"Very well, then." The elf moved to the stone doors. "Then follow me."

"You want to fight the boss? You haven't even healed yet. Use this potion and-"

The elf opened the doors. The stony barricades slid to the sides, revealing a dense fog underneath that indicated that stepping through it would lead to a boss. Without a moment's pause, the elf stepped through that fog.

"Whatever." Itsuki also got his character in front of the fog. His insectoid put his clawed arms to the fog and went in, the thick white mist swallowing up his figure. "I can solo the boss, I guess."

But when his character went through the fog and his screen filled up with white, his mind blanked out, as if the fog had leaped from the screen and into his brain.

When his consciousness came back, it felt like he'd slept for hours. His limbs felt heavy and strange, almost foreign to him, and he realized: they were.

He didn't have regular human skin anymore. His hands ended in sickle-shaped claws, the skin a smooth, metallic carapace. He touched his face, and felt more of the same hardened carapace. The exact same as his insectoid character in the game.

"Welcome, my new pet."

Itsuki swiveled around, and realized he wasn't even in his room anymore. Instead of the bare, tiny confines of his room, he found himself surrounded by warmly lit wood. Wooden floors, walls, and ceiling that smelled of cedar. Everything looked so…old. So antiquated, like he'd been sent back to the middle ages.

"Less looking at the room and more looking at your owner."

Itsuki focused on a woman standing with arms crossed in front of him. She stared at him with curiosity, her lips slightly agape as she analyzed him as she would a piece of jewelry at the store. Her lengthy purple robes and pointed hat were tell-tale signs of a stereotypical witch.

"Strange," she said, putting a slender finger to her chin. "For a summon born from a mythic artifact, you really don't seem to show off any power. Here, let's see your attributes."

She snapped her fingers, and Itsuki saw his status screen pop up in front of him like a holographic menu.

[Name: Itsuki

Race: Insectoid

Level: 1

Class: Knight

Sub-Class: LOCKED

Current Health: 100/100

Current Spirit: 100/100

Current Mana: NONE [CURRENTLY LOCKED]

Attributes

HP: 12

VIG: 12

MP: 5

STR: 10

DEX: 7

INT: 5

WIS: 5

FTH: 7

Skills:

-Slash

Spells:

-NONE

Status:

Healthy

"...Level 1?" The witch exhaled through her teeth, a glare tugging at her eyes. "And here I thought I could finally have a summon that would make me some money in the Arena. I'm going to kill that merchant for scamming me."