Phoenix

A medieval country surrounded by tall walls, where, in the heart of it was a magnificent palace, people were panicking and running. A large number of soldiers and knights were dispatched and moved towards the south gate.

War was heading towards The Rohini Empire.

From the south, war was coming. A two km diameter massive, roughly round, black airship was heading towards the kingdom. On its outer wall, it had four double-pointed legs extending both at the top and below.

Inside the middle of the airship, was a spacious round room. As if not enclosed, the room gave an outside view. There was the sky above and all around, and below was landscape. In front was a landscape of country and palace, slowly being approached.

In the middle of this transparent-like room was a small metal throne with half back. On that throne, a heavy full-body golden armored, short black-haired person was sitting with a golden helmet on his side. It looked as if he was not in the room but outside, flying on the throne.

The person was in his twenties and had a thick purple horizontal line from one ear to another, below his eyes. He had a purple pupil. He was looking in front, at the country and palace.

His name was Hasha meaning champion, titleholder, and supreme ruler.

"Hmm…how should I end it this time?" he thought. He stood and picked up his golden helmet with both hands. "Should I go for the King's head directly?" He put on the helmet. "Let's do that."

Hasha stood 6.6 feet tall in the full-body heavy Golden armor. The armor was modernly designed with most being golden and few blacks. The helmet and the heavy armor gave him a big build. He looked menacing and ready for battle.

"Weapons," said Hasha. Then a window panel appeared in front of him. "Slayer," he tapped on the window and a large silver sword appeared in his hands.

Slayer was a large pointed sword and had a round golden handle. The silver blade made it a beautiful sword and its size made it astonishing.

"Portal," Hasha waved his right hand in front of him. White rays of light appeared which was slightly bigger than him. Hasha entered the portal.

Outside in the country, there was another portal high above the castle. Hasha leaped out from it and started falling toward the palace. He was about to infiltrate the palace from above.

Hasha was falling at great speed with his big silver sword, slayer. He was nearing the palace. As he was about to reach the ground, his body glowed. Even his airship glowed.

"What's happening?" Hasha was confused but calm. The light glowed brighter and suddenly Hasha and his ship disappeared in the middle of the air.

The light then appeared in another place and transported Hasha. He fell on his knees on the white ground, breaking the ground. The airship also got transported and was floating in the air.

Hasha stood and saw that he was in an unfamiliar place. He saw mountains and land covered in snow and glacier.

"What happened? What is this place?" Hasha was confused but composed. He walked a bit. "Snow – Hmm? – Suddenly everything feels too real for a game. Is this a hidden mission?" He observed the surroundings but all he saw was a white landscape.

A cold wind was blowing. Clouds covered the sky letting little sunlight pass through.

"I have played this game four times but … something like this has never happened," he said, "Did I unlock something? But more than that … How come everything looks real? Is it the update? No, that can't be. After all The Hero Saga is an offline game." Hasha took off his helmet.

The cold wind was blowing. It was hitting Hasha's face which wasn't protected, unlike his other armored parts.

"It's cold," he said. Though he felt the cold, it didn't affect him. "Did I leave the game pod door open? – Let's log out for now."

"Log…..???" As Hasha was about to say logout something caught his eyes.

There was something above clouds, something red, moving, that made the clouds shine red.

"What's that?" Hasha was completely focused on that red light.

Then the red light pierced down the clouds, dispersing the clouds.

"Is that a bird?" Hasha said, "Phoenix?"

It was a Phoenix that made the clouds glow red with its fiery body. It was an enormous bird made up of fire only.

The Phoenix flew above Hasha. He stood and watched the Phoenix fly above him. When the Phoenix passed it made the surroundings warm. The phoenix flew past the airship and flew above the clouds again and disappeared.

"That was Phoenix … But it looked different from the one I saw. Did it get an upgrade?" said Hasha. The cold wind kicked back in again and he felt cold on his face. "I should check the game pod door.

"Save and log out," Hasha said and he immediately fell on the ground and his helmet.

After a few seconds, four gray Gargoyles came flying from the airship to Hasha. The Gargoyles were about seven feet tall with large wings, had a pair of horns, and carried halberd. Two Gargoyles carried Hasha and others carried their halberd.

~~

Meanwhile in the countryside of Kyushu island, in a two-story house, a white gaming pod opened from inside.

From inside 5.7 feet, a black-haired, thin boy came out. He was wearing a black t-shirt and pants. He was Shimizu Hiro in his early twenties. Hiro resembled Hasha in appearance.

Hiro looked at the gaming pod. He said, "The door was closed then how did I feel cold."

The windows were opened allowing the breeze to enter. Hiro looked outside the windows. He was in a mountainous region, surrounded by forest.

Hiro then went down to the kitchen to drink water then sat down in the backyard. He was enjoying the breeze coming from the mountain. He recalled the game.

"That felt too real," Hiro said, "And why didn't the logout panel appear before I log out." He lied down in confusion. "Did something happen to the game or system?"

Hiro thought about what happened inside the game for a while and fell asleep. When he opened his eyes he was on the couch in the living room. The tv was on.

The sun was setting down, making the sky and clouds orange.

"Did we wake you?" said a man who was in his fifties. He was sitting on the floor watching tv.

"No, no Uncle," Hiro replied in a soft voice, "I am sorry you had to carry me up to here Uncle and Aunt."

The man was his uncle, Shimizu Noki. He was tall and had a gentle face and wore a glass.

Beside him was his wife, Aunt Shimizu Maki. She was also in her fifties and wore a glass. Both of them had kind and gentle faces.

"You aren't that heavy," said Aunt smilingly, "You should eat more instead. Look how thin you are."

"I will do that," Hiro replied. He then sat down on the floor and watched tv with his Uncle and Aunt.

The news was on the tv. The announcer was telling Hunter News. And something on the news made Hiro surprised.

"That's the phoenix I saw in the game." Hiro thought.

The news was telling about the phoenix that appeared from another world and flew across many places on Earth. It was similar to one Hasha saw in his game.

"Ah! That's right. The phoenix …, it flew over our village, "Aunt said, "Everyone was talking about it. Some also saw it. Did you also see it?"

"Uh! No. I was in the room playing a game," replied Hasha.

"Me neither, but isn't that bad?" Uncle exclaimed.

"I don't know but Ushio once told me that they are something like deities that fly across different worlds once in fifty years. It doesn't need a portal to appear like others and they don't harm anyone," Aunt said, "He also said that whenever the Phoenix appear they grant wishes."

"Really. It's good that it doesn't harm. Like other monsters," said Uncle.

"Wish, huh!" Hasha thought, "It really looked like the one I saw earlier in the game."

"Has Ushio called? He hasn't called for a month." Uncle asked.

"He must have been busy with his works in his guild," Aunt replied.

"Still, he should talk to his parents some time," said Uncle.

Ushio was Son of his Uncle and Aunt and cousin brother of Hiro. He was in his early thirties, working in Hunter Guild in Tokyo. Uncle was a big brother of Hiro's father.

Three of them watched tv, talked and in the evening they started preparing for dinner. Hasha always helped with house chores.

After dinner and other stuff, Hiro went to his room. He looked at the gaming pod.

"Let's play a little," Hiro said. He then opened the capsule door, sat down, wore a game helmet, and closed the door properly.

Hiro then relaxed and closed his eyes. He said, "Login."

~~

Hasha opened his eyes and got up. "Where am I? Shouldn't I be on that white land? Did it not get saved?" He was on a large bed in a bright room with magic lamps. The room had a medieval royal room interior with few modern designs.

"This is the personal chamber of Hasha." Hasha looked at his chamber. "But I have never used it."

Hiro was now playing his player character Hasha.

Hasha was naked on top. He had a muscular body and some purple line pattern on his body similar to the purple line on his face.

"Strange." Hasha touched his body, bed, and others. "Everything feels real. As if Hasha and this whole thing have become real. It wasn't bad before but … now it's a lot better than before."

The gaming pod and the game "The Hero Saga" was a full dive VR game that provided immersive gameplay with realistic graphics, animation, and others.

At that moment three hooded people came. They had a white metal mask on their face revealing yellow pupils, wore a long red hood robe and white gloves. They were the priest.

"Greeting my lord." The priests kneeled before Hasha.

"Rise," Hasha said, "What is it? Priest."

The three priests slowly stood. The priest in the middle answered, "We are simply here to check your health, my lord."

"My health? Did something happen to me?" Hasha asked.

"My lord you were unconscious for six hours," answered one Priest.

"Unconscious?" Hasha was surprised but had a composed face.

"Yes, My lord. It was more like you were sleeping but you weren't waking when we tried to wake you up," said Priest.

"Unconscious huh. Let me see then," Hasha said. "Status," Hasha commanded. But nothing happened. "Why isn't the panel appearing?" He tried once again but there was no effect.

Hasha tried another command to open some panels but nothing happened.

"Why is nothing happening? Did the command get updated? But isn't this offline game." Hasha was confused. "What should I do?"

Hasha looked around and at the Priest. "There's nothing wrong with the game," Hasha thought, "I should wear something." He saw his golden armor and helmet hanging on a hanger. Beside was his big Silver Sword, Slayer. He walked to it. "Do I have to wear in on my own?" he said. He touched the armor and said, "Can't I just say 'Golden Gear' and it wears on itself?"

Suddenly his full golden armor glowed and disappeared and then it was on his body. That surprised him.

"Voice command?," Hasha said, "So this is how you do it." He then touched his sword and commanded, "Store?" The silver sword disappeared. "I think I know how to do it. But how do I check my status."

Hasha was confused with the new development.

"Let's search about that later," he thought. He waved his right hand, "Portal." Rays of white light appeared. "I want to know about this place," He picked up his golden helmet and entered the portal. The three priests followed Hasha.

Hasha opened the portal to the Throne Room, the room where he watched The Rohini Kingdom before. This time the room didn't have an outside view. It was enclosed with round walls, floors, and ceilings.

Hasha sat on his half-back throne. As he sat, the room changed. It gave a landscape view of the outside of the ship, the snowy ground, clouded sky, and white mountains. The throne room became bright.

All the people in there looked as if they were standing and sitting in the air.

"Priest, where are we," asked Hasha.

One of the priests stepped forward and raised his gloved hands. He incanted, "World Map."

Suddenly at the top and bottom big yellow magic circles appeared. From it, yellow light flowed and took a round shape. It made the shape of a world which they were in.

Hasha was surprised. He uttered, "Earth."

The magic projected Earth.

The ship had a magical device that could create a projection of the world it currently is in. One needs to activate it by incanting the spell.

"Yes, My lord. And we are currently in a continent called Antarctica," said the Priest.

The projection spun to show Antarctica.

"Is Earth the hidden map of this game? If it is, then why didn't it appear when I played it four times before," Hasha thought. The chair turned around and Hasha watched the white landscape. "New map and new mission but aren't it too big for a mission map."

He turned around to see the globe. "Then where should I head first," he thought. He then had an idea where to go. "Kyushu Island," he said.

The globe spun showing Japan and the outline of Kyushu Island. It could only show an outline map of places.

"It's there," said Hasha. He stood up. "Normal Attire," he commanded. His heavy armor was replaced with a normal white overcoat, half sleeve white t-shirt, black pants, and white shoes. The dress displayed his good proportion: 6.6 ft. height and lean muscular body.

"Portal." Hasha waved his right hand. "Land the Oasis and inform me if something happens." Hasha disappeared into the portal.

The two-km round metallic ship was called Oasis. It landed on the ground on its four giant outer four legs.

~~

Hasha appeared out of the portal in a forest on Kyushu Island. "It's night here," he said, "I wonder if I am in my village right now. It would be great if the new map has my village."

Hasha had a portal skill. However, it had many limits. He could open a portal to his ship from anywhere as he was the owner of the airship, but he couldn't open a portal to other places. The portal was the ability he gained by being the owner of the Oasis. Besides, it is difficult to predict where the portal might open in the place when the ship created a portal.

Hasha jumped on a branch of a tree. From there he saw dark forest glittering with house lights, street lamp posts. Also, there was a bright moon in the sky.

"Is that my village," Hasha thought. He then walked toward the village. The bright moon lit up the path little. As he was going, he was surprised.

"Wow! Everything is the same as the real place," Hasha thought, "It feels like I am actually in my real village."

It was a small village with green mountains around, with scattered houses. It was already night and there weren't people outside.

"If it's this much real then there should be Uncle's house too." Hasha was excited, "Let's go and see the house."

He walked and found his house. "Ohh! There it is," Hasha exclaimed, "Anyone would mistake this as a reality." He walked to his house. "In reality, Uncle and Aunt would have gone to sleep by now, and right now I would be in my room full diving in the game like now."

Hasha then looked at his room above... "This feels more like a Sim game than an action-adventure game," he said, "Should I check my room then? It would be great if I was actually there."

Hiro's room's windows were opened. Hasha jumped into his room. He was surprised at what he was seeing.

"Woah! Is this real?" said Hasha in shock. The room was the same as his (Hiro's) room and there was also a gaming pod. The light was blinking on the pod showing it was in use.

"This is my room. How's this possible?" Hasha was shocked. He then moved to the gaming pod and saw the light blinking. "Someone's using it. That would be me, Hiro, right now. – haha," Hasha laughed, "Nooo, how can that be. It's not like my player character became real. It's just a game, a realistic game."

Hiro who was playing Hasha and thinking that it was just a realistic game, didn't know that it wasn't the game but reality. And his player character did become alive.

Hasha slowly opened the gaming pod. He was a little scared. There was a person inside with headgear.

"That's the same dress and … the body size too," Hasha was surprised. He then slowly reached out to the headgear and slowly took it off.

Hasha opened his eyes wide in shock and suddenly became unconscious and fell to the floor.

At the same time, Hiro who was in the gaming pod suddenly opened his eyes.

"Huh? What happened? - My headgear? And the po..." Hiro couldn't finish his words as his eyes were opened wide in shock and fear by seeing what was in his front.

There was a body laid right in front of him.