Bushido Online: the Battle Begins: A LitRPG Saga Read online

  The man knocked some more. Then came a woman’s voice. “Mr. Kinnaman, we’ll only ask for five minutes of your time.”

  Seth decided not to answer.

  The digital lock on his apartment door beeped and the door opened. Seth sprang up from his bed in alarm. “Hey, you can’t—”

  “Mr Hudson gave us the keycard,” said the woman in a pleasant, friendly voice.

  Months ago, he would have been embarrassed to be seen half-naked in bed like this, but now there was only numb indifference. Seth could hear both of them coming in and setting their bags down on his dining table, and he secretly cursed the handicapped-friendliness of the room which made sure the door could never be physically locked from the inside. He also regretted the fact that he had given Tom a spare key.

  “Fine, you’ve got five minutes,” said Seth. “And the first is almost already up.”

  The woman was suddenly right beside him, sitting on his bed. Before Seth could react, she had slid her soft smooth hand into his. Her voice hid a smile. “I’m Lindsey Miles. Nice to meet you, Mr. Kinnaman. You can call me Lindsey.”

  “Seth,” he said, unsure why.

  “First let me explain what we do.” She sounded happy. “VirCo is a platform that integrates virtual reality technology into an interactive online experience in a virtual realm.”

  Seth burst out laughing as it dawned on him. “A video game?” He shook his head. “Tom should know I have no interest in that.” His focus had always been in doing things in the real world, with objects he could touch, skills he could learn and master. It was pathetic that his coach had thought he had sunk to this.

  “Allow me?” said Lindsey softly. She suddenly moved very close. Seth could smell her faint perfume of cherry blossom. He flinched from surprise as her hand touched his face. “Sorry,” she said. “I think it will be best if you could experience our technology first-hand. It will only take a few seconds.”

  Her hands worked swiftly as she dabbed alcohol on his temples and attached something small and cold on both sides. He raised his fingers and found metal discs about half the size of a coin.

  “It’s all wireless,” said Lindsey, reading his thoughts and explaining the lack of cables. She then said to her colleague who was at the dining table. “Connect him, Roger.”

  Seth could hear switches being flipped and clicks from across the room. Then something flickered in front of his eyes. He gave a start and stared as he saw something white taking form. At first, it was a white spec, then it started to glow faint pink as more and more specs appeared. Swirling together like petals in the wind, they all started to take shape.

  Then, suddenly, Seth was looking at a cherry blossom tree in full bloom, its branches lined with pink flowers, swaying gently in the wind. It was a lone tree standing on a river bank. He looked around and he saw the crystal clear water flowing. The sun was midway in the sky, above a mountain range that appeared dusky blue in the distance.

  Seth could only stare. It looked so real that he reached out his hand to touch the bark of the tree.

  “This is the demo and we’ve only connected your visuals so far.” Lindsey’s disembodied voice could be heard. “In the full feature mode, you will be able to touch and feel things in the virtual realm as well, even the wind and the sun.”

  Even knowing full well it was digital, Seth hungrily drank in the scenery. A bird fluttered overhead, and he could see its movement in detail. He studied the sunlight on the pink petals and he never realized it could look so beautiful.

  “The demo only contains this one scene,” said Lindsey, a bit apologetically. Seth could hear her give a signal to her colleague and the scene faded into darkness. She then carefully removed the metal discs attached to his temples.

  Seth sat there speechless. He could hear them packing up, before Lindsey approached him again, sitting down on the bed. “I’ve left a full manual and a contract on the table, both in Braille and audio. As part of our research, you are allowed to use this service free of charge. Once you’ve had a look through the terms and conditions, we can come back and set you up with the interactive full-feature mode. Your friend, Mr. Hudson, had already looked through them and said there shouldn’t be a problem. So, unless you have any objections, we’ll come back later this week.”

  She slid her hand into his again and gave a soft squeeze. “See you, Seth,” she said as she got up to leave. She paused at the door. “Thursday?” For some reason, they already knew what his answer would be.

  “Yes,” Seth said softly. The two VirCo people thanked him and left.

  After the door clicked shut, Seth just realized that he had tears rolling down his cheeks.

  Chapter 02

  The spacious wooden room faded and Seth was in his apartment again.

  “All right,” said Lindsey, who was standing beside him. “Remember that as long as you are Level 5 or lower, you can always log out by saying it out loud or simply will it.”

  “We’ve practiced logging out three times already,” Seth pointed out. He had not realized the initial calibration of the full-feature mode, as Lindsey called it, would take so long. They had spent the past hour walking, running, jumping and interacting with objects in the virtual wooden room to allow the software to detect and pair his brain waves to in-game commands.

  Lindsey sighed. “Safety protocol. Some people find the experience too… real.” She chose her word carefully.

  “And after Level 5?” Seth asked.

  “There will be some places where you cannot log out from. For example, you can’t log out when you are in combat. But don’t worry, you won’t be stuck forever. If your body experiences any discomfort in the real world, the game has a safety override to bring you out.” She bit her lower lip. “It helps prevent people from starving to death when playing.”

  Seth did not want to tell her that the only reason he was interested was to get back in some form what he had lost, that he had no plan to really play the game. He had not spoken to Tom yet, but he suspected it was why Tom recommended the software in the first place.

  “Why Bushido Online?” Seth could not help but ask.

  Lindsey sounded like she was shrugging. “It was originally Japanese technology, I guess. And the game was open-source, so the developers just built on that.”

  “Makes sense,” said Seth.

  “Okay, now we’re all set,” Lindsey said cheerfully. “We’ll leave you now so you can experience the virtual world at your own pace.”

  He thanked her and, as soon as he heard the door close, he logged in with a command, more eagerly than he thought he should be.

  ***

  The first thing he noticed was a high ceiling, then the hard and slightly cold tatami floor under him, then the smell of coal. It took him a few seconds to realize he was lying on the floor, something he had not been expecting at all. He bolted up in surprise.

  Apparently, he found himself in a humble square wooden house. It was different than the calibration room, as it was much smaller, and only about ten feet across. The paper sliding doors were left open, and the sunlight was shining through. Outside, he could recognize bright green bamboo leaves. Sounds of birds filled the air.

  In the middle of the room was a floor stove and, above it, a cast iron pot was boiling quietly. He could not help but stare in delight at how lovely it all looked and thought he could spend hours just marveling at these seemingly common things. It had been so long, and he had missed it.

  A shadow appeared at the door. It was an old man of about seventy, his long white hair tied into a high ponytail, his dark purple robe simple but neat and refined.

  “Ah, young man, you are awake!” The old man sat down beside him on the floor. “The bakemono almost got you. Luckily I happened to pass by in time. I am called Manji. What is your name?”

  Seth was so busily appreciating how realistic the man looked, down to the lines on his forehead, that he forgot to answer.

 
The old man said again, in exactly the same tone as before. “What is your name?”

  “Seth.”

  The man thought for a moment. “Unfortunately, I already know someone called Sei. Perhaps a longer name you could use?”

  Seth looked at him and realized this must be part of the starting sequence. He knew the game had built-in speech recognition AI, but he still could not help but wonder if the software would really be able to respond to him. “Seth Kinnaman.”

  “Very well, Seiki. I will call you Seiki from now on. Is that alright?”

  “Oh, uh, it’s Seth Kinnaman,” he tried to correct the man.

  The old man smiled. “You must realize there is a restriction on given names within our realm. I will call you Seiki from now. Is that alright?”

  Suddenly remembering what the manual said about naming rules, the young man exhaled in slight amusement, both at how he kept forgetting that it was after all a game and that this old man Manji was in fact nothing but digitally-generated graphics.

  “Yes, Seiki it is then,” he laughed.

  “I’m glad you are good, Seiki. This is my wife, Sumiko.” The old man beckoned towards the door, and an old woman walked in, dressed in the same dark purple.

  Sumiko sat down beside the old man. “Seiki, how do you feel?”

  Surprised at the question, Seth, or rather Seiki, thought about it. For some reason that he could not yet quite pinpoint, he was not feeling his total best.

  “You have been injured, so you are not at full health,” explained Sumiko. She turned to the pot on the stove, and ladled out a bowl of clear, fragrant liquid, which she gave to him. “This healing tonic will help you feel better. Drink it.”

  Seiki did as he was told. The effect was immediate and the world became brighter as energy rushed through him.

  “You are now at full health and energy,” Sumiko informed him. “When these are depleted, you can slowly recover over time, but it is much faster with tonics and potions. I will give you some more now for your future travels.”

  She filled a small bottle with the liquid from the pot and handed it to him.

  You have received: Healing Tonic (x3).

  Manji joined in. “Here, take this as well.”

  You have received: Small Cloth Pouch.

  Seiki studied the items in his hands. The blue ceramic bottle had a cork lid and was warm with the tonic inside. The cloth pouch was made of rough gray fabric with hemp rope drawstrings. Suddenly he felt a weird sensation as new information popped in his head.

  Healing Tonic (x3). Heals the user for 20 HP. Cannot be used while in combat. Small Cloth Pouch. Capacity 0.5 kg. Non-weapon waist slot.

  He blinked at this sudden knowledge that seemed to have come out of nowhere. With that he also suddenly instinctively knew that he could carry a total of three items around his waist: two weapons plus one container item. For some reason he also knew that 20 HP was equivalent to almost half his total health.

  Manji was saying, “This area is no longer safe. Many strange creatures roam the lands now. Be careful outdoors, especially—”

  Before the old man could finish his sentence, something about the size of a wolf shot in from outside. Manji yelled as it bit him on the arm. Seiki leapt to his feet and, without thinking, kicked it on the side. The thing fell back, and he could see now that it looked like a big lizard with brown scaly skin. It snarled and jumped at him, baring its sharp spiky teeth. Seiki kicked it again. His foot caught it in midair and the beast dropped to the floor, lifeless.

  Seiki’s heart was pounding. Whatever that thing was, it seemed very real and alive. He reminded himself it was just a game but, while his mind believed it intellectually, his body refused to accept the fact. He could feel the hard scales on his foot when he had kicked its aggressor earlier, and the impact had vibrated up his leg just like expected. Somewhere at the back of his mind a piece of information flashed through:

  Cursed Gecko slain. 11 XP gained.

  Before he could fully recover from the unexpected incident, Sumiko cried out behind him. “Watch out! There’s another one!”

  Seiki turned in time to dodge as a similar creature leapt at him. His punch hit the top of its head, and it thudded down on the wood floor with a nasty squeal. Another kick to the head sealed its fate.

  Cursed Gecko slain. 11 XP gained.

  Seiki was trying to make sense of what happened when a sensation that felt like the highest rush burst in his mind.

  Congratulations! You have reached Level 2.

  This wave of satisfaction was followed by several other feelings. Seiki felt stronger and more energized. Bits of awareness were still trickling through.

  HP increased to 40.

  Max energy increased to 26.

  New ability slot available.

  Shaking his head, Seiki made a mental note to try to get used to this new mode of awareness. Then he realized that the old couple had been talking to him.

  “You saved our lives!” Sumiko was saying. “I didn’t expect they would dare attack in broad daylight.”

  “What were those?” Seth asked. He tried the strategy he had done before and looked intently at them.

  Cursed Gecko. Class: beast. HP 0/10. Lootable.

  “Go check their corpses,” said Manji. Seiki bent down. As he touched one of the bodies, it dispersed in a puff of black smoke, leaving behind a large single brown scale. He tried the same thing on the other dead lizard and got two more scales.

  “Let me have a look!” cried Sumiko excitedly. “These scales are in good condition. I can grind them up and turn them into an ingredient for my medicine. Would you like to trade them for a copper each?”

  Seiki handed them to her. “Sure.”

  You have received: 3 coppers.

  Seiki chuckled at the currency. “What can you even buy with three coppers?”

  Manji stood up. “Follow me outside.”

  The sun hung high in the sky. The old couple’s house was in the middle of a small garden, with patches of vegetables and racks of dangling fruits. Seiki took a glimpse around, taking in the beauty. Further away, he could see expansive rice fields in almost all directions, with a few thatched cottages similar to Manji’s house scattered here and there. At the horizon were several snow-capped mountain ranges. Leading from the front of the house was a dirt path that connected to the road outside the gate.

  “This is Kakura Village,” said Manji, before guiding Seiki to the back of the house, where lay a small patch of open ground.

  “To survive in such dangerous times like these, I’ll teach you a skill,” said Manji. The old man placed one foot forward. He bent his knees, holding his left hand out in front of him, palm forward, while his right formed a fist at his waist. “Take my stance.”

  Drawing from his real life skills, Seiki copied him with ease.

  “Now focus your energy and push it forward. Like this,” said Manji. His right hand shot forward, and the air in front of him seemed to burst in a silent explosion.

  Seiki tried, a bit skeptical at first, as there was no way such a thing could happen in the real world. Concentrating on his right hand, he pushed it forward. A bout of energy flowed through him, from deep within his chest. It traveled down his arm and ended in front of his fist. At the same time, he felt a large portion of his total energy draining from his body.

  Congratulations! You have learned a new ability: Focused Strike. Range: 0.1. Damage: 18. Energy required: 12.

  Looking at his right hand in disbelief, Seiki could not help but feel a sense of giddy delight creeping up on him. He understood now why his former coach had recommended this game. Sight was one thing, but this also provided freedom of movement and a reminder of what it was like to learn and practice martial arts. He was suddenly overwhelmed by a strange mixture of gladness, pain and hope.

  Manji was patient and waited quietly for Seiki to collect himself. When Seiki finally turned to look at him, the old ma
n continued. “This is a special move and requires energy, so you will not be able to use it too often, but it does more damage than your normal attacks.”

  Energy recharged much more quickly than health; it was already climbing up to about three quarters of his total. Seiki grinned at the old man. “Thank you.” He had a feeling he did not need to, but he did not care.

  “Unfortunately, this is all I can teach you right now. You will be able to learn more skills in the future.” The old man then seemed to have an idea. “Before it gets dark, do you think you could help me with something?”

  Seiki nodded.

  The old man pointed ahead to an area with several tall pine trees. “Could you gather some firewood for us? Sumiko needs it to keep her medicine pot boiling.”

  Seiki nodded again. Quest accepted: Firewood [Level 2].

  He focused his attention on the information, and more appeared for him. Gather firewood from the pine woods and bring it back to Manji at his house.

  “Obvious enough,” said Seiki to himself.

  Manji had already walked back around the house, so Seiki set off down the dirt path in the direction the old man had indicated. The path cut through countless rice fields, which were now green with young seedlings. A few farmers could be seen further away, busily tending to their crops.

  The woods offered shade from the sun and, once he entered the thicket, the air around him cooled significantly. Seiki looked around for what could be firewood and spotted a pile of dry branches under one of the trees.

  Before he could get to it, someone dashed in front of him: Yamura [Level 7], a tall young man in a white robe, with slightly mismatched armor, his black hair in a long, thin ponytail that reached his knees.

  “Aha!” cried Yamura as he grabbed the branches. “Four!” His arms were almost full of firewood.

  The man then noticed Seiki. Turning around, he gave a sheepish smile. “I know, I know, you saw it first. But these things take forever to regenerate.”

  Yamura then spun around as he looked for more. “I know I shouldn’t have skipped this one. Aha! There’s another!”