[Oneshot] Virtual Reality - Nino centric (Part 1)
Title: (Virtual) Reality
Pairing/Focus: Nino x Aiba+Jun+Ohno. Hint of Nino x Sho.
Rating: PG-13
Genre : very little action, fantasy
Warnings: Annoyed Nino tends to curse. Not a lot.
Summary: Nino is a game creator, stuck in the universe of the game that he created. (Sorry about the summary.)
Disclaimer ; Nope. I'm not rich. Besides, was it legal to own a human? ummm... Fic inspired by a lot of movies and games. listed a few in the notes.
Written for littlealex for ninoexchange
Tap. Tap. Tap.
namespacenamespace_name {
// code declarations
}
include
using namespace std;
int main()
{
cout<< "Enter New game";
}
“I swear to god, if that Sloppy Shoulder is gonna mess with my life One.More.FuckingTime. I’m gonna bury him deep at my backyard.”
include
char c;
using namespace std;
// first name space
namespacefirst_space{
voidfunc(){
cout<< "Inside first_space" <
}
“One more chance, Ninomiya. Ruin this one last chance, you know what will happen to you.”
“That snobbish hanger. Only if I have the power to turn him into one, I’ll definitely hang a blazer on him. Fucking snobbish,” Nino muttered as he skillfully tapped on his keyboard of his computer. The image of the CEO of Storms Demo Co., Sakurai Sho scornfully smirking at him that evening boiled his blood, giving him the urge to kill the man with his own hands.
“How can you expect that I will agree to such a boring game like this?” Sho had said to him that evening, throwing the demo to the floor before he stepped onto it as if it’s worth nothing. “This is trash! Why can’t you come up with something that would break that stereotype people had on games? For god sake, this is useless! Re-do it or-“
Nino refused to let the words play inside his head again. The words, while it discouraged his effort having it replay like a broken record, were such an annoying distraction. He shook his head, rubbing his face again and again as he let out a loud sigh in hopes that whatever image or memories he had about Sho would be erased from his worthy brain.
Yet, it didn’t really work.
For a brief moment, he kept staring at the computer screen, reading the long small letters he had typed 4 hours ago but he couldn’t feel anything. His thoughts lead to nothing and he could not even say that he was half-way through writing the program.
He sighed, leaned back at his chair. It was one in the morning and there isn’t a sign that he’s going to go home any moment from now. It has been three years since he landed his job in this company. This was the first time he felt frustrated and annoyed by his current condition.
It annoyed him even more when he heard the beeping sound from the door before Sho made his appearance, smiling bitterly at him. Slowly, the CEO made his way towards him, stopping only a few steps away from him.
It took Sho a few attempts before proper words manage to leave his mouth.
“You’re not going home yet?”
Nino shrugged, not even bothering to reply to the boss. He took one deep sigh before he sat up straight, pretending to focus on his work.
“I’m sorry about what happened earlier,” Sho said, trying to have a proper conversation with his employee. “You know, we need to reach the target-“
“I don't mean to interrupt you, however I have to fix this entire program by the end of this week. Now if you don't mind, could you please leave me alone to finish my work so that I can meet those deadlines?"
Nino was expecting a backlash upon his words. He was expecting the words "You're fired!" coming out from the man’s lips. But all he heard was Sho sighing next to him.
“Okay. I’m sorry,” Sho said, tapping on his shoulder. “If you need anything, I will be in my office.”
“No, seriously. Go home!”
“I insist,” Sho said, smiling at him as he walked to his room, winking at Nino before he shut the door, chuckling.
Nino didn’t find this amusing.
“What a creepy guy.” he said, shaking his head while cursing the man again inside his head.
*
32 hours, 24 minutes and 22 seconds, he finished the coding process for three levels. Of course, it wasn’t finished, yet. But instead of doing it in one sitting, Nino chose to do it level by level, testing for errors before proceeding to writing another level. That was how he always did it, and it never failed him. Until now.
He was having difficulty figuring out why he was receiving errors. The coding itself? A typo? Perhaps because he’s just too full of himself that he didn’t bother to run the code part by part to notice he actually made a mistake with his game.
It was hell.
Left alone in the office for a second night, he ran the game.
He was well prepared. He donned the black monitor-like oculus rift, and prepared to enter the virtual reality. His lips couldn’t help forming a victorious smirk when the display showed the universe he’d been working on. Ancient City Ruins could be seen through the monitor, along with the nice soundtrack he heard through his earpiece.
>>Enter username<<
Nino, he typed it fast on his keyboard, just for the sake of testing.
>>Enter New Game<<
His finger made a move, signing into the game and it all began from there.
For once he thought he made it good. The visual seemed fine to him and he couldn’t see any form of error in the game. It was exactly as he planned.
But then, before he could make any more steps, a bright light appeared from the monitor in front of him, blinding him. All of sudden, everything felt light, as if he was lifted to the air, before a force seemed to absorb him to another universe.
He screamed, yet, there was no sound. It happened all too suddenly for him to comprehend his situation. Before he was aware of his surroundings, he fell hard onto the ground.
The fall rendered him immobile for several minutes. His body was in pain, so was his head. He heard voices around him, a particularly sharp voice stood out to him arguing about what to do with him. The possible ideas scared him, but he was too weak to protest.
Even before he could open his eyes to see his new surrounding, he lost consciousness.
*
“He hit his head. From my own judgement, I’m sure he’s going to forget some of the important things.”
“Your judgement is not valid here, Ayber. My vote is for us to leave him. We don’t even know if he is dangerous.”
“MJ-II. It’s not good to simply jump into conclusion. I don't believe--“
He heard the sound of people arguing next to him. He tried to wake up, but the pain he felt in his head made him feel like throwing up instead. Pushing himself through the pain, he slowly opened his eyes.
Nino’s eyes moved around the room… but it seemed more of CABIN-just a box without windows furnished only with a single bed, a table and three chairs. As he kept observing the room, a voice startled him.
“Good morning, young man.”
Nino knew it was rude to stare, but he couldn’t help but analyze the man. The guy’s face plastered a bright smile, beautiful eyes with weird pattern on his irises and very well defined facial features. He wore quite a weird costume, along with these weird wires and gears attached to his costume. But there was nothing alarming about the guy, other than his weird dress.
The other two men, however....
“Seriously Ayber,” The sharp faced guy who was standing far enough on his other side said, leaning against the wall while giving him an alarming look. Nino however didn’t feel any form of threat in the way he looked at him. A third man with tanned skin stared absentmindedly, his eyes unfocused on any particular object.
“We don’t know him. He appeared all of sudden. We shouldn’t trust him,” The sharp faced guy continued.
Nino was annoyed. Not only did he have no clue as to where he was, he now had to listen to strangers questioning his existence and his motives.
The man named Ayber didn’t show any sign of protest by whatever the sharp face man had said, his face remained calm.
Nino didn’t blame them for such treatment though. Sure enough, if he was in their place, he would do exactly the same thing. Having a stranger appear all of sudden would surely sent some curiosity and raise alarms and put them on the defensive. The sharp faced man was definitely on the defensive.
“I told you. It’s not good to simply jump into a conclusion, MJ-II.”
“I am not jumping to conclusions, Ayber. You should take what happened to us before into-“
“I know. I know,” the guy impatiently replied. “Still, he deserves a chance to explain, right?”
Nino was still lying on his back when he saw the MJ guy sigh after a while of waiting for the guy next to him to back him up. Negative. His eyes locked onto the two guys before he felt a soft touch on his hand, making his attention shift back to Ayber.
“I don’t understand,” Nino said, pushing himself into a sitting position on the old fashion bed.
“Well, nice to meet you, too,” the sharp face guy retorted almost instantly. Annoyance was heard in his tone and while it made him feeling a little guilty over his own attitude, Nino chose to not give a damn about it. Hence he ignored the annoyed man, shooting another question.
“Where am I?”
“Can’t you guess?” the first guy replied, feeling amused. “Can’t blame you though. It won't make sense even if I told you so.”
Nino watched how Ayber made his way away from him, sitting in the chair across the room, facing him. The other two didn’t make a move, their gaze fixed on him, demanding an explanation.
“To be honest--“ the Ayber guy started again. “-it will sound weird for you if we started to tell you about us. So, why don’t you start?”
“Me? I-“
“Your name. Your origin. What you do for a living. Just for a simple introduction. The three of us are warriors in this ruined city.”
Nino frowned. Perhaps-
Something snapped inside his head.
Holy crap.
“Wait!” Nino yelled, standing straight from his current position. “Wait. This place, is not real right?”
“Finally figured it out?” the sharp face guy replied, scornfully smiling at him. Watching Nino pace back and forth in the room amused him that he couldn’t help but to chuckle.
Nino was flabbergasted, on the other hand. His mind working so hard to process all the information he had, trying to related everything from one to another. It did link somehow but that Ayber guy was right, it didn’t make any sense.
How long had he been in this world? How long has he stayed inside the place? Did anyone from the real world realize that he was missing? What was actually happening that had caused him to enter the place instead of playing it with his feet still stepping on the real world? Where had it gone wrong?
His head was screaming all these questions and he demanded an answer.
“Oh god. Oh my god. I’m going mad. Oh my god. I’m so going mad. What happened?” he chanted, placing his palms on his ears, pacing back and forth in the room.
Seeing this, Ayber made a move. Gesturing the other two to leave the room, he reached the man, stopping his movement only to be yanked off by Nino.
“Why am I here?”
“That’s what we’re trying to ask you.”
“How should I know why I am here?” Nino snapped, annoyed. “One second I was testing this cool new game and a moment later I'm yanked into another universe?”
Ayber’s eyes widen in delighted. “So are we a part of the game you’re trying to create?” He asked, amused and amazed mixed in his tone. Despite having that disbelieve look from Nino, Ayber decided to continue. “Isn’t that amazing?”
“Obviously it is not!” Nino responded, looking around the room.
There was nothing on his body. The oculus rift, the controller he wore earlier. Nothing. He scanned across the room, trying to find whatever belongings he had on him earlier but there was nothing he could find that was his. As if, it was gone, disappear through the thin air.
The design of the room was urban. On the first look, the wall looked dusty, however the furniture in the room looked so damn classic. It reminded him of the design he had discussed with the visual department few weeks ago.
For once, he observed Ayber’s face. He has a Japanese look on his face and his memories reminded him of the first two guy. No matter how many times he told himself that it is not possible, every piece of information his mind had processed led him to the only conclusion.
“You are in our world, young guy.” Ayber said out loud. “A virtual world. The world in a game that someone had created.”
It was unbelievable. Unacceptable for him. How? Why? When? Which part of the coding had gone wrong? were questions that kept coming from one to another. But while his curiosity played with his head, a part of him found it a little impressive. Yet, he knew this isn’t the time to boast about it.
“It’s too hard to believe, but I have to, don’t I?” Nino said, sounding calmer from earlier.
Ayber smiled. “You don’t have to believe if you don't want to. But I’m sure there's an important reason as to why you’re here.”
“So, let’s say I am your creator. This world creator-,” Nino replied, still scanning the room. “I don’t know what has gone wrong, but one thing that I know is I can’t waste my time having a chat here.”
“Why not?” Aiba asked, his head tilted to the side, confused.
“Obviously because I don't live here. I don't live in this world. I need to find my way out!” Nino replied.
Quickly, he took his jacket that was placed on the bed, rushing out of the shelter, heading to an unknown destination.
*
Except, Ayber didn’t let him go alone.
It felt like hours had passed since he started walking, trying to find any form of exit that was possible to bring him back to the real world, but he was unsuccessful.
Partly giving up, he stopped, taking a seat at the large rock at the side of the road.
It annoyed him watching how giddy Ayber was, lips plastered into that smile that never stopped no matter how many times Nino had cursed over and over again. But Ayber loyally followed him despite how tough the place was.
It was a long moment of silence before Ayber broke it by introducing himself.
"I'm Ayber.”
“Excuse me?”
“My name. Mask key Ayber," Ayber said, in a fake English accent, sounding funny to Nino’s ears that he can’t help chuckling.
"No way." Nino replied in awe. Chuckled once, he continued. "There's no fucking way your name is that."
Ayber looked amused though. His face didn't show any sign of annoyance or irritation in Nino's reply, instead he laughed even though Nino wasn't really sure if it was scornful or sincere.
"Why not?" Ayber asked. Nino couldn't help rolled his eyes.
"Isn't it obvious? I invented you. You. This whole universe. If my interpretation is right, your supposed name is Aiba. Masaki Aiba."
Nino was entirely sure he didn't say something funny, however Aiba or Ayber - whatever his name was, laughed. Annoyed, he stood straight from his place and continued his walk, ignoring the virtual character who was still laughing even though he kept up with Nino's pace.
"Sorry, that's not really funny. I'm just trying to cheer up the atmosphere. You seem tense."
"Of course I am!" Nino shouted. His voice echoed across the desert, repeating his words that somehow annoyed him even more.
"Seriously, it's driving me mad. Less than 24 hours ago, that Mr. Sloppy Shoulders yelled at me, saying my work was a piece of shit before he stomped onto it like no end. What a genius he was, suggesting to me to create another one, saying something like 'breaking that stereotype of the game in our current market'. And here I am now, stuck in the virtual reality that I've created in despair, together with an idiot character who was too brilliant to notice there's no fucking way I can relax when I pretty much messed up the world I created."
His shoulders move up and down, trying to catch his breathe due to his own rage. He tried to calm down, but Ayber, despite how the graphic department had portrayed and created the man to be a handsome, perfect man, his expression made Nino annoyed just by looking at him. His eyes sparkle bright, his lips never stop forming that charming, soothing smile. He didn't need that now. Definitely not now when he was trying to find solution to get out from the game he was trapped in for who knew what purpose.
"First of all, Mr. Inventor. Yes, I am Aiba, that clumsy code character you invented."
"Clumsy? You're supposed to be the weakest; the idiot character among the trio."
"Yeah, save it for later when you finally get the code right for this whole game. Don't cut me off while I'm talking, inventor." Aiba stopped Nino before he could interrupt him.
"And then the other two, MJ-II and Big-No. Yeah. Their exact names are Matsumoto Jun and Ohno Satoshi.” For once, Aiba paused, literally enjoying the confusion written on Nino’s face. Watching how the inventor almost getting mad, he continued. “We evolved.”
“Evolved?” Nino asked, surprised by the new fact he just learnt. Aiba did notice the surprise in the man’s tone but all he did was rolling his eyes.
“You're creating a game with a western setting and you have a Japanese name for the character? That is so not cool, man" he replied, a tone of mocking was heard in the way he spoke.
“So, you evolved by yourself? Hmm, that sounds like a virus to me. Not a coding problem,” Nino replied, continuing walking.
“Whatever it is, it’s not something you should bother with. After all, we’re only characters you created, but seriously, you should be thankful that we helped you to create something with intelligence.”
“Yeah, you mean evolving by yourself and dropping me into the game. No thank you. I’ll fix this mess once I find a way out.”
Aiba laughed again making Nino click his tongue and roll his eyes in annoyance. Ignoring the man for once, he continued walking with his mind focused on finding an exit that would bring him to the real world.
But then, he felt like he was walking in a circle. His surroundings were clearly an open space of desert lands, not a single point he could used to mark. His mind was getting confused with every step he made, wondering if there’s a possible ending to this long road he had been walking with his supposed helper.
Until Aiba spoke again.
“So, your name is Nino?” Aiba said casually, making Nino roll his eyes in annoyance towards the man's response.
“How did you know?" Nino asked, slightly surprised by the fact the man actually knew his name.
“You entered your name, remember?”
“Yet you still asked,” Nino responded, amused.
“Nah, I’m just trying to act friendly.”
Nino smirked, looking at Aiba with a scornful look. He chuckled once then continued walking again.
“It’s not important,” Nino mumbled only to receive nothing in response. From the corner of his eye, he could see how Aiba was absentminded, as if trying to figure something out but still, after a while of silence, no one chose to break it again.
Nino was perplexed. Everything seems like a horrible nightmare for him. There’s no way he would want to live in this kind of universe. For god sake, he was born in the modern century. He wouldn’t be able to survive here, at all.
“So, Mr. Inventor,” Aiba started again. “If you really invented us, can you tell us what are we supposed to do?
“Help the player.” Nino replied, short. Watching Aiba who was looking at him intently in return, Nino sighs. “The three of you are supposed to help the player reach the goal.”
“What goal?” Aiba asked.
For once Nino was dumbfounded. He tried hard to remember whatever goal he needed to reach for the first three levels of the game. He found it weird. Of course, the player needs to find the treasure, but the goal… Shouldn't he know about it?
Slowly, he turned to look at Aiba who was smirking at him. There's something in the way the man smirked at him, but Nino didn't bother to ask. His target is only one: to find the exit.
“So, if we’re supposedly your helpers, then, why don't you ask for help?”
Abruptly, he stopped walking again, and looked at Aiba. Something snapped in his head hearing the man's word. The man did make a lot of sense. If he was in the world he had created then Aiba, the character he created, should be his assistant in this game. But then, would it really work that way, when the actual target of the game is to find as many treasures as they can, not to find the exit?
“I’m not playing,” Nino had said, making Aiba to raise a questioning eyebrow.
“Why not?”
“I’m not looking for treasures, Aiba. I’m looking for the exit.”
Aiba clasped his hand, faking an amused expression. “So, you’re looking for an exit. Why didn’t you tell me earlier? I could have told you how.”
“For god sake! I’ve been saying that over and over again!”
Nino couldn’t help but hit his head watching Aiba cracking up upon his remark. In his mind, he had a thought.
“There is no way this guy can be a good assistant.”
*
“I have to play?” Nino asked, dumbfounded. On his hand was a thick game guides and regulation handbooks that he recognize so well as his Help Menu, Q&A and terms regulation input he had included in the game before. His eyes met the three assistant, excitement and amused was obviously shown in every gaze and gesture they made.
It’s not impossible, he told himself. He did get the idea asking him to play, winning all the current possible level. One thing that he didn’t understand was how can he find the exit, when the game wasn’t even finished yet?
It was earlier when the other two characters introduced themselves to him. If he can choose, he would obviously choose MJ-II instead of Ayber or Big-No. While Ayber with his clumsiness and Big-No with his absent-minded all the time, of course MJ-II would be the perfect helper. But then, he couldn’t choose one, despite how the programming code he’s been working on actually made the option.
Under these circumstances, he chose to not argue.
“I think, you’ve started playing since you input your name before you enter the game, Nino.” MJ-II said once Ayber finished telling them Nino’s condition. “By hook or by crook, you have to play the game.”
“Can I call you Jun instead? MJ-II sounds annoying to me. And you two-” Nino said, pointing at both Ayber and Big-No. “- with your other names as well.”
Jun smirked. “Of course. You’re the inventor. You’re free to call us whatever you want.”
It took him a few second before he murmured an OK as response. He tried to read the book in his hand once again, trying to figure out everything but not a single hint told him on what was his supposed goal. As expected from the Help Menu.
Nino started to doubt.
“Guys, seriously. I’m gonna refused to do it if we’re not even sure this is going to work,” he tried to object. Three pairs of eyes looked at him in disbelieved.
“Is that how all earth people supposed to react?” Ohno asked, annoyed in his tone. “Can’t you be a little optimistic? I thought earth people has that ‘where there’s a will, there’s a way’? Why didn’t you have one?”
“Besides, it’s only three simple level. I don’t think it is a waste if it turned out to be a fail option.” Jun continued, supporting his comrade’s opinion.
Nino rolled his eyes. As easy as he said, he said inside his head.
“So, let’s say I tried-“ Nino speaks again, open the handbook in his hand, referring to one guide page. “All I have to do is look for treasure and that’s it?”
The three nod at the same time.
“That’s boring!”
Like a cue, the three characters went to the only life inside their universe, dragging him away from his current spot.
*
Nino have no doubt about the game being boring. All he did was running, along with Jun followed close behind him. He was occupied with some gun, a weird gear that he can use to jump higher in order to reach for the treasure.
Except, it wasn’t as boring as he thought. It was one challenging level.
He was running in a desert that was occupied with some abandoned building, most were ruins, fighting against the time and the burning heat from the sun. It’s tiring him to work and think under this kind of heat that he almost passed out. Thank goodness Jun was there, half dragging him before he asked him if he need a medicine as a power up.
Well, thanks to the game plan he had worked on earlier.
Nino never thought how his code could make Jun, his game’s character appeared to be so gorgeous and reliable at the same time. Jun never let him face the challenge alone. He stayed, fighting together when they saw a threat coming in their way. The cactus for example. He thought he was safe until the cactus start to shoot its thorn towards his direction, almost hitting his head before he managed to dodge it. Thanks to Jun who was fast enough to pushed him to another lane before he snapped off the cactus from disturbing their way.
But running was tiring. Nino never thought it could be this tiring especially after all this time sitting in front of the computers. And here, Nino saw the lack in his game.
“Personally, I think it is boring.” Nino commented, few steps away from the coins he needed to collect. “All I need to do is to collect the treasure and that’s it. I should make use your sniper’s skill to the extreme.”
Jun shrugged. “Yeah. What you can do is maybe you can make at least a few zombie that could turn into a beautiful sexy girl if I shoot them with this,” he said, showing Nino the light bazooka in his hand. Nino couldn’t help laughing.
“You sounded like a pervert.”
Jun laughed. “I’m sure your players will love it too.”
“I’ll take note on your suggestion,” Nino replied, started to move again.
The chimes rang as he reached his goal as he collect another twenty-eight treasures and coins. It felt like it passed in a blink of time.
Large letters appeared in front of him, read ‘Goal Reached! Grab your reward, now.’ Before he understood it, a big shiny diamond, buried in the lock-like design on the book cover appeared from the ground. For once, he took a look at MJ who was looking at him slightly amused by his confused state, yet he refused to ask for one.
What makes him even more confused was why couldn’t he remember his own game? This is the one he wrote, yet why didn’t he know the solution to his own problem? He didn’t even remember if he should receive the two items in the first level.
But before he could take the book, a buzzing sound came towards them. Jun was at a ready to shoot the enemy - weirdly formed bugs- that Nino couldn’t recognize or imagine where they come from
He could sense panic in Jun’s voice when he screamed his instruction.
“Grab the book. NOW!” Jun said as he shot the light towards the bugs. Some were lit on fire, by the blast, but some seemed to ignore the sniper’s existence, by trying to attack Nino instead. But before Nino could pull out his weapon, Jun yelled again.
“NO! Leave it to me! Grab the book. You’ll finish this level if you do so.”
Nino couldn’t find the logic in Jun’s instruction. Hadn’t he finished the level? He knew it wasn’t the right time to argue. Watching how those bugs made their way to him, he almost tripped before he balanced himself, dodging down just to avoid the flying bugs.
The floating book wasn’t far away from him, but it required him to use his gear to reach it. Freeing his gear that was quickly locked towards the tall wall of the ruined building, he put a little force as he jumped higher, grabbing the book before the bugs could take him.
Just like Jun had told him, a victory sounds was heard, along with large letters reading, ‘LEVEL COMPLETED’ appeared in front of him. Like a cue, all the bugs disappear into thin air, leaving the whole situation as if nothing ever happened.
“What the hell had happened?” Nino demanded to know the reason. “I don’t remember anything about the game at all.”
Jun shrugged. He didn’t have the answer either.
“Thanks for helping me earlier, Jun-“
But Jun didn’t answer him. Nino watched how the man stood stiffly, his whole attention towards him. It took a moment for Nino to understand until he heard Jun said something, he finally realized it was the script he had input inside the system before, making Nino realized this is indeed the game he had wrote.
“Congratulations on passing level one. Mission Accomplished.” MJ said, his eyes unfocused as he spoke.
“Well, I-“
“You shall proceed to the next zone. My comrade, Big-No will be accompanying you while you enter the second level. Until then, we’ll meet again.”
Nino laughed when MJ’s eyes started to focus on him again. Behind him, in big letters, wrote “Enter Second Level”, signaling him to get ready for the next level.
“You don’t have to follow the script all the time, you know. It sounded weird to hear you speak so formally.”
MJ rolled his eyes. “Says the guy who invented the game,” he said, annoyed his his tone. Somehow, he laughed when Nino pouted.
They didn’t get the chance to continue further when Ohno appeared by Nino’s side. They bowed to each other before Jun parted his way from them and both Ohno and he entered the second level without delay. As they stepped farther in, a few words appeared in front of him, stating his next mission. Nino frowned a little, but since his new helper ignored the sign, he waved it off.
Having Ohno by his side was surprisingly good. He was calm and quiet. While he didn’t actually helped in any physical way, Nino wondered so much why was the man’s presence calmed him, absorbing every worries he had.
Except, his next task was his weakness.
“No way,” he said, is eyes widened when he saw a sail boat at harbor. It was a large river, and by looking at the fast flowing river, Nino wasn’t sure if he could stay in the sail boat for long.
Big-No, or Ohno however, laughed.
“What’s wrong?”
“I can’t get in into that thing.” Nino said, pointing at the boat. “I have seasickness!”
“What is seasickness?” Ohno asked, cocked his head. Nino hit his head. Of course, he never defined ‘seasickness’ inside of his game code. No possible way for Ohno would understand that. He gritted his teeth watching how gleeful Ohno was as he pulled Nino to the boat.
“This is my forte, Nino. Leave it to me.” Ohno said, as he started to maneuver the boat.
Nino didn’t feel adventurous at all. He never like being in the boat in real life and being in one in the game no different at all. Five minutes in, he started to feel the torture, having the urge to throw up. How on earth would he find the treasure under this state?
But of course, Ohno didn’t exist for nothing.
Ohno, as he could see, was such a graceful guy despite the fact that he was actually a cyborg. Nino did notice how he randomly made some fluid movements without warning, as if he was dancing with the air, graceful. Every time Nino forgot or didn’t manage to pick up the coins on the way, Ohno would hop, catching the coins then throwing them into the bag that he’s been carrying on his back.
But Nino’s calmness didn’t stay for long. All of a sudden, everything felt useless to him, thinking that he didn’t exactly know what he is trying to look for.
He put his move on halt, trying to figure out from the book he was carrying. It was a damn thick book; there’s no possible way he could figure out anything that could be the hint for his supposed goal.
Seeing this, Ohno approached him. He didn’t talk for the first minutes, letting Nino to wonder in his own thought. But when few more minutes passed without figuring out any more hints, Nino had enough.
“Seriously!” he snapped all of sudden. “How much did you guys evolved? I don’t remember having any of this on-the-boat-challenge inside my programming code?”
It was at the peak of his patience. He was frustrated over everything, over the fact that Sakurai didn’t appreciate his works earlier and be treated that way because of his useless piece of work. Most crucially, over his inability to produce a perfect game.
“Are you sure?” Ohno asked mockingly.
“100% sure! I hate sea-“
“This isn’t the sea, Nino-“
“And I hate being on a moving boat! I hate having the thing I hate the most in the game I created!”
Somehow, Ohno looked at him with an intense stare.
“What?” he snapped, annoyed. The man gave him a mocking smirk
“You’re really impatient, aren’t you?”
Nino rolled his eyes for the nth time that day. For god’s sake, now was not the time to analyze people’s personality. And all of sudden, Ohno’s calm presence turned annoying.
“Aiba was telling us how your game doesn’t make any sense.” Ohno spoke again, ignoring Nino’s anger.
“Why not?” Nino asked, slightly irritated by the man’s words. For once, he refused to talk more with the character, refused to waste anymore time by useless talk. Hence he decided to continue with the task, in hope that Big-No would stop whatever useless thought he had in his mind.
Yet, Big-No didn’t stop it there.
“I agree with him though,“ Big-No said making Nino to look at him with a murderous intent. Still, he laughed before continued. “ When you develop the game, the only input you put on us is our characters. Not the value. What’s the point of having we just to help the player around when there’s no reason behind that?”
Nino frowns. “Just for one simple reason. You’re the helper.”
“Then you’re delusional. Helps exist because there’s a good value. But the game you’ve created was nothing but full of greediness. All you need to do is to find the treasure and find more treasure as your rise up in level. At this point, our values are just the same as yours: greedy. There’s nothing you can learn from this game, Nino. That’s the reason why it sounded useless. I’m sure that’s the exact reason why you have to re-do your earlier work.”
Ohno did make sense. All of sudden, he understood what his boss had told earlier. This game was a trash because it has no values. Nothing could be taken for a moral value that could break the stereotype. Suddenly Nino was amaze at the boss. It’s no wonder then when people labeled him "the guy who thinks of the future."
“Ok, I’ll stop it here then,“ Big-No said. “What are supposed to find for this level?”
Nino shrugged. “I’m not really sure. Barely remembered it. It has something to do with the missing page from the book.”
Ohno looked at him.
“Why should I look for the missing page?” Nino asked, hoping for a possible hint from the helper.
“It is your hint for your exit, sir,” Ohno replied, being formal that Nino sure it was because of the code. Shrugging, Nino sort of ignoring him for once.
This is challenging, Nino thought. While it was a little problematic for him, he can’t help feeling glad how this whole experience exhibited more ideas for the next level. Perhaps, he needed to make some adjustments toward the current game. Maybe instead of a puzzle kind of game, he could turn it into an action or strategy game.
But his excitement didn’t stay for long.
It was when he reached the final coin for the level, once again the letters read ‘Goal Reached! Grab your reward, now’ appear in front of him. The boat stopped and that Nino saw the bright light coming from the water almost blinding him. Until he realized there was something in the water; a treasure chest which turns transparent as time passed revealing the content inside. It was a small scroll, a thread tied neatly around, preventing anyone seeing the content. And like a cue, the treasure chest snapped open, with the scroll kept inside the chest, inviting him to take it.
He didn’t take long to realize it was the answer he was looking for. He felt amazing, proud by his own achievement. Slowly, he turned to look at Ohno.
“That was it, right?” he asked, hoping for a positive answer.
But instead of getting an answer, another buzzing sound approached them.
“Shit. Not again!” he whined, ready to pull out the gun from his gear. But before he could, Ohno stopped him.
“No. Dive in! I’ll manage this.”
“Ohno! I can’t let you do this alone. It was larger than what I’ve encountered with Jun just now!”
“Just, grab the goddamn scroll! Make it quick for us to end the level!”
He was astonished, stunned from making any movements. The whole situation was confusing that he wasn’t sure what he could do.
Until Ohno pushed him hard towards the side of the boat.
“GRAB THE PAGE! NINO!” Ohno yelled. His hand pulling out the gun from his gear, shooting the bugs behind them, trying to give as much time for the player to reach the missing scroll.
The bugs were enormous in groups. Nino knew that even though how many weapons the man had, Ohno alone would not be capable to face all of them.
He dived into the bright area trying to reach for the missing page from the book. He did noticed how some of the bugs were after him, wondering how they managed to get in the water when it didn’t seems plausible in the real world. While running away may look cowardly, he did believe in Ohno when he asked him to reach for the page and leave him behind, even when he wanted to help the guy against those horrendous bugs.
He reached out his hand for the missing page. Like a miracle, all those commotion dimmed, gone as if nothing had happened. As he resurfaced, Ohno pulled him back into the boat, panting hard as he leaned over the deck, amazed at how Nino got the level reward: the missing page from the book.
Nino couldn’t help feeling amazed. Just how much did the world he had created evolved by itself? Once again, the thought of producing a fun safe game for teenagers resurfaced. There shouldn’t be any form of harm in the game he had created. Then why did those bugs exist?
His trail of thought stopped when Ohno asked, “You got the page?” Nino nodded. “Read it then. There must be a hint for the next level.”
It took Nino a moment to read and understand the whole writing inside the book. It was written in a language he recognized almost instantly as Greek. He wondered how he could understand it even though he had never learned the language in his whole life.
He took the missing piece he had collected from the second level to match it with the missing page inside the book. It excited him when it match, but nothing excited him more when he saw something that was high possibilities to be his next level task’s hint.
“Heart of the City, The Door between the Universe.” were written below a weird symbol printed on the missing piece.
- - - -
( Part 2)
Pairing/Focus: Nino x Aiba+Jun+Ohno. Hint of Nino x Sho.
Rating: PG-13
Genre : very little action, fantasy
Warnings: Annoyed Nino tends to curse. Not a lot.
Summary: Nino is a game creator, stuck in the universe of the game that he created. (Sorry about the summary.)
Disclaimer ; Nope. I'm not rich. Besides, was it legal to own a human? ummm... Fic inspired by a lot of movies and games. listed a few in the notes.
Written for littlealex for ninoexchange
Tap. Tap. Tap.
namespacenamespace_name {
// code declarations
}
include
using namespace std;
int main()
{
cout<< "Enter New game";
}
“I swear to god, if that Sloppy Shoulder is gonna mess with my life One.More.FuckingTime. I’m gonna bury him deep at my backyard.”
include
char c;
using namespace std;
// first name space
namespacefirst_space{
voidfunc(){
cout<< "Inside first_space" <
}
“One more chance, Ninomiya. Ruin this one last chance, you know what will happen to you.”
“That snobbish hanger. Only if I have the power to turn him into one, I’ll definitely hang a blazer on him. Fucking snobbish,” Nino muttered as he skillfully tapped on his keyboard of his computer. The image of the CEO of Storms Demo Co., Sakurai Sho scornfully smirking at him that evening boiled his blood, giving him the urge to kill the man with his own hands.
“How can you expect that I will agree to such a boring game like this?” Sho had said to him that evening, throwing the demo to the floor before he stepped onto it as if it’s worth nothing. “This is trash! Why can’t you come up with something that would break that stereotype people had on games? For god sake, this is useless! Re-do it or-“
Nino refused to let the words play inside his head again. The words, while it discouraged his effort having it replay like a broken record, were such an annoying distraction. He shook his head, rubbing his face again and again as he let out a loud sigh in hopes that whatever image or memories he had about Sho would be erased from his worthy brain.
Yet, it didn’t really work.
For a brief moment, he kept staring at the computer screen, reading the long small letters he had typed 4 hours ago but he couldn’t feel anything. His thoughts lead to nothing and he could not even say that he was half-way through writing the program.
He sighed, leaned back at his chair. It was one in the morning and there isn’t a sign that he’s going to go home any moment from now. It has been three years since he landed his job in this company. This was the first time he felt frustrated and annoyed by his current condition.
It annoyed him even more when he heard the beeping sound from the door before Sho made his appearance, smiling bitterly at him. Slowly, the CEO made his way towards him, stopping only a few steps away from him.
It took Sho a few attempts before proper words manage to leave his mouth.
“You’re not going home yet?”
Nino shrugged, not even bothering to reply to the boss. He took one deep sigh before he sat up straight, pretending to focus on his work.
“I’m sorry about what happened earlier,” Sho said, trying to have a proper conversation with his employee. “You know, we need to reach the target-“
“I don't mean to interrupt you, however I have to fix this entire program by the end of this week. Now if you don't mind, could you please leave me alone to finish my work so that I can meet those deadlines?"
Nino was expecting a backlash upon his words. He was expecting the words "You're fired!" coming out from the man’s lips. But all he heard was Sho sighing next to him.
“Okay. I’m sorry,” Sho said, tapping on his shoulder. “If you need anything, I will be in my office.”
“No, seriously. Go home!”
“I insist,” Sho said, smiling at him as he walked to his room, winking at Nino before he shut the door, chuckling.
Nino didn’t find this amusing.
“What a creepy guy.” he said, shaking his head while cursing the man again inside his head.
*
32 hours, 24 minutes and 22 seconds, he finished the coding process for three levels. Of course, it wasn’t finished, yet. But instead of doing it in one sitting, Nino chose to do it level by level, testing for errors before proceeding to writing another level. That was how he always did it, and it never failed him. Until now.
He was having difficulty figuring out why he was receiving errors. The coding itself? A typo? Perhaps because he’s just too full of himself that he didn’t bother to run the code part by part to notice he actually made a mistake with his game.
It was hell.
Left alone in the office for a second night, he ran the game.
He was well prepared. He donned the black monitor-like oculus rift, and prepared to enter the virtual reality. His lips couldn’t help forming a victorious smirk when the display showed the universe he’d been working on. Ancient City Ruins could be seen through the monitor, along with the nice soundtrack he heard through his earpiece.
>>Enter username<<
Nino, he typed it fast on his keyboard, just for the sake of testing.
>>Enter New Game<<
His finger made a move, signing into the game and it all began from there.
For once he thought he made it good. The visual seemed fine to him and he couldn’t see any form of error in the game. It was exactly as he planned.
But then, before he could make any more steps, a bright light appeared from the monitor in front of him, blinding him. All of sudden, everything felt light, as if he was lifted to the air, before a force seemed to absorb him to another universe.
He screamed, yet, there was no sound. It happened all too suddenly for him to comprehend his situation. Before he was aware of his surroundings, he fell hard onto the ground.
The fall rendered him immobile for several minutes. His body was in pain, so was his head. He heard voices around him, a particularly sharp voice stood out to him arguing about what to do with him. The possible ideas scared him, but he was too weak to protest.
Even before he could open his eyes to see his new surrounding, he lost consciousness.
*
“He hit his head. From my own judgement, I’m sure he’s going to forget some of the important things.”
“Your judgement is not valid here, Ayber. My vote is for us to leave him. We don’t even know if he is dangerous.”
“MJ-II. It’s not good to simply jump into conclusion. I don't believe--“
He heard the sound of people arguing next to him. He tried to wake up, but the pain he felt in his head made him feel like throwing up instead. Pushing himself through the pain, he slowly opened his eyes.
Nino’s eyes moved around the room… but it seemed more of CABIN-just a box without windows furnished only with a single bed, a table and three chairs. As he kept observing the room, a voice startled him.
“Good morning, young man.”
Nino knew it was rude to stare, but he couldn’t help but analyze the man. The guy’s face plastered a bright smile, beautiful eyes with weird pattern on his irises and very well defined facial features. He wore quite a weird costume, along with these weird wires and gears attached to his costume. But there was nothing alarming about the guy, other than his weird dress.
The other two men, however....
“Seriously Ayber,” The sharp faced guy who was standing far enough on his other side said, leaning against the wall while giving him an alarming look. Nino however didn’t feel any form of threat in the way he looked at him. A third man with tanned skin stared absentmindedly, his eyes unfocused on any particular object.
“We don’t know him. He appeared all of sudden. We shouldn’t trust him,” The sharp faced guy continued.
Nino was annoyed. Not only did he have no clue as to where he was, he now had to listen to strangers questioning his existence and his motives.
The man named Ayber didn’t show any sign of protest by whatever the sharp face man had said, his face remained calm.
Nino didn’t blame them for such treatment though. Sure enough, if he was in their place, he would do exactly the same thing. Having a stranger appear all of sudden would surely sent some curiosity and raise alarms and put them on the defensive. The sharp faced man was definitely on the defensive.
“I told you. It’s not good to simply jump into a conclusion, MJ-II.”
“I am not jumping to conclusions, Ayber. You should take what happened to us before into-“
“I know. I know,” the guy impatiently replied. “Still, he deserves a chance to explain, right?”
Nino was still lying on his back when he saw the MJ guy sigh after a while of waiting for the guy next to him to back him up. Negative. His eyes locked onto the two guys before he felt a soft touch on his hand, making his attention shift back to Ayber.
“I don’t understand,” Nino said, pushing himself into a sitting position on the old fashion bed.
“Well, nice to meet you, too,” the sharp face guy retorted almost instantly. Annoyance was heard in his tone and while it made him feeling a little guilty over his own attitude, Nino chose to not give a damn about it. Hence he ignored the annoyed man, shooting another question.
“Where am I?”
“Can’t you guess?” the first guy replied, feeling amused. “Can’t blame you though. It won't make sense even if I told you so.”
Nino watched how Ayber made his way away from him, sitting in the chair across the room, facing him. The other two didn’t make a move, their gaze fixed on him, demanding an explanation.
“To be honest--“ the Ayber guy started again. “-it will sound weird for you if we started to tell you about us. So, why don’t you start?”
“Me? I-“
“Your name. Your origin. What you do for a living. Just for a simple introduction. The three of us are warriors in this ruined city.”
Nino frowned. Perhaps-
Something snapped inside his head.
Holy crap.
“Wait!” Nino yelled, standing straight from his current position. “Wait. This place, is not real right?”
“Finally figured it out?” the sharp face guy replied, scornfully smiling at him. Watching Nino pace back and forth in the room amused him that he couldn’t help but to chuckle.
Nino was flabbergasted, on the other hand. His mind working so hard to process all the information he had, trying to related everything from one to another. It did link somehow but that Ayber guy was right, it didn’t make any sense.
How long had he been in this world? How long has he stayed inside the place? Did anyone from the real world realize that he was missing? What was actually happening that had caused him to enter the place instead of playing it with his feet still stepping on the real world? Where had it gone wrong?
His head was screaming all these questions and he demanded an answer.
“Oh god. Oh my god. I’m going mad. Oh my god. I’m so going mad. What happened?” he chanted, placing his palms on his ears, pacing back and forth in the room.
Seeing this, Ayber made a move. Gesturing the other two to leave the room, he reached the man, stopping his movement only to be yanked off by Nino.
“Why am I here?”
“That’s what we’re trying to ask you.”
“How should I know why I am here?” Nino snapped, annoyed. “One second I was testing this cool new game and a moment later I'm yanked into another universe?”
Ayber’s eyes widen in delighted. “So are we a part of the game you’re trying to create?” He asked, amused and amazed mixed in his tone. Despite having that disbelieve look from Nino, Ayber decided to continue. “Isn’t that amazing?”
“Obviously it is not!” Nino responded, looking around the room.
There was nothing on his body. The oculus rift, the controller he wore earlier. Nothing. He scanned across the room, trying to find whatever belongings he had on him earlier but there was nothing he could find that was his. As if, it was gone, disappear through the thin air.
The design of the room was urban. On the first look, the wall looked dusty, however the furniture in the room looked so damn classic. It reminded him of the design he had discussed with the visual department few weeks ago.
For once, he observed Ayber’s face. He has a Japanese look on his face and his memories reminded him of the first two guy. No matter how many times he told himself that it is not possible, every piece of information his mind had processed led him to the only conclusion.
“You are in our world, young guy.” Ayber said out loud. “A virtual world. The world in a game that someone had created.”
It was unbelievable. Unacceptable for him. How? Why? When? Which part of the coding had gone wrong? were questions that kept coming from one to another. But while his curiosity played with his head, a part of him found it a little impressive. Yet, he knew this isn’t the time to boast about it.
“It’s too hard to believe, but I have to, don’t I?” Nino said, sounding calmer from earlier.
Ayber smiled. “You don’t have to believe if you don't want to. But I’m sure there's an important reason as to why you’re here.”
“So, let’s say I am your creator. This world creator-,” Nino replied, still scanning the room. “I don’t know what has gone wrong, but one thing that I know is I can’t waste my time having a chat here.”
“Why not?” Aiba asked, his head tilted to the side, confused.
“Obviously because I don't live here. I don't live in this world. I need to find my way out!” Nino replied.
Quickly, he took his jacket that was placed on the bed, rushing out of the shelter, heading to an unknown destination.
*
Except, Ayber didn’t let him go alone.
It felt like hours had passed since he started walking, trying to find any form of exit that was possible to bring him back to the real world, but he was unsuccessful.
Partly giving up, he stopped, taking a seat at the large rock at the side of the road.
It annoyed him watching how giddy Ayber was, lips plastered into that smile that never stopped no matter how many times Nino had cursed over and over again. But Ayber loyally followed him despite how tough the place was.
It was a long moment of silence before Ayber broke it by introducing himself.
"I'm Ayber.”
“Excuse me?”
“My name. Mask key Ayber," Ayber said, in a fake English accent, sounding funny to Nino’s ears that he can’t help chuckling.
"No way." Nino replied in awe. Chuckled once, he continued. "There's no fucking way your name is that."
Ayber looked amused though. His face didn't show any sign of annoyance or irritation in Nino's reply, instead he laughed even though Nino wasn't really sure if it was scornful or sincere.
"Why not?" Ayber asked. Nino couldn't help rolled his eyes.
"Isn't it obvious? I invented you. You. This whole universe. If my interpretation is right, your supposed name is Aiba. Masaki Aiba."
Nino was entirely sure he didn't say something funny, however Aiba or Ayber - whatever his name was, laughed. Annoyed, he stood straight from his place and continued his walk, ignoring the virtual character who was still laughing even though he kept up with Nino's pace.
"Sorry, that's not really funny. I'm just trying to cheer up the atmosphere. You seem tense."
"Of course I am!" Nino shouted. His voice echoed across the desert, repeating his words that somehow annoyed him even more.
"Seriously, it's driving me mad. Less than 24 hours ago, that Mr. Sloppy Shoulders yelled at me, saying my work was a piece of shit before he stomped onto it like no end. What a genius he was, suggesting to me to create another one, saying something like 'breaking that stereotype of the game in our current market'. And here I am now, stuck in the virtual reality that I've created in despair, together with an idiot character who was too brilliant to notice there's no fucking way I can relax when I pretty much messed up the world I created."
His shoulders move up and down, trying to catch his breathe due to his own rage. He tried to calm down, but Ayber, despite how the graphic department had portrayed and created the man to be a handsome, perfect man, his expression made Nino annoyed just by looking at him. His eyes sparkle bright, his lips never stop forming that charming, soothing smile. He didn't need that now. Definitely not now when he was trying to find solution to get out from the game he was trapped in for who knew what purpose.
"First of all, Mr. Inventor. Yes, I am Aiba, that clumsy code character you invented."
"Clumsy? You're supposed to be the weakest; the idiot character among the trio."
"Yeah, save it for later when you finally get the code right for this whole game. Don't cut me off while I'm talking, inventor." Aiba stopped Nino before he could interrupt him.
"And then the other two, MJ-II and Big-No. Yeah. Their exact names are Matsumoto Jun and Ohno Satoshi.” For once, Aiba paused, literally enjoying the confusion written on Nino’s face. Watching how the inventor almost getting mad, he continued. “We evolved.”
“Evolved?” Nino asked, surprised by the new fact he just learnt. Aiba did notice the surprise in the man’s tone but all he did was rolling his eyes.
“You're creating a game with a western setting and you have a Japanese name for the character? That is so not cool, man" he replied, a tone of mocking was heard in the way he spoke.
“So, you evolved by yourself? Hmm, that sounds like a virus to me. Not a coding problem,” Nino replied, continuing walking.
“Whatever it is, it’s not something you should bother with. After all, we’re only characters you created, but seriously, you should be thankful that we helped you to create something with intelligence.”
“Yeah, you mean evolving by yourself and dropping me into the game. No thank you. I’ll fix this mess once I find a way out.”
Aiba laughed again making Nino click his tongue and roll his eyes in annoyance. Ignoring the man for once, he continued walking with his mind focused on finding an exit that would bring him to the real world.
But then, he felt like he was walking in a circle. His surroundings were clearly an open space of desert lands, not a single point he could used to mark. His mind was getting confused with every step he made, wondering if there’s a possible ending to this long road he had been walking with his supposed helper.
Until Aiba spoke again.
“So, your name is Nino?” Aiba said casually, making Nino roll his eyes in annoyance towards the man's response.
“How did you know?" Nino asked, slightly surprised by the fact the man actually knew his name.
“You entered your name, remember?”
“Yet you still asked,” Nino responded, amused.
“Nah, I’m just trying to act friendly.”
Nino smirked, looking at Aiba with a scornful look. He chuckled once then continued walking again.
“It’s not important,” Nino mumbled only to receive nothing in response. From the corner of his eye, he could see how Aiba was absentminded, as if trying to figure something out but still, after a while of silence, no one chose to break it again.
Nino was perplexed. Everything seems like a horrible nightmare for him. There’s no way he would want to live in this kind of universe. For god sake, he was born in the modern century. He wouldn’t be able to survive here, at all.
“So, Mr. Inventor,” Aiba started again. “If you really invented us, can you tell us what are we supposed to do?
“Help the player.” Nino replied, short. Watching Aiba who was looking at him intently in return, Nino sighs. “The three of you are supposed to help the player reach the goal.”
“What goal?” Aiba asked.
For once Nino was dumbfounded. He tried hard to remember whatever goal he needed to reach for the first three levels of the game. He found it weird. Of course, the player needs to find the treasure, but the goal… Shouldn't he know about it?
Slowly, he turned to look at Aiba who was smirking at him. There's something in the way the man smirked at him, but Nino didn't bother to ask. His target is only one: to find the exit.
“So, if we’re supposedly your helpers, then, why don't you ask for help?”
Abruptly, he stopped walking again, and looked at Aiba. Something snapped in his head hearing the man's word. The man did make a lot of sense. If he was in the world he had created then Aiba, the character he created, should be his assistant in this game. But then, would it really work that way, when the actual target of the game is to find as many treasures as they can, not to find the exit?
“I’m not playing,” Nino had said, making Aiba to raise a questioning eyebrow.
“Why not?”
“I’m not looking for treasures, Aiba. I’m looking for the exit.”
Aiba clasped his hand, faking an amused expression. “So, you’re looking for an exit. Why didn’t you tell me earlier? I could have told you how.”
“For god sake! I’ve been saying that over and over again!”
Nino couldn’t help but hit his head watching Aiba cracking up upon his remark. In his mind, he had a thought.
“There is no way this guy can be a good assistant.”
*
“I have to play?” Nino asked, dumbfounded. On his hand was a thick game guides and regulation handbooks that he recognize so well as his Help Menu, Q&A and terms regulation input he had included in the game before. His eyes met the three assistant, excitement and amused was obviously shown in every gaze and gesture they made.
It’s not impossible, he told himself. He did get the idea asking him to play, winning all the current possible level. One thing that he didn’t understand was how can he find the exit, when the game wasn’t even finished yet?
It was earlier when the other two characters introduced themselves to him. If he can choose, he would obviously choose MJ-II instead of Ayber or Big-No. While Ayber with his clumsiness and Big-No with his absent-minded all the time, of course MJ-II would be the perfect helper. But then, he couldn’t choose one, despite how the programming code he’s been working on actually made the option.
Under these circumstances, he chose to not argue.
“I think, you’ve started playing since you input your name before you enter the game, Nino.” MJ-II said once Ayber finished telling them Nino’s condition. “By hook or by crook, you have to play the game.”
“Can I call you Jun instead? MJ-II sounds annoying to me. And you two-” Nino said, pointing at both Ayber and Big-No. “- with your other names as well.”
Jun smirked. “Of course. You’re the inventor. You’re free to call us whatever you want.”
It took him a few second before he murmured an OK as response. He tried to read the book in his hand once again, trying to figure out everything but not a single hint told him on what was his supposed goal. As expected from the Help Menu.
Nino started to doubt.
“Guys, seriously. I’m gonna refused to do it if we’re not even sure this is going to work,” he tried to object. Three pairs of eyes looked at him in disbelieved.
“Is that how all earth people supposed to react?” Ohno asked, annoyed in his tone. “Can’t you be a little optimistic? I thought earth people has that ‘where there’s a will, there’s a way’? Why didn’t you have one?”
“Besides, it’s only three simple level. I don’t think it is a waste if it turned out to be a fail option.” Jun continued, supporting his comrade’s opinion.
Nino rolled his eyes. As easy as he said, he said inside his head.
“So, let’s say I tried-“ Nino speaks again, open the handbook in his hand, referring to one guide page. “All I have to do is look for treasure and that’s it?”
The three nod at the same time.
“That’s boring!”
Like a cue, the three characters went to the only life inside their universe, dragging him away from his current spot.
*
Nino have no doubt about the game being boring. All he did was running, along with Jun followed close behind him. He was occupied with some gun, a weird gear that he can use to jump higher in order to reach for the treasure.
Except, it wasn’t as boring as he thought. It was one challenging level.
He was running in a desert that was occupied with some abandoned building, most were ruins, fighting against the time and the burning heat from the sun. It’s tiring him to work and think under this kind of heat that he almost passed out. Thank goodness Jun was there, half dragging him before he asked him if he need a medicine as a power up.
Well, thanks to the game plan he had worked on earlier.
Nino never thought how his code could make Jun, his game’s character appeared to be so gorgeous and reliable at the same time. Jun never let him face the challenge alone. He stayed, fighting together when they saw a threat coming in their way. The cactus for example. He thought he was safe until the cactus start to shoot its thorn towards his direction, almost hitting his head before he managed to dodge it. Thanks to Jun who was fast enough to pushed him to another lane before he snapped off the cactus from disturbing their way.
But running was tiring. Nino never thought it could be this tiring especially after all this time sitting in front of the computers. And here, Nino saw the lack in his game.
“Personally, I think it is boring.” Nino commented, few steps away from the coins he needed to collect. “All I need to do is to collect the treasure and that’s it. I should make use your sniper’s skill to the extreme.”
Jun shrugged. “Yeah. What you can do is maybe you can make at least a few zombie that could turn into a beautiful sexy girl if I shoot them with this,” he said, showing Nino the light bazooka in his hand. Nino couldn’t help laughing.
“You sounded like a pervert.”
Jun laughed. “I’m sure your players will love it too.”
“I’ll take note on your suggestion,” Nino replied, started to move again.
The chimes rang as he reached his goal as he collect another twenty-eight treasures and coins. It felt like it passed in a blink of time.
Large letters appeared in front of him, read ‘Goal Reached! Grab your reward, now.’ Before he understood it, a big shiny diamond, buried in the lock-like design on the book cover appeared from the ground. For once, he took a look at MJ who was looking at him slightly amused by his confused state, yet he refused to ask for one.
What makes him even more confused was why couldn’t he remember his own game? This is the one he wrote, yet why didn’t he know the solution to his own problem? He didn’t even remember if he should receive the two items in the first level.
But before he could take the book, a buzzing sound came towards them. Jun was at a ready to shoot the enemy - weirdly formed bugs- that Nino couldn’t recognize or imagine where they come from
He could sense panic in Jun’s voice when he screamed his instruction.
“Grab the book. NOW!” Jun said as he shot the light towards the bugs. Some were lit on fire, by the blast, but some seemed to ignore the sniper’s existence, by trying to attack Nino instead. But before Nino could pull out his weapon, Jun yelled again.
“NO! Leave it to me! Grab the book. You’ll finish this level if you do so.”
Nino couldn’t find the logic in Jun’s instruction. Hadn’t he finished the level? He knew it wasn’t the right time to argue. Watching how those bugs made their way to him, he almost tripped before he balanced himself, dodging down just to avoid the flying bugs.
The floating book wasn’t far away from him, but it required him to use his gear to reach it. Freeing his gear that was quickly locked towards the tall wall of the ruined building, he put a little force as he jumped higher, grabbing the book before the bugs could take him.
Just like Jun had told him, a victory sounds was heard, along with large letters reading, ‘LEVEL COMPLETED’ appeared in front of him. Like a cue, all the bugs disappear into thin air, leaving the whole situation as if nothing ever happened.
“What the hell had happened?” Nino demanded to know the reason. “I don’t remember anything about the game at all.”
Jun shrugged. He didn’t have the answer either.
“Thanks for helping me earlier, Jun-“
But Jun didn’t answer him. Nino watched how the man stood stiffly, his whole attention towards him. It took a moment for Nino to understand until he heard Jun said something, he finally realized it was the script he had input inside the system before, making Nino realized this is indeed the game he had wrote.
“Congratulations on passing level one. Mission Accomplished.” MJ said, his eyes unfocused as he spoke.
“Well, I-“
“You shall proceed to the next zone. My comrade, Big-No will be accompanying you while you enter the second level. Until then, we’ll meet again.”
Nino laughed when MJ’s eyes started to focus on him again. Behind him, in big letters, wrote “Enter Second Level”, signaling him to get ready for the next level.
“You don’t have to follow the script all the time, you know. It sounded weird to hear you speak so formally.”
MJ rolled his eyes. “Says the guy who invented the game,” he said, annoyed his his tone. Somehow, he laughed when Nino pouted.
They didn’t get the chance to continue further when Ohno appeared by Nino’s side. They bowed to each other before Jun parted his way from them and both Ohno and he entered the second level without delay. As they stepped farther in, a few words appeared in front of him, stating his next mission. Nino frowned a little, but since his new helper ignored the sign, he waved it off.
Having Ohno by his side was surprisingly good. He was calm and quiet. While he didn’t actually helped in any physical way, Nino wondered so much why was the man’s presence calmed him, absorbing every worries he had.
Except, his next task was his weakness.
“No way,” he said, is eyes widened when he saw a sail boat at harbor. It was a large river, and by looking at the fast flowing river, Nino wasn’t sure if he could stay in the sail boat for long.
Big-No, or Ohno however, laughed.
“What’s wrong?”
“I can’t get in into that thing.” Nino said, pointing at the boat. “I have seasickness!”
“What is seasickness?” Ohno asked, cocked his head. Nino hit his head. Of course, he never defined ‘seasickness’ inside of his game code. No possible way for Ohno would understand that. He gritted his teeth watching how gleeful Ohno was as he pulled Nino to the boat.
“This is my forte, Nino. Leave it to me.” Ohno said, as he started to maneuver the boat.
Nino didn’t feel adventurous at all. He never like being in the boat in real life and being in one in the game no different at all. Five minutes in, he started to feel the torture, having the urge to throw up. How on earth would he find the treasure under this state?
But of course, Ohno didn’t exist for nothing.
Ohno, as he could see, was such a graceful guy despite the fact that he was actually a cyborg. Nino did notice how he randomly made some fluid movements without warning, as if he was dancing with the air, graceful. Every time Nino forgot or didn’t manage to pick up the coins on the way, Ohno would hop, catching the coins then throwing them into the bag that he’s been carrying on his back.
But Nino’s calmness didn’t stay for long. All of a sudden, everything felt useless to him, thinking that he didn’t exactly know what he is trying to look for.
He put his move on halt, trying to figure out from the book he was carrying. It was a damn thick book; there’s no possible way he could figure out anything that could be the hint for his supposed goal.
Seeing this, Ohno approached him. He didn’t talk for the first minutes, letting Nino to wonder in his own thought. But when few more minutes passed without figuring out any more hints, Nino had enough.
“Seriously!” he snapped all of sudden. “How much did you guys evolved? I don’t remember having any of this on-the-boat-challenge inside my programming code?”
It was at the peak of his patience. He was frustrated over everything, over the fact that Sakurai didn’t appreciate his works earlier and be treated that way because of his useless piece of work. Most crucially, over his inability to produce a perfect game.
“Are you sure?” Ohno asked mockingly.
“100% sure! I hate sea-“
“This isn’t the sea, Nino-“
“And I hate being on a moving boat! I hate having the thing I hate the most in the game I created!”
Somehow, Ohno looked at him with an intense stare.
“What?” he snapped, annoyed. The man gave him a mocking smirk
“You’re really impatient, aren’t you?”
Nino rolled his eyes for the nth time that day. For god’s sake, now was not the time to analyze people’s personality. And all of sudden, Ohno’s calm presence turned annoying.
“Aiba was telling us how your game doesn’t make any sense.” Ohno spoke again, ignoring Nino’s anger.
“Why not?” Nino asked, slightly irritated by the man’s words. For once, he refused to talk more with the character, refused to waste anymore time by useless talk. Hence he decided to continue with the task, in hope that Big-No would stop whatever useless thought he had in his mind.
Yet, Big-No didn’t stop it there.
“I agree with him though,“ Big-No said making Nino to look at him with a murderous intent. Still, he laughed before continued. “ When you develop the game, the only input you put on us is our characters. Not the value. What’s the point of having we just to help the player around when there’s no reason behind that?”
Nino frowns. “Just for one simple reason. You’re the helper.”
“Then you’re delusional. Helps exist because there’s a good value. But the game you’ve created was nothing but full of greediness. All you need to do is to find the treasure and find more treasure as your rise up in level. At this point, our values are just the same as yours: greedy. There’s nothing you can learn from this game, Nino. That’s the reason why it sounded useless. I’m sure that’s the exact reason why you have to re-do your earlier work.”
Ohno did make sense. All of sudden, he understood what his boss had told earlier. This game was a trash because it has no values. Nothing could be taken for a moral value that could break the stereotype. Suddenly Nino was amaze at the boss. It’s no wonder then when people labeled him "the guy who thinks of the future."
“Ok, I’ll stop it here then,“ Big-No said. “What are supposed to find for this level?”
Nino shrugged. “I’m not really sure. Barely remembered it. It has something to do with the missing page from the book.”
Ohno looked at him.
“Why should I look for the missing page?” Nino asked, hoping for a possible hint from the helper.
“It is your hint for your exit, sir,” Ohno replied, being formal that Nino sure it was because of the code. Shrugging, Nino sort of ignoring him for once.
This is challenging, Nino thought. While it was a little problematic for him, he can’t help feeling glad how this whole experience exhibited more ideas for the next level. Perhaps, he needed to make some adjustments toward the current game. Maybe instead of a puzzle kind of game, he could turn it into an action or strategy game.
But his excitement didn’t stay for long.
It was when he reached the final coin for the level, once again the letters read ‘Goal Reached! Grab your reward, now’ appear in front of him. The boat stopped and that Nino saw the bright light coming from the water almost blinding him. Until he realized there was something in the water; a treasure chest which turns transparent as time passed revealing the content inside. It was a small scroll, a thread tied neatly around, preventing anyone seeing the content. And like a cue, the treasure chest snapped open, with the scroll kept inside the chest, inviting him to take it.
He didn’t take long to realize it was the answer he was looking for. He felt amazing, proud by his own achievement. Slowly, he turned to look at Ohno.
“That was it, right?” he asked, hoping for a positive answer.
But instead of getting an answer, another buzzing sound approached them.
“Shit. Not again!” he whined, ready to pull out the gun from his gear. But before he could, Ohno stopped him.
“No. Dive in! I’ll manage this.”
“Ohno! I can’t let you do this alone. It was larger than what I’ve encountered with Jun just now!”
“Just, grab the goddamn scroll! Make it quick for us to end the level!”
He was astonished, stunned from making any movements. The whole situation was confusing that he wasn’t sure what he could do.
Until Ohno pushed him hard towards the side of the boat.
“GRAB THE PAGE! NINO!” Ohno yelled. His hand pulling out the gun from his gear, shooting the bugs behind them, trying to give as much time for the player to reach the missing scroll.
The bugs were enormous in groups. Nino knew that even though how many weapons the man had, Ohno alone would not be capable to face all of them.
He dived into the bright area trying to reach for the missing page from the book. He did noticed how some of the bugs were after him, wondering how they managed to get in the water when it didn’t seems plausible in the real world. While running away may look cowardly, he did believe in Ohno when he asked him to reach for the page and leave him behind, even when he wanted to help the guy against those horrendous bugs.
He reached out his hand for the missing page. Like a miracle, all those commotion dimmed, gone as if nothing had happened. As he resurfaced, Ohno pulled him back into the boat, panting hard as he leaned over the deck, amazed at how Nino got the level reward: the missing page from the book.
Nino couldn’t help feeling amazed. Just how much did the world he had created evolved by itself? Once again, the thought of producing a fun safe game for teenagers resurfaced. There shouldn’t be any form of harm in the game he had created. Then why did those bugs exist?
His trail of thought stopped when Ohno asked, “You got the page?” Nino nodded. “Read it then. There must be a hint for the next level.”
It took Nino a moment to read and understand the whole writing inside the book. It was written in a language he recognized almost instantly as Greek. He wondered how he could understand it even though he had never learned the language in his whole life.
He took the missing piece he had collected from the second level to match it with the missing page inside the book. It excited him when it match, but nothing excited him more when he saw something that was high possibilities to be his next level task’s hint.
“Heart of the City, The Door between the Universe.” were written below a weird symbol printed on the missing piece.
- - - -
( Part 2)