Chapter 1-3: Ventriloquism Potion

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The youngsters nowadays have no patience and tend to immediately put the blame on someone else. 

Ironically, the elders tend to say ‘the youngsters nowadays~~’ and this is not restricted to just recently but almost always though.
Well, there are times when I think they’ve got a point.

For example; in the walkthrough pages of popular games, at the frequent questions section (or the faqs or Q&A), there’s always one question mixed in the group. 

Q: I can’t do ***.
Bug? 

The *** parts can apply to many things.
I can’t do this, I can’t defeat this, I can’t get this, or similar scenarios to that. 

The answers for it also follow a certain pattern. 

For example, something like…

A: It is not a bug.
To do ***, read the instruction manual (page ***).

Please read the instructions before asking.

You normally should understand that bugs aren’t something that you encounter often, but they are so dependent that the more selfish that person is, the more they seek the reason for the mistake from the outside. 

They don’t investigate or try it out for themselves, and not only would they ask things that you would be able to solve easily just by investigating for a bit, they would blame anything and everything to bugs. 

But New Communicate Online is a different story. 

The walkthrough page of New Communicate Online, the Nekomimi Neko Wiki, doesn’t have such wordy stuff written on it. 

In the Nekomimi Neko Wiki faqs, there’s only: 

Q: About ***.
Is it a bug? 

A: Bug.

That one word answer encapsulates everything about New Communicate Online. 

“This place is…” (Souma)

When the changes in my vision had subsided, I was standing on a vast road. 

At the left of the road, there’s a forest; at the right, a prairie.

I remember having seen the bulletin board closeby and the vegetation of the forest before. 

The outskirts of the first town.
This is most likely the neighboring zone of the low level area called the Forest of Beginnings.

“I should have been inside a city just a few moments ago…” (Souma)

Just what in the world happened in that brief moment? 

No matter if we are talking about the infamous New Communicate Online, there’s no such thing like being suddenly thrown somewhere else from just standing in a city. 

Also…

“Maki?” (Souma)

Even when I called her, there was no response. 

The call had been cut off. 

“Eh? It isn’t working?” (Souma)

Not only that, the phone, the mail, and the internet connection functions were unresponsive too. 

I can’t bring up the menu window.

“A bug again? No, for a bug, this is a bit…” (Souma)

It is strange that even the phone is not working. 

That’s not a feature of the game but one that is present in all VR spaces. 

It is impossible that a bug of the game would affect that. 

“Then, there’s an anomaly in the VR machine itself…?” (Souma)

I mutter this while still doubtful about it and try to open the game menu. 

There’s no reaction at all there either. 

“What’s going on?” (Souma)

Uneasiness spreads in my mind. 

The game menu should have the Save, Load, and Logout functions. 

If I can’t use that…

The wind brushed my cheek when I had begun to grow uneasy. 

…Wind?

“No way!” (Souma)

I hurriedly crouched on the spot and began touching the grass. 

Each blade of grass, each grain of dirt had a proper sensation transmitted to me. 

“Impossible…!” (Souma)

Even if it is a VR game, there’s limits to how much it can process. 

It is normal to skim through parts that are not that necessary to the gameplay. 

New Communicate Online is a game with high realism, but even with that, the sensation of wind brushing your cheeks and the scent of the trees were not recreated. 

The ground and the vegetation you see around is almost the same as the real thing, but even when touching the grass and the soil, you would only get an inorganic feel like that of plastic. 

And yet, the grass and soil I am touching feels no different from that of reality. 

The last shout I heard of Maki replays in my mind. 

—If you love games that much, live inside one!!

At that time, Maki had something similar to the fortune mallet in her hand. 

According to tales, when you swing the fortune mallet, you can grant your wishes.

Thinking about the situation, Maki was shouting, so she probably swung the mallet down in anger at that time.

Is it possible that her wish got granted at that time and I ended up inside the game…?

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“No, that’s crazy…right?” (Souma)

I asked to no one in particular.

Even I think this is a stupid thing to consider. 

But there’s no other way to explain this situation. 

When I look at my own attire, I see that I am wearing leather armor and leather boots. 

There’s a shortsword scabbard at my waist and a small pouch wrapped around there. 

This is clearly the beginner equipment of New Communicate Online. 

I suddenly thought of something and put a hand into the poach at my waist. 

The moment I did so, the image of two types of bottles, red and blue, showed up in my head.

When I chose the blue one and took my hand out, the blue liquid bottle was tightly in my grasp. 

…There’s no doubt about it. 

This is one of the 3 healing potions that you possess in the beginning of the game. 

“…Seriously?” (Souma)

Moreover, even though I brought out something that big, the size and weight of the poach showed no signs of changing.

If this were to happen in the real world, it would be a sleight of hand or paranormal activity. 

“If this really is a game world…” (Souma)

I resolve myself and smash the potion on the ground. 

The potion bottle was broken into pieces on the ground, and an ear-piercing sound was made as the fragments of the bottle flew about…not. 

A blue light spread in the center where the potion was smashed, and a second after that, a silly *powa~n* sound effect was made. 

When I got close to confirm it, there wasn’t a single fragment of the bottle at the place I smashed it at.
It had disappeared without a single trace. 

“This really is the world of New Communicate Online…?” (Souma)

I look up at the sky and space out at this way too ridiculous of a situation.

New Communicate Online has 3 types of ways you can use potions.

Drink, pour, or smash. 

If you drink the liquid, you will of course restore your HP, and if you pour it on your wound, your wound will close up. 

And in the case when you use it on your allies in battle, you can throw the potion at them. 

It is impossible in real life, but when you get hit hard by the potion, the part that got hit by it will recover, and the bottle will disappear right after. 

With just this alone, you can tell that this is not the real world, and that it is working with game logic. 

But that’s not all. 

In New Communicate Online, there’s a famous and, moreover, a still not fixed bug yet that happens when you smash a potion. 

Also known as the bug: The sound…is…delayed…

I don’t know how you mess it up to make that happen, but the light effect and the sound effect that happens when the potion is smashed has a 1 second delay bug (or more like, they failed to set it right).

…Right, just like what I witnessed a few moments ago. 

“What’s with this place?” (Souma)

The wind, smell, the feel of the grass and soil; I can tell that I am not playing New Communicate Online here, but the item setting mistakes and everything about it have faithfully replicated the logic of New Communicate Online. 

This is just in case such a happening is possible, but the most logical conclusion I can come to is that I fell into a real world that is exactly in the image of the New Communicate Online world. 

“?! What is it?!” (Souma)

But my thoughts were forcefully put to a stop there. 

I feel like I heard the scream of someone from further into the road. 

“Could it be…” (Souma)

I thought for a moment there and soon had an idea of what it was. 

If this world is the world of New Communicate Online…

That might happen…

“Kuh!” (Souma)

There’s no point thinking about it. 

I ran to where the voice rang. 

My body was far lighter than I anticipated. 

That’s right, there’s no doubt. 

This sensation is not that of my body in the real world, but the sensation of when I move my body in New Communicate Online. 

With this, just maybe…

“[Step]!” (Souma)

When I say that, the scenery around me flowed in one go. 

An intense acceleration that would be impossible to experience in real life attacked me.

A few moments of floating and landing, and then, stunned briefly. 

I shake away the stiffening that happens after using a skill, and I begin running again. 

Looks like I can use skills normally. 

Moreover, the way to use Step is the exact same as the game which you could say is a big plus. 

Step is a basic skill that anyone can use in the beginning. 

But it is a basic skill that has a lot of utility which cannot be ignored. 

“There!” (Souma)

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I continued on while confirming the state of my body, and it didn’t take long to see the location of the struggle.

The first thing I saw was a big wagon. 

An old fashioned wagon that you would rarely see in the real world was stopped dead in the middle of the road. 

And in front of the wagon, there’s people fighting. 

There’s 5 people. 

The first one that comes to my eyes is the back figure of the woman that’s holding a sword.

And then, I see the 4 lizardmen that have their weapons out with the wagon at their back as if surrounding the woman.

When I saw this, I grew certain about it. 

I knew it! 

It has begun already! 

The unreasonable starting event that’s said to have brought the death of more than 90% of the playerbase; the infamous Lizardmen Trap! 

Chapter 2: The Lizardmen Trap

You left your hometown desiring fame and fortune, strength and authority, and most of all, seeking thrill and adventure.

The place you are heading to is a savage land where there’s still monsters and monstrosities prowling about in the mountains and forests, where sword and magic rule; the Rihito Kingdom. 

Beastfolk and demons stroll the cities as if natural, and rowdy fellows called adventurers live by the day -a world where survival of the fittest prevails. 

You continue on your journey in dreams of such glory in those lands, and you finally arrive at the entrance of the Rihito Kingdom, at the place leading to Lamurick Town. 

At the pace you are going, you will be able to arrive at Lamurick by today. 

You were relieved by this, but a scream resonated further into that road. 

“Bandits! Someone, please come!” 

After a second of hesitation, you held your treasured sword and ran towards the voice. 

Sounds of metal clashing, and voices of conflict. 

You strain your eyes, and just at the other side, you could see an intense battle occurring. 

Bandits aiming for the stopped carriage, and the merchants protecting this. 

One of the merchants shouts: “An adventurer? I will reward you, so help us out.” 

You nod at the merchant without saying a word and lunge at the bandits. 

Your adventure has begun…

I remember the introductory story that was written at the official homepage while I once again look at the scene in front of me. 

It was such a long time ago, I don’t remember it clearly anymore, but it should be safe to assume this is the starting event judging from the positioning. 

The quest that’s also called the first time killer, the Lizardmen Trap. 

I don’t remember the official quest name, but it was probably ‘protect the merchant’.

It is not like there was an accurate statistic for it, but it is said that more than 90% of the players were killed at least once by this event. 

As for me, the first time I did this, I had no idea what was going on at all and was easily killed. 

I only understood what was going on after the 2nd time I was killed. 

What’s so difficult about this event is