“I went to the athletic meet.”
Haruyuki replied with a wrinkled face, Takumu made a ‘just like usual huh’ smile.
The three of them were born in the same year in the complex high-rise mansion built in North Kouenji. However, just that reason won’t get him friendly with a boy who had everything he did not have.
Ironically, Takumu was so good at studying that he entered a famous all grade escalator school in Shinjuku, thus Haruyuki can have a carefree relationship with him. Because Takumu didn’t have to see him once in a while being a target of bully in the local elementary school.
For Chiyuri who went to the same elementary school as him, he told (that is, begged) her not to tell Takumu about him being bullied. If he knew, then Takumu will save Haruyuki, he would call out the brats and beat them with his shinai.
However even if that stops the bullying, Haruyuki felt that he would then no longer be able to be friends with Takumu.
“Now that you mention it...”
While the three were walking, Haruyuki started a conversation. It was something he hardly did at school.
“I saw the previous city tournament video on the net. Taku is amazing, champion even as a 1st year student.”
“Luck, pure luck.”
While scratching his head, Takumu made a ticklish like smile.
“The difficult guy disappeared in the semifinal. Also, Chii-chan came to cheer.”
“Eh, m, me!?”
On the other side of Takumu, Chiyuri yelled with wide eyes.
“Why me, not really, I was just watching in a corner...”
“Hahaha, what are you saying. ‘Knock him out’, didn’t you shout loudly?”
Takumu laughed with a pleasant sound.
“Above that, you won’t give me lunch if I lost, you said. That was with a serious look right, Chii-chan.”
“Ah gee, I hear nothing! Nothing.”
While watching Chiyuri cover her ears and increase her walking speed, Haruyuki poked Takumu’s body with his right elbow.
“I see, that is the reason why you were so motivated in the final round.”
“Well, yeah, hahaha.”
While laughing with Takumu -.
Certainly, this is great, Haruyuki thought.
His choice two years ago was not a mistake. Right now, they can talk like they did before.
He did not want this relationship to break apart.
At that time, like a counter, Takumu lightly said.
“Haru too, you ate Chii-chan’s handmade lunch yesterday right?”
“Eh, no, that, that is.”
While looking at Chiyuri’s suddenly tense back, Haruyuki went into a light panic. ‘Oh no, I haven’t apologize yet, should I apologize now, or with email when I return home -’.
No, wait a minute.
How did Takumu know about that.
Haruyuki’s legs became tangle, when he was about to fall, Takumu supported him while saying ‘Oops’. However, without noticing that, his brain was getting hot due to repeated thinking.
That sandwich was made by Chiyuri because she knew that his lunch money was used by Araya’s group. She was not good with cooking so why, he thought, it could not be from Takumu’s advice right?
Is that was the case, then Chiyuri consulted with Takumu. That Haruyuki was being bullied. Otherwise, he would not have said that.
The inside of his head became white hot, Haruyuki unconsciously shook off Takumu’s hand that was holding his right elbow.
“H, hey, Haru - ?”
To Takumu's questioning voice, Haruyuki could not face him. His wandering gaze met the frozen like expression in Chiyuri’s eyes. Her lips moved, trying to say something, but Haruyuki shouted before she could.
“Ah... Sorry, there is a show I want to see! I will return first, Taku, see you again!”
He ran out like that. His legs got twisted and was going to fall many times, but Haruyuki ran earnestly.
Those two would probably consult again. On how to save Haruyuki.
Even thinking about their conversation topic made him feel like his innards were being cut up. Even though a miracle-like happening made Araya disappear, if Takumu already knew about it, it would be too much even for irony.
Until he passed his mansion’s entrance, and jumped in the elevator, he did not stop running even once.
That night, the dream he had was without a doubt the worst that he ever remembered having.
The elementary school brats, Araya and his underlings A and B, and other outlaw students whose names he doesn’t know, took turns to appear and hurt him.
A little distance away, Chiyuri and Takumu watched while holding hands. More than the pain in his full body, the pitying expression on their faces is what Haruyuki could not endure.
As the dream progressed, more viewers appeared. His mother appeared beside them, his father that left home long ago also appeared, along with the people living in the mansion and his classmates, the crowd of people looked down at him.
Their faces no longer had a pitying expression, but a scornful laughter. Many people pointed at the ugly and miserable Haruyuki and laughed.
Stop. I don’t want to be here anymore.
While thinking that, he looked up at the dark sky far away, there was a shadow of someone there. With wings darker than night spread out, flying lightly like birds of a feather.
I want to go there too. Higher. Further.
I want to fly.
To beyond.
“- Is that your wish?”
Chapter 3
Haruyuki opened his eyes with a sigh.
From the white light coming through the window, he could see that it was 6:30AM on the clock. He calculated that he had been sleeping for about 12 hours.
His entire body was full of sweat, and the remains of the nightmare made his skin feel slimy. Even so, he could not remember a single thing about his dream.
He dimly remembered Kuroyukihime’s last words to him yesterday.
‘Don’t remove the Neuro Linker over night’, was her directive, it can’t be that this has some relation to his dream?
After he idly thought about that while taking a shower, he changed into his school uniform, then ate cereal and orange juice for breakfast in the kitchen alone. He put the dishes in the dishwasher then knocked on his mother’s bedroom door for the one ritual before going to school.
“...I am going.”
Saying that to the dim room, he heard a cracking voice say something unclear from the bed. She seemed to have drunk a lot last night.
While he waited for his mother to operate her cell phone to charge his Neuro Linker with 500 yen, she suddenly said with an irritated voice.
“Haruyuki, your Linker is disconnected.”
Oh no, he put his hand to his neck. While feeling that he forgot something, he connected his Neuro Linker to the Global Net, soon with a ‘chariin’ sound effect, his electronic money balance increased.
“I am going.”
He said it again, but there was no more reply. He softly closed the bedroom door, put on his sneakers at the entrance, and left his home.
He took the elevator to the first floor, while saying hello to residents he did not remember, he went through the front entrance.
The automatic door closed, he stepped into the mansion’s front courtyard, just 3 seconds.
Bashiiiii!! That sound reverberated in all of Haruyuki’s brain.
What!? «Accelerate»!? However - why, by itself!?
While he held his breath, in front of his eyes in the familiar burning font, was a line of alphabet.
[HERE COMES A NEW CHALLENGER!!]
Where had he seen these words before. The words burnt out before he could remember, and on the top part of his view, something even more strange appeared.
In the center, a [1800] number. And to the left and right of that, blue bars extended. Under those is a small thin green bar which extended.
Finally, in his view’s center, wit
h flame letters - [FIGHT!!]
The number became 1799.
Not sure what to do, Haruyuki first looked at the four digit number that was counting down.
1800 seconds. 30 minutes. Where had he heard those numbers before. Oh yes - Kuroyukihime said it, the «Acceleration» time limit was about this long of a number.
But this time, Haruyuki did not even say the ‘B’ of «Burst Link» that was the Acceleration start command. The world’s color also, instead of mono-tone blue, it’s full color. And, what’s the meaning of ‘Challenger’ and ‘Fight’ anyway.
In order to get a handle on the situation, he desperately looked around, and soon noticed something.
The breezy October morning had disappeared without a trace, but the surrounding area was still within his memory, he was still in front of his home. The two lane street on the left side, the convenience store and office buildings on the side of the street, and if he turned around, he would see the high-rise mansion that he just left stand with the darkness.
However, the group of cars filling the street heading to Shinjuku, and the students going to school that filled the walkways, both had disappeared. Also, the street was cracked and had sinkholes here and there, the guardrail and signs were bent, and the glass on buildings were flashily broken.
At the intersection a bit away, rubble was piled up like a barricade, and flames were flickering from a huge dome, like something was burning inside. The scares of destruction included Haruyuki’s mansion home, concrete pillars were collapsed, the outer wall with a huge hole and other awful likeness.
He wanted to go back home right now to check out his house, with that motivation, he strolled a few steps and looked in the entrance from between the rubble.
Then, his eyes widened in amazement. The building’s interior looks like a game’s polygon building that was made inside his head, it looks like the inside of a grey flat surface box. No - not looks like. It is just that.
This is real but not reality. Haruyuki is now under «Accelerate» function, in a Full Dive in the virtual net, the surrounding scene are 3D images made from Social Camera video. Like the blue frozen world he saw yesterday in the lounge.
Even so, Haruyuki has never seen such a detailed virtual space. He could not see the pixel pitch. Each small rock near his feet was made with overwhelming detail.
If it’s like this, what has became of his body, Haruyuki looked down.
He thought he was going to see his familiar pink pig, but -.
“...Wh ...What is this.”
Amazed, he involuntarily leaked a sound.
What came into his view were legs, chest and arms that were slender like wires, a body like polished silver. It was like a robot - however, it did not have the fighting image of games or anime.
He hurriedly put his hand to his face, but instead of a nose or mouth, his fingers slid on something hard like the shape of a helmet. He took a moment to look around, and saw a cracked window on the front wall of an apartment building on the other side of the street from the mansion, with ‘cachin cachin’ foot steps he ran there.
The shape reflected by large glass was a truly full-body metallic robot. The body was slender and small, only the streamlined head was unusually large. To say it in one sentence - it’s a very small-fry look.
At least his forehead should have horns... or both eyes should shine with golden beacon.
While he was complaining to the unknown avatar designer, at that time.
Behind his reflection in the glass, on the other side of the street, a few wriggly human shadows were seen.
Shocked, he crouched his metallic body and turned around. Unknown since when they appeared, three shapes stood under a destroyed convenience store. Since they were surrounded by darkness, he could only see their silhouette, but each of them were much bigger than Haruyuki.
The shadows seemed to be facing each other and were talking. Haruyuki involuntarily tried to listen.
“...Somehow, a strangely victim-like guy.”
“I don’t remember his name, a newbie?”
“But he is metallic color. Maybe he has some ability?”
Those guys - were not NPCs[6].
Haruyuki felt that directly. That manner and speech pattern, without a doubt they are human instead of programs.
But this place was the «Accelerate»’s virtual net. That means they are, like Haruyuki and Kuroyukihime, people who installed Brain Burst, this would be how it is.
Then, they would know what this situation is. First let’s ask those three about the circumstances, after deciding that, he timidly stepped out onto the road and got as far as the white center line.
Suddenly, he felt someone else looking at him. He stopped his feet and turned that way.
There. More than three people. Unknown where they appeared from, on roof of ruin buildings, on top of rubbles, all around were strange silhouettes watching Haruyuki. However they did not seem to approach closer, just - yes, a feeling of waiting for something.
Haruyuki was bewildered, he moved his view back to the center of the road. The count on top of his view has decreased to 1620. The bars to the left and right of that number had not changed -.
No, he did not notice it until now, under the left and right bars were lines of small alphabet.
The left side read as «Silver Crow». And the right side was «Ash Roller».
This screen structure, he felt very familiar with it.
Haruyuki had a strong sense of déjà-vu as he thought that.
This is not something new - over 30 years before Haruyuki was born, near the end of the 19xx era in Japan, it dominated amusement centers, a kind of game program. And recently, something he saw triggered this feeling. That was...
Haruyuki who was standing there searching through his memory, jumped as an explosion suddenly sounded behind him.
“...!?”
He lost his balance while turning around and fell down on his rear, in front of his eyes was a huge towering silhouette.
It was a bike. Even so, it was not a familiar motor drive type... illegal since long ago, an internal combustion engine nestled in the gut, from which a ‘Doddoddo’ heavy vibration sound came.
The front fork was ridiculously long, and the tire it connected to was jokingly fat. From the rugged grey tread, a faint burnt odor drifted over.
Haruyuki looked up, behind the excessively curved handle, his gaze fearfully captured the figure of the rider sitting on top of the leather seat.
Full body covered in black leather with tacks, two feet with boots spread apart, and both arms crossed at the chest. Head too covered in a black helmet, the face shield was a skeleton like showy thing.
From inside, a creaking voice appeared, Haruyuki listen while dumbfounded.
“A long time no see «End of Century» stage, Luckkyy~”
From one of his crossed hands, an index finger wriggled left and right.
“You as an opponent are a shiny newbie. Mega Luckkyy - !”
The skeleton rider lifted his right boot and put it on the handle bar, doing a skillful thing. At that moment, ‘Dobobaroruoooon!’ A roaring wail sounded, and Haruyuki jumped up again.
No matter how he sees it, this is not a friendly opponent. Instead, if his previous thoughts were right, this is a «Fighting Stage» - and this rider is - .
“U... Uwa...”
Haruyuki inched back, and turned.
“Uwa -”
With the robot’s small legs crackling, he ran desperately.
“Whahahaha!! Run away, run away!!”
Another engine roar sound from behind him, and sounds of tire screeching continued - just one second later, his back suffered a huge hit and he felt sharp pain, Haruyuki flew high up into the dark night.
At the same time, at the top left of his view, «Silver Crow»’s blue bar shrank.
After seeing that, Haruyuki thought as he spun in the air, ‘Ah so it really is this’.
That is, this is a «Fighting Game», h
e was a newbie that doesn’t know left from right, and his opponent was a veteran player that knows how to win.
There’s no way he can win.
“Hahaha, you got hunted right away. That was because you did not stick to our promise, boy.”
Lunch time.
Same as yesterday, Haruyuki was Direct Connected to Kuroyukihime in the lounge, under watchful eye of the healing patch below her front hair, she shook her head and skillfully laughed with thought only. Her injury, which showily bled, seemed to have left only a scratch. All his speech for thanks and apology was stopped with a wave of her right hand.
“It’s... not a laughing matter. I thought I was going to die... Well, it was my bad for carelessly connecting my Neuro Linker to the Global Net...”
Kuroyukihime looked pleasantly at the complaining Haruyuki, and took the tea cup from the table and put it to her lips. The shrimp-au-gratin that was next to the cup was left intact, it put out hot steam just like the large pork curry in front of Haruyuki.
The student council members sitting at the same table were already moving their chopsticks or spoons, Haruyuki’s stomach was making pathetic sounds, but it seems Kuroyukihime’s lecture, in other words preaching will not be ending any time soon.
“- But well, this way, it saves me some explaining. The lesson fee was a bit high, but you already understand right?”
“Understand... what?”
“The identity of «Brain Burst» program. It’s not a grand conspiracy, just a - “
Haruyuki nodded, and continued with what the words should be from where Kuroyukihime left off.
“Just a fighting game. Using reality as a stage for encounter fights. It’s outrageous...”
“Fufu, it sure is an outrageous talk that caused false alarm.”
“Using the tremendous technology of thought «Acceleration», and what did they do with it, a fighting game! That’s a genre that was thrown away 30 years ago!”
Hearing that, Kuroyukihime tilt her head to think a bit, then gave an ironic smile.
“Hmm, that way of saying is a bit wrong. Haruyuki-kun, we Burst Linkers do not «Accelerate» just to play fighting games. It’s the other way, we fight to be able to continue using «Accelerate». We are forced, that is this program’s unpleasant part.”
Accel World: Return of Princess Snow Black Page 5