Ascension: Online

"U-Um...sir, I'm really sorry, but we have fixed pric-" the receptionist girl tried to argue back, but she was quickly overpowered by Ichigo's rough demeanor.

"Look...I'm your hero, you understand? I have infinite lives. If you just hand the room over to me for free, I'll be willing to protect you and your family when I get stronger in this game. But if you don't...when that time comes, I'll lay waste to this entire city."

I sighed. Classic Ichigo. Of course, to him, this was all just a video game. That was understandable. He thought that just because he was a player, he could do anything he wanted in this place with no consequences.

"S-Sorry, sir, but...I really can't!" the frightened receptionist girl yelped in fear. Interesting. Despite being on the verge of tears, she was still able to deny Ichigo's demands. That was respectable and worthy of praise.

"Ugh..." Ichigo slammed the wall with his fist, but couldn't do much else besides that. I assumed he was still just getting started in the game, similar to where I was right now. I thought he was just going to leave and go to another inn to try his luck there, but-

"Looks like I have no choice but to do it this way..." he opened up his System and pulled out a full-on sword. It wasn't a long one by sword standards, but still far longer than my dagger. And then, he aimed it directly at the poor receptionist girl's throat. "Look...I tried asking you nicely. Don't blame me for what happens next."

"H-Huh?!" the girl froze in fear.

"Nicely? What a joke," I suddenly scoffed, finally fully rounding the corner and stepping into the room, after secretly equipping my dagger via my System and hiding it beneath my right foot, in between the bottom of my foot and the sandal.

I decided to step in, for if I didn't, that girl would really be killed. And the worst part? Ichigo wouldn't even realize that he had just murdered a real human being in cold blood, since he thought this was all just a game.

But that wasn't the real reason I decided to step in. I mean, I had no attachments to this receptionist girl whatsoever. That being said...if I didn't do something now, and someone happened to be watching...I may be caught as a partner in crime of Ichigo, which naturally wouldn't be good. I didn't know what the punishment for murder was in this world, but I doubted it would be much different from the Earthen Reality Plane's.

"Huh?" Ichigo spun his head in my direction, and so did the terrified girl. "Oi oi...no way. Are you...Igarashi?"

I sighed, and shrugged. "Would you believe me if I said no?"

He smirked, and immediately turned around completely, directing all his attention onto me. "Oh, this is too good! How did you like the beating I gave you today at school?"

I merely smiled in return. Cheap provocations were useless against me. "How did you like the suspension Fujimura-sensei gave you?"

Ichigo's expression darkened. "Tch...well, whatever. At least now, I have two whole weeks to spend playing this game, haha!"

Oh...so he actually did get suspended. And for two weeks, at that. I had just been taking a guess, but it seemed I was on the mark.

"Oh? To me, it seems like you aren't playing the game at all. All you're doing is going around threatening innocent people just because you're a player, and they're NPCs."

Ichigo blurted out laughing. "Oi, oi...'innocent people'? Igarashi, why are you talking about these NPCs like they're real people?! Haha!"

...Because they are. But I couldn't tell him that.

"They're computers, for god's sake!" Ichigo continued. "The only one you should be worrying about...is yourself!"

Saying this, he leapt towards me, ready to bring his sword down to slice me in half. I couldn't really die since I retained my status as a player, but undoubtedly, dying came with its consequences - and I wasn't just talking about the extreme pain you would feel. I didn't know the specifics, but I wasn't about to risk it. Therefore, I had no intention of dying here today.

I swiftly dodged out of the way of his attack. It was fairly easy, thanks to the high AGI stat I held. His movements were slow and clunky, but I could feel that they were quite strong. It seemed that Ichigo, whatever his level was, had put all his stat points into STR alone.

Still, no matter how powerful his attacks were, they were useless if they couldn't hit their target.

Ichigo realized this, and pulled back a short distance.

"Oh...you're not bad," he mused. "What level are you? How long have you been playing?"

"It has nothing to do with me," I replied indifferently. "You're just too slow - both physically and in the head."

A vein bulged in his forehead, and he charged at me once more. Again, I dodged it with ease, leaping backward out of his sword slash. Ichigo gets taunted far too easily. That, would be his downfall.

"Hmph...let me check your stats, since you won't tell me yourself," he said, before staring at me intently all of a sudden. "Huh...I see."

"...?" I was confused at how he could see my stats. A skill, perhaps?

"Hm...? Wait, this is..." Ichigo then frowned, realizing something strange. "Oi, your stats...they don't match with your level. You're only Level 5, how do you have a total of 56 SP's worth of stats? That doesn't make any sense. Reaching Level 5 should only give you 40 SP. The hell?"

Hm...he's smarter than I thought.

"A bug in the game, perhaps?" I shrugged. "It's pretty new, after all."

"Y-Yeah...I guess you're right..." he muttered, but it seemed he wasn't convinced. "Oi...are you hacking?"

I nearly burst out laughing, just like had moments earlier. "Nah. Like I said, it's probably just some kind of glitch in the game. I don't even know how to hack. Anyway...what level are you?"

"What, I'm Level 10, but... can't you check yourself? Don't tell me, you don't have the 'Inspect' skill?"

"Huh? 'Inspect'? What?" I frowned, having never heard of this before.

"Man...it's like, literally the first skill in the Assassin skill path," Ichigo explained. "I'm honestly not the Assassin type, but that skill seemed useful, so I copped it."

I was going to say... if you're an Assassin, why not build AGI?

"Huh...I see," I muttered.

"Hmph. Aren't you going to get off?" Ichigo suddenly asked out of the blue. "You still got school tomorrow, don't you? I don't, ha!"

I sank into thought. "Hm... I'll just try sleeping at this inn, to see what sleeping inside an ARMMORPG feels like."

Of course, the reality was, I couldn't 'get off' even if I wanted to. This was a poor excuse, but Ichigo seemed to buy it. Besides... tomorrow was a Saturday, though he didn't seem to realize that.

"Heh. Whatever. I'll be heading off, since this bitch won't let me sleep here for free," Ichigo said, sending the receptionist a sharp glare. "Hope they get that damned bug of yours fixed, too...you're lucky you had that to help you this time. Once the devs fix it though...you're dead meat - both here and in real life."

With that, he walked out of the inn. With my peripheral vision, I saw him disappear in a shimmering shower of light, confirming that he had logged out of Ascension: Online.

I let out a sigh of relief. Things were settled relatively peacefully this time, it seemed. However, I knew for certain this wouldn't be the last time I would see Ichigo. Still, this was a valuable encounter. From this, I now knew that I was able to beat the average player who had begun playing since launch.

The top players who had been grinding this game 24/7 were still far ahead of me, but I would reach them soon enough. The fact that my stats increased based on my activities, without having to spend any SP, was extremely useful. This way, even though I would be behind in XP and levels, my stats, the most important factor in the game in terms of individual power, would still be about even with players who are around 5 or even 10 levels higher than me, as long as I farmed more XP.

Finally, with this whole incident out of the way, I turned to the girl and walked closer to her. "Uh...hey. Can I stay here for a night? I only have 30 gold though..."

That was a lie. I really had 40, but if I said that, chances were, she would charge me mor-

"O-Oh, sure! Also, you don't need to pay! Really!" she quickly said, shaking her hands and head. "I didn't really understand any of the stuff you two were saying, what with all the 'levels' and 'stats' and 'ARMMORPG' and stuff, but...you saved my life there, so this is the least I can do to repay you."

She blushed and looked away. Clearly something was up with this girl...I trusted my instincts on this one. I would normally be overjoyed, but sadly, I wasn't interested in her. I did save her. That being said, she would probably be heartbroken if I told her I really only helped because there was a chance I would be identified as a partner in crime of Ichigo if I didn't, but...ah, forget it. I would feel too guilty if I accepted her love, which derived from something I did with the wrong intention.

"I see. I'll take you up on that offer then," I replied to her words, smiling. "Thanks."

"N-No problem!" she replied, flustered, before handing me a room key. "H-Here. It's the key to the room at the very end of the hall, right-hand side."

I nodded and took the key with gratitude, before heading down the hall to my room for the night.

"Ah...how unfortunate," I muttered under my breath. "My first encounter with another player just had to be that guy, of all people..."

Well. At least I wouldn't have to face him at school, even once his two-week suspension was over.