Ascension: Online

[Welcome to Alternate Reality.]

These few soothing words resounded across the white room I was in, from all directions. Before I could even process this, however, the gentle female AI voice spoke again.

[The calibration process will now begin.]

"Huh? Calibration?" I wondered aloud.

[Please follow the dot with your eyes.]

"H-Huh?"

Suddenly, a red dot floated up from the ground and began hovering in my line of sight. Slowly, it moved around, and I did as told, following it with just my eyes. After it went around in a full circle, it returned to its original spot, and faded away.

[Please state the color of the dot you just saw.]

"Er...red," I said hesitantly.

[Eye calibration: complete. Next, please turn your head to face the direction an image will appear in, without turning your body.]

"Wha..."

To my left, the Ascentech logo materialized into existence with a glitch-type effect, and I turned my head to face it. Without turning my body, of course. I was following this AI's instructions to the letter. Then, the logo dematerialized and reappeared to my front. I turned my head to face forward, and after a few seconds, the logo once again disappeared, only to appear to my right. I turned right, and the AI's gentle voice spoke once more.

[Head calibration: 50% complete. Please turn your body 180 degrees to face the logo behind you, player.]

I did as told, and sure enough, there was the same Ascentech logo there, directly behind me. The logo then disappeared before shortly reappearing to my left, then to my right. I followed it with my head, and once everything was done, the logo dematerialized for good as the AI's voice came on once again.

[Head calibration: 100% complete. Next, repeat the same process, except turn your body this time instead of just your head.]

The Ascentech logo appeared again, this time to my right first. I spun my body 90 degrees, and it disappeared, before reappearing another 90 degrees to the right. I followed it by turning my own body, and repeated this two more times to form a full rotation.

[Body calibration: complete. Next, please perform as many forward arm circles as you wish, then do the same with backwards arm circles. Follow the video shown.]

With that, a hologram suddenly appeared in front of me, carrying a video in it. The video began playing of its own accord, depicting how to do arm circles properly. I followed the video closely.

[Arm calibration: complete. Next, please run as fast as possible towards the location marked in front of you.]

A black marker appeared a short distance in front of me, and the wall divided into two separate ones to reveal a pathway for me to run on. I quickly sprinted towards the marker, and skidded to a stop once I reached it. It was a total distance of about 50 meters, nothing too far.

[Leg calibration: complete. Next, please state the scent you smell in the air.]

As if on cue, a fragrant aroma that reminded me of flowers surrounded me.

"Flowers," I said confidently.

[Smell calibration: complete. All systems: complete. Congratulations, player. The calibration process has now ended. Welcome to Alternate Reality.]

With that, the room around me expanded, the walls disappearing. Instead, holograms appeared on all four sides of me. I tried walking around. The holograms followed me, adjusting their position to match my own movements.

"Huh...that's pretty cool," I muttered.

Then, turning around, I saw that the hologram behind me read 'Redeem Codes'. I had already memorized the code of the Ascension: Online copy I bought, so I just inputted that in the redeem section with a translucent floating keyboard that I could somehow physically feel. After a little processing time, the system deemed my code valid, and I saw that I now had the option of launching Ascension: Online on the hologram to my right, titled 'Games'.

I moved to click on it, but then changed my mind. This was enough for now. Hina-nee would probably be home anytime now. I would try out the game later. I already got the calibration process done. That was good enough.

On the panel behind me was a cogwheel, with the label 'Settings' above it. A little under it was a log off button. I pressed it with a finger, and my world faded to black.

*****

When I opened my eyes again, I was back on my bed. The AR helmet was fixed on my head, and I could feel the prickling sensation of the velcro strap below my neck. I took it off gently, and sat up. As if on cue, the doorbell rang.

"Must be Hina-nee..." I murmured, hopping off my bed and heading downstairs to open the door for her. We both had keys to the house, so she was probably just ringing the doorbell to see if I would come.

"Heya, Kaze-kun!" she exclaimed, pulling me into a tight hug right after I opened the door.

"H-Hina-nee..." I muttered in annoyance, but didn't try to break free. It was futile, after all. She was a black belt in karate. I wasn't about to beat her, as I didn't even do karate, due to a condition called asthenia - muscle weakness.

"How was school today?" she asked, taking off her coat and hanging it on the standing coat rack. "Hm...wait, you're hurt!"

She immediately tossed everything else aside, and inspected my face. It was a bit bruised from the beating I took earlier today.

"I'm fine, Hina-nee," I replied. "I just fell down and scraped it somewhere."

"The only way you would fall would be if someone intentionally forced you to fall!" Hina-nee cried. "You're a careful boy, Kaze-kun. There's no way you would just slip and fall somewhere. I don't believe it! Tell nee-san, who did this to you?"

"Hina-nee. I'll say it again. I'm fin-"

"Was it Mazami-kun and Yamato-kun again? Tch...those two...always picking on you," Hina-nee muttered. I could tell that she was genuinely angry - and that was rare. "That reminds me - I know...you went to Fujimura High instead of Kawasaki so that you could get away from those two and their friends, right? I just found out about this today, but this year, Kawasaki High had quite a lot of students enrolling, so not all middle schools in the area could be accounted for. So, some were redirected to Fujimura High. I'm sorry, Kaze-kun..."

I shook my head, realizing denying it was no longer going to work. "It's not your fault, Hina-nee. I have a solution of my own. You don't need to worry about it."

"A solution...?"

I smiled. "I managed to deal quite the blow to them today."

"H-Huh? You mean, you fought back against them? But...they are a lot stronger than you are, and there's two of them!"

"I don't mean like, physically," I quickly interrupted, before she misunderstood. "You see, what happened was..."

I retold her everything that had happened earlier that afternoon, and by the end of my story, she was stunned.

"Kaze-kun...that was quite clever!" she exclaimed, trying to pat my head. I ducked away.

"Not really. Those two are just stupid for falling into it."

"Heh. That's true," she smirked. "But...still. You took quite the beating. Just wait here, okay? I'll get you all patched up."

"Huh? But I already said I was fine..." I muttered, but, for better or worse, there was no convincing Hina-nee once she had made a decision.

After washing her hands, she applied some arnica cream on the spots I had been hit, to ease the bruising. Then, she went off to make dinner, and I returned to my room, deciding to play around with my AR set a bit more.

Putting on the helmet and laying down on my bed, I pressed the power button.

*****

I woke up in the white room once more. The white room with no boundaries, that is. Under the 'Games' hologram, I pressed on the Ascension: Online cover art. Immediately, my surroundings changed. It faded into black. I walked around in the darkness, uncertain of what was going to happen next.

And then - suddenly, a 360 degree all-around cinematic began playing, with me above everything.

"Wow..."

I seemed to be levitating way high in the air, but the invisible ground below me was definitely solid. Below, I could see a massive island with vastly different regions on it, each with a different biome. From large, dense forests to tall, fog-shrouded mountains, this island had it all. I could even see tiny towns that were quite different from the urban cities we had in the real world. Overall, this place was like something straight out of a fantasy Chinese cultivation novel - beautiful, and absolutely fascinating.

At the center of it all, a humungous tree stood. It had enormous white roots, entangling around each other as they rose upwards to form the trunk of the tree. At the top, it bloomed into hundreds of different branches, each with millions of silver leaves on it, fluttering gently to the wind. It was a beautiful and majestic sight, especially since I had just witnessed the tree's complete growing process in time-lapse.

I didn't understand any of this, but that didn't matter. There was just one thing I knew for certain:

Ascension: Online was far more than just a game. It was a new world, in and of itself.

And as the space around me seemed to expand with the grand sound of a string ensemble accompanying it, a gentle, female AI voice spoke.

[Welcome to Ascension: Online. Welcome, to a new reality.]