Ah! Ok, so I’ve started writing something!
No guarantees in quality, but I’ll post the stuff here whenever I write more.
The 1-1 means “chapter 1 part 1”
It’s convoluted, but maybe it’ll just be for this chapter? Not sure yet.
Also trying to write this as like a serialized thing, rather than in book form.
So, i guess think a written manga?
That sounds weeby but i have good intentions, i swear.
I donno, so here! It is! Yes!
(Also, any criticisms/ questions are very much welcome! Plus they’ll hopefully keep me motivated…)
((also also, the italics and bolds or whatever I had in here aren’t staying when I copy them from Google Docs, so sorry about that))
Erika’s day wasn’t going particularly abnormally. It was the weekend, and as such, she was taking her morning walk. She did not have much to do over the weekends, and while she wasn’t particularly one to worry much over exercise, she enjoyed her small journeys through town. Enjoying the peaceful silence of early Saturday mornings was what she looked forward to the most every week. Some might think it antisocial of her, but to her it was a harmless hobby.
Her quiet mornings were about to come to an end, however.
One of her routine stops was a building called “Acaer’s Dome.” It was part of a franchise of “Gaming Domes,” which allowed people to participate in several different Virtual Reality games. She didn’t much care about whatever went on inside, however.
The outside of Acaer’s Dome had a very ornate and beautiful design. Originally it had been designed to be a museum, but the Acaer company bought the building after it’s completion, refurbishing it’s insides into the current “Gaming Dome” it is. Erika loved to the way it looked, and made sure to make her way past it when there weren’t as many people around.
She usually kept up with The Dome’s schedule, avoiding it during larger gatherings, such as the various tournaments it holds within it’s games. Today, however, she appeared to have made a mistake. The dome was packed, and of course she had to walk almost past the doors before she could see any windows to the inside. She was grateful that nobody was gathering in the streets, owing it to the massive interior of the dome, but she soon felt the effects of that jinx.
“Hey you!” A sudden cry sounded out from behind Erika as she walked away. Hoping the yell to be directed at anyone but herself, she continued to try to walk away, to no avail.
“Wait! Stop! You!” The shouts continued, eventually getting Erika to stop and turn towards their owner. Running out from The Dome’s doorway was a young man calling out to Erika. “Yo, ok, so I know you don’t know me and junk, but uh, I need to ask a favor of you. Alright?”
“...” Erika gave him a suspicious look, then turned back around.
“Wait! No! I just need some help in a game! Please!” His cries falling on deaf ears. “Uh! Um!! There’s money?”
At that, out of the kindness of her heart, she turned around to hear him out.
“...This better not be some weird shit.”
“Ah! No! Of course!” His face lit up, a sparkling ray of hope. Erika shielded her eyes, regretting her decision already.
He led Erika into The Dome, giving her his name, Cole, and explained his situation. He was currently in the semifinals of a tournament for the game “Pikenmek,” a card-based action-duel game that boasted fast-paced fights and highly strategic play. Battles usually involve one-to-four player teams fighting against one another, the team of the last player standing winning. The most popular tourney format was four player teams, four team brawls. For these tourneys players were meant to form their own groups, similar to sports teams. Cole’s own team was missing their fourth player. They called in sick, and because of this, the tournament had been postponed until the next day to allow them some time to recover, but they were still out of action. Usually these teams would have backup players for situations just like this, but Cole’s team had already been patched together through other briberious means. The only other teammate that had actually willingly joined the team was the one who was sick.
“...So you chose to pick people who have no clue what the hell this game even is to make up the rest of your team?” Erika asked, sceptical of his reasoning.
“Well, yeah. They aren’t particularly interested in the game themselves, but they’re like, my friends and stuff. No one else I could ask I guess?”
Like friends? Erika thought.
“Then what about me? You have a sports dome full of actual players of the game, and you choose the first person who walks by the door?” Erika questioned. At this point, they had made it to the back of the entrance hall. Around them were tons of various nerdy types, buying loads of useless merchandise from the booths at the sides of the halls. At the back was the entrance to a hall designated for the Pikenmek game.
“So, like, you can’t change your team affiliations to a team that’s currently in a tournament, cause they don’t want like freeloaders or something I guess?” Cole explained, “But! If one were to join the team straight from registration, they’d probably get in! I mean, it’s not switching teams, right?”
Why the hell are you asking me? Erika thought, slowly regretting her decision ever more.
They were now in the Pikenmek room, which housed layers upon layers of “VR Pods,” which when sat in, accessed their brainwaves to allow them to enter the game. These pods also served as registration terminals.
“Alright! So, you’ve gotta sit in one of these, and you’ll be magically teleported into the game!” Cole was starting to get a bit antsy, “Just, uh… hurry with it though! Our tiurney thingy starts in like, tweeenty minutes??”
“...How do I know what someone else could’ve done in this thing? Do they like, clean these?”
“Pah, it’s fine! It’s fine! They shoot like some sanitizing mist every once in awhile. Keeps you and the pod fresh!”
“...That doesn’t seem healthy…”
“Oh, just get in the pod, Vee!”
This took Erika off guard, “Wh- Vee???”
“Oh, well you said your last name was Violet, right? Violet, Vee-O-Let, Vee!”
“...” “Vee” gave a funny look, but seemed to get over whatever it was quickly. “... How much money’s involved in this again?”
“Well, since we’re in the semifinals already, it should already be about $500 each, the grand prize is like $5000 I think?”
Vee gave a double take, flabbergasted at how much money could be wasted in a game.
“Wait, how the hell did you get into the semifinals of something with that much money involved with your “Frankenstein’s Team”???”
“Hey, I said the other guys weren’t interested in the game, that doesn’t mean they can’t be good…”
Vee didn’t look amused.
“...Plus the sick teammate kind of carried us? Either way, we’ll get some money for second place, don’t even worry about it.”
The unamused look evolved into general dissatisfaction with the whole of the situation.
“AH! Nevermind that, get in the pod already! We’ve got fifteen minutes left!”
While not as quick as Cole would’ve liked, Vee allowed herself to be seated in one of the pods. It detected her, and locked her into place.
“Whoah, What?!”
As the pod’s glass shield closed around her, she was left with a look of surprise and concern. A sort of helmet came over her head, and then all of her senses faded…
