THE ASSASSIN GAMER

The most mystical and ancient of magickal skills and powers co-existed side by side with the latest and the most sophisticated technology ever created by humans.

Gods and goddesses of various pantheons all over the world cohabited the world with the humans who used to worship them in the ancient times, up to the present day, along with mythical beings from various myths and legends ever read by modern man.

Such was the situation when the gaming scene exploded and grew popular among people globally.

A few professional computer geeks, die-hard gamers, and digital marketers who shared a burning passion for gaming, banded together to create a video-games company, hoping to capture a vital spot in gaming, and make their mark in the gaming world.

As they are based in Tokyo, Japan, they named their company Tokyo Gaming Solutions.

Some of the game pioneers are ancient, and super powerful deities, or even mythical beings with powers in disguise, while the rest are ordinary humans.

While the company has a vast stock of successful video games in it's portfolio, one game that stood out among the games they created was VRMMORPG Fantasion, which they touted as their flagship video game, with its own specially made gaming capsule.

They successfully created an online game that they named VRMMORPG Fantasion, which became a hit globally after a few years of debugging, updating, and fine-tuning.

They raked in billions of dollars in profits from the advertising of the game alone, not to mention billions of sales on a global scale.

Due to the company's success, the value of their stocks and shares rose to skyrocketing heights.

The game is played by buying a special Virtual Reality gaming set created by Tokyo Gaming Solutions that is basically an enclosed gaming capsule.

The gaming capsule will only work when connected to a power source, and connected to a strong and steady Internet.

It required the gamer to get inside the gaming capsule, sit down, and play the game by means of touchscreen controls, with a touchscreen keypad.

The player has two options.

One, to start as a regular player and grind up the levels until he has the chance to become an elite player, thus making it easier for the player to play and finish the game.

The next and the costlier option, which became instantly popular with the wealthier gamers that the game catered to, is to purchase an Elite Badge, which gives the player instant access to rare and legendary skills, items, weapons, supplies, and armor.

Players with the Elite Badge had a major advantage over regular players, as they could clear quests and kill monsters faster, and climb up the levels of VRMMORPG Fantasion with next to no difficulties at all.

Players with the Elite Badge also have another advantage.

They earn money while playing the game in real time, by finishing quests and participating in special events, and by selling in-game items anywhere they wish to sell it.

One of the early pioneers of VRMMORPG Fantasion is Hashioki Ashima, who was a gamer and a former professional game creator from the Nintendo company.

He helped to create and fine-tune VRMMORPG Fantasion, straight from the planning stage down to the debugging and marketing of the game.

He also had a 20 percent share in the company shares, aside from his regular salary.

At first, all went well.

All the pioneers of Tokyo Gaming Solutions agreed on one main point, that is they will do all they can to level the field and make the game fair and easy to play for players who had no elite badges.

But as time went on, disagreements always happened in board meetings, and the pioneers became split into two factions, the Majority faction, who wanted to retain only the players with the Elite badges, and the Minority faction, who wanted to keep the gameplay fair for the players who didn't have the means to purchase an Elite Badge.

Tension started to increase among members of both factions, and there was never a time when everyone erupted into a shouting match when the question of whether the gameplay should be kept fair for players without an Elite Badge, or not at all.

When such shouting matches happened, there was always a time when more than two or three of the game pioneers left the boardroom table and walked out of the office building, as they are unable to endure the opinions of the other side and pent up with anger.

It came to a head when the leader of the Majority faction,a strong and fierce spirited lady from Wales, took the matter into her own hands.

Without consulting anyone, and acting without the permission of the rest of the board members, she snuck into the office headquarters one night, and drastically changed the codes that Hashioki made that allowed all players to log out of the game safely.

With one stroke of her hand, she turned what should be a safe game into a life or death game where the players, unable to log out, can only finish the top levels of the game, or die trying.

But fate had other plans.

It turned out that Hashioki, who was used to staying up late often to monitor the game from his house, caught her in the act of drastically changing the game.

Hashioki wasn't pleased.

He tried to minimize the impact, but it was too late.

The damage had been done.

He swore to himself that he will confront the leader of the Majority faction, and make her pay heavily for what she has done.

Hashioki acted swiftly.

He imposed a heavy penalty on the leader of the Majority faction, disabled her coding access to the game, and took away her 40 percent share of the game profits.

When it became known to the leader of the Majority faction, the leader of the Majority faction flew into a rage.

She siphoned off Hashioki's share of the company shares for herself, and turned off Hashioki's developer access to the game.

She hired goons armed with enchanted metal pipes to break into Hashioki's house, and beat him senseless.

The goons broke into his house easily, as he had forgotten to lock the front door of his house at that time.

They found him in a deep slumber in the living room, with his laptop computer still turned on in the coffee table.

They stole the files on his laptop computer, and beat him senseless until he was left bloodied with serious injuries.

Hashioki's wife was away attending a birthday party, but when she returned she was shocked by what she saw.

She immediately called an ambulance, and Hashioki was sent to the emergency room of the hospital.

She didn't live long afterwards, as the task of caring for their two sons while looking for money eventually drained her health.

A young but tall and fit elite male assassin is surrounded by enemies with no chance of retreating or escaping.

Noctis, a handsome young man, is returning home from yet another stressful marketing proposal. It is just the end of his shift and he's preparing to head home.

It has been 4 years since he last saw his elder brother, who went away to some far away city to focus on playing VRMMORPG Fantasion and earn money, hoping to find a cure for their father, who was still sick back then.

They encountered a serious financial problem back then, so his brother decided to do the unthinkable.

"Noctis, you know those ads that went trending about a game named VRMMORPG Fantasion where you can earn a lot and change your life for the better?"

"You're planning to join? Satsuki, I know you're a pro when it comes to gaming and all, but this is risky."

Then he pushed Noctis against the wall with a hand up the neck sleeve of his shirt.

"Hey, brother. Why did you have to do that?"

"Noctis, you must be dreaming. We're obviously about to go bankrupt. We need money to cure our father. And to pay for your studies in school."

Noctis was left speechless for a few moments until he finally found the right words to speak.

" You're right. I was wrong all along. Just be careful out there, ok? I also play many hack'n'slash, RPG, and strategy games so I know it's a dangerous world out there in VRMMORPG Fantasion.

"All right, Noctis, I will. Take care of our father for me, ok? Make your elder brother proud. See you after I finish this game even if it will take a few years."

Then they had dinner and drank sake together for one last time before he packed up his things and went on to VRMMORPG Fantasion, even though it's next to impossible for Satsuki to log out from VRMMORPG Fantasion, he still managed to get in touch with Noctis, and sent Noctis high- class daggers, katanas, and mysterious dragon badges that sold for a high price in the real world, when auctioned off at a gaming convention, or else sold to collectors of swords, knives and gaming curios.

His father has long since regained full health.

When he heard the news regarding Noctis' brother after fully regaining his health, he returned to his old job as a pioneering board member of VRMMORPG Fantasion.

It was thanks to both his father and brother that he was able to get into an elite university in Tokyo in college.

He returned to reality from his memories as he realized the train he was riding on was about to reach his neighborhood.

Noctis found himself holding a God Class assassin dragon emblem.

His father also sent a lot of God-class katanas, daggers, and knives.

They also sent him a lot of emails, texts,chats, and videocalls explaining in full detail about the weapons and the badges they sent back. They also told him a lot of stories about VRMMORPG Fantasion.

"They must have been lucky enough to get into elite Guilds."

Noctis smiled and thought to himself. It's obvious from the weapons and badges they sent back.

Satsuki, known as Ayami Ashima in VRMMORPG Fantasion as an elite assassin, nimbly slashed and dodged his enemy's attacks with his katana.

"Damn it. If this is to be my end, then I'll go down fighting. There is no end to these undead liches. Someone's messing up my comms system with my father. He's been unable to contact me for an hour already?"

He already knew who set him up for a suicide mission. He laughed bitterly.

" So, everything I worked for is all for nothing. I thought I could change the game. Turns out I'm just another major chess piece to use. All those years. I took them in and trained them to be the elite fighters they are. Now they'd turn against me. I should have left them to die at the hands of the Necromancy Guild, and fought my way up the ranks solo."

He shut down relations with them and disbanded the Guild when he felt that they were becoming hostile to him.

He still remembered how he single-handedly weakened the Necromancer Guild which has been plaguing VRMMORPG Fantasion and was at its prime while he was rising up the ranks.

He managed to find out the deadliest weakness of the Guild Leader.

And he still remembered rescuing those newbie entrants to VRMMORPG Fantasion who blundered their way into a level far harder than theirs and managed to get themselves into this mess.

He took them in, formed the Gamer Guild, and eventually managed to elevate the Gamer

Guild to elite status. But all of that didn't matter now.

Hashioki Ashima watched from the administrator panel in alarm as he saw his son fight off enemies all alone.

He knew it was a trap set up by the other faction who wished to gain absolute control of the game. He had to act fast.

Sorry, Satsuki, I may be quite influential among the administrators and game guardians, but there is someone out there from the other faction more influential than me. I can't risk getting caught. Thanks for everything you've done for me and Noctis.

So, he set about putting Plan Ashima Into action.

It is a contingency plan he devised and managed to have it passed as urgent in the Board Member Meeting.

It was to safeguard his son's legacy and to protect his true allies just in case, and immediately contact Noctis to replace him if something happens.

This is the best he could do to at least safeguard Noctis, aside from discreetly giving him hard-to-find and customized God-class weapons and badges, He also inserted cheat codes into the game so that Noctis would have infinite money, and tweaked his stats a bit so he would get a huge advantage over the other players of VRMMORPG Fantasion.

Sure enough, Satsuki reached his limit and a spell of undeath hit him squarely in his eyes. He fell to the ground, lifeless, but not without causing serious damage to the last remaining stronghold of the Necromancer Guild.

Noctis just finished eating dinner when he saw an urgent message flash from VRMMORPG Fantasion into his android smartphone.

It read:

"Satsuki has been eliminated. You're chosen to replace your brother. Avenge your brother's death Sorry, I can't do much as I also have to do a delicate balancing not as a game administrator. I can't risk your brother's true allies, and my own allies as well.

Love, from Father. "

After reading the message on his smartphone, Noctis at first had doubts.

Then his stomach lurched when he saw the attached video recording of the last moments of his brother.

"That's it. I'm joining the fray. Don't worry brother. Your death won't be in vain."

Then he packed up all the weapons and badges his father and brother sent over in his backpack.

He went to his room and chose to wear black pants and a black shirt that is perfectly accented by his slim yet tall and fit body.

Then he put on a black mask which is also a God-Class item that could change his voice and cover his face.

He combed his unruly silver hair, put on his mountain climbing sneakers, placed his weapons and armor inside his God-Class backpack, placed the backpack on his back, and grabbed the sheathed daggers with a dragon emblem engraved into the handles, the twin weapon of the katana his brother used, and placed them on the God-Class sheaths on his hips.

"Satsuki has been eliminated. You have been chosen as his replacement. Do you agree?"

He clicked yes.

"Real name, age, game username."

He typed "Lelouch, 23, Zero"

Then the screen changed again,

"Player Name: Lelouch Age: 23 Level:1 Ethnicity: Japanese Hp: 25 Strength:25 Defense; 30 percent Agility: 29 Mp: 35 Knowledge:100 Class: Assassin Spellcaster Rank: Novice (Elite Player) Money: Error. Infinity"'

"VRMMORPG Fantasion is only playable by means of a specially made gaming capsule developed by the Tokyo Gaming Solutions. Please set up the gaming capsule and transfer yourself into the gaming capsule to play the game. Thank you.""

Another message flashed on Noctis' smartphone.

Noctis went straight to the gaming room, found the gaming capsule that his father recently sent to him, turned it on and set it up, and went inside the gaming capsule.

The gaming capsule immediately snapped shut after he was inside.

"Player Noctis, the game is starting. Please wait for a few minutes."

He's grateful for the fact that he can already use those weapons that his father and brother sent over to him. He also knew in an instant that it was his father who secretly changed his money stats.

A portal with a wooden door appeared right in front of him.

A sign was placed at the door, in blood red and dripping shade, and written in capital letters: "Beware, player, of the dangers that lie inside. Play at your own risk. Win the game, and you can return. Lose, and you shall forfeit your life."

Noctis took a deep breath, then entered the portal without even looking back.

It will be a one-way trip with only two possible endings.

Either he'll win, or he'll lose. Armed with information on the trendy but dangerous VRMMORPG Fantasion, he is determined to do whatever It takes to survive, climb up to the last floor, and win.

Noctis' father noticed him entering from the Administrator Panel screen, in his office at the headquarters of Tokyo Gaming Company, and looked on with approval.

He wished it was that easy to just go home, plug out Noctis' game capsule, appear in front of Noctis, hug him, and explain what happened, why he had to do what he did and delete Noctis' account from VRMMORPG Fantasion.

But even he knows that if he overrode the main game creator, he would be put at risk.

"Don't fail me, Noctis. When we see each other again, I'll explain why I had to do what I needed to do. Don't repeat the same mistakes your brother did in this game. I'm counting on you to do your part, son."

He sent a quick voice message to his son.

Then he went and attended to his duties as a board member.

Noctis listened to the message that flashed on the gaming capsule screen. He couldn't help but smile.

Then he pulled himself together and continued walking in the empty entrance until he saw a well-dressed female elf wearing a slim hunter's attire that accented her tall and slim yet sexy body.

"Hello, Player Zero. I have been expecting you. You're quite a bit late in coming here. It should not be a problem, yes?"

"I'm Zelda, one of the Game Guardians."

She said in a cute girly voice.

The cute and good-looking elf reached out her hand to offer a handshake. Noctis shook her hand but said nothing.

"Let's see what tests we have in store for you. Ah, yes, an obstacle course where you're supposed to dodge spikes, Arrows, shuriken, spells, and other weapons and

life-threatening objects that fly at you out of multiple holes in the wall.

He couldn't help but keep looking at the elf's beauty, sexy figure,and cuteness.

"Hi Zelda. I know that you're a busy employee of VRMMORPG Fantasion, and you have a lot of in-game tasks, but before you distract me to death with your good looking, sexy avatar, allow me a moment to equip myself first."

He winked at Zelda.

"No Problem. Wave at me when you're done equipping yourself, Noctis."

Zelda smiled at Noctis.

Noctis looked at his stats,

It will never do to get killed right from the start before he even started climbing up the game levels.

In the end he equipped the following items:

T Shirt

Class: God-Class

Level; 34

Defense: 100

Jeans

Class: God Class

Level: 34

Defense: 100

Jacket

Class; God Class

Level: 34

Defense:100

Sneakers

Class: God Class

Level: 34

Defense: 100

Cap

Class; God Class

Level: 34

Defense:100

AntiMagic Pistols

Class: God Class

Level:34

Accuracy Range:135

Attack Speed: 200

Ring

Class: God Class

Level: 34

Swiftness: 200

Then he waved at Zelda since he is done equipping himself.

" You know, you look similar to the deceased elite gamer. Same silver hair, same height, same garments. The only difference is he's an upright person, and he liked to dress in pure white armor from head to toe. His main weapon is a white katana."

"My brother was a stickler for the rules, Zelda. Such a perfect, saintly angel. I'm the exact opposite. He always scolded me half to tears before because of his oh so precious morality and values. Small good it did him in-game. I don't care about the stupid rules at all. It's no use talking about the dead. You must have figured out by now why I'm here. Anyway, let's focus on the task at hand, shall we?"

Noctis, getting tired of forever being compared to his brother, replied back to Zelda.

Then when they are already in the testing area,

Noctis nimbly dodged, shot at the weapons, and counterattacked everything that came at him without even a scratch.

When he came out unscathed the elf clapped.

"Bravo, Zero. I sense you're not someone simple. Let's proceed to the last test, shall we?"

Then he found himself on a battlefield.

It seemed the battle hadn't gone well on his side.

The center of his army, consisting of a light infantry of horsemen, still held tight, but quickly being eliminated.

The light infantry spearmen on his left flank, seeing their horsemen being annihilated in the center, threw down their spears and shields, broke, and ran.

The heavy infantry on his right flank attacked recklessly.

But the rear-guard, consisting of elite horsed riflemen, is still intact and undamaged, along with the reserve troops, which is an elite artillery battalion armed with highly accurate howitzers.

His left, right and center flanks fought in an open, grassy battleground, with no chance for cover, while the rear-guard and the reserves guarded a high and narrow pass.

So, he ordered the remnants of the right, left, and center flanks to pretend they were routed, and make for the high pass, where his rear-guard and his reserves waited in ambush.

The remnants of the right, left, and center flanks pretended they were defeated and routed.

They fled to the narrow pass, and center flank of their foe, in their eagerness to secure a quick and decisive victory, chased the remnants of his right, left, and center flanks all the way to the high pass, only to be annihilated when the riflemen and the artillery battalion opened fire with their hidden guns and howitzers.

The light infantry, light horsemen, and heavy infantry reformed their shattered lines, formed themselves into one formidable steel fist, turned around, and smashed the enemy's rear guard.

It was so effective that the enemy turned back and fled to where they came from.

I sure hope that taught them a lesson.

Noctis thought.

He turned what would have been an imminent defeat into a lopsided victory.

The head of the major guild involved in the battle walked to Noctis, shook his hand, and offered him a permanent position as a strategist in his guild.

Then the simulation faded away.

"Perfect. I didn't know you were that cunning. Using your wits to turn the tide of the battle. If you failed both tests, you would have ended up back at the entrance, or worse, dead."

Zelda said, satisfied.

"I'd have liked to accompany you to the Lobby, but I still have a lot of tasks to do. See you when I see you, then."

"Wait. Can I add you in-game, Zelda?"

"Sure, Zero. Why not?"

After the two finished adding each other in-game, Zelda winked back at Noctis, then walked into a waiting teleport portal.