Chapter 1: Altaria Island
Part 1
Junichiro Mikimori knew that he had a poor sense of direction. On the day of the high school entrance exam, more than a year ago, he wandered around an unfamiliar part of town searching for the high school itself. He even continued to relive that traumatic experience in his dreams to this day.
Because of this, when he set out on the journey, he frequently checked his map to make sure he knew where he was. This was especially true in the forest, rampant with trees, when he had no choice but to follow the unreliable animal trail.
Since the spell Long Walk amplified one’s walking speed to that of running, discerning distances could be difficult. He stopped many times to check his surroundings. Despite it being daytime, due to the tall trees and unrestrained undergrowth, visibility was low.
“Am I lost?”
He gestured on his academic W-LD tablet, and the equipment window appeared. These 7 inches of thin liquid crystal panel were once able to connect to the Internet almost anywhere, including but not limited to school or public spaces.
Now, this tablet had a completely different purpose. On its screen, “Jun”, his avatar, was displayed. With the height of a second year high school student and a skinny body, it was just like Junichiro himself, all the way up to the positioning and mean-looking facial expressions.
However, some things differed. First of all, his avatar’s clothing did not match his own. The avatar had leather and iron armor on, while Junichiro himself wore his high school uniform.
There was one more point of difference: hair color. His avatar had ashen gray hair, while, in actuality, he had black hair, which was different from what was shown on the tablet.
The screen was just like an equipment window on a game. And it was just that, simply a very ordinary game screen, until three months ago.
Now, it was different. Junichiro opened the map by tapping on his tablet screen and breathed a sigh upon noticing a bright dot. After confirming his location and taking a look at his surroundings, he lifted his head. This was because when the road disappeared, he became unable to know which was the right way to go.
“It’s just as I thought. I went the wrong way…”
He realized that he should have checked his map periodically. The superior tier item called Map would record information on the nearby terrain and surroundings just by walking around randomly. That information would be displayed on the screen. Before he knew it, the animal path disappeared, and he was at a loss for which direction to head in.
If this were just an ordinary MMO, the system of mapping out the world by hand would be considered out of date and excessive. However, that would only be natural…
He surveyed his surroundings. There was dense and overgrown vegetation all around. Insects were buzzing and birds were singing. Upon taking a breath, the clear air, along with the scent of decaying nature, would enter your mouth. Best of all, you could touch the nearby tree trunks with your hand, feeling the rough bark and sometimes the damp moss.
(Is this really just a game?)
Smacking his lips, he shook his head.
“I suppose I have no choice. I’ll stop being stingy and use my Wing Boots.”
The equipment window came back and he tapped the image of his avatar’s feet. His footwear changed from his usual high defense boots to boots with white feathers on their heels.
“Yes! This is good.”
“Wake up!” Jun muttered, and almost instantaneously, his body, along with the school uniform he was wearing, became covered in white light. It remained that way for a moment, and when the light finally dissipated, his clothing and physical appearance had changed to that of the avatar shown on his tablet.
At that moment, high school student Junichiro Mikimori became the adventurer, Jun.
“Footwear effect, activate!”
After he uttered those words, the feathers on his shoes started fluttering up and down as if they had been caught in a strong wind. And then …
Jun’s body gently floated up. Wing boots, as one might expect from the name, bestowed the power of flight upon their wearer, albeit with a limitation: after every use, the boots had to be given five days to charge before reuse.
Jun, turning his body in the process, rose up into the sky. Some birds that were perched up in nearby tree branches flew off in surprise at the sight of a flying human. In just a moment, he was above the trees. He slowly gazed around at his surroundings.
He looked towards the deep forest that appeared to stretch out endlessly in every direction. He noticed a series of steep mountains in the distance. Southwest of those mountains was what appeared to be the town of Gazar.
Jun continued rising. When he became unable to distinguish trees from one another, he looked down once again.
There, he had an unrestricted view of an oval shaped island. It floated in the skies above the endless sea.
It was Altaria Island. Jun was now suspended above that island, which appeared to be approximately half the size of Shikoku [1]…
He diverted his glance toward the clear skies. Just as he thought, there were countless other islands. Their sizes varied immensely. Some were small islands that one could easily explore in just one hour. Some were larger than even Hokkaido [2]. The islands were also all floating in the sky at different heights. They were truly a magnificent sight to behold.
“No doubt about it. This is definitely Sky World.”
Sky World.
That was once just the name of a game; now it was the name of the world that Jun and others had come to live in.
＊
That’s right. Sky World was once just the proper noun for the name of the world in the free online game that he had played on his tablet.
The genre of online games called MMO (massively multiplayer online) RPGs. In the genre of online games called MMORPGs (massively multiplayer online role playing games), many players connected to the same server and experienced the same world in real-time. Each player played as his or her own game character and took on roles such as magician and warrior. Some players joined together into groups and competed against others in large-scale competitions.
Sky World was one of these MMORPGs. In the fantasy world called Sky World, countless islands floated in the sky. Science and magic coexisted. Adventurers could travel from island to island on airships. However, prior to even gaining publicity for the testing phases of the game, the official game servers were launched…
Its high degree of perfection, deep gameplay mechanics and ease of use atypical for games designed for tablets attracted many players in a very short period of time.
Many schools using W-LD tablets did not allow software that had not been approved for security by a special agency. This software managed to fulfill the approval requirements. The game was constantly praised for its seemingly limitless diversity of players. The PTA (parent teacher association), however, made it out as a hindrance to students’ studies.
That never actually became a problem.
No, that paled in comparison to what actually occurred.
One day, some players woke up and found themselves in a completely different world.
They had woken up in the land of Sky World.
Exactly what had happened to their bodies was still unknown.
People guessed that those tens of thousands of people were sent to this new world.
This world was exactly the same as Sky World, the game.
It was obvious that this world was not just data since it seemed too realistic to be just a fantasy.
The anniversary of the beginning of Sky World came to be known as the Birthday.
It is now three months after the first Birthday.
The players still had not discovered the purpose of this survival game.
TRANSLATOR’S NOTES
[1] – The smallest of the four main islands in the Japanese archipelago. Comparable in size to New Jersey / Israel.
[2] – The largest of the four main islands in the Japanese archipelago. Comparable in size to South Carolina / Ireland.
Chapter 1: Altaria Island
Part 1
Junichiro Mikimori knew that he had a poor sense of direction. On the day of the high school entrance exam, more than a year ago, he wandered around an unfamiliar part of town searching for the high school itself. He even continued to relive that traumatic experience in his dreams to this day.
Because of this, when he set out on the journey, he frequently checked his map to make sure he knew where he was. This was especially true in the forest, rampant with trees, when he had no choice but to follow the unreliable animal trail.
Since the spell Long Walk amplified one’s walking speed to that of running, discerning distances could be difficult. He stopped many times to check his surroundings. Despite it being daytime, due to the tall trees and unrestrained undergrowth, visibility was low.
“Am I lost?”
He gestured on his academic W-LD tablet, and the equipment window appeared. These 7 inches of thin liquid crystal panel were once able to connect to the Internet almost anywhere, including but not limited to school or public spaces.
Now, this tablet had a completely different purpose. On its screen, “Jun”, his avatar, was displayed. With the height of a second year high school student and a skinny body, it was just like Junichiro himself, all the way up to the positioning and mean-looking facial expressions.
However, some things differed. First of all, his avatar’s clothing did not match his own. The avatar had leather and iron armor on, while Junichiro himself wore his high school uniform.
There was one more point of difference: hair color. His avatar had ashen gray hair, while, in actuality, he had black hair, which was different from what was shown on the tablet.
The screen was just like an equipment window on a game. And it was just that, simply a very ordinary game screen, until three months ago.
Now, it was different. Junichiro opened the map by tapping on his tablet screen and breathed a sigh upon noticing a bright dot. After confirming his location and taking a look at his surroundings, he lifted his head. This was because when the road disappeared, he became unable to know which was the right way to go.
“It’s just as I thought. I went the wrong way…”
He realized that he should have checked his map periodically. The superior tier item called Map would record information on the nearby terrain and surroundings just by walking around randomly. That information would be displayed on the screen. Before he knew it, the animal path disappeared, and he was at a loss for which direction to head in.
If this were just an ordinary MMO, the system of mapping out the world by hand would be considered out of date and excessive. However, that would only be natural…
He surveyed his surroundings. There was dense and overgrown vegetation all around. Insects were buzzing and birds were singing. Upon taking a breath, the clear air, along with the scent of decaying nature, would enter your mouth. Best of all, you could touch the nearby tree trunks with your hand, feeling the rough bark and sometimes the damp moss.
(Is this really just a game?)
Smacking his lips, he shook his head.
“I suppose I have no choice. I’ll stop being stingy and use my Wing Boots.”
The equipment window came back and he tapped the image of his avatar’s feet. His footwear changed from his usual high defense boots to boots with white feathers on their heels.
“Yes! This is good.”
“Wake up!” Jun muttered, and almost instantaneously, his body, along with the school uniform he was wearing, became covered in white light. It remained that way for a moment, and when the light finally dissipated, his clothing and physical appearance had changed to that of the avatar shown on his tablet.
At that moment, high school student Junichiro Mikimori became the adventurer, Jun.
“Footwear effect, activate!”
After he uttered those words, the feathers on his shoes started fluttering up and down as if they had been caught in a strong wind. And then …
Jun’s body gently floated up. Wing boots, as one might expect from the name, bestowed the power of flight upon their wearer, albeit with a limitation: after every use, the boots had to be given five days to charge before reuse.
Jun, turning his body in the process, rose up into the sky. Some birds that were perched up in nearby tree branches flew off in surprise at the sight of a flying human. In just a moment, he was above the trees. He slowly gazed around at his surroundings.
He looked towards the deep forest that appeared to stretch out endlessly in every direction. He noticed a series of steep mountains in the distance. Southwest of those mountains was what appeared to be the town of Gazar.
Jun continued rising. When he became unable to distinguish trees from one another, he looked down once again.
There, he had an unrestricted view of an oval shaped island. It floated in the skies above the endless sea.
It was Altaria Island. Jun was now suspended above that island, which appeared to be approximately half the size of Shikoku [1]…
He diverted his glance toward the clear skies. Just as he thought, there were countless other islands. Their sizes varied immensely. Some were small islands that one could easily explore in just one hour. Some were larger than even Hokkaido [2]. The islands were also all floating in the sky at different heights. They were truly a magnificent sight to behold.
“No doubt about it. This is definitely Sky World.”
Sky World.
That was once just the name of a game; now it was the name of the world that Jun and others had come to live in.
＊
That’s right. Sky World was once just the proper noun for the name of the world in the free online game that he had played on his tablet.
The genre of online games called MMO (massively multiplayer online) RPGs. In the genre of online games called MMORPGs (massively multiplayer online role playing games), many players connected to the same server and experienced the same world in real-time. Each player played as his or her own game character and took on roles such as magician and warrior. Some players joined together into groups and competed against others in large-scale competitions.
Sky World was one of these MMORPGs. In the fantasy world called Sky World, countless islands floated in the sky. Science and magic coexisted. Adventurers could travel from island to island on airships. However, prior to even gaining publicity for the testing phases of the game, the official game servers were launched…
Its high degree of perfection, deep gameplay mechanics and ease of use atypical for games designed for tablets attracted many players in a very short period of time.
Many schools using W-LD tablets did not allow software that had not been approved for security by a special agency. This software managed to fulfill the approval requirements. The game was constantly praised for its seemingly limitless diversity of players. The PTA (parent teacher association), however, made it out as a hindrance to students’ studies.
That never actually became a problem.
No, that paled in comparison to what actually occurred.
One day, some players woke up and found themselves in a completely different world.
They had woken up in the land of Sky World.
Exactly what had happened to their bodies was still unknown.
People guessed that those tens of thousands of people were sent to this new world.
This world was exactly the same as Sky World, the game.
It was obvious that this world was not just data since it seemed too realistic to be just a fantasy.
The anniversary of the beginning of Sky World came to be known as the Birthday.
It is now three months after the first Birthday.
The players still had not discovered the purpose of this survival game.
TRANSLATOR’S NOTES
[1] – The smallest of the four main islands in the Japanese archipelago. Comparable in size to New Jersey / Israel.
[2] – The largest of the four main islands in the Japanese archipelago. Comparable in size to South Carolina / Ireland.
