Chapter 1 - Insanity Overload

Insanity is a blessing.

If a man walks through a crowd of people wearing a maid's outfit, perhaps people would laugh at him for being insane. But if the man believes that he is the one wearing the correct attire and that the others around him are wrong, the man would also laugh at the people around him. Maybe the man hails from a world where his outfit is normal. In that case, who is insane? The man wearing the maid outfit or the people around him? Majority rules?

Insanity takes many forms. If society fails to understand a person, said person would be labeled as insane and be shunned by people. However, insanity and genius are opposite sides of the same coin.

To break through the norm. To achieve what no one else can. To keep trying when a normal person would give up. To be immersed in your world. Only insane people are capable of such feats. You can go so far as to say that all geniuses are insane. Some of them blend in with normal people, putting on masks to seem 'normal' but others know that they will never be truly accepted by anyone and thus choose to walk on their paths alone.

⤧

"****!!! Come on!!! What are these stupid drops!!!" Bathed in the white artificial light coming from several computer screens was a young man.

He slammed his fist onto the table.

"Ouch!! That hurts!!"

"...Brother… that's why I said you should go to the gym." his sister who was sitting beside him said while lazily swiping through the social media feeds on her phone.

"Gym?!! I'm not going to that den only the normies visit."

"Hm… If you go, you might even land yourself a girlfriend…"

"Ha! Good try! But I don't need a girlfriend. I already have you."

"Ugh… Brother is such a sweet talker. I'm about to vomit."

The young man: Yuu (meaning Gentleness). 19, virgin, unemployed, socially incompetent, video game addict. His little sister: Aika (meaning Love Song). 16, super-intelligent, capable, cute, popular, not really Yuu���s sister. The two of them were in a dark room. The room was— several meters in width and length— pretty spacious but due to multiple large computers, wires that snaked across the floor, empty bottles of energy drinks, and cup noodles, there was barely any space to even stretch.

"Oi little sister!! What day is it today?"

"Um... January 5th. The seventh day since you last slept."

"What?!! I didn't even get to visit the shrines for New Year!"

"...Stop with the BS brother… Not like you have even gone out of this room in two years."

That was true. Yuu had not left the room since that day two years ago. Aika on the other hand was only inside the room because it was summer vacation.

Yuu pretended not to hear anything. Only the clicking sound of the mouse and keyboard answered Aika.

"Wait for a second, Aika!! Isn't January fifth the day Xion Online is getting released?!!" Yuu suddenly shouted.

"You're too loud brother... And yes it's today... To be precise, the servers will open in the 8563 seconds."

"Isn't that just about two hours away?!" Yuu converted the seconds into hours without blinking an eyelid. "Why didn't you tell me earlier?"

"...Dunno...You didn't tell me to."

"So is the stuff I ordered here?"

"Should be in front of the door."

Xion Online was the first DMMORPG.in the world. DMMORPG stands for Dive Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game. Diving was a new technology only invented a few years prior and Xion Online was the first MMO to implement it.

By using a nanocomputer network together with various intracranial sensors, diving allowed players to experience the game world as if they were really living inside.

In other words, it was the perfect game for socially incompetent game addicts like Yuu who were tired of reality.

Yuu had used a ridiculous amount of money to preorder two of the DIVE machines online. They were supposed to be delivered to him early morning on January 5th, the day when Xion Online was going live. And it was 5 PM now. In other words, the machines should have already arrived.

He got up from his seat and stretched.

"Well, I'll just go grab them real quick."

"Just go already… I already checked the security cameras. There's no one around."

"Fine." It was his duty as a big brother to do this kind of manual labor. He started making his way across the room by stepping over empty drink cans and ramen cups. When he got to the door, he couldn't help but check the security camera.

The machines are there! Okay... There really is no one outside.

He opened the door and grabbed one of the boxes. It was heavy. In fact, too heavy for him to lift alone. He slowly dragged it into the room.

After dragging in the second box, he slammed the door shut and heaved a sigh of relief.

"You don't have to be that scared of meeting people, you know?" Aika's voice came from behind him.

"Don't scare me like that! I almost thought it was someone else.."

"Heh… as if anyone else would talk to you."

"Why do you have to be so cruel to your big brother? Anyway, let's set these guys up."

Yuu grabbed a scissor and started opening the cardboards covering the DIVE machines. After tearing through several layers of styrofoam, the devices came into view. They were beautiful white machines big enough for Yuu to lie on.

"Charging cables… present… nutrient fluids… present… Network cables… present… No missing items." The nutrient liquid was vital for people who wanted to play for a long time. The machine would automatically inject it into the player at regular intervals so eating became unnecessary. Needless to say, the device would also warn the player when it ran out of the nutrient liquid.

Yuu had enough liquid to last him one month. He had wanted more but the liquid was out of stock due to the sheer number of people wanting to play Xion Online.

Usually, the human brain would need rest but the DIVE machines also took care of that. Playing nonstop for days was not a problem with these machines. After connecting all the cables and inserting the cartridges of nutrient fluid, he opened the two machines to look inside.

There were luxurious leather beds inside. All Yuu had to do was sleep on this bed and close the lid of the machine to start diving.

"Oi, little sister. How much time left?"

"5553 seconds remaining…"

"What the… Did I spend that much time setting up this machine?"

"Yup! Character creation will open at the 5400-second mark."

"Got it. You ready, Aika?" Yuu asked Aika as she was also going to play the game. She usually did not play games but she had also decided to ride the big wave known as Xion Online after some persistent persuasion by Yuu.

"I'm ready brother… Let's go!"

Yuu helped Aika get into her machine first. After making sure there were no problems, it was his turn.

He climbed into the other machine and pressed the button to start diving. He was nervous and excited at the same time.

Soon, darkness descended on him.

Yuu found himself in a large white space. There were no boundaries. Just endless space.

<Enter your name:_________>

A message box and a keyboard appeared in thin air. He typed in the name he had been using in every other game.

Karna. It was also the name of a warrior in Indian mythology.

After that came the appearance customization. His body from the real world floated in front of him in mid-air.

<Only 10% of your appearance can be changed.>

What the… Do I still have to look like my real self even in a game?!

He didn't know why the game developers would implement such a rule. Wouldn't it create privacy issues? After some consideration, he decided to make himself taller and change the color of his irises to red.

Perfect!!!

Satisfied with the results, he pressed the confirmation button.

<Welcome to Xion Online!>

He suddenly found himself in midair.

"Whoa!!!" He was floating on the clouds. A breathtaking scene stretched out beneath him. Beautiful rivers, fields of wild grasses, thick swatches of a forest, and a red sun setting on the horizon.

So this is Xion Online, huh?

Then a countdown appeared.

100...99...98....

<Choose your starting city.>

There was a huge list of cities available. Yuu chose the one he had already decided on with Aika ahead of time. Altean City.

10...9...8…

....3...2...1...0...

⤧

At that time, no one would have imagined the impact Xion Online would have on the gaming world. With its spectacular landscapes, realistic monsters, a complex class system, and a world that comes alive based on players' decisions, it didn't take long for Xion Online to become a game that everyone talked about.

After an event that would later be called 'The Shift', a legend would also make itself known throughout Xion. The strongest player in Xion… Karna the god slayer.