Mission: Save Lennie

Three...two...one...

Ciel sprinted forwards. The world slowed around her, as she appeared in front of her opponent. Grabbing his neck, she threw him to the ground, throwing her legs over and flipping so she stayed standing. The match hadn't taken more than a second before the two were teleported out of the stadium.

It was a complete and utter defeat.

Ciel had realized something when she got into the Virtual World's Technoid, and that was that it didn't feel completely the same as a Technoid in the real world. While her opponent had to take some time before being able to move, she could immediately adjust as she'd used one in reality.

Leonard watched as she appeared in front of him.

"Good," he said, tapping away on his screen, "it makes sense you'd win as your technique is already Level 2. All you need to do now is cross the grades."

"Did you complete all the history practice tests?"

"Yep," Ciel said. She hadn't been slacking all those days on the spaceship.

"Well, then it looks like we can get straight to our next location."

They teleported out of the Virtual Arena.

"Welcome to Training Through the Arts."

Little did Ciel know, this place would become her own personal Hell for the next six months.

As soon as she walked through the door, the world went grim.

Her throat burned. Ciel clutched at it, but the feeling of sandpaper itched at her like bugs. She felt like she was dying.

"Lieutenant, dodge!" someone yelled from behind her, but she didn't pay attention. The burning sensation spread from her throat to her whole being like she was being stripped apart from the inside. She felt a hand press on her shoulder and bent her legs.

"Ciel, focus," a familiar voice said to her, "Right now you're Lieutenant Johan and you're dying of dehydration. Now if you don't pay attention, you're going to die."

Ciel's eyes went teary as she stared at Leonard through the pain. But it wasn't Leonard. The man before her had brown hair and a human head. He wore a dark blue uniform with a badge over it as he squatted next to her in the safety of the trench.

The man noticed her confusion.

"We're playing as characters in the Great War, that's why I look different. I'm still Leonard."

Ciel nodded.

It wasn't the first time she'd faced dehydration, but the last time was a long long time ago. And even so, it was damn near impossible to get used to the feeling of dying from lack of water. Her eyes stung but no tears fell.

Ciel felt for the gun by her waist as she picked it up, lifting her head slightly above the trench to aim. A pang went through her forehead as she fell backward from the force. A bullet had gone through her head. This time the tears really did fall.

Ciel let out a raspy scream from the pain.

Everything went black.

"Player Ciel has respawned. Two lives left."

The sandpaper feeling in Ciel's neck returned and she immediately ducked back down into the trench. Her throat felt slightly better than before, but the pain still encapsulated her.

"Is this a videogame?" she asked Leonard, who was shooting next to her. He ducked back into the trenches.

"I'll explain later. All you need to know is you have three lives -- now two -- and that I don't want to lose without at least lasting thirty minutes."

Ciel faintly felt like shooting her comrade.

Looking at the soldiers around her, she realized they had a schedule. Every five to fifteen seconds they'd all rise and shoot, signaled by the yelling of a man in the back. He was their scout, so they didn't die like Ciel had. There was a slight glare from the sun in the air around the man. It didn't take much effort to realize there was a force field around him, allowing safe access looking over the trench. From behind the force field was safety, but it came at a cost.

If it was hit by anything too strong, the forcefield would break. And you couldn't shoot from the inside.

Ciel watched a bomb fall into the trench. But it wasn't aimed for the soldiers. As soon as it came in contact with the force field, it exploded. The forcefield shattered as the scout was thrown back. A man in the trenches crawled over to check his pulse.

"Dead," he announced.

Another man stood up to take his place.

"Lennie you can't," a man yelled, "you're our best scout, you can't die here."

The man in the newly created force field -- Lennie, supposedly -- smiled back at him.

"If I can't take this risk, what use am I to my country?" he said. "What use am I as a scout?"

Ciel watched the two's interaction as the other man settled down. He hadn't stood up from the trenches.

"Now," Lennie yelled, "stay up for five seconds and then drop."

Ciel pulled the trigger of her firearm as she rose from the trenches, aiming for anyone who came close. She soon realized why the man had tried to stop Lennie. The man was simply a genius.

Compared to the earlier scout, where men would occasionally get shot as he'd fall for bluffs, Lennie could tell when they could catch the other side off guard. As they sat there, Ciel watched a bomb roll towards where Lennie stood.

Staying under the trenches, she crawled to where the bomb rolled; she had to stop it before it hit the forcefield. If they lost this scout, how many times would they continue to die?

Grabbing the bomb, she tried to throw it out of the trenches.

Her arm ripped apart from the blast; all Ciel could see was the burning men around her. Looking at herself as the force pulled apart the rest of her body, Ciel realized she'd been too late.

Instead of focusing on the pain running through her, she distracted herself by noting to find the bomb rolling toward Lennie faster the next time she played.

She respawned lying on the ground of the trench.

Her comrades shot her dirty looks as they found their friends dead beside them. They didn't question why she was alive, which could be summed up by the game's logic. Others had rushed over to take over their place and retighten the line. She shot a glance to Lennie and found him alive and well. Letting out a breath of relief, she crawled her way over to Leonard.

Unfortunately, she didn't make it far. A gun appeared between her eyes.

"This one's for my brothers."

He shot, and she died once more.

"Player Ciel has run out of lives," the letters said.

This time Ciel didn't respawn on the battlefield. She found herself in a green room sitting on a couch. Leonard sat next to her reading a newspaper.

"Welcome back to life," he said, "this is the waiting room."

As promised, Leonard told her about the game "Training Through the Arts."

"There are fifteen thousand facts you need to memorize to pass the history exam with full marks," Leonard said. "Now, some of those facts you'll find in the books I loaned to you. However, the majority are about something called the Great War.

This game is centered around that Great War, and the thing is, it's one hundred percent historically accurate.

Training Through the Arts is usually only a game offered to college students, but because of your lack of information, I suppose the Virtual World gave you access to it.

It's hard to find all fifteen thousand historical facts listed anywhere else because you were supposed to learn them in elementary over time, so you're going to have to learn them through this game. Thankfully, it's been scientifically proven that this is the best possible method for learning the history of the Great War due to how immersive it is. Plus, by playing it you should also be able to refine your fighting style into a more modern approach."

"So is that guy Lennie important?"

"In the year 200, Lennie was the scout who brought the Galactic Federation to win the battle of Rutberg. The name of his life's savior is Lieutenant Johan," Leonard said. "You'll have to find out the rest by playing through the game. You only get all fifteen thousand facts if you play through Hell mode though."

"And which mode was I playing?"

"Easy. You have six months though, so I believe you'll be able to beat Hell mode," Leonard smiled. "Of course, if you can't I won't be able to say with total confidence that you'll be able to become a Void and a mechanic, so I do hope you'll try your best."

Ciel thought for a moment. Six months dwindled down to three since she only had every other day.

"I can do it."

"Good," he said, "Because you're going to have to."

Ciel looked around, she only had one more question.

"Why are the walls green?"

"This is the mental health room. Many players find the game traumatizing. They added a room with calming effects in order to check on the players' mental health after they lose all their lives. The walls are green because according to them, green is a calming color."

Ciel couldn't help but agree.