???

Suzuki's eyes twitched as a pleasant scent drifted into his nose. The young man groaned as he slowly opened his eyes. He was greeted by the familiar crossed sword painting on the ceiling above. 'Wait, didn't I erase one sword this morning?'

'This morning? Wait, why am I in bed? I should be in scho—'

Suzuki's eyes went wide as the memories flooded in. "Fuck!" Suzuki cursed as he jumped off the bed and warily scanned the room. This left him even more perplexed as the room was identical to his. The walls had the exact same dirty red paint. His study table and chair were both in the correct position, and even his treadmill was in the right spot. If there was one change, it was the coffin-like device that lay next to the bed.

Suzuki recognized this device. It was the latest Virtual Drive on the market, named the Full-Body Virtual Drive. It was capable of extending the time users spent in the virtual world by providing the necessary nutrients needed for survival to the human body while its user was in the virtual world.

Upon closer inspection, Suzuki realized the room was larger than the one at his home. That explained why there was space left for the Virtual Drive. This revelation did nothing to help assuage his unease. Why the hell would someone not only kidnap him but also go through the trouble of creating a room near identical to his?

Suzuki had no intention of waiting for whoever was responsible. He walked over to the room's door and realized it was an automatic door. The young man shook his head as the door slowly slid open, and impatiently squeezed through once there was enough room. Suzuki frowned as he found himself in a hallway that stretched to both his left and right with exits at both ends.

"This way I go, this way I die, so I will go this other way," Suzuki chanted while alternatively pointing to his left and right. The chant ended with his hand pointed at the left hallway, so he ran towards the right. He could only pray he did not choose the wrong path.

Suzuki noticed several doors with name tags on them as he ran through the hallway. 'Nera Gray.' 'Yuto Daichi.' 'Akira Riku.' There seemed to be no real order to the names, and he was suddenly struck with a thought. He paused and backtracked to his own door, and sure enough, his name was displayed on a tag next to his door.

"What the...?" Suzuki pondered out loud. However, his current priority was to find a way out of this place, so he resumed his dash for the exit. Suzuki slowly opened the door, so as not to alarm anyone who might be on the other side. When no alarms went off, he peered into the next room and saw it was a small hall with two elevators, a door directly opposite his, and another entry that led to a sort of common room visible through glass walls.

Suzuki walked into the hall and noticed an extra door with 'stairs' marked on it. The emergency exit. This was good. The elevator posed too much risk, so the young man opted to go for the staircase where he would have a greater chancing of spotting or hearing any approaching person.

'And people say video-games don't teach you anything.' Suzuki snorted and cautiously opened the door. No one appeared to be taking the stairs, so he ran down, noting at the back of his mind that the sign by the door said he was on the seventh floor.

Suzuki successfully reached the ground floor unnoticed. Here, he paused to catch his breath and think. The stairs went down one level lower, but if the architect was any good, the ground floor should lead him out.

Suzuki decided to test his luck with the ground floor and opened the door. Once again there was no one in sight. Suzuki thanked his lucky stars and inspected the small hallway. Thankfully, it had the same layout as the hall on the seventh floor except for a transparent door through which sunlight flooded in with promises of freedom.

Suzuki looked around one more time then made a beeline for the door. He paused at the door and put his adrenaline in check. When he no longer felt the desire to burst through the door like a crazy action movie star, he walked out of the building.

Surprise flitted through Suzuki's eyes as he inspected his surroundings. He was not sure what he had expected. Perhaps an or desert or somewhere equally deserted.

Suzuki's expectations could not be further from the reality. It was too normal. He felt like he was in a small, residential area. A high-class apartment building similar to the one he just exited him stood opposite him, separated by a tarred road that ran around a small park. A vast range of buildings were littered around the compound like the architect had added them in as an afterthought. From his position, Suzuki could not make out any fences or walls, so it was impossible to tell which direction he should run toward to get out of this place.

"Damn," Suzuki cursed and paced back and forth. He was in the middle of deciding which way to go when the sound of approaching sirens caught his attention.

A small black car skidded around the corner to his right at a speed that should have been impossible. Suzuki did not care what its purpose was. He turned around and sprinted in the opposite direction. He snuck a look over his shoulder to see if the car pursued.

'Shit!' The car was indeed pursuing him. Its speed shot up like a predator on a chase and bore down on him. Suzuki rounded a corner and was met with a crossroad. He was prepared to go right, but the sound of a car engine coming from that side changed his path.

Suzuki made to run on the left track, but he changed his mind and went off-road when another car drifted onto that track. and came across an overhead bridge that ran over a railway line.

Suzuki stared at the railway line in disbelief. 'Just how large is this place?'

The cars could not fit within the narrow spaces between the buildings, so the drivers got out and continued the chase on foot. Suzuki looked over his shoulder and examined the drivers. Black suits, black pants, black shades. The international uniform of underhanded bodyguards everywhere. He recalled that those who kidnapped him at the school wore similar suits and he suddenly felt a burning rage.

Suzuki considered stealing their cars, but he could not drive, and with recent technology, stealing cars was not as easy as it once was. Just as he was about to get to the end of the bridge, two men ran up the stairs along the side and blocked the exit. Suzuki decisively turned back, but those in the black cars had caught up.

Suzuki was, without a doubt, trapped.

"Mato Suzuki-kun," one of the men in front of him called. "There is nowhere to run. Why don't you stop and calm down so we can talk about this?"

Suzuki glared at him in response. "Fuck you," Suzuki growled and charged at the man, clearly intending to break through with brute force.

"Damn kid!" the suit cursed as he drew his stun gun and fired at Suzuki.

Suzuki saw him draw the gun and panicked when he squeezed the trigger. However, at that instant, the world suddenly slowed down, close to halting. He could see the dart needles coming straight at him in slow motion. Suzuki was familiar with this feeling. Even though he could not control it at will, sometimes when he was in a high-tension situation, the speed at which he processed information from the world skyrocketed.

Suzuki was not sure if it was a side effect of gaming in the virtual world for so long. Either way, it was a phenomenon that came in handy when it counted. The only downside to the phenomenon was that his body was too slow to respond to some attacks. Luckily, this was a situation where his body's speed was enough for the job.

Suzuki shifted to the side and ran clear of the projectile. His perception of time suddenly returned to normal, and he careened into the suit and his partner.

"Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow!" Suzuki muttered in pain as he massaged his forehead.

"Stop!"

Suzuki registered a shout from behind him. He turned around and realized he had made it past the suits. Suzuki instantly recovered and stole down the stairs on the side of the bridge. He hit the ground running, but no matter how far he ran, waves of suits seemed to pop out of the woodwork like cockroaches.

Suzuki noticed that for every path blocked, there was one open, and realized he was being herded like a sheep. Suzuki got pissed off! These asses knew he had no choice but to go in the predetermined direction. The young man gritted his teeth and decided to play their game. Suzuki rounded a corner and heard sounds coming from what looked like an auditorium.

"So that's where you want me to go?" Suzuki muttered as the sounds of running feet closed in around him.

"How about this!" Suzuki shouted as he burst through the auditorium door with a flying kick. Suzuki's eyes quickly scanned the interior, and he was shocked to see thousands of faces in descending chairs turn to face him at the same time. Even worse, he realized the auditorium doors led directly to a flight of stairs which connected to the rows of chairs.

Suzuki's left foot landed awkwardly on the edge of a stair, causing him to slip. "Ah... fuck," Suzuki cursed as he tumbled down the stairs. He only came to a painful stop after rolling down at least five landings.

Suzuki held back a groan as he stumbled to his feet. His pride would not permit him to admit pain in public. But his bravado did not stop the sharp pain that stung his right arm. It hung limply by his side, which meant it was either broken or dislocated. Suzuki cradled his right arm with his left as he got to his feet.

Curiously, the people chasing him seem to have given up immediately when he entered the auditorium, but Suzuki had no illusions. He knew that they would resume the chase if he attempted to run away.

Suzuki once again inspected the auditorium, this time with much more care. He ignored the people who looked at him like he was some rare specimen. The fact that they were surprised to see him meant they were not the ones in charge.

A cough brought Suzuki's attention to the stage where an elegant, pristine Japanese man stood with a mic clipped to his tailor-made brown Italian suit, with gator lines sharper than Excalibur's edge. The man's jet-black hair was neatly parted at the side, and he sported a well-trimmed mustache.

Suzuki found the man creepy as hell.

"Welcome, Suzuki Mato-kun," the man greeted with a polite bow.

"Who are you?! Where am I?!" questioned Suzuki with a frown. His right arm throbbed with pain, but he stubbornly refused to let it show on his face.

"Forgive my rudeness. I am Akari Seki," he introduced. "I am glad to see you awake."

"Where am I?" Suzuki asked. The edge in his voice had gone, drowned out by the pain he struggled to keep in check.

"I was in the middle of explaining that," Akari said as he motioned to an empty seat. "If you would be so kind as to take a seat. Ah," Akari caught the pained expression on Suzuki's face and advised, "why don't you go to the clinic first? I do not think it is wise to keep on with that wound."

"I'll be fine," Suzuki stubbornly refused and sat down in the closest empty seat. "Go on."

Akari seemed to ponder the issue for a moment, but then shrugged it off. His rapid change and complete disinterest in Suzuki after the fact further reduced Suzuki's trust in him.

"Ladies and gentlemen," he began with a bow, "I apologize for the interruption. Now that we are all here, I'll answer the question that's on most of your minds. Where are you and what are you really doing here?"

A chorus of murmurs rose in the crowd, and Suzuki frowned. No one in the audience seemed confused as to why they were there. It seemed most of the people were brought here of their own free will.

"You should get that looked at," the girl sitting next to him said. Her dark makeup and pale skin gave her a ghastly, almost ethereal look. Her jet-black hair was cut low, with long bangs that shielded her left eye from the world. A single light brown eye gazed at him with mild concern.

"I'll be fine," Suzuki rudely refused and turned back to face Akari.

"Suit yourself," she said with a shrug.

"Some of you may know of the condition called 'Parallel,'" Akari said, his word's effectively silencing the crowd. "For those who do not know, this phenomenon occurs when someone can no longer differentiate between the real world and the virtual world, resulting in a collapse of the psyche."

Murmurs rippled through the audience at his words. There were very few people in the world who were not aware of Parallel, but to most who knew about it, it was more like an urban myth; like Area 51 or aliens.

"To prevent widespread panic, the governments of your several countries decided to keep the few cases reported secret from the public." Akari paused to let the information sink in. "The virtual engines are an integral part of daily life, and this information can threaten the very fabric of the industry that has finally brought peace worldwide. This is where you come in."

Suzuki, who till then had not heard anything he did not already know, perked up at the last line.

"Among the millions that use the virtual engines, you are the ones with the greatest NS. For the non-bioengineers, NS stands for Neuro-sync, which is a measure of how well you integrate into the virtual world. We noticed that those with very high NS have a higher chance of contracting Parallel."

"Who's 'we'?" Suzuki shouted through gritted teeth. Sweat dripped down his face, betraying his false bravado. He tightened his grip on his arm as it throbbed in pained protest.

"Forgive my rudeness. 'We' are Genaco Research."

"Genaco!" the auditorium shouted in surprise.

Their surprise was justified. Genaco was one of the world's largest enterprises. They had their hands in everything from entertainment to charity organizations. It was shocking to think such a large company would be kidnapping people.

Then again...

Suzuki, meanwhile, was utterly pissed off and his face turned red as he struggled to contain his rage. As soon as he heard that name, the mystery of what he was doing here was solved. There was only one bastard in this world who would do something as shameless as having him kidnapped without a care in the world.

"Wait till I see you, you bastard." Suzuki could picture a certain blond man laughing in his ridiculous office.

"Rest assured, you are all in safe hands, and will be well compensated for your trouble. As to how exactly you will be helping..." Akari said, motioning to the wall behind him where an image was projected.

The screen displayed the Full-Body Virtual Drive Suzuki had seen earlier in his room.

"Everyone here displayed excellent sync rates while playing King's Journey. This is why you were contacted. But some of you have also revealed early symptoms of Parallel," Akari calmly stated. Something about the way he said it prevented the people listening from panicking. He regarded them with a confident and reassuring smile as he continued. "You will participate in the new game released later this evening titled Live No Evil."

"A game huh? Why the secrecy then?" the dark girl next to Suzuki muttered. She was not the only one confused by Akari's words. The auditorium was once again filled with murmurs as people tried to make sense of his words.

"Their real purpose is not the game," Suzuki said barely above a whisper. His breath had become ragged, and he spoke between wheezes.

"He talks," she said, amused. Her nonchalance about his pain almost made him laugh. He deserved it.

"I—" Suzuki started, but Akari's voice interrupted him.

"This is a game created by our talented entertainment sector. Early tests show it will push the limits of reality in the virtual world past its current limits. For the sake of the millions that will log on to this game and the billions that will use Virtual Drives in the future, we have been forced to resort to this. I humbly apologize," Akari said, getting on his knees and bowing before the entire hall.

"He's a good actor," Suzuki said. "I can see why he was chosen to speak to us."

"How's that?" the dark-haired girl asked.

"His speech, ending with that bow, was perfect," Suzuki observed. "It will cause the masses to feel scared, then safe. Give them a purpose for their abduction, and a sense of justice towards helping others. And if there are reservations, he peels away the last layers with a 'dogeza,' giving the audience a false sense of power."

"...Or he could be genuinely sorry," the girl playfully countered, intrigued by his cynicism.

"The world isn't that kind... er?" Suzuki mumbled, realizing he did not know her name yet.

"Jade Yūhi," she introduced herself. "A—"

"Now that you have been informed of the reason you are here, I will refer you to the next step," Akari said, as a woman walked into the hall from a door at the side of the stage. "This is Asagi Yukino-san," he introduced. "She will handle any questions you may have and will be your ward during your stay here."

Yukino was a blond young lady who looked like she was just barely out of her teens. She was seductively dressed in a stylish low-cut blouse that showed off her ample bosom and a pair of skinny jeans that emphasized her stunning figure. Warm, inviting, hazel-brown eyes peeked at the audience from behind a pair of prescription glasses.

Drool trickled down the mouths of several horny men and women in the hall.

Suzuki was not impressed. This woman reminded him of a spider Razznik once fought. Those blasted things would lure you in with a beautiful figure, then suck everything out of their prey.

"Hi!" Yukino excitedly shouted as she waved to the crowd. Her sweet, light voice and bright smile summoned cupids into the hall to smite down several onlookers.

"Asagi-san," Akari called wearily.

"Yuki-chan!" Yukino scolded with a cute pout. "Seki-tan, I told you to stop calling me by my surname."

"Sure, sure," Akari conceded.

Suzuki had to admit it was fun to see the man taken down a notch or two.

"Asagi-s... Yuki-chan here is one of the brightest minds on this campus. Direct any questions you have towards her, and she will take care of them," Akari said, then left the stage to Yukino.

"Hello!" Yukino once again greeted enthusiastically.

"Hi!" the love-struck mass responded in kind, infected by her positive energy.

"Before we get started," Yukino said as she clapped her hands. "Look under your chairs and pull out your new smartphones."

Suzuki did as she said and was forced to suppress a wince as a sharp pain sprung up his arm. The smartphone was a slab of glass just a bit smaller than his palm. He tapped the glass, and a display screen appeared, asking for his thumbprint. Suzuki placed his thumb on the screen, and it scanned his fingerprint. The screen soon changed to his high school photo with some tabs and hyperlinks carefully organized on the home page.

"These are your tickets around the campus," Yukino explained. "They will open any doors and give you info on anything as long as it is not above your level. Which brings us to our next topic." The screen behind her displayed a numbered pyramid with 10 at the bottom and 1 at the top. "Everyone starts at rank 10. Your rank will increase depending on how much time you spend in the game. At rank one, you will be paid just as much as our highest-ranking employees, and you will be privy to any information you wish."

"Oooh," the crowd whistled. Money forever remained an excellent motivational tool for humans.

"Now if you'll follow me, I'd like to take you around the campus," Yukino invited with a seductive smile and scampered outside.

Shouts of "Wait for me," "She's mine," "I saw her first," and several other redundant screams could be heard as more than half the audience chased after her like bees to honey.

"Let me see that," Jade said to Suzuki, who had gotten up to follow. His mask of bravado had fallen off, replaced by a twist of pain and defiance.

"I'm fine," Suzuki lied and made to walk towards the door. Angered by his attitude, Jade lightly punched his shoulder to prove a point. It worked too well. Suzuki shuddered and involuntarily cried out in pain as he clutched his shoulder and dropped to a knee.

"Step back," a voice called, and a surprised Jade quickly retreated.

Suzuki looked up to see Yukino standing over him. Her 'cute' look was gone, replaced by a piercing gaze that seemed to bore through him. Suzuki was stunned by how fast Yukino had run up to their seat. They had not even seen her approaching.

Yukino grabbed Suzuki's arm and when he tried to push her off, threatened him with a look that ceased all thoughts of protests. She examined his arm, massaging it places to see where it hurt the most.

"You're lucky," Yukino said. "It's a simple dislocation. If you left it any longer, the swelling would have made it much worse." She pondered something for a bit, as she examined the arm further. She nodded as she came to a decision.

"Mmm!" Suzuki tried to scream out in protest, but his words were muffled.

"This is going to hurt a lot. Feel free to scream as much as you want," Yukino warned and grabbed Suzuki's right shoulder. She used the flat of her right hand to cushion the back of his shoulder, then popped the arm back in place with her left.

"Mmmm!" Suzuki's curse drowned in the void.

"You'll be fine," Yukino said as she released Suzuki, mildly impressed by his strength.

"T-thank you," Suzuki gratefully thanked her.

"No need to thank me," Yukino said with a childish grin. "It's my job."

"Ah... Um?"

"Yes?"

"Can you move?" Suzuki asked. "You're too close."

"!!!"

With a laugh, Yukino released Suzuki and motioned for the crowd (who were giving Suzuki death glares, some even wishing he broke something) to follow.

???

Restricted Sector.

In a rank 1 restricted facility somewhere on the campus, a scraggly, skinny scientist with gray hair looked to the door as Akari walked in.

"What did you think of the subjects?" asked Akari. "You think any of them can handle the project?"

"Two hundred and thirty-four attempts. Two-hundred and thirty-two failures. One of the successes now has a severe case of Parallel, while the other is...dysfunctional," the scientist replied. "To be honest, I don't see how anyone could complete this project."

"To think our hopes would rest on gamers," Akari sighed.

"Their synch-rates improve because of the complexity of online gaming. If anyone could complete this project, it would be them."

"Well, we only need a handful to succeed."

"... And the rest?"

"Expendable," Akari said flatly.