[Nu……uh…..]

With cold cheeks and the feeling of grass in the hand, I slowly opened my eyes on a map different from the sky garden.

[Where is this? A hidden map?]

Usually you need to land on an island at the sky garden, if you fall outside of the map it should be an instant death and I should be transferred home. However I was asleep on grassland where a gentle breeze was felt.

[I’ve never heard about getting sent to a place like this…..Wind?]

I watched my surroundings. Even in the sky, there were no islands like in the sky garden. The clouds were moving like the grass. However, that is strange. There shouldn’t be any elements like wind in VMB. Also, when I was lying idle on the ground a short while ago, my cheek was cold. I could feel the temperature.

[This isn’t VMB? No, that’s impossible.]

I checked my body in confusion in the uneasiness that this isn’t a game. I had the MP5A4 which i used a while ago, three magazines on the belt, the sub weapon on my waist, grenades, a knife, on my gauntlet of my left hand i had the tactical support system (short TSS) with a variety of functions. When deploying a screen monitor, the menu is displayed as always.

However, when I try to open news or mails from the management an ERROR is being displayed. The map function of the head goggles only indicates my position. Also the CP i saved until now….. The SHOP function where i can purchase weapons, ammunitions and equipment seems to work. I can also choose the support weapon summon function, too.

[I don’t understand the reason why i can’t contact anybody. Maybe it’s because it’s a hidden stage? For the time being, as it’s a secret stage, maybe i can do something. I should try to advance.]

The VMB PVE mode and the stage rewards such as the CP and firearms which weren’t acquirable in the SHOP. I was interested in them and got addicted in collecting them in that mode.

[Even if I say that, which direction should i go?]

While looking around at landmarks, I could not see a suggested goal for the map. I only knew the map directions reflected on my head goggles. Even if I look around, there is a forest in the north, mountains to the east and in the west and south only grassland.
[Well, seems like there is nothing to the west or south. Considering the map configuration of VMB there is no warfare in the mountains. I guess i should go north.]

Without information of the stage, I don’t know where an enemy may appear from. Though enemies are displayed on the map as a red point, the information of an enemy can’t be seen without exploring the map.

I set the MP5A4 on my waist to the 3-Shot-Burst mode. With the powered suit, which increased my leg strength, I started to jog towards the north.

While approaching the forest, no enemy appeared till now. However, i saw something unexpected with my eyes.

[An insect?! Huh?]

Though I did not notice while running through the grassy plain, when entering the tall woods, they seemed to be alive.

In the world of VMB no insects existed. In naturals maps, such as forests and grasslands only the player or enemies existed. There were no NPCs like harmless MOB characters.

[It’s not VMB after all….? Then why am i here in this outfit or better said where is this place?]

There is nobody here who can answer my questions. My voice disappeared in the woods with the calming wind. I unintentionally grasp the grip of my MP5A4 to realize the rigid iron mass which weights only about 3 kg, but it feels heavier than that. Also the weight of my head goggles which i have never felt so far. I touch the switch on the ear pads of my orange head goggles, which feels real.

The color of nature in my eyes, by all odds, was reality. When judging with naked eyes, and not with the goggles, i understood immediately that this isn’t the game world of VMB. ……..The TSS does not react at all when i try to log out.

Without looking around too much, I still saw a figure approaching me which was walking unsteady.

[An Enemy?!]

Perhaps because you have the same appearance as in the game and because I believe the one moving towards me is an enemy, I hide behind a tree immediately. I use my goggles again and touch the ear pads, while my hand trembled a little.

I look at the direction where it comes from. I try looking in front while leaning on the tree.

[A person? Is it a player?]

I saw 3 humanoids shapes about 200m away. But something is wrong, why don’t they have hair? Clothes….. a loincloth? I can’t see very well over the orange goggles. I raise the transparency of the goggles and adjust them to limit where i can still see the HUDs like the map. I move from tree to tree with a low posture. I repeatedly move while hiding and follow the 3 humanoids.

[Hey, isn’t that….. a goblin?]

When i first watched them from 100m away i understood that they don’t have human colored skin. They were green…… They did not have any hair, had enormous ears and were about 120cm tall. All 3 had a club-like stick in the hand.

By all odds that is not a human being. There never were such enemies in VMB and i never heard of them. I can only associate them with the name [Goblin].

[Where on earth have i come to and how can i return?.]

A reality different from the reality i know is obviously shown. I was completely confused. I thought about this reality while chasing the goblins while hiding.

[Isn’t this earth? Isn’t this that… Did i get teleported to another planet? Or is it more like time travel? No, no, no, goblins did not exist on earth before. Then, where am I? Where is this place? Different from the reality and the virtual world. A different world…. another world?]

I liked games, anime and novels. Frankly i enjoyed them without a big difference, but my favorite were FPS games.

[Transported to a different world, it couldn’t be…. I was playing a VRMMO, weren’t I?]

The fantasy like theme of being transferred into a different word became a trend in recent light novels. I also read some of these. The VRMMO genre was also used for these.

I’m not playing a virtual reality shooter like VMB. I wonder if this is a virtual reality RPG. A western fantasy RPG world. The story of a hero transferred into a different world.
[Wasn’t I playing an FPS? Transferred to a world of sword and magic with a gun…. No, I don’t know if magic exists here….No, it’s better to think there is, others may have some projectile weapons. I should think how to deal with it…..]

I continued chasing the goblins for about 30 minutes while muttering things like that. I heard sound of water flowing from the depths of the forest. No, I heard it falling. It saw a waterfall between the gap of the trees. There isn’t much water, but there is a waterfall on a 10m high cliff. In front of the goblins 3…..3 small animals were walking? They entered a hole that was in the waterfall.

[I wonder what I am doing.]

I pulled myself together while looking at them disappearing into the hole. Apparently, the three animals returned to their nest.

Where is the place I can return to…….I was not able to move. I did not know what I should do. Return to my old world? How and where can I return, or should I live in this world? What should I do and where should I live?

At that place I could only stare at the nest.

[End of Chapter 1]