Scout

Last Embers ~Reboot~

How's progress, fellas? :3 Also, Fox, I love the Charmander icon. XD

Until the End (Scout and Vena Sera)

Komada wiped her eyes, trying to be strong, but... she didn't even care about games. However, he seemed to know well enough what he was doing and she followed after him, surprised when he took her hand. "O-okay..." As they left the plaza, she heard two boys arguing about not being a girl or something along those lines. She was a bit perplexed, but despite everything, it did make her giggle a little bit. Honestly, it served them right for lying to each other like that, she thought. Then again, she wasn't a roleplayer, so she didn't quite understand the idea of taking on the personality or appearance of somebody else as being appealing. She didn't feel reassured by his attempt at consolation, but she ran along behind him, being half-dragged by the hand. It was all so shocking that the realization of it likely wouldn't set in until everything calmed down, as Ren was even cracking a joke. She blushed and huffed.

"I thought they looked nice!" She exclaimed in offense, a hurt expression plaguing her face as they ran. There was still a constant stressful pressure in the back of her head - especially if her parents removed her NerveGear... It would kill her without her even having done anything to deserve. Then again, she expressly went against them, knowing they would not be happy she was playing games when she could be studying. Perhaps that puts her at fault all the same, she thought, hoping that she would be given a chance to atone for it. "I miss my tail..." She mumbled wistfully, "I worked so hard getting the hang of using it too."

Komada had always had quite the imagination, though she was never one to care for abandoning her life in favour of another, and learning to control something that hadn't previously been a part of her body was rather neat. But just as easily as she'd gotten it, it was gone, and much to her dismay she was now without tail. How long had they been moving for? Were they leaving the Town of Beginnings? "Onii-chan, isn't it dangerous out there now? Shouldn't we just... stay here?" She wondered aloud, positive that he knew best, but still wanting to know why. She was in light leather armour with a basic, brown duster over top, flapping behind her as they moved. "What do we do next, anyway..? Ren... I'm scared... I don't know anything about this game and I've never even touched a sword, how am I supposed to survive?" Her questions, as usual, came in a torrent of discombobulated words, clearly leaving her mouth the moment they came to her head in absolute worry.

The Flower, Russian and Hunter [ Cont. Em + Scout ]

Nero's gaze snapped to the side as Alice was swept away and he watched Jacob take after her. He burst from the floor toward the beast to get its attention after her, his sword flashed a menacingly sharp yellow as he brought the blade upward from his hip, launching him into the air, the sword skill taking control of his movements as he spun with the attack, adding a horizontal slash in the same direction. His blade flicked and was torn the other way quickly after, before he started to fall in a downward slash, dealing significant damage. It was a four-hit skill that he'd recently unlocked particularly for use on opponents that were about twice the size of the user or more. So, while the ability to use it was limited, the punch it packed was quite formidable, especially so early on. Nero may not have had Rose's ability or level or... whatever it was that made her so godlike, but he did have a surprisingly high one-handed curved sword skill from his continuous hunting, and thus he had quite a few Sword Skills up his sleeve. The beast let out a roar and turned to Nero, swinging his club as the boy landed. However, another figure joined his side, clad in heavy armour and with a large shield. The club connected with the block and Nero smirked at the absolutely perfect timing of Marius' arrival. The weapon was thrown back as Marius had to retreat in order to recover, having been the only shield-user blocking, but Nero took to the fight as the remaining fighting force mobilized once more.

However, something off-sides seemed to have caught the attention of a few of the players, and Nero turned to see Jet facing off with Rose. He wanted to stop his friend, but... Well, if nobody stood against her, then they would lose this boss, and they couldn't. He seemed somehow confident of his ability to stall the woman, and so Nero turned back to the boss and continued the fight. That last health bar was hellish, to put it lightly, but they finally took it down; they had actually accomplished it... All of them were officially a quarter of the way through Aincrad. It didn't matter how many bosses Rose had taken down - all that it showed was that she couldn't possibly stop them from progressing selfishly. At the very last strike, Nero had charged the front with Marius, who blocked another attack and allowed for a final switch. The material hunter opted for a basic skill called Vertical Square - four hits, enough for the boss to stumble back, freeze, and shatter into countless shining fragments. Nero slashed an infinity sign into the air and sheathed his dao as a menu popped up. The bonus item made him grin - the things he could do with it...

Several players looked at him as he scrolled through the spoils on his end, they were all quite nice, as he'd contributed heftily to the battle. But the bonus item was undeniably "The Viper's Cloak." The most distinguishable feature was the fact that the name had a The at the start, making it a unique drop. Nero smiled at the simple Col he'd received, but decided to read the effect on the cloak. The speed boost wasn't a solid number - it was affected by a player's level as well as their Dexterity attribute; the higher the attribute, the more it would add. It had an exponential effect... It was preposterous how overpowered such an item could be. He wanted desperately to keep it, but then he heard Alice cry out for Jet, almost tackling him as Nero snapped from his reverie. He saw Jet on his knees with a little paralysis indicator by his health bar. The man with the mask had stabbed him; but that means... Nero glanced to the stairs as the pair were nearing the top and he shook his head. At least they hadn't killed the other boy - if only he'd been able to see how Jet was able to fight her off for so long, he silently lamented. He materialized a white, slightly tattered cloak/muffler combination and approached his friend.

"Excuse me, Alice," He spoke flatly, using his menu to materialize first a crystal, holding it out, "Cure user: Jet." The object shattered and the tiny fragments all moved to Jet, who would quickly find himself without paralysis as Nero then handed him a potion and smiled to him. "I don't know how you did it, Jet, but... If not for you, we wouldn't even have earned this... It's called The Viper's Cloak, and you deserve more than any of us," He stated, handing it over before slowly explaining the cloak's attribute. Of course the boss on the 25th floor would drop something so incredible, but it was still hard for the boy to hand it over. "Great work," He finally stated, placing a hand on his shoulder before looking to Alice. "Alice, I think opening the next floor should be your honour - after all, you kind of lead us all here, right?" Despite the fact that Rose and The Masked Man had stolen the moment of being the first on the next floor, Alice could still take the responsibility for having allowed it to happen and be the first person to earn it.

Despite the grievous losses they all experienced in the fight, the celebration on the twenty-sixth floor that same night would be a blow-out. Even for those that they lost, it was a victory, for they'd shown that they could beat Rose and even, thanks to Jet, fight back against her. A group of some of the players who had taken up the rarely chosen skill of a Musical Instrument had gotten together in the middle of the first city's plaza, playing loud music for everybody to enjoy. Nero kept his armour on today, however, with his weapon at his side as tribute to those they lost. Yuna, however, showed up in the same dress she'd worn to the last party, having taken quite a liking to it as she proudly pranced about on his arm. She was not outspoken or arrogant by any means, but that didn't mean she couldn't be proud, and absolutely relieved, when Nero had messaged her that they had made it. It showed on her face how excited she was as they took part, however, at some point, somebody bumped into Nero, eliciting a slight growl and a few obscenities from him. The two had been separated for but a moment, and he moved to recover the girl, but... where'd she gone? The crowd had suddenly thickened around him as he pushed between players and looked for her, calling out her name.

After a few moments without hearing her call back, he turned to his Tracking skill. Her footprints were everywhere, as if she'd been getting bumped by the crowd and forced to stumble through them without any kind of harassment alert. He tried to follow it, but he kept confusing the direction was going for where she was coming from and his movements became more aggressive as he shoved people out of his way to no avail. He looked around frantically for anybody before finally seeing a familiar head of golden hair and he sprinted toward her, having to slam his boots into the ground a few feet early to skid to a halt, "Alice!" He started quickly, interrupting whatever she had been talking about as he continued craning his neck and looking around, "I lost Yuna in the crowd... And normally we'd be fine, but... I can't even track her, her prints are all over the ground and they twist and turn and I'm almost certain the guy that bumped into me and separated us did it deliberately," He tried his best to get the message out with speed, but had to sacrifice some of it to avoid stumbling over his words too much. Nero never became frantic... Over anything. There were moments he had frozen in shock, though rare, but he was never out of sorts like this.

Far From Home

When they got back to town, the group said their goodbyes to take care of their own business. Yari and Fitch walked in separate directions, but they came back around and met once more in the plaza. They didn't want the others to think they were being abandoned for any reason, but sometimes it was nice to just step back from everything. The two of them found a basic NPC shop and browsed the weapons before deciding to keep what they had for a while longer. Rather than spend their money responsibly on equipment, they decided to pull a Suto and find an adequate restaurant in Caldwell, sharing one side of a booth rather than sitting across from one another. Before getting trapped in Aincrad, the two had rarely been able to feel like a couple, despite having been together for a while and if there was one thing about this floating Hell that Fitch would regret losing, it was all of the time that he and Yari could spend without her parents breathing down their necks. Fitch paid the tab off and continued their stroll, still amazed that they never seemed to run out of things to talk about. If not for her, he'd likely still be out in that jungle, tearing down pixel after pixel of data, fully addicted to the rush of battle and becoming the best.

Both of them had taken up a room in an inn that none of the others were using, as each of them had their own preferences, and thus they could spend less to share one with two beds. It was cost-efficient and the two would turn in that night with an overwhelming sense of exhaustion. The next day, their alarms would ring and wake them up and the team would go at it again, sometimes in threes and sometimes in pairs, but they managed to keep their levels fairly even. For several more floors they continued to do anything they could to remain in a comfortable leveling zone, and without realizing it, they were amongst the top players. On the eleventh, they were invited to the major raid party that was pushing against the boss.

---

Aincrad, Floor Eleven, approx. 4 months into the game

Forty-nine players all stood in a crowd at the doorway to the boss of the eleventh floor, all of them either giddy or nervous with anticipation. Notably in the ranks were Fitch, Yari, Suto, and Kenshin, all wearing quite strong gear for their levels, obtained through drops, smiths, and some rather nice NPC shops in the most recent town. Apart from them, there was a silver-haired boy wearing a curved sword and leather armour of the absolute highest grade. He'd already obtained quite a reputation, having amassed what was believed to be one of the largest fortunes out of all the players, though it was too early in the game to tell if it was true wealth or simply luck. What they didn't know was that the ring on his hand had been a bonus from the third-floor boss' last-hit drop; it improved drop rates of rare and valuable items as well as increased the quantities at which items of any moderate grade or lower would be dropped. An even more well-known face was that of a man who called himself Heathcliffe. This man had earned his recognition quickly by organizing one of the strongest guilds composed of highly elite players, his own strength appearing nearly unmatched. However, he only appeared on some of the boss fights, despite his power, and remained cloaked in mystery.

Heathcliffe stood before them all, his armour was a signature red, as was his shield, no matter how basic in appearance, they were quite formidable. He seemed to be thinking for several moments before finally speaking, "I could not be more impressed with this group... In four short months, we have- nay, you have conquered over a tenth of Aincrad." The man seemed almost prideful of them all, but he merely smiled and drew his blade, placing the tip gently to the ground beside him, resting his hand on the pommel. "I just want you all to remember how hard you've worked, and how continuing to do so will help everybody stuck here with us. Remember to stay in formation, shield users and heavy armours need to take a few hits so that whatever is behind this door can take as much damage as possible in return," He explained before continuing to run through the battle strategy one more time, as they always did before entering. Everybody seemed to be on the same page, so he turned and the sound of blades being drawn could be heard throughout the large, basic hallway. The doors opened and each party rushed inside, taking up their respective locations as they waited for the start of the fight.

The lights around the room began to come alive in the form of torches. They were surrounded by grey brick walls which wrapped around to the white marbled staircase, like a wonderfully gilded path to the next floor. However, standing before the stairs was something large... Or, wait... bulbous? It was a man? The large character stepped forward with a bright smile - he wore red robes and a tall hat, his hands clasped in front of him. He seemed friendly enough as he opened his arms, "My children!" It was a truly bewildering voice, as it held some kind of bouncy accent that Fitch could barely make out. He was vaguely reminiscent of some kind of plumber in one of those classic games, though he couldn't remember the character's name for the life of him. However, this man did not wear overalls or have a bushy moustache. "It's good to see you all here, I've been waiting for you!" It recited its lines just as it was programmed to, looking to Luna and locking eyes with her. Nobody moved, "Come, my child, kneel at my feet and we shall all pray for ascension, then perhaps we will rise to the next floor!"

The bot did not budge, his eyes trained on the girl, suddenly void of emotion. There was still no movement and now there was no sound and Luna looked around. Why her? What kind of sick joke was this? Was that all there was to it? Fitch didn't like it, but he kept his mouth shut as he tightened his posture and lowered his blade, ready to block. Finally, the girl did as she was told, because clearly he would not choose a new target, move, or even let them pass until she did. As she lowered herself, the man began to speak in some foreign tongue that sounded nothing like Japanese. Horror filled the room as he began to grow and his skin peeled away; the chanting turned into an indistinguishable snarl as a beastly hand bashed into Luna, sending her into the wall and quickly pouncing after her. She had been prepared for something to go wrong, but there was nothing she could do to stop it. The man had become some type of demon with a menacing black hide, running on all fours and baring the most disgusting of teeth. He had red eyes and ram horns while his lower half became covered in fur and his feet became hooved. For a moment, everybody was stunned, and it was enough time for him to be on top of Luna, mercilessly attacking her as she screamed for help - this wouldn't be fair... How could a game be programmed to auto-kill some random player in the boss room... and why did it have to be her?

Nero blasted from the ground forward and was quickly followed by Heathcliffe and Fitch. The monster took a hit from the curved swordsman as the two shield-users moved in front of Luna, combining their strength to take the next blow from the beast head-on with the metal plates. A few hits later and the demon seemed to have forgotten the girl on the ground as it was lured to the middle of the room by the players who had all regained their senses and started to attack, methodically blocking and switching out for damage against the cretin. Every player was focused on taking it down and keeping it away from anybody with lower health, and Luna was left where she had landed, her eyes wide in disbelief as she stared at the blinking red sliver of health she had left. Why couldn't she move..? Why couldn't she just pull out a potion and drink it?

The beast would lose its first two health bars at record speed while the entire group tore at it - they were all fighting that much harder because it had started the battle dishonourably. As it was down to one simple bar left, it rose onto its hind legs and held out a hand, materializing a pitchfork and starting to fight back with plenty more vigor. Two players died in the initial attack of it and a total of four were lost to the battle by the time it was killed. The silver-haired boy seemed pleased, gave Heathcliffe a thumbs up and, with most of the other party members, would check on Luna before leaving. Some grieved for the few fallen comrades, but they had to keep going... life moved on. Yari, however, was in tears as she jumped into Luna, crying out in relief that she had been able to recover.

Digital or Real?

Oh, the ball is rrrrollin'! Yeah, I didn't want you to think that my WWIII idea was to become the focus at all, by the way, it was because I wanted something massive to happen - so it's significant simply because it would be a major subject in school, in every class from History to Economics. And... Hmph... Well I don't wanna relink them :( zerochan shouldn't create an issue though - it's free and I don't have an account or anything... maybe it's because I used the "View Image" link rather than just the webpage. Sadface. ;n; Maybe I'll fetch them again or fix it later; for the record, I do highly recommend zerochan.net for anime pictures. Their database is *massive.* Moving on. Your additions to the timeline are great ^^ I like how we've got a nice solid work up to the "present" now, as the world is in a sort of hiatus while it recovers and mourns for its losses.

And yup! You got exactly what I was thinking for the game's world - where there are several choices, and the two genres clash for those people who actually invest time into exploring and growing as a player, making for some very exciting landscapes (a digital/fantasy mix that would appear smooth... hard to briefly explain ^^"). I don't think I could have come up with a better list of names than that :o Endless Realms is very good, has a kind of neat ring to it and it fits. As for the "names" of how players are classified (based on their playstyle of fantasy versus sci-fi, I'm partial to Flyers/Riders and Mythics/Mechanics. The former because I've always loved mounts in games :p it's like... my favourite thing. XD Mounts or vehicles or what-have-you. But the other has a nice ring) and Ididn't notice Fanta/Scia before, that might be a real good way to have them classify one another.

I figured that after the very earliest points of the game, the differences aren't significant in power, but mostly classes. Add what you like, take out what you don't, ^^ but here's what I've got off the top of my head...

For the Riders/Mechanics/Scia
Main classes:
Gunslingers - dual pistol uses, focused on speed and light armour attributes; effective with dodges and short-ranged, fast paced attacking.
Soldiers - rifle/submachine gun users who are typically balanced with wriggle-room to focus on speed (SMGs) and strength/range (rifles)
Tank - Heavily armoured players with heavy weapons (LMGs) - they are slow, as their weapons and armours require a considerable strength parameter

Sub-classes: (Sub-classes are geared in concept to their respective side of the world, but there are many players who use this opportunity to cross-class and mix sci-fi with fantasy in their character, as they can be taken as a secondary to one's chosen "Main Class")
Mechanic/Techsmith - Can fix/upgrade/create weapons and armours
Saboteur - Explosives and gear experts, able to break into or through most obstacles for a team, dependent on level

Flyers/Mythics/Fanta
Main Classes
Gladiator: A balanced class which specializes in sword & shield with light/heavy-metal armour
Swordsman: A dual-swords user, using leather or light-metal armour and specializing in DPS; their damage threshold is low, their HP moderate, but their regeneration rate for health is quite formidable once started.
Rogue: A dagger and poisons specialist which is most effective with leather armour - they are weak when faced 1v1 head-on, but they have a range of abilities which allow them to remain hidden and deal massive damage for sneak attacks as well as the use of poisons and paralysis. They may also use thrown weapons.
Warlock: A combat-magic user, typically specializing in one or a few specific elements (depending on level and patience for training) including, but not limited to: water, fire, ground, wind, electricity, plant, ice, light, and shadow

Sub-classes:
Cleric: A healer and buffer spell-casting sub-class, often essential for large hunting raids, boss battles, and clan wars.
Thief: A pickpocket and security professional, thieves can unlock most doors (with the right amount skill) without detection and steal anything from cash to keys from NPCs and players who aren't careful enough to keep their belongings tucked into their inventory.
Weapon/Armoursmith - Can make all sorts of weapons, dependent on specialization, and armour for different classes.

Feel free to edit all of that, it's kinda late and I really wanted to get it down, I've also got quite a few things to do, so it may not be perfect, and there's plenty of room for improvement. If it's a little confusing on main versus sub-classes, I thought of it as somebody would choose a Main Class at the start of the game, and as they progressed, their skills might start to focus in a certain way and they would be able to eventually take up a related sub-class. The sub-classes are not restricted to sci-fi only or fantasy-only characters, they're meant to be the way to break down the separation of the two types of players.

So between the two types of players, we have a somewhat rough balance, between DPS and tanking and the like, though Fantasy has more options, that doesn't mean it's better. And of course, I still have to see what your thoughts on it are and what additions you might make, but I didn't want them to be the exact same on either side of the coin, make the decision that much harder for some people. Not to mention there's cross-classing and plenty of stuff I missed that are just uber specific. :p I know I missed some stuff... spear/2h users, sniping class, etc. that I just realized and I'm waaaay too lazy to go back. But I imagine some fantasy/sci-fi crossers (in either direction) will want to combine the weapon types - like a gladiator or swordsman might use some sort of techy-blade while the techsmiths or other scia classes would opt to some magical abilities/items with enchantments, etc.

I do agree, however, in terms of equipment, there shouldn't be a *power* gap, but rather an aesthetic and practical difference. ^^

Last Embers ~Reboot~

Hahaha xD Deeerling is an adorable pokemon, despite how awful it is.

The Flower, Russian and Hunter [ Cont. Em + Scout ]

"Oh... Er... Hadn't thought of that, Jet... Thanks," Nero said, trying his best not to make his friend uncomfortable. The other boy was so simple that, when it wasn't frustrating, it was rather charming. However, he dropped the subject of sleep easily as the three sought after their friends. Nero had been a bit on-edge to introduce Jet to Alice and Jacob because, as just as they were, they were certainly intelligent and skilled. Jet was... not so much. Ironically, after he and Jacob had argued over Nero's soloist techniques, Nero had found Rose and The Masked Man to be his new partners. It did not last long, and eventually he found Jet... The other boy wasn't quite skilled at the game, but his company was appreciated. After everybody was introduced, Nero broke away to talk to Jacob while Yuna let go of his hand and brushed hotly, her eyes widening as she stared down.

"Alice, that's... th-that's... No, it's not..." She shook her head as she heard the crowd beginning to part and make a fuss over... something. As Yuna turned her head, she spotted fiery red hair and that mask. Her eyes narrowed slightly at the amount of fanfare involved, but she had forgotten about Alice for the briefest of moments and the girl was already gone. "Alice, no!" She cried out, taking a step forward hopelessly.

"Well, let me know how it goes, keep me posted, because I definitely want to be there if we get into the room before Ro-" His voice was cut off by Yuna's shout and the change in the party's mood. Speak of the devil... "What the hell is she doing here?" He asked as he saw Alice's blonde hair fly behind her in her mad dash for the other woman. Nero half-expected Jacob to spring into action and stop her, but Alice was quick. The scene that appeared before them was gruesome and difficult to watch. Nero sighed as Alice was beaten down over and over again; he would have gone after Rose, but he knew she would wreak much the same havoc on his reputation. Nero was fast, and he had strength, but Rose was almost god-like. It was terrifying, because she could only have so many levels over him, but she would still cut him down in only a few hits if they were to actually fight.

As the group ran to Alice, Yuna was the first by her side, kneeling down low and trying to get a response out of her. It was such a shell-shocking experience, and though Yuna had never been a part of one, she knew that even in safe zones it was horrific to be repeatedly beaten down with the blow-back effect. Nero, on the other hand, strode over calmly and crossed his arms, staring after Rose and her masked companion. His mutterings were audible, though mostly meant for himself, "It seems like that was all she came to do... Make an appearance, and a loud one, just to draw Alice's attention and show off her strength... But why? She has no reason to do that other than to humiliate her... She does nothing but solo, despite how many people are absolutely fawning after her..." He looked to Jacob, "I don't like this. I think we need to hurry up and take this floor; I know it's not been open for too long, but at this rate, she has so many last-hit bonus items that she's unstoppable..." His voice lowered in agitation, "Not to mention the amount of cash she rakes in for selling any old ones that she doesn't use..."

The crowd had formed a circle around the small group, still a bit baffled by what they had just witnessed, but Nero's eyes merely scanned their little audience and his voice was almost a snarl as he spoke, "What are you all looking at?" He still remained standing, refusing to stoop down; Alice was strong and she had acted without thinking yet again. If she was going to get up, he wasn't going to help. She was being childish in these tantrums... Sure, Rose didn't handle anything in the best way due to her violent tendencies, but Alice had hated her since that day on the Fourth Floor. Yet she had no idea, absolutely no idea, the situation that Nero had been in when she acted. At least it was a decision - Alice had sat and watched rather than try to help that same day.

"People are staring, come on guys... Let's go take a breather and find out what to do next," He suggested flatly, wanting to get eyes off of them quickly. He had heard his name muttered in the crowd and was relieved when they were finally getting ready to go.

---

They were really going to do it. They had organized the largest possible raid party of forty-nine and mapped out the final portion of the dungeon before arriving at the fabled Boss door. There was no doubt that this Floor, being the quarter marker, was going to be special... But in all reality, very few of the people there had even experienced any boss fight and none had done so recently. Nero, Jet, and Jacob were at the front of the team, all poised for a battle as Alice put a hand to the door. Were they prepared? It was too late to turn back now. The door opened menacingly and the entire crowd pushed forward, spreading out. The tension in the air was palpable as moments ticked by. Finally, the room began to light up with the torches around the walls as a massive beast rose from the stairs where it had been seated.

"Who's there?" Came a voice which boomed throughout the chamber, pulling a massive weapon from its side.

Another voice rang out, "What's it matter? Let's kill them."

Nero looked around, where was that voice coming from..? Then the giant revealed itself, stepping into the light... It had two god damned heads and it drew a blade from its other hip. Nero looked to Jet, a small smirk on his face. There was going to be a lot of switching today. there was a battle cry as several of the shield users took their place at point. It was going to be a hard battle, and Nero knew he was going to enjoy it. He hadn't felt so excited in his entire life.

Digital or Real?

If you prefer Japan, that's fine, I'm happy to learn a little bit. ^_^ And you're right, the families likely would have modernized a bit more within however many years we go forward, so if you prefer it, sure. But whatever - we can just make a decision and let it go. XD

As for the technical side of things, yeah, I didn't mean to sound like that was a true focus, I was merely gauging where we might be for background. But I suppose a good indicator is VR gaming existing. So, yeah, that's really not that big a deal to me, it was just another aspect of the world. You seem to have done very well with the planning of the year, 2020 would work just fine for their 12-ish age and then 2030-2035 for the main story. You're right as well, the "arcs" or chapters for their younger years shouldn't be more than 10-15 posts. I agree, as well, that an ending must be done right, lest ye be left with a sour taste in your mouth.

Now, as for the small timeline we create... Hm... Starting in 2014 and moving along six years I don't see there being as much global reform as an even further futuristic situation, like the 2030s. But, on the other hand, there are likely to be major events to reference, seeing as war and things break out rather often... Let's see what we come up with. This isn't a true timeline or anything, it's just an outline of ideas that came to my head and you can feel free to tell me yes or no to any of them at all that you'd like.

Fall 2016: United States pulls the final soldiers from the MIddle East, opting to use simple, unmanned technologies to keep tabs on the newly reformed countries, though odds of true peace are low, the US has finally begun to loosen the reigns on the war effort.

April 2018: Tensions between Communist North Korea and South Korea finally reach critical mass and war breaks out. The United States is the first to retaliate, followed by China, putting two of the world's strongest super powers at one another's throats.

November 2018: Russia, much to the world's surprise, announces at a UN meeting that it will be aiding the US in the assault on North Korea as much of the war effort to this point was in defense of South Korea (in its position between China and North Korea), turning the tables. Much of Europe has remained isolated for the majority of the war, choosing to ignore the efforts.

January 2019: Europe is thrown into the war by Africa when the Maghreben invades France with aide from the Chinese.

December 2019: Claimed as World War Three, the battles are long and cost all involved an excruciatingly large amount of money. The winner was not clear, but the effort was stopped when China pulled from South Korea, the Maghreben was officially named a part of France once more, and the US made one final push with Russia onto North Korea, effectively toppling the country. The nations of England (and the rest of the UK), Sweden, Italy, India, Japan, and Canada became the largest superpowers as the treaties are finally signed, having either spent very little on the war or actually profited from it.

2020-2030: England's economy has boomed greatly since the end of the war and they have entered a Golden Age, essentially becoming the most financially sound nation in the world, leaving even the smallest towns as very well-off communities while the rest of the world bustles to pay off war debts and find more jobs once the weapons industry slowed again.

If you've anything to add or you want to change or take away, that's fine! Sorry if it seems like I spent a ton on the idea of WWIII, but if you don't like it, just let me know. It kinda hit me suddenly, putting our setting into a nice place to explain why they have such a technological leap as to be able to commonly afford things so frivolous as virtual reality gaming and the like.

I found some pictures too! I love yours, and they actually gave me an idea for the concept of the game. It's split into two halves - one half is fantasy-based and the other is cyber-punky. Each player can choose their own side, but the game evolves as the cultures are mixed (those who are on the sci-fi side traveling to the fantasy side and vise-versa, where they trade skills and manufacturing stuff to the point where it seems as though the worlds are mixing - tech being improved by magic and things of the like while that same tech works to improve weapons, etc.) What do you think of that?

Here are my pics - sorry if they're not so creatively titled:

Real life:
Possible Town
Another Possible Town
A Final Possible Reference for the Town (All three of those were tough finds, but I wasn't sure on any of them, just wanted to put them out there)
A Classroom/Cityscape of the Future

In-Game:
A very sci-fi-y location... Genetic Engineering stuff, maybe? Lots of ways to go with skills in VR Games
Underground City-scape - could be something like a neutral place between sci-fi and fantasy territory? Dunno, another cool picture to share XD
A Fantasy-like Setting/City?
Sci-Fi Possible City.
A Fantasy Forest/Dangerous Area?
More Fantasy

I'm not super-glued to any of these ideas, no matter how much I like it. ^_^ I do like how the brainstorming is going though. :o

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TheDookieNut said
It's never going to happen. Go to omegle.

I think, Dookie, your signature made this post absolute gold.

Until the End (Scout and Vena Sera)

Shiemi nodded, "Of course it's me, Ren! Who else would it be?" She asked, putting her hands on her hips as her virtual tail flicked. She had spent a rather obscene amount of time upon entering the game attempting to learn how to move her ears and tail. It was difficult to master, as they weren't real parts of her body, so sending neural messages to them was impossible without practice. However, her gaze dropped as he hunted through his menu and she nodded, "Yeah, it's weird, huh?" She was clearly naïve, not thinking for even a moment that anything was amiss. After all, she didn't know anything about bugs or glitches. She quickly followed her childhood friend over the hill, keeping quiet during the whole scene with another gentleman named Kuzai. What did it mean if they couldn't log out? What if her parents went up to her room and yanked the Nerve Gear off of her head? Would she just log out, or would she fall unconscious..? Why didn't she just read the instructions that came with the device?!

Ren suggested they return to town and she huffed, "My name is Komada, Onii-chan," She stated in irritation. If she was going to play a game, especially a roleplaying game, she was going to do it right. "And... okay... Yeah, but when I was there, it didn't seem like anybody else noticed," She said sheepishly. The two of them started back for the town, but halfway there, a bright flash of white appeared in front of the girl and she screamed for her friend. However, he would be in the same position, the light dying to reveal them back in the Town of Beginnings, the main plaza. Player after player appeared around them and the frightened girl quickly found Ren beside her, latching onto his arm for dear life, "What's happening?!"

A voice soon answered, naming himself Kayaba Akihiko... He spent quite some time reviewing the new development: this was no game anymore. One hundred floors of Hell had been created and they were all trapped within it. At the mention of a new item in their inventories, everybody opened their menus and withdrew what was apparently a mirror. As Shiemi stared into it, she saw her ears disappear and knew her tail would be too and soon any minute difference between her nearly-identical avatar and herself had been removed, leaving her as the exact image she had seen before entering the game. At least her parents hadn't removed the NerveGear and killed her... They listened to the broadcast... or didn't even know she was in her room, playing the game yet. Oh god, what would they do if they found out later? What if they didn't know what was going on?

Komada let the mirror disappear as her eyes filled with tears, "This isn't funny..." She muttered, shaking her head strongly, "Ren, please... please tell me this is all a sick joke... I want to go home... I have school tomorrow, my parents are going to kill me... Tell them to us go! They can't make us play the game if we don't want to..." She finally spoke as the robe in the sky seemed to melt away and flutter down to the ground, the "Announcement" message disappearing as well.