Chapter Text
On a certain Sunday at the start of May, Minato Arisato looked around his dorm room dully, trying to think of how to spend his day. Then, he remembered the game Junpei had given him. With the internet back online, and on a day with no school, he could waste some time trying it out.
He slipped the disk into his computer and looked over the game box as the game booted up. Innocent Sin Online. The box proclaimed it was Based on a True Story! which was a weird thing for an MMO to try, but maybe that would make it more interesting.
When the game started, he was thrust into character creation, with an avatar standing in a field of purple flowers while random tooltips popped up at the bottom of the screen. He didn’t put much effort into the character creation. He kept the default avatar and chose his class and options mostly at random. The screen name gave him a brief pause, but then he noticed the current tooltip.
This is a field of shion flowers. In Hanakotoba, Shions mean Remembrance.
He didn’t care about the trivia much, but Shion seemed like as good a name as any. He typed it in, expecting to get told the name was taken and already planning to add some numbers in. But, apparently, the name was available. So, with a mental shrug, he sent his character into the world.
Before he could get started with any gameplay, a text box appeared on screen
Autumn, the year 199X. I have one new message. From: "PHIL." Reality is just a series of events and players acting out what they believe to be true. When we accept that fact, our world becomes as real as any other. Reality is but a reflection of our own thoughts and expectations. But... what if we were merely reflections in someone else's mirror? Are you prepared to look through that mirror to discover the truth?
Minato clicked out of the message, rolling his eyes at how philosophical the game was already getting. But then he could finally move around. So he dove into all the tutorial quests, letting the game take all his focus.
An hour or two later, he finally ran into another player. He thought it was weird that he hadn’t seen anyone around, but figured he might have been in a tutorial area where you can’t see other players.
The other avatar was a dark-haired woman in a red dress. She approached his avatar and typed out a message.
Joker: Hi! Are you a new player too? This place seems pretty dead.
Minato clicked into the chat box to reply.
Shion: Yeah, I just started today.
Joker: Neat! Technically, I made my account a couple weeks ago, but I’ve only been able to play for a day or two.
Joker: Oh, ignore my screen name. It somehow got auto-assigned and apparently you can’t change it.
Joker: I like your screen name, though! Flowers are neat. So… how about you call me Iris instead? It means good news, and loyalty.
Minato frowned. He was pretty sure some of the tutorial quests had mentioned someone called Joker, who definitely seemed like an antagonist. There was something about calling your own phone number?
Shion: Yeah, Joker would be confusing given the game character. Iris works.
Joker: You get it! Thanks, Shion!Joker: Actually, you’re the first person I’ve run into in this game. I think it’s a couple years old, so the community must have just died out… So, since there’s not many people around, would you want to form a party?
Shion: It’s dangerous to go alone. Sure.
Joker: Lol, nice reference.
Joker: I should be around most Sundays. I just moved to a new city so I don’t have a lot of people to hang out with on days off.
Joker: There, I’ve sent you a friend request.
Minato got the pop-up notification and hit “Accept”.
Shion: You’re added.
Joker: Nice! So do you want to get going and fight some demons?
They ended up spending most of the day together online. Iris liked to discuss the plot points that came up, but Minato liked to just focus on the gameplay, which was well designed and satisfying. They made a good team, too. Minato focused more on offense, playing a physical class with a sword. Iris had chosen a class that made potions or something? She could do buffs, and healing, and also throw flowers at enemies, so she had ranged covered.The story seemed kind of creepy and kind of surreal, verging into bizarre. Finally, Iris had to log off, so Minato did as well. He stretched as he got up from his chair, then wandered out of his room to get some food. That had been fun. And Iris seemed nice. He’d definitely play with her again.
—
Yet another Sunday, and Minato found himself playing Innocent Sin Online with Iris when she started up a conversation.
Joker: You know how the game says it’s based on a true story?
Shion: Yeah. I figured it was just marketing.
Joker: Oh… No, I’m pretty sure I know what it’s basing this off of. It’s a really weird choice, honestly.
Joker: I don’t really want to go into it, but if you look up the Sumaru City Crisis, from 1999, you should find the info.
Joker: I guess they really wanted to make something creepy. Do you like scary stories?
Shion: They’re definitely fun.
Joker: Exactly! Letting yourself get spooked is so much fun.
Shion: Did you find something, Iris?
Her avatar turned to face him, but it took her a bit to actually reply.
Joker: I don’t think I like these quests.
Shion: Yeah, they seem like they’re all meant-to-lose. It’s a bummer.
Joker: I wonder what kind of person that Joker in the game is supposed to be.
Shion: Isn’t he based on a serial killer? They probably didn’t put much thought into it.
Joker: Oh. Yeah, you’re right.
Shion: Let’s go find some demons to fight.
Joker: Yeah, yeah, definitely.
Joker: Thanks, Shion. I think I got lost in my head a little.
—
When they weren’t questing or talking about the game itself, sometimes they talked about life. Always somewhat vaguely. Iris talked about flowers she’d seen. She mentioned Paulownia Mall once, so Minato knew she was in the same city as him.
Another time, the conversation drifted to moving.
Joker: So I mentioned I moved to my city recently, right? Have you ever moved before?
Shion: I’ve moved around a lot.
Joker: Wow, that sounds annoying to deal with. This is my first time moving away from the city I grew up in, and I’m scrambling to figure out how to meet people. How do you handle it?
Minato had to think over his answer for a moment. The truth was, before this year, he’d usually pulled away from anyone new. But this year, he was making bonds. How had he done that?
He thought over a couple ways he could answer it, before settling on a joking tone.
Shion: I joined a dead MMO and met someone there.
Joker: Point taken lol! And I do like hanging out with you.
Joker: I guess I’ve never had that many friends anyways. I can get by with my family and my coworkers. And you, of course!
Joker: Thanks for being there, Shion.
Shion: Happy to help.