A/N

Hello again. So, I came up with another new idea, but since I already have several stories, I can't dedicate sufficient time to it. Therefore, I've decided to just write a first chapter covering the concept to get the idea out there. If you want to pick up this story idea, then just send me a message and I'll respond. I may take some time in doing so, though.

XXX

A cold wind blew across the plain. If it were real, anyone who encountered it would feel chilled to the bone. This was the virtual world of Niflheim, the world of ice and snow. Several fearsome beasts roamed these plains, but today, they were no threat to anyone. In this frozen wasteland, three figures moved together in silence.

The first figure was giant, easily over two and a half meters tall. It was covered in plate armor that looked like silver but gave of a brilliant aura. There was a large red gem at the center of the chest plate. The figure wore fancy metal boots and gauntlets and was carrying a sword and shield on its back. There were few parts of it visible, but from the color and texture of the skin, it was clear that this creature was some kind of troll.

The second figure was an angel. This was not a figure of speech; it was literally an angel. It had a beautiful feminine face, medium length blonde hair, and twelve wings of light on its back. The angel was dressed in white robes and it wore many pieces of jewelry.

The third figure was humanoid in shape. From its long hair and shapely figure, one might mistake it for an attractive human woman, but the pointed ears on the side of its head proved that it was an elf. The elf's left eye was orange and its right eye was purple. It wore a golden circlet, a green robe and a brown coat. One might assume this elf did not wear much equipment, but the baggy clothes hid many items beneath it.

The three figures traveled the world of Niflheim, visiting many locations. They occasionally passed other parties, but no one wanted to fight today. For today was the last day of YDDGRASIL, the last time anyone would explore this world. Several hours passed as the trio walked through the frozen world. Throughout it all, not a word was spoken between them. There was no need for words; they understood each other perfectly without them.

For they were all the same person.

XXX

Mizuki Inouye was a very introverted person. She had trouble making friends, taking to people, and even making eye contact. Even in a virtual world, this did not change. In YDDGRASIL, Mizuki tried to join parties, clans, and guilds, but never could work up the courage to ask anyone. For a while she played solo before deciding to use her talent.

People are born with natural aptitude in certain aspects. Most people have some skill in many areas, but a few people have a high degree of skill in a few areas. These people are often referred to as geniuses. Mizuki was one of these geniuses. She was born with a natural ability to understand programming and developed that skill over her life. However, she was also unskilled in social aspects, so she rarely made any friends. One could say her talents were quite focused.

Had things been different, Mizuki may have become a cyber-criminal, using her talents to leech off society and making things easy for herself. However, Mizuki had a personal trait that prevented her from taking that path. That trait was common sense. Mizuki realized that even if doing so made her life better, committing crimes like that was risky. If she ever got caught, she would spend her entire life imprisoned, lacking even the most basic comforts. Rather than take a big risk like that, Mizuki only took small risks. Her crimes were so minor that even if everything she did became known, the worst that would likely happen to her was a small fine, effectively a slap on the wrist. Mizuki tried in the past to get a high paying job with her skills, but her poor interpersonal skills forced her to settle for a mid-level programming job. While she lived far above the poverty line, she couldn't call herself rich and often resented not getting her due in life.

In order to escape her disappointing life, she turned to games. YDDGRASIL was one of her favorite games, as it held nine huge worlds to explore. However, as she often did in life, Mizuki used her skills to stack the deck in her favor. YDDGRASIL only allowed one character per player, but Mizuki managed to fool the system into thinking she was more than one person.

Fooling the system was the easy part, though. Although she had multiple accounts, actually using them at the same time proved to be much difficult. This was one of the few times that Mizuki's skills could not completely overcome a problem. Despite many ingenious tricks and extensive practice, Mizuki could only control a maximum of three characters at once.

Again, a greedier person might have tried to become powerful in the game, but Mizuki tempered her ambition with restraint. She never strived to be well known in the community, didn't join any groups, and avoided attention where she could. Although she had several opportunities to, she never tried to obtain a world item. Mizuki was content with just exploring. All of her characters did have a complete set of divine class items, but that was still believable.

In the worst case scenario, she would just be banned from the game. Even her getting caught was unlikely, with how little attention that she drew.

Mizuki had spent a considerable time in YDDGRASIL, but all good things must come to an end. While she would be sad, she had several other games she played (and hacked) to take up her time.

XXX

The three characters wandered through the world of Niflheim as Mizuki reminisced about the past. Of all of the worlds in YDDGRASIL, this was her favorite. She had always liked the cold ever since she had been a child.

Incidentally, the world of Muspelheim was her least favorite world in YDDGRASIL. Mizuki just didn't like heat, and even though she couldn't feel it, she was reminded of it when in that world.

Mizuki lost track of time while exploring. As the passed by a beautiful ice crystal formation, she suddenly had an inexplicable feeling and reflexively closed her eyes. She began to worry for a moment; perhaps there was an error in her programming. However, the feeling quickly passed and Mizuki opened her eyes. She was shocked at what she saw.

Before, where there was only endless ice and snow, now there was a wide expanse of grassland. The frozen world of Niflheim was nowhere to be found.

However, that wasn't the most confusing thing.

"What's going on?"

Mizuki spoke without thinking. Her multiple views were gone, replaced with only one point of view. Mizuki had been watching a similar scene from three different angles before, but now she only could see from one of her characters. She quickly thought that she had been forcibly logged off the game, but she didn't recognize where she was.

"Huh?"

"Hey, what the hell!"

Two voices, both feminine but both very different, reached her ears. Mizuki focused her attention and saw an armored troll and a floating angel looking back at her. Instantly, she recognized them as her characters, she had seen them many times after all. From the looks on their faces and their postures, she could tell that both of them were confused.

"Oh, boy"

XXX

"So let me get this straight. You think we've somehow become our characters."

"Yup"

"And we've somehow gone into YDDGRASIL."

"Or somewhere similar. I don't recall this place in YDDGRASIL, but I haven't been everywhere."

The elf Mizuki watched as her Troll and Angel counterparts conversed before her eyes, intrigued at their actions.

"You expect me to believe that?"

"Then how can you explain this?"

The angel Mizuki opened her wings and flew into the sky. After doing several impressive maneuvers, she descended back to her location.

"How do you explain that? How do you explain us having magic? How do you explain us being able to access our inventory? I'll bet if we cut you, you'd heal almost instantly."

"Don't you dare."

"Just saying"

Elf Mizuki silently wondered what would have happened if her other characters were here. Mizuki had 5 characters, the three that were here, a human bard, and a kobold assassin.

"Well, if you eliminate the impossible, then whatever remains, however improbable, is the truth."

"I still say this is impossible."

"And yet, here we are."

"Hey, I have a question."

Elf Mizuki took this opportunity to speak up.

"What is it?"

"Who are you?"

Angel Mizuki looked confused at that question.

"What do you mean?"

"What is your name?"

"My name is Mizuki, Mizuki Inouye."

"But that's my name too. How will we tell each other apart?"

Troll Mizuki decided to answer.

"She has a point. Why don't we just call ourselves by our character names for now?"

"So, you'll be Steelhide, I'll be Angelica, and elf me will be Pocco? Sounds fine."

"Well, perhaps I should have chosen a better name than Pocco. Anyway, what should we do?"

"Well, finding other people would be nice. We need more information, grouping up with other players would be nice. Even finding an NPC would put my mind at ease. If we find a person who clearly isn't from YDDGRASIL, then our other world theory will gain credibility too. We should probably keep the fact that we're the same person secret though. Is that OK with you two, Pocco and Steelhide?"

Pocco nodded, but Steelhide put her hand up.

"Hang on, before we do that, give us some extra items, Pocco. I want to be prepared."

It took Pocco a moment to realize what Steelhide was referring to. In YDDGRASIL Mizuki had one character carry all of her extra items. The other two only had the minimum needed to adventure. The only benefit to this was that she wouldn't have to sort through three inventories to find an item. Right now, Pocco was carrying most of their items.

After distributing the contents of their inventories, the three Mizukis began to explore the new world.

XXX

The three of them walked until they found a dirt road. Angelica could easily fly, but she said she felt more comfortable walking. After about an hour, they saw the smoke of a campfire in the distance. It was nearing dusk, so they decided to see who was there.

They approached a middle aged, yet muscular man poking at a fire. It looked like he was about to begin cooking. Steelhide called out to him.

"Hey, mister, mind if we speak to you?"

The man turned around and answered.

"Huh, what brings you out, YEEEAAAHH! Troll!"

The three Mizuikis looked at the man as he fell as he jumped back. The man had panic in his eyes, but quickly calmed himself.

"Ah, sorry about that, I had a traumatic event with a troll a few years ago. Seeing as you two are still alive, I assume that troll is rational?"

"Uh, yeah, sure"

Pocco answered with absolutely no confidence in her voice. Despite that, the man relaxed.

"I see, just like Go Gin then."

None of the three Mizukis knew what to make of that statement. Eventually, Angelica asked a question

"Excuse me, but who are you, sir?"

The man smiled bitterly, as he looked at them with empty eyes.

"I am the former champion of the arena, the famous 'Rot Wolf', Krelvo Palantynen."

XXX

Well, that's as far as I go for now. I actually saw Krelvo mentioned in the novel while I was rereading it, and wanted to add him in here. Here's a few character sheets.

XXX

Mizuki Inouye/Pocco

The Magical Elf

Alignment: -100, Minor Evil

Job: Programmer

Residence: Hiroshima

Racial Level: 0 (Humans don't have a racial level)

Job Level: 100

Mage Adapt: Lv. 15

Sorcerer Lv. 10

Master Sorcerer Lv. 5

Elementalist (Fire) Lv. 10

Armored Mage Lv. 10

Others

HP: 60

MP: 90

P. Atk: 15

P: Def: 65

Agility: 60

M. Atk: 95

M: Def: 90

Resistance: 80

Special: 90

Total: 645

Pocco has a standard mage build. She has high magic power, but is vulnerable in a melee fight, just like your typical caster. Her abilities are quite specialized as she always travels with two others.

XXX

Mizuki Inouye/Steelhide

Troll of Steel

Alignment: -125, Minor Evil

Job: Programmer

Residence: Hiroshima

Racial Level: 45

Troll Fighter Lv. 15

Mountain Troll Lv. 10

Others

Job Level: 55

Swordsman Lv. 10

Champion Lv. 5

Master at Arms Lv. 10

Warlord Lv. 10

Others

HP: 90

MP: 0

P. Atk: 85

P: Def: 85

Agility: 50

M. Atk: 0

M: Def: 90

Resistance: 80

Special: 100

Total: 580

Ironhide is Mizuki's tank character. Trolls have slightly lower stats than Ogres in YDDGRASIL, but have racial traits such as regeneration to make up for it. Ironhide can perform well both solo and in a group.

XXX

Mizuki Inouye/Angelica

Angel of Mercy

Alignment: 125, Minor Good

Job: Programmer

Residence: Hiroshima

Racial Level: 60

Angel Lv. 15

Archangel Lv. 10

Seraphim Lv. 5

Others

Job Level: 40

Alchemist Lv. 15

Angelic Alchemist Lv. 10

Angelic Healer Lv. 10

Others

HP: 80

MP: 60

P. Atk: 65

P: Def: 80

Agility: 80

M. Atk: 75

M: Def: 80

Resistance: 85

Special: 100

Total: 705

Angelica is a character that can adapt to many situations. Her stats may seem high, they are distributed over many categories, so in any given situation, she is only above average. Angelica often acts as a healer for Mizuki.