Chapter 1

~Somewhere in Canada~

Matthew Williams breathed in the scent of lavender and honey as he walked through his garden, a biscuit in one hand and the other tucked in his pocket. It was a wonderfully clear summer morning, perfect for the activity which he was currently partaking in.

Canada, for he was the nation itself, enjoyed these morning walks. And since he would be spending the next few hours inside, he figured he might as well enjoy the fresh air for a bit.

Inside the house, Canada's phone began ringing. He sighed and rolled his eyes before finishing off his biscuit and heading inside.

He was greeted by an affectionate Kumajiro, his pet polar bear. The phone had stopped ringing, but now Matthew's laptop was sounding its message notification. He plopped himself in a chair and logged onto his chat client.

One notification. And, as Canada had expected, it was from his brother.

freedomBurger began pestering mapleVeranda

FB: Yo Mattie wassup why u no answer ur phone?

MV: Morning, Alfred.

FB: Hey bro where u been?

MV: I was taking a walk in the garden, like always.

FB: But today's th day we play th game bro!

Matthew sighed and rubbed his temples. He hated that his brother always had to type in shorthand. He had a full keyboard and a lot of characters for each message, so why didn't he use them?

MV: Yes, and I wanted to experience nature a bit before being sucked into the video game world.

FB: Yeah whatevs r u ready 2 play Sglobe yet?

MV: Sure. How do I get started?

FB: Have u installed th game yet?

MV: Yes.

FB: Good then click th client thingy 4 now u get 2 b th server player l8ter.

MV: Alfred could you please not type shorthand? It's hard to read.

FB: LOL noob.

Canada clicked the client icon on his desktop and waited for the loading screen to finish. It was slightly hypnotic.

Finally, the screen cleared, and Canada found himself looking at his chatlog again.

MV: Now what?

Suddenly, something moved in Canada's peripheral vision. Hovering inches away from his head was a blue house, exactly like the cursor in the game.

"Ah!" Canada fell out of his chair, knocking his head painfully against the floor. He heard his laptop notify him.

FB: LOL dude u shoulda seen ur face!

MV: What is this thing?

FB: It's th game cursor! I have 2 interact with ur house!

MV: Oh maple…

Out of nowhere, a large machine appeared, attached to the blue cursor. It was placed gently in front of the fireplace.

FB: That's the Cruxtruder.

MV: What's it for?

FB: It's 2 get ur kernel. But first we have 2 open it.

The cursor moved through the air and picked up a sofa.

"What the heck?" Canada cried. The sofa dropped from the cursor and slammed against the top of the Cruxtruder, bounding off as if it were a slinky, and landing with a crushing blow atop Kumajiro's head.

"Kumajiro!" Canada yelled. He knelt down and heaved the broken furniture off his pet, but it was too late—the polar bear was dead.

The phone rang.

"Hey, Mattie, thought it would be easier to talk like this!" Alfred's voice was an unwelcome sound. "Sorry about Kumajiro, though. I didn't think it would do that!"

"You KILLED my pet!" Matthew growled.

"Look, I said I was sorry! But we can't doddle, doodle, there's a countdown thingamabob. See?"

Canada inspected the Cruxtruder; there was indeed a countdown, though to what he did not know. And that wasn't the only difference. There was now a flashing dark blue light following him.

"What do I do now?" he asked.

"According to the walkthrough, you have to prototype it."

"Which means?"

"Throw an object in or something."

Matthew cast about for something suitable to throw at the kernel. His eyes fell on a near-by pair of mittens.

Once thrown into the kernel, there was a flash of light, and the kernel became a floating pair of mittens.

"Now do it again, but with something cooler!" America shouted through the phone.

"Are you trying to deafen me?" Canada asked. But there was nothing 'cooler' to throw into the kernel. Except…

"Sorry, Kumajiro."

Canada lifted the dead body of his pet, and gently tipped it into the kernel. Another flash of light, and there was a ghostly polar bear wearing mittens.

"Hello Canada!" it said.

"Kumajiro!"

"Good!" America said through the phone. Canada turned it on speaker to avoid another ear-splitting experience. "Now we can move past the death of the pet. There should be a cruxite dowel in the Cruxtruder. Go grab it."

Canada did so, and immediately something fell on top of his head.

"What…?" The object slid from his head onto his hand, revealing itself to be a pre-punched card. It was a bit like the cards Matthew had received with his game, the ones with items, and the ones he had been able to put items on. This particular hole-punched card featured an apple.

"What am I supposed to do with this, Alfred?"

There were horrendous thuds upstairs; the cursor was missing from the room.

"Oh no…"

Upstairs, Canada found more giant contraptions. Alfred told him the names: Alchemiter, Totem Lathe.

A beep. Matthew sighed; he had left his upstairs laptop on, too, and someone else was bothering him.

"Alfred, could you hold on a second?"

"Sure, just give me the card and the dowel!"

The cursor picked each item up, and Canada attended to his notifications.

centaursTesticle started trolling mapleVeranda

CT: D- Your actions are f001ish. There is e%actly a 0% chance that you will succeed in your endeavour.

MV: I'm going to assume that said zero percent, and not ox.

CT: What is an o%.

MV: I don't have time for this right now, I'm sorry.

CT: No wait. I have important information for you.

MV: Look, I really need to be going. I'll talk to you later, okay?

mapleVeranda has ceased pestering centaursTesticle

"Sorry, Alfred, just another troll. Where were we?"

"I've inserted the card into the totem lathe. See that vase-looking thing?"

Canada picked it up. "This?"

"Yeah. Go put that on the stand attached to the Alchemiter. It should create an item to allow you entry into Sglobe."

"This game is sounding weirder and weirder…"

"Hey Mattie, I'm gonna have to…breaking up…shit, that wasn't…BYE!"

With a final yell, America hung up the phone, leaving Canada by himself. He sighed for what seemed like the fiftieth time and did as he had been instructed. An apple appeared on the Alchemiter.

"Now what am I supposed to do with this?" he wondered.

"Bite it!" Kumasprite said. Hesitantly, the Canadian ate a morsel of apple.

Suddenly, the surrounding world went dark; only outlines of things could be seen, and in the next moment, even those disappeared.

~Be Alfred Jones~

"Damn phone," the American boy said. He shoved the device in his bomber jacket pocket and turned his attention instead to the computer in front of him. He was waiting for two things: his brother to appear in the game, or his own server player to contact him.

There were 20 players participating in the session, and America himself had worked out the order of client/server players. He had already brought Canada into the game; if all went according to plan, this portion of the journey would conclude with Canada bringing in France.

britishWizard began pestering freedomBurger

Finally.

BW: Have you got the client installed?

FB: Course I do! And your late!

BW: *You're. And I am not bloody late, I'm right on time!

FB: Well I was done with Mattie so u should a bin ready!

BW: Just shut up and let me work here. Go prototype the sprite or something.

Alfred grinned; here was the part that he had been preparing for. He grabbed a miniature statuette of the Statue of Liberty and tossed it into the glowing red kernel. When it had manifested, he added his personal favourite: a preserved alien body, which he had named 'Tony'.

The Tonysprite sported the alien's head and the statue's crown. In other words, freaking awesome.

"Prototyped to the max!"

FB: K now what

BW: That thing looks atrocious.

FB: Hey he's my buddy!

BW: It's ridiculous. Now go get your item.

A pre-punched card fell into America's lap, drawing his attention. Next to the desk where he sat was the Alchemiter, and next to that was the totem lathe. When the totem was alchemized, it became a bouncing baseball.

America grinned and picked up his bat. Of all the weapons he could have chosen, batkind sounded the most badass.

He swung at the baseball, but it bounced just out of reach. He swung again, and ended up breaking a vase England had bought him for Christmas. A notification sounded from the computer; he must have seen the destruction.

Another go, and the glass in front of the fireplace shattered. Fourth try was the charm; brilliant light shot from the recreational object, and the medium took over the house.

Outside, an observer would have witnessed the complete disappearance of a colonial mansion and its surrounding plantation.

~Be an outside observer~

The pattern continued as follows:

After America entered Sglobe, it was England's turn. He prototyped his sprite with the dead body of a small fairy and a unicorn figurine, leading to a very strange-looking fairycorn. His server player, Japan, created a sprite with a Hatsune Miku plushie and a pair of chopsticks. Then China prototyped with a Shinatty-chan doll and the body of a panda that was killed accidentally in a totem lathe complication. Russia's was perhaps the saddest sprite; after the initial prototyping of an old ballerina music box, he prototyped it with a dead body. Ukraine had visited his house at an inopportune time, and when the house entered the medium she was immediately killed by a backstabbing imp. Thus she became her younger brother's guide.

After witnessing that, it was hard for Belarus to continue, but the desire to be at her brother's side was enough to convince her. She threw in a matryoshka doll and a handkerchief. Lithuania had a soldier figurine from his time as a servant in America's house; he ended up prototyping only once. Greece woke up from his nap in time to help Lithuania into the medium and to throw a couple of cats into his kernel. Spain added a tomato and pair of bull horns he had lying around. Romano also had a tomato, and he threw in an angel statue. Italy prototyped with a bowl of pasta and the ashes of Grandpa Rome. Germany did the same with some old clothing lying around, and ended up with a kernelsprite of Holy Roman Empire. Prussia chose old clothing, too; in the end, he had Old Fritz wearing his Teutonic Order attire. Austria, after antagonizing Prussia over his choice of kernelsprite, forced a freshly baked cake and a portrait of the Empress Maria Theresa into his own kernel. From there, Hungary prototyped with a few kitchen utensils, nothing of great importance. Liechtenstein chose a doll and a dead rabbit she had yet to bury. As the clock ticked down to destruction, she was helped into the game by her brother, who threw in a couple of cheeses. Just in time, the loop was completed by France and his Joan of Arc-wearing –a-maid-dress kernel.

The imps, of course, were extremely messed up. And in her tower on Derse, the Black Queen wore a pair of mittens, a Statue of Liberty tiara, a unicorn horn, a Hatsune Miku dress, a Shinatty-chan mask (which was worn at a jaunty angle off her face), a pair of ballet shoes, had the ability to produce smaller versions of herself, wielded a Revolutionary War-era rifle, sported cat ears, bull horns, and angel wings, spaghetti-like strands decorating her skirt; she wore a black-and-gold cape; carried a shield emblazoned with a Teutonic Cross and a spoon as backup; smelled strongly of baked goods; had stitches all up her legs (making her look like a doll); holes in her skirt reminiscent of cheese; and, as a final addition, wore armour over her Hatsune Miku dress.

~Be Romano~

"Damn imps!" Romano yelled, fending off another one with a lamp. The stupid things had been coming at him non-stop since he'd entered the medium, and he was beginning to get extremely tired. "How the hell am I supposed to reach my gate if I can't even take a breather!"

Through his alchemized headset, Romano heard Italy's voice. "I'm working on building up the house, fratello, but Germany is going to connect with me soon!"

"Stupid potato bastard ruins everything!"

"Would you like me to tell him to wait?"

"No!" By this time, the players had realized the impending doom that awaited anyone left on earth. "Just forget about me. Get in the game and then I'll deal with that bastard."

"Okay…"

The headset went quiet, and, miraculously, the imps stopped coming. Romano set the lamp down and collapsed against the wall of his room.

"What kind of crap game is this?" he wondered aloud. Then his headset beeped; someone was contacting him through the chat client. Pressing a button on the headset, Romano brought up a screen. He dictated his message and watched as it was recorded on the chat client.

tomatoArmada started pestering pizzaPiazza

TA: Lovi~ I need your help~

PP: I was busy, dammit! What do you need?

TA: I can't reach my gate! It's too high up and there are imps surrounding the place. I'm holed up in my room at the moment.

PP: Can't you do anything beer shelf?

PP: Crap sorry meant by yourself my voice recognition is a bit off.

TA: Haha~ I still need to alchemize something like that.

PP: Well I put the machine in your room why aren't you working on that?

TA: Didn't think of it~

PP: And that is why you are still stuck in your room, dependant on me to save your sorry ass! Besides, you fight with a battleaxe! I only have this pathetic lamp.

TA: Fusoso~ How cute.

PP: Shove it. Let me see if I can build your house.

pizzaPiazza ceased pestering tomatoArmada

~Be Denmark~

Leader. That was what Denmark was calling himself. Leader of Group 2.

Group 1 was already in the game, with their twenty or so players. They had moved a lot faster than anticipated. But what that 'first' group didn't realize was that Group 2 has entered the game a full day before schedule.

It had all been Denmark's idea, of course. He wanted a head start. If he was going to beat the game faster than America's team, he wanted to use every available means to get there. No one had said it was against the rules to enter early.

So Group 2—which consisted of Denmark, Norway, Iceland, Sweden, Finland, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Latvia, Netherlands, Belgium, Sealand, Monaco, Estonia, Egypt, Australia, Poland and Korea—had entered, and worked their way up their echeladders. Five had reached their gates and entered their worlds, and one had even reached God Tier. It irked Denmark a bit to think that Monaco had already surpassed him. But it was helpful having a Seer of Light, even if she was on LOBAG, the Land of Books and Glasses.

Denmark himself was currently on his planet, LOTAC, the Land of Teal and Cages. What Teal had to do with anything was beyond him. Now he needed to find his Quest Bed.

From the moment he had learned of God Tier, Denmark had made it his goal to achieve it, no matter the cost. He wanted desperately to have amazing powers, and he couldn't live with not knowing what he was meant to be.

Everyone in his group had alchemized portable computers of various shapes and sizes. Now Denmark's phone-shaped, Danish-flag-patterned computer beeped.

carcinoGeneticist started trolling vikingBerserker

CG: HEY DUMBASS WHY ARE YOU STILL DILLYDALLYING

CG: GET ON WITH IT.

VB: Whoa cool it. I was just about to find my Quest Bed.

CG: WHAT WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT YOU HAVE TO FUCKING DIE

VB: Are death threats really needed right now?

CG: NO ITS NOT A DEATH THREAT TO ASCEND GOD TIER YOU HAVE TO ACTUALLY FUCKING DIE

CG: ITS HOW THINGS WORK

VB: Oh. That seems counterproductive.

VB: Wait, does that mean…

CG: THAT YOUR LITTLE SEER DIED?

CG: YES. YES SHE DID.

CG: SHE DID SO UNDER THE GUIDANCE OF AN EXPERIENCED SEER OF LIGHT

CG: SHE WAS A LOT SAFER THAN YOU WILL BE.

VB: Have a little faith! I'm sure you won't lead me astray.

CG: YOU DON'T KNOW ME

CG: I FUCK EVERYTHING UP LIKE A DAMN WIGGLER

VB: What's a wiggler?

CG: LOOK ITS NOT IMPORTANT

CG: THE POINT IS IF YOU TRY TO ASCEND GOD TIER THERE IS A VERY BIG CHANCE YOU WONT MAKE IT

CG: I NEVER GOT THERE

CG: THINK ON THAT FOR A WHILE

CG: I'LL COME BACK LATER ON YOUR TIMELINE AND SEE WHAT YOUR THOUGHTS ARE

CG: JUST DON'T MESS UP

carcinoGeneticist ceased trolling vikingBerserker

Denmark slid the phone back over the keyboard and smiled. A challenge, hm? Well, Mathias Køhler was not one to back down from a challenge, especially if it meant a sweet prize at the end. If anything, CG's words had only increased the desire in Denmark to ascend God Tier.

If only CG would mention his own God Tier. Presumably, from what had been said in previous conversations, CG and Denmark had the same God Tier. Perhaps that was why the guy—or maybe a girl?—had taken such a shining to Denmark.

Either way, as Denmark scaled another gigantic cage, there was not a doubt in his mind that ascension was the right thing to do.

~Be Austria~

"This, I hope, has displayed my annoyance at you accurately," Austria said, waving a hand and vanishing the piano to his strife specibus once more. There were no imps in the surrounding area—at least, not anymore. After a long and energetic concert in which much Chopin was played, the imps had all been slaughtered, and grist of all kinds was simply lying around, waiting to be retrieved.

Austria's portable computer beeped in his pocket. He drew it out and pressed a button on the side of the shiny black rectangle; a screen appeared above it, and the box itself hovered and expanded, growing many white keys and black keys until it resembled a piano. Each key was engraved with a letter of symbol like a keyboard. Austria pressed the arrow keys to navigate his cursor and opened the chat client. His fingers flew over the keys as he typed.

paprikaRebellion started pestering vienneseVirtuoso

PR: I've built your house up to the gate, Roddy!

VV: Thank you. Is there an elevator?

PR: Um, no, sorry.

VV: I guess I'll just have to climb all those stairs then…

PR: I could try picking you up.

A blue cursor appeared in front of Austria and began poking him incessantly.

VV: Elizaveta, stop this nonsense right now!

PR: Sorry! I guess it was a stupid idea.

VV: Yes, it was. But worth trying. If that is all, I will proceed to the gate now.

PR: Good luck!

paprikaRebellion ceased pestering vienneseVirtuoso

beilschmidtSuckerpunch started pestering vienneseVirtuoso

BS: Hey pretty-boy why aren't you building my house up.

VV: I'm busy, Gilbert.

BS: Bullshit.

VV: Speaking of such crude terms, you do realize what your chat abbreviation looks like?

BS: Oh shit.

VV: I told you the name was horrendous. Not even creative. Look at anyone else and you'll see a well-thought out name, easy on the tongue and elegant to the ears.

VV: Yours, on the other hand, looks as if it were thought up by a ten-year-old.

BS: Well listen to Mr. Hottentott, all high and mighty. It would have been more accurate to call yourself freeloadingVirtuoso.

VV: We are not here to argue about the merits of a good username.

BS: Damn right we're not. When can you take a break from slaying monsters?

VV: I'm going to ascend to the gate now.

BS: Good then you have time to build.

VV: I don't really feel like it right now. Perhaps when I take a break from climbing.

BS: WHAT!?

BS: You lazy dumbass, no-good, self-centered pinprick!

VV: Please stop describing yourself, I can see you clearly on my screen.

BS: IDIOT I'M REFERRING TO YOU!
VV: Goodbye, Gilbert. I may or may not contact you later.

vienneseVirtuoso has blocked beilschmidtSuckerpunch

The keyboard shrank back into the black rectangle and was pocketed. Sighing, Austria sized up the seemingly countless flights of stairs. It was going to be a very long climb to the top.

Okay really long first chapter. I hope it wasn't too slow. I want to write more action in the future.

Below is a list of characters and their chat abbreviations, along with their full chat name and their human name. I've also included the two lands that have been mentioned and the one God Tier. Group 2's chat names are pending for the most part, and I'm open to suggestions on them.

I am aware that Seychelles is not in the Caribbean Sea, but for a username it sounded good.

Group 1:

BS: Prussia/Gilbert Beilschmidt (beilschmidtSuckerpunch)

BT: Lithuania/ Toris Laurinaitas (balticTechnician)

BW: England/ Arthur Kirkland (britishWizard)

CM: Seychelles/ Victorie (caribbeanMermaid)

CS: Japan/ Kiku Honda (clockworkSamurai)

FB: America/Alfred Jones (freedomBurger)

FS: Greece/ Heracles Karpusi (felineSomniatic)

GN: Belarus/ Natalia Arlovskaya (gracefulNightshade)

KM: Germany/ Ludwig Beilschmidt (kuchenMechanic)

MV: Canada/ Matthew Williams (mapleVeranda)

PC: China/ Yao Wang (pandaCulinarian)

PG: Italy/ Feliciano Vargas (pastaGondolier)

PP: Romano/ Lovino Vargas (pizzaPiazza)

PR: Hungary/ Elizaveta Hedervary (paprikaRebellion)

TA: Spain/ Antonio Carriedo (tomatoArmada_

VL: France/ Francis Bonnefoy (vineyardLover)

VV: Austria/ Roderich Edelstein (vienneseVirtuoso)

Group 2:

VB: Denmark/Mathias Køhler (vikingBerserker)

Norway

Monaco/Mona

God Tiers:

Monaco: Seer of Light

Lands:

LOBAG: Land of Books and Glasses (Monaco)

LOTAC: Land of Teal and Cages (Denmark)