Book One: the Battle Begins

How Often Do You Get a Second Chance in Life? Seth Kinnaman’s dream has always been to become the best fighter the world has ever seen. After spending his entire life training, he’s finally ready to test his skills in the biggest tournament on Earth where hundreds of the fiercest competitors vie for the supreme title.

In the semi-finals, Seth is getting the upper hand when his opponent uses an illegal blow to take him out. Upon waking up from a coma, Seth finds out he’s lost his sight. He’s become blind and he’s completely devastated. All his dreams are now shattered, and he soon falls into depression. What is he going to do with his life?

That’s when he’s introduced to Bushido Online, a game that promises to keep his skills sharp while he figures out what his next move is going to be. Set in feudal Japan, this VRMMORPG is the land of ninjas and samurai. A world where the most honorable warriors meet the vilest bandits, and where mythical creatures roam free. When he’ll enter that new reality, Seth will discover that while it’s easy to make friends there, one doesn’t have to try very hard to get his fair share of powerful enemies.

Soon, he’s going to have entire clans hunting him down as he struggles to learn the ropes and regain a sense of normalcy. Thankfully, Seth has a few things going for him: his extensive knowledge of combat, and a never-say-die attitude.

“Bushido Online: the Battle Begins” is the first book in the Bushido Online series, a work of litRPG fiction.

Plot Summary (spoilers)
After Seth Kinnaman loses his sight after an accident in an MMA match, his former coach subscribes him, through a rehab program, to a virtual reality online game called Bushido Online. From a mispronunciation of his full name by an NPC, Seth accepts the name ‘Seiki’ to use in the game.

Seiki casually spends time in his game in the starting village, where he picks up basic skills and gear. After reaching Level 5, he runs into an injured ninja called Kage, who asks him to deliver a small ‘blood-locked’ box to a Level 20 samurai called Mimura at an inn in the capital city. Two more ninjas from a clan called Shadow Manor arrive shortly after, looking for the box, which Kage has apparently stolen from them, and kills him after he refuses to give it to them, while Seiki boards a farmer’s cart to the capital city.

On his way, Seiki runs into Mairin, a kitsune player, and Kentaro, a houshi player, and helps them complete a group quest against a haunted loom spirit.

Once in the capital city, Shinshioka, Seiki makes his way to the inn and gives the box to Mimura, who pays him for his troubles and introduces his business at ‘Ichikeya Inn’, which deals in rare goods. As Seiki is leaving, Taka, one of the Shadow Manor ninjas who have been after Kage earlier, shows up and challenges the Ichikeya. Fuyu, a girl who works at Ichikeya, tricks Seiki into accepting to fight on Ichikeya’s behalf. The fight ends with Fuyu using a unique weapon, Fang of the Blood Moon, to kill Taka, which also kills herself.

Seiki explores the capital city and comes across a dojo, owned by Master Tsujihara, a skilled swordsman. He becomes a new student at the dojo and picks up several more skills. During this time, he and his ryoushi friend Yamura have several run-ins with griefers from the Rogami Clan, and manage to kill a rare monster, which rewards Seiki a puzzle treasure poem, which later leads him to his mount, a white horse.

He also runs into a clan called the White Crane Order and the Shinshioka Scientific Society, who seem to want to recruit him for their clan after seeing his performance against Taka during the challenge at Ichikeya.

After a fire at the dojo, Seiki meets Ippei, who seems to be a veteran player in the beta version of the game who has just recently started playing again. Together with Mairin, they complete a quest and have their first encounter with the Demonic Clan, the villains of the game. Seiki obtains his light-infused sword, Hikari, which is the standard sword issued to all sword-wielding players.

Seiki runs into a mysterious swordsman called Shousei, who suggests that Master Tsujihara is involved in a plot against the Shogun. After finding Master Tsujihara gone from the dojo, Seiki is given a quest to help the Shogunate locate the swordsman and stop him.

Seiki decides to warn Master Tsujihara in advance and goes to confront him in a cave outside the city. After he refuses to leave despite the swordsman threatening to kill him, Master Tsujihara finally reveals that he used to be a high-ranking officer in the army, and only left after his friend Captain Okamoto is wrongfully executed by the Shogun. One of the students at the dojo, Maeda, is actually Okamoto’s son, and is the actual culprit for the plot against the Shogun.

After the Shogun’s forces show up at the cave, Master Tsujihara takes the blame and commits suicide, upon which Seiki gets his class: ronin.

Ippei later reveals that players have two options in that quest. Those who choose to be loyal to the Shogunate get the samurai class, while those who choose to be loyal to the old dojo master become a ronin. Master Tsujihara’s death triggers violent emotions that Seiki has been suppressing ever since the accident. Ippei convinces Seiki to complete a dungeon with him.

Seiki, together with Ippei, Mairin, Kentaro and Yamura, finish their first dungeon. At the end, the boss, a half-spider woman, poisons them before she escapes, causing them all to lose consciousness. Seiki sees the spirit of Master Tsujihara, and finally allows himself to feel the grief from the loss of his sight. The book ends with Seiki looking at the city of Shinshioka and appreciating its beauty.