“Yin! Yin! Please don’t take my brother away from me!,” screamed the voice of a girl,” while two men in robes began dragging what seemed to be me, away. I didn’t understand what was going on, but something about it felt familiar. This terrifying feeling, that I didn’t understand. I would soon come to realize exactly what it was.
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“Ah..Too bright,” said Terry, shielding his eyes from the unusually bright sunlight beaming through the window he could have sworn, he covered last night before going to bed. As his eyes began adjusting to the harsh light, and his vision began coming clear, he realized multiple things that were different, that it instantly woke him out of his morning daze, and filled it with panic.

The first was the very hand he used to shield his eyes. They're two things wrong with it. The first was the color. Terry was African American and his hand didn’t show it. “Why’s my hand white!? Why is my hand-” as he was about to express his reaction to the second reason, he noticed that his second reason effected everything else around him.

He Immediately ignoring his hand and began looking at his surroundings. The problem was that not only was his room completely different. The colors and overall look of the room looked extremely unrealistic. So much that it looked like something out of an Anime.

Terry was very familiar with Anime. He was a huge fan. He loved almost everything about it, but never did he expect in a million years, that he’d see it in first person. It filled his heart with excitement, but with the excitement came fear. How did he even get here? The last thing he remembered was getting ready for bed early because he wasn’t feeling well, and he had final exams the next day. He thought getting an extra rest would fix him up. Then he had that strange dream.

He began thinking on the dream that felt like reality. The sensation of intense emotion and physical touch was terrifying in every way. The thought shook him up a bit for some odd reason. He attempted to shake them away, aggressively shaking his head. In the process of the action, he noticed another issue. He reached back pulling in front his line of sight, what appeared to be bright silver hair. He took a good look at it for a minute, then finally responded out loud. “Silver Hair!? Is this my hai-,” but before he could finish, he stopped, realizing that not only did he have long shoulder length hair, he had a different voice tone as well.

It was a slightly deeper voice than his actual one, and the tone was different as well. He slowly got out of bed, cautious of anything and everything around him. The room that he was in, besides the anime coloring, looked like, what seemed to be a studio apartment. He noticed 3 doors. 1 he noticed as an entrance and exit door, one possibly being the closet door and another that could be the bathroom door, which was his true aim. While walking towards the door, he focused on his senses. The feeling from the smell of the air to the feeling of the floor while his bear feet landed after each step, felt no different than his reality. The only thing that was off was the coloring and what seemed to be anime-like art in everything he looked at, without the outlines.

He finally reached the door that he guessed was the bathroom. He opened it, seeing his guess was correct. He briefly took in the site, then located the mirror above the sink. He got into position in front of it to get a better look at what he’d become.

His eyes fluttered open groggily as the soft pastel colors of the room, dimly lit by morning light sneaking through the curtains, calmed him. He felt...healthy, as if the years of self-neglect had melted off overnight. He lay there for a moment, realizing this wasn't his room. Had he been kidnapped? He stayed surprisingly calm, as if in a surreal dream. Slowly, he pulled off the blanket and sat up on the bed. The first thing he saw of himself we're his dark, smooth, svelte legs and dainty feet. Lowering his gave further her saw two mounds underneath his shirt, his hands automatically reaching over to confirm that his breasts were real. His hands moved to his face as he notice the tickling sensation of hair sliding across his back. He ran his hands through his long, cream-white hair.

He was a healthy, young woman. He didn't use to be. His name was Huang XiaoRen, an overweight man in his 40s. XiaoRen stood up and focused his mind on it's body, enjoying it's light weight and sprightly, youthful energy. XiaoRen noticed the visual difference of the room from real life, and walked to the bathroom to confirm his suspicions. Seeing his face, he knew: he had been reborn into an anime. "This had to be a dream," XiaoRen thought to himself as he inspected his face with some exhilaration. She was beautiful. Smooth, dark skin, Amber eyes, white hair. He gave himself a weak smile in the mirror and immediately felt embarrassed. He turned to the frame of the bathroom door, leaned back a bit, and then rammed his forehead against the side of the frame.

XiaoRen screamed as she doubled over, curled into a ball, and lay on the ground in a fetal position. Tears streamed from her eyes as she began to sob, realizing from the pain that this wasn't a dream, and feeling the grip of self-loathing loosen slightly. XiaoRen had always been uncomfortable in his own skin, in his assigned gender. Was this okay? Was he allowed to restart his life in this way?

The image the mirror had shown him was a young man with pale white skin. The reflection, revealed long silver-like white hair, which stopped slightly pass the shoulders. Dark, crimson, red eyes stared back at him. “Is this really me?” he asked himself, as he began touching his face, pinching his cheek, still not believing what he was seeing.

He left the small bathroom, finding the bed he woke up in. He took a seat in the middle of the mattress. He covered his face with his new hands, trying to think on the situation. “What do I do now,” he said, shaking a little. He took a deep breath, trying to calm himself. Nothing was going to get solved like this. Removing his hands from his face, he began looking around for clues.

He noticed a piece of paper on a small coffee table near the bed he sat on. Something told him, to check that first. He proceeds towards the table, while glancing out the window while passing it, taking in the limited view. He only saw grass and trees, but they were gorgeous, compared to what he was use to. Finally reaching the table, he grabbed the paper, reading what was written on it. It was written in a language he’d never seen before, but that wasn’t the strangest part. “I can understand it!?” he said, startled by the strange phenomenon. He shook it away for a moment, reading what was written.

Dear Newbie,

I couldn’t help but laugh at that. It just seemed appropriate for the situation. All jokes aside, I hope you found this letter. I can image you are confused, but please stay as calm as you can. Everything will be answered in time, but we cannot meet yet. It would put you and the others in danger and we can’t risk it. We ask that you lay low for now.

We figured the best way for you to lay low would be out in the open. I know that may sound strange to you, but trust us on this. We’ve enrolled you in a school in this city you are currently living in. You can find the supplies in your closet.

Try not to cause too much of a disturbance while attending, will yea? Knowing you, that shouldn’t be too much of an issue. Please take care of the others, will yea? We’ll see you one day. Be careful Riven.

Yours truly, Mystery Woman

PS: Riven Teslum is your new name. Get used to it.

“That was a pretty short letter” he said, putting it down. Thinking on what was written. He thought on the key things in the letter. “Take care of the others? Attending school? Riven Teslum?” he asked himself.

There were others here? Were they like him? What is really going on? What should I do? Is attending school really laying low? So many questions, but no answers to be found. He realized some else in the letter. “Knowing you, that shouldn’t be too much of an issue,” he read the part again. Did this person know him? If so, how? The more questions he asked, the more confused he became. He didn’t know whether to trust this person or not, but what choice did he have. Would he risk the danger the letter told him would come if he didn’t comply?

He wondered what the first plan to action would be. Should he have a look around? He looked at the door, that would be his exit out of the room he wasn’t ready to leave. He looked towards the bed wondering. If he went back to sleep, would he return to his world? He smirked at the thought. “If only,” he said, walking towards the door.

When he got there, he took a deep breath before opening it.