Yu nodded his head as he took note of Saito's name, his eyes still fixed upon the monster in front of them as it fell. Seeing its wounded corpse laying there gave the blademaster a moment's reprieve, relieved as he was that the fight had ended without a hitch, before he turned his gaze skyward. The clouds showed no signs of parting any time soon, but at the very least there were no more monsters streaming in towards the city. All that remained, then, was cleaning up what was left.

With little reason to delay, Yu quickly attempted to survey his surroundings, only to find that all of the other monsters were already being pushed back if not killed outright. In a way, that was to be expected; with this many people, there should have been no small number of people who had already finished the endgame grind from last expansion and were decked out in the best that the game could offer.

And so instead, the young man turned to look for the next most suspicious thing—the man who had fallen from the skies to herald the assault. Whether or not he was an enemy was more than worth looking into, especially given the circumstances which had arrived here under.

But when Yu finally made his decision to seek the man, he found naught but blood and rubble. His disappearance, though unexpected, was not without traces of their own; a trail of blood leading away from the epicenter of the city was as good a place as any to begin.

"Well, people look like they have enough under control for the moment, so I'm going to go check that out," he remarked, gesturing slightly towards the marks left behind. "Feel free to follow."

---

With the sounds of battle still ringing around throughout the city, the alleyway provided a safe place to rest, if but for a moment. The larger monsters were still caught up in grander combat, it seemed, and the lessers among them were circling about more open skies. It was there that Yu found where the fallen had gone—or, rather, ended up, given the person resting nearby.

"Unconscious, huh...?" he asked, taking a step forward before noticing someone else had approached from the other side. Wearing a hooded robe over whatever else they were wearing, the mysterious character wasted no time in closing the distance—towards the injured, at least. The speed at which she moved, though, did prove enough to cause their hood to fly back, revealing the face of the person beneath.

The identity of that young woman would become clear to anyone who had played through the game's main story with that alone; Eunice Windstar was, after all, a staunch ally to the player and had been since the latter third of the base game's release onwards. But here...

Here, who knew what she had to say? What to think of them?

"...You look like you have something you want to say to me," she said coolly to those present, kneeling down next to the two wounded before beginning to tend to their injuries. "If you wish to ask questions, do so before the fighting has subsided."

@Sho Minazuki@SilverPaw

---

The harpy that had the unfortunate honor of being skewered and promptly launched at its kin let out another shriek of pain as it collided with one of its peers, knocking the latter out of the sky and sending it hurtling unceremoniously towards the ground. The other two, apparently surprised by the sudden assault, soon found their hesitation to be their downfall.

As it turned out, a bolt of magic large enough to take down both of them was more than enough to stop them in their tracks entirely. Only one managed to barely slip away in time, the other taking the brunt of the magical assault before plummeting towards the ground below. Rather than continue a solo assault, though, the remaining harpy quickly turned tail to find prey less willing to fight back.

The one that had been knocked out of the sky was most certainly still alive, but whether or not to continue to pursue the harpies was a decision left to those who they had aimed for in the first place.

@VitaVitaAR@Rune_Alchemist

---

It seemed that at least half of the people milling about the argument were simply rubbernecking, waiting to see if a fight would break out and the spectacle that such a thing would provide. As such, when Myrtle finally chose to push through and attempt to stop the argument, most of them simply split off; whether that was because they had more of their own problems to handle or if she had stopped their fun, though, it was hard to say.

Her subsequent preaching (or, well, it seemed as much to them) turned a few more away from the site; more than a few gave her impassioned cry for unity a bit of a nonplussed shrug, most aware that such things should have been a given in the first place. Others seemed less pleased with her response, a few even looking at her with a bit of irritation before choosing to leave. In the end, only a few remained—those who wished to see this incident to its conclusion and those who were at the epicenter of it all.

The Titan woman was the first to speak up, and her distaste of Myrtle's interference was most readily apparent.

"What right do you have to talk down to people like that?" she asked angrily, a scowl on her face as she stared Myrtle in the eye. "We're not some kids on a field trip, so acting like you're some teacher trying to tell us off... Eugh, I can't stand people like you."

Figuring that nothing was actually going to come of this, the woman stormed off, leaving the sighing Belva behind as the remainder of the crowd seemed to leave.

"Ah... Well, at least it ended without a fight," he remarked before looking back towards Myrtle. "I guess I should thank you for that? Though I'm not sure if your claims about them being sapient now have any weight to them quite yet..."

@Hammerman

Oh no, it doesn’t work!

Myrtle could only watch with exasperation as one by one, the adventurers she had made her passionate speech to left.

Aah, my charisma check failed! I knew I shouldn’t have done that!

In the end, only a small portion of them remained. And she wasn’t sure whether they were there because they agreed with her words or they were simply curious to see the conclusion to the incident.

And then the Titan woman spoke, insulting her heartfelt plea to the masses. How dare she!

"H-hey, I was just trying to help! I'm not like you who hit a man just because he stared!" Oh, she was not going to let her have the high ground!

The Titan woman then walked away, seemingly done with the conversation.

"Yeah, that's right! Keep running!" Myrtle smirked, folding her arms in a victory pose. She won the argument! Why else would she leave?

Now, only two men remained — the PC the woman argued with and the NPC who was still out cold on the ground.

"Hmm, you got a point." Myrtle tilted her head. "Well, let's test it!" She clasped her hands together and smiled. "We have a live NPC here after all!"

She walked over to the unconscious man and crouched, before shaking his body back and forth. "Hey, Mister! Wake up! You’re not dead, are you? Oh, please tell me you’re not! Or else I’ve been touching a corpse and that’s just… eww!”

“Miss, is something the matter?”

She looked up and saw that Azure had opted to approach her. It seemed she wasn’t content in just staying back and letting her mistress be involved in whatever situation was happening right now.

Oh, what an adorable, loyal maid! There’s no way she cannot be sapient! She acts like a real maid perfectly!

Myrtle stood up and rested her hand on her shoulder.

“Look! Here’s my maid, Azure! Azure, tell him that you’re perfectly sapient, just like me and him!”

The maid cocked her head to the side. “Excuse me, Miss? Whatever do you mean?”

“Sapient! It means you’re a thinking, knowing being! Look, just introduce yourself to him!” Myrtle pointed at the standing man. “Tell him your backstory while you’re at it! Your past before you work for me!”

The maid turned to look in his direction. She sighed. She had no idea what her mistress was thinking. Still, if it was her order, then it would only be proper for her to do it.

“Greetings.” She gave a curtsy. “My name is Azure. Azure McMillon. I was born as a daughter of a prostitute, before being sold off to a servant agency where I took my lessons in this occupation. When I was of age, and ready to work as a maid, I was purchased by my mistress here.”

Myrtle’s smile vanished.

Wait, what did she just say?

That backstory… that wasn’t in the game at all! And it was so dark too! She was born as a prostitute’s daughter and then sold off as a child slave by her own mother! And then I—

I… I…

Oh God…

I had bought a slave!

@PKMNB0Y

Aluvera - City Streets
@VitaVitaAR

---

Kokoma would heft the spear over her shoulder, the banner tied to it waving gently as she would watch the harpies meet their demise. The blast of magical energy was quite impressive. So the little elf was a mage, huh? Kokoma would then walk up to the harpy, smiling in a fairly...overly friendly manner as she'd twirl the spear, and whack the harpy on the butt with the hilt of the spear.

"Go on, get outta here! Attack this place again and well...ehehe, I suppose having another harpy as my pet would be fun~" She might have under other circumstances, made an attempt to befriend or 'tame' the harpy, as it were, but for now she just wanted to figure out what was going on other than well...being attacked by monsters and what not. So after delivering that ultimatum to the harpy, the Shenke would turn back towards Sefira.

"Wah...heey, you're actually pretty awesome, huuuh~?" Kokoma would walk over to Sefira. "Dunno why you were so nervous." That just left what else to do now, though. She supposed she should go after the harpies, huh? Didn't want them to get away...well, luckily she could easily chase after them, couldn't she? "What'cha gonna do now?" Kokoma would ask as she'd watch the harpies flee. Lets see...normally in game 'calling' her mounts was done with just a skill, and the animation of a whistle...so maybe if...

Whatever Sefira would respond with, Kokoma would put her hand to her lips, a sharp, high pitched whistle echoing through the area...a few seconds would pass, before one could hear the sound of...hoofbeats? Well, not really hooves, but it was close. From down the street, Sefira could perhaps see something a bit odd. More monsters? A large, horse like creature covered in tough, hard leathery skin and a rocky hide. Kokoma didn't seem too concerned as it'd run up, nearly knocking over Sefira as it'd run up to Kokoma and start nuzzling her.

"Wah-H-hey down boy! Ahaha, so you are here!" The monster would huff affirmatively. "Tatl and Teel doing alright?" Another huff of confirmation. "Great! Anyways," She'd hop onto the monsters back with a surprisingly swift motion. She would then, look down to Sefira with a grin and hold out a hand. "I can give ya a ride, but the fee is gonna be your name~"

This girl seriously didn't take a single thing seriously, did she?

Still... her spell had really worked. Only one of the harpies had gotten away. Sefira couldn't help but be proud of the fact she'd actually executed one of her spells.

Only now it was real.

Maybe that was a silver lining? She was physically a completely different person, but she was also capable of doing magic.

Seeing one of the other player's beasts suddenly charge up and nearly in real life was a bit of a shock, too, and the petite elf found herself reflexively clutching her staff in both hands, tensing for a few moments as she leaped back with a yelp.

"H-hey!"

Realizing how irrational it was to be scared of the beast given it belonged to Kokoma, Sefira took a deep breath and forced herself to relax a little. At least, as much as she could knowing there were so many monsters around. Where had they all come from, anyway? Back when Emeral Odyssey was just a game, something like this never would have happened out of the blue.

"W-we should probably try and fend off the monsters, we can't just sit and do nothing..." commented Sefira as she stepped forward. The other player wanted her name in exchange for a ride?

"Hmph, fine," she began, looking away, "Takeyama Mats-"

Realizing she almost said her full, real, masculine name, the blonde girl froze for a moment.

There was no way letting this girl know that was a good idea.

Hoping that Kokoma didn't hear her properly, Sefira cleared her throat.

"Sylvanbelle. Sefira Sylvanbelle."

@Rune_Alchemist@PKMNB0Y

---

The battle seemed to go apace, he found himself chasing down a few monsters in the course the chaos, though for the most part it seemed those who could not defend themselves were out of harm's way, and the battle had approached a point where it was time to clean up, though curiously he found himself in an alleyway.

There were people here, hiding. Though it did not seem at all unusual, at first, but then he recognized one of the game's story NPCs here going about healing those who had run here. It was strange to see them acting on their own like this when he was used to them standing around waiting for interaction, especially when they approached the newcomers. He listened to her talk and...

"Before the battle...?", that was a curious detail, one he muttered to himself. Did this mean she would depart as soon as this was over? There were a myriad of questions he wanted to ask, such as why they were here, who the attacker was, what was going on, why this was no longer a game... The last one though may best be investigated instead. He doubted that these characters would know.

"Alright, then I suppose I should ask about this attack. Who was that, and why have they attacked?", he asked.

---

---

Akira was gazing up into the sky mindlessly when one other person approached. Based on his gear, she judged him to be another player. “He is, even though I’ve already given him a potion,” she confirmed, nodding at the man slumped besides her.

Then, from the opposite side of the ally, a robed one approached. When the hood fell off, Akira gasped, “Windstar?” in recognition. She was already half-up when the woman motioned irritably for her to calm down and stay still. Akira did so, watching baffled as she quickly patched up the gash on her forearm, then got working on the messenger.

“Questions…I don’t even know to start, I’ve got so many,” she muttered quietly. Another player, who’d appeared when she hadn’t been paying attention, got in a question first.

Akira ruffled her hair – upon passing by her fluffy canine ears, she remembered she’d decided to take on the role of Nova. Not like we’re two different people. Doesn’t mean I have to think like a native either, she determined.

“Yeah, that’s important, the city hasn’t ever been attacked when– before.” She’d been about to say when this all had been a game, but stopped in the last second to change tracks. “I’ve kinda been wondering…Do you remember us? You’re, uh…known as a sort of helper to us pla– err, adventurers. But you must have met so many…” Nova trailed off, staring at Eunice incomprehensibly.

It was wild to consider that from her point of view, she’d met and helped every single person that now got trapped here. Of course, that was assuming NPCs has the same stories now as they had in game, and ‘remembered’ it. Nova didn’t even want to think about how they could have done so when they’d only been a part of the program, because it made her head hurt.

Yu's mouth hung open for a moment as he heard Eunice speak and, after realizing the implications of her existence alongside the world, ended up standing in place as he tried to figure out what to ask. There were a variety of lines to tackle—their presence here, her own knowledge about both of the current incidents, and so on and so forth—but in regards to what needed to be addressed immediately...

Before he could attempt to step forward and ask anything, though, both Saito and the other player had spoken their piece, and given the rush that Eunice seemed to be in, Yu decided it best to not add any of his own for the moment.

Eunice, of course, had placed most of her efforts in attempting to mend the injured man's wounds—more properly than the potion could, at least. Listening to both of them speak, the healer sighed and nodded before responding in kind.

"Would that I knew myself. This man's armor is of Pelemean make—of that, I am certain. The spectacle of his descent was hard to miss, though, and as close to the epicenter as I was, it made sense to try and spirit him away for treatment and questioning. Would that I had been faster, though," she began, glancing towards Nova before shaking her head. "If it was only the one incident, I could manage, but the safety of civilians is of higher import to me than the other problem at hand."

There was a moment of silence as her words naturally led her towards Nova's question, and as Eunice slowly stood up, the young woman seemed to fail to meet any of the three adventurers' gazes head-on.

"...If you're asking if I remember you, then... Yes, I remember. To expound upon that question would necessitate more time, though, and we have little of that as is."

Taking a deep breath, Eunice took a moment to center herself before finally looking at the three again, her hands clenched tightly for a few moments before slackening.

"The sounds of battle dim; could I trouble you to lend me your aid? I wish to bring this man somewhere that the others-" she began, a momentary silence as she said that last word, "cannot freely and forcefully press him for information. The Luminary headquarters here is naturally out of the question, but that is not to say I do not have somewhere else in mind."

Yu could tell that there was more to the situation that Eunice was letting on—it was difficult not to, given the way she kept herself among them—but for now, it was hard to not empathize with her reaction.

Not with how she had reacted to the Shenke's question, at least.

"...I'll do what I can," he said, lifting up one of the man's arms and slowly bringing him to his feet. Hopefully, the others would assist him in the process; though he had strength beyond what he was used to, it made sense now as to why the unconscious stranger had only been brought so far with the suppose of but a single person.

---

The path that Eunice took was distinctly roundabout, and it was hard not to notice that all of the side streets and alleyways of the city that they were passing through were... Well, actually existent, as compared to how it had been in the world of the game. It made sense that the scale of the world had expanded to fit all the inhabitants, once Yu considered the matter in his head, but it was still a bit of a shock to see that world given so much more.

Eventually, though, Eunice led those who had followed her to the front door of a house that seemed to have escape a majority of the fighting. The lack of people milling about coupled with the unfamiliarity of the street to Yu and anyone with him made it clear that no adventurer had stepped foot here at all.

That was probably for the best, though.

As the group entered the building, they were immediately met with a single housekeeper—a sharply-dressed male elf in a butler's outfit—who Eunice swiftly directed to bring the man downstairs to both change him into something more easily removed for medical purposes and to keep him out of public eye. The elf gave a curt nod before promptly helping to relieve those carrying him of their burden, walking with them to the basement before directing them to leave his unconscious form to him. Once that had been resolved and the group reconvened on the first floor, though, Eunice took a seat at a nearby table and gestured at the others to make themselves comfortable.

"...First and foremost... I must apologize for my curtness earlier. The situation at hand seemed more dire in the current moment than the grander problem, but that is not to say that I am not aware of that problem—namely, your presence here."

With that, she turned towards Nova before nodding.

"You asked earlier if I remembered you. To be more precise, I—and I can only speak for myself—remember everything. Every adventurer here, in this world right now, having gone through the same trials and tribulations at my side—needless to say, it was overwhelming when all those memories seemed to flow into my brain. It felt as if I might go mad trying to understand it all," she said, a bitter smile on her face before continuing. "But when I asked the others... Nothing. Rather than remember everything, it seemed that their situation was the opposite—nothing, no trace remained. They knew that you had all helped, but the 'you' in their minds was like an empty void.
Of course, I could not well reveal myself to everyone, not knowing how you would all react, and so I kept to the shadows..."

"So why reveal that much to us, then?" Yu asked, arm resting upon the chair he was seated on as he motioned towards Eunice. "Helping the person being cared for downstairs isn't much of an excuse on that front, is it?"

"That person is precisely why I could not stay put. You all have a similar drive to know, and I thought it better that I reveal myself to you all and speak candidly rather than cause a commotion and draw more attention to myself. Lucky that you were not among the more combatative within my memories, of course, but even so..."

There was a sigh as Eunice continued speaking, but despite the turmoil that was plainly showing upon her visage, she continued.

"...I've already told the other Luminairies to keep out of the public eye—at least until things settle down. They seem to think that you're all normal adventurers, but I fear that not everyone may be as receptive to such information as you have. With that said..."

Eunice nodded, looking at the three in turn soon thereafter.

"I need to understand as much as I can about the situation, no matter the cost or how absurd it may sound. So tell me of your stories, then; of what you know: who are you, exactly, what you have seen and why you are here now—though I suspect that final question will find no proper answer here."

@Sho Minazuki@SilverPaw

---

It was little surprise that, when given the opportunity to flee, the harpy was more than willing to do so. A few more had taken to the skies and had scattered towards skies unknown. The battle near the epicenter of the city was nearing its end, and the monsters routed, but whether or not there were any left rampaging closer to the outskirts remained to be seen.

@VitaVitaAR@Rune_Alchemist

---

The Belva male stared blankly at the maid that Myrtle had brought forward before looking at her with a complicated expression. It was hard not to—not after hearing something as heavy as that.
"Er... Okay, you might have a point, then," he said, awkwardly scratching his cheek before glancing at Azure again. "Though I can't say I'm particularly comfortable hearing something like that... But, uh, good on you for getting her out of a bad situation? I guess?"

Given his words, it seemed that he did not doubt Myrtle's claims any further, but what that would imply for everyone else in the world remained to be seen. It was likely that people would come to see as much on their own in the future, given the necessity of having to interact with other people for the sake of living anyways, but it would at least be helpful to learn that much early.

With that, though, his attention turned back towards the man out cold on the dirt, but only for a moment as he shrugged.

"Well, I don't agree with the reaction, but at the very least he might think twice about doing that again. Suppose someone should bring him under a tree or something..." he mumbled to himself before grabbing one arm and unceremoniously dragging him off to the side. "Good luck with whatever you're doing now, though."

@Hammerman

Myrtle smiled nervously, scratching her cheek with her index finger. "Y-yeah, good on me… and good on her too…" T-that's right! I'm not in the wrong here! She's in a better place now, with me! "H-hey, Azure. You're happy with me being your master, right?"

The maid tilted her head. "Yes. I am readonably happy. Though I would be happier if you would act more lady-like, Miss. For starters, you should wear longer dresses. I know you're an adventurer and all but whenever I see you wearing those short dresses, I can't help but worry you'll expose yourself."

Oh, thank God she's hap— Wait, what did she say about my dresses? Hey! It took me days designing all of them! I won't let you talk badly about them!

She wasn't a weaver herself, of course, but she had worked with a friend of hers who was one. She provided the funds and the design, commissioning them to actually manufacture the outfit.

She pouted at the maid, putting one hand on her hip, cocking it to the side. "Hmph, you don't have to worry. I know how to sit properly." After all, she already wore short skirts in real life.

The maid took a long, deep sigh. "It's not just that. You have to be careful with the wind as well. You know that today, I already caught a glimpse of your undergarments multiple times from it."

Hearing this, Myrtle's cheeks immediately reddened. "W-what?! You can't say that! And in front of a stranger too!"

"Ehem!"

Their conversation was interrupted by none other than the Belva youth. And he seemed to be quite annoyed, judging by his sharp gaze and folded arms.

He then told Myrtle that they should probably move the unconscious man somewhere else that wasn't in the middle of the road. And by them, he meant him, as he was already dragging the NPC on his own. He might be small but his strength certainly wasn't lacking.

Wow, that feels weird… watching a kid drag an adult like that.

Oops, can't call a Belva a kid. Especially since whoever is playing him, they are certainly not one.

She walked over to him once he finished with a smile. "Hey, why don't we exchange contacts? I'm a proficient alchemist. If you need anything, I can sell it to you at a discount." She winked. "And as people who are now stuck in this world, we should stick together."

Aluvera - City Streets
@VitaVitaAR

---

"Uhmu?" Kokoma would tilt her head quizzically, helping Sefira onto her mount. It was brief, but she was fairly certain she heard 'Sefira' mention another name. Takeyamat? No, that didn't make any sense. Takeyama? That was a better sounding name-

Wait. Oh. that's why this adorable girl was being all nervous.

"Pfft-" Kokoma held a hand over her mouth, stifling laughter. Oh that was great! This adorable little kid, ahaahah! Realistically something like that wouldn't be uncommon in mmo's and stuff, but it was probably still rather disorienting to just suddenly find yourself genderbent. Hmhm...well, she could say something, but where would the fun be in that for now? No, she'd wait a minute and catch her off guard when she least expected it. "Well, nice to meet ya 'Sefira'. Don't worry your cute little ears over anything, you're safe with me~"

Somehow, she'd probably get the feeling she was the opposite of safe.

"Alrighty! Lets go monster hunting! Yahooo~! Keep your legs inside the vehicle at all times, and your arms wrapped firmly around Kokoma's waist unless you wanna be knocked off~!" With a howl of excitement, her mount too would bound towards the outskirts of the city. While most of the monsters seemed to have been dealt with near the center, it'd probably be a good idea to make sure there was nothing left around the less traveled parts of the city.

As Sefira very reluctantly placed her hands on Kokoma's waist, trying to do everything she could to avoid touching the other girl in any place that was even more awkward then that, a distinct feeling of dread welled up within her. As if she had indeed let slip something that was going to make her future considerably more awkward and embarrassing then it would have otherwise. As if Kokoma had caught what she'd nearly let spill.

For a few moments, all she could do is dwell on that possibility, and all this girl knowing that could entail.

But there were more pressing matters at hand. The monster attack on the city would never have happened back when Emerald Odyssey was a game. It was an immediate and obvious rule change. Was it simply a result of the game now becoming reality? Or was there something more going on here? Could it even be tied to the reason she and likely many others had now become their characters in the game's world? For that matter, the NPCs she passed by were hiding, some checking on the injured, others arming themselves and looking skywards to make sure no more monsters were approaching...

It was nothing like the NPCs of the game, which were more like background scenery or stood around in one place until they played their part in a given quest.

It stood to reason that if the rest of the world was real, so too were the people who lived in it. There were considerably more as well...

Thinking about these changes helped keep her mind off of the fact her slender legs felt sore from riding the beast, and that she was still holding onto a girl's waist this whole time.

Sefira took a deep breath.

"I'm guessing you got here the same way?" she asked Kokoma, "You tried to log in after the new expansion dropped, and then there was a bright flash of light? Hmph, what kind of stupid isekai setup is this...?"

@Rune_Alchemist

---

---

There was something wrong, very wrong. Yui has always had this intuition, whether it made or break something, it has gotten her out of situations of bad happenings. The feel of low-grade bedding, the smell of pinewood, the sounds of chattering, and... laughing? Things that do not belong in her household. Yui slid around the bed, feeling the cold timber as she touched the floor, her seemingly pale nightgown flowing just past her rather stocky but well-defined thighs. In a calm and nonchalant manner, she pushed herself out of the springy bed, only to come face-to-face with the small dresser mirror.

It was not her body, yet it also was. She was aware what this meant. The little plot detail that lead many into a world of fantasy, how very clichéd it was to have happened to Yui herself. Yui clutched her head slightly, feeling the effects of one too many drinks from the night before. It was proof that it was very real, the question is, why? Standing around, merely staring at her reflection, would not bring that answer to her. She'd have to seek it herself. However, Yui would not permit to go out immodestly dressed.
"Equip, paladin."

As experimental as it was, it had worked as intended, a flash of white and Yui had been suited to her tank armour, all in glorious blue and valour.
"Inventory." Yui successfully called upon her character storage box, filled with items that she had meticulously gathered during her years playing Emerald Odyssey. Swiping across to her armoury inventory, she spotted her prized shield and lance, her weapons. Yui briefly closed her eyes, reminiscing her time obtaining it, almost permanent damage to her wrists and fingers. Precious memories, but-

Once she reopened her eyes, steeled with strange resolve, Yui waved her HUD away and left the room.

---

---

---

As Yui descended the creaky wooden stairs, the sounds of laughter and shouting progressively got louder. The delicious scent of homecooked food penetrated her nose, cueing the grumbling of her stomach. "Perhaps I should eat..." she muttered to herself, but a single look at the state of the tavern, and Yui knew she would not be able to eat in peace. Opting instead to go to the street markets, Yui walked up to the reception table to talk to the hostess.
"Why hello! How was your night? Would you like to order something?" exclaimed the hostess in a jolly tone. Yui shook her head, reaching her hand out to place a gold coin on the counter. "Thank you.", she thanked the staff of the tavern, and turned towards the exit, leaving the tavern just as a brawl exploded.

---

---

---

Clutching several bags full of sweet and savoury goods, Yui felt proud of herself. Her haggling skills in-game was as good as in real life. It was a rather ferocious battle of economy, neither Yui or the merchant ready to back down. Eventually, they'd all give in to her death stare - which is not on purpose, but Yui had no way of knowing. She simply thought that she had driven a hard bargain. She eventually came to the centre of the floating island, the Wellspring Park. A place known for player AFK'ing and some other questionable things. A crowd had placed itself into the middle of the grounds, and curiousity had taken Yui once her newfound sharp hearing picked up on some sort of argument. Drifting towards the edge of the people, Yui could see through the gaps that a heated discussion - well more like bickering, between a Titan and Belva. A huge contrast in size, hell, the Titan could just pick up the potato and-

Yui stopped her thoughts there. They weren't a potato. They were a player. And acutely aware of the situation. Just like with her very heated bartering with merchants, neither Belva or Titan would back down. It was plainly obvious that they'd settle it with fists. Yui's eyes spied the unconscious man on the ground. I see.
One to never decline or provoke a fight, Yui kept watching on while nibbling on sugar and cheese bread, until she saw pink hair pushing through the crowd. A young Human had appeared between the chaos attempting to defuse the situation. A tense moment passed, before the crowd started to disperse, and eventually the Titan woman left begrudgingly. All those that were left behind were the young Human woman, the Belva male, and the unconscious man.

Baffled, Yui watched as the girl shook the poor man, who was almost frothing at the mouth, until a blue-haired woman entered the picture. Very obviously a servant of the pink-haired Human, especially with how she introduced her maid to the Belva. Yui could only watch as she witnessed the Belva picking up the man by a leg and drag them towards shade. Finishing off the last part of her food, she followed them to the tree. Her shadow loomed over the trio as she came close, but ignored them until she came to face the unconscious man. Kneeling down, Yui pressed a hand on their temple and began casting, "Prayer."

A twinkle of light shone across the man's face, and he began to relax. It wasn't much, but at least it would alleviate the pain and help him avoid the heavy consequences of a concussion. "It would have been wise to stay out of a dangerous situation." Standing up again, Yui faced the three of them, pointing her statement directly at the young pink girl. Her face is stoic, but the words come across as a gentle warning, rather than admonishing.

---

---

“The other problem being us, huh,” Nova raised her brows, somewhere between offended and amused. “Well, you’re right we should take care of this guy first, though,” she agreed with a light shrug. She glanced at the player who struggled with bringing the man to his feet, slinging him across a shoulder. “Here, let me,” she offered, going around so as to help support him from the other side. “I’m Nova, by the way.”

There was little chatter on the way, and it was kind of slow going, given two of them had to drag an unconscious person between them. Nova rubbernecked around as much as she could, marveling at how expanded, how real the city was now.

It took a few minutes before they made it to a deserted street, and to an unknown house. Whether it was Windstar’s home, or merely a temporary safe house was unknown. It was inconspicuous, but was fairly normal.

A silent elf butler helped them take the unconscious man downstairs at Eunice’s direction. It was kind of awkward to do that without a stretcher, but they managed.

Then, they returned to the first floor, sat around, and Windstar told her tale. “An empty void,” she muttered thoughtfully, thinking of those guards’ reactions who’d thought her mentally unstable.

“A drive to know?” she scoffed. “Didn’t you say earlier you had to protect that man from being questioned?” she asked dubiously. Nova didn’t mistrust Eunice per say, but did find it strange she’d trusted them as easily, given everything.

“You’re right I won’t go telling others, though,” she confirmed with a head shake. It’d be way too troublesome trying to spread this, and would cause chaos, anyways. But if she found trustworthy others though…Well, at least she could bring them to Eunice – unless the woman wouldn’t be available, of course. Curious about that point, she asked, “Do you already have any plans what you’ll do, or do you intend to decide after we tell you what we do?”

Regardless of Eunice’s answer, Nova would nod, and say, “Alright, then.”

“You said you wanted to know our side of things, huh. Well…We’re basically people from another world, and this,” she motioned with an arm around them, “all of this, the whole world here, was just a game to us. A digital game based on a computer program – no magic involved, just technology.

“And before you ask, no, it’s not normal from our side of things to be able to travel to different worlds, technology or no. We had no magic – it wasn’t considered real, there was no evidence for it. Sure, people believed in deities, or spirits, or the afterlife, but it was all personal belief, you know? There were no spells of the kind you can find here. Oh, and we were all humans,” self-consciously, she tugged at her wolf ears, “so this is a bit of a change.”

“But, yeah, no dice on the why. We don’t even know how this could have happened. It shouldn’t have been possible based on what we know of our world,” Nova concluded.

@Operator Luna



Hmm?

What's this? A new character just entered the fray?

She seemed to be a knight, judging by that armor. A Paladin, perhaps? So she's a PC. And she's healing the man! Ooh, that's great! Someone does listen to my speech back there!

Though thinking about it, I could've given him one of my healing potions. Oops, I completely forgot I could do that.

Once the Paladin stood back up, however, she gave Myrtle an unsolicited advice.

And she wasn't sure if she liked said advice.

"Dangerous? I don't think there's anything dangerous about what's going on here." Myrtle folded her hands under her chest with a confident smile. "I can hold my own in a fight. Oh, and thank you, by the way, for healing him. Now that we're stuck in this world, we really should start treating these NPCs better." She then reached her hand towards the paladin. "The name's Myrtle Bramblewood. Pleased to meet you, Miss."

---

Certainly, it did not feel right to just be gallivanting off while fighting was going on outside, although given the circumstances, getting answers seemed to be priority, at least to everyone present. The explanation given was not substantial in his opinion, nothing said was unable to be gleamed from just looking around, or witnessing the spectacle prior. The answer given whether or not the young girl knew them or not was rather cryptic, and only raised more questions. In times like these, perhaps going along with the events was the better course of action, and it seemed to be the way everyone here was going to go.

"Hmmmm... Well, I suppose I'll also play along. It seems there's more to this than just some 'attack' on a town", one that was a sanctuary no less, it seems the world did not abide by the rules of the game anymore, that much was already certain. Only thing not understood was to what extent... As the talking went on he quickly summed it up cutting towards the end of a long-winded explanation.

"Basically, to cut it short, we know nothing. We woke up and ended up in a game we play frequently. It may seem strange for us to call your world a game but that is just how it is... Or rather, was. We were hoping to get answers from you instead", he explained.

Nova's explanation of their situation, paired with Saito's rather succinct synopsis, left Eunice at a rather distinct loss for words. There was a moment where it seemed as she might almost ask if they were lying to her face, but the expressions on the three adventurers' faces left her little reason to doubt the veracity of their claims. To this, the white-haired woman sat there in silence, trying to process everything mentally before shaking her head in disbelief.

"I... No, the travel from another world would explain your presence, but a world without magic? That doesn't explain why everyone else seems to treat your presence here as a matter of fact, though..." she muttered to herself quietly before leaning forward, her eyes towards the ground all the while. "And... A game? I understand what you mean by 'computer', I think, but to emulate our world, people and all, with pieces on a board—"

"It's not a game in the sense that you might be thinking," Yu said, interrupting Eunice's mumbling to add his own piece to the others' explanations. "While this world only really has board games, the game we are referring to is akin to... I suppose the best analogy in this case would be an interactive storybook or dream world, where we can create and interact with characters and the world within? That doesn't mean that the world as we see it now was exactly as we saw it, though, seeing as how those streets and this house didn't exist before..."

Despite her apparent shock, though, it seems that the explanation had managed to reach Eunice. As absurd as all of this sounded, it seemed impossible for three strangers to corroborate the same story on a whim when asked, and so she could only accept this as the truth behind the situation until she learned more.

"...I see that I have much to consider for the days—no, weeks to come. Sadly, I have not heard of any spells with the capacity to summon people from another world, much less change such a large quantity of humans into other races and manipulate the memories of those who live in the world, but I shall do my best in helping everyone seek out the cause of their presence here," she finally said, taking a deep breath before looking back towards the three present, uncertain as she looked about being given such a revelation in the first place. At that, though, Eunice soon turned back towards Nova, whose questions she had thus left unanswered; after all, with the question of their presence here unanswerable at the moment, it only seemed prudent to address that which they could attempt to resolve before anything else.

"Now, to answer your questions thus: I had stated that you all—in other words, all of the adventurers in this world, or at least those who witnessed that man's descent into Aluvera—had a desire to know, and my memories state that no small number would move aggressively in an attempt to pry information from him, regardless of what he may actually know. I am not excusing myself from the number of those who would wish to get to the root of this problem, but I would rather prioritize the life of a person and obtain information by speaking with him rather than banking on the possibility that force might expedite the process."

The serious tone she had taken made it clear that Eunice did not particularly like being painted as hypocritical, but that was more an aside than anything else given that the more important question had yet to be addressed.

"As for my plans hereon... Supposing that our visitor from Pelemeos had not arrived, I would visit the other city-states in Usira and decide on a more proper course of action afterwards. My intent is to help try and settle this matter out of the public eye until the dust has settled, though I suspect that the possibility of massive upheaval is rather high."

With a sigh, Eunice turned towards the other two briefly to see if they might give some minor nod of approval before continuing.

"That... Is the long and short of it, I suppose. To stay here in Aluvera or follow me on my trip, or even trust my words in the first place... I will leave to you to choose."

@Sho Minazuki@SilverPaw

---

As Kokoma and Sefira rode further from the center of the city, the presence of monsters would drop off—at least, initially it would. Nearing the city's gates, closed as they were now, would reveal that most of the beasts that had not been killed outright had fled outside the walls. The plains provided little in terms of cover, but with the nature of the monsters, such things might not have provided much in terms of assistance for them.

With that said, less obstructions meant more room to wreak havoc on the people outside, be they slightly overconfident adventurers or the unfortunate guards who were by no means prepared for an onslaught as sudden as this. The monsters were rather thin in number, but even with a few seasoned adventurers slowly making their way onto the battlefield, they could only kill so many at a time...

@Rune_Alchemist@VitaVitaAR

---

Once he had finished dragging the unconscious man out of the way, the Belva brushed himself off before crossing his arms and nodding, well pleased at himself for being able to move someone multiple times his size despite the situation. It would have been rather embarrassing to have needed assistance, after all.

It was it at this point that the pink-haired girl strode over to him and offered to become contacts. Given the casual nature of the request and the situation, he was hardly in any situation to refuse, and so...

"Mmm... I see no reason not to," he began, fiddling for a bit with the air in front of him before finally finding what he had desired and promptly sending the request to the girl in front of him. The name "Mini Marcher", clear for Myrtle to see, wasn't exactly serious, but whether or not she would make a quip about it remained to be seen.

The arrival of another woman—an elven Paladin, by the looks of things—brought some relief for the unconscious man in the form of some healing, but as as the two began to talk, Mini seemed to take a step back to see how this would end up panning out.

@Hammerman@Operator Luna

@PKMNB0Y



“Thank you!” Myrtle clasped her hands with excitement when she heard the Belva’s reply. “Then, I’ll send my contacts right now!”

She opened her menu with a swipe of her finger (for some reason it just came naturally to her, even though this was her second time doing so). Traversing to contacts, she then sent a friend request to the Belva. But since she no longer had a mouse to click on him, she had to aim the floating box towards him.

Only to find that she was beaten by his request by a microsecond.

“Oh, dammit!” She cursed under her breath. Only one person was needed to initiate a friend request after all. The other side could just accept and both persons would receive the others’ names in their contacts.

Of course, once the confirmation box appeared, she pressed the “Yes” button. With a satisfying click, his name then appeared on her contact list.

Really? Mini Marcher? That’s cute. She stifled a giggle.

Speaking of that, she scrolled through the names, finding that many of her usual acquaintances were marked as “Online”. They were her fellow crafters, her frequent customers, and the gatherers she bought material from. She considered for a second to send a message to them but put it off for later once she had returned to her mansion.

Not that she would have a chance to do so anyway, thanks to the paladin’s arrival.

---

---

Yui stared at the hand that outreached towards her. "The name's Myrtle Bramblewood. Pleased to meet you, Miss.", spoke the young Human. There must be an unspoken etiquette to use in-game usernames. Not that she had any qualms about using her real life name, but in another way, it felt nice. "Agaue. Agaue Selinofoto." Yui responded, firmly shaking Myrtle's hand, like it was a business greeting. Yui glanced at the Belva, who - from his stance - seemed to not want to interfere. Fine by her. Yui was not evangelistic, nor it was of her mind to be associated with the drama that unfolded earlier.

However, it did not mean she was not concerned for her safety. One look, and Yui knew that Myrtle had no combat experience whatsoever. Turning her back to them, Yui looked to the bright blue sky, closing her eyes as she felt the slight breeze of the wind, explaining, "It was dangerous. I do not know how long you have been stuck inside this game, assuming you're a player as well-". Her armour rattled as Yui faced the trio again, the sun made her a glowing figure. "I'd be more aware of your new reality." Yui folded her arms, but her face remains as straight as ever.

After hearing Myrtle - if she had any thing else to say, Yui asked, "What are your plans now?". Yui needed to see the state of affairs, of the world. There were things to be addressed, and Yui knew that she had to get to the bottom of this mysterious summoning. If they wanted to come along, so be it. If they needed help, so she would, as long as it led her to the cause of her buzzing intuitions.

"Ooh, Agaue Selinofoto! That's a cool, if not a little bit weird name!" Myrtle moved her hands up and down with excitement as she shook hers. "My name is straight up plain compared to yours!"

Whoa! She's glowing! Is it just a trick of the eye or is it her Paladin magic? I don't remember any Paladin skills that can do that though.

"Oh, don't be such a worrywart!" Myrtle released her hand, still smiling. "I'm a max level Weather Mage! Just because I don't have my staff out doesn't mean I don't know how to fight!"

She opened her inventory and equipped the staff, materializing the weapon right at the perfect angle for her to snatch. She slammed its iron tip to the ground before giving it a twirl, ending by throwing it mid-air and aiming it towards the paladin.

Yes, for some reason, she could perfectly manipulate the staff to her liking without clumsily dropping it like she had expected. It probably came from the class, she told herself.

"Here! Let me show you my magic even! I can't use the big stuff in a place like this but a simple tornado should suffice."

To be honest, she didn't know how she was supposed to use her spells. She didn't have any buttons to press. Not in this new world. So all she could think of was just to imagine the spell she wanted as she lifted her staff.

"Tornado!"

Hey, maybe yelling it would help too.

To her amazement, the spell triggered. Wind began to sword rapidly above her, forming a small whirlwind visible to the naked eye. She had placed it mid-air quite a way above where they stood so they were safe from its sucking effect.

Still, the swirling wind was strong enough to make the trees around them bend and sway. Her dress and hair followed suit, as well as any cloaks and skirts of both PCs and NPCs in the area. It seemed unlike in the game, non-hostile NPCs were still affected by PC's spells.

"See? I wasn't lying! That Tornado over there is the max-level version! Not the silly breeze the low level version was!"

She lowered her staff, and with it, the spell disappeared.

"So if anything happens, I think I can handle it just fine!" She grinned, putting her left hand on her waist.

"As for my plans, I think I'm going to invite my friends for a gathering or sorts. See if we can share info with each other. I have a mansion in this city, you see, perfect for such an event. Oh, you can come if you want!"

---

Saito pursed his lips in one hand while fiddling with the menu in the other... He remembered he saw that people were accessing the menu prior to the attack, which was worth a check. From the looks of it, most personal functions were fine, in fact he can even view some of his skills. However, he accessed the travel menus out of interest, when the young lady had mentioned other states and other areas of the game. For the most part, he was able to see what the locations were by name, but just about every option there was completely grayed out. This might as well had simply been a glorified map function.

He turned back to the conversation as it reached about mentioning the man who appeared before, along with the monsters he brought about. Things were beginning to settle outside, and she asked the group for their choice. As much as he'd like to stay in Aluvera... He had a load of questions that he doubted other players could answer. There was much they should worry about, such as how life would work, assuming this goes into long term, but he was not a settler by any means. He often wandered around when he played the game too, so he felt it was not too different a choice here.

"Hmmmm. I have many questions, regarding why we're all here, and I feel that your quest may yield us some answers. I think I will join you then, at least for a time", he answered rather succinctly and precisely what he felt. He had no attachments to the other players around here, so he had little reason to stick around.

Yu silently considered Eunice's words as she spoke; logically, there was no reason to stay in Aluvera beyond helping in recovery efforts, and given the amount of people already present within the city, there was no real reason to worry about its further safety. Being as strong as they were (or, well, as he presumed himself and the other two present to be), it only made sense to be a bit more proactive.

"I see no reason to stay put, so I'll also follow suit. I'll be in your care," he said, nodding his head as the other two spoke similarly. The slightest hint of a smile seemed to cross Eunice's face as she heard those words, but no sooner than that did she rise to her feet.

"Then we should depart soon. I fear the incoming rush of people might be a problem unto itself."

As she spoke, Yu brought the UI up and, just as Saito had seen moment prior, found that he could no longer fast travel across the world.

Or, well, to anywhere besides Aluvera, at least.

"...Of course it wouldn't be that easy," he spoke under his breath before standing up as well. "Right. Let's head out, then."

Once everyone had readied themselves, Eunice led the group out of the house, her hood up to hide herself from the public eye as they moved about. The streets were less barren than before, at least; a few people had cautiously come out of their homes to assess the damage, but not adventurers had yet seen them—at least, none as far as any of them could tell. That, at least, made the walk to the city's gates easier.

The wide expanse of land in front of them, developed or otherwise, caused Yu to instinctually take a deep breath; he had seldom been to the countryside, but seeing this sort of view for himself for the first time—at least, from this point of view—was shocking all the same. Of course, that view was soon tainted by the sight of a few of the remaining monsters from the earlier assault, driven out of the city by the legions of adventurers within. Though no small number seemed to be holding the guards at bay, there seemed to be a few hanging around the rearguard for whatever reason.

"I suppose that simply leaving was too much to ask for," Eunice said, unsheathing her staff and holding it at the ready as a few griffins and harpies seemed to notice their presence. "Be careful; they seem to be more organized than the ones you fought at the square."

The griffins—five in number—began to fly around before moving to pincer the group; the harpies, meanwhile, seemed to be watching from the skies, taking any chance they could to dive in and strike wherever they saw an opportunity to do so. With precious little time to think of a proper battle plan, Yu drew his sword and glanced at the others with him.

"Break through or cut them all down?" he asked, sidestepping a harpy clawing for his face before stabbing back, drawing no small amount of blood from its torso in the process. "Regardless of what we do, if we stay put, we'll just end up boxed in on all sides."

@Sho Minazuki@SilverPaw

---

Once Myrtle had accepted the request, Mini had taken a moment for himself to try and fiddle with his own UI—a moment that was almost immediately thrown out the window once the weather mage had casually lobbed a tornado into the air. With his eyes wide open for a moment, the Belva instinctively moved towards the tree for support, but only seconds later found that it didn't actually have enough force to draw anyone in. With no reason to panic now, though, he took a deep breath and shook his head before chiming in.

"Well, regardless of what you do next, I've gotta go find my friends, wherever the heck they are" he said, raising his arm and giving the two present a small salute, "So good luck out there."

And with that, he was off.

@Hammerman@Operator Luna