The crowd gathered.. to the center... and countless murmurs.
"No way, that's the famous Verdric..!"
"Wait, you're telling me? That's the kid who reached Magus level?? He even mastered four elements!"
"No way, that girl — is she from the Grandeur Merchant Guild?! Their tools and quality of artifacts are so good!"
"Oh my god, she's so pretty... when she's here."
"N-no way, Rias too???!"
"Wait, where? The descendant of the hero who started the great era!"
"Isolde is here too?? Whoa, holy crap, this is too historical a moment right here!"
"Isolde... she's so pretty!"
The four figures in the center..
From the left.
Mila. The daughter of the merchant guild, will be the future heroine in this world or so... a fire magic user.
From the middle.
Verdric. Born from the royalty family... as well the prodigy.. and the Master of four elements in the future.
From the right..
Isolde. Born from the noble family. It is not just ordinary.. it's the famous Noble family.. and more importantly the mastery of their bloodline of ice magic.. She will be the heroine also..
Rias. The descendant of the hero Sian. Her magic mastery is unstoppable when it comes to close combat thanks to her bloodline ability: Amber of the Light.
And the other two are still nowhere..
And me... I am an extra, no more than that... I don't even know who this character is.. or worse.. I am still unsure how this game is gonna end..
Well, you know how the main character has some kind of overpowered powers when they get transmigrated into the game?
Well.
For me I am not... the main character in this world.
I was transmigrated as an unknown character that I don't even know.. or even a background..
The game was published around the pandemic.
It was called Archlight Academy..
When it was published, people all around the world started playing it. It even got talked about on social media, and eventually I started playing it.
It was popular.
It was an RPG that had the greatest graphics quality in the modern day but it wasn't really as fantastic as you were expecting..
It's modern with magic..
Buildings, cars, trains, or more... Certainly the same as our world.
There are 6 main characters in the world of Archlight Academy..
It has character development also. Interact with the NPCs? It will affect your character too. Important decisions? Yeah, they will affect your storyline too.
And the best part is, it was a harem genre..
It has several endings and, of course, there are consequences.
But...
It was still incomplete. By that time the players were becoming suspicious how the game updates kept getting darker and darker..
And there was an anonymous person who sought the answer...
Anonymous: "Hey! Developer, can you tell us about what your plan is for the main story?"
The member of the developer responded.
"I am sorry.. I want to quit.."
By that time.
The game hadn't updated for 2 years.
The current player count had been declining rapidly. Eventually the game died.
Still there were more players who kept playing like maniacs...
As who those people were, you may ask?
That's right, it's me.... one of them.
A man sat on the gaming chair while watching a Rubik's cube tutorial..
"So that's how it..." He picked up a Rubik's cube and solved it quietly.
He slid the top of the cube.. next left. Right. Down. Up. Left. Left. Right. Down—
Then a sudden notification on his phone.
He flinched. "Huh?" He quickly got up and grabbed his phone. "..."
Shin: Saittttoooooo!!!! I found a way how to defeat theeee booooosss!!!! On episode 34(≧▽≦)
As Saito stared at the message...
Saito replied.
Saito: You're joking around. There's no way to defeat an undefeated Black Dural Dragon..
He hit send.
Then another message.
Shin: I AM NOT JOKING!!! Here let me send you the vid.
The video was sent.
The video played, and there was the main character standing in a stone arena full of blood, and the Black Dural Dragon spitting black flames on the floor. It spread quickly, eventually reaching the character. But it used a glitch. It's called
Noclip. To use the noclip it needs to be clicking the mouse and the dash button repeatedly.. or just use an auto clicker.
"It's just a noclip glitch... Still, the Black Dural Dragon had 3 lives. This one is still in the early game. There's really nothing special about that. All players have already defeated round 1 and 2.."
As the fight continued on, eventually reaching the last round.
"Well let's see..." He grunted, still holding the phone.. and he moved his leg to roll his chair to the PC.. and clicked on his keyboard.
Meanwhile, in the video....
The character used the ultimate skill on the dragon. But it had no effect. The dragon flew with its wings, launching a city-level attack. Black orb. But then.. it cut off the video.. a blank screen for a second then.
"What?—" As he was processing just what happened when it cut off... The main character was standing there... looking at the moon.. all bloody but alive.
"WHAT???????!!!" He jumped. The Rubik's cube fell to the carpet.
"But how— wait, more than that, why did it cut off on that fight?!! How am I supposed to know how to defeat that??"
He immediately hovered his finger over the floating message..
Saito: Hey! Shin, why'd you cut off when showing how you defeated the Black Dural Dragon??!?
He hit reply.
Then Shin replied.
Shin: Huh what? I didn't cut off or anything? Nevermind, you're just being dramatic! Just defeat it already, I am gatekeeping this.
"???????" After reading the message I was confused. Isn't he intentionally leaving it out?
"You're the one who's gatekeeping it from me.." I slumped into the comfy chair and opened the Archlight Academy game.
"Maybe it's just a glitch... I'll watch it again..." He played the video again. It was the same. The character standing there using skills, the Black Dural Dragon launching a black orb. And then a blank screen for a second.
"..."
"What a bullshi—"
Then suddenly his room became dark.
"What the... Is it a power outage? Wait no. My monitor is still on..."
Weird... maybe it's the lights—
A sudden chill through the air touch my skin.
Cracks....
"?!" I flinched and stumbled out of my chair. "What the fuck.."
[You've been chosen... Participant.]
"What?.." The blue screen changed.
[You will be chosen to participate in the ########s. Please remain on standby.]
"Ah—what now???—" I quickly got up.. and grabbed my Rubik's cube, ready to throw it. I don't know what had gotten into me.
[Starting... Soul Synchronization..]
Before I realized what was going on... my mind went blank...
[Successfully synchronized soul.. 100% compatibility...]
[Good luck.]
And... with cracks.. the monitor shattered into pieces, eventually sucking me in...
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
And that moment...
My eyes fluttered open to see an unfamiliar ceiling...
"Where am I.." I sat up on the bed... Looking around... An unfamiliar place... a different apartment....
"What..." I remembered I was just... seeing a video and then.....
"..." And as I realized what this place was, I quickly got up and rushed towards the window. I reached my hand to the handle, and then...
"S-seriously????!!!"
You're kidding, right?
The world of Archlight Academy...