Boom.

             The crackle of an unexpected fireball had erupted two inches from the head of the red headed Lacey Lolin. She was almost in tears, but she kept going. She pushed herself off the column she had been backed into, towards the man in front of her; her former childhood friend.

            The knife in her hand had already drawn blood, but it was not enough; the man only had a cut across the cheek. If only he hadn’t reacted when Lacey first tried to stab him, but then again, Lacey had no way of knowing he would be a trained martial artist, though she had spent her entire life with the boy.

            She swung and swung but the man dodged confidently enough that he’d let the breeze of the knife’s tip tickle his nose. No matter who was looking at the scene, it was clear; he was playing around with her.

            The initial shock of a sudden betrayal had worn off and the man had become confident; the end was in sight. That stupid, cocky smile telegraphed as much.

            The man caught Lacey’s knife between his fingers, and stooped the girl in her tracks. His face came close to hers, her eyes widened as she trembled, tears welling in her eyes.

            “Gah-” a pitiful gasp escaped Lacey’s lips.

            “Too bad; we could have been great friends.”

            The man; Lacey’s former childhood friend had run his hand through her gut, his hand dyed red on the other side of her back.

            “Give him back-”

            “Hmm? What did you say?” The man looked at Lacey with a confused look as vibrant red blood slipped out of the corners of her lips.

            “Give… back… my… Alfred…”

            “Ahh, that. Sorry, he’s long gone.”

            The light in Lacey’s eyes faded, and her body fell limp, only to be held up by the arm that impaled her.

            “Hmph, you’re the first of many to fall by my hand. I’ll always remember you, Lucy. As the first to fall.”

***

            “HER NAME IS LACEY, DAMNIT!”

            My coffee and energy drink mix slammed into the wall behind the intangible screen I had been watching like a hawk. I shouldn’t have thrown it in a fit of rage but what was I to do? My first lead just got slaughtered!

            “Damn it!” I screamed slamming my fists on my console, “I was finally able to find a transmigrator, and I had a unit right there, but then he was a MARTIAL ARTIST?! Of all things?! And he had fireballs?! This is rigged! Do you hear me, God?! This is rigged!”

            I looked back at the main screen; that dick had thrown Lacey’s body to the side like she was a ragdoll. I was doing my best to hold back the tears, but they were slipping out faster than the blood pooled around Lacey’s body.

            “Dang it! Lacey, I’m sorry! I shouldn’t have used you! But- you were the first person that actually gave me a warning! You were the first person that got close to a transmigrator! Damn it!”

            I pounded the console, many of the keys on the panel triggering multiple random screens to open before me.

            Lacey was a good girl. Her “suspicion” and “anxiety” values had suddenly spiked. She had also been going through a lot of stress recently. It was thanks to those values that I noticed something was amiss when I was casually browsing profiles. She had recently been dealing with the possibility that her childhood friend was going to die. When I saw that and did the digging, I saw the cause of the sudden spike. Her friend had become healthy again and was out and walking about. Naturally, that was strange enough for Lacey to believe something was wrong. Lacey had become more prone to following her friend, and so I guided her to do that, sending her to an abandoned dojo type place.

            I’m not going to let you die in vain.

            I cleared the random screens on before me, and placed the screen with Alfred’s face off to the side. I looked across my panel of hundreds of buttons and found the one that allowed me to bring up Lacey’s profile.

            “Dang it, Lacey. If this were a dating simulator, I would definitely have gone for your route first. Heck, I would have had a folder of your fan art.”

            I looked around the control panel; I wanted to find a way to save Lacey.

            “Come on, come on, let there be a reincarnation function… Ahh! There it is- wait, it’s greyed out… Dammit all! I don’t have enough energy to pay the minimum cost!”

            I brought up a status screen that showed the information for Lacey’s soul.

            “Okay, I’m going to bookmark this. It looks like you aren’t going to reincarnate for another century, but I promise, as soon as I unlock the reincarnation function, I’ll bring you back and guide you to a happy life! Bookmarking her information and putting the soul-bookmark panel to the side, I returned to her main profile page.

            Lacey Lolin, 19. Born to Luca Lolin and Ariana Lolin-Finch. She grew up on the twelfth floor and was mostly a rural girl. In her hometown, a town that focused on forestry and farming, she was known for being a really good hunter and a cheerful girl. She and her childhood friend, Alfred, went to one of the major hubs on the twelfth floor because Alfred wanted to pursue pharmaceutical studies. Lacey however didn’t want to say goodbye to Alfred. At her current trajectory, it was 80% certain that Lacey was going to end up with Alfred. There were four other suitors, but Alfred was essentially her canonical route. However, a mysterious accident occurred that changed the trajectory of her fate.

            Rampant Transmigration.

            I looked back up to the screen. Alfred Hitch. Or rather, the body of Alfred hitch currently host to a transmigrator, a soul from another world. That’s the guy I needed to keep an eye on. I immediately put him on my watch list. Now as long as a unit was nearby, I would have eyes on him.

            “Lacey might’ve fallen to you, but she let me find you, Alfred. Or should I say, Mister Transmigrator. Get ready, my lovely ladies are going to descend upon you. Strategy game mastermind, Strezza, is going to destroy you.”