A girl was walking through the hallway as she thought what her next action should be. She still had not considered anything as at some point she found herself at the campus crossroads. As Elena remembered it was a way to the training grounds, cafeteria and a garden. As she thought a little she decided that for now it would be the most simple decision to continue getting the first encounters.

 

That is why Elena went to the training grounds and soon arrived. While they were almost empty, one figure stood almost at the center while doing training swings.

 

It was Rumberg Flatsher - second son of one of the most powerful families. As it happens with second sons - he always lived in the shadow of his older brother who was mostly superior to Rumberg. As a result, he turned into a tryhard who was pursuing the sword with all his might and cared about his results the most. But for Elena he was just a joke character.

 

The reason was simple - he was not suited for a sword. But as Elena liked to explore all the dungeons and fields in the game she found tons of joke weapons that were some cooking tools. In a game with a battle setting, finding some frying pan or a scoop that was a weapon class item seemed like a joke. But as Elena tried it out on different characters she found out that Rumberg actually used them more effectively than any other weapon.

 

If you go through his route you will see a fun story when he finds out that he is actually a good cook and then together with Elena Taker he will pursue cooking and fight most of their battles in the kitchen. But Elena never knew any of it as for her Rumberg was simply a joke character who uses joke weapons.

 

After some time the boy noticed that he had been watched as he looked to where Elena was standing. He quickly stopped his training as he walked to her with a bit of an angry face. As he came closer his green hair was swaying on the wind as he looked at Elena with his brown colored eyes.

 

“Is it so fun to watch other people train without asking them?” Rumberg questioned her.

 

“I thought that training grounds are free for all to train and watch, no?” was Elena's answer. This time she did not try to remember what were the game options as she simply said what she thought.

 

“Ah y-yeah, I guess you’re right.” a boy said a bit timidly.

 

“Heh, trying to act tough but then instantly concede in front of the opponent.” Elena’s evaluation of him wasn’t high as she simply decided to go forward to the next target.

 

“He...hey! I’m Rumberg Flatsher, by the way!” the boy suddenly exclaimed.

 

“I never asked for this.”

 

“Sure sure. And I’m Elena….Taker…” as Elena said so and a strange filling suddenly aroused inside her. It was the first time she actually introduced herself with this name and thoughts went strange for a bit, but she decided to put them down.

 

“O-oh! I heard of you! Aren’t you the exceptional first year who is good at supporting? Can you take me to the field with you? I’m still level 5 but I’m rather good with a sword!”

 

“Ha!...A-ahem. Sure, I’ll think about it.” Elena almost laughed at him as she retired.

 

For her next target she went to the garden, but as Elena was walking through the hallway she again bumped into someone.

 

“Isn’t that a popular newbie Elena Taker?” said the person as he fixed his glasses.

 

In front of Elena was a tall boy with grayish eyes and long black hair. He was wearing glasses and his uniform was slightly different than that of the other students but his shoulder was exposed the same way with a number on it being 15. His name was Alfred Seric - a Battle Academy’s student council president. He was a strict character who’s only noticeable feature was glasses. A typical megane character made just for the audience who loves some. As in the game, he wielded a battle-axe and was a type of a glass cannon character as his damage was huge while defense was paper-thin. And while Elena mostly liked this type of character she did not use him much as he was too paper-thin and his speed was too slow as in most of the fights he just died before doing any hits.

 

“You sure do not look as exceptional as rumors say. But as you like to prove me wrong - take me with you to the field so I can personally see if you’re worth being in this academy.” as he said so, he continued walking his way.

 

As for Elena, she was still standing where she was as her face was smiling a bit hysterically. For some reason, her feelings were in disarray as she did not understand what was happening both with her and around her. But the main point in her head was the fact that Alfred shouldn’t have appeared here. As she was planning in her head that she would go and meet the prince and then go to her room as she’d meet the student council president on the way, but he suddenly appeared here that was not like in the game at all.

 

“Ahaha” as she laughed a bit she still went to the garden for a final capture target.

 

As she was going she was trying to consider what was happening with her as she could not control her expression that well all of a sudden. A slightly hysterical smile on her face was still there as Elena couldn't think straight at all.

 

Still, as the garden was already nearby she arrived there pretty fast. But Elena didn't try to search for the prince as she aimlessly was walking around trying to understand something. Anything. 

 

“I was looking at the flowers, trying to find the prettiest one, but the prettiest one came for me by itself.” Suddenly a gentle voice sounded from the side and Elena turned to see that the prince was standing right near her.

 

Subconsciously she did a few steps back as her face was becoming a mess of random emotions.

 

“What wrong? Did I scare you, little kitten?”

 

Of course, a person in front of Elena could never scare her. He was the first prince Leon Craus. A blond haired blue eyed boy who was the sweetest of all the other capture targets. He acted like a playboy and was really proactive that was rather popular with players. He used an epee as his weapon but Elene never tried him. For her he was a quintessence of all the unneeded and unnatural sweetness in the game and her overall impression of him was ‘a moron who can't even put two words together so that they won't sound like a goddamn cheap flirt’.

 

But right now, even if Elena felt this unneeded sweetness even in her mouth, the main thought in her head was that there is something wrong with her right now.

 

“Are you okay? Don’t be afraid, little kitten, I’m not scary. My name is Leon, Leon Craus. Can I hear yours?” the prince still was acting sweet as his intonation made his words too sugary for Elena to bear.

 

But still, she tried to answer him.

 

“Elena. Elena Ta….Tak….Take…” but she couldn’t finish as there was a feeling of something snapping inside Elena’s head.

 

The effect of the ‘Clear mind’ wore off as the time passed and all the problematic thoughts together with all the new information formed a disorderly mess in her head. A new wave of headache appeared as Elena grabbed her head. But this time the sudden pain was too large to bear, so she simply fainted where she stood.

 

.

 

.

 

.

 

“Far from here fly away!”

In a little private karaoke box, two girls were screaming in their microphones while looking at the screen.

 

“To the kindly world!”

 

As they both finished the last words, a score of 45 appeared on the tv. As two girls looked at it and then at each other, they suddenly burst into laughter.

 

“Ahaha! Surely screaming a metal song together was not an easy task.” Elena was still laughing a bit as she wiped her laugh tears from the corners of her eyes.

 

“Sure! Still, you even growled like an actual vocalist! Maybe you should start a metal band when you finish school?” another girl answered with a big smile.

 

“Marina, your offer sure sounds great. Then I’ll invite you to be our drummer.” Elena smiled back as she continued “Actually, this band’s new album is rather neat. They will surely add new songs this week so let's try again next time.”

 

“Mm.” Marina nodded, but then her face suddenly darkened “But there won't be the next time.”

 

“Eh? Why?”

 

“Because you won't be here anymore.”

 

“Huh?” Elena couldn’t understand “What do you mean?”

 

She tried to grab her friend, but as Elena’s hand almost reached, Marina suddenly vanished together with the room.

 

“What the hell is going on!?”

Elena found herself in the darkness and she realized that her clothes changed as well as a microphone in her hand turned into a sword. As it was sudden, Elena dropped the sword and it fell to the ground with a clanky sound.

 

“Not good, you should care better about your weapon.”

 

As a sudden voice sounded behind, Elena turned back as she found herself in the classroom as a brown eyed young man was looking at her with a stern face.

 

“Don’t worry, even if she won’t do good I’ll protect her!” another voice appeared as Elena saw a crimson haired boy looking at her with a gentle face as he tried to pat her hand. But Elena dodged it and ran away from the classroom.

 

“No running in the hallway!”

 

As she heard another voice from behind she ignored it and started running. She just wanted to run somewhere. Anywhere. But the hallway seemed endless and there were no doors on the side.

 

After running for some time Elena finally saw a fork, but as she turned behind a random corner she found herself in the living room of her apartment. After looking around she saw a woman sitting at a table as she was crying while closing her face.

 

“Mom!”

 

“Why you should’ve died, you stupid daughter!” the woman continued crying as if she had not seen Elena at all.

 

“Wait, mom! I’m here! Please don’t cry, everything is okay!” a girl tried to calm her mother down as she went closer. Leaning on the table she tried to hold mother’s hand but everything vanished once again. Without support, Elena dropped on the floor but what she saw was green grass instead of a carpet.

 

“Are you okay, little kitty? Should I help you?” In front of her was a boy who was trying to lend her a hand.

 

“No!” Elena slapped the hand in front of her and hastily got up, trying to run away and found a huge mirror in front of her. But the reflection was not her but another girl that looked like her. She had similar features but she had shoulder-length brown hair and amber eyes.

 

“Ohoho! That’s truly the face of a lowly commoner!” A girl's voice sounded behind as Elena turned back and saw a familiar figure.

 

“You truly seem to lack any manners.” another voice sounded and Elena saw another familiar face.

 

The more she looked around the more people appeared. And as Elena looked at them she knew that they were all characters of a game she cleared not long ago and characters she did not want to see. But they all looked more real than in the game as they were looking at her with different faces all saying something. But Elena had no desire to listen as she tried to close her ears until…

 

“Elena Taker!”

 

“No! Shut up! Shut up!” Elena snapped as she pushed the closest person and ran away from the encirclement.

 

She was running in the darkness as wanting to run far away until she saw another familiar figure.

 

“Marina!”

 

A girl in front of her was walking in the opposite direction and did not react to Elena. Elena still ran but no matter how fast she was running she never felt that she was closing the gap between them.

 

“Wait! Marina, wait!” Elena shouted as loud as she could and a girl in front of her stopped.

 

She turned her head to look somewhere at a side as she said.

“You know, as you’re now in Otome game I still hope that you will awake a sleeping maiden inside of you” and after these words, she continued walking.

 

“Wait! No, wait!” Elena cried but she felt as her friend’s figure was moving further away.

“Wait! Marina wait! Please don’t go! I don’t want to! Don’t go, Marina! Please! Marina! Marina!...”

 

.

 

.

 

.

 

“Marina!”

 

In a medical room, a girl suddenly woke up from the bed as she screamed. She was panting heavily and had tear marks on her face as it looked like she saw a nightmare. After a brief moment, a girl looked at her hand as she was thinking.

 

“Am I…”

 

“Elena, you’re awake, are you okay?” a sudden voice sounded right beside her and Elena turned her head.

 

What she saw was a young boy with crimson hair, Elena Taker’s childhood friend Edward, as well as all the other boys who were looking at her worriedly. Be it any other girl who played LBA she would be incredibly happy to see this scene. But Elena had no time to guess why the hell the whole Otome game cast was caring about her that much, as looking at these people brings her nothing but anger.

 

She quickly stood up from the bed trying to leave, but her body was tired as she swayed, almost falling down. But Edward was fast enough to catch her.

 

“What’s wrong with you today? You seem so…”

 

“Let me go!” Elena gave no chance for Edward to finish talking as she struggled to get out of his grip.

 

As a boy wasn't holding her too strong she easily broke free, but soon as she was near the door Edward caught her hand.

 

“I said let me fucking go!” Elena swore as she was incredibly annoyed, but the boy had no intention to let her go.

 

“I won’t until you say what’s wrong with you! You acting strange, Elena! What happens? Did someone bully you on the first day?”

 

“Your whole existence is a bully, you stupid moron!”

 

Edward's grip was obviously stronger than Elena and she couldn’t get away. So she swayed her hand and struck the wall with all her might. Edward wasn’t expecting it and as his fingers were sandwiched between the wall and Elena’s hand he let out a groan and eased his grip, allowing Elena to break free. Right after that Elena walked away from the medical room.

“Elena Taker!”

 

As another voice also seems to join Edward in pursuing the girl Elena started running. Even if she didn’t want it, she still had all the campus layout memorized so it wasn't hard for Elena to get out of the chase. As she ran to the other side of the campus she entered a girl’s restroom.

 

While trying to calm herself down Elena washed her face. But then she looked into the mirror to see Elena Taker’s appearance. She washed again using sope but the result was the same. She washed again and again, without any decent reason to do so. She scratched her face with her nails as she washed. Elena couldn't control herself as well as she couldn’t understand what she tried to achieve by this. But she still continued to wash her face and look at the mirror until she ran out of soap.

 

The result was the same. Her face turned extremely white and was full of scratches but it was still Elena Taker’s face.

 

The girl's heart was full of emotions. Anger, grief, hatred mixed inside of her as she struck the mirror with her fist so that it shattered. Blood dripped from her fist because of the mirror shards but she didn’t care as all she saw was the same Elena Taker’s appearance in these shards.

 

“Shit!”

 

As Elena angrily cried she continued to destroy all the other mirrors in a girl's restroom. She was venting her anger as she complained in her heart and after the whole floor was filled with broken mirror shards and droplets of Elena’s blood - she finally calmed down.

 

“What the hell. I never wanted any of it! I wanted to brag to Marina about how I finally defeated that stupid dragon. I wanted to finish the game I was currently playing. I wanted to spend more time with my friends! With my mom!”

 

But she could understand that now she probably died and now was inside the game. Or more precisely - in the game world. But anything else she had was questions. Maybe she can go back? Maybe there is a way? Or does she need to live here from now on as Elena Taker?

 

She wasn’t sure but there was only one obvious answer about what to do.

 

“I need to clear the game.”

 

And as Elena thought of it...isn’t the game played by itself? The time will go anyway and a year will pass then the game will end. And as morning first encounters showed, even if capture targets showed their interest in her they were not in their positions as it was in the game. They had their things to do and their thoughts to think so the world wasn’t going by story rails. Does she really need to do anything?

 

But still, the final event in the game was a battle with a dragon and Elena was afraid. Will she be forced to fight it? Will this dragon just attack the city and then shields will protect it or will he appear in front of her as a sudden encounter?

 

Elena wasn’t sure. Therefore - she needs to get stronger. And that means that she needs to go to the field and fight monsters. She could create a party for that. Even after her little hysteria, her childhood friend will gladly join her party as well as the other characters who showed some interest in her. She doesn’t know anyone else anyway. But going together with these people seemed impossible as all Elena could feel while remembering their faces was hate and anger. She never liked them and now she is forced to stay in their world? This was just a bad joke for Elena.

 

And anyway if she’ll actually travel with them she’ll need to interact, and the unnecessary sweetness of their talk will just annoy her the same as always. She would probably start vomiting rainbow sweets after just one day!

 

But there is also a way to go solo. Still, right now this was not a game but reality. Elena surely has magic, but there is no status, no inventory, no pause menu or saves and loads. So if she will go and fight for herself she would most likely vomit her own blood instead.

 

Still.

 

"If I need to choose to vomit rainbow sweets or vomit blood - I'd better choose blood! Even if I need to clear this game I'm choosing a solo challenge!"

 

With determination, Elena was going to leave the girl’s restroom until she noticed a somewhat big mirror shard that survived her carnage. As she saw her appearance with a scratched face and bloody fists she suddenly noticed her injures and pain suddenly struck her.

 

“Damn, I guess I need to get used to this feeling.” she thought as she healed and cleansed herself before leaving.

 

Later someone entered a girl’s bathroom on the far side of the campus to see a strange picture. All the mirrors were shattered and there was some blood on the floor. An investigation was held but as there were no traces of someone entering or leaving the room as well as no decent suspects - the culprit was never found.