Julia rubbed her eyes before rolling over, propping herself up. She winced, a dull pain shot up her spine. Only in her college years had she felt this miserable and crummy. When she spent her night drinking beer and eating hot wings late into the night. It took several seconds to coax her eyes before she could open them. A flicker of light caused a wave of nausea to crash into her. Julia winced again. From personal experience, she knew it was better to lie back down.

Julia stretched out her body. “I must have spent too much time online.” She thought to herself, working out the soreness in her body.

This was a harsh reminder that she was not getting any younger. Once again, she swore to herself to take better care of her body. Several breaths later, she relaxed her body and focused on recovering.

In time, the aching sensation faded away, along with the nausea. This was the quickest she had ever recovered from a rough night.

With care, she propped herself up once again, opening her eyes. In front of her was a strange but all too familiar sight. Ophelia’s bedroom in the Ichor Sanctuary! Julia spent hours and a lot of gold to make sure this room was perfect, something worthy of an empress. Although, she never used it.

“What’s going on?” Dumbstruck, she looked around the room.

The navy blue and foamy white marble created the illusion that one was walking on top of the water as it crashed onto the shore. The ornate ebony and golden furniture gave the room a mystic and regal feeling. Anyone who walked in here would know it was the chambers of a ruler.

As she looked around, something felt different. An off-ness she couldn’t place. However, everything in the room looked fine. Nothing seemed out of place. Then it hit her! It was not the room, but her own view. The menu icons that were always present were no longer there!

Julia stretched out her arm, trying to find the menu icons. “This shouldn’t be possible. What’s going on?!”

“Is this a bug or a glitch?”

From what she knew of the game, that shouldn’t be possible. Not only did the game have a dedicated AI looking for issues like this. Her gaming headset would also have warned her by now of any irregularities. There were countless fail-safes. Therefore, a bug or glitch was unlikely.

“Or is this a lucid dream?”

In her college years, she learned about them, but only briefly. So she did not have a good understanding of how they worked. Just superficial knowledge. She just knew that they happened when you knew you were asleep. You could then control your dreams. Julia figured she must have fallen asleep while playing the game. She figured that because of that and the recent stress; it made senses for such a thing to happen.

She slid off the bed off the bed onto the floor, her legs shook. “If it is a dream, I might as well enjoy it.”

Unsteadily, she made her way over to the mirror on the far wall. Julia gasped! Her hands covered her mouth as her eyes went wide. Instead of herself, she was in the body of Ophelia! A smile appeared across her face as she surveyed Ophelia’s body. With unblinking focus, she took it all in. It took her hours to craft such a magnificent avatar, and now she was in control of it. A thought occurred to her as she looked at Ophelia.

Julia’s eyes narrowed as she kept staring into the mirror. “Was this common in a lucid dream?”

To her knowledge, lucid dreams, was when you knew you were dreaming. Which allowed you to gain control over your dreams. She crossed her arms, focusing on her avatar, trying to change something. At first, she tried to sprout wings from her back. Nothing happened. Instead, she tried something simpler, summoning a red ball in her hand. Yet again, nothing happened. No matter what she imagined, or how hard she tried, nothing happened.

An impossible realisation crept back into her thoughts, but she couldn’t believe it. Julia shook her head, trying to push the thought aside. “It’s impossible!”

But no matter how she fought against the thought, it kept creeping back up. “Am I somehow stuck in the game?”

Her knees gave out, and she sunk to the floor. “No, that’s not possible.”

A whirlwind of question flooded her mind. “But what if it is true? What’s happening to my body?”

She lived alone and just quit her job. It would be days or possibly weeks before anyone would check on her. By then, she would have died from dehydration or exhaustion. For safety reasons, the game would automatically log you out after 12 hours. However, she didn’t have a game clock anymore, so she didn’t know how much time had passed. She needed to get out!

“Menu Screen.” Julia’s eyes darted around, looking for any notification or signs of change.

Nothing happened.

She cleared her throat. “Menu Screen, Activate!”

Nothing.

Julia’s jaw clenched. “Come on!”

“MENU... SCREEN... ACTIVATE!” She tried her best to articulate every world in her best customer service voice. But still nothing appeared, no matter where she looked.

Julia looked up to the ceiling as if calling to some god. “GM Message!”

Nothing.

“GM CALL FUNCTION” Again, she tried her best to articulate every word. Just like all the other times, nothing happened.

Julia bolted up and paced around the room, racking her brain about what was happening. From the corner of her eye, she spotted a beautiful golden vase. It was a collector item she had bought from an auction in some dwarven kingdom. It had two twin dragons wrapping around the vase, their wings forming the handles. An idea struck her. Walking over to it, she tried interacting with it. Nothing. No icon appeared, or information.

Julia placed the vase back on its pedestal before turning to another item. This time a painting. As she tried interacting with it, again, nothing happened. In the game, a window of information appears, giving details about the item. She tried to interact with several items around the room, but no window appeared.

“Okay, if the game’s call menu and functions are not working, then there is only one thing left.”

It was the last ditch effort any gamer had. The headset had an emergency abort function. This method would force the game and capsule to shut down. The problem with this was that it could damage the capsule, headset, and might cause personal injuries. Taking a deep breath, she steadied herself, building up the courage to start the shutdown.

“Protocol: emergency abortion from game!” After uttering those words, she braced herself for the emergency jettison from the game.

However, just like every other time, nothing happened. Feeling the strength leave her legs, she collapsed on the bed. What was she going to do now? None of the game functions or the emergency functions were working!

It was infuriating! Her stomach felt as if it was twisting in knots. While her body tensed up. Julia didn’t know what else to do. She clenched her fists, her nails digging into her palms. An impossible sensation shot up her arm. Pain! Slowly, Julia looked down at her hand and saw golden blood drip from her hand.

Julia’s eyes went wide as her jaw dropped. “Impossible.”

You should not be able to experience pain. It was highly illegal for any company to put players through any sort of pain while in a virtual setting. Many of the world governments had outlawed it, claiming it was essentially torture. Only illegally modified headsets would allow for such things.

Knock...knock...knock!

The sound of someone at the door snapped her out of her thoughts, bringing her back to the present.

“Your highness, it’s Lyari. Is everything okay? May I enter?”

Julia looked towards the door in a daze. Countless questions crashed into her mind. “Lyari?”

Lyari Zinra was the leader of the “Silent Hands’’ and Ophelia’s right-hand man. Unlike most NPCs, Lyari and the rest of the silent hand were custom made, designed personally by Julia. She had created them using a precious item she had discovered through a rare quest. The “NPC Creation Token” could have auctioned off for an insane price, allowing her to live in luxury for some time. Instead, she used all ten charges of the token to create special NPCs that were only loyal to her.

Happy to hear a familiar voice, Julia got up from the bed. “You may enter.”

The door opened and standing there was the elegant and well-mannered Lyari. He held a special place in Julia’s heart. He was the first NPC she created. Molded from the appearance of Ophelia, the took looked very similar; he was, of course, a bit more masculine. Without thinking, Julia walked towards him and scrutinized every little detail on Lyari’s body. From his calm and gorgeous face to his strong, callused hands.

The subtle smell of citrus blossoms, lavender, and vanilla filled her nose. Which took her by surprise, because that was not a game function. Then something struck her. It was an incredibly intense sweet aroma, hiding beneath his scent. Whatever it was, felt exquisitely pleasurable. Julia felt as if she could get lost in this scent.

“Are you okay, your highness?” Lyari's eyes filled with concern as he stared at Julia’s blooded hand.

His question snapped her out of her trance as she looked down at her hand. The wound had already healed. Only the golden blood stained her delicate white skin.

Seeing his concern, she gave him a slight smile. “Ah, yes, I am fine.”

Lyari pulled out a white handkerchief and motioned towards her hand. “May I?”

Julia nodded. Lyari carefully cleaned the blood from her hand, being as gentle as possible. She felt his warm skin against hers. It had a calming effect. Just then, another thought invaded her mind. She grabbed his wrist and held it in her hands.

Ba-dum, ba-dum, ba-dum.

I knew the feeling. It was the steady beating of a heart.

“Impossible…” Julia let go of his wrist.

Although his face was calm, she could see the confusion in his eyes. Although the games AI made NPC feel like actual people, it didn’t go this far. The pain, the smell, the warmth, and now the heartbeat. This level of detail was not something the game could do and, by law, could not do.

“What is happening?” Julia didn’t know what to do.

A memory came bubbling up from the depths of her mind. “What happened during the meeting?”

At its mention, Lyari looked ruffled. However, remaining calm, he answered her question. “Your highness, at the end of our meeting you screamed out in pain and soon after collapsed to the ground.”

He paused for a second, as if putting his thoughts into order before continuing. “Myself and everyone else in the Ichor sanctuary also collapsed.”

Julia’s eyes went wide as things became to come together. “Do you know the reason?”

Lyari shook his head slowly, hanging his head low. “We have tried investigating these last few days, but have discovered nothing. My apologies for my failure, your highness.” He gave her a deep bow.

Julia was not sure if she misheard him. Her eyes locked onto Lyari’s. “Last few days?”

Coming up from his bow, Lyari nodded. “Yes, your highness, you have been asleep for almost a week.”

“A whole week?” She echoed softly.

This couldn’t be the game. The real world and the game world shared the same time. So twenty-four in the game was twenty-four hours in the real world. By now, her actual body would either be dead. Even if she was in the game, she would have felt the mental fatigue of being in the game that long. However, she felt fine and was not suffering any negative effects.

“Yes, your highness, everyone else work up after a few hours. You alone remained asleep.” Lyari look eyes softened as he looked at her with concern.

“We tried to wake you, even using magic and potions, but nothing had any effect on you.” A weak smile spread across his face. She could tell he had worried about her.

However, something about his expression and tone made her worry. “What happened while I was asleep?”

The question startled the usually composed man. “Your highness...” He stopped, as if he was not sure what to say. His gaze left hers.

“What is it? Is someone missing? Did something happen to the sanctuary?” Fear bubbled up inside of her. Julia’s body went tense in anticipation of bad news.

Lyari shook his head, which calmed her anxious mind. “What I am about to say may sound ludicrous, but I swear upon my life that every word I speak is the truth.”

Julia had never seen such a stern and serious look on Lyari’s face before. “Okay…”

He took in a deep breath and explained. “Your highness, somehow the sanctuary and everything inside of it have teleported to some unknown world.”

Julia’s eyes narrowed at his words. She looked around her, as if trying to confirm his words. Her mind sputtered and skipped, unable to process anything. The world felt like it was crumbling around her. She took a few steps back and sat down on the bed. There was simply too much happening right now. Not only was she somehow in Ophelia’s body, but now she was in another world. It was simply too much for any one person to handle.

She sat there in a silent daze. The impossible became possible. Her thoughts were a vortex of questions and anxieties. She kept trying to tell herself this was all a dream, but she couldn’t really believe that. After several silent minutes, Julia’s mind finally settled down. She crossed her arms in front of her tightly and gazed up at Lyari.

“What? What do you mean? How?” Although she knew he would never lie to her. Julia still had to ask.

Lyari took a step forward, bringing himself closer to her. He knelt down in front of her. “We have been scouting the area and noticed that the terrain has completely changed.”

“There are even animals and fauna we have never seen before.” Before he went any further, Julia raised her hand to stop him.

“But that doesn’t mean we are in another world!” She did not mean to sound so desperate, but it just came out that way.

He silently nodded, but a pensive expression came across his face. “Your highness, you are right. However, the biggest piece of evidence we have come to a new world is the constellations themselves. None of the stars that we know are in the sky.”

This was not a dream, nor was she trapped in a game. She was in Ophelia’s body and the Ichor Sanctuary, and everyone in it was in a new world. The weight of that thought crashed into her, causing her mind to go blank. She just couldn’t pull herself together. Until a thought popped into her mind.

How did this happen?

With this question, a faint memory crept up to the surface of her mind. Flashes of events played through her mind. She received a notification. It was from an unknown sender. The title was Champion Selection. She opened it. When she tried to recall the content of the message, a searing pain exploded in her head. It was as if a red-hot knife stabbed in her. She gritted her teeth as she gripped her grabbed her head. The pain caused her vision to go white. Julia collapsed on the bed, still grabbing the sides of her head.

“Your highness!”

Lyari bolted up and came to her side. “Are you okay?”

He grabbed her, gazing intently down at her. Fear washed over his face as Lyari saw Ophelia in dire pain. “What is wrong?!”

With a haggard breath, she opened her eyes and found herself in the arms of Lyari. “I tried to remember something that might have a connection to us being here. However, when I tried to recall the memory, I felt pain.” Julia rubbed her temples with her fingers, trying to undo the tension.

Lyari gripped her tightly and looked at her with concern. “Your highness, for your own safety and health, please do not push yourself.”

“I am fine now, Lyari, thank you.” She squeezed his arm lightly and stood up from his embrace.

Lyari’s usual calm self filled with worry as he continued to glance over her body. His face was pale and she could see the panic in his narrowed eyes. Seeing him like this reminded her briefly of the personality she had written or him. The thought sent waves of shame through her, embarrassed at writing such a thing.

Lyari’s base personality is elegant, well-mannered, and calm. However, she had also written that he was a man of hidden passion. He holds a lot of love and respect for Ophelia, doing everything he can do for her. Julia wondered if what she had written played an impact on him now, or was he perhaps a totally different person?

The more Julia thought about it, the more shame and embarrassment she felt, and motioned for Lyari to help her up. Without a word, he stood up and offered his hand gracefully, gently, helping her up as if she would break at any moment.

A gloomy expression came over Lyari’s face. “Your highness…”

Julia let go of his hand. She hoped it was not more bad news. “What is it?”

Lyari frowned and hung his head. “I hate to add to your worries, but there is something that needs your attention.”

“We need your leadership in this time of crisis.” Lyari gave her a slight bow.

Julia stared at him blankly. A nervous feeling bubbled up in her chest. “What do you mean?”

“In your absence, myself and the prime minister have been able to run the sanctuary, but many people worry. Several ministers and members of the sanctuary have asked to see you repeatedly.” A sneer spread across his face as he mention ministers and members.

Julia crossed her arms. “I see…”

What to do?

It felt like a crushing weight now rested on her shoulders. This wasn’t a dream she was going to wake up from. Nor was it a game someone would rescue her from. She could barely accept what had just happened to her. Now she needed to handle the sanctuary’s affairs?

Julia took in a deep breath and hid her face in her palms. She needed to learn how this happened. There might be a way to return to earth.

“Wait…”

A thought seized her mind. “Do I even want to return to earth?”

If this was truly a new world, then this could be a new start for her. She was in the body of Ophelia, a badass high-elf with the blood of a purebred vampire coursing through her veins!

What to do? It felt like a crushing weight now rested on her shoulders. No one was going to come rescue her. Julia did not even know where to begin. She needed to find out how and why this was happening. The nervousness, anxiety, and tension in her body melted away. Here she was, a ruler, someone who did not have to listen or bend to anyone’s will or demands. If she looked at it like this, her actual life was awful. She worked for money so she could play as Ophelia. This was her chance to be the person she had always wanted to be!

But she still needed to learn why she was here. Something had brought her here. However, she needed to stabilize the situation within the sanctuary first. There were people that counted on her leadership, and she couldn’t remain hidden within her room forever.

With wide eyes and a new sense of purpose, she looked towards Lyari. “Please notify everyone that I am currently awake.”

“Yes, your highness.” He nodded.

Walking to the grimoire, she opened it and looked through it for a suitable outfit. “Also inform them I want everyone without exception to meet me in the great hall in 3 hours.”

Lyari walked towards the door, eager to fulfill her tasks. “Yes, your highness, is there anything else you wish me to do?”

Picking out a black dress, she turned to him. “Send a messenger to the oracle and tell him I will see him soon.”

“I wish to have a conversation with him before meeting everyone.” Julia gave Lyari a smile before waving him away.

“By your command.” Lyari gave another low bow before quickly leaving the room.

If she was in a new world, the person who could probably make sense of everything would be the oracle. He was a special existence, an angel of Thymus, the god of time, space, and fate. Although he was cursed and many of his powers were stripped from him, he could still see the future, or so his lore said. In the game, she used him to find hidden quests or rare treasures. If his abilities worked in this world, she could use him to see into the future. Perhaps she could learn about this world from him and figure out what she should do.

If she was going to lead and rule over the sanctuary, she couldn’t be Julia. She needed to be Ophelia! She needed to step into the role and fully become the ruler of the Ichor Sanctuary!