I had transformed into my game character. Haha, what a funny trope. No! Wait! My avatar was a girl! And I wasn’t! I hadn’t expected to be able to choose my appearance like in the game, but I hadn’t expected this!

“Hmm… strange.” The woman brought me out of my inner monologue.

“W-what is going on? I’m not normally… a girl.”

“Hmm? Really? I was certain that the color of your soul… No, more importantly, something must have gone wrong.”

“W-wrong? What happened?”

“I’m not sure… But this isn’t your true form.” She let out a wry laugh. “Ahhh, I was foolish to think my techniques could bring out the true form of a divine being.”

I was not a divine being!

“But don’t worry, you should still be able to turn back without a problem.”

“Oh… right.”

There was no button like in the game, but somehow I knew how to turn back. I just had to close my eyes, focus the energy this way and…

…

On the other hand, since I went through so much trouble already, I decided to stay like this for a bit longer. My ears were all warm and fluffy and… it just felt kinda nice.

“Is… something wrong? Can you not turn back?” the woman asked, panic visible in her eyes.

“Uh, no. It’s fine. I can turn back no problem. I was just thinking… Why not stay like this for the time being? Since you know… you were so kind to teach me the skill.”

“Ah, alright then…” She gave me a warm smile again. “Still, you humble this old woman. Like I said, that isn’t quite your true form… I’m not exactly sure what form this is, to be honest.”

I knew all too well what it was. Still no idea why though.

“But in case you don’t know your true form yourself yet, I’m sure this one might be a stepping stone to eventually finding your actual true form.”

Huh… Was that something I wanted? Discovering my true… true form? 

“Ahh, by the way, I don’t usually do this, but my name is Elyssa. May I ask your name as well?”

“Oh, uh…” my feminine voice let out.

A name.

Truth be told, I was never a fan of my name. It always felt off, somehow. I’d always wanted a different name, but didn’t even know which.

“Ah… I see. You have not yet discovered your true name. I understand.”

I blinked.

“True name…?”

The woman nodded.

“That’s right. Every living being, every object, everything with any significance has a true name. Sometimes it’s obvious, sometimes it’s never discovered.” She smiled at me. “But since you are smart enough to feel your given name feels off, I think it won’t be a problem for you to find your true name.”

True form, true name… This was starting to get a bit too cheesy. Names were just labels. There was no such magical thing as a true name…

But then again, I could transform into a foxgirl. And that would have seemed like fiction to me just a few days ago.

“Still, it is fascinating to think that a divine being like you is… not that different from common people in this world.” She chuckled again.

“Well… I’m not a divine being…” I said while looking to the side and idly rubbing my fox ear, before realizing what I was doing and letting go.

“To me, you are,” she simply said.

And I… honestly couldn’t argue with that. I was from the same world as the devs who more or less controlled this world. To her, I would definitely be some kind of higher being.

“I… guess…?” I mumbled.

Just as it was starting to get awkward for me, my robes began ringing.

“Uh?!”

I rummaged in them and fished out my phone. The screen said ‘Alarm: go back home!’. It was the alarm I set before going to make sure I didn’t forget myself and returned back home on time.

“Oh! I–I’m sorry. I need to return now or Mom is gonna worry.”

She laughed. “Of course, of course. I won’t try to hold you up.” She walked over to her door and opened it up for me. “Have a safe trip. And don’t forget, I won’t complain if you come to visit again!” she added with a smile.

I nodded to her and returned the smile, before grabbing the staff I’d left on her table, rushing through the door, and setting off whilst waving at the woman… No, at Elyssa. I hadn’t even known that was her name. I couldn’t recall if that was even mentioned anywhere in the game or on the wiki.

I ran through the forest, still in this not-true form. I felt like the wind with how nimble I’d become, how easy it was to move around now. My stamina seemed to have increased as well. I felt like an excited fox, dancing her way through the forest. I didn’t even realize that I was grinning.

Other than my agility, what else could have changed? I hadn’t gotten any choices when the transformation had happened, and something told me I wouldn’t be able to change it as I could in the game either.

Maybe I had the same changes as my avatar’s true form? If I remembered correctly, I picked more speed and stamina for her – which was true for me – and also better sword handling, all in exchange for gutting my skill with bows and staves. Would that apply as well then? I was still carrying my staff but didn’t have the time to test it, since I needed to get home quickly.

Yet another item added to my to-do list. It sure was getting larger and larger.

A few minutes into my forest jog, I began wondering how far the portal was… and then immediately knew just that. As if I had some kind of sixth sense that could detect the portal.

My eyes widened in surprise.

“That never happened back on Earth…” I whispered to myself as I weaved through the forest.

I tried to… widen this portal sense out of curiosity, and I couldn’t help but stop in my tracks, staring in a completely different direction.

There were other portals in this world. Just like on Earth.

Well, in hindsight, it was obvious. If all the portals back on Earth lead to this world, they had to lead somewhere, right?

Unless… they all led to completely different worlds again…? I had to check that out at some point. Another item on my to-do list.

I sighed to myself and continued my journey.

A few minutes later, I arrived at the purple crack, crackling even more prominently in my portal sense. I felt relieved that it hadn’t disappeared. Even though I could feel it with this sixth sense, I still couldn’t help but worry.

I checked around to make sure nobody saw me, and once I confirmed the coast was clear, I steeled myself for the upcoming shock, placed my fingers on the closed portal… and ripped it open again.

“Wait…”

I glanced down at my fingers. They were fine. Nothing had happened to them. Not even a slight burn or zap. I hadn’t felt anything either.

I looked at the purple portal’s rims, carefully raised my hand again, and poked it with my index finger.

It didn’t shock me.

I raised my other hand and firmly grabbed the portal’s rim with both.

It didn’t shock me.

“It… It…”

It.

Wasn’t.

Shocking.

Me.

The one thing that had plagued me for years now… wasn’t happening anymore. I almost began crying from the sheer joy at this turn of events. At the sense of freedom I felt from this.

But then, I heard metallic sounds in the distance, indicating someone wearing armor was walking in my direction.

I quickly composed myself, jumped through the portal, placed my hands on the portal rim again – which didn’t shock me! – and snapped the portal shut.

I stood there for a few moments, staring at the closed portal, wiggling my uninjured fingers, and grinning from ear to ear. Or, well, I had fox ears now, so just grinning very widely.

I was brought out of my daze by the sound of a key opening the lock in the main door. Mom was here.

I was about to call out to her when I realized I was still in my foxgirl mode, and my new voice would probably shock her.

So, with a heavy heart, I transformed back.

…

The moment the transformation finished, I felt… worse. In all kinds of ways. No longer fluffy, no more endless energy. Back to my pathetic self.

I took a deep breath and sighed, before calling out, “Mom! Welcome back.”

My own voice screeched in my ears. I already missed the soft and nice voice. I already wanted to turn back.