Arknights. A tower-defense that adopted the aspects of gacha and included some heavy lore to cook up one of the most awesome and fun mobile games of the decade. They produced several characters that took over the internet and songs that overwhelmed any haters into submission.

“And that’s not all,” I turned around, pointing my imaginary finger towards the listener. “The gameplay was also incredibly strategic and flexible, unlike any other tower defense, allowing for the most tightly timed plays to be made!”

After a minute of silence the listener decided to speak up, “and?”

“And that’s why I was hoping to be sent to the world of Arknights.”

“...”

“Okay, so, listen. While it does have an ‘incurable’ disease being spread, and notable catastrophes, their technology is anything but underdeveloped. Aside from some places of course.”

“And you believe that you would live, or rather, survive, in that world?”

I thought about hitting my chest triumphantly, but I had none to do so, so I just spoke with more confidence instead, “of course!”

Though I wasn’t certain of my chances, I was very optimistic about it, because the game didn’t have much history on killing playable characters. So I thought it’d be a safe bet that outweighs the risks.

“You just have to bless me with a strong body, and maybe some talent with arts as well?”

They looked down at me while floating above the ‘surface’ without saying a word for another good minute as if they were calculating something.

“Understood. As per you wish, you will be sent to the land of Terra, and blessed with a powerful body. May I ask if you are sure of this decision?”

It did strike me as odd for how smooth everything was going, but I wasn’t going to hesitate at this point, “yeah, go ahead!”

They lifted both of their arms and joined their hands above themselves while spewing several words that I couldn’t comprehend. Soon after, a formation of shapes, lines and flowery forms started to grow from beneath me.

“Remember well, wanderer, the mission given to you is only a guide, let yourself find the path that you wish to take in life this time...”

Those were the last words I could hear from them before my vision and consciousness turned white and I felt as if I had passed out.

 

---

 

“Crap-”

*Crack*

“It’s one after another.”

A black creature oozed a red liquid as it crawled towards the person struggling with another couple of similar looking ‘animals’. Some had yellow liquid and were easily taken care of by the blade in her hand, while others had a bigger size and the red solution seemed to dissolve the rocks they stood on.

“An originium slug nest was right beneath the tunnel, it must be the actual reason for the cave-in,” the woman continued to slash and trample over each creature that approached her.

*Crack* *Crack*

Once she struck down the closest red slug the ground beneath her started to vibrate, and soon after the whole cave was uncontrollably shaking.

“Another cave-in..." She smashed the last slug before looking towards the hole that they were coming from, "I know what to do.”

With a heavy swing of her long blade a fissure was created on the rocky floor, and with another the fissure became a gap, which quickly expanded thanks to the tremor of the cave, revealing the nest on the layer below.

“Just a little wider,” she struck the ground once more.

Failing to notice a large boulder tearing itself apart from the ceiling above her head.

“This should-”

*Thud*

Her figure was quickly buried by several rocks, and soon after the rest of the ceiling followed suit, however the inclination led most of the fallen rocks to enter the widened gap and bury the nest under tons of stones.

*Crack*

Some time went by in silence before the sound of something being shattered started to cover the place, until...

“Arrgh!”

A pile of rocks was broken into pieces, a red-haired person emerging from beneath with both of their hands up.

“Where the heck did you send me to!”

Displaying a completely different demeanor the person pushed themselves up from the rocks and stretched their body. The now dusty black dress fluttered along with their movements, steps taken with the black high-heels seemed to mess their balance.

“Huh?” They looked at their dirty hands, then their arms and belly, “why am I wearing a dress inside of a cave?”

“Was I buried alive or something?”

After shrugging it off as a non-issue, they walked a little ahead, stumbling around like a newborn deer, and then looked around the place.

“Such a spacious cave, but where is the exit?”

After a short walk forward, they looked at the dead end where dozens of large boulders piled up.

“Hmm, there’s no way to go through this side, it’s totally glued together.”

While moving one hand to hold their chin, they seemed to notice their own bosom was in the way.

“They didn’t have to make this thing so big.” They held both for a few moments, in silence, before continuing, “I’m sure that it’s because of these that this body was wearing belts instead of a bra.”

“Though I was expecting to wake up as a baby, so this isn’t all that bad.”

They walked all the way back, then headed in the other direction.

“Oh?”

A wall of rocks stopped their tracks once more.

“This one looks more fragile,” they attempted to push the lower section but it was fruitless.

“How am I supposed to be strong with a girl body...?”

They noticed a few spots on a corner that allowed a bit of sunlight to shine through, illuminating a bit of the dark cave.

“Hey, is someone out there?”

“--!”

They stepped back as muffled voices responded from the outside.

“I got a feeling that I should take some distance.”

Within seconds, after they walked some steps away, the fragile part of the wall was blasted off, twice even, opening a large gap that brought down the rest of it as well.

“Cough, cough. What a flashy entrance.”

“Hey, are you alright!?” A voice reached their ears.

From the cloud of dust, jumped a woman with long honey colored hair and a pair of dark horns that grew from the top of her head.

“You-”

She stopped them from speaking by immediately hugging them, “why did you act so recklessly!”

They were confused about what she was talking about, but after seeing the old man following behind her, it occurred to them that this body might be someone’s, instead of one just created.

“Uh, s- sorry for worrying you?”

The woman opened her eyes widely, she let go of them and took a step backwards, then looked all over their body.

“Did you hit your head? Are you feeling sick?”

Isn’t that a bit rude? They thought once the surprise factor dissipated.

“I’m fine, you are worrying too much.”

“Mhmm,” she took another glance and asked, eye to eye with them, “then where is your sword?”

“Sword?”

They wondered if they had seen any in the cave, but it was simply too dark in there to see anything below their waist.

“See! You must’ve hit your head in there!”

“No... Wait, are you,” they managed to take a better look at her face as the cloud of dust dissipated, “Meteorite?”

A pair of small, honey colored eyes that matched her hair, looked directly into their eyes, widening as she processed the words just said.

“What are you saying, Surtr? Of course it’s me.”

“Huh?”

What did she just call me?

They pushed the woman, Meteorite, away and used the illumination coming from the entrance to see their own hair.

“It’s red...”

No, wait, red hair isn’t that uncommon, this is fine.

With both hands reaching out for their head, several beads of sweat began to slide down their face and arms.

“A pair of horns...”

No, no, no, there’s no way, I might just be a kind of Sarkaz that resembles her, after all there’s a lot of people with similar names and horns.

“Surtr, what’s going on?” Meteorite slowly approached them, then placed her hand on their shoulder.

They feigned ignorance to the name and instead asked, “Meteorite, what colors are my eyes?”

The two looked into each other's eyes for a few seconds before a response came from her.

“They are blue, as always.”

“...”

In that instant, their mind went blank.

Several thoughts appeared a moment later, like a tsunami, and carried their mind for a while before returning them to reality, not so safely.

“Am I Surtr?”

“Yeah? Did you lose your memories again?”

I am Surtr. They pondered on the matter, trying their best to not panic. However...

“Why a six star guard of all people!?”

That didn’t seem to work out so well.