Reversa Island is where the university is located. The Fluve Field is located at the northern parts of the island.
In the university, the seasons would be changed. Unlike Earth where seasons varied based on hemispheres, on Altera Earth, it was the same all over the world. Right now, it's winter and snow is on all parts of the world except in the tropics, where they experience intense cold and humid temperatures instead of snow.
The moment we stepped out of the Fast Travel Rooms, the world hit me with white.
Snow stretched in every direction. The northern parts of Reversa Island weren't some postcard winter wonderland. This was winter stripped bare where the sky was smothered by swollen gray clouds and the wind cut into skin. The Fluve Field waited out here, buried under layers of snow that made every step a struggle, and for the next seven days, this wasteland would be our classroom.
The lecturers didn't know this though.
Three hundred of us, bundled up in layers of coats and scarves, spilled into the snow like ants marching across a blank page. Ahead of us, five lecturers led the line. They moved as if the storm was nothing. For them, it probably was. The students weren't so lucky. They even bundled up, shivered and huddled in clusters as they trudged along. Some of the smarter ones — or the luckier ones, depending on how you looked at it — could summon flames. Tiny flickers danced in their palms radiating outward to the small circles of friends and lovers. I caught sight of a couple holding hands, their joined fingers glowing with shared heat, their cheeks flushed not just from the cold but from the excuse to cling closer.
Me? I didn't feel a thing.
The Argemenes blood running through me turned the cold into an afterthought. My muscles didn't tense. I could have stripped to bare skin and walked through the blizzard without so much as a goosebump. The thick coat I wore was more for show than necessity so I didn't stand out too much though honestly, I was already drawing looks. Argemenes always did.
But then I saw Verdamona.
Her steps faltered often. Her boots were sinking too deep in the snow. Her arms were wrapped tight around herself as if that thin, pitiful coat she wore could hold in even a fraction of warmth. She didn't have the money to buy appropriate wear. She was an orphan, barely scraping her way into Reversa University on the back of a sponsorship. Even here, surrounded by the children of wealthy families and privileged lineages, she carried that invisible weight. Her gloves looked like they were stitched by hand, the thread straining against the frost seeping in. Her cheeks were red. Every shiver was sharp and violent, like her body was one step from collapsing into the snow.
And in the original story, this was where Thales Erdict stepped in. He offered her the expensive winter gear he had 'bought ahead of time,' his kindness cementing the bond between them, building the foundation of trust that carried their route forward. That was how it was supposed to go.
But Thales wasn't looking her way.
I glanced back. He walked a few paces behind us, his platinum hair catching what little light there was. His hands remained buried in his pockets. To him, Verdamona's suffering was irrelevant. He wasn't interested in her. The story had shifted and whether I liked it or not, I was the reason.
I slipped my coat off before I could second-guess myself. I wasn't affected. The mittens followed, dangling from my fingers as I stopped beside her.
"Here."
She blinked at me, startled, her lips already pale from the cold.
"What? No Phaser, you'll freeze."
I pressed the bundle into her arms before she could resist, the heavy coat and mittens weighing her down like armor.
"I won't. I can't feel the cold. You need it more than I do."
"I—"
She started to argue, shaking her head, but her body betrayed her. Her hands trembled as she tried to push the clothes back toward me. The movement was so weak it was almost laughable. I didn't let her. I just draped the coat over her shoulders, tugging it firmly into place, then slid the mittens over her raw fingers one by one.
She froze, staring at me with wide eyes as the warmth sank in. The coat was too big on her, the sleeves were nearly swallowing her hands and the fur-lined hood framing her face in a way that made her look smaller. It's understandable since she's 168 centimeters according to her player profile. For the first time since stepping out into the snow, she stopped shivering.
"Thank you."
I"Don't mention it."
That was when I felt the weight of stares. I glanced around and sure enough, a dozen pairs of eyes were fixed on us. Some were wide with amazement. Others were narrowed with envy and anger.
They weren't just random students. I recognized the looks. They were the Outers who had been pulled into NPC bodies, cursed to wander through a story they once controlled. To them, this wasn't just me helping Verdamona. It was theft. I had stolen a scene that was supposed to belong to Thales but they couldn't stop me. They weren't the main cast anymore. They didn't have that kind of influence.
Behind us, Thales still didn't care. He was scanning the horizon. That was troubling because if Thales Erdict wasn't interested in Verdamona, then the entire plot of MoDS was unraveling faster than I could anticipate.
°°°°°°
The snow crunched beneath my boots as we finally trudged past the stone arch that marked the boundary of the Fluve Field. The entrance looked like a colorless portal of air. One of the lecturers raised their hand, silencing the chatter of three hundred students. His voice carried over the cold wind like he was narrating a scripted cutscene.
"There are ten Classes of Fluviums from Class One to Class Ten. The higher the number, the more powerful. Here in this Fluve Field, the strongest you'll encounter is a Class Three. Do not panic. Your deaths will not occur here so long as you remain within the parameters of this lesson."
I remembered the cow monster at the Class Three leven when I fought it. It nearly roasted me alive. If I didn't have the martial arts foundation of Phasnovterich combined with the rain that night, I'd be ash right now. I can't face a Class Four Fluvium the way I am now without going all out. As the lecturer droned on about team formation, I kept scanning the environment. Something was wrong.
The air here… it felt thinner, like the very bones of the Fluve Field were cracking. The last time I felt this sensation was when the Fluve Field of the cow monster collapsed on me. The only reason they collapse is simple. It's either they run out of energy or someone wipes out the Fluviums inside.
Someone's been killing Fluviums ahead of schedule and it wasn't just a random someone. This wasn't the natural script of MoDS.
In the game, this Fluve Field lasted for weeks of in-universe time. Students were supposed to train here, fight and barely survive encounters with Class Three and Four Fluviums. It was one of the early "bonding arcs" for the heroine and side characters. But now? It's unraveling.
Meaning… an Outer got here first.
My eyes flicked to the lecturers. Five of them stood spaced apart, their faces neutral. I narrowed my gaze on one in particular. It was a woman with a perfect smile, like she was too composed for this environment.
Could she be the Outer?
The theory fit too well. If I was transmigrated, then why not others? The difference is, players are greedy. They know the meta. They would grab anything of value before the script advanced which meant this Fluve Field should have been stripped clean by now.
So why was it still standing? Why were we still here? All I know is they didn't take the Azure Sword clue.
That was the whole reason this quest existed in the first place. It was meant for Thales Erdict to stumble on hints about the Azure Sword, a Primal Synsiline Treasure. To an Outer, that sword is practically a divine ticket to late-game survival. No sane gamer would pass it up. Unless…
Unless they couldn't since the rules still apply in the real world. Only an Erdict can wield the blade.
Verdamona tugged at the sleeve of the jacket I has given her. She looked warmer now, snug in the coat and mittens, though her face still carried that pinched, stubborn frown.
"Phaser, why are you staring like that? You look like you're going to fight someone."
I forced a smile.
"Just thinking. Stay close."
Behind us, Thales approached, his boots crunching lightly on frost. He wasn't paying much attention to Verdamona. His gaze was scanning the Fluve Field like he was already calculating enemy positions. In the original script, he'd be too focused on the Azure Sword hint to care about anything else. But now? He was silent. If he wasn't locked onto Verdamona, then who knew what other paths the story might derail into.
This only confirmed my suspicions. A lot of the students around me weren't NPCs anymore. They were Outers.
I can't afford to move blindly. Every step I took already altered the story. But if someone on the lecturer's side was an Outer, then they had already tampered with the balance too. And unlike the students, lecturers had authority. They had control of the stage. If this was still a game, then the rules were hidden in plain sight. If it was reality, then the rules had teeth. Either way, I have to find out the rules before they backfired on me.