The crowd gathered around the center formed a huge circle with countless murmurs echoing in it.
"No way, that's the famous Verdric..!"
"Wait, you're saying that's the kid who reached Magus level?? He even mastered four elements!!"
"No way, that girl - is she really from the Grandeur Merchant Guild?! Their tools and items quality are amazing!"
"Oh my god she's so beautiful.."
"N-no way, Rias too???!"
"Wait where? The descendant of the hero that began the great era!!"
"Isolde is also here?? Whoa, holy crap this is too historical of a gathering!!"
"Isolde.. She's so beautiful too.."
The four stood in the center.
On the left was Mila, a daughter of the merchant guild, a future heroine and fire magic user.
In the middle was Verdric, born from a noble family with golden hair. A prodigy with a future ahead with the potential to master four elements.
On the right was Isolde, born from a famous noble family known for their bloodline of ice magic. Another future heroine.
And finally Rias. The descendant of the great hero Sian. Near impossible to kill with her close combat skills due to her bloodline, the Amber of the Light.
And the other two main characters weren't with them either.
And me.
I was just some extra character. Just some other, lesser character. I didn't even know who this particular 'character' was. Or rather I still have no idea how it ends.
You see, usually when main characters get summoned into the game they get some special ability.
Not me.
I wasn't the main character of this world.
I was just an extra character, with no significance to the main story whatsoever.
The game was released around the Pandemic, called the Archlight Academy . It became popular amongst the masses, getting viral on social media and I eventually joined too.
It was an RPG game with beautiful graphics, yet it didn't live up to the expectations.
It was modern with magic, buildings, cars, and trains were all similar to ours.
There were 6 main characters in the game.
It had character development, if you interacted with specific NPCs, it would change your character's traits, though important decisions could change the entire story.
It was also a harem series with multiple endings and consequences.
But.
It was still unfinished, and the players started to get worried since the later updates only got darker and darker.
An anonymous user messaged the developers asking
Anonymous: "Hey! Developer, can you tell us what your plan is for the main story?"
One of them responded with
"I am sorry… I want to quit."
And it ceased to update for 2 years, losing a lot of players over time and eventually dying, but some continued to play it like crazy.
And one of those people was me…
A man sat in a gaming chair watching a Rubik's cube tutorial
"So that's how it…" He muttered taking his cube and started solving it in a slow pace.
Top, Left, Right, Down, Up, Left, Left, Right, Down…
His phone suddenly buzzed and he flinched. "Huh?" He took the phone and read the message.
Shin: "Saittttoooooo!!!! I found a way to defeat the boss on episode 34!!!! (≧▽≦)"
Saito replied looking at the message.
Saito: "You're joking, there's no way to defeat the Black Dural Dragon."
He received another message not long after.
Shin: "I AM NOT JOKING!!! Here, let me send the vid."
The video started playing and a blonde haired youth stood in the arena in the middle of a bloodbath battlefield. Across from him, the Black Dural Dragon spat balls of black fire on the ground in front of him, the flames dangerously close to him. Noclip.
Saito: "It's just a noclip glitch… The Black Dural Dragon still has 3 lives, this is only the early part, most players already cleared round 1 and 2…"
The fight raged on until the last round, where the blonde haired youth used an ultimate skill with no results. The Black Dural Dragon opened its wings and readied a huge blast of black energy.
The video abruptly turned black as soon as the blast was fired.
A second later the screen flickered back on as the blonde haired youth stood under the moonlight, covered in blood but alive.
"WHAT???????!!!" He exclaimed jumping up in excitement as he dropped the Rubik's cube
"How - wait, more than that, why did it cut off there?!" He replied quickly typing on his phone
Saito: "Hey! Shin, why'd you cut the video when you defeated the Black Dural Dragon??!"
Shin: "Huh? I didn't cut anything, you're just being dramatic. Just defeat it already. I'm gatekeeping this."
"???????" I looked at the message in disbelief
"You're the one gatekeeping it from me.." I replied before slumping back on the chair and opening up the game again
"Maybe it's just a glitch.. I'll watch it again."
I watched the video again and the same thing happened.
The blonde haired youth. The black orb. Then a black screen.
"What a bullshi - " The room suddenly went dark
"What the.. Is it a power outage? Wait no, my monitor is still on.." Weird, maybe the lights..
A sudden cold breeze ran down my spine as cracks slowly emerged on the monitor.
"?!" I flinched and stumbled back from the chair. "What the fuck.."
[You've been chosen… Participant.]
"What..?" I frowned.
[You will participate in the ########. Please remain on standby.]
I looked at the screen in bewilderment.
"What the hell is this now?? - " I quickly stood up from the chair and took my Rubik's cube, ready to throw it at the screen for some reason.
[Starting… Soul Synchronization..]
My thoughts were suddenly halted as my consciousness drifted away.
[Successfully synchronized soul… 100% compatibility…]
[Good luck.]
The monitor shattered and the broken pieces sucked me in.
.
.
.
.
.
I woke up seeing the unfamiliar ceiling.
"Where am I.." I muttered as I stood up from the bed and looked around. This definitely wasn't my room.
"What…" I recalled watching the video.. And then..
My eyes widened in realization.
I hurried to the window and opened it, looking outside in shock
"S-seriously????!!!" You're kidding me, right? This is the world of Archlight Academy!