Chapter 2

One day, when I opened my eyes, I found myself in an unfamiliar place.

Gray stone walls.

The room was spacious, with tall, narrow windows, reminiscent of an old European church.

I thought it might be a continuation of the dream I had been having.

It was a dream about playing a fantasy game.

It was an online game, but the group I had started playing with had become awkward due to our differing levels.

Since I was already busy with work and didn’t have much time, I stopped logging in.

As a result, I naturally faded out of contact with them, who were not my coworkers.

I knew that new additional stories had been released.

I even looked up some strategies, but I never touched the game again.

I didn’t want to hear things like, "You still haven’t cleared that dungeon?" or "You can’t go into the dungeon without this item."

I was having a bitter dream about all this.

"Strategy?"

What’s that? I thought, questioning my own dream.

After all, my name is Yura, and I was supposed to be living in a small town in the Kingdom of Arandale. I lived alone with my grandmother, who ran a small goods shop, and I was 20 years old.

I had just buried my grandmother in the church cemetery.

Feeling alone and shy, I was thinking about what to do next while sighing in front of my grandmother’s grave... and then my memory blanks out.

The memory started to feel like it wasn’t mine, and I became confused.

But there was one thing I could clearly understand.

"Was I kidnapped?"

The clothes I was wearing were completely different, changed to something like a plain white robe. And from the life of Yura in the Kingdom of Arandale that I remembered, I didn’t live in such a large building.

At that moment, several people entered the room.

Most of them had blonde or brown hair, pale skin, and deep-set features, making them look like foreigners. Even though it was strange for me to think they looked foreign, the feeling didn’t go away.

"You’re awake!"

"Ah, the experiment was a success!"

"When your appearance changed, I thought it was a failure..."

"Maybe the combination of two things worked?"

Men in black robes approached me one after another.

"Tell us your name."

Thinking that I might be killed if I didn’t answer, I replied honestly.

"Yura... but—"

Without saying "I see," they started touching my arms and back without permission.

"Ah...!"

I felt so uncomfortable that my body shrank back when they poked my head and touched my back.

What’s going on?

"Hmm. The frightened expression is good, but..."

While I was stiff with fear, I heard a terrifying statement from a young man with blonde hair and a slightly high nose. He was smiling in a disturbing way, which was incredibly scary. He pressed a small, pale green stone to my forehead.

"There’s no reaction."

He glared at me with a frightening look after examining the stone. He chanted some incomprehensible words and pressed the stone to my forehead again.

"Of course. It was a failure, wasn’t it?"

"It was a failure."

I didn’t understand, but it seemed I had disappointed their expectations.

I thought I might be released, but then—

"Disposal."

Disposal? What, am I going to be thrown away?

Feeling terrified, I was wrapped in a blanket and tied up with ropes. I was carried out of the room like a piece of luggage.

However, the blanket didn’t completely cover my face, so I could see outside.

There was a mirror in the corner of the room.

As I passed by it, I saw my face and felt an intense sense of wrongness.

I saw myself wrapped in a blanket. My familiar flaxen hair was loose and messy, and my eyes were a stronger red, like tea.

What is this...?

In my confusion, I was carried through a dark stone corridor and out into the open.

While I was concerned about my appearance, being thrown away was more important.

Just as I was shivering with fear—

A loud noise echoed.

The person carrying me was startled and looked back at the building.

"Aaaaah!"

He screamed and ran. A large piece of debris, bigger than my head, fell nearby.

I screamed at the thud.

As a result, he realized he was still carrying me.

"Damn it, you’re in the way of my escape!"

I was thrown to the ground, and I felt my breath leave my body as my back hit the ground.

If I hadn’t been wrapped in the blanket, I might have been seriously injured from the impact.

My back and arms hurt from hitting the ground.

Despite the pain, I wanted to escape. I didn’t want to die here, not without understanding what was happening.

I rolled and moved.

In the process, the part of the blanket covering my face lifted, allowing me to see my surroundings clearly.

A three-story stone building was crumbling.

The culprit was a large creature with wings, like a flying lizard.

"Flying lizard...?"

This creature, which looked like a dragon, is a common means of transportation for knights, even for a girl like Yura from a remote town.

The flying lizard stomped on the building with its feet. If the building hadn’t been made of stone, it would have been crushed instantly.

With each stomp, debris fell to the ground.

Occasionally, yellow or blue light flashed at the feet of the flying lizard.

Someone was fighting with magic. I realized this and, at the same time, I was excited to see a magic battle for the first time.

What’s happening to me!

If I were my usual shy self, I would have screamed and been completely panicked.

Soon, several people burst out of a nearby door.

They were the men in black robes.

It seemed that three of them were fleeing from someone inside.