CHAPTER ONE

"Hey Brian. Want to go over to Tyler's place to play some video games?"

The familiar voice made the scrawny brown-haired teenager raise his head, removing his attention from his phone to his friend Joseph.

"Who's Tyler?"

Joseph blinked. "Uh, Tyler? The guy that's been going to the same school as us for seven years? Our friend Tyler Kingston…? What's this strange gimmick you're trying to pull?"

Brian scratched the back of his head, trying to rack his brain for any recollection. But no matter how hard he tried, not even a single clue was found.

What the hell? Seven years meant that this 'Tyler' person went to elementary school with them. While Brian had average memory, it was enough for him to remember all his classmates. He should know this information. Strange. Why was his memory failing him all of the sudden? Amnesia?

He placed his hand on his forehead. There was no fever, but a throbbing pain lingering in every inch of his brain. Maybe I should see a doctor. My migraines are worse, and now my memories fucked. After all, Joseph, while a jokester, would never be able to lie this seriously. Clearly, there was something amiss on his end. 

"Nothing comes up." Brian let out a sigh before placing his phone in his pocket. He crossed his arms. "I don't know who he is."

Joseph furrowed his eyebrows. "You talked to Tyler yesterday during math class. We were discussing how hot Ms. Turen was in her black pencil skirt."

Ms. Turen? Math class… Scratch that - what did I even do yesterday? 

Absolutely nothing.

Fuck. Perhaps, there was really something wrong.

Not wanting to act like a dumbass, Brian let out a laugh. "Oh yeah, I remember."

A wave of relief washed up on Joseph's face.

Joseph placed his hand on his shoulder. "Good acting, bro. For a second, I almost fell for it. How could not remember Tyler out of all people? Now, are you coming or not? We're going to play some Smash Bros. I know you don’t care for it, but it's going to be really fun. Trust me. We're going to do this whole..."

Brian's whole body froze up, eyes filled with horror. He took a step back. 

Tyler raised his hands. "Woah, dude. Are you okay? You're looking at me funny. Uh, you don't need to play if you don't want to. Go study or something like you usually do."

A scream was close to escaping Brian's throat. No fucking way. Please let this be a dream.

Fuck.

What's his name again? 

Suddenly, the identity of the friend disappeared. In front of him was a blond-haired stranger.

Brian struggled to fix his glasses with his shaky fingers, and his heart thumped crazily in his ear. One fact was clear, and that was that he had remembered the guy in front of him, and they were close. What were they just talking about? Tylenol? 

"I-I've got to go," Brian stammered. The weight of his school bag was too heavy to bear, so he abandoned it on the cold floor. Immediately, he ran down the hall past the crowds of students ready to go home. 

He could hear the stranger yelling out his name, but he chose to ignore it. Something was wrong and his first instinct was to run away and spend some time alone to pull himself together. The stimulation of the chaotic hallways was the last place he wanted to be. Finally, he stumbled upon an empty room, slamming the door behind him. 

With his back pressed against the door, he sank down to the floor, placing his hands over his face. Cold sweat began to accumulate, dripping down his skin to the tiles.

What's my name?

Too many questions with no answers. And while Brian desperately wanted them, nothing was popping up in his head. His heart began to feel heavier, pulling down to the pits of his stomach like an anchor. 

So in his state of confusion, he decided that the best decision to make was to take things slowly. Answer a question he could find. 

Where am I?

He took his hands off his face and let his eyes explore his surroundings. A standard classroom with desks, a whiteboard, and some shelves for textbooks. Knowing that he could recognize his settings was necessary; at least he had common sense. The sky is blue, a teacher stands in front of the classroom, and you come to school to learn.

General knowledge wasn't affected, so why was everything else empty? 

Memory Transfer 99%

What in the world. Brian’s hand lifted up to touch the strange blue window floating in front of him. Yet, despite reaching the edges, his hands whizzed through as if they never existed in the first place.

Memory Transfer 100%

White. All he could see was white. There were no shadows or speckles of hues. The only existence in this universe was his consciousness and the color, and everything else faded. Pure silence — with no waves of even the smallest vibration. The absence of the gift of living — no heartbeat and breathing. His mind was clear in thoughts, but everything else had rapidly escalated to nothingness.

The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

Was this death?

If so, then was his conscious mind bound to this state for eternity?

The white state didn’t last long, saving his sanity from the fear of nothingness. Blurs of fuzzy colors sprung to life, before morphing into shapes that revealed the existence of a physical room. 

Thank God I’m alive. A huge grin settled on his face as his body filled with relief. Everything he was worried about was second comparative to the frightening experience of potential death he had.

However, once the rush of serotonin disappeared, he was left with a serious question. Where am I?

He found himself sitting on a large cushioned seat. Cold metal cooled his fingers, with his arms laying on sturdy armrests. The room was dim-lit with multiple pillars framing the center of the space, leading to his exact location. A throne room. The walls were painted bloody-red and decorated with black gothic patterns. Clearly, the owner of this room had an acquired taste for creepy vampire-ish interior design. Not his own cup of tea, but was unique in its own right.

But before he could investigate further, a rush of memories poured back into his brain. Pulling his hair wasn’t enough to subside the physical pain of every memory returning to his possession.

Tyler. His deskmate in math class and childhood friend. He was recognizable for his long hair and ragged band shirts that showcased crazy painted faces and cryptic symbols.

How could he have forgotten Tyler out of all people? He stood out like a sore thumb, especially in a crowd of high school students who all looked the same.

Joseph too. That was the scariest part. They were basically brothers due to being next-door neighbors since they were babies. They hung out every day and knew everything about each other, even facts that he’d rather forgotten. 

Memory transfer. Right. That was the problem that led to him forgetting everything. But why was his memory being transferred? How? Who was doing this to him? 

Brian was a normal high school student. He wasn’t particularly smart or unique. Stayed relatively quiet and to himself, not having any enemies that would wish this upon him. He was the last person to expect to go through such a strange phenomenon. 

A sigh escaped his lips. With all the mental exhaustion he had today, all he wanted to do was relax. But his brain was too buzzing to even consider it an option.

Brian focused on the room again, but this time a yelp escaped from his lips. Impossible. How could he not have noticed sooner? His shitty vision, which required the thickest lenses, was now clearer than any screen he’d ever seen. In fact, even the smallest details, invisible to the human eye, such as the details of the faraway pillars were clear.

He touched his face to look for his glasses to only find them gone. Then he looked down at his hands — pale, almost ghastly white, and slender and long like a pianist. Nothing alike to his stubby fingers. 

Immediately, he jumped up in his seat and moved around, unable to hide from the horrific realization that the physical body he was in, wasn’t his own. 

Holy shit. I’m hallucinating. But he wasn’t, and every movement he made, only further proved his point. His body movements were fluid, and his reaction speed was quick. The innate physical talent was enough to obviously contrast his own. 

Who’s body is this?

He looked down at his attire to find his blue shirt from the discount store gone, revealing a black suit, reminiscent of the olden days where velvet, buttons, and intricate white long-sleeves ruled the male fashion industry. There was also a black cloak that trailed down to the back of his ankles.

Whoever this body belonged to, they were clearly much older than him. Perhaps, in a different time period altogether. 

The liquids in his stomach started to churn in circular motion, riling up to his chest. Brian placed his hand over his mouth. He wanted to hurl. The fact that he was occupying someone else's physical body was too disturbing for him to handle. 

Welcome to the world of Valerna. You have been assigned the role of Boss 23102, Lord of the Azriel Castle. Click continue to see your current stats.

Continue

He jumped up once again; hand against his chest out of habit. All the sickness returned back to his stomach, as if it never happened in the first place. Jesus Christ. Give me a warning at least. He wasn’t sure how long his sanity could handle all these surprises for. 

Now, what exactly does this pop up mean? Upon reading the entirety of the message, more confusion fogged up his brain. The style of the pop up windows, being “assigned a role”, and the world of Valerna? Was this a game?

No. The existence of VR technology wasn’t enhanced enough for such a realistic experience. He could physically feel the difference in his body, and when he pinched his skin, there was a sharp twinge of pain.

Yet, the only way he could justify this entire situation was through the idea that he was somehow placed in an intensely realistic VR. And from the words on the window, the system wanted him to play this experience as a game as well. 

Now, the problem was that he was not a gamer, and in fact, knew so little in regards to gaming in general. But if he knew anyone who was good at adapting to a situation, it would be him.

Right. And in the world of games, you are assigned a character and have to go through a series of missions to get to the end. If this truly was a game, then all he needed to do was reach a certain point.

Not the game over, but the true ending of this sick game. Then perhaps he would be able to return to his old self and live his life normally again.

He clicked on the continue button.

Azriel Castle [D Rank]

Owner

Lord Azriel

Press to See Your Stats

Description

A castle located in the middle of Dalain Woods. It is currently 99999th place out of all boss levels in Valerna.

Press to manage Inventory: 65

Edit Castle

Floor Levels/Castle Area

Entrance

Door

Press to Manage

Floor One

Arrows and Traps

Press to Manage Floor

Floor Two

Skeleton Army [lvl 1]

Press to Manage Floor

Throne Room

Boss: Lorde Azriel [lvl 10]

Press to Manage Floor

Floor Four

Bedrooms

Press to Manage Floor

Employees

Skeleton [x10]

Press to Call

Press to View Stats

Gnoll

Press to Call

Press to View Stats

Brian rubbed his eyes. What the fuck?