Drew woke to his alarm on a Monday morning. His mood sunk to an all time low. The beta test was over. Leo would want answers for ditching them. He was stuck as a girl in Evolution Arts. The reward for all his efforts in the finale was only a simple phrase. You must never deceive yourself? Was that not the first thing you should do in deceiving others? Drew did not understand. Maybe Loki was trying to trick him again. Drew wanted nothing more than to go back to sleep and pretend it was all a dream.

*RIIIIIING*

“Ugh, fine. You win. I will get out of bed.”

Drew got up and shut off the blaring alarm. Readying himself for school, he headed off. As a senior in high school, the only thing left to do was graduate. Afterwards, he and his group of friends would probably go their separate ways. The thought saddened him a bit.

Luckily, there wasn’t too much time to talk to his friends between classes. Thus, Leo would grill him either at lunch time or PE. Still, that wouldn’t stop the smaller discussions that would occur between passing periods. Drake took the opportunity to ask him a question.

“Hey, have you seen the latest game trailer released for Evolution Arts?”

“No, what is it about?”

“It showed the finale event. Man was it great. I wish I was as good of a tank as that warrior. And---”

Whatever Drake was going to say was cut off by the bell. Quickly, Drake told Drew.

“I will show it to you during lunch break.”

Then the class began and the time for talking had ended. Drew had trouble paying attention to the lecture. He was curious about how the special event had ended. His memory was vague and Loki suggested that something special had happened. In the end, the class was over before he realized it and his notes were blank. Sighing in remorse, he headed off to the cafeteria.

Grabbing a plate of food, he reached his usual place and walked in on an argument. A black haired boy with an athletic figure was arguing with a blonde girl who had the air of a mature beauty.

“Still, I can’t believe you used your real name as your in game name Drake.”

“You did the exact same thing Camellia.” Drake said exasperated.

“Well, err..” Camellia trailed off as she averted her gaze.

“Now, now. We all picked names similar to our real names. The only exception to this was Drew.”

Leonardo, or Leo, intervened. Truly, there names were all very similar. Leo became Leon. Rosaline became Rose. Liliana, Lily. And of course, Drake and Camellia used their real names as their in game names.

Taking the cease in hostilities as an opportunity, the handsome blond haired boy spoke up.

“Speaking of Drew, why did you ditch us during the special event?” asked Leo.

At last the question came that Drew wanted to avoid. How to answer…

“Well, I got cursed by a certain angry time god and thus, my level was reset to 1.”

He hoped that would be enough. Already, he could see Drake on the verge of laughing. Leo didn’t let up though.

“How did you get yourself cursed?”

“Ah, err…”

Drew stuttered. Seeing Drew’s reluctance, the group of five leaned forward in interest. With an averted gaze, Drew finally muttered an answer.

“I may or may not have unintentionally insulted him by saying his time magic profession was not hero-y enough.”

“Ha---”

“You had the chance at a unique class to be a Time Mage and you turned it down!?”

Drake’s laughter was interrupted by Rosaline’s outburst. The cafeteria itself quieted at the tall girl’s shout and then resumed. She played as a mage in the beta test and liked to experiment with magic. In a quieter voice, she continued.

“Time magic! Do you know how overpowered that would be!? You could slow down or freeze your enemies and speed up your allies! Just imagine what the end game area of effect spells would be like!”

“Wha!? But Time Magic wouldn’t be too useful in solo play. I would always need a party. Besides, I wanted a stronger class in combat. Something between a rogue and a warrior.”

“Seriously? If you wanted to solo, you would just need to apply haste to yourself and slow to your enemies. No one would be able to touch you! It wouldn’t matter if you wanted to use a sword without the bonuses. With Time Magic, you would be unstoppable!”

“Eh?”

“And the experiments you could run. I wonder if you could kill something by simply freezing the time on its heart? Is that even possible? What would happen if you slowed down a bird? Would it still fly or would gravity cause it to plummet? Would a cat always land on its feet, even when slowed? The experiments…”

Everyone made eye contact with each other and silently agreed to refrain from commenting. In times like these, it was best to let her go on rather than try to interrupt her. Noticing their silence, Rosaline cleared her throat and got back on topic.

“Anyways, Time Magic is like the highest level possible of magecraft. Just having the class means you stand at the pinnacle of all mages. And you turned it down!?”

Drew was dumbfounded. The class he had thought as a useless support had the potential to be that great? Not only had he been cursed, he threw away his chance at such a great class?

“He was probably looking for something else in his class.”

A kind voice spoke up in his defense. The owner of the voice had a timid atmosphere and soft brown hair.

“That’s right. As Liliana said, if he could chose his class that easily, he wouldn’t have spent so long in the beta without a class. Besides, maybe it is for the best. I can’t see him sitting back behind his teammates casting spells.”

Leo also came to Drew’s aid. Under their united front, Rosaline faltered.

“I guess. Still, its a shame he didn’t accept the class.”

“If I could go back in time, I would have accepted the class even before you said anything.”

Regretfully, Drew told the fanatic. It was ironic that only a time god, the very being that cursed him, could do such a thing.

“Anyways, Drake. You said you had a video you wanted to sho---”

“Not so fast! You still have one more question to answer!”

His attempt to change the subject failed as Leo brought up the one matter Drew wanted to keep hidden.

“What happened afterwards? You said you drank some weird potion that changed your voice? Your voice was so high it almost sounded like you were a---”

“Yeah! I drank a suspicious potion!” Drew frantically interrupted.

“Why would you do such a thing?”

“No, you see. I was tricked by a perverted weirdo god.”

“Perverted?” echoed Drake.

“Weirdo?” said Camellia.

The group hurriedly whispered between themselves. Unfortunately for him, Drew could still hear them.

“Has anyone heard Drew insult somebody before?” said Leo.

“Nope.” said Drake.

“Neither have I.” said Liliana.

“Same here.” said Camellia.

Having reached a conclusion, his friends turned to him. Drake looked at Drew with a proud look on his face. Camellia looked like a mother gazing fondly at her child growing up. Liliana sported a surprised look on her face. Rosaline still seemed slightly angry at him. Meanwhile, Leo was lost in thought.

“What?” Drew couldn’t help but ask at the weird stares he was getting.

“No, we just thought our innocent Drew was growing up.”

No, I am not as innocent as you guys think, Drew retorted in his mind. Feeling like he had to explain himself, he spoke up.

“No, you see. That god first appeared in front of me as a beautiful goddess right after I had been cursed.”

“Oh? You were taken in by her face and that is why you drank the potion?” Drake interrupted.

“No!”

“Her boobs? Well they are important as well…”

“What are you talking about!”

Feeling three angry glares on him, Drew desperately denied it. Why aren’t you angry at Drake!

“Then was it her butt or her thighs? I don’t think you have a foot fetish.”

“It wasn’t because of her appearance that I accepted the potion!”

“Ah good. I was worried for a second there but despite your harsh words, you are just as innocent as usual.”

“I was harsh because it was a guy pretending to be a girl. I mean seriously. What kind of perverted… weirdo… does that?”

Drew’s anger faltered. Who was he insulting with that statement? He was only digging himself into a deeper hole.

“Well, I will admit that is kinda creepy,” said Camellia.

“I wouldn’t want to meet such a person either,” said Rosaline.

“That explains why the kind and innocent Drew would be angry at someone,” said Drake.

His friends all nodded in unison at Drake’s statement.Their words, although meant to agree and cheer him up, only served as arrows that pierced through him. I can never appear before them in game, thought Drew. Getting back on track, Drew resumed his story.

“Anyways, after just refusing one god and being cursed for it, I didn’t feel safe in refusing another god.”

“So, what actually happened?” Leo rejoined the conversation.

“Yeah. My race became question marks, my height shortened a little bit, my hair turned silver and grew longer, and my voice became higher.”

Oh, and my body became that of a girl. Obviously Drew didn’t voice the last one.

“Long silver hair?” Muttered Leo.

Drew wasn’t sure he could avoid meeting his friends in game, thus he decided to give more detail on the changes that occurred. If he left out mentioning the gender change, perhaps they would draw their own conclusions and hopefully overlook that very small fact.

Of course, at least one person wouldn’t let him get away with his brief description. Though, what she raised a point on surprised Drew.

“Your race is just question marks?”

“Yeah.”

Rosaline quickly fired off a question.

“Have you noticed anything different?”

You mean the fact that my character is a girl and everything is slightly off? Nope, not a thing is different from normal.

“Well, nothing really feels any different. I am like a regular human in appearance and movement.”

“Hmm… I will need to thoroughly examine this…”

“Wha!? What are you suggesting?”

“Just examining you from head to toe and maybe casting some spells on you as well.”

“I am not a lab rat!”

With pleading eyes, Drew turned towards Drake for help. In return, Drake simply laughed. Perhaps sensing that Drew wanted to escape, Rosaline quickly acted.

“How about we meet up in game when it officially launches?”

----------

Just remembering the conversation at lunch caused Drew to sigh. He had spent the rest of lunch coming up with excuses on why he couldn’t meet up with Rosaline in game. Leo had luckily rescued him before she could press the matter further.

There were more topics he was interested in. He was curious how his friends fared in the finale event. Then there was that video Drake wanted to show him. Well, there would be more than enough time tomorrow for all that.

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

Partly because Leo still looked like he wanted to interrogate him, Drew was currently running faster on the track for PE class. He wasn’t very athletic, but just remembering the feeling of running against the wind in the game caused a thought to arise in him. What if I could experience that same feeling in the real world?

The more realistic side of him told himself that of course it was impossible. A game was a game after all. But the side of him that liked to dream wondered. Wasn’t virtual reality based on reality after all? The fact that Leo was still looking his way lost in thought served as a clear motivation regardless of which side of him was correct.

In the end, Drew’s efforts only rewarded him with legs that felt like they had weights on them. He made no progress towards reproducing that feeling at all. Collapsed pathetically on the ground, Drew looked enviously at Drake had finished even earlier and was barely sweating.

Leo looked winded, but not as badly as Drew himself. Of the three of them, Drake was the most athletic, followed by Leo, then Drew. Likewise, that was also the order of the amount of effort put into the PE class.

Thus, it was no surprise his two friends commented on his unusual behavior.

“You really put in some effort today.” said Drake.

“Ah! Maybe you thought it would transfer over to your character in Evolution Arts? Perhaps I should start taking this PE class more seriously...” said Leo.

“Yeah…” That is totally not what I was thinking, but it is more convenient than saying I was trying to avoid you. Drew ended up going with it.

----------

The next day in the lunch cafeteria, Drake dropped a bombshell statement.

“Guys, after thinking about it for a day, I have turned over a new leaf! I am going to aim to become the strongest in the game so I can meet Sylph.”

Camellia turned to stone. Liliana and Rosaline alternated between worried looks at her and surprised looks at Drake. Leo just laughed. Only Drew looked at Drake in confusion.

“Now, I know what your thinking. One such as myself is not worthy to stand besides her. However, that is the me at the moment. Sylph far surpassed the other players in strength during the beta test. If I can do the same, I should be able to meet her.”

Camellia still remained petrified. From the looks of things, she didn’t hear a single word Drake said after his first statement. Drew took the opportunity to ask his question.

“Sylph?”

“What, you have not seen the new Evolution Arts trailer yet?”

“No, I was waiting for you to show me.”

“Alright, watch this and you will understand. She is probably the strongest player in Evolution Arts. Camellia actually appears in this video as well.”

“And the rest of you guys?”

“Well... We all died except for Leo who, although survived until the end, did not appear in the video.”

Drew looked at the video playing on the phone. The first thing he noticed was a familiar clock tower from the finale event. The video was silent as it showed the open plaza where both players and monsters appeared frozen in time. Rapidly, the camera ascended to the clock tower where a lone maiden sat.

Silently, she lifted a flute to her lips and began to play a song. As the first note burst out through the ear, the battle below resumed in full force. Even to Drew’s untrained ears, he thought the song sounded great. Focusing on the battle, the camera showed off the adventurer’s bravery and skills as they displayed the full power of each of their classes.

From time to time, the camera would switch back to the maiden as she continued to play. Any monster that came close would perish to a blade of wind. Drew continued to watch the video with a sinking feeling in the pit of the stomach.

Why was a video of that figure circulating on the web? Why did such a figure appear in the official trailer? Drew had no answer to his questions. The figure of the person Drake admired was a very familiar one. Every time Raine looked into the mirror, that figure was the one who greeted her eyes. Taking no notice of Drew’s expression, Drake continued on after the video finished playing.

“Right now, everyone is trying to figure out who Sylph is. Somebody even sent an inquiry to the game developers but they refused to comment. She appeared like a bolt from the blue and single-handedly changed the tide of battle. She briefly appeared during the banquet of the gods but disappeared before anyone could ask anything. Well, at this point in time, we aren’t even sure if it is an actual player or an NPC.”

Hearing Drake go on and on about praising Sylph, a helpless feeling arose in Drew’s chest. That feeling soon erupted.

“Hahaha.”

He could only laugh at the absurdity of the situation. The strongest player? Her? And the majority of the players were searching for her?

Drake felt like something was wrong. Camellia had been petrified for awhile and Drew was letting out a weird hollow laugh after watching the video. Rosaline and even the normally kind Liliana were shooting him glares. Leo was just face palming.

----------

The rest of the week, Drew passed in a daze. He had searched the word Sylph on the internet. The results shocked him. The official game trailer had brought Sylph a lot of publicity and popularity yet another video vastly outshone the trailer in both the amount of posts related to it and the number of views. The video itself was no more than thirty seconds long. It contained the gameplay footage of a certain player who made it to the banquet of the gods.  

In the video, he was the first to notice her appearance and he let the world know by calling out. The maiden upon which he gazed had a complicated expression. Trying to cheer her up, the players called out to her at once. Yet, even their cheers were useless.

Despite their best efforts, sadness lined the maiden’s face. One player could not take it anymore. He walked towards her intending to comfort her. He was too slow. Tears formed in her eyes. The rest of the players rushed towards her in hopes of soothing her sorrow. Yet, they soon froze. As the first tears spilled from her eyes, she smiled. Her smile was a sad one yet it contained hope.

The men wanted to protect her. The women wanted to cuddle her. Yet, her sad smile stopped them. She uttered one word. It was only a single word, yet it contained a message to them all.

“Goodbye.”

From her tears, they could tell she was sad that they would be leaving. Soon, the beta test would end and they would all disappear. She could not stay together with them much longer.  Yet, despite her tears, she smiled. Her smile and words told them that she hoped to see them again in the future.

As if her one word was magic, Sylph disappeared. If they wanted to see her again, they would have to play the game when the servers officially opened.

----------

Watching the video, Drew lost all strength in his limbs. During the video, he simply wanted to flee and had smiled in relief when he realized he only had to say a word to escape.

“How did it turn into such a big deal!?”

The world had come to their own conclusions about his expressions and words. He hadn’t even realized that he had almost cried when he saw all the players. He couldn’t read the thread anymore. Reading only brought him anguish.

His newfound popularity had worn down his spirit. He had managed to somewhat survive the unfortunate fame mostly by trying to ignore it as much as possible. What truly finished him off was something Leo said.

It happened on Friday, the last day of school before Evolution Arts would be released. Leo had been unusually quiet for the past week pondering something. Carmelia gradually recovered from her petrified state and became more talkative yet she did not quite have her usual vigor. Drew still felt worn out from his fame but somehow managed.

Seeing the weary Drew, Leo’s face lit up as if he was suddenly enlightened. Looking directly at Drew, he spoke.

“I finally understand. Your sudden gloominess when Sylph is mentioned. Your character having long silver hair. These signs all point to one thing.”

“W-W-W-What are you talking about!”

It came out of nowhere. Caught off guard, Drew panicked. Leo couldn’t have found out, could he?

“It is no use denying it.”

“Denying it? What do you mean?”

Drew played dumb. Cold sweat dripped down his back.

“You can’t fool me. Its okay. I understand. You might be embarrassed but it is nothing to be ashamed of. You should always be clear about these kinds of things.”

They were in the middle of the cafeteria. All his friends were watching. Surely, Leo wouldn’t say it here? Unfortunately, Drew’s hopes were shattered.

“You fell in love with Sylph, didn’t you!”

“Eh?”

Drew felt like something incredible was just said. He was expecting something else so he couldn’t quite catch it. All he noticed was the giant grin on Leo’s face as he spoke like a great mystery had been solved. Likewise, Drew’s friends appeared shell shocked at Leo's unexpected statement.

“Man, I was wondering why you were so gloomy whenever someone mentioned Sylph’s popularity. It was because you loved her so much you wanted her all to yourself. You even went to the extent of drinking a suspicious potion to make yourself look like her.”

“No, don’t look like you are proud of yourself! Besides, I drank that potion before Sylph even appeared. Surely you know that? I mean, you even talked to me before the special event occurred. I am not in love with Sylph.”

“Haha, he is embarrassed.” Leon continued unfazed.

Amidst the turmoil, Drew felt someone pat his shoulders.

“I only admire Sylph. I have no intention of getting in the way of your love.”

Drake assured Drew. Unfortunately, it only did more damage.

“I wholeheartedly support you! Do your best to win her love!”

Camellia was shining brighter than ever. It was like the past week of lifelessness never happened. Did she really love discussing love stories that much?

“Um… guys, you shouldn’t be talking like that.”

A kind, timid voice came to his rescue. Only Liliana believed him. Drew was relieved the misunderstanding would finally be resolved.

“Drew is probably embarrassed talking about his love. You shouldn’t force him to admit it here in front of all these people.”

Her words put the last nail in the coffin. Drew collapsed. His friends believed he was in love with Sylph and all his attempts to persuade them were seen as him being embarrassed.

He did not quite remember how that day ended or even how the rest of the week went. Before he knew it, the day Evolution Arts would be officially released had arrived.