Oh my god, I stared in shock at the glowing blue light before my eyes, This is... so familiar. No, that can't be... Memories started to flood my head and made me feel woozy. I closed my palm around the shining blue gem that I found just moments ago and tried to steady myself.

Young woman looking pensively. [https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/966772585310335056/1038459052419723284/markup_1000000365.png]

Right now, I stood inside a cave I discovered while on a school trip. Originally I had meant to read, but the gem emitted a blue light I couldn't ignore. The sound of the waves beating against the shore echoed gently inside this place. In this moment of outward serenity, my mind was a whirlwind of thoughts, each racing toward an absurd conclusion... I've been reborn... Reborn into the game known as Rival Reverie 8!

Rival Reverie 8 was a popular fantasy RPG, which was released in the 2000's. It was not as popular as its predecessors, but it found a home as a cult classic among eccentric gamers. Rival Reverie 8, unlike Rival Reverie 1 through 7, mixed medieval and modern aesthetics into an anachronistic blend of a setting.

The main character wielded a two-handed sword, while his rival carried an actual gun. A rifle no less. In the previous world, the guy with the gun would probably be the winner, but in Rival Reverie 8, a turn-based game, they were able to go toe-to-toe. It also happened to have a somewhat convoluted magic system, which involved attuning to creatures in the world known as vocari. The vocari were something like spirits that the player could summon to do big damage or other effects, but largely, the vocari were used just to have access to better stats and higher tier magic.

The ordinary citizens of the world were capable of low level magic, like fire, ice, and earth - or igno, glacio, terris as they were named in the game. All magic had an element attached to it, and the most common were those aforementioned three. To gain access to even more powerful spells or other elements, you need to have a relationship with a vocari.

Near the end of Rival Reverie 8, henceforth referred to as RR8, the full cast of characters gathered at this very cove and lamented some of the events of the game. It was there that the main character, Oberon, discovers a vocari that somehow unlocks a long forgotten memory which, coincidentally, greatly aids the party in defeating the final boss, Pandora. However... Now I'm the one who holds that very vocari.

In my past life, I worked as a librarian by day and kept to myself outside of work. I enjoyed my solitary life accumulating husbandos, waifus, and even children - all fictional of course. I managed to finally find a copy of RR8 in a dollar bin at the local flea market. These days RR8 could run for over a hundred bucks, so I did my best not to grin like an idiot as I purchased the game. Last thing I remember is rushing home and popping in the disc in my GSX...

Ah! And of course, I remember the general plot of the story, loads about the characters, and a few tricks only veterans of the game knew about. For a split second, my heart was seized by fear. Another concept from my previous life just registered - this is one of those "reborn in another world" genres! Specifically, being reborn into a video game! For just a moment, I thought I would need to resign myself to joining the main cast and obliterating Pandora once and for all, achieving the only ending in the game, before finally getting to live a peaceful life.

When I was growing up, in my previous life, I made a serious effort in everything I did. I clawed my way out of the hole and into what was mostly a comfortable life... with tens of thousands of dollars worth of debt hanging over my head. The cost of graduate and postgraduate degrees were inflated beyond most salaries, but that didn't happen until I was already almost finished with my master's degree. With the economy tanked, I managed to live in an apartment by myself, an achievement by the standards of my peers. Like everyone else, I lived roughly a paycheck or two away from complete and utter homelessness. With such a dreadful fact looming over my head, it's no wonder I took to the escapism of books and games! One of the last deep thoughts I remember having was the feeling that no matter how hard one tried or worked, it usually didn't work out. Not unless you were someone with a lot of money or privilege.

I think, subconsciously, some of the feelings from my old life may have transferred over when I was still growing up. I do the bare minimum to survive and use all my energy on the things that really mattered to me - reading! Video games didn't exist ironically enough in this world. If I became the protagonist of this world's story, then I would be forced to actually make some kind of effort. I would even have to sacrifice my free time just to make sure Pandora isn't able to stuff all humanity's happiness or whatever into her stupid box.

Pouting, I walked over to the entrance of this cave, firmly grasping the gem, the vocari's current form, in hand. I looked down at the waters of the sea when it occurred to me. The face looking back at me... blue eyes behind glasses, long black hair, and a beauty mark under my right eye. This was not the face of any of the party members at all! In fact... I can't even remember any characters bearing my name at all, though it did have a bit of a protagonist ring to it! My first name is Bianca, and I am not a member of the main cast. My worries melted away as I whispered, "Oh thank god for that..." with a soft smile on my face.

I paced around inside the cave, tossing the vocari gem in my free hand as my other hand fiddled around with random junk in my pocket. As much of a relief as it was for me not to be any of the main characters, I still existed in this world. Now, comparing the memories I have of the game versus this world, this world is definitely real. There are way more people who inhabit my school than there were characters in the entire game, even random no-name NPCs. Despite that, I couldn't just assume I had zero role in the game. While I would love for that to be the case, I couldn't take that chance. What if I was supposed to help the heroes out somehow? Or maybe be part of a quest of some kind? I thought about my childhood in this world.

I grew up in the now annihilated town of Carina (strike one for the importance meter). It was a quiet town, probably more of a village, and my childhood was mostly normal until the Astarion empire suddenly invaded. My home was destroyed that day. I lost my parents and brother too. I was pulled out from under the wreckage of my house...

A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

As an orphan (strike two for the importance meter), I was placed into the Rose Academy along with the other child survivors of Carina. Rose Academy is actually the main hub of RR8. It serves as a home base, a place to undergo training and acquire new abilities, and in the late game it serves as a mode of transportation - that's a bit too complicated to go into right now. Becoming a student of that academy, which had its own dorms, definitely serves as the third and final strike in the importance meter. Living on premises meant that I could run into the main characters at anytime and certain in-game events would effect me no matter what!

Thinking back about the characters of the game... I still couldn't quite place what role I might play, if any, for the main cast. I took a deep breath and released my anxiety. There was no point in worrying about it right now. I needed more information... and my head was still spinning from all the information pouring into it from my previous life. There was even a tiny kernel tucked into the back of my mind that whispered, "No way! You can't be experiencing this, because that is such a silly premise. Awaking to memories of a previous life? What is this, an isekai? So absurd." I frowned and countered, "If it's so absurd, then where did you ever learn the word isekai? That word and concept doesn't exist here on Gaia!" With a smirk, I received the feedback, "Touché, Bianca. Touché."

Meandering in thought as I was, I didn't realize someone was calling for me. "Bianca! Where are you? We are going back to the academy! Better join us, or you are going to need to walk to get back." Ahh, it was the voice of my best friend in the world, Helia. It wasn't long before she appeared before me at the cave mouth. She always wore her blond hair in long pigtails, which gave her a very cutesy look that some might assume made her vapid. Little did people like that know, Helia had a sharp wit and an even sharper tongue. "There you are, it's been an hour, honestly, you find the strangest places to read... Oh, what's that?"

[https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/966772585310335056/1038458977383624754/Girl_with_long_blond_Pigtails_and_red_eyes._Casual_outfit._Background_is_a_beach_s-598885625.png]

"This?" I held up the vocari gem. Vocari typically took the form of gems, crystals, and the like. Internally I kicked myself for not pocketing it immediately. If Helia found out this was a vocari, it might place a spotlight on me. Even if I have a role in the story as a nameless NPC, there was a good chance I could bypass it if whatever my part was didn't matter to the overall success of the main cast. I had to think fast - "I thought it might be a vocari, but it hasn't reacted to my magic. I think it might be a glacio crystal."

Image of a blue crystal [https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/966772585310335056/1038459033012674681/A_blue_gem_inside_a_black_space_with_nothing_around_except_diamond_dust_s-2542133351.png]

Helia looked skeptical, "A glacio crystal? That one is too pretty to be a regular glacio crystal."

A glacio crystal was a crystal that could be consumed and transmuted into raw magic by a vocari, if you had one that specialized in glacio (cold) magic. I looked at the gem between my fingers. It actually stopped shining as brightly as it had when we were alone. I wondered if the vocari within it heard what I said. Was it trying to help me disguise what it actually was?

"I was thinking the same thing. It's really nice looking. I was thinking of making it into a necklace or something, what do you think?" I smiled and held the gem up to my neck, modeling what it could look like on me to Helia. She looked at the gem and into my eyes.

"It matches your eyes, I'd say. Your eyes are the same shade of blue. Of course, you don't have that same level of cold energy radiating off of you." Helia smirked and turned away from me. "You know, you'd have more friends if you pulled your nose out of your books."

"What do you mean?" I pocketed the vocari, thankful that Helia didn't push me on it more. "I have the best friend I could possibly have. I'm pretty sure it would just be downhill from here."

"Hmm, is that so?" Helia sounded like she didn't believe me, but it was true. Even though we didn't grow up together, she was one of the few kids I was able to get along with. We both loved reading and shared similar tastes. Helia was a girly girl and socialite, but she knew that when I wanted some distance it wasn't anything to do with her. We'd soon speak about books and random stuff again. I strongly felt that a friend like that is rare. "Well, regardless, I think it would look good on you. If you are done here, we should hurry back before we get ditched."

By the time we made it back to where the bus should be, we were met with just a single person, Oberon, the main character of RR8. As it so happened, I was in his class along with Helia. His back was turned to us as we approached. He didn't bother to look at us when we finally reached him.

"... You guys were late." Oberon said simply. His voice is deep and he always speaks fairly slowly. Like it's taking him a lot of effort just to get the words out of his mouth.

"Where is everyone?" I asked him, looking around. We were on the beach that was beyond a hill, but even so, the bus was parked really close by if I recall correctly. I looked over at Helia to see how she felt about the situation, but she was gawking at Oberon. I shifted my gaze back to him, his back still turned to us.

Oberon's picture could be found in the dictionary as an example of stoicism. Everytime I looked at him, it was like he was posing for a brooding and angsty magazine. Black hair, dark eyes, and even slightly tanned skin - Oberon was really outside the norm for a RR protagonist. The game is told from his point of view, and he is the only main cast member that you can't remove from the party. There was a lot of backlash online when Oberon was revealed in the teaser trailer for RR8. Keyboard warriors, who probably claimed to be color blind in their day-to-day lives, started massive flame wars about being 'politically correct' and whatever other gripes they had. The worst part is Oberon is just tanned. I let out a sigh, cringing just remembering the comments under the trailer. Thinking of Helia, I realized that Oberon was pretty much peak sexy if you were into the brooding types. It helped immensely that he had broad shoulders. Even in my previous youth, I had written some clumsy and unsavory fanfiction starring Oberon and an original character that was definitely not based on me.

After another moment of silence, he responded, "They left."

"Eh?"

"... Just like I said. They left." He confirmed. Helia sighed, snapping out of her stupor.

"Geez, just because you were off daydreaming... now we have to walk back to the academy. Wait," Helia blinked and pointed at Oberon, though he still wasn't facing us, "why are you still here? You were here when the bus was loading, weren't you?"

"..." Oberon paused. He paused for a long time. Then he said, "I didn't want you guys to walk alone."

My brain coughed awkwardly and handed me a folded piece of paper containing a memory. Wait a second... I squinted at his back. I remember now... you were off having a duel with your rival and got your ass kicked! You fainted and your rival left you for dead. It was all in the opening cutscene! This is the start of the game, so this area serves as the tutorial! I looked over to Helia, indignant about Oberon's boldfaced lie. Yet, I could practically see the hearts in her eyes beaming in his direction. I sighed.

"Sure, okay, well, let's get rolling I guess."

And so my amazing quest to remain completely unimportant to the plot suffered its first major setback - accidentally becoming a part of the tutorial!