“Fresno really has changed.”

Chloe told herself as she walked aimlessly through the streets. Her family had once come here to let her younger brother look at colleges when he made it into high school. This was just a few weeks before Opening, the event that trapped the players in LOWG. At the time, her brother was very interested in the colleges here, so she decided that it would be best to come here since her brother was already college age. She thought that her brother might’ve chosen a college in Fresno, and decided to find him before doing anything else. However, Chloe had no way of knowing where exactly her brother was, or even if was in college.

Chloe wandered around the streets, before finding an alley where no one would come. She went in, looking behind her as she did. She walked to the center of the alley, looking around once more. There were no doors in the alley, so she was not worried about someone suddenly coming out and surprising her. Getting on her knees, her black and white wooden sword materialized in her hands. As a [Soul-Bound] weapon, her sword could be stored in her soul, or somewhere similar. Holding her sword, she cut open a wound on her left hand, and let the blood drip on the pavement. She moved her hand in a circle, causing the blood dripping from it to paint a circle on the ground as well. After painting the circle, she drew a star with the dripping blood. Then, she moved her hand into the center of the star, and drew out her mana. She poured her mana into the blood ritual circle, causing it to squirm and move. It did not change form, but only solidified the lines and corrected any mistakes she had made.

The blood in the center flew into the air, and collected into a ball. At this point, the wound on Chloe’s hand had been wrapped up in gauze and tied firmly. The ball of blood then exploded, forming into an extremely tin red line, going off into the distance, and turned out of the alley. Chloe followed it, putting her sword back in her soul. However, when she turned the corner, she met face-to-face with three people about her apparent age, wearing clothes and accessories that screamed “I’m a punk!” They wore evil grins while looking down at her. It was obvious they followed her into the alley.

“Hey pretty lady, wanna hang with us?” The one that appeared to be the leader asked.

“No, please move. I’m in a hurry.” Chloe offhandedly told them, and tried to go around them.

The three punks blocked her way, laughing lightly.

“Come on, no need to rush, I’m sure you’ll have time for it later.” The leader spoke again, putting his hand on the wall behind Chloe, blocking off her retreat into the alley.

Chloe frowned and then sighed. Swiftly, her fist met with the chin of the leader, sending him into the air. She looked to her left, where there was another punk. Her foot whipped out, slamming his head into the wall, causing cracks to spread out on the wall. She then used the arm that had hit the leader to backhand the punk on her right. This punk hit the wall as well, but no cracks appearing this time. Though all this took time to describe, it happened in an instant. Staring at the crumpled bodies of the punks, Chloe secretly thought of drawing dicks on their faces but abstained due to the time constraint. She dashed around the corner, following the thin blood line.

~December 20, 2044. California State University, Fresno, California. 4:13:44 pm.~

The blood line gathered in front of California State University, and then gathered into a ball about the size of a marble. Chloe grabbed it, and it merged into her palm. A scene appeared in her mind. A young man sat in a library, his head on the table, evidently having fallen asleep. His hair was a dark brown, with bangs that nearly covered his eyes. He had a worn-out face, most likely due to hard work. He wore casual clothes, but they were wrinkled and full of stains. He looked very similar to Chloe.

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Chloe herself had long blond hair, which had grown out due to ten years of no care. Her eyes were green and glittered due to her mana and the Gate energy in her body. Her face looked very similar to his, only not as worn. They were both very attractive, but while Chloe gave off a cold aura, he seemed far more approachable. Looking at their appearances only, they looked like siblings.

Chloe grinned and went into the University. When she walked in, she immediately looked for a map. She found the library on it, and headed straight for it. However, she seemed to have suddenly thought of something, and turned around, leaving the University. She continued to explore Fresno, and buy things from stores and visit tourist locations until night.

~December 20, 2044. California State University, Fresno, California. 10:10:10 pm.~

Chloe’s brother was still sleeping in the library. It seemed to have been a common occurrence, as someone had laid a blanket over him. Chloe observed this from the roof of the library, which was mostly glass windows. She grinned mischievously as she opened a window near her brother’s position. Climbing on the window sill, she leapt off into the library, the window closing and locking behind her. She landed on a table loudly, waking her brother with a violent jerk. His chair fell backwards and he hit the ground, his arms flailing wildly.

Chloe stood up and dusted herself off, snickering as she watched her brother freak out. Her brother turned around at the sound of her laugh, only to stare in shock at who it was. Noticing her brother’s stare, Chloe stopped laughing, and held up her hand, waving at him.

“Yo.” Chloe greeted him, still containing her laughter.

“W-who are you…?” Her brother stuttered in disbelief.

“Huh? Don’t you recognize me?”

“Well… I certainly do know someone that looks like you, but she’s can’t be out and about…”

“Tch.”

“Seriously, who are you and what are you doing?”

“Well, since you completely forgot, it’s me, your sister, Chloe. I’m ‘out and about’ once more. You surprised?”

“… The very fact that someone actually cares enough to pretend to be my sister -who is most certainly unable to be here- is surprising. The way you came in was even more surprising. I don’t know where the hell you came from but the way you came in was nothing more than surprising. So yes, I am surprised.”

“Haah… Don’t tell me I have to reveal embarrassing secrets about when you were younger.”

“It doesn’t matter. This is either a hallucination based on sleep deprivation or someone pulling some elaborate scheme to make me do something. Though why you would choose me is something I don’t understand.”

“You wet the bed until you were five.”

“Don’t go saying things like that so everyone can hear!”

“You were also confessed to by thirty different girls in 8th grade, and you rejected them all, even though you said number 12 was your type.”

“How do you know this?!”

“I told you, it’s me, Chloe, back from LOWG and here for you!”

“Stop lying! There’s no way Chloe can be back, it’s impossible! Nobody has come back from LOWG alive! It’s either you live in there forever or die and never wake up!”

“So you don’t know...”

“… Don’t know what?”

“About the Gate in Lemoore. I thought everyone would know. I wonder, were you memories erased, or did you just never know? I’m sure you, of all people, would know about something like that happening near our hometown.”

“What the hell are you on about?”

Chloe didn’t answer him, and instead moved in front of her brother. Before he could react, she grabbed his head and cast a spell, pouring mana into his head. Her brother went stiff and his actions stopped. She closed her eyes as the spell she used sorted through the memories in his head, ignoring all the others and heading straight to the date of the Opening. She saw nothing that was related to The Worlds Gate, so she went to the next day. There, she finally found what she was looking for. A news story covered the appearance of the Gate, and how it suddenly appeared. There was no mention of the Gatemaster or Lilia. She continued paying attention to the next days, until the news covering the Gate suddenly stopped. From this, she discovered that his memories had been tampered with. She used her mana to bring the memories of the Gate back.

Chloe let go of her brother’s head and stepped back. Her brother gasped and held his head, a pain searing through his mind. It quickly faded, allowing him to remember what he had forgotten. His eyes widened once he saw that. Slowly, he looked up, both fear and disbelief in his eyes. He opened his mouth, but no sound came out. Finally, he swallowed and asked a question.

“You… just who are you?”

“I already told you,” Chloe spun in a circle, hands clasped behind her back. “I’m your sister, Chloe, back from the world of LOWG.”