"I...? What the fuck?! Where?" her words take a minute to sink in. I nervously examine my hands... but there's nothing. "If you wanted to scare me, you succeeded."

"You won't see it with the naked eye due to lack of magic sensitivity. It has strong enchantments, being invisible to ordinary people is one of its functions. But this can be circumvented."

Jane removes her strange glasses and holds them out to me.

"This is a gift from a friend who studies magical energy at the micro level. Through it, even an ordinary person can see magical objects. Fasten them tightly in the back so they don't slip, and look at your right hand. Warning, it's going to be a little uncomfortable," she hinted.

I look at the glasses with distrust, but there's no choice. I secure the strap firmly and peer through. At first there's no effect, the image doesn't even take on a turquoise tint.

After a few minutes, I'm about to declare that nothing is happening, but there's a bright flash that blinds me and cuts my eyes painfully.

I clench my teeth, suppressing a scream. Right after the flash my eyes sting. The pain is nasty and corrosive, comparable to pouring a bottle of shampoo on my face. Simultaneously it felt like something really got in my eyes.

I reach with my left hand to rub my eyes, but Jane knocks it away.

"This isn't a little uncomfortable, this is hell!" I complain.

"Bear with it, it'll be fine soon."

I snort disapprovingly but obey. After about forty seconds the blindness starts fading. As vision returns, I notice distortions appearing: a light dark tint overlays the image, small floating particles appear in space, dense blue glow emanates from Jane, enveloped by thin purple streams. I lower my gaze.

"I've definitely gone crazy..." I mumble, not believing my eyes. A thin bracelet shimmering with black sits on my wrist. It's made of something very similar to plastic, but clearly not that.

"Oh, finally," Jane smirks. "Still don't believe?"

I feel myself pale as I take off the glasses and look at Jane.

"How is this even possible? Fuck, I'm not even a mage," I say shocked.

"The box with the bracelet was hidden deep under the bed. Obviously you stumbled on it while looking for the gun and for some reason reached inside."

I remember pulling out the empty small box. So that prickling on my wrist wasn't from the rough blanket.

"That's how you found it," Jane continued. "An entirely different question is why it was activated. Of course, they're not tied to specific people, but a non-mage can't physically interact with an object of such power. I don't have an answer for that, but I have a few guesses. Most realistically, even your 0.004% magical energy was enough for the bracelet to think you were a mage. It's absurd, but apparently the enchantments don't account for such nuances."

I listened carefully, jumped up from the bed and grabbed Jane's shoulders.

"Jane, take this shit off me! I don't want to participate in a DEADLY BATTLE OF MAGES! Based on what you said, I can't even use the crappiest magic wand," I said, laughing nervously.

"First, magic wands don't exist," she gently pushed me away and sighed in frustration. "Second, I already tried. To be precise, I spent ten hours on it. I tried absolutely everything I could. All ideas failed, literally all, some you're better off not knowing about. Unfortunately, I'm powerless here."

"You mean I'll die?!"

"No, we'll remove the bracelet, just not now."

"Huh? But you're powerless."

"I am, but the observer definitely can do it. We need to wait until he responds to the summons. I'll explain the situation and ask him to transfer the bracelet to me."

"Observer? When will he appear?"

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

"Hopefully soon."

"Um...?"

"By the rules, the observer must monitor order from when bracelets are sent out... but for some reason he's inactive. Some mages realized this and started breaking rules: conducting total surveillance and preemptively killing others. I used this time to create an extensive reconnaissance network of familiars. On one hand, his inaction is bad right now; on the other, if he was active, after you activated the bracelet he would have appeared nearby since this is an extraordinary situation, and who knows what would have happened to you. I was sure he appeared yesterday—after the Game officially started, and tried summoning him several times, but no response. I've read lots of information about past Games, this isn't mentioned anywhere. I really don't know when he'll appear."

"Everything's screwed up even with magic... Well, suppose he transfers the bracelet to you. What happens to me? I'm a normal person who learned about the magical world, and he's like a law enforcement representative. He won't overlook this."

"Don't worry. Judging by his behavior, he likely doesn't care about laws. But if such a conversation happens, I think we can arrange to just erase your memory."

"What does that mean? From what moment, excuse me?"

"I see no point wasting time discussing abstract events. When and if it happens, then we'll talk," she waved off. "Basically, here's the situation: while you have the bracelet, you precisely listen to and follow all my instructions. You'll participate in the Game with me for a while, I'm not going to waste an advantage because of this nonsense."

"WHAT?! Are you sure you want me to survive?"

"I want to preserve your life more than you do yourself. If you die the bracelet deactivates, which automatically removes me from participants. You'd have to stay close anyway since I'm your only protection."

"But—"

"Explanation part over," Jane interrupted, "now my questions. What were you doing late evening in the city center, and in this pathetic t-shirt?"

"I had a date," I clearly understand I can't lie about these events.

"What-what?" she was genuinely amazed. "John, keep in mind that lying increases your chance of dying."

"I'm not lying. As I understand now, she just wanted someone for one or several nights. It didn't go very well, but it's true."

"And who was it?"

"She's also from 11th grade, we share some classes. Since you only care about yourself and those two kiss-ups always around you, you probably don't know her."

"Still—who?"

Something hits me in the head, I suddenly remember yesterday's promise. For some reason she asked me not to tell Jane... but what difference does it make now.

"Lily Lane."

I thought Jane's eyebrows raised.

"The one with red hair?"

"Yeah, you know each other?" I'm surprised.

"No. What did you do? What does 'didn't go very well' mean?"

"Come on, why do you need this stuff? Besides our parting, nothing interesting happened."

"Should I remind you what happens if you don't obey?" she extends her hand forward.

"Hey, okay okay, don't get worked up sis."

I briefly recount our whole contact, starting with the dropped note.

"What time was it when you parted?"

"Around 10, can't say the exact minute. We left the shooting range right at closing."

"Bit strange..." Jane visibly puzzled. "Well, this no longer has any significance. There are no shooting ranges in the city center, how did you end up there?"

"By chance. Because of how the date ended I was mentally burned out and wandered wherever I looked. When I wanted to rest, found myself there."

"How did you run into the girl and armored one?"

I tell her about Christine crashing into the pole, our insane dialogue and escape from Boar. While talking, I remember the hits I took and check my arm and left side. The fact that nothing hurts or is broken is mind-boggling.

"Listen, that asshole definitely seriously injured me, but—"

"I have given you a healing elixir. Your condition was truly terrible, at least several months in the hospital. By the way, I don't have much of it, so you have to be extremely careful."

Holy shit, even that exists, I thought, nodding.

"This Christine is right, there will be very high participant activity in the city center and nearby districts. According to my information, about fifteen people died there today. We won't visit that territory."

"Okay, how's our situation?"

"Safe, but I won't give you freedom of movement. Alright, no more questions."

She jumps up from the bed and indicates to follow her.

"Come on, I'll show you my basement. There you'll learn the Game's rules and get something for yourself," Jane ordered and flew out of the room.

I get up after her and take a step, but I'm stopped by the sound of several notifications arriving in succession. I take my phone and look at it.

"How many?!" slips out when I see 27 messages from Lily. Through the notification I catch the last five:

Oh god, what does she want?

"Did you fall asleep there?" Jane's discontented voice came.

"Coming."

I put my phone in my pocket, fly out of the room, and within a few seconds I'm catching up with Jane in the corridor.

"Did Rob and Sharon come?" I ask.

"Your rabble showed up when I was using a very complex spell to remove the bracelet. I told them you were ill and led them out."

Probably not in the nicest way. Fortunately, they know Jane's character and won't be offended.

"Thanks for the cover."

We go down to the first floor and enter the garage. By this point I completely lose any connection with common sense and decide to go with the flow. There's no alternative anyway.

"Wait, there was never a basement in the garage," I realize.

"Just like there was no magic until yesterday," Jane said sarcastically. "Parents created it before we were born. Inherited it, if you can put it that way. Stand behind me."