I stared at my hands - I was no longer holding the game controller, but a sword.

What? How did that happen?

I blinked, feeling disoriented and bewildered. All around me was a black abyss, and for a moment, I really thought I’d died. Then, before my eyes, a glowing golden frame floated in the air, words forming within it. 

[“Please enter your name.”] 

Confusion clouded my mind as I tried to make sense of whatever this thing was. Where was I? How did I get here? Tentatively, I spoke my name, "Sylas."

As soon as the words left my lips, the blackness around me swirled away, like some giant blowing away black smoke. I found myself standing in the middle of an empty green valley. It was beautiful, with rolling hills and a clear blue sky above. That was quite a shock, since I was in my friend’s basement just a few minutes ago. Yet, the scenery was not the only thing that caught me by surprise. Looking down at myself, I saw that I was dressed in an outfit that resembled something out of a fantasy tale. I wore tights and a tunic, all in various shades of blue, and leather boots that completed the Robin Hood-esque ensemble.

Wait a minute... I thought. This is just like the main character in Adventures of Westia, the video game I was playing earlier! My heart raced as I realized that the game we were playing had somehow come to life around me. It seemed impossible, but the evidence was right there, from the floating frame asking for my name to the fantastical clothes I now wore.

To add to the bizarre experience, I noticed something strange in the corner of my vision—a life bar with 3 red boxes, and a magic bar with 3 white ones. There was also XP, which I sadly had none.

Life: [■■■] 

Magic: [■■■] 

XP: 0/50

Level 1

They hovered at the edge of my sight, as if they were an integral part of my being. I blinked in disbelief, but the bars remained, seemingly unaffected by my skepticism. That was going to take some getting used to!

My thoughts were interrupted by a peculiar sight ahead of me. On the road not far enough away for my liking, a weird blobby monster hopped around. Its slimy form and erratic movements made me feel uneasy. This was definitely not a part of my regular life back in America!

My heart pounded in my chest as I stood in the midst of this bizarre world, trying to make sense of how I got here. It all felt surreal, like a lucid dream I couldn't wake up from. I wracked my brain, trying to remember the moments leading up to this bewildering situation.

Evrondale, 1987.

I was new to the town, and to the school. had moved here with my family after the big earthquake ravaged our home in Bramstock, where I lived most of my life prior to Evrondale. That earthquake was a devastating event that turned our lives upside down. I’d been minding my own business in my house, when everything started shaking. The quake was strong enough that the china closet started teetering. My little sister Angie was sitting right there! I ran to save her, and succeeded -  but part of it fell on me instead. My left hand had taken the brunt of it. Given the state of the rest of our house, we were lucky to be alive, but I broke a ton of bones that day.

People called me lucky because it wasn't my dominant hand, but they didn't understand - I was a guitar player, dammit! Of course my left hand was important. The fact that I couldn’t bend my ring and pinky fingers quite right anymore meant that I couldn’t play well! 

If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

The surgeons did the best they could, and my doctor kept trying to reassure me that I was still healing. But he also made sure to warn me that full function of my hand might never return. And music was my passion. Those great rock bands of the day like Aerosmith, Bon Jovi, and Journey were my inspiration. But now, my dreams of becoming a rock star seemed shattered. 

We ended up moving - the family home had to be condemned due to all the damage the earthquake caused. It even damaged the factory that my dad worked in. But he came out of the tragedy in style - he’d been working in the factory by day, studying to become an electrician at night, so he was able to get a good job with a better salary doing electrical work in Evrondale. 

Evrondale was nice, I had a good first impression of it. It was a quiet suburb with large houses and neatly manicured lawns. There were a lot of parks in the area, too. But it was nicer than the place I lived in before, and somehow that made me insecure, like people would find out I wasn’t supposed to be there.

In my new town and new high school, I felt shy and nervous. I was the type of person who talked once I got to know someone, but kept my mouth shut before then. I never had that many friends anyway, and while part of me was hoping this could be a fresh chance to fall in with a cool group, I wasn’t sure how to go about talking to people. So I sat by myself, until I met Adrian.

It was actually a few weeks in at my new school, Evrondale High, and everything still  felt unfamiliar and overwhelming. I just switched my schedule around, because they’d put me in a second-year French class. Thing was, I never took year one, and needed to be in a second year Spanish class. It was just some mix-up at the office.

As I walked into my first Spanish class, already a few weeks in, I quickly found an empty desk near the back, hoping to blend in with the background as usual. I glanced around, my eyes falling upon a young man with fiery orange hair, sitting a few seats away.

Adrian, that was his name. He was the type of person who just naturally stood out—not just the red hair, which surprisingly turned out to be his natural color, but his intelligent blue eyes, pale complexion, and slight lankiness. It gave him an elvish look, like he’d fit better in some fantasy costume than the black t-shirts and jeans he usually stuck to. He tended to sit with his arms crossed, looking a little bored and standoffish. He was always sneaking comic books into his textbooks and reading them in class, yet whenever the teacher called on him, he had the answer. I saw a quiz the teacher passed back to him with a 97% written in big red on the top. 

Eventually curiosity got the better of me, and I mustered the courage to strike up a conversation. "Hey, nice shirt," I said, nodding towards the band logo emblazoned across Adrian's chest.

He glanced at me, not smiling but not really looking that hostile either. "Thanks. They’re pretty good."

I nodded in agreement. "Yeah, I like some of their stuff. I'm Sylas, by the way."

"Adrian," he replied, still crossing his arms. It was nice to meet someone who was, like me, not naturally outgoing. "You're new here, right? I haven't seen you around before."

I nodded, my nervousness subsiding a little. "Yeah, just moved to town. It's my first day in this class. The idiots in the front office put me in the wrong class."

Adrian smirked. "Well, welcome to Evrondale, Sylas. It kind of sucks. You'll get used to it."

Throughout the day, Adrian and I continued to chat between classes. He had an encyclopedic knowledge of comics and could effortlessly switch between discussing obscure indie bands and the latest fantasy novels. I was fascinated by his depth of knowledge and his ability to effortlessly blend into different social circles, while not being particularly social himself. I saw him with some guy who looked like a huge meat slab of a jock, then another day he was having lunch with a kid in a blazer with slicked-back black hair.

As the weeks went by, our friendship grew stronger. We spent our lunch breaks together, sitting under the shade of a massive oak tree in the courtyard. Adrian was also a musician but he was more into pianos and nowadays, synths. He would often bring his portable, battery-operated Yamaha keyboard, and would play for a little bit. Sometimes a crowd would form nearby to listen but wouldn’t really bother us.

I was pretty happy hanging out with Adrian. He was a kindred spirit, my partner in crime when it came to all things geeky. From bands to games, books to comics, we we could talk for hours on end without getting bored. Even though he could be a weirdly serious at times and wasn’t much of a smiler, he had a way of putting people at ease and was a good listener.

One day, as I made my way to my locker, I caught sight of Adrian engrossed in conversation with a girl. My curiosity piqued, I slowed my pace to get a better look. She was unlike anyone I had ever seen. Tall and slender, with nice long legs and large eyes that were heavily outlined. Her long, thick auburn hair cascaded down past her shoulders, framing her oval face like a fiery halo. I couldn't tear my eyes away.

Her fashion sense was on point too. I remember vividly that day when she wore tight acid washed jeans, a houndstooth jacket, and these unique triangle hoop earrings. 

Was she Adrian's girlfriend? I didn’t like that possibility one bit. I had to admit, the thought of it made me immediately jealous. 

The bell started to ring, and I had to hustle across the school to make it to my chemistry class in time. The questions about the girl faded into the background, buried beneath trying to balance molecular weights or whatever it was that our teacher was trying to make us do. I was scraping by with a C.

Later that day, as the last bell rang,  Adrian extended an invitation that would forever change my life. "Hey, Sylas, you wanna come over and play Adventure of Westia 2: Quest for the Celestial Keys on my Trion-System?" he asked.

I paused. “I thought you said your Trion was broken.”

“My uncle fixed it and sent it back.”

"Well, in that case sure, sounds like a blast. Who else is coming?"

“A couple of friends from my other classes, I think you’ll like them.”

We waved goodbye with the promise that I’d walk over to his house as soon as I’d finished my homework and told my mom where I was going. I had no idea that  the day would end with me standing here, in monster-infested Westia itself!