1 Another World

Yesterday was forever ago. Today was not that far away, but it was much too far fetched. The world which surrounded our hero was not the one they were used to. Nina Seo was a young college student who had been thought to be a prodigy. She had a vast selection of hobbies and main focuses. While not all her grades were great, it was only because her interest in a subject simply lacked, as did her studies. Anything that took her in, brought her great joy; especially the idea of knowledge being soaked up like a sponge.

Short dark brown hair with a pixie cut and a pair of dark brown eyes, the girl was a natural slender beauty. Her chubby cheeks, modest bust, boney thighs and tiny feet to boot, she had a youthful appearance with a stunning vibe of maturity. Her looks and personality, they frequently changed on a dime. She was a roleplayer, both live and on social media. The first Nina you met last week, may not be the same Nina that is here the next day.

Having read various fictions based around heroes from other worlds being summoned, they began playing a Virtual Reality Roleplaying Game known as Aeriantian Online. As the game began to generally take over all aspects of their life, the world they perceived as reality was nothing other than a cruel joke.

Racism, sexism, outright prejudice views were everywhere. As a child one would think that it was completely unfair, unwarranted. The way people's minds operate is mysterious, the idea of ethnic cleansing and the use of holy crusades, why wouldn't someone just give up? Especially if one couldn't use powers such as seen in fantasy movies, novels and even games.

She just wanted to escape from reality and as her social connections broke down, she lost her job, her parents pulled her financial support, she was put on academic probation as she was working on her bachelor's degree. She gradually lost her hold on reality. She became one of those many rejects which had been propping up across the globe. The Virtual Reality Junkie ended up settling into one of her friend's apartments where she could freeload for six months in the guise of getting her act together.

The only problem was, her friend didn't know the dangers of what would happen if you were to 'accidentally' unplug the VR machine from its safety harness which acted as some sort of surge protector.

The next thing her friend knew, Nina Seo was literally toasted by the headset, like any other CPU which was touched by an ungrounded source. Nina Seo was killed in the act of Man Slaughter by her best friend. Despite this, she never really noticed that she died. Instead it was just as if she had blacked out for several hours before feeling a very odd sensation…

Admist the darkness which surrounded her in her unconscious mind, a blip was heard as a screen appeared. [ Event in Progress. Entering World. ] Was the only thing which popped up in white letters accompanied by a whispering voice of the chosen advisor's voice which was an English rather pompous sounding gentleman. [ Welcome to the Realm of Aeriant, Grand Hero. ]

Wooosh, wooosh. The Sound of massive wings could be heard, elegantly moving up and down. The air was thin, cold. It was hard to breath. In the skies above the coast line belonging to the continent of Aeriant, a shadow cast along the beaches and stubborn ridged hills. Held within fleshy right talon of a legendary black scaled dragon was a small figure. Nude and tenderly to the eyes, was a girl with jaw length dirty-blond hair, short pointed ears flared outward with arrow shaped tips. She had a modest growth and a rounded jawline, overall dainty and petite.

The small creature seemed to slowly open her eyes part the way, which were emerald green in color. Her vision blurry, incoherent. The sight of her breath and the underside of a dragon only had them raise a brow. With a stoic expression on their face, their eyes opened further in panic.

Flailing, squirming, the talons only tightened. The girl made no sound and awkwardly bit at the talon. Beating on it with her fists. Then slowly halted as they stared at their small hands, arms. The length of their hair, the color. Struggling slightly they stared at their chest as they lifted their head to touch their collar bone for a clear view.

The bones of one's ribs were visible. It was clear that they had some beat on their bones, but it was also clear that they weren't well fed. Their arms and legs were weak, their hands were soft.

A quiet whimper, a gentle shiver. The world around them seemed alien in their eyes. Amongst the ground in the distance, they could see settlements, again it seemed foreign yet nostalgic. It seemed as they tried to form words, nothing came out, but there was a sharp pain in their throat.

Pressing their dainty fingers, with what seemed to be their dominant hand, gently against her throat. It had felt as if they had swallowed a thousand razors, but the taste of salt argued the true explanation.

Pressure, heat and intense light. The world behind her and out of view was changing. Turning her head side to side, trying to look beneath her, the girl panicked again.

Ducking its head slightly to peer beneath itself as the girl moved about in his talons, the Dragon huffed slightly in amusement before noticing what she was so panicked about. Rapidly tossing his airborne body to the side, the dragon did a barrel roll in mid-flight; narrowly dodging a massive meteor shaped object doused in flames.

Letting out a deafening roar, the Dragon's actions were followed by that of an explosion. The meteor which had finely missed the dragon's wings, exploded. The force itself sent shockwaves which caused the dragon to forcedly loose altitude and lost their grip on the fair elf in their clutches. "Shit!" The winged reptile screeched in an odd masculine voice. Just as he was about to nose dive, more meteors aimed for the monster caused him to reconsider, fleeing.

Hands dangling in front of them as their backs faced the ocean beneath, the girl watched as the dragon become smaller and smaller as their distance grew apart. However things began to change as their eyes focused on the very being which had dropped them. White lines, like a targeting system formed and outlined the Dragon with a box.

[ HUB emergency deployment, reincarnate escort retreating ] were words which appeared in the corner of the female's vision. Various tools began to appear within their sight, a mini-map, game-like interfaces for windows such as inventory and skills.

The girls only response was a mouth open agape. They still couldn't speak. A compass indicator appeared as well, a scrolling line which followed the direction in which their eyes looked. This allowed them to see north, west, east and south.

Shifting their weight in free fall, the girl was shivering and shaking uncontrollably. They tried to close their eyes due to the air resistance pushing against her face, but it was to no avail. With their arms spread out the best they could, the descent began to slow.

Surely this will be the death of me… I don't want to die, not like this, not again. The girl's heart ached, she had woken up in a new world, no idea how they got there or what was to be. Now they were falling to their death. Nothing was there to stop them. The Dragon was already out of sight and the shallow ocean water was coming closer and closer to their face.

Then just as they closed their eyes, moments before they could impact the surface they felt their head, arms and legs jolt forward. As if a bungy cord had saved their life, the girl slowly opened one eye and stared at the clear blue water a mere meter away from their face. A chill went up their spine as suddenly they were then released; soon to be engulfed in the freezing cold waters of early autumn.

Cold, cold! The rapid rushing of water and the undertoe began to send the girl tumbling beneath the surface. Shells, rocks, aquatic life. She made contact with almost everything nearby as she could barely control herself from the temperature which tortured her very senses.

The sound of sloshing could be heard, different from the waves which were above her. Curling up beneath the water, she dared not open her eyes to invite the salt in. Her hands covered her ears, but as she was running out of air, a hand covered by a leather glove reached down and grasped her by the back of her neck and picked her up.

Shaking uncontrollably, like a vibrating masseuse, from not only the temperature, but also the fear from the sudden contact from someone else. Her head shot to the side to stoically look upon the person who saved her from drowning.

Taking in a deep exhale, it sounded like nails on a chalk board due to the roughness of her salt treated and dry throat. Her eyes narrowed on the man which held her with one hand. His grasp was gentle, yet oddly capable of holding her without losing his grip.