Who Am I?

Chapter 1

Formosity Pandemonium, an MMORPG that took the world by storm. It was a game that broke stereotypes of its genre and let you do whatever you want with little guidance. It was, in a sense, a second life. You were someone else in a medieval world with magic and everything else that is loved in fantasy. The world it's set in is large too, and that just makes it more liked by the players.

I've been playing Formosity Pandemonium since its release. Not really surprising since I was already expecting the game ever since it was announced 2 years ago. When it was released on the new year of 2022, instead of celebrating, I immediately went and bought the game. It wasn't only me though, quite a lot of my online friends did the same and we even played for a bit together.

Aside from the multiplayer mode, there was also an offline mode. Using this mode, you can complete the storyline in peace without having to worry about player "Invasions". It's been 5 months now since I've completed my first playthrough and now I'm on my last. Nine playthroughs… even after nine playthroughs, I'm still not tired of this game.

"Level 915 is already too broken tho…" I said as I looked at my screen.

I was already near the level limit of 920… And with my character being high leveled, you might think that I rarely die. The answer is no, even at my level, the enemies still hit hard, all thanks to the regression function. They give me more Exp though, so that's worth it.

"Neil?" said a calming voice from behind me. What followed after was an arm wrapping itself around me. "Are you still not going to sleep? We have school tomorrow."

I turned around to look at my girlfriend. She had a pale complexion that highlighted her blood-red eyes. Her long white hair faded into a lighter shade of red.

"But-" I tried to respond but she quickly shut me up with a finger to my lips.

"No buts. You're going to sleep." My girlfriend, Loralai, said as she looked at me with cold eyes. Those blood-red really helps her with that stare.

"Haah… Fine, fine." I gave in. I don't really want to argue at this time of the night.

"Yayy, I won." And just like that, Loralai's personality went a complete 180. "Give me cuddles too."

"Yes, I will."

I took her by the hand and went to bed with her. As per her request, I hugged her tightly until she fell asleep in my arms. Honestly, she looked so adorable in her sleep. Whenever I tell her that though, she just turns into a stuttering mess.

I couldn't sleep just yet since the game was still on my mind… I was contemplating on whether I should still stay with my current build or turn into a mage entirely. I have the stats to back it up, they're all max after all, but I wasn't all that confident still.

With my mind still in shambles, I slowly drifted to sleep.

-x-X-x-

I awoke with a really bad headache. Actually, bad is an understatement. It felt like my skull was getting crushed. Still, I persisted to go about my day. I'm always like this after all.

Standing up from the bed, I went to the bathroom to freshen myself up. I looked at the mirror and noticed something weird about my pupils. They looked a bit purple? I don't really know if that's really true or I'm just seeing things really. Shaking that off, I went outside of the bathroom and started to head towards the kitchen.

I began cooking and while I was doing that, I heard footsteps coming towards me.

"Goodmorning, Loralai." I said, looking over my shoulder to see my lovely yet still sleepy lover.

"Goodmorning, Neil." greeted back Loralai as she rubbed her eyes. She yawned for a bit before heading towards me and giving me a peck on the cheeks. After that, she headed towards the bathroom as I continued cooking our breakfast.

It wasn't really much, just some eggs and bacon. Loralai likes it though, so I don't really mind. A few more minutes passed and I finally finished cooking. Loralai finished freshening up just in time too. Gotta say, her impeccable timing scares me at times.

Shaking that small fright off, I prepared our breakfast. Since Loralai wasn't doing anything, she helped me.

"Today should be the start of our 2nd semester, right?" I asked as we both began to eat. Damn, how the hell is this so tasty.

"Yeah… Ugh, why do they have to put all of our most hated subjects together?" said my girlfriend as she grumbled cutely.

"Pfft, don't worry, I'll help you." I chuckled at her.

"Shush!" She yelled as she lightly kicked my leg. O kawaii koto.

We continued on eating and after we finished, we both got prepared to leave. Now for the not so fun part. The journey to our school. There were so many roads to cross that the chances of us getting run over is so high that it's surprising we didn't get isekai'd by truck-kun yet. Not that I'd want that really.

As we arrived at school, I was greeted by my friend Yui. His name really gave me a whiplash back when we met in third grade…

"Sup man." He greeted me with a high-five which I returned of course.

"Sup, first one to arrive again?" Most of the time, it's only us who're the first to arrive at our class. There are rare occasions though where someone else will be here before us.

"Yeah… Seriously, even in our 2nd semester everyone is still lazy."

"Calm down. It's not that everyone is lazy, you're just too much of a workaholic." Loralai replied for me instead. Sometimes, her works strike me too.

I only chuckled as the two started to banter. Taking Loralai's bag, I walked towards our seat. After I sat down, that killer headache came back. I toughened it up but still, it got stronger and stronger that I began to grind my teeth a bit. It disappeared after a bit, just in time as Loralai got near me.

All three of us waited for half an hour for everyone else to arrive. When everybody was there, the loud but not so annoying girl in the room called out to everyone.

"Guys, guys! Why don't we all play a card game?"

"What kind of game exactly?" Glenn, the vice-president of our class, asked.

"We stack cards of the same color…" continued the girl whose name I shant disclose.

I just sighed and began to block off my surroundings as I fell into deep thought. Somehow, I feel like something bad is about to happen due to all of the headaches I've been having today. Having those thoughts in mind, I began to regret that isekai line earlier.

"Not going to join?" Asked Loralai. I faced her and said no. "Alright then. I'll join them, so just sit there and rest, okay?"

"Mhm, I will." I made her bend a little bit to my level and gave her a kiss on the cheeks. She giggled and gave me one too before leaving to go play the game with the others. Looking at the people who were sitting on the floor in the middle of the class, it seems everyone but me joined the game.

As I watched her make her way towards the group, I noticed something weird gathering above them. Focusing on that small gathering, I saw it form into something that I recognize from Formosity Pandemonium.

"Is that… a summoning rune?"

With that realization, my eyes widened as the rune grew larger, now completely able to engulf them.

"Loralai!" I stood up quickly. So quick that my headache returned in an instant, but I ignored it. "Get away from there!"

Alerted by my sudden yelling. Loralai looked around to find what could have caused my panic. As she looked up, she noticed the rune. She quickly told everyone to get away but it was too late… The rune was descending.

"Shit!" I won't be able to get there in time if I just ran even though I was already close. With that in mind, I put all my strength into my legs and dashed the last remaining distance. Doing that allowed me to also be under the rune.

I was able to hold onto Loralai's hand as our visions were filled with light soon after.

-x-X-x-

Ruins. That was the sight I saw as soon as I opened my eyes. I… don't recognise this place. No, rather, I don't even know who "I" am… I have some faint memories, but all of them are blurry and just static. It's as if something is blocking my memory…

"Ugh… My head…" I tried holding my head with my right hand, but that's when I realized it. I was holding something soft and warm. Looking beside me, I saw a girl with snow white hair that faded to red and had a pale complexion.

Weird… why does she seem familiar? Trying to think of a reason, I tried my hardest to remember her. There were glimpses of her being with me, but other than that I can't remember anything else. Even so… With the relief that I'm feeling just by holding her hand, I can tell that she's an important person to me.

Unbeknownst to me at that time, I casted a protective incantation on her.

I gently let go of her hand and noticed a few more people lying down around me. Weird… why are we all here? I tried to stand up but when I put pressure on the ground beneath my hands, it cracked. I was shocked of course, am I that strong? Thank god I didn't hurt the girl beside me.

Standing up, way more carefully this time, I began to explore the ruins. While exploring the ruins, I found a building full of beds. It's weird that those beds looked somewhat clean… Anyhow, I should put those people here so they could be safe.

I decided to run but that wasn't really a good idea. I was fast. Really fast. It took me 30 whole minutes to get here when I walked and with me running, it only took me 1 minute. I wasn't even able to stop normally. I was only stopped by the wall.

Strangely enough, I didn't feel anything when I hit that wall. I shrugged it off and just continued to do what I set here to do. Now, I just need to handle each of them with care… Especially that white haired girl.