Chapter 1: Whose Happiness?

At long last!

After years of guiding, nurturing and developing this story, Annika Macshire finally made it to the beautiful and happy ending of her dear friend Lady Rielle Floriphez. Dressed in the most exquisite and stunning wedding gown, Lady Rielle walked down the gorgeously decorated aisle of the church of Saint Zephyr as his soon-to-be husband Archduke Lorenzo Immanuel Uldrick waited at the altar. White and pink rose petals scattered all over the red carpet, complimenting her white and pink rose wedding bouquet.

Every step she took, her lively brown curls bounced on her shoulders as she opted not to tie her hair up in a wedding hair do, a decision even Annika approved as it accentuated Rielle's small face and striking golden eyes. The groom couldn't help but be stunned at how beautiful his bride is. What a lucky man he is. Every guy in the Great Nithael Empire would be so jealous.

The vows were exchange and the kiss proceeded as per the usual wedding tradition. There were no dry eyes in the church. Even Annika, who usually does not cry easily, had tears rolling down her face. A mixture of sadness and happiness. Sadness for she will no longer be able to spend good times with her dearest best friend. Happiness for finally, after all those years of hard work, she can now go back to her real home. Back to reality. Back to the real world.

You see, everything that is happening around her is not real. Everything she sees are all part of the computer reverse harem game that she's been playing: The Lady's Path to Happiness.

Annika Macshire's real name is Miabelle Bartley, a Canadian college student studying pharmacy in North America. One bad evening, when a nasty professor was targeting her during pharmacology class, mocking and discriminating her for being the slowest in that subject, she stumbled upon this game while looking for something to cheer her up in the internet. The game became her stress reliever during days like this and it got her addicted.

Really addicted.

You see, the characters were well-developed, the heroine was relatable, the stories for each potential love interests are so immersive and the main and side quests are of the right difficulty. Everything in the game makes sense and it has mastered the balance between adventure, romance, fantasy and mystery. It has everything you would want to have in a fantasy world: magic, medieval setting and magical creatures. Plus, the illustrations of the characters are so divine which gave the developers bonus cookie points. The villainess is also a very hateful woman with no sappy background story to justify her actions, making her punishment at the end of every route so satisfying to players.

Mia played the game for years. It seemed like it has no ending as it is classified as an open world game. She would carry her purple laptop around campus and find a quiet place after studying in order to play it. She has almost finished all of the male protagonists' main routes with the leading lady and has memorized most of their crucial lines. But right now, she's more focused on the side quests and side characters which the developers update every month making the game endless.

The day Mia transmigrated in the game was a blurry memory for her. The last she could remember was that she was studying for an upcoming test and while having a tingling sensation inside her head. Perhaps a headache? That was what Mia thought before everything turned black.

The next time Mia opened her eyes, a stunning fresco of beautiful angels is staring back at her. She felt the comfortable silky satin sheets of her bed and pillows. Did she recently change her sheets? Turning her head to the side, she saw gold. Hair. Her hair?

Mia shot right up, eyes widening and head down. Her hair followed, dropping down her shoulders, framing her face. Her breath hitched as her brain processed what is happening.

"My Lady? You're up early." An unfamiliar voice sounded. "That's unusual." But it felt familiar at the same time.

Mia looked at the direction of the voice and despite the semi-lit room, her eyes registered a figure of a petite woman entering her room through a large intricately carved wooden door. The figure proceeded to the curtains right across her bed and when she pushed the curtains to the side, light finally flooded inside. With her vision clear, it finally dawned on Mia that she's at the wrong house.

"Fuck! You have got to be kidding me!" Mia shrieked in horror. "How much did I drink last night?" Wasn't she in her room studying? Did she go out drinking? Why can't she remember anything?

"My lady?" the woman's voice grew concerned. "Is something the matter?"

Now clearly visible, Mia can see the petite woman is a dark-haired maiden dressed in what looked like a maid's uniform. You know the ones seen in aristocracy-themed shows and Japanese cafes?

Frantically looking around, Mia saw unfamiliar drawers, unfamiliar bookshelves, unfamiliar clothes, unfamiliar mirror with an unfamiliar blonde girl looking right back at her and shadowed everything she does.

Wait.

Wait a damn minute.

Mia forcefully calmed herself down and slowly waved her right hand at the mirror. The blonde girl followed. She waved the left and it followed suit. Now looking clearly at it, the image in the mirror does look familiar now.

No way.

Mia scrambled towards the oval-shaped body mirror.

No. Way.

Sheets scattered; pillows thrown off the bed.

No! Fucking! Way!

Despite her stumbling steps, Mia managed to grabbed a hold of the mirror and combed her hair back. Bright ocean blue eyes stared right back at her. This face. This freaking face is the face of that hateful villainess in "The Lady's Path to Happiness".

"Lady Annika?"

Lady Annika Macshire of the Macshire dukedom.

Mia screamed and the maid jumped back as she attempted to assist her. Mia is smart. She has a faint idea of what's going on and she is hoping to God that this is all just a dream because everything feels so freakishly real.

However, as she was still processing what is happening, a bright green prompt suddenly appeared in front of her and everything around her suddenly stopped moving. The gentle wind, the fluttering curtains, the chirping birds and the petite maid all stopped on their tracks. Mia looked at the hovering board right in front of her as letters started appearing inside it.

[GAME PROMPT]

[THE LADY'S PATH TO HAPPINESS ULTIMATE QUEST]

[FIND HAPPINESS]

Mia's vision turned dark once again.

TBC