Kaya tried her utmost to pay attention in class but her thoughts kept wandering like a stray dog, dwelling on the little aspects of everything that crossed her mind. Drowning out the words her teacher spoke until they became nothing more than incoherent noise, muffled by the sound of her own voice inside her head. She glanced at Emika who sat three desks to her right, she had her chin resting on the palm of her hand and was curling her hair between the fingers of the other, equally as oblivious to the lesson they found themselves in. The rest of the students were attentive and quiet, save for Mahiro, who sat at the back of the class, two desks behind Kaya. He was leaning his chair against the wall and flicking through a manga, the rustling turn of each page becoming rhythmic as she listened.

The teacher didn't seem to notice, that or he simply grew used to it and had given up on punishing Mahiro. It wouldn't matter anyway, Mahiro was always on top of his studies and was above average in all of the exam results. He could be pretty resourceful if he needed to, in a small way Kaya envied that about him, his seemingly natural way of weaving himself out of any situation. It was like he took notes of everything around him and saved the information for an opportune moment. She had no doubt in her mind that he was taking mental notes of everything the teacher was saying.

Kaya returned her gaze to the front of the class, the sun rays piercing through the glass window to her side and burned hard on her desk, obscuring the teacher's face from her gaze. She could only see his mouth and watched as it moved in slow motion and out of sync with his words. Was she already that deep in her own head? Things like this happened often, she would sometimes completely remove herself from the world outside her head, sometimes against her own will. Like she was outside her own body and was watching her life play along as a spectator.

Time passed slowly, she watched the clock above the chalkboard tick, each second the hand moved slower and slower. She hadn't had a chance to focus on the numbers, her gaze completely locked on anything but. Then there came the sound, the bell. Suddenly the class had ended and she was pulled from her thoughts. The sounds of the bell and dozens of voices intertwining in a singular moment of sensory overload. She found herself short of breath, the whole world became taxing on her being in mere moments.

"That will be all for now," She heard her teacher call out to the class.

She climbed from her seat in one quick motion and grabbed her backpack, slipping it over one shoulder. Kaya noticed Mahiro approaching her, she let out a fake smile to mask the anxiety that had overcome her. She could feel her heartbeat pumping hard against her chest, Kaya held her breath in an attempt to slow her heart rate.

"Hey, you okay?" Mahiro asked with slight concern in his voice.

Kaya made an obvious effort to compose herself, "Yeah... Yeah, I'm fine."

Mahiro frowned, "I hope so, I worry about you."

"You don't need to worry about me," She placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder, "I'll be fine."

He answered her with a pat on the back and turned, waving at Emika who was still stuffing her books into her backpack.

"You coming with us for lunch?"

Emika raised an eyebrow and sarcastically rolled her eyes, "Of course I am, idiot."

Kaya felt a sudden vibration in her pocket, knowing it was her phone, she slipped a hand in and pulled it from her pocket then clicked the lock button. She was expecting it to be her mother reminding her of something she had forgotten, that wasn't outside the norm but the notification that hovered on the screen was for her E-mail. The name of the address it was sent from simply said, "Unknown."

Mahiro must have noticed the confused look on her face and took a brief peek over at her phone screen, "What is it? Your mom again?"

Kaya shook her head, "No, it isn't."

"Something wrong?" Emika asked as she approached the two.

Mahiro shrugged, "I don't know."

"It's an E-mail," Kaya said softly as she continued to stare into the screen, "From someone called 'Unknown'."

"Probably a chain letter or something," Emika guessed, "But it's twenty nineteen, that stuff went out of fashion years ago."

"Only one way to find out," Mahiro said, "Open it."

Mahiro was right there was only one way to find out, though a sudden rush of fear overcame her and she hesitated for a moment, her shaking thumb hovering over the screen.

"Well c'mon, we're waiting."

"Okay, okay, fine."

She swiped and entered her passcode. A flood of apps appeared on the home screen and behind them was a picture of two anime boys locked in an embrace, she blushed in embarrassment as Mahiro leant over and caught a glimpse then laughed.

"Oh my, Kaya. I didn't know you were into that," He teased.

"Into what?" Emika asked obliviously.

Kaya blushed again and pouted, "Nothing, be quiet and let me find the app."

Mahiro raised his hands in defense but a grin still lingered on his face, "Okay, I'm sorry."

She swiped across her screen several times in silence, with both Emika and Mahiro waiting in anticipation. Until she found the envelope icon and tapped on it quickly, hoping to hide the image Mahiro had caught a glimpse of as fast as possible. There it was sitting at the top of her inbox, a message that looked like any other. Likely one she would have ignored as spam if she were alone.

"Here it is," She said, "It says it's from 'Unknown' and the subject is... Help."

"Help?" Mahiro repeated in confusion, "It's gotta be a chain letter, that, or a Nigerian prince ready to give you his entire fortune."

Kaya rolled her eyes and tapped on the message, opening it.

'My name isn't important right now but what is, is that my world has fallen victim to a Tyrannical rule and we here have no means to stop them. Help us, please, I beg of you. Only you can set things right, only you can unite the races of Karhiel to fight back against the lord of souls. You, an outsider with no ties to this land and with no grudges of the races set against you can unite them. Years of infighting has set us back from any chance of fighting back against him. Please, help us. This here is the gateway, click it and you'll be here, I promise. Link:'

"You're reading this too right?" Kaya said.

Mahiro laughed and shook his head, "What the hell is this? The opening to an RPG?"

"Let me see," Emika insisted.

Kaya showed her the message and watched Emika's reaction change from curiosity to confusion then she raised her eyebrows, placing a finger on her chin as if deep in thought.

"It's probably a game dev doing some sort of method advertisement for their game," She concluded.

Mahiro seemed to agree with the theory, scratching his chin and nodding slowly, "I've been looking for a new RPG to play, click the link and see what it is, it sounds like it's right down my alley."

"What if it's a scam or something?" Kaya replied, "Like what if it's a virus link?"

They all fell silent as the three of them stared at the link displayed in the E-mail and hundreds of theories ran through her head. What if it really was some sort of online RPG? Or a scam? Maybe even some stupid link to a fantasy-themed hentai website? It could have been anything but Kaya preferred to ignore it entirely. Emika and Mahiro, however, seemed to have succumbed to curiosity and it was clear they really wanted to see what the link contained. Somewhere deep down, she was admittedly a little curious too.

"You should tap on it, just to see," Mahiro said hesitantly.

Emika nodded slowly, "Yeah, it couldn't hurt to check."

All eyes fell on Kaya as she held the phone in both hands. She could feel her friends curious and hesitant gazes piercing through her body. The pressure on her was overwhelming and she didn't work well under it. She couldn't explain why she had become so suddenly afraid. Her knees began to shake as she slowly lifted her right hand above the screen and lowered her index finger towards the link on display.

"I swear if it's a virus, I'm gonna slap you."

She planted her finger on the warm glowing screen and suddenly the phone dissipated before her very eyes. Not just the phone, but the classroom too. The sounds of voices and footsteps in the corridors outside ceased to exist and the three of them found themselves standing in a white void. An open space of nothingness, no sounds, and no discernable smells - Just nothing. She heard both Emika and Mahiro gasp out loud, whether, in confusion, amazement or fear, she couldn't tell.

Kaya felt her mouth suddenly become dry and realized it had been gaping open the whole time. A mix of feelings flashed through her like a cascading river with no end in sight and within moments the empty white void darkened, she could barely see her own hands in the veil of darkness that had suddenly been cast over them. Nor could she barely make out Mahiro's usually glowing blond hair but she knew they were there with her. Feeling the warmth of their bodies beside her, Kaya reached out and tugged at Mahiro's jacket. He didn't react, he was simply locked in place, frozen at witnessing the display of something otherworldly that played out before them.

The darkness seemed to grow just a little more discernable, the sounds of buzzing insects and the rustling of small animals weaving through bushes quickly pierced her ears. Kaya squinted at her surroundings, trying to make them out. She saw leaves hanging from withering branches and a giant thick tree trunk. Around her was nothing but a thick overgrowth of lush vegetation and beneath her feet was the soft squish of recently wet dirt. It didn't take her long before she realized they were in a forest of some sort, deep in the middle of the night. The only light source being the large blood moon that loomed over them. The crimson light disappeared on and off in flashes as it struggled to break through the tall trees that shook in the wind above them.

Kaya glanced at her friends who seemingly had snapped out of the trance they had been stuck in, looking bewildered and confused.

"W-Where are we?" Mahiro asked, his voice shaking.

"I don't know," Kaya answered as she took several steps forward and inspected their surroundings.

"This," Emika started, "This is impossible, how could this happen?"

Mahiro began inspecting their surroundings along with Kaya, touching unfamiliar plants and then leaned on the nearby tree. There had to be an explanation. Things like that didn't just happen, she had to be in a dream, that had to be it. Kaya closed her eyes and tried to focus her mind, playing the words 'Wake up' Over and over in her head. When she opened them again, she expected to see all the posters on her bedroom wall staring back at her but all she saw was the crimson light that barely illuminated the forest around them.

"I've read a manga before that was kinda similar to this or those novels you read online," Mahiro said, trying desperately to make sense of their predicament, "We have to be in some sort of VR video game."

He raised a finger in the air and began making different motions to no avail. He frowned and sat in the dirt with his hands over his head, "There's supposed to be a menu, an inventory system... Something, right? Where is it?"

Emika shook her head and planted herself next to him, "I don't think this is a game."

"Then how else do you explain it?" He snapped. After a few moments of silence, he sighed, "Sorry, it's just this makes no sense."

"I know Mahiro," Emika reassured, "I'm just as confused as you are."

Kaya stopped fiddling with a leaf and made her way over to her friends, looking lost and afraid, "Mahiro, remember when we played that MMO last year?"

Mahiro nodded, "Yeah, and?"

"Remember how we had to do certain things to unlock menus?"

He nodded again.

"Maybe this is some sort of tutorial. Maybe we just need to... I don't know, punch a tree or something? As ridiculous as it sounds."

Both Mahiro and Emika raised their eyebrows, "I think you may be on to something," He said.

"Hey, you guys are the gamers. If you think that'll work, I'm all in to follow." Emika shrugged.

Mahiro shot to his feet and turned to the tree he was leaning on moments before, "If I punch this, I may not get a woodcutting level but maybe a hand to hand level? And a small amount of wood in my inventory."

"Give it a try," Kaya said, "I'll look around for some plants to see if I get any EXP for herbalism or something."

"What should I do?" Emika asked.

"Try and climb a tree and see if you get either a climbing skill or athletics," Mahiro answered before Kaya could.

Emika sagged her shoulders and sighed, "I can try, but fighting is more my specialty."

With that, the three began attempting to level their skills. As Kaya searched the nearby vegetation for a plant that looked useful, she could hear Mahiro grunting and cursing under his breath as he hit the tree and realized the pain that followed. She smiled and giggled to herself.

"I heard that," Mahiro called out to her.

She shook her head, still smiling but didn't reply. She grabbed at random plants for what seemed like an eternity, the blood moon above barely moved. She considered for a moment that maybe time was slower wherever they were but she had no way to prove that, especially since time already seemed to move slow for her normally. She tried for a long time but there was no sign of a skill tree being unlocked, no pop-ups or notifications - nothing. Eventually, she gave up and returned to her friends and found them both staring blankly into the dirt below, shoulders slumped in defeat.

"No luck?" Kaya asked.

"None," Mahiro replied, "What about you?"

She shook her head, holding dozens of plants between her arms and they all stood in silence, afraid and completely alone in the middle of nowhere. She caressed her hand along the bark of the tree where they stood and finally, that's when she realized. That wherever they were was a living and breathing world. This place was real and now they found themselves living within it and without any idea of what to do next.

This place is real, oh god.