Chapter 2
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 2
Chapter Title: Our First Meeting
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Our first meeting.
That dawn was no different from any other.
Tok, tok.
The sound of my finger tapping the smartphone screen spread softly through the room.
The game I was playing was Flower Blooming Amid Ashes, or Ashflower for short.
A gacha collection game with just the right difficulty level and a soul-crushing story that had made countless players laugh and cry.
The world was pretty brutal.
Humans and other races tangled together, forming factions, with bloody wars breaking out dozens of times a day.
Named NPCs dying pointless deaths was common—no, not pointless, but etched so deeply into your mind they burned there.
Because those deaths became massive turning points in the story later, or triggers for the protagonist's trauma or awakening.
The player was a commander on those brutal battlefields.
True to subculture protagonist form, an important figure in the world's lore.
Though the full backstory hadn't been revealed yet.
'No way the story's gonna be bright. Death's just everyday life.'
Sub-stories popped up here and there for some relief, but even those were never lighthearted.
If anything, there were more deep, devastating tales than in the main story.
Under the guise of delving into character psyches, they just hammered scene after scene that crushed your heart.
I was your typical gamer, pouring cash into gacha rolls and pulling all-nighters for guides.
Out of the huge roster, my absolute favorite was Esira.
Silver hair near enough to shine, deep sorrow in those red eyes.
A mysterious character loaded with plot hooks, yet so stunningly beautiful she always ranked high in popularity.
Orphaned from birth, she wandered battlefields before becoming a mercenary.
Joined the protagonist's faction and showed off her skills.
"...Ha, another update, and it's still this."
I sighed and set my phone down.
The newly released character profile.
It added just one short line about Esira's origins.
[She was born in the Abyss, but abandoned without ever being loved by anyone. No parents existed to protect her.]
Just that one sentence gutted me hard.
"No parents existed...?"
Was it because I'd grown up without any myself?
That line hit me especially deep.
If someone had watched over her.
If she'd had even one embrace to lean on.
Those eyes wouldn't look so sad.
'If I could be your family...'
A pointless thought.
Just one of those delusions overimmersed gamers have.
Right then, my heart started pounding irregularly.
Maybe from pulling all-nighters waiting for the update, crushing fatigue crashed over me like a wave.
My vision flickered in and out like a bad signal, my mind going hazy.
'Gotta close my eyes for a bit...'
I lay on the bed and shut my eyes.
That's when it happened.
Ding—ding—!
[System error occurred.]
[Opening hidden scenario.]
"Huh...?"
At the same time, intense white light pierced through my closed eyelids.
'What the hell is this...!?'
I tried to open my eyes, but my body felt like a boulder—heavy, immovable.
Just before consciousness cut out, one sentence burned clear in my mind.
[Reflecting your earnest wish, a new role is assigned.]
A role?
Wish?
What did that even...?
No time to sort my thoughts—I got sucked into deep darkness... no, the Abyss.
The last memory of my previous life.
Chirp chirp.
I opened my eyes to dense green foliage filling my view instead of the familiar ceiling.
Sunlight poured down through the layered leaves overhead.
'This is a forest?'
My last memory was definitely the narrow bed in my city studio apartment.
Laptop off, flopped onto the bed.
'...What the hell is going on?'
Ha.
I swallowed the curse trying to burst out.
A dream?
Wait, hold on.
If I'm aware this is a dream...
Lucid dream?
That changes everything.
In a lucid dream, I'm a god.
Omnipotent mode—anything I imagine becomes real.
Alright, then first thing to do is obvious.
The one who'd cluttered my mind all night.
'Esira.'
I clasped my hands reverently and closed my eyes.
'Please make my favorite, Esira, pop up right in front of me.'
Nothing happened.
'First lucid dream, maybe? Gotta say it out loud?'
I cleared my throat and opened my mouth like calling up a status window.
"Esira?"
Huh?
I doubted my own ears.
"...Was that my voice just now?"
Not my voice.
Not a man's voice.
A clear, pure, beautiful woman's voice.
A chill ran down my spine.
No way.
Slowly, very slowly, I looked down.
"...Huh?"
Where my ankles should be, unfamiliar curves took their place.
Breasts.
Pretty impressive ones.
'Did I... turn into a girl?'
My jaw dropped in shock.
'Must be possible in a dream, right? Please say it is...'
Flailing in confusion, I glanced around and spotted something weird at my feet.
Two massive lumps of black iron sunk deep into the dirt.
Two greatswords.
"...Holy shit."
These weren't toys for humans—the thickness alone said that.
Size that'd tax an adult man, and my body now was slender and feminine.
'But right under my feet means these are my weapons, right?'
Half-doubting, I gripped the handle of one greatsword with both hands.
Ugh!
Schunk.
"...Huh?"
It came out ridiculously easy.
Lighter than a cosplay foam prop.
I lifted it with one hand, dumbfounded.
Flash.
'...Chopsticks?'
Not a long hunk of metal—a chopstick.
I drew the other one too.
Now dual-wielding man-sized greatswords, one in each hand, arms not shaking at all.
Whoosh! Swoosh!
Test swing through the air—feather-light motion, but roaring wind.
'...It works. Dual-wielding.'
No mirror needed to know.
I wasn't some delicate girl—I was a gorilla in girl's clothing.
High-spec monster character.
This really a dream?
"Gotta move first."
I swallowed a sigh and stepped off.
The forest stretched endlessly.
Might be me bad with directions, but all trees everywhere wrecked my sense.
No smartphone, no map.
No signal, no internet.
Didn't even know where I was headed.
One day, another day.
Sky changed color three times before I had to face it.
'...This isn't a dream.'
Naturally, one realization followed.
I'm really a girl now.
Good thing? Bad thing?
No conclusion.
But the deck's already shuffled—denying it won't reshuffle.
'Guess I'll just live like this.'
At least the strength was real.
Glad I wasn't born weak.
Wandering, I stumbled on a clear pond.
Quenched my thirst, then checked my reflection.
"...Wow."
Finally saw my face.
Admiration slipped out.
Silver hair like moonlight melted and poured.
Red as blood, eyes clear as glass.
White hair, red eyes.
The cheat code combo from subculture worlds.
'Gorilla inside, fairy outside.'
Problem: this face was unfamiliar.
Not an Ashflower character, not one I knew.
Maybe unreleased, but...
No clue who.
Still, it was mine—not someone else's—so that sat well.
Days and nights flipped several more times as I roamed the forest.
Two greatswords slung on my back, yet no choked breaths.
No blisters on feet, no muscle pain, lean against a tree for a nap and stamina's back to 100%.
This what it's like inside a game?
'Real cheat code.'
Infinite stamina vibes.
Another problem arose.
'When do I meet people?'
Just me in this massive forest? Kinda terrifying.
No one even to chat with.
Mindless walking, then one moment—
Nose stung acrid.
Sulfur, burnt fumes, dull vibrations of iron on stone.
'...Mine?'
I looked toward rising smoke.
Black plume shot straight up through thick trees.
Finally.
Civilization.
'Phew... thank god.'
What if no one lived here?
Or monster-only world? Wild thoughts flooded.
No relaxing yet.
No guarantee the mine owner was human.
Goblins, kobolds, orcs flashed through my head.
I gripped the greatsword hilts tight.
Loosened shoulders, steadied breath, then cautiously stepped into the mine entrance.
Mine interior clearing.
Acrid torch smoke hung thick, throat stinging with every breath.
In the center stood a rough-looking human man.
At his feet, a small child knelt crushed to the ground.
Rope bound thin arms and torso tight.
Silver hair caked in gray dust.
Youthful face like a fresh sprout.
Yet those red eyes were eerily deep and dark.
Not eyes awaiting her own death—eyes calmly gazing down on another's.
The man spat on the ground.
"Tch. Figures it'd be a kid with such an ominous color."
He roughly grabbed her hair and yanked her head back.
White neck bent perilously, like it'd snap any second.
"Don't blame anyone. Your fault for being born weak. This is your fate, right up to dying here."
Death sentence delivered.
The child's lips trembled faintly, then moved slowly.
"...Fate?"
Bloodless lips twisted coldly.
"I don't buy that crap."
Death looming, yet eyes like a predator's.
"Y-You little bitch...!"
The man gnashed his teeth, raised his blade high, and swung down at the child's crown.
That's when it happened.
Kwaaaang!
A thunderous boom shook the mine like the ceiling might cave.
A massive greatsword flew in like lightning, smashing the falling blade aside.
"Grk?!"
The overseer's wrist twisted grotesquely.
The blade spun through the air before slamming far off.
Thud.
Right in front of the child, a man-sized greatsword plunged deep, cratering the floor.
A hulking steel wall blocking in front of her.
"Wh-What the hell! Who the fuck are you!"
As dust settled, clack, clack.
Steady footsteps echoed through the clearing.
A woman emerged from the shadows.
Red eyes like fresh blood, same as the child's.
Silver hair flowing, pushing back the dark.
In her hand, another greatsword matching the one in the ground.
Facial lines, eyes, hair color.
Eerily similar to the child in ways that stood out.
A chilling voice rang through the mine.
"Wondered what trash was dancing with a knife over a kid."
This was our first meeting.