(NATHANIEL) “Alright!
Let’s get to business, shall we?” I stated diplomatically, looking at the other three fellow transmigrators.
And of course, our newest fellow, Steven, had just joined our broke-as-a-joke group.
Steven raised a brow.
His new appearance was nothing like his previous one.
Instead of his regularly trimmed light grey hair, he now had slightly longer chestnut hair with blunt bangs and matching chestnut eyes that managed to perfectly fit his light skin and sharp facial features.
The only thing that didn’t fit his whole old-style noble appearance were the simple baggy clothes that had holes pretty much everywhere.
Of course, some people might have considered it stylish.
Steven leaned toward Sammy and whispered into his ear, audibly enough for both me and Amy to hear, “Who appointed him as leader?” Sammy replied instantly, “He has the most money.” “Oh, most money my flat ass.
With you and your stomach, our funds have plummeted to the point that we had to starve for a whole day just to stretch them for as long as we can.” Sammy seemed to recall ‘that day’ and shivered slightly, the ghost of a flashback seemingly appearing on his features.
“What happened exactly?” The newcomer wasn’t made aware of what happened in his absence.
The only thing he was told was where we slept and where we went to the bathroom.
Amy finally decided to step in with a sigh.
Her mood was clearly still sour, though it was understandable.
The only reason me and Sammy were acting somewhat normal was because we were both just a little tiny bit autistic.
“Haaa… must we speak of that day?
But better now, I guess than later.
We only had a little money left for the three of us when I came along and found them, so we decided to not eat for the day.
During that day, Sammy was bitching about it nonstop, and he found some Synthpaste on the street and took a gamble.” She eyed Steven.
“Take a guess about what happened.” Barely even giving it a few moments of thought, he answered simply, “He either pooped a lot or threw up.” “Both.” “Both.” Me and Amy answered in unison, to which Sammy buried his face in his hands.
“Oh alright, I get the situation.
So we’re pretty fucked, right?” “Oh, most definitely.” I calmly replied, playing with the chip that held our last bits of credits.
It was only enough for about two days of food, and with the four of us now, maybe just a day.
‘Or if at least two of us don’t eat, maybe stretch it out for about two days… three at best, I suppose.’ While I was in thought, Sammy managed to get out of his mental stupor and explained everything to Steven.
Everything about the things that happened on the bus and after, including our theories about what pathways everyone might have been.
So after the second explanation, Steven was now filled in on everything.
Everything that we knew and everything we didn’t know, which was a frighteningly large amount of things.
“So… how long will we have to remain in this little place?” He made sure to look around our little spot.
It was only a couple alloy plates stacked along pipes and rebar, along with an especially long piece of cloth that Amy had managed to find acting as the roof.
There were no mattresses and no pillows either.
There were only small blankets layered on the least wet and dirty pieces of the ground.
The large waste bin that still had a crackling fire within was surrounded by our chairs, which were really the only actual pieces of furniture we had.
And well, we still only had three, so Steven was sitting on the floor.
“Probably a while.” I simply answered, looking at my bruised hands.
“I’m guessing that we’re gonna stay like this till we either get infected by the Spell or until we die, and honestly, both are plausible.” “And third, if someone decides to just take us and put us into free labor.” The very ladylike and compassionate Amy said, not hiding her nihilistic outlook on the situation.
“Okay seriously… what the hell happened?
I get being depressed, but me and Sammy are taking it… well, I guess.
How about you, Steven?” Pretty Boy 2 answered with a small huff, “It’s whatever.
Sometimes you have to look at life like rape.
If you can’t fight against it, then you might as well sit back and relax.” “…” “…” “…a break from hanging around Martin will do you well.” After that statement, I turned to Amy, her face was still confused as hell, but she looked a bit more alive.
Thinking it over for a bit, Amy finally answered, “The previous owner of this body had a… well, very messed up life.
She was abused plenty of times and was, well… killed by a maniac that was spouting a whole lot of senseless jargon.” Everyone gave a moment of silence for the poor young lady… but we didn’t have time for that, so I decided to speak up.
“Senseless, you say?
Maybe there was some sense to it, it’s just that you didn’t understand it.” Scrunching my face, I decided to ask even though it was a bit tasteless, “Can you recall what he said?
Not word for word.” “Oh please, I’ve known you for long enough to know that you wanna hear everything.
I don’t mind, I guess, it’s just a little scary to recall.” Amy answered me.
She had a small knowing smile on her face, and I couldn’t help but smile in turn, it was just nice to see that she wasn’t traumatized.
“Owie, lookie at the love birds.” Sammy cooed like some sort of old lady that fed on gossip.
“Well, in their defense, they can’t really get a room.” Not even a little bothered by their teasing, I looked to Amy.
She though looked ready to throw the whole waste bin at the two.
After they sensed the murderous look, they both backed off and Amy just sighed.
“Sciocchi… haa, anyway, he said, and I quote: ‘You’re like me!
I know it!
You’re real, you’re the only real person in this place!
Please, please, please!!!'” A small shadow appeared across her forehead and she gave a half-hearted smile, twirling her long hair with one finger.
“Then he looked a little more crazed, if you could even believe it.” She then recounted the last of his ramblings.
After she finished, Steven looked thoughtful and muttered, “So he’s clearly crazy but believes himself to be the only real person, I suppose.
But why her?” “Now that is the question… why some random outskirts rat?” I spoke, half to myself.
Amy though seemed a little offended at the comment, to which I raised a brow.
Then before she could give me another mean look, I cleared my throat and put on my best serious cop face.
“I think I might have an idea of what is happening.” Amy instantly lost her angry look and locked onto me like a shark that found a seal that couldn’t swim, while the other two leaned slightly forward.
“I’m pretty sure that this guy is the one that is following the Abyss or Chained pathway…” (NARRATION) After the four had their discussion, they decided to not eat for the day, to which the biggest glutton in the group simply responded with a defeated sigh.
And while they were deciding on what to do nect, far away, in the lower-class neighborhood of NQSC, a young man with white hair and red eyes was staring daggers at a lad the same age as him.
However, he had short and strangely brass-colored hair along with a pair of striking golden eyes that looked like a pair of pearls.
The two were sitting in a small coffee shop, one that was cheap enough to not put a serious dent in cash but expensive enough to not puke at the drinks.
“Sooo… who may you be?” The white-haired man asked, questioning the stranger that had suddenly approached him.
The youth cleared his throat uncertainly and took a sip from the coffee, clearly showing just how distasteful the coffee was compared to what he may have once drunk.
“Well… I’m Damian Carnegie, and I’ll guess from your appearance that you’re one of my friends who I have been searching all over the city for.” After answering, he looked hopefully at the other young man.
The white-haired boy didn’t change his expression, however he then… looked confused.
“What the hell are you talking about?” Instantly Damian’s face fell, and his thoughts began to whirl.
‘Damn it… but he has white hair, just like Will!’ Damian wasn’t as big a fan of LOTM as the others, however he still knew basically every major character, so it was clear to him that this person was like him, at least in apperance.
Since Damian himself was practically identical to Trunsoest, he had guessed that the others were also transported to the world along with him, and in turn looked identical to some of the characters.
“Uhhh… I-” Damian stammered, looking at the white-haired youth with bewilderment.
However, after a few moments the serious facade cracked and he smiled slightly.
Giggling slightly, the boy answered.
His voice was mocking in some way, however that was only there to hide the extreme relief he felt when he realized that he wasn’t all alone.
“I’m fucking with you… it’s Liam, good to see you Damian.” In return Damian gritted his teeth and held back the terrible sigh of relief that he was moments away from releasing.
“Yeah… good to see you too… fucker.” The two chuckled at the banter.
***************** While two friends reunited, a couple kilometers away in a good neighborhood, a youth with long red hair and sharp facial features was walking down the street.
He was having a couple bad days, three really, after all he was in a foreign and unknown world.
Taking out a communicator from the pockets of his brown trousers, he turned it on and looked at the battery.
It was only at forty-two percent, which was pretty good considering the fact that it was only at seventy percent when he had taken it from that… well, place.
The previous owner of this body had family, however he was a disappointment and was pretty much kicked out, so he was then practically taken in by a small brothel.
There he met a nice lady and they fell in love.
…Now the question of why her throat was slit open when he woke up, he didn’t know.
He was also fairly suspicious about the possibility that the two may have taken drugs and had a wild night.
A night that ended in a very grisly scene to boot.
‘Damn it, there’s still no one else.’ Much like his other friends, he was trying to find the others that were transported to the world along with him.
However, in the three days that he had been wandering, he had managed to find squat, and only a couple of people had tried to mug him.
Which, considering the state of the place he was in, was still good numbers.
That was the reason he was wandering through a good neighborhood, and he also didn’t want to get attacked by the other people from the brothel that could have been seeking revenge.
But well, they couldn’t really even find him.
After all, he looked nothing like the previous owner of the body.
The other guy was slightly shorter and had dark brown hair and grey eyes.
And his body was also more toned now, showing clear muscle that made it slightly harder for the clothes at the brothel to fit him.
“Fuck!” Martin spat, frustration continuing to surface at the fact that he had yet to find anyone.
After finding a bench, he sat down and yawned.
‘Fuck, I’m tired…’ After thinking over a few other things, his eyelids shuttered slightly as he felt more tired than usual.
His eyes widened as his mouth opened noticeably wider.
“Mother… fucker.” ____________ Author’s Note: Alright, now next Chapter everything will finally begin, i really hate to drag this out for so long but oh well it should be better paced from now on.
Next chapter is on Saturday, of course as usual if you have any questions feel free to comment and i will answer happily!
Also Each Nightmare will have some original ideas of mine, especially Steven’s, since the votes were placed there will be 2 chapters for Nathaniel’s Nightmare and then one chapter with about 5K words for Sammy, Steven and Amy, the other three transmigrators will just explain what happened in theirs quickly.
Also for the mini academy arc the chapters will be about 1400 to 2000 words long, with this i should be able to release 3 chapters in a week, after they enter the Dream Realm the chapters will be about 2000+ words long.
Anway enjoy your day and make sure to leave a comment to motivate me!