Episode 1

The last thing I remember was that I was falling, screaming... Suddenly, I crashed onto the cool grass, a damp smell filled the air. After that, everything around me plunged into darkness...

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I suddenly regain some feeling around me. My body is aching badly due to the severe crash and my eyes are still sealed shut. After a while, I could hear some voices in the distance, approaching closer and closer.

"Hey! Can you hear me? Is she dead?"

"Hmm...I think she's unconscious..."

I finally managed to open my heavy eyelids - the sudden impact with the bright sunlight caused me to cover my face with my arm. I then looked up, my vision still a bit fuzzy, only to be greeted with a tall figure in front of me. He seemed to be about a couple of years older than me, I'm guessing. His bright, green eyes shone through his dull, black bangs.

After he stepped aside, I realized that behind him were two other figures. One of them was a tall girl who had open, dark pink hair and amethyst eyes. She, too, looked a bit older than me. The person standing next to her was the youngest and shortest of the bunch. He had dark blue hair tied into a small ponytail along with golden eyes.

"Oh, she's finally awake. She seems to be new." The boy stated.

"Yeah. Oh, we should probably introduce ourselves. My name's Momoi, nice to meet you. And this kid here is Nagi while the guy over there is Tokiya."

The girl, who was meant to be Momoi, introduced herself and the others. Nagi waved at me with a smile but Tokiya just turned to his side. I was so taken aback upon this sudden occurrence but I replied since I figured it would be rude not to introduce myself too.

"Umm, hi... Well, my name is uh... umm... I can't remember. Wait... Why can't I remember?!"

I fell into a sudden panic. I was really shocked by the fact that I wasn't able to remember my own name. Even though I tried so hard to remember, my mind was completely empty. It felt like the more I tried, the harder it became to recollect my identity. I had no memory left of my past...

Suddenly, my phone rang, bringing me back to reality. I turned it on in a haste, hoping all of this was a dream, only to see a really weird message from an unknown number.

"Welcome fellow player. You must be wondering about what you are doing here. I can't tell you the details, but all I can tell you is that you are suffering from amnesia. Your mission is to retrieve the cursed jewel located in Central Park in 24 hours. You're going to be assigned a partner with whom you'll have to work with throughout your journey. And be careful because if you don't complete this task in time, you'll be erased. -Good luck"

(W-W-Wait, what?! Did I just read the word AMNESIA?!)

"Oh no! Look, you're injured!" I then suddenly heard Momoi exclaim.

I saw her pointing at my leg which was wounded and bleeding terribly. That's when the pain had struck me. My leg froze in place and I wasn't able to move it due to the wound.

"Ah! Ow!" I cried out as I instantly clung onto my leg.

"If only I had enough stamina right now, I could have healed it... Do you guys have any solution?" Momoi questioned while staring at the others.

(Wait... Healed it?)

Nagi just shook his head, also looking confused.

"Ugh, what a pain..." Tokiya muttered annoyingly as he took a bandage out of his bag.

Then, he put some medicine and wrapped the bandage around my leg.

"There, it's firm now. Just keep it like that for a couple of days."

"Wow... Thank you so much!" Instead of giving a reply, he just got up and walked away.

(Rude! I seriously hate people like that!)

"Okay... So, where in the world am I, and why have I lost memories and why did I get this weird message on my phone?! It says I'm suffering from amnesia! That's why I can't remember my name!" I instantly burst into questions as I pointed at my phone, showing them the message.

"So you are new. We're technically in this game, and each time we get a specific mission but if we don't complete it in time, we get erased from this world. It's basically some sort of death game. The missions we get are from these creatures called Reapers. They're basically human beings, just with supernatural powers. We also have specific things to destroy which block our way from getting to the location the mission takes place.

They're basically unwanted data in this game or as we like to call them, the noise. We could defeat them since each person here has a specific power or a weapon. I'm an archer, Momoi is a mage, and Tokiya is an assassin. Also, everybody here gets a partner to be with. My partner is Momoi. Oh, and, by the way, we're stuck here until we carry out all the missions safely. If we die, well, we get erased as well." Nagi explained while putting his hands behind his head.

(What?! How is he so calm about this?!)

"Wait, wait, wait, hold on just a minute! How did I even end up here?! And if I fail I die! This is way too sudden!"

"Calm down. It's okay. We're all in the same boat here," Momoi spoke in a calm tone.

"But, how can I just accept all of this... I-I can't just accept this in a flash... I-I--"

Unintentionally, large drops of tears started to form in my eyes as I thought about the whole situation I was stuck in. Then, suddenly, I felt a hand on my shoulder.

"It's okay. We all are here for you and we're stuck in the same situation. I know it's hard to just suddenly pop in this world and go through all of this without even a choice. But it'll be fine," She smiled as I looked up at her.

(She has such a big sister feel...)

I then wiped away my tears, stood up, and brushed the dust off my shorts.

"Okay... It's still is a lot to take in but, I guess I can't do anything about it, huh?" Momoi and Nagi nodded their heads in agreement.

"So, about the mission, where exactly is Central Park?"

"Oh, we'll lead the way. We know exactly where it is!" Nagi spoke in a confident tone.

"Alright..."

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"So, about the partner thing, who exactly is my partner? Do I just get to choose myself from the people I get to meet?" I asked as we were on our way to Central Park.

"Ugh. It's not that simple. You can't just choose whatever you want to do in this game. The reapers make all the rules. I myself haven't even gotten one yet..." Tokiya replied.

(He didn't have to put it that way, you know!)

That instant, I got another text on my phone. It said:

"Your partner from now on is Tokiya. Good luck."

(Wait, seriously?! The guy I least wanted is my partner!!! Can life get any worse...?!)

"Umm... Guys... My partner is that guy..." I mumbled as I pointed at Tokiya.

Everyone stared at me and Tokiya just froze in his tracks. He was probably sulking like how I was.

"What?! Seriously, I have to be partners with her?!"

(We both haven't given each other the best first impressions and now we have to deal with each other for the rest of the time we're stuck in this place!)

"Oh, congratulations to the two of you. I bet you both will get along just fine," Momoi spoke, a smile across her face.

(That's like the complete opposite of how we will behave towards each other.)

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After a couple of hours of walking, we all just sat down for a break.

"Man, my feet are killing me!" Nagi complained as he flopped down on the grass and stretched his legs.

I, too, was about to sit down when suddenly, a monstrous type scale just sped past me and hit the tree beside me. It was so fast that a gust of wind ended up blowing my hair a bit.

"Ahhh!"

The others just got on their guard as we saw a huge figure standing in the distance. I wasn't able to quite make it out, but it looked like some sort of wild beast. The only thing I could make out where the huge scales lined down its back up to its long tail.

"Everyone, just stay calm and don't make a sound..." Tokiya warned, almost as low as a whisper.

We all tried staying as quiet as possible until I accidentally stepped on a twig.

*Crack*

"Oh no...!"

The very next second, I saw the beast, it's glowing red eyes locked squarely on me.

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