Chapter 2: A New Name and a Choice
There was no way... was this his version of life flashing across the eyes? Had he played the game too much? Was he still dying?
Honestly, why hadn't he thought it a minute ago? The magic was a dead giveaway! Then again, that was the thing with dreams, you didn't realize anything was off. Honestly, if he hadn't looked into the mirror, he wouldn't have noticed.
...
He stared at his reflection and tilted his head to the side.
...
Critical hit.
He was so jealous! Why did Noe get such a cute face?! Even while covered in grime he was too cute!! He would have killed for that! But nooo! He got a masculine jaw and way too much body hair. It made him look awful in cute outfits. It was so stupid that Noe, a character made to be a scapegoat, got such a pretty appearance while he suffered being the exact opposite! Well, not opposite as in ugly. He wasn't the most attractive of men but he didn't think that...
He needed to stop getting distracted. If he woke himself up, he might survive.
Pain couldn't be felt in dreams, right? Or, at least, it woke you up. So all he had to do was pinch himself.
...
That hurt!
And come to think of it, he'd already hit his head while crawling out from under the bed and his hunger was unignorable.
...was he in a coma? Was that what it was?
No, he heard that coma patients wake up if they figure it out. Well, that or they can't know when they're in a coma.
In any case, he'd have to treat it as though it was real. Which meant he had to get moving. Now.
He'd wasted too much time with thinking when he had to act. He needed to finish his preparations.
Trying to rush through cabinets while keeping quiet wasn't an easy task, but it was one that he had to take. Until he was safe, until he could hear his parents call his name, he had to- his name.
What was his name?
His parents would call him to dinner, scream at him to be better, snap it when he tried too hard to get their attention... what was it?
...
Dammit, he didn't have time to think. He knew Noe's name so he'd use that.
Noe dumped every slightly expensive or useful looking item onto the cloth and threaded up the needle. On his third pass, he realized he forgot to knot the end- though he supposed it was better he figured that out sooner than later.
At some point, he began mumbling to himself; his preferred distraction method while studying. "This is so dumb. Why do I have to use this flimsy thread for this? Aren't these kinds of stories supposed to start with a level one area? The manor is endgame! Well, the endgame for the first play, I guess. I could bring this place down the first visit on my third run. Actually, I thought Noe didn't have magic, but I guess he has enough to make food... not enough food, I'm still starving. Have I done enough rounds yet? This would be so much easier if I just had [Inventory]."
In reaction to Noe's meaningless mumbling, a screen popped up. It was a familiar near-transparent cream color with separate tabs and countless boxes.
He stared at it for a moment. Then blinked. And blinked again.
"Why didn't I just try that...?"
Sighing, he almost collapsed forward onto his desk. It wasn't like he hadn't seen stories where the main character ended up in a game, and if Noe's body was now... Noe, he should have tried to access something from the game. Dream or not.
"Come to think of it... the item box was something most people had in this world, right?" He mumbled, staring at his failed project. "Though [Inventory] is better."
How did he put things into it? He tried picking the half-finished bag up.
Noe looked back to the screen, checking for instructions or anything. What greeted him was a bunch of filled boxes.
Thank the heavens. He could survive for sure now. Aethertale's singleplayer hadn't had too much replayability so not many items actually came from there, generally, players picked up the transferrable exclusive items and quit it. However, when it came to multiplayer, the game shined. Everyone wanted to top the guild leaderboards or dominate PvP or make the greatest equipment possible.
And Noe?
Noe had been a part of the leading guild. His parents made him get a job to save for the college he'd already had funds prepared for by his grandparents (who he really should have gone to first), so with generous pocket money on top of that, Noe had more than enough to spend on the cash shop - especially the companion system!
Making great weapons and armor was easy. Been there, done that. Everyone was obsessed with getting the best gear, but that lost its charm after the first or second restart, it all relied on luck and events from there. Noe, on the other hand, wanted all the companions - pets, minions, mercenaries - the game had to offer. He'd gotten limited-time roulette pets, farmed bosses to obtain them, spent several all-nighters at friends under the guise of studying to get event enemies. The entire guild knew he was addicted. They teased him about it but it all worked out in his favor! He had a complete set of max-level companions with every buffing item his guild could get their hands on. They usually kept to one or two.
What was the reward for a full set, you might ask? Well, that was simple.
Tokens for the roulette! It was pretty much nothing, but it was, sort of, some of his money back since he could use them on other roulettes. It helped him complete a few other sets.
Damn, he had JUST scolded himself for this. He needed to get back on track.
He looked down at his hands, the bag was gone.
Noe quickly filtered his inventory to most recent.
[Crudely Sewn Bag]
"This bag was created with inadequate materials. It is soon to break."
...
Well, sucked to be that bag. Noe opted to avoid thinking it as an insult. It wasn't like he'd sewn before, or that he had access to crafting magic.
His plans for escape were finished! He could now...
How, exactly, did he plan to get out?
Scanning the room over once, there was only one possible answer: he would use the window.
Noe hurried over to the window and, hoping and praying to whatever divine being might have been out there, he flipped the latch and gently pushed them open. No resistance beyond slight creaking. They hadn't been open in a while, but wasn't that a part of cleaning a room, though? The maids had been slacking on this room, it must have smelled awful.
Shutting down that tangent, Noe poked his head out of the second-floor window, and just as he'd thought, there was a tree right outside. It wasn't as old as it was in the game, but it would support a child's weight - especially a near starving one.
He thought to question how he was actually going to manage this in his state but decided against it. Ignorance was bliss.
He just had to be careful, he thought, settling himself onto the windowsill, he couldn't let anyone hear him.
...but why not?
Despite what the real Noe's memories said, the only real threat was the Head Butler - and, well, any servants loyal to him, but even they wouldn't risk the Duke's anger. He couldn't think of much of a reason to run away.
Then again, they might realize that he's not actually Noe...
But, again, he could cut out the Marquis' influence by condemning the Head Butler.
And, yet again, he could be seen as an imposter. They thought Noe was the illusion created by the Head Butler
What did he do?
Escape or find his family?
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