章 1: An Offer
Inside a white room, two women sat facing each other. One of them has a poker face expression, she has white hair tied up in a bun, she wears glasses and is dressed in a gray women's business uniform. And the other one has an amused expression on her face, she has wavy blond hair that reached the back of her neck and green eyes, she's wearing a camouflage military uniform. Both can be considered great beauties.
''Heh~, so I died after being hit by a missile bombardment? Wow~, all this to kill me? Fufufu how cute~'' The blonde woman says with a giggle, somehow delighted at the effort it took to kill her.
''Yes.'' The white-haired woman responds, still with an expressionless face.
''So this is my punishment after I die? Getting stuck in a white room with a beautiful white-haired woman? Are you sure it's not a reward~?'' she licks her lips while looking at the white haired beauty.
The white-haired woman continued with a blank expression, and continued to just stare at the blonde one.
Seeing that she didn't have any reaction, the blonde got a little irritated, ''Tch, how boring.'' she continued, ''So, why am I here?''
''Because we have a proposal for you.'' The white-haired woman responds with a neutral tone.
''Hoh~? A proposal? What kind of proposal?''
She didn't respond and just passed the blonde a contract. The blonde looked at the paper for a few seconds before picking it up and starting to read.
Finishing reading, she looks suspiciously at her, ''....are you serious?''
Instead of confirming, she replies: ''The contract is simple, if you sign and agree to the terms, your mission will be to go to fictional worlds to search and collect. If you successfully complete the quests, you will not go to hell and we will reward you with a wish, regardless of what the wish is.''
The blonde raised an eyebrow, still suspicious, ''What happens if I die during the mission?''
''You go to hell.''
''What do I have to look for and collect specifically?''
''This is confidential. However, if you accept the proposal, you will know what to look for when you start the mission''
The blonde woman found the situation very suspicious....
''Alright~, I've signed it, here it is!'' however, suspicious or not, she doesn't really care as long as it's interesting.
The white haired woman was a little surprised at the quick response, she herself knew it looked like a suspicious deal, after all, It has no details about what the contractor should do, but she was also relieved that the woman in front of her accepted because she was the best choice she had.
She took the signed contract and nodded, ''Come with me please.''
The white-haired woman got up from her chair and started walking, and the blonde woman soon followed behind. Ahead of where they were, there was a large mirror with golden edges.
The white-haired woman stopped beside the mirror and signaled to the blonde woman that was right behind her, ''Please stand in front of this mirror.''
''Oho? Why?''
''For you to be able to venture into the dimension of fiction, you must become part of it. In this case, this mirror does not reflect you, but reflects the fictional character who most resembles you. That said, I will merge you with a copy of the fictional character's existence that appears.'' The white-haired woman explains calmly.
''Heh, that's interesting, so basically I'm going to become one with the character that most resembles me.''
''Correct, however, keep in mind that even though I say they are 'fictional worlds', when you enter the world of fiction, they have become real worlds for you, meaning the moment you enter, that will be your reality.''
The blonde woman nodded, then moved to the front of the mirror.
After standing in front of the mirror for a minute, a blurry image appears, and then, from the blurry figure, the image of a girl is revealed.
The girl looks thirteen years oldand she has long flowing black hair with a black ribbon as a hair ornament and red eyes. She wears black dress with red frills, black stockings supported with garters and a red boots and she wields a huge purplish halberd on her hand.
''I've seen some anime, but I don't know her....'' The blonde woman leans over and puts her hand on her chin, analyzing the little girl's figure.
''Don't be fooled by her little girl appearance. Her name is Rory Mercury, she is a demigod from her original world. Her personality is friendly, however, she is cruel, sadistic, and shows no mercy to enemies, she also has a sense of justice and loves to hunt bandits and criminals, she can also be described as a battle maniac and fighting strong opponents excites her. Does she remind you of anyone, Miss Rebecca?''
The blonde woman, now Rebecca, smiles widely, ''She and I would get along prety well!''
Rebecca was a military woman who had just come out of the academy with top grades. And as an exemplary soldier, she was soon sent to war and given several assignments. She was a monster in terms of fighting and maneuvering with weapons, both melee weapons and firearms, and not only that, she killed enemies brutally and without mercy, and this earned her the nickname 'The Butcher'.
However, in the middle of a mission she found out that her superiors were involved in slave and drug trafficking, she wanted to go back and kill all the superior officers, but she couldn't make it back alive because a member of her team that she trusted was also envolved, and he sent her into a trap where she was killed by a missile bombardment.
''Close your eyes and touch the mirror, I'll do the rest.'' Says white haired woman.
Without thinking too much, Rebecca approached the mirror, and slowly raised her hand to touch the mirror, and to her surprise, the little girl, Rory Mercury, who was on the other side of the mirror, also raised her hand. Rebecca then closes her eyes and puts her hand on the glass, the glass was cold and smooth, it looked like normal glass.
After a few seconds, she started to feel dizzy and nauseous, and then she lost consciousness.
Rebecca who was in front of the mirror, and Rory Mercury who was in the reflection, were no longer there, leaving the white-haired woman alone. Looking over to where Rebecca was, she bowed in gratitude to her.
.
-----[]-----
.
In an inn, a beautiful little girl with long black hair and red eyes is lying on the bed in one of the rooms, she is dressed in simple armor and leather clothes underneath.
''Urgh, what a headache....'' she gets up and massages her head, ''I think I understood why that woman needed Rebecca's soul....'' she mumbles.
Rebecca's existence, who was from another dimension, merged with a copy of Rory Mercury's existence, which is from the fictional dimension, that is, she became an anomaly, a bridge between the two realities. She had both Rory Mercury and Rebecca memories, however she can say she identifies as Rory Mercury and not Rebecca, maybe because Rebecca isn't fiction and she is? Or maybe because Rebecca's purpose is just to create this bridge between realities? She does not know.
Rory looked around and saw that she was in a simple room. It had a bed, on which she was lying, a clothes closet, a bookcase, and a lamp.
And looking at her body, she realized that she wasn't wearing her usual clothes, but clothes that looked like clothes from newbie adventurers in the world she came from.
She is wearing simple bracers and an iron breastplate that only covered her breasts and underneath her armor she is wearing a red cloth shirt. In the lower part of her body, she is wearing a black knee-length shorts and leather boots.
''Completely classless, it's ugly, and it doesn't match anything.....'' she sighs.
Her halberd and usual clothes are gone, but she's not worried as her clothes and weapon are part of who she is, so it's impossible not to have come with her.
She sits with her legs crossed, puts her hand on her chin and ponders, ''Hm....I'm sure it's not my world, and from Rebecca's memories, there are other worlds like mine, which world am I in?''
[DING!]
''Hm?''
As she pondered, a transparent screen appeared in front of her, drawing her attention. Reading what was written on the transparent screen, she raises her eyebrows in surprise.
[Welcome back to Sword Art Online!]
''Oh my....I really didn't expect this.....''