You patted your face, gripped the sleeve of your uniform, and examined your reflection closely. Same face, same eyes, same body, same hair; the only difference was the clothing. Yup, it was you, there was no doubt about it. That was one dilemma solved. The next and biggest one was figuring out what was going on.

At first glance, it looks like as if you had wound up in the game. But, for something that was found only in fiction to happen to you? Someone who was just living an ordinary life? You wanted to slap yourself for such a ridiculous conclusion. That's just not how reality worked, right?

However, for the sake of getting somewhere, let's just say that it was the case. The first thing you should do was identify just where in the prologue you were. Though it's been a while since you last experienced the prologue, you did your best to recall its details, and your eyes widened when you came across a realisation.

"Okay, let's set aside the existential crisis for now. If this is really the prologue, then I'm supposed to be in danger––"

Interrupting you was a digital beep coming from a device attached to your arm. Its weight was so light that you hardly noticed it. The design was basically a digital watch with a square screen. You knew exactly what it was and it felt like second nature to tap on the screen.

"Yo, support leader. How's it hanging there?"

This voice. You immediately recognised who it belonged to. Lost in your bewilderment, you didn't realise that you never responded to the question.

"No response? Figures. Didn't know apparitions can use devices like these. Possession is getting fancier, huh?"

That brought you back to reality. "W-wait, hold on," you stammered. "I'm not possessed."

"Right, right," the voice mused playfully, doubtful of your words. "Too bad I don't believe you––though, it sounded pretty convincing. I'll give you points for that. Alright, hang tight. I'll take care of you myself."

"Wait––"

Your attempt at a protest was in vain since the call abruptly came to an end. You just had an interaction with one of the characters in the game. The fact that the possibility of you reincarnating into the game was becoming more of a plausible conclusion concerned you.

Though it was difficult, you managed to ignore those thoughts for now and you began to seriously assess your situation. Whether or not you were in some super realistic dream or had really ended up in the game doesn't change the fact that you needed to collect your thoughts.

Well, I have a limited time to think. Let's briefly go over it.

The prologue of Anomalous started off with an operation in the height of its intensity. Essentially, it displayed exorcists eliminating apparitions to introduce the setting. The beginning details were glossed over, the prologue's purpose was to only set the tone for the game (and to show off the amazing animation in the cut scenes). The apparitions were located inside a school, the school that you were in the hallway of currently.

Wait, wouldn't that mean the area where you were at as of right now was infested with apparitions?

You looked around and only saw an empty hallway. Not everyone had the abilities to see apparitions unless the apparitions decided to show themselves. But, everyone was susceptible to possession from them. So, why weren't you facing the repercussions?

"Okay, let's set that aside for now. According to how the scene was shown in the game, this means that Caleb should be arriving––"

A thunderous crash sounded right beside you, causing you to almost fall back at its abruptness. The wall had been mercilessly smashed in, leaving a large hole in the center of it. Dust collected the air, prompting you to shut your eyes as another fit of coughs erupted painfully from your already sore throat.

Before you could recover, you felt your airway suddenly being cut off as a harsh pressure wrapped around your throat and an unidentified force slammed you against a wall. You couldn't even let out a pained groan. A choked gasp parted your lips instead. Hands instantly shooting up to your throat, you struggled to break free.

"Oh! Looks like you were telling the truth." An amused laughter soon followed those words. "My bad. No hard feelings, alright?"

You felt the grip on your throat loosen and you greedily gasped for air. Falling to the ground, you coughed for what seemed to be the one hundredth time in the past few minutes. Your focus was so centered on the pain that burned your throat that you didn't realise that the individual had bent down to your level and was right in front of you.

When you looked up, you were welcomed with striking prepossessing green eyes looking right at you.

"Oh wow, you look like a mess," the male said blithely. "Welp, get moving. I have to take care of a few things and I don't need you in the way."

You blinked for a moment and stared at him in awe. "Caleb..."

Caleb, the male in front of you, was someone who was in the main cast of characters. You had already established the fact that you were somehow in Anomalous, but to think you were really interacting with one of the characters still felt unbelievable. It was literally every fan's dream.

And, the first thing he did was choke you. Wonderful. Honestly, you couldn't even find it in yourself to be mad.

"Who else would it be? C'mon, don't lose your head already. Now, shoo. Look, I already gave you a head start." He grinned and gestured to the huge hole he created in the building wall.

"H-hold, give me a moment."

"Uh––yeah, no." He grabbed your chin and turned your head around. "See that? No, you don't. But, what I see is a load of apparitions waiting to possess ya and everyone else if they're not exorcised." The male let go of you and stood up. "Wonder how they didn't get to you yet. Oh well, I'll leave the questioning to our honour student. I'll just hurry and wrap up this operation."

You nodded and struggled to stand up. Caleb laughed at your attempt before he grabbed your arm and pulled you up himself. Might you add that he did it with so much unnecessary force that you thought you were going to fall down all over again.

Humming happily to himself, he patted down your shoulders before grabbing them and turning you around. He ushered you outside before leaving you soon after. You glanced back at the male and he threw you a cheerful peace sign and disappeared into the school.

You slowly redirected your gaze back up front and realised that you were in the courtyard of the school. Walking away, you headed towards the gates and were welcomed with a very familiar scenery.

Indistinguishable shouts and conversations cluttered the air, the volume only increasing as you drew closer. An ocean of people flooded outside the school gates ranging from school students, teachers, staff and individuals who were wearing a similar uniform as yours. It made you wonder how the hell did you end up inside the school in the first place.

"I remember this operation," you muttered.

Anomalous was set in a world where incidents involving apparitions were quite either common or rare depending on the severity of it. And, of course, whenever these incidents occur, the public needed to rely on a force to solve the issue. And, judging by your uniform, you were a part of that specific force.

The details were a little blurry as it wasn't explained greatly in the prologue. However, from what you could gather from combing through your memory, there was meant to be a sudden infestation of apparitions within a school. You were currently in the midst of an operation led by Caleb.

"Support leader!"

Oh. You were in the midst of this operation as a support leader.

To put it simply, there are three different assigned roles in an operation; support, defence and offence. Supports were in charge of tasks such as taking care of the citizens, providing medical attention, warning bystanders of the situation, and ensuring that the external process goes smoothly.

The people on the offence and defence team dealt with the actual exorcism. As the names suggest, the offence predominantly focuses on the attack while the defence would ensure the safety of the support team and the victims.

A girl ran up to you and you noticed that she was wearing the uniform of someone a part of the support unit.

"Are you alright? You suddenly disappeared on us! Were you attacked by apparitions?" she asked.

"Disappeared? What do you mean?"

The girl seemed taken back by your question. "W-well, you were here one moment, then the next second nobody could find you! When Caleb contacted you, we were surprised to find you in the school. Did you get possessed?"

You could hear the caution in her voice in her last line. "No, I didn't. Caleb saved me in time," you said. The prologue's cutscene didn't portray this part so you didn't have the faintest clue what to do. "Uhm, what's the situation?"

"The support team is currently tending to the injured students. There aren't any fatal injuries, thankfully. And, the offence and defence team are doing a good job keeping them safe from any lingering apparitions that made their way outside the school."

"Why isn't the offence team accompanying Caleb inside the school?"

"Well, he specifically ordered everyone to let him go in alone. He said something along the lines of everyone being a burden and would just kill the mood."

Yup, sounds just like him.

Possession, huh? Heck, you didn't even know how you got here in the first place, much less figure out why you weren't impacted by the apparitions. You had so many questions about your current predicament that you pretty much gave up on trying to find the answers to them.

Let's just get this prologue over and done with, then we'll see what comes after. Might as well make the most of it. After all, the chance to experience your favourite game in person wasn't something you get everyday. Literally, what fan would waste an opportunity such as this?

Then, a groundbreaking shriek ripped through the skies, causing tremors in the ground and prompting you to cover your ears at the high pitch. The sound stopped as abruptly as it came and an unsettling silence oppressed the air. No one in the vicinity dared to make any noises or movements. Everyone remained completely silent as they stared at the school in apprehension.

Then, another shriek erupted. However, this time, a torrent of light shone from it and a barrage of apparitions bursted out of the building. You had to close your eyes momentarily at the luminosity, however, you quickly recovered before watching the sight in awe.

A clamorous entanglement of different shouts filled the air; shouts ranging from terrified cries from the students to haste yells from the members of the force.

"Apparitions!"

"Quickly, offence team, get into gear! Defence, protect the citizens!"

I know I should be terrified but... You couldn't help but feel deep intrigue instead of fear. Experiencing this scene from a monitor was one thing. Experiencing it yourself in real life was a whole different case.

"S-support leader, we–we sh-should head back," the girl said, body trembling.

You would've been more alarmed if it weren't for the fact that you knew exactly what was going to happen next. You knew it was inappropriate of you to, but you really just wanted to bask in the experience.

"That scene should be starting soon..." you mumbled, trying your best to conceal your excited smile. You were definitely going to get front row tickets for that.

"Did you say something?"

You shook your head. "Don't worry about it. Our main priority should be getting to safety right now," you replied, trying to add a layer of urgency in your voice. It didn't turn out very well. Hey, you were an author, not an actor.

The girl didn't seem to notice, her mind was probably spinning in too much fear to pay attention to anything else aside from the apparitions.

"Y-yes. Safety. Let's get going." She began walking off, however, she then paused and looked at you in confusion. "Are you not coming? W-we need to hurry!"

"Oh, I'll be fine here," you said, almost in a daze as you continued to indulge in the scene.

"Wh-what? We have to get to––"

The girl stopped talking abruptly and her face paled. You looked at her, puzzled, before following her gaze.

Ah, so that's why.

The sky's prior monochrome pallet was now drowned in a crimson red. Black clouds began looming over the area and a low growl of thunder could be faintly heard. Rain began pouring from above, rain that was coloured a bright shade of red. Though you had expected this, you could feel your heart tighten with chills at how unsettling the sight looked.

"A vengeful apparition..." you mumbled. "We didn't receive that in the report."

"A-A venge–vengeful––"

The poor girl couldn't even structure her words into a coherent sentence. You felt bad for making her stay here.

"You get going first," you said.

"Wh-what? What about you?"

You smiled. "I'll be here in case there were any injuries amongst the offence or defence team. Someone's gotta do it."

"O-oh, uhm..." She seemed hesitant. However, when a scream resonated through the air, she flinched and quickly spluttered, "Okay! G-good luck!"

When the girl left, your attention drifted back upfront. You watched as crimson continued to paint the sky, the colour becoming concerningly darker and resembling more like blood as time progressed. The red rain that heavily poured down increased its intensity. You put your hood over your head and held a hand out to feel the droplets, it felt like icicles were pricking your skin. It wasn't excessively painful, but if it rained down on your skin long enough, it could become fatal. Thankfully, your uniform did a good job protecting you from it.

"It's exactly like how they described it in the prologue..." you mumbled.

"What are you doing?!" One of the members in the offence team shouted at you. "Don't you see that there's a vengeful spirit? Get out before you get killed, this is no place for a support!"

You shot the person an annoyed look. As someone who kicked ass in the game, I feel personally attacked.

Well, in their perspective, you supposed they had a fair point. Maybe witnessing the scene from afar wouldn't be too bad. About to walk away, you stopped when your eyes caught sight of a familiar individual.

"Killed? Wow, those are sure some scary words."

You smiled. Yup, there he is––the cutscene with Caleb was about to start and you were beyond excited to witness it.

Caleb's eyes twinkled in amusement. "With someone as strong as me here, even if you run straight into the apparitions you wouldn't get killed." He walked over to you, a cheerful smile on his lips, and he leaned in closer to your face. "We meet again, couldn't get enough of me?"

As a matter of fact, yes. "Just wanted to make sure that there's no one injured."

"Aw, how nice. Though, I doubt you can do much in this situation," he mused. "Oh, but don't feel too offended. I'm just being realistic here. But, I commend you for your bravery––or maybe recklessness would be a better term? Maybe stupidity would fit better, actually."

Instead of being offended by Caleb's words, you pointed to the people behind him. The offence and defence team were waiting for his orders in both apprehension and impatience. This was a perilous situation, after all. Caleb making small talk with you wasn't exactly the most appropriate thing to do right now.

The male pulled his face away from yours. "Okay, everyone can leave now. I'll finish this off myself."

No one questioned the male's capabilities in handling the situation and they all immediately obeyed his orders. You sighed, you supposed you'll join them. You didn't want to become a hindrance.

"Oh! You can stay if you want. Having an audience is always fun."

Your eyes lit up. "Really?"

"Woah there, someone's eager. I was kind of joking, but I don't really care if you stay." The male laughed and he took off his gloves and threw them to you. He stretched his arms over his head before cracking his knuckles. An excited grin stretched across his lips as he gazed at the blood red sky.

A strong gust of wind blew in your direction and you kept your head low to avoid the rain from hitting your face. Caleb, however, was impervious to it. He casually tapped his foot on the ground whilst humming a quiet tune, waiting for the vengeful apparition to show itself.

Then, a low growl encircled the area. Feelings of both anticipation and exhilaration encompassed you at the sound, the volume and intensity of the growl was like someone had placed speakers surrounding you and blasted it at the loudest volume and the deepest tone possible.

Then, a black entity slowly came from the building. It's size looked like it could cover the entire sky. After a short pause, your heart jumped when it suddenly came straight in your direction. You stood still and watched as Caleb immediately got into action.

With an amused chuckle, he outstretched a hand and a crystalline pale green light flickered from his palms before several streams of it began to counter the entity. Barely a second had passed and Caleb's abilities overwhelmed the entity immensely, the clash between the two powers caused a massive amount of pressure and wind to engulf the area.

A deep bellow pulsated through the air and the entity began to go after you. You stiffened at that, but you still didn't move.

Caleb swiftly rushed up in front of you. "You might wanna brace yourself for this."

A fury of light surged from his fingertips and he outstretched both hands. The power that derived from them could be compared to a crazily powerful projectile, it easily overpowered the darkness of the entity at a merciless rate in one big powerful torrent.

The impact resulted in one final pained howl from the entity before a burst of wind detonated from it. The pressure was terrifyingly powerful and Caleb used his abilities to shield the both of you from it. Parts of the ground began breaking and flying off. If it weren't for Caleb, you were sure that you would've been taken away by the wind.

Then, gradually, the pressure settled down. The sky had reverted back to its original state––cloudy and grey––and the crimson rain had stopped pouring.

On one of Caleb's hands, his fingertips had a whisk of smoke flowing from them. He brought it to his lips and blew them out. "Hm, seems like the distribution of power was a little off," he mumbled.

You witnessed had this exact scene in the game––well, aside from the fact that he had to protect you––and you remembered how captivated you were by it from the other side of the monitor. So, witnessing it here in person? You couldn't subdue the look of amazement on your expression. In the midst of your awe, you were caught off guard when Caleb suddenly wrapped an arm over your shoulder.

"Enjoyed the show?"

You weren't surprised by the sudden intimacy. You handed his gloves back to him with a nod, unable to find the words to express your awe. The male chuckled at that and let go of you to slip his gloves back on. Since you've just witnessed one of your favourite cutscenes form the game, you were more than satisfied. Was your indiginance towards the game's ending so great that the creator of Anomalous granted you a very realistic dream?

"I guess I should be heading back––"

"Hold it there, little miss." Caleb grabbed the back of your uniform and pulled you towards him. "We need to scout the area first and check for any lingering apparitions."

You furrowed your eyebrows. "I'm a support leader, I'm needed there. Plus, what help would I be scouting with you?"

The male chuckled. "Aw, I was hoping you'd be more thrilled than that. Just send a list of instructions to the vice leader. You can be my moral support or something."

Well, you didn't want to turn down an opportunity to spend more time with one of the characters so you followed his suggestion. Thankfully, in the past you bought the official art book of the game. In it, it explained the functions of the many devices in the world. So it wasn't too much of an issue to you.

"Alright, sent."

Caleb nodded. "Welp, let's head in. Don't fall behind."

He began walking at a very fast pace, a part of you suspected that it was just to mess around with you. You had forgotten how tiring his character could be sometimes, but you still enjoyed it nonetheless when you were playing the game. Interacting with him through the protagonist was one of the many highlights of the game.

You had to jog a little to catch up to him. You sent him an annoyed look and he laughed before slowing down his pace. The two of you entered the hallway, the same one where you first woke up to this world in.

Now that I think about it, what I saw before passing out was strange. Was it just your mind playing tricks on you? Or did it have to do with why you were here? You went through your memory and tried to recall what happened. Right, wasn't there some sort of storm that happened which caused a blackout? Plus, your computer had turned on and opened to the game Anomalous on its own.

You didn't realise how eerie it was at the time due to your hazy state of mind. However, now that you reflected back on it, you felt severely creeped out.

"Hey, are you sure you didn't get possessed?"

You broke out of your thoughts and looked over to Caleb. "Yeah, why?"

The male kept his gaze on you and remained silent for a moment before shrugging. "Eh, just asking."

You gave him an unconvinced look and sighed. There was no point trying to get an explanation out of him, it would only result in a headache. He was probably suspicious as to how you appeared unscathed when he found you in the school hallway despite there being apparitions present at the time. You didn't know the answer yourself so you supposed you'd just feign oblivion if you were ever questioned again.

Questioned again? Actually, how long were you going to be here?

You had accepted the fact that you were in the game Anomalous. But, the idea of continuing your life here hasn't fully settled with you yet. If it was truly the case, wouldn't you have to abandon everything back at home? Granted, you didn't have any friends you'd call close and your relationship with your parents weren't all that tight either, but you still had a life back there.

There's no way that I'll be here forever, right? There must be some way I can get back home, to return back to my life. After all, I'm not meant to be here. The fact that I'm even here was already abnormal enough to begin with.

"Alright, last room!" Caleb said happily.

He opened the door to an empty classroom and walked inside. You followed close behind him and quietly looked around before the male suddenly pulled you back. You grunted when your back collided against the wall and you shot him a confused look. However, that confusion slowly morphed into alarm when you heard a familiar growl.

Your eyes widened. The vengeful apparition from before...

You knew that it hadn't been completely exorcised by Caleb, only severely weakened. However, the prologue never addressed anything else after Caleb's cutscene. Meaning, whatever was going to unfold now, you'll be just as surprised as anyone watching for the first time.

The sound seemed to be coming from right behind. You instinctively backed away from the wall at that. Gradually, a frigid feeling began enclosing in on you. Shaking off the feeling was impossible no matter what you tried to do.

Suddenly, the feeling accelerated into something much worse. The cold that burned your skin seemed to spread across your entire body, eating away any means of warmth. You couldn't even scream as you felt an oppressive weight crush your throat. It was like there was a rope of dense air that was tightly wrapped around it. You could breathe, but the effort to do so was exceptionally difficult; you could almost say it was impossible.

Your mind became clouded and you couldn't differentiate anything around you, you were too busy focusing on trying to get oxygen in your body in order to remain conscious. But, your fight against losing consciousness was quickly over when you blacked out.

However, something was off.

You were sure you blacked out, but why was your mind still awake?

You couldn't move, you didn't feel like you had a body. It was like you were an entity, aimlessly floating in nothingness. The feeling was similar when you blacked out back in your apartment.

Does that mean when I wake up, I'll be back at home?

If you could breathe a sigh of relief, you would've. So, it wasn't all real after all. You really must've been lacking sleep to the point where your mind was making up all sorts of weird things. When you woke up, the first thing you'd do is sort out a proper sleep schedule and maybe visit a doctor. What happened was definitely not normal.

However, you then awoke with a violent jolt. Your body immediately wanted to gasp for air, but you still couldn't breathe properly. The painful feeling caused tears to prick in the corners of your eyes. You hunched over and your hand squeezed your chest.

You tried to see through your blurry vision, however, you couldn't make out anything. Your consciousness faded in and out, it was like you were fighting against something for control of your body. Your mind screamed and pleaded for the pain to subside and you felt someone attempting to get you to sit up. Your body moved on its own and slapped it out of the way, however, the individual easily grabbed your hand and forced you to sit up.

It was then you realised who that someone was when you were met with familiar green eyes.

Caleb? Why? Why is he still here?!

Shouldn't you be at home by now? Why were you still in the game?

You couldn't think straight, your mind was haphazard and was all over the place. Feelings of distress overwhelmed you and you couldn't even let out a cry, only a choked sob that you instantly regretted as it only instilled more pain into your throat.

Caleb seemed to be saying something, but you couldn't hear anything so you tried your best to read his lips under the agony.

Po...sess..ion...?

Possession?