[Location] Erystin private school

[Dispatches] Support team dispatch 09, Offence team dispatch 00, Offence team dispatch 03, Defence team dispatch 07, Defence team dispatch 05

[Special force members] Caleb and Elias

[Report] A second sighting of the vengeful apparition. Most of the students and staff have been evacuated, however, some still remain in the school. The vengeful apparition appears to be much stronger than before.

[Risk Assessment] Students are highly prone to possession. Please be mindful and treat them with caution.

As you ran, you swiftly placed your hoodie over your head to shield yourself from the heavy downpour that cascaded from above. Droplets pounded riotously against the ground and fought against the storm of voices that enmeshed rowdily with one another, voices that ranged from panicked cries to anxious shouts.

It was time to get into gear and begin the operation.

At this point, you and Caleb had already parted ways. Your confidence in fulfilling your role as a support leader wasn't all that high, but there was no other choice but to give it your all and hope that your prior knowledge of the game would be enough.

Pulling the brakes on your running, you immediately began to direct your team whilst issuing their respective orders. As you were doing that, you noticed from a far distance a student staggering and struggling to past the school gates. Normally, you would've rushed to go and assist her. However, due to your position in the support department, you were supposed to notify the offence or defence team to do it instead due to various safety reasons.

Well, that could've been the case if it weren't for the fact that everyone was too preoccupied with their duties to notice your message. The apparitions in this operation were significantly overwhelming, after all. Though you were supposed to simply wait, that wasn't an option. The student wouldn't be able to hold up for long. You quickly informed the support team's vice leader that you'll be momentarily leaving your station. Before they had a chance to raise any questions, you had already left.

You managed to reach the student unscathed. Upon closer inspection, it was clear that her condition was much worse than you had initially anticipated. She needed immediate medical treatment. You asked her if she was alright to try and prompt a response out of her, however, she remained unresponsive. With limited options, you carefully brought her arm over your shoulder. You whispered a quick a prayer that an apparition wouldn't get to you and you began walking her to a safer area.

It was only a few steps before the student suddenly grabbed your shoulder. You flinched in surprise, but when you noticed that the she was trembling, your expression softened in sympathy.

"What's wrong?"

"My––my friend," she choked out, a sob threatening to escape past her lips. She looked at you with an expression that held both despair and desperation. Voice on the brink of hysteria, she pleaded, "She's still in there! Please, you need to save her!"

"Don't worry, that's what we're here for. Do you have an idea where she could be?"

The girl frantically shook her head. "I-I don't know! Oh god, why did I leave her? If only we hadn't had that argument then––"

"It'll be alright, please don't panic. The offence team is very capable, you're in good hands," you reassured her. "Right now, we need to focus on getting out of here so we can tend to your injuries."

Many apparitions take advantage of an individual's mental vulnerability in order to possess them. Unlike a vengeful apparition, the process was much simpler and was easier to fight against. The more the girl panicked, the more susceptible she was to that fate. One of your utmost priorities was to calm her down. But, it was like your words of reassurance just bounced right off her. Continuous strings of murmurs flowed from her lips before she suddenly ripped herself from your hold and grabbed both of your shoulders.

"You're a member of the AEI, aren't you?! Why can't you go in there now?!"

Caught off guard, you stumbled back. Thankfully, you were somehow able to contain your composure.

"It's not my place to, please understand that. My involvement would likely make things worse. I'm confident that the offense team will be able to bring your friend to safety. For now, please worry more about yourself and come with me so we can go to a safer spot."

The student's expression contorted into one of disbelief. Shaking her head, she let go of you and took a step back as more murmurs seeped past her lips. Unable to string together what she was saying, red flags began to raise in your mind.

There's no time to waste. Even if you needed to be a little harsh, you had to get the student to leave the area. Coming here to her assistance was already a major risk on your end.

"No, no. This isn't right..."

The girl's eyes were wide, pupils dilated, face pale, and expression frozen in a state of despair. Having connected the pieces, you swallowed nervously. Your plan in preventing her from becoming a target for possession had failed. There was nothing you could do to stop the apparition from possessing her, and though it wasn't nearly as powerful as most, it certainly can cause trouble for someone like you who didn't have exorcist abilities.

You discretely tried to get into contact with someone from the defence team. You began typing the message behind your back while keeping a close eye on the girl. However, before you could finish, the student rushed up to you and grabbed you by the throat before violently slamming you to the ground with strength that clearly didn't belong to a regular human being.

Your mind spun in pain and your body throbbed at the impact of the concrete. Holding onto your consciousness for dear life, your hands shot up to the students arm and attempted to tear yourself out of her grip. She didn't budge. Her gaze was eerily pinned onto you, a blank look clouding her eyes. Any means of life that shone in her optics had been completely extinguished. She wasn't dead, but she was definitely not in control of her body.

From afar, frantic shouts that most likely came from your support echoed. The student's head slowly turned towards the direction of the sound. The gradual movement unnerved you.

Then, her grip on your throat tightened.

A choked gasp crawled its way out of your throat and your hand instinctively tightened around the student's arm. The minimal oxygen that was making its way into your body began to feel a lot more dense and you instantly knew what was going on. More apparitions had come and they were waiting for a chance to possess you.

A part of your conscience told you not to, but you had no choice but to get the student off of you by kicking her. Mentally apologising for hurting her, you mustered up the vestigial of strength you had and drove it into your foot. The student fell backwards and you immediately regained your breath and stood up.

You looked back and surveyed the area. From the looks of it, a substantial portion of the rescued students ended up being possessed. Students fearfully running away from their possessed classmates, support members frantically trying to calm them down while trying to not fall victim to the apparitions themselves, defence members having difficulties exorcising the apparitions whilst being sure to not harm the students; saying that the whole situation was a mess was an understatement. You flinched at the screams and tore your eyes away from the sight before you witnessed anything.

Not too long after, a white streak lacerated through the sky, cutting it open like a sharp knife followed by a deafening thunder that made the ground quiver underneath its presence. A familiar carime hue began tainting the sky. This time you were more so alarmed than amazed.

You directed your focus back to the student. The defence team was currently protecting the support team, the offence team was likely fending off the apparitions close to the school, and the special force members were probably hunting for the vengeful apparition.

That left you alone to fend for yourself. Great.

An unseen pressure encompassed your body. Your limbs grew heavy, your movements restricted, and your breathing became uneven. Your heart sunk. Were the apparitions targeting you now?

Then, a violent wave of wind crashed into you, knocking you off balance. You didn't even have the chance to fall onto the ground when the wind blew you back even further; it felt like someone had slammed an entire brick wall into you with an extremely powerful force. It sent you crashing into the school's window and slamming against the wall.

You could barely comprehend what had just happened. With how easily your body was thrown and how weak your limbs were from the agony, you felt like a worn out rag doll. When you fell onto the floor, you gasped in pain and heaved a barrage of coughs. Tears pricked your eyes, a feeble groan escaped your lips, and your body grimaced at the monster of a pain that was feasting on it.

You knew very well that glass shards were most likely pierced into your skin and that you most likely had sustained severe injuries, but you tried to not think about it. If you thought about it, the horror would only render you circumspect to take any action.

You couldn't just lie here, you needed to get up.

Using the wall as a means of support, you managed to muster up the energy to stand. Your arms barely worked properly so you leaned against the wall and used your leg to propel yourself up. Being mindful of the glass, you began trudging to who knows where. All that was on your mind––aside from the fact that your body was literally on life support––was that you needed to reach help as soon as possible before you passed out.

You entered a room in hopes for someone to be there. However, disappointment welcomed you when you were met with an empty gymnasium. At this point, your body had given up on you and you couldn't stop yourself from collapsing onto the floor. You could barely lift up a finger, much less stand back up.

The cold air in the room tore its way through through your uniform and gnawed away your warmth, the episodes of lightning and the howls from the wind from outside drowned out your ability to think straight; all you could do was helplessly remain on the floor.

Get up.

Get up.

Just get up!

A quiet yet frustrated cry escaped your lips. You kept telling yourself to push on if you wanted to live, you kept telling yourself to move your body even if it meant facing repercussions later on, you kept telling yourself to move your goddamn legs and get up.

But, you couldn't.

You've played the game. You knew Anomalous was a dangerous world, you knew that operations were going to be perilous, you knew that people had died on these missions, you knew that gruesome fates awaited for many.

But, you never let the fact sink in. The fact that your life was just as easily taken away as every forgotten dead npc.

You weren't the protagonist this time and you sure as hell weren't playing a video game. Any mild inconvenience that could be shaken off with a click of a mouse or a tap of a keyboard meant death for you. Any time the protagonist received a scratch, you'd receive a broken bone.

When you first woke up in this world, you watched this danger unfold with an excited smile. That stupid naive thinking that having prior knowledge of this world was going to somehow shield you from its dangers––you wanted to laugh at yourself. Before, you hardly accepted the fact that you had died and reincarnated. The life in Anomalous didn't feel real. Now? It felt more than real.

It was frustrating, it was so frustrating.

"Dying a second time, huh?" you mumbled bitterly.

With your consciousness slipping, eyelids growing heavy and the temptation to close them more prevalent as seconds elapsed, you were surprised you hadn't given up yet. Actually, your gaze fell onto your arm where your device was. Though the screen was shattered you were certain it still worked.

"If...I can just call..."

Your eyes widened when you received an incoming call. It was from Caleb.

"..."

How laughable, you couldn't even answer it. Your arms couldn't move. Was someone purposefully messing with you?

"...Are you okay?"

You initially thought the soft spoken voice was your mind playing tricks on you, but when you lifted your gaze up, you were caught by surprise at who was in front of you.

Concern reflecting upon pristine honey coloured eyes, tousled inky black hair tied into a short mid ponytail, and a casual attire that didn't remotely resemble the AEI's uniform; though you were on the brink of passing out, it didn't take long for you to recognise who the individual in front of you was.

The protagonist. The protagonist of this game was in front of you.

Instinctively, your body tried getting up. But, unfortunately for you, strength didn't magically return to you upon the protagonist's appearance. Heart racing, you weren't sure if the cause was out of excitement from finally meeting the protagonist or elation that your chances of survival had significantly gone up.

Guess I should stop feeling sorry for myself for the time being.

"Oh! Please be careful. You shouldn't strain yourself. Ah...uhm...I'll take you somewhere safer."

He seemed hesitant about touching you, probably because he was worried about making you uncomfortable.

"...Who are you?" Weird question to ask, but it'll look odd on your part if you didn't. "You...you don't seem to be a student or a member of the AEI..."

The male appeared a flustered at your words. "W-well, to tell you the truth, I...I'm not exactly sure how I ended up here..."

Well, you weren't surprised by his response.

The protagonist was someone who lived far away from the city that Anomalous took place in. The exact location was never mentioned. The only piece of information outlined was that he spent his life living as an ordinary citizen who spent most of his life alone. Friends? He didn't have any. Family? A complicated topic. Occupation? Never specified. The missing bits of information about the protagonist were easily accepted by the fanbase. After all, the main focus of the game was far from the origins of the protagonist.

One day, out of the blue, he discovered that he had a strange ability. That ability being teleportation. Having just discovered this power, his control over it was untamed and that led to him accidentally teleporting himself here at Erystin private school.

"That's... not very trustworthy," you said. "But, I have nothing to lose here."

An effusive smile graced his lips. "Okay, thank you for your cooperation. Uhm...is it alright if I...?"

"Help me up? Yes, please."

The male nodded and carefully lifted you up. You bit back a pained groan, but you weren't able to hide the wince on your face. He shot you an apologetic look and you mumbled a quiet 'it's alright'.

"So...did you exorcise the apparitions?" you asked.

"...Exorcise?" A thoughtful look settled on the male's soft features as he tilted his head. "Ah...I think I did?"

"Think?"

"Sorry, I'm not too familiar with my abilities... with any of this, actually. To be telling the truth, I'm––"

An explosive sound suddenly blasted from behind, causing both you and the protagonist to flinch in surprise. Your sights drifted over your shoulder. There was a familiar figure casually leaning against the edge of the huge hole he created in the wall. Talk about a dramatic entrance.

Putting up a peace sign, Caleb said, "Hey, miss support. How's it hanging?" The male approached you, his eyes glancing over to the protagonist. "Hm? Who's the new kid? You a student or something?"

"Well..." The protagonist trailed off.

"No explanation? Why, that's pretty suspicious, don't you think? Should I get rid of you?" He laughed and turned over to you. "You trust him?"

"Well, clearly he's the reason why I'm not getting intimate with the ground right now," you said.

"You have a point! Well, as much as I'd like to interrogate the guy, I'm pretty sure a gym infested with apparitions is not exactly the best environment to do so. Unless you're into the thrill. I don't judge."

The protagonist shot him a confused look. "Apparitions...? I don't see any. I mean, I was able to see the other ones."

Caleb raised an eyebrow and a hum of intrigue flowed past his lips. "Some apparitions can get real creative. They'll try to conceal their presence around people with exorcism abilities. For you to be fooled by that, I'm guessin' that you're an amateur––"

The male suddenly stopped talking and his eyes narrowed, a look of concentration reflecting in his green eyes and an uncharacteristically serious look on his face. You had an idea of the reason behind his sudden change in demeanour.

"Is the vengeful apparition coming?"

Caleb smiled at you. "Aren't you sharp. Hey, stranger. You're going to protect her, got it? Sacrifice an arm if you have to."

"He doesn't really mean that...probably," you whispered to the protagonist.

Caleb stretched his arms over his head and cracked his knuckles, an air of composure around him. With how his ability worked, fighting in a space like this placed him at a disadvantage. His ability relied on firepower. Think of it as a projectile; his main fighting style were extremely powerful blasts. In spaces such as a building, he needed to be far more cautious. Unlike before, he couldn't freely let his powers loose unless he wanted the whole building to collapse and crush you all.

"I feel a strange presence approaching," the protagonist mumbled. "How about you?"

You shook your head. "I don't have exorcism abilities."

"Oh, and by the way. If you try anything funny to her, get ready to face some serious consequences!" Caleb called out with a cheerful note attached to his tone. "I get away with a lot of things, so don't think I'm bluffing."

You sighed. "Don't mind him."

According to the plotline, the vengeful apparition would target the protagonist and attempt to possess him. The protagonist would successfully overpower it and weaken it in the process. Using the other apparitions as a distraction, the vengeful apparition would then successfully flee.

So, you should be safe. Right?

After a moment of silence, the air grew heavy and an ominous feeling wrapped around the gymnasium. Then, a chaotic storm of apparitions came crashing in. Caleb sent a powerful blast and swiftly eliminated the majority of them. However, a select few managed to slip past him.

The protagonist carefully settled you against a wall and dealt with the remaining ones, his abilities clumsy and amateurish. But, he got the job done. One of the apparitions dodged him and began heading straight towards you. Before you had any time to react, the protagonist disappeared and reappeared in front of you and exorcised the apparition just before it got to you.

Though you had already expected it, you were still left in awe at how well the protagonist executed that. His movements were clean and swift and every time he teleported there would be a pale flash of yellow that would slice the air. Though his exorcism abilities needed work, he had a natural control over his teleportation.

Caleb noticed the protagonist's teleportation and whistled out of intrigue. Every so often, the male would provide a few pointers to the protagonist on how to better handle his exorcism abilities. That brought back a nice sense of nostalgia to you, this stage in the game was the tutorial and Caleb was the character who helped the player grow comfortable with the controls.

You didn't deny that you felt helpless in your current state, but witnessing the protagonist in action by his own accord was both strange and fascinating to you. When the number of apparitions began to dwindle, the vengeful apparition made its appearance. Caleb took off his gloves and threw them to the ground.

"I'm going to be causing a storm, best if I didn't kill anyone alive in the process," he said. "I already taught you how to create a barrier, right? Protect miss support for me, won't you?"

You whispered a thanks to the protagonist when he rushed to your side. The male nodded and gave you a soft smile. Caleb then mercilessly dealt a powerful blow to the vengeful apparition, the pressure rushing from his ability was like an unforgiving tsunami crashing into you. Thankfully, you were protected. If it weren't for that, your body would've been sent flying.

You could tell that Caleb had to restrict the radius of his ability to minimise the damage to the building. That was what gave the window of opportunity for the vengeful apparition to charge through his power. However instead of heading towards the protagonist, it was heading for you.

Caleb immediately rushed over and stopped it from reaching any closer. An ear piercing shriek echoed throughout the gymnasium. You winced at the sound, but you couldn't help notice that the shriek resembled a little more to a pained cry. Like an uncontrollable current, more apparitions flooded the room after that.

"Hah...here I was hoping to dump all this work on the honor student," Caleb said. "Guess I can use this as an opportunity to show off."

Amongst all the apparitions, the vengeful one repeatedly targeted you. And each time all you could do was brace yourself and hope that one of the males save you in time.

"Miss support, did you piss it off or something? It seems real eager to possess you."

You would've responded if your thoughts weren't running a million miles per hour and the condition of your body was catching up to your ability to stay conscious. The vengeful apparition showed no intent on targeting the protagonist. At this rate, the fight would never be over since the protagonist won't have a chance to weaken it. As powerful as the two males were, the endless amount of apparitions under the vengeful apparition's control would eventually tire them out.

My presence is the only explanation for the plot derailing like this, but what can I do to fix it?

Why. Why would the vengeful apparition go for you? Was it because you were an easy target? That didn't make much sense. Your body was severely injured, the vengeful apparition wouldn't get anything out of it. In fact, it'll likely hinder it as it'll give a chance for Caleb to exorcise it.

You shut your eyes and dug through your memories in hopes of recalling any important aspects of information. Remembering information regarding the vengeful apparition on the top of your head proved difficult despite your well versed knowledge in the game. This was because it wasn't an significant presence in the game. After this, the vengeful apparition makes one final appearance and gets exorcised by the protagonist before anything about it was revealed.

"Miss support, don't die on me now!" Caleb called out. "That'll look real bad on my part."

Your eyes fluttered open and narrowed in concentration. A vague idea came to your head. It was a shot in the dark, but if your inference was correct, then you knew exactly what to do.

You remained silent for a moment. "Let it."

"You're going to need to elaborate if you want me to understand," Caleb said, looking over to you. "If you couldn't tell, I'm kind of occupied."

You took in a deep breath and looked at Caleb straight in the eyes.

"The next time it comes," you said. "Just let it possess me."





A/n: We finally meet our protagonist! First impressions? Was he what you expected? Also, what could the reader be thinking?

Feel free to point out any mistakes!

Hope you guys enjoyed the chapter! Have a good day/afternoon/night!