"You may now kiss the bride."
But no kiss came. The warmth of her hand suddenly vanishes; the feeling of standing on the stable ground switches to the stomach-churning pain of free-falling, and then my consciousness is severed.
--
"Lily..." I murmur.
My back hurts, my whole body feels like stone, nausea prevents me from trying to get up, and my nose is filled with the musky smell of nature. I finally realize I'm laying down with my eyes closed and my belly up.
Once the nausea subsides, I decide to open my eyes, and I see huge trees that almost cover the entire sky. Like cracks on a wall, the crown shyness of the canopies let only small streaks of light pass through.
After regaining control of my body, I manage to sit and look at my surroundings. This is a forest with trees bigger and thicker than anything I have ever seen before, but bushes prevent me from seeing too far. The air is damp and slightly hot, reminding me of the subtropical climate I was born in.
I get up and notice my body feels weird, then I look down and see I'm not wearing my tuxedo, but instead, I have a leather jacket lightly padded with a gambeson, a woolen white shirt, woolen black pants, and some rather uncomfortable leather shoes. On my waist, there's a belt where a sword and scabbard are hanging.
I draw the sword and notice that it's rather light. Oddly, I don't find it difficult to handle, and it's almost as my arm moves on its own as I swing it. Its blade is straight and double-edged, about 90cm in length. There's space for only one hand on the hilt, which has a cross-shaped guard. The edge is sharp and can easily cut the bushes I swing at. This is not a prop.
"Am I in a renaissance fair?" I ask the air, astonished.
<i>I don't remember how I got here. Did I hit my head? The last thing I remember is being at my wedding ceremony.</i>
Then a small amount of panic enters my heart.
"Lily...!? LILY, WHERE ARE YOU!?" I scream in panic, but no response comes, I'm completely alone. After a few moments, I calm down and continue taking in my situation.
My body still feels weird, and I don't know why. At least I'm not nauseous anymore, but now I'm starting to feel scared.
I don't know where to go because there are only trees as far as the eye can see. I also don't remember how I got here and in which direction I can go to find someone. I'm truly lost in the woods with no idea of what to do.
Besides, I've never seen a forest like this. I'm a Canadian living in the cold north where it should be winter and the trees are much smaller. Did I travel to a faraway place to the south, or is it summer and I simply forgot the passage of time?
Time passes while I think about what to do, and I start to feel an itch slowly growing inside my head. It's not on the outside, on my hair, but actually <i>inside</i>. Like when water gets on your ear and it gets uncomfortable. It feels like I can almost "touch" it, but it's barely out of reach.
I keep trying to "scratch it" while shaking my head, and little by little, it feels like I'm getting closer. Then, suddenly, I somehow "scratch it," and a menu opens.
Like a light projection in front of me, I see various columns of black squares with white letters on them, similar to a touchscreen on a phone.
Now I feel like I'm going insane. There's no source of light or medium where the light hits to explain this as a mere projection. It's a floating object that passes through the bushes near me as if it's non-corporeal, and as I move around I notice that It follows my torso but not my head.
Curious and scared, I use my finger to touch the square that says "Status".
A new black square opens with a lot of information written on it.
--
<i><b>['Info']</b></i>
<i>[Name: PRESS HERE TO CHOOSE | Age: 18 | Race: Human]</i>
<i>[HP: 100 | MP: 100 | Magic Power: 175]</i>
<i>[Level: 0 | Experience: 0/100]</i>
<i><b>['Stats']</b></i>
<i>[Strength: 7 | Endurance: 8 | Dexterity: 9]</i>
<i>[Speed: 10 | Intelligence: 20 | Wisdom: 15]</i>
<i>[Willpower: 11 | Charisma: 10 | Piety: 0]</i>
<i>[Perception: 15 | Sanity: 9]</i>
<i><b>['Other']</b></i>
<i>[.Status Effects: 'NONE'.]</i>
<i>[.Titles: 'NONE'.]</i>
<i>[.Affiliations: 'NONE'.]</i>
<i>[.Companions: 'NONE'.]</i>
<i>[.Crimes: 'NONE'.]</i>
--
<i>I can't believe this. Mom told me this would happen but I didn't listen. I have now officially gone insane, I'm seeing a video game "status" in real life.</i>
I start panicking a little. This situation isn't funny. Compounding on my loss of memory and waking up in an unknown place, now I'm seeing something impossible to explain: a ridiculous looking menu that makes me believe I'm into some ultra-realistic virtual reality game.
I can feel the pain in my body; I can breathe in the smells of the forest; I can perfectly see a level of detail only a real eye can; I can feel a slight hunger in my stomach; I can feel how uncomfortable these ridiculous clothes are; and I can taste my saliva inside my mouth. Just to make sure, I lick my hand and taste the salt of my cold sweat. All of my senses tell me that this is <i>real</i>.
Is this the future where I purposely erased part of my memory and entered this virtual reality just to feel like I've been transported to another world? This is the only logical explanation that does not involve a supernatural event. But if this has really happened, then there's a huge problem: I see no "Quit" or "Logout" button.
My heart beats like crazy, my vision loses focus, and I start to gasp for air because I feel like I can't breathe. My mind is slowly filled with fear, then my vision darkens, and my knees start to buckle. I'm having a panic attack.
--
I blink, and suddenly I regain my awareness. It seems like the worst has passed.
Apparently, I had laid down at one point, and at least I didn't collapse and hit my head against the ground.
I sit up and look around, still a bit dizzy, but dismay hits me as I notice that I'm still in the same stupid forest as before.
<i>Fuck!</i>
I need to focus on my only ally here: logic. Logic is my friend, logic is my ally, and logic will help me get through the insanity and ridiculousness of my situation so that I can make a proper decision and that won't get me killed in this horrible world.
First things first, I have to explore my options. There are more buttons to press on this menu, so let's just pull off the brakes on my skepticism of this fantasy.
On the left of the menu, there are buttons on a column, they are: "Status", "Items", "Skills", "Magic", "Notes" and "Messages".
"Messages" has an exclamation point near it, and I assume it signifies that there's an unread message. I open it, and it shows me the only unread message.
--
<i>Sender: God.</i>
<i>"I'm sorry about this, but there's no way for you to go back."</i>
--
Logic doesn't help when God fucks you over. My vision is darkening again, I'm having another breakdown.
Then I see my "Sanity" in my "Stats" window going down a point.
--
This time, I forcefully bring myself back from the stupefied state I was in.