Libitina sat on the damp grass in shock. The cold night breeze caressed her skimpy figure and she shivered. Holding her head numbly, she tried to recall what had happened before she blacked out.
She was sure she had been laying on her bed and looking at her phone in the darkness.
Although her mother had told her that doing so was extremely bad for her eyes, and she had her worsening eyesight to prove that claim right, there was something so relaxing and sleep-inducing to look at the phone before sleep. It was a nice end to a day of work.
There was not just any simple information or news on her phone, either. She had been playing the well-known otome game, or story-based dating game. It was called the Moon Princess III. Being a Saga, it actually had two predecessors, but she was impatient and wanted to play the newest version.
In the otome game, she played the main character, Moon Saint Marianne Yvonne Blanche. Not only was she beautiful and cool with a bob haircut, the name was really cool too! Marianne was itself a holy-sounding name, while Yvonne means both 'Gift of God' and archery, which was the combat style Marianne specialised in. Lastly, Blanche meant white, signifying the purity of the saint! Libitina felt so wonderful just playing the character.
The game was set in the world of Morobeau, and was dominated by three kingdoms: Auglarus, which favoured might and war, Clomodor, which boasted of its technology and creations, and Bylonia, ruled by the gentry of pristine nature and wilderness.
The escape of a maleficent spirit signaled the start of the gameplay as Marianne and her three capture targets travelled to find and seal the spirit.
Alistair, the Crown Prince of Auglarus: a soldier-samurai as he slices through villains with his katana while his long black hair flutters in the wind, backed against a crescent moon in the dark night sky!
Sylvester, the abandoned third prince of Clomodor: genius but misunderstood, his deep love hidden behind his spectacles like an educated bishonen, he holds enough sass to satirise the world but shows only his innocent side to the heroine!
Yurian, the bright sunshine of the Omkaran house in Bylonia: shy, pure and cute, beneath his outwardly adorable appearance lies a cunning mind, the gap moe is enough to kill!
Ahhhhhhhh~~
Libitina had rolled a few times in her bed as she tried to overcome her fanatic love for the game when she finally hit her head against the edge of her table and blacked out.
And when she awoke, she was not on her bed but on some wet grass. She could feel the mud sticking to her skin. The discomfort was further compounded by the sense of crisis when she realised she had no clue where she was.
Was I kidnapped?
She shook her head. Who would need her? It was not as if her existence was important enough to kidnap, and if she was, they would have tied her up. Or they were just very bad kidnappers who also lacked rope. But there was not a soul where her eyes could see.
She shivered. The moon was her only light source in the eerie darkness. Perhaps if she failed to find some shelter, she would be dead in a few days.
Libitina started to walk hesitantly. If she knew where she was, perhaps she would have stayed put and light a SOS fire. But the uncertainty of the situation and that she might attract unwelcome attention forced her to move.
In addition, she seemed to be walking on a path. The plants were crushed around the path she walked, signifying that it was used often enough for the soil to be beaten down into a road. It might lead her somewhere.
Finally, after walking warily with her hands outstretched for some time, she reached the edge of a proper brick road.
'Civilisation!', she thought happily. In troubled times, we should enjoy the little joys.
But her brain froze when she saw the signboard by the brick road.
'Enzak, 200m away,' the signboard proclaimed. 'The most advanced city in the continent!'