ONI Online is a MMORPG that has captivated millions with its immersive world and dynamic gameplay. Set in a sprawling, fantastical realm known as the Realm, players can create their own avatars and embark on epic raids/dungeons, engaging in various wars against other fellow players as well. Like all games, the feature of romancing NPC's also exists in this game, and many players used to abuse this, essentially creating their own harem.
Laila loved this feature, in particular.
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"What the hell just happened?", she murmured, her voice trembling slightly.
"One minute I was in my room, with my hand in the monitor...f-fuck, that was my new 144 Hertz monitor as well...gonna cost like $200...and what about-"
PLAYER!~
The robotic voice broke Laila's line of thought, and she squealed.
"Y-Yes?", she stared into the greenery in her peripheral vision.
"You have met the requirements for Transference."
"Requirements? Transference...?", Laila replied, astonished.
"What requirements? I just… punched my monitor."
"The requirements for Transference goes as follows,", the voice picked up an unusual energy in it's voice,
"One thousand hours in the game! Second, at-least participated in 80 wars and 100 Quests and Side Quests combined."
Laila nodded as she tilted her head upto the sky, gazing at the cotton shaped clouds breezing through the world. She closed her eyes, partially thinking it was all just a bad dream up to this point.
"And third, and the most important requirement...you needed a person to have a love interest in you."
Laila's eyes snapped open, her breath catching in her chest. A love interest? A crush?! Her heart skipped a beat as the words hung in the air. The very thought of someone, anyone, having feelings for her felt like something out of a movie.
"You mean someone in this world has a crush on me..?", she asked.
"NO!", the system yelled back, it's tone no longer energetic but rather mechanical.
"In the physical realm. You had a person that had a crush on you. A person in your physical realm must have developed feelings for you. It is this emotional tie that makes Transference possible. NOT a Guardian's love, but rather a romantic one at that, too."
Laila swallowed hard, her fingers clenching into fists at her sides, the grass tearing softly. The idea felt both impossible and terrifying. There was someone who liked her. The thought felt alien to her, as alien as being dragged into this realm in the first place.
Her mind flashed to the countless lonely nights spent in her dorm room, her fingers hovering over her phone, scrolling through social media profiles of perfect couples, wondering what it would be like to be part of something like that. But the thought of actually being desired, loved, felt so far out of reach.
"How am I supposed to... how can anyone...", Laila stammered, trying to form a coherent sentence. The confusion and frustration welled up inside her like a tidal wave. She had spent so long fighting to create a version of herself that was strong, admired, and confident, but it had all been in a digital space—not real.
And to top it all of, she was pretty much kidnapped into this world.
"FUCK YOU!!", Laila screamed, her voice cracking with rage.
"WHY'D YOU BRING ME HERE??! I JUST WANTED A BOYFRIEND! YOU'RE SAYING I COULD'VE GONE OUT AND FINALLY GOT ONE MYSELF! BUT NOW I'M STUCK HERE?!", the words tumbled out of her like a dam breaking, her breath ragged as she paced in frustration.
The voice went quiet, an eerie stillness hanging in the air. It almost felt like it was giving her the space she needed to lose herself in the moment, to let her anger burn out before it could even attempt to speak again. The only sound now was the rush of her heartbeat and the soft, almost mocking rustle of the grass beneath her feet.
"Exactly."