The longer I stayed awake, the more I began to remember about the person that I was before. If my memories are right then I must have been an ordinary person. Just living out my everyday life with my family and a few close friends, although I can't remember their names off the top of my head. I wasn't in school, and I didn't have a normal job, but I wasn't homeless or bumming off my family. I was a writer and I played video games to help myself learn more about storytelling. 

Ah, that's right.

I wanted to tell a story that people would love and would be inspired by. What a lofty dream. But it was mine. Or at least the person that I was before. What was the last thing I did anyway? I tried to remember through the hazy fog, the freefall in that endless void, the woman's voice. I searched through my memories and tried to grasp it and felt nothing but warmth. 

There was laughter and smiles. People that looked familiar to me but we didn't all look alike. They were human though. So, that meant I was human before. We were all sitting together, talking, and I started to feel sleepy. I remember closing my eyes and then —

"Air! Are you listening?"

I opened my eyes and yawned loudly, my jaw cracking and I rubbed it carefully. Water dripped from my chin and I glanced down. Why was I sitting in a river? And that warmth I felt, where was it coming from?

I glanced up and a pair of narrowed eyes met my own. 

"Oh, Nubi."

"You weren't listening at all, were you, Air?" 

To be fair, I wasn't. And I couldn't bring myself to lie to them while they were literally centimeters away from my face. Though they were so small that I almost went cross-eyed trying to keep my eyes on them. I sheepishly smiled and they sighed, floating backward so that my eyes could refocus, and placing their tiny hands on their...

Come to think of it. What was Nubi anyway?

They weren't quite a fairy or at least no fairy that I'd ever seen before. 

"Air, pay attention," Nubi snapped, their soft and airy voice pitching.

I sat up and the water shifted around me. My clothes stuck to my skin and water dripped down my neck but it was otherwise manageable. I at least didn't feel as sleepy anymore. When my eyes began to wander, Nubi floated in front of me.

"You are the Hero of Air, you can't quit. What is the matter with you, Air? Don't you know how important you are to the world?"

No. I didn't. In the world that I came from, believing that you were the only important person in the world or the most important out of a small group was narcissistic. It was also frowned upon by everyone else who thought they were important too. And for that matter, every anime and manga I read with these tropes always had the main character deny their "destiny" but end up accepting it later on. I huffed through my nose and looked away. 

It was at least worth a shot but I couldn't gripe on this any more than I already had. Especially if I could die here or pass out from exhaustion. It was at that moment that I decided it'd be better to just play the role of the idiot, eager but thoughtful. Yet, I couldn't help the stab of annoyance as Nubi glared me down. How was I supposed to know how important I was to the world if I didn't even know what this world was or who I was? 

I grumbled, "How do you even know that I'm the Hero of Air? Anyone can respond to a name or a title."

"I—" Nubi faltered and I almost felt bad for the lost expression on their face and the way they picked at their hands(?). "I just know, that's all."

A part of me thought the answer lame but the other decided that it wasn't Nubi who deserved my anger or my sarcasm. It wasn't as if they were the reason I was here although I couldn't be too sure of that either. Come to think of it, how did I even know that I was stuck here?

If this was a game, then there had to be a log out button. Unless there was the chance that the log out function was disabled by the game moderators. I sighed and pulled myself out of the water, stepping onto the grass and tugging my shirt over my head to wring the water out.

「 WORN SHIRT 」HAS BEEN UNEQUIPPED.

I held my shirt out in front of me. It was a dull shade of beige, tattered and torn at the hems and the sleeves were two different lengths because one had been ripped. Running my fingers over the hem and the torso, it was practically threadbare and I could bet that the durability wasn't very high. Sighing through my nose, I slipped it on.

「 WORN SHIRT 」HAS BEEN EQUIPPED.

That window gave me an idea. If this was a video game, then likely chances there would be other windows for my inventory and character information. While I didn't have much interest in what my stats were like right now, I would have liked to get to the bottom of this 'Hero of Air' business. Now, how was I supposed to open up menus?  

Out the corner of my eye, I could see Nubi sulking and floating with their arms tucked close to their chest. I swallowed down my guilt and folded my arms. 

"Hey Nubi," I said. "How do I open up my character information and inventory?"

Nubi glanced up at me then looked away. Oh man, were they upset? I didn't mean to upset them. Although I did mean every word I said. Basing something off of what you believe isn't the best way to go about things. Especially when you aren't sure where your beliefs or your information came from. Even then, Nubi was all that I had and they came to me after I'd asked for help. That was something I couldn't overlook no matter how unsure or scared I was.

No matter how you put it, turns out that I'm being an ass.  

There's no hope. I might as well try to go off the knowledge I have and see if there's anything that sticks. Whether this is a game or a world with RPG elements, there are bound to be similarities.

And at least I was in the middle of nowhere so if I did something embarrassing, no one would call me out on it. Aside from Nubi. Though they seemed too upset to even look at me right now.

I'm gonna have to apologize, aren't I?

I sighed and lifted my hand, swiping down in mid-air and...

Nothing happened.

I tried tapping the air and..

Nothing happened.

There was no keyboard, and if the text box I saw before was any indication, I did have a user interface that moved with my line of sight. If there were no text or motion commands, maybe voice command would work. 

"Inventory," I said and held my breath as a window appeared in front of my eyes. 

I reached out to it but my fingers passed through it as if it wasn't even there. On the right were several slots, with a quick count, there were at least forty two. On the left were multiple slots depicting my hands, head, torso, legs, and other accessories. Only three of the slots were filled with miniature versions of my equipment. In the center was a person wearing those clothes and at a glance, I wondered if they were me. I looked down at my clothes and compared them to the ones in the equipment slots. They matched up perfectly.

And this person was... Somehow, this felt a little invasive.

"Inventory."

The window disappeared and I sighed. Well, that proved one of my theories right. Voice commands worked which made a lot of sense. If there were other players and everything operated off touch command, it'd be easy to rob someone of their belongings by forcing them into opening their inventories. It'd also be rather easy to force trades and not quite user-friendly. I wonder if Nubi could see my inventory either but by the way they were blinking at me as if I had a second head, I'd say no.

Alright, next experiment.

"Character Info."

A window appeared in front of me with three colorful bars in the middle left box, each one labeled with a separate marker. 

A blue bar with the word 「 HP 」.

A violet bar with the word 「 AP 」.

A golden bar with the word 「 STAMINA 」.

 There were bars listing Experience, my Stats, Damage output, Defense, Status Effects, and even how old I was.

"How is this even possible," I mumbled.

「 CHARACTER INFORMATION 」

「NAME 」 Air 

「AGE 」???

「RACE 」???

「TITLE 」Hero of Air

「ACTIVE CLASS 」Hero

I read the information over once and then twice then a third time after rubbing my eyes furiously and blinking like a madman. It didn't change. No matter what I did. Turn towards the sunlight and let the sunrays beam through the translucent window, close my eyes and turn around a few times then look, even rub my eyes until they stung. It didn't change.

"Nubi, I'm sorry."

If this was reality, if this was my reality. I had to start by making amends with someone that I hurt even if it wasn't my intention. I looked over my shoulder at Nubi, and they slowly lifted their head to meet my gaze. I felt a stab of guilt and cleared my throat.

"Character Info."

The window closed and I turned around, taking a deep breath then exhaling through my nose.

"I get it now," I said demurely, bowing my head. "Why you kept calling me the Hero of Air."

There was no way that I could quit. Absolutely no way that I could get out of this but I had to make sure. Absolutely sure.

"Before I accept it, or this, for whatever it may be — there's one thing I want to try. Please don't think badly of me."

Nubi tilted their head and I felt guilty for this. They held so much trust and faith in me, it seemed wrong to betray it or to want to leave it but there was much at stake. My sense of reality for one.

"Log out!"

I waited for anything. To be sucked into an endless void, a disembodied voice to laugh at my folly, even for the ground to cave beneath my feet or the sky to collapse on my head. But nothing happened. The forest remained quiet and peaceful, Nubi staring at me confusedly, and I felt —

Relieved.

In a strangely morbid way.

How would I even explain this if I were to get out of this place?

Hey, I got transported to a game world and almost died fighting a prickleboar. How was your weekend?

People would think that I was crazy. Or stayed up playing some video game and lost track of time and myself. My shoulders slumped and I sighed, a smile tugging at my lips.

"Oh well, if this was a game then it would be one of the lamest introductions yet," I muttered, lifting my head with a half-hearted shrug. "Most people like to see the hero kick and scream but I think that I'm realistic enough. After all, everyone says they wish life was a game."

"Air?"

My smile faltered. This was my life. My life had literally turned into a game and I was living inside of it. All of this was real. If I made the wrong move, took the wrong step, I might end up dead for real. The thought was scary but somehow it was also comforting. Even in the real world, I was aware that I was going to die at some point.

"Might as well have fun while I can, and save the world if it comes to that," I said, walking past Nubi and plopping down by the river, wiggling my feet out of my boots. "Hey Nubi, tell me more about this world."

Nubi floated beside me and stared at me closely. It must have seemed weird to her. I was so against this in the beginning but now I was just going along with it. I sighed and dumped the water in my shoes onto the grass, nestling my feet into the soil and wiggling them once or twice. The dirt brushing against my toes and I felt alive. Warm, and with a quick glance towards Nubi and their innocent face.

I knew I was among friends. Or at least an ally that wouldn't betray me as far as I knew.

"What're you looking so surprised for?" I asked, poking the tip of their nose. "How am I supposed to save this world if I know nothing about it?"

Nubi tumbled backward from my poke and pouted, fluttering around my shoulders before stopping in front of my face. 

"I thought you didn't want anything to do with saving this world," they bitterly recounted, arms crossed and lips pinched together.

I rolled my eyes and lifted my hand then thought against it and extended my index finger, lightly tapping them on the head.

"Wrong, I said that I wanted to know why you thought I was the Hero of Air or a hero at all, now that I know I want to know about this world. So, are you gonna help me?"

It never occurred to me that Nubi might have said no. If they were an AI then they were one of the most expressive AIs I'd ever seen. They moved of their own accord, stayed within my line of sight or near me, and spoke without repeating the same lines over and over. It was refreshing in the sense that I wouldn't have to gripe with hearing the same dialogue but it was also unsettling. If Nubi was bound to me, then if I would have left this place, what would have happened to them?

"I'll help."

"Really?"

"If I don't help you then you'll never be up to snuff as a hero, and the other heroes will make fun of you, and I can't have that." 

So they were doing this for their own benefit. Definitely, unlike any other AI I'd ever seen before. Though I couldn't help but laugh.

"Alright, alright, tell me everything. But we should get out of here. If there're any more monsters like that one, I really don't feel like becoming their lunch."

And then a thought occurred to me.

"Speaking of food, what was that you put in my mouth earlier?"

Nubi tilted their head to one side as if thinking then gasped. "Oh, you mean the slime," they said.

I began to turn green in the face and felt my stomach roil. 

"S-Slime?"

I tried to remember that they were only trying to help. All they wanted was to make sure that I was well. It was for survival. And yet my stomach disagreed wholeheartedly.

Nubi nodded. "Slime is very healthy and nutritious especially with all of the vitamins and minerals in it. Perfect for someone who needs a pick-me-up."

My eye twitched and I nodded slowly.

"I see, is that so?"

Nubi smiled sweetly. "Nope, I just wanted to get back at you for saying you'd quit."

With that, they flew over my head and I stared shell-shocked.

"Come on! This way! We have a long way to go to the nearest village, and you've got a lot to learn!"

I take back everything I said before. I don't feel guilty at all!