The next day, I arrived at school as usual. Few people seemed to recognize me. After all, WordCasting wasn't very popular among younger students—it was far too complicated.
When I entered the classroom, I noticed my two friends sitting next to each other, talking. Half of what they said were teases, the other half, flirting.
I walked up to them and said: "Jeez, if you're gonna act like this first thing in the morning, you might as well just start dating."
They gave me a strange look—like they were staring at a stranger who had randomly barged into their conversation.
"What's with the faces, guys?"
Kaiser: "Nothing, Jhon… just that after yesterday, we didn't expect you to have the guts to talk to us again."
"What? What did I do to you? And about the duel?" I replied, stunned.
Marie: "Yeah, Jhon. The duel. It confirmed what you really are: a filthy cheater who gets a kick out of cheating and being racist. Kaiser and I suspected you were hiding something ever since the class selection after the tutorial, but we never imagined it was this kind of thing," she said, not even looking me in the eye.
"I'm not either of those things. It wasn't my fault—I swear! It's this skill I got during the tutorial—it acted completely on its own, really! You're right, I was hiding something from you, but it was just the existence of that skill. That's all. I'm not a cheater," I tried to convince them of my innocence, even though I could barely convince myself. The facts were against me.
Marie: "Oh right, a mysterious skill only you have that lets you one-shot players dozens of levels above you—and it does it by yelling racial slurs? Do you think we're idiots? And even if it were true, why didn't you tell us? Didn't you trust us? Did you want to show off by revealing it like that?" she said, her expression almost hurt—like she felt betrayed.
Kaiser nodded in agreement with her.
I wanted to convince them—drag them into the game world and show them my skill menu, exactly like I did with the Game Master. But I couldn't. I was stuck in Green Hell, and who knew for how long.
I gave up. There was no way to prove my innocence. I went to my seat and sat through the lessons until lunchtime.
At lunch, while I was eating, a girl with long straight silver hair and blue eyes sat down beside me. She was beautiful—and somehow, I felt like I had seen her before.
She leaned in.
I shot her a suspicious look.
She said, "What? Don't recognize me?"
I was about to say no when suddenly, I realized.
"Sophie?! What are you doing here?"
Sophie smiled.
Sophie: "Turns out we go to the same school—crazy, right? Though what's even crazier is that the game doesn't let you customize your character's appearance at all. Not sure how safe that is. Anyway, outside the game, call me Elizabeth. That's my real name."
'So Marie and Kaiser really were the only idiots who used their real names in-game,' I thought.
"Oh, sure—Elizabeth. You can call me Jhon. So? Are you here to accuse me too? After all, I did crush your party leader's already fragile self-esteem."
Elizabeth: "Don't worry about Zack. He didn't take it badly. In fact, he's going around the low-level zones bragging that only a cheater could beat him. And anyway, I know what happened yesterday wasn't your fault."
"What makes you say that?!" I blushed for a moment.
Elizabeth: "While everyone was focused on that massive beam of light coming out of your sword—and on the word you screamed—I was focused on you. Your expression. You were shocked. I also saw a system window pop up right in front of you out of nowhere. You didn't want any of that to happen, did you? You didn't even expect it. Right?"
"Yes, it's true. But it doesn't matter anymore. My friends think I'm scum, and my dreams of becoming a pro player went up in flames yesterday."
There were a few seconds of silence between us. Then I spoke again.
"Hey, could you help me with something?"
Elizabeth: "As long as it's nothing too crazy—sure!"
"Could you talk to my friends? Tell them what you saw? Please?"
Elizabeth: "Sure. Can't hurt to try, right?"
"Exactly."
Lunch break was ending. I rushed back to my class. Marie and Kaiser were there, goofing off as usual.
"Hey guys, we need to talk," I said.
This time, their expressions were beyond annoyed.
Marie: "What do you want now?" she asked, rolling her eyes.
"I brought someone who can prove my innocence."
Elizabeth walked into the room.