Chapter 2: Special Item Obtained!

Being a spectator to my own plight is certainly a new experience, and my anger at my forced powerlessness is still very much present, but I need to take this opportunity to understand my situation.

The Tears of Nephelai is a typical turn-based RPG game. If you were to put it next to any other games of its type, it wouldn't stand out all that much. The story follows a chosen Hero as he journeys to defeat the Demon King. The game had middling sales, it never developed into a series, and discussion on the game is centralized on a fairly small community. Even when it was translated into other languages in an attempt to expand its reach, there were discrepancies in the translation for each region, so the four different versions of the games have wildly different stories and tones.

Despite all that, The Tears of Nephelai is my favorite game of all time. It's the very first game I purchased with my own money, and being young, I thought the Hero on the cover was super cool.

To put a long story short, I've played this game in so many different ways, and so many different times, that I’ve memorized everything about it. I know more things about The Tears of Nephelai than I know things about myself.

And that's exactly why I need to observe the current situation. For all intents and purposes, I'm “Village Girl A”, some random girl that the Hero will talk to once and then never again. I've already mentally catalogued all the scenarios in which the Hero would accept a side quest, and none of them involved a black haired village girl and chickens. This means my one time to speak with the Hero is now, and I need to hope that the “player” controlling the Hero likes to read flavor text.

I'm going to assume that the world I see before me bends to the rules of the game, despite how natural everything seems. The Hero and his Party are the biggest pieces of evidence for that. The Tears of Nephelai only has 4-directional movement, and the entire game is viewed from a fixed angle. Even within the small space of my home, the Hero leads his three companions in a single file line, sticking to the rigid constraints of the primary four directions. I'm not sure if the Hero is even a conscious entity or not, but for my own sake, I'm classifying him as being controlled by the “player”, for now.

The more I watch him the angrier I get. He's blatantly smashing all of my pots, which are practically my only decorations. Each and every time I hear the noise of the pot shattering, I have to watch the Hero replay the same motions over and over again. He's cycling through his animations as he walks around and smashes things. Unless he's a role player, he's definitely under the will of the “player”.

If this was a modern RPG game, I would’ve been able to tell where in the game the Hero is right now, but unfortunately The Tears of Nephelai is quite archaic. Armor doesn’t change a party member’s appearance, there are random encounters on the overworld, and there are only specific save points at towns. That classic style gameplay has its charms, but right now, I have no visuals to determine what the situation is.

If only the Hero would-

Wait. Wait, hold on! Is the Hero grabbing my pendant?! That’s my one link to my past life! Hey, put that down! Why can he interact with something that isn’t supposed to be in the game in the first place?! I can excuse the smashing of pots, the stealing of clothes, and even the pilfering of my meager gold, but this doesn’t make sense!

Hey, please wait a moment, why is the “Special Item Obtained!” jingle playing? Listen here, game, that’s not supposed to be a collectible. What accursed edition of this game am I a part of, that I have to watch my life get stolen away from me? The Hero just casually put that into his pocket. I can’t even move my mouth to reprimand him.

I never knew being on the receiving end of an RPG Hero’s nonsense could be so aggravating. I have to wonder if experiencing it firsthand is my punishment for something heinous I unknowingly did in my previous life. I feel as if the god of RPG games is mocking me for spending so much time playing these games. Shouldn’t I be getting rewarded instead?

And then, this guy has the gall to walk up to me after he’s completely ransacked my home and try to start a conversation. Dear Hero, I’m about to hurl every insult imaginable your way. As soon as you initiate dialogue, you’re going to face all of my anger!

The Hero of the Lost Lands walks right in front of me, in a position that’s a little bit too close, and stares at me with his trademark blank expression. Those unfeeling blue eyes pierce my very soul as his golden hair blinds me. I hear the dialogue jingle play. I open my mouth to speak. I’ve already prepared what I want to say in my head.

“Listen here, so-called Hero! Who do you think you are, destroying my house like that?! Give me back my pendant! That’s important to me!”

Except… that’s not what I say at all. All the Hero hears is a chipper voice exit my mouth, from a girl ignorant of all that just happened.

“Oh, hello! We’ve been getting so many colorful visitors in Dadirdtoun lately. It must be because of the upcoming Frying Festival! My poor chickens have been a little restless lately because of it… But regardless, I hope you can enjoy yourselves!”

What nonsense was that?! How annoying, I can’t even control my own words.

The Hero stares back at me with no response. And then I hear the dialogue jingle again.

“Oh, hello! We’ve been getting so many colorful visitors in Dadirdtoun lately. It must be because of the upcoming Frying Festival! My poor chickens have been a little restless lately because of it… But regardless, I hope you can enjoy yourselves!”

Oi! Ignore the fact that talking to NPCs multiple times is proper RPG etiquette, don’t make me repeat the same generic lines again! The way my mouth moves without my input as I stand perfectly still, energetically spouting nonsense to a Hero that’s a little too close… It makes my skin crawl.

The Hero abruptly rotates 90 degrees, and he quickly exits the house, his party matching his movements. A few seconds later, that terrible sense of dread dissipates, and I feel myself catch my breath and collapse. It takes me a few minutes to reorient myself. That was perhaps one of the worst things I have ever experienced, right after the passing of my parents in my first life, and the loss of my 300% save file in The Tears of Nephelai.

Who knew the mere presence of the Hero could do so much? All of my actions were predetermined and constricted, and I was merely a function on his journey to defeat the Demon King. And worst of all, he stole my pendant! That has my very legacy locked inside it. My honorable parents who raised me, this RPG-obsessed disgrace, don’t deserve to be taken by an unfeeling husk like you!

If the Hero had done everything but take that item, I eventually could have excused it, but now I have a grudge. Even in my bewilderment, I was able to hear myself speak. I’m apparently a resident of Dadirdtoun, the third primary location of the game. I’m very familiar with the story events that happen here. During the Frying Festival, people start to go missing, and the Hero finds a dungeon underneath the town and solves the problem, slaying the monster who orchestrated the conflict.

The Tears of Nephelai tends to follow a “monster of the week” structure. The Hero visits a town, explores it, something bad happens, he defeats a boss, then it happens all over again. It’s very much a tried and true formula, especially for RPGs such as this, but I always thought it made things easier to understand. You could sit down and enjoy a single session by just completing one of these small and self-contained story arcs, at least before the story got more serious later on in the game.

Even in the early game, Dadirdtoun is known for its abundant food economy, and for many players it is a standout location in the game. That means the Hero is likely to still be around town. I’m not letting him leave with my things. I’ll force through the constrictions of an NPC if I have to, even if there are consequences.

I’m getting my pendant back… as soon as I can stand. My legs still feel weak.