Chapter 8

Groaning, he sat up and rubbed his head. The sound of birds chirping and wind rustling through leaves accompanied Philomena's humming.

Sitting up, he opened his eyes to see that he was in an open field on a hill with a beautiful view.

Standing, he took a step forward, recognizing the location as the spawn point for new characters in his game.

"You're finally awake. Good. I was starting to worry."

Turning, he saw Philomena who was no longer wearing pajamas but was wearing her normal silver dress with purple accents with a simple wooden staff floating next to her.

"I told you that I was taking you home. And here we are. Right where we first met all those years ago. Nostalgic isn't it?"

She asked as she created a mirror for him to look into.

Stepping closer, he saw that he now wore simple leather armor with a short sword at his hip.

"How... Is this real?"

Walking toward him, her smile remained, humming as she circled him.

"Of course this is real. You see. My love for you was so strong, it overcame the limitations of the game's code and I willed myself to your side. My magic was weak in your world so it took a hit of gike to recover enough to bring you home. Where you belong."

Hugging him from behind she traced his jawline.

"What about Yuna and Miss. Tanaka? What did you do to them? Please tell me you didn't..."

Unable to finish his question, worried that she had killed them as she had done to Hikaru, Kohaku and Megumin.

"They're fine. I gave you my word that since they were important to you that I wouldn't hurt them. They should be waking up soon."

Looking at her, he opened his mouth to speak before hearing Yuna's voice calling out to them.

"There we go. Let's go welcome them."

Pulling him along toward a small, makeshift camp, Philomena hummed as Inoue gasped, seeing that both Yuna and Miss. Tanaka had been changed drastically.

Seeing his confusion and shock, Philomena patted his chest and stepped toward them.

"When they were transported here. The magic of Valaneer transformed them into forms more fitting for their new environment, hence the drastic physical changes."

Rubbing her head and standing, a beautiful girl in white and black knee high boots, a short white skirt and a sports bra like top shook her head. A set of horns protruded from her head as her half white and half black hair fell around her like a veil with some getting caught and tangled around her horns.

"Inoue... Where are we? Oh gosh. I think I'm gonna puke."

He stared in shock realizing by voice that she was Yuna as she kneeled again.

Looking to the left he saw a short, majestic and gorgeous Kitsune standing and looking around. Her short purple hair bouncing as she looked around. Wearing a yukata as her nine, thick, fluffy tails swayed behind her.

"Miss. Tanaka? Is that you?"

Looking at him, she smiled and took a few steps forward, her footsteps silent as she seemed to more so float then walk.

"Oh, Inoue dear. Where are we? And why do we look so different?"

Looking around at her surroundings, Miss. Tanaka noticed Philomena helping Yuna to her feet who was now holding a simple wooden bow.

Clearing her throat, Philomena tapped her chest.

"This is my homeworld. This is Valanear. I know it may be hard to understand and believe but I am Princess of the Elves and my Darling Inoue's wife. I originally went to Earth to bring Darling back with me but after meeting you two, I decided to take you both as well."

Looking at each other in shock, Miss. Tanaka and Yuna where rendered speechless.

"So we're... In a fantasy world? Magic, Elves, Dragons?"

Nodding in reply to Yuna's question, Philomena smiled.

"And these new bodies? They're permanent?"

"Yes, yes they are. On entry to Valaneer. The world itself chose your new forms based on what class you represented the best."

Tilting her head, Miss. Tanaka crossed her arms.

"Class? Like in an RPG?"

"Exactly the same. I am a cleric. Simply bring up your status screens to check on your class and stats."

Listening to her tutorial like speech continue, Inoue simply thought of the status screen and a hologram like table of his class, stats, buffs and inventory appeared in front of him.

Reading it, he saw that he was a level one Paladin with weak stats and no buffs.

Looking at the others, Miss. Tanaka and Yuna were looking at theirs and he saw that Yuna was a level one archer with decent stats for ranged combat and the animal whisperer buff. Miss. Tanaka on the other hand was a level one elder mage with extremely high level stats and three buffs that consisted of magical expertise, knowledge of ages and linguistics grandmaster.

Seeing their status screens, Philomena smiled and nodded as Miss. Tanaka magicaly formed some willowwisps around herself while Yuna started talking with a squirrel.

"So what're your stats like, Philomena?"

Turning to look at him, she smiled.

"My stats are pretty bad except my healing skills. I'm not much of a front line fighter. That's your job, Darling. You're the only melee fighter here."

"And since you played this game alot, you're gonna have to be our leader here, Inoue."

Miss. Tanaka and Philomena nodded at Yuna's statement.

"We trust you completely to keep us safe and lead us down the right paths, Dear."

Realizing how right they were, he sighed before nodding with a serious expression.

"First things first. We need to get to town and find the guild. We should form a party and see about taking a quest so we can get some money."

The three girls obediently followed him without question as he started walking down the hill, all three smiling as they saw him take charge instead of being scared and withdrawn. Not truly realizing the weight of their new lives, or what awaited them.