Dianna was confused. "That I should run away from Ian?! Why should I run away from Ian?!" Then, she thought of Emily. "Do I have to befriend her? Wait a minute! This is the first time that I don't feel grossed out by saying her name. What the hell?"
Gradually, she saw something more than the immense darkness again. She floated accompanied by thousands of very small lights coming from below upwards. That made her feel a tremendous vertigo. As if falling into an abyss. A luminescent progression bar appeared floating. Accompanying it, a voice echoed from all sides. "Initializing protocol. Initiating scan and parameter reset. Please, stand by!"
As the progression bar started, it automatically aborted. "There is a serious problem. Automatic protocol canceled. Initializing manual protocol. Stats reset will be performed in hidden mode." Dianna listened to that stunned. "Stats? What is this, a video game?"
Immediately afterwards, and as if she had been sedated before an operation, she fell asleep. She became completely numb. She felt she was being carried, but thought it was a dream. So she thought of Ian again. She dreamed that he carried her in his arms and kissed her. Nobody had kissed her before. Thus, the dream was pleasant and full of new experiences. However, the dream ended abruptly when a faint but tolerable smell of dirt reached her nose. "Why the hell does it smell so bad?"
She tried to open her eyes, but couldn't. She was still too numb. Gradually, she heard a distant murmur. It sounded like the screams of a very rough woman. She also heard signs of a fight. It sounded like slaps and some punches. When she could finally see, she realized that she was naked on a bed of straw and covered with an animal skin.
"What is this? My second chance? Am I alive again?" Very close to her, and somewhat blurry, she saw a terribly angry woman. "Oh, shit! What's wrong with that woman? She looks like an orc with human skin." She stared at her attire, and then, dumbfounded, noticed the two moons in the sky. "OMG! Where the hell am I? What is this? An isekai?"
Suddenly, the huge woman's scream startled her. "Put on your damn clothes, I'm sick of waiting."
Somewhat tense, she saw several high school classmates, dressed in rough-textured clothes. They looked like potato sackcloth. "What the hell are they doing here?" At that instant, she saw Ian not far from her. She also saw his perfect ass about to be covered by some rudimentary pants.
Blushing, Dianna quickly grabbed the clothes from beside the pile of straw that served as her bed. She covered herself with the nasty skin that served as a blanket, and dressed as quickly as she could. Huddled down. It was obvious that the half-orc's patience was very limited, and she had no intention of testing it.
As soon as she could, she stood up and surveyed her surroundings. But Rebecca didn't let her focus on anything in particular. Almost without precedent for such behavior in recent months, she approached her, whispering. Letting her discover something that without a mirror, she hadn't discovered in a long time. "Who the hell! Are you Dianna?! Where were you? I didn't see you earlier, when we were gathered all together in that room without walls"
Dianna didn't understand what he was referring to, nor why Rebecca spoke to her like it was no big deal. They didn't talk much to each other, but still, Dianna answered. "Where are we? How did we end up here?"
However, Rebecca hadn't come to talk to her, but to get a closer look at her. "If it wasn't for those ugly scars on your face, I'd mistake you for RedCow. Dammit! You're almost the same! Maybe you're stronger, your hair is lighter and your eyes are more turquoise. But the rest..."
Dianna noticed that Rebecca had no makeup on. Nervously, she looked at Nina who was writhing in pain for some unknown reason. Perplexed, Dianna found that Nina also didn't have the makeup she knew she put on every day. She grabbed a strand of hair and brought it into her line of sight. The dye was missing. Hesitantly, she tried to touch the scar that ran up from her neck to her face. She couldn't touch it without remembering about the moment she had gotten it. Unexpectedly, she also found the fresh new scar. Dianna saw Rebecca out of the corner of her eye and looked around for Emily. "There it is! Shit! Am I really going to have to get along with her? With these bitches around? Come on!"
However, to Dianna's astonishment, Rebecca was no longer paying any attention to her. Rebecca was stunned, seeing something new. Something that had made her eyes wide open. Dianna searched for what had Rebecca so impressed. But, Dianna, was also surprised when she found it too.
Unexpectedly, it was as if there was another Emily. There was another red-haired girl among the high school students. Although her hair was more orange and much lighter. She wasn't as tall as Emily, and she was certainly much weaker. She was dressing shrunken and appeared to be talking to herself. From the latter, Rebecca realized who she was. "Am I freaking out? Is that the crazy one? Is that Tanya?"
Dianna didn't know Tanya very well. In fact, hardly anyone knew her, since she didn't socialize with anyone. Everyone at school said she was crazy, because she talked to herself and waved her arms in the air, as if she was moving through some kind of menu. Her way of dressing was very unfeminine, always with extremely loose clothes. She was so inconspicuous that she was almost invisible, except that she was very tall and very pretty. Probably, if Emily wasn't the center of all the teasing, she would be.
Rebecca looked questioningly at Dianna and then at Emily. "Why the hell do you look like three peads in a pod now? Maybe you've always been like that? Are you triplets or what the hell is going on?".
Dianna knew before "it" got inside her, she didn't look like she does now. "Could Tanya be trying to hide something too? I dyed my hair because I didn't want to be mistaken for Emily. But, it didn't cross my mind, not for a second, that someone else could be doing the same. Could it be that what happened that time in that old roadside fast food building has happened more times?"
At that instant, he saw Ian heading towards them. Too fast and too aggressive. "Shit! Maybe he thinks I'm Emily and Rebecca is bullying me. Are we so alike now?"
Ian stopped abruptly and took a closer look at Dianna. It seemed obvious that without makeup, Emily and Dianna looked the same. The same, except for the scars and the slight differences in the hair and eyes color. Ian stood there, glaring at both of them. Serious and scathing. Rebecca, unable to bear Ian's penetrating gaze, left.
Dianna thought she had nothing to fear. But then, she noticed something about Ian. "He looks different. Like an animal looking at its prey. He's scaring me. Is he looking at me like he did with George? Yes. He looks at me with hate." At that moment, she remembered the warning the scarred being had given to her. "Do I really have to run away from Ian? No. I have to talk to him."
Dianna attempted to approach Ian to strike up a conversation, but he turned slightly, crossing his arms, not taking his eyes off her. "I don't know what's going on here, but I'm afraid you're will find out soon enough that I'm not who you think I am." Dianna was petrified. "But... he gave me a piece of gum on the high school bus. I thought he liked me. Shit! Shit! Shit! Something has changed in him and I'm afraid that, I'm not going to like finding it out."
In response to Ian's attitude towards Dianna, Tanya did something unexpected. Something that Dianna had never seen her do before. Touch another person and talk to someone directly. Without slouching or babbling. Although, it seemed like she was trembling. She placed her hand on Dianna's back as she looked at Ian. "Stay close to Emily. Something is seriously wrong with her, though I don't know what it is and neither does she."
Ian seemed surprised that the ever elusive Tanya was addressing him. In fact, she had never done so before, much less to give him orders. Ian responded, narrowing his eyes. "What the hell are you talking about?"
But Tanya didn't respond. Trembling, she focused on Dianna and whispered to her. "You're coming with me. Make sure Emily doesn't look us directly in the face. We'll always stand behind Beth or Ian. She doesn't know about this."
Dianna's jaw dropped. “What doesn't Emily know?” Dianna gritted her teeth angrily and glared at her out of the corner of her eye. “Why the hell do I have to go with this one and do what she says? I don't know her at all.”
Ian didn't seem entirely pleased and asked suspiciously. "What were the conditions you agreed to, even after you knowing them?". Dianna didn't understand the question, but Tanya seemed to tremble even more. Then, she looked down at the floor. It looked like she was starting to cry.
Dianna stared at Ian blankly. Ian was remorseful, she could clearly see it on his face. Without delay, he regained his composure and changed his rictus. It looked like Ian was dying to get an answer from Tanya, but he chose to remain silent and turn his back on both of them. Dianna watched them as if she had missed the most important episode of the TV series on everyone's lips. "What conditions are they talking about?"
Dianna was lost in thought, intrigued about by the conditions they were talking about. However, as Dianna was about to ask, a voice was heard, drawing the attention of Dianna and all the students in general. "My name is Tught, and you are on Zurah, an insignificant place on a planet that is not your own, humans. However, that doesn't seemed to stop you from coming here."
Dianna couldn't believe what she was hearing. It sounded crazy, but she was sure that this couldn't just be a dream. "Certainly, this is an Isekai." As the thought crossed her mind, she couldn't help but smile as an incredible excitement began to overwhelm her. "I can't wait to get started."
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