The gigantic beast was startled by the man's gunfire and charged in the opposite direction of the shot, giving me the perfect chance to reach the man who was defending a set of bleachers behind him.
With a leap, I hid among them and came face to face with a young woman with a stern gaze and her hair tied back. She wore a shirt with a deep neckline, embroidered in an intense yellow around it, and below that a long black dress that astonishingly concealed a pair of very un-masculine brown boots, completely clashing with the otherwise carefully assembled outfit. Aside from the boots, it was undoubtedly an outfit highly inappropriate for a battlefield—yet it accentuated her figure remarkably well.
With an almost maternal delicacy, she began brushing dirt from my arms and face, studying me as if judging my appearance or clothing.
—What great luck, Manuela. We got a useless pampered kid. No weapons, no backbone —snorted the mustached man, who knelt down to reload, shooting me a hateful glare that froze me in place.
"Man, we barely know each other. Don't look at me like that," I thought, shifting my gaze to the woman, whose expression was somewhat more lively.
—Enough already, Antonio. You're always complaining —she snapped sharply, but when she turned back to me, her tone softened—. Are you all right, kid?
—Yes, thank you —I replied, but she ignored my answer, speaking before I could finish.
—On one thing you're right, Antonio… he doesn't seem to be armed. What do we do with him?
"Thanks for the confidence, teammates."
I know I don't look intimidating, but I am ready to fight… at least mentally.
—Antonio, don't you have a spare weapon?
—For what? So he can shoot himself and save us the trouble of protecting him?
—Damn it, Antonio.
The two kept arguing, barely sheltered behind the bleachers. It's true—I'm useless in combat. The closest thing to training I ever had was playing with a stick I picked up off the street, pretending to be the destined hero who would save the kingdom. But a lot of time had passed since then, and now I was nothing more than a die-hard fan of strategy games…
Then, like a Eureka ringing in my head, it hit me when I saw that neural node perpetually displayed beneath my name:
"[Search I]"
"Give me a chance to guide heroes like this is a TRPG."
Yes, I started humming "Eureka" again. The woman stared at me as if she thought I'd lost my mind, while the man simply shook his head with his eyes closed in resignation.
—This kid's going to be a burden, Manu…
—I am—
I interrupted him, raising my voice with borrowed confidence. Yes—the same kind I'd read in countless novel and video game protagonists. Biting my tongue, tightening my heart, as if I truly believed everything I was about to say…
"I'll become the protagonist."
—I am Tristan, a great general who fought in the wars of Ice Emblem —I proclaimed proudly, brushing dangerously close to egocentrism, which earned the pair's full attention—. Thanks to me, King Alexander XIII of Arvitia was able to defeat the dragon of glacial death, Frostmagnar. If you follow my instructions, I assure you—no, I swear in the name of my king—that we can defeat that damn goat.
The man called Antonio stared at me as if he'd just heard the most absurd thing in his life, while Manuela struggled to suppress a mocking giggle.
—The Ice… what? —Antonio scoffed, only to be cut off by the roar of the copper beast, which had resumed its leap toward us.
A cloud of dust spread all around us, blocking any view of the creature and deafening us with the metallic thunder of its powerful steps. The dust made it hard to breathe and see; both Manuela and Antonio coughed as they covered their faces.
I'm well aware that my ridiculous story belonged only in the realm of legends—like the Dragon of Mallorca that turned out to be just a crocodile. I was willing to fabricate a believable fantasy so these two soldiers would follow my orders, but for that, it would be far more convincing to prove it rather than talk about it.
Quickly, I projected the system in front of me and, with confidence, shouted:
—Search I!
The screen appeared before me…
But something was wrong.
It was… glitched.
It flickered like fractured glass filled with interference. The data was illegible and vague, and worst of all, when I touched it, my mind was flooded with white noise and crackling sparks that made me tremble.
"What the hell?" Yeah, I know—I'm not very bright when my only superpower just wiped my brain and practically broadcast our location to the monster.
—I can't see anything! —I didn't stop for a second, desperately tapping every corner of the stupid system screen, as if I could force it to reboot.
—Ice-whatever brat, if you can do anything, do it now! —Antonio bellowed as he fired wildly into the air.
—Something happened!… my system… it's failing! —I blurted out in desperation, still hammering every inch of the transparent screen.
—Don't tell me that, kid —Manuela replied.
Standing up with ease, she pulled a massive rifle from beneath her skirt—far more imposing than Antonio's. She aimed, and inexplicably, her shot struck the goat square in the eye. The creature recoiled with a thunderous metallic roar, finally allowing the annoying cloud of sand and ash to settle. Everyone present was coated in grayish tones from head to toe.
—That'll hold it for now. Antonio, if we want to win, we'll have to hunt down the rival team —Manuela said, completely ignoring me.
—Reluctantly, Manuela… —Antonio murmured.
"Damn it." I know I'm a nobody, a good-for-nothing—but honestly, truly, when I tested [Search I] back in the Nexo, for a brief moment I felt that maybe, just maybe, I could stop living in the shadows. But right when it mattered most…
"Damn it."
In a blink, Antonio lunged at Manuela, knocking her to the ground as a shot ricocheted off the pillar where they'd been standing, making me instinctively duck.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw on the other side of the coliseum three male figures, shrouded in the dust cloud, firing relentlessly until their pistols glowed red-hot.
Chaos ruled the coliseum. The earth torn up by the goat, the gunfire ricocheting wildly, and Aries' metallic roars kept us pinned down—and my damn system gave me no relief.
"Come on, stupid system."
I kept pounding the glowing screen, praying it would work.
—Please… don't let me be a nobody again…
As if reacting to my frustration, a strange flicker lit up the screen. The data reset, and a new message appeared:
[Welcome]