The gigantic beast startled at the man's gunshots and charged in the opposite direction of the fire, giving me the perfect opportunity to reach the man who was defending a pair of stands behind him.
With a leap, I hid among them, coming face to face with a young woman with a stern gaze and hair tied back behind her head. She wore a shirt with a pronounced neckline embroidered with an intense yellow around it, and below, a long black skirt that impressively covered a pair of very un-feminine brown boots that clashed with the rest of her carefully arranged outfit. Aside from the boots, it was without a doubt an outfit entirely inappropriate for a battlefield, yet one that highlighted her figure very well.
With almost maternal delicacy, she began brushing dirt from my arms and face, looking at me as if judging my appearance or clothing.
—What luck, Manuela. We get a posh little good-for-nothing. No weapons, no backbone —snorted the mustached man, kneeling to reload and shooting me a look of hatred that froze me in place.
"Man, we just met, don't look at me like that," I thought, turning my gaze toward the girl, whose expression was somewhat more jovial.
—That's enough, Antonio, you're always complaining —the woman replied in a stern voice, but when she turned to me, her tone softened—. Are you alright, kid?
—Yes, thank you —I replied; but she ignored my answer, as she began speaking before I finished.
—Antonio does have a point… you don't seem to be armed. What are we supposed to do with you?
"Thanks for the vote of confidence, teammates."
I know I don't look intimidating, but I'm 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.
They continued arguing while barely sheltered by the stands. It's true that 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 I was the chosen hero destined to save the kingdom. But a lot of rain had fallen since then, and now I'm just a die-hard strategy game lover…
Like a Eureka ringing in my head, it echoed when I saw that neural node beneath my name, constant and unwavering:
"[Search I]"
"Give me the chance to guide the heroes as if this were a TRPG."
Yes, I started humming "Eureka" again. The woman stared at me strangely as if she thought I had gone mad, and the man simply shook his head with his eyes closed in resignation.
—This kid's going to be a burden, Manu…
—I am…
I cut the man off, raising my voice with false confidence. Yes, the same one I had read in countless protagonists from novels or video games. Biting my tongue, squeezing my heart, as if I truly believed everything I was about to declare…
"I'll become the protagonist."
—I'm Tristan, great general who fought in the wars of "Ice Emblem." —I declared proudly, bordering on egocentrism that finally caught the pair's attention—. Thanks to me, King Alexander XIII of Arvitia was able to defeat the dragon of icy death, Frostmagnar. If you follow my instructions, I assure you—no, I swear in the name of my king—that we can defeat that damned goat.
The man named Antonio stared at me as if he had just heard the greatest nonsense of his life, while Manuela tried to hold back a mocking giggle.
—The Ice… what? —Antonio scoffed, only to be interrupted by the copper beast's roar, which had resumed its leaps toward us.
The cloud of dust spread all around us, hiding any view of the animal, 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 aware that my ridiculous story barely fit anywhere outside the bulb of legends like the Dragon of Mallorca that turned out to be nothing more than a crocodile. I was ready to craft a believable fantasy so the pair of soldiers would follow my orders—but for that, it would be more convincing to show rather than tell.
Quickly, I extended the system before me and, with confidence, exclaimed:
—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. Worse still, when I touched it, my mind was flooded with white noise and crackling static that made me tremble.
"What the hell." I know, not the brightest thought when my only superpower had just blanked my brain and probably revealed 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 kid, if you can do something, do it now! —Antonio shouted, firing frantically into the air.
—Something happened… my system… it's failing! —I blurted desperately, still pressing every corner of the transparent display.
—Don't tell me that, kid —Manuela replied.
Standing up naturally, she pulled a large rifle from beneath her skirt, far more imposing than Antonio's. She aimed and, inexplicably, when she fired she struck the goat square in the eye. The beast recoiled with a metallic roar, finally allowing the annoying cloud of sand and ash to settle. All of us were left covered in gray tones across our clothes.
—That'll do for now. Antonio, if we want to win, we'll have to hunt the opposing team —Manuela said, completely ignoring me.
—To my regret, Manuela… —Antonio muttered.
"Damn it." I know I'm a good-for-nothing, a nobody, but truly, truly—when I tested [Search I] in the Nexo, I felt for a moment that maybe, just maybe, I could stop living in the shadows. But right at the moment of truth…
"Damn it."
In a blink, Antonio threw himself at Manuela, knocking her to the ground as a shot ricocheted off the pillar where they had been standing, forcing me to duck instinctively.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw that on the other side of the coliseum, three male figures, obscured by the cloud of sand, were firing relentlessly until their pistols glowed red.
Chaos reigned in the coliseum. The earth thrown up by the goat, the bullets ricocheting aimlessly, and Aries' metallic roars kept us pinned down—and my damn system offered no relief.
"Come on, stupid system."
I kept slamming the fluorescent screen, hoping it would work.
—Please… don't let me be a nobody again…
As if the system reacted to my frustration, a strange flicker lit up the screen. The data reset, and a new message appeared:
[Welcome]