Awakening - 1

The harsh morning sunlight pouring in through the window bothered my eyes, and I came to my senses. "Ugh...." I rubbed my eyes with my hand to remove the sleep and got out of bed. "...?" As I was about to get up and drink some water as usual, I realized that I wasn't in my house. In a half-awake state, I stared blankly at the ceiling. "A strange... ceiling." I quietly uttered the sentence that is now almost used as a meme. In the small room where I was alone, a soft, unfamiliar voice echoed softly. I sat on the bed for a moment and tried to recall what happened to me yesterday, or more precisely, before I fell asleep. There was only one conclusion. It seems that I have been reincarnated. Becoming a girl was a bonus. Once I accepted the fact that I had died once, it wasn't that much of a shock. I saw a smartphone plugged into a charger at the foot of the bed. I unplugged the charger and pressed the power button, and a plain wallpaper and a password entry field appeared. [1q2w3e4r!] I entered the password I used in my previous life, and the lock was released. I pulled down the status bar and checked the date first. "February 29th." Before I opened my eyes here again, it was definitely mid-July, the hottest time of summer. The dates didn't match. Either I came to the future, or I went to the past, one of the two. But there was something more important than that. My birthday. So today was the day I was born. The calendar app also had the words 'Birthday!' written on today's date. Due to the nature of a leap year that comes every four years, a birthday on February 29th is not very common. And my birthdays in my previous life and my current life were the same. The date I woke up again was also my birthday. Does it mean that it's a new life? Or is it just a coincidence? "...Wash up." The sleep in my eyes that I hadn't completely removed started to bother me. First, I decided to wash my face to clear my head and find out more about this body. * "Phew." After washing my face thoroughly, I looked into the mirror in the bathroom. In the mirror, I saw a girl with messy blonde hair and jewel-like green eyes. "So, this is me." It was definitely a face that was unrealistically pretty even though I wasn't wearing any makeup, so it felt somewhat unreal. But there was one more element that made it feel even more unreal than that. "What was this... called again? A halo?" Above my head floated a halo that looked like four arrows pointing toward the center of a circle. I waved my hand towards the halo above my head but couldn't feel anything. There was only one thing I could think of from the keywords of a girl and a strangely shaped halo. "Blue Archive." ...Blue Archive is a game I played in my previous life. Honestly, I can't say that I enjoyed it that much. I didn't actively participate in major content like raids, and I was satisfied with just watching the story or small talk. And the reason why I played Blue Archive was... No, it doesn't really matter now. I've already died once, and the most important thing is that I'm in the world of that game called Blue Archive. I went back into the room and looked around. The room was a studio, and it was bleak because there was no furniture other than a cot placed in the corner. Above the head of the cot, something that looked like a blue school uniform was hanging. ...Of course, it was a skirt. Other than what could be called furniture, there were a few cardboard boxes that looked like luggage. However, I couldn't tell what was inside because they were sealed with duct tape, whether they hadn't been unpacked or had been disposed of. And in one corner of the wall... "It's huge...." A huge gun, at least 2 meters long, was sitting there. And when I looked closely, I saw a small submachine gun underneath it. Both were painted mainly in blue and white. "Wait, I think I've seen this somewhere before?" As I looked closely at the guns, I began to remember their names. The huge one was a Lahti L-39, and the small one was a Jatimatic. Both were Finnish-made guns. "Finland...? Was there a Finland motif in Blue Archive?" When I thought about it, I think there was a school that used Finnish-made guns somewhere, but I'm not sure. While I was busy guessing which school I belonged to, I heard a knock on the front door. "J-Just a moment!" I was flustered and hurriedly looked for clothes to change into, but then I realized that the only clothes I could wear right now were the school uniform hanging on the wall. I had no choice but to quickly put on the uniform and open the door to greet the visitor. When I opened the door, there was a talking Welsh Corgi. "Youka, do you have a moment?" Indeed, it seems that Youka is my name. It might be my last name, but I'll think about that later. "What is it?" "I heard the news. You got accepted to SRT and are moving to their dormitory, right? It's sad to see a rare tenant like a student leave, but I brought a gift to send you off." SRT? Wait a minute, where is SRT again? The Welsh Corgi, probably the landlord, handed me a small bottle of... a drink... with a message of encouragement written on it. "A-Are you okay?!" "Huh? What?" When I heard that, I touched my face and my eyes were moist. "You're not disappointed, are you? Oh, I should have bought beef..." "O-Oh, no! It's not like that. I was just a little touched... Yes, that's it. Thank you very much. I'll drink it well." "Really? I'm glad to hear that. Study hard at the dormitory!" "Yes... Thank you for your support." With those words, the Welsh Corgi... the landlord left. "...It's delicious, as always." The drink tasted sweet and refreshing, just like back then. * I took a moment to compose myself and decided to reorganize my current situation once again. "First, I was shot and died on the way to the hospital. As a result, I was reincarnated into a world called Blue Archive... Second, there was a student ID in my pocket. The name is... Youka Nanna (陽花 ナンナ). A new student who will be entering SRT Special Academy this year. Did I receive the uniform and guns in advance? I haven't even started school yet, did this world have something like a preliminary assembly...? Wait a minute, then when is the entrance ceremony?" I turned on the calendar on my smartphone and checked the schedule, and the entrance ceremony was not far away. "March 2nd, is this the same?" There were too many problems to sort out. For example, the small but important questions that would form the basis of my existence, such as whether there was anyone who knew me in this world and what kind of life I had lived. "And next, the school I'm going to is SRT, which is the biggest problem..." The main story of Blue Archive, Part 4, the so-called Rabbit of Caerbannog, was about the events related to SRT Special Academy. SRT Special Academy, like Valkyrie Police School, was one of the organizations responsible for Kivotos' security. However, while Valkyrie was like a general police force, SRT was more like an anti-terrorist unit that was not restricted by the autonomy of each school in its activities. "And that school is closed down just because the president of the student council went missing." I don't know if the current president of the student council is missing or not. This is because it is not known exactly when the major events of this game took place, or how much time passed between each event. Still, if I had to guess, I think it was after the first semester started. Otherwise, it wouldn't make sense for students to enter SRT this year. "But... I don't know this story." Yes, that part made the fact that I was an SRT student the most serious problem. This is because the Rabbit of Caerbannog, which is set in SRT Special Academy, had not yet been released on the global server I was playing on. If I continued to know nothing and the time of Part 4 came, I would have no choice but to get caught up in it. "Then what if I use the power of 'Sensei'?" It's not a bad idea. Strictly speaking, Sensei was the student council president's proxy, so he might be able to take on that role for SRT Special Academy. However, if the current president of the student council is still alive, then there is no Sensei and no Schale. Even if I use this method, I should postpone it. "My head hurts...." Rather than trying to solve a problem that I couldn't solve right now, I decided to do what I could do now. I went back to the guns on the wall. I picked up the bigger one, the Lahti L-39. "Kueee, ugh." It's heavy. This huge gun was heavy even for a Kivotos student who was stronger than an ordinary person. Honestly, it wasn't that I couldn't lift it. It felt like the weight of a full military pack. ...That's why I gave up on taking this gun. "If I carried this around every day, my body would quickly wear out." Instead of the L-39, I chose the Jatimatic, which was next to it. I checked if there were bullets in the magazine, and folded the front grip, which also serves as a safety device, to prevent accidental firing. After grabbing a few extra magazines, I finished preparing to go out. "Okay, now take a deep breath―" Inhale, exhale. This is the routine I do every day before I go out. Feeling that my body was sufficiently stable, I stepped outside. * -Woo-woong. [That] [Nanna-chan...] [Happy birthday] [I bought a birthday present for Nanna-chan] [Can I come over now] [...] [Oh, um] [Are you busy right now?] [Nanna-chan?]