Chapter 1

  The first thing I realized, as the magic burned through my body, was that anime and manga had lied to me. Getting portaled away fucking hurt. It felt as if every single pore in my body had opened up to scream in protest, as my very molecular being was ripped from the comfort of my gaming chair. One second, I was leaning back in the sweet, comforting embrace of my luxury chair, VR headset comfortably in place, ready to finally, finally, play a game I’d been waiting years for. The next, my vision went white, and my senses were erased, or, more appropriately, overcome by the sheer agony that attacked me.

  I wasn’t sure if my eyes were open or not, as my body burned. All I knew was white, blinding pain. My mind raced, unable to think, unable to feel, unable to make sense of anything. What was happening? Where was I? Who was I? Had mixing shrooms with vodka before diving into a VR game really been a poor life choice? What the hell was happening to me?

  Time was irrelevant. All I knew was pain. Normally, the body adapts to pain. I had more than a few tattoos. And one, an intricate, floral chest piece I’d gotten that started at my shoulders, before crossing my collar bone and meeting near my breasts, had been agonizing. Yet even so, after the first hour, once I’d numbed myself to the pain, I’d been able to simply ignore it.

  This pain wasn’t like that. It wasn’t constant in the way the mind could numb to it. It was ever changing, like a thousand different bursts of electricity striking in an irregular pattern, refusing to allow my mind to process it, to normalize it, and to deal with it. If I had a mouth, I knew I would be crying out. But the longer it went on, the less I could even process what my sense of self was. I couldn’t feel any distinct body parts. Couldn’t even tell if I was breathing, or screaming, or drowning from the pain. All I knew was somehow, someway, I was still alive. Because death, at the very least, wouldn’t be like this.

  I wished for darkness. Wished for an end to it all. Wished for the suffering to end. And, finally, my wish was answered. As swiftly as it had started, it was gone. Just, gone. I went from feeling nothing but pain, to… nothing at all.

  “Greetings,” a voice said to me. As if the words were needed to reboot my system, suddenly the world came into view. Feelings rushed across my body. I could feel everything. There was a cool feeling, like dew-coated grass, beneath my bare feet. A breeze in the air caused me to shiver, carrying with it the scent of… diesel? My ears could hear the grinding of gears, the heavy hiss of steam, and other sounds. People, animals, birds, a stream?

  I opened my eyes, blinking as I worked to take everything in. Looking down, my face reddened slightly. When I’d put on my VR headset, I’d been in my pajamas. Warm, comfy pants with childish trains and teddys on them. Sure, a twenty-one year old may have been made fun of for them, but they were soooooo soft. And the shirt I’d been wearing had been sheer, more a silk nightie than anything.

  Now though, I was wearing skin tight shorts, more boy short underwear than actual proper shorts, and a sports bra. I had no shoes, no socks, no pants, no… nothing. I noted, at the very least, my tattoos remained. My floral chest piece, my medusa on my left thigh, and my semi-colon on my right wrist. They were reminders. And I’d been worried they may be gone.

  Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

  I blinked again, taking in the person in front of me. The individual who’d spoken to me. I still wasn’t a hundred percent sure if this was all the result of my shrooms, or this was actually like one of those Isekai stories I enjoyed as a guilty pleasure, but I was definitely leaning towards the latter.

  “Hello?” I asked, looking him up and down. He was taller than I was, with dark, copper-toned skin, dressed like some steel worker from old industrial propaganda. He had goggles on his head, his face was covered in grease and soot, and he even had a wrench hanging on his side, along with a tool belt. A leather apron covered most of his pants, and his boots were solid and sturdy, and also stained with oil. Most out of place though, was the object on his left wrist. A gauntlet, with six glowing crystals around the wrist, a gem set in each knuckle, and a glowing orb on the center of the back of his hand. That, didn’t match the industrial worker vibe at all. But it did provide me with a clue. I knew what this was. Sort of…

  “Ah, you’ve finally regained your senses,” he said with a nod, his eyes searching me appraisingly. I wasn’t shy, by any means, but standing so…vulnerably before him, made me uncomfortable. I reached back and shifted my loose hair, dark red with bright green accents, so that it fell across my chest, offering a little extra cover.

  “I, have…” I trailed off, looking around. “Though, do you mind telling me what’s going on?”

  Another detail caught my attention. I was on the outskirts of the town itself. A village that would make Jules Verne jealous, the sheer number of gears and cogs and smoking billows that made up literally every aspect of the town, from the houses, to the streets, to the lamps and transportation, was staggering. Even more startling though, were the animals. Almost all of them seemed to be crossed with gears. As if the creatures, which surely seemed to be living, had been born to be steampunk hybrids.

  “Certainly,” the man said, his voice pulling me back towards him, and away from the strange town. Every person, I noticed, had one of those strange gauntlets. “Though first things first,” he smiled, revealing crooked teeth, stained black with what I hoped was just tobacco. “Introductions are in order.”

  He bowed, with a rather elegant flourish. “My name is William James Billows the Fourth.” The pride with which he said his name made me figure he had to be important, “and I am the Mayor of this humble town, Cogni.” He straightened himself, and then moved his arms behind his back smiling brightly at me, “and the one chosen to greet you, dear traveler.”

  “Taylor,” I said, “my name is Taylor.” I didn’t have an elegant name, and I honestly didn’t feel like saying my last name. Besides, I had a feeling, if this was going to be like any of the anime or stories I’d consumed, this part wouldn’t matter all that much.

  “Well then, Taylor,” he grinned as he said my name, “allow me to formally welcome you, to the world of Mutopia.”

  “Mutopia?” I mumbled, the name confirming one thing, and one thing only. And, it wasn’t that I was no longer in Kansas. Especially since, before my rude removal from my comfortable chair… I’d been in Oregon.

  “Mutopia,” he said again with a nod.

  “Then,” I pointed to the gauntlet, “is it safe to assume that’s a Tamer’s Gauntlet?” I asked, remembering the details of the game I’d been in the process of attempting to finally play.

  “It is,” he said, his grin almost impossibly wide now.

  “Which means,” I rubbed the back of my head, “I’m stuck within the game?”

  His smile turned to a frown, and he shook his head. “Not quite,” he motioned towards town, “come, and I will tell you what I can. I’ve heard the transfer process is… unpleasant, and I have no doubt you’re hungry, and would appreciate a change of clothes.”

  Without another word, he turned away from me and began walking briskly towards the town. With nothing but additional questions brewing in my mind, I followed. After all, when you got teleported to a strange new world, there really wasn’t much else to do, right?