Arc 1, Chapter 1: Read a Book!...
The need to shut his eyes hit him like a fast arrow, and he gave in like a coward.
The world around him turned to nothing, and from nothing, something.
Something real.
A new way has been discovered to mentally immerse one with the book they read.
As long as they are fully aware of the story, and zone out in deep thought, they can travel to the book's "world conscience", where people who read the book like this can interact together, even from afar.
This works because this new form of reading engages a part of the brain that has never been used since now. Actually, it's less than a part of the brain, and more of dormant neurons. A specific area is utilized for immersion, called the immersia.
A book's "world conscience" was coined because of the entry into something that could almost be good… or bad.
Merry shut the new book he was reading. "Boring… 'world conscience' my ass."
He was reading in the hallway, next to his friend, before class.
The sunlight from outside breached through the windows and hit his face, making it shine a bit more.
"I think that this will make reading way more fun, though…" said Charlotte.
She was much shorter than Merry and she loved to read, but Merry was the complete opposite.
"Come on..! You should read with me tomorrow." Charlotte grinned, and it was really hard for Merry to say no to her.
He facepalmed. "Just find me after class, we can decide on what book to read."
She nodded, and showed a happy expression. "Remember, we're doing 'immersive reading', not just reading. We're gonna go to my favorite book, and check it out for ourselves… and then we could even make a book club…"
"Hold that thought. What do you mean by 'book club'? The thing nerds and dorks do?"
Charlotte sighed. "No, dummy. A book club. Where people get together and read. I know it'll be fun. We can all get together and clear books…"
"Hmm… Any leadership positions?"
"Yeah. I'm already the leader, and you're my trusty right-hand man!"
Merry sighed as well. "You don't just get to decide… whatever. Can you decide on a book?"
Charlotte nodded, saying, "I have a lot. My dad's a writer, so I'll get low-content books published pretty quickly that'll basically serve as our base."
Charlotte's plan was to have a book that they could immerse themselves in simply to use as a base. Publishing a low-content book and using it could ensure that they were the only ones inside.
"You're putting a lot of thought into this."
"It's just… you've never liked reading. I'm so happy to finally get you into it…"
Merry smiled. "Thanks for lookin' out for me, Lottie. I got a test to take, so we'll chat during lunch."
–The time for lunch came around, and after a bit of waiting, Charlotte met up with Merry.
""Hey."" They both said.
They chose an empty seat in the back of the cafeteria and sat down with their food. Taking a bite into an apple, Merry began:
"What book did you pick, by the way?"
He bit into it again, and then put it down.
Charlotte swallowed down a cinnamon roll before speaking.
"It's a pretty basic one. You know the books with the princess, knights, and dragons?"
Merry sighed. "You're seriously making us do that? It's our first time, dude!"
Charlotte scratched her head and giggled. "I know, I know… but it'll be fun!"
"You don't think it's weird? How we can go into any book? That could be misused."
Charlotte put her hand on her chin. "I see what you mean. Our book club could be to clear books that get misused, if that even ever happens."
Merry nodded. "I guess we could read that book you're bringing just to see what we're working with."
To this, Charlotte agreed. She pulled out a book that was very familiar to him.
Saint George and the Dragon.
The story tells of a Christian knight who saves a Libyan town from a tyrannical, child-eating dragon.
"And you want us to defeat that dragon and save the princess in one run?"
"Yeah. I heard from someone there was save points."
Save points, huh?
"Save points? Explain."
"Basically, when you advance to story to a point that would've ended your current chapter, you can save at that position. If you leave before then, your "data" is wiped."
Merry put his hands on his chin in thought.
"How many chapters does it have?"
Charlotte scanned the book from start to finish as Merry bit into a sandwich.
"It doesn't appear to have any. If we leave, we restart. And if we die there, I don't know what happens to us."
Merry sighed, and slammed his hand on the table. It's material was unclear to him.
"Isn't it obvious? It's just like it is in manga. It's not a "we either restart or die in the real world". In fact, there's only one answer. We slowly lose the ability to immerse ourselves again."
Charlotte's expression went from neutral to saddened. "So if we die, it'll stab at our immersia until it's no more."
"Yeah. Looks like humans can't handle that shock, since their immersia literally is gonna break apart."
Charlotte agreed. "Can we do it?"
She took a sip of orange juice.
Merry grinned. "This is making reading exciting… we will do it."
They tossed their finished food into the trash carefully and made their own out of the cafeteria.
"We have some extra time. How was that test?"
"Ah, my test earlier. I think I bombed that shit, honestly…"
Charlotte chuckled. "Did you even study for it?"
Merry shook his head. "Not one bit. Literally every question had me scratching my head…"
"That's what you get for playing video games, Merry."
"Oh, come on! I asked you to help me, and you said no! That's your fault!"
"Pushing the blame into me, hmm? I might just have to demote you…"
Merry was speechless. "—?! I told you, you don't just get to—"
Charlotte kicked him in the nuts, and he fell on the floor groaning.
"You fatass— augh— I'll fucking get you—!"
Charlotte looked down at him and laughed.
A minute later, the pain went away and he got back up, dusting his pants off.
"We should get reading today, because I'm free tomorrow; no major quizzes or tests."
Charlotte agreed. "You'll need a copy of the St. George and the blank book I got. Come find me outside at the end of the day, 'cause the bell's ringing in a few seconds."
—So the school day came to an end, and Charlotte and Merry met up again.
She handed him copies of the books: St. George from the school library, and the blank book she would get to him tomorrow.
"Remember. St. George at 5:30."
"Got it."
It was really sunny outside, and Merry could tell because it was starting to get really hot. He had been wearing a sweater coupled with a jacket the time he'd been outside, and it was unbearable.
He went home, and so did Charlotte, and they both got settled in their respective houses.
It was currently 4:30, so Merry had an hour to do whatever he wanted, and he got out some Spanish homework.
"Cómo… cómo estás tú, or something…"
Merry spoke aloud as he did his homework, because it helped him know whether he was saying whatever he was right.
Before he knew it, it was 5:30 and he got out the book Charlotte had given him.
St. George was the typical princess, knight, and dragon fairy tale, probably even the basis for the ones that were already known to many.
He plopped down onto his red sofa and opened the book.
"What brings you here and what gives you courage to do battle with a dragon?"
Merry flipped the page. "Me? I'm just Charlotte's right-hand man in our book club…"
He said, flipping the page once more.
Nothing stood out to him, but he was aware that if he kept reading like this, it would not activate his immersia at all.
So, he started back from the beginning, this time with a highlighter, and sticky notes.
"Let's see… if I annotate and close read, it should work…"
Merry looked to pull out important information and make connections with the text and the modern world.
"The line "What brings you here" could imply there's a force compelling George's actions… I guess. There's more I could pull out. What is Elizabeth trying to say? And what can I grasp from…"
The need to shut his eyes hit him like a fast arrow, and he gave in like a coward.
The world around him turned to nothing, and from nothing, something.
Something real.
When Merry came to, he looked around and the sun was as bright as it was at home.
But he knew he wasn't at home.
Instead, he was in the world of St. George and the Dragon.