Reading OEG - Chapter 1

Peace…

Something Gamindustri had just regained after some harsh trials.

Everywhere one looked, they could see the fruits of the labors those who went through those trials wrought on the continent. They would see people wandering about, living their ordinary lives. They would see bloggers and journalists doing their thing, writing up the biggest hits they could find into articles, They would see people living happily and merrily content in the normalcy that occupied their lives right about now.

Though, if they looked at a certain someone, they'd find that their reaction to the new peace was… not exactly the same as everyone else's.

"I'm boooooooooooooorrreeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeddd!"

A loud, feminine wail resounded through the personal quarters of the Planeptune Basilicom. The time was 15:00 in the afternoon, and in the personal living room of these quarters there lay the sole cause of the voice that was responsible for the wail. Lying sprawled out on the sofa with her legs kicking the air behind her while her face was buried within a cushion, a look of annoyance and boredom on her face. Neptune, CPU of Planeptune, and she was…

Well, BORED!

Ever since the defeat of Kurome and the salvation of her counterpart Uzume, there hadn't been much excitement these days. She'd finished her backlog of games that she had accumulated throughout their adventures in Zerodimension, the Gold Third reign and Heart dimension what felt like years ago, but in reality it had only been a couple weeks. The problem? Now that she had no games left to play that were new, she was left wondering what to do next Aside from work though, something that WAS important… just not enough to register in the perky CPU's mind.

A bored Neptune was NOT a happy Neptune.

Now, she could just go back and play some more of the older games she had, Neptune LOVED games after all (though not to the point a certain Gaming Goddess did tho…-_-) but sometimes even games got boring in which case she would go and visit one of her many friends that she'd made. They'd have some wacky moments, all in go fun of course, which would end in her being satisfied and energized enough to return to her games. However, all of them would be too busy with their own lives for anything fun to do, so here she was, stuck with little to nothing to entertain herself with.

"Maybe I could pay a visit to lonely heart Noire? It's in the afternoon, so I'd guess she'd be working her pretty little booty off in her office. Now, how would I go about it…?" the girl mumbled thoughtfully, looking up from her cushion to the ceiling above her. She had an index finger on the bottom of her chin, and a series of question marks floating above her head for what felt like an eternity… when it had been only a few minutes, before those question marks popped out of existence and were replaced by a single exclamation mark. "Oh, I know!" Neptune proclaimed while shooting up into a japanese sitting position, a hand fisting her palm."I'll just give her the Neptastic 'front door' special! Hehehehe, this is going to be fun, maybe I could even get her to gimme some of Lastation's Puddings!"

Her game plan set, Neptune hopped off the sofa with a cartoonish hopping sound effect accompanying her (it's a gaming universe, role with it, says the Nep…) as she began prepping to pa Noire a surprise visit. This would be fun, she could already imagine it now, Noire's teary eyes of frustration as she's signing papers, then POP coms in Neptune and everything falls onto the floors! Then the hellish rage of Noire is finally unleashed in all it's glorious splendor, not helped of course by her usual 'lonely heart' comments.

Honestly, if someone drew her with a Devil tail and horns, they'd not be too wrong…

But before Neptune could commence her grand plan of teasing and yelling from the receiver's end, the door to her living room slid open with an audible hissing sound.

"Nep-Nep, are you in?"

"Nep, get over here already!"

"Oh! I know those cute voices!"

As quick as she thought up that plan of hers, Neptune ditched it like yesterday's newspaper and bounded across the floor towards the entrance to her living quarters, her eyes shining at the sight of two girls she knew all too well. How could she not, she'd been on multiple life-threatening adventures with them both, all with a happy grin on her face, no less!

"Iffy, Compa!"

That cheerful cry accompanied her as Neptune leapt into the air and crashed into the one she called Compa, the said Nurse beaming happily as she hugged her friend back with equal force that she was given. She even twirled the girl around, getting a loud giggle from Neptune before she put her down again. Neptune then tried to do the same for IF, also known as Iffy by her friends, but she used the ever impressive iron claw on Neptune's face to block her. "Sorry, Nep, no can do,"

"Aw, you know you love me, Iffy, that's why you visit mwah everyday." Neptune cheerfully replied through her hand, backing off afterwards. Her happy face then turned to a confused look as she tilted her head curiously. "But geez, what gives? You guys haven't come around for a while, I was beginning to get lonely." Her eyes widened as an idea came to her mind. "#GASP# don't tell me you found someone better than me! Nooo! I won't lose to some random stranger on the streets! Where is she, whose the one who took you?!"

A fist to the head stopped the petite girl's tantrum, courtesy of an annoyed Guild Agent. IF heaved a sigh of annoyance, though she had seen this coming from someone like this lazy idiot. "That's not it, Nep, quit being so dramatic." she scolded. "Unlike you, we have lives to lead and we don't laze about. Anyways, we've been swamped with Guild work, and Compa's been working harder than ever at the Hospital. We just came here just in case you tried anything stupid, which according to what we just saw, you kinda were." her eyes turned accusingly at the purplette, whom looked like a deer caught in the headlights.

Compa giggled to herself at the sight, a beaming grin on her features as she witnessed Neptune getting the usual treatment from the brunette Guild Agent. "Iffy is so stern with Nep-Nep, they are such good friends…" she remarked, putting her hands behind her back.

Once the commotion settled down, Compa turned to Neptune and noticed that there was someone missing from their little group. A certain CPU Candidate of course. "Um, Nep-Nep? Where's Ge-Ge? I thought she'd be here with you, fattening you up with express Puddings?" Compa questioned curiously. Usually, Neptune's younger sister (who looked like an older Neptune, actually) would be here trying to get Neptune's attention by being her personal maid or something. Neptune should really pay more attention to her younger sister, Compa thought to herself.

"Uh… I dunno, I think Histy has her out doing some Quest stuff, I think…"

"Work that YOU should be doing to then, Nep?"

"#AWKWARD LAUGH#"

"IF is right." The sound of church bells rung in Neptune's mind when she saw a familiar book-travelling Fairy float into the room, arms crossed and looking as pissty as she ever was. Usually Histoire, Planeptune's Oracle, had her anger directed at Neptune's lack of a work ethic, which seemed to be the case today as well. "Your younger sister is outshining you, Neptune, she's out there doing the work that Planeptune's CPU ought to be doing right now."

"Urk! The Histy has activated lecture mode… it's super effective!"

"If it was effective, then GO DO SOME WORK!"

"But Histyyyyyyyy, work is booooooooorrriiiiiiiiiiinnnnnnnnggggggggg! It's no fun whatsoever."

At this point, tick marks were forming on Histoire's forehead. While it was true that recently Neptune had been useful in keeping Planeptune and Gamindustri safe from various threats like Rei Ryghts and Kurome, Histoire had hoped those events would stop her from being so lazy and actually make her a proper CPU for once. Unfortunately, it turned out to be no dice, for Neptune seemed to still retain her laziness streak. At this point, she could only hope for a miracle that would get her into a proper CPU mindset.

"So, how have you been doing, Nep-Nep?" Compa questioned, before she noticed how the purplette's console and controller seemed to be lying on the floor in front of the TV, Unused. This DEFINITELY prompted an eyebrow arching from the girl, as well as a serious increase in her confusion stat. "I thought you'd be gaming away on your console all day like normal."

At this point, Neptune's boredom resurfaced, prompting her tpo huff in annoyance while she crossed her arms. "I would, but there hasn't been any new games recently and i'm not feeling the urge to play some of the older games. I must have uhhhhh, what's it called…. #gasp# gamers block, that's it!"

"Wow…" IF muttered, her eyes slightly widened in surprise. So much so that she had stopped pressing keys on her phone that she had been doing ever since her last line in this story. "That's the first time i've ever seen Nep experiencing gamer's block…., thought that Lady Vert would be the one to have that happen to her first…" she remarked in slight amazement. Shehad expected Neptune to never have to experience that kind of block, since she played games so often whenever they visited in the past.

Looked like that wasn't the case here.

"Is that so? Well then, that's an easy problem to solve, Nep-Nep!" Compa proclaimed cheerily, getting the preteen;s attention. With how she had a degree in Nursing now, Neptune would rely on the expert's opinion to solve this crisis. "Simply take a break from games for a while!"

"… EH?!"

Save for that.

"Wha-wha-wha?! Compa, you can't be serious!" Neptune proclaimed in shock, almost stepping back like she was in front of something disgusting like those bug-like monsters from the ultradimension. She could still remember how ugly they were and their backstory had been just as ugly! Heck, fans actually commented online about that part of the story! "Gamindustri's a gaming franchise! Everything is about games in this world, and you're asking me to take a break from that?! What would I do in the meantime anyways, certainly not work like Histy's thinking within that small noggin o'hers!"

At the side, Histoire cursed under her breath, she'd been hoping that Neptune hadn't noticed that little titbit.

IF remained silent, but that didn't mean she wasn't the least bit interested in what was happening. Even she wanted to know what Compa would say to something like this, it was rare for her to suggest anything smart in their adventures, considering her ditzy personality, so this would be something she'd like to see. ,

"Well, how about something else to do with games, but not at the same time?" Compa suggested, much to everyone's confusion. Confusion that she soon clarified when she saw it all. "A work colleague of mine, I don't know her name because she calls herself BAI, is a fanfiction writer and she recommended me a fanfiction. She says its an addicting read, one of the better ones, actually." Compa explained firther, pulling out her phone and beginning to search for the Story link she'd been sent via text.

Neptune's berrow furrowed at the mention of fanfictions. "Ugh, you mean the stories made by the pervs out there who only wanna see us in Harems or having lemons with each other for days?" she remarked, scoffing while crossing her arms and turning her head away. "No way! Pretty sure my fans wouldn't approve of some random OC jumping this hot bod! Nope, no sir!"

"But that's only if it became canon, Nep." IF interjected when she saw the dejection in Compa's eyes. She had a similar opinion, but hey she would wait before judging this idea. For all she knew, an interesting read might be before her, and plus, she wouldn't admit it but she too wanted to know what kind of fanfic had been recommended to her friend. "Plus, you can't judge a book by it's cover, and hopefully there aren't all perverts on our fanfiction site. There's bound to be SOME who wanna be good writers."

"But Iffffffyyyyyy, the dreaded harem genre! #SPOOKY TONE#"

"It's not real, Nep! Beside's, I know a few girls who are into that genre as well, you know! Anyways, what's the fanfiction called, Compa?"

Both girls turned to the Nurse with Histoire floating between them, Compa, whom had then seen their gazes, looked up at them and held her Phone out. "Found it while you lot were arguing away like little children." she replied innocently. "It's called 'One Eyed G Re:Birth, looks to be a retelling of the rebirth series, Nep-Nep!"

"Huh, well people did say that one has better storytelling than the original, according to reviews…" Neptune mused, a hand on her chin in thought. She still didn't look too certain, though. "Oh well, I guess it's something, at least. If it doesn't look too engaging, i'll just go pes-I mean, visit Noire some."

Histoire's brow twitched at that, but she remained silent. She too had been aware of fanfiction and how there were many perverts out there who try to write stories where they could put their own dark fantasies into it, but she also had read some stories which were actually really engaging to read, she read some whenever she could take a break or just before she would go to bed. Hopefully, this one would be part of the latter, but first, there was something they needed to do. "Before you begin reading girls, may I just retrieve something?"

Her sudden question drew curious stares from the girls, to which the little woman promptly flew off. She returned to the living room moments later, visibly struggling to carry this large, black and purple futuristic-looking projector. After a slightly panicked IF and Compa (supported with some frantic yelling by Neptune) got it off her and onto the floor before the TV, Histoire, while rubbing her slightly aching arms, began to explain what it was that she had brought. "This is a device that has been recently invented by your sister, Neptune. She calls it the 'N-Projector', she made it for the twins so they could watch some of the more complicated education books that Mina would use for their education as if they were movies. We can use this to view ths Fanfiction as one for those who… don't read many manuals these days."

At this, she aimed a look of accusation towards Neptune, who whistled away innocently while looking at anything but her.

"Alrighty, let's have fun together, guys!" Compa cheered merrily while Histoire helped her prepare the projector. IF helped too, and soon enough the projector had been successfully activated and was waiting for the story.

"According to Nepgear, you insert the link to the story in here…" Histoire began after a quick look at the manual she'd taken with her, Compa handing her the Phone before she inputted the link to the Fanfiction. The Projector whirled to life seconds later, and while it did that the others soon sat on the Sofa. Neptune even had some popcorn ready. Don't ask how, it's Neptune. At last, the Projector shot a screen out of it's lense, filling the entire side of the room with it's size. "There, it works!"

"I wonder what this is going to be like…" Compa mused thoughtfully as the screen began flashing to show that it was working alright, according to the manual anyways. Then, she noticed the screen acting weirdly, and her eyes soon widened when they saw why. "Ooooooh! This Author must have been really into this, he made an Opening for his story!"

Now IF had to whistle, impressed. "Okay, even if this turns out to be bad, the fact that he made an OP means he put effort into this fanfiction." she admitted, with a grudging sense of respect.

Even Neptune didn't have anything to say, and she hadn't been to thrilled about reading a fanfic likely about her and the girls being used for sexual pleasure.

OEG - OP

Oh won't you tell me, please just tell me, explain how this should work

The black screen is slowly illuminated to show a lake and sky, the lake reflecting the skies colour. In the middle, there is a chair, which had its reflection right beneath it. A young man is sitting on the chair, but his form is distant so his features aren't visible.

"OC alert guys! OC alert!"

"Hush now, Neptune."

Well now who could it be, that lives inside of me?

Everything is illuminated briefly like a flash bang, before the screen zooms in on the man's body upper body. His crimson red hair is shown hanging downwards to cover his eyes, swaying in some silent wind. His hands were tied to the sides of his chair, yet he makes no movements, as if he was nothing but a corpse.

I'm broken, lying helpless shattered, surrounded by this lonely world

The screen shifts to the right side, where one can see Neptune standing within the Mirror world with Compa standing beside her. There were several other female figures, but shrouded in darkness standing around them, their reflections shown below them. The silent wind ruffled their clothes, and as the screen closed in on them, it showed their eyes were closed as they looked downwards. Slowly, their eyes opened and they stared into each other's.

And Yet you're smiling bright, completely blind to life.

"The scene shifts to the left, where an ominous white cloaked figure was standing, grinning sinisterly as his clothes fluttered in the silent breeze. His grin was shark-like, showing his sharp teeth as his eyes slowly opened as well. Unlike Neptune and Compa, who were both serene and peaceful, this person's features showed nothing but sinister, wild and bloodthirsty intent.

#Instrumental#

Everything shifts to a simple city-like background, with large cracks like a vulnerable piece of glass in front of it. Behind the glass, various characters appeared, flashing by like images in a slideshow. Some are revealed to be the young man, Neptune, IF, Compa, and others have been darkened into silhouettes. These characters then were replaced by the title, which was in big, bold crimson letters that had trails of blood going down them. The title was called 'One Eyed G Re:birth'.

My ruptured lungs, they were left this way, for once I'm out of breath

The red haired man is walking down a city street, looking ahead while something lurks in the glass beside him, his reflection following every movement. It was almost like he was trying to avoid looking at himself for whatever reason.

The scene shifts to Neptune, who is travelling down another street, but this time she was looking at a glassy window with one eye, seeing her HDD form Purple Heart staring back at her.

Freeze!

Various characters, Compa, IF, are seen walking by ether down some stairs with glassy windows showing their reflections, or across the streets with similar glass reflections. Compa's reflection is darkened and barely visible, while IF's reflection showed her reflection but… different, somehow.

I'm breakable; unbreakable, I'm Shakable yet, unshakable, until the day that you find me.

The screen turns into a black void, and the white figure is soon seen at the centre. Something comes out of him, and its revealed to be strange white flower petals. They came out of him like they were growing out of him, illuminating the darkness with their light yet also strangely mutating into something horrific. The figures eyes, wide with glee, closed as if he was struggling to contain himself from going wild, like he was waiting for the right moment.

I'll stand here, existing and feeling this wretched existence, consuming life force, till I grow distant.

In the next scene, the void is present, but this time Neptune in her HDD form is shown, standing with her back to the screen. She has several wing-like petals growing out of her, with more flowers seemingly growing out of those coming from her back. She slowly turns to the camera, her eyes gradually closing themselves shut with a troubled frown on her features.

Don't bother looking for someone like me, a fading no one. I don't want to hurt you, it's not my nature. A monster born from dusk to dawn can't be your saviour.

The next scene shows the red haired man falling down into an ocean, sinking beneath its depths. His body was positioned like he had fallen from a great height, and now he was gradually sinking into depths that nobody would reach. Down below, the scene shows the darkness of the depths below, where two figures are rising upwards, as if sinking upwards with their backs turned to him. The three meet, and the screen shows the three people, The red haired man, the white haired figure whose face closely resembles the redhead's now that the girls looked at them, and an older version of the red haired man. Said man is staring wide-eyed, lost, into the camera, while the white one is grinning sinisterly and the older one is Nonchalant. The older one is larger than the other white version, like he was trying to protect the normal man from the grinning one.

So please think of me, as who I used to be.

The final scene shows a brief rising of bubbles that leads to the mirror world again, only this time a stoic looking man is staring at the screen, his face devoid of any emotion whatsoever. His eyes are lifeless, broken, as if everything he had was ripped away from him. The screen, which showed a close-up of his face, gradually receded backwards, to show that his clothes had been replaced with barely recognisable rags.

#Fading out instrumental#

The music fades out after the camera pulls back and the screen returns to darkness.

Once the OP finished, there was definitely an… extreme reaction from the girls.

"WOOOOOOOW!" Neptune shrieked, her eyes wide and sparkly as she gushed like a waterfall while looking at the screen. A complete opposite to er previous demeanor if there ever was one. Her doubts about the story didn't fade away completely, but just from the OP Neptune could tell that this story would be a good one! She couldn't have taken her eyes away if she tried, heck she didn't even touch her popcorn yet, that was just how riveted she had been with all the flashing images and awesome soundtrack. If she was standing, then she'd be jumping up and down like a schoolgirl on a sugar rush. Heck, she nearly did if it weren't for her nearly hitting Compa. "That looked so cool! There was a really cool beat to that song, that tune rocked!"

IF smirked, crossing her arms under her chest. One could tell how much she approved of this thing already. "The music's good, and the Lyrics were quite interesting, too." she remarked, having paid attention to what the lyrics said when they were shown on the screen. "I can tell this story's going to be a complex one, I get the feeling this thing's talking about secrets and how they impact other people's people tend to act differently until they can show their true selves." Memories of that one shrewd Businessman Ganache, and then the one Neptune told her about after the Ultradimension incident Mr Badd. "Though, i'm honestly intrigued about what those reflection scenes were about. They seemed like they held some symbolic meaning there." Especially her apparent other in that sequence, the way her reflection looked… it honestly concerned yet intrigued her at the same time.

"It also didn't spoil us too much about the plot for the story." Compa mused, smiling happily. She didn't like how some OP's spol the plotline when she watches the first episode of an anime, so this one who only showed the characters, and even then some of them didn't show through the darkness that covered them, intrigued the young Nurse greatly. While the song itself had been rivetting to listen too (she'd definitely been bobbing her head up and down, and lightly patting her lap a few times) that other point was the main highlight for her.

Histoire had a similar opinion, but something else drew her attention. "Everything was intriguing, but I wonder about this youngman. That would be the final test to see if he's the typical harem protagonist or not." she remarked, though she could admit that he had a lot about him already. Just from the opening, she could see he had a struggle all his own to show, especially when she saw the three versions of him together. She couldn't help but shudder when she saw the maniacal grin that white version of the man showed himself on screen. The shot where the older one seemed to protect the main one from the white one was also an interesting point for her, to the Tome, it seemed that these three held a LOT of similarities and differences, yet all three seem to rely on each other in some way.

He honestly reminded her about the CPUs, in some ways,

"Well, at least it doesn't seem like a typical harem story." Neptune remarked, trying to curb stomp her excitement about reading/watching the next chapter… although it failed miserably. She'd read some fanfics about that in her past times before, and there were mostly the same that it started getting bland to her. She guessed people liked that genre because of perverted reasons, but so far this Story's OP showed her that this one had more to it than just a simple harem. The reason she found this to be a harem story already simply was because there were so any female characters and few males, which was a big sign of harem anime and manga.

Looking to the others, the Tome spoke with a resolute tone. "So, we are all in agreement then? Shall we get the next chapter rolling?" She questioned, getting confirmation nods from the others. "Very well, Compa, how many chapters are there?"

"Well… wow, this person must have aching hands cause there's over 90, and the word count is over 800K!"

"Whoa! That's longer than many of Blanc's books! You think this dude's put in some effort into this story, or what?" Neptune yelled, surprise evident on her features.

IF could only nod, even she had been surprised by that bit of info. Now she REALLY wanted to know what it was like. "Well then, ladies, switch to chapter 1!"

A "Yessy!" came from Compa as she did the action on her Phone, the next chapter starting up on the Projector…