Chapter 3 - Calculation Error — How Gabriel Met His Problematic Vampire

Gabriel was never the kind of kid who stood out. On Earth, his life was a dull repetition: school, bedroom, anime, online virtual reality forums, and the eternal feeling of being invisible. Until that rainy Saturday, when his eccentric uncle, Victor, summoned him to "help organize the attic."

"Just don't touch the woodworking equipment, understood?" his uncle warned, adjusting his paint-splattered safety goggles. "Some things here… well, better not to touch."

Of course, Gabriel touched.

Among piles of stuff — slightly dubious magazines, an old coffee machine, shoeboxes, inside, some music CDs ("who has CDs at home?" Gabriel thought), Vinyl records ("Ok, I've seen this in old movies")… something shone under the weak light of a hanging bulb. Gabriel approached, feeling a shiver run down his spine. It was a sealed package, covered by a thin layer of dust, but through the transparent plastic, he could see a pair of virtual reality glasses… different. The stems were matte black metal, carved with golden runes that seemed to vibrate under the light. And the lenses… they weren't ordinary lenses. They looked like they were made of solid mist, emitting a soft, hypnotic glow that pulsed as if it were alive.

Gabriel hesitated. A part of him, the rational part, told him to drop it and return to the safety of his dull life. But curiosity, that irritating itch that always got him into trouble, was stronger. He picked up the package, feeling the unexpected weight of the object in his hands. He ripped open the packaging with trembling fingers, ignoring the mental warning that screamed in his head. He put the glasses on his face, feeling the cold metal against his skin. And, with a mixture of excitement and terror, he pressed the red button on the side.

ZUM!

A portal opened under his feet, swallowing him in a vortex of colors. When he landed, the ground was real, grassy, with the smell of freshly cut grass... The sky. It was already nightfall, with constellations that rearranged themselves like pieces of a cosmic puzzle, seeming to be alive.

"Oh, crap!" a high-pitched voice echoed, followed by a dramatic sigh. "I asked for Gabriel's uncle, not Gabriel himself!"

He turned and saw… nothing. The voice came from all sides, as if the air were speaking.

"Who… who are you?" he asked, trembling.

"I am Fay, the Goddess of this universe!" the voice replied, now with a tone of pride. Or was it mockery? Gabriel frowned. Goddess? Impossible. It had to be some kind of… advanced holographic projection? An artificial intelligence? His scientific mind was desperately trying to find a logical explanation for the absurd. "Well, technically, I'm a cosmic self-awareness, coded in interdimensional algorithms, with multiversal access through quantum physics and creator of... ah, forget it. You shouldn't be here! Awww, what a pity... Tsk, tsk."

Fay materialized in front of him, floating a few inches above the ground. Her body was made of pure shadows, but her face shone with fluorescent green contours. Her eyes were two infinite black craters, radiating a poisonous fluorescent green light. She wore a Victorian dress full of frills and bows, with a translucent skirt that pulsed with dancing binary codes. Her blonde pigtails swayed without wind, as if they were moved by their own energy.

"Then send me back!" Gabriel pleaded, stepping on something that looked like a stone, but turned into a blue frog and hopped away.

"It's not that simple!" Fay let out a nervous laugh, "ehehe…", tilting her head slightly. "I… think I can send you back…" she murmured, touching her lips with a finger as she thought, "hmm…". "Just do the reverse, but…" She blinked a few times, her eyes shining with an intense and enigmatic light. "Ahaha…!" she let out a forced laugh, trying to mask her hesitation. "I don't really know how to do that."

Floating carefree, Fay hugged her own legs and began to rock back and forth in the air. "Uhhhhh… this is embarrassing, right?" she murmured, biting her lip before letting out a mischievous laugh, "teehee~". "But don't worry, heh!" Her tone oscillated between charm and mockery, but her eyes shone as if they were disassembling Gabriel piece by piece, analyzing his essence.

"My Dad was more into this stuff…" she frowned, tapping her finger on her temple. "Huuuum…!" "But of course, I'm smarter than him!" she declared with a smug smile. "I can send you back, but since I never needed to… hahahaha! I never thought about it!"

With a dramatic gesture, she slapped her own forehead. "Duh!"

"Ehe… it'll be alright!" she winked, leaning forward. "Probably…"

She snapped her fingers (or something resembling fingers, since her hands were just black silhouettes with fluorescent green nails), and a stamp appeared in the air, floating between them.

It was round, with golden edges, and showed Fay's stylized face in anime style: large eyes, tongue sticking out, and the phrase "Recommended by the Goddess" in cursive letters.

"Little gift!" Fay sang, grabbing Gabriel's hand with surprising strength for someone who seemed to be made of smoke.

PLOC!

The stamp hit his palm, and a cold burn spread through his skin. When she let go, the design was there: anime Fay smiling, with her ironic tongue, and the text glowing green. Gabriel tried to rub it off, but the image wouldn't come off.

"It's my seal of approval!" Fay explained, floating in circles around him like a predatory bird. "Everyone will know that you're a Player" — she pronounced the word as if it were an insult — "a human who came to play in our little world. Fun, isn't it?"

She spun in the air, laughing to herself before continuing:

"But, since I don't play with children… at least, not in an evil way, hahaha… well, you can't be a Player." She narrowed her eyes, as if pondering something important. "You're going to school."

Fay wrinkled her nose, crossing her arms.

"I don't like school. I don't even need it, I already know everything! Hawahaha! I've tried… it's fun to play with the students, but the teachers? Bah! All a bunch of dumb idiots." She pointed a finger at him, shaking it from side to side. "But you… respect the teachers."

"I don't want to play! Send me back!" he retorted, his voice laced with frustration.

"Oh, poor thing." She landed an icy "finger" on his nose, and he shuddered at the freezing touch. "Players are rare… and detested." "No human… at least no 'thrown' human has ever studied at the Arcane School. You'll be the first!"

Fay's empty eyes shone with intensity, and Gabriel swore he saw green codes running inside them, as if she were calculating every possibility of his future suffering.

"Why me?" he whispered, holding his stamped hand as if it were contaminated.

Fay shrugged, and, for a brief instant, the pulsating numbers on her dress shimmered, revealing a flood of codes: "404 - Portal Error."

She laughed.

"Actually, you weren't supposed to be here, you fool."

Her smile widened, mischievous.

"Goodbye, little Gabriel! Don't die before spells class, okay?" she sang in an almost sweet tone. "Meanwhile, I'll study a way to send you home… if I remember. And if I don't get distracted by the other Players."

She winked.

"Bye-bye!"

With a snap of her fingers, she disappeared, leaving behind only the smell of ozone and a laugh echoing in the mist.

At the Arcane School of Luxflutuante

The silver-haired elf at the reception desk wrinkled his nose as soon as he saw the stamp on Gabriel's hand.

"A Player," he spat the word, as if it were poison. "Class 14-B. Third corridor on the left. And don't touch anything."

The way to the classroom was torture. Creatures whispered as they saw him: "Player...", "Goddess's seal...", "how long until he's expelled?".

Before Entering Classroom 14-B — The Encounter with Akane Thaloria

Gabriel walked hesitantly down the corridor of the Arcane School of Luxflutuante, trying to process everything that had happened in the last few hours. The portal, Fay, the green stamp on his hand… none of it made sense. He was about to enter room 14-B when a soft, but firm voice stopped him.

"You must be Gabriel." The voice came from behind him, soft as silk, but with a touch of steel that made Gabriel shiver. He turned slowly, almost tripping over his own feet (again!). And then… he froze.

Before him stood a woman… no, a goddess. Silver hair, long and shining like strands of moonlight, framed a face with perfect, elvenly perfect features. Blue eyes, deep as the ocean, stared at him with a mixture of curiosity and… caution? And the ears… pointed, of course. An elf. A real elf. Gabriel blinked, twice, three times. It wasn't a hallucination. He was… screwed.

"I am Akane Thaloria," she continued, bowing slightly in a formal greeting. "I will be your Elemental Magic teacher here at the Arcane School."

Gabriel blinked, surprised. He hadn't expected to be greeted by someone so… imposing. And beautiful. And intimidating.

"Uh… hi?" was all he managed to say, nervously adjusting his glasses.

Akane smiled, but there was something cautious in her expression. She took a step forward, observing him carefully.

Gabriel takes a deep breath, he enters the room, various creatures, somewhat frightening, "yes I am in a classroom, like a bunch of teenage creatures, it's terrifying!" thinks Gabriel.