Pain. That's somewhat expected when one crams for an exam that'll happen the next day. Junk food and energy drinks don't exactly make for a good cocktail regarding your health, but it's a reality so many live with when you're pulling an all-nighter to get a passing grade that will affect your future.
Didn't make it any less unpleasant though.
Why cram at the last minute, you might ask? Well, this particular college student recently got into Zenless Zone Zero. Not a very good reason to procrastinate but unlike every other gacha game they tried? This one stuck. The characters were so likable, the animation was amazing, the story was interesting and then there was-he gooner- how good looking the women were.
They even had a triangle to base the attractiveness of characters on. Cute, beautiful and sexy. Practically every female character fit one or two of these types.
But everyone has a preference. This somewhat broke college student's? Jane Doe. And it was evident from how much time they spent on building her.
"Ahh! Finally... I shouldn't have grinded for disks for that long... man I'm tired.." The student yawned, pulling down her hood to reveal a somewhat average face framed by glasses and messy black hair.
Tossing two cans of Monster punch in the garbage next to her, she rubbed her eyes and shut her laptop. Having stared at a white screen for so long, her eyes were understandably sore.
"Stupid assignments.. stupid course.. stupid ME for spending so many hours grinding.." She rubbed her eyes and complained, groaning at her headache as she rested her head on her desk.
Her eyes stung, her ass was numb, her back was sore and her head felt like her brain was snorting sand. All she felt like doing was crawling in het bed for a few days and sleeping.
"Uuuugh... what time is it..?" She groaned while pulling her cellphone out of her hoodie's big pocket in the center.
Her cellphone, which had a large picture of Zenless Zone Zero's characters as a wallpaper read '7:05am'.
"Great.. I crammed for seven hours. I can get a nap before my class at eleven... oooor..." She bit her lip and looked at the Zenless Zone Zero icon on her phone.
*Sigh~*
"It'd only be a three hour nap.. I can power through. I once stayed up for three days!" She justified and opened up the game.
Strangely though, a screen appeared before the 'play' button could be pressed. A black screen filled up with purple text and a showy screen depicting something like space, with colorful nebula and multiple galaxies. To say it was weird would be an understatement.
"Oh no.. I didn't get a virus, did I? Or hacked? Wait.." She paused, seeing the words rapidly appear in front of the colorful screen.
"Huh.. Are the developers doing a story or something? Like some character who isekai's into ZZZ? I dunno how I'd feel about that.. It could ruin the plotline." She muttered and rubbed her chin.
"Maybe not.. Maybe they're just getting an idea for the ideal scenario their players would want to experience if they were there.." Thinking aloud, she hit the 'Yes' option.
"At least one huh.. so I can pick multiple. Obviously I'd pick ZZZ... but what verses could fit with them? Something urban.. sci-fi-ish and fantasy-like." She started to think about a few series like Zenless.
There were a few but most didn't have Thiren in them. And she wasn't taking the chance for Miyabi, Jane, Pulchra and Ju Fufu to not appear in this hypothetical isekai.
"So urban fantasy with tech and animal people.. Oh! RWBY. Though I'd try to fix the later volumes.." She snorted and typed the two series' in the text box, adding a caveat to improve RWBY post-volume three.
Looking over her chosen series, she nodded to herself and sat back in her chair as she hit 'send'.
"Well that's tough-Just kidding.. obviously I'm choosing my best girl." She snorted and typed in 'Jane Doe'.
"Hell no! Imagine being overly strong in ZZZ and RWBY.. it'd be so boring. No extra powers, thank you. Let's not be the Jesus of those Universes.. What's interesting if there's no struggle?" She shook her head and hit 'No'.
[Sex: Female
Age: 24
Race: Rat Thiren
Tier: 9-A: Small Building level
Powers/Wishes: None
Gift: Infinite potential (Your growth is unlimited- PS: It really would be too pitiful to keep you at such a low level~)
"Pitiful..? Well I guess unlimited potential might not be that broken.. As long as there's struggle in growth. Yeah, if someone was gonna put Jane in RWBY she should have something at least decent. Being stuck as a weakling? Never!" She coughed, feeling herself get a little too riled up and hit 'Yes'.
"Wait.. I didn't put my name in the game-"
But before the shock and fear of being called out could fully sink in, her perpective changed. A pain hit her once more. Her headache, which had been a throbbing yet bearable pain had become completely unbearable.
"Agh!!!" Clutching her head futilely, she fell back onto a couch and curled into a ball.
The memories of the painfully average girl's life flashed by in her mind. No lovers, slightly average grades, supportive parents, passionate about stories. Her full life streamed straight into her head without pause. It became so bad at one point that she passed out.
Her dreams were confusing. A blend of two lives that were intertwining. One extraordinary life, full of danger, justice, lies and power plays. Then, the life of the ordinary woman. Perhaps most of her memories were useless but what she knew of Zenless Zone Zero? Of RWBY? Perhaps are the most important memories she'll find useful.
"Mmmh..." She woke up hours later, to a voice that sounded familiar yet still strange.
Reaching out, she brushed trash off her table and stood up slowly while using the admittedly soft couch as a crutch. The television was on, used as background noise. The apartment she was in was messy, ramen cups, energy drinks, candy wrappers and coffee cups were scattered over the living room.
Leaning on the wall, she walked over to the bathroom and looked in the mirror. Everything told her she should have expected seeing the woman in the mirror, but another part was excited.
Two-tone black and red hair, blunt bangs with two areas being longer, beautiful face, teal-aqua eyes, sizable yet not overly large bust, slim waist, wide hips and thick, powerful legs. One part of her was accustomed to her looks, even using it to her advantage during her missions. The other? Practically drooling. It was almost unsettling how intently she was checking herself out.
"Jane Doe.." She muttered, almost amused.
Although she knew it, she was somewhat astonished. Was she that average girl who became Jane Doe? Was she Jane Doe who received the memories of 'Eve'? Her new reality was jarring.
"I need to think this over.." Jane ran her hand down her face and thought in silence. Her memories as a rat thiren and average human woman gradually blended together, creating a new identity.
She stood in the mirror, looking at herself with a new sense of clarity. Minutes go by as she processes her new identity. Jane let out a small exhale and backed away from the mirror with a subtle smirk.
"Well.. now that's settled. Having an identity crisis really would have put me in a bad mood. Thankfully the Eve part of me really wouldn't mind.." Jane paused, considering how Eve's memories told her the girl often used Jane's likeness as 'material' for 'extracurricular activities', it was no wonder Eve wouldn't mind becoming one with the rat thiren.
A rush of embarassment and amusement hit herself at once that she had to force down. There was no point dwelling it any longer, she had already accepted who she now was.
"I suppose I can use the name 'Eve' as an unofficial alias when I meet people. Jane Doe is just a cover, after all." Jane said to herself as she started picking up the trash in her living room.
A certain part of her now hated the mess and needed to clean it up for some peace of mind before she could decide what to do. After everything was put away, she looked outside and took it all in.
"Yup.. This is different than what Eve remembered." Jane muttered as she looked out at the megacity.
New Vale was its name. The world of RWBY and ZZZ were intertwined. Hollows and Grimm, two contenders for who could screw over humankind and faunus the most, existed simultaneously. This created an interesting history that, past a certain point in time, she had no idea about.
It wasn't all bad though. Hollows weren't as numerous here, for some reason. Grimm were the same but humanity and the faunus weren't as near the brink of extinction as one might logically conclude, knowing the two world settings mixed. Technology had developed faster due to the urgency of the two threats. This caused for safer cities, which grew to hold a couple million people each. New Vale, Atlas, Mistral City, Republic of Vacuo and the unofficial nation of Menagerie.
In short, things were bad but it wasn't like all life was at the risk of being destroyed. In ZZZ, things were bad. There was only one known city left on the planet that hadn't fallen, New Eridu. And on RWBY, the four Kingdoms were only relatively safe. That is, until Salem attacked in a bid to get the relics.
Thinking about everything, Jane sighed and leaned against her window sill.
"I need a plan of action.. a 'to-do' list, even. I'm not entirely sure if things will unfold exactly as they had in Zenless and RWBY but I need to make a list of recent events and determine Ruby's age. Then, I can adjust on the go. But man~ I really screwed myself when I didn't pick any powers, didn't I?" Jane sighed with a self depreciating smile.
"Oh well. Moping about regrets won't do anything. Time to hop on Inter-knot~"