Being stuck in the hospital bed was pretty boring.

Ridley had just left about an hour ago, which left Matt alone with his thoughts. The latter didn't mind though. In fact, he was fine with this. There was just a whole lot for him to take in.

For starters, Ridley verified that Matt was in Hyperdimension Neptunia. More specifically, he was in Planeptune which was Neptune's nation. How he got here, Matt had no idea. Perhaps he came to this world the same way that Ridley did...whatever that was. Unfortunately, Ridley seemed a bit more hesitant to talk about this subject which was a bit suspicious.

Matt frowns. What could be so bad about telling him about how he got into the world of Hyperdimension Neptunia? It wasn't like he did anything crazy, right? It couldn't be something along the lines of demonic rituals or anything sinister like it...

Matt shook his head. Nah. That couldn't be. Ridley didn't look like the type to do that sort of thing and Matt definitely knew that he would never do it himself. In any case, Matt would just have to wait until the time comes when Ridley was ready to share that information with him.

Interestingly, on a side note, it was a bit surprising to learn that Ridley was Neptune's boyfriend. Matt would never have thought that a person like Ridley would be able to get Neptune as a girlfriend...unless maybe he bribed her with an endless supply of pudding...

Then again, it wasn't like he knew Ridley that well. Perhaps there were some qualities that Neptune admired in a guy. Strength? Charisma? Smarts? Flirty? Funny? Matt wasn't really sure. He could guess that Ridley was probably really strong though. After all, he was wearing a giant sword around his waist. So, it's probably a piece of cake for Ridley to take down anyone he was up against. Maybe that's why Neptune fell in love with Ridley...

Matt shook his head again. Perhaps it was best to put that thought to the side for now.

On the bright side, at least Ridley made the offer to help him get back to his world, so that was a plus at least. If this whole thing just turned out to be some crazy misunderstanding, then Matt wouldn't hesitate to take the offer and have Ridley find him a way to get back home. The sooner he left, the better.

Speaking of home, apparently Matt had lived in an apartment somewhere in Planeptune. Where, when and how, he had no clue. Not to mention, how he would be able to afford one in the first place. He didn't even know what he did in Gamindustri for a living. It wasn't like he held some kind of super important job, right?

Matt sighs and rubs his head. While the conversation was interesting, needless to say, there were a lot more questions than answers. If anything, it made Matt wonder even more about what his past adventures were here. Of course, Matt still didn't believe it. At least, he didn't think so. It was, however, hard not to be intrigued with such an idea.

Matt looks to Compa who was busy setting up a new IV bag. He was thankful that she was looking after him. Since Day 1, Compa was constantly checking on him. She was a sweet character, both in the game and in person.

…Not that he played any Hyperdimension Neptunia games before...just watched other people play the games.

"Hey Compa? How long do I have to stay in here?" Matt asks.

"You did suffer a lot of injuries Mat-Mat," Compa says as she checks to make sure everything was properly set before turning to Matt, "I think a week should do it. Then you'll be able to leave the hospital."

A week, huh? Guess that wasn't too bad. It wasn't exactly something comforting to hear, but it could've been worse. It could've been two weeks or even a month.

Matt rubs his eyes. Perhaps he could ask Compa how they became friends. It would be nice to hear some stories about the things he and Compa did.

Unfortunately, his body seemed to have other plans. Matt could feel his eyelids drop as he tried to fight off the heavy urge of sleep.

Compa took note and went by Matt's side, "Why don't you take some rest Mat-Matt? You're going to need to sleep so you can recover faster."

Matt didn't disagree with that. Compa had a point. However, he still wanted to ask her about how they knew each other and how they were friends. Maybe later.

All of this thinking was tiring him out. He would just close his eyes for 5 minutes, that's all. Then he would ask his question. Just 5 minutes.

000

4 hours.

His five minutes became 4 hours.

Matt groans as he looks at the clock on the left side of the room. Well, that wasn't supposed to happen. Matt didn't think he would accidentally sleep more than he originally wanted. He should've asked for an alarm clock or something to wake him up.

Then again, he would probably sleep through the alarm...or keep on hitting the snooze button. Whichever of the two. Some things probably just never change, no matter what universe you were in.

"Well, looks like sleepyhead finally woke up."

Matt blinks and looks to his right. A girl with long brown hair and a green bow that looked like a new sprout sat in a red chair right across from him. It was easy to identify who the person was.

IF. Traveling companion of Compa and Neptune. The girl who constantly uses her phone whenever she gets the chance. More importantly, she was a character that Matt knew somewhat about.

"Good to see you're awake." IF said.

"Uh. Thanks." Matt replies.

"No," IF says. "I'm serious. You could've died, you know."

Matt immediately sits up and looks at IF with wide eyes. He moved so fast that pain shot up in his gut area which causes him to flinch. This, however, was nothing compared to what he just heard.

Died?!

He could've died? As in Rest-In-Peace? Buried in the grave? Eternal sleep? Never to wake up again?

Matt glances at the heart monitor, watching the waves detect his heartbeat.

Well...It explained why he was hooked up to an IV machine and it explained why he was in a lot of pain. He didn't think he was injured THAT serious. He wasn't sure how he even got hurt in the first place!

In pain, yes. That he could understand. Not close to death!

"What happened?" Matt asks.

"...You were in a fight." IF said.

Matt looks at IF with wide eyes. A fight? Why was he in a fight? Was he against a thief and got robbed? Or did a bully decide to pick on him?

"Why was I in a fight?" Matt asks.

IF shook her head, "Oh no. I'm not telling you the rest. That's Neptune's job."

Neptune's job? Why was that always left to Neptune? Did Neptune make them Nep-promise that they wouldn't explain to him what happened to him? That Neptune herself was the only one allowed to tell what happened?

Matt couldn't help but feel extremely lost and confused. Matt wasn't the type to usually get into fights. So, why did he get in one?

Just what was going on?

He glances at IF. Chances were, he probably wouldn't get anything else from IF. So, he would have to accept this as fact until he met Neptune. Hopefully, when he did meet Neptune, things would clear up.

"Okay. Uh, thank you..." Matt trails off.

"IF."

"Right. Thank you IF."

IF nods and tilts her head a bit to the left.

"Is it just me or do you seem to be a lot less hyper?" IF asks.

Hyper?

That's odd. Matt wasn't ever hyper. He never was one of those people who would eat tons of sugar as a kid or drink 6 cups of coffee a day. What was IF saying?

"No. I'm not really the type to go crazy."

"Okay, who are you and what have you done with Matt?" IF asks.

Matt looks at her. What was she talking about? Matt wasn't the type to go hyper and crazy! If anything, he was the guy who was usually quiet and be passive. It would be totally crazy for him to be hyper!

"What do you mean?"

"I mean normally you would be a manic. You would probably jump off this bed right now and run out of the door to go and kill some monsters."

...Huh?

Fight monsters? Like dragons and ogres and goblins? Those monsters? That's a laugh. Matt would never fight monsters. He'd be too scared to even face one. Plus...

Matt looks at himself. Even if he somehow wanted to fight a monster, right now, he was still injured. He would just get even more hurt if he tried to do something as crazy as that.

Also, the fact that he never met a monster before would be another point worth mentioning.

"No. That isn't something I would do." Matt shook his head.

IF raises an eyebrow, "I see."

An uncomfortable feeling settles down on Matt. He tries to shake off the feeling but it clings onto him like a stubborn parasite. Perhaps he should try and change the subject.

Matt pauses before he clears his throat, "Hey IF? Were we friends?"

"Well," If pauses for a brief moment. "You would travel around with us, fighting in whatever battles we had to face. So, we were kind of friends. Kind of."

Traveling around and fighting monsters with Neptune and the gang? That sounds pretty awesome.

Hold on, did this mean that Matt used to be really strong? Maybe he wielded some sort of powerful weapon like Ridley?

"How was I in battle? Was I strong? Do I have some kind of cool sword or weapon?" Matt asks.

IF sighs, "To answer your questions. No. You were actually the weakest member of the entire team. The only thing you ever used was a wooden sword. Nothing special."

...Weakest team member?

Ironically, that didn't seem such a surprise to Matt. Disappointing, yes. Not surprising though. It wasn't like he was expecting to have been some kind of super powerful hero.

Still, it was pretty painful to hear that he was very weak. Especially with the fact that all he ever used was a wooden sword. The most basic of all weapons in the history of RPGs. Why didn't he ask for some kind of magic sword or gun or something like that?

No wonder he was considered the weakest one out of the bunch. A wooden sword was a worthless weapon, especially when characters like Neptune had super strong swords or Vert with a strong javelin/spear thing.

Matt groans and rubs his head.

"At least, I was helpful, right?" Matt asks.

"Wish that was the case," IF said grimly. "I really do."

Matt's heart sank a bit, "What exactly did I do?"

"To give you an idea, I'll give you a very brief summary on one adventure we had. Like really brief."

"Okay," Matt shruggs.

"You charged at an Ancient Dragon. Head on. With a wooden sword."

Matt blinks.

After a few seconds, he just stares.

"I know that at times I could be a little stubborn," IF said dryly. "You, however, were the very definition of headstrong."

Matt just looks at IF.

That-That didn't sound like him at all! There was no way that Matt could ever do something like that. This HAD to be a different person.

"Are you sure this is me?" Matt asks.

"Yes. I am sure," IF says, "I'm more than positive. I know for a fact it's you. Do you know why?"

There was a little edge in IF's voice when she said the question. Matt shook his head in response. However, based on IF's reaction, he had a bad feeling it was going to be a disaster.

IF grits her teeth, "I'll tell you why."

IF came close to Matt's face to the point where Matt could've smell the bloodlust reeking out from her.

"You DESTROYED MY PHONE. SMASHED IT TO PIECES WITH THAT SWORD." IF said.

Matt looks in horror at IF.

No. There was no way he was THAT stupid. If Matt remembered anything about IF, it was that her phone was her life. So, damaging said phone meant you were asking for a death sentence.

"By the way, you owe me a new phone." IF growls.

Yikes. Matt didn't even do anything...er, not to his knowledge anyway...and he was already in hot water with IF.

"I think you have me mistaken for another person," Matt began and immediately cringes when IF gives him a very, angry look.

"Oh no you don't! You're not going to make the excuse of not damaging my phone." IF said.

"I mean! That's something I wouldn't do! Why would I choose to fight a DRAGON head-on?"

"The question should have been why WOULDN'T you fight a dragon head-on?" IF retorts.

"Maybe to live?"

"That wouldn't sound like you."

"No. I'm pretty sure it would sound like me to want to live." Matt said.

A brief moment of silences passes by. No one moves or says anything. IF and Matt look at each other in the eyes. Finally, IF sighs and takes a seat.

"I guess amnesia helped you to regain sanity. You were a crazy nutcase out there." IF rolls her eyes and sighs. She whispers, "Where was that sanity when we needed it the most?"

Wow, Matt thought to himself. From the story IF told about him, he sounded like he was some sort of crazy person. Yet, it didn't make sense! Matt was absolutely sure he would never do such a thing!

"Do me a favor, Matt." IF said.

Matt glances back to the brown hair girl as she stands up.

IF continues, "Whenever you remember something, I want you to tell me first thing, understand?"

Tell IF? Well, it made sense, Matt supposed. After all, IF was some kind of Intelligence member for Planeptune. She would be able to help him remember a lot of things much faster.

Matt nods, "Was that all that I did?"

"Hm?" IF glances, "No. Far from it. I wish it was but you gave me so many headaches..."

Matt looks away, "Ah."

"I'm just letting you off the hook with one story. Next time I'm going to come in with even more crazy things you did that drove me nuts," IF says as she stands up. "Oh yeah. If I seem to get a bit annoyed and angry at you, just understand I'm only doing this to feel a relief after holding in all the things you did that made me tick, you understand?"

Matt swallows and nods.

"Don't forget you also owe me a new phone," IF said as she walks away from the bed. She pauses before she leaves the door and gives Matt one last look, "Feel better."

Matt watches as IF closes the door behind her. Matt frowns. He actually kind of liked IF. She was a great character and could be funny at times. At least, in the games. It was too bad IF wasn't exactly a fond of him. Maybe he could find a way to improve his friendship with her?

Matt frowns. He would have to put that thought on hold for a moment.

Weakest team member, huh? That didn't sound so surprising. The headstrong part, however, was concerning. Going headfirst into battle? Picking a fight against a dragon? Destroying IF's phone? This...This was strange.

That couldn't possibly be me...could it?

I hope you guys enjoyed the latest chapter. Apologizes that it took so long.