Posted: March 24, 2016

Proofread and Edited: December 27, 2016

There are some questions about pairings. Mmm, if there's going to be a pairing it will be mild All27 because I am a sucker for that (just check my fics). Anyway, there might be hints here and there but it won't be the main focus. (You can read my other story if you want funny All27 *hint hint*) Also I tend to use game terminology a lot . . . if there are things you're confused about please don't hesitate to ask!

Thanks for the support!

Chapter 02

Tsuna was still having trouble accepting the fact he was an NPC when pseudo-Takeshi spoke up again.

"Oh! I need to tell my party members!"

Tsuna blanched. So, this thing, universe-thing or whatever, was an MMORPG rather than a single-player game and there were other players actively participating in the game. Which was very weird, Tsuna thought, because he was pretty sure he'd been in this universe for several weeks now and he had never sensed anything different. Except for today.

He suddenly had a revelation. That explained why Countess Nana loved to repeat her sentences and why everybody in this mansion had a routine. And how he never, ever found it strange that he also had a similar routine everyday. It just made too much sense!

Bang!

"You bastard, why are you so reckless?! What if there's a trap in here —

Tsuna's heart stopped again. It was Hayato banging his way through his bedroom door.

"Maa maa, you're here already? What about the others?"

"They're on their way! Why don't you try checking your map for once?"

Tsuna decided to be rational. These people — players — may look, speak and act like Takeshi and Hayato, but they were not his Takeshi and Hayato. He should handle this situation with that in mind. "Excuse me?" He tried to get their attention as he stood up from his bed. "Can anybody tell me what's going on —

"Aaaaaaaaaaah!" Hayato pointed an accusatory finger at him. "H-he's talking to us!"

"Haha, I know right?" Takeshi grinned. "It's really weird! Maybe it's a glitch?"

"You idiot, how can this be a glitch? It's impossible unless it's intentionally programmed —

"Oh! Maybe this is a game secret?"

Tsuna sighed. They act too much like his Guardians so it was hard not to think of them as such. "'This glitch' has a name. I'm Tsuna."

Hayato stared. Takeshi continued grinning.

Then Hayato rushed to him and grabbed his hands. "Tsuna," he gulped.

Tsuna stared back. "Yes?"

Hayato's eyes widened and it looked like he was about to cry. "Y-you're real!" He turned his head to Takeshi. "He's real!"

"A real — ?

Hayato's head snapped back at him. "A real UMA! Or maybe in this case, an unidentified mysterious phenomenon?"

Tsuna almost had his hopes up. He thought they had a "Tsuna" in their real lives and that Tsuna died, and then he was reincarnated in a video game as him. Like a cliche story with a funny and interesting twist. Actually, now that Tsuna thought about it, maybe in a different universe something like that happened for real . . . But anyway, this only meant they had never met a "Tsuna" before in their lives. His name or his appearance didn't seem to ring a bell with these two. To them, he was a complete stranger.

Or a glitch, like how they described him.

Hayato was mumbling. "Inspect . . . " Then he took out a pad and pen and began scribbling. "Viscount Sawada Tsunayoshi, age twenty-three, prince of Namimori."

Tsuna frowned. It seemed Inspect was a skill to look at a unit's characteristics.

Hayato continued. "Tsuna is a useless and dame son of the prestigious Sawada family. He has no skills and no ambitions, but his mother, Countess Nana, loves him very much, and dotes on him a little too much. He grew up spoiled with everything available to him and has no desire to persevere and work hard. He likes home-made food and has a cat named Natsu."

Tsuna wanted to cry. He didn't know where Hayato got that information but that meant that was his character description all along! Tsuna was having flashbacks of his younger years . . .

And then he snapped back to reality. "S-so," Tsuna began, fidgeting with the hem of his pajama top, "What are you guys doing in my mansion?" He might as well act like an NPC, for all the good it would do.

Hayato frowned as he stored his pad and pen back in his backpack. "We're just passing by . . ." Without waiting for a response, he suddenly turned around and faced Takeshi. "Oi, Yamamoto. Don't use game terminology around Tsuna-ouji-sama."

Tsuna felt his face heating up. Ouji-sama? That was even more embarrassing than being called jyuudaime!

"Right, right, because he wouldn't understand," Takeshi nodded along and smiled.

Tsuna wanted to correct the two of them. He could understand. But he realized it would make things way more complicated and he didn't want that.

"Oh!" Takeshi exclaimed, looking at Tsuna, "Does that mean we're going to roleplay for real? Haha, I like roleplaying!"

"I told you not to use game terminologies!"

Just what kind of a messed up situation this was . . . Tsuna swore he was going to hunt down a nice, marshmallow-loving person once he escapes this crazy alternate universe.

Hayato turned back to him. "Don't pay too much attention to that idiot, Tsuna-ouji-sama! For now, please let me introduce myself." Then he knelt down in front of him. Tsuna fought the urge to pull him up like how he usually did when Hayato was doing this in his actual, normal life. "I am Gokudera Hayato, an Engineer specializing in crossbows and explosives. I am honored to make your acquaintance."

Suddenly, Takeshi followed suit and knelt down beside Hayato. "Yamamoto Takeshi at your service. A Knight for the land of Vongola."

Tsuna's head was reeling. This exceeded the amount of craziness he was used to!

"Please don't be so formal," Tsuna sighed, sitting back on his bed. "And besides, it's not really appropriate in this situation! We're in my bedroom and I'm still wearing my pajamas!"

Once he said that, it seemed to have triggered something in Hayato that he blushed furiously and bowed down his head. "I'm very sorry for intruding, Tsuna-ouji-sama! When we entered we didn't realize this is your bedroom —

Takeshi piped up. "Actually there's an indicator on the map —

"Shut up you idiot! Pay your respects to the Prince of Namimori!"

Hayato was taking this roleplaying thing a bit too seriously, Tsuna thought.

"Anyway, shouldn't we report this to the admins?" Takeshi was now sitting down on the carpeted floor and seemed to be fiddling with the game interface. "Oh, but there are no online gamemasters right now."

Hayato glared at the other guy. "And what would you say to them?" He grumbled while keeping his voice down, as if Tsuna wouldn't be able to hear him, "'We found a sentient AI in an unfinished town'? I refuse to hand him over to them!"

Tsuna's face met his palm. Hayato was treating him like his property . . .

Takeshi shrugged. "Well, what are you planning to do with him?"

Hayato looked like he was very, very close to pulling out a dynamite from his belt and potentially throwing it on Takeshi's face. "Are you not the least bit curious why this happened? Until we figure out what caused it I think I want to keep him around!"

"But he's a noble prince so he should stay here."

"He's also a sentient NPC so why does that matter?"

"If that's your argument then you don't even know if Tsuna wants to go with you," Takeshi now had a serious look on his face. "As you said he's sentient, so you should let him decide if he wants to stick around."

Hayato was still glaring, but he remained silent. Tsuna couldn't believe he just witnessed a rare scene where Takeshi won over a verbal argument against Hayato. But of course, these people weren't his Takeshi and Hayato . . . Tsuna should remember to keep that in mind at all times.

Hayato pouted. "Right, normally you can convince an NPC to follow you with the right amount of affinity points . . . crap."

Tsuna remained quiet through their ordeal. On one hand, he himself wanted to know what caused this situation because it might lead him to the exit, but on the other hand he was kind of curious on what they'd do.

Boom!

An explosion caused the room to be filled with smoke and dust. Tsuna was glad he was already sitting on his bed because that meant he could just lie down and hide himself under his blanket amidst the smoke and dust. Which he did because he remembered he still wanted to sleep. Maybe Byakuran was already on his way to reverse this mess. Maybe he could just forget he saw Takeshi and Hayato and pretend they were the NPCs.

Maybe when he wakes up, he'd be back in the Vongola mansion.

When Tsuna woke up he was still in the fancy, video game bedroom. The only difference was it was dustier than usual and there were three people sitting on the floor beside his bed.