Edited: Changed Vera Vandermeer to Vera Walton, I don't know why my game gave different last name from the one on the wikis, might be mistranslation
It took her a whole day for Luna to calm herself down.
The gravity of her current situation was hitting her one by one as there was little to nothing she knew about Vera Walton. She knew she still had her parents living somewhere, but she didn't truly know them personally. She knew their faces and names through the original Vera's memories, but she didn't know how to act around them. The memories of her scumbag boyfriend were fresh since they were dating 3 months ago.
"...I'm having a second-hand embarrassment when I recall Vera's memory of their first meeting and their dates…" She said it to herself deadpan.
She played many dating-sim games in her past life, but this guy was way too cringe to the point Luna wondered how the hell Vera fell in love with this guy.
"Considering Vera is a vulnerable college student with somewhat strict parents… I can somehow feel her."
Luna could only sigh about it.
Judging from the schedule she found, Vera had a class and it would be weird if she didn't show up. Luna was both excited and worried at the same time; excited because she finally could go to the University inside her favorite game, but at the same time, she may or may not know if she could follow the lesson or not.
"Well… Vera is a quiet one right? I assume she won't speak very much." Luna tried to reassure herself. "I won't raise any alarm if I just...stay quiet…"
For some reason, it made her more worried than before.
~0~0~0~
For the sake of her sanity, Luna was so glad that her "first day as a college student" went pretty well.
Probably thanks to Vera's current situation, it wasn't weird for Vera to stay quiet and hardly ever talk with someone for the whole class. She noticed some guys wanted to approach her, but completely hesitated to do it. Luna knew through books that depressed people wouldn't truly care about it, so she just kept quiet with that reason and also in fear people would notice that "Vera felt like a completely different person".
Other than that, Luna was really happy to be able to go to university like a proper student. When people normally didn't really like going to school, Luna always dreamed of going into one ever since the illness took a huge toll on her body and she was pulled out from her school completely. Her illness made her unable to experience normal life, so Luna was very happy to the point she had to collect herself not freaking out when she first got there.
The lessons were quite hard for her since her education was only at the high school level, not to mention the education was far more advanced than the ones she received in her past life. She just read textbooks of the topic and subject she was interested in, but never properly being taught about it. Good thing that Vera was also quite a diligent student and took notes of her lessons. Luna managed to cramp most of everything the day before, so she didn't feel left behind much.
The lesson was over, but Luna didn't stand up yet. She actually wanted to look around to admire Stellis University because she only saw it on the illustration in the game. Then, she noticed one of the guys forgot his jacket as he rushed out the room, probably trying to catch up with something.
She remembered one of the nurses' advice to be kind with others, so Luna grabbed the jacket and catched up with him.
"He-hey!" Luna called him out, still not used to Vera's voice coming out. "You forget this…"
"A-Ah! Thanks…" The guy looked a bit dumbfounded to see her approaching. They both became silent as nobody wanted to speak up. Luna mentally panicked from inside because she took his silence as his confusion about "Vera's new weird behavior".
"Vera-"
"I have to go now." Luna quickly cut him off in panic and ran away before he could say anything.
Luna didn't see where she was going, but she noticed that she ended up on Campus Trail. She somewhat knew it thanks to the illustration. If she remembered correctly, that path would lead to the Art Gallery. It was also the place where the main character met Marius von Hagen for the first time.
"I can't believe I'm walking on this trail for real…" Luna quietly felt thrilled recalling the first meeting.
"Vera." Luna jumped the moment someone called her out. Nervously, she turned around and was shocked to see who called her out.
It was the Main Character of "Tears of Themis", with Dr. Vyn Richter.
"Ye-Yes?" Luna nervously replied to her. Somewhat, Luna had a vague idea what would happen.
"Vera, we need to talk...about your boyfriend." She looked extremely worried and angry at the same time.
She told her everything, about the boyfriend, Stephon Jacobs, hitting on other women and potentially scamming them in the process. Stuff about PUAs and things. Luna knew what this moment was, it was part of Vyn's character story.
This was also the part that Vera defended Stephon as well because she loved him and he promised to marry her when she graduated.
Which was a huge lie.
And right now, it's not Vera they're trying to convince. It's Luna who knew everything.
"Yes… I already suspect it…" Luna quietly said that, trying her best to act like someone who's depressed and heart-broken. Someone like Vera.
"Vera…" The Main Character looked sad and worried about her.
"I'm such a fool to fall for someone like him… I should've realized it. We've been dating for 3 months and the only thing he gave to me was a skirt."
"Ms. Walton, if I may." Dr. Richter spoke up, noticing something. "The bandage on your left wrist, you cut yourself around 2 or 3 days ago."
Luna was taken aback, even though she's anticipating Dr. Richter's careful observation. This was the same man who called himself a "lie detector" during the main story and was able to detect the lies of the key witness. She knew psychology pretty well because it's one of the fields she wanted to learn "if she made it out alive".
Luna had to be extra careful about him.
"...Yes… And I admit it's not a very wise choice." Luna looked away. "I feel like a fool to even try to do that. I should've broken up with him long ago, but it's too late now. I'm in debt and I don't know what to do with it."
"I can help you, Vera." She offered with kindness. It's truly her personality as Main Character. "I'm an attorney at Themis Law Firm. Commercial and economic law are my main areas of expertise, but I will do anything to help you."
"You're...the attorney from that case." Luna pretended to be surprised and realized who she was.
"Yes, I'm the attorney that defended Mr. Marius von Hagen." She said it proudly. "I know what happened to you, so I want to help you."
"Then you will have my full cooperation, Miss…"
"Lucia. Lucia Ruskin."
"Thank you, Miss Ruskin."
"Just call me Lucia, Vera. We're about at the same age after all." She gave a kind smile to her.
That name suited her perfectly, especially with her code name in NXX.
"This is my card, give me a call whenever you're ready to talk to me or you've gathered enough evidence to make a case against him."
This was a small step, but the right one to set things straight.
~0~0~0~
As Luna expected, she was in the same path in Vyn Richter's character story.
"Miss Walton, may I have a moment?" A silk and gentle voice called her out after class. Luna looked up and saw Dr. Richter approach her.
"There's some minor troubles about your assignment. Because it's almost near the deadline, I'm sure you want to fix it."
"Oh, do you mind if we can discuss it, Dr. Richter? I also feel I left behind some important details on my assignment. I want to fix my grades." Luna quickly acted up like a concerned student about her assignment, knowing fully well that it's almost time for that scene to happen.
The scene where everyone confronted Stephon about his crime.
Dr. Richter gave her a small smile as he also noticed that Luna knew what was going to happen and played along to not draw unnecessary attention from other students. A popular handsome professor like him approaching a female student without a solid reason would surely draw attention.
"Yes, you may. You can meet you at my room in 20 minutes since I have something to do first, I will help you with the points you're missing."
"Yes, thank you Dr. Richter." Luna thanked him with a relieved smile, then she suddenly remembered something crucial.
She didn't know his office!
She knew Stellis University, but only through small illustrations and databases from the game. She didn't know the details about the University. Even on her "first day", she was confused for a bit when trying to find her classroom. From what she read before, the floors had class directions and the classroom for each lesson was already marked on the schedule. However, finding a professor's office was a whole other confusion.
"It's on the third floor of the East Corridor, Room A113." Dr. Richter chuckled a bit, it seemed he noticed her troubled face. "I forgot you have never been to my office before."
"Ah, yes. Third floor of the East Corridor. Room A113." Luna repeated it again. "I will be there in 20 minutes."
With that, Dr. Richter bid her a goodbye and went somewhere else. Luna decided to grab some sandwiches and drink before heading to Dr. Richter's office. Following the direction given, Luna arrived at the office a bit early.
"It will be rude if I don't knock…" Luna told that to herself before knocking gently.
"Come in."
"Please excuse me." Luna excused herself into the office. The office truly reflected Dr. Richter's personality; clean, elegant and organized. Dr. Richter was sitting at his desk, reading and storing paper after paper and file after file. Looking up and seeing Luna, he smiled and put down the paper and file.
"You've been well lately, Miss Walton." Dr. Richter looked relieved and glad as he was checking Luna. "Your wounds are coming out well?"
"Yes, I've been taking care of it well." Luna answered him right away. "It will leave some scars sooner or later, but I read there's lotion to heal the skin and make the scarring less noticeable."
"Yes, young women like you must feel a bit shameful to have such noticeable scars." Dr. Richter said it with a hint of worry. "But nevertheless, you look much better as well. Miss Lucia was worried about you, but relieved after seeing you brave enough to submit the evidence to her."
It was completely understandable because the original Vera loved Stephon so much that she defended him when Lucia and Dr. Richter told her everything about who and what Stephon was. However, the original Vera was gone and Luna existed in her place, and Luna wanted nothing about him. He made Vera suffered so much to the point Vera truly committed suicide.
As someone who knew Vera's suffering, Luna wanted to bring justice.
"It seems Dr. Richter and Miss Lucia already hatched a plan." Luna said it with a knowing look.
"Yes, we are." Dr. Richter was taken aback just a bit. "What makes you think that?"
"You won't approach me if you don't have a plan to catch Stephon red-handed." Luna answered him with confidence.
"Yes, you're correct." Dr. Richter said it with an indifferent look. "But there's another factor that leads you to that conclusion, correct?"
Luna jumped a bit as it took her off guard. Dr. Richter read her as a yes.
"So I'm right. Did something happen? Or what did you do?"
"Err...What's the word again… Intuition. Yes, it's just my woman's intuition!" Luna was so taken aback that she stumbled on her words. She became even more worried as she felt Dr. Richter's eyes were scanning her from top to bottom, as if he saw through her lies perfectly.
"Well, you truly have a good instinct." Dr Richter gave her a smile, but Luna felt he already became suspicious of her. "Yes, both Miss Lucia and I are going to catch your boyfriend red-handed and with your evidence against him, you will be fine."
He proceeded to tell Luna the plan to catch him red-handed.
"...Will Miss Lucia alright to be together with him?" Luna knew the plan was since she played the game, but couldn't help but worry.
"I will be watching them from a safe distance, so she will be alright." Dr. Richter reassured her.
"There will be others beside me right?" Luna blurred it out.
"Hm? What makes you think that?"
"Uhm...Well...It's stronger in numbers right?" Luna tried to play it off.
"...There will be others beside me, you and Miss Lucia. Everything will be alright." Dr. Richter still reassured her.
"I'm more worried about Miss Lucia. She will be with someone like him."
"...You have a good heart."
"Eh?"
That was unexpected. Luna was completely taken aback and surprised to hear it.
"You worry about others while you're also in a difficult position as well." Dr. Richter gave her a warm smile. "You're turning into a better person already. I'm actually worried about your mental health. It's also one of the reasons why I call you here."
"Oh…"
Luna didn't expect this side of Dr. Richter. She always felt that Dr. Richter was cold and indifferent when it came from other people, the Main Char-Lucia managed to get him into feeling emotions even though he already swore not to fall in love. Though considering Vera was one of his students, it's completely understandable that he was worried a bit about her.
"Do I need to take a psychology test?" Luna asked curiously.
"Yes, and it will be a simple one." Dr. Richter gave her a small smile and gestured to her to sit next to him.
"Can you draw me a tree? Any kinds of trees, but not types of pines and similar to it." He handed her a piece of paper and pencil.
"...Is this a Baum Test?" Luna spoke up upon realizing.
"My, you surprised me." Dr. Richter was also surprised by her realization. "You're taking Management courses, but you recognize this test."
"Err… I read it from a book at the library." Luna tried to play it off again. "If I remember correctly...it's a projective test to assess my self-image and emotional states. Apart from Tree, there's also a House and Person Test as well."
"You're correct. You surprised me even more." Dr. Richter looked proud about it. "Not only the management, you also study psychology as well."
"Thank you. I like to learn as many topics as I can." Luna looked excited about it.
"That's good for you." Dr. Richter gave her a proud smile.
Luna quietly and carefully drew a Tree, trying her best to draw as best as she could. One of the things she did when spending time alone in hospital, she sketched drawings with photos as her reference and various tutorial online videos of how to draw. It wasn't a good sketch drawing, but she was proud of it. When she was drawing, she imagined doing it outside.
"Is this good enough?" Luna asked carefully and put down the pencil. Her hand felt more tired than usual when she drew sketches, probably because Vera never did something like this in the past until Luna took her place.
"It's a good drawing. Have you learned to draw before?" Dr. Richter examined the drawing carefully.
"No, I'm self-taught." Luna admitted it truthfully.
"You have a good sense of it, and that's a good hobby." Dr. Richter praised her. "I know it's hard for you to go through this. Having this good hobby will help your mental health."
"Thank you, Dr. Richter." Luna smiled at him.
"It's almost time for me to go to the Research Center." Dr. Richter gently told her.
"Then, I will be on my way. Good day to you, Dr. Richter." Luna bid her goodbye and Dr. Richter bid the same.
"...Out of all the things she said, only one is the truth." Dr. Richter said it to no one else but himself to the empty room.
"What are you hiding, Vera Walton?"
~0~0~0~
When you were experiencing something you experienced before in a game you played, you would feel so surreal and that's what Luna experienced right now.
The scene that was playing in front of her right now was like a replay in the form of some sort of movie. Stephon got out from the dessert shop with Lucia, Dr. Richter was waiting in the shadows with the male students that cared about Vera and extremely angry at Stephon for what he was doing to Vera.
If only Vera could see this, Luna wondered if she would be happy knowing there's many people that cared for her. It wasn't truly explained or written about how Vera felt about this in game, but Luna truly hoped that Vera would be truly free from this.
Before she knew it, she was already walking towards the scene.
"Vera?"
SLAP.
The sound of her slap and the pain on her hand were so loud and painful. Luna was crying a bit; for herself and for Vera.
"You scumbag." Luna finally found her voice, feeling too emotional. "Throwing me under the bus as soon as you're cornered without a way out. I can't believe she could fall in love with someone like you and look where we are right now. You don't know how much suffering you have inflicted."
"You gave your money willingly!" Stephon tried to blame Vera and played the victim card, but Luna didn't buy it.
"You emotionally manipulated your ways for that!" Luna counter-attacked. "You don't know what have you done, what kind of suffering sh-"
"Miss Vera." A gentle hand on her shoulder stopped her outburst.
"Dr. Richter." Luna finally realized she was making a bigger scene than before. She became emotionally angry at Stephon for what he had done to Vera. Nobody knew that Vera...the real Vera already passed away after committing suicide. Nobody knew…
Except Luna who's now taking over her body and life.
Experiencing her memories and emotions were such a roller coaster for her that she couldn't share.
"Are you still gonna insist that you don't know her?" Lucia sassed about it.
"S-So what? What's between us is none of your business!" Stephon still tried to play it off.
"Oh, she already told us everything. The stunt you pulled on her is enough to send you to jail." Lucia counter-attacked his words.
"You're bluffing! You're no police, and she gave me the money willingly."
"Jokes on you. She might not be a police officer, but she's a lawyer." Luna interrupted him. "And it's not a bluff."
"What're you saying? This was all an act?"
"We gave you a little bit of your own PUA poison." Dr. Richter added with a hint of satisfaction.
Stephon finally realized he was already trapped and caught red-handed as he recognized that term.
"Hmph! I'm not the only one. Why aren't you trying to get them all?"
"What do you mean by that?" Lucia asked in surprise and confusion.
"I'm nothing. I just bought a few PUA courses. Why aren't you out to get the ones selling them?"
"Someone is selling PUA courses?" Dr. Richter interrupted with a hint of a serious tone.
"...If I told you everything, would you let me go?"
"Of course. You have my words." Dr. Richter promised with a sas smile. Lucia wanted to ask him, but Luna reassured her that everything was fine through her eyes.
"Ask away then!"
Stephon bluffed everything and anything related to PUA, his group and how he got the PUA courses. He also bluffed his victims as well, that Vera was his second victim while Lucia was his "third victim", however everyone in his group bragged about how many women they seduced and became their victims.
Hearing everything with a straight face was hard.
"That's all I know. Now, will you let me go?" He pleaded desperately. Before Dr. Richter or Lucia could say anything, the leader of the male students jumped in.
"They will let you go, but we aren't letting you off easy. We're taking you to the police!"
"T-That's not fair!"
"Oh, it's fair. Only Dr. Richter and Miss Lucia have agreed to let you go, but not to us." Luna added with disgusted tone, then she turned to Lucia and Dr. Richter.
"Dr. Richter… Miss Lucia… Thank you for everything."
All three of them shared an acknowledged and grateful look and Luna left with the group dragging Stephon to the police. At first, the police were taken aback with the sudden visit of the group and them dragging Stephon, but the leader of the group explained everything that happened and what they learnt from Stephon.
The police took Luna's statement as the victim and they detained Stephon to jail. All the evidence against Stephon was already collected and reviewed by Lucia the attorney, so the police would speak to Lucia after this for more information. She was grateful that the group kept her accompanied throughout the ordeal in the police station.
"If anything happens again, don't hesitate to call one of us." The group leader offered with an embarrassed look.
"Thank you very much for what you all have done to me." Luna thanked everyone with gratitude.
"It-It's nothing! We're alright to help you at any time!" They looked embarrassed about it.
"No, I'm forever grateful for what you all did for me." Luna smiled gratefully, making the group even more embarrassed than before.
"It's-It's getting late, we will accompany you back home...and maybe dinner together." The leader group offered, which Luna took the offer.
As her thank-you, Luna brought everyone dinner at a relatively cheap and popular restaurant that the group recommended. It was also a new experience for Luna as well because she never ate in a restaurant or in such a large group. Her weak body and illness prevented her from eating certain food and only ate within the recommended diets from the doctors. The group looked pleased to see her brightened face as she ate.
It was more delicious to eat in a group.
After the lively dinner, the group accompanied Luna to her apartment and bid them a goodbye.
"Are you Miss Vera Walton?" A delivery man asked her as soon as she reached the apartment door.
"Yes, that's me?" Luna was confused because she never ordered a delivery, even when she was Vera. She was completely unfamiliar with the delivery system, even in her past life, and thus she never ordered anything.
"Well, delivery for you, Miss Walton. Thank you for using our service! Don't forget to give us a 5-star rating!" The delivery man gave her the packet and left with a smile.
As soon as she entered the apartment with the packet, Luna was suspicious about it because who wanted to send her anything or did she remembered ordering anything. Carefully, she opened the packet and it was a strawberry shortcake which confused her even more.
All of sudden, her phone was ringing and it's from an unknown number.
"He-Hello?"
"Good evening, Miss Walton." A rich gentle voice greeted her.
"Dr...Dr. Richter?!" Luna was surprised to have him call her. "My apologies, but how did you get my number?"
"It's from Miss Lucia. She kindly gave me your number." Dr. Richter chuckled. "So, did you get my present?"
"This strawberry shortcake...is from you?" Luna asked in confusion. She didn't expect nor remember that Dr. Richter sent something to Vera from the game story.
Did she...change anything that major already?
"Yes, Miss Lucia helped me pick it up at the shop the other day. I ordered it today for freshness." Dr. Richter admitted it gracefully.
"Dr. Richter… Thank you for the cake…" Luna thanked her in gratitude.
"You're welcome. Now, you can relax now… You did a great job going through this ordeal. Enjoy your break."
"Yes… Thank you very much, Dr. Richter."
Her first bite of the cake was truly divine and Luna could finally relax fully.
~0~0~0~
"I was not myself today…This is unexpected..."
Dr. Richter turned off the recording and focused on the evaluation on his desk. A certain indicator on the graph was much higher than the others on the last page as he conducted a psychiatric evaluation on himself whenever he had emotional fluctuations.
"But self-evaluations are never accurate… Love at the first sight, just like you? This is not a trait I want to inherit. However I will not walk down the same path as you. That, I am sure of."
He couldn't help, but reminisce about what happened today.
"Although...I can't help but to be curious about her now. She's...an interesting case to say the least. I feel I want to observe her more in the future because there's a large gap of difference in her personality in the past and in the present."
"...Will my curiosity kill me, as curiosity killed the cat? But satisfaction might bring me back or even more."