MARCY WU – "Live Report of a Real-Life Isekai Experience"
REPORT 1
(video-feed starts)
It was late at night, Marcy was shown being in the Plantar's kitchen, alone, looking at the phone recording with an enthusiastic expression.
"Testing, testing- is this thing on?" The girl said, checking that the phone was recording. "Ok, let me start by saying- Ohmygosh! Ohmygosh! OHMYGOOOOOOSH! It worked! The music box actually WORKED! This is unbelievable! I am smack dab in the middle of another flipping world! I know that the book said… but I didn't think it was actually GONNA…but it did, and I'm here and so are my friends-"
The girl realized she was hyperventilating, so she stopped, taking deep breaths to slow down her heartbeat, and looking around with a nervous look, to make sure no one was eavesdropping.
"Let's start over again," she took another breath, "Okay, so…hello everyone! My name is Marcy Regina Wu, and after opening a magical music box with my friends Anne Boonchuy and Sasha Waybright, we have been transported to some kind of fantasy world, inhabited by frogs, called Amphibia. Also, we are not alone: with us are our friend Jacob, his cousin Amelia, and another boy, his name is James. I wasn't expecting for them to be here with us…but now that they are, I'm not going to complain: the more the merrier, as the saying goes!"
"So, while I'm going to record this as day one, this is not actually our first day in Amphibia. As I was saying, we were transported here when the Box was opened, a few days ago. We appeared in the middle of a swamp, and we had to evade some large monsters that looked like giant mantis. We may also have had to live in a cave for a little bit…it was wet, cold, and dark," she shivered for a moment, "but now we are fine! I mean, a little difficulty is to be expected when you travel to another world, every isekai main character had a rough start before having their first adventures."
"Anyway, after some days spent trying to orientate ourselves and find something good to eat, we end up running into a nice guy called Sprig," she showed a sketch of the young frog with his hat and goggles, "that we quickly befriended. He thought we were monsters at first, but we managed to clean up that misunderstanding quickly! Oh, we even helped fight one of those giant mantises who we were hiding from on our first days! Anna-Banana and Sash were so heroic, I guess I should get used to this. Soon, we will have to live out our new lives in this world, we will have many adventures together and we won't ever risk being separated ever again!"
. "Ok, back to my report: after we defeated that mantis, we were taken in by Sprig's grandfather, Hop Pop, a rustic, kind old farmer living in Wartwood, the town where we currently are, that offered us to stay in the basement of his farm. It's not that big, considering that we six are sharing it, but I guess it's still a clear improvement from the cave from the first days. Everyone else is fast asleep, so I'm doing this before going to bed. I'm keeping my tone of voice low because Polly, that is, Sprig's sister, is still a little suspicious of us. I guess I can't blame her: we are creatures of another world, after all. By the way, she's a polliwog, and a very cute one! But it's not a good idea to tell her: she has fire in those eyes. She reminds me of Sash, whenever she is protecting me or Anne from the school's bullies."
"Also, one last note! Earlier, before setting herself to sleep, Anna-Banana had tried once again to activate the box, with no results. That means that we're set to stay here for life! Unfortunately, my friends are not very happy at the idea, but I'm sure they'll get convinced very soon! Tomorrow will be our very first day in Wartwood, I can't wait to see what this place has in store for us! Whatever it will be, it couldn't go better!"
(video-feed ends)
REPORT 2
(video-feed starts)
The video started showing Marcy reporting in the kitchen, once again. There was a difference, however her expression looked a lot less enthusiastic than the one she had on the first report, and one of her eyes was twitching.
"That…could have gone better." The girl said, "Ok, this morning after I found out that what happened yesterday wasn't a dream, we tried to go to a nearby lake, but Hop Pop prohibited us from going outside, saying the townsfolk needed time to get used to us. Luckily, Jacob was there to help us, and he opened the lock for us: I guess Rogue-class skills can be useful in real life too. Nevertheless, when we arrived to the lake…" she stopped, showing off some sketches she had drawn, based on the photos she had made with her phone, "It was beautiful, but there was also a sign saying that it was forbidden to swim, so Sash and Anna-Banana ended up having a small argument with Sprig and-"
She stopped, a tear dripping from her eyes as the girl struggled to maintain her facade, her smile twitching.
"I-I didn't know. I didn't know Anna-Banana felt this way toward us! Is this why she took the Box when I showed it to Sasha? She feared we would no longer be her friends if she refused?! Why would she ever think such a thing? And why did she look so distressed when she mentioned all those times one of us had to borrow something of hers?"
She took a deep breath, trying to calm herself before continuing.
"Anyway! Eventually, Anna-Banana's words managed to convince Sprig, so we had a good time at the lake. I took so many notes about the swamp flora to record in my Journal," she showed more and more sketches she had made, based on her memories of the places and what she witnessed, "buuuut… turns out there was a reason why there was a sign forbidding everyone to swim. Namely, the lake was inhabited by a snake. A giant, aquatic snake."
Her hands trembled, the girl looking down for a couple of seconds.
"I…I never wanted to put Sash or Anna-Banana in serious danger! We were supposed to have a life of adventures, but without risks! But when that snake attacked…I never felt so much fear for me and for my friends. We were defenseless, unable to run, to hide or to fight back! If it wasn't for Jacob and Amelia who crashed in at the last minute, we would have all been snake chow!"
"Still, we managed to return home before Hop Pop or Polly could notice we were gone, so we spent the remaining time playing some board game called Bogs'n Logs. It was quite nice, and I took notes of the rules and board composition so maybe we can try it again…should we return to Earth. Yeah, maybe I'm still shocked by today's events, but I'm no more that sure about the 'staying here for the rest of our lives' plan. On that intent, I took the liberty of examining the Box once again and I think I may have found a possible reason why the Box stopped working."
Her hands moved to the site, and grabbed the music box, showing it to the camera.
"As you can see," the dark-haired girl explained, "the gems covering the Box's lid and side are now dull and gray, but when we found the box the first time, they were bright and colorful. Plus, there were only three, the ones over the lid, and these ones were nowhere to be seen! There is no hint of them in the book pages I found out about the Box, nothing at all! It's not much, I know, but…I guess this is something I own to my friends. I'm certain they will grow to love this place just as I do already, but for now, the idea of returning home may be a … necessary support. Yet, I'm sure things will appear brighter in the future…"
(video-feed ends)
REPORT 3
(video-feed starts)
"Hello again!" Marcy shouted, back to her usual cheerful self. "So, I didn't make a video in the past few days, so I'll try to summarize what happened all in this one. Sooo, to start…I'm now a magic student!" Marcy said, looking around for a second as she realized she had to keep her tone of voice low. "You see, there is this frog I met at the market, said her name is Maddie. She's a magic user and told me she's willing to take me as her student! I'm learning magic, I made my first spell, just like Cynthia Coven! I've never been so happy in my whole life!"
She stopped for a second, struggling to calm herself down. Even as excitation was running wild through her blood, she couldn't afford to reveal herself out of carelessness. "Still, Master Maddie gave me some very important rules every magic student ought to follow. Apparently, there is a large prejudice against magic-users in Amphibia, due to many of them using magic for…less-than-altruistic reasons, and this negative image of wizards ended up sticking: Master Maddie even said explicitly that you should never use magic against some…unless is someone that utterly deserves it!"
"Anyway, me and the others are getting the hang of this place. Sasha and Amelia ended up making friends as well with another frog of the town, said her name was Ivy. It appears she and Maddie know each other. Also, while we were exploring the Farmer's market, I came to see some stands that reminded me of the small community markets back home. You know, the ones I used to go together with…mom and dad…"
Marcy stopped again, a shadow of sadness moving over her face as she struggled to repel the negative thoughts she was experiencing. "I…I wonder how they feel back home. I mean, it's not like I miss them, but…maybe I should have left them a message, a note, something?" She shrugged, her hand moving to the side of the phone, "look, I was planning to show a list of the first spells I've managed to learn in the last few days, but…I don't feel like it anymore. I think maybe it's better to cut here." The video stopped a second later.
(video-feed ends)
REPORT 7
(video-feed starts)
"I'm starting to think I made a mistake. A big mistake," Marcy said with a worried, almost trembling tone, her body shivering as she struggled to remember the events of the previous days. "I mean, I knew that any fantasy world worthy of respect has large monsters and creatures, but- let's say this was the first time I got actually eaten by one."
She stuttered for a second, her eyes blinking, before resuming her narration. "Let's start from the beginning: so today, Hop Pop told us of the annual potluck here in Wartwood, and that every year they end up in the Shame Cage for bringing the worst dish, so we decided to help them by…introducing the pizza." She showed a saved image on her phone as she spoke. "Quite a standard dish, no issues at all, right? Well, turns out Amphibian tomatoes were totally different from the ones on Earth: they are giant, they have mouths and behave like carnivorous plant-monsters!" Marcy gasped, a tear falling from her eyes, "When we went to gather them, they…caught us with their vines, and attempted to eat us. If we couldn't stop ourselves in its throat and Hop Pop's book didn't have a key info about how to escape…there was acid! Real, bone-melting acid! Sure, I had been eaten by a giant monster before, but I never experienced it for REAL! I was so scared! Frog, this is not how I pictured our time together in Amphibia: is this going to happen again and again?!"
The human girl took a deep breath as she tried to calm herself down. Yet, as she closed her eyes, those images came back to hear: the monstrous tomato monster, its jaws closing over her, the acid at the end of its throat, the fear she had felt-
"Anyway!" She almost jumped from her chair, "As a thank you for giving us the dough we needed for the pizza, I agreed to go to the bakery of Maddie' father and help him around, plus maybe teach something to her sisters. Did I tell you that Maddie had three adorable triplets as sisters? They're still tadpoles, and they're called Rosemary, Ginger, and Lavender, like the spices! And looks like they love Cynthia Coven too!"
"Also, one small note," Marcy added, "When I went back to the Flour's bakery with the pizza leftovers, Jacob followed me and made a small…proposition to Maddie' father. Gave him the pizza recipe, and proposed Hop Pop and the rest of us could provide the tomatoes. True, we have the seeds and everything, but I'm still worried if they can be tamed. It's not like I don't trust Jacob, but… sometimes, I feel like he has a reason to follow me around…"
(video-feed ends)
REPORT ?
(video-feed starts)
"I had a nightmare last night, after we had our movie night. My friends…they were all angry at me for what I did, and their words…" The dark-haired girl looked even more shaken and sad that she had ever been before, "Is this what will happen, if they ever find out?"
(video-feed ends)
SPECIAL REPORT
(video-feed starts)
"Note to myself, for the future," Marcy said in a somber tone, her eyes filled with dread and embarrassment, "Should I ever find YET ANOTHER yellow flower big as a tree, it must be destroyed as soon as possible from afar, possibly with a fire arrow or a burning spell!"
(video-feed ends)
REPORT 22
(video-feed starts)
"So…" Marcy started yet another video report, scratching the back of her head as she tried to come up with a good way to start, "today we ended up going on an adventure checking some rumors about another human being in Amphibia. We didn't find anyone else, but…before going, Jacob and I discussed what we should do in the event we found them, and if they had another working system to leave Amphibia." She stopped for a second, "He…noticed that I wasn't over-enthusiastic and the idea of going back home already, and when we returned to the farm, he faced me, and asked me to tell him how I was feeling. At first, I tried to digress, but in the end… I ended up confessing the truth to him. I mean, not the whole truth, obliviously," she laughed nervously, looking around to be sure no one was listening to her, "Only the part that I didn't want to return home already."
She looked down, as the words he had told her started to replay in her head, "He reminded me of all the times we survived in the nick of time, ever since we ended up facing those giant mantises. I…I never wanted for Anne or Sasha to end up risking their lives! We were supposed to have happy adventures and be together forever and ever! But…but I never considered the possibility that my friends couldn't share my happiness. What's worse, he brought up another point I never thought of until now: what about our parents?! It was Anna-Banana's birthday when we disappeared, so…does that mean that, while we were escaping those mantises, her mom and dad were home waiting for her to return?" Marcy began to cry, as the harsh, cold reality she had tried to ignore and minimize for so long was laid bare in front of her, her guilt growing. "And what about Jacob and Amelia? And James?! None of them were supposed to be with us, but now…how did their families react when they disappeared, because they ended up with us? And, and…what about mom and dad? They were going to separate us, but… Jacob said one thing, before, about how if someone of us had known about the box and that it would work, we could have left a message, at least to tell them what happened and reassure them. Of course, he didn't know that I knew about the Box, but…why didn't I think of that?"
"I'm Marcy Regina Wu, the brightest mind of Saint James Middle School! Even if I didn't know the box would actually work for real…why didn't I think of leaving a message, just in case?!"
She raised her head once again, her teary eyes facing the phone's camera. "I was this close to tell him the truth, at that moment. No matter how much he will hate me after, there's no way he could hate me more as I'm hating myself right now…"
(video-feed ends)
REPORT 23
(video-feed starts)
"Hello! I…suppose it has been a long time since I last did this. Wow, I have so many adventures I could talk about, like the hidden dungeon under the farm, where all the Plantar family's member used to have secret rooms filled with amazing things, the crazy meeting we had as we were wandering together with Wally or even ending up in a fight with some toads of Toad Tower- but I guess I'll talk about them on another occasion. Right now, there have been dire issues tormenting me."
"You see, after we kicked the toads out of the town, Sash and the others had the idea of making our own militia to protect Wartwood. Check this out: I got a ranger's outfit; I even have a crossbow!" She showed it to the camera, "But…well, there was…something happening between Anne-Banana and Sash. At first it was small, but gradually…it became worse."
Marcy's face, who had been so excited to show off her ranger uniform and weaponry just a few seconds ago, now did a 180° turn and became depressed once again. While she struggled to hide her own inner turmoil from her friends and family, she felt like her own insecurity was growing with every passing day.
"I…I didn't know…I seriously didn't know that Anna-Banana felt like that! How much of grudge she had been suppressing! Was-was it my fault too?!" Marcy raised her head, another horrific revelation opening to her, "For never noticing it until now? How could I not realize how much hurt Anna-Banana was, before she went and tried to kill Sash?!"
She stopped for a second, once again taking deep breaths as she tried to slow down her heartbeat, concentrating to purge her mind of all the nightmarish visions and concepts that had been plaguing her for the last few days. To see her friends suffer while they were supposed to thrive and have fun was already horrific enough, but…to see them trying to kill each other?
Was this her fault too?
"So, to summarize what happened- Sash and Anna-Banana ended up having a disagreement while we were busy fortifying the town, and…they ended up clashing with swords, real swords. And Anne…she told me later how sick she felt that Sash was always giving the orders, telling her to skip classes and do her homework. I never had any issue with that: homework is easy, and she's a friend! And then…and then the herons attacked Wartwood, and we tried to defend the down, and then Anne-"
She stopped for a second.
"Something happened to us, the day we arrived here. I mean, I already knew that, but…I mean something different, that changed our own bodies. Because when the herons attacked, Anne… she became like this!" The dark-haired girl proceeded to show pictures and an ongoing video she had taken of Anne's first superpowered outburst, and how she used those to fight the herons. "When we first arrived, I noticed that the Gems on the Box, who were glowing when I…found it, were now looking empty and drained, so I already supposed that the energy had dissipated, or moved somewhere. I mean, the law of conservation of mass clearly states that, if nothing can be created or destroyed, but only transformed, then the Gem's energy must have gone somewhere. And…it appears that we know where it went: inside us."
"Wow, it surely sound weird when I said that, huh?" Marcy shrugged, her small embarrassment being helpful to ignore the ever-growing negative mindset that was hanging over her like the sword of Damocles. "Anyway, one of the gem's colors was of the same blue Anne was glowing when she faced those herons! So, it's quite possible the power of that gem had been imbued into her body and gave her real anime powers! My friend has cool anime powers! But, since there were six gems, and there are six of us-"
She stopped, looking forward with an astonished expression. "I think we all may have cool anime powers."
She didn't notice the small frog-shaped pendant she was wearing on her neck, a gift from an unexpected being she met that day together with her friend, the small object glowing for a few seconds of a bright, emerald light…
(video-feed ends)
REPORT 35
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Marcy looked gloomy at her phone camera, not speaking for at least a minute.
"Maddie's mom…I suppose I should have suspected it when I noticed her father was raising her and her sister alone. I mean, come on Marcy! You know that divorce is still nonexistent on Amphibia, so why would a lone frog baker have to care for four daughters all on his own?! Did I never notice that, or I simply refused to notice that? The same I refused to notice that Ann-Banana and Sash-"
"I found out today that Maddie's mom was the last frog to disappear on snow day, presumably captured and devoured by the mom of the giant snow weasel me and the others ended up facing the day before yesterday. Wait, does that mean that some of the bones we saw in that cave could have been-"
She shook her head, "I…this is nothing new. Many times already, in my roleplays, I meet NPC whose close members of their families have been captured and killed by monsters or other creatures. They were always for small-time missions or side-quests, like bringing back the ring that belonged to their wife, or finding proof that they were gone, but…frog, it's different when you see it with your own eyes! When you can experience the pain of the loss of someone close. Maddie and her family…they weren't angry when we told them we couldn't destroy the weasels, but…why I do feel this messed up now?"
"Is this because now I am coming to face that such things can be hurtful when they're happening for real? I mean, I already got it when the toads arrived for the taxes, and-"
"Frog, this is not how I imagined this world should be. Or rather, it's exactly like how I wanted it to be at first, but…I didn't believe I would start to hate it! To witness with my own eyes how such injustices and corruption running rampant can hurt, how it feels when the ones who die are not some NPC devoid of name or personal backstory, how…how…"
She stopped, tear running down her cheeks. The Marcy that was now looking at her own phone's camera was different from the ones that started reporting her videos and experiences, when they arrived in Amphibia. She didn't realize at first, but as time passed and her friends began to build relationships and find their place into this new world of talking frogs, she had grown as well.
Her collaboration with Maddie gave her the first true friend outside of her old ones and helped her become more confident and trustful in herself.
Her work for Maddie's father, Farine, and the sweet, heartwarming moments she had shared with him, and Maddie's triplet sisters, gave her the warmth that only a real loving family could provide.
Seeing her friends in danger, and how many times it happened on an almost regular basis, helped her grow out of her own illusions and lies, and become more responsible with her own actions.
And slowly, as her mind and personality grew, she came to regret the choices she had made.
How she ended running away from home, telling her parents she hated them because they wanted to take her away from the only people she called her family.
How she found the Box and manipulated and lied to her friends to get them here.
How she assumed that what she wanted was what they all wanted, as she 'kidnapped' them from their own lives and families, to throw them into a world filled with monsters and dangers.
How her own carelessness ended up taking not only her friends, but also three other persons who she hadn't planned to take with them, and who were now trapped with them just because they were in the wrong place at the wrong time.
She had acted rashly, letting panic decide her course of actions, and now that she could look back at her own actions, she felt disgust at herself, for doing the same thing she hated her parents for on her friends, forcing them to do what she wanted without even asking for their opinion or even letting them know the full truth at first.
Worse, when she did that, she was motivated by the fear of losing her friends, something that she now knew would happen…if they had found out the truth.
"It's like I have caught a tiger by its ears," the girl summarized with a quite apt metaphor that synthesized her own issue, "and now I cannot keep the grip forever, but I cannot even let it go. I can't keep the secret from them forever, but if they ever found out…they would hate me. But maybe it is for the better: at least if they hate me, they won't miss me once we get back home.…"
(video-feed ends)
FINAL REPORT
(video-feed starts)
"This, is the last video of my report." Marcy said, so ashamed of herself she couldn't even look straight at the camera, imagining the judging glares of whoever would watch her, "When I started doing these videos, I assumed I would talk about the wonders of Amphibia, and the adventures we would end up having every day, but now…I realize I had been short-sighted. And I can't find any more joy into recording these videos, as every time I do, I end up falling into dread every time I think back at the times when we almost ended up dead, or how Sasha and Anne ended up fighting, or when we found out Hop Pop was trying to hide the Box, or-"
"Anyway, I'm planning to stop my reports. I am still making videotapes of my magic lessons and of the discoveries I am making about the Box, the Gems, and their powers, plus everything I'm noting down on my Journal and related notes, but this is the last report I am making…of my Real-Life Isekai Experience." She said with a dreadful tone of voice.
"You know, if someone had told me that being isekaied for real would lead me to grow disillusioned with isekai stories, I would have probably dismissed them. I mean, come on, it would have been ridiculous: who would hate to end up in a fantasy world filled with magic and strange creatures, and have a life filled with adventures forever and ever?!" She laughed, before her laugh turned sour, and she realized she was laughing at herself. "Teah, who would hate it? I do!"
She began to cry once again, her hands covering her eyes. For lesser tears, Sasha had been so angry at Hop Pop when she found out the blueprints she had put in the 'suggestion barrel' all ended up being burned without being read, and even after so much time had passed and Marcy had forgiven him, Sasha still hadn't forgotten. How angry would she be, if she found out her cute nerd friend, who she had been so protective of, had schemed to bring them all into this world?
"I've made up my mind, still. We have Hop Pop's book, we have the Box, and we'll find out how to make it
work once again. I'll hold my tongue and hide the secret to them, at least for the time being. And once I'll find a way to bring everyone back home I... I'll tell them the truth; they deserve to know it. And that will be the last time they'll have to worry about me. Being hated by them forever and having to start again at some unknown school, on the opposite coast…it will be my punishment. For everything I ended up doing."
(video-feed ends)
