The first thing I saw when I regained awareness was… well, actually, I didn't see anything.

Technically, though, I was looking at something, but I was fooled into thinking that my eyes were somehow still closed because I was seeing nothing but black.

Eventually, I realized that my eyes were in fact open, and I was staring out into what could only be described as the cold vacuum of space. Only without all the stars, planets, and what-have-you that you would expect to see if you found yourself flung millions of miles away from solid ground.

I tried looking around, and found out that while there was no light source to speak of that I could see, my entire body looked to be illuminated from all possible sides - as in, there were no shadows to be found at any given point. Which naturally freaked me out. Something like that shouldn't be possible.

These were my first few clues to figuring out that I wasn't in Kansas anymore. (Well, actually California, but let me have my reference.)

The second was… what happened next.

While I was preoccupied, obsessing over the lighting system failure, blue flames appeared below me. Or what counted as 'below' me, but moving on. With my head and eyes moving around as they were, it wasn't long before I spotted the phenomenon.

The flames gradually increased in size… or were they getting closer?

The answer was both - and once they reached my position, they flowed up and around me in a spiraling shape, then coalesced in front of me to form a single flame. I determined it to be about as big as my head.

After that, I noticed something was starting to materialize out of thin not-air in the center.

It seemed… small. Like it could sit in my hand and still leave room for the fingers to curl up.

When it completely came into existence, it started moving towards me.

As it got closer, I tried to decipher what exactly it was.

The answer?

A small blue medallion. Or was it green?

Wait. This seems familiar. Where have I seen this before?

Let me think. Blue fire… small medallion…

Oh.

I know what this is.

When Lehran's Medallion got within arms' reach, it stopped.

The flames surrounding it moved again, this time forming… letters?

Do you know what this is?

I nodded. "Yes."

Do you know what it can do?

Another nod. "Yes."

Would you be willing to guard it?

That was… a little harder to answer. I took some time to think before voicing my thoughts. "Not if anyone else could."

Why is that?

"I'm not cut out for it. If there was nobody else who could take the job, I'd do it, but if there was someone else, chances are they'd be much better qualified than me."

Why do you say that?

"This thing comes from a world where one wrong move, one unlucky roll of the dice, can get anyone - even someone who may seem invincible - a ticket for an an all-expenses-paid one-way trip to the afterlife, with forced instant usage, no exceptions. Me, on the other hand? I'm a bystander. A nobody. My homeland is one where you're allowed to make mistakes. A limited number of mistakes, but still. I'm used to having a safety net. And if there's one thing that's true about me, it's this - I'm not a hero. Never was, never have been, never will be."

No, it's not.

"Really? How come?"

You have the potential. Every fleshling does. What you lack is the drive.

'Fleshling?'

"Well, duh, I know that. After all, it's pretty much what every single one of my teachers has been telling me since first grade. 'If you only cared enough and put in the effort, you could be getting straight A's', they say. Like it'll actually be worth something. Pfeh. What a riot."

Then why do you do nothing to change that?

"I don't have a reason. My world's no place for a hero. And even if it was, it wouldn't matter - we're too far gone. Have been for a while now. Someday, the planet's gonna die out, but what do we care? We'll all either be long dead or on another planet entirely by that point, right?"

What if I gave you a reason?

"What?"

A reason to stand up. A reason to pick up a weapon. A reason to fight for what you believe in. A reason to be a hero. What if you had that?

"I think I'd be a better person. Definitely less depressed, a little more optimistic, a lot more motivated… all the qualities of a budding people's champion. Why, are you saying you could give me that?"

Maybe.

"Uh… okay? Where is this going?"

Someplace that I think you'll both hate and love.

"Wow. That's not ominous at all."

I have to leave soon. But before I do, let me give you a little something.

"That's fine. I'm sure you have a lot of business to attend to."

Not particularly. But explaining that would take too long, and I'm already running on borrowed time. Here you go.

A small pinprick of light emerged from the jewel in the medallion's center. Almost immediately, it sallied forth and sunk through my chest, creating a strange whitish-blue rippling effect. Kind of like when a water droplet falls into a still pond.

Good. But I'm afraid this will be the last you'll see of me for quite a while. I'm sure you can figure out this next part fairly quickly.

In that moment, a question came to me from out of the blue. Seeing no reason not to speak, I asked it.

"Just out of curiosity, could I get a description of what I should be looking for if I ever want to find you?"

Sure. Search for a combination of orange, red, and golden yellow. Oh, and lots of feathers, too.

Lots of feathers…? Does it mean a bir-

Wait.

Lehran's Medallion.

Blue flames.

Red, orange, and yellow bird.

And especially that 'fleshling' remark.

Was… have I been talking to Yune this whole time?

My train of thought was abruptly derailed when the flames suddenly covered the medallion. When they ceased obstructing the view, the little plot device was gone. The blue fire burned out shortly after that, returning me to the endless expanse of nothingness.

Guess she's gone, then. I never got a chance to ask her anything meaningful.

Oh, well. It's not like I'll never see her again, anyways. All I have to do is survive for three years on a continent where magic, massive dragons, and swords that shoot blade beams exist.

Assuming this is going where I think it is, of course. Which I'm almost certain it is.

I mean, come on. It's got all the signs. Black void, conversation with an omnipotent being (well, not really omnipotent, but she's still a goddess, so she technically counts), and a gift from said omnipotent being. A gift which will either turn me into an overpowered chick magnet, or an underdog who fails a lot but still succeeds when it counts.

My thought process was once again interrupted by the appearance of what looked like a… command interface window? Or was it a command prompt window? Whatever it is the damn thing's called these days.

Setup .config has finished running

Configuration Settings set to default

Running system .exe…

Performing first time setup…

First time setup? Isn't that something that games that run with Steam do whenever you run it for the first time on a rig that's never played it before?

It stayed like that for a couple of seconds, then a new line appeared.

Are you a boy or a girl? Y/N

Uhhh…

If you are a boy, press Y

If you are a girl, press N

Well, okay then, Professor Oak.

I did what any sensible man would do in this situation and pressed Y.

Yeah, I just said 'sensible man.' Suck it, Tumblr-ites.

boolean 'genderMale' set to 'True'

boolean 'genderFemale' set to 'False'

Wait a minute, 'boolean?' Is this Java?

First time setup complete

Running dropZone .config…

variable 'dropZone' set to 'Crimea'

Something's going on. Is this what I think it is? I bet it is.

Running classPick .config…

variable 'class' set to 'Freelancer'

variable 'level' set to '1'

variable 'exp' set to '0'

variable 'race' set to 'Human'

variable 'unitType' set to 'Infantry'

variable 'skillCap' set to '20'

variable 'Shove' assigned to 'skillList'

There's the 'eureka' clue. I'm almost certain of what's happening now.

Running statSet .config…

variable 'hp' set to '18'

variable 'str' set to '5'

variable 'mag' set to '4'

variable 'skl' set to '5'

variable 'spd' set to '6'

variable 'lck' set to '5'

variable 'def' set to '4'

variable 'res' set to '3'

variable 'bld' set to '8'

variable 'wgt' set to '8'

variable 'swordRank' set to 'E'

variable 'darkMagicRank' set to 'E'

variable 'affinity' set to 'Earth'

Ooohhh. There's my main weapon types. I'm gonna be hard-pressed to find any dark tomes, though…

And my affinity is Earth, huh. Fitting, considering the personalities of everyone else who has it here. Generally laid-back and nice, but not afraid to step up if you wrong them.

Running skillSet .config…

variable 'Gamer's Body' assigned to 'skillList'

variable 'Gamer's Mind' assigned to 'skillList'

variable 'Apathy' assigned to 'skillList'

variable 'Emulator' assigned to 'skillList'

Wow. Four skills at base. I'd call myself overpowered, but I don't know what Apathy and Emulator do, so I'll be holding off that judgement until later.

First time setup complete.

Initializing…

And with that, I blacked out.

A/N: Apologies if I made anyone dry-heave with my poorly-written C. I haven't taken a programming class in a while, and code in general is a little difficult to remember off the top of your head without years of constant experience.

Anyway, here's something I cooked up quite a few months ago after seeing an overabundance of gamer-type fics focusing exclusively on the 3DS games. Now, that's all well and good - they are relatively optimal settings for gamers given their plot flexibility (which is as much a compliment as it is a criticism). But after combing through the archives and finding a shocking lack of self-inserts focusing on the wonderful world of Tellius (Spellbinding Radiance and Path of Wyverns notwithstanding), I decided to try my own hand at it. Let it be known right now that I have absolutely no idea where this is going to go - like I display on my profile, I'm already a decent chunk of the way into this shebang, and I'm only just beginning to work out the barest bones of an overall plot.

I know I'm trying to stand on the shoulders of giants, and that I'm inevitably going to stumble and take a dive off the edge... but that won't stop me from trying my damndest to do my best while I'm up here.

See you all soon.

[TRANSMISSION ENDED]