Arknights: Living the Dream

Chapter 1: Terra

I often find myself dreaming about fantasy worlds.

I get to imagine myself as anybody or anything, and I get to do whatever I want.

The world of Arknights, Terra, is the world I usually find myself in.

The characters and world are so intricately made, so beautiful, that I can't help but to imagine myself as a resident of Terra.

The lore of the world is extensive and fun to contemplate about. I have problems when it comes to sleeping, so imaging myself inside Terra until I fall asleep has slowly become my nightly routine.

...

And tonight is another one of those nights.

I'm lying in bed, listening to music through my decrepit headphones, and imagining myself in the world of Terra.

The image of a bar in Lungmen pops into my head, it's not too far away from the center of Lungmen, but still far enough away that it would be surprising to see somebody well-off walk in. That's why my next thought is to have Swire walk in drunk and immediately walk over to me.

The premise is set, I turn up my music and close my eyes, slowly transporting my mind into the scenario I just came up with.

...

Suddenly, I feel as if I had just teleported.

My posture changes, I'm sitting on a different material, even the air feels different.

I open my eyes immediately, and instead of the usual darkness of my room, I'm met with a poorly lit liquor shelf. I move around in my stool chair before getting a look at my surroundings. A burly man is working behind the counter, only about 5 people are present and a chill and cozy feeling permeates the room.

I pull out my wallet for confirmation, and I see nothing but LMD bills.

And where are LMD bills found? Lungmen.

...

I'm in Arknights, I'm in Terra. And I'm in my own dream scenario.

How? Why? Wait.

Doesn't that mean that-

*BOOM*

The door gets slammed open, in stumbles a red-cheeked Tiger.

"Bartender! Give me your best drink!" She says first thing with the largest grin I've ever seen. She stumbles a bit trying to walk before using a booth as support.

She takes a look around, stopping after she lands on me.

Taking comically large strides towards the counter, she finally anchors herself on my neighboring stool and takes a large turn towards me.

"Hey~ What's someone like you doing out so late in a place like this~" She says rubbing up to my shoulder.

...

What the fuck have I gotten myself caught up in.

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I stay stone-faced as the tiger, who is clearly Swire continues her drunken brigade towards me.

My mind isn't working at this point, but luckily the bartender gives Swire a drink, giving me a small break as she tries and fails to chug it.

I don't know what to do. I've never cared about romance, so how am I supposed to react to a drunk fictional character hitting on me?

... I sigh quietly