Nostalgic Gamer in a Cultivation World

Terra and the two Aryas were confused at the sudden reactions of Jedo and Strafe.

The two were laughing vocally.

“Erm… What’s going on?” Arya finally asked.

“I am doing this in hopes that you would feel better about yourself. You see, Lord Tieg and I have been watching certain memories of Dyne repeatedly to make ourselves feel good. You don’t know how much of a genius this Dyne is. I mean, he is better than us, Ra-Serus in soul cultivation. So whenever Dyne’s asleep, Lord Strafe makes him replay some of his memories for fun. He has tremendous luck in cultivation. But not so much in his love life. Behold! A Memory he has of you. This is one memory he randomly remembers, and he cringes at how stupid he is. It is also one of my favorites.”

Strafe began to use his powers. Replaying these dreams used up little to no power, and since Dyne is connected to Jedo, he would also see the dreams. But now, Strafe was projecting it to Arya, and Terra was also able to see it.

The scene that Arya saw was rather familiar.

Arya could be seen from afar, walking and talking with her friends.

“...? I remember that! That day, I got the courage and tried to talk to Dyne!” Arya shouted as she saw the embarrassing scene, which made her cringe if she remembered it.

“Why are you showing me this scene? I would die every time I remember this! Are you trying to kill me?!” Arya cursed.

“Give it some time. Seeing how you liked Dyne, I could understand how embarrassing it would be.” Strafe spoke.

“What happened here, Lady Arya?” Arya asked.

“Well… I was sort of stupid. One girl who was always mean to me told me that Dyne liked me. At that time, I was still naive and didn’t know that this girl was playing a trick on me. Her friends also said that they caught Dyne looking at me, and one of her friends had a camera that she took and showed me of Dyne staring secretly. I believed them. I wanted to talk to Dyne… And I got the courage. Dyne had some extra pens. So I wanted to ask for one and use that excuse to talk to him. But Dyne snubbed me and sent me away.”

“...Oh my Tieg. From Dyne's perspective, hearing your side of the story makes this scene even funnier.” Jedo laughed.

“He didn’t snub you! He was being an idiot! He wanted to get your attention and channeled the most good-looking guy he knew that he believed would attract a girl like you!” Jedo revealed.

“What?”

“It’s like this. Arya. You have the same aura as a certain girl that Dyne really admires. You are happy, sweet, charming, daring, and probably a little selfish. That’s the attitude that one of Dyne’s dream girls has. In fact, you became his dream girl because of our similarity to this fictional girl?”

“Which girl?”

“A game character named Rinoa Heartily.”

“Rinoa Heartily?” Terra echoed.

“Hey! I know her! Final Fantasy VIII! One of my exes said the same thing, especially when I had my other hair-do!”

“Yes.! Exactly! Now, look at the scene from Dyne’s perspective…” Jedo smiled.

The scene began to play.

Dyne looked around and was in his usual seat.

Arya was at the far corner, and Dyne was lost in his thoughts.

“If the school got on fire, I could be the hero if I do this…” Dyne began to fantasize.

He saw himself jumping on several platforms and ordering his classmates to duck on certain parts. The fire in the school was terrifying, and Dyne was everyone’s hope.

Arya was amazed at the thoughts that Dyne had.

“He… he thinks like this? I knew he was a bit distant… but it was because of this?” Arya was amazed.

Then Dyne continued his train of thought.

“Or… if gunmen wanted to hold the entire school hostage, I could, like save Arya! I’ll do that trick my dad taught me and knock their guns off. I would do dangerous stuff, and Arya would be like, ‘Oh, Dyne! Don’t do that! It’s too dangerous!’ And I’d be like… ‘I have to. My friends are there.’ BANG! BANG! BANG! It'll be so cool! Hmm. I have to get some wounds. I should at least get shot in the shoulder or something. But then again, I might have a hard time playing video games with a cast... Maybe wounds on the leg? I don't like Dance Dance Revolution anyway. Although defeating everyone without wounds is awesome, I need that scene where Arya would be all over me.”

“…” The Cultivation World Arya was confused.

“…” The Earth Arya was shocked.

“...What in the world…?” Terra didn’t know what to feel.

“Ah… Classic Dyne.” Strafe smiled as he watched the scene with them.

“This… is Dyne?” Arya was amazed.

“That’s not the best part!”

It was then that Arya was walking towards Dyne.

“Arya… Is she headed towards me? No, it could be. Is she smiling at me? Impossible. Wait. She really is! What do I do? What do I do? Aw man! She really looks cute.”

Arya began to blush.

“Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god! She really is coming here! She’s so vibrant and awesome! Play it cool, Dyne! Play it cool, Dyne! Breathe! Breathe!”

The young Arya approached.

“Hello, You’re Dyne Valliant, Right?”

Dyne was silent.

“I remember this. Dyne became silent, and the long pause was so awkward, and everyone nearby was looking at me and how Dyne treated me. Those mean girls were also looking at me and were doing their best to hold their laughter.”

Dyne had a cold look and expression as if he was very bored.

“ERRRMMMMAGGAAAHHHHDDDD! She’s talking to me! Calm down! Calm down! Make an impression. Smile back! Wait! No! Don’t smile back! Did you brush your teeth? Alright! Say poetry! Do complicated and deep rhymes about philosophy. How about a haiku? Five Seven Five? A million beauty… Infinity is just one. That’s you, Arya Blaze.” Dyne rehearsed.

“Pffftt!” Arya chuckled. That was one of the most embarrassing moments in her life as people talked about that and teased how she foolishly attempted to talk to the renowned hottie of the school.

But it turned out that everyone misunderstood Dyne. He was just a dweeb.

“Erm… Dyne?” Arya asked after the long pause.

Dyne maintained an uncaring look.

“Dyne, you idiot! What are you doing?! Talk! Talk!” Dyne spoke in his thoughts.

“What are you doing?! Your acting like… that’s it! Squall! That’s it! Alright, Dyne. Think Squall Leonheart! You are a cold, uninterested man. If Squall got Rinoa like this, so can you! Mission Maintain Silence!”

“Mission maintain silence?” The two Arya and Terra were amazed.

Dyne channeled his inner Squall and maintained a cold pause.

“...Yes?” Dyne finally answered.

“Um… Yeah. I… just… want to borrow a pen?” Arya asked. She was more hesitant now.

“A pen? ...Whatever.” Dyne answered as he held his pen out.

“Whatever?” Terra asked.

“It’s a line the Squall Leonheart always says. He’s trying to channel that cold, uncaring exterior hoping to make Arya like her.”

“You can’t be serious? I mean… that’s just too weird! Does he seriously think like this? I don’t believe you.”

“If I keep channeling this cold, uncaring exterior, Arya may like me.” Dyne said in his thoughts.

“Wha…?”

“Here…” Dyne finally moved and gave out the pen. Arya held on to it and made a quick bow, and left.

“I was so embarrassed that Dyne didn’t think much of me… But he was just being weird?” Arya couldn’t believe it.

“Well, more like he was acting in what he knew. He was a dreamer of things. And that Dyne is quite young, after all. So it's normal for him to have such strange fantasies.”

Arya had already taken her seat in the vision, and Dyne still had an odd look.

“People were talking about that event. Those mean girls kept laughing at me. Dyne was quite popular, after all. There was just something about him that made him look cool. But to think that he didn’t know he was cool!”

“I wonder if Arya will bite the tip of the pen… Then I can… an Indirect kiss…” Dyne blushed and buried his face as if pretending he was asleep.

“What’s an indirect kiss?” Arya asked.

“I’ll explain it to you later.” The Earth Arya chuckled.

“It seems you have calmed down.” Strafe smiled.

“Thank you. That was a weird show. But I do feel better now… So he does like me… I guess. But wow, is he weird.” Arya was amazed.

“Lady Arya. Basileus Basileon sent you here for a purpose. My master might not have known what was happening. But Arya, I believe that you three are among the many miracles prepared to help us in this fight.” Strafe finally explained. He was waiting for Arya to calm down and finally began to explain.

“Me? But I don’t have any special traits… So those gods all laughed and talked about how I was destined to be inferior.” Arya sighed.

“Those Gods didn’t have someone who could break the norm and who can redefine the very core of cultivation. You have. And to your benefit, he likes you.” Strafe smiled.

“Dyne?” Arya asked.

As the group continued to talk, Dyne and Serge finally reached it.

“River Reach!”

“This is River Reach?!” Serge was horrified at the village that he saw.