As Ardeel mused over the strange menu omission, he found himself levitating above the ground before a brief moment before hitting the ground with a thud as he fell from midair, landing on a few people teleporting there in the process. After an exchange of apologetic looks towards angry grimaces, he found a spot amidst the crowd.
"Why has everyone teleported in here?" he wondered. It was also strange since he had already been in the central square to begin with so he wondered why he himself was reset from his position. Not a moment sooner, the fateful edict was announced. So much had happened in those few moments. Screams erupted among the throngs of players; and many were simply dumbfounded. Paired with those sentiments was the mass-change in appearances, including himself. Gazing into the mirror provided by the hooded stranger, he noticed that his skin grew paler, his eyes changed appearance, and his once-bald head now sported unkempt black hair. It seemed that he was now himself.
"This has to all be some sort of sick joke, right?" he uttered to himself quietly; however, upon recalling what he had seen in the menus earlier, he arrived at the nightmarish realization that this debacle was indeed no joke. This was a new reality, his new reality.
"What am I going to do?" he mused as sweat began to trickle down his face. He was looking for an escape, but nothing quite like this! What was his family going to do? The dojo? Questions about his own life and responsibilities overflowed his mind, and all he could manage to do is look around, taking in the utter chaos that ensued. Fear was alive and well.