This couldn't be real.No way in hell.Eiden sat on a cold rock just outside the cave, staring up at the sky like it had just insulted his mother. He scratched his nose ,a deep, slow scratch, the kind that only came out when his brain was trying to make sense of nonsense.
"Alright," he muttered. "Either I'm dead and this is some high-budget hallucination… or I accidentally licked a cursed USB stick. Which, now that I think about it, is something anime would totally do."The sky above him was....what's the word.....apocalyptic poetry. A pale yellow sun hung heavy overhead, casting sharp shadows. But it wasn't alone. Four massive planet-like objects loomed in the sky, hanging like they were seconds away from crashing down. One of them was cracked like an egg that had been dropped but refused to shatter completely. It was terrifying and beautiful.He scratched his nose again and thought: Im not in some kind of world where its about to end and i just happened to be in it the moment its happening right ? Then the cave behind him pulsed faintly with green light, veins of crystal breathing in a slow rhythm. He'd checked it again. No treasure. No hidden messages. No "Congratulations, You've Been Summoned,All he had was a slightly sore ankle, a faint headache, and what was definitely alien dirt in his mouth and what seems to be the culprit for his transmigration ,the Capsule that has now become transparent which he likes to called it "The Butt Plug ."Cool," he muttered, pushing himself to his feet. "No tutorial, no sword, no anime waifu falling from the sky yelling 'Onii-chan'… this is peak scam."He didn't dare go deep into the forest not when the trees looked like alien chopsticks and the birds had six wings and judgmental eyes. But there was a dirt path ahead. It wound through the forest and led toward the town in the distance ,the one with glowing spires and domed buildings that looked way too modern to be comforting.He squinted at it."Yup. That's the kind of town that asks for ID at the gate," he muttered, fishing into his pocket.Out came his phone. No signal. Of course.Then his wallet.He opened it slowly, like it might bite him.One faded college ID, a debit card with 4 dollars left on it, and a torn bus ticket from last week, and a pokemon card "Yeah, I'm definitely not getting past immigration with this."Then, it hit him."Oh right. This is an isekai, right?" he said aloud to nobody, pacing a bit now. "So I should have, like, a cheat ability or a system window. Maybe some cool anime menu thing.He paused dramatically, then threw his hand in the air."Status!"Nothing...."System!"Still nothing."Inventory! Skills! Summon waifu!"Not a blip. Not even a beep.He tried some bad ninjutsu hand signs. Then some even worse Naruto-style chakra screaming , Rahengan ,domain expansion,gomu gomu no , kame hame haaaaaa....Still nothing.....Eiden lowered his hands, feeling a weight heavier than failure settle in. "So I'm one of those isekai protagonists. No cheat. No system. Just raw, unprocessed mediocrity."He sighed and closed his eyes, partly to sulk, partly because the light stung a little.Then…He saw something.Letters.Three glowing letters floating behind his eyelids like glitchy AR holograms."…Huh?"Each one shimmered faintly, as if waiting for input. He hesitated, then mentally "tapped" one of them pure instinct.A tingle shot down his spine. Not painful, just weird. Like he'd eaten mint while standing in front of a microwave on full blast.Before he could focus on it ,Rustling.His eyes snapped open.Bushes nearby trembled. Something was coming ,Fast,Eiden dove behind a tree, heart hammering in his chest. He peeked carefully.Eight figures emerged ,cloaked, geared up, and rough-looking. Not soldiers, but explorers maybe. Their clothes were dirty and stitched for movement, not fashion. A few had blades on their hips or backs, but none were drawn.
He strained his ears."…Kalish rem var'ten""Lor'kima dosi"He didn't understand a word. Alien language confirmed , or maybe some kind of names of gods whose power i posses? .... Would be nice .But then. !!!!A ringing in his ears. Sharp, fast, like a tuning fork shoved in his skull.And suddenly…
"...no signs of a rift, but this place is humming.""Check the ridge. Something's off."
He understood them. All of them. Like their words were being patched directly into his brain."What the hell," he whispered.Seizing the moment, Eiden stepped out, hands up."Hey! Uh. Hi. Sorry to drop in like this but... I'm kinda lost. Can you guys help me?"The eight figures froze. A few instinctively reached for weapons. He winced, keeping his palms high.One of them stepped forward.
A giant.Muscles like tree trunks. Skin smooth like marble. Completely bald. Shiny, even. He looked… wrong. Not threatening, just biologically cursed with looking like a peeled egg.The man stared at Eiden with quiet scrutiny, then finally rumbled:"Where do you wanna go?"Eiden blinked.Took a breath.And thought: "He looks like a large sperm without the clothes.
To be continued…