The girl's eyes lit up.
"Oh! Yeah! I've read tons of those! People from Earth getting summoned to another world to become heroes, right?"
Beside her, the red-haired boy nodded eagerly.
"Right!"
Well… she wasn't wrong.
Isekai literally means "another world." The genre had exploded in recent years, with anime, manga, and games filled with stories about ordinary people whisked away to magical realms to fight evil and build harems of beautiful girls.
We all knew those stories.
But there was a problem.
They were fiction.
And this? This wasn't a story. Trying to twist reality into the shape of a light novel or game was not just foolish but dangerous.
In those stories, heroes had plot armor. When death came knocking, something always saved them at the last second. And in games, you had save points. You could try again, change your strategy, fight the same boss until you won, and rewind the moment until you got it right.
But this wasn't a game. And it sure as hell wasn't a story.
There were no do-overs, no safety nets, no miracles waiting in the wings.
Real life was uglier, harsher, and cruel in ways no fantasy could soften.
When people bled, it wouldn't be pixelated or censored. The blood would be real. The stench would cling to your clothes. The memory would rot in your head. And the corpses wouldn't vanish in a flash of light. They'd stay there, staring, accusing, and decomposing.
Sometimes, the monsters weren't even the worst part.
Sometimes, the people standing right next to you, whom you trusted most, were just waiting for a moment of weakness to stab you in the back and take everything you had.
That's how the world really works.
The good die young. The villains don't always get what's coming. And justice? It's a fairy tale.
These kids didn't know that yet.
They hadn't seen what violence does. It affects not just bodies but also minds. They hadn't felt the kind of fear that brands itself into your brain and never fades. They didn't understand what PTSD really meant or how it chews through you from the inside out.
But if they said yes and stepped forward to choose to be "heroes," they would learn.
Because sooner or later, they'd have to take a life.
And when that moment came, no anime or manga would save them.
They'd cross a line, and they'd never be the same again.
___________________________
I was about to speak, but the schoolgirl beat me to it. The truth hit her before it reached the boys. Her earlier excitement faltered.
"Erm… but… can we really do that? Save the world? I mean… I don't even know how to fight."
"Ah… yeah, you're right," the pizza guy now admitted, rubbing the back of his neck. "I can't even kill a chicken, let alone a monster…"
The spark they'd had moments ago, the anime-fueled hope, the thrill of fantasy, was gone now, snuffed out by doubt and fear.
The red-haired boy let out a sharp breath and met the king's gaze head-on.
"Your Majesty. Don't you have warriors in your own world? Your own armies? Why do you need us? We're just teenagers. We've never held a sword. How are we supposed to defeat these… Demon Gods?"
He had a point.
Aside from me, the rest of them were practically still kids. When I looked at them, at those scrawny arms, uncertain eyes, school uniforms, and a pizza hat, I couldn't help but compare them to the knights standing at the edges of the chamber. The difference was stark. They looked like paper dolls, while the knights were steel giants.
It just didn't make sense.
After all, why summon us? Why trust us with the fate of the world when we were nothing but strangers, untrained and untested? Especially when they had soldiers, mages, warriors of their own?
What could we possibly offer that their best couldn't?
Anyways, it seemed the kids were much smarter than I thought. I didn't expect them to figure all this out in just a few short minutes.
And yet, the king remained calm.
"Please, my heroes. There's no need to be afraid."
He lifted one hand and placed it over his chest.
"You won't be left to face this challenge alone. We will provide you with guidance, training, and everything you need. You may not realize it yet, but your arrival here was no accident. The summoning responds only to those who carry great potential.
"Maybe you don't look like warriors now… but that will change. Each of you has within you the strength to become something far greater, perhaps even the greatest this world has ever known."