In a dark and vast hall, arched columns fell and pillars toppled, the world was crumbling around a weary-looking young man.
"You're here already. You could've waited a little longer." His voice was low and tired.
He looked at the floating figure that appeared out of thin air.
The figure spoke, a playful, lighthearted sound but edged with knowing, "'I'm here to grant your most ardent wish.' Would you believe me if I said that?" The figure laughed, tone filled with mischief.
The jaded young man spoke, his tone placid, movements unhurried: "You might be a god, but even you have to play by the rules." By now, his body had gained a translucent sheen, like he would soon fade out of reality.
The atmosphere responded to his mana, the air heavier under the weight of his will.
"My-my, how scary. But do you really believe I've ever played by the rules?" the figure spoke, eyes filled with a derisive glint.
There was no more time for words.
In the next second, the figure burgeoned and gained a ridiculous aura, absurd phenomena began to occur in an almost comical manner.
The young man, at the same time, gained an ethereal visage.
Mana pulsed in his veins as well as in the air, and the atmosphere around him shifted like it was an extension of his person.
His diaphanous form radiated freedom, unbound by anything.
A moment later, the world was dyed white.
***
A young man with black hair could be seen sitting on a black ergonomic chair with blue strips, leaning back, staring into space with a lost expression.
In front of him was a desk with a gaming setup, novels stacked on one another, with the one on top half open, other miscellaneous items like pens and study notes also strewn on the table haphazardly.
He had a bleak look on his face and his thoughts were a mystery.
Well, whatever his thoughts were, it didn't matter, because at that moment, a dark glow shimmered around him.
His eyes widened in confusion, but he didn't have time to register whatever was happening to him. His form was instantly consumed by dark aqueous light that rippled in cerulean waves.
He was gone.
In place of him stood an empty, forlorn gaming chair. On the desk, the tremor from the portal that seemed to have eaten the young man flipped the foremost novel to a different page.
Whoosh!
On it, the first sentence read, "...Morpheus scoured the lands in search of hope relentlessly, but even the most valiant had their limit...".
***
In the clearing of a certain forest somewhere, the young man appeared, sitting on the dirty ground, his russet-brown eyes wide with shock, drinking in the alien trees and open sky.
He was positively befuddled, to say the least.
'What the hell is going on?'
At the moment of his arrival, six other individuals seemingly spawned out of thin air as well, eyes also wide with confusion and wariness. And in the midst of all this—there he was.
An unmistakable presence that stood at the heart of it all—well, hovered in mid-air would be more accurate.
After scanning their surroundings, seven pairs of eyes landed on the strange and oddly enamoring presence.
It was obvious that whoever that was, was the source of their current predicament.
But annoyingly enough, the figure had a smile plastered across his face, the absurdly beautiful face.
Was that really a man?
Whatever the figure was, they were smiling, seemingly amused by the whole charade.
The figure had a strangely transfixing presence and a disarming countenance, like they were the friendliest person ever.
Clad in a simple pale gold kaftan-like cloth, the wide hems of the dress billowing softly in the wind.
The figure sat in mid-air- well, hovered would be more accurate- legs crossed with an unperturbed expression, almost bored even, like the disoriented faces of the strangers could hardly sate his desire for intrigue.
The figure looked both beautiful and handsome at the same time, with long dark hair that cascaded down their back in silken waves and dark deceptive eyes that held a hint of whimsy.
The figure had an ethereal charm and the atmosphere seemed to take on a different quality around them, like they were a singular existence who was favored by even reality itself.
'Where am I? How did I get here? I was in my room just now, did I pa—' Various thoughts whirled in the mind of the young man; however, a fruity voice cut through the air, jolting him from his reverie.
"~Welcome, my sweet summoned otherworlders. I hope you're enjoying my delightful surprise. I am—", the figure spoke but was soon interjected as well, this time, by one of the summoned.
The figure slowly tilted their head towards the rude otherworlder, a disarming smile still glued to their face.
"Cut the crap! I don't know you managed to get me here, who you are, nor do I care. I don't have time for stupid pranks by inept, deranged people like yourself who have too much time on their hands." A burly, broad-shouldered man in a simple construction workers outfit spoke.
"Is this some dumb AR tech simulation? Whatever the hell it is, I don't care. Get me out of here. NOW", he intoned, voice leaving no room for argument.
"This is big '25, for fuck's sake. Who still pulls shit like this?", he muttered under his breath in a humorless chuckle.
The hovering figure spoke, "My-my, I understand why you might be so upset, but don't you think it's impolite to interrupt—" As the figure spoke, the burly man strode towards him with a dangerous gleam in his eyes, all traces of earlier humor nowhere to be found.
He seemed to have had his fill of the madman's antics.
As the burly man reached forward in an attempt to grab the hovering figure, instantly, the atmosphere shifted.
The air pulsed with a dark, malevolent energy, groaning under the weight of some unknown force.
The remaining people watching with peeled eyes found it hard to breathe, the air was stifling and it felt like the world was pressing down on them- even though they weren't the direct target of the assault- they were just short of kneeling.
In the next split second, the burly man collapsed into a pool of blood and mangled flesh.
There was no time for him to even scream. The whole thing happened in a moment, and in the next, the burly man was no more.
'Huh… what just happened?' The young man with black hair and brown eyes stood in stunned silence, eyes blurry, his brain refusing to accept what he had seen.
He knelt down and tried to ground himself, clawing at his chest, he resisted the deep feeling of nausea in his chest from spilling out in the form of his dinner.
One of the summoned female screamed, bending over while holding her head. The rest of them looked away from the bloody mess, like ignoring it would make it disappear.
Silence.
"Honestly, what a rude fellow! Who interrupts people when they're not done talking, right?" The enigmatic figure paused with intent, eyes gleaming with a mischievous light as his smile grew wider.
"Seems everyone else is well-mannered, he could've learnt one or two things from the rest of you. Well, no matter. Only death can cure some illnesses. In his case, stupidity—an illness of the mind," the figure stated matter-of-factly while tapping their glabella, like they were giving a lecture, then came a sigh.
By now, the Summoned had somewhat recovered. Their faces grim, body stiff with nerves.
The hovering figure continued, not minding their shaken state, "You may regard me as Laufey. You've been summoned to another world, that's obvious enough. You might be wondering why? Because it's fun."
Laufey's smile grew more brilliant, a blissful look on their face, "You see, I enjoy watching the twisted reactions and warped expressions people make. The fluctuations in their emotions when unexpected, unwanted things happen. Truly, it's one of the joys of life.", they paused, perhaps to let the words sink in or to enjoy the looks on the summoned faces.
They continued, "This is a world of magic and magical phenomena, I believe you know what that entails. Well... you'll figure it out. In this world, there is Mana, with which you can achieve wondrous effects, like you just saw for yourselves. Wonderful, right? I have also outfitted each one of you with something you all should be familiar with—yes, a system! Aren't I a benevolent God?" Laufey beamed, seemingly very pleased with their own work.
The young man's eyes narrowed at Laufey's words, his nose wrinkling at the coppery tang in the air.
One of the summoned—a tall young man with auburn hair and gray-blue eyes, clad in simple grey sweatpants and loose fitted tshirts with black studs—raised a wary hand, indicating a desire to ask a question.
"Yes? You may proceed." Laufey sounded pleased.
"How do we return home? What do we have to do?", he asked the most pressing question on everyone's minds.
" I'll consider returning you home if you grow strong enough to challenge me." Laufey answered with a tone of preparedness that belied their seeming indifference.
"My, almost forgot. You might want to start heading east towards the town. This forest is quite dangerous… especially at night."
With that, Laufey vanished as if consumed by thin air, leaving the summoned to their thoughts and the confusing reality they had been thrust into.