[SYSTEM ERROR]
[SYSTEM ERROR]
[CRITICAL FAILURE DETECTED]
[Initiating Emergency Protocols...]
[SELF-DESTRUCTION SEQUENCE INITIATED]
[10...9...8...]
[INTERRUPTED]
[...]
[...RECALIBRATING...]
[System Stabilized]
[You have been selected]
[You have gained three (3) Innate Attributes]
[Summoner's Touch]
[Infinite Vitality]
[Perfect Fit]
[Congratulations]
I stared at the Innate Attributes floating in front of me, then back at that last word. Congratulations.
'Congratulations? Are you fucking kidding me?'
After that nightmare of system errors and near self-destruction — after watching a countdown that felt like my brain was about to explode — I got a cheerful little congratulations? The voice delivering the message sounded exactly the same as before. Clinical. Unbothered. Like it hadn't just had a complete meltdown in my head.
That was exactly what made it more eerie.
Goosebumps raced across my skin. My blood ran cold as I read the words again, looking for some explanation that didn't come. For some reason, this didn't feel like a "System Stabilized" situation at all. This felt like something broke, got duct-taped back together, and nobody wanted to talk about it.
'So, I became the beta tester for a glitchy interdimensional operating system? Perfect.'
But I couldn't focus too much on the floating text that no one else was seeing. I had to focus on what we were all seeing — because everyone around me was losing their collective shit.
"What? Where are we? Weren't we in class just a moment ago?"
"Ehh? My makeup bag!"
"Somebody call 911!"
The chaos swirled through the air like smoke. Voices overlapped, getting louder, more frantic. I let my gaze drift across the room instead, studying the arching ceilings that looked like they belonged in a cathedral, the archaic stone pillars carved with symbols I didn't recognize, walls that seemed too thick to belong to any modern building.
Everything here felt old. Ancient, even.
'Were we transported back in time?'
The question surfaced in my mind, but the answer came immediately — because I suddenly remembered what the system had said before it had its little breakdown. Target location: Ealdrim.
And with that, it hit me. My eyes widened.
'We're in another world, dumbfuck. Not back in time. Another world.'
I was standing in an actual isekai situation. The kind I used to read about online at two in the morning when I should've been sleeping. Except now I was living it, and honestly? It was a lot less exciting and a lot more "oh shit, I might actually die here."
Just then, a hoarse but commanding voice projected across the vast hall, cutting through the noise.
"Dear Otherworlders, have no fear. You have all been selected by the great God of Light to be the next Heralds of Peace, who will lead both your world and ours into a new era!"
The murmurs only intensified. If anything, people sounded more panicked now.
"What the hell, old man, who gives a shit? I just want two baddies right now. All I care about is if you guys have baddies in this damn world!"
'Of course Marcus is worried about girls. We might be in mortal danger and he's thinking with his dick.'
"Oh my God, are we really in another world?"
"This is terrifying. I have to open my mom's store after school — she'll kill me."
"Everyone, everyone, please calm down."
The hall went silent at that voice. Everyone turned toward the front, where someone had stepped forward to address the crowd with a calm and radiant countenance that somehow made him look like he belonged on a recruitment poster.
I suppressed a chuckle the moment I saw him.
'Of course. Of course it's Kai.'
These sorts of things weren't always so hard to predict. In every disaster, there was always someone who stepped up to play hero. And Kai Alexander? He'd been auditioning for this role his entire life.
Kai was the model student of our class — the class rep, school senior president, the perfect son of a multibillion-dollar conglomerate called the Xander Corps. He was the kind of guy who wanted to help everybody. The kind who held doors open and remembered birthdays and probably had a color-coded planner for his volunteer work.
I didn't detest him or anything. Honestly, he seemed like a good guy. But sometimes I couldn't help but feel like the whole thing seemed a little... forced. Practiced. Like he was playing the role of Perfect Kai Alexander, and he'd been rehearsing his lines since birth.
'Or maybe that's just my opinion. Who knows? I might even be speaking from a point of envy.'
Not that I'd give anything to be in his position. Being worshipped sounded exhausting. Having everyone expect you to have the answers, to fix everything, to never fuck up — no thanks. I was comfortable right here in the back, hands in my pockets, observing.
His sharp and sonorous voice addressed everyone in the silent hall. Even his voice sounded like it went through media training.
"We all want the same thing, but chaos isn't going to get us what we want. What we need to do is calmly listen to what they have to say, and then say what we have to say. Let's allow the man to speak."
'Diplomat voice activated,' I thought, watching him work the crowd. He was good at this.
Kai turned toward the arched platform at the front, raising his head slightly to address the old man standing on it, looking down on us all. The man wore a white garb that flowed over his body like silk crafted from light — if light could be woven into fabric. In the center front was a perfectly embroidered golden cross, and he wore a religious priest's cap with the same embroidery.
He was slightly hunched, like age had curved his spine. His eyes were so dim he looked like he was sleeping on his feet, and his nose was round and pronounced. Yet the power with which his voice had boomed across the hall was shocking — like someone installed a PA system in his throat.
"Please," Kai said, polite but firm. "Tell us where we are and why we're here."
The old man seemed to smile, though it was so faint I might have been imagining it. When he spoke, his voice filled every corner of the hall.
"Otherworlders, the world is in great peril. Because of this, our hands were forced to summon the next generation of Spirit Summoners to save the world. This is the Kingdom of Aetheris, and this is not a call to damn you, but rather to save both our worlds from the threats that are slowly corroding both our universes."
I glanced around, wondering if anyone else was questioning the acoustics here.
'Are there speakers in this hall? Or is this magic? Please tell me they have magic and I'm not just standing in a room with really good sound design.'
Kai's voice rang out again, still confident, still in control.
"Okay, sir. This threat — do you have evidence of it, and evidence that it's also a threat to our world? Also, how exactly are we supposed to help you? As far as I know, I never took any martial arts classes. I paid attention in P.E., but I suspect it doesn't compare…"
Some students chuckled. The tension broke just a little.
"Yuki comes from a Japanese family of swordsmen! She can be your knight in sexy armor!"
More laughter rippled through the crowd. I just sank my hands deeper into my pockets and watched from behind, yet to find anything really funny about this situation.
'Yeah, hilarious. We're trapped in another dimension and might be conscripted into a war, but sure, let's make jokes about Yuki in armor.'
The old man raised one hand, and the gesture carried weight — like he wasn't asking for attention, he was commanding it. From beyond us, a door opened. Two women and four men emerged, all draped in priestly robes and nuns' habits, carrying boxes in their hands. More priests and nuns joined them, filing out in a practiced procession until they were lined up in front of us, each holding an ornate box.
I paid special attention to the nuns.
Couldn't help it. There was something about the way those habits concealed everything, the way they moved with that serene, untouchable grace. I'd always had this fantasy about nuns — imagining what was hidden beneath those righteous ensembles, the curves concealed by all that fabric, the contradiction of purity and sin. The urge rose in my chest and lower, an inconvenient heat I definitely didn't need right now.
'God, what am I thinking right now? Focus, Cade, focus. You're in a literal life-or-death situation and you're fantasizing about nuns. Get it together.'
It was difficult, but I managed to suppress my hardening third leg from within my pocket and forced myself to look stern instead. Focused. Like I was paying attention to the important stuff and not thinking about tearing habits off bodies.
'This is not the time for horny thoughts. File that away for later. Maybe never. Probably never.'
The old man gestured to the boxes. "In these are two important things: a very high-grade Spirit Core, and relics that once belonged to Heroes of the past."
Kai's brown eyes glistened, sharp and focused. He was in full problem-solving mode now. "What are they for?"
The old man's tone gentled, like he was explaining something to children — which, to be fair, we probably looked like to him. Ancient priest guy probably thought we were all idiots.
"That is a good question, young otherworlder. Each of you has unique souls that attune you to spirits — but not just any kind of spirit. Heroic Spirits." He paused, letting that sink in. "What are Heroic Spirits? These are spirits of people who once shaped the course of history, whether on a regional, national, or continental level. Only Spirit Summoners can summon these types of Spirits. And that is why we have summoned you all here."
His voice grew heavier, weighted with something that might have been hope or might have been desperation.
"For you to awaken your true abilities as Spirit Summoners, call upon the Spirits of the Heroes, and save our world again."
My eyes widened involuntarily.
'Wait. What?'
Spirit Summoners. Heroic Spirits. Saving the world.
'Oh, we are so fucked.'