It wasn't a day out of the ordinary, occasionally the summer rain is weird and due to this occurrence Shiko, our protagonist, was bound to leave home that day. But, where? Where was he going? He was a regular guy, he went to second grade of preparatory, 17 years old and lived aside his mother. His older brother left home 2 years prior. He was a video game lover, Shiko played all kinds of them, and on this occasion, he had a one downloaded in his computer and in just that moment beneath the rain his download was ready, then he decided to try out the game, but he was taken by surprise from a message of his computer. It seems that it was damaged instantly, strange error messages next to a binary coded message. Shiko, surprised he decide to fix it, following it an odd message appears clearly – "Help me"-
That what had appeared, with no reaction time for Shiko, flashed instantly across all the room leaving Shiki unconscious.
Hours later during which Shiko was knocked out, he woke up -What just happened? - he exclaimed, confused… noticing that he was in a dark room in the shape of a hexagon, a different coloured light in each corner.
-Shiko: Where am I? My clothes… Have they changed?
Meanwhile Shiko was lost in confusion due the place he was in and his outfit swap, didn't quite catch that he wasn't alone, promptly that person spoke to him.
-Stranger: Finally, you've arrived
-Shiko: Wh- who are you? Why did you bring me here?
-Stranger: Your answers will be answered shortly, but now you shall do what I say. Let me explain, pick a class of power, each represented with a symbol and a specialty… unfortunately for you, you are no longer in the world you know so much, your only way out is reaching the hidden power beneath you, you must defeat, rescue and survive to return everything back to what it used to be.
After those words, a huge beam of light swallowed and vanished the man – Wait! – Shiko exclaimed, he got no answer, and he thought
-This is… like a videogame, maybe if I continue forward, I could get a clear answer. -He looked, and all extremities had the names and symbols of which the stranger spoke of. The power that catched the attention of Shiko was that of the swordsman, he approached it and heard a voice who said:
"The Swordsman has advantages and disadvantages of the others, once you choose, you can't pick any other and you'll learn only skills from this class".
Shiko, convinced, decided and took it suddenly a beam of light, the same who vanished the stranger – That light? Is that the way out?! -He exclaimed with joy; he did not hesitate to enter. Once he did, he felt like his body was gone for a few seconds. He opened his eyes, he was elsewhere, an ancient temple, a sword and their sheath were delivered to him – Perfect… this weapon defines me as a true swordsman, a glance at the room which he was in, he was a three headed hydra that stood there, those mythical dragons who only reside in tales. The hydra seeing the young man prepared spoke to him.
-Hydra: Human, there's a reason you arrived in this world. you've been transported to help us from a threat that torments us. We wish that you'll exterminate us to prove you are the one the legend speaks of. aside from you, more humans have been summoned to aid your adventure, we pray for our deliverance.
-Shiko: I don't understand this matter… I'm still confused and adding more from what you said... that story, seeing a hydra speaking to me isn't the most shocking, if I continue maybe I'll get more answers. I'm willing to help and fight by your side!
At the instant that Shiko decided to engage in combat, strange bars appeared above the hydra's head, from his perspective it was like a HP bar from a videogame. A Symbol appeared that indicated "dangerous monster"
That just completely convinced him that he was in a videogame. He holds his sword tightly and got ready for combat.
– You must show your strength! – The hydra heads exclaimed while they began their attack.
Starting with fire spit from one head, Shiko did not stay still and dodge cautiously. A weird menu appeared on his view, listing his abilities, he tried one of them. -Sword Spear! Yelled and he threw his sword with some kind of power, just like an arrow. That magic power made the sword grow and cut off a hydra head – Thank You human – the last words of the head before vanishing into smoke – I'm sorry – Shiko said with concern after seeing what just happened. He was distracted and had a slip that almost got him crushed. -Darn it, I made a mistake – he exclaimed.
When he got way too close from dying from the stomp, a girl appeared to protect him with a magic shield. -Don't let your guard down! – Afterwards
She yelled – Pulp! – It seemed like the name of the skill just like shiko's, this magic pulled the hydra and thrashed it all over the ground.
– What are you waiting for? attack! – She said desperately to shiko, his reaction was to throw himself against a hydra head and sink his sword into their forehead, resulting in the head disappearing just like the first one.
–Let's go humans, I'm the only one left - the last head exclaimed, full of pride and pain, then the younglings were about to kill the last head, an odd purple light engulfed the hydra – what's happening? – said the confused young lady. The event finished, and instead of the hydra there was a hybrid, half beast, half human. The beast had just transformed.
-Hydra: N-No it can't be…
-Shiko: Wh- what's happening?
-Hydra: Pay attention younglings… this world brimmed with peace, when one day, an ambitious demon attacked us, his objective was the typical one, conquer the world, but us and 9 representative monsters of many races that belong to this world, we are guardians that protect from threats like him. He knew that and he was cunning and used all kinds of magic to morph us into humanoid hybrids. His power did not allow him to rule over monsters, some of my companions have already been caught by his magic. That's why we sent messages to the opposite world of our own. A written legend predicted a menace that will arrive and beings from another world that will save us from it. I beg you beings from another world, save ours.
-Shiko: That was you… meaning… all of this is really happening.
With no second thought… shiko both scared and excited, although convinced said:
-Shiko: I- I swear to protect the souls of your companions, alongside yours to save the world.
-Unknown Girl: M- me too, can't ignore something that was left in my hands, not by my will, tho these things happen for a reason.
-Hydra: I… I can be useful, I can pretend to be subjugated by the magic that he implanted beforehand, much earlier than it's supposed to, I can help handing out information from other places that are being controlled by the demon. I will get ahead!
Said that, the hydra teleported and left the place, then after this both younglings in their views a voice made presence in their heads.
Alongside those new suits you got, a magic pouch has been awarded. In which items can be stored, that will be helpful on your adventure. After hearing that, they saw the position where the hydra was, in their place two items were on the ground. A hydra leather and a scale. With a message above, explaining their use. Shiko looked back at the girl and said:
-Shiko: Alright, bye…By the way, what's your name?
-Unknown girl: Karasaki, I'm Karasaki Asuka I'm 17 years old. And you are?
-Shiko: I'm Masuda Shiko, I'm also 17, I know we will meet again, keep the scale, I take the leather, right?
With that said, Shiko went to a light behind them and left. – He didn't even say thanks – Asuka said annoyed.
Shiko, who left. Was teleported to a city that displayed a medieval style, it had a nice look to it in the environment. Suddenly, a strange device got out shiko and showed him and cities shape from afar, displaying the name "Humble town" – This device is a kind of map included on my clothes. Cool! – said Shiko excited by all that was happening. After that he decided to go to a blacksmith he saw and ask if he could upgrade his sword.
-Blacksmith: This leather is almost impossible to find, I could make miracles with your sword, just give me time.
-Shiko: Thanks, but… Is there a way to pay in here? I just realized… I don't have any money.
Just at the right moment, in Shiko's pocket, a bag of money with 500P appeared.
-Shiko: Ok, that's convenient.
-Blacksmith: Hahaha, what a magic trick, give me some time to upgrade your sword.
One hour passed, and the blacksmith came out of the forge to deliver the sword to Shiko.
-Blacksmith: Done, total is 350P. By the way, I found these two bags with permanent magic inside them.
The blacksmith gave him the two bags and the sword, he took one and in Shiko's view he saw something that marked "Level, went up to five"
After opening one of the bags – One of these must be experience gained from defeating the hydra, I should save the other one for the girl… Asuka, next time I see her – that's what he thought.
On Asuka's side, who was warped in the same city, suddenly heard a voice, it was from the Hydra, and it was a message via telekinesis sent with magic. The spooked girl said – "I must find Shiko" – and left desperately to search for him. Some hours prowling through the city she found shiko and grabbed him by the arm and worried and scared said:
-Asuka: I received a message from Hydra… it says that although having creatures different from this world, now that we are here, we function just like anyone else… meaning, we can be murdered if our HP reaches 0.
-Shiko: What? But only we can see these bars, right?
-Asuka: I guess so… but I mean we can really die in this adventure… What do we do? Do you want to continue? What if we die… We will die in this world and the real one.
-Shiko: So, this world… definitely is not a game.
Shiko once he understood this, he felt scared, and what if he had the same attitude as her. We couldn't do anything – Seeing Asuka on the ground crying, Shiko put his hand on his head, saw her eyes and told her – Don't worry, we are together… remember that we have the same quest. So, everything is fine, I'm here with you – Shiko said with a smile on his face.
The girl after crying gained some strength, and alongside Shiko decided to continue the pursuit of their quest that was assigned to them. So, in that way, the adventure of the younglings began, and they had a long path to follow.
To be continue…