The annoying voice of Mr. Smith sounded throughout the room, his tone grating against Cassian's mind.
'How annoying,' he thought. Today would mark the 6th day they had learned the same topic. Mr. Smith had a habit of forgetting, and if anyone told him, they would end up kicked out of class. The man, despite his age, had a real mean streak.
Cassian sat at the back, his head rested lazily on his hand, his short black hair covering his blue eyes as he stared out of the window. Today was sunny, a rare occasion, and instead of being out with friends, he was trapped within these fall walls.
'Sigh~ why did Mom and Dad make me come here?' he asked himself, feeling irritated. His parents were rich, so rich he'd never have to work a day in his life, and instead of giving him experience in running a business, they sent him to some cheap random college in the middle of nowhere; no, sorry, no explanation.
Still, Cassian didn't complain; he loved his parents, and they loved him too. They gave him everything, so him complaining would have been selfish, so he sucked it up and attended every class, got top grades, and didn't cause trouble.
'But gods, it's soooo boring.' Nothing interesting ever happened around here. The most interesting thing this month was the college queen breaking up with her 10th boyfriend, and Cassian had no interest in romance, so such things didn't intrigue him.
Still, that didn't mean everything was bad. Cassian was quite social, so he had a few friends from other classes; he got along with most people. He only tried to keep a distance from the group that did drugs, sold drugs, or, worse, both.
'Sigh~ when will this lesson—' Cassian's thoughts were cut off when the shrill shriek of a girl sounded throughout the room. Cassian followed everyone's gaze and looked down, his eyes widened.
Below him and everyone else were glowing rotating circles; within them were words written in a language Cassian couldn't understand.
Something Cassian noticed, however:
'The one beneath me is green!' That's right, the circles below his fellow students and teacher were bright red. His, however, shone a dark green.
"What's happening!? Who is playing this prank!?" Mr. Smith shouted, eliciting glares from teens who were slightly calmer, unlike the rest who were shivering in fear, some even crying.
'Prank? Can someone even fake this?' Cassian asked himself as he turned to bolt for the door. He took a step forward.
Tap!
WHOOOOOOSH~!
'Oh shi-'
The circle flared to life, enveloping Cassian along with everyone else. Once the green/red light receded, the room was empty; not a single student or teacher was left.
…
Cassian's eyes fluttered open, revealing his blue eyes hazy with confusion, before ultimately clarity hit, then shock, then back to confusion.
'Where am I?' he thought, sitting up and glancing around. He sat in the center of a vast carpet of lush grass and colorful flowers. Surrounding him were trees so tall he couldn't see the peaks.
He examined his body as he stood, making sure everything was intact, and thankfully everything was. He still wore the same black hoodie and baggy joggers.
Cassian's mind churned, trying to understand what happened. It didn't take a genius to understand what happened. And Cassian, a self-proclaimed genius, caught on.
"I-I've been isekaied!!" he said excitedly. Didn't this mean he'd get a system? Maybe an OP skill, or some crazy bloodline! Hell, he'd take a regular ability, maybe fireball. He came from Earth; anything supernatural would excite him.
Wasting no time, Cassian tried something.
"Status!"
"…"
Nothing.
"What… the HELL!"
Where was his system!?
"Fuck… don't tell me I'm the useless extra who was brought with the hero!? Haha… surely not…" Cassian's excitement deflated until a thought occurred to him.
"Where's everyone else? And why am I outside? Shouldn't I appear in a castle?"
But no, he was outside, in a forest. And now that he thought about it…
"Isn't this place too nice? Everything is so beautiful…"
He walked over to a crimson rose, just like the ones on Earth, except—
Cassian took a sniff of the flower; his eyes flung open.
"T-this smells amazing!" If compared to the greatest smell on Earth, this single rose would eclipse it by 10,000X, and… there were hundreds of them. Just standing within them was sending his senses into overdrive.
Placing the flower down, Cassian turned on his feet and began walking in a random direction. He couldn't stay here forever; he'd die of thirst or hunger before someone found him. If he was separated from everyone else, things could go wrong.
If this was anything like an anime, bandits might show up!
Cassian hoped nothing so cliché would happen…
…
10 minutes later…
"Where the hell am I?" Cassian asked himself, growing impatient. He had been walking for ten minutes, and nothing had changed. The same trees, the same stupidly nice flowers. The forest just went on endlessly. He hadn't seen a single living animal. And worse, he hadn't seen any source of water.
Cassian looked up, specifically towards the sun. He could see it clearly; the day was nearly over, and soon enough it would be night. He had no food, no water, nor anywhere to sleep.
And as you know, Cassian grew up rich; he didn't know a single survival tip. He never thought he'd have to. Now he was facing the consequences of ignorance.
"Fuck, where is everyone?" he cursed, going to sit down next to a tree, but stopped halfway and straightened instinctually; his head snapped to the right.
Cassian's heart began to beat frantically, and he didn't know why he felt the instinctive need to flee and also the deep need to go that way. It was weird his mind trying to force him into two different paths; eventually, his curiosity won, and Cassian began walking.
As he walked, his heart beat faster and harder, and his body shook.
'Why am I walking closer?'
He knew why.
It was rather simple.
The human need to know the unknown.
Cassian found himself in a strange place, where no creatures lived despite the perfect conditions and the thumping of his heart the closer he got to whatever he was approaching.
He knew that whatever he was approaching could be the end for him. But he hoped and prayed that whatever he was drawn to wouldn't try to eat him.
'Stop being so scared, it's fine, all is fine.' He told himself, psyching himself up.
Finally, Cassian reached a clearing; it was much like the place he had woken up, lush grass and pretty flowers surrounded by trees. The only difference being at the other side stood a large cave. Cassian couldn't see the inside due to a thick darkness swirling within.
'Is this what's making my heart race?' He thought, putting a hand above his heart; it was thudding wildly against his rib cage. Glancing back towards the cave, Cassian felt a shiver run down his spine.
Still, he couldn't turn back now. Even if his mind wanted to, his body wouldn't let him.
Sigh~
Taking a deep breath, Cassian prepared himself mentally for whatever was to come.
'I wonder how Mom and Dad are.' The thought filled him with sadness, but he killed the feeling instantly; he had a goal to achieve despite the fact he didn't know what that was.
'Right, let's do this!' Finally done steeling his resolve, Cassian began walking closer to the cave. The closer he got, the stronger the need to enter became. Also, no matter how close he came to it, he couldn't see beyond the entrance; all he saw was an impenetrable mass of darkness.
Finally, Cassian reached the cave; he kept a small distance between them. Even closer, Cassian couldn't see beyond the entrance, but that's not what he was looking at; instead, he was looking at a black holographic panel floating in front of him.
[You have found an inheritance!!!]
[And a forbidden one at that!!!]
[Would you like to enter the Forbidden inheritance?]
[Y/N]
'An inheritance?' Cassian thought.
"Can you give me more information?" He asked the weird panel; this wasn't a system he knew that. So whatever it was, was an outside interference.
Sadly, Cassian didn't get an answer. Frankly, he didn't expect one, but a man's got to hope. Now he was standing at a crossroad.
On one hand, Cassian wished to enter; maybe he'd pass and gain strength. It said forbidden, and usually, that means it's really strong.
On the other hand, Cassian had no power. If he had to fight or do anything supernatural, he'd be fucked.
'Shit, stop being a pussy!' Cassian cursed, then out of impulse.
"YES!" he shouted.
[Beginning inheritance: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5–]
Abruptly, Cassian's mind began to feel sluggish, and his thoughts became incomprehensible.
'…what …the… hell…'
WHOOOOSH~
Cassian's body shattered into small silver particles before flowing towards the cave entrance and disappearing.
[Ding!!! You have entered the forbidden inheritance of the corrupted one.]
And with that, the panel disappeared, leaving the clearing eerily quiet.
+++++
End~