1 – The usual setup
A voice filled with admiration echoed from nearby.
I blinked and the world snapped into focus.
A group of men wearing robes stood before me, staring with dumbfounded expressions.
I frowned and then glanced around. When I did, I saw that there were three other people standing nearby. Unlike me, however, they seemed shocked and a bit out of sorts.
My frown deepened and I tried to piece together what might have happened.
Before this, I was sitting at my computer, writing out another chapter… ah. So that was it.
To be sure, I glanced around again.
Brick walls were in every direction, forming an architecture similar to a Roman temple. Below me was an altar covered in runes and geometric patterns, each inscribed with fluorescent paint.
I was still wearing the clothes I had before blacking out: a black sweatshirt, jeans, sneakers, and the usual undergarments. Basically casual attire. But there was a difference.
A shield was attached to my arm. Perfectly fitted, it was light and hung almost weightless against me, as if an extension of my very self.
Glancing around, I saw that the others were examining themselves as well, each armed with their own weapons. A sword, a spear, and a bow.
The guy with the sword tried to throw it away a few times unsuccessfully and then turned towards the closest robed man. “What is this place? And where am I?”
That robed man immediately bowed. “Ooh, brave heroes! Please, save this world!”
“””WHAT!?”””
The three others cried out simultaneously in shock.
As for me, I remained quiet. If I was right, then I somehow took the place of ‘that guy’, and this world was the one being targeted by that witch of betrayal.
The guy with the spear stepped forward. Whether a subconscious act or not, he twirled his spear and pointed it at the robed men. “What do you mean?”
The robed man raised his head. “To put it simply… due to various events we were able to summon you brave heroes with an ancient spell.”
Summoned.
I didn’t know if this was a dream or the truth, but objectively my actions didn’t change. A hero summoned to fend off the waves, but one armed with only a shield… if events unfolded the way they did in the story, I would be buried under false accusations and infamy.
But should I let that pass?
The robed man continued to speak. “This world is facing a global crisis. Brave ones, please lend your might!”
The guy with the sword rolled his eyes. “What a pain.”
The guy with the bow scratched his scraggly blond hair and said, “Can I just head back? I’ve already heard this kind of story before.”
The guy with the spear simply nodded. “Is that so?”
Two annoyed guys and a white knight far too into his role.
I didn’t respond immediately, and the three glared at me.
I stared back for a moment, assessing them.
The sword guy was a knock-off Kirito. His black hair framed his effeminate face with bangs and his dark eyes were cool, apathetic.
The bow guy looked a bit younger, maybe a sophomore in high school. He had curled blond hair and wide, innocent green eyes.
The spear guy looked to be around my age, but the pretty-boy type. He had blond hair as well, tied in a ponytail, and blue eyes.
All three of those guys were wearing school uniforms, straight out of an anime. The only differences were the colors… and the fact that the spear guy had popped his collar and slightly unbuttoned his shirt.
I took in all of that information in the blink of an eye and then turned towards the robed man. Instead of responding, I simply narrowed my eyes and stared.
My actions must have satisfied the other heroes as the guy with the sword started to speak. “Summoning us without our consent…” He raised his blade and pointed it at the robed men. “We won’t just fight for world peace and return to our world empty handed, will we?”
The guy with the bow scowled at the men and said, “You guys don’t seem to have thought much about our plans, have you? Depending on what you offer us, we might become this world’s enemy instead, got it?”
The robed man sweated and said, “Well… first I’d like you all to have an audience with the king. We can discuss your reward then.” After saying that, the man turned around and opened the heavy door leading out of the chamber.
“…Guess it can’t be helped,” the sword guy muttered.
“Right,” the bow guy answered.
“Duh.” The spear guy spun his spear around and placed it over his shoulder. “The guy we’ll be meeting changes, but I bet the story’s the same.”
The group of robed men began walking out, and we followed them.
Beyond the heavy door was a stone corridor with windows showing the view outside. The others were stunned, mesmerized by the rolling green hills and a town like medieval Europe spanning in the distance.
I was just annoyed. Dammit… all of those stories about transporting to another world always left out the part where the internet didn’t exist. Neither did computers. I felt the urge to check my phone, but I wasn’t transported with it. Even if it did, the lack of reception would have made it worthless. Mm… well, maybe having it would have been good either way with everything I had saved.
The robed men continued leading the way and the heroes followed. I did as well, but I was making plans along the way. To change the storyline or keep it intact? That was the question I had to answer and something I thought about as we walked.
Eventually, we arrived at the audience chamber. Led along a red carpet, we came to a stop before a middle-aged man with graying blonde hair sitting on a throne. He began evaluating us the moment we entered, a neutral expression on his face.
After a few moments, he said, “I am the king of this country, Aultcray, the thirty-second ruler of Melromarc. Brave heroes, please raise your heads.”
Condescending, arrogant, and blatantly lying.
It pissed me off.
I wasn’t the only one. From my sides, I noticed the other guys shift a bit, subtly arranging their weapons for combat.
As if he didn’t notice, Aultcray continued speaking. “Now, allow me to explain our situation. This country, moreover, this world is facing its demise…”
That condescending king rambled on and on about the story.
Bascially, a prophecy predicted the apocalypse. Death would come through waves of calamity, unless they were repelled. The current era marked the prophesied year, according to some ancient and giant hourglass foretelling the waves.
People didn’t take it seriously until the first turn of the hourglass a month ago and a dimension crack appeared in Melromarc, releasing hordes of brutal and hideous demons, one barely repeled by the adventurers and knights.
The waves were roughly monthly, but even that wouldn’t be enough time to recover. At the current rate, the next disaster wouldn’t be repelled and the world would be doomed.
At least that was what he said. The real story was something else, but that didn’t matter too much at the time.
He also explained that the legendary armaments we were summoned with could translate languages for us.
That helped a lot. I heard everything in English… but I was curious what the others were hearing. Especially with all the honorifics. Would they get the usual, or would I just come across as rude? Hm…
After the king finished his story, the sword hero spoke up. “I understand your dilemma, but who gave you the right to summon us to do free manual labor?”
The spear hero nodded. “That is one hell of a convenient story.”
The bow hero added on and said, “Even it that is the case, and this isn’t me being selfish or anything, but if this world is going to be destroyed, let it be. Its fate doesn’t concern us in any way.”
Macho stances. Although the heroes firmly drew the line, I could see the excitement in their eyes.
But, unlike them, my frustration was genuine. I turned to the king and said, “That’s right. Do you even know how much time of mine you’re wasting? I was already changing the world before I got here, and I don’t intend to help out one that forcibly drafted me without compensation.”
“Fumu…” Aultcray glanced at a nearby vassal. “Of course. We planned on fully rewarding the Brave Heroes for their efforts.”
The three heroes turned to each other and pumped their fists in the air. I was half a beat slow, but joined them.
“I had already made arrangements to aid your cause with money,” Aultcray said. “And since the brave heroes will be protecting our world, I have already prepared a fitting place for you to rest.”
The bow hero smiled. “Those are all well and good promises.”
The spear hero, however, took an aggressive stance and said, “Don’t think that we can be tamed with just this. You’ll have to continue giving your cooperation if you don’t want us to turn rogue.”
The sword hero added, “That’s right.”
I simply nodded, keeping a neutral expression.
“Well then, Heroes,” the king said. “Let us hear each of your names.”
There it was. The start of the story and introductions.
The sword hero stepped forward and said, “My name is Amaki Ren. Age 16, high schooler.”
“Okay!” The spear hero stepped up. “Next up is yours truly, Kitamura Motayasu! 21 this year, a university student.”
It was the bow hero’s turn. He stepped forward and said, “Then, shall I? My name is Kawasumi Itsuki. 17 right now, another high school student.”
Did I mention that they all looked Japanese? Even though Itsuki and Motoyasu had blonde hair, they looked more like mixed Japanese than Westerners. It was odd seeing it in person.
And then it was my turn… or so it should have been, but the king casually looked past me and said, “Fumu. Ren, Motoyasu, and Itsuki, huh?”
…How strange. I’d never felt so annoyed in my life. No wonder Naofumi went all avenger hero on this story… even those SJWs didn’t piss me off this much
Since it was going to be like that, I tossed away formalities and said, “Right. And me, Iwatani Naofumi, King.”
Aultcray’s brow twitched but his expression smoothed and he said, “Apologies, Naofumi.”
Completely insincere. That bastard… he was only in power because he married the queen and she was out doing diplomatic work.
“Now then,” the king said. “Everyone, please confirm your status. I would like you all to visually check for yourselves.”
Itsuki and Ren had a bit of banter about how to open the status.
I ignored them and focused on the icon I’d been ignoring the whole time. When I did, a window popped up in my field of view, along with a bunch of icons. But in the forefront of it all was a typical status screen, just like an RPG.
===
Iwatani Naofumi?
Occupation: Hero of the Shield
Level 1
Equipment: Small Shield (Legendary Armament), Parallel World’s Clothes
Skill: Parallel System
Magic: None
===
The screen showed a lot of interesting data, and there was more that I ignored for the time being.
That was status, huh? It seemed that the system couldn’t determine my true identity since I never spoke it. It was interesting that I had a skill though. From what I remembered, Naofumi didn’t in the original story.
“Level 1, huh?” Itsuki muttered. ‘This doesn’t look very reassuring.”
Ren nodded. “Right. I don’t even know if it’s possible to fight like this.”
The king said, “Do the worlds of you heroes not have this? Status magic can be used by everyone in this world and helps to improve ourselves.”
“Is that so?” Motoyasu said.
I stared at my status screen again.
A means to quantify the body’s prowess through numbers… but that was a lie. If it was so easy, then even our world would have it. No, at most these were estimates. Enhancements blessed by the world to strengthen its inhabitants. A different ‘rule’ system.
But I had a ‘Parallel System’, didn’t I?
“Fumu.”
The king’s voice brought me out of my thoughts. He looked towards us and said, “From now on, you brave heroes will need to venture forth to strengthen and hone yourselves as well as your legendary armaments.”
Ren frowned. “Strengthen? Does that mean that our starting equipment isn’t strong enough?”
The king nodded. “Yes. The legendary weapon of each summoned hero has their own special method of enchantment. By doing so, they can become very powerful.”
Motoyasu whirled his spear and said, “Legend this, legend that. It’s fine not to change weapons as long as it can function properly like one, no?”
That might be the case for the other guys, but it would be harder for me… or it should have been. A ‘shield’ wasn’t really a weapon, but that didn’t mean I couldn’t use it as one.
“That doesn’t matter right now, so we can leave it for later,” Ren said. ”What we need to do is just improve our own abilities, right?”
Like usual, they talked big, but they couldn’t hide the excitement in their eyes. They were caught up in that dream, the wonderful ‘isekai’ that every high school otaku fantasized about.
…Man, it was weird being an adult. I just wanted to go back home and enjoy a nice long read with a book and take out, but now I’d have to get used to all of this.
*sigh*
“Will we form a party then?” Itsuki asked.
The king held up his hand. “A moment, brave heroes. Each of you will need to recruit your own companions and set out on your adventures separately.”
Ren frowned. “And the reason for that is?”
The king nodded. “According to legend, it is said that the legendary armaments wil reject one another. Should you brave heroes band together, the growth of yourselves and your weapons will be diminished.”
Everyone glanced at each other and frowned.
At that time, a window popped up in my field of vision.
Attention. If those who possess the legendary weapons work together on a united front, a repulsing reaction will occur. Thus, move individually as much as possible.
Along with that window, an icon for an encyclopedia or wiki showed up, but I ignored it for the time being.
Ren, the presumed leader among us, said, “Between improving ourselves and recruiting comrades, I wonder which we should do first?”
The king answered. “Allow me to prepare your comrades. The sun is already beginning to set, so brave heroes, take the time and rest for the day. You may depart for your journey tomorrow. During that time, I shall make arrangements and scout for talented individuals who can accompany you on your destiny.”
The other guys gave their thanks, while I simply nodded.
Did they… really not see the malice in the king’s eyes? Maybe this was the benefit of being an outsider…
In any case, we were led to our rooms.