After a few hours passed, the young man finally regained consciousness after fainting from severe hallucinations.
"Damn, what happened and where is this?" he muttered in confusion, then tried to get up while holding his aching head. His body felt weak as he stood, causing him to fall back down on his knees.
"My body… it feels strange, did something just happen to me?" he muttered while still holding his painful head. Confused by what had happened to him, he then looked around. The room wasn't too dark, as if there was only a little light. "Wait, is the ceiling of this place designed for sunlight to enter, and it's really high, moreover—"
"Wah, you finally woke up," someone interrupted.
The young man quickly looked around to find the source of the voice coming from the room, but he saw no one due to his blurry vision, made worse by the dim lighting.
"Who's there, I repeat, who's there!" he said cautiously.
"Relax, relax, we won't do anything to you," said the person from behind the shadows.
"It was my fault for startling you, you just regained consciousness from fainting and I still surprised you, sorry about that," the voice said in a playful tone.
The playful way of speaking made the young man feel slightly annoyed, but he couldn't do much since his head still hurt. Slowly, the dizziness in his head faded, and the young man then tried to stand up carefully so that his body could balance itself. He looked around in confusion, unfamiliar with this new place.
The room that was dimly lit earlier suddenly lit up all at once, though it was unclear where the light source came from. The young man was shocked, left confused and unable to understand what was happening. Then someone appeared from above the inner balcony and spoke to him in a cheerful tone. "Tada, not dark anymore right, or maybe still a bit dark? Sorry for the inconvenience."
Hearing that, the young man quickly turned toward the voice, and what shocked him even more was that the one speaking to him was a young woman with elegant beauty, dressed in luxurious noble attire. No wonder her tone earlier sounded overly cheerful.
"Wait, who are you exactly and what is the meaning of all this?" asked the young man calmly yet still cautiously.
"Ehhh, was I just joking around this whole time!" the woman replied, startled as if she had forgotten something.
"Well, maybe," said the young man with a shrug.
The young man then asked her something, "Sorry, but if I may ask, what exactly is this place?"
"Oh, this place, this is the summoning chamber!" said the woman cheerfully.
"Ehh, oh my gosh I almost forgot to introduce myself. My name is Casca, I am a Demigod," she said while making a silly face and forming a V with both her hands.
The young man gave her an uninterested look. What caught his attention more were the six black curtains and one red curtain surrounding him, with him standing in the middle of them.
Whether it was just a coincidence or not, the red curtain was positioned directly beneath the inner balcony—exactly where Lady Casca stood, watching his every move. That fact made the young man even more curious. Why did the red curtain have to be placed under her? Was its content perhaps the most special?
Out of curiosity, the young man suddenly recalled a faint memory, as if it reminded him of a video game from his world. As he tried to remember the name of that game, a voice without emotion suddenly echoed inside his head.
[THE MAGIC WORLD]
Damn, something just echoed in my head. Ah, this really doesn't feel good. Because of that, the young man clutched his head again, enduring the slight pain.
Casca, seeing this, grew confused and asked him because of his strange behavior, "Hey, is something bothering you? You look kind of weird, are you sure you're alright?"
Realizing that Casca had been observing him the whole time, the young man tried to act like nothing had happened. "Well, isn't that normal? I mean, you saw yourself that I just regained consciousness."
"What, you already forgot that?"
Hopefully, she doesn't grow too suspicious of me. Damn, am I starting to look strange now? I hope she sees me as just a normal person, yes, hopefully.
"Ohh, you're right, maybe I'm just not very sensitive about other people's condition," said Casca with a cheerful face, without a shred of guilt.
Ah, but for some reason my gut tells me something is about to happen.
"Ok, since there's nothing else to talk about, I want you to meet them and also introduce yourself to us," Casca said energetically while raising both her hands.
Meet them, what does she mean by that? Suddenly the black curtain to the right of the red one fell, and to the young man's surprise, each curtain contained—
"Hello newcomer, nice to meet you, my name is YAIRA, I am a cute and lively little girl. I hope we can be good friends," said Yaira with a cheerful and energetic pose.
[Status: Female, 16 years old]
[Advantage: ???]
Wait, is that some kind of panel screen? Is this a status panel? And why does it only show gender and age? What does this mean?
While the young man was still thinking about what was happening, each curtain fell one by one until it reached the red one.
After Yaira's introduction came Kocu [Status: Male, 18 years old] with an arrogant and indifferent look, though handsome.
Then there was Koyui with a condescending expression [Status: Male, 8 years old].
Samanta [Status: Female, 18 years old], Yano [Status: Female, 17 years old], Kanae [Status: Female, 18 years old]. The three of them showed fearful expressions toward the young man, and their advantages were also unknown.
"Oh, right, now it's your turn. Come on, introduce yourself," Casca said enthusiastically.
Wait, was the red curtain deliberately skipped? But why not from the beginning?
"My name is Ace, Ace Hankaza. Nice to meet you all," Ace said politely with a bow.
"Wahhh, your name is so unique, hellooo Acceee," said Casca excitedly.
But that didn't last long, as a panel screen appeared showing Ace's status. "Wahh, Ace this is your status, let's take a look," Casca said in glee. But the joy quickly faded. "Wait, what is this, why does it only show your name!" Her once cheerful voice now sounded dissatisfied.
"I had high expectations for you, but seeing this, I think you, Ace, ARE NOT WORTHY TO BE HERE!" Casca said firmly, with a displeased expression.
Right after Casca said that to Ace, coincidentally the red curtain beneath her fell. Inside stood someone different from the rest, cloaked in a robe.
Wait, who is this person, why are they covered in a robe, and why do I feel,
SOMEWHAT FAMILIAR WITH THEM?
"You're strange, you've been silent since the beginning and show no uniqueness whatsoever," Casca said with a disgusted look toward Ace.
"Wait, but—"
"Rey, throw him into the abyss now," Casca interrupted coldly, commanding Rey to deal with Ace.
Wait, abyss? What does she mean by abyss? And Rey… who is he?
Without another word, Rey began chanting some kind of spell. A large magic circle appeared directly beneath Ace, removing the ground beneath him the size of the circle.
"What the—"
Ace then fell into the abyss, screaming as he felt betrayed, discarded like useless trash.
Ace fell too deep, into the dark abyss. Was this the end for him, or—
WAS THIS THE BEGINNING OF HIS NEW JOURNEY.
As Ace slowly closed his eyes, thinking death would surely come to claim him, fate had other plans. He landed on a spider web far larger than his body.
Even so, the web was too thin to hold his weight, and eventually, he fell through it, hitting the ground with slight pain.
"Ahh, am I… am I still alive? Hahh thank goodness, I thought… ahh, never mind, what matters is how I get out of this place," he said with relief but also doubt.
Is this some kind of storage room, or perhaps more like a place to survive?
"A bunker, wow, it seems like my life is starting to become something I never wished for," he said calmly.
Ace looked around and found something that caught his attention. It was a lantern placed on a table filled with cute animal dolls.
He approached the lantern and noticed a piece of paper beside it. Picking it up, he read the words written on it: (A little star will always guide you to the safe path).
Those words made it clear that Ace was not alone down here. But what did it mean?
"Such beautiful words, could it mean this lantern's light will guide me out? Hahh, I'm truly grateful to whoever wrote this," Ace said as he kept the paper.
He then took the lantern, but suddenly something fell from a nearby storage rack. Ace approached it, brushing off the dust. Looking closely, he saw it was a weapon—a knife. "A kitchen knife, wow, I'm really lucky now. But I can't get carried away, I must do something," he said as he took the knife.
Feeling prepared, Ace approached a massive iron door.
"This is no longer just preparation, only the worthy will survive. Damn, I hate those words," Ace muttered, gripping the knife and lantern tightly.
Ace noticed a button on the side of the door. When he pressed it, the massive door opened with a slight tremor.
Alright, I have to be strong. Whatever happens, I must endure. Now Ace ventured through the huge dark corridors, but he wasn't alone, for something was lurking from the shadows all around him.
Would he find his way to freedom? Would he be lucky this time?
End of Chapter (No way back)