Hely stood frozen before three strangers who had appeared out of nowhere from the summoning pentagram. Her gaze drifted from one face to another, as if hoping one of them would explain the situation with a shred of logic.
"So..." Hely finally spoke, her voice wavering, "it turns out the myths about humans from another world were true."
Icam immediately responded with a short laugh. His arms were crossed over his chest, his expression one of pure disdain.
"You guys actually believe this stuff?"
Icam's gaze pierced through Hely.
"Primitive brains. Always jumping to conclusions."
Alif, who had seemed the most relaxed since the beginning, shrugged his shoulders.
"But we're actually experiencing it."
Icam turned sharply.
"When?"
"Now," Alif answered without hesitation.
Iyas nodded with full conviction.
"It's currently in progress, right?"
Hely took a long, deep breath.
"The difference is..." Hely pointed at the three of them one by one.
"These three are idiots."
Hely continued in a flat tone.
"Usually, people from other worlds are supposed to be smart."
Iyas took offense instantly.
"You think we're idiots, do you?"
With immense confidence, Iyas stepped forward.
"Behold! The intelligence of this particular individual!"
Iyas raised his index finger.
"Even Mr. Darwin doesn't know this yet!"
"The result of anything raised to the power of zero is a constant!"
Alif glanced at Iyas.
"Anything to the power of zero is actually zero..."
Icam thought for a moment, counting on his fingers before muttering.
"Wait, doesn't anything to the power of zero become one...?"
Iyas turned to Icam, his face a mix of bewilderment and curiosity. "One what?" Then, Iyas suddenly shouted, completely discarding his previous expression, "One GOAL!!"
"What is wrong with these three, I swear," Hely muttered in disbelief.
Icam chuckled, his eyes sparkling with curiosity.
"Hohoo! This world is quite fascinating!"
Icam clapped his hands together.
"We need to gather information first."
Alif instinctively pulled a phone from his pocket.
"Think Google works here?"
A few seconds passed.
"Tch... no signal."
"Hold on," Iyas said casually.
"I'll build a satellite later."
Iyas scratched his chin, thinking hard.
"I wonder who has the most info about this world...?"
Hely whispered softly, almost as a warning to herself.
"I have a bad feeling about this..."
Iyas suddenly pointed at her.
"That person standing there looks suspicious!"
Iyas immediately threw both hands up.
"Could it be?!"
"Mercy, Boss! Mercy!" Iyas Begging for his life for no reason.
Hely covered her face with one hand.
"Good grief... what is wrong with them..."
Alif suddenly looked off into the distance.
"My meatball-detector is reacting..."
Alif pointed straight ahead.
"There's a village over there!"
"There is no village that way," Hely countered quickly.
Alif looked at Hely suspiciously.
"How do you know, stranger?"
"Could she be a scholar?!"
"I'm a local!" Hely barked.
Iyas offered a friendly smile.
"Greetings to you too, sir! I am Indonesian...." Said Iyas.
Hely frowned.
"Where is Indonesia?"
"That's why you should study geography!" Iyas replied.
"I don't think I'll find it even if I study geography," Hely replied resignedly.
Icam raised his hand high.
"Hold on, guys!"
Icam stepped forward with an air of absolute confidence.
"I'll lead our team!"
"What's he saying? I don't understand English," Alif muttered under his breath, staring at Icam with a flat face.
"Oh, really?" Iyas asked.
"How are we going to survive in this era?"
"They don't even have public minivans in this era," Alif said.
"Let alone an industrial revolution..."
"We need info!" Icam insisted.
Hely remained silent.
"There's our warehouse of info!" Icam continued, pointing at Hely.
Hely finally explained everything she knew about this world: the Demon King, the heroes, the great war, the false peace, and the remnants of darkness still lurking in the shadows. The explanation was long and serious. Although this trio of fools kept interrupting with questions, Hely somehow managed to get through them all.
"That's roughly how this world is... oh, it's rare for you lot to actually listen properly," Hely said with a heavy sigh at the end, not forgetting to ask for their thoughts.
Once she finished, the reaction from the three was... flat.
"Why do we speak the same language?" Icam asked.
Alif immediately entered theory mode.
"Perhaps our languages aren't actually the same, but there's a world law that makes us hear other languages as our own."
"Our oral and auditory realities have shifted!"
"Yet to their reality, we are the ones who sound like them!"
"Or maybe humans are just the same everywhere," Iyas chimed in.
"The way they evolve and adapt produces the same culture and linguistic elements."
"Stop with the conspiracy theories!" Icam snapped.
"Your theories are baseless and just plain random!"
"Since we're in this world, let's—!"
"Take a bath?" Alif cut in.
"No!"
"Oh!" Iyas exclaimed.
"Conquer the world! And knock the Demon King off his throne!"
"That's too small," Icam said firmly.
"As long as the dream is free and hurts no one, there's no reason to limit it."
"So what do you want?" Iyas asked.
"I want to be a hero!" Icam answered enthusiastically.
"Not much different from our dreams back home..." Alif muttered.
"We should be equipped with plenty of abilities, like cheats here," Icam continued.
"Oh, right! Like the ones in those political news!?" Alif shouted, raising both hands level with his chest, looking excited.
"Wait, wasn't it the ones from cartoons?" Iyas replied, countering Alif.
"—So that we are capable of adapting to this world," Icam finished, apparently having been talking the whole time.
"Wwwwawawaaa..." Iyas mumbled nonsense, while Hely watched Iyas's behavior with a cynical glare.
"D-do we have secret powers?" Icam asked, surprised.
"Well, the cat's out of the bag!" Iyas remarked.
"Let's go to the Adventurers' Guild and check our abilities!" Icam shouted.
"Let's go!" Alif agreed.
"I'll lead the way!"
"Even if we get lost, let's just walk until we find it!"
"You guys forgot I'm right here," Hely said.
"What are you still doing here, huh?" Alif asked.
"I can show you the way!" Hely yelled quite loudly, her irritation finally leaking out.
"Manual GPS! I love it!" Alif cheered.
"Alright," Iyas said.
"Lead the way, stranger!"
"You're the ones who are strangers," Hely shot back.
Hely gave a soft snort, closed her eyes, then opened them. She prepared to set off to show them the way.
However... just as she was about to lead, the trio suddenly bolted forward.
"H-hey!? Do you want me to show you the way or not?" Hely complained.
Eventually, the three of them reached a town settlement, which was quite crowded. The three of them couldn't stop stealing glances at their surroundings.
"Whoa... it really is different, isn't it..." Alif said, glancing at Iyas, who didn't seem to care.
"...and, uh, what do you call it, people keep staring at us," Alif added, still trying to get Iyas's attention.
"That means we're famous," Iyas explained firmly. Alif responded with a bright "Oh."
"Heheheheh!" Icam suddenly started snickering.
Iyas and Alif stared at Icam, who was laughing to himself.
"Using that person to show us the way and then running off ahead—truly the ultimate manipulation technique! It seems I can conquer the world in no ti—"
Icam's words were cut short.
"Look, why are those soldiers gathering over there? LET'S GO!!" Iyas shouted excitedly, pointing and running off.
"Hey! Hey! Please listen to the speech of the future ruler of the world! Don't you want to witness great history?" Icam asked, his voice sounding harsh and full of demanding ambition.
"No," Alif blurted out spontaneously.
"I was talking to Iyas..." Icam said listlessly.
After that nonsensical conversation, the two of them pushed open the double doors with authority. They didn't forget to say "excuse me" to the people around them before opening the doors.
A loud bang echoed, drawing everyone's attention.
SLAM!
"Good morning, local citizens!" Iyas shouted with enthusiasm, his gaze fixed forward.
"Good morning to you too, Iyas," Alif replied, being the only one to answer even he was a guest too.
The people around them returned to their business; some were brushing boots, others were sharpening sword blades.
Alif looked around excitedly until someone glared at him threateningly. Meanwhile, Iyas and Alif walked calmly toward the reception desk.
Behind the desk, a brown-haired woman smiled warmly.
"Welcome to the Adventurers' Guild of this city!" she greeted them cheerfully.
Alif stepped forward without hesitation. "I want to top up my online game, is that possible?"
The receptionist's smile froze for a split second.
She looked at the three of them in turn. "It seems you are travelers from another land. Where do you come from?"
"Quiet!" Icam cut her off curtly. "You want to know?"
The receptionist shrugged. "Just asking."
"We are from Indonesia," Icam finally answered.
"Indonesia?" The receptionist frowned. "Which country is that?"
Icam snorted. "Does this world of yours not have a Marco Polo or an Ibn Sina? No desire to explore the world?"
"Ibn Sina was a medical expert," Iyas corrected flatly.
"Heh! Close enough!" Icam argued.
"Geography expert, medical expert—same thing, right?"
"It's a hundred-and-twenty-degree difference, actually," Alif muttered.
"Indonesia...?" The receptionist seemed to be thinking hard.
"A Southeast Asian country!" Icam stated firmly.
"Which continent is Southeast Asia on?" she asked innocently, then her eyes lit up.
"Oh! You mean the Kingdom of Xenograsia!"
"Whatever you say," Icam replied lazily.
"I heard that country is isolated," the receptionist continued. "So they call their country Indonesia."
"Then what on earth is Xenograsia?" Icam asked.
"Xenograsia is the name given by an adventurer named Hasceles."
"Oh," Icam nodded briefly. "Not interested."
The receptionist cleared her throat. "So, do you wish to join the guild?"
"Sorry, but we didn't bring our ID cards," Alif said.
"Especially since we haven't made them yet," Iyas added.
"You don't need ID cards," the receptionist explained. "Just an AGMC. Adventurer Guild Membership Card."
"What's that? A new ID law?" Alif narrowed his eyes.
"Oh, right," Iyas nodded slowly. "This is another world."
"Explain, Doc," Icam said. "What are the requirements?"
The receptionist thought for a moment. "It's easy. You can pay with cash or through an exam."
"Cash!" Alif shouted quickly. "Definitely cash! I'm not doing any exams!"
"Very well," said the receptionist. "Where is the money?"
Alif pulled out a crumpled banknote. "Sorry, Miss. I only have ten thousand rupiah."
"And that's for my bus fare home," he added weakly.
"Hey! That money is mine!" Iyas protested.
The receptionist examined the bill. "A medium of exchange made of paper?"
She shook her head. "I'm sorry, this currency is not valid in this land. I decline."
"Huh?!" Alif's eyes widened. "Why?! Here, I'll add two thousand!"
"That's my money!" Icam screamed.
"Why are you guys always broke when I need you?!" Alif barked.
"Oh," Icam replied shortly.
"Leave the negotiation to me, O Alif," Iyas said calmly.
"Okay," Alif stepped back in resignation.
Iyas leaned toward the reception desk.
"Have you ever imagined becoming a collector of antiques?"
"No," the receptionist answered honestly.
"In that case, it's about to happen," Iyas continued, holding up a two-thousand rupiah bill. "If you take this money."
"It may not have value now," he said convincingly, "but in the future, this could be a goldmine."
He smiled meaningfully. "Imagine. You will be a witness to history."
The receptionist swallowed hard, looking tempted.
"You're a woman," Iyas continued casually.
"You get it. Handsome guys lining up, you can buy anything. Luxury goods, big houses, cars, planes, even tanks."
"I don't understand half of that," the receptionist whispered, "but it sounds nice."
"Here is the two thousand rupiah," Iyas said, handing over the bill. "Please register us as members of the Adventurers' Guild instantly."
The receptionist swallowed again. "Very well, we will process it." The receptionist disappeared through a door behind her.
"Damn, that was smooth, Yas," Icam praised highly, smiling with pride.
END