The world of Mefora.
One of the four origin worlds and a fictional place where humans were on the brink of extinction. It was the setting for a webnovel called "While Others Summon Great Beings, I Summoned a Knight."
The world and setting in itself was really interesting, and probably the reason Toliver even decided to give the story a try in the first place.
It was ranked number one on various webnovel rankings, and that reassured him enough to start reading. But as he read through it, he was shocked.
It was bad beyond what his words could explain.
"How the fuck is this ranked first? Are people really that dumb, enjoying this garbage? Tsk, fucking give my time back,"
He was frustrated.
As a literature major he had read quite a lot of literature, even brainrot included, and he had patience too. But this story had something that wasn't just boring. It was pure rage bait, a solid ten on ten.
The story followed the usual cliched tropes, which were adapted into an even more cringe version. And the main character's personality was even more spineless and frustrating than he thought was possible. Forced romance and plot armor everywhere.
The novel was hard to read and he dropped it, ending his frustration with a one star review and some trash talk. Though frustrated and thinking it was wasted potential, he didn't swear at the author or personally target him. It was just a review that would help him vent his anger.
So why?
Why did he wake up inside the novel with a face he wasn't familiar with?
The last thing he knew was that after posting the review, he got the author's reply soon enough. It said "Thanks for review!" with a smiling emoji. Reading it made him even more angry, but he let it go and went to sleep.
He had moved on from it.
But then why, when he woke up, did he find himself in a world similar to Mefora?
First, Toliver attempted the usual methods of denial to wake himself from this dream. Pinching himself. Slapping his cheek. Closing his eyes and opening them again.
Well, it wasn't a dream.
The feeling was just too real and deep. And the shallow writing of the author wouldn't make his dream this deep, would it? Dreams didn't have this much detail. And they didn't have the continuity of a reality.
Toliver had read a lot of literature with transmigration novels included, and so he came to believe that this was actually his new reality in no time.
He was really inside the trash novel, he cursed upon.
First, calming himself down, he decided to get some more information. Starting with checking his surroundings. He was in an unfamiliar environment.
A flat room that wasn't his. It was luxurious and huge, with a balcony that gave a whole view of the city.
It was nighttime and the lights of the city gave him an ethereal view. Tall buildings stretched out as far as he could see, their windows glowing like scattered stars. The skyline was different from Earth, sharper somehow, and more angular.
Next he checked his face in the room's dressing mirror. He was wearing soft cotton pajamas with a minimal design and they looked quite expensive, but what caught his attention was his face.
Well, he always thought of himself as handsome, but the face his new body carried was beyond that. He had black hair and silver eyes and a perfectly proportioned face. It was just too stunning.
And like that, trying different poses, he wasted thirty minutes.
"I think this body isn't that bad," he said before finally moving away from the mirror. "If it really is Mefora then there's technology like smartphones, so I definitely should have one, right?"
After searching for a while he found the smartphone on the bed where he woke up. It looked similar to those on Earth, sleek and rectangular.
It had a face lock and in a fraction of a second it opened up.
Time: 9:37 pm
Date: 12th June, 81st year after Catastrophe
Location: Westhem Sector 33
"Westhem Sector 33? Huh, like I assumed, it really is Mefora. And the place where the main story takes place even," he muttered while scrolling through the phone.
Before starting to connect any dots he began his research on the net, Toochal.com. The interface was a bit different from what he was used to but intuitive enough. He searched for basic information first. World maps. Recent news. Historical events. Anything to confirm what he already suspected.
After around an hour most of his questions were answered. Like the name of the body he was using. It was Gustav Volford. The young master and heir to the great Volford family, one of the five great clans.
From what he knew of the novel, Gustav was a minor villain character who never developed. He was someone who had allegations of sexually harassing maids and even other lower noble girls. Not only that, he was a drug addict and shared the same toddler mindset and arrogance as other third rate villains who used to bully the main character.
But if he remembered right, then after the summoning ceremony that would be taking place on the 13th of June, he was murdered after a week and that led to the beginning of the first arc.
"First, without my will, I was pulled in here and now I'm already pressured to plan for my survival. Tsk. Back on Earth I was living in comfort without any trouble and now I'm so fucked. Why does it have to be like this?"
Toliver, or to say now Gustav, was really frustrated and irritated. He never asked for this transmigration and yet he was forced into it. Not only that, he had only a week to make a survival plan or he would die.
It was too sudden raise of stakes and that made him tremble emotionally.
He couldn't take things for granted anymore. He didn't have his dad to look after him. He had no one here. No one cared if he died, or to say it more accurately, they wanted him dead.
The more he thought, the more negative thoughts filled his mind. He looked up, took a deep breath and stood up.
He didn't have time to waste.
He had to start preparing.
If he had been granted any golden finger then by now it should have been with him, and yet there was no such thing. Well, he wasn't totally hopeless. He had his memory as a reader.
The story was really ass but it would be the guide that would now save his.
Tomorrow was the most important day for the people here, or more like for those who would be turning eighteen.
Tomorrow was the day of the summoning ceremony.
The day they would be establishing a contract with their Guardian.