[This chapter is close to 1800 words...]
After the dinner was over, Daniel was the first one to stand up from the table. He didn't say anything, just quietly walked to his bed in the corner of the room. He sat on the edge, keeping his eyes away from the group.
Right after that, Elena stood up and took the bed in the diagonally opposite corner to Daniel, leaving only Ryan and Arthur at the table.
Ryan leaned back in his chair, letting it tilt slightly on its rear legs.
He looked at the ceiling for a second before speaking loudly enough for the room to hear.
"I really wished we'd all talk, since we're in the same situation…"
Neither Daniel nor Elena responded.
Ryan let the chair drop back flat against the floor. He turned his head toward Daniel.
"If anyone's hurt by what I said… I'm sorry," he added, his voice steadier now.
Daniel still kept his eyes turned, as if he couldn't hear Ryan at all.
"And I'm saying sorry even though I don't think I was wrong," Ryan said, resting his hands on his thighs.
'I don't think that attitude is really going to get everyone back,' Arthur thought, sighing, already giving up on getting everyone on the same page.
Ryan stayed quiet for a few seconds, then leaned forward slightly.
"Maybe we should properly introduce ourselves," he said. "We don't know how long we're stuck here."
He waited.
No one spoke.
After a few more seconds, he nodded to himself.
"Alright. I'll start."
"I am an engineering student. I live with my mom… I know that sounds lame," he exhaled as if to poke fun of himself. "I have a younger sister. My dad's a chef at a restaurant close to our house."
He paused briefly.
"My hobbies are music, dance, cooking, reading… and figuring things out."
His voice tightened slightly. "Which is why it's really bothering me that I can't figure out what's going on right now."
Ryan stopped there and rubbed his eyes with a deep breath, clearly not expecting anyone else to speak.
The room stayed quiet for a moment longer.
Then Arthur spoke.
"I'm Arthur Miller," he said, rubbing the back of his neck. "I'm a business major. I'm not very smart academically, but I'm good at physical stuff."
He swallowed lightly.
"I too live with my mom, my older sister, and my younger brother, so I don't know why you would consider it lame. My dad went missing a few years ago."
His fingers tightened slightly against the table. "My mom worked really hard to give us a good life. I… haven't really done anything for her yet."
He lifted his gaze slightly.
"That's why I want to go back."
Ryan placed a hand on Arthur's shoulder, smiling at him. Arthur smiled back before continuing.
"I think we should be glad someone like Ryan is with us. Even in a situation this absurd, he's trying to pull us together. Personally, he's helped me calm down a lot."
Ryan blinked once, then let out a short breath. "Damn," he muttered, shaking his head lightly.
"Beautiful enough to make a grown-ass man cry."
Arthur let out a small laugh, the tension easing for a split second—
But the laugh stopped halfway.
"I'm Elena Weiss."
Both Arthur and Ryan looked toward her at the same time.
Even Daniel's eyes shifted slightly in her direction before he turned them away again.
She kept her hands folded in her lap. "I was studying literature," she said softly, but a little bit louder this time.
"I lived with my grandparents. It was quiet where I'm from."
"I don't like crowds. Or conflict." Her eyes lowered briefly. "I didn't ask to be here. But… I don't think any of us did."
She inhaled slowly.
"And… thank you," she added, glancing toward Ryan. "For earlier. When my voice wasn't loud enough."
Ryan scratched his cheek awkwardly. "Yeah. No problem."
Silence followed. All three of them looked toward Daniel. Even the servants standing near the wall seemed to subtly angle their gazes in his direction.
Everyone waited, but Daniel didn't respond. Finally, Ryan made a joke to fill in the quietness.
"I bet before coming here you were a shut-in," he said lightly, with a grin on his face. "No life, no friends, with that attitude."
Before anyone could react, Daniel stood up so abruptly that the bed frame scraped loudly against the marble floor.
He crossed the distance between them in a few long steps.
"What's your problem, dude?" he shouted, grabbing Ryan by the collar and yanking him up from the chair.
"Be the attention seeker if you want. Don't drag me into it."
The servants along the wall stiffened instantly. One of them gasped softly.
Arthur shot up from his seat. "Daniel, wait—"
But before Arthur could intervene, Daniel let go of the collar.
"Yeah, I like this place, and if that's the reason y'all hate me, then so be it. Not everyone had a privileged life before they came here."
Ryan didn't say anything this time. He just adjusted his collar slowly, smoothing the fabric where Daniel had grabbed it.
Daniel didn't continue either. He turned towards maids instead. "Where do I take a shower?"
The maid blinked, clearly not understanding the word.
Ryan responded back, getting up from the table. "He wants to bathe. Get cleaned."
Seeing the last hero also get up, the other maids swooped in, cleaning the crystal table.
The speed and the accuracy with which they cleaned made Ryan stop and admire for a second before taking the bed just to the left of the entrance.
Arthur took the last remaining bed to the rightmost top corner of the room.
The entire room went quiet again. As the maid bowed slightly and guided Daniel toward a door directly across from his bed.
She pushed the door open. Inside was a smaller bathing chamber.
A large wooden barrel filled with water rested against the wall. Beside it was a bucket and a small mug carved from polished wood.
The maid moved quickly, scooping water into the bucket with practiced hands.
She then retrieved a slim glass tube filled with a faint pink liquid and poured some into the water.
Daniel watched, arms crossed. "What's that?"
"A potion made from servius berries," she replied. "It removes dirt and leaves a pleasant scent."
She then went out and grabbed one of the pairs of clothes kept on the stool near the entrance. A black cloak, a white shirt, and fitted trousers made from thick, dark fabric.
Daniel's expression shifted for the first time that night.
"That's mine?" he asked.
"Yes, Hero."
He stepped closer, running his fingers across the fabric, clearly pleased. The maid stepped back out and returned to her position along the wall.
A few minutes later, the bathing chamber door creaked open.
Daniel stepped out.
His hair was still damp, pushed back loosely.
The black cloak rested neatly over his shoulders, the white shirt fit properly across his frame, and dark trousers were tucked into leather boots that looked far more expensive than anything he had worn before.
Elena stood up next.
She walked toward the same bathing chamber, closing the door behind her.
One of the maids joined her inside, guiding her through the process before stepping outside.
She returned a while later wearing a soft blue cloak over a pale blouse and fitted trousers, the fabric lighter and with more embroidery compared to the others.
Arthur looked from Elena to Ryan, then toward the bathing chamber.
"You wanna go first?" he asked Ryan.
Ryan stretched slightly on his bed before standing up.
"I'll change," he said casually. "But I'm skipping the bath."
Arthur blinked. "Why?"
"I showered this morning before all this happened," Ryan replied, picking up the folded clothes from the stool near the entrance.
"Bathing too much dries your skin out."
Arthur stared at him for a second.
'Of all the things to worry about after being summoned to another world…'
"Fair," Arthur muttered.
Ryan stepped behind one of the carved wooden privacy screens near his bed and changed quickly.
When he stepped out, he was wearing a deep red cloak that contrasted sharply against the white marble walls. Underneath it, a fitted, crimson-colored shirt, tailored trousers, and polished leather boots.
Arthur glanced toward the bathing chamber again.
He nodded to himself. "Yeah. I'll just change too."
He grabbed his set of clothes and stepped behind the same screen.
When he emerged, he wore a deep green cloak over a matching green shirt, paired with black trousers and leather boots that were the same as the others.
Everyone went to their beds, exhaustion taking over their worried minds.
"Can you turn the lights off?"
Ryan asked, and one of the maids quickly moved towards the entrance of the room and picked up the red crystal kept in a circle with lines painted from it going to the roof right below where the chandelier was floating.
As soon as she picked it up, the flying chandelier quickly dimmed out, making the entire room dark.
"Goodnight; let's hope we somehow wake up in the real world," Ryan muttered lazily from his bed.
No one responded.
Arthur lay on his back, staring up at the ceiling.
His eyes slowly grew heavy.
He didn't know how long he had been asleep. But something pulled him back to consciousness.
A faint sound of bed creaking and soft moaning.
Arthur frowned slightly without opening his eyes.
At first, he thought it was the wind brushing against the windows. But then he remembered there were no windows in the room.
He opened his eyes. The room was completely dark, making it impossible to see. He squinted his eyes, trying to get them adjusted to the dark.
After a while he saw two male maids standing near the wall, looking at the floor with eyes full of disgust and despair.
'They are still standing… Ohhh, we forgot to clap three times to dismiss them. Of course they look sad. I'll quickly dismiss them now.'
Arthur raised his hands slowly, but as he was about to clap, he heard a wet sound.
He pushed himself up with his elbow, not to make any sound, and looked below him towards Daniel's bed. Female maids stood around it in a semicircle.
His stomach dropped. He couldn't see properly, but all the sounds were enough to make up for the lack of vision.
'No way…' Arthur thought quickly, looking over to Ryan's bed to see if he was up, but he was turned to the other side.
'Shit, how is no one else waking up? How am i supposed to deal with this'