Tik... tik... tik...
The clock is ticking.
Hikaru sat at his desk with a blank sketchbook in front of him, staring at it like that shit owed him $5. His hands were clutched to his head, spinning his pencil. He was just a wannabe mangaka desperately trying to submit a one-shot for a monthly manga competition. But after getting his ideas rejected multiple times, he had completely run out of braincells to draw.
His temper finally hit the ceiling.
"Fuck it."
He snapped the pencil within his palm, swept everything off the desk, and pushed his chair back. On top of that, he delivered a full-force kick straight into the desk leg.
A second later, he was rolling on the floor in pure agony, clutching his foot.
"AAAARRRRHHH!"
Trying to cool down, he got out of his room toward the living room to watch TV. Just as he almost reached for the remote, his younger sister speed-blitzed outta nowhere and snatched it right out from under his nose.
"Gimme the remote"
" For what?" His sister turned her with a smirk
"So that I can have a romantic date with it. Bitch gimme the remote i arrived here first. Basically, I'm the one true wielder of this remote,".
His sister remained completely unbothered.
"Yeah, yeah, WIELD it later. For now, fuck off, I have my favorite anime to watch."
Hikaru tries to grab and forcefully pull it from her hand
Hikaru headed straight toward the TV, grabbed the cord, and yanked the plug straight out of the wall, spinning it around his finger.
"So be it, milady."
"Plug it back in," she growled.
"I think a mosquito is playing a violin in my ears. Geez, they're evolving."
"I won't repeat myself twice."
Both of them went dead silent, glaring at each other. Then, out of nowhere, his sister screamed at the top of her lungs:
"MOOOOM!"
Hikaru mumbled under his breath, "Ouu shi-"
"From which dumpster did you pick this piece of trash up from?!" she yelled toward the kitchen. "You should've left him there!"
"Who the FUCK are you calling trash, bitch?!"
Then Hikaru went silent for two seconds, staring deadpan at his sister.
"I'll spare you this time, but remember, this isn't over yet."
The TV flickered on. The anime began: Reborn as a Hero with Level 999 System.
Hikaru instantly wheezed. "Heheeehe... so THIS is your favorite show? ANOTHER ISEKAI SLOP!!!"
On screen, a high school boy was just walking down the sidewalk when out of nowhere, Truck-kun spawned behind his back at light speed, sent him flying into the sky, and shipped him off to another world to set out on a journey to defeat the Demon King.
Hikaru looked at his sister.
"Same shit happens every time. How cheap. Don't you have any standards?"
"Speak for yourself! As if you aren't reading entire series just to drool over those bitches in the harem!"
"I mean, that's literally the best thing they got!"
"Then why don't you draw an Isekai too? With a lot of hoes, of course. Who knows, maybe you'll get selected since there are plenty of simps out there like you. They'll carry your work," his sister asked.
"Isekai? Me? Nah... Nothing comes before food anyway. Mom, is dinner ready?" He rolled off the couch and headed toward the kitchen.
"Call her!" his mom ordered.
"You know? Animals tend to find their path towards food precisely."
While having dinner, his mom suddenly asked, "How are your studies going?"
"Studies? What happened to it?"
"Because I need to know if you're actually studying or... back to drawing that crap again."
"Um... I'm doing really, really, really well. You shouldn't be worried about it, Mom. I gave up on drawing like about 1,000 years ago." He continued to gobble up his food.
(My mom HATES that I draw. She thinks it's not a real career, just a way to ruin my life. But I can't just give up on what I actually love to do. She even forced me into an engineering college—my god, those subjects are genuinely fucking my mind.)
After dinner, in his room, Hikaru sat in his chair scrolling through webtoons on his phone.
"Isekais are ass and I don't wanna be a part of that cult... maybe," he muttered.
"Hinata actually had a point. Why would those corporate assholes care whose manga is better? They must be thinking whose manga will spike our sales and popularity, and Isekai does that perfectly. Always that system guy with his hoes and overpowered BS."
He sat in a locked-in pose with a deadpan expression.
"I just need to use my trillion brain cells. If I break into the crowd with a cliché, I might have a higher chance to get accepted and become an official mangaka."
After his lame-ass deep thoughts, he glanced at his phone screen.
"It's already past midnight."
He yawned loudly and leaned onto his desk. "I'll think about that shit tomorrow..."
He fell asleep.
Everything went black...
Somewhere in an unknown place, a group of people gathered in a strange room with a bizarre-looking chamber in the middle. Suddenly, a bright, eye-piercing light flared up.
THUD.
Hikaru dropped out of the sky like a sack of potatoes.
"Ouch!"
As some stray light rays pierced his eyes, he stood up slowly. "What do you mean it's hardly been 15 minutes since I fell asleep and it's morning already?"
"Is somebody using 'Made in Heaven' or what?"
He fully opened his eyes. What he saw was definitely not his bedroom.
Hikaru paused for a couple of seconds, trying to render the scene.
"Oh, looks like somebody renovated my room and invited some guests to welcome me."
(What the hell?... Perhaps I'm dreaming...? More like a lucid dream that comes with an interactive feature?)
He dramatically lifted his arm, brought his palm close to his face, and pinched his cheek as hard as he could.
"Ow... it... HURTS... does that mea—"
"SUMMONING WAS SUCCESSFUL!"
Hikaru squinted his eyes and whipped his head toward the guy who shouted.
"A successful WHAT?!"
He looked at his palm, folding and unfolding it a few times.
(Hmm... I'm pretty sure my brain ain't got no RTX to render a dream this good. So this must be—)
He lifted his head.
"Alright gang, the prank is over! Where's the camera?"
"I'm sorry to disappoint y'all, but nobody's falling for this shit! At least not for the 'being isekai'd' thing, fr."
Hikaru looked toward an old man in a cloak.
"Hey you, old man." He pointed toward the machine. "I saw you near that thing, you must be the host of this show, right?"
"Okay, now tell me where am I? How did you manage to drug me and bring me here? Did you convince my family to assist you?"
The old man replied with a confused face, "I am not playing a prank on you, Mr. Hero. You've been summoned to save our kingdom."
Hikaru backed off a bit with a disappointed face.
"Again with that shit... Are you gonna keep playing along?"
The mage told him to take a look outside if he didn't believe him.
Hikaru walked briskly out of the basement room. The outside view was completely different: no skyscrapers, no modern cars, just buildings with old European architecture, pavement-filled streets, and horses pulling carriages.
The old man saw Hikaru walking back into the summoning chamber.
"Oh, you really came back. I thought you'd run away from there."
"Like the fuck am I gonna achieve by doing that?"
"Alright, Mr. Old Man, your world is nice and peaceful, but I prefer mine more."
"We have cars and trains, high-speed Wi-Fi, online games—what else do I need to have a chill life? Except for those college hours, of course. You better send me back. Deal?" He placed his hand on the old man's shoulder.
"Unfortunately we can't. The king has ordered us to summon a hero in order to save our kingdom."
"FROM WHAT??" Hikaru grabbed the old man's cloak, asking him with a slightly raised voice.
Then a sudden clatter of iron armor made everyone's gaze lock toward the entrance.
A beautiful girl walked in with soldiers behind her. She had dazzling platinum-blonde hair that stood out like crazy.
Hikaru instantly folded.
(GODD-dayum... she's the EXACT type of baddie I've been dreamin' of in my fantasies...)
The old man locked himself into attention and bowed to the girl with one fist clenched over his chest.
"Your Highness."
The girl looked at Hikaru with a gentle smile.
"So you must be the summoned hero."
Hikaru gently waved his hand at her.
"HEYY!!" (internal monologue: THE FUCK YOU MEAN BY 'HEYY'?! LOCK IN AND TELL HER ABOUT YOUR CONCERNS!)
He continued out loud, "Ahem.... so you must be the princess, if I'm not wrong."
"Y-yes."
"Okayy... So... can you order this old man to teleport me back home? I have college tomorrow."
The princess gave him shifty eyes.
"Uh... How about we let the king know of your summoning, then we can talk about it maybe?"
"I know the king won't agree to it. Let's settle the business right here."
"Please come along with us," the princess said, moving forward followed by the old man and soldiers.
Hikaru tried to dig his heels in.
"Are you even listening? Hey... stop."
Hikaru followed them like he had any other choice.
In the king's throne room:
The old man stepped to the front.
"Your Majesty, the summoning was successful!"
The King's eyes lit up.
"Did that thing actually work?"
"Y-yes, my lord."
"So my grandfather wasn't wrong all along. I'm surprised."
The king peeked a bit to the left and right. "Where is the Hero?"
The princess and the old man started looking around, and the old man finally spotted Hikaru standing awkwardly at the entrance.
"What are you doing over there?"
Taking a heavily fed-up tone, Hikaru muttered, "Heh?... Can't you see these spears?"
The princess told the guards to let him in.
Hikaru slowly walked forward.
"Yo King! Heard you wanted some help. I wonder what kinda problem you hit that needs an otherworldly guy to fix it."
"Yes, Mr. Hero. The problem is indeed too complex to deal with."
"Look, if it's about elections, my vote's gonna change nothing. And if it's for a financial crisis, I'm rich enough to lend you some dollars. But—"
"Don't say DEMON KING, I swear."
The king wore a disappointed look on his face.
"Actually, it is one of what you just mentioned."
"ELECTIONS??"
"No."
"FINANCIAL CRISIS!?"
"The other one."
"..."
"You can't be serious!"
"What novel did you read today? 'Cuz this genuinely sounds fake as fuck. Btw, what gives you the right to abduct someone without consent, even if it's from another world? You should've asked me first."
"And if we did, were you willing to help us—"
"HELL NAH..... But still, a crime is a crime. You should be charged under Article 220!"
The king took a deep sigh.
"I understand your concern, Mr. Hero, but there is nothing we can do about it. The royal family has to strictly follow the 1,600-year-old prophecy to summon a hero every 100 years."
"Hm... I get it. But I don't think I'm the right dude. So you better keep summoning 'til you find the right one, okay?? Now send me back."
Then the old man spoke up.
"That artifact is made for summoning... maybe? I don't know."
Hikaru grabbed the old man violently, shaking him.
"The fuck you mean you don't know?! What's there to turn the process in reverse?!"
The guards immediately surrounded Hikaru with raised spears.
The king ordered everyone to calm down, stating that he actually knew a way to get Hikaru back. Everyone's wide gazes locked onto the king.
The king closed his eyes, taking a deep breath:
(Actually, I don't know. And I don't want to force this kid to kill a thing that none of us were able to kill until now. But what if he is that one hero who was said to be the savior of this world? I can't let him get away that easily.)
"Yes. You all heard me right. I know a way that can get you back to your world, Mr. Hero."
Hikaru's eyes lit up wide.
"YOU FOR REAL?!"
"But there is a rule for it. If you are willing to follow it, I might help yo—"
"I'M ALL IN!" Hikaru shouted with excitement.
"Now listen. In order to reverse the summon, the summoned subject must fulfill the purpose of their summoning."
"WHAT... There's no difference in accepting and refusing then! What makes you think I'ma make it out without a scratch?"
"ORR... you have to wait for another 100 years till the artifact gets ready for another summon, and you might be able to use it to return. I told you the ways and the choice is yours, t-that's it."
Hikaru turned pale and fell flat onto the floor.
Princess Alisa stepped forward to calm him down.
"I think that's enough for today. You look exhausted, Mr. Hero. How about you get some rest?" And she dragged him out.
The surprised old man approached the king and asked,
"Your Majesty, you actually knew how that artifact worked?"
"No."
"About earlier, you said—"
"I LIED."
"HUH?"
In his castle guest room, Hikaru was aimlessly rolling around on the bed.
"Isekai..... Isekai....."
He suddenly sat up.
"More like 'That time I got abducted into another world'."
"I got a baseball tournament next week, ranked season is about to get reset in 2 days, didn't even make it to top 5000 last time either, and... my 1,051-day Duo streak, it's cooked."
He fell back onto the bed, stretching his arms wide.
"They shouldn't have done this."
His eyes filled with tears.
"AT LEAST NOT A WEEK BEFORE GTA 6!!"
Far away in a dark space, shadowy entities sat watching Hikaru through a window-like screen.
One of them giggled softly.
"No way... Did you see that? They summoned a Hero for real!! I thought it was just some nonsense my grandpa used to yap about."
A female voice scoffed. "Fascinating. I thought something like that was impossible. How did they even do that?"
Another entity spoke calmly. "They have an artifact that lets them do so every 100 years."
Another voice joined in.
"How about we steal that thing?"
The first voice giggled.
"Come on, let them COPE. It's not like they're gonna achieve anything with that. Instead, we should welcome our new HERO."