CHAPTER 2: A NEW WORLD

When I saw the “fire wolf,” there was no doubt in my mind. I realized I was in another world. I also realized right away that this “fire wolf” was not to be trifled with. A regular wolf would have been bad enough, but a wolf with firepower was beyond my abilities. And I thought having a gun would keep me safe. What naivete!

My body started shaking and every single brain cell in my head was struggling to find a way to survive. I didn’t move, just hoping the wolf wouldn’t attack me. It was pretty obvious that if the wolf would attack, my chances of surviving, even armed, were frighteningly low.

The “fire wolf” continued staring at me with its crimson eyes, but still didn’t move. I once heard that wolves would not attack humans unless they felt threatened, so I tried to appear as harmless as possible. I think my theory worked, yet not quite as I hoped. The “fire wolf” came closer and closer, but it didn’t seem like it wanted to attack me.

I felt the heat of its flames when it was a few meters away. But suddenly its flames disappeared, and it was the usual, slightly reddish wolf again.

I stared, perplexed, at the wolf who had appeared next to me. It didn’t appear to regard me as a threat. It even gave me a sniff. For a brief moment, I considered stroking it, but I didn’t want to push my luck too far. But then I heard something strange.

“Powers of water hear my will. Let the cosmo energy flow the way I want. WATER BALL!”

When I heard these words, a large water ball appeared behind me, brushing me but completely capturing and throwing away the wolf.

I turned around, startled, to see the source of this strange occurrence. It was a tall, slender man in a brown coat holding what looked like a wand. The first thing that came to mind was a “magician”.

“Move, it’s not over yet!” he yelled at me.

This time I looked back at the fire wolf, who was again engulfed in flames and didn’t look too happy. The wolf’s flames seemed even more dangerous than before. To top this off, it created many small fireballs around itself, which it then fired in the man’s direction.

“Bill cover!” the man just shouted.

Suddenly, a burly, tall man with a huge shield appeared and blocked the fireballs.

“That was close. Those fireballs are no joke.”

Another man emerged from the shadows of the forest, wielding a sword, and dashed toward the wolf. He covered the long distance in a matter of seconds, swinging his sword with precision. The wolf was able to avoid a fatal blow, but was still struck in the leg.

“Fuck, I wanted to take him out with one strike.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll end this now!” a confident voice spoke.

Another man came out of the forest. He wore silver armor and wielded a red spear. His face oozed complete confidence. Even I noticed that he was the strongest here.

The wolf, it appears, was also aware of this, as it attempted to flee. But all in vain. The man’s spear began to glow and then caught fire. Then, with incredible speed, he threw it point-blank at the wolf, killing it.

The wolf’s flames vanished, and it died.

It felt weird watching the wolf die. I did not know why, but it didn’t want to attack me, so there was no reason to kill it. Yet it was dead now.

“Aren’t you going to say thank you?! We saved your life!” the swordsman said while putting his sword back in his scabbard.

Even though I didn’t believe my life was in danger, I suppose I should thank them, anyway. These men were only acting to keep me safe.

“Thank you very much.”

“Oh no problem,” replied the “magician,” exhausted.

He smiled, however, something about the smile felt weird.

Surely that was just my imagination.

“What is your name?” the spear bearer asked.

“Damion.”

He just nodded and continued, “I am Zinx, the leader of this troop,” then he introduced the other men one by one, “Our magician is John. Our tank is Bill, and the swordsman is Roy. The name of our troupe is friendly poison.”

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Wait, mage, tank, swordsman — it all sounded like a video game. No matter how I twist and turn it, there was no such thing in my world.

Does that mean I’m actually in a different world?!

Huh?

Why was I only realizing this now?

We speak the same language!

But how could that be when I was in a completely different world? Did that mean I was still in my world?

It all makes no sense!

“Hey, what are you doing here all alone, anyway? Where is your squad? Don’t tell me you came here alone?”

When Bill asked me that, an epiphany hit me.

Why don’t I just ask?!

People from this world who strangely spoke the same language as I popped up in front of me. Why didn’t I use that to find out what I needed to know?

“To be honest, I don’t even know where we are. Could you please tell me where we are?”

They looked at me, confused.

“Of course, we’re in the Cosmo Forest. How can you be here and not know that?” Roy asked, his eyes suspiciously fixed on me.

Cosmo Forest? Never heard of it before.

Even though the people here spoke the same language, there was no doubt that this was a different world.

Shit, what now?

They still looked at me with suspicion because I hadn’t answered the question.

Should I just tell the truth and say that a portal brought me here? What if they thought it was strange and didn’t believe me?

No, someone from another world could be normal in a world full of magic and burning animals. In any case, I needed to respond quickly because they were becoming increasingly impatient.

“Erm, how do I say this? I think I got teleported here from another world.”

I told the truth.

They all had question marks on their faces. To say they just looked surprised would be an understatement.

I guess people from another world are not so normal after all.

The first to speak up was Roy.

“HEY don’t try to fool us. We may have saved your life, but that doesn’t mean you can play with us!”

Shit, they don’t believe me.

“Wait, wait, I’m telling the truth. Why should I lie to my lifesavers? I’m really not from here.”

“Bullshit!” Roy just shook his head and drew his sword.

Hey, hey, hey, what’s happening here? Is he really trying to attack me?

“Wait Roy, it might be true,” John said, practically saving my life.

I didn’t know why, but he seemed to believe me.

“I’ve noticed something odd about him. I don’t feel any cosmo energy from him at all.”

Everyone seemed shocked, including me. I had no idea what this cosmo energy was. But apparently, I didn’t have it.

“It can’t be!” Zinx replied, “Every living being has cosmo energy.”

“That’s the way it is, but does that also apply to beings from another world? The only way to explain the lack of cosmo energy is to believe that he’s from another world.”

Did he convince them?

In any case, his argument sounded very plausible. The best thing now would be for them to believe me and help me to get back home.

But maybe the last part would be asking too much. I would be grateful if they would just explain this world a bit.

“As I said, I’m not from here, so I’m begging you, please help me,” I asked for help as nicely as I could, because I knew that their help would be essential to survive here.

“Of course, we will help you! You wouldn’t have a chance to survive here without us,” John answered with a smile.

I let out a loud breath of relief.

What a good-hearted person!

Although we didn’t know each other, he stood up for me and helped. I would forever be in his debt. If my kid turns out to be a boy, I’ll name him John.

No, just kidding, I don’t want to exaggerate either.

I was just grateful that I got people helping me in this world.

“Hey wait a minute John, since when do you decide what to do? I’m the boss and I haven’t agreed yet.”

“Zinx, I could never forgive myself if we would leave someone so helpless, like him, in here. You should understand that, besides…” he whispered the rest in his ear and I didn’t hear what he said.

Normally, this would be very suspicious, but I trusted John and did not investigate any further. Even if I did not trust him, I needed their help anyway. If I wanted to get back home, I should rely on them.

After they spoke, Zinx agreed. They then talked among themselves and everyone agreed. I didn’t know what else John told them, but as long as it worked, I had no problems with it.

A short time passed, and we set off. I asked them where we would be going, but I didn’t get a proper answer. They just said they would take me to a safe place. I couldn’t complain because I was the one asking them for help.

“Here, drink this.”

John handed me a small vial of some dubious liquid.

“What is that?”

“Something good,” he just said with an odd smile.

I did trust him, but that was very suspicious.

I hesitated and didn’t drink it right away. John seemed to have noticed this and took the bottle back. He took a sip of the liquid and said, “Don’t you see? Nothing bad.”

He handed it back to me, and I just looked at it. Even though it was suspicious, I probably should drink it. Maybe they would be offended if I mistrust them now and refuse the drink.

I weighed off the pros and cons and decided it would be better to take a sip, rather than to risk them leaving me. It tasted awful, so awful I even regretted my choice. However, now that I drank it, I showed them my trust.

This was the first step toward establishing a cooperative relationship.

Suddenly, I started getting tired. My vision was blurring, and it was getting harder and harder to stay on my feet. My body felt weird.

“It worked quicker than I thought,” John said with his usual smile, but only now did I realize how malicious it actually looked.

“John what.. what did you do?”

“You idiot! Did you really think we would just help you like that?” he said, laughing like a devil.

Fuck! That bastard!

“Why? Why are you doing this?!“

He just smiled.

“I see your world really must have been a good place. But it’s a shame you’ve ended up here. This world will become a living hell for you! You asked why, because you are weak!”

Holy shit! HOW COME? Why is this happening?!

Why did they betray me?!

I was losing more and more strength, and the last thing I saw was John’s deceitful smile.