Sam hears a women’s agonizing scream. Then realizes that she is the one screaming. Or at least was. After the light hit her she was enveloped in blue light and she felt her entire body being torn apart. Even the most hardened action girl would scream at that. After a brief moment the pain was gone. However her scream continued to linger for several more seconds before slowly fading into silence.
The blue light surrounding her has dimmed a bit and in front of her seems to be a long thin line pulling her somewhere. At least she thinks she’s moving, there aren’t any visual cues around to confirm this. Other than the blue light there is only darkness around her.
Not one to allow herself to be lead toward some unknown and possibly horrible destination Sam tries to resist the blue light but to no avail as she can’t move. This seems eerily like the start of a night terror with no sound and unable to move. [Tank, we're going to need a light switch soon.]
Sadly no light switch and no Nebuchadnezzar appear to Sam’s unspoken thoughts. Great unable to wake up from the growing nightmare and not really sure if this is reality or a dream. [Also who was that mysterious voice that prevented me from waking up and why can I feel pain in a lucid dream?]
Sam really didn’t think that much about it while playing the game but if it was just a glorified dream then players should never have been able to feel pain. And with her dream within a dream hack this should be doubly true for her.
Not much time passes for her to think more on her situation before she sees something approaching her from up ahead. Quickly growing in size is a planet. Looks like the pictures Sam has seen of Earth from the moon.
As it grows in size she sees that the planet is definitely not Earth. Oh the oceans are blue, the continents a combination of greens and browns, and the clouds are still white. However the continent shapes are all different. She doesn’t get much of a chance to see how they are different before being pulled quickly toward one of continents.
Her speed seems to drop a great deal once she passes through some clouds and now she can see she is headed toward a place situated between a mountain range and a coastline. As she gets closer to the ground she can tell she is headed toward a city built along a large river.
The final moments before hitting the ground she notices the cities buildings are not skyscrapers but seem to be built out of stone a few stories high. The one she is being pulled towards seemed to be one of the tallest in the city.
Even though she knows that her trip has defied all laws of physics she can’t help but put her arms around her head before she impacts the building. The sudden stoppage of motion and inrushing of sound and light stun Sam for several moments.
She can hear many voices all excitedly talking at once. “Silence! Silence I say!” One keeps shouting. As the crowd of voices quiet down she now hears several groans from beside her. Blinking her eyes rapidly she tries to look around her.
Several dozen people are laying on the ground groaning. They are all wearing fantasy like clothing, so perhaps all of them are players from the game Sam thinks. Rising to a kneeling position Sam is overcome by vertigo and it’s all she can do to keep from vomiting.
Continuing to look around though she sees what looks like a very large magical circle surrounding the players. Further out is another circle with around thirty collapsed people on it. All of them are wearing robes of various colors and are being attended to by young teens in robes. Looking closer it gives the feeling of aged masters being attended to by apprentices. Finally a ring of guards in armor and people in fancy looking dress quieting talking to each other. Not sure at the number Sam guesses a hundred or maybe two hundred of them.
Attempting to stand Sam feels uneasy and kneels again. Nothing seems right. Her body is not responding at all like she is used to. Two arms, two legs, it’s all there but feels like she is in someone else’s body. Looking down she can see the armor she was wearing in game and is obviously still in her female game body.
However while in game she could move like normal even though her real life and game bodies were very different. Now it feels like she is truly in a different body than before. Giving up she raises her head and looks at the building she is in.
Looks like a cathedral with a stone ceiling far overhead and pillars all around in a massive circular room dozens of meters wide. Tall thin windows are along the walls between pillars. Seems mostly unadorned with sculptures or paintings but the ceiling has a big painting with seven segments each depicting different beings.
By now many of the players have recovered enough to be sitting and some are even starting to stand up. A voice booms out, “Welcome Heroes! We know the summoning must have been difficult but the effects will pass. Know that each of you has a special power that can greatly aid this kingdom in its time of need.”
Looking at the voice Sam sees a stout human wearing a crown and regal looking robes. He looks perhaps forty years in age and has a short beard. He continues to talk as he walks towards the summoning circle.
“We are sure all of this is very confusing to you but we assure you all your questions will be answered in time. Accept these gifts of the kingdom in return for being summoned. These magic items will aid you in recovering from the summons effects and help you in the future as well.”
Several young pages move among the players handing out necklaces to the women and bracers to the men. A page walks up to Sam and tries to put a necklace on her. [No way in hell am I putting that on.] Sam takes the necklace from the page and puts it into her item storage bag. The page seems confused for a bit before backing away. Most of the other players seemed too dazed and just let the pages put the items on them.
“We shall guess at some of the questions you all have. We are his majesty Philip III of the Von Clausewitz Dynasty. We are currently in the capital city of Breslaure in the Kingdom of Kalgren. As for being able to understand us this is a gift from the summoning.”
“The summoning has also healed all wounds, cured all diseases, increased your natural abilities and unlocked your hidden potentials. The dreams you have been having these last few months have been from the summoning. After all it would be unjust to forcefully bring others to a world they know nothing about.”
“It would also be unjust to bring those that are powerless such the requirements were to have a certain level of power. Only those with power and who sought to be in this world night after night were chosen as the heroes that can save this world from the demon king and his armies.”
As the king says that a quest accept window pops up in front of Sam. ‘Save the World!’ Legendary Fate (SSS rank) Defeat the demon king and stop his plans to destroy the world. Quest failure: Will cause everyone to die. Time limit: Before the demon king is unsealed and his plans come to fruition. Reward: Divine boon points and reputation gains with all people based on how much your actions contributed to the demon kings downfall. Do you accept?
No. The window closes then reopens, do you accept? Sam chooses No again. Reopening again this time the quest swapped the Yes and No buttons but Sam notices this and chooses No again. Reopening a final time there is only the Yes option to choose. Sam refuses to push it and after 15 seconds gets the message: Quest changed to ‘Save the World… (Reluctant Hero)’ Quest auto-accepted on your behalf.
Sighing Sam thinks to herself so the VR game was some bizarre interaction between this world’s magic and the other world’s technology. That raises a lot of questions regarding where the helmet came from, was there a game company or was it some sort of mass delusion. Sam wonders if she will ever know the answers to them.
It does at least explain some of the weirdness and brutal game play. Still the comment about those with power being chosen bugged her. As far as saving the world goes people are about the same in abilities. Which is to say none. No one is born with a special world saving ability.
The only thing in game about power differences was the subscription level purchased. The more money spent the more start bonus points one had and the more powerful they were. From a certain view point magic and money could be equivalent in both have the ability to shape the world around the person with a lot of it. So where does all that leave her she wonders. In a body she wasn’t born with and divine level powers she didn’t buy.
The King drones on about how great being a hero is and how needed their services are. As the other players recover they start whispering to each other.
“Is this part of the game?”
“I can still access the menu but there is no log out.”
“He said we were summoned, does this mean I can get slaves?”
“I want to go home.”
“I didn’t agree to this. Can he send us home?”
Quickly a lot of the player talk turns to wanting out of this and returning home. Several even start crying. The king notices his motivating speech doesn’t seem to be having the intended effect and pauses. Seeing his chance a young heroic looking player walks forward and asks, “Can you send us home?”
Considering the question a few moments before answering the king replies. “At this time that is not possible. Our resources are devoted to winning this war and we do not yet have the means to freely travel between worlds. After the war is won we will gladly devote time to finding a way to return those who wish to return. But we can see the summoning has left our heroes out of sorts and think it best to allow everyone to rest.”
With that the king waves some men forward. They are somewhat non-descript. The clothes are nice but not fancy, they are not fat but also not thin, of average height and looks. Interestingly enough as they walk none of their footfalls happen at the same time. Almost like they are intentionally staying out of step with one another.
“These men have been selected to be your guides. They will answer your questions and provide for your needs.” The king turns and walks towards the group of nobles. Each of the guides selects four people and walks towards the main entrance of the hall. As this is going on the nobles talking towards each other raises in volume again.
Sam can make out just a few snippets from the nobles conversation. “don’t agree”, “want that one”, “their eyes are odd”, “don’t seem heroic” The last two she can understand. Having summoned heroes to save the day break down crying because they can’t go home is not a very heroic image.
If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.
As for the odd eyes that can be explained by the ethnicities summoned. All of this world’s inhabitants she’s seen so far are human and look to be of Western European descent. However most of those summoned are Asian. About equal between Korean, Japanese, Chinese because of their love of games or large population made up around two thirds of the game’s player base.
The other third is made up of English speaking countries and Europe. With the price of the game helmet she doubts there are few if any from the poorest areas of Earth, except perhaps some of the very wealthy in those areas.
Considering the game had each player start area local to country of residence. This implies the summoning happened game wide if it’s reflecting the games ethnic percentages and not the local start area she began in. Since the game had millions of players she wonders just how many were summoned and where they went as there are not more than 50 or so players currently here.
Her musing are interrupted by a hand grasping her upper arm. “Come on now let’s get you to your room.” She tries to stand but stumbles a bit. “Seems the summoning affected you worse than the others.” The guide comments. “Here put your arm around my neck and I’ll help you walk.”
Seeing no reason not too Sam puts her arm around his neck and he lifts her up. He also puts his arm around her waist to steady her walking as they move towards the main entrance. If she needed further evidence this was not the game the places where he is touching are normally only possible to touch with all safeties off.
As they walk out of the building Sam notices the sun is setting. She also hears soft weeping behind her. Glancing back she sees three very pretty girls. Two look like Japanese idols and are holding each other as they cry. The third is busty redhead with freckles and, although not crying, does not look emotionally well.
Sam wonders at her own lack of emotions. Maybe she feels that way because she feels disassociated from everything. With her body not feeling like her own everything has a distant surreal quality to it for her.
She supposes some might think being summoned to another world is fun or exciting. But the reality of it is more akin to kidnapping. No worse, like being conscripted by a foreign nation to fight a losing war. After all summoning heroes seems to always be the last resort to fight a nigh unstoppable enemy. With no way home that makes this a fight or be killed situation. Yey an indirect death game scenario.
As the five of them near a grey squat stone building Sam starts to find her balance in this new body and can mostly walk on her own. A bit further in the guide stops by a door. “Here’s your room. As all of you are an important resource there will always be a guard outside your door. That will be me during the day and one of my colleagues at night. If you need anything you can ask me and I’ll see what I can do. Don’t leave without a guard as these are dangerous times for all of us.”
One of the Japanese girls asks, “What will happen to us?”
“Over the next few weeks you’ll be trained in your new jobs and become accustomed to this world.”
“I had a friend who was in the game. He was an elf. Was he summoned as well?” Sam asks.
“Game? Well if you mean the summoning dream then yes he was likely summoned. Only those that meet the qualifications could see the dream and most of those would’ve been summoned. Being a different race means he would have been summoned by the elves as they are the best able to guide their own kind.”
He opens the door to their room and the four girl enter before he shuts the door. Sam sees four beds, two large dressers and two desks with lamps in the room. There is not much extra space but she guesses it is well furnished for a conscripted heroes’ room. Choosing a bed at random Sam goes to sit down on it.
“Let’s introduce ourselves. My name is Samantha, call me Sam. I’m 21 years old from the United States and I bought the noble package of the game.” Sam lies since the truth wouldn’t make sense to them.
“I'm Kate, from Ireland, aged 19 and also bought the noble package.”
“Nice to meet you. I am Mitsuya Rinko. I am from Japan. Age 18 my parents bought me the noble package.”
“Nice to meet you. I am Hishikawa Momoko. I am from Japan. Age 18 and Rin’s parents bought me the noble package.”
“Oh you’re friends then?”
“Yes.” both say “We were both just accepted into Tokyo University and my parents bought us this game as a congratulations present.” Mitsuya Rinko says.
Although the words are translated to English Sam can tell the two Japanese girls are being very formal. She thinks it would be good for them to open up a bit and says, “Are you two okay with me calling you by your given names? Sound like we’ll be living and learning together for the next few weeks so let’s be friends.”
They look at each other before Rinko says, “We’d like that. Kate please calls us that way as well.”
Sam pulls out the necklace and takes a picture of it with her magic tablet.
“Hey what’s that?” Kate asks.
“An identification item. I’m curious what the abilities of these necklaces are. Kate can you take off your necklace so I can analyze it as well?”
“Why? It’s mine. I’m not going to take it off for you.”
Sam notices the sudden change in personality then asks Rinko and Momoko, “Do you mind taking off your necklaces so I can get a closer look at them?”
“Why should we?” and “You’re just a greedy American.”
“Sorry I was just dazzled by their beautiful design, I won’t ask again. What were your classes in game?”
The three calm down and then start talking like nothing happened. As they do Sam reads the item entry. Unfortunately it just has a name ‘Heroine of Kalgren Necklace’ and 10% complete. But with the reactions of her roommates she is sure it has more sinister abilities then a normal magic item.
“We were both druids.” The Japanese girls share.
“Was trying for fire mage.” Kate says.
“I just become a swordsman.” from Sam.
The girls continue to talk about their game experiences with a few comments from Sam. However Sam continues to focus on how to get out of this place. She makes the menu access gesture and for the first time the menu appears.
Only this menu seems cruder then the ones in game and is missing some of the options. The menu reminds her of the original 8-bit menus of early RPG’s. It’s also missing the game settings and log out buttons.
It still has friends list, party settings, and unlike the game a quests and character stats. Where the real money shop button was now says divine boon shop but it’s greyed out and doesn’t work.
Sam compares the information in the character stats menu to what she sees in her magic tablet. It’s the same but the menu just lists out stat name and number with no description. Likewise the title and jobs are just a list with no descriptions.
Looking at the quests section the menu just has quest name and percentage complete. The tablet details out area, has extra notes and subparts of the quest completed. Sam is also surprised to see several quests she did not have before.
She was just expecting to see her swordsman training and save the world quests. ‘Greater Heights of Pleasure’ (Common) (Rank F for fun) Experience several orgasms in a row, bonus divine boon points if done with multiple partners. She’s not sure what to make of a sex quest.
The other quest she has disturbs her more though. ‘Path of Power’ Legendary Fate (Rank D) You have the potential to be one of the Divine but have yet to choose your path. 6/7 divine virtues already chosen. Because of the influence of the demon king on the world the opposite path of Demons is also possible 1/7 demonic sins already chosen. Your future actions will determine your path.
Chastity 76% Actions: Still a virgin, only partied with other virgins, avoids impure thoughts (sex with men), avoid impure touches (tried to avoid blue tentacles of light), wears body covering clothes, didn’t have sexual thoughts when man had arm around waist.
Lust 46% Actions: Teases men, lies to men, uses men for own gains, impure thoughts (lusty looks at women), impure touches (pleasured self), wears sexy clothing, walks sexily, had a man’s arm around waist.
Hey those are insulting! They also seem to be stretching to apply actions to either side. She gets the feeling the Divine and Demons are fighting for which side will get her powers. As she’d rather avoid being a part of either side in a good versus evil war she doesn’t like this.
Although she doesn’t want the world to end she also doesn’t want to be chaste the rest of her life. Final battles between good and evil never seem to turn out well either. Usually ending up in everyone dying, world ends, happiness leaving the world, and lots of martyrs even on the winning side.
First things first though, getting out of this heroic army. She accidentally touches the magic tablet to the menu as she goes to close the menu. The tablet goes through the menu without issue. However the menu flickers and a progress bar appears with the words updating… The tablet also has the updating progress bar.
After a minute both finish and the menu closes and reopens again. This time the menu is much better looking and has the same information that the tablet had. It also gained the abilities of the tablet to take pictures and display the various guides. On a hunch she touches her magic item bag to the menu and after another update bar is rewarded with another menu button called Inventory. Yey for unified UI Sam thinks.
Sam decides her first course of action should be to break her necklace then wear it. That way she won’t be so obviously not under the kingdoms control. She’ll wait till her roommates are a sleep before doing so as she has no idea what their reactions will be.
This doesn’t take long as the summoning and emotions felt have taken their toll on the young women. Deciding to go to bed they all undress much to Sam’s enjoyment. However she doesn’t want to be hated so mostly focuses on just removing her armor and putting it into her magic item bag.
As she waits for the young women’s breathing to slow Sam unintentionally slips into sleep herself. After all she was already tired and didn’t get much sleep before being summoned.