1-1.  「The summoning ritual」

After parting ways with Yui at the stairs, I made a turn and walked along the hallway, receiving eyes of disgusts from every direction. I can’t say it’s not unpleasant, but it’s because I’m already used to it that I don’t feel like glaring at them anymore.

When I’ve finally arrived at a certain classroom, I looked up and saw the sign 「2-F」 hanging above. It’s definitely the class that I’m attending right now. Though it’s not a place for extremely smart people, it’s not a terrible class either.

I slid the door open and took one step in. Every single noise completely died out the moment my presence appeared.

This is nothing surprising, it’s just par for the course, it’s completely expected to happen every single time, no matter how many times. Yes, it’s completely the norm here for things to be like this, but I can’t really say I’m completely immune to the discomfort in my heart.

Not saying anything, I entered the classroom, closed the door, and sat into my designated seat as other people returned to being noisy, chatting with their friends, or just hanging out with their own circles.

Though I’m completely unrelated, I can still sometimes hear whispers about how 「that Yami」 hanging out with the gangs in the city, how 「that Yami」 has a mother that works at a shady coffee shop, or how 「that Yami」 is plaguing the brilliant idol Yui by sharing the same blood, and how he should just go die somewhere so that this school can be 「clean」.

Oh wait, that last one is quite new, isn’t it. Hm hm, so it finally reached the point where they just openly tell me to go kill myself huh. Fufu, am I that formidable an opponent that they have to be so wary of my existence? Is it actually true that I’m the chosen one sent by god to purge the demonic beings?

Uhh…no I swear, that chuuni speech didn’t come from a light novel at all alright? Though I look like a muscles for brains, I do read you know. I am in fact, just another male student who enjoys some action mangas and light novels.

But I guess…that doesn’t matter to the society where a person’s background can determine their whole life without being able to make any turn for the better…

Another day that is the same to every other day huh.

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「-chan…nii…onii-chan!!」

「Hm?!」

I opened my eyes at the sweet and soft voice calling me. If it’s a cute girl then can I just dive into her bosom and sleep for another 10 thousand years? If that can be done then it’s going to be so good for the tired me.

Wait, I sound like a goddamn old geezer with a bottle of sake in one hand and a cup on the other. I’ve got to straighten up a bit here or Yui’s going to scold me for sure.

I sat up and looked around me. It was a luxurious place with fancy ornaments and decorations. A red carpet was spread from the huge double doors with detailed carvings, way to the other end of the room, which was a……throne?

Wait, what? This is starting to make less sense. Why is there a dude with a golden crown on top of his head, sitting all high and mighty like some kind of medieval king? Is this some kind of role play? Or is it, in fact, a theatrical play of some sort?

「O-ni-i-cha-n!!」

「Good lord’s penis!!! Don’t scare me like that, you pleb!!!」

My sister sweet voice suddenly banged into my eardrum violently, resulting in me flinching and letting out some weird-ass cursing that even I don’t know where the hell did it come from.

「Auu…onii-chan is actually a hentai…?」

「Eh, no, it’s just because you startled me…」

Yui’s face turned red at my dirty surprised remark. But thanks to that, I finally came to my senses and recalled what happened before this.

During break time in the middle of the regular school day, the ground suddenly shook. The public speakers were streaming a report about a strange earthquake. Everything was chaotic inside the school as students and staffs didn’t expect this. There was absolutely no prior warning from the government.

And then, as we were trying to evacuate, or at least began to try to perform some safety measures, the most unbelievable thing happened right before our eyes. Dimensional rifts opened mid-air everywhere around the school and they started sucking everything in. Students and teachers, humans and object, all shared the same fate of being sucked in mercilessly.

We had no idea what was going on as we were engulfed by darkness at the other side of those dimensional rifts.

If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

Then when my sister knocked me back into my senses, we’re already all here in this strange place, or should I say a palace? Yeah, that’s more like it, I have a pretty bad feeling about this, though.

「Is everybody awake? Good, then listen up, young men and women!!」

The King-role-playing guy stood from his huge throne and spoke in a self-important tone. Wow, this dude is a famous actor or something? Oh wait, he actually looks like Tom Cruise, maybe he is some kind of famous actor. I mean, he’s playing a perfect role of a King…

I swear, if this is some kind of hidden cam prank, I would definitely one-hundred percent shit on them with my secret technique 「Ten thousand lovely kicks」. But since I was completely joking about that stupid technique, I guess I would just scold them since they ridiculed us.

「I’ll cut to the chase, you all have been summoned to this world to become Heroes!」

Hah? I thought to myself, almost burst out laughing at the King-like dude in fancy clothing.

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Okay…I don’t think I can laugh anymore.

The King-dude let a buffed-looking guy in flashy armor explain the situation to us. Wait, heck, why the hell did he start off the conversation and then pass it over to the other guy? Is this King actually some kind of hikikomori? Well, screw it, not that I care about his problems.

To sum up what the Knight-like guy said, this is an otherworld, where magic exists. It’s indeed a medieval-like fantasy world where strength can be measured with 『Level』.

This is quite new, actually. Because normally, in these kinds of situation in light novels, they ask for your Status, not Level. But that is not the problem right now. This situation has somehow become so hard to comprehend in one breath.

Apparently, we were summoned, my whole high school was summoned to this world to become Heroes that would kill the Demon Lord that is wrecking havoc and trying to push humans into the path of extinction.

All the students and teachers were bewildered, hearing these absurd words coming from the strange people they never met before. Being summoned? Fantasy world? Magic? Demon Lord? Heroes? All kinds of questions along those lines popped up obviously on their faces. For me, I can just laugh in my heart since I did not expect a dull school day can turn into this kind of situation so quickly. Even Yui is clutching my arm with a frightened expression on her face.

But that’s not the only problem right now.

That King stated that we will not be returned to our home if we don’t fight the Demon Lord along side humans of this world. At that moment, somebody yelled that’s bullshit, but the King leisurely said:

「You may decline and leave, but we won’t welcome you here if you don’t fight, in other words, you’ll be kicked out and live on your own and never return to your former world again」

Sigh…politely speaking, what a genital, rudely speaking, what a dick. Oh wait a minute, they’re both mean insults in their own way. Oh well, deserves that anyway.

And of course, hearing that, everyone had to force themselves to believe this isn’t a dream, and that they need to fight for their lives, for their way home. If you decide to just turn your heels, saying bullshit and just refuse to believe this, you lose your real way of going back home, to where your family is waiting.

I gulped down my saliva, not because I was scared, not because I was overwhelmed by this absurd turn of events. But because deep down inside me, I felt like I saw myself smiling, and I’m sure as hell my lips are bending subtly on my face right now, because of this major change in my dull life.

As I tried my best to hold back the strange smile on my face, the King-dude nodded to the Knight-dude. Then the Knight-dude turned back to us once again and spoke:

「Now then, let us confirm your levels as Heroes」

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Author's Notes: The MC's past, as well as things that you found not explained right away, will be told later on.

But if I actually forgot to explain something even in the future, feel free to message me. I tried my best to proofread, but if you find errors or typos, please point it out. Thanks.

Also, you don't have to point out that my story concept is cliché, I'm aware of it myself, but I like this genre, so I thought might as well put my own little spin on it.

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