"So, are you prepared for the upcoming battle Kohei-dono?" asked a somewhat lanky teenage boy as Kohei was about to exit the classroom and head home.

"What are you going on about Tenya?" Kohei answered his classmate. Well, since it was Tenya talking it was undoubtedly about some game.

"Needless to say, I'm speaking of the new expansion of Monkey Hunter Online!" Tenya answered as he adjusted his glasses in a dramatic manner "The jungles of Ragnarok will open up at midnight and we will have the whole weekend to immense ourselves on the path of monkey carnage!"

"That was this weekend? Sorry man I was planning to go hiking and maybe do some fishing"

"Nuoo..!?" Tenya made a sound like a dying villain from some old anime "How could this be (bakana) my sworn comrade forsaking me on the very eve of battle? Damn your healthy nature loving lifestyle unfit for a child of the 21st century!".

Two underclassman girls passing by yelped in surprise at Tenyas loud outburst and hurried away quickly.

"Calm down man, I'll play with you some other time" Kohei tried to appease him before he went really out of control.

"Sigh.. You are a good enough fellow, but as a gamer you have much to learn. There is a meaning in logging in at the release and playing without sleep until you collapse. Ah well more monkeys for me I suppose"

Kohei looked at his disappointed friend as they walked down the hallway. Although on the scrawny side, his friend was pretty tall and had a sharp featured face that actually made him seem kind of cool and intellectual when he made his signature glasses push up. Actually he didn't only seem intellectual. Despite the sleepless nights he spent on gaming Tenya usually ranked in the top on the school's exams.

"You know Tenya, if you exercised a bit more and acted a bit less like a weirdo you could actually be pretty popular"

"Bah, spare me the adoration of the masses" his friend answered "And speaking of which..."

Tenya nodded in the direction of the shoeboxes at the entrance where three girls were standing, talking to each other.

"Yasaka-senpai, Haruna, Alisa -chan are you heading home?" Kohei called out to the girls, ignoring Tenya's somewhat rude implication.

"Oh, good afternoon, Kohei-kun and Sanada-kun" answered the oldest of the girls, Yasaka Mihoshi-senpai.

Although she was only a year older than him, she somehow gave of a mature calm aura, that made him feel like a little kid. Maybe it was the soft tone of her voice, her warm smile or the way she filled out her uniform (which she did so well it was impossible not to notice).

"The girls are heading home, I still have some student council business to take care of" She continued.

"Ah I see, must be tough, being both a member of the astronomy club and Student council president"

"It's hard work sometimes, but in end I do it because I like it. Anyways... The student council elections are coming up soon, so it's almost time for me to retire and focus on my college entrance exams"

"I see, well thanks for the hard work"

"And rest assure that we will honor your memory!" Tenya added in a loud dramatic manner "Even as the cruel ravages of time tears you from us, your name will remain ingrained into our hearts!"

"That's nice of you to say so Sanada-kun, but i'm not dying just graduating" as expected of the student council president, she was able to talk with Tenya as if he was a normal human being.

"Uhm Ko-kun, if you are going home let's go together" The girl speaking was Oyama Haruna, she was what you would call a childhood friend. His family and hers were neighbors and got along well, and they had been in the same school since kindergarten (though they were in different classes now). She had always been a bit timid, but he somehow had a feeling she had gotten more so the last few years. She blushed slightly, the color almost hiding the freckles in her round face. In combination with her reddish hair, it was easy to see why she had earned the unfortunate nickname Tomato in elementary school.

"Sure, let's go" he answered. They had been walking home together a lot lately, thinking about it that incident with those punks must still scare her. He was glad Tendoujin-senpai had shown up to help her.

"Together Ko-kun.."

His thought was interrupted by a monotone voice, coming from a small, blue-eyed, blonde girl. Sometimes it was hard believing that Alisa Alexandrova was a first-year high school student, with her petite frame, and the fact that she tended to use simple sentences further strengthened that impression.

Well, it couldn't be helped that she had some difficulties with the language, she had lived most of her life in Russia after all, and her Japanese was certainly better than any foreign language skills he had.

Though she was an underclassman and hadn't been at school for long, she had somehow quickly made friends with the normally shy Haruna, as they were club-mates in the astronomy club.

"But Alisa-chan, don't you live in the opposite direction from me and Haruna?" Kohei asked her.

Alisa frowned somewhat thoughtfully before following up with "I will play at Harunas House" oddly triumphantly.

"Eh what?" Haruna burst out surprised "Uhm, I suppose that's okay"

"You are all getting along well, as usual" Yasaka-senpai chuckled while Tenya rolled his eyes for some reason.

After putting on their outdoor shoes, the four of them left. Tenya would be heading in the same direction at least part of the way, and he took the opportunity to loudly exclaim his expectations for "The Jungles of Ragnarok". Haruna seemed mostly confused, but Kohei thought Alisa seemed somewhat interested, although her face was mostly expressionless.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, someone bumped into him. He turned around opening his mouth to apologize out of reflex.

"Watch were the fuck you're walking!"

Kohei was interrupted before he had the chance to say anything and was glad he hadn't had the time to apologize when he realized who it was.

Although this was a fairly good school with high entrance points and a generally well behaved and hardworking student body, there were of course exceptions. Hijima Rei being the most exceptional amongst them, with his spiky hair colored an annoyingly bright shade of orange (did he really think that looked cool, pointy and orange like a bunch of carrots?) multiple piercings and unbuttoned shirt revealing a black tank-top with some kind of demonic skull and what was probably a band name underneath.

While it was unfair that he could get away with breaking the dress code the other students were held to, that alone wouldn't be much of a problem. There had been several students who had left the school after being targeted by Hijimas group, and there were even rumors that there had been incidents where the police had got involved, yet he somehow remained at the school.

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Hijima was like one of those rich kid delinquents you commonly see in manga and anime that uses their parents influence to get away with basically anything. You'd think that in real life parents would eventually get tired of having to clean up their children's messes and set down their foot, but apparently Hijima's father had no intention of raising his son to become a decent human being.

"You're the one that bumped into me! How about an apology?" Actually, Kohei hadn't really paid attention, but it seemed pretty safe to assume that Hijima had walked into him on purpose.

"The fuck did you say!?" Hijima screeched while grabbing a hold of Kohei's collar.

"I said apologize Carrot-kun!" Kohei said pulling away Hijima's arm.

"Shit, maybe I should have backed of considering the girls are with me" he thought as he looked into Hijima's face that had turned red with anger "To late now, I guess..."

"Rei" A deep voice interrupted them as the owner of that voice put his hand on Hijima's shoulder.

Goda Ryouta had at one point been the hope of the karate club, before he got kicked out, and although he now seemed content to be Hijima's lackey full time, he still maintained a hulking muscular body (the guy really didn't look like he belonged in high school, whether it was his body or face).

"What!?" Hijima snarled

Goda glanced in the direction of the school building where an even more hulking and fierce looking man exited the entrance. If Goda looked out of place in high school, the massive thick browed Moriyama-sensei looked out of place in a peaceful Japan.

"Shit! I'll remember this" Hijima spat out as he walked away before he caught Moriyama-sensei's attention.

Kohei breathed out a sigh of relief as Hijima walked off somewhere. Still he couldn't help but worry, Hijima was definitely the type to hold grudges.

"Huh, I guess even Hijima will think twice before starting trouble in front of Goriyama-Sensei" Tenya interrupted his thoughts "Perfectly understandable. After all while he might be posing as a normal high school teacher, his true identity is that of a gorilla modified into a killing machine by an evil organization"

A strange noise could be heard from Alisa, it seemed like she was struggling to hold back her laughter (Did she really find that stupid gorilla joke funny?).

"Ehm, are you okay Ko-kun?" Haruna asked him worriedly while Tenya went on with the sorrowful back-story of Goriyama-sensei, seemingly unconcerned at being ignored.

"Yes, I'm fine, no need to worry. I'll deal with it somehow"

"But.." Haruna was clearly not convinced.

"Ko-kun will beat that carrot head up" Alisa interrupted (where did that baseless belief in him come from?)

"Do your best, my sworn comrade" Tenya said pompously "And rest assure that I will give you my full moral support from a safe distance while you chop that carrot up for cooking"

"I'm moved by your support and friendship Tenya"

" Think nothing of it" Tenya answered magnanimously, using his special skill ignore sarcasm.

Kohei sighed, although he tried to reassure Haruna earlier he really had a bad feeling about the upcoming Monday, and the rest of his school life. Maybe he should have tried to keep his head down and avoid confrontation, but he just couldn't stand it when people acted unreasonable and just expected the people around them to accept It.

Having walked for a while, they had almost arrived at the school gate (the school grounds really were unnecessarily large). Kohei noticed someone walking from the Kendo Dojo and came to a halt.

She was immediately recognizable even at a distance. After all, Tendoujin Kyoka-senpai was beautiful in a way you really don't expect to see outside of magazines and TV. Tall and slender in an athletic way, yet with curves clearly visible underneath her kendo gi. Her long, ink black hair was tied up in a horsetail falling down her back and her facial features were sharp and elegant. In her kendo jacket and hakama she looked like an actress, taken straight out of some samurai movie, and for a second he imagined her wielding a katana with cherry blossom petals falling around her.

"So that's your aim Kohei-dono" Tenya pulled him close and spoke in a low conspiratorial voice "A girl-next-door childhood friend, a blonde loli and a busty big sister type is not enough for you? You intend to sink your filthy riajuu claws into a cool beauty as well?"

"You're being rude in so many ways, first of all don't use fetishes as a way to describe people!"

"If you understand who I'm talking about it's a good description, isn't it? But never mind that, it seems you have a situation to deal with" Tenya nodded towards Alisa and Haruna who was staring at him.

"Ko-kun! About Tendoujin-senpai What? Why?" Haruna burst out more forcefully than he had heard her talk in years (and with a redder face than he had seen in years), but she was seemingly unable to find the right words.

"What's with this intensity? I suddenly feel overwhelmed with guilt. No, I'm innocent!"

"Ko-kun you sex-fiend..." Alisa followed up monotonously.

"Oi, why suddenly sex-fiend!? at least call me lecher or pervert or something! And don't just stand there snickering Tenya! Help me!"

"Now, calm down Oyama-kun and Alexandrova-kun" As if hearing Koheis inner call for help, Tenya stepped in "Rest assured that whatever obscene desires Kohei holds, the target for those filthy cravings are way out of his league"

"Obscene...?" Haruna's face now looked green rather than red.

"Ko-kun you sex-fiend..." Alisa followed up yet again.

"Nooo! damn you four eyes! This is bad, this situation is really bad. I don't quite understand it, but it's bad!"

"No, um, the thing is" Kohei started off, trying to salvage his dignity as a human being,

"It's just that since Tendoujin-senpai came to Haruna's rescue a while back, I thought that maybe I should thank her... right?"

"I's that all?" Haruna asked suspiciously "Me and my parents have already thanked her for her help, grandma even baked her cookies and brought to her house you know"

"Sex-fiend..."

"Um, well, but we are childhood friends after all and since I am grateful shouldn't I thank her?"

"Ah, using your childhood friend as an excuse to talk to a beautiful upperclassman" Tenya said while adjusting his glasses, determined to pour gasoline on the almost extinguished fire "That's quite an advanced technique Kohei-dono, you ladykiller"

And the mood took a turn for the worse again

"Sex-fiend..."

"Damn you! You damned four eyed demon! What is your problem? Does the grudge of me not playing Monkey Hunter with you really go this deep?

Just you wait I will break your glasses!"

Congratulations you have been chosen for integration into The Nexus system

Suddenly, the explosive situation was interrupted by a strange, mechanical sounding voice.

As a newly integrated lesser creature type human, you will have 10 mana added to your stats as well as the standard bonuses for sentient type integrated creatures.

He started to look around for the source of the voice, but all he could see was his friends and the other students in their surrounding, looking as confused as he felt.

Transport to The Nexus and Nexus system integration will commence in 100 seconds. Good luck and may your integration advance The Nexus.

100

99

98...

For a while, all the four of them could do was stare at each other in silence.

Tenya opened his mouth, then closed it, seemingly unable to find the words to say.

What was it about the voice that made Kohei feel such a sense of dread?

81...

"In a movie this type of voice counting down always leads to an explosion" he thought to himself "But it said we would be transported, but how..."

And then he came to a realization about why he couldn't just disregard the voice as some nonsense recording.

65...

"The voice it's not coming from anywhere" He almost whispered "it's sounding directly inside our heads".

55...

"T-thats ridiculous Ko-kun" Haruna said, sounding more like she was trying to convince herself "That's just not possible, right?" she added looking around at the other two.

43...

"No Kohei is right" Tenya said, doing his signature glasses push up despite the seriousness of the situation.

"Then what will happen to us!?" Haruna was shouting now "It said we would be transported but how!? It doesn't make any sense! none of this does"

30...

For yet another while, none of them could say anything. At some point, people had started shouting in the background.

22...

"Haruna..." Alisa said sounding and looking very much like a scared, lost child

16...

" It will be okay Alisa-chan me and Ko-kun are with you" Haruna said softly as she hugged the lost-looking Alisa "...and Sanada-san as well" she added after a short pause.

10...

"Hmpf, why am I the afterthought?" Tenya grumbled

5...

"Together..." Alisa whispered as she reached out and grabbed Kohei and Tenya's hands

4...

"That's right, together" Kohei said trying to give her a reassuring smile while squeezing her hand back.

2...

Out of the corner of his vision he noticed Tendoujin-senpai standing a bit away looking stoic and defiant, ready to take on whatever was about to happen.

1...

"I wish I had talked to her...."

And the world disappeared.