There’s a point at night, clear and indivisible. It may differ, depending on the day, and it may be hard to identify. But it’s always there. 

Prior to that point, you know that falling asleep will be helpful. You’ll wake up nice and refreshed, with adequate energy for the day ahead.

After, however, it makes little difference. You’ve stayed up long enough that waking up will be a mentally painful experience. For the entire day, you’ll be terribly tired and wholeheartedly regret your decision.

But you also know that it might be worth it. Because as soon as you hit that point of no return, you’re forfeiting yourself. What does another hour or two matter? You’ll be sleepy regardless.

And that’s exactly the issue David had faced, hours ago. Unfortunately, he forgot a factor. Being productive beyond that point was impossible. The rate of spacing out compared to comprehension ran at 10:1. Short lapses in memory were frequent.

Senioritis was a bitch. If only he’d started studying before his week of final exams. He was convinced that procrastination was the bane of human beings.

Sighing, David rubbed the blurriness out of his eyes and forced them back down to the textbook. “Taking place from November 9‒10, 1938, Kristallnacht was instrumental in the progression of Hitler’s anti-semitic policies.”

He paused to allow his weakened brain to memorize the information. Yes, dear old Kristallnacht. I remember it. Sort of.

Before he could continue, some magical force of energy pulled his eyes to his bed. His plush, warm, comfortable bed…

Startled, David shot up. He’d fallen asleep again. Grimacing, he grabbed and downed a water bottle, then looked back down at the paragraph he was reading. Come on. Only twenty more pages.

“Also known as the Night of Broken Glass—”

“Good morning.” His reading was interrupted by a voice. Annoyed, he turned around.

“Yes?” As his gaze settled onto the figure, David’s mind steadily informed him that nobody should have been in his room at four o’clock in the morning.

The problem was, however, that the ‘nobody’ in question seemed to be right there, by his closet. A person—no, that wasn’t quite right. It looked almost like a human, but wasn’t quite there.

The rather masculine looking figure was dressed with light blue skin, very slim, and very tall. An almost uncomfortably form-fitting suit sat on its body.

“I believe greetings are in order. My name is Tritem Torfendus, also known as God Torfendus, Usurper, Demon-slayer, Bringer of Peace. Might I ask with whom I am speaking to?”

David’s brain took a while to process the words. “David Cristler. Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to get back to work.”

Tritem seemed a little miffed at that. “I apologize for the interruption, but what I need to say is of importance.”

David sighed. He wouldn’t get any work done while being nagged. “Fine. Make it quick, oh-hallucination-of-mine.”

Tritem continued, looking a little bemused. Or, as much as weird looking alien could. “My thanks. This may come as a surprise to you, but other universes exist. They—”

“Shocking,” he intervened.

“They are, in a loose sense, attached to one another.”

“And? Your point?”

“You do not need to know why, but my acquaintances and I have decided to gather beings from other universes.

David’s sleep-addled brain jumped to the most logical conclusion. “And I was one of the chosen. Jesus, my mind really needs to come up with more original delusions,” he muttered. “Okay then,” he spoke up, “Answer this. Why me?”

“Choices are based on health, both physical and mental, in addition to age. Chance dictates the rest.”

“How convenient.”

“Indeed, one could call it convenient.”

“Uh huh. Sorry, but I’ve got exams tomorrow—or today, rather.” David turned back to his desk.

“I apologize for the misunderstanding. This was not a request.”

Before David could offer a response, the blue creature stretched its arms out. Piercing gold light filled his vision, and he blacked out.

…

The chatter of birds woke him. Opening his eyes, David was met with the yellow glow of dandelions. Still half-asleep, his mind took a while to process it.

But a few seconds later, it clicked. His brain jump-started, and he shot up in confusion.

Apparently, he’d woken up in a meadow.

He looked around. It continued ahead for a while before gradually transitioning into a forest. David turned around. The ground rose up into a strikingly symmetrical hill that stretched as far left and right as he could see.

David was silent for a moment, recalling the night before. Either this is the craziest prank someone has ever played on me, or that alien guy was real. My ass hurts too. He thought, rubbing his sore behind.

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

Figuring he better find out what the hell was going on, David decided to climb the hill in order to see the surroundings better.

He reached the summit, and the view took his breath away. The hill he was on was shaped into a ring, large enough that he couldn’t exactly make out the other side. It wrapped around a downward sloping center, which eventually gave way to a huge, sprawling city. Past the side opposite of him was an ocean.

The strangest thing, however, was the massive hole planted directly in the center of everything. It was enormous, dwarfing the civilization around it.

David was speechless. He was sure there was nothing like it on Earth.

At that moment, a gust of wind enveloped him, making his body feel oddly warm.

As he recovered from the sensation, David noticed the state of the city—even from his distance, he was able to distinguish its ancient state. No signs of motor-powered vehicles or advanced technology.

“Well, that’s some pretty damning evidence. But still, would a planet in a different universe really look this similar?” He was cautious about approaching an unknown city, but the incessant growling of his stomach was not to be ignored.

With his mind set, David started walking. The slope seemed to taper off after a certain distance, which was where most of the civilization was. Still, it took an entire half hour before he reached its outskirts.

It was huge. The perspective he had before didn’t do it justice.

Eventually, he found what looked to be a dirt road—there were a few people travelled to and from the gate, usually in groups. They were obviously human, but wore mostly brown rags. Nobody paid any attention to him.

I guess I probably wasn’t abducted. David said to himself. Although I’m certainly handsome enough.

He walked up to the road and called out to a middle-aged man riding a horse into the city. The man turned towards him and replied in what seemed to be complete gibberish. Yet, oddly, he could understand it. The feeling was incredibly disconcerting, like remembering something important, but at the same time, not.

“I’m busy,” he seemed to say. “Bother somebody else.” With that, the man turned and rode off.

David stopped. Everything was getting weirder by the second. Somehow, a different language was being clearly translated—Wait. That’s it! It must be that auto-translation thing I read about in every transmigration novel.

But if that’s the case, then why have I seen humans? There’s no way an entirely different universe would have the same species. He shook his head. Whatever. EIther way, I’m in an unfamiliar environment and need to survive until I can figure out what’s going on.

David followed the path to the city gates, where a couple of guards waved everyone through. They wore medieval-looking armor and were armed with vicious-looking spears.

Inside was pandemonium. Street vendors were yelling to try and catch the attention of travelers, and people stood anywhere without care for others. But Daniel decided that the worst part was, by far, the smell.

He tried not to cause a scene, because everyone else seemed used to it, but there were definitely a couple of times that he almost threw up.

Then something else threw him for a loop. By the side of the road, involved in a conversation with a group of humans, was a lizard-man. It looked straight out of a fantasy book—green skin, large, elongated snout.

And as if that wasn’t enough, the revelation drew his attention to other creatures. Winged, clawed, spider-ish things. There were a bunch of others that didn’t look like anything David had seen before, but curiously, they were all bipeds.

Unless this is the largest furry convention ever, I’m not on Earth anymore. He frowned, pushing the thought aside. Let’s not get caught up in that. I can think about it later.

By following the crowd, David was able to get to a more open, pavilion-like area. A bunch of people seemed to be socializing, but it was significantly less crowded. Everything he had seen so far was constructed in the most confusing way possible, with asymmetrical roads and odd-looking houses.

There were signs on some of the buildings that translated themselves in his mind. Blacksmith, barn, a variety of stores, inns, and others. Conveniently, the sun was beginning to set, so David knew where he had to go.

He walked into the first half-decent inn he came across. It was rather small, with wooden tables and stools everywhere, and a staircase running up the back wall. The smell of liquor overpowered that of waste—it wasn’t pleasant, but he would take the smell of alcohol over shit any day.

He went up to the bartender, a normal-looking middle-aged man. “Hi. I’d like a room for the night.”

Looking up, the bartender responded, “Ten coppers. Food included.”

David didn’t have money, but he’d prepared for this. “Actually, I was hoping to pay you back later, once I find a job. I’ll get it tomorrow.” He added when he saw the incredulous look on the man’s face.

“Do ya think I was born in the fuckin’ hole? Get out before I get the stick.” David hesitated for a moment, and the bartender motioned threateningly toward a heavy-looking wooden bat behind the counter.

Shutting the door closed behind him, David angrily muttered to himself. Someone has to be kind enough to trust me for a single night.

But nobody was. He checked out as many as his nose could bear, but none spared him more than a minute. Maybe I’ll just turn to prostitution, he thought.

With nothing else to do, he found another inn. It looked pretty average, at least in terms of the shithole town he’d found himself in.

At the counter, to his surprise, wasn’t a human. Rather, a catgirl was serving drinks to the growing number of customers. Gray cat ears blended with black hair.

She turned to look at him, and frowned slightly. David realized he was still standing in the doorway with his mouth agape. Embarrassed, he turned away and shut the door, then walked over.

“Can I touch your ears?” He blurted out. Her frown sank deeper. “I mean, uh, a room?” He blushed. I like catgirls, so fucking what? Everyone has fetishes.

“Eight coppers.” She responded normally, despite looking bemused.

“The thing is, well.” David cleared his throat. “I need to find a job before I can pay. Please,” he insisted, recognizing her expression, “I’ll pay double. It’s getting dark and I’ve asked everywhere else.” Slight exaggeration.

She thought for a moment, her tail floating into view. “You can clean up and serve people, and I’ll give you a single room for tonight.” But David barely heard her, his eyes fixated on her tail.

She snapped her fingers to regain his attention. “Do you have a problem with me, human?”

“No! Of course not. I’ve just never seen someone like you before. So cute,” he said, before he could stop himself. “I mean, cuticles. I better clean my cuticles.”

Her mouth curved up slightly. “You’ve never seen a Kanagira? Have you been living under a tree for the last hundred years?” Shit, guess that wasn’t a smart idea. Time to play the old amnesia card.

He sighed in as sad a voice as he could muster. “Well, you probably won’t believe me, but truthfully, I woke up outside the city without any memories. I have no idea where or who I am.”

“You’re right. I don’t believe you. But I need to get back to work, and you need to start. We’ll talk later.”