My life was absolutely nothing.
That's what I think of my current life. My family didn't seem to care about me too much, my job was a pain in the neck thanks to my shitty boss and so-called "colleagues", and I had no girlfriend to boot (like I need any just to satisfy those jerks). I initially thought that if I just studied hard and got into a good college, my life would have it made immediately. Except for everything I did, everywhere I went, I can't get any gratitude or gain acceptance from anyone in my life.
So yeah, my life was a dump. There was nothing to gain from it and I would rather not go back to my family who only treated me as a trophy rather than a person. If only I was away from this shitty life.
No, if only I could leave this world, then I would be happy.
Though...now that I think about it right now, maybe I should have taken the phrase, "Be careful what you wish for" seriously.
Because damn... I really screwed up and I paid the price of my selfish wish...
----------------------------------------
"W-What the hell?!"
"Where am I?!"
"What is this place?!"
"D-Did we die?!"
Damn... What was all that noise?! I only took a nap for 20 minutes and it sounded like I found myself in a middle of a world-ending crisis. Though opening my eyes made me think otherwise.
Because what I found wasn't a world-ending or anything. Rather, it was simply a white void of space with many people panicking and running around like idiots. Well, I couldn't call them idiots. Panicking was the most natural reaction to all of this and something in their guts told them that this wasn't just a normal kidnapping. Rather than joining them in the panic, I looked at myself to see if was okay. My business suit seemed to be still intact, my briefcase was still in my hand, and my glasses remained unbroken.
Okay, I'm still in tip-top shape. Looks like I didn't seem to die or anything. And the same could be said for those people. But the real questions were how in the world did we get in here in the first place? And for what reason?
"Hey! Something is coming our way!"
Well, looks like I'll get that answer very soon. I turned around and saw a bright orb of light descending right in front of us. If this is what I think it was, then...
(Hello, mortals and welcome to my plane! I am the God of the worlds beyond. And let me be the first to say I apologize for your sudden summoning without your permission.)
And there it is.
I read this in many of my light novels strewn around my bedroom in the depths of my one-person apartment. Most of them revolved around gods summoning normal people like me from the modern world to be sent to a fantasy RPG world or reincarnated into it with superpowers the likes that no one has ever seen.
Yeah, I know Isekai and I'm really not impressed by the presentation. Not one bit. It's too cliché for my taste and something about them didn't sit well with me.
(Just to set things straight for all of you, you are not dead. Although, you were about to be due to a traffic accident if it wasn't for my intervention. Of course, that doesn't mean I can't save all of you. It would cross the line as my role as an observer.)
"Can't save all of us"? Something about those lines disturbed me a bit and I have a bad feeling about this if I stay here a bit longer than usual.
But how the hell am I going to get out of here? If their words were true, there is a chance they would bring us back into that accident to die instead.
"U-Um... Are you saying w 're going to die?" One of the people in front of me asked the very question I'm thinking about right now.
(No. It means I can't let you go back to your world. However, I present to you with this unique opportunity. Summoners prayed for me for heroes to come and save them. If some of you have the potential to become a hero, I will see to it that you will be granted my blessings into another world of swords and magic.)
And there it was. From their explanation, it seems that not all of us in this room won't become heroes. So it looks like a first-come, first-serve summoning. If that were the case, then what happens to the rejects?
(However, I am a forgiving god and will give the rest of you minor blessings for your participation. I assure you. Now, step forward and let me assess your potential.)
With that, everyone lined up in front of this so-called god. I could tell from their faces the reason why. Most of them tried to become a hero to swell their ego and others only wanted to survive the uncertainty of this "another world" they speak of. Honestly, I'm all for the latter. I don't care about the perks of being a hero. It sounded like a pain in the neck to me and something about the "summoning" they mentioned didn't seem too right with me.
Like, what was the reason behind it? To fight some Dark Lord terrorizing the kingdom? Or was it something else entirely? Regardless, I should observe this before moving forward. Besides, some of them seemed to have their verdicts already.
"Yes! I'm a Hero and a Martial Artist! Finally, some recognition!"
"Did you hear that, Marie? I'm the Healer! I can help others this time!"
"I-I'm not a Hero?! Does that mean I end up as a loser in another world?!"
"Thank goodness, I'm not a Hero! I can't take the pressure of being one..."
As expected, some of them have the potential of becoming Heroes while some only have minor blessings that may or may not be shitty. And it seems that these blessings they gave them were mostly fantasy job classes you noticed in many Japanese RPGs and fantasy tabletop RPGs. Pleasant.
Regardless, if this god truly gave us the means to defend ourselves from the unknown of another world, then I wouldn't complain about it.
(Oh my!)
Huh? That's a surprising reaction from an omnipresent being.
(A great blessing awaits you, young man! You have the great blessings of a great Hero! The summoner will let you know of your blessings, but all I can say is that you have a bright future in my world.)
I raised my eyebrow as some of the people here were gasping in awe and even applauding a high school boy standing in front of the god. Looks like he would be the standard light novel isekai protagonist/hero of another world.
Again, not my problem. I'm honestly not jealous, but he would end up being pressured to save the world or anything. As for me, I just want to escape my shitty life. No pressure, no bosses to talk shitty about me, just a new life in another world...
Don't take it.
...Huh? Was someone calling me from behind?
Please, this won't help our world!
I looked behind me and saw no one. Most of the people who were dragged along with me were still busy praising the new hero.
If someone could hear my pleas, then please don't listen to them. If you do, the balance of our world will be disrupted.
Balance? Disrupted? Okay, that was a big contradiction. Just who was that and what did they mean by "balance being disrupted"? More importantly, did anyone else hear that distorted voice? Judging from how preoccupied they were with learning that the high school student was a real "Hero", it seemed like it wasn't the case and the same could be said for the god.
No, it didn't feel like that they didn't seem to hear it. Rather, they did something to make them ignore those voices entirely.
"Hey!"
This made things a bit too complicated. The sudden summoning, the so-called god suddenly appearing right in front of us just to apologize and give us his "blessings"... It didn't make sense altogether.
"Excuse me..."
Which makes me wonder... Did god really deliberately grant us blessings based on our so-called "potential"?
"Yo, gramps! Are you listening to us?!"
I quickly flinched at the mere mention of a word I rather not hear at my current age. I'm still 28, you know?! Then again, I loitered here for too long. Might as well get this over with.
"Right... Right... I'm going... Just don't call me "gramps", please..."
I groaned as I calmly walked toward the literal glowing god and waited for my inevitable fate in another world.
(Mortal, place your hand on the orb and I will determine whether you have the potential or not.)
I would like to, but...
"Before that, can I ask a few questions?" I can hear them hum as soon as I asked this. It seemed that it kind of caught them off-guard and I'm worried if they let me or not. If they choose the latter, then that should be enough proof of my suspicions. "Is that a problem?"
A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
(...No. No. I will let you speak. But I have limited patience, so ask carefully.)
Well, at least they were a listening entity of sorts. But with the limited patience they mentioned, I have to follow their advice and choose my questions carefully. If I ask them how they chose their potential Heroes, there's a chance they might give me a crappy blessing or job class as retaliation for my suspicions. I still have no clue what their personality was despite being a deity, but I rather not risk this chance.
"What kind of people are these 'summoners'? Are they a royal family of a great kingdom in your world?"
(That is a good question. As you suspected, the people who asked me to summon the new Heroes are a royal family of a well-known kingdom called Concordis. Typically, they often ask for my power whenever Concordis is threatened by dark forces on the horizon and as long as they retain their faith in me, I will gladly answer their prayers.)
In other words, the kingdom summoned us because of a Dark Lord or a big Bad Guy threatening the other world. Again, cliché. I would ask what would happen to the Heroes after they finish their mission since we couldn't go back to our world. But with other people still watching my judgment, I'd rather not raise any unwanted panic to these already-announced Heroes.
"Then what about the people who didn't have potential? You said they will be transported to the same world as with the Heroes, but where will they go afterward?"
(Hmmm... Again, this is a good question. Rest assured, your lives won't be threatened. After the judgment is done, the rest of you will be transported near a city or town where you can live from now on. That's the only action I will do afterward and no intervention further on my end.)
Okay, those words seemed to convince anyone. But I wasn't. So with that, it's time to clear some confusion and clarity. If I wanted to survive, then I needed more details.
"One last question. Are you sure the traffic accident back in our world wasn't your doing?"
I could hear many gasps in this room. I'm not surprised though. It was too blunt for me to ask that, but I need to make sure everything wasn't intentional on god's side. If it was, then there was a bit of foul play about this so-called summoning. Although, there was a bit of discourse from others over my accusations.
"What was he thinking?"
"Was he asking all of that because he was worried he wouldn't become a Hero?"
"Man, that old-timer is just desperate at this point."
I groaned in frustration. If they called me "old-timer" or "gramps" one more time... All because I'm nothing more than an office worker who was two years away from entering my 30s. Well, other than that, it's not like I cared. I just wanted facts and I wanted to know if this god deliberately planned all of this.
(If I truly instigated the accident, I would have let all of you die and reincarnate you to another world instead. However, the summoners only asked me to summon the Heroes, and reincarnating those types is too complicated to inject into the public minds of my world. Not to mention it will cost time for all of you to grow up and gain your powers over the span of 10-18 years. So a simple Hero summoning is the only choice for me to solve the prayers of the summoners.)
Rats, they have a point there. Reincarnation and summoning were two different things. As I learned from several light novels I read before, reincarnation required someone to die and be reborn into a noble family or someone else in another world, but as they said, it would take them years to grow stronger and older. There wasn't enough time to deal with a growing threat if their words were true.
I conceded to that fact, but I'm still not convinced. But what else could I ask at this point? I could feel the distrustful gazes of everyone else on me, as if they were hunting dogs and I was a fox. if I keep asking, then this won't go anywhere.
(Is that all you can ask, mortal?)
I sighed. At this point, I'm mentally pushed into a corner. If I accept the so-called blessings, I have higher chances to survive in another world, but at the cost of uncertainty. If I continue these questions or refuse them altogether, it's game over for me. Regardless, I have no choice.
"No, that's all. I think I have all of the answers and clarifications I need. Sorry for the delay." I feigned my forgiveness, trying to make sure he won't notice my true intentions.
(Then place your hand on the orb. Do not panic. Just relax and let my power flow into you.)
Like I even wanted to, but do I have any other choice for that matter? I followed his instructions and closed my eyes. Before I knew it, I could feel a strange warmth enveloping my body. Was it from the god's power entering into me? I have to admit, it felt a bit relaxing and I became a bit stronger from it. Maybe...
Don't tell me you've gone all soft because of that so-called blessing, eh?
Huh? Another voice? It didn't sound like the one who warned me about god. Not only that, something about their voice seemed very…familiar.
Oh? It seems like you managed to recognize me. Kekeke...
Wait, did the voice just read my thoughts or something?! Not only that, they seemed to cackle like an evil villain.
Don't say it like that. Although, it might be a bit too early, so...
Before I could ask what they meant, I felt a sudden migraine ringing in my head. I couldn't describe the feeling in words, but I could tell it was too unbearable to endure. J-Just...what the hell is this?!
Don't worry. This pain won't be too much for you to bear. Rather, it's only minor compared to what you will endure very soon.
What?!
And that's all I can say. Good luck~
Good luck?! What the hell are you saying, evil voice?! Don't leave me like this! Like I even tried to stop a disembodied voice because once I tried to endure the pain in my head, a strange white holographic-like interface window like one saw in Japanese RPG video games suddenly appeared right in front of me.
> [Can you hear me?]
>
> [YES] [NO]
Huh? This was definitely not from the evil disembodied voice. Was it from the god's orb? Before I wondered about it a bit longer, the window suddenly glitched and the words suddenly changed.
> [Can you hear my pleas for our world's balance?]
>
> [YES] [NO]
The world's...balance? Could it be...
Without me thinking second thoughts about this, I tapped [YES] while still trying to endure my migraine.
> [Are you willing to accept God's blessing despite my warnings?]
>
> [YES] [NO]
Like I had a choice. I'm honestly scared of what will happen in another world, so I tried to tap [YES] again. But it glitched again.
> [If you accept God's blessing, you will have a higher chance to survive. But in exchange, your life will be short. As I said, the world is in a dire state and you cannot survive for long. Instead, you will contribute to its destruction.]
>
> [Will you still accept their blessing?]
>
> [YES] [NO]
To its...destruction? Are they telling me that I will help destroy the world if I choose to accept god's blessing? I...honestly don't know how to react to this. I only want to survive and escape my shitty life back in my world. I don't know what to say about this. Although, if what they said relates to god's hidden motives behind all of this, then...
I tapped [NO].
> [If you choose this route, you may become the enemy of the light. You cannot create bonds of your former self very easily if you walk this path.]
>
> [Do you still want to proceed?]
>
> [YES] [NO]
Former self? What were they talking about? Still, I have no interest in being all buddy-buddy with strangers all around me, including these so-called Heroes. All I wanted was to escape and have a new life, that's it. So I tapped [YES].
When I did, the window quickly disappeared and at first, nothing seemed to happen as my headache seemingly started to recede. But then, I felt another shot of pain and before I could scream, the window appeared again right in front of me.
[Thank you for your honest answers. From them, I can determine you have the power to change the world without pressuring yourself.]
Huh? What does that mean? And is that even different from the so-called potential god kept mentioning?
[The road you decided on will be difficult. But I will gift you a special power that will help you break the limits of our world's status quo.]
The world's status quo? Was it a job that god won't give me willingly without my potential?
> [I leave you to prepare for your new world.
>
> Safe travels, young kin.]
I wish I could ask them more questions. But the window quickly disappeared and as if I woke up from a dream, I found myself in front of the large glowing deity and a white orb of light right in front of me. I looked around and saw other people still watching my "judgment".
(Young mortal, are you okay? Your judgment is over.)
Huh. I guess whatever happened must have transported me to another space very briefly and it seems no one including god noticed my sudden chat with two voices. Still, it's better not to mention it unless some of them started calling me "crazy". Instead, I silently removed my hand from the orb and slowly backed away from god as I said, "No, it's nothing. What's next?"
(I suggest you focus on your heart and see what fate has given you for your upcoming journey ahead.)
Focus, huh? I closed my eyes, which I guess was how I can access my "blessing". When I opened my eyes, I gasped to see a blue interface window right in front of me. This must be where I could see my information from another world. Guess this world they mentioned was really like a video game. Although, something wasn't right about my stats or anything was written on them.
> [Name: *$)@##]
>
> [Job: None]
Wait, what happened to my name? Did this so-called blessing have no idea what my name was? More importantly, I have no job class! What kind of blessing gave me a glitchy interface?
(Huh? That's weird.)
I raised my eyebrow. Did god deliberately set me up for my early death? Or was it because of that strange voice from earlier?
(It seems that you didn't get any blessing for some reason.)
Hold on, no "blessings"? Honestly, it's true I didn't get anything other than some strange glitches. But I did notice that I get something.
> [Talent]
>
> [???] [Level 0]
Talent... That must be their version of "skill". It's not nothing, but did god notice this at all? This was raising a lot of red flags in my head.
"Are you sure? Because I did get something in here. Did you see it?" It would be a waste asking this, but if my suspicions were true...
(No, nothing. I did try the process again, but you have nothing. No potential to become a hero and no blessings to aid you.)
So I was right. There was no point in arguing about it. If I do, there is nothing to be gained from being called "crazy" or "delusional".
"So... Is that all?"
I could hear them sighing under their breath.
(I'm afraid so. I apologize for this inconvenience. Your judgment is finished.)
I feigned sighing in defeat and walked away from the deity.
(And with that, your fates have been sealed. I will be transporting all of you to your assigned locations. Heroes, the kingdom that the royal family who summoned you will support you because of their religion related to me. Please do not be hostile to them no matter what happens, okay? They are your allies in your journey and they will help you on your mission no matter what.)
I saw the said Heroes nodding their heads, not knowing what they said was true.
(As for the others, I will transport you where you will be able to help the Heroes and the Concordis kingdom in some capacity. I hope you don't have any more questions, especially you, mortal.)
I wish I can ask more, but again, too much means more suspicions against me. So I stayed silent along with the others.
(Alright.)
With that, the room started to glow white as it started to blind my vision.
(I wish you the best of luck. And enjoy your new lives in my world.)
And with that, the whole world around me turned white. All I had to do was to await my fate in this so-called 'another world'. I still have no concrete answers to everything and there was a chance everything they said was a lie. But all I knew was this.
Thank God I didn't accept that fake god's blessings.