I wake up to cold stone beneath me. A sense of calm is rapidly leaving my body and limbs tense. I was just eating and now I am somewhere unknown. I can already feel the anxiety wash over me as I shoot a hand to my pocket, to my phone. My fingers close around it and I already feel a bit of control return to me. I open my eyes.

Above me I mostly see darkness, with firelight filtering from the edges of my vision. The ceiling appears to be dome-shaped and far enough that most of it doesn’t catch the light from whatever fire is in the room.

From the direction of my feet I hear two voices. At least I think they are voices. One speaks… is it speech? In squeaks, kind of like the sounds a rodent would make. The other isn’t so much a voice as the sensation of hearing one. I slowly take my phone out of my pocket and bring it up to my face. Before I make it, a sudden shrill sound comes from the direction of my head. I freeze as the voices stop.

“Traveler, are you awake?” I hear one voice say clearly and carefully. Is it the one that squeaked, then? Whoever the other voice is, they aren’t talking now.

I slowly raise my head and free hand. “Yes?” I sort of make out a single figure in the direction of the voice. My vision is still blurry from waking up. Next to it is what can only be a mote of light.

“Good, good.” The figure bobs its head slowly and then turns to the mote of light. “You may leave us now. I’ll tell him to talk with you later.” The mote of light winks out of existence.

I slide my phone back in my pocket, wanting both hands free to sit up. With some effort, I manage to lift myself into a sitting position. My voice catches in my throat when I get a chance to see the owner of the voice: a bipedal rat, as big as a middle school student, wearing blue robes and leaning on a staff, standing barely 2 meters away. I can also see the slight fidgeting of its leg, as though impatient. Its tone of voice is soft, but suddenly slightly urgent. “I am Bozhidar, a Staufolk mystic. May I have your name?”

I open and close my mouth several times, my voice still caught in my throat, before I give up and raise a hand to signal I need a moment. It- they seem to understand the gesture and settle down a bit. I take a few deep, shaky breaths to collect myself and try again. “My name… my name is Sebastian.”

“It is an honor to welcome you to Estand, Sebastian the Traveler.” Bozhidar takes a deep bow, leaning further on the staff, which distracts his leg enough to stop fidgeting.

Even though I managed to loosen my throat, which did not take as long as I’m used to, my entire body is still tensing. My muscles stretched, they start aching. My hands start looking for some edge to grab, to squeeze. I crave stimulation to release all this tension. After a moment, both my hands reach the ends of the surface I am on and grab hard.

I take another shaky breath and notice Bozhidar seeming withdrawn, slightly guarded. Worried? I shake my head, take yet another breath, and manage to speak again. “Estand? What?”

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I can’t tell from their body language, but they seem to come to a sudden realization. “Is this the… panic attack that Rep mentioned? If it is…” They start checking their person for something, eventually finding it in a pouch on their belt. Out comes a set of thin rings, which they hand to me from as far as they can. I look into Bozhidar’s eyes, then to the rings, and back to the eyes, before taking them. The feeling of metal beats that of the stone, and they are solid enough to play with and not risk disfiguring them. My hands start moving the rings around, changing their order and just spinning them a bit. I feel a bit calmer.

Something about Bozhidar’s ears seems to indicate smile to me, but I can’t really tell. “Looks like that’s working. Good. The last Traveler I welcomed took to her situation much more easily. Rep told me this might happen and something like those ring would come in handy.”

They said ‘Rep’ twice now… My muscles start loosening, leading me to believe I can articulate a proper question. “Could you… explain the situation?” My hands don’t leave the rings, which have become warm at this point.

Bozhidar nods and seems to think for a moment. He then slowly lowers himself to a sitting position on the floor. “Gladly. You have arrived, as a Traveler, to our world Estand. For the next nine days you will have a chance to learn about this world and your own new powers, as well as prepare to be on your own.”

As I listen, my is quickly overtaken by curiosity. Did Bozhidar just say ‘powers’? What kind of powers? I feel myself become calmer, now that I have something to focus on and investigate. I always felt my best when I could sink into something, she always used to say. “Powers?”

“Powers. In your case, ones described by Rep as a… Gamer System?” I could barely tell the confusion on Bozhidar’s body, the only hint a twist of the ears.

I chuckle, which easily turns into roaring laughter. A gamer system? Really? Seriously? It’s like I’m in some sort of… isekai story. Oh. My laughter winds down as I notice Bozhidar seems worried again. I’m in an isekai story. I wipe a little tear from the corner of my eye. “I apologize. You simply just told me something incredible.” That outburst of laughter diffused nearly all of my anxiety. “Could I ask some more questions?”

“Be my guest.” I see Bozhidar visibly relax and settle down

“You mentioned a ‘Rep’… let me count… three times now. Who are they?” I ask as I count on my fingers.

“Fully known as Representative. We mystics are taught that the Reps are those in charge of bringing Travelers to Estand and then guiding them as needed.”

I nod, riding this wave of calm. “You said nine days. That’s oddly specific. Why?”

Bozhidar makes a sound I choose to interpret as a chuckle, based on how it sounds. “Behind you is a magical artifact which generates a special field. In it we can converse without issue, and monster and intruders are turned around if they approach. It has enough power to last just over nine days, giving us our time limit. We're not sure why precisely it is nine, though.”

Only at this point do I realize that I haven’t taken a look around the room, which I do now. Evenly spaced braziers line the curved, decorated wall. Behind me I see a statue of a man holding some massive glowing crystal. That would be the artifact, I guess. Accepting that I am in an isekai is certainly making it easier to accept the weirdness around me. “OK.” Before I get to continue, my stomach rumbles. “…Could I get something to eat?”

That elicited another chuckle out of Bozhidar. “Certainly.” We both start getting up, them from the floor, myself from that… altar I was on, now that I was looking. I also suddenly notice the doorway behind Bozhidar, and the bright place it seems to lead to. Once we’re both up, I follow Bozhidar out through that same doorway.