Lying on her back, her eyes closed, the young woman was still half-asleep. She had watched way too many programs on prairie dogs this week and had found it hard to fall asleep. Through her muddled thoughts, she felt weird. Her mattress felt harder than usual and the air warmer. Why was the room this bright? She grumbled without even bothering to open her eyes.

A clear tingle of bells and some divine chorus echoed out of the blue.

“Shut up! People are trying to sleep here!”

She didn’t know where the sound came from nor did she care.

“Welcome, O Chosen One.” A delicate and emotional voice resounded.

The young woman clad in old pajamas and mismatched animal slippers yawned, her eyes still closed.

“Not interested.” She rolled on her side.

Up high, the slender figure of a woman appeared. Floating into a white sky, silver hair, and azure eyes; she bathed in a divine halo, a slight smile hanging on her lips.

“We need your help, O Chosen One. Our world is in peril and only you can save it.”

The sleepy woman didn’t answer. With a graceful wave of her hand, the divine woman threw a spell. From the floor, one could hear a shriek.

“I am the Divine Avatar, Lyres. You are on your way to another world to become a hero.” The slight smile on her face grew bigger and warmer.

The young woman in her pajamas glared up. She then looked around. All she could see was white empty space. She sniffed the air and frowned.

“Send me back.” She glared at the so-called divine avatar.

“Hero, I know it’s confusing and…”

“What don’t you understand in ‘send me back’? I don’t have time to deal with this bullshit.” She interrupted sharply.

“Hero, you are our only hope.” The avatar’s smile stiffened and her gaze grew colder.

“Do I look like some ignorant idiot to you? I don’t have much patience, so send me back at once.”

The avatar waved her hand, the light around her gathered, and with another gesture, a ray flew at the woman standing below. The young woman sidestepped and the ray crashed near her foot. Lyres snorted and before the one below could react summoned a cage. When the young woman tried to touch the bars, an electric shock jolted through her hand.

“Hero, a lifetime of glory and adoration awaits you. In this new world, you will be able to use magic.”

“Let me out! What the fuck?!”

“Thanks to you, we will be able to fight against the threat of our enemies.” Lyres looked down on her, uncaring about her cries.

“Don’t you dare force me! I’m no hero. I don’t want your shitty powers or whatever magic. Send me back!”

“This new world will…”

“I don’t give a shit about your isekai or whatever fantasy world. I don’t give a shit about other people’s lives! LET. ME. OUT. NOW.” She snarled.

The avatar didn’t take her threat to heart. Now that a Hero had been summoned, there was no way to let her get away. However, it bothered her that someone didn’t give her the respect and admiration she expected.

“I, Lyres, am the messenger of the Gods. I came here to welcome you and offer you this grand destiny and this new fate. Why would you make things difficult?”

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“...” The woman inside the cage clenched her teeth. What she hated the most was to have her hand forced.

“You will have whatever you desire, you will be adored by the people, you will serve your master and become his pride.”

“Am I a joke to you?” Her gaze became frigid.

“You have the chance to leave your miserable self and pitiful past behind. No one misses you. No one is waiting for you. You are a weak human. Why so reluctant?”

In front of the caged woman, a video game-like window appeared and flickered. But she could barely see it. In her mind, scenes from the past were playing on repeat.

… you are weak…

… miserable self… pitiful…

… no one…is waiting anymore…

… monster…

… never meet again…

The young woman froze. She felt her heartbeat quickened, pounding so hard that it was the only sound she could hear. She felt as if the cage was shrinking and the bars were pressing down on her. She curled down on the ground, ears ringing with the echoes of distant memories. She felt lost, desperate, and angry.

Lyres sneered at the sight and sent another spell. The woman didn’t even feel the electric shock; it barely numbed the voices in her heart. Little by little, her gaze lost its lustre and darkness clouded her mind. Her breathing quickened, and so did her heart. From the depths of her soul came pouring out memories. Through those, the emotions she tried so hard to control, to tame and extinguish were set ablaze with violence. Wave upon wave of repressed emotions crashed down her heart and ground the thin walls she had built.

Up high, Lyres scorned. Puny humans. She had thought that she could summon a valuable hero. So disappointing. If she could, she would have summoned several. How nice would it be? A group of heroes. Four or five? Hell, if she had ten or so nothing could stop them. Those Earthlings always had so many good ideas and creativity, what if they could…

Lost in her fantasy, Lyres didn’t react on time when a tide of unknown energy swept her way. The strange power flooded into her system and shook her to the core; wreaking havoc along its way. The white space trembled. She fell, crashing down as signs of distortion appeared in the sky. The space became unstable?

Terrified, she tried to look for the source but all she could see were floating windows.

ERROR SYSTEM…

Interference detected...

ERROR SYSTEM…

Interference detected...

ERROR SYSTEM…

System override…

Please wait...

New command needed...

Searching for new command...

New command detected…

Would you like to summon more heroes?

Lyres was completely flabbergasted. What was going on? Another wave of power poured into her body. She jolted and howled in pain. She cradled her head in her hands; something was messing with her mind.

Start summoning procedures...

1/...

New status preferences detected…

Please wait during the update...

Insufficient mana

Expansion of the extraction perimeter in progress...

The ground shook and statics spread around the cage and throughout the space. The avatar tried to struggle against the foreign invasion. She felt herself being slowly ground away.

Insufficient mana…

Searching for a new power source...

Unknown power source detected…

Start extraction...

System update in progress...

Lyres’ pleas and tears slowly faded. Her delicate face lost its warmth and her eyes lost their light. Kneeling on the ground, she was like a marble statue; an ethereal frozen elegance. Inside her cage, the woman was oblivious of the storm raging outside. Gently, her body became cold as she slouched down. She closed her eyes and let herself be taken into the darkness. Maybe… Just maybe… This time… Things will be different….