“Uuuuuurgggh”
With a heavy groan, I rolled over to my other side.
Pffff, I can’t even remember how I got home last night. I really need to learn to moderate in the future. Ffbwaaahhh, my headache is killing me. Why do I always stay until closing time? Hopefully I haven’t slept all day, I still need to do some work today. Uuuughh, better check the time then.
With these thoughts, I blindly reached for my phone on my nightstand. Partway, my hand suddenly collided with something hard and cold.
Wait, wait wait wait, what’s this? There shouldn’t be a wall here? Both my bedsides should be wall-free. A sudden realisation shot through my head, and my body tensed up with cold sweat. Did I end up at someone else’s place? Nononono, I really hope drunk me didn’t make some horrid decision. I can’t even think of anyone I could have gone home with.
It was then I noticed that I wasn’t wearing my usual boxers. In fact, I was wearing nothing at all. Only the bedsheets were shielding me from the cold morning air. At this point, I could paint a pretty decent picture of what had transpired last night.
“Nooooooooo” a soft groan escaped my lips, while I held my head with my hands.
Not willing to open my eyes, I cautiously felt around me. The bed was empty beside for myself, but this definitely wasn’t my bed. The bed was pretty comfortable though, and the sheets were heavy and soft. I really want to sleep some more, but it’s probably for the best to get a move on as soon as possible. Gotta look for my clothes and do the walk of shame. Let’s pray I won’t meet any curious roommates on the way out.
With another groan full of self pity, I lifted myself into a seating position and started to look around. The room was pretty small, and surprisingly unfurnished. It had a small wooden desk with a matching chair, and a classic simple wooden wardrobe. Apart from the wall that gave my hand a rude awakening, all the other walls were from wood as well.
Scanning the clean wooden floor for my clothes, the only thing answering my hopeful look was a simple woven rug. Crap, I hope my phone and keys didn’t end up in a washing machine or something. Hmmmm, even my bracelet is missing. I wasn’t robbed, right? Right? Not that I had anything of real value on me, but it was still an unnerving thought. I quickly inspected my body looking for injuries or markings, but it seemed that my pristine skin was still unblemished.
Well, at least they didn’t harvest my organs.
Looking around the room for more clues, my attention was drawn by a glistening object on the desk. It was a candle holder with multiple unlit candles.
“With so much wood around, this is just asking for a fire accident to happen” I mumbled to myself.
Upon further inspection, it seemed there was also something that resembled a piece of paper with something written on it, as well as… clothes? A new chilling thought went down my spine. This room belongs to one hell of a weirdo. I mean, to each their own tastes, but this feels a little bit on the extreme side. I’m glad I’m not chained to anything.
Wait a second. Perhaps I entered a weird escaperoom activity of sorts after blacking out? I have a group of friends with whom I regularly solve escaperooms together. Maybe this is some sort of escaperoom themed prank? It’s not even close to my birthday, but I wouldn’t put it past them to sign me up for something horrific. They’re probably all snickering while watching me fumble around.
Unable to discern more information from my stationary position, I decided to brave the cold and get out of bed. While moving, my entire body felt slow, heavy and sore. Ah, it must be one of those hangovers. Let’s hope it’s just that, and I didn’t sign away any rights to being injected with weird drugs for this escaperoom or something.
I searched through the clothes but I couldn’t find anything strange about them, except for the design. They gave off a medieval vibe, which did match the room. They were roughly the right size, so I quickly put them on to feel less vulnerable and to stave off the cold. Hidden underneath the clothes, there was a small pouch. I emptied its contents on the desk, and it contained a small pile of copper and silver coins, with two gold coins peeking through. They were pretty heavy for their size. Weird. Maybe I need them for a puzzle later or something? Well, let’s leave them be for now.
When looking over the letter, I immediately noticed that I couldn’t read any of it. Although the symbols did seem to resemble the Greek alphabet, that wasn’t really helping me make any sense of it. There should probably be a translation sheet or something around here somewhere, right?
I took up the task of investigating the rest of the room, but I couldn’t find anything else of note. This forced me to conclude that I’d probably have to leave the room for more hints. Not that I would enjoy the prospect of just waiting patiently in this dull room, so I made my way to the door. The door was surprisingly much heavier than it looked.
As soon as I opened the door, I could hear sounds coming from one end of the hallway. The hallway had the same style as the room I just left. Simple wooden walls and floors. There were multiple doors like mine spread across the walls in orderly fashion. There was a sign next to each door with a symbol and a number.
I breathed a sigh of relief. Thank god, I can read the numbers. That should make solving this escaperoom a lot more doable. I looked to the direction where the sounds were coming from. It was a simple staircase, with stairs going up and down. The sounds were definitely coming from downstairs. With the size of this place you can’t call this an escaperoom anymore, it seemed more like an escapebuilding. This is super elaborate, I can see they went all out.
I smiled with excitement, but it quickly turned into a sour grin. Super elaborate most likely means super expensive, right? Crap, how much did this set me back? Hundred bucks? A thousand?! Maybe more?!?!
Best not to think about it. At this point, I probably can’t back out. I might as well enjoy it as much as I can and chalk it up to a very expensive life lesson. I decided to put the dread of an empty bank account on hold and started moving towards the staircase. My movement still felt very sluggish, and I happily made use of the walls for support.
Ho, these noises sound like a lot of voices, so maybe it is an activity for a large group? If so, that means there is a chance my bank account is safe! Well, mostly safe at least. Calming myself with these thoughts, I slowly descended the stairs.
Halfway down the stairs, I stopped abruptly. My jaw dropped to the floor, I couldn’t believe the scenery that was unfolding in front of me. It was a large spacious hall, setup like you’d expect a typical medieval fantasy inn to look like. The patrons all looked the part, like they’ve all been attending a medieval fantasy fair and were now acting out “an evening at the inn”.
A few patrons seemed to be having a shouting match, but most people were having animated conversations with each other and the meals being served looked straight from a fantasy show. I saw people wearing all kinds of armour, people dressed up as mages, stereotypical shifty looking people and a huge variety of weapons. Even the children were all dressed up, darting around the place.
They even have kids as actors?!
After recovering a bit from my shock, I noticed something resembling a reception desk near the entrance, so I decided to make my way over there. As I walked across the hall, I got a few glances, but it seemed nobody was really interested in what I was doing. The clothing I found earlier seems to be of similar design as the other patrons, allowing me to blend in easily.
While walking to the desk, I noticed that my breathing had gotten quite unsteady, and droplets of sweat were beginning to form on my face. At first I thought it was because of the ambient temperature, but that didn’t seem to be the case. Maybe I’m ill or something? If that’s the case, all the more reason to quickly figure out what’s going on.
The receptionist was a young woman in her twenties. She had straight brown hair that went past her shoulders, kept in place with a simple hairband. Her clothing consisted of a simple yet elegant white blouse, complemented with a dark long skirt. She seemed friendly, so I approached her without hesitation.
You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.
“Hey there! I’m sorry, I’m a bit confused as to what’s going on, can you help me?”
She looked at me puzzled and didn’t answer.
“You see, I just woke up in a room upstairs and I have no idea how I got here, can you explain a bit about what’s going on?”
A flash of annoyance washed over her face.
“Me synchoreíte, eínai asteífo? Parakaló beíte sto théma.”
It took a while to realise she was speaking a foreign language. Then it dawned on me. I couldn’t understand any of the conversations that were happening around me. At first I thought I just wasn’t paying enough attention, but no, I really couldn’t understand any word people were saying.
“An den écheis douleiá mazí mou, se parakaló fýge.”
Her irritation was written all over her face.
“Ah, well, eehhh, you s-see, sorry! sorry! I d-d-don’t under- understand what you are s-s-saying!”
I started to stumble over my words as I panicked, relying more on gestures to get my point across. Luckily, her irritation seemed to make place for her initial puzzled look. I’m not sure if she got my gestures, but I think my genuine panicked face did help.
“Diladí den boreís na me kataláveis kai boreís na milás móno períerga?”
From the body language and intonation I understood she was trying to ask a question, but since I had no clue what she was saying, I responded with a puzzled look and gesture.
“Sorry, I really don’t understand you.”
At this point, some other people started to notice the commotion and a small crowd began to form around me. One of the crowd members exchanged a few words with the receptionist, before she turned back to me.
“Perímene edó.”
She made a gesture that seemed to indicate to wait. She quickly left through a backdoor, leaving me surrounded by the curious crowd. Feeling awkward and embarrassed, I tried to rationalise the situation I was currently in. A lot of theories flew through my mind, but they all seemed extremely outlandish. I eventually narrowed it down to two, still arguably outlandish, options.
The first option is that this is a super elaborate hidden camera prank and the second options is that I got kidnapped and dropped into a foreign country. A country where the receptionist doesn’t speak English at all. And gets annoyed when you speak a foreign language. And I would have to be taken here overnight.
Soooo yeah, no, it has to be the first option. Although my gut feeling told me that that wasn’t the case either. This couldn’t be set up by some small-time YouTube prank channel, and I’m pretty sure larger companies wouldn’t risk the gigantic fines that come from breaching a ton of privacy laws.
Then another idea crept up. But no, that couldn’t be… Have I been isekai’d? Drawing on my, admittedly, shamefully vast personal knowledge about isekai stories it wouldn’t be too far out. No, but wait, normally there would be someone to explain the situation. Either before, during or after the transportation. But there was none, nothing. Even worse, normally language issues get solved through either magic or simply be handwaved. So even if there is someone who could explain what happened, I wouldn’t be able to understand it.
I took another look at my curious admirers, who were talking amongst themselves. Now that they were close, I could take a better look at them. I slowly realised that not all of them would fit the definition of human. Some had pointy ears, a few seemed to have short fangs and one man had something that looked like cat ears. While I’ve seen make-up artists and costume designers do amazing things, I can’t imagine everyone being so talented. Maybe I somehow stumbled into a filming set?
I cast my eyes past the group near me to look at other patrons. I have no clue why I didn’t notice it earlier, because now it’s fairly obvious that the patrons were a hodgepodge of different races. I guess I rationalised it away as cosplay or something.
Most seemed to be the standard fantasy races of humans, elves and dwarves, but there were a few who had animal-like features. Mostly just tails and animal ears, but there were some claws, whiskers, or even complete animal heads. I couldn’t help but chuckle to myself, people into that stuff would have a field day in here.
Then my eye fell on an almost shining reddish golden tail. It seemed extremely smooth and fluffy at the same time, and I immediately felt the urge to pet it. It looked so majestic and elegant. However, the woman the tail was attached to, I would consider even more attractive. Her hair fell more to the red side of the spectrum, but still had golden streaks through it. It wasn’t as fluffy looking as her tail, but was still very alluring. Her hair reached to her waist, complimenting her tall and slender figure. She wore fine robes, which I guess meant she was something of a mage. Although the staff that was leaning against the table next to her would probably be a more convincing argument.
Her face seemed soft, with some light freckles under her eyes and on her nose. At this distance I couldn’t exactly make out the colour, but her eyes seemed to shine with dignity and intelligence. On top of her head were two cute catlike ears. Although, considering her tail, it was probably more accurate to say they were fox-like.
I felt my cheeks redden ever so slightly. Am I into this?
Lost in thought, the sudden voice from the receptionist took me by surprise and shook me out of my daze.
“Me synchoreíte, epéstrepsa me ton archigó tis syntechnías.”
She seemed to have brought someone important, as the man behind her was dressed in a Victorian era like suit. He had a superbly decorated rapier hanging on his hip.
This world can’t even get their fashion sense to be from the same time period? No no no, it was still too early to conclude that this is a different world. Movies are pretty well known for historical inaccuracies as well.
He had a stern face, with sharp lines. His nose was also sharp, but quite long. While the man seemed to be on the older side, his neatly kept short black hair didn’t have a single grey hair in it. He had a proper full handlebar moustache, which I could only simply admire.
He said something to the other people who were standing around me, who proceeded to return to their seats.
After the crowd had dispersed, he turned to me and pointed to himself.
“Maras Villan.”
Then he pointed to me. Confused for a second at first, I quickly realised he was introducing himself. I wasn’t sure whether it was his name, or his title, but at least I have something to call him by.
I pointed to myself
“Norvis Kardia”
The man raised an eyebrow.
“Kardiá?”
He repeated my surname with a slight accent. I wasn’t sure what he meant, but I repeated my name while pointing at myself.
The man seemed to take it well, and he let out a small chuckle. He pointed at me again.
“Ah, Kardia.”
He spoke it without an accent, then made the shape of a heart with his hands and repeated my surname with the accent.
“Kardiá.”
Then he pointed to his chest and repeated it again.
“Kardiá.”
“Ooooh.” I exclaimed.
I nodded in understanding. My surname seems to have a very close resemblance to their word for heart. Relieved, I couldn’t help but chuckle and flash a big smile. I extended my hand, and we shook hands smiling at each other. His grip was surprisingly strong, it felt like he could easily crush my hand if he wanted to. Noticing my discomfort, he immediately eased up his grip.
“Sygnómi.”
Maras seemed apologetic, but he also looked like he was thinking about something. While I felt a lot of relief after establishing a friendly connection with someone, I almost immediately tensed up again. There’s no way this is how someone would react to a random person stumbling on a movie set. For now I’ll just have to play along and see where this goes.
Marras gestured for me to follow.
“Akoloúthisé me.”
I obliged and followed him into the closed booth next to the receptionists booth. He took a box from the shelf and took two white blank cards out of the box. He handed me the cards, before turning around again to take something else from another shelf.
It was a weird contraption to say the least. It had a rectangular shape, with a globe embedded halfway into it. The globe seemed to be from some sort of glass or crystal, while the box was made from metal. The box was richly decorated with metal pieces of a different colour. Around the globe, there were five metal rings resting on top of the box. The rings seemed to be from a completely different metal than the box or its decorations.
Maras pointed to the cards I was still holding in my hand, and gestured to hand them back to him. He then took one of the cards and slid it into a slot in the box which I hadn’t even noticed before, after which he put his hand on top of the globe. A few seconds passed before the globe suddenly lit up and the five rings started to levitate. The rings went around each of his fingers and changed their sizes to be a comfortable fit. A few seconds later, the reverse process happened and Maras removed his hand from the contraption.
The contraption then slowly rolled out the card. But, the card wasn’t blank anymore. Maras showed me the card:
Maras Card [https://i.imgur.com/R838vnQ.png]
The card looked a lot like the stats page of a video game character. I couldn’t understand the words, but I could at least read the numbers. It took me a while to process what happened, but at this point I was 99.9% sure. This device is something that magically measures someone’s statistics. Magic. I’m not on earth anymore. This is a different world. I got fucking isekai’d.