The sound of obnoxiously loud metal rung throughout the hallway as a hunched-over man tried to clumsily pick out the right key for his apartment door. The lights above were weak, creating a hefty amount of shadow on him and making him look like a dark mysterious figure to any unknowing passerby.

The man was hunched over wearily looking at the giant ring of keys. His was balance off-putting, even with the support of the door frame. His face and eyes were red, but there were no signs of emotional distress of any kind, just the pungent smell of alcohol coming from his breath. He was wearing a suit, one you would often see on employees working in an office, the tie was ruffled and loose enough to be easily pulled from his neck with a simple tug, his currently disheveled appearance made the man look as if he came out of a sewer.

He had light brown hair that blended in quite well with the soft lights of the apartment complex, his eyes are grey, silver if shined on directly, they held dullness in them almost as if any sign of a soul has long left them leaving only bitter coldness. Otherwise, he appeared relatively clean: fine stubble was left his from recent shave, he kept his hair short, and there was no sign of grease in it. Overall he was a rather attractive individual; the only thing detracting from his appearance is a feral scar on his right cheek, but it did add to the mysterious aura that most people attributed to him if he only felt about it the same way.

"Fuc- which one of them was it again?" He mumbled to himself. His slurring speech had made his words hard to recognize, although it didn't matter much. To his belief there was no one around him to listen, he was alone after all...

The sounds of foreign footsteps hitting against the concrete floor of the complex rang out behind the drunken individual, who didn't pay mind to it all until a familiar voice calls out to him. It was his longtime friend, whose eyes narrowed in an attempt at getting a better look at the intoxicated individual.

"Hey, Luther! How was your day at wor-." The familiar individual abruptly ended his sentence seeing the state his friend was in. His smile had started to dissipate, before turning into a frown.

"It's one of those days, isn't?" He sighed hoping the drunken man did not hear it as he was turning around. Luckily for him, his voice was quiet enough.

"James! Good mourning or is night? I can't quite really tell." Luther stumbled towards James, his shoulders relaxed, feet dragging across the floor.

James was a bit of an underweight man. His hair had gold color to them, it messy and reached to his lower tip of the ears, his eyes were a deep shade of blue, which often reflected anything he looked at. There was a strained fake smile on his face that was so painfully obvious for anyone who would have looked at him, anyone who was sober at least.

"Actually, it's evening and those are the garage's keys." James pointed out going closer to his neighbor, gently grabbing the keys out of his hands and put them in his pocket. He gazed at his friend with a somber look at his face.

"Do need any help?" James asked Luther, who in response, simply nodded and wrapped his arm around his friend's neck and used him as a support.

This moment between them wasn't a rare occurrence, in fact, this started happening in the final years of college while they were roommates. James being one of Luther's few friends was forced to help him during his drunken bouts, out of the kindness of his heart and for the sake of his homework.

Neither of them minded that this situation happened all that much, as during that period of time they relied on each other in their time of need. After all when the whole world is against you, you only had yourself and those willing to help, but it wasn't always like this. Luther was an ambitious sort, especially in the earlier days of his life. His drive was capable of lasting through most of the curriculum. All of that ended, even with his strong will and drive, depression took its toll.

He coped with it as any man would, and after a while, he even overcame it through healthy and…not so healthy methods. Yet the damage was already done. He was scarred in spirit, as he was scarred in body. Leading to what could have been a great man becoming a broken office worker stuck in an unfulfilling dead-end job with memories of older glory days to keep him company.

"So you heard about the new paper that got published. It's an observation of a rather unexplainable phenomenon…ah they will figure it out anyway." This peaked Luther's interest, the man closed his eyes and took a deep breath in an attempt to gather focus.

"What is it?" Luther inquired further, his voice straining.

"Ah! There's the issue…apparently, there might be sudden spikes in gravity, in certain small places the feeling of weight just increases rapidly and just as quickly decreases, they have yet to measure the effect with proper equipment... and… It might also be happening in the vacuum of space..." James trailed off, his words becoming a blur of incoherent rambling to his friend.

Whether it was just James's roundabout way of explaining things by randomly introducing new topics in his explanations or Luther's lack of soberness that did this it still bothered the man that he didn't understand it.

"Sorry, I'm just rambling here." Seeing his friend's confusion he offered an apologetic smile.

"Can you explain the space part?" Luther inquired, hoping to get an answer on the most peculiar part of his friend's explanation.

"Well, I don't know what to say, haven't you seen some of the news networks? Satellites orbiting around earth randomly get crushed, really been bothering some of the companies flying those things, but it's not so overly widespread… and there is also a paper tying these happenings to the phenomena…I'll just send it to you in the morning." With that James helps his neighbor unlock his apartment door which creaked open revealing a rather barren hallway.

"Yeah…that's about it. Have a good night Luther, we can finish this later…on better circumstances." James excused himself as he let his drunken friend go and support himself on the door frame, handing him the apartment door key.

Luther finally entered his apartment and closed the door proceeding to frown and look around as if trying to find something he lost. The man's apartment was rather plain looking, it had a regular smooth wooden floor, a carpeted living room. Paintings and photos filled the empty spaces of the walls and made him feel more welcoming within this small abode. To the average person it seemed to just contain the necessities of living, along with somethings to entertain himself with, however to the perceptive individual they would notice the uniqueness that expresses certain parts of his life whether a long time passed or remaining.

The bookshelf in the living room contains not only books but folders of research papers and manga as well. There was a guitar leaning against the sofa, which he used pluck along the heartstrings of himself and those around him, a window to the beauty that is music, something that helped him cope. Family photos on the wall and furniture that strangely never contained any motherly figure, just him, his father, and siblings. Medals and a master's degree helped fill the emptiness of the hallway, they were reminders of the past accomplishments which glory has long since faded away, temporary and not worth a second look he would admit, especially the achievements related to sports, the older he got the less interested he became. And his two most prized possessions: his computer containing many video games, his research and the ultimate access to the almighty internet, and a messenger bag - more specifically the contents of which he has collected over the years. They remained within his mind for a long time and still do albeit not as much as they used to. There were files upon files, research papers, his notes, and his award-winning thesis, his true achievements, and the entirety of his interests hidden within that bag.

"Hmm…" Seeing everything was in place, Luther settled down and head to his bed.

The wakeup wasn't pleasant. The effect of a hangover can have on a person can be rather stressful, painful, and sometimes torturous, often ending in a false promise to never drink again. If only that were the case...

With a groan Luther got up from his bed, his head swinging a back and forth. Regardless of him sleeping past the morning he still felt tired, felt weak. The world around him was spinning, yet staying still. It wouldn't be the first or probably the last time he would be having such an experience. Luther headed to his bathroom, where he could potentially empty the contents of his stomach and enjoy the temporary warmth and comfort of his shower that only slightly eased the pain of his headache.

"Ugh…why do I always do this to myself?" He grumbled, but his voice remained as monotone ever. Of course, he knew the answer and just didn't want to voice it out loud or entertain the thought of it for even a moment in his current state. He was already suffering enough to begin with and to add more weight onto his consciousness would probably break his neck.

Finishing his silent contemplations, all dressed up the man walked to his kitchen. His movements were too rigid and automatic to be considered human as if there was nothing but an empty husk in the shape of a human being left in his place. He began his late breakfast of simple bacon and eggs. With a cold face and a cup of coffee he watched sizzling food cook in his frying pan.

Luther was broken out of his dull thoughts by a familiar sound of two phone notifications - a sent file that brought back memories of a previous conversation and…an invitation that shook him to his core.

Hey Luther, I know it's been a while since we all last met for something like this considering all that has happened since college, I'm probably the last person you'd expect to get a message from, but it's better late than never. I know we all have our grievance toward one another and the past has eroded our friendship, yet they're so much left to salvage. We used to be great, the only matter that complicated that were conditions that we had no control over, the greed and doubt from people who want nothing more than to profit from something that can benefit mankind. We're better than them and all those have wronged us, don't let them control you.

James has already agreed to this and so have the other, you're the one who started this, so please help us finish it.

-P

The man stared at the message for many minutes, he wanted to laugh, cry and run around at this cruel joke. Two years too many used up by wasting away at his apartment and job, and only now do they decided to contact him after his little group's break up. Instead he felt nothing, emptiness. He could not muster up any amount of hatred or spite, as it might have burned out of him a long time ago. Or he couldn't blame them for what they've done. Now there was a chance at reconciliation, even if had to be taken one little step at a time.

There was a location, and time listed, and he almost missed it if had woken up later. Luther rushed to finish the meal and coffee, scarfing them down and opting to ignore any uncomfortableness that it might have brought. He put on his coat and his prized bag that he took to important events and marched toward his apartment's exit

As he opened the door Luther felt a sudden increase in body weight. The man and his surroundings shuddered and shook from pressure, his knees buckled giving the feeling of his bones breaking.

Cracks started to form inside of his apartment, floating in the air, letting out an otherworldly light. These cracks eventually reached and collided with one another, Luther felt the weight disappear. The sudden change in pressure caused him to fall on his knees. Looking behind him he saw the anomaly, the sight of which caused his body to completely freeze like a deer caught in the headlights.

In the middle of the converging cracks, a shape started to form.

…

A Sphere?

It was a sphere glowing with light similar to the cracks. After a couple of moments rings surrounded the sphere in an orderly fashion, appearing somewhat similar to the familiar gas giant in our solar system -Saturn. This new 'object' completely contradicted the previous chaotic pattern of the cracks. It was contained and strangely peaceful in its spinning motion.

He couldn't help but continue to stare, with hordes of questions wandering over his mind such as: 'Is any of this real? I'm I dreaming? To 'Is it this thing the phenomena James mentioned?'. Seeing that nothing was happening, the man finally gathered the courage to edge ever so closely to the strange object.

'What is this thing?' He asks himself, in spite of not knowing the answer tried pondering it.

'Right let's see here…Gravity bends the fabric space-time and if I remember correctly extreme gravity or rather mass can punch a hole in it, a rupture. But that would cause a black hole, wouldn't it? But the fact that I'm still alive and this apartment complex, this city, is still standing disproves my hypothesis. Or perhaps this thing wasn't caused by gravity, what was that weight then? Was it just the result?' Luther drew a pen out of the many pockets in his bag and lightly threw it at the levitating spinning sphere.

Once the pen touched the spinning anomaly it bounced off slightly, only for it to stop its motion and begin spinning in the air. Seeing the strange reaction Luther had walked even closer and touched his spinning pen. It harmlessly had landed in his palm and together with that the man's worries and anxiety vanished, once he realized the sphere didn't pose any immediate threat to his livelihood. With that conclusion, Luther decided to do something rash, a decision that he might come to regret for the rest of his life. Although based on his previous observations the only thing that would happen to him would just be light spinning in midair and nausea that came along with it.

…That was not the case, however…

As soon as Luther's fingers touched the strange sphere he was suddenly pulled to the center, the lower part of his arm bent in a spiral fashion. If the man wasn't preoccupied with sudden shock and the task of trying to get away from the new threat, he would have noticed, even its current state, none of the bones in his appendage have been broken as he did not feel any pain. Even with his attempts at struggle from the anomaly's grasp, it pulled him even further in. The weight he had felt before reappearing and getting stronger the closer he got. Luther was lifted off the ground, his body levitating and bending in the same way his arm did. The body parts that did reach the center seemingly disappeared as if he was in a cartoon and stuck part of his body in a dark hole. Once his shoulder was "absorbed", his body quickly followed suit, the spherical anomaly fully consuming him into whatever depths it held.

The man found himself in a prone position, simply floating, unable to move. Darkness was the only thing he saw, nothing but an empty void all around him. He felt immense pressure all over his body. He was being crushed, his bones turning into mere dust, his flesh into mush, but the weight disappeared as soon as he was nearing death and he began to be remade into his original shape, damage previously done disappearing and leaving him in a state he previously was in.

Once he was reformed Luther felt the weight and pressure hit him again. The pain he felt was no worse or better than what he had felt previously. Strangely what he would that thought would have made go unconscious from the shock and pain didn't, something seemed to continue to keep him awake through this torment. This pattern repeated countless times never really seeming to end, as this was happening he felt something burrow deep inside his body, shifting beneath his skin.

Every part of him had given up hope that he would, escape let alone survive this brutal torture.

That was until a light erupted above him. Luther didn't know what overcame him, but he desperately tried to reach for it.

'Come on! Move!' Even though he was mentally screaming his body refused to listen remaining in the same prone position no matter how many times he fiercely urged it on.

Instead, the light moved towards him and finally consumed Luther, sparing him from the pain.

It was seemingly a peaceful day in the forest, the trees were rustling in response to the calm wind, the birds were flying around, looking for sticks, grass, and other materials to build their nests, and singing their song to find a mate. Yet this peace was disturbed by a sudden appearance of cracks in the air. These cracks were the ones that appeared in a troubled man's apartment. The shining sphere was formed and continued to look harmless to any potential passerby.

Suddenly Luther got spit out of the disappearing sphere. He was gasping for air, panicked, afraid, and relieved that the pain was over. The man moved and sat down against a tree, his crazed breathing continues. Hugging himself he assumed a fetal position still shaking from shock.

"I am an idiot… I'm a fucking idiot!" His voice was shaky and unclear. He shook his head and looked around trying to get some insight into his situation noticing that he was truly alone here, as there was no other sign of human life around him, only trees and forest wildlife.

'I'm also the luckiest motherfucker alive! But I'm afraid I used up all my luck here...' He sighed and understood that he was, in his eyes, nowhere near human civilization and equipped with nothing more than a bag filled with books, files, and a phone. At least it was still better than his previous experience. Luther's panic had started to disappear; he was surprised to see that he was in a healthy condition: he had no bruises, broken bones, or any other types of wounds, just a weird rash on his left arm that pulsed with a strange heat. Even after an extensive session of looking at himself like a madman, he found practically nothing wrong with his body, this relieved him. The most surprising thing to him is that his belongings were all in perfect condition.

'I really am lucky or maybe not so much…' There was a moment where the man-made a full realization that he was in the middle of nowhere. With nothing else to be done, he checked his phone, there was no service, and the clock was also showing that it was nighttime quite unlike the outright daylight shining down him.

'Something is not right.' This was rather concerning for Luther as he did correctly set his clock based on the actual time since a week ago. This made his mind wondered whether he actually set the time right, to something as insane as wondering whether he was on Earth anymore, no matter how hard he tried to banish this thought it stayed there, mocking him.

"Get off me!" Luther heard a juvenile voice ring out somewhere left of him. This got him out of his pondering as the distress of the voice and the possible context alarmed him. Chambers ran as fast as his legs could carry, almost leaping into the location.

The scene he saw paralyzed him: It was a familiar purple-haired boy struggling in a prone position... against the first enemy in a game he played two years ago – a slime girl, one that he now saw first face in front of him and not on a computer screen. The impression was quite different from his virtual encounter with it. The entirety of the slime girl was a deep shade of turquoise; she was nearly completely see-through with only several features remaining a thick slime. Her slimy form mimicked that of an admittedly cute girl with only the bottom part of her body being a gooey puddle which almost enveloped and stimulated the game protagonist. Her presence felt real to Luther no matter how hard he tried to deny it, down to her movement, to her breathing. She was as real as he was even with her downright strange appearance.

Luther stayed frozen there looking at the slime and Luka. His face didn't portray any emotion, but within him, a storm of emotion brewing and he felt guilt over the fact that him seeing a boy being raped in front of him, didn't bother him as much as the realization of where he was. Sure, there was a shock, but it didn't compare to the horror of this conclusion, or perhaps he was still processing this information and had experienced a mental crash. He was in Monster Girl Quest...

"Oh! Look at what we have here! Are you going to watch or do you want to join, I would love to taste you!" The slime girl giggled, her tone was too innocent for the act she was performing. That and combined with the way she was looking at him had almost made Luther puke.

"Get away before she hurts you!" Luka exclaimed. That sentence would have made him laugh if he wasn't still coming to terms with his current situation.

'No way… There is no fucking way in Hell and Heaven! That I find myself in this place and in this moment…' The troubled man put his hands on his face and ruffled through his brown hair. Despite him being in emotional distress he knew he had to something, he couldn't just stand there and gape while a boy gets violated in front of him, and not just any boy, the one who must save the world, but is currently going to lose to the weakest enemy in the game. He glanced at the "pair" and sighed, his frustration spilling out into the atmosphere.

'Well… if you have the will, do it.' It was an important lesson he learned when faced with indecisiveness or being generally paralyzed, sometimes it's just better to act than to think beforehand. He moved at a slow pace towards them, his eyes were covered by shadows. The top part of the slime's body swung around in excitement over the prospect of tasting two men at the same time, while Luka shuddered at her sudden movements.

Unfortunately for the slime girl that was not the case as the strange man walked up to both of them, grabbed her victim's arm, and pulled him out of her grasp with surprising strength she has never seen a human muster. Then again, she never did interact with many humans before, but her kin did inform her that humans were quite weak- both with mind and body, to see that reality shatter as he easily pulled the boy was scary. And his expression, his frown full of apathy, was terrifying.

With a yelp, Luka was pulled from his enemy's slimy heaven and he looked at his towering mysterious savior, a part of him regretted telling him to back away, seeing this stranger manhandle the monster made him feel slightly inferior. He was supposed to be the hero, yet this man managed to do more than he had, but he was surprised once again when the stranger handed him his sword back.

"You want to be a hero, don't you? Show me what you can do…and pull up your pants." The strange man said which inspired Luka… embarrassed him, but not without giving a second glance at the stranger.

The hero apprentice did exactly as his rescuer ordered and readied his sword, his opponent snapped out of her shock, but still looked weary at his savior. His enemy didn't even see him as a threat instead of looking at the unarmed individual, which frustrated him. Luka decided to a small fast slash at his adversary, deciding to actually guarantee a hit on her instead of focusing on damage.

"Don't you want to feel heaven?" She teased, swaying her hips around and trying to beckon the tall stranger.

"SMALL LUKA ATTACK!" Luka slashed upwards hitting the slime girl's arm, she didn't even flinch. The limb was cleanly cut off, and there were no bones or blood that came out, as expected. Instead, the arm simply fell on the ground and turned into a thick puddle that was quickly absorbed by her. With this, she smirked as she remembered they can't really hurt her, as she would simply regenerate, although she still didn't want to provoke the intruder, which had ruined her chances of a meal.

"Your attacks are useless against me, now come closer! I'll make you feel good!" The slime girl beckoned the two males, which made Luka blush slightly but got no response from Luther.

"With these tentacles!" The Monster girl formed several small tentacles out of her form and groped Luka, who in response bit his lip to keep a moan from escaping. Luther narrowed his eyes at this, simply observing the nature of the 'attack'.

Luther was watching the battle from the sidelines, although his face from the very start didn't portray much emotion he couldn't help and but despair and horror over the sight of eroge protagonist's horrible swordplay.

'Everything that Alice said about Luka's fighting style was true… it's horrible – his shifting stance didn't suit his size, his speed was off, he has barely existent footwork, he doesn't even try to dodge his opponent! And don't even get me started on how he swings his sword!' Luther lamented, he had never first hand participated in any sword match, but he has had lessons during his summer vacations with his friends and he could tell Luka was definitely lacking in the skill department. Currently, at least... he knew that Luka had a lot potential, hell, he will be able to stand up to a genocidal Goddess, but now things are still simple and Luka needed any help he could get.

"You need to apply as much force over as much area as you can… try hitting her with your sheath instead, and when you start don't stop. It takes her time to reform." Luther suggested, of course, he knew the canonical way of beating this enemy. There wasn't much to memorize, even a child could do it, granted a child shouldn't be playing that kind of game.

"Hey, that's not fair!" The slime girl threw a childish tantrum as she tried to attack Luther, who jumped back from the attack getting even farther away from the fight.

'I knew it, that attack has had a limited range. She can't make her tentacles longer without making them fall apart or severely changing her form, which would leave her open to damage...' Luther blandly thought as he heaved out a sigh.

In response to this sudden attack Luka put his sword in its sheath and rushed the Monster girl and began repeatedly beating her with the blunt force of his improvised weapon, she recoiled as if she was in pain, her cute form was slowly being reduced to a blob. The slime girl's regeneration wasn't fast enough to repair her form, it also didn't help much that several small pieces of her body flew far from her as a result of the apprentice hero's reckless swinging.

"Awawawah!" The slime girl starts to back away from the assault most of her feminine body turning to a more formless shape.

"I just wanted something to eat you meanie!" The Monster screamed at the handsome stranger that ruined her day with his meddling, she disappeared deeper into the woods, but not without swearing revenge one day.

Luther huffed from such a childish scene coming from someone who just committed heinous crimes, although he did have to admit it was a good distraction, however painful it was to watch. It warded off the nagging, panicked thoughts of being here, in this world and the consequences that would come with that. While Luka only breathed a sigh of relief as combat finished.

"Good work with the slime, you drove her off." It was a simple statement, an easy observation, nonetheless it was a conversation starter that served slightly reinforce Luka's spirit.

"Yeah! Uh…thank you for helping me, my name is Luka, who are you?" Luka asked expecting to get an honest answer, despite the stranger saving him he seemed suspicious, and how did he know he wanted to be a hero? Did he look like a hero? Not to say he wasn't grateful for the help, but still, there was an amount of suspicion. He may admit he is a bit naïve, but he wasn't an idiot. He had never seen this man in the village or the temple and he had just appeared randomly when he was in trouble. Perhaps he was a pilgrim coming from a distant land. It would explain his strange clothes and mannerisms.

"Luther, Luther Chambers, it's nice to meet you." The man stretched out his hand towards the boy for a handshake, Luka accepted it and found Luther's grip to be strong. After all Luther's father always told him the proper way for a man to do a handshake is to have a good grip.

"How did you know I'm a hero apprentice?" Luka blurted out, the stranger didn't really answer his question as he had hoped, and maybe he should have more specific, he could at least try to get the important question out of the way.

'Shit…I should be careful with what I say.' This made Luther froze for a moment and realized his mistake.

"My mistake…You just reminded me of someone." It was the best excuse he could come up without involving him creating an elaborate lie. But now on second thought, he could only hope the boy didn't inquire further as this sentence may have made him even more suspicious. What pained him was seeing the young hero's eyes light up like fireworks in the night.

"I really look like a hero?!" Luka stood proudly, he was already being noticed, and he really was on the path of becoming a hero, which reminded him of something, something he had to do, an event he had to go to…

Luther didn't show it, but he felt guilt at how the boy reacted to his lie, he certainly did not expect such a reaction to occur, at worst he expected the future hero to call out his lie, but this was an unpleasant surprise.

'The lie will become truth.' He tried to justify, and yet this distaste for this action hasn't left him alone.

"Wait a minute…Oh! I totally forgot! I'm sorry, but I need to go to my baptism!" Luka shouted as he broke into a full sprint presumably toward Ilias temple, leaving Luther alone with his thoughts.

"So… I really am here." The man morbidly thought out loud. The fact is, he was disturbed that he was in this perverted cruel world, but he had no choice, there was no other anomaly to send him somewhere else he was here alone, and chances are, he might die alone.

'Maybe I can just sit through the story somewhere quietly and find a way to go back home… wait, no I can't! Even if there is no looming threat of angels descending down and slaughtering every human they come across when chapter three hits, I still have no usable currency! No past or possible way to blend in society! Hell! I didn't ask for directions! No allies! All alone…I have little to no probability of survival.' Luther sorrowed, he felt like he was out of all options, his emotions that been bubbling up were being released as he began to lightly bang his head against a tree.

"Oh come on, stupid brain, think!" He asked, begged. What were mere moments felt like a grueling hour as his mind cobbled together a plan, a gamble really...

'I know! Perhaps I could try to tag along with Luka, sure it's going to be risky... there is a real threat from both inside and outside his company. I have no real other options if I don't want to live every waking moment with uncertainty, at least by his side I would be more in line with the plot, besides there is no guarantee whether Luka chooses the right choices or doesn't fuck up on an enemy. He would have lost to a Slime, if I hadn't been there then this would all already be over…' He glanced to the side, where Luka ran to the temple and sighed.

Luther continued to ponder his circumstances, unaware of the tentacle slowly wrapping around his leg.