Darkness. An Infinite abyss of black beneath Ren? Or was it above himself? It no longer mattered, he had completely lost his sense direction and orientation - Ren felt like he had been spinning endlessly, never once coming to a full stop. So, this is what death was like? Ren figured it would have been more painful, but he wasn't complaining.
Suddenly, the feeling of cold stone beneath his feet snapped Ren out of his stupor. He pried his cerulean blue eyes open and leapt up from the hard surface. Where in the hell was he? More importantly, were Saburo and Officer Mikan alright? Was his dad okay, did he cause him to worry? These questions prodded Ren's mind as he took in the dimly-lit room around him.
Glancing around himself, Ren noticed a group of darkly robed men who stood in a semi-circle around him blocking a doorway. A few of them dropped down to the ground in exhaustion, lying still once they hit the stone. Was there something wrong with them?
The room that Ren found himself in seemed rather extravagant, albeit dim. Tall chiseled stone pillars aligned themselves against the wall as ceiling support, while armour-clad guards posted against the sole exit in sight. Wait, are those are legitimate knights?
Now that Ren thought about it, he stood upon strange glowing carvings of chalk and foreign inscriptions.
Hold on, was he holding a sword? Since when in the world did that end up in his hands? He admits, it's rather light, Ren pondered if it were to shatter upon contact with a hard surface. The sword itself appeared to be well forged, it had a blue gem engraved upon the hilt, perhaps it may be able to withstand a considerable amount of force. Despite this, the sword appeared more ceremonial in nature than a functional weapon. There was only one complaint Ren had about the sword, whoever forged it shouldn't have the guard pointing down toward his hand to restrict his hand movement. Strangely, the sword gave a sense of familiarity to Ren. Where has he seen it before?
"Where are we?" Ren heard two voices say, himself included. Wait, did he just mutter that out loud?
Ren slowly glanced to the right, his eyes widened as he attempted to hide his shock. How did he not notice three other people standing beside him? They were each armed with a different weapon, all with a gem embedded into it like his own. The others were respectively armed with a bow, spear, and a shield - much to his surprise, they wore normal clothing as well. Ren was glad that he wasn't alone.
"O Heroes! Please save our world!" Begged the robed man to the forefront of the group, probably their leader.
"What?" The four young men asked.
"There are many complications in this situation, but to offer a simple answer to your question, we have just completed an ancient ceremony and summoned you, the Four Heroes." The robbed man elaborated.
"Summoned?" The young man in the green hoodie - the Shield Hero(?) asked.
Are they saying that they went out of their way to summon them? Does that mean that they were in another world? As if the strange chalk and castle-like room wasn't enough to prove it. Hey, it would be a bad idea to assume that they weren't kidnapped to some weirdo's house.
"Our world teeters on the brink of destruction. Heroes, please lend us your strength." Said the robed man, bowing deeply to the four recently summoned heroes.
"I suppose it wouldn't hurt to-" The man with the shield spoke up, excitement glimmering in his emerald green eyes. Sorry, but Ren needed to check some factors before they decided to volunteer. Just how naive can a man be?
"I don't think so."
"Yeah, me neither." The blonde man with a ponytail spoke up, so the Spear Hero knew what he was going for huh?
"We can go back to our original world, right? I have family and friends back there after all. We will talk your problem after that." Ren admitted, going on an actual adventure sounds like fun. But he needed to know whether he can return home and have the upper hand in negotiations before indulging his childish sentiments.
The Shield Hero looked at him oddly, while the Spear Hero sneered at him. Ren took note to talk with the Shield Hero afterward.
"Don't you feel any guilt for calling people into your world without their permission?" Ren boldly declared, pointing his sword toward the robed men as emphasis. If what the summoners said were true, then they may have summoned four people to a dying world after all.
"Besides," The shortest one finally spoke up, a green-eyed boy with curly light brown hair - the Bow Hero. "Even if we save you and bring peace to your world, you will just us back home, right?" He said intensely, glowering at the summoners. And Ren thought he was overkill.
"I wonder how much thought you put into this? Depending on your answer we could be your enemies." Spear guy seriously needed to calm himself down. Taking on an entire world?! The blondie talks big, doesn't he? Did he even realize what implications his words could have on the four of them? Ren thought, staring down the tall man.
Ren glanced back at the Shield Hero. He saw a glimmer of recognition flash across his emerald green eyes. At least he caught on quickly.
"Of course, very well, we would like you to talk to the king. He will discuss anything regarding your future compensation in the throne room."
"Fine." Ren stated emotionlessly - a neutral response that may assist in providing extra benefits.
The four of them followed the lead summoner through the castle and up a tower, all lead toward the throne room. They had got a good glance out of a barred window to see a lively, bustling town with an impressive landscape to boot.
Strangely, it exactly resembled Brave Star Online, the popular VRMMO game that Ren played back in his world. Did he? Did he possibly reincarnate into the world of the game itself? It stuck out to him that there were other heroes involved. That wasn't within the game's original plot. Then, why were they here?
Ren recalled the king of this land in Brave Star Online - his name was Aultcray Melromarc XXXII. That would have been too much of a coincidence, which would prove that he was in fact in Brave Star Online. At the very least, he was in the world of the game. If not, following the plot line.
"Huh, so these are the Four Holy Heroes?" A deep and booming voice questioned.
~END~
