Author's Note: Hoped ya'll had a good Thanksgiving. Sorry for the Hiatus. Onward with the story!
Chapter 9: Awkward Dinner Chat
"My god, what's happening to me?" Cory muttered to himself as he splashed water on his face in the restroom of the restaurant. It was clear to the man that he was not hallucinating or dreaming over the fact that he was back on Earth. He just had a good night sleep with no issues in his apartment and woke up in the morning, but he still couldn't stop thinking about the other world.
Mainly how his involvement caused havoc to the MGQ canon. After finding out the truth about Ilias and what's to come, how could he help? If he succeeded in exposing Succubus and Witch and the villagers killed them, then he pretty much fucked the canon story because they were supposed to be alive to help Luka, Alice, and the village fight against the angel invasion.
But Cory was able to brush this off as this not being his problem. It wasn't like Luka was going to lose just because Succubus and Witch were dead and besides, he's back home and the invasion isn't his problem. Cory did admit that despite Thyra having a few screws loose, he was going to miss her, especially the training she gave him.
"Could this be some form of phantom pains I'm experiencing?" Cory thought. An ordinary person being suddenly displaced in a new world and then sent back could cause some physical and mental issues. He wasn't a typical reincarnation Isekai character, he was simply transported to the other world with no changes to his body.
Other than the Hunter power…
"Yeah, that must be it. If all that shit DID happen, then where are my Hunter powers? And my shotgun…it was loaded to the max when I got to Earth when it should be actually missing bullets when I shot a few times at the succubi. It feels like I didn't even leave Earth, but my buddy did say I was missing for a short period of time…that's the mind fuck." The dark-skinned man said mentally.
There was too much evidence to suggest that nothing happened, Cory being told he was missing for a while from his friend who was calling him shot a hole through the "it was just a dream" solution. And if he did fall asleep while driving, he would have been in a Hospital or dead from a car crash because he was driving down a busy highway.
But no…
It was neither a dream nor hallucination. The exhaustion he felt from overexerting himself when he was training by himself, the soft touch from Succubus, the taste of the delicious food from the Inn, and the pain of Thyra stepping on him while he did pushups felt all too real.
Cory shook off the feeling and left the restroom after drying his face. He hoped these strange hallucinations would go away; it was probably his body and mind trying to get settled "back in" on normie Earth away from the fantastic magic world.
He chuckled.
Cory thought it was funny that his friends think his adventure in the raping monster girl world was just a strange dream when it actually did happen. Unfortunately, even if he told them the truth, they would refuse to believe it. He needed more information on the nature of his Imbued powers.
The young man returned back to the table with his friends and resumed talking about sports. However, Ricky, brought up an interesting topic.
Ricky was a young Caucasian man with a bald head, tanned skin, blue eyes, a lean muscular build with a chiseled jaw, and stood at the same height as Cory. He was nicknamed Bikernut because the man had an obsession of wearing a lot of leather like a biker and had an attachment to his cruiser that he nicknamed Vegas Shark. It didn't help that he was part of the Las Vegas High Rollars Motorcycle Club, and both of his arms were covered in the typical biker tattoos. His favorite being a tire wheel that's on fire.
Ricky had a black leather jacket that was hung on the back of his chair, a gray t-shirt, a black belt that had a silver belt buckle of a hawk, black steel-toed boots, blue jeans, and had a pair of shades that he clipped on the collar of his shirt.
The man looked like a stereotypical biker thug with the leather, hard muscles, and hardened eyes to match; the bald head and the tats didn't help, giving him a skinhead look. Despite his fearsome appearance, Ricky wasn't a thug and was quite calm and nice.
"I was thinking about that strange dream you had, man." Ricky started. Cory sipped his drink and placed it back down.
"What?" He replied with interest.
"It kind of feels like my dream. I was driving with Vegas Shark down the highway, then a lightning strike struck me and teleported me to a different world."
"Oh?" Cory smiled.
"What? You had an otherworldly adventure too, Bikernut?" Trey chuckled.
"It feel a little real. I was transported to this medieval village that was part of a nation called the Order. The villagers told me that they were being attacked by the Demon Lord." The biker said. Cory wanted to smile and chuckle, but Ricky's demeanor was hardened and serious, so the dark-skinned man sat up straight to listen.
Cory knows Ricky isn't a jokester and tells people up front something is wrong, so this must have been serious.
"I know what ya'll are thinking, it sounds like your typical generic fantasy world where the Hero must defeat the Demon Lord to bring peace to the world, and well…"
Ricky sighed.
"It was a world where the Demon Lord is not only winning, but managed to get the Hero that was supposed to kill it helping it. So the world is fucked."
Cory flinched.
"Shit that's terrible…"
"Oh, and it gets worse. The goddess that blessed the Hero? She tried to fight both the Demon Lord and Hero that betrayed her, but she got her ass kicked. Just like your dream Cory, these monsters were also female that forced themselves on men." Ricky took a bite out of his burger.
"That sounds familiar…" Cory thought.
"Did you get any cool powers like I did?" Cory asked. Ricky nodded.
"Yes, I got the Skyrim magic attacks and dragon shouts. None of the cool weapons and armor though, no instant death dagger or that strange ass staff that shoots random shit."
"You mean the Wabbajack and Methrune's Dagger?" Trey questioned.
Trey was another black man like Cory, but unlike Cory who was dark-skinned, Trey was light skinned with brown eyes, black hair that was in cornrows, and had a beard. He was a little bit short than Cory, standing at 6'1 and had a scar on his right cheek that he got from a fight. He was the skinniest at the table, but he was no way weak as he was still covered in wiry conditioned muscles that he got from his MMA training.
Trey was wearing a black Kendrick Lamar t-shirt that had DAMN written in red on it, gray gym shorts, and simple pair of black street shoes.
Cory stared at Ricky with a hint of jealously.
"I could have fucked up those succubi with the time slowing dragon shout so I could hit them. You got to be a motherfuckin' Dovahkiin meanwhile I'm a Hunter who is destined to be driven insane and become obsessed with hunting and killing monsters." He thought sadly.
"My dream ended after I used my lightning spell to kill a strange human dragon hybrid girl that had a serpent like body covered in tough scales. I think it was called a wurm or some shit and after going to sleep in the Order village, I woke back up sitting on my bike; I almost fucking crashed, though." Ricky finished.
"Ya'll be having some wild dreams and no bullshit, but I too had a strange dream a few weeks ago." Trey said, sipping his Sprite.
"I'm sensing a pattern here…" Ricky stated with narrowed eyes.
"It ain't no coincidence, Dovahkiin. I just thought it wasn't important and didn't think about it, but now that ya'll have been mentioning traveling to other worlds and shit…I think it happened to me as well." Trey said.
"…" Ricky looked at him in suspicion.
Chad looked down at his ribs.
Cory noticed his silence and spoke to him as the young man was giving off an uneasy vibe. It didn't help that Chad was strangely silent when talk of adventuring to other worlds began and was more focused on eating than talking.
"What's wrong, man? Why are you quiet?" Cory asked Chad.
"Because this is all fucking strange. All of us have experienced traveling to other worlds…even me. But do go on Trey, what world did you travel too?" Chad questioned.
Chad was another young Caucasian man like Ricky, and he was the most ripped at the table. He had green eyes, pale skin, and blonde hair that was that he grew out and kept it in a short ponytail. Like Ricky, Chad was decked out in tattoos, but while Ricky had tats on just his arms, Chad had tats on his chest and back as well.
Chad used to be fat and out-of-shape, but after losing his mother to diabetes, he vowed to stay on the path of keeping his body healthy, eating the right food, and hitting the weights. This turned him into quite the muscle-bound Adonis.
Chad was wearing a white t-shirt, black jeans, and blue street shoes.
"A'ight, so it happened when I went to sleep. I'll make it short and sweet, my niggas. I was on a spaceship that was being controlled by this Captain and his sexy android girl. We were under attack by some ugly ass alien creature that was some kind of space pirate. He was mad at the Captain for stealing his sexy android girl and wanted revenge and then…that's it. I woke back up after the fucker hurled laser beams at our spaceship." Trey explained.
"Interesting, you had a Mass Effect journey while Ricky and I had a Skyrim with sluts adventure." Cory chuckled.
"I swear to god, the Captain sounded like a horny Australian Deadpool, I ain't fuckin' clowin' ya'll…"
"Did you get any powers like Cory and I?" Ricky asked.
"Not really powers, Bikernut, but a strange device on my wrist called a Leash. It gave me the ability to summon an energy rope to freeze an enemy in place and rip them apart. It sounds really fucking cool huh? Wrong. Damn thing took so long to tear an enemy to pieces, and it has an annoying burnout system. It was really fucking lame; I much rather have Cory or Mr. Dovahkiin's powers. I didn't even get the chance to kick the space pirate's ass!" Trey said with exasperation.
"At least you ain't fated to go insane from your powers…" Cory muttered in his mind.
"A science fiction space experience? Fascinating, so Chad, where did YOU go?" Ricky asked.
"I went to Hazbin Hotel…." Chad said with a straight face. Cory chuckled.
"You went to Hell and met Charlie, huh?"
Ricky sat back and crossed his arms.
"I've seen Hazbin and a few episodes of Helluva Boss; it's astounding how a show about rude, red-skinned demons that kill people became so popular and I do know that they have a unique charm about them."
"Did you become a demon or angel in your dream?" Trey asked. Chad shook his head.
"I remember it as clear as day. I was doing a simple drive down the road to get some lottery tickets, but then a bright red flash hit me, and I was suddenly driving down the roads of Hell."
"Was it great?" Cory asked.
Chad frowned and shook his head.
"Fuck no, Cory. It was a goddamn nightmare and less of a power fantasy dream. Watching a show about demons butchering humans is one thing, but actually being around the demons that can rip you apart with ease with little provocation? No it wasn't. Besides, humans are nothing but canon fodder in the show and I was only able to survive because of my powers…"
"What were your powers, dude?" Ricky asked.
"I had the powers from One Piece. I had Whitebeard's Tremor-Tremor fruit and I can do Haki, but that one Haki that makes you resistant to damage; I think it was called Armament Haki. I unfortunately couldn't make my enemies faint. It came in handy with all the demons that wanted to shoot me, blow me up, or tear out my throat…"
"Well that's awesome, you could kill those demons with ease. Whitebeard's power is no joke." Cory said hopefully.
"The problem with that is the demons I kill with my powers don't STAY dead. Yes, I can pretty much generate powerful earthquakes that can collapse buildings and blow them apart with the Quake Punch, but what good is that if they can get back up minutes later?"
"You needed holy powers or a holy infused weapon to really put them down, am I correct?" Ricky inquired.
"Yes." Chad nodded.
"If I had holy powers like an angel, or the Doom Slayer's powers, then I would have been able to put those demons down for good."
"Did you meet Charlie?" Cory asked.
"My dream ended as I was driving away from the horde of demons that wanted to kill me, torture me, or rape me. It was a bright flash, and I was back on the road; I couldn't use my powers and the damage done to my car was somehow repaired. The demons broke my windows and put a few bullets in my ride, but it was all fixed when-I guess I woke up from the dream." Chad finished.
"So let me ask you all a question…" Cory began and adopted a serious look to his face. Everyone at the table became tense.
"Was this really a dream, or did we really get isekaied to different worlds for a split second? I for one can't say it was a dream…it felt too fucking real, I felt actual pain. We don't do any drugs that gives us mind trips, so what truly was it? I thought I was crazy, and this was a one-time deal, but after realizing you all experienced this…" Cory trailed off.
There was awkward silence at the table as the men looked uncomfortable, but were in deep thought about their experiences. Despite the loud chatter of patrons in the restaurant and one family receiving a "Happy Birthday" song from the waiters, the men felt isolated and cut off from the rest of the world.
It was Chad that broke the silence.
"No…I can't ever see THAT as a dream…" The buff man balled his fists. The other men looked at Chad.
"The demon's red glowing eyes and their inhuman snarling felt too genuine…" He began to shiver.
"I ran into a perverted demon girl that wanted to bang me-I think it was a succubus-her allure was too damn strong to be natural. I never had the sensation of wanting to tear off my clothes and fuck her in public. I felt this drive power through right into my head and it actually scared me at how my animal instincts were overpowering my logic." Chad looked down at his plate and struggled to calm himself down.
Ricky leaned over and started patting Chad's shoulder. Cory and Trey looked on with sympathy.
"I agree buddy, I can't say this was a dream. When I hit that monster with my lightning spell, I felt literal power coursing through my veins and when I used one of the dragon shouts, I heard strange Viking-like chanting going through my head. The chanting sounded very similar to what the Skyrim character hears when approaching the wall that had strange markings on it to gain a new Word of Power. I can't forget that…"
Cory sat back and let out a deep sigh.
Trey remained quiet and took a sip of his drink.
"So what?" Trey suddenly spoke. The men at the table looked at him in confusion.
"We all had fucked up experiences traveling to different worlds and shit, but how it is going to help us now? What the hell do we do if I disappear, or Cory disappears, or Ricky disappears, huh? Notice how we all couldn't contact anyone when we were sent to the other world? So what's the plan if one of us vanishes again? It's actually fucking terrifying that we can vanish at any time, worse for ya'll because ya'll fucking vanished in public, and NO ONE noticed. I vanished from sleeping-and fucking great, I just scared myself and now I won't get no sleep tonight…FUCK!" Trey shouted and slammed his fist on the table, making a few nearby patrons look at him in bewilderment.
Trey's rant brought another horrible realization to the men at the table that made them sweat. The fact that they can find themselves back to the world they were transported to at anytime and won't be able to call anyone for help was chilling.
Dread weighed heavily on the men's shoulders at the table.
Chad gritted his teeth.
"I don't want to go back there…" He whispered. Cory nodded in agreement.
"I-It's funny, don't you think?" Ricky said with a smile, but it was a forced one.
"What's so goddamn funny about us vanishing without a trace and we can never tell our friends and fam where we went, nigga?" Trey growled.
"The idea of traveling to different worlds…you would think the prospect of being-what did the Japs called it? Being isekaied to a different world would be amazing. But no, we see it as something horrific."
"To be honest, I blame anime..." Chad stated.
"Too many stories of a nobody from Earth getting sent to another world and quickly becoming a badass, whether he gains the power to destroy an entire army in one attack or getting hot girls simping on him. It's pure wish fulfilment, guys."
"You being in Hell and blowing away demons with your power to cause earthquakes isn't a power fantasy?" Cory asked.
Chad blew up at Cory.
"Damn it, Cory! Like I said earlier, my powers were only delaying the demons. They can regenerate, get back up, and keep coming after me. It was no power fantasy because the high-end demons like Alastor, the Overlords, and especially Lucifer can easily kill me." Chad looked down at his food and took a bite out of it.
"Having superpowers doesn't already mean it's a power fantasy. It's a power fantasy if the person gets rewards and treasures heaped on him from doing the bare minimum and influencing the entire world of his actions." Chad explained.
There was silence in the air again that was so thick that it felt like smoke; however, the biker broke the tense silence and offered an answer to all the angst.
"To be frank, if we were reincarnated to the other world from dying, then we would probably be despairing less. The reason why this is terrible is because we were teleported to the world, ripped away from our family, friends, and jobs to be in a place we didn't ask to be. If we were reincarnated and given a second life in a new world after our death, then our situations would have been different." Ricky said to the group.
"Hmm, you got a point. But Monster Girl Quest is a shitty place to be reincarnated in; it's gonna end in me being born as a monster girl, an angel, or a weak ass human that never obtain the power to fight a Heavenly Knight. Hell, from my research, Luka, and the humans with monster blood like the King and his daughter are the only ones that can become strong. The plain ass humans are screwed and will forever be wimps. The fact that Luka NEVER fights a human opponent and the only great human champions and warriors in the history book only talks about Luka's ancestors and NO ONE else says it all. Hell, even Luka's father needed a badass squad to get him to the Monster Lord's Castle." Cory thought.
"And we also don't have blank slate boring lives, or a down-on-his-luck no gains havin' nigga that can't get any. The idea of a nobody loser dude becoming a badass demi-god that make men envious of him and hot girls getting wet panties for him in another world does sound sexy as fuck, and I can see why peeps would want to get transported to another world, or deep-sixed and reincarnated so they can live out their fantasies." Trey suddenly started to laugh.
"The idea of niggas killin' themselves so they can be reborn as a new person, become stronger than Goku, and get a harem of hot bitches in another world is fucking funny."
"Even Skyrim is sort of like that. The protagonist goes from being a random prisoner about to be executed to a badass dragon-blooded warrior that can eat dragon souls and kills Alduin the World Eater, a primordial dragon god. Hell, after the character kills Alduin, all of Skyrim pretty much becomes the character's sand box." Ricky said to the gang.
"Rags to riches stories aren't new, ya'll. A nigga comin' from nothin' to become something great. Reminds me of a verse from one of Ice Cube's song. We came a long way from not givin' a fuck, sellin' tapes out of the trunk to movin' this far up. Now we got the whole world starstruck…" Trey recited the rap song he was talking about.
"Hey, everyone starts at level one." Chad chimed in.
"Let's just forget about this ya'll. We can't tell our family about this because they'll think we're fucking crazy and if it does happen again with one of us vanishing…just pray that we make it back home safe in one piece…" Cory said tiredly.
The men agreed and went back to eating their food and chatting about games and sports. However, the talk about adventuring to other worlds and the threat of vanishing made the mood at the table a bit somber.
The friend circle bid their goodbyes to each other and left the restaurant. Cory didn't drive home; he instead drove to MGM Grand to hit up the slot machines for an hour or two before going back to his place to go to sleep.
Cory laid awake in his bed looking up at the ceiling; he hoped that it was all past him and that he wouldn't get summoned back to that awful world. There was no reason to go back there; Alice and Luka would solve everything, what would he do? Even if he did become strong enough to fight the Heavenly Knights, it would end in him pretty much turning into a monster hunting psychopathic serial killer. It didn't help that he was already trying to kill Succubus and Witch.
He has not been in a serious fight in all of his life and Cory realized he was about to kill two monsters that did nothing wrong. The urge to hunt and kill monsters was already starting to consume him and he was still considered a "novice" Hunter.
"Stop thinking about it, go to sleep…" Cory whispered to himself. The young black American closed his eyes and tried to push the thoughts of the Japanese hentai game out of his mind.
He awoke to his head throbbing with pain as he sat up from the bed, swearing while holding his head.
"Fuck!" Cory growled while he looked around his room, but his vision was blurry. As Cory struggled to look around the room, he discovered with horror that was not in his room in his apartment; he was some kind of medieval hospital room with the bed made out of hay and the floor was made out of hard wood. It appeared to be morning and the sunlight beamed through the window.
He wasn't even wearing his usual sleeping attire that was a tank top and underwear, he was fully dressed in his pants, shirt, and leather jacket. Cory was wearing the very same clothing he wore when he was transported to the other world.
After he was able to see properly and realizing where he was, anguish tore at the Hunter's heart. To see if his powers were back, Cory tested to see if he still had the Cleave Edge that Avengers get.
With a flick of hand, Cory summoned a combat knife that was made out of pure transparent energy, and it was giving off an ominous humming noise.
"NO!" Cory cried out in fear and desperation.
The man's nightmare came alive and now finds himself back in a world he didn't ask to be in…
"Stay back, I'm from Ilias Kruez, you don't want to mess with me!" The young man, Lupton shouted in fright as he gripped his sword tightly as his back pressed against a tree in the middle of a forest. He was supposed to meet up with his fellow members at Gold Port, but it was intercepted by this monster.
A lamia with pale skin, blue eyes, black hair in a ponytail, and a snake tail made up of brown scales slithered towards the cowering man while licking her lips.
"Well, well, well, what do we have here?" The lamia reared up over the man and quickly slithered around the man. Lupton was too scared to fight and dropped the sword as his body was squeezed by the coils.
Lupton may have respected and looked up to Lazarus, but there was doubt in his mind over how was he going to keep the organization running… Lazarus was old and weak and Ilias Kruez had to resort to hidden bomb attacks, could not take on the monsters in open warfare, and the organization shrunk with very few members. Ilias Kruez was on life support as of lately and Lazarus had no successor to take his place; if he were to die, the organization would fall apart and disappear.
In till Lazarus was able to heal his arm and a few members were displaying strange powers…
The entire organization has been a glow when it was discovered that Lazarus heard "someone" talk to him in his sleep and he was able to completely heal his arm the next day later! Lupton never seen the older man with so much energy and vigor in his step after that incident. He was used to seeing Lazarus so depressed and drunk, but it felt like the old man was a young stallion again.
Lupton could tell he was still depressed, but after this incident, he noticed the older man was more focused and concentrated; he was still sad about something, but his conviction seemed to have been raised.
Although, what was truly bothering Lazarus and the rest of the members was that the power to restore his arm and grant himself more strength did not come from Ilias…
And Lupton was about to test this new power on this unsuspecting lamia…
"I'm gonna squeeze so much semen out of you, studmuffin! And then you'll be my little semen slave!" The lamia said lewdly. Lupton stopped shaking and gave the lamia a steely-eyed glare.
"My dream is to slay a thousand of you monsters!" He shouted. The Ilias Kruez member was suddenly surrounded by a swirling cyclone of wind that knocked the lamia away and shredded the coils that was covering Lupton's body.
"AHHHH!" The lamia girl screamed in agony and looked at Lupton in shock. The human she thought was easy pickings suddenly morphed into a scary demon out of Hell. The lamia slithered away as the man started to run after her.
She looked back in fear as the man's strange cyclone was easily cutting down trees and sending them flying up in the sky; the strange wind surrounded Lupton's body like a bizarre "air shield" made out of pure destructive winds. In fact, she could barely see the man, it felt more like a human-sized deadly tornado holding a sword was chasing after her.
Unfortunately for the lamia, she couldn't get far because a good chunk of her tail was destroyed, and Lupton used his sword to stab her in the back, pinning her to the ground. The cyclone surrounding him finished her off by slicing her to pieces and showering the plants and trees with her blood.