Sora woke up early, stretched, and threw a groggy look around the room. From the wall, pictures of him finally conquering the black belt in traditional karate and then being accepted at the military academy, were giving him their standard morning greetings.
The flat, as usual, was empty. He did have a flatmate, but he was away for work most of the time. On a certain day he would appear again, and so they would share a beer, a dinner and some wacky story, before parting ways again. That was the type of flatmate that Sora preferred.
He prepared some breakfast, made some cleaning and then contemplated what to do. On the table, a copy of "American National Security", "A short history of Australia" and "Korea's place in the sun" were reminding him that they still had not been finished, but Sora did not feel like reading any of it just now. Instead, he grabbed the tablet for some browsing.
After reaching the end of an article on the evolution of the Leopard 2 tank, a pop-up window filled his screen, making him quite the existential question: "Are you born in the wrong world? Find out here". Normally, Sora would just ignore such things, but for whatever reason, this time was intrigued, and clicked on the message. He was quickly brought at the beginning of what looked like a psychological test.
"Are you happy with your life?" was the first question
"Yes"
That was easy; he had a job in a renowned research institute, friends, and was living pretty much alone doing whatever he wanted; the answer could be only one
"Do you like your job?"
"No"
"Can you get the job of your dreams?"
"No"
Since he was eight years old, Sora had only contemplated a single career: the military. He had trained very hard, and right after high school he had aced the national selection for the military academy; it was a dream come true. For the first year. Then, despite his brain trying really hard to convince him that everything was fine, he had to admit that the organization he had joined was not at all what he had expected. He had expected professionalism, meritocracy, and an environment that was constantly trying to find the most effective way to produce collective security for the civilian population. What he found was sloppiness, nepotism, corruption and every attempt to perform activities that made operationally sense was actively obstructed from the top.
Maybe he should have just become more cynical and adapt, simply dragging his feet for the rest of his life. Or devoting himself to clean up the screw ups of people with connection. He decided against it, and resigned instead. People had asked him why not joining the military of an allied country. The reason was that most military accept only their own citizens in their ranks, and with very good reasons. And Sora was not cynical enough to simply become a mercenary. And so, all things considered, it really looked like he never had a chance of fulfilling his dream, no matter what.
"Do you sometimes think that you are born in the wrong world?"
This was a tricky one. He usually thought that he was born in the wrong time, after that nuclear weapons had made war between great powers impractical and limited wars had mostly become a matter of propaganda dominance. His set of skills and system of ideals seemed much more suitable for the Chinese or Roman Empire.
He thought quite hard about that last question, then shrugged and went almost on a whim
"Do you sometimes think that you are born in the wrong world?"
"Yes"
The room went completely black. Shocked, Sora stood up from his seat and looked around, incredulous
What the …
But that was only the beginning. Sora suddenly felt the floor under his feet disappear, and he cried as he started to fall. Below him, a dot of light was approaching at incredible speed, finally growing into a squared shape and, weirdest thing of all, showing what looked like an alien landscape below.
Sora had more or less managed to stabilize his fall when he plunged into the blue sky
"What the hell is going on?" he cried out
Right on cue, what looked like a holographic screen appeared beside his head, showing a young boy (or a girl?) with weird makeup and even weirder eyes
"Welcome on my world… Disboard!"
"Who the hell are you?" Sora shouted at the screen
"My name is Tet! Thanks for accepting my invitation!"
"Your what? Do you call that an invitation you little…" But Tet did not stop talking; apparently what Sora was seeing was a registration. And there was another problem… the ground!
"Everything in this world works following a very simple set of rules!"
"Can we talk about this later?"
"Here are the pledges!
1 - All murder, war, and robbery is forbidden in this world.
2 - All conflict in this world will be resolved through games.
3 - In games, each player will bet something that they agree is of equal value.
4 - As long as it doesn't violate pledge three, anything may be bet, and any game may be played.
5 - The challenged party has the right to decide the rules of the game.
6 - Any bets made in accordance with the pledges must be upheld.
7 - Conflicts between groups will be conducted by designated representatives with absolute authority.
8 - Being caught cheating during a game is grounds for an instant loss.
9 - In the name of god, the previous rules may never be changed.
10 - Let's all have fun and play together!
Goodbye!"
The young man deadpanned "Wait… GOODBYE?"
before Sora could assimilate how scared he really was, the ground slammed into his face.
As the dust settled, the shell-shocked earthling found himself staring at the blue sky of Disboard. He could not believe that he was still alive, then his eyes shot open, pure horror crawling all over him.
"Did that little weirdo say… NO WAR?"
And the military nerd roared in frustration.
Few hours later, a thoroughly pissed off Sora was about to enter the gate of a city, when a big man stood in his way. He was very tall, with a brown beard and a hair crest that made him look even taller. He seemed physically very strong and looked imposing, although his very prominent belly made him look kind of like a sumo wrestler.
"Are you having a bad day, son?"
Sora just walked past him. The man took a couple of seconds to fully realize that he was being completely ignored.
"Hey, hey, young lad! That was rude!" he said while running after him "I just wanted to invite you into a very easy way to make money…"
"Not interested" Sora said coldly
"But really, just let me explain…"
Sora turned towards him a flaming gaze
"I said… not interested" he hissed
The man swallowed hard, then he quickly changed tactics "Well… if you are afraid…."
"In fact" Sora said, and turned away again
The man was confused and stopped into his tracks. Then he shook himself up and chased Sora again
"So you are a coward!" he yelled tauntingly
"Correct" Sora stated plainly without deigning him of a glance
"You… you claim to be a coward?" the man was mystified. Without slowing down or turning around, Sora just shrugged
"Everybody knows that… Oh, no wait, this is a different city… oh, well, whatever. Leave me alone! I am in a bad mood"
The man scratched his head… to trick this one to sell himself into slavery was getting much more difficult than he thought. But now he had kind of committed himself, and he was going to give it all.
"Oh, come on! I don't believe that you are coward! I can see that!"
Sora stopped and gave him glance that would have made a cactus lose all of its needles
"Looks like we have a disagreement"
"Well… yes"
"So you are challenging me" Sora growled
The man swallowed hard
"Well… I didn't say that"
"Looks like you are afraid" Sora's eyes were boring into the man's skull
"W-what?"
"Are you a coward?" Sora pressed him, raising his voice. The man grew angry
"How dare you! I am older than you!"
"So are challenging me? Or are you a coward?"
"You mean like you?" the man said defiantly
Sora didn't even flinch "Exactly, are you a coward like me?"
The man's eyes went wide "Of course not!"
"So you are challenging me!" Sora growled again, taking a step towards him
The man was sweating cold, and did not dare confirm, but he was too proud to admit to be a coward
"I accept your challenge" Sora snarled
"I-I did not challenge you"
"Yes, you did" somebody yelled from the street. Many more voices echoed their agreement
The man swallowed hard, now he could not extricate himself from the situation without looking like a coward, and that was something he would never do. He puffed up his chest
"Very well, what are we betting?"
"Everything we have on ourselves, excluding underwear"
"OK, and for game, I choose…."
"You don't get to choose the game…" Sora interrupted him "According to Pledge number 5, it's the challenged party that does that"
This said, the earthling looked around.
"Do you see that tree, about 1 km away?" he said pointing with his finger
"Yes, what about it?"
"At my mark, we will run towards it. The first one to touch it, wins"
"That is not a game!" the man protested
"Yes, it is"
"No, it isn't"
"Yes, it is"
"Oh yeah? And what kind of game would that be?" the man asked angrily
"An Olympic game" Sora answered calmly
"Olympic?"
"It's something we do from where I come from…" Sora explained "…professional runners are quite famous… and make a lot of money!"
"Come on, run you two!" a few people were taking an interest in the challenge, and were now shouting from the sideline. The big, heavy man swallowed hard.
Almost on a whim, Sora added something: "Also, running is very important in war, so…"
The man looked confused "What is war?"
Sora's eyes narrowed
I am going to crush you
Sora won the run without breaking a sweat, and made the man strip in the middle of the road. People were jeering from all sides.
"Ah, what a nice run!" Sora cheerfully declared "My body is overflowing with adrenaline from the challenge! Plus endorphins from the physical exercise! My moral is lifted!"
This said he gave a very unapologetic smirk to the man, that was kneeling in front of him
"I did tell you that I was in a bad mood"
And he left.
Sora used the little money that he had won to buy something to eat and drink. That improved his mood further. He also got the chance of asking some basic geography questions, explaining to the mystified innkeeper that he had been hit on the head and had lost his memories.
Elkia City, capital of the Immanity Kingdom of Elkia, Andalusia Continent… All clear, whatever Immanity is…
Unfortunately, it looked like the money he had was not enough to pay for the night, so he set foot outside again. He started to wander around the city, planning to spend the night on a tree. Or under a bridge.
"Hey, boy! Over here!"
Sora looked around. From a narrow, shady alley, a woman was calling him. Believing she may need some help, he entered the alley and approached her. When he was close enough to see her clearly, he realized that she was blonde, tall, slender and scantily dressed. She was older than him, but still beautiful, and definitely a femme fatale
Looks like I was wrong… this one definitely does not need any help
"Are you new in town, boy?" she said in a sensual way.
"I am" he said calmly
"Do you know where to stay tonight?"
"I don't"
"I could let you stay at my place, if you want"
"I am afraid I don't have money, ma'am"
She laughed
"Such practical concerns! No, no my dear, the fact is that I am now divorced and I feel very lonely. I really could use some company, and a man helping me with heavy works around the house"
As she spoke, she was touching her hair and bending her body, obviously flaunting her busty figure.
He quickly assessed his opponent.
I see... An old fox; very experienced at hunting young, horny rabbits
He did not believe for a second her story. In fact, he could see curtains moving at the border of his vision, and hear people moving all around them. Obviously, somebody was spying them. Was this woman part of a band of scammers? And if so, were they just trying to get to his few belongings, or something worse? Either way, he was not playing that game.
"Sorry ma'am, I am engaged" he lied, and turned around. He could hear her looking around, asking for guidance, and muffled whispers from the building on his left.
"You are lying!" she cried, with a very believable outrage "I have never been so insulted in my life! I challenge you!" Sora stopped and gave her a reptilian look
"And I accept"
"If you lose, you will be mine!" she yelled. Sora raised an eyebrow
Worse than robbery then. I see
"Unacceptable. I offer you this device instead"
And he pulled out the mobile phone that thankfully was transported with him. The woman was suspicious
"What is this?" She asked
Sora took a picture and showed it to her. That blew her mind. Elkia was literally starving for any magical or technological item, and if she could get her hands on that thing, it was going to be a real Jackpot. But she had nothing as valuable as that device, so she had to keep calm and control herself.
"I accept this device as bet" she said, trying very hard to be cool
"What do you offer instead?" he asked
She pulled out a bag of golden coin, all of the money of the band, although it was not nearly as much as she estimated the magical device… or to pay their debt with the crime syndicate.
"This should be of equal value" she lied
"Seems fair to me" he said, not believing her for a second.
He had definitely noticed the expression of greed when she had seen the picture, but he estimated that the bag was enough to pay for weeks in an inn like the one that he had left behind. For the moment, that was enough for him.
"Follow me" he said. The woman seemed reluctant
"Where to?"
"Just back to the street, we are going to do my game"
She turned back into seductive mode and got closer to him, pursing her lips
"Uhm, listen… I am sorry for yelling at you, but are you really going to force a poor silly woman like me to do a game I don't know? You are so young and smart, obviously you don't need to lower yourself to use such tricks! Let me choose the game please … if you make me this little favor… I will reward you later, I promise"
"Nope, let's go" he said, and gave her the shoulders again. She followed him, gritting her teeth.
As he walked back into the street, she stopped for a second, hesitant to leave the alley, but eventually she forced herself to walk back into the sun.
"So, what would you like to play?" she asked, this time trying to be the image of purity, and giving him puppy eyes.
Originally, Sora had intended to challenge her to arm wrestling, but considering how proficient she seemed to be with the seduction game, he really did not want to give her any chance to use her weapons of mass distraction.
It's been too long since I have been with a woman…
"There, do you see that tree?" he said pointing at a tree some 500 m away
"Yes, what about it?"
"At my mark, we will run towards it. The first one to reach it wins"
Her mouth dropped open
Bingo!
He figured that in a world without fight, there would be almost no law enforcement, and so no need to run away for most people, even professional criminals. Besides, her dress and physical constitution was probably going to make it difficult for her to run regardless.
He won.
As the dejected woman walked back into the alley, empty handed, Sora checked his prize.
"Wow, this is gold. Real gold! I don't think I have ever seen a real gold coin in my life! Nice!"
He threw up the bag and triumphantly caught it mid-air
"My moral is lifted! Maybe I can make this work after all!"
As he walked along the street looking for an inn, Sora was trying to eavesdrop fragment of conversations that may help him understand his new world in general and the city in particular. Eventually, his attention was caught by a couple of men walking towards him
"Have you heard? Steph fell out of the competition"
the other man laughed "As expected from Steph! I hope she managed to keep her clothes this time!"
"Nope! And this time Tseru was ruthless. She didn't even give her a sheet to cover herself"
"Brutal!" the second man laughed again "And where is she now?"
The first man shrugged "Hiding somewhere I guess. Probably crying while waiting for the dark"
Sora thought at the first man that challenged him; at least he let him keep his underwear! Although to be fair, he didn't do it for the man… but for the children of the city!
Few minutes later, the earthling was crossing what looked like a small piece of public gardens, when he heard somebody crying. He looked around and realized that the sobbing was coming from a group of shrubs. As he got closer, he became convinced that whoever was crying was a woman.
A perfect place for hiding, while waiting for the dark…
He stopped and drew from his sack the clothes that he had won from the man; they were certainly too big for her, but he had nothing else. He made a ball with the clothes, and threw them where he believed that the woman was. The sobbing stopped. There was some movement in the shrubs, and then only silence.
Sora thought about waiting to see if the woman would emerge… just to see if she needed anything else. But then he decided that the poor thing would most likely prefer not to see anybody for a while, especially the guy that apparently knew of her embarrassing situation, and so he just walked away.
But from within the shrubs, Stephanie Dola had managed to take a peek at his weird, alien clothes. And she would soon be looking for those clothes again.
Sora finally found an inn of his liking. He entered, showed a gold coin to the innkeeper and asked how much he could stay with that. The innkeeper's eyes moved quickly and furtively from Sora to the coin, then to the logging book, and then to Sora again.
"One night" he said. Sora burst into laughter
"I see that you like to rob your customers… I mean, I see that you hate money. OK, no problem, I will take this little guy to somebody that appreciates it"
And he turned to leave
"Two nights" the innkeeper said. Without turning, Sora just waived
"Goodbye…"
"Fine, three nights!" Sora stopped and turned, a grin on his face and his eyes narrowed
"Plus food and drinks and any extras that I may need. Nothing less than that"
The innkeeper begrudgingly agreed.
Sora liked his room. It had started as a horrible day, but it had turned into a quite successful romp. Still, he wondered if somebody had already noticed his absence, and what they may be thinking. Also, was Disboard into the same universe as his own? It seemed so weird. Was time flowing in the same way on Earth and Disboard? He had no answers for any of that. He put all of his belongings on the bed: money, a mobile phone, a tablet, extra batteries and associated solar charger. That will have to be enough for a while.
He sat on the window and looked at the sky. Disboard had two moons quite similar to the one on Earth, the main difference being the colors: red and green.
He sighed
"How do I get back home?"