Steve had found himself in the library. Why exactly? Well, the young hero had quite a few exams coming up later in the month. Still a few weeks away, he thought it was better to be safe than sorry. Greeting the librarian at the front desk …

"Hey, Stephen."

"Rogers."

… And walking over to the shelves to find the books he needed - Language Arts, Math, Science, History, among others. Then, he went back to the front desk to check out his books before heading back to his dorm room.

"Bye, Stephen."

"Bye, Rogers."

Arriving at his door, he unlocked it and entered, seeing an empty room. Seems that Bucky and Sam were out for now, possibly out on a mission together. Seeing the opportunity for a quiet environment, he jumped at the chance, setting the books down on the dresser beside his bed. But he noticed one small thing, he had one book extra.

"Wait, when did I pick this up?" He asked himself, grabbing the red book. " 'The Records of the Cardinal Weapons?' It sounds like some fantasy novel." Steve wanted to put the book down or return it to the library, but he just couldn't for some reason. Like something was stopping him.

"Guess I'll read it," The Hero-In-Training had decided.

The book had told of Four Heroes, each wielding a specific weapon - Spear, Bow, Sword, and Shield - who would save the world from a threat known as the "Waves of Calamity," which would bring death and destruction upon all living beings. Typical fantasy stuff. And it seemed that each weapon had a specific chapter dedicated to them. But once Steve got the Shield's Chapter it was … blank.

"Huh? Why are the pages …?" Steve had asked before flipping through the pages. After a few seconds, the pages began to flip by themselves while glowing a golden sheen. Then, the dorm that Steve Rogers had sat in had been replaced by a stone room. He fell on his behind on a stone floor marked with engravings.

"Perfect! The summoning was a success!" A voice had exclaimed in satisfaction. "Brave Heroes, won't you please save our world?!"

"What?!" Four voices, including Steve, had shouted in confusion. Then, the young man looked to his left arm to see -

"A Shield? But wouldn't that mean …?" He looked around to see three other boys around his age holding one weapon each - Spear, Bow, and Sword.

"Please, Brave Heroes! Time runs short for us all! Won't you accept?!" The voice from before, now identified as a man in a dark purple robe, had asked in pure desperation.

"O-oh. Would you mind explaining some more?" Steve had asked rather calmly before being overshadowed by the young man with the sword.

"Forget that!" He said, frustrated.

"I also refuse," The Boy holding the bow had followed.

"You can send us back to our worlds, right? Do that and maybe we'll talk," the Boy holding the spear had told the men in front of him, trying to negotiate.

"You brought us here without our consent! Don't you feel the least bit guilty about it?" Sword Boy spoke once more.

"And if you're thinking about sending us home after 'restoring peace' then we'd have worked for nothing," Bow Boy had told the robed men.

"How willing are you to accommodate us? Depending on your answer, we might become end up becoming your enemies inste-"

"Hey!" Steve had called out to the other three boys, taken aback by their behavior. "How about you guys shut up about your complaints and let these guys speak for once, okay? Damn." The other three had stood in silence for a few seconds, before saying "Fine" rather unanimously.

"T-Thank you, Shield Hero. We would like for you all to have an audience with the king of our country, Melromarc. If you feel the need to be rewarded, you can discuss that matter with him So please …?" The Robed Man in front had asked the four boys.

"... Alright, I guess."

"I suppose we can consider their offer."

"Doesn't matter who we talk to. Our demands aren't changing."

Jesus, these guys are arrogant, Steve thought while heading to the room's exit, following a relatively silent walk throughout the castle.

"So these young men are the Four Cardinal Heroes of Legend?" A well-dressed old man had asked while sitting on a throne. To put it simply, this must've been the King of Melromarc. "My name is Aultcray Melromarc XXXII: Ruler of our wonderful kingdom. Heroes introduce yourselves."

"Ren Amaki, 16 Years Old, High Schooler."

"I'm Motoyasu Kitamura. 21, and a University Student."

"I suppose I'm next. Itsuki Kawasumi. 17 Years Old, and also a High Schooler."

"So that leaves me. Steven-" Was all that Steve could say before being interrupted.

"I see. Ren, Motoyasu, and Itsuki, eh?" Aultcray had remarked, paying no mind to the last hero.

"Um, excuse me. I think you're forgetting someone, Your Majesty," Steve had raised his hand to attract attention to himself.

"Ah yes. Apologies, Shield Hero. Your name?"

"Steve Rogers. 17 Years Old, and also a High Schooler."

"Hm. Now, I suppose I owe you all an explanation," Aultcray had swiftly ignored Steve's introduction and went on to explain the circumstances that Melromarc had currently faced. From what the king had described, it sounded like what was stated in the book, with the inclusion of a few other things.

The first is the Dragon Hourglass: An ancient artifact held in Melromarc's Church and every other country with the power to foretell the arrival of each wave after the next. The next was that the first wave had already hit the Kingdom. Knights and Travelling adventurers had managed to fend it off, although barely. The third is that the waves shall grow in strength from here on out, the next hitting in little less than a month.

"We grossly underestimated the waves. Once we fought off the first, we finally realized that only the Four Cardinal Heroes could counter them," Aultcray had finished explaining to the heroes, a slight hint of grief in his voice. "Thus, we followed the legend, and now you four are here."

Summoning Four Kids here to fight off something that can ravage the world? In that case, why not just summon adults here? Steve asked in his head, wondering why the summoning ritual chose young men specifically. It seemed rather strange.

"We get the gist of it now. Anyways, surely you didn't summon us expecting that we'd save you all for free," Ren had told the king.

"Of course not. Once all the waves are repelled, you shall be rewarded handsomely, Lord Ren," A Pointy-Nosed man had reassured the Sword Hero.

"Will you now? Well as long as we have your word."

"We'll work with you provided you don't turn on us. But don't this that for a moment that you can tame us."

"Exactly. We can't have you all looking down on us."

"Y-Yeah," Steve had murmured, pretty unnerved by how they perfectly finished what each other was saying. Why did I have to be summoned with these guys? They're more high-and-mighty than Loki was!

"So I trust that we have an agreement? Then, young heroes, check your statuses for us," Aultcray had told them, much to the confusion of the Bow and Spear Heroes. Both Steve and Ren had found it earlier on, so there wasn't any problem for them.

Steven Rogers - Age 17

Shield Hero - Lv. 15

Status:

Attack: 29 - Phys. Defense: 76 - Mag. Defense: 11 - Speed: 26 - Magic: 10

Equipment:

Small Shield (Legendary Weapon), Otherworld Clothing

Given that the "Status" Screen opened by simply focusing on it, perhaps it would be the same for the equipment screen. He came here with his shield so perhaps it had been stored here. And much to his joy, it was. He switched over to it, seeing that it had some attributes of its own.

Vibranium Shield

Equip Bonuses: Attack Up, Skill: "Shield Throw"

"Back to the old Red, White, and Blue," Steve had said, satisfied. He placed the shield on his back and crossed his arms while looking at the other heroes.

"Level 1? That's a bit unsettling," Itsuki had said to the other heroes, worried.

"Yeah. No telling if we can fight like this," Motoyasu had replied.

"That's strange. I'm already at Level 15. Why are you guys so low?"

"W-What?! Why are you so high?!" Motoyasu had asked, dumbfounded at Steve's growth, while the rest of them had to start from scratch.

"It has been said that heroes with some combat experience shall be stronger than others once they are summoned," Aultcray had informed the heroes. "I'm surprised that Lord Rogers is the only one that has made some progress, though."

"So that means we have to catch up with him, don't we?" Ren had asked the king.

"Yes. The four of you have to embark on an adventure to develop the Legendary Weapons you all have now."

"So they aren't already strong enough? So much for legendary," Steve had stated in disappointment.

"Couldn't we just use other weapons until these get stronger?" Motoyasu had asked while swinging his spear around.

"We can figure that out as we go. Anyways, if we want to get stronger, we'd ought to train," Ren told Itsuki and Motoyasu.

"We'll have to level up as much as we can," Itsuki had responded.

"So how about we all form a party! That wouldn't hurt now, would it?" Motoyasu had asked the other heroes.

"On the contrary, Lord Motoyasu," The Pointy-Nosed man had said. "You all have to adventure separately. It is said that the Legendary Weapons repel each other by nature. All four heroes working together would seriously hinder their development."

"Well that's a shame," Steve had said, taking into account the drawbacks of his and the others' weapons.

"The sun is about to set. Rest now and you shall set forth tomorrow. We shall take our time to gather the best of the best of recruits to join your parties," Aultcray had told the four.

Then a woman had come up telling the Heroes that there was a room prepared for them, which she guided them to.

"I guess you get special treatment when you're 'Heroes of Legend'" Motoyasu had said to the others once entering the room. "The girl who showed us here was a real cutie pie too."

"And our dinner was sumptuous, though it did taste unusual," Itsuki had pointed out.

"Different Worlds, different taste perhaps," Steve had said to the Bow Hero.

"This world has to be a game. It feels exactly like Emerald Online," Motoyasu had told the other heroes.

"What's Emerald Online?" Steve had asked.

"Wha? You're kidding! It's super famous, even in America!"

"Really? Never heard of it."

"What are you talking about? This is no online game. It's A Console Game," Itsuki had denied Motoyasu's claims. "Dimension Web, anyone?"

"Never heard of that one either."

"Both of you are wrong. This is a VRMMO," Ren had told the other two. "It's exactly like Brave Star Online."

"Then let's sort out our information. Can we take a "VRMMO" seriously?" Motoyasu had inquired.

"Yeah."

"You guys know what it means too?"

'I think a sci-fi game I've heard of explored the concept," Itsuki had answered.

"Virtual Reality Massive … I forget what the 'MO' part stands for," Steve had followed.

"Then let's compare general information. And I'll make it more well known for Rogers since we three are Japanese," Motoyasu had informed the three. "Who is the 45th President of the United States? Ready, Set!

Steve: "Donald Trump."

Itsuki: "Joe Biden!"

Ren: "Hilary Clinton."

Motoyasu: "Bernie Sanders!"

"What?!" They all exclaimed.

"Who won the 2016 Olympics?"

"What won Buzzword of the Year?!"

"Which countries won World War II?"

"The Western Allies! Who do you think?!"

"Is Pluto a Planet?!"

"So it seems that we all come from different worlds, eh?" Itsuki had asked.

"Seems to be. Nothing sounds the same at all."

"Guess the multiverse does exist after all. Or at least, parallel worlds do," Steve had remarked, shocked at the strange and new information. "Tony and Stephen are going to eat all of this up! And you guys have played games similar to this world? Man. I should start making some free time for myself. Start playing a few video games as well. Maybe then I won't be so unfamiliar."

Then, all eyes were on Steve.

"Huh? What's wrong?"

"W-Well, I thought that it was because you're the Shield Hero," Itsuki had told his fellow hero.

"Really? You too?" Motoyasu had asked.

"Well, it's only natural," Ren had added.

"What does being the Shield Hero have to do with anything?" Steve had asked, wondering what the other three were talking about.

"I'll get you up to speed, Rogers. As far as I know, the Shield," Motoyasu got into Steve's face, "Is for losers. No High-Level gamers play it. Ever."

"... … … Okay?" Steve had said, rather unsure about what Motoyasu had told him. "What's wrong with that? I can take hits and protect others so that they can deal damage. That's what a shield does, right?"

"He's not wrong."

"Yeah."

"Besides, given the headstart that I've got compared to you three, I should be able to handle myself just fine. Don't you worry."

"Hmm? Well okay. If you say so. But if you find yourself wanting to change Classes, don't come crying to me," Motoyasu had told the American. "If we're setting out tomorrow, let's head to our rooms to get a good night's sleep."

So our adventures start tomorrow, eh? Then I'll be sure to prepare. I'm pretty sure I saw a Help Menu somewhere on my status. Steve thought to himself, hoping to be ready for what awaited him tomorrow.