I opened my eyes to light carved into stone.
Glowing symbols spread beneath me, pulsing slowly, like a heartbeat that wasn't mine.
"…He's awake."
The voice echoed through a wide chamber. I tried to sit up—my body responded, heavy and slow. My head throbbed.
This wasn't my room.
I remembered rain. The walk home. Checking my phone.
Then nothing.
People stood in a circle around me. Robes. Armor. Candles lining the walls. None of them looked surprised.
That scared me more than anything else.
A man with silver-threaded hair stepped forward. A crown rested on his brow, heavy and worn.
"Welcome," he said. "Hero of another world."
"…You've got the wrong person."
Murmurs spread. The man didn't hesitate.
"The summoning does not fail."
I looked down.
The magic circle flared at my movement, light crawling up my arms before fading. My heart pounded.
"I'm Kisaragi Ren," I said. "I don't know where I am. And I'm not a hero."
"I am King Aldric of Eirath," he replied. "And our world is nearing its end."
Just like that.
No hesitation. No drama.
A calamity consuming land and history. Armies defeated. Magic exhausted. Only one power remained—one that could only be wielded by someone from another world.
By me.
A knight stepped forward and knelt. His armor was spotless. His expression, unshaken.
"Sir Kaelen Vire," he said. "From this moment on, your life is under my protection."
He wasn't looking at me like a savior.
He was looking at me like an obligation.
A woman in blue robes followed. Her sharp eyes met mine, then softened—just slightly.
"Elowen Thane. Court Archmage."
She said nothing else.
She didn't need to.
Last came a girl in white robes. She didn't stand over me. She knelt beside the circle instead.
"I'm Mira," she said gently. "You look… overwhelmed."
That was the first time anyone treated me like a person.
The king promised strength. Companions. A way home once everything was over.
No one argued.
No one looked relieved.
That night, I was given a room larger than my apartment back home. Clean sheets. Warm food. A view of a city glowing with life.
A city waiting for me to save it.
When I lay down, sleep wouldn't come.
Something warm pulsed in my chest.
Not pain.
Power.
It felt settled there—deep, patient, inevitable.
I stared at the unfamiliar ceiling, heart racing.
I didn't know how to fight.
I didn't know magic.
I didn't know how to save a world.
But I understood one thing clearly:
I wasn't summoned because I could survive this power.
I was summoned because I didn't need to.