Winter nights are usually a bit more silent than most, especially when there is nothing to see except the monotonous clatter of train wheels and a blanket of fog outside the window. Kenji, an 18-year-old youth, sat in the train compartment, resting his forehead against the glass and staring into the darkness.
There is a certain calm toughness in Kenji's face. His hair is a bit messy, his eyes deep. The scent of home-cooked food still lingers in his bag. As the eldest son of a middle-class family, an invisible weight rests on his shoulders. His younger brother is growing up; his father's income has dwindled. Kenji knows that just studying won't be enough; he needs to do something significant, and fast. The family's finances are so close to the edge that he has to count every penny he spends.
After getting off at the station, he took an auto-rickshaw. In the jolting of the dilapidated vehicle, his thoughts seemed to scatter again and again. He stood before his flat at 10:30 PM. His roommate, Hiroshi, opened the door.
Total eight people live in this flat. Their personalities and traits are entirely different:
Kenji: Our main character. Calm, insightful, and responsible. He can keep a cool head in danger.
Hiroshi: Kenji's roommate. Tall and wears glasses. Always busy with studies; a bit of a coward.
Takashi: The eldest of the group. 5'11", gym-toned body. Always angry and disciplining the juniors. He has a fiery temper.
Haruki: The crazy anime fan. Short and chubby. He spends all his time watching Isekai anime and dreaming of going to another world. He is the comic relief.
Ren: The junior. Very stylish, constantly fixing his hair in the mirror. Even in danger, he worries about his looks first.
Akira: Extremely brilliant and a tech-geek. A master at fixing broken laptops or electronics. Shy by nature.
Shin: The sportsman. Jogs every morning. Very energetic and brave.
Daiki: Lazy by nature. All he does is eat and sleep. He doesn't have a care in the world.
Around 11:30 PM, Kenji lay down on his bed. From the next room, Haruki's excited shouting could be heard— "Look, look! Look at the power the hero got in the other world! Man, I wish I could find a world like that!"
Takashi shouted from the other side, "Haruki! Will you shut up? Let us sleep, you rascal!"
Kenji heaved a long sigh and closed his eyes. His head was filled only with tomorrow's college assignments and worries about home.
It was exactly 12:00 midnight.
While the entire city was shrouded in deep sleep, something unthinkable happened. Suddenly, a thunderous sound shook the entire building. It wasn't an earthquake; rather, it felt as if a giant hand had picked up the building and slammed it back down somewhere else.
THUD!
Kenji was thrown from his bed onto the floor. Screams from Daiki and the sound of falling furniture echoed from the next room. For a few seconds, it felt like the building might collapse. But strangely, after that violent jolt, everything became instantly silent.
Terrified, everyone rushed out of their rooms.
"What was that? A gas cylinder blast?" Takashi asked sharply, though his own hands were trembling.
Haruki said, shaking, "Brother... is this that 'Isekai vibe'?"
"Shut up, idiot!" Ren snapped, annoyed that his hair was ruined.
The power was out. Everyone spent the night in the drawing room huddled together with torches. Outside, there was pitch-black darkness and an eerie silence.
6:00 AM
The surroundings were hazy with mist. Shin got ready for his daily jog and opened the main gate. But the moment he opened it, he froze like a statue. Not a single word came out of his mouth.
"What's wrong, Shin? Aren't you going?" Kenji asked from behind.
Shin simply pointed outside with his hand. As Kenji looked out, a cold shiver ran down his spine.
The familiar alley from last night, the lampposts, the tea stall—everything was gone. Their building now stood in the middle of a vast field of purple grass that stretched to the horizon. In the sky, not one, but two moons were still faintly visible. The trees were as tall as mountains, their leaves emitting a silvery glow.
"Where are we?" Hiroshi cried.
Haruki suddenly screamed, "Yes! Success! We've made it to an Isekai world, brothers! I knew this would happen!"
Takashi smacked Haruki on the head and said, "Are you crazy? What will we eat here? Where will we stay? Our hostel is in the middle of a jungle!"
Akira looked at the ground and muttered, "The gravity and the air here are different. I can feel it."
Kenji stepped in front of everyone. His eyes now held that "underdog" grit. He realized that being afraid wouldn't help. The responsibility of these eight people was now on him. He knelt and picked up a handful of purple grass. The blades sparked lightly at his touch.
The Moment of Mystery
As the sun began to rise, the mist started to clear. Right then, a cloud of dust appeared at the edge of the horizon.
"Everyone, get inside the building! Fast!" Kenji ordered.
Everyone hid behind the windows. Something was racing toward them down the slope of a hill. As they looked closer, they saw a troop of massive cavalry riding through the dust. The horses had blue scales on their bodies, and fire glowed in their eyes.
Behind them were three massive chariots. The chariots were hovering slightly above the ground. Surrounding them was a group of soldiers in bright white armor, wielding giant spears and swords as clear as glass.
The most mysterious part was the woman standing on the lead chariot. Her long silver hair fluttered in the wind. Her ears were sharp and pointed. She aimed a bow at the sky and fired a bolt of light.
The projectile exploded right above Kenji's building, bathing the entire structure in a blue aura.
Kenji felt a sharp burning sensation in his pocket. He reached in and saw a card emerging on its own from his old, worn-out deck of playing cards. The card hovered in the air, glowing with a brilliant blue light.
In large letters, the card read: [THE AWAKENED ONE]
The chariots came to a halt in front of the building. The silver-haired woman spoke something in a grave voice that Kenji couldn't understand, but her voice made the entire building vibrate.
Kenji looked at his roommates. Haruki was shaking in fear, Takashi was ready with a stick, and Akira was staring at the card in awe. Kenji realized their life as ordinary students was over. To survive in this mysterious world, they would have to fight alongside this card and the unknown.
The leader of the soldiers struck the main gate with his spear— CLANG!
A new chapter had begun.