Great. The very thing I feared the most had finally happened. No, actually, it was happening right now. Just a moment ago, I was sitting at my computer, pre-ordering the new MMORPG that was to be released in a few months. I was pretty excited by the prospect, well, as a fan of fantasy and role-playing-game I was. But then suddenly, there was a bright light. It came out of nowhere, blinded me a second, and then I felt my consciousness slip away. When I opened my eyes again, everything changed. I was no longer in my crappy apartment. Instead, I was somewhere else entirely. Somewhere that I couldn’t, even in my wildest dream, dare to believe existed.

 

I was in a hall, a real big hall that looked like a chapel. The ceiling was very high, and there were many beautiful and exotic paintings on the walls. Light came through the glass windows high up near the ceiling and painted the whole place in a magical atmosphere. The place was breathtaking—well, I would say so with absolute certainty if I wasn’t pretty fuck-confused right now.

 

I was sitting on the floor, just woken up. There were people standing around me, all dressed in hooded white robes, looking somewhat holy but also sinister at the same time. These guys looked like some cult members that worship Satan but tried to make it look holy or something. Which didn’t actually make sense, but I digress.

 

Best of all, though, at the very center of the bunch stood a pretty blonde in exquisite garments and a white cloak on top. She didn’t have a hood on like the other cult dudes, so her beauty was displayed in full glory. More than that, though, her cloak was fashioned in a way that it went down along her back, which meant her bountiful blossom was fully on display for all to see and appreciate. Nice one, lady. She too had a staff-looking thing in her hand. Well, it looked like one, you know. Whatever it was, it sure as hell wasn’t a dildo.

 

I wasn’t alone on the floor, either. There were some others sitting with me with the same what-the-fuck-is-going-on look on their faces. Probably the same I had right now, I suppose. I counted four of them, two men, two women. No, more like two boys, two girls. These guys looked like teenagers. High school students, maybe. Probably in their last year and on their way to college or something. Heck, they were all wearing the same uniform right now, so that pretty much confirmed my suspicion.

 

“Greetings, brave heroes,” said the pretty blonde lady. “In the name of the second princess of Arcadia Kingdom, I, Luluka de Arcadia, hereby express my deepest gratitude unto you all brave ones for answering my summons.”

 

Then she bowed slightly, making her point clear.

 

Okay. Hold on a damn second. Was this really happening right now? For real?

 

When she rose, there was a smile on her face as she scanned our faces for a spell. 

 

“I gathered you all must be pretty confused right now.” No Sherlock. “But do not worry, brave heroes. For you all shall be taken to a place where my dearest, most esteemed father, the king, shall explain everything to yo—“

 

“Wait. Hold on a damned second,” one of the boys interjected. I looked at him. He was taller than the other guy, with short spiky hair, somewhat of a muscular build, and tanned skin. He looked like a high school hot head “Before all that, can you tell me what the hell is going on here?”

 

“Hey, watch your tone, kid,” one of the white-robed cult members grunted. “You are now in the presence of her royal highne—“

 

“Stop it, Albert,” the princess interjected, holding out her hand. “It’s okay. He means no harm. And more than that, we are the ones seeking their help and salvation here. If all goes according to plans, these people should be our heroes and our savior at the end of the day. I suppose if anyone is to be respected, it should be these valiant people, instead.”

 

Her tone was firm and confident. The room went quiet for a while after she said that, then the Albert dude quickly bowed his head to her while apologizing over and over, clearly flustered.

 

The princess sighed and shook her head. Then she turned to look at us again and forced a smile. “I apologize for my attendance’s impoliteness. He can be quick to come to a conclusion and can be very sensitive to the matter regarding the royal family. For that, I do apologize.” Then she bowed.

 

Woah, there. This chick was pretty interesting.

 

The tall guy, seeing a blonde beauty bowing her head and apologizing to him, became awkward. “Um, N-No. No need to apologize, you, um, i-it’s okay. No big deal.”

 

His friend, the other guy, just sighed and shook his head. This one was a pretty boy with black hair and smooth, fair skin. 

 

The other two ladies didn’t talk much. They just kept on looking around in awe, bewilderment, and curiosity. Probably too shocked to say a thing, or maybe too smart to say anything in such a situation. It’s best to observe things first after all. These chicks looked pretty smart.

 

The two didn’t have anything in common. One was a petite brunette with a cute face; the other a typical blonde beauty with tanned skin. The blonde was a tad taller than the brunette.

 

The princess looked at us for a moment, then smiled and nodded. “I’m glad we have come to an understanding.” She paused a spell, then said,” Come,” and with that, she just turned around and walked away just like that.

 

The robed cult members split up. Some went after the princess, the rest went in the other directions, probably to continue with their work or whatever they were doing here. Masturbating each other or something the cultist did.

 

“Great. Now what?” said the tall guy.

 

“We should follow them,” said the pretty boy.

 

“Should we?”

 

“What else are we gonna do sitting around here?”

 

The tall guy sighed. “I got a bad feeling about this.”

 

“Yeah. That can’t be good.”

 

“Let’s go, folks,” I said. 

 

All eyes were on me.

 

“Oh, I know that look. Who the hell am I, right? Believe me, I’m as confused as you all are. I suppose introductions are in order, but I don’t think it’s a good idea loitering around here, don’t you agree?” 

 

I nodded at the departing crowd. Their gazes followed mine, then they looked at each other, then at me, and nodded.

 

We stood and followed after the crowd.

 

“The name’s James, by the way,” I said. “James Raven.”

 

“Luke Raynold.” The tall guy took my hand.

 

“Ryan Philp.” The pretty boy.

 

“Jane Hearth.” The petite brunette.

 

“Sophia White.” The blonde beauty.

 

After introducing ourselves, we talked about our experience before we got here. I told them mine, and they told me theirs. Well, theirs were pretty much the same story. They were high schoolers, like I thought. They told me they were in their class after school, just chilling and talking about this and that, when a bright light suddenly came out of nowhere, and… you know the rest, alright.

 

What I found quite intriguing, though, was the fact that they were talking about a new MMORPG that was to be released in a few months. I got my suspicion, so I posted a question.

 

“Was it Might of Heroes Online?”

 

“How’d you know that?” the tall guy asked, looking surprised.

 

“Well, thing is, that’s the very game I was pre-ordering before the white light came.”

 

They all stopped in their tracks and looked at me, then at each other. No, more like, we were looking at each other now.

 

“Doesn’t that sound oddly coincidental?” The pretty boy asked.

 

We nodded at him. I did very much agree with what he said. That seemed oddly coincidental. Upon realizing this, I didn’t think for a second that this was just a mere coincidence.

 

“So, what? Was that game the cause of all this?” the tall guy said.

 

The pretty boy shrugged.

 

“Seems to be the only real connection we have at the moment,” I said. “Though, let’s not jump to the conclusion. At a time like this, it’s best to gather more information, right?”

 

They nodded, and we continued. 

 

Light hit me the moment I stepped through the huge gate at the entrance, and it blinded me for a second. Though, when I opened my eyes again, what I saw there made my jaw drop.

 

It was a garden, a very massive one full of greenery and different kinds of colorful flowers everywhere. There were different kinds of trees and bushes, all neatly trimmed and artfully arranged in different aesthetic patterns; colorful flowers arranged in the same way; birds chipped and butterflies flirted about; a pond on one side, a fountain on the other. Sunlight shone down in all its glory, basking the golden ray and glittering on the water surfaces. The whole place looked like something out of fairy tales. It was magic!

 

I watched in awe before finally caught myself and snapped out of it. I realized the others had the same reaction as I.

 

“What the fuck?” the tall guy, Luke, muttered breathlessly.

 

“This place is unreal,” said the pretty boy, Ryan.

 

“Am I dreaming right now?” said the brunette, Jane.

 

“Yeah. I’d like to think so, but all this just feels too real ro be just a mere dream,” said the blonde beauty, Sophie.

 

We snapped out of it soon after and continued after the crowd, all the while taking in our surroundings. We probably looked like country bumpkins right now, but I supposed if that’s the only price we had to pay to enjoy such a view, then I would gladly do so.

 

We walked on a marble-paved path coursing through the magical garden. In the distance up ahead, I could see the outline of some buildings. They all looked very fantasy-ish, like something from the medieval era or most classic RPGs. The buildings were mainly made of wood, stones, and marbles, with the tallest one being five stories high. Now that I looked closer, these buildings looked more like huge estates. Maybe properties of some noblemen or something, according to my game and novel knowledge. And that made sense. If this lady really was the princess, and where we just came out had to be a church or somewhere very sacred and important to use to summon heroes like this, then it made sense for such an important place to be situated near the high-class people.

 

With that said, what I described earlier paled in comparison to the main building sitting far back. It was a huge castle sitting on a hill against the twin peak mountains. A waterfall flowed down from the mountains, alongside the castle, making the place look even cooler. The whole place was mainly made of white marble, gleaming under the sun, showing off its grandeur.

 

I walked along the path, edging closer and closer to this very epic place. My heart started to race faster and faster.

 

That got me thinking, though. In this kind of scenario, usually when one went to another world, there would be some cheat-like ability given to the main character, right? Well, there were five of us here, but that’s not really the point. The point was was it possible for us to have some perks as the summoned heroes? Like some cheats or something?

 

That got me thinking about the other thing as well. Usually when something like this happened in the light novels I’d read, what would the protagonist usually do? 

 

What was it they said?

 

Status?

 

As soon as I thought of that word, a chime rang out in my head and a blue translucent screen popped up in my vision. 

 

I stopped in my tracks and looked at the screen with wide eyes.

 

James Raven Lv.1 Hero

Class: Extra

Title: Summoned Hero From Another World

 

Strength: 15

Agility: 13

Dexterity: 13

Constitution: 14

Wisdom: 18

Intelligent: 20

Charisma: 20

Luck: 1

 

Attribute points: 10

 

Holy shit, it really worked! Holy, moly!

 

My heart was racing even faster and faster. I felt excitement welling up in me. Alright, calm down. Let’s check out what I got here.

 

This seemed like the typical RPG attribution system with stats like strength, agility, and such. Nothing unusual. There was the level as well, which, again, was nothing out of the ordinary. Nothing I hadn’t seen before in the many RPGs I’d played, at least.

 

What got my attention, though, was what’s written on the class section.

 

Extra?

 

What the hell was that?