Chapter 1: Summoning
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Ten students huddled in a dark corner, their anxious gazes scanning the surroundings as they waited, fearful, for the next rumble that echoed from time to time. With each explosion, their tears and tremors intensified.

"We... are we going to die?" one of the students said, his voice trembling and choked with tears. "This is the end of the world!"

The teacher stood with the group, a tall and muscular man with an imposing black beard. "This is no ordinary war. It's like something straight out of fantasy books. It seems there are Dungeons, and monsters are emerging from them to destroy us."

"What? That's impossible!"

It was at that moment that the door to the room they were hiding in was violently torn from its hinges, flying several meters ahead. And there, at the entrance, appeared a fearsome creature none of them had ever witnessed before.

The creature before them had a peculiar face, resembling a grotesque octopus, with serpentine tentacles writhing incessantly in place of arms. However, what sent shivers down their spines was the sinister smile adorned with razor-sharp teeth reminiscent of a ravenous shark.

"What the heck is that?" exclaimed one of the students, grabbing hold of a nearby chair.

"I'm not going to die today! I WON'T! Die, you wretch!" he shouted, charging toward the creature with the chair in hand.

As the other students prepared to join the attack, something extraordinary happened. In an instant, they were in that room, and the next, they found themselves in a strange place resembling a dungeon, surrounded by a mysterious circle emitting a brilliant yellow light.

"Where are we?"

None of them seemed to understand where they were. Out of the ten students, only one remained calm. His name was Dante.

Dante was a slim young man who wore round glasses due to his nearsightedness. He didn't face severe bullying, but his classmates still teased him.

For this reason, when the world started descending into chaos and they found themselves trapped in that room, Dante wasn't as frightened. To him, if death was about to come, he would simply accept it.

"I think we are in a dungeon," Dante said, "This feels a lot like when heroes are summoned to another world."

Jeremy, one of the bullies who, besides being smart, excelled in sports unlike Dante, asked, "And do you happen to know anything?"

The other class members were about to mock Dante as well when one of the several men around that yellow circle opened his mouth and said, "Indeed. You are heroes summoned from another world to help us bring peace. You are a clever boy."

At that moment, the students finally noticed the presence of several men and women dressed in cloaks resembling those of wizards. What made it even stranger was that despite these individuals communicating in a different language, everyone there seemed to understand them perfectly.

"What's going on?" Jeremy exclaimed, "Are you trying to tell me that Dante actually knows something, this useless guy?"

The teacher, who had been silently observing, took a few steps forward, standing next to Jeremy. The difference in size between the two was considerable.

"Could you please shut your mouth, Jeremy?"

This was a man Jeremy dared not defy. He fell silent, not uttering another word. Dante witnessed the scene and couldn't help but smile faintly.

"Serves you right, jerk," Dante thought.

The teacher took charge, asking one of the hooded men, "Where are we? And what's this talk about heroes? Are you serious?"

Before the man could respond, Matthew, one of the ten students, exclaimed, "Guys! There's an RPG-style system with levels, attributes, and everything! I even have a passive skill called Otherworldly Hero! This is freaking awesome."

"What? What do you mean?"

All the students opened their status screens, and despite having different initial attributes, they all possessed the same passive ability.

[Otherworldly Hero: You gain triple experience in any area, whether it's experience to level up, learning magic, or using any type of weapon, etc.]

Dante remained silent, listening attentively to everything they were saying, and he was even more shocked. None of them mentioned the ability he was seeing before him.

[Name: Dante]

[Level: 1]

[EXP: 0/100]

[Attributes:]

[Strength: 1]

[Agility: 1]

[Vigor: 1]

[Intelligence: 2]

[Faith: 1]

[Passive Skills:]

[Rewind: Every time you die, you go back in time. Your level and attributes are reset, but your memories remain intact, allowing you to return to the past with the knowledge of all the spells you've learned.]

That ability indeed seemed incredibly powerful! Did it mean that if the worst happened, Dante could continue living until he changed his fate?

Of course, everything wasn't all sunshine and rainbows. He noticed that he didn't possess the same passive skill as the other heroes, which allowed them to increase their power much faster, putting him at a disadvantage and likely subjecting him to more bullying.

"They'll mock me even more, but at least I'm basically immortal! Take that, idiots," thought Dante.

After a few minutes and some lectures from the teacher, the group of students calmed down and listened to what the men who had summoned them had to say.

Apparently, the city they were in was called Lynea, and the exact location was Lynea's Academy of Magic.

Lynea was the capital of a kingdom named Jankshou and was renowned for having the best academy for mages, making it a reference point in magical education among all the surrounding kingdoms.

The reason for the summoning was to stop the Demon Lord! It was a very powerful being who was defeated many years ago by other heroes, but its return was near, and they saw the need to summon heroes before the Demon Lord's arrival, as the heroes needed to increase their power before facing him.

And it appeared that not only the summoned heroes but everyone in that parallel world possessed a System that allowed them to level up and learn other skills. However, the heroes' growth rate and the ceiling of their potential were much higher, and only a few people in the entire world could compare.

"We have already prepared a room just for you, heroes, and we hope you can delve into the world of magic and enhance your powers here at the school. There is no better place for you to grow stronger," the man said.

All the students were still in shock about the strange attack that had occurred in their world. Could this summoning be somehow related to it? Strangely, their world had been assaulted by monsters emerging from a Dungeon, and it all seemed remarkably similar to something from a fantasy realm, like the one they had been summoned to.

Well, it was too early to start speculating. Nevertheless, all the students shared a common thought: learning magic seemed incredibly awesome!

Even the teacher, who wasn't too enthusiastic about it, couldn't wait to be in a classroom again, learning something new instead of being the one teaching.

He turned to the students and said, "Let's stay here and learn for the time being. We need to become stronger. Perhaps we can find a way back home and help those we love. We won't give up!"

"That's right!"

"You nailed it, professor."

Everyone left the dungeon excitedly, jumping and conversing non-stop about magic and what they hoped to learn. However, Dante was intrigued by being the only one different from all of them.

Why was he the only one with a distinct passive ability? Could he be chosen for something grander and more complex, something that the others couldn't comprehend?

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