The Worst Fantasy World Ever

Finally, Nikita dared to step forward and try to open the door. For some reason, it was easier to open from this side than in the other room, so he managed it by himself. Meanwhile, we all stood behind him, as if he could protect us if something suddenly jumped at us.

"Hey, you scaredy-cats, stop hiding behind me," Nikita said. "See? There's no one here."

In fact, the creature that had chased us yesterday was no longer at the door. But I couldn't help wondering where it had gone.

Nikita, who was standing in front of us, started walking toward the stairs that led to the exit. Man, I wished I had as much courage as that guy. As he moved forward, we kept a certain distance behind him—far enough that if something rushed at us, we could run back to the room where we'd spent the night. The tension was thick; none of us said a single word. Every step echoed faintly through the chamber, and each one only pushed me closer to madness. I wanted out of there—into the fresh air, away from all this, as fast as possible.

My head throbbed and a wave of dizziness hit me. I couldn't process how any of what I'd just lived through could be real. Back then, when I used to daydream, I often imagined being teleported into a fantasy world. I pictured it so differently—peaceful, like in anime or novels. I thought I'd get some overpowered ability and become the hero of that world. Shit, I thought I'd form a guild, clear dungeons, save the world from some fucking dark demon lord, and in the end marry a hot elf. Now I'm here, in a fantasy world… and what do I have?

My parents are probably dead. I'm exhausted because I barely slept. My back aches from the hard floor I slept on. There are no beautiful fantasy cities with civilization—only some ruins. In six months, we're supposed to be attacked by some disgusting, twisted monsters, even though we already got attacked after just one day here, which makes no sense. We have to build everything ourselves, and to defend ourselves in six months, we haven't even been given weapons. Shit… those bastards didn't even give us magic or any special powers, which is supposed to be the whole point of a fantasy world. What's a fantasy world without magic? Sounds like absolute garbage. Damn, this has to be the worst world to ever get teleported into—and of course I had the bad luck to end up here.

"Hey, Aleks, you okay?" Carmen suddenly asked, snapping me out of my thoughts. She had her hands folded behind her back, and her expression showed real concern.

Carmen, if only you knew—you're the reason it doesn't feel completely hopeless here. You're the reason I can still look forward, the reason I haven't lost all hope in this world. Because the only good thing this world has given me… is that at least my childhood crush is here with me.

I nodded and scratched the back of my head. "Yeah, I'm fine," I answered.

"Good then," she said, glancing down at the ground. "You just looked really depressed a moment ago."

"No wonder," Amina called from the distance. "The poor guy probably didn't sleep at all last night—he was lying right next to Nikita, who one snored straight into his ear the whole night."

"I don't snore," Nikita said while walking ahead of us, his back turned as we climbed the stairs.

"Of course you do," Amina shot back, crossing her arms. "When we get out of here safely, I expect a big apology. Because of your loud snoring, I couldn't sleep all night."

"Hey, guys, can you maybe wait to talk until we're actually out? What if that thing shows up again because we're too loud?" Daisuke stammered from the very back. Honestly, if he hadn't said anything, I would've forgotten he was even there—he'd been that quiet.

"Sounds like someone's scared," Nikita said. Even without seeing his face, I could feel the smug grin spreading across it.

"Shut the hell up, you bastard," Daisuke snapped. Just moments ago he'd been nervous, and now suddenly he sounded full of confidence.

"That's enough, you two," Amina said, rolling her eyes.

Ahead of us the exit came into view, so bright it made my eyes sting. I raised my hand to shield them just so I could see anything at all. We were almost there.

Outside, it was peaceful—like nothing had happened the night before. The wind brushed gently through my hair, the air fresh compared to the staleness of the ruins. It was so bright I thought I might go blind. Slowly, my eyes adjusted, and the first thing I saw was Daisuke lying on the ground, kissing the dirt.

"I thought we were stuck in there forever," he sighed, tears shining in his eyes.

Meanwhile, I couldn't shake one thought: where was that creature from last night? There was no trace of it.

We headed back to our makeshift shelter. When we arrived, it looked exactly the same as when we'd left it. We sat down beside it and stayed silent for a while. Honestly, every one of us needed those few minutes of quiet. Yesterday had drained us far too much. We needed time to process and figure out our next moves. Because who knew—maybe that thing could show up again today.

The silence was broken by Nikita:

"Shit, our fire went out," he said. "Let's find that old guy who gave us his lighter."

Right. I'd almost forgotten. We weren't the only ones here—there were still plenty of others. The question was, did those creatures show up to them last night too?

I looked around the area. Normally, there were a few other groups moving nearby, but strangely, we were the only ones here. Where were they? Had they been attacked by the creatures as well?

I stood up again, brushing the dirt off my pants. "Hey, guys, did you notice we're the only ones here?"

The elf Cealith spoke right after. "You're right. Where did everyone go?"

We all stood and went searching. No luck. We found a few structures that had probably been built the day before, but every one of them was abandoned. I'll admit, it gave me a weird feeling—like playing Minecraft alone, and suddenly that uneasy sense hits, like you're being watched.

We gave up and sat back down.

"Where the hell is everyone?" Amina said, twirling her curly black hair the whole time. Probably her way of easing some of the stress.

"Let's go get a drink," Nikita said.

"Huh?"

"We haven't had anything to drink today," Nikita explained. "Let's go to that stream and drink a little."

Without another word, he turned and headed toward where the stream was. We quickly got up and followed him. I don't know why, but in just these two days, the guy had become more or less the leader of our group. I mean, he had the right qualities: strong, brave, and the most knowledgeable about survival out of all of us.

I'll admit, I was already a little jealous of him. Looks like even in a fantasy world, I'm nothing more than a side character. Maybe that's for the best. If I were the main character anywhere, I'd probably make the top three most boring MCs of all time. I'm not some chosen hero or anything. I'm weak, I don't know how to fight, and I'm not entertaining enough either. Main characters usually have that something that pulls others toward them. Me? I push people away. Shit, I'm even scared of people—especially strangers. Talking to them, looking them in the eyes—it terrifies me.

I looked ahead. The others walked in front, and we were on our way to the stream to drink. Nikita was arguing with Daisuke again, Carmen was trying to stop them, and Amina and Cealith were laughing like idiots, finding it all hilarious.

Why is it so different with them? Why don't I stutter when I talk to them, why don't I spend minutes overthinking my next word? I'm not afraid of saying something wrong, of being punished for it. With them I feel… normal, like I've never been a disappointment, like I've never been different. If I'd had friends like them back then, maybe I would've left my room more often. Maybe this fantasy world wasn't as bad as I thought.

When we reached the stream we drank from it like crazy. Damn, I didn't even realize how thirsty I was. My stomach felt like a black hole and I thought I could drink it forever.

"I don't think we should drink too much of this," Cealith said.

"Screw that," Daisuke shot back. "I barely drank anything yesterday. I don't know how it is for you elves, but right now I feel like I could drink this whole stream dry by myself."

After that Cealith stayed quiet. I couldn't help but wonder why the other elves had beaten him. What was his secret?

Suddenly I noticed something moving in the bushes ahead. I gathered my courage and stepped closer to check it out. I couldn't believe what I found. A little girl, no older than six. She had black hair, very pale skin, and she looked like she was from East Asia. Her clothes were filthy, and in her hand she clutched a teddy bear that had definitely seen better days. She was hiding in the bush, watching us, not realizing I'd come up right next to her. But as I stepped, I snapped a twig beneath my foot.

She spun around and saw me. Her face was filled with fear. I tried to calm her, forcing a small smile and giving a gentle wave. "Hey, are you okay?"

She flinched and bolted deeper into the forest, dropping the teddy bear as she ran.

Shit, I scared her. I picked the bear up from the ground. It was dirty, torn, missing an ear. I had to go after her—this place was way too dangerous for a child. Without thinking much, I headed in the direction she ran.

Cealith noticed me moving away and called out loudly, "Aleks, where are you going?"