The Sudden Change

The hall was filled with students, young and full of ambitions. Among them was an odd one, Tori, who was looking at the good luck charm made by his two little sisters. He doesn't really believe in God, yet he prays for clarity on his third attempt. But, as time went slower than eternity, Tori’s mind wandered to different possibilities.

‘If I don't clear this attempt…. What should I do?’ he thought.

But as he was thinking about the possibility, the bell rang.

The supervisor came to collect the phones of all the students. Tori felt a little tingling in his stomach as he was crawling with a bit of anxiety.

The question paper soon came to Tori. He took a deep breath and started looking at the question. His heart skips a beat when he sees a hard question, and he feels better when the question is known.

‘Shit. I can't answer more than half of the paper. That's bad. That's bad,’ his mind panics.

Tori mustered enough strength to lift the pen, which felt like it was as easy as heavy as a sword. He started filling out the details, but his mind lingered on the question he didn't know. He started solving the paper.

“This question…. If I integrate this…. No….., what about expanding….” Tori somehow managed to regain his composure. But his body found a way to escape.

Grrr.. his stomach rumbles as Tori's stomach is on fire. ‘Not now, why now of all time?’ he thought while holding his stomach, resisting. He continued with solving the paper while holding it in, but he seriously wanted to go take a dump and also did not want to lose his test time.

10 minutes passed… 20 minutes…. And so Tori manages to fight two battles at once for nearly half an hour.

Covered in sweat, Tori just can't take the pressure anymore. He thought, ‘ if I stay here any longer, I might really poop my pants.’ he even thought of the scenario where he was sitting in shame, radiating the pungent smell, and people are disgusted by it. “Hell no. I will die of shame if I stay here any longer. But i cant leave my test like th- grrrr shi i cant take this-”

Tori raises his hand.

***

The restroom doors were grey with lots of scribbles on them. Behind the door was Tori having a nature’s call. His body was covered with sweat, his mind was blank, and he was staring at the ceiling aimlessly.

I'm failing this year, too. That sucks’ he thought, ‘now back to part-time jobs. I really don’t want to do it, but I can’t burden my mom with taking care of all three of her children.

‘But, it's really tiring to live this way, the way each day just repeats itself. Who wants that? No friends left? No girl? Is life really this boring? Tori thought.

Tori then looks at the stall door, where someone wrote a random number with the caption, “Call-girl,” and also some random scribble on the corners. Staring at the door, he got a funny thought, ‘what if.. When I opened this door, I found myself in another world. Life that isekai stories’

Tori giggled. ‘Like that will ever happen!’ he sighs with disappointment, ‘ well, it feels like I'm sitting here forever, I should head back and face my fate, why I already knew’ he pulls up his pants and grabs the doorknob.

‘...’, he paused, ‘no way that will happen, right?’

‘gulp, only one way to bust out this stupid fantasy’ Tori opens the door and he sees…..

Tori sees his reflection on the dirty mirror stuck to the wall, and the background voice of the ending tap tap tap sound of the water. His eyes could really tell that he’s disappointed.

“Well, I knew that such things don't happen in real life”, he sighed, convincing himself that it's just a fantasy. “Shoot, I gotta hurry. I have to pick Mina and Miyo after the test,” he said to himself while washing his hands. He looks at the mirror and sees his exhausted face.

Splash.. He splashes the water on his face to clean up. And then he took out the handkerchief from his left pocket to clean his face. But just when he cleans his face and looks around, he sees the ground with the red velvet tiles, ‘huh? That's weird…’

Tori looks up and sees an alien sight. The room now looks like a giant hall. The guards, covered in thick, heavy armour, and spears in their hands. The king is sitting on the top of his throne. He rubbed his eyes to clarify that this isn't real. But every time he opened his eyes, he saw this historic empire hall.

‘Did I really isekai to another world!?’ his mind wobbles.

“Greetings! Hero from another world”, a voice came from behind.

Tori turns back, his first glance goes to the red-haired girl wearing a robe and holding a stick. On her left side is a tall man with golden armor and a sharp look on his face. His gaze feels like it's looking straight at Tori Soul.

“Who are you people? And where am I?” Tori asked, even though he already knew the answer.

The big guy speaks, “My apologies for not introducing myself, hero. I'm Vice Roy Gland, the commander-in-chief of this holy kingdom. You're standing at the great land of Thronuim, ruled by our great king, ‘xander IV’.” Commander Vice points Tori in the direction of the king. Every person in the room, including the commander, bowed.

Tori now looks at the king clearly. The king was fat, had a typical crown on his head, had wrinkles near his eyes, and a big mole near his right cheek. He was resting his head on his right hand.

‘Is this a dream? But this is too real for a dream! Tori scratched his head. ‘How the hell did the stupidest of stupid fantasies get real. We got a mage, a chief commander, and...’ he looks at the king.

The king looked at Tori, who was wearing the red sweat suit. He scanned Tori from top to bottom. “What is your name, hero?” the king asked with his grumpy voice.

Every eye is now on Tori. “Uhhh.. my name is Tori Lake and I'm 21 years old”

The silence fills the room. ‘Why the hell am I giving an introduction like an elementary school kid. But I don't have anything to tell them.’

‘Wait’, a question comes into the tori’s mind, “uhh.. Why did you summon me, k-king?”

Tch. The king, his gaze shifted to the minister, who was wearing green long-sleeved clothes; surprisingly, he had a gentle look. They started discussing something.

‘Huh? Did he just ignore me? And I definitely heard the ‘tch’ sound, Tori started to get annoyed.

The minister then came forward, “Chief Commander, the king commands you to escort the hero to our hospitality, as he might be tired of his long travel.

‘I'm not,' Tori responds in his mind.

The chief commander bows and commands two soldiers in big clunky armour to escort me.

Beep beep beep. Tori's watch alarm goes off.. ‘shit, I was supposed to pick Mina and Miyo, ’ he thought in concern. And without thinking, he asked, “Ummm, so when can I go back to my original world?”

The silence spreads in the room for 5 seconds. During this silence, the king was giving a “not-so-friendly” face.

“Let's go”, the commander vice ordered. The guards surround Tori from both sides and start walking.

‘Did I just get ignored?’ Tori sighed while walking, ‘What was that all about?’

***

“Feel free to rest here and ask the guard if you need anything, Commander Vice Tone got a bit friend, Tori wondered if it's because of the king's presence.

Tori then looked at the room, which looked more like a cell for a prisoner than a room. Like the stone walls, a wooden bed with only a sheet and an old, mushy table near the bed. ‘Is this how it's supposed to be?’ Confused, confused Tori looked at the vice.

“Okay then, I shall take my leave, Commander Vice fled.

Tori sits on the wooden bed, processing the things that happened in his following world shift.

“WHAT THE F*CKED UP THING HAVE I FALLEN INTO!!?”, he screamed.