Isekai'd

"Who's there..?"

"The royalty has asked for me to connect a variant of another world to this one. You will shortly meet his majesty, along with the court." The voice in the distance said, with a gentle yet serious and brooding tone.

I think it sounded like a lady's voice. I'm more confused now though. Wasn't I in a bullet train? The fuck's an unrevealed lady speaking in an eccentric manner doing here? Was I drugged and kidnapped to a cult base? That would explain the odd lighting, and the weird court shit.

Am I losing it now? Or am I really in danger? I had no clue. Just before I lost it more though, I realized I still had my duffle bag with me. This means my belongings weren't stolen while I was knocked out.

"In the meantime, please quietly stay there and wait." The voice said, leaving shortly afterwards, as their footsteps slowly become quieter. 

At this point, I was completely dumbstruck. As of now, I have no clue as to where I am, and no one here is giving me context. I also was not paying attention to what the voice was saying, because I was too busy panicking over my current circumstances.

"No way am I in the middle of a drama show. I should be at a crash site or at the hospital."

I need to gather my thoughts. There are various possibilities, with all of them being completely absurd; the first is that this is all part of a show, and to get my natural reaction, they've kidnapped me and are currently filming from somewhere. This is unlikely, but possible; my mother had so many connections after all. 

Unfortunately if that were the case, I'd say they've picked the worst candidate; since I live to be unpredictable.

Then there's possibility number two: This is an actual kidnapping that was issued by a cult. I'm probably trapped somewhere remote then. If that's the case, my concern should be determining whether I'm safe or not, and then making a move to escape if necessary. Maybe I'll start prodding for answers indirectly as well.

Finally, we have the most bizarre one. If I'm not mistaken from all the anime I've watched, I could be Isekai'd; since the explosion and shit did happen. Again, this is highly unlikely, since other worlds are all just stories people make up. My thoughts should be floating adrift in space if I'm dead, but then again, that's just my theory.

"There's no fucking way, right?"

I guess I should stay and find out for now. I lack information, so it would be wise to sit and see what happens next for now. If the people here (regardless of who they are) have kept me alive for this long, it means my life is of some value to them. Guess I'll start by looking around the area, while that mysterious lady is away.

I started digging around the area and looking as best as I can with the dim lighting they provide here (I hate torches, they're primitive). It's best if I'm able to hold onto something as self-defense; even rocks would do. I also searched my bag for stuff I could use, but to no avail; It seemed like I have my snacks, my laptop, my phone, and essentially everything I've packed for the trip, but the laptop was dead from all the meme-watching and novel reading I did online, so I couldn't get a signal.

"Man I wish more people knew about informed consent." I said, sighing to myself.

I dialed a number with the emergency call button on my phone, and the phone began to ring. The mood suddenly became tense.

"The number you've dialed is not available in this region. Please try again later."

Well shit, the number didn't work. Somehow I don't really feel surprised. It didn't seem like I could get a signal anyway, since I'm probably somewhere underground right now.

"What can I do in the meantime?"

…

"That's a good question."

What do I do? Do I sit here and wait for the spoopy lady to come back? Or should I run away? If I remember correctly the typical trope and solution in a captive situation is to obey your captors, since it's the safest bet.

Well, I wanna be silly and goofy, but if I were to die for it then I'd be no different from people who died doing TikToks. I'm going to obediently wait and see how it plays out.

...

Nothing's happening. I feel like time is wasting away now, and my parents are probably mad at me for not arriving at the office on time. It's boring here.

"Guess I'll look at some memes I saved in my phone."

I then stared at Among Us memes on my phone. Just then, I heard footsteps coming back.

"Oh hi. I guess my captor is back." I said, yawning. Surprisingly, I don't feel threatened at all. Maybe it just hasn't it me yet.

"Variant, please walk towards the darkness. You will reach some stairs and once you do, you must wave twice. The stairs will apply a night vision spell on you, and you will be able to walk out safely. The royal glaze court awaits."

By variant, I'd assume that they're referring to me. That whole night vision thing sounds like bullcrap though. They'll probably hand me a flashlight or something like that.

With that in mind, I gathered my stuff, grabbed my bag, and proceeded to bolt towards the "stairs" within the pitch black that was in front of me.

Now that I notice it, this dungeon looking ass basement looks more like a confinement rather than a basement. It was dark and I couldn't see, but running ahead I could make shape of some metal bars on the side walls.

I blame the poor lighting. Sure it's fancy, but it really does prevent me from seeing things. It also caused me to stub my toe when I reached the stairs. That's probably because I ran towards the dark though. 

"Shit." I said, expressing my pain.

I still blame the lighting.

Reaching the stairs however, did clear up my vision.

"Bruh, how is light entering my eyes right now?" I asked, wiping my eyes as everything began lighting up as if dawn had just been called. I then walked up the stairs as instructed, and what stood before me completely dumbfounded me.

"The royal glaze court will judge you now, including his royal majesty, the king of Nardlebarg." The voice said, fading and disappearing afterwards.

Wait… Royal glaze court… Majesty…

I didn't notice it at first but,

"It can't be… right?" I said quietly to myself, trying to maintain composure. At this point, I looked around my surroundings to check for the situation I was in.

And sure enough, I really was in "The courtroom of Nardlebarg". Just like how illustrations represented it.

Yes. That Fargo: Greatest Hero in Hidden World light novel I was talking about? Yeah, that.

A royal and snooty voice boomed from the judge's stand, where four powerful figures sat. I'd assume it was his majesty.

Is he cosplaying? Is everyone here a die hard cosplayer? I really don't believe—

"Greetings, variant. We have summoned you from another world, in order to serve as this world's hero. There are many threats that are present as of now, and we require your assistance in defeating these threats." 

Oh shit... I think I'm worried about even more things now. 

"Oh pardon me. I had forgotten about the most basic of introductions. My name is Huxtable Nardlebarg. I am the ruler of this land, and one of the 4 leading figures of the world. Now, variant. I would like for you to introduce yourself as well."

Guess I'll take this chance to confirm some of my suspicions… If he allows it, that is.

"Thank you for gracing me with your presence. My name is Nanami Junji, but my first name is technically Junji. My family name has been placed at the front due to a certain custom. I hope you will find me useful." I said, trying to hide my anxiety while acting as affluent and noble as possible.

"Thank you for the praise. What is it that you wish to ask about? I shall answer and deliver before assigning you your first task." The king asked, with his haughty voice.

OH SHIT..!

AM I REALLY NOT TRIPPING?

"I would like your majesty to indulge me in the basic knowledge of this world and its history," I said, as calmly as one possibly could.

He then began to speak in a more serious tone.

"Very well then. Let us begin. This world was created many years ago by the progenitor god, Gnoll. Upon its creation, people of 4 different races were also placed onto the world: Humans, Demons, Beastfolk and Celestials. These people then built and developed a world, and formed it into what it is today. They created magic, sanctuaries and buildings."

I looked around, and sure enough, I'm not dreaming. There were all sorts of affluent-looking people in the courtroom. I saw humans in robes, and saw furries, with their animal ears and tails despite their human looking faces and body features. There were also some with completely replaced animal parts, looking like harpies and lamias in mythology. There were also celestial angels, with large wings and as bright and pure looking as they can ever be.

Man.

"Alright, so let me get this straight... What the fuck is a 'Variant' then? You guys kept calling me that, and I still have zero clue because no one explained it to me." I said, scratching my head. "Is it someone like... Fargo, perhaps?"

"You know of Fargo? You must be someone from the same world as him then, one where these things called 'cars' and 'skyscrapers' exist..." The king said, scratching his big, puffy ass beard.

But wait, he knows about Fargo?

"Anyways, to answer your question... A Variant is someone who is not native to this world. They bear an abnormal amount of mana within them. In the distant past, summoning magic was developed, and few variants were summoned from your world and various others to assist us in building our world, and to counter... external threats. So yes, someone such as the great Fargo would be a variant." The king said, with a serious expression on his face.

"External threats? What would that be?" I asked, with a curious expression on my face.

"Anything harmful to our world; demons who have turned against society, Variants who went corrupt... The demon king... We deal with them all accordingly."

"Oh really. That's cool. So, how and when can I leave?" I asked, awkwardly.

I am in no place to do combat, and I still can't really take in all of this around me... I just don't believe in getting Isekai'd.

"You've been summoned here, Variant. According to the contract of summoning, there exists only two methods of return. One, you complete our contract of defeating the external threats. Two, a warp spell sends you back to your world, but the chances of that occurring are very low, as you would need to be lucky enough to land in the plane of your world." The guard next to the king said, pulling out his scroll.

"Are you done asking trivial questions, Variant? If so, we will now send you to your allocated room, and will assign you your first mission shortly after."

Wait, am I not allowed to leave...? Until I beat the missions he assigns to me that is?

The guards then approached up to me, and dragged me off to a magic circle in the middle.

"Huh? Wait! You can't just—"

With a flash of light, I was rendered unconscious, and I felt a surge of energy absorb me.

Next thing I knew, I was somewhere in a chamber unknown to me, and it didn't look like something from earth either, since the design looked so out of place— not to mention outdated.

I'm now even more worried about my current predicament. I really am in another world. What's more, I'm in the world of Nardlebarg, where all sorts of chaos happens. It's utterly ridiculous, but I guess I'll have to make use of the stuff I've read in the web novel. 

Then again, it'll probably end up as another generic Isekai. The trope is truly real.

I wonder what's in store for me. For some reason, even though the prospect of exploring another world and playing hero like Fargo seems fun and interesting, I fear the concept of death and battle more than I should, and seeing the beastfolk/celestials doesn't make comprehending life easier for me either.

"I need to get out of here quick." I said, rummaging through my belongings.

"Get out of where quick?"

A timid voice came from the doorway. A girl in a maid outfit entered the room, and was supposedly delivering tea to me. She looked at me with a doubtful glare. I guess I did say I was gonna get out of here. Maybe I should keep the thoughts to myself next time. Anyways, I have to smooth over her suspicions for a bit.

"Uh, I didn't say jackshit." I said to the voice, pulling out my potato chips and looking towards her direction.

"What's this 'jackshit' you speak of?" The maid asked, walking over to where I was. I could get a good glimpse at her now.

She had fair brown hair colored like walnuts, bright yellow eyes brimming with curiosity, and had a fair figure. I'd say her height was around 165 cm. It's just as what you expected of a "fair lady" in anime and other forms of recreational media. Only that she was in a maid outfit. She also doesn't look like someone past 15.

That gets me thinking... Child Labor? No way...

"Nothing. Ignore what I said. Are you the person serving me?" I said, putting up my thinking pose.

"Yes, I am. My name is Alicia. I'm part of the cat beast clan. I was sent here a few weeks ago to serve the royal kingdom." Alicia then bowed, revealing her tail behind her and unfolding her cat ears. "I will be serving you for the rest of today, before you are assigned for further instructions."

So cat furries do exist in this Walmart of a world.

"I hope you'll find yourself comfortable in this new environment. Would you like some tea?" She asked gently.

"No thanks. I don't like tea." I answered, with a polite expression on my face.

"You certainly are interesting, master. No one's ever refused the tea of the royal kingdom before." Alicia said, packing away the tea.

"I'm merely taking external factors into consideration. You never know if the tea's been poisoned." I said, taking out my phone. There's no data here, but I wanted some form of entertainment instead of sitting here and doing nothing, so I guess I can fiddle around with my phone for now.

"A wise choice, master." Alicia said, pushing the serving cart aside and standing next to my bed.

Master? That was rather foolhardy of her to adapt to calling me "Master", now, isn't it?

The room then remained silent for a while. 

"For someone who's only been here less than a month, you certainly have expert care-taking skills." I said, eyes still on my phone. "It's alright for you to be less formal with me, you know."

I, for one, am all about equality. Not because of some dumb stuff about human rights, but rather, because I really don't give a shit about social standing. Whether it'd be talking to a king or a commoner, I feel like the same amount of attention should be given, regardless of stature.

"As a catbeast slave I am in no place to do so." Alicia said, in a conflicting tone.

Slave? Damn daniel, ar ar ar ar ar. But seriously, I don't care.

I then opened my bag of chips, and started gobbling away. I'm hungry, man.

"It's fine, you can speak freely *CRUNCH* between the two of us whenever you wish to. I'm not a royal, nor am I *CRUNCH* someone who's supposed to be held in high esteem, and a sense of self *CRUNCH* is the most important thing in being a person."

"Are you really fine with this, master...?" Alicia said, her tone suddenly lightening up.

God I just told you it was fine, didn't I? Also man these chips are great–

"Yes, I am! Now come sit down and have a chat with me. I'm sick of this mobile game. Also stop calling me master. It's embarrassing." I said, looking at her dead in the eye.

"If you don't mind then...!" Alicia said embarrassingly, suddenly all flustered.

Her tone suddenly shifted. It went from gentle and timid to less gentle and less timid. It felt like I was speaking with a girl my age.

"I- I apologize if I'm speaking crudely now!" Alicia said, bowing towards me. "I've been very curious about where you come from and your backstory, and everything about a Variant in general!"

Eh, I guess that's a standard response for anyone here since they'd wanna know more about people from the other world after all... Do I toy with the responses? I'd feel bad about lying though, and there's the off chance that she's an agent who also knows about Fargo.

I know; I'll overdramatically present the wondrous things of Earth, like the bag of potato chips I'm eating right now.

"You sure you wanna know about my world? It may be beyond your comprehension, you know..." I said, with a somewhat condescending expression on my face.

"I meant that!" said Alicia, whose cat-like eyes lightened up and stared straight at me.

Whoa, someone's fangirling. I guess I'll humor her, even if her reasons are not what I think they are.

"Wanna try one? The things I'm eating right now." I said, directing her attention towards the bag of chips I was holding.

"Is that a snack of some sort? I've never seen such hard and dry looking biscuits... They also look oddly shaped... Is it safe to eat?" Alicia asked, with a curious expression on her face.

"Yeah, these are a common type of snack in my world." I told her, while throwing another chip in my mouth.

"You're making scary noises while chewing... Is it really safe to eat? Are you absolutely certain that I can chew these?" She asked, pointing her finger at her mouth. She's probably talking about the crunching.

"Just eat it!"

Without thinking and etiquette, I shoved a handful of potato crumbs into her mouth. They're small enough, so even an amateur should know how to chew em.

"Mmphf!"

Alicia made a stifling noise, before chewing and swallowing the chips I force fed her.

"This taste! It's so salty, yet so exquisite?" Alicia said, with an amazed expression.

"Good stuff, right?" I said, finishing off the last bits of chip.

"However, please don't do that again." Alicia said, in a respectful manner.

Woman, you weren't willing to indulge in the salty goodness.

We both then cleaned our faces, and sat back down after doing so.

"And what is that rectangular shaped miniature box that you're holding? Is it some sort of weapon? Why are you looking at it so much?" Alicia said with passion (and her tail flicking curiously).

Maybe I'll do a bit of trolling—

"It's a thing in my world known as a 'phone'. In my world, we're like 500 years ahead of you, so we've got all sorts of tomfoolery going on," I said with a grinning expression. "You can do all sorts of things with this device— deliveries, calls, and virtual games all in one package. If you have internet, then you could probably browse online as well."

"I don't know about 'browsing online' or 'virtual', but that tiny box has lots of features and functionality, doesn't it?" Alicia said, marvelling in amazement.

It's just a phone— oh wait right I'm in another world.

"Yeah, it's a multi-purpose device for all sorts of things."

Speaking of which... I should collect some more information regarding this world.

"Hey Alicia, enough about me, I'd like to know more about you and this place."

Alicia suddenly looked flustered. Did I say something wrong?

"Um, if you don't mind me teaching you, then I guess I can tell you..." Alicia told me, averting her eyes.

Oh wait, I said something insensitive didn't I? I need to save the situation then. I've never been the brightest kid, ever since I was born... Probably cause of my blindness (physically and mentally lmao)

"Alright! Can you start by telling me more about why it was specifically me that was summoned here then?" I said, dropping the topic of wanting to know more about her. It's not that I'm not interested, it's just that now's not the time for that type of shit.

"Oh... Well, I shall try my best...!"

Alicia then began detailing what she was reported to me. Things she should've honestly told me earlier. In an elegant and refined manner, she stood up, pulled out a scroll, and began reading it to me. It was a message from the courtroom, one that detailed what I was to do for the kingdom, and how I can start off, in order to achieve and fulfill my mission, so that I could gain the ability to return to my own world.

It begun by mentioning how I should first get accustomed with speaking to a foreign race first, which I was doing just now, with Alicia. Next, I was to learn more about combat, as I was stepping into this other world without knowing anything about it. That on its own sounded like a pain, since I was a human living in a peaceful era, where no violence really occurs— goes to show how unprepared I was, to be frank.

After learning about combat, I apparently have to join the Adventurer's Guild, in order to gain combat experience and increase my reputation. This way, the world and its villagers here would know more about the new Variant— me.

"Of course they have a fucking guild here—" I whispered to myself. I'm going to have to risk my life now, huh.

Finally, when equipped with knowledge of the world and combat experience, I was to return here, in order to proceed to phase two of whatever their plan is. Alicia then put away the scroll, and looked at me awkwardly.

"Make sure you get some rest here, Mr. Nanami. You need to depart first thing tomorrow to get combat equipment." Alicia told me, with a concerned look. 

God, all the shit she mentioned sounded like a pain. An Isekai adventure? It seems more like a long ass side quest errand boy type of thing rather than that to me.

"Man, why do I have to do so much work?" I said, sighing.

"I'm sure the kingdom has some remorse for suddenly summoning you here. Besides, I myself also believe that you can protect our kingdom from other threats, Junji!"

Did not ask. Your opinion is invalid. I am moody right now.

"Whatever it is, I'm getting a dreading feeling from all this, and I need to learn as many things as I can while I'm here." I said, grabbing one of the many books off of a bookshelf.

Guess we should get started.

"Alicia, I know that magic exists. Please lecture me on how to utilize it."

There's always magic in a fantasy Isekai. It just feels illegal now if you write a story about a fantasy Isekai that doesn't have magic in it.

"Oh, you're interested in that? I'd be glad to teach you, but I wonder if it's alright for someone of my status to do so..."

Oh right. Slaves with inferiority complex. I totally get it. Totally. It's not like this happens all the time in stories involving a hierarchy system. Heck, it even happens in the real world; countries like India still use the Caste system, and so such discrimination continues to occur throughout the world.

Not like I can actually do shit about it though.

"Just get on with it. I need to know my affinity."

Hesitantly, Alicia placed her hand on my forehand, as if she were checking for a fever. It felt reassuring and relaxing. After a short while, she lifted her hand.

"All done. Your affinity, is somewhat worrying though..." Alicia said, gazing away from my eyes.

"What do you mean?"

"I've never seen this... weird affinity, " Alicia said, with a worried expression. "It's a somewhat chaotic energy... Mixing mainly between White and Dark magic."

"White... and Black magic?" I said to myself, silently.

See, I'm not racist.

"Well what spells can I cast then?" I asked the maid, gleaming with excited eyes.

"You'll have to find that within yourself, as I have truly never seen white and black magic mixed together." Alicia said, shaking her head apologetically.

Casting light and dark magic is hard, huh... Then again, if life were that easy and all the answers were going to be fed to me unanimously then life would be too easy.

"I think that's all I need to know for now. Thanks for all the help, Alicia." I said, bowing to her.

"No, no! I should be the one grateful for your kindness, Mr. Nanami!" Alicia said, in an eager and happy manner.

"Anyways, it's getting late. You should return to your dorms, or wherever you're staying at." I told her, as I watched the sunset from my chambers. It's weird, cause instead of an orange hue, the sunset here is somewhat maroon. That's gonna be hard to get used to.

"I'll be in the small compartment outside of your room. If you need to call for me, you know where to find me." Alicia said, as she got up pushed her trolley back outside. Before closing the door, she placed a piece of paper on the desk.

She then left, and was gone.

I'm exhausted.

The chambers were now empty with only me in it, and so I hopped on my assigned bed, and closed my eyes. 

I'll check the letter tomorrow; not that I'm in a hurry to check it anyway... I closed my eyes, and then I slept (a mimir)