Chapter 1 - A typical lousy day

My name is Randy Russell.

I’m fifteen years old, a student at Borneo High School in Sabah, and—if we’re being honest—a complete nobody.

Not smart.
Not good-looking.
Not popular.

A background character in someone else’s story.

At school, I don’t have friends. I have books. And bruises. Mostly bruises.

The only family I have is my uncle—an archaeologist working in a renowned museum in London. He’s almost never home. When he is, he smells like dust, old paper, and forgotten worlds. He tells me stories about ancient ruins, lost civilizations, survival in the wild.

Those stories are the only things that keep me breathing some days.

Every day at school is the same.

Beaten down—male or female, it doesn’t matter.
Extorted for money.
Used like a slave.

God damn it… I’m so tired of this life.

The classroom is noisy in the early morning, chairs scraping, students laughing too loudly. Outside, the sky is dark—too dark for this hour. Thick clouds swirl like something alive, and the wind rattles the windows.

Great. Forgot my umbrella.

Raul, our class monitor, stands confidently at the front. Marlisa, the deputy, is beside him, neat and perfect as always.

“Today is a new day,” Raul announces brightly. “Let’s have a good one.”

Yeah. Right.

Thunder rumbles—low and angry.

Then I feel it.

That presence.

“Hey, Randy. Come here for a second.”

My heart sinks.

Alfian.

Good-looking. Popular. A troublemaker with a smile that ruins lives.

I’m half-asleep at my desk when—

WHAM!

His arm slams into the table. My chair tips. I stumble, barely catching myself as the class explodes with laughter.

“Dumb Randy!” Alfian sneers. “Sleeping this early in the morning? What’s wrong with you?”

I don’t answer. I never do.

His girlfriend wraps her arm around him, pouting.
“Hey babe… I’m hungry.”

Alfian stares at me.

“Go buy breakfast.”

My money. As usual.

What do they think I am? An ATM?

Before I can move, Raul calls out, not even looking at me.

“Randy, since you never help with class activities, take this attendance report to the teachers’ office.”

A guinea pig. For everyone.

I take the files and leave. By the time I come back—

I forgot the food.

Alfian doesn’t forget.

Pain explodes in my ribs as he shoves me aside, fishing money straight from my pocket. Raul looks away. The class pretends I don’t exist.

Maybe I don’t.

I stopped caring a long time ago.

My parents abandoned me as a baby—at least, that’s what my uncle said. They couldn’t handle me. Gave me up like excess baggage.

So I stopped expecting anything from people.

What I care about are fantasy stories. Survival skills. Camping. Building things from scrap. My uncle once said I had a rare talent.

“You’ve got good hands,” he told me. “And good eyes. Anything you shoot, you hit. Anything broken, you fix.”

But none of that matters here.

No equations.
No essays.
No grades.

Just pain.

The wind howls.

Suddenly, the sky changes.

Clouds swirl unnaturally, circling the school like a giant eye. Panic erupts. Windows shatter. The ground trembles.

“What the hell is happening?!”

The wind pulls.

Desks lift. People scream.

We’re being dragged out of the building.

Instinct kicks in.

I grab my bag—and from it, a small sling pouch.

My survival bag.

Then—

Light.

Blinding. Absolute.

And silence.

When my vision returns, I’m no longer at school.

We’re inside a massive chamber—stone walls, towering pillars, glowing symbols etched into the floor. The architecture feels medieval… European, yet mixed with something Middle Eastern. Persian, maybe.

At the far end, someone sits upon a throne.

An old man with a crown.
A long staff resting in his hand.

He speaks—but the words make no sense.

Arabic?
Russian?

Both? Neither?

Then he raises his staff.

A sharp shriek pierces my ears.

And suddenly—

A voice echoes inside my head.

“People of the other world.”

The crowned man rises.

“Welcome to our world.”

A beautiful woman steps forward.

“This is my father, King Lozla,” she says. “I am Princess Verica. This world is called Mana.”

Another world.

An isekai?

Raul steps forward, trying to sound brave.
“I’m Raul. We’re students from Borneo High School. What’s going on?”

“Fear not,” Princess Verica says gently. “You have been chosen.”

Chosen.

Murmurs spread.

“Damn, this is like those isekai stories!” someone whispers.

Later, in another chamber, Alfian’s fist finds my stomach again.

“There. That calms me down.”

“What a loser.”

Pain folds me in half.

Then—

A hand reaches down.

A girl helps me up.

She looks like Princess Verica… but different. Softer. Wiser.

“Here,” she says, handing me a vial.

I drink it.

Warmth spreads instantly. The pain vanishes.

“Better get going, sir.”

“It’s Randy,” I mutter. “I have a name.”

“Sir Randy…”

“Just Randy!”

She smiles faintly.

“You’re different from the others.”

“Really? I’m just average.”

“What is ‘average’?”

“I… don’t know.”

“Luna,” she says. “Daughter of King Lozla.”

“…So you’re a princess.”

“Sort of.”

Before leaving, she presses a jewel into my hand.

“Be careful,” she whispers. “Run if anything goes wrong.”

Then she disappears.

At the appraisal chamber, the sorcerer introduces himself.

“I am Kuzman, the kingdom’s sorcerer.”

Abilities are revealed.

Raul—strength and leadership.
Marlisa—a sage.
Alfian—super strength.

Applause. Cheers.

Then… me.

Kuzman lifts me like a sack and drops me onto the magic floor.

“He is… average. No strength of an archer. No skill of a blacksmith.”

Laughter erupts.

“Stop it!” Teacher Luqman shouts.

Kuzman’s eyes narrow.

“Do you question my judgment?”

“He’s just a child—”

The staff glows.

I move without thinking.

I shove Teacher Luqman aside—

And the spell hits me.

The world fractures.

Light swallows everything.

So this is it…

Left to die. eh ?