Introduction (Optional to read)

Wait wait wait wait wait! I know what you’re thinking after reading the synopsis: ‘What the hell is this? Another story about an OP nerd being transported to a fantasy world? Do Re: Zero, KonoSuba, Mondaitachi, or No Game No Life ring any bells? And not to mention, trapped with friends in a videogame-like world! As if SAO, Log Horizon, Grimgar and the like weren’t already enough!’

Let me make something clear. This story is NOT like the above. Well, it is concept-like, shares some elements and BLAH BLAH BLAH, you get the point!

Now you might be thinking: ‘Ohohoho, the overused concept about a high school student struggling to survive, this story is so cliché and unoriginal and will be lost in its own genre by plummeting to its demise!’ Well, we’ll see about that!

‘But Protagonist! It is cliché no matter how you look at it!’ Does the overused concept’s protagonist always have friends IRL before the main story kicks in? If you answered ‘yes’…HOW?! WHY?!

‘But Protagonist! What’s original about it?’ I-I just answered that…

‘But Protagonist! Is there something unique about the world you’re being transported to?’ As far as I’m concerned, I haven’t heard of any story having a place called Soul Soci- Oh, that’s already taken, dammit!

‘But Protagonist! Is this a Proto reference?’ Wh-What? No it’s not! Totally your imagination there buddy!

‘But Protagonist! Why are you trying so hard to be funny?’ ……………….

For your information, I’m not trying to be arrogant or anything. A story is a story no matter how you look at it. Whether inspired or ripped-off, similarities always exist. I mean, please don’t ever rip-off anything for your own sake. ''Just copy your friend’s homework but change it up a bit so it doesn’t look obvious you copied.'' That's how the meme goes right?

But what makes an inspired story inspired and not a rip-off? Well, in order to answer that: Put Madoka Magica, Yuuki Yuuna and Selector WIXOSS side by side. Do they have the exact same plot, the exact same characters and the exact same premise? Similar, but not the same. And if you ask me, I enjoyed all 3 of them equally.

In case you haven’t heard of or watched the 3 I mentioned, maybe you’ll understand it better now: Are Star Wars and Star Trek the same show? Answer’s obviously no.

And yes, I was trying way too hard to be funny before.

TLDR because I know that at least one person must have skipped everything: don’t judge a book by its cover. Give everything a chance if you can.

Oh, pardon my rudeness and rant -I tend to not shut my mouth sometimes-, I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Kodo Yuusuke, and this is the story of [that] incident that changed me as a person.