1 Welcome To Ohinia
On a rainy day after school had ended, the three friends walked along the sidewalk, heading back to their homes. They held their umbrellas aloft, protecting themselves from the rain as they chatted to pass the time. They walked side by side, their shoulders brushing occasionally.
"Did you see how Amanda was looking at me today?" asked Jasem, the muscular one who was walking in the middle of the group. He was the tallest in the group, and his voice boomed over the sound of the rain.
The young man stood at 180 centimeters, towering over his classmates. He was one of the best athletes in his school, captain of the basketball team and already secured a scholarship to one of the best universities in the country, even though he was only in his second year.
"Tsk, then why don't you ask her out already? You know she likes you as well," said Adam, the smartest one among his friends and one of the smartest in the school. He shook his head in disbelief.
He walked silently at Jasem's right, his patience wearing thin as his foolish friend prattled on about Amanda. He knew Jasem liked her, but he couldn't understand why he couldn't muster up the courage to talk to her when he was around her.
Adam had short blonde hair and wore glasses, his eyesight not perfect from all the reading he did. Unlike his two friends, he was not tall at all, standing at a mere 168 centimeters. He was the shortest of the three.
"If you can't talk to her in real life, just send her a private message on Directgram. It would be easier than talking to her in person," Dean said. He had his eyes glued to his phone, unable to leave it for more than 10 minutes without feeling like a crackhead.
Dean had white hair, which he had dyed after his favorite anime character. He was the only one among his friends who had a tattoo, a tattoo of an anime girl on his shoulder. He hid it from his parents, knowing that they would kill him if they found out.
Dean, who stood at 175 centimeters tall, walked on Jasem's left side when he said that. He didn't have great social skills and didn't have a lot of friends, so he gave Jasem the only way he knew to talk to people comfortably
The only reason he was walking with these two, who were considered at the top of their school, was because he had known them since kindergarten. They had met for the first time then, and they had been inseparable ever since.
Jasem was irritated by what his friends were saying to him. He shook his head and said, "Tsk... You guys are talking like you know what you're doing, but aren't both of you at the same boat as me?"
As he said that, Adam pretended not to hear anything. He looked away and placed his hands behind his head, while Dean brought his phone closer to his face, hoping to hide his embarrassed expression behind it.
All three of them had crushes on different girls in their school, but none of them dared to confess their feelings. They were all too afraid of rejection they thought they would face if they went and confessed.
"Tsk... I'm starving. How about we stop at the convenience store before going home?" Jasem said, his stomach growling. He had forgotten to bring his lunch from home today like always do everyday, and the school cafeteria food was terrible.
The other two who were beside him nodded in agreement, and they started heading toward the neighborhood store that was close by.
After walking for a few more minutes, they arrived in front of the supermarket and went inside. The employee behind the counter welcomed them.
"Welcome to our store," the young employee said with a familiar voice as soon as she saw the three friends enter the store.
The three boys looked toward her as the voice they heard was familiar. Adam and Dean smiled immediately when they saw who it was, but Jasem started to get nervous when he saw her face.
"Oh, Amanda! I didn't know you worked here," Adam said with an innocent smile on his face. He poked Jasem, who was beside him, with his elbow.
"I just started today, that's why you never saw me here," Amanda said, smiling at them. Adam looked at Jasem, who was looking away, and an idea appeared in his head that made him smil widely.
"Oh, I remembered something. Didn't you say you needed to talk to Amanda about something earlier?" Adam said, looking at Jasem, who stared coldly at him like he wanted to kill him. But before he could respond, he heard the most beautiful voice in his life that made him look towards it.
"Really, what is it?" she asked, her face starting to blush. Jasem looked back at her, and they stared at each other silently for a few moments. Adam pushed him forward toward her, then grabbed Dean to get some snacks from the back. Jasem was now standing right in front of Amanda alone, and they were both blushing.
After standing there silently for about a minute, Jasem finally gathered up every bit of courage he had. He tightened his fist and started speaking, looking at her with a determined look on his face.
"Can you go out with me", Were the words he chose as he thought it was much easier to say than the others things that he was thinking about
Amanda's face flushed crimson as she heard the words, and she lowered her head, unable to meet Jasem's gaze anymore.
Jasem's heart pounded in his chest and he broke out in a cold sweat after he said that, unsure of how she would respond.
Amanda remained silent for a few moments, her face still flushed crimson. Then, she raised her head and looked at Jasem, nodding slightly. Jasem felt like he had just won the lottery.
He wanted to jump for joy, but he knew he had to control himself in front of her. He spoke his next words with a calm demeanor, but his eyes betrayed his excitement.
"Great, then I'll be calling you later," he said with a wide smile on his face. He turned around and headed toward the back, at the moment Jasem was the happiest man alive in the world.
Jasem made his way to the back of the store, where his two friends were standing in front of the soda fridge. They immediately noticed his wide smile and came over to him, eager to know what had happened.
"Did you do it?", Both of them asked at the same time. Jasem gave them a look of disgust as he now had a date with a girl unlike these two losers who stood before him
"Get out of my way, peasants," he said as he brushed past them, refusing to answer their question. This made them chase after him and ask again.
"Stop acting like this and tell us what happened," Adam said, eager to know if Jasem had finally worked up the courage to ask out the girl he liked or if he had chickened out like he always did.
This time, Jasem looked back at them with a smile on his face. He showed them a candy bar he had grabbed from the shelf, which was shaped like a thumbs up. This was his way of indicating that he had been successful, which made his friends jump on him in happiness.
"I told you you could do it"
"I mean this is not a DM but it worked anyway"
They were so happy for their friend that they started celebrating, but they were making a mess around the store. This caught the attention of the manager, who yelled at them for being disruptive.
"Stop! If you destroy anything, you'll be responsible for paying for it," the store manager said sternly.
As soon as they heard him, they stopped, apologized, and went back to grabbing what they needed. They then headed back to the front counter to pay for it.
After everyone grabbed what they needed and headed to the front counter, the two friends poked Jasem's sides as he was between them. They looked at Amanda, who was organizing their stuff.
After they paid, everyone grabbed their bags. Jasem spoke to Amanda one last time before they left the store.
"I'll see you later then," he said, as if to confirm that he wasn't dreaming. She nodded in response, which made him smile. They started heading outside, and she bowed slightly to them as they left
"Thanks for shopping from our store, please come again"
The three boys didn't respond to her because they were too busy mocking Jasem, who was getting increasingly irritated by their behavior.
"I'll sEe YoU LaTer," Dean said, mocking Jasem's way of talking. Adam laughed hard at him, which made Jasem hit them both on their heads before leaving the store.
"Agh!"
"Why are you hitting us, you gorilla?"
Dean and Adam shouted as Jasem hit them on the head. Jasem didn't say anything to them as he headed outside. They followed behind him, still complaining.
As soon as their feet stepped outside the store, the rain stopped suddenly. They looked around and noticed that the scenery had changed. The roads and cars that had been there moments before were nowhere to be found.
They looked at each other in confusion, not knowing what was happening. They then looked behind them at the same time and saw that the store they had just come out of was gone.
"What's going on?" Jasem asked, looking around in confusion. He and his friends were now inside a room, even though they had just been outside moments before.
The three of them folded their umbrellas and began to wander around the room, looking for anything that might help them understand what was happening.
"I think we're part of some show," Dean said, standing in front of a small table that had nothing on top of it. He had seen these things happen on TheyTube, and he thought this was some kind of prank they were being a part of. This made him start to button up his shirt, as he wanted to look good for the camera.
The other two immediately looked around for any cameras or microphones, but they couldn't find any. The place looked abandoned to them, with dust everywhere and a lot of burning marks on the ground. This made them a little worried about what had happened to them.
After looking closely at the floor, they noticed that there was something written inside a large circle that looked like it had been drawn recently.
After standing there for a few minutes, the steel door of the room opened. Twelve men entered first, pointing their spears at the three boys, who immediately got scared as the men got closer to them.
"Wait! Please don't kill me!" Adam dropped to the floor, while Dean hid behind Jasem, who took a fighting stance immediately.
"Who are you and what do you want from us?" Jasem shouted, his voice shaking. He knew that if a fight broke out, they wouldn't be able to come out of this alive.
The men didn't respond, standing there in silence, their spears pointed at the three boys.
After a few moments, an old man wearing a white and golden robe entered the room. He went straight to the three frightened young boys and began speaking to them immediately.
"Can you understand what I'm saying?"
The three boys were confused as to why the old man would ask them such a stupid question. They nodded at the same time, which made the old man sigh in relief.
He turned to the men behind him and said, "Lower your weapons. Everything went as we planned."
The three friends were still confused, not knowing what was happening. The guards lowered their weapons and opened the way for them. The old man stretched his hand out to Adam, who was still on the floor.
"Welcome to Ohinia, young heroes. The world needs your help." The three boys looked at each other with confused faces at the same time, not knowing what was going on.
