Prologue

"...and this is called the Pythagorean theorem, it exists solely of..."

"Gaaaaah, this is so booooring..." I muttered softly under my breath.

My name is Luke Hawkes. I am 20 years of age, and you can say that I am the most average person you find. I enjoy playing games and reading comics, as well as watching anime. People say that I'm a nerd as an insult to me in my younger years, but over time, I just accepted it and went along with it. I usually don't talk much or even stand out in public, but I prefer it that way. And you can see, I'm just a regular college student who's struggling to get his grades up; there's nothing special about me whatsoever. But despite that, I still enjoy my life to the fullest.

"Heh, you got that right." I turned my head right to see Arnaud just playing around with his phone.

And that is my best friend, Arnaud Snowbell. We've been friends ever since elementary school, and he's always been dependable to me. We basically have the same interests and likings, that's why we go along very well with each other. He's always been much more energetic and outgoing than me, even an airhead sometimes, but that's what makes him unique than other people that I know, he's candid with himself and others. Without him, I don't think I would be here right now if it weren't for his constant support, so I'm always very thankful for him.

"Well, the session is gonna be over in a few, so we just gotta endure for a little bit, haha," I replied jokingly.

A few minutes passed, and the professor finally checked our absences before dismissing the class for today. With excitement, I got up from my seat and headed straight to the class' exit, with Arnaud close behind me. We squeezed past through the crowd and arrived safely in the hallway just outside of class.

"Pheeew... I'm glad that's over," Arnaud said in relief as I see him stretch his body.

"Yep! Now, do you want to get something to eat before we get home?" I asked him as we pace through the hallways.

"Yeah, sure. I'm pretty hungry now that you mention it actually." He answered with a grin on his face.

"Perfect! Let's head to the cafeteria then," I cheered and quicken our pace towards the cafeteria.

We passed a bunch of classes in the way, greeted our other friends who were heading home already, and bought some snacks along the way too. We packed them in our bags neatly before resuming our trek to the cafeteria. The sun's heat was lessening as time passed, it's already past afternoon after all.

We then finally arrived at the cafeteria. There weren't too many people here because it was already quite late and most of the students were already going home, so that's why only a handful of people were present there. But that also meant that more spots for us to choose from, so that's always a plus for us.

We headed to the cashier, and both of us ordered a cheeseburger, with a side of fries and nuggets. We took our trays and placed our orders on it before setting on the nearest spot we could find.

"Mmm, I always love eating here. There's some sort of charm to it that keeps me coming back here." I murmured to myself.

Arnaud laughed, "I just like eating here because it's good and cheap!"

I giggled at his reply and see him finally taking a bite of his burger first. We made simple conversations like we usually do as we slowly finish our meals. The sun was slowly setting, and I could feel the air getting colder around me as time passed. I nonchalantly checked my phone to see the time; it was already 5:20 PM. My eyes widened a bit as I didn't expect it to be this late already, so I hurried on finishing my meal.

"Oh man, that hits the spot..." Arnaud said and sighed in relief after finishing his meals clean.

I burped silently and exhaled, "Yep, definitely!"

"Alright, so we're gonna head straight home after this, right? I'll drive you to your house again if you want!" Arnaud asked me enthusiastically.

I still don't understand why he would always get giddy when being around me, but I guess if that makes him happy, then I'm okay with it too.

"Ah, sure! I appreciate it, man." I replied and thanked him.

He smiled, "Hehe, no problem, Luke! Now let's head out and-"

Both our phones rang at the same time before he finished his sentence that took our attention entirely.

"That's... Weird," I mumbled and quickly took out my phone. It was a message from an unknown number that showed:

"Dear Luke Hawkes,

Do you want to become stronger? Are you tired of feeling useless and crying all the time because of your weakness?

Then reply to this message, and all of your problems will slowly disappear, and you will become stronger than you are now."

"W-what...?"

This person knows my full name. They even know about my personal problems that I never told anyone other than Arnaud. Who... Who is this person!?

I clenched my fist and looked at Arnaud; he had an expression that I've never seen before in my life; it was like pure fear mixed with anger. I genuinely wonder what message he had gotten...

"Was it... From an unknown number?" I asked calmly, trying not to worsen the situation.

"...yeah. I'm shocked..." He replied as his gaze is still on his phone.

I thought a bit about how to defuse the tension in the air. In the end, I just sighed and patted his back, "Hey, it's probably just a prank by someone. It's not causing us any harm, so let's not think about it too much, okay?"

"Yeah... You're right. We should bring this to the police later." He said, his face slowly returning to his usual expression.

I smiled and looked back at the phone. Thinking that obviously nothing would happen if I replied to the message, I sent back to the sender with only the word "Yes.".

Truth is, I do want to become stronger. I've always relied on Arnaud for everything, but when I'm alone, I couldn't do anything properly most of the time. I've always been a crybaby too, but I promised him that I wouldn't cry in front of him, and I've been trying my best to hold that promise. So for this message to come out of nowhere... Was this a sign? In the end, I just... Want to be stronger, for myself and Arnaud.

"Did you reply to the message, Arnaud?" I asked him as I halfheartedly waited for something to happen. He just looked at me and nodded silently in response.

A minute passed, nothing happened.

Two minutes passed, nothing happened.

Five minutes passed, absolutely nothing happened.

I sighed loudly, "...I guess it was just a cruel joke after all..." I then gazed back to my phone.

"Y-yeah, you're right... Let's just go-"

A bright light suddenly shone from our phones that pierced our vision just as Arnaud finished his sentence.

"W-what's happening!?" I exclaimed as I raised my arm to block some of the light but to no avail.

"Luke...!" I heard Arnaud calling my name, but I couldn't see anything at all!

The light gradually got dimmer and eventually dissipated. I opened my eyes and lowered my arm, only to be shocked by the scene in front of me.

We weren't in the cafeteria room anymore.

Instead, I discovered that we somehow got transported to a run-down room, dimly lit by a single candle in the middle of the room. The walls seem to be made out of stone that was built in a circle-shape around us. Everything looked very... Ancient, not to mention eerie.

I quickly headed to Arnaud and shook him out from his apparent daze, "Arnaud, I'm here! Open your eyes!"

"Ughhh..." He grumbled. I saw him clutching his head as he finally regained his vision again.

"Luke...? What happened? W-where are we!?" He asked in confusion as he looked around the mysterious room.

"Calm down! I don't know where or how we got here, but the least we can do is to try to calm down and focus." I said and firmly put both my hands on his shoulder as I looked at him intently, hoping to calm him down.

He just gazed at me in disbelief for a moment before taking a deep breath. I could feel his shoulders getting less tense than before, which is good.

"I am calm... As if I would be panicked like that in front of you." He said in a smug tone and smirked at me.

I sighed and smiled in relief, "Well, at least you're fine now." I said and withdrew my hands back as I looked around the room once more.

"Still... This occurrence is too surreal. We were in the cafeteria a minute ago and all of a sudden we got transported here. There's no way someone could do all this." Arnaud spoke from behind. I turned around and saw him starting to explore the room as well.

I clenched my fists, "Yeah... Just who is this person that sent us that message?" I mumbled and sighed. Thinking just standing in place and doing nothing would be useless, I then started walking towards the other end of the room and realized that the wall on this side was actually a door. It was camouflaged so well with the rest of the place that I didn't see it first, not to mention the room only having small light source didn't help me notice it at all. "Hey, there's a door here." I motioned Arnaud to come to me.

I heard him walking closer behind me, "Oh, is it en exit? I hope it is!" He answered with a hint of excitement in his tone.

I gave the room a last glance before focusing on the door again, "I don't think there's anything else in this room that's significant enough for us, so I guess this is the only option left." I said as Arnaud stood beside me.

At that moment our phone rang again in unison. I took it out quickly and saw another incoming message. It was from another unknown number, which I presumed was from the same person as before. The message read:

"Greetings, Luke Hawkes.

Are you ready to start your journey on becoming stronger? If so, then simply enter the door in front of you, and you will start on the first step in your new life.

I expect great results from you. Good luck."

"First step... in my new life...?" I unexpectedly mumbled those words under my breath.

"You got the same message again, huh?" Arnaud responded. He overheard me, I guess.

"It seems so. We... Don't have any other choice, do we?"

"Yeah. Looks like the only way out of here is through this door." He said, looking a bit nervous.

I smiled at him and pat his shoulder, "It's gonna be fine. Let's go together!"

He looked at me surprisingly and finally smiled back, "Yeah, let's."

I nodded at him and walked forward with Arnaud close behind me. I pushed on the door since it had no handle, and it moved quite quickly. Soon the door is fully opened, but we immediately got blasted with rays of light that originated from the other side of the door. It caused the entire room to be illuminated quite fast. I raised my hand over my head on impulse to block the brightness from my vision, but the stream of light was too much, and soon my body was enveloped fully with the excess amount of the light. My consciousness was quickly fading away as well; It promptly overwhelmed me that I didn't even know what was happening to us. But eventually, my eyes closed by itself, and I felt my body drift into nothingness, the only thing in my mind was about Arnaud's safety.

And then there was darkness.