Cafeteria incident.

Since the ancient time. In a world called Loriana, there existed two forces, the dark kingdom of Mordox where evil creatures with hideous shapes and sinister nature, and those who betrayed their own kind gathered. They fed on cursed energy and corrupted all the lands they went to. The other force was a coalition of demihumans and humans called the Alliance, led by the human kingdom Argatha.

These two forces had been fighting each other for thousands of years, but the result was still unclear. In the dark realm that was reigned by immortal beings, the leader of them was arguably the strongest Demon King in history. His power could put down hundreds of armies. He was the supreme ruler who was feared by all races. The only hope of the Alliance against him was the Heroes summoned from another world. Heroes were those who carry within themselves the blessings of the goddess, those with the ability to grow almost indefinitely. They were the arch-enemies of the Demon King.

The battle between the Heroes and the Demon King was the key to the war between the two powers. If the Demon King won, the age of darkness unfold and the Alliance had to fall on defense until a new hero was summoned. If the Hero won, Mordox's army would have to retreat to the kingdom of darkness and it could take many centuries until a new Demon King appeared. The human race would gain temporary peace. However, whatever the outcome, the war would never truly end. Evil would always return and new generations of heroes would always continue to stand up against them.

Torei sighed as he flipped through the synopsis of a Web Novel he'd just read on a fan page. It was just an old Isekai motif of heroes and demon kings, yet his mouse pointer still clicked the link that led to its first chapter.

Error 404 page not found.

' Looks like it's just a hoax.'

Still, Torei wasn't disappointed. He scanned and looked for another similar type of story. The final examination was coming, but he didn't want to study at all, he just wanted to dwell on Isekai web novels. He read them from morning till night and when he'd finished he would find another novel. On his table, food was piled up, trash was everywhere. However, he didn't have any motivation to clean them up or the motivation to do anything else.

" Torei! It's time for dinner!"

" Yes, mom! Just a minute!"

He closed his laptop and ran down to set the table.

" At least I'm not to the point of snuggling my head in the room all the time."

Torei thought to himself, he comforted himself that he wasn't a Neet because he still communicated with his family, still went outside, still went to school daily, and occasionally talked to his friends. Yes, he was not a Neet. His academic results though not high, never he had to repeat any subjects. Although he did not have many close friends and rarely went out to play, they did not look at him with contemptuous eyes or tried to bully him. If one word could be used to describe Torei's life, it was 'normal'. He was an ordinary person like everyone else. That was right, he wasn't a Neet, he was just standing at the boundary between a Neet and a normal person, he could always change. Just one day, if he got the motivation.

It was morning and Torei went to school as usual. After leaving the door locked, Torei waited in front of the gate, his hand grabbed the phone, and he took advantage of this free time to do the daily tasks of the mobile game he loved. About 5 minutes later, a silky voice came from his left.

" Torei! Put your phone in, if you don't hurry up, we'll be late!"

" Oh ok."

Torei used plastic wrap to wrap his phone before putting it in the bag to prevent the screen from scratching. His mother told him to buy tempered glasses, but he was too lazy to go out so he had to do this every day.

" G-Good morning, Shizu."

" Jeez! You're always so slow!"

She tilted her head, two butterfly ribbon hair ties fluttered in the air. Her blue eyes closed as she heavily sighed.

" Ahaha…. sorry."

Torei suppressed his sigh and hurriedly walked to school with Shizu. The two had been friends since his family moved here six years ago. The more Shizu grew up the more beautiful she was. She was one of the school's idols, good at both studying and sports. All those years together, whether they were in the same class or in a different class, Torei always appeared at the gatherings of her friends. Occasionally he could hear whispers from the people around him. He didn't pay too much attention to it. He just hope their relationship wasn't misunderstood. There was nothing special between him and her. Even if something did happen, it was unrequited.

During his school lunch break, he and a group of seven had lunch at the cafeteria. All of them were classmates.

" Hey Torei, have you done your part?" - Shizu

" S-Sorry not yet." - Torei

" Hey! don't just dip your head in mangas and novels all day. When you're done, you can do whatever you like." - Shizu

" S-Sorry." - Torei

" Haha, it's okay Torei. Don't be too tense Shizu. After all, the deadline is until the end of the week." - Haruki

" Haruki. Don't defend him like that. If he doesn't get it done quickly, the tide would probably reach his feet, I'm no stranger to Torei's laziness." - Shizu

" My team's also finished everything. If needed, I could help." - Haruki

" Haizz, if only I could group with you, why do I always have to pair up with this guy? - Shizu

" Hahaha, don't say that." - Haruki

Haruki, a member of the school's track and field team, was an excellent student at the city level. His appearance was not too good but compared to Torei, he was much better. Haruki has always been the center of the group, an energetic, sociable person, and was the subject of pursuit by many girls in this school. He was the type of person who would be the main character in those reincarnation novels.

" Shizu chan, you should pay attention to what you say. Even though you're a childhood friend, don't always complain about Torei kun like that." - Midori

" It's okay, Midori." - Torei

The vice president of the class Midori was a mature and serious person. She was also one of the most contributors to the class. With a tall figure and calm voice, known as the "Madona" of the class, she was one of Haruki's childhood friends.

" You really have a good tolerance, Torei kun. If it were me I'd rather work alone than work with Shizu." - Satsuki

" Hey! What do you mean, dwarf!" - Shizu

" Dwarf? You're only 2cm taller than me, "cutting board"." - Satsuki

" Huh? You wanna fight?" - Shizu

" Please lower your voices, it's lunchtime!" - Midori

" Grughhh!" - Shizu / Satsuki

Satsuki, one of the most famous tomboys of the school, was as beautiful as Shizu though was a different type of beauty. She was always lively and friendly. She was the other childhood friend of Haruki. Although she often got into quarrels with Shizu, everyone could tell that the two of them were very close.

" Torei, it's annoying to see this scene every day, right?" - Mitsuru

Slapped on his shoulder was a brown-haired boy, who was 1m8 tall. Mitsuru, captain of the track and field team. If there's something to say about him, Torei didn't like him. Mitsuru was a person who was very teasing, could get angry easily, and usually spoke badly behind others. His personality had many similarities with a bully. However, Mitsuru's academic performance was also at the top class as well and his group of friends gathered from many classes. Torei didn't want to get too involved with Mitsuru, but as long as Mitsuru didn't make him the subject of bullying. Torei could still talk normally with him.

" Hey Torei, do you know they're about to have an event?" - Okura

The last person in the group was a fat boy. A typical otaku named Okura. In terms of academics, he was at the bottom of the class, he was always thinking and talking about anime, novels, and Japanese stuff. However, Torei liked to talk to him. If it had to be explained, it was called the level difference. People usually tended to feel more comfortable talking to those they thought were below them.

" Are you talking about anime again? Please, Okura, let Torei finish his homework. Have you done it yet?" - Shizu

" Hmm? Our team is going to work near the end of the week." - Okura

" Well then, you better take care of your own business." - Shizu

Okura said nothing but smiled and scratched his head. His group must also be the remaining otakus of the class.

" It's ok Shizu. Since it's lunchtime, it's okay to talk about them for a while." - Haruki

" Ah yes, yesterday I came across a web novel with quite interesting content, you guys want to hear?" - Haruki

Haruki smiled. Torei was sure that he just wanted to calm the atmosphere. This guy was not the type who liked to read web novels. It was just his way of talking, when he was able to catch the attention of everyone, it made Torei feel so jealous. Even though Torei liked web novels, he never had the courage to talk about them at a group meeting like this. Haruki began to talk about the synopsis of the web novel he read and it was almost exactly...

" It sounds so familiar. I've also read it!"

" Me too, it was yesterday!"

" Me three!"

All of his groups had a similar reaction.

" Strangely enough, all of us passed by it yesterday." - Haruki

" Hahaha a mysterious phenomenon appeared, this can't be a coincidence!" - Okura

" Yeah yeah, the otakus are really …" - Shizu

" It's strange, right?" - Midori

" I haven't read it though, there was an error on my site." - Torei

" Well, Torei, it was pretty cool. I could send you the site." - Haruki

" Thanks, Haruki." - Torei

" Hey! Send me too! There were a few chapters missing on my site!" - Okura

" My site too! Some lines were broken!" - Satsuki

" Me too." - Midori

" Ok, I have the full page here. I'm gonna post it to the group." - Haruki

When Haruki took out his phone and was about to send the link. A sudden vibration occurred in the space.

" An earthquake? So strange, I don't remember today's earthquake forecast talked about it." - Haruki

" It's just a small earthquake, don't worry." - Haruki

" Wait a minute! H-Hey everyone!" - Okura

As Okura pointed, the group then realized, all of the cafeteria's attention was directed at their group.

" Wh-What is going on?"

Only the area of Torei's group was shaking, the entire cafeteria was normal.

" Ah!"

The vibration became more intense.

" Get out of here quickly!" - Haruki shouted.

" What the hell is this!"

None of them could move outside, as if an invisible wall was enveloping them.

" Help! Someone help us!"

A strange light came down from the ceiling. The whole cafeteria stirred, some people screamed, and some ran away. All of the students in Torei's group suddenly disappeared.