My blurry eyes open to an unknown bright room. It appears that I am lying on the floor and there are circles drawn around me. Is that a Solomon star? Probably the only design I could comprehend.

There were tons of others and I had never seen any of them. I could care less of design as I was more involved with what was going on.

I thought to myself it must be one of those odd dreams I keep watching and forgetting about. I will probably forget all this once I wake up.

Such a shame, wish it was real. I will just play along and see how it turns out.

“Whe… where am I?”

“Welcome adventurer, you have been summoned to the world of Eswilles”

“Wha.. Es.. what?”

Oh the weakness, I feel my consciousness is fading. I can see three people standing outside the circle I am in.

Hmmm, not so fantasy world I guess there is a guy in lab coat? What kind of dream am I really watching?

I wake up several hours later and find myself lying on a king size wooden bed.

I open my eyes and can see the roof is way far than the one in my apartment.

“What the heck… is this sleep paralysis?”

I was mumbling in fear but there was no ghost to be seen. Not even a single person was in room.

The room looks like an old but well maintained one and there were huge portraits of people I have never seen on frame.

The bed was a wooden bed which was quite big. Three to four people can sleep on it without problem.

“Ahem harem ahem”

I giggle to the thoughts and immediately pull myself together as I recall why I am not awake yet.

This has to be a dream; there are no houses this big in my world anymore and a house with a huge bedroom with huge windows and trees visible?

Only rich businessmen can afford such luxury.

While I was thinking all that, the door to the room opened and a butler showed up with some food.

What a royal treatment. I have only seen these in old movies and now I was actually experiencing it.

This experience feels too real to be a dream. I might just pinch myself and try and see if I can wakeup.

As soon as I was going to, I said to myself

“Of course it’s a dream, why spoil the fun?”

I decided to play along a bit more.

After a few hours, I was called to the dining area, I saw a man in his late 50s with shady eyes, white and long hair was sitting on one of the chairs.

As soon as he noticed me, he stood up for me and welcomed me again and politely asked me to join him in breakfast.

“It’s an honor to be at your service Master Eli, please I beg your pardon for having to summon you to an unknown world without seeking your approval. If it was not a matter of an utmost urgency I would have first sent you prior notice and seek proper approval”

“Umm..So I got summoned? Where am I exactly? What is this place? What is your name? Who were the others with you outside the circle?”

“Ho ho ho easy there young master, I can see you are very curious and I am surprised to know that you even remember your time of being summoned”

Just a lot of noises in my head, I only remember it partially, is this not normal to be able to recall what happened during summoning?

So there are others who got summoned before me? Where are they? Who are they? Why was I summoned?

Cold sweat was running down the spine of poor old man. Damn, this kid got a lot of questions to ask.

“Let me start with my introduction, my name is Igor Musk Deadman, you can call me Igor like everyone else. I am care taker of this castle”

“Good to meet you Mr. Deadman, my name is Eli as you seem to already know he he”

“One cannot summon a being from another world unless he can identify his name, but that’s another matter. Yes summoning is a common practice of this Country as we face demonic attacks very frequently and our armies are not strong enough to handle it. I will tell you frankly, we mostly need heroes as moral boosts for our army. Heroes slay demon lords but army cleans up the rest of mess.”

Oye! Oye! Oldman, that’s not how heroes should be seen. Heroes should be considered heroes, this old fart sees too highly of armies

“So what happened to the others?”

“They died”

Awkward silence

I gulp my saliva down the throat and ask politely

“What if I refuse to help?”

“Then you shall be returned to your world and you will forget everything and think of it as if you were dreaming”

BAM! I wonder I have faced a similar situation and every time I chose to refuse, hence those weird un-recallable dreams. I need time to decide but I guess I should agree this time.

“Please allow me some time to think”

“Take as much time as you would like Master Eli, but please know that with every moment of delay, our situations can get worse”

“Okay I am in”

Too quick.

It was just a formality; I could no longer hold my weeb self. I just gave in instantly. It kind of feels awkward. Igor seems to be maintaining his poker face very gently.

“Please follow me young master”

“Aye”

I was taken to another room and I could see two other people in dark shadows noticing us enter the room. I get greeted by a middle aged man who is in lab coat.

Likewise, I greet him back politely. The other person seems to be grimy in nature and does not interact at all.

“Honor to meet you Sir Eli, my name is Stein Elric. I am a state Wizard of Slaya.”

“Slaya is this country’s name I presume?”

“Indeed”

“Igor, please explain what are we doing here?”

Igor patiently removes a cloth from a coffin and starts wiping off any dust from it. He is performing this with act with utmost care, as if he is taking care of the coffin of his own son.

“This is the coffin of my true master. Alucard Dragonkin – a hero forgotten in tales”

Waaaaaait a minute! I know this name. It’s oddly familiar to a notorious villain in fantasy stories.

Why is he a hero in this world? Hmmm it’s not as if he is the Dracula is it? The name is often used as a disguise by Dracula right? Psshhh not always Eli, not always.

Remember Castlevania? Alucard was not an evil fella, nor was Dracula if you follow the story.

While thinking to myself, expression of uneasiness was all over my face.

My trust in Igor was shaken. I wasn’t sure if I was summoned by good people or evil.

“So why are we here?”

“There is a legendary sword of Sir Alucard in the coffin, now that a hero has been summoned, I would like his Excellency to make good use of the legendary relic and weapon for the welfare of Eswilles.”

Shady, not convinced at all.

“So you want me to open the coffin?”

“Yes, your highness”

This old fart is really trying to flatter me with cheesy sentences. Hmmm

“Why can’t you open the coffin?”

“Only a true hero chosen by the Dragonkin himself can open the seal of the coffin”

Really? I guess I can’t refuse to help since I have already agreed to help. Decisions made in haste are always my downfall. Wish I could learn something from my old corporate world.

Even after 6 years of experience in surviving such brutal industry, I ended up making blunder in this world. I am truly amateur when it comes to decision making or bargain.

“I guess I will just open the coffin and get over with”

“I appreciate your decision, young master”

Excitement can be clearly seen on their faces but then I notice them leaving the room one by one.

“Where are you going?”

“We cannot be present when the seal is broken by the hero as it is a magic seal and only people who are chosen should be allowed in”

“I see”

Suspicion is rising with every answer. The whole castle starts to look very shady now

I touch the coffin and the coffin cover seems to move without any difficulty, I decide to fake it now

“Argh, it’s too heavy, I can’t move it further”

Igor gets depressed but maintains poker face after he notices the same from another room through window and steps in.

“I see, young master should take it easy. Please do not stress yourself”

Young master, even though I am 28 year old, kinda feels awkward. I happily step away from the coffin

“I believe you need to apply your own magic to open the seal. Have you ever used magic before?”

“Nope”

“Sir Stein, please study young master’s body and provide a detailed diagnostics”

“Certainly”

Stein makes me stand in another circle like the one used when I was summoned, I ask

“Is this transmutation circle?”

“Do you know Alchemy?”

“No it’s a part of fiction in my world, it was a very great story of two Elric brothers, and your surname kind of reminded me of them”

“I see”

Uninterested scientist huh, even in fantasy world people don’t care about fiction stories, what a shame.

It appears he is taking a reading somewhere but I can’t really see any of it.

“Impossible”

There it is my chance of being identified as a superior being.

The birth of an OP hero fufufufu!

“What is it doc?”

“Doc? What’s that? Never mind that, how were you even able to answer the summoning call?”

“I beg your pardon Doc, what do you mean?”

“You… your body do not even have Mana points”

“What are they?”

“Well they are the glands that absorb ether from atmosphere and convert it into mana, which ultimately makes a person a magic user”

“So does that mean…”

“Sorry to break it down to you kid, but you can’t use magic”

“…”

***