First, let me introduce myself. My name is Ioann and I was born on Earth, on the European continent.

My first years as the only son of a middle-class family were pretty normal. Music, sports, school... Everything as it should be, wasn't it?

At some point, I grew up and successfully entered a prestigious university as my parents wished. Being above average in everything and having both photographic memory and skills in improvisation, it did not take me long to be considered a bright student.

Even though I mainly acted when treating others, I did try and leave a good impression. Adding that my looks were also pretty decent, and so I could be said to be a popular one as well.

I managed to finish with distinction, and albeit not the 1st student, I was still showered with praise and offered a few good jobs. But with my parents dead at that moment, I simply had no one close with expectations about me and so I returned to what I had so long suppressed of love and respect for them. So I refused every single offer before disappearing from sight.

What I had long hidden were my real thoughts. They came both from the reason of above-average talents for everything and my refusal to live normally. To say it bluntly, I considered normal life to be boring. But I had no opportunity to suddenly turn into one of the world's bigshots overnight and no drive to work my ass off for dozens of years either. So I simply decided to live my life searching for something that would interest me, or at least gather new experiences.

Selling all of my inherited property, I bought an old, big, all-terrain car and began traveling. First I traveled around the continent, supporting myself with odd jobs as to don't touch my savings. When that bored me, I put my sight on the rest of the world. It did not take long for me to visit at least 30 different countries, staying a few weeks in each. Still, I did not get the thrill that I so desperately searched for.

Using substances and drugs was something that I discarded from the start, as my conceit also went along a big NO to such self-harm. Funny, isn't it? I would not resort to drugs but buried the opportunity of a good career and life. Even funnier was that I did consume legal drugs like tobacco, alcohol, caffeine, and energetics. Now I understand that I simply did not want to allow myself to get an easy way out, so I instinctively suppressed the option of using heavy drugs.

In any case, my failed search led me to fully immerse myself in my two hobbies that always supported my escapades from common life. Reading and gaming. My imagination ran wild as I imagined myself as the main character of the different stories. And so, I turned into a shut-in who did not leave the confines of a small apartment but lived dozens of lives.

Until now I don't know what led me towards a chat application that allowed you to connect with people who shared your interests. Maybe it was the lack of a living being with whom to share my many, imagined, lives... Or simply I started to feel bored from my one-year closed life.

But back to the point. I registered in this 'Wave' app and was asked to select or create a catalog of my interests. If someone had a match of more than 75% with it, then our profiles would be sent to each other.

I used a fake name and personal information, but for the rest, it was the absolute truth. Boring earth, travel to other worlds, magic, heroes, villains, dragons, etc.

If I am not mistaken, the total of themes was over a hundred.

I did not expect to get a hit to such a profile, and so closed the app deciding to later edit it. But as always, I forgot about it for a good while. When I remembered about it, a week had already passed.

At that moment I had nothing to do and so opened 'Wave'. Oh, how I was surprised when a notification popped up indicating that there was someone that matched my profile... 100%. What's more, that person, username Goddess, was online at that moment!

A chat window with Goddess opened and a message from her arrived while I was thinking if I should initiate contact.

"Hello there :)"

"Hello" I answered almost instinctively.

"So how's the world?"

"I would say boring, but I doubt that it will be enough to describe it"

"How interesting to meet someone with such contempt for Earth and so much yearning to travel to other worlds"

The message was a bit strange, but I suppose that I did not really look into it much at that moment. My interest was piqued, after all not every day you meet someone with similar ideas and craziness as yours.

"Well, look who is saying that. A full 100% match"

"Oh, you're right and wrong with that"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean that I simply matched my profile to yours"

After reading that words, the first thing I thought of was that it was a bad joke from a hacker. 'Wave' was supposedly a very safe chat app, but I did not doubt that hacking one's profile could be done. And so, I acted like anyone who had at least a bit of intellect would... I simply logged off and promptly uninstalled it.

I had always thought of security as a must and so both my computer and phone were practically filled up with different means of protection. In fact, I had even bought a jumping IP modem from the black market to avoid being tracked.

Normal people did not do so, but did I mention that I was a bit obsessed with safety?

A few days later, I decided to try and travel again. At that point, I did not know why such an idea even appeared in my mind.

My destination was nowhere else than Japan. The land of history, culture, and the mecca of anime, manga, and game lovers.

Two days later, I reached the most common destination for someone with my hobbies, Akiba (Akihabara). Albeit I did not feel anything in this now 3rd visit, I still slightly enjoyed seeing that I was someone normal when compared to some of the people in the crowd.

Later, I took a few commuter trains moving towards Fukuoka, a small city, where I had already registered for work & stay. But I never reached it.

I still wonder nowadays, did anyone notice my disappearance? Was the police involved? Did anyone try to search for me?

When I boarded the wagon of the train that was meant to bring me to my destination, I instantly was surprised because of its emptiness. I knew that it was not a very used route, but no people at all? That was impossible. After all, we are talking about one of the most densely populated countries on Earth.

As the doors closed, I again threw a glance around and noticed that I was mistaken. A person was riding along with me. Uninterested with life as I may have been, I was still a male and so after noticing that it was a girl, I simply did not resist throwing a glance in her direction. A supposed short glance that turned into a very, very long one.

There were two main reasons for me to keep looking at her. The first one was that she was simply too stunning. And the second one, how she was dressed.

Well, it may be said that it was a single reason, her looks.

A short white dress with a blue ribbon depicting some kind of bird. Long black hair with a small matching blue ribbon as an ornament. Slightly tanned skin and slim figure. As an extra detail, she was holding an intricately carved white wooden stick adorned with some kind of shiny stone. This last attribute was the part of her get-up that attracted my attention first, after all, it looked like if it came straight off from a fantasy videogame.

But most importantly, her face was simple perfection. It was a mix of the best from both western and eastern, so I supposed that she was mixed blood.

Suddenly, as if she noticed my interest, she looked at me and smiled. To say that I was smitten at the spot would be an exaggeration, but I did like women. So, I smiled in return.

Seemingly my smile was taken as approval for interacting with me, and even though I never expected for a single girl to suddenly approach the only other person nearby in a closed space, she did.

"Hello there"

"Hello"

"So how's the world?"

"I would say boring..." Alarms blazing in my head I quickly stopped.

"...but I doubt that it will be enough to describe it, isn't it?" The girl completed my phrase while throwing me a wider smile than before.

"Who are you?" I did not feel threatened by the girl, but my paranoia reared its ugly head and so my voice was less calm than I wanted.

"Me? Have you not guessed already?" She asked in return.

"...Goddess"

"Righto!" If the smile could grow wider, it would have done so at that moment. If someone was observing us at that moment, they would think that I just had answered the winning question or something.

"So, what do you want? And most importantly, why the hell are you after me?" While I questioned her, I took a sneak peek at the monitor indicating the current location of the train. My plan was simple, stall her for time and jump off at the next station. If she continued to follow me, then I would simply run towards the nearest policeman.

Granted, escaping from a girl, and a beautiful one could be called out as stupid by some. But people, what would anyone sane do when facing such a situation? Remain and see what happens? Allow someone who may be crazy to follow you around? So no need for hypocrisy, most people would prefer to wash their hands of the matter in a safe and civilized way. And I wasn't an exception.

"There is no need for you to plan how to escape"

"Huh?"

"You cannot do so right now anyway"

"..." Albeit I did not understand why she was so sure of that, I did plan to stall for time and so I spoke back

"Leaving escaping aside, who are you really? And what do you want from me?"

"I came to offer you a..." She started speaking, but suddenly cut her words. A minute and what appeared to be a muttered "I should be able to call it like that, it's not like I would be lying" later she continued

"an opportunity to fulfill your only real dream"

"My real dream? Are you saying that I should believe that by some kind of stupid coincidence I am being graced with the presence of a bonafide goddess that is here to 'isekai' me?"

"Mmm" She nodded in response.

"Hahahahaha!!!" I almost doubled in laughter. I may have dreamed of such things, but... I was perfectly aware that it was something from the realm of fantasy.

"Grr, I knew that you would not believe me!" Suddenly the girl grew angry and shouted while stomping down her feet. Both the words and manner in which they were said were practically identical to a heroine from a famous anime that aired a pair of years ago, so I could only continue laughting.

Suddenly the girl changed gears and returned to her smiling demeanor. Albeit her flushed cheeks signaled that it was mostly a forced return.

"And there are simply too many things to explain while my time here is almost to end. Well, there's no other way, not that you will refuse in any case" She said under her breath before making a waving motion with the stick, or wand, she was holding and shouted

"Teleport!"

Most probably I would have laughed until falling down in reaction to such a cliche motion and words, if not for what happened next.

As soon as the word 'Teleport' sounded, a bright light enveloped me...

And I was teleported?!?!?!