In a dark cave where a river was flowing through, a boat was sailing without wind. Two men were standing on the deck. One was wearing a black robe and had a fishing rod while the other man had leather armor.

The leather clad man stood there with a bored expression and asked the other man if they had already arrived, over and over again. At one moment the man in the black robe got annoyed.

"Loki, I know that you are the god of the fools, but please shut up for at least a moment.“

The man called Loki changed his expression as if the other man had insulted his mother.

"But Hades, I thought we were friends?“

Hades just looked at Loki with killing intent that could have made other people tremble. Averting his gaze, he noticed they had arrived at their destination.

"Get ready, I‘ll need your help fishing him out.“

Hearing Hades giving him an order, Loki immediately changed his behaviour and took the net lying at his feet and positioned himself to help Hades. Hades on the other hand prepared his fishing rod.

Once he felt the moment arrived, he threw the catch and waited. Once it began to sink he started to reel it back. Suddenly a force started to resist his tries to get the catch and made him struggle.

This battle lasted only three minutes and once Hades had managed to get his catch out of water Loki took the net and covered the white mass they had gotten out of the water.

Exhausted Hades sat down and looked at Loki. "There you have your soul, now what are you going to do with that monster? It‘s the first time I’ve seen someone wanting to stay dead.”

Loki had been analysing the white mass as it started to resemble a human. "The other gods have created a world and sent some heroes to defeat the creature they made themselves.

“Although they did not deny me the right to join them, I feel that it will become boring if only their Heroes will win. That‘s why I need this guy. He will join the game without being restricted by us and change the rules a bit.“

Hades looked at Loki not believing what he had heard. "So you wanted this guy only to be a nuisance to the others?“

Without a moment of hesitation he gained a simple answer. "Yes!“

Hades now could not hold back his laughter. Naturally he had not expected anything else from this guy, but simply hearing his answer made his serious thoughts crumble.

"Okay... Okay...“ A deep sigh followed his words, "Let’s get back up. Once we are out of here, you will tell me the plan from the beginning. I’m interested now.“

-----------

As far as I can remember, I never have been a good guy. I haven‘t bullied anyone, I also never tried to stop it. If something interested me I did everything to get it.

Two years ago, I met a girl. A cool beauty, untouchable by the likes of me. Normally, she was a bitch. Her ego was even bigger than mine and I have an extreme ego.

It seemed like she was interested in me, that allowed me to go out with her. This worked out well, until she got bored of me. So what do you do if you get bored of someone? You hire thugs to beat him up and leave a message so that he never comes back.

A shame if the person they try to beat into submission is an experienced brawler. You know, when I was young I often fought with the neighbours. Half of the time was spent training the other half was to decide what we should do. That gave me quite the experience on how to defend myself.

It ended up with me beating them to raw meat. Something I rarely do since it‘s bothersome to get the blood out of my clothes. So after the fighting stopped, she appeared and wanted to see my bloody body and say that everything was over.

Against all her expectations I had been the last one standing. The expression on her face made everything that happened worth it. She was paralysed by fear and her face was full of panic.

When I knelt down next to her, I whispered, "It‘s over.“ in a really low voice. Maybe my clothes covered in blood frightened her, but in the end before I left, I saw how she was scared out of her mind.

People have always underestimated me, except those who already knew me. It was nothing new to me. There was just one thing I never believed would happen. That after seeing the real me, she would snap and hire a real Hitman.

I never woke up in my room again...

---------

A faint light shined amidst the black nothingness around it around it, revealing a storm in the darkness surrounding it. Slowly it lost more and more if its shine until another light appeared. It was bigger and brighter than the other one.

It closed the distance and embraced the other light making it look like it was going to absorb it. Instead the other light got stronger. Once it reached a certain size the exchange of light stopped and they both disappeared.

--------

Valhalla, the mead hall of the gods and heroes, always filled with everything someone may desire. Today was a special day. It was the day the gods would chose their heroes and send them into a special world they had created using their powers and with the help of Yggdrasil.

There were not only gods of the Nordic mythology, but also from several others like Egyptian, Greek and their Roman twins, the several thousands gods from the Hindu mythologies and so on.

All this started because Odin wanted to make the immortal lives of his brethren more exciting.

The plan itself was simple.

Get some mortals, give them power, let them fight against monsters and each other. Their job as gods would be to give them equipment and dangers to conquer.

So everything from the smallest encounter to the hero’s love was the job of the gods. This was a full time job, but since they had nothing else to do they had plenty of time.

Once Odin was sure that everyone had arrived, he stood up and used his heavy voice.

"I would like to ask for some silence, my dear Friends!“

The moment this sentence left his mouth the hall became quiet. Only for a person to barge in with a big boom. It was Loki who had the expression of "Here I am!“ on his face. Only seconds later had he noticed the silence along with Odin ready to start his speech.

"Sorry.“ Apologizing to the people he silently closed the doors and sat down beside Hades who had already started eating.

A small cough left Odin before he began speaking again.

"I greet you all, my dear friends, to our first game. As I had said this will be a cooperation between us all to enjoy this boring life we immortals have.

The rules have all been written down in the Manuals,which everyone of you can get from the library. There is just one rule I want to mention. You can summon only ONE hero from a different world.

As for the question why, it‘s quite simple. To keep it somewhat fair and challenging. It is boring after all if your group of heroes steam rolls everything don‘t you agree?”

Once Odin mentioned steamrolling a lot of gods chuckled. Yes the humans had progressed really far with their technology. They were already so far that they could leave the Earth and travel to other worlds.

It was not something the gods had a problem with. If they wanted they always could destroy humanity. This was something no one really wanted to do.

There was just a little problem in the technological advancement. They could have joined the human’s fights and feel the thrill of combat in the past. But now it’s become a game of "Whoever hits the red button first is going to be blamed later.”

That was also the reason they created this alternate world.

After Odin had finished his speech the gods took their manuals and went back home to prepare for the start of the real game.

Even though most of the gods had left, the mead hall was still as lively as always.

In one corner, two guys were sitting and discussing what will happen next.

Those two were Hades and Loki who were discussing how to release the bottle of chaos they had prepared.

The bottle of chaos was what they had named the little bottle filled with the soul that had been fished out by Hades and rejuvenated by Loki. A simple bottle filled with enough soul energy to create a human anywhere without the help of anyone unlike the heroes who were in need of their gods.

"Okay Loki, I’ve got an Idea. We will take the bottle and throw it somewhere near a city or village. We’ll give him some knowledge and basic equipment, but after that he’s on his own.

Should he die, he will be revived at a different point not far away from the place where he perished. This will make him a foe hard to fight against, and should some of the other heroes meet him he will just revive somewhere else.”

Loki looked at Hades sceptically.

"That sounds like a plan, but even if we give him the basic equipment we can’t be sure that he will be able to use it.”

"That won’t be a problem Loki. I looked through his past and saw that he is quite capable of defending himself. If he’d not been born in his time he would be in Valhalla right now.”

Hearing that Loki was still a bit conflicted. Even though he wanted to plant a factor that could not be controlled by other gods, he was not ready to make someone suffer endlessly because he had miscalculated something.

It would be different if he managed to get himself in that situation, that was not something Loki could have prevented, but in the beginning where he has full control over how he arrives...

"Okay then the plan is done and we have a basic layout on what we will do. If he manages to survive for a month then our plan was successful and we can leave him alone, if not we will take him out and get someone else.”

"That seems like a better plan.”

After they had finally finished their preparations they also took some time to discuss about their "Official” Heroes which are going to be sent down.

And in all this time, the soul in the bottle was patiently waiting for it‘s revival. He understood what had happened to him and he was ready to rock the house.

-------------------

I need not be a genius to understand my situation. Though I've been swaying between the two options of this being a lucid dream or the reality in which I died.

While eavesdropping on their plan I understood what I'd be able to do. Imagine all the nerds back at school who've been dreaming about this chance, sitting in their rooms and crying every night over why they haven’t summoned made me laugh.

Here I am. The last person who would fit to be a hero. I'm excited to start my new life. Who knows what I'll be able to do there.

##

They had watched too many blockbusters. Loki and Hades. Supposedly evil Gods, snuck around in ninja clothe, searching for a room which connected their realm to the new world.

Who they’ve been trying to fool with that outfit was unclear, but it worked. While sneaking towards the room, the percentage of guards per square meter rose.

At the start of their operation, they met one guard every two minutes. Now it was just a part of their former speed. One guard per six rooms became six guards per room. making it rather difficult to progress. When they finally arrived, another obstacle showed itself. Thor who played with the room’s guard dog.

"What now?" Hades interrupted Loki's thoughts. "I’m not surprised that Odin sent him as the guard, loyal and stupid to fault. I prepared something for this situation." Loki took out a small button and pressed it.

Moments later, Mjolnir, Thor's trusted weapon, floated before flying off in a direction away from the room. It took Thor a moment to understand what had happened before he tried to call back Mjolnir.

When this failed he ran after it with the dog following him, leaving the door unguarded. Hades kept the urge to laugh and Loki stood frozen. "We don't have a lot of time." said Loki with a calm voice though his breathing was out of order.

A big sphere, a miniature version of the new plane, greeted the pair when they entered the room.

"This is six times bigger than the sphere of Terra."

Told Loki to Hades who eyed it amazed. Different worlds had different sizes, but this world was artificially created by the cooperation of all Gods.

A commotion outside of the door made them snap back to reality. After taking out the bottle, Loki examined the world and searched for a place where he could send it.

Suddenly a spot blinked as if saying, "send him here." Without a second thought Loki threw the bottle there and watched it disappear on contact. Seconds later the door opened and Loki and Hades used their powers to blink away.

##

Once the door stood open the rest of the Gods entered lead by Odin. When they had made a circle around the sphere, Odin spoke.

"In about five minutes the world will accept our heroes and in ten they will be sent in. Since Loki said he will join us later, lets begin with the preparations."

Synchronized they all took out their Manuals in form of E-book readers except for Odin who used a real book instead.

"Now take out the souls you have chosen to be your champions," continued The All Father.

The Gods, followed his command and now held a small shining ball in their free hand. Once revealed, a string of light appeared connecting the world with the souls. The light weakened but did not disappear.

Once the connections had faded, the miniature spheres were placed in a ring at the top left corner of the manual. Where they shrank and merged with the E-books.

Finished they left the room. The sphere disappeared behind Yggdrasil's roots to make sure none could tamper with it.

##

A deep long and monotone sigh broke the silence in this part of the forest where the trees counted up to sixty meters. Here and there light broke through the canopy of the forest illuminating everything beneath.

The source of this sigh was a boy who had his hands behind his head making the ground more comfortable. He turned his head to the left and looked at the basic equipment.

'A survival guide for Idiots. How to survive in a world unlike yours by Loki and Hades.' A leather bound book. Nothing more. That was everything he needed to survive.

When he grabbed the book and started reading he instantly lost the interest reading it. It contained the basic survival tips he already knew thanks to his past where he went camping with his friends.

While going through the book he looked for something new and stopped on Chapter 5. Chapter 5 was an inbuilt bestiary containing the most common creature of the world.

Once he saw the mentioning of wild dogs and wolves he closed the book and searched for a weapon. If he learned something from the different games and stories of his world than that unlike in his world where humans were the apex, this world preyed on humans on the same scale as humans preyed on the wildlife.

'First rule of survival? Find a shelter for the night.'

Armed with at least something he deposited the book in the holster what was a part of the basic equipment. A silent curse left his lips before he returned to his old self and moved to explore his surroundings.

The dense forest didn’t helped at all for his goal to find a safe spot. The forest had more of the Nordic build ups instead of the Amazon like rain forests where you couldn't see past the leaves hanging from the bushes.

It has its pros and cons. Good because he wasn't obstructed and depending on something to cut his way through and bad because food wouldn't be easy gained without hunting.

After an hour of random running he sat down and made a break while reading through the book.

'Chapter 6: Edible stuff in the not so tropic regions.'

##

The magical number was ten minutes until he realized that this was a useless try to learn with the book. He then took the club and stood up after packing away the book,.

'Water and shelter stands above food.'

With his priorities straight he concentrated his hearing, only to open his eyes seconds later and sighing.

'Not even birds, this forest is dead'

It was something he should have had realized earlier, but he hadn't. It was way too quiet for a place supposed to be full of life. With every step his confidence to find something to eat, sunk more and more.

This continued until he arrived at a lake. Happiness filled his heart before it broke away after noticing the state this lake was in. Corpses of both man and beast were floating on the surface and their blood was mixing with the water beneath it.

When he looked at the shores he saw how humanoids with dark skin were standing surrounded by wolf like creatures which reminded him of the old paintings, how people had seen the wolves in the past.

They surrounded a group of armored Knights with heavy injuries.

One of the dark ones grabbed the crude sword like piece of metal on his back and decapitated the kneeling Knight with one swing. After that the others followed by grabbing their respective weapons and doing the same to the other captives.

A distinct sound could be heard from them that reminded of laughter making his hair stand up and his heart beat faster. His instincts kicked in and he took cover behind a tree.

He froze in that position for several minutes. His mind returned from the shock while the numbness faded away. When he regained control of his body, he dared to look out.

They had disappeared leaving the bodies of the dead behind. He grabbed for his guide and checked the description in the bestiary about this guys.

'Chaos Orcs, creatures know for their thirst for blood and carnage. Unlike their brethren the Orcs, they don't control their urges to kill and are seen as enemies by the most if not all races. Even the most powerful warriors won't attack a Chaos Orc without preparation.

Danger level is 5 of 10.'

After wiping of the cold sweat from his forehead he looked at the corpses. He could count the time he was here on his fingers and met already the more dangerous species of this world.

He stayed hidden to make sure that they wouldn't return before trying to loot the corpses. When he was sure he left his hiding spot.

The forced work as a paramedic made him resistant against injuries inflicted by heavy accidents. The injuries made by the Orcs were a different level. Easily to understand if looking at the female bodies.

Unlike the male bodies those had torture signs everywhere. They had been cut in so many places, blood loss was the only reasonable cause of death.

Either way it was a brutal way to kill someone like this.

While looting the corpses he found personal items and pictures of families on them. They had different emblems on them showing different families.

Then he remembered the saying 'Those who are dead don't need money, but they can still make money.' he was glad they had been killed here.

Twelve families just lost their sons and helped a lone man to equip himself. After he was done he checked the loot he had gained. Twelve pendants with emblems on them, two big swords and three small daggers. A map and a bag of gold coins. Everything else was taken away by the Orcs, including the heads of those slain.

'I may not be religious, but after seeing the real deal, I should pray for their safe journey'

He kneeled down and used the swords as a crucifix for his praying, so that the souls of those poor guys would get an easy journey to the afterlife. When he was done he stood up with and uncomfortable feeling. Unsure of the reason he closed his eyes and tried to think.

He then noticed that the sound had returned. It silence disappeared and the forest once again was full of life. After he looked around the state of the lake surprised him. Moments ago it was filled with corpses of both man and beast, but now it was clear.

The Knight’s bodies were still there. Without knowing the reason his breathing slowed down to the extreme and his heart nearly stopped beating.

Faceless Angels were hovering over the dead bodies and looking at them ignoring his presence. Then a white mist formed around the bodies and the Knights disappeared leaving behind a card. When they completed their task they just faded away if nothing had happened.

The surrounding had turned normal, and he fell to his knees. He had the same feeling when he saw the Orcs. Those were creatures he wouldn't be able to fight. Strong enough to defeat him with only their presence.

"Where did they send me."

His breathing was ragged, and he barely raised his voice. A small laughter left him when he thought about how he could keep his trousers dry.

When he sat down beside the nearest tree with shaking legs he looked at his pale hand.

"At least I can revive if I die. Else I wouldn't even try to go out of the city if I found one."