Awoken by a stranger, that’s how Luke and Mark started their day. A few hours back, they were in their room, blasting music and talking about random things, all while dancing and enjoying themselves.

“What the fuck is going on!?” yelled out Mark, glancing around in a confused manner. He understood what he was seeing, yet he had no clue as to how he ended up there.

The unknown figure chuckled, “Wow, calm down now, it’s not like I’m gonna eat you or anything...”. Mark looked at Luke, who was laying on the ground, snoring. He is the type to sleep while listening to rock music, so Mark’s reaction wasn’t special.

He turned to the unknown figure, who was still smiling at him. A girl, seemingly around his age, stared down at him with deep blue glistering eyes. Her brown hair reached her shoulders, moving ever so slightly with her every breath.

He glanced at her, his voice uneasy, “Uhm... could you please tell us how we ended up here?”. She still looked at him, the same smile beaming on her face.

“Well, I summoned you. I stumbled upon a book with ancient magic and decided to give it a try.” her smile grew even bigger “And it works!”

Mark decided to give her a moment to enjoy herself, and he shook Luke, in an attempt to wake him up. A few moves of his hand, and his friend was half awake.

“Man, you won’t believe it, but we got isekaid...”

Luke stared at him, eyes half closed. His mouth opened slowly “And I’m the queen of England. Let me go back to sleep...”

“I wanted to be civil –he rapidly moved his hand high in the air- but you leave me no choice.” and he smacked Luke with all the might of his hand. No more than one second that Luke was standing straight, ready to throw hands.

“Look around man, it happened!” burst out Mark, at this point unable to maintain his composure. It was a dream of his, which was finally true. A long silence commenced, both of them looking aimlessly around. Luke was the one to break the silence.

“Yeah... fuck this shit, I’m alive.” He reached for his pocket, smacking it as if checking for it’s contents. “Man...” his hand moved faster, “It’s empty... no more smokes for me...”

His eyes betrayed a mixture of anger and disappointment. He glared at their summoner, readying to ask the biggest question.

“I hope you have cigarettes, or else...” threatened Luke as he clenched his fist. The girl looked at him, laughing slightly, as if he had spoken empty words. She kept on smiling, which at this point crept out the boys.

“Perhaps some equivalent to this item exists in this world, but first you must work for them.” Her lips were now relaxed, yet the atmosphere was somewhat heavier than before.

“There is one thing you guys must do.”

“Say...” added Mark, his voice unwavering, yet the corners of his mouth betrayed his excitement. The only one who didn’t buy it was Luke. He woke up and now had to do God knows what in a world that was unknown to him.

"You..." she tenses her voice, "must" the otherworlders tense as well, "help this poor region prosper."

Mark fell on his back, eyes wide open, yet the cruel reality of a different world hit him hard. Instead of magic and adventures, he was faced with the same struggles from before. Luke, on the other hand, smiled like a maniac while rubbing his hands together.

Mark looked at her in a dumbfounded manner. “Are you for real? Do we really have to do this?”

“Yes, what do you think? Haven’t you looked around for the last ten minutes? This place is a wreck. What we need now is money, and I’m sure there’s something you know which might help.”

“O, hell yeah I know. If we do as I say, we’re going to monopolise this whole world.”

At this point, it was Mark and the mysterious girl who were showing fear.

“Well,” added Mark, “now that we know what we have to do, how about we introduce ourselves? We’ve been talking for a while now, yet we don’t know how to call you.”

“Oh, yes...” her face reddened slightly, “call me Angela.”

Luke opened his mouth first. “I’m Luke,” he pointed at his friend, ”and this easily excitable idiot is Mark.”

“Glad to meet you.”

“Well, since we now know each other, how about I show you around? I guess that’s the best way to start this.”

Said and done, they climbed down from the roof of the modest stone house Angela lived in. The whole village looked like that. Old stone houses with small, wooden shutters covering what were windows. People dressed in ragged clothes were all working, and despite their condition, everyone looked happy. Children were playing on the roads, adults and the elderly were working together. Both Luke and Mark realised the cruel reality of this world, a distant, yet known reality.

“Man, we need to start working soon. Perhaps something good will come out of it.”

Luke silently nodded, as if thinking the same thing. Angela only led the way, saying nothing. What had happened in this world was yet to be uncovered.

“Angela, I have but one request. Perhaps there’s a way to do it.”

Mark’s apologetic way of talking was shown only in these sort of situations. He wished that everybody could live a good life, yet such a thing remained a distant dream, locked away in darkness.

Angela turned around, her smile now replaced by a sad expression. “Ask, and if I can, I’ll do my best to help you. After all, it’s not like I’m doing it for free.”

Mark’s rough look remained the same. “Get us some decent armor and a sword for each. There’s a lot of work we need to do.”

A gentle smile popped on his face, yet it felt misplaced. Perhaps it was due to his personality, trying to stay cool, despite being the exact opposite.

Angela saw through him, but she couldn’t help it. The corners of her mouth arched up, but slightly. Perhaps she made the right call by summoning them.