Chapter 2: The Summoning

  I slowly got out of the bed and told Elara I would talk to King Tomo now if he had the time. Elara smiled and assured me that I didn’t need to move; the king would be coming to my room personally to explain everything. Her words made me uneasy, sending shivers down my spine. I tried to insist that I could meet the king in his throne room or wherever he preferred, but she gently informed me that the king wanted to do this personally, especially after seeing me faint during the summoning ritual.

  "Wait here," Elara instructed as she left to fetch King Tomo. I got up and began to pace around the room. It was adorned with the finest furnishings: plush seats, luxurious covers, and silk curtains. The room was larger than the single-bedroom apartment I had left behind in Tokyo.

  As I wandered, a commotion outside caught my attention. I heard yelling followed by a loud roar. Rushing to the window, I saw six men struggling to restrain a dragon with ropes. The dragon was enormous, with green eyes and black scales flecked with red. They were trying to force it into a large kennel. Before I could see the outcome, King Tomo walked into the room, clearing his throat to catch my attention. I quickly turned around and sat on the edge of the bed.

  "I'm sorry our first meeting couldn’t have gone better," King Tomo began, looking apologetic.

  I sighed, "I apologize for freaking out. You have to understand, this is all brand new to me. Before all of this, I was just a regular college student going into his fourth year."

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  "I completely understand," King Tomo said, sitting next to me and placing a hand on my shoulder. "Regarding your questions earlier, I don’t really know where to start. But I guess I can start with what you asked me. You are on Earth, or more specifically, some version of Earth."

  My mind raced as I processed this. Before I knew it, I blurted out, "Are there really multiple Earths?"

  "Of course," Tomo answered. "There are multiple timelines and even different dimensions. But I am sad to inform you that it’s a one-way ticket. Once you travel from one Earth to another, or from one dimension to another, there’s no way back."

  Tears began to well up in my eyes. Tomo asked if I was okay, and I lied, saying, "Yes." The truth was, I was devastated. Even though my life was ordinary, it was my life. I had worked hard to get into university, was about to graduate, and had secured a job at a tech company.

  Wiping my tears, I told King Tomo, "Even though I’m sad that I won’t be able to go back home, I’ll make the most of my time here in the kingdom."

  King Tomo continued, "To answer your other questions, we are currently in the Starfall Kingdom. It’s located on the 14th continent and is one of four kingdoms on this continent. Starfall is the smallest and poorest of them all. The other kingdoms are Pawāsupotto to the south, Shizukana Basho to the north, and our direct neighbors, Rengoku, to the east. Rengoku and Starfall used to be one kingdom until my father and uncle fought and split it into two."

  "What does all this have to do with me?" I asked, frustration creeping into my voice.

  King Tomo explained, "The summoning ritual was meant to bring us exactly what we need in the form of a hero. In Starfall’s 500 years of existence, this is the first time we’ve used the ritual. Usually, it requires fifty high-ranked wizards or mages, but we only had ten. Somehow, we still managed to pull off the summoning."

  "That still doesn’t explain what you want me to do," I said. "What type of help are you expecting from me?"

  King Tomo laughed, "I thought that was obvious. I want you to help pull the Kingdom of Starfall out of financial ruin, make us more profitable, and help form new alliances. If you succeed, I would even advocate for you to take the throne."

  The weight of his words settled on me. I wasn’t just summoned to be a hero in the traditional sense. I was here to use whatever knowledge and skills I had to save an entire kingdom from ruin. Despite the shock and sadness, a sense of determination began to take root within me. This was my new reality, and somehow, I had to rise to the challenge.