"Vladas Zartans, please come forward!" the dean said and the auditorium was engulfed in the loud sound of clapping.
It was finally my turn. I could finally go up onto the stage, take my diploma and get the hell out!
But first, let me introduce myself. Just as the dean said, my name is Vladas Zartans. I am 22 years old, 192 centimetres tall, have short black hair, dark green eyes and a thin body. If I had to say whether I am ugly, average or handsome, I would say that I am somewhere between average and handsome. But others would say that I am average at best. And even though I am only 'average at best' in looks, my intelligence is higher than that of an average man.
The diploma that I am about to receive is the bachelor's degree in information technology. But don't get the wrong idea here, it's not that I studied IT because of the future prospects. I studied IT, because after I graduated high school, my parents gave me an ultimatum: find a job and work or apply to a university and study. And I obviously chose the latter as I didn't want to work, but to continue playing games, watching anime and reading books, and by books, I mean Japanese light novels and manga. Yes, I know. If I was Japanese, then I would be an otaku. But since I am not, I am a weeb.
My favourite light novels are those of the isekai genre. Those, where one gets reincarnated, transmigrated or summoned into a fantasy world. My favourite anime are of the same genre, and my favourites games are RPGs, in which you can make your own choices and in which those choices get reflected upon the world.
I walked up on the stage with a hastened step and continued to the dean. But even though I walked hastily, by the time I stopped in front of him, all the clapping had already stopped.
"Vladas Zartans, congratulations!" the dean said as he extended my diploma towards me.
"Thank you."
I accepted the diploma and the auditorium was once again engulfed in the loud sound of clapping. I walked down the stage and left the building with an even hastier step. But the moment I stepped out of the building, I squinted my eyes as the sun made me squint them and raised the diploma that I just received to block the sun. And even though the diploma was straight in front of my eyes, I only wanted to do one thing – go back home and do one of the three: play games, watch anime or read books.
I opened my eyes, lowered the diploma and started to make my way back home. But on my way back, something happened. Something that I didn't think would ever happen.
"Watch out!" someone shouted when I was in the middle of crossing the street, and I turned my head. But I didn't turn it towards the voice that shouted for me to watch out, but towards another sound entirely.
I saw a large truck heading straight for me. And it was already such a short distance away from me, that it would have been impossible for me to just jump out of the way. But I don't think that even if it was possible for me to jump out of the way, I would have done it. Because at this moment, before the truck hit me, I actually smiled.
…
"Oh, wow…" I heard the sound of people marvelling at something and I suddenly was awake. My eyes weren't ready to focus or anything, but I pointed them straight ahead anyway. There were men in robes with hoods covering their heads, looking at me in awe and apparently speechless.
"What's all this?"
I turned my head in the direction of the confused voice and discovered three other people, no, not people, but monsters. And I couldn't help but widen my eyes and slightly open my mouth from surprise when I saw them.
The first monster was bigger and taller than I was. He was at least 220 centimetres tall and looked like he was on steroids. He had green scales instead of skin, dark green irises with pupils that resembled that of a lizard and three fingers instead of five. On his fingers there were black metal claws covered in strange patterns and he only wore green linen pants that went only to his knees. If I had to name his race, it would be lizardmen.
The second monster was about the same height as I was, maybe a few centimetres shorter. He had a muscular body, but it didn't look like he was on steroids. He had blue skin, red irises and pupils that were of a human, but white. He had short red hair, extremely handsome face and two horns sticking out of his skull. In both of his hands, he held black small axes covered in strange patterns. Like the lizardmen, he wore only green linen pants. But unlike the pants of the lizardmen, his pants reached all the way to his feet. He was obviously an oni.
The third monster was shorter than me, he was around 170 centimetres tall. He had the same build as I did, same skin colour, same coloured hair, same hairstyle, same pupils, but not the same irises as his were blue while mine were dark green. His face was more handsome than mine, lizardmen's and the oni's. He had long ears. In his right hand, he held a black staff covered in strange patterns and like the previous two monsters he was only wearing green linen pants. He was obviously an elf.
I frowned.
I was in the middle of the street about to be run over by a truck just moments before. Could I have been summoned into a fantasy world like in isekai novels?
I turned my head to the left and to the right and found that I was inside a room. The walls were made of stone. I lowered my head and looked at the floor. It was covered in square patterns and has been painted in dark brown colour. And it seemed that I was standing on an altar of some kind.
And then I noticed three things. One, I wore the same green linen pants as the lizardmen, the oni and the elf and nothing more. Two, like those three, I also held a weapon. I held a black sword covered in strange patterns in my right hand. Three, I saw a small icon at the top right corner of my view.
"Where are we?"
A voice sounded just as I wanted to focus on that icon. I raised my head and turned it towards the owner of this voice. It was the elf that spoke.
"Heroes! Please save us, you are our only hope!"
And with the words of the robed man, it was confirmed. I had been summoned into a fantasy world, and the thought of it made me broadly smile. But then for the second time today, something happened that I didn't think would ever happen.
"Wait! One of the heroes is a human!" One of the robed men shouted out, and another before I could even react, lunged at me and struck me. I saw a lot of numbers flash in front of me followed by a message,