"Open your eyes!"
"Open your eyes! You need to open your eyes right now!"
I heard a voice in my head speaking to me. Although slightly muffled, I could make out what they were saying. It wasn't anyone's voice in particular. Just a voice. Regardless, they sounded desperate. Perhaps it was my mother calling out to me to wake up, as I had a habit of sleeping in, especially on the weekends.
Yet, this voice sounded, unfamiliar... It was not my mother's, nor my sister's, but I could tell it was that of a female. She kept repeating herself, over and over, looping her words in my head like a broken record.
"Open your eyes! Please!"
"Just open your eyes!"
My eyes shot open. I couldn't take any more of the shouting. But when I opened them, I still saw darkness. It was so dark in fact, that one could make the assumption that they had awoken in the middle of the night. But for some reason, I was not tired. I didn't feel anything. I couldn't feel anything.
My senses had ceased to exist. At least, all but one of them. My sense of hearing was all that remained. I could still hear that voice, rambling on to me random sets of instructions. They weren't in any particular order either. I was confused and disturbed. Perhaps this was nothing more than a nightmare...
"Get up. Walk around. Get up."
I couldn't see anything, nor feel anything. But, I decided to rely on my instincts, and I made the motions of getting up. As soon as I thought I had moved my leg, it regained feeling. The same occurred with my other leg, as well as my arms. I was beginning to feel again.
"Walk around, and stretch. Blink a few times."
It seemed to me that this voice in my head was attempting to revive my senses. By following her directions, I seemed to be regaining them. I obeyed her directions, got up, and walked around. Upon standing, I began to stumble. I couldn't see, so I was unaware of my posture.
When I regained my balance, I stretched. When I stretched into the air, I felt an electrifying buzz pierce my chest, reactivating the nerves and muscles within my torso. I fell over, and I hit the ground. Instantly, my entire body began to tingle.
"Get up. It's time to get up."
"Hurry now, up."
I came to my feet, still blind, and began to wander aimlessly. I had regained control of most of my body at this point. The only obstacle left was the fact that I couldn't see anything. I tried moving my eyes around, looking in different directions, but it was all the same. Darkness everywhere I looked. That's when I heard the voice speak to me again.
"Blink! Blink! Keep blinking!"
"Blink, blink!"
I blinked a few times. Each time I blinked, I could see a bit more. I kept blinking, over and over again, my sight improving each time I did. For some reason, I had to reactivate every single nerve in my body, to gain control of them. When my sight was crystal clear, I began to understand where I was. I was in a flower field. How I got there? I had no idea.
Regardless, I examined my surroundings. The field in which I stood was massive. Flowers blooming in all directions, seemingly endlessly. Flowers of all colors... I could see trees in the distance, as well as berry bushes, rocks, and a river. The sun was beaming down on the land, illuminating it. Small animals were frolicking throughout the fields. I began to walk around...
When I realized where I was, my sense of smell began to return. It was the final sense which I had not yet acquired control of. I sniffed the air, inhaling all of the wonderful scents of the flower field. Daisies, Roses, Lavender, all kinds of wonderful smells. The crisp air filled me with energy.
I heard the voice once more. This time, however, it was the voice of a man. A deep voice, that reminded me of my father's. My father died 13 years ago in a car crash, so I had nearly forgotten what his voice sounded like. The voice spoke to me softly.
"Good luck... good luck... observe your surroundings... and your task will become clear."
My task? What was my "task"? I took a seat on a log a few feet away and began to ponder the reasons as to why I was where I was. I was genuinely confused. I went to sleep the night before and then woke up, senseless, in a flower field. What was the reason? Had I not even woken up at all? I could still be dreaming for all I knew.
However, something was telling me that this was not a dream. If it was a dream, I would be lucid dreaming. I had never lucid dreamed before, and so, I began to believe that this was indeed real life.
I continued to walk around, observing the flowers and trees blowing with the wind. The cool air brushing against my face, it felt nice. Petals were flowing from the flowers in waves, and they were all being blown in one direction. I decided to walk in that direction, following the flower petals.
As I went my way, I began to hear noises in the distance. It sounded like rumbling, deep rumbling as if I were wearing headphones with the bass turned up. It was a bit unsettling, but I knew that there had to be a natural explanation for it, as well as an explanation for my entire situation. I continued walking.
The rumbling grew louder and louder. By the time I had reached the river, I started to feel the ground shaking from underneath me. I stumbled a bit but stabilized myself. The rumbling from below had reactivated the last of my inactive nerves, putting me in full control of my body. The water in the river began to ripple, and waves began to form. The small animals began to run away... That's when it hit me... something was coming...
I turned around sharply, and to my horror, gazed into the eyes of an approaching beast. It was larger than any animal I had seen before, and it was fast. It had the body of a tiger and the head of a frog. Ox horns protruded out from its head, and it had a foxtail. It was an abomination of animals, all compacted into one monstrosity. That's what it was...a monster.
"What the hell is that!? I gotta get out of here!"
I turned around and ran as fast as I could. I ran, and ran, and ran, but it was no use. The monster was dozens of times larger, and faster than me. If this wasn't a dream, I was as good as dead. Regardless, I continued to run, as my life depended on it. But unfortunately, I reached my limit.
"Ah! Shit. ugh, hah, I can't go any further. Why am I so weak? I feel weaker than normal... eugh."
I collapsed to the ground and turned around. The monster was still running toward me, even faster than before. It was the predator, and I was its prey... There was nothing that I could do. I simply closed my eyes and accepted the fact, that I was about to die. I began to pray, that perhaps there was some small chance that this was still nothing more than an incredibly vivid dream.
"Please, please God, let this be fake. Let this be fake, I'm not ready to die! Why did you even put me in this situation? Have I sinned? What have I done wrong!"
When the monster arrived at my location, it stopped. I opened my eyes, gazing at the beast. It looked at me and tilted its head. Then, it drew its head close to my body and sniffed me. Powerful gusts of wind blew past me as the monster gathered my scent. Then, it retracted its head.
"...I'm not sure if you can understand my language or not, but if you can, please don't kill me. I don't know why I'm here, nor did I ask to be here. Please, leave me alone..."
The monster took a step back and sat on the ground. It tilted its head into the air and opened its mouth. I was motionless. This monster seemed to have completely ignored what I had said. It probably didn't even understand me to begin with. I waited, and waited, for something to happen. I waited for a good minute before the monster lashed its tongue out at me.
*SNAP*
"AH! SHIT, SHIT! WAIT, LET ME GO, PLEASE, AHH HELP! SOMEONE HELP!"
The monster wrapped its frog tongue around my body and lifted me into the air. It slowly lowered its tongue into its mouth, and I shut my eyes, bracing myself to be digested. It was the single most terrifying moment I had ever experienced in my life. But just before the monster could close its mouth, the unexpected occurred...
"Monster spotted! Shit, it has someone in its mouth! HANG ON OVER THERE, I'M COMING!"
I heard a voice calling out to me in the distance. This was not the same voice I had heard from before, this was the voice of another person... despite my circumstances, and how close I was to being eaten, I felt a sense of slight relief rush over me. I opened my eyes, and witnessed an armored girl running over to where I was.
"HANG IN THERE! DON'T MOVE A MUSCLE OKAY? I'M GOING TO FREE YOU!"
I glanced down to see a girl, in purple knight's armor, wielding a sword. She had blond hair in a ponytail and glasses. She unsheathed her sword, stabbed the monster in the gut, and began to slice through it. She ran with her sword, across the body of the monster. The monster shrieked and tossed my body into the air.
"Wooooaaaaahhh! Shit!"
*BOOM*
I hit the ground hard, and was stunned for some time. When I recovered, I witnessed the armored girl slicing through the monster's body. The monster began to bleed tremendously and flailed around. It attempted to swipe at the knight, but she dodged its attempts. When the knight withdrew her sword from the monster, she jumped into the air and drove the sword into the right eye of the beast. It shrieked as it fell to the ground.
She withdrew her sword from the head of the monster, the eye still attached to the blade. She held her sword high, displaying the eye as a trophy. The monster perished. I had just been saved... the knight then climbed down from the monster's body and made her way towards me, concerned.
"Yo! Are you okay? Can you move?"
"Yeah. I can move, ouch... I think I broke my leg... shit."
"Don't worry, I'll take you back to Camp Theta ASAP. Here, take my hand."
"..c-Camp Theta?"
"Yes, now follow me! We don't know what other monsters could be lurking about!"
I took the knight's hand and came to my feet. Although my leg was broken, I could still walk. It was just painful. I was unsure of what the knight meant when she said "Camp Theta". I still had no idea where I even was... regardless, considering the state I was now in, I had no choice but to trust her.
We walked for quite some time, walking past the trees, bushes, and ponds. We walked past a few empty buildings that were stocked with weapons and other miscellaneous equipment. While we walked, we had a conversation.
"So, why were you even in the forbidden flower field in the first place? You should know by now that it's a hot spot for monster activity!"
"The forbidden flower field? Monster activity?"
We stopped in our tracks. The knight turned around and gazed at me. She shifted her glasses around and went deep into thought. She examined me, gazing up and down my entire body, numerous times over, analyzing my injuries.
"...have you perhaps lost your memory due to the monster attack? If so, I'd be happy to explain your situation to you, as well as refer you to some of our medics back at the camp."
"I haven't lost my memory. I genuinely have no idea what is going on. All I remember is waking up in this flower field, walking around for a while, and being brutally attacked by that monster."
"...perhaps you really did lose your memory then. Here, come with me, I'll take a shortcut back to camp, considering the severity of your injuries."
What was she talking about? I hadn't lost my memories! I was fully aware of who I was, and what had just taken place. But that's when it hit me... The ambiance, the monsters, the knight... they all felt strikingly familiar... the situation reminded me of the video games that I used to play when I was younger...my situation was fitting the bill perfectly.
What if, this was not the conventional "real life" which I was used to? What if...I was in another world? It seemed like a long shot, but the evidence was all too clear to disregard. I had full control of my body, my senses were all intact, and I was able to be aware of an unusual circumstance without suddenly waking up. This had to be the case...
If I was indeed in another world, then I would have to try to hide the fact that I had no idea what was going on, and instead, opt to learn as I go. We continued to walk, gradually speeding up our pace. The knight then spoke to me once more.
"When we get back to Camp Theta, I'll refer you to one of our top medics to perform an examination on you. I hope you haven't suffered any brain damage."
"I'm pretty sure I haven't suffered anything that detrimental. But I appreciate your concern. So, tell me, what exactly is Camp Theta?"
"I suppose it's only fair that I inform you of common knowledge upon suffering memory loss. Allow me to explain our situation. Also, what's your name?"
"My name is Yukio Sazuke. What's yours?"
"My name is Mayumi Tsokuda. I'm a hero. It's nice to meet you, Yukio."
Did she just say she was a hero? If my suspicions weren't already confirmed, they were now. Nobody on Earth would unironically call themselves a hero unless they had done something tremendous for society as a whole. I now had more than enough reason to believe that I was in another world. All I had to do now was learn about it.
"Anyway, allow me to explain our situation to you. We live in a world where monsters and humans exist together. However, the monster species poses a consistent threat to humanity, as they live and survive off of eating us. In order for humanity to prosper, we must defend ourselves against these monsters, and prevent them from eating people. You were about to become that Tiger Frog's dinner!"
So that's what the official name of that monster was... a tiger frog. I should have guessed as much, considering the way it looked. I continued the conversation, asking questions as I went. I wanted to learn as much about my situation as I could.
"I see... how long have humans and monsters lived together? Has it always been this way?"
"For as long as I can remember. Nobody knows where the monsters originated from... as far as I know, we've been defending society against them for hundreds of years now..."
"Where are all the others? It seems to be just us two out here. Are there others back at the camp?"
"Yes. Camp Theta is one of the many bases of the Hero Camp. The Hero Camp is the military organization in charge of dealing with the constant onslaught of monsters. Every time a city reports monster sightings, members from a nearby camp will travel there to deal with the threat. It's the best way to defend humanity as of right now."
The Hero Camp... to me it sounded like nothing more than a defense mechanism, but perhaps that's all it was. Regardless, it piqued my interest. Perhaps I was summoned to a world in which I had to slay the ultimate monster! Or perhaps that "task" I was told about by the voice in my head has something to do with slaying monsters.
There would be no other logical reason as to why I was summoned here specifically. Obviously, I have a large role to play in this world, and I need to figure out what it is if I'm to have any chance of surviving here... I don't want to end up in another monster's mouth ever again.
"Yukio, you see that smoke in the distance? That's Camp Theta, we're getting close. When we get there, I'll lead you to our medical team, and they will take care of you from there. If you need any extra help, you can ask me, I'll be stationed in Theta for a while."
"Thank you, Mayumi. I appreciate you saving me back there, by the way. I'm not sure what would have happened had you not shown up."
"Well, you wouldn't be here anymore, that's for sure... but you're welcome, saving people is my job. Hang on now, we're almost to Theta."
Mayumi had a very admirable attitude. Despite barely knowing who I am, she showed great concern for my well-being. It was her job to save people, as she said, but to me, it seemed like she genuinely cared about me. She didn't treat me as a "source of EXP", or a "quest NPC", she treated me like a person. For the first person I ever met in this world, she set the bar pretty high...
All there was to do now was make it back to Camp Theta, and figure out the truth about this world...