"Hey Bryan, what do you think? Although the message seemed serious, there is no way those movie-like creatures actually just got summoned here, right?"
"I think it could be possible. Who knows what kind of advanced technology other races on different worlds have."
'Just like how I got here from a different world.'
Peter contemplated for a few seconds before he said:
"Even though I don't think the government is telling the truth, it's better to listen to them for now. You can just take your food back to your apartment, I'll also close the store down for a day or three and check the news regularly."
"Alright, goodbye Peter."
"See you later, kid."
'So now another world has access to Earth. They definitely don't have good plans for this world, but I have no idea how strong they are. For all I know, they could be way more advanced in technology than my old world and even more powerful fighters. Now that I think about it, there was also a chance that the citizens of Earth were way stronger than me, but I just got lucky that they weren't. I guess I completely forgot that possibility since I haven't had to think about my safety for more than half of my life.'
Entering my room in the apartment, I ate the rest of my food and started up my computer.
'I'll just follow the news for a bit of time, since the monsters shouldn't be so close to me right now.'
****
[1 week later]
"Welcome back to the news. Today we are reporting about the monsters that appeared in Japan one week ago. The red-skinned demons are extremely aggressive and we have yet to negotiate with them. The negotiations with the green ogre-like creatures have been a bit more successful, but they are far from trustworthy from what we have observed so far. We have yet to talk to the human-like creature, but it seems like it's the leader of the rest, with the ogres being the second in command. Although the monsters have wreaked havoc all across Asia, a few monsters have also been spotted in all the other continents. All citizens should be extremely careful and stay inside as much as possible. If you see any of these monsters, then you are obligated to report it immediately."
After Bryan heard the news about the monsters, he turned off his computer and went back to sleep.
"I'll deal with it another day, if I need to that is."
****
[1 month later]
"This is the news about the monsters. They have spread to nearly all countries now, some with more defenses than others. Although the USA has been trying its best to fend off these monsters, a dangerous amount have been able to cross the borders into American territory. We ask all citizens to be on maximum alert all the time and always immediately repo-"
Turning the computer off, Bryan walked out of his apartment to Peter's restaurant, one of the only restaurants still open in his area.
"I already knew this was going to happen sooner or later, but it seems that the inevitable has come... I have basically run out of money."
Although Peter doesn't have much competition now, there aren't many people who still dare casually eat outside, so we are both not well off.
"Hey Peter, are you still running the restaurant at such a dangerous time?"
"Of course I am. Although I would love to skip my work, I wouldn't have enough money to last that long if I don't work here. Especially with my... grandson at home..." Peter said while trailing off in the end.
"Yeah, I have also nearly run out of money, so this will be the last time I eat here until I gain a stable source of income."
Peter looked at me for a while, before hesitantly saying:
"Hey, I know a... friend of mine who needs some extra hands on a project he's working on. Although I'm too weak to really help him, you could probably do it. He will pay anyone who helps a hefty amount."
Looking at my suspicious friend, I responded:
"Yeah, sure. I need the money anyway, and I can help him out at the same time. Where do I have to go?"
Although the whole thing was suspicious, there weren't a lot of things that could seriously injure me. I don't think any human being could injure me by itself, and since the monsters haven't completely destroyed humanity yet, I can say that, at the very least, the red-skinned demons aren't going to be able to damage me. I'm also quite confident with the ogres, but I don't have any information regarding the boss, but if the boss needs to rely on humans for his plan, then he probably won't be extremely powerful.
Peter expressed a sad smile on his face.
"It's not very far from here. Just go to the only sushi restaurant open in this area. It's a few buildings to the left of here. There you will meet my friend, and he will lead you to his project. Just listen to what he says and don't cause trouble."
"Alright, thanks for the information."
Peter flinched when he heard my words.
"...It's no problem Bryan."
After finishing my food, I headed out to the sushi restaurant.
"Hmm, it should be this one."
Walking into the restaurant, I saw a man standing behind the counter.
Nervously smiling at me, he said in the most cheerful voice he could muster:
"Welcome, what may I get for you?"
'Extremely suspicious. There is definitely more to this 'project' that I don't know.'
"Hi. I heard from a friend that you were recruiting people for a project. I would like to help with that."
"Ooh! Yes, I am recruiting people right now. Please come downstairs, I'll explain the project when we are with the others."
"So there are also others beside me that are new to this project?"
The man had a shocked expression on his face, but quickly returned to his earlier cheerful demeanor.
"Yeah, some of my friends are also recruiting people for the project, so once we bundled up enough new recruits, we explain all the information at once."
As I followed the man to the basement of the restaurant, we reached a large open cave-like space. I could see ten other people lined up in the center of the room. Before them stood one large, bulky man.
"Go join those people in the line. We will soon begin the explanation."
As I joined the others, some glanced at me, while others just ignored my presence or minded their own business.
After a few minutes another person joined our line, and then the bulky man started speaking.
"Well... since we won't know each other for long, I will skip all the introductions and such. Goodbye everyone, and I'm sorry."
After the man finished his short speech, he ran out of the room.
Before we had any chance to complain, all the doors suddenly shut and weird green gas filled the whole room.
Everyone around me quickly passed out on the ground, but I of course was fine.
'I'll pretend to be knocked unconscious as well. Although I'm not sure what they want from us, I'll be able to get more information this way. Also, it seems that Peter has lied to me, but he looked very hesitant to do this, so maybe he has his reasons.'
Not long after the green gas filled the room, the doors opened again, but what came out of the doors were not humans, but red-skinned demons.
"Kekeke! How easy it is to capture these humans! We barely have to do anything!"
"Yeah! If not for the orders from the higher-ups, then I would have gladly killed all of these humans!"
"Come on guys, let's get this over with. I don't want to spend all day working."
I continued to listen to the three demons talk, but they didn't say anything important, except for the fact that there are higher-ups involved in this project.
The demons tied our hands together with rope, blindfolded us and gagged us. We then got thrown onto something like a car and after a while we stopped at what I assume is their base or headquarters.
They then carried us inside and strapped us to some kind of chair.
After a few minutes of silence, the room suddenly shook. What followed after were heavy ground-shaking footsteps.
The demons took off our blindfolds, and what stood in front of us was a huge 5 meter tall green ogre.
The ogre spoke in a loud, commanding voice:
"I have one question for all of you! You will either work for us to abduct other humans and bring them here, or you will suffer! Make your choice!"
The demons removed our gags and some people immediately shouted:
"Why did you bring us here!"
"What are you going to do to us!"
"You won't get away with this! The government will soon find us and save us!"
This continued for a couple of minutes before the room became silent again. The ogre then ordered the demons:
"Inject all the loud ones with the syringe!"
The five people that were shouting before panicked a bit, but they still got injected with a weird, purple liquid.
The ogre smirked.
"Let the experiment begin!"