Like any other day, it was supposed to be the usual subway ride from point A to point B, if not for the sudden change of scenery from the cramped subways to the empty white space of nowhere.
"Where are we?"
"What happened? Have we arrived at Harabuya?"
"Idiot. No, hell no, look!"
How many people were on this subway train? Hundreds? Some students were here and there alongside the usual businessman and corporate slaves. Counting again, there might be only half of the people from the subway who were transported here.
I had planned for a quick nap before arriving at the hospital, but when I woke up, I was there without any explainable reason whatsoever with most of my luggage just gone away. In front of us, an old man stood up, as if wanting to tell us something.
"The train? Where's the train?"
"Where the hell is my backpack?"
"My phone? Where is my phone?"
I searched my whole body for my phone. I put my hand on my jacket pockets. I put my hands on my pants' pockets. My wallet was also gone. Fuck. And who was the bearded man in front of us? Some were searching their pockets, while others were putting their hands on the floor, trying to get the orientation on where they were.
The students started making a ruckus, they ran left and right to search for their friends. I breathed in and let it out hard. The realization that I was not alone in this mess came to my brain and calmed me down. I wasn't sure what just happened, but most of us should be in the exact same condition at the moment, confused and panicked.
"Hey! Old man! Who are you?" One of the students shouted at the old man.
I squinted my eyes, saying 'what the fuck?' using my eyes. You'd get nothing with that kind of approach, especially on an elderly. He looked quite punk too, considering the conservative culture of this country, with his painted hair and all.
"What a way to greet an old man, young man. You do realize what kind of situation you are in, don't you?" The old man glared at the young man and immediately walked in his direction.
"What are you doing, old man? Looking for a fight?"
"Granted."
A thunder immediately came from the sky and struck the boy right in his position, frying him. He didn't die, but the thunder alone was enough to shut everyone's mouths. The old man smiled.
"God? Are you god?" One of the students asked.
"What makes you think I'm god? I'm just a higher being," he said.
Things just became weirder... So, a higher being suddenly decided to steal a bunch of people from the subway, and for what? Would we be taken as a ransom or something like that? Or was this old man an alien?
"I was the one who transferred you here, I'm sure all of you have many questions but listen to me first."
Everyone immediately gasped. However, it was followed by protest.
"Is this a joke?"
"Return us to Earth, you old hag!"
Without any second glance, if I were the old man, I wouldn't even think of returning these people back to Earth if my intention from the start was to kidnap these people and use them for whatever I needed to do.
In that case, I was sure that he wouldn't even dare to harm us in any way. Why? We were simply collateral for him. Let's just listen to whatever he wanted to say and decide what to do next. As far as I cared, I had no choice, nor did anyone else.
Still, I wouldn't even piss him off.
"I can't return you back to Earth. It's against the order of my employer."
Employer?
"Let me continue my story first. You were all supposed to die from a bomb explosion but my employer decided that it's best for you all to be transported to another realm to obey the lay of realms."
Everyone quieted down. However, after that, everyone suddenly turned into news reporters, raising their hands to ask questions to the higher being that was standing right in front of us. One voice against another, and so on, turning it into chaos.
"Another world?"
"Where?"
"What kind of higher being are you that can't return us back to Earth?"
My ears only could catch so many questions among the ruckus created by the sudden statement. The higher being didn't bother to answer. Another thunder appeared again, but this time, it didn't hit anyone.
"If you want to return, you can, but you'll die as a consequence. I can't let you choose that. Now, about the world that you all will be entering, this will be the world similar to a medieval world, however, with the additives of magic and other creatures," he said.
Everyone gasped again, not believing what the old man said. Of course, I wouldn't even believe that we would be transported to an unknown world.
"It's ridiculous!"
I got to swear, these students wouldn't stop saying things. Still, I understood that not knowing anything without anything was terrifying, I just hid it better than them. Let's just see what this creature wanted.
"Don't worry about it, you all will be placed in a place where you can learn everything from scratch, it will feel like you are born in that world," the old man said.
"What a dangerous world..."
"Indeed, there's a reason why my employer will give you leverage before sending you all to the other world, one of the leverages is to give you a special power before going to another world."
A bunch of whispers came out of everyone's mouth. Cards were lined up in front of the higher being. He shuffled it and put it in front of us. Basically, we could choose our own ability, if I had to guess.
"Now, please, I'll call you one by one."