My consciousness slowly returns to me, my body feeling stiff as if it had been still for years. Eyelids feeling heavy, I wonder.
(Was that just a dream? A pretty realistic one then, was that one people would call lucid? No. Something is obviously wrong here, I don't have the ability to sleep while standing after all)
Brightness returns to the world as my eyelids lighten and before me is quite the abnormal sight. A blinding white space. Everywhere is white and there is no sense of how far away the walls and ceiling actually are. It feels like I could walk for miles and never reach them.
(Well at least I'm not alone in this strange place)
All around me are other students from my school, some panicking as to where they are and others still asleep while standing like I was.
(I can't see Tatsuya or Masanori-kun anywhere, not even any teachers)
I am in the third year and of average height for my age so I can see over most of the other younger students' heads, but because it was the whole school that went on the trip, there are a lot of people and it's hard to spot just one or two individuals.
(What exactly is happening here though? We were just at the hotel with it being destroyed so why are we in this place all of a sudden? Maybe…)
I start racking my brain, trying to figure out what is going on until a voice echoes out through the crowd.
"People of Earth"
I am at the back of the crowd so I cannot see too well but it seems like a woman is floating at the front and speaking out to us.
"I am Lumina, Goddess of the Sun. You all are probably wondering where you are, are you not?"
I can only slightly make out her face. Young features but with the feeling of maturity she is giving off she seems to be in her mid-twenties. She has bright blonde hair platted to one side and a singular golden accessory in it. Her clothes were also befitting a self-proclaimed 'Goddess' since they are a mix of a toga-like top and a long dress. Well, no matter her appearance, the only responses this so-called 'Goddess' got were:
"We've been kidnapped! By a crazy cultist!"
"She's floating! Aliens!"
"It's probably fine, she's cute after all"
A range of reactions from paranoid students and crazy theorists to just plain lazy playboys.
"There is no need to panic, I mean you no harm. In fact I am here to help you. Don't worry, you are all safe" (Lumina)
And she responded with a calm demeaner, befitting a so-called 'Goddess'. With her last words, my shoulders relaxed along with the people around's as well. Her words had a calming effect on the entirety of the population in this white space.
"Make a line in an orderly fashion with this table as the front so we can get started in moving you all along towards your journey" (Lumina)
Everyone starts forming one long line as told, and I move alongside them.
(What is this feeling? It's as if some force is pushing me towards the line. Like the order is so absolute that my body will follow it even if my will denies it. Guess that's a Goddess for you huh)
I have already accepted the fact that she is a real Goddess. Truthfully, with these circumstances it's hard to deny.
I move closer to the line but it is already mostly formed, so I end up…
(At the back. Haah)
I stand at the back of the line and peek around the others to see in the distance a man with a large pile of papers to his right and a fortune-teller style crystal ball to his left.
(All of these signs, they are all pointing towards that situation)
Yes, I had somehow ended up in an isekai reincarnation plot.
(It's so exciting, but with this many people the chance of being the classic 'isekai protagonist' is very slim)
My school is relatively well known for not being very large and having very few students. It isn't a particularly elite school or hard to get into, it just has a small building and therefore not much space for students. There are only three classes in each year and only about 15 students in each class, meaning about 45 in each year and 135 in the school altogether.
(With the teachers here as well and me being at the back of the line, this could take a while with having to wait for them to go through 150-odd people doing whatever thing they are doing)
And so I start to wait until my turn.
(Haah, if only I had to keep me company, like a game or something to watch)
After around 2 hours of waiting and thinking, there are only two left until me. I can hear what the man is saying but it still doesn't make much sense to me.
"Hm, an intermediate resonance with Summoning and Umbral, send her to Luna-sama" (Man)
"Yes, sir"
A girl around the same age as me appears out of thin air and takes the girl who was at the table's hand.
POOF
And they both disappeared.
(Woah! It's really magic! Do I get to do that too?)
As my excitement is building up the man at the table calls.
"Next!" (Man)
The person in front of me walks to the table.
"Put your hand on the ball please." (Man)
The boy in front of me puts his palm on the crystal ball and it glows bright green.
"Hmm. Advanced resonance with Wood, take him to Silvia-sama"
"Yes, sir"
Another girl who looked very similar to the previous one appeared and took the boy in front of me.
"Ok, last one" (Man)
I stepped up to the table, heart beating. Thinking only of the adventure that I am about to begin.
"Place your hand on the ball please" (Man)
I do as I'm told and put my hand on the crystal ball on the table.
It glows slightly but the colour doesn't change from white.
"Hm, a large mana pool. However no resonances to speak of" (Man)
The man furrows his brow while looking at a piece of paper.
"Only one skill? And an unusual one at that. It seems to be an appraisal type but I'm not too sure how it is different from the normal. Haah. I guess I have to send him to her then" (Man)
"Really sir? Her?"
Another one of the girls transporting people had arrived and had a concerned look on her face after hearing the man's words.
"She doesn't come out of her room and hasn't had a visitor in centuries, are you sure it's alright to send a mortal as the first in so much time?" (Girl)
"There's no choice, we can't bother Lumina-sama with something as small as this, and the other Goddesses are busy with all the visitors being sent to give gifts to. In this case, we have to send him to the Goddess equivalent of the only element he has" (Man)
It seems like the two of them were arguing about something, but I'm not really paying attention. My heart was just shattered and my dreams of having a fun isekai adventure were put to rest.
(No magic? No cheat skills? Not even normal ones? Just an analysis skill? What will happen to me if I have to fight monsters? Just call out their skills and hope they leave?)
"Very well, then I will drop him off outside" (Girl)
The two of them stop talking and the girl grabs my hand. I get startled for a second and then have a feeling like floating, as if my weight had been reduced to nothing. My sight goes blurry for a second and then returns.
"Please open the door and go inside, there will be someone to direct you as to what to do next. Do not worry they aren't anyone dangerous that will cause you harm, at least not physically. If you need any medicine for migraines then just give me a call" (Girl)
(I don't like the sound of that last bit)
I turn to face her to ask a question, but once I do she is nowhere to be seen.
I turn back to the door, it looks like any normal door you could find, brown wood with a metal handle. I reach my hand out, twist the handle, and pull. It doesn't budge. I pull harder with all my weight behind it. It doesn't budge.
(After coming all the way here, it's locked!)
My frustration is building from just a simple door.
"It's a push not a pull, idiot"
A voice from inside the door spoke out in an annoyed tone. I tried pushing the door and it swings open much easier when compared to before.
Standing just around a metre away from the doorframe is a girl who looked to be in her early twenties, dressed in a white t-shirt and denim shorts. Her loose hair a shining silver draped down to nearly her knees, eyes red as rubies staring me down. Any sane human would say that she is the most beautiful creature in existence even if they were held at gunpoint and told to say otherwise.
After a moment of silence, this incredible girl staring at me introduces herself.
"I am Nashia, Goddess of the Null attribute. So, who are you boy?" (Nashia)