Hajin stared at the woman like she was insane.
'How the hell does she know my name?' Hajin wondered.
The woman stared at Hajin as he was lost in his thoughts and smiled.
"I am the Lightning God Tonnerre, and I have chosen you to become my apostle, or as some would call it, my champion," the woman said.
To Hajin, her voice sounded extremely ancient, almost like her voice naturally echoed, as if two women were talking at once.
Hajin peered at Tonnerre before asking a simple question.
"Ma'am, are you insane?" he asked flatly. "Perhaps you're drunk. Come, let me get you a bottle of water," Hajin said while gesturing to the convenience store nearby.
Tonnerre giggled and shook her head.
"No, I am not insane. I meant what I said. I have chosen you to be my apostle, or in common words, I have chosen you to become the Hero of Lightning."
"Ma'am, please leave me alone or I will call the police," Hajin replied.
Tonnerre shook her head before releasing an apocalyptic pressure from her body. The pressure made Hajin feel like he was facing some kind of world-destroying entity. Sparks seemed to pop off her body, and clouds gathered in the sky. Thunder rumbled, and the clouds threatened to shoot lightning at the duo. Hajin immediately blanched and collapsed onto his knees.
'I can't breathe!' Hajin thought while clawing his chest.
The woman stared at Hajin wheezing for a couple of seconds before withdrawing her aura.
"Do you require more evidence? That was barely even 1% of my aura. I can give you a full 1% if you want," Tonnerre said calmly.
"No, no, I believe you," Hajin said after catching his breath again.
"Good, now, do you have any questions?" she asked in her usual calm tone.
"Yeah, so you're gonna isekai me?"
"Basically," she replied.
"Where are you gonna send me?"
"First, I'll take you to my domain to explain things and give you certain items, then I'll send you into another world."
Hajin stayed quiet for some time before looking at Tonnerre.
"My boring life just started to kick off. Is it possible for me to decline?" Hajin asked in a serious tone.
"Your life is by no means 'kicking off,' Seo Hajin," Tonnerre said in a mocking tone. "You got yourself a little girlfriend, and now you think your life is gonna change? You must be a fool."
'How does she know about Hyuna?' Hajin thought.
"Please elaborate," he said with an indifferent tone.
"You're just part of the system like everyone else. You found love, and you'll eventually graduate and go to university, right? You will graduate from university, get married, and start a family of your own. But is that what you want?" Tonnerre asked. "More than anyone, you want to break out of this reoccurring norm. You don't want to be like everyone else. You don't want to be like your father, do you?"
The mention of Hajin's father struck a nerve and caused him to go completely silent. His father was a very goal-driven man who cared deeply about his family but was never home due to work. Although his father loved him, Hajin still resented him deep in his heart. He wished his father was home more often so his mother wouldn't be sad all the time. He wished his "father figure" wasn't such a deadbeat. Hajin gritted his teeth and clenched his fist at the idea of becoming like him.
Tonnerre, noticing Hajin's thoughts, asked him a simple yet profound question.
"Seo Hajin, do you want to escape the cycle? Do you want to be remembered when you eventually go?" she asked while stretching out her hand.
Hajin stared at her hand quietly before making up his mind.
"Fuck it, take me to your realm," Hajin said while taking her hand.
The woman smiled before summoning some of her divinity.
The scenery around Hajin changed to what seemed to be outer space.
There were various planets that Hajin hadn't read about in his science classes, and there were also multiple suns. Through his immense shock, Hajin looked down and realized that he was standing on some invisible floor. Fear immediately spread through Hajin's body the moment he looked down.
"You're not just gonna magically fall, so calm down," Tonnerre said in her usual monotonous tone. "Just pretend you're standing on a floor, and you'll be fine."
Hajin obeyed her words and soon calmed himself down.
"Now, I will explain the world I'm going to send you to and some details," she said.
Once she saw Hajin nod his head, she began explaining.
"The world I will send you to is called Avallus. This is a world with magic and beasts you would typically hear about in fairytales. Unfortunately, I will not be telling you details of the world's empires because it would be more beneficial for you to find out that information by yourself, but what I will tell you is that I will be dropping you in the remnants of the Skythunder Kingdom," Tonnerre said.
Hajin made a confused expression before asking a question.
"Why are you just going to drop me off in some ruins?" he asked, confused.
"Heroes are always summoned in temples, but your case is different since all my temples were decimated," Tonnerre said.
"And why don't you have any temples?" Hajin asked with a suspicious tone.
"Well, your predecessors were all horrible and did horrible things. The most recent Hero of Lightning actually defected to the 'other side,'" Tonnerre sighed. "On top of that, my followers always supported them, so the whole world teamed up and massacred all my followers, burnt down my kingdom, and decimated all my temples around the world. Oh, and I forgot to say this earlier, but I heavily suggest that you don't tell anybody your identity as the Hero of Lightning. I'm sure I don't have to explain why."
Tonnerre's words caused Hajin's jaw to drop. Before Hajin could voice his complaints, Tonnerre began to talk again.
"Heroes are summoned to the world of Avallus to fight against the Demon King and his army—"
"The classic," Hajin interjected.
Tonnerre ignored Hajin's remark and continued.
"The Demon King's army has seven generals. These generals are also very powerful, and they have been the reason many heroes in the past died," Tonnerre said. "The Demon King and his army all reside in the cursed continent. Once you reach the right level, you and possibly the other heroes will go fight the Demon King. Once you kill him, you will be free to go back home. Any questions?"
Hajin stood quietly for a couple of minutes before replying.
"Why do you guys need the Demon King killed? And why can't you guys just kill the Demon King yourselves? You're gods, aren't you?" Hajin asked.
Hajin already figured that if there were multiple heroes, then there were multiple gods for each hero.
"We cannot. Due to the laws set by the Supreme God, we guardian gods are not allowed to fight non-gods. We're not even allowed to enter the world we are guarding. We are bound to the world of Avallus, so if Avallus is destroyed, we will cease to exist. Even if we were to wait for the Demon King to become the Demon God, due to the nature of his power, the curse that plagues the cursed continent would spread throughout all of Avallus. Therefore, the moment he becomes a god and doesn't destroy Avallus, he will already be superior to us," Tonnerre explained. "So that's why we summon humans from a different world to essentially be our representatives and make them fight the Demon King for us."
Hajin once again stood still and digested the information. After a couple more minutes of thought, Hajin asked another question.
"Do I get any cheat abilities or something of the sort? Maybe a system or something?"
"You'll get a system that will only tell you about yourself," Tonnerre replied.
"Then forget about the Demon King. How am I supposed to fight demons?"
"You will go down to Avallus and learn everything there. This isn't some cheat isekai," Tonnerre said flatly. "If you want power, work for it. That's the only way your power will be of high quality."
Hajin sighed and looked at Tonnerre.
"I have no more questions," Hajin sighed.
"Good," Tonnerre said.
Tonnerre spread her hands, and Hajin immediately started glowing. A classic magic circle appeared below Hajin.
"Goodbye, Seo Hajin," Tonnerre said in a soft tone, which was unlike her. "Always remember, your enemies are not only demons, so naturally, demons won't be the only beings you'll be killing, and DO NOT TRUST ANYBODY," she declared.
The word "kill" made Hajin's stomach twist, but he ultimately nodded his head before he disappeared.
'Now, let's see how you'll do this time around, my champion,' Tonnerre thought.
Back on Earth, a brown-haired high school girl was standing where Hajin was, looking grim.