'Hey, you fuckin loser, buy me something from the cafeteria.' he was yelling at me while laughing,
'Get me something too!' his buddies were joining in too.
'Yes, Hamachi I'll go get it.' His name was Hamachi Ryou. He was the son of the CEO of some big corporation, he had good grades, was good at sports and was handsome. He had it all. Everyone in the class licked his boots just to get something out of him. It pissed me off but there was nothing I could do, I was at the bottom of the hierarchy of this school. Poor old Takeuchi Kisaragi, I had nothing going for me in the direction of studies or athletics. I was the scum of society, a loner, an outcast. When I went outside the classroom I saw a familiar face and went over to her.
'Akari, are you going to the cafeteria? Want to go with me.' I called out to her, but she just glared at me. She was obviously annoyed as she was with her friends.
'Ugh, just go yourself. I can't believe someone like you is my brother! You stain my good name!' her friends snickered when she said that. Akari Kisaragi, even though she's my younger sister yet she's the polar opposite of me. She has everything I don't have. I was envious of her but still tried to love her as she was my sister.
'Is he really your brother? He's such a loser.' Now her friends were making fun of me. I lowered my head. I walked toward the cafeteria and I could hear my sister say before I was out of ear's reach.
'I know right!? He's so embarrassing I hope he would just go die!' I shed a tear. But there was nothing I could do about it. When I got back to the classroom with Hamachi's food he got up from his seat. He looked pissed off.
'You bitch! You really took that fucking long to get some food!' he came towards me and raised his fist.
'Stop right there!' there was another voice who I recognised. It was my childhood friend Arisa Naruse. When we were in elementary school she used to say absurd things such as she would want to marry me, but in freshman year, she started acting cold and indifferent toward me. We're sophomores now.
'Tch!.' Hamachi snatched the tray from my hand and went off.
'Thank you, Arisa.' To my appreciation she replied.
'Don't think I like you just because of this. I'd do this for any classmate.' With that, she left.
School was out, so I packed up my bags and went straight home. I saw Akari laughing with her friends. How fortunate, I thought to myself, she has people she can laugh and have fun with. When I got home I saw my mother and father smiling with some papers in their hands.
'Akari got straight As! She truly is my child.' My mother said, she looked proud. But when she looked at me her expression immediately turned sour.
'Takeuchi… Go to your room I don't even want to look at you right now.' I complied with her request. My father didn't even look at me. Well so much for a welcome home. I started up the game I was playing then. It was called King's Fall. It was just a run-of-the-mill RPG where the hero defeats a demon king. I could hear my sister downstairs.
'Hey, mom could I go with my friends to karaoke?' she sounded expectant when asking.
'Of course, you can but don't get home too late and stay safe, okay?' my mother sounded so caring when she told her that. But what could a loser like me expect? I knew that I was a loser already, but can't a loser like me still be treated like everyone else? I played King's Fall until around 11 pm, unbeknownst to how much this simple game would change my life. I noticed that Akari wasn't back yet. I went out looking for her because while I was a shit older brother I was still one nonetheless. After walking around for about an hour I found her and her friends. She was saying goodbye to them and was about to cross the road. Her happy face soured as she saw me and started walking toward me. I started walking toward her at the same time. But as soon as I did I saw a blinding light to my left. My body moved on its own toward her. She looked flustered when I pushed her away. She looked pissed when I first pushed her but her expression quickly changed to one of surprise and horror as she saw me get hit by a car. The impact was tremendous it sent my whole body flying. It felt as if every bone in my body had broken and that it was all crushed. I heard someone yelling.
'Nii-san! Nii-san!*' it was Akari. She was sobbing, but why? Hadn't she hated me? Akari you called me nii-san for the first time in so long, I'm so happy. Why are you crying? Please don't cry. It seemed my thoughts didn't reach her as she still cried as though she was a little kid.
'Nii-san I'm so sorry! I'm so sorry, please forgive me! Please don't go!' she was desperate. But it seemed that fate had a different route planned out for me. With the last of my strength, I said to her 'I love you Akari, stay strong and live. Nii-san's heading out early okay?' she sobbed and said to me.
'I love you too Nii-san.' Those were the last words I ever heard.
*Nii-san-Big Brother in Japanese
King's Fall was a game centred around the main character known as Haru, he was summoned to the world with his classmates and tasked with defeating the demon king, though he actually reveals himself in the last quarter of the game. He and his classmates attended the magic academy in the kingdom they were in. You, as the main character could build your character however you liked based on the 'classes' you took at the academy. While you could take your classmates as your companions to defeat the demon king, it would actually be better to befriend the people of that world because they were stronger and more helpful in defeating the demon king. There are two endings to the game, one where you choose to go home and one where you choose to stay. No matter which you chose your classmates would follow you.
There was a slight problem though.
'Young master!' I heard someone yelling that. I was confused about what was happening. Wasn't I supposed to be dead? I definitely got hit by that car and died. Is this a dream? Where am I? There was a mirror in the room so I went to see myself, but what I saw horrified me. Brown hair, dull green eyes and a gloomy face. I instantly recognised who this was. It was the failure of the Xander Dukedom, the shame of the Xander family. Mordred Xander! I panicked and I hit my head on a table that was in my room. Blood started flowing from my head and I realised this wasn't a dream. The pain was real and I could feel the blood flowing.
'Young master! Are you alright?' It was the same voice as before. I looked up and a maid with silver hair opened my door. Blue eyes, silver hair and a pretty face. I didn't know who she was at all.
'Excuse me but could you leave me alone for a bit?' When I said this she looked slightly surprised. Suddenly she looked alarmed.
'Young master, you're not sick, are you? Do you need some medicine? Do you have a fever? Let me take your temperature.'
'No, no I'm quite alright, please don't trouble yourself and leave.' She looked reluctant at first but eventually decided to leave. Now I should gather some information on what's happening. I then realised why she looked surprised all of a sudden. Ah, I see now. Mordred was an extremely timid person and she must've been worried about me when she saw me bleeding from my forehead. Well maybe going for a roam in the streets would provide me with some information. When I went outside all the servants started whispering behind my back. It didn't bother me though, I wasn't the person who was being badmouthed. I went out onto the streets in a dull brown robe so I wouldn't attract any attention. I headed over to the local tavern as it was easily the best place to gather information easily by eavesdropping.
'Hey, have you heard that the hero summoning ritual is nearly complete?' I overheard a few men talking and got interested in their conversation.
'It's confirmed that it's almost finished, the king announced it in the newspaper.' The other person looked surprised but I was shaking in my boots. So I reincarnated to the time before the heroes were summoned!? That's perfect! But before they do get summoned I need to train myself first. I know all the techniques from the online guides so I just need to put them into use! While King's Fall was quite a generic RPG it was very popular due to how much customisation you can do with your character. But will this body be able to hold up? I racked my brain to think of ideas. Then I remembered reading an article on this game. Wait! Mordred is actually enrolled into the academy! There was this article on how overpowered Mordred was if you befriended him. He was an incredible mage who specialised in sheer explosive power and agility, though he was a glass cannon so his team composition was quite complicated as well as his play-style. But if you didn't befriend him in your first year then that talent would be wasted. I skipped over him though due to how complicated his quest line was, but now I don't have that problem anymore because I am him!
'Fuck.' I swore quietly. If only I read that article thoroughly so I knew what his best team composition was! Well, I guess I just have to make something with what I have. I had an uncut diamond in front of me but with no way to cut it. It annoyed me but there was nothing else I could do. I ran straight back to the castle and started training my magic. Actually, it seemed that Mordred hadn't even secured his mana flow yet. That would make things more difficult since I didn't know how to do that as well as it being very difficult to do. If this is really like the game, then I hope I can open a status window. I then quietly said,
'Status, open.' Then right in front of me, a bright blue light shone. Then a blue square with the words 'Welcome player' written on it. I put my finger out and touched it, then the window split into 3 separate windows. On the leftmost side displayed my stats so I looked at that one first.
Mordred Xander, Strength:48, Magic Power: 68(locked), Mana capacity: 326(locked), Agility: 53, Speed:46, Stamina: 39, Endurance: 11.
'Yup that does sound like Mordred.' While all the other stats are the highest out of any other character at the start of the game, the endurance stat is the lowest out of any character. The magic power and mana capacity are locked because I haven't secured my mana flow yet. Anyways let's take a look at my skills and talents then.
Mordred Xander, Talents: Swordsmanship lv 4, Mana Sensitivity lv 3(locked), One-handed Sword Mastery lv 1, Magic Prowess lv 1(combination of Magic Power and Mana Capacity talents)(locked). At this mere revelation, I was shocked. Mordred had a combination talent which is something you had to spend many hours trying to obtain. Enhanced Senses lv 1, Glass Cannon lv MAX. I put my finger on the talent called glass cannon and it came up with a simple explanation. Greatly enhances all stats at the cost of a drastically lowered endurance stat. That seemed about right. But I never actually saw this talent in the game so this must've been something exclusive to Mordred. I really understand now! I started bleeding over an extremely small injury because of my endurance stat and the maid must've been worried because of how low my stat is! Alright, let's look at my skill. I lowered my head slowly over to the bottom of the window.
Mordred Xander, Skills: Vanishing Hollow ACT*1(Dodge attacks by transforming into mist(9 mana cost), Eternal Blade Dance PAS*1(Dodging attacks increases damage for a short moment), Walpurgis Flame ACT(using magic you create a powerful fireball(60 mana cost)(locked)) Final Journey ACT/PAS*3(For 1 minute you have infinite mana and all your attacks have increased power, but once the duration is over all your mana is drained and you are unable to recover it until the next day. (All of your remaining mana)(locked)), Cleansing Light ACT/PAS(After taking any amount of damage, 30% of the damage taken will be healed(90 mana cost)(locked), Final Stand PAS (When you are near the brink of death, be brought back to top condition, restores half your mana and increases attack power slightly(no mana cost). I was in awe. These skills were incredible and I can take advantage of them to slightly mitigate my low endurance. I was a bit disappointed that some of these skills were locked behind a secure mana flow but that will come eventually. Man, I have no idea what a secure mana flow is in the first place except in a couple of lectures that were in the game about it. Well, I shouldn't let it get me down I'm still amazing. I moved my head to the third window. It had only one sentence.
'Number of loads:1' I was confused at this but didn't pay it any mind.
With a high head, I walked out of my room and a maid was heading toward me.
'Young master, it's time for dinner! Go to the dining room.' I complied with her request and headed towards the dining room. When I walked through the door my family was sitting at the table. My older brother and sister as well as my younger sister were all there glaring at me. My father and mother too. I just wondered what I did.
'Mordred you're late.' My father said to me in a stern voice. I replied to him saying,
'I'm sorry I wa-.' Then he cut me off and said,
'It doesn't matter. Anyways we have something important to discuss together.' The room went silent and I sat down at the table. 'Tomorrow we will be going to the castle to witness the summoning of the heroes.' Hmm, I guess I'll be seeing Haru and the gang then. I know how to befriend all of them so that should be fine. 'Mordred you will be attending the academy next year, so do not shame our family in front of the heroes.' He said exactly what I didn't fear. I was an expert on this game. While I only played through it once I did an extensive amount of research on this game. King's Fall was quite a generic RPG but one aspect of the game set it apart from its peers. The sheer difficulty of the game was astonishing so one needed to research all the different strategies of the game. If you messed up a quest-line or a character friendship then it was done. There were no second chances you would need to restart the game from scratch. I had to restart many times to just beat the game once.
'Worry not father I will not shame you!' With a hard look, he dismissed us. When I walked out of the room my older brother came out and said,
'If you shame our family you will be punished. While father won't say it I will. I despise you Mordred, you're the shame of this family! I can't believe I'm related to someone like you. Begone! Get out of my sight.' While any normal person might feel disheartened at these words, I merely kept a straight face. I had been taking insults like this all my life. It did not affect me any longer. With that, I went to my room and went to sleep.
The next morning was quite hectic. But eventually, we made it to the castle. We stood at an elevated balcony above the summoning area with the other duke families. The magicians were chanting in a strange language I did not understand and the magic circle started glowing a bright blue. The wind in the surrounding area churned and rumbled. Blue lightning started coming out of the circle. Then soon after a loud noise followed by a whoosh sound could be heard, it was proof that the heroes had been summoned. Well, Haru we meet aga-. I put away those thoughts immediately when I saw who they were. All I can say is that they weren't Haru and his classmates.