In the heart of the bustling city, where skyscrapers pierced the sky and cars honked in a never-ending symphony of urban chaos, life buzzed with activity. People flooded the sidewalks, lost in their own worlds, while vehicles of all shapes and sizes fought for space on the crowded streets, their horns blaring in the faint hope of reaching their destination even slightly faster, at the cost of their sanity.

Amidst this urban frenzy, a young man stood out from the crowd. He was above average height, his short black hair neatly combed, dressed in a sharp black suit with a shirt and tie – a typical salaryman look, you might say. Normally, he would easily blend in with the rest of the crowd. But what caught the eye was the fact that he was wearing a colorful haori draped over his shoulders, emblazoned with the emblem of the idol group 'DKA48'. Clutched tightly in his hand was a bag overflowing with idol merchandise, lightsticks poking out from the bags and threatening to spill out from the sheer volume of merchandise he managed to fit into one single paper bag. Not to mention the red headband embroidered with the 'DKA48' name on it.

This man was no doubt an idol otaku, and he showed not a single shred of shame in displaying it to the world. In his hand was his smartphone, a typical accessory for everyone, of course. But he was browsing through his idol otaku forum, reading discussions about anything idol singer-related, mostly from the idol group DKA48. He also had his ears stuffed with earbuds, blasting DKA48's songs.

This idol otaku salaryman had just left his workplace, and he was about to meet up with others of similar passion as his. They were about to go to the weekly weekend concert of DKA48 and were ready to live up to those gals' performance. Life was great for this salaryman as he enjoyed his idol otaku lifestyle.

But not everything was going to be as smooth as he had hoped for. As he browsed through his idol otaku forum, something caught his eye. A thread in the forum became livelier than usual. The title of the thread? 'CURRENT LEAD SINGER OF DKA48 WAS CAUGHT ON CAMERA SNEAKING INTO A LOVE HOTEL WITH FAMOUS MEN!'. The thread itself used a photo image of the supposed lead singer of DKA48, Koffi-chan, with another man, both wearing sunglasses and medical face masks to cover their faces.

"No way... No freaking way, right...?!"

The salaryman said to himself, drawing a few eyes near him. The salaryman began to panic when he saw the thread. He didn't want to believe that their idols were mingling with men. But, as they say, "curiosity kills the cat." He clicked on the thread, and it was filled with chaos. The thread was flooded with photos of the idol Koffi-chan with her face mask down, thus revealing her identity to the world. The worst part about these photos wasn't just the fact that she was entering a love hotel with a man, but the fact that it was not the same man in each different photo. The thread was moving too fast, and many of the posters had already expressed their thoughts, many filled with rage at the sight of their idol having a sexual relationship with different famous men.

This salaryman was so engrossed in this drama thread that he didn't realize he was walking through the pedestrian crossing when it was still not yet time for pedestrians to cross. Everyone who was still waiting at the spot called out to him for his blunder, but to no avail, as he was wearing his earbuds, which blocked most of the sound from outside. The salaryman soon realized his mistake too late, as a large truck was speeding through the street, honking its horn at him. The last thing the salaryman saw was the flashing light of the truck.

Unbeknownst to him and everyone, however, a red circle appeared under his feet. This red circle enlarged, revealing itself to be some sort of magical circle akin to those found in many occult-related media. Just as the truck was about to hit the salaryman, he instantly vanished along with the large magical circle.

< | X | >

The salaryman opened his eyes to unfamiliar surroundings, finding himself in what appeared to be a stone-walled room, completely devoid of sunlight. Torch brackets along the walls provided the only source of illumination. Scanning his surroundings, he noticed pillars with flames flickering atop them. The flames burned with a reddish hue, unlike any fire he had seen before. Upon closer inspection, he saw a large red, magical-like circle glowing under his feet, spanning as wide as the area enclosed by the pillars of fire surrounding him. He also realized that he was in his black salaryman suit, but the idol otaku getup that he had worn was gone. The idol merchandise in his shopping bag was also missing. Even the headband he wore for the idol concert was gone.

He wasn't alone in this dark, dimly lit stone room. There were others, many of them, in fact. His "companions" in this stone room wore robes that concealed their figures. The dim lighting obscured most of their faces from his vision. In each of their hands were giant wooden sticks, or perhaps wooden staffs, each with its own unique form. One, in particular, had a giant stone embedded on top of it; a glowing red gem with a brilliant red hue.

These robed figures began to discuss with each other. He noted that pretty much every one of them sounded feminine. Even the robes they wore hugged their feminine figures as they discussed their current predicament.

"Is the hero summoning completed?" one of the robed women began their discussion.

"Most likely so," the other robed woman replied.

"Is it a successful summoning, though? Do you think this man might be the famed 'heroes' that those pesky kingdoms have been sending to fight us?" This time it was the robed woman with the brilliant red gem staff that posed the question.

Their discussion continued for a while, delving into topics that the salaryman didn't really understand. Growing impatient, he approached them. "Hey, what are you guys talking about?" he asked the robed women. They were startled by the salaryman's sudden approach. "B-back off!" exclaimed the robed woman with the red gem staff, demanding him to step back, but instead, they were the ones that backed off from him.

One of the robed women beside the woman with the red gem staff noticed something about the salaryman. "Lady Mira, did that man just speak our language?" she inquired to the woman with the red gem staff, now known as Mira. "He did... but, does he understand us?" Mira further questioned her group about this man that they just summoned from another world.

The salaryman then responded to Mira's question first. "Uh... yeah, I can understand you guys," he answered with a bit of irritation. Caught between worry and annoyance, he found himself in an unfamiliar, dark, and dimly lit place, surrounded by strange robed women who seemed more afraid of him than he was of them.

They all had mixed reactions and resumed their discussion amongst themselves. Some were excited at the prospect of being able to communicate with the man they had summoned, while others expressed concerns about his potential friendliness. Mira, however, remained impassive, not participating in the current conversation among the robed women. Instead, she looked down, lost in thought. The salaryman felt confused and annoyed by the whole ordeal.

Finally, after a short while, Mira spoke again, "Enough," she ordered, signaling the group to quiet down. And with that, all the other women ceased their discussion. Mira then cleared her throat and stepped forward to the man.

"I apologize for the cold treatment that we displayed toward you," the woman named Mira said to the salaryman. The salaryman was taken aback by the woman's sudden politeness, but he stood his ground and replied to this Mira woman, "Uh, yeah, no problem, I guess?" He said with a confused tone.

"You might be wondering where you are right now, correct?" Mira asked the salaryman.

"Uh... yeah?" was the only thing the salaryman could reply. He indeed was wondering where he was. One moment he was walking through the bustling city, browsing the idol forum, and almost getting run over by a truck. The next thing he knew, he was in some unknown stone room that seemed like a damn ritual.

"I will explain everything to you, but first, would you kindly tell us your name?" The woman named Mira said to the salaryman. The salaryman was a bit hesitant to give some stranger his name, but... he didn't really think there was much he could do in this strange environment he found himself in.

"Okay. My name is Alex..." The salaryman said to the robed women, now they knew his name. Everyone began to murmur among themselves about the now-named Alex. Mira raised her hand, signaling the group to silence their chatter, and they complied.

"Sir Alex, right? I would like to introduce myself. My name is Mira Clementine. You can call me Mira, Sir Alex," Mira said to Alex, trying to inform him of her identity, likely to ease the tense atmosphere between him and her group. For the most part, it didn't, because he was still confused about why he was here. So, he remained quiet, allowing Mira to continue.

"Sir Alex, we have summoned you from your world," this revelation surprised Alex a lot. "Summoned?!" he exclaimed, with a bit of excitement in his tone. The robed women were startled by Alex's sudden outburst. Mira, too, was surprised, but she had to remain composed.

Alex was genuinely excited at the thought that he was summoned to another world; the 'Isekai' fantasy that he also consumed en masse with his mostly otaku hobby. However, he reeled his excitement back, doubting if this was actually real or just some elaborate prank by a TV studio or some famous online Tubers.

"Sir Alex, we beseech your aid as our chosen champion in the Demon Kingdom's quest for world conquest," Mira stated their request for help to Alex.

"Eh, sure, I guess – WAIT, Demon Kingdom? World Conquest?!" Alex was about to agree to Mira's request but was taken aback by the last part of their plea. Demon Kingdom? World Conquest? Why would demons summon a hero?

Mira ignored his confusion and raised her hand to her group, "Bring me the 'appraisal ball'," she ordered. "Yes, ma'am," said a few of the robed women. Soon after, a trolley was brought in, and on top of that trolley was some sort of crystal ball. They presented the crystal ball to him, "Sir Alex, please place your hand on the appraisal ball," Mira requested kindly, still ignoring his previous confusion.

Thinking that this whole thing wouldn't go anywhere unless he followed through with their weird act, he sighed and then put his right hand onto the crystal ball they dubbed as the 'appraisal ball'. Suddenly, the crystal ball glowed up, and then some sort of huge hologram displayed on top of it where everyone could see. The hologram was filled with some sort of status that you would see in RPG games.

Mira then came forward to read the status in the hologram, "Let's see... 'Name: Alex Lee'... 'Race: Human'... 'Job'... 'Idol Producer'???"