A long long time ago, before the world was divided by concept as abstract as wealth, laws or borders. The gods once roamed the earth in conquest of one singular; glory. Driven mad by their thirst for glory, the deities carved out imaginary lines to mark their domains, enforced laws to rule their subjects, and made money to measure their wealth. Over time, their desire consumed them as they waged wars in search of the most glorious of them all, in search of the strongest, in search of a king. Thousands of years flew by after the last of the gods perished in their futile conquest allowing mankind to progress into a prosperous civilization guided by their borders, laws, and wealth left behind by their dead gods and in time, they flourished.
However, with the demise of the gods came the release of a great evil, one imprisoned outside the confines of known existence where neither space nor time existed, in a blank realm devoid of even darkness itself. Once fated to forever spend his immortal life in nothing but unending slumber, he awoke.
Deep in the expanse of the blank void lied a dark silhouette in sharp contrast to the void. Upon closer inspection a person could be found sprawled across the ground with golden chains severed towards the end of their fetters, lying listlessly almost as if they regretted the freedom of their unbound prisoner. Then slowly, he rose on his feet. His lean muscles visibly flexed underneath his dark ebony skin as he moved his body for the first time in ages. Though unbound, the fetters on his neck, wrist, and ankles remained like a testament to his past along with the plain white robe draped over his shoulder. Forest green hair glowed softly as he parted his eyelids revealing two monstrous eyes which had black sclera and golden irises with horizontally elongated pupils. And as his lips curved into a wicked smile, a stifled laugh managed to escape his mouth.
"-Ha."
***
It was the beginning of may in the season of spring with heavy rains pouring down from the thundering skies onto the streets of Tokyo. Amidst one such street was a convenience store. Nothing about it particularly stood out as unique. It was just a run of the mill store, a dime in a dozen with no redeeming features. it's automated doors slid open for a woman in a ginger-brown skirt suit. The young lady, as a productive member of society looked quite stunning to say the least as she closed her umbrella and gently swayed it down. On the other side of the store behind the counter stood two people who were almost comically opposites. Underneath a blue apron was a tall boy with shoulder-length long black hair and deep sapphire blue eyes. The lean figure could almost be called handsome if not for the dark circles under his eyes and his unusually pale skin. Beside the young man was a girl with brown hair cut short in a bob and olive skin with a bright smile on her face that screamed screamed of vitality, and for some reason she seemed unable to shut up.
"And then he winked. I still can't believe my lecturer tried to hit on me, a student. I mean who does that Aki?"
Unable to risk the possibility of sounding rude by voicing his desire for silence, Akihiko was forced to simply nod his head while feigning interest.
You must really like the sound of your voice. he thought as his eyes gazed at the ceiling in search of some form of respite from his colleague. Miraculously it came, although not from the ceiling but it came nonetheless. It was in the form of a blond woman somewhere in her twenties in a ginger colored business suit.
"Excuse me."
Her voice was soft and soothing, simply demanding the attention of those who heard it, abruptly pulling Akihiko's gaze towards her and somehow managing to silence the rambling girl at the same time.
"I'd like to pay for these."
The blonde lady smiled softly as she placed her shopping basket on the counter. Inside it was a pack of instant noodle, a can of beer and a volume of a light novel titled "broken".
The latest volume, huh? You've got good taste.
Without sparing a second glance at the lady's choice of dinner, Aki promptly accepted her credit card quietly bagging her goods after she paid. Before long the beautiful lady was on her way to the exit with her back in full view.
"Weird much."
Hearing Suzu badmouth the lady, Kurai turned in her direction and sighed.
"Somehow I doubt our sales with skyrocket if we begin to question our customer's choice."
Suzu yelped after realizing the question was directed at her but quickly continued her story like nothing happened.
I wish all girls were like this. Beautiful, and quiet too.
Kurai couldn't help but wonder what kind of lift the blonde woman lived and how her day probably went, then not long after, a short middle aged man with a kind demeanor tapped him on his shoulder.
"I think that's enough for today. You can go."
Kurai glanced at the time which was a few minutes past six.
"I've still got about an hour before my shift ends."
"With rain like this I doubt we'll be gett a lot of customers."
For a split second, Kurai though of declining the man's offer but thought better of it. He was tired and badly needed to sleep.
"Thanks old man."
Several minutes later, he walked out of the store with an umbrella in hand before completely disappearing from view. The old man sighed as he walked towards the counter with a solemn expression.
"Poor kid."
I wish there was more I could do to help.
To prevent his mood from turning foul, the old man glanced at the college student behind the counter.
"Suzu dear."
"Yes? Can I go too?"
"No."
***
After a long and stressful day Akihiko finally reached his house. Standing in front of a two story building with vibrant colors he couldn't help but sigh. Without further ado he slid his keys into the keyhole of the door and unblocked. The interior of his house was just like always, desolate and sad. At this point the rain had stopped and Kurai dropped his umbrella and walked through the door. Then at that moment his blue eyes widened in awe. A gale blew past him and the putrid smell of blood and smoke assaulted his nostrils, however was left him stunned was the unfamiliar landscape in front of him. The streets were paved with stone and archaic burning buildings.
[ Welcome to Remnant, avatar Akihiko Kuragari. ]
Suddenly surprised by the pale blue panel in front of him, Aki unconsciously took a step back which resulted in a slight churning sound followed by a squishy sensation. Turning around he found his leg standing on the body of what looked like a human but much smaller, it's lower half covered rags with dark green skin and cold glassy eyes. He still couldn't wrap his head around what was happening but felt slightly relieved that the blood wasn't from a person.
Suddenly a new panel came into view. Much like the last one it seemed to float in air without being projected by anything.
[ You have slain a goblin warrior.]
Goblin?
It seemed the green creature had only finally succumbed to it's injuries after being stepped on and funny enough what ever power was at play attributed the kill to Aki.
Before he had a chance to vaguely comprehend was was going on, Aki heard the sound of footsteps rushing to his direction, judging by the sound, they belonged to more than one person. He turned to the alley between two large buildings and hid in the shadows of their embrace as he watched a swarm of the fiendish goblins rise pash him on the back of silver furred wolves, each armed with a crude spear still deadly enough to leave a hole in his body.
A wave of relief washed over his body after watching the last of the monsters run off into the distance. Suddenly curious about his location, Aki turned around to find a familiar blonde woman behind him with an expression of fear masking her face. Much further behind her someone lurked in the shadows with an ominous presence.