Fox rubbed her head as she woke up in a grand throne room, the inhabitants looking down at her in confusion.
"Ugh... Where am I?" She mumbled to herself as a pink text box appeared in front of her.
[Welcome to Magical Heritage! How should I address you?]
"What..?" She stared at the black letters, "The hell is this?"
"Greetings, young woman..." An old, raspy voice spoke.
Fox turned to look at him, and there sat a man that seemed to be in his late 60s sitting on a throne. He had some wrinkles, fair skin, wavy graying hair, and blue eyes.
"Who are you?" Fox asked, immediately standing up and backing away from the throne.
"Calm down, calm down. My name is King Gaiho. I am the ruler of this grand nation of Haltike." The man spoke calmly, assuring Fox he meant no harm.
"I see..." She said, still on edge.
"You're the third person that's been summoned here. This is quite peculiar. We've experienced an earthquake, and suddenly a new world began to unfold before our eyes." The king said, scratching his chin.
"Really? It was the same for us! I wonder though, who was the first person to be summoned here?" Fox asked, tilting her head slightly.
"Oh, they wanted me to keep that a secret. I can get her though." Gaiho turned to a butler to his left and nodded.
The butler nodded back and walked off. After a few minutes of awkward silence, the butler came back with Sorra right next to him.
Fox's eyes widened. "SORRA!"
Sorra's eyes also widened as she immediately ran and tackle hugged Fox to the ground.
"The hell!" Fox said, getting the wind knocked out of her.
"I've missed you so much!" Sorra said, sobbing a little.
"It's okay! I'm alive, I'm here!" Fox said, trying to catch her breath.
"When the hell did you get so strong? What're they feeding you?" Fox coughed a little, Sorra getting up and off of her.
"Sorry!" Sorra bowed profusely as Fox stood up.
"It's just that I've been getting so many levels since I've been cooking for these guys!" Sorra rubbed the back of her head, a slight red blush tinting her brown skin.
"You've been cooking for these guys?" Fox questioned, placing her hands on her hips.
"Yep! They even made me head chef. I mainly only cook for the royal family, and the other chefs cook for the guests we sometimes get. I also cook for any special events we host." She said it with a big smile on her face. Obviously, Sorra was the more cheerful type.
"Your cooking became that good? Damn... See, I told you! You have talent, and I guess it's being realized. Are they paying you a fair amount?" Fox looked up at the king.
"Yeah! The system said I get paid nearly triple all the other chefs. I get paid 230 gold and 45 silver an hour!" Sorra hopped up and down excitedly.
"Let's party up!" She opened up her menu, tapping a few things and sending Fox both a friend request and a party invite.
Fox blinked and accepted both. "I'm still new to all of this... What's going on?"
Sorra turned to the Gaiho, a smile plastered on her face. "Gaiho! Have Fox be the Royal Judge! She's amazing!"
Fox became flustered. "Wait! You know I've never had the occupation before! I was studying! I was like, A month away from passing law school!"
"Don't worry! With your knowledge, I'm sure you'll do fine." Sorra patted her back.
"Well, Fox? Do you wish to be part of the Royal Court?" Gaiho asked, raising a brow.
"You're willing to let me on?" Fox asked, a little confused. Being a judge, or at least a lawyer, was one of her dreams before joining the company. While working at One Level, she worked as a part-timer, but she had some prior experience with coding, so she became part of the team.
"Of course. If our best chef recognizes your abilities, then you must be of at least some merit. So what do you say?" Gaiho asked.
"Alright then! I accept." She said, Sorra hugging her tightly. "Great! Now we can be together!"
"I'll show you around!" Sorra grabbed her hand and began to lead her from the opulent throne room.
"Wait. Just remember Fox, you'll start tomorrow." Gaiho said, "but don't worry, we'll guide you just in case."
"Thank you!" Sorra said, leading Fox out of the throne room and through the white marbled halls. To the left were large framed windows that gave a nice view of the sprawling city below.
"Woah." Fox said, stopping to stare out the window as the sun sat high in the sky. There were clouds sprinkled here and there, but it seemed beautiful.
There were no skyscrapers, only houses, shops, inns, and other buildings one might see in a medieval town.
"It's beautiful, isn't it? It's kind of a breather from the terror that is New York." Sorra smiled a little.
"Where even are we? This looks like earth, but nothing like it. Also, how long have you been here for? You've got a full job and everything!" Fox turned to Sorra.
"I've been here for about 2 weeks now." Sorra said, reaching into a small, digitalized gate and taking out two potions. "Drink these. They should get you to level 10."
"What're these? Levels? Huh?" Fox tilted her head.
[Analyzing... These are EXP potions. They will increase your level significantly.]
"What even is this thing?" Fox asked, grabbing the system's interface. "Huh... I can touch it. Can you see this?"
"No, but we all have our own. This is like those manhwa or mangas, y'know? Reverse Isekais are usually what they're called, I think. It's where a fantasy world comes to the real world." Sorra said, popping the cork on one of the bottles and making Fox drink it.
"Mnggh!" Fox was squirming as Sorra forcefed the drink to her.
When Sorra pulled the potion from Fox's mouth, Fox sat up coughing. "Sorra, what the hell!" She yelled, wiping her mouth.
Fox felt a little stronger, however.
[You have reached level 5!]
[Ability Obtained: Eternal Verdict. See the skills tab to see what this power entails.]
She drank the second one, making sure Sorra didn't get anymore ideas. She realized how it kind of tasted like soda.
"It doesn't taste bad, actually." Fox said as Sorra grabbed her hand and led her through the entire castle.
It had things from a ballroom to a training room. It seemed like there was a room for everything.
From opulent living rooms to a dungeon where they kept prisoners.
"Oh! And I have one more room to show you!" Sorra said, leading her through another long, but narrower hallway with a pair of doors at the end.
She knocked on it before entering slowly. "Hey guys! We've got a new friend here!"
She said, bringing Fox inside as there was a roundtable of about eight individuals.
The table was completely circular, being made of out polished diorite. It had a star on it's surface with eight points, each pointing to a person at the table.
"Well, who's this lovely lady?" A man with blonde hair spoke up. He sounded quite entitled and rich.
"My name is Fox. I've been appointed to the Royal Judge... I guess that's the name of it." She said, looking at the people.
"A new royal judge? How interesting." The same man spoke. He had fair skin and blue eyes, sporting silver armor that had a scarf wrapped around his neck. "My name is Justin Vaul."
"Couldn't you all introduce yourselves?" Sorra said, crossing her arms under her large chest.
She then noticed a person sleeping face down. He didn't seem to wear armor, just normal clothes and a cloak tied around his waist.
"Can someone get Oku to wake up?" She asked, watching a woman to his left punch him in the shoulder, which promptly awakened him.
"Gah! Fuck, what is-" His eyes then caught on Fox.
Immediately, he appeared in front of her, relaxing on the ground, his hand on his chin. "Greetings there, fine lady."
Fox was caught off guard, "What the-"
A hand of her's was grabbed by him as he looked into her eyes.
He had fair skin, short black hair, silver eyes, and stood at 5'10. "Please allow me to introduce myself." His voice sounded soft and tempting.
"My name is Oku Boxnal. I'm this roundtable's assassin. The finest in the kingdom." He said, kissing her hand.
Just then, Sorra kicked him in the face, sending him flying across the room and into a wall. "Enough trying to fuck with people, you weirdo!"
"Anyways, we may not be able to introduce all of them, but these are the kingdom's finest warriors under the 4 Saints." She said, placing her hands on her hips.
"Four Saints?" Fox asked, a bit curious about them.
"Yep. I've never met them before, but they-"
"They're only the strongest people this empire has to offer. They're Vintara's strongest four!" A blonde woman with green eyes spoke up.
Her hair was long and silky, and her skin was pale. Her style was different from the rest. She wore clothes that only a modern-day guitarist would be seen in. They weren't flashy or anything, just a mix of black and yellow.
An axe-shaped guitar sat by her side, and she seemed like she was chewing gum.
"Sorra? Is she?" Fox asked, looking towards Sorra.
"Yep. She's like us. Summoned here. She knows we're the developers." Sorra whispered, looking at the woman.
The guitar she had was black, with single axe head having a yellow edge to it.
"No hard feelings, by the way. It was either this or working a 9-5 and playing only a few gigs." She said, sighing. "Name's Mara Bee, by the way, level 24."
"Nice to meet you. What were you saying about the Saints?" Fox asked.
"Oh- yeah. There are four of them. They're the best the empire of Vintara has to offer. In fact, in the two weeks that have passed, one of them single-handedly convinced the U.S. government to hand over the state of New York to the kingdom in exchange for precious goods, or just face destruction."
Fox chuckled a little. "Hold on, take on the U.S.? As in... The whole army? They have nukes and all that stuff. Granted, I don't think they'd use them unless it's a last-ditch effort, but still!"
"Well, obviously one of the Saints had some sort of power to convince them. Knowing the government, they aren't the type to hand over power so easily." Mara said, leaning on her palm.
"You know, Mara has provided valuable information to us. Her and Sorra, who's also part of this roundtable." A male spoke up; he had slightly longer white hair that went down to his lower neck.
He wore glasses with black frames, having red eyes and brown skin. This was Gaius Olka. He wore a white trench coat, black boots, a gray sweater, and black pants.
"Gaius, you're making it sound they betrayed their country, meow." A small male said, leaning on the table. He seemed to be Neko. Having dark skin, black hair that reached his upper black, black ears, and a swaying black tail, as well as yellow eyes. He wore black clothing meant for an assassin with some straps around his torso.
"Well, I mean... You're giving info to a nation you're not familiar with, Kyr." An older man with a beard spoke up.
He seems to be in his early 40s, having short brown hair and a patchy beard and mustache. He had short green hair, a muscular frame, and a greatsword perched up on his chair. This was Linus Halfelt. He wore silver armor, the clothes underneath not really visible.
"The Saint that went there was Atlas. I believe he could've gotten the information even if these two didn't spill." The final roundtable member spoke, having purple eyes and long black hair. She grinned, "Name's Sam Avila. Nice to meet you."
She seemed a bit out of place. Wearing a short-sleeved shirt that was black in color. She had a hoodie wrapped around her waist and wore black sweatpants. She also had dark skin.
"So, you're telling me that these 'Saints' are able to take down an entire modern-day army? You guys have swords and stuff like that." Fox said as Sorra giggled.
"We have magic now. Not only that, the way these guys move, I can see why they say the Saints can take down a modern-day army." Sorra said, shrugging.
"So Fox, what's your ability?" Sam asked, tilting her head.
"Uhm..." Fox opened up the skills tab on her interface.
[Skills]
[Eternal Verdict: You create a pocket dimension where you have complete control over everything. This includes time, space, all subjects of reality and the such. They bring the opponent here to be judged as you see fit. You are the judge, jury, and executioner. However, the one rule imposed on this realm is that the opponent is unable to completely die unless their will to live is shattered.]
[Jury's Sight: You are made aware of the sins the target has committed. The amount and severity of the sins enhance and multiply the effect of the Judge ability.]
[Judge's Sentencing: You are able to sentence target(s) depending on their sins. Depending on the amount, the effects are multiplied. Results will vary depending on the severity. This includes the following:
[Incarceration: The Target(s) will be sent to a pocket dimension where time flows differently. The time outside is always longer than the time inside, and depending on their struggle, they will be held down. The time inside ranges from 45 minutes to 80 years. Target(s) do not age inside.]
[Lockdown: The Target(s) will be restrained in some type of way. Physical, Spiritual, or Magical/ability-wise. Physical Lockdowns restrict the movements completely, paralyzing them entirely and leaving them vulnerable. This is the shortest lasting one, lasting about 30 seconds. Spiritual Lockdowns banish the individual to any of the 9 Dead Worlds for a period of time. However, since they are not natural inhabitants of the dead worlds, their mental sanity will drastically decrease. This lasts for one to five minutes. Lastly, Abnormal Lockdown restricts the abilities of the target(s) until they sustain severe damage. This applies to everyone. Regenerative capabilities are also halted. You are able to choose which Lockdown type gets applied. If the sins are severe enough, you can apply multiple or all three.]
[Death Sentence: If the sins of the target are beyond redeem, you are able to instantly kill the person. You can activate this at any time after the person has been judged. Sins must be severe enough. The ability will alert you on whether death sentence is usable or not. The target(s) soul will also be obliterated.]
"Oh, I can bring people to another dimension and practically torture them." She chuckled nervously.
"Oh... Anyway! Come on Fox! We've got a lot of work to do!" Sorra said, patting her back and leading her out of the room.
Fox felt like it was going to be a new, interesting life. She wanted to be judged before she joined the company, but this might be too extreme.