The next few days were a blur of endless feasts, royal events, and awkward conversations. I was quickly becoming a "celebrity" in this strange world, which was the last thing I wanted. Everyone treated me like I was some sort of legendary figure, and I couldn't seem to shake the reputation no matter how hard I tried.
Take the situation at the royal hunting grounds, for example.
I had been dragged there by a very enthusiastic Sir Reginald, who insisted that I needed to practice my "combat skills" in preparation for the upcoming "war." He kept talking about dragons, mythical beasts, and prophecies that involved me, none of which made any sense. I was just trying to enjoy a quiet moment, but instead, I found myself standing at the entrance of a large forest, a bow in hand, staring at a herd of large, intimidating creatures grazing in the distance.
"Alright, my lord," Sir Reginald boomed, "your first test: slay the mighty beast!"
I turned to him with a blank stare. "Slay? I don't even know how to use a bow. You've got the wrong person."
"Nonsense!" he said, clapping me on the back with enough force to knock the wind out of me. "You are the chosen one. The gods themselves have gifted you with the strength to defeat even the most fearsome foes."
I sighed. This was getting out of hand. "I really don't think I'm the chosen one. I just clicked a button on a computer screen and got pulled here. I don't even know how to hunt."
But Sir Reginald didn't listen. He handed me a quiver of arrows and placed the bow in my hands. I could tell by the glint in his eyes that he had no intention of letting me back out of this. So, in the interest of not looking completely pathetic, I decided to give it a shot.
I aimed the bow at the nearest creature—a large, horned thing with glowing red eyes—and fired. The arrow went straight into the air and landed with a soft thud a good twenty feet away from the beast.
"That's… not quite it," I muttered under my breath.
But the strangest thing happened next.
The creature I had aimed at suddenly froze, its eyes widening. Then, with an eerie howl, it bolted toward me at full speed. My heart skipped a beat as I realized it wasn't running away. No, it was charging straight for me.
"Uh, guys! I think I made it mad!" I shouted, dropping the bow and backing away.
Sir Reginald's face lit up. "It's reacting! Your arrow has wounded it!"
I blinked in confusion. "Wounded? I didn't even hit it!"
But Sir Reginald was already charging forward with his sword raised, as though he believed I had somehow struck the creature with a fatal blow. The beast charged toward me, and in a panic, I grabbed the nearest object I could find—a large, jagged rock.
I threw the rock with all the strength I could muster, and to my shock, it hit the creature square in the face. It let out a deafening roar before collapsing to the ground.
I froze, staring at the motionless beast.
There was a stunned silence in the air.
Sir Reginald finally caught up to me, his face a mix of awe and disbelief. "My lord… you truly are a force to be reckoned with. A single rock, and you brought down a creature of this magnitude!"
I gawked at him. "What? No, I just… I didn't mean to do that!"
But before I could say anything else, the rest of the royal party appeared, having followed us into the forest. They all stared at the fallen creature with a mixture of admiration and fear. Princess Elara was the first to approach.
"Oh, my lord," she said with a gentle smile, "your bravery knows no bounds. Not even the gods could have predicted this level of strength!"
I threw my hands up in the air in frustration. "I didn't do anything! It was an accident! I'm not a hero!"
But my protests went ignored. The creature was soon carted away to be displayed in the castle, its enormous horns mounted as a trophy. I was once again hailed as the hero who had single-handedly saved the kingdom from certain doom.
I couldn't help but rub my temples. This was getting out of hand. How could a simple mistake—throwing a rock—turn me into some sort of mythical figure?
As the days passed, the misunderstanding only deepened. Every small, accidental action I took was blown out of proportion. When I spilled some water on the floor during a royal banquet, the staff swore that I had "cleansed the floor of impurities with the divine waters of the gods." When I tripped over a small stone while walking in the garden, it was hailed as a "battle maneuver" to evade an invisible enemy. It was like I was living in a world where nothing made sense, but everyone was convinced I was playing some high-stakes game of "hero."
My followers kept growing. At first, it was just Sir Reginald and a handful of knights who started treating me like I was the second coming of a god. Then, it was Princess Elara, who spent hours speaking about "our destiny together." Next, it was a group of elves who followed me around, calling me "the shining hope of the kingdom" and offering me gifts, all because I'd managed to accidentally knock over a tree branch that they believed symbolized a prophecy.
And, of course, I had my growing "harem" of admirers—though I hadn't exactly done anything to deserve it. There was an elf named Lyra, a fiery redhead who insisted that I "save her from her loneliness" despite me having barely spoken to her. Then there was Mira, the shy yet oddly persistent royal guard who had started following me everywhere. Both of them seemed convinced that I was the one person who could "bring peace" to their lives—without realizing that I couldn't even figure out how to use a sword, let alone lead a kingdom.
I wanted to escape, to go back to my peaceful gaming life. But it seemed like the more I tried to distance myself, the more the world insisted on pulling me in.
"Come, my lord," Princess Elara said one evening, as she led me to a balcony overlooking the kingdom. "The people look to you for guidance."
I sighed. "Look, I'm just here by mistake. I don't even know what I'm supposed to do."
She turned to me, her eyes full of earnestness. "You've already done so much, my lord. You've brought peace to the kingdom simply by existing."
I glanced at her, utterly confused. "I'm literally just trying to figure out how to get home."