I've always thought of myself as painfully average. Not in the self-pitying way, just... honest. I'm the kind of person who blends into the background, neither excelling nor failing at anything in particular. I can hold a conversation, sure, but not well enough to be memorable. No enemies to speak of, but no true friends either—just acquaintances who come and go.
So, when it happened—when I was plucked from the mundane monotony of my normal life and thrown into the incomprehensible—I suppose my reaction was as average as I am.
I found myself in a void. A boundless expanse of black, silent and suffocating. The only thing anchoring me in that abyss was a single object: a small bonsai tree, its gnarled branches cradling a glowing, pulsing orb in its center.
And what did I do? Did I fall to my knees in awe or greet this bizarre sight with silent resolve? No, I screamed. I screamed until my throat burned, my voice a desperate plea to an empty, indifferent space. It wasn't heroic, nor was it particularly dignified. It was raw confusion, terror... normal, I suppose.
After I stopped screaming—mind you, screaming in confusion, which, given the circumstances, I'd say is a normal reaction—I slumped forward, gasping for breath. The endless void around me clung to my mind like a thick fog, filling every thought with a creeping sense of dread. It wasn't just the emptiness; it was the absence. There was nothing here, no sound, no air, no ground—just that cursed little bonsai tree.
I took a moment to catch my breath, my heart pounding like a drum in my chest. And then, for the first time, I really looked at the tree.
Its gnarled roots twisted into the blackness, anchored in nothing, while its delicate leaves shimmered faintly under the glow of the orb nestled in its branches. That orb... it pulsed like a heartbeat, rhythmic and alive, casting its glow into the void. Something about it made my stomach churn, like it was staring back at me.
And then it happened.
Out of nowhere, information started pouring into my head, unbidden and unstoppable. It wasn't like hearing a voice or seeing a vision—it was knowledge, slamming into my brain like a data dump I hadn't agreed to download. I groaned, clutching my head as the words flooded in.
The Pruner / ??? [Choose Name]
Power: Average
Arcane: Average
Armor: Average
Resistance: Average
Vitality: Average
Agility: Average
Stamina: Average
Beneath the stats came a strange, almost taunting description:
"??? is truly the most average of them all. Somehow… it could mean flawless but flawful. He could never do something bad, but not to top-tier perfection. He shall be the one who will slay the heretical beings in this other world, who are halting the growth of the Bonsai."
I blinked, the words rattling around in my head like a bad joke I didn't understand.
"What... the fuck?" I said aloud, my voice trembling. I staggered back, staring at the tree like it had just insulted my entire bloodline. "What is this thing even saying?!"
I gripped my hair, trying to force the nonsense out of my head. 'The Pruner'? Heretical beings? A Bonsai?! None of this made any sense. It was ridiculous—like some half-baked plot from a bargain-bin RPG!
"No," I muttered, shaking my head violently. "This is a dream. It has to be. This can't be real. Stop trying to trick my brain into acceptance!"
The orb pulsed.
No.
The word sliced through me, calm but absolute, like the swing of a guillotine.
I froze, my body trembling as I stared at the glowing orb. The air—or whatever passed for air in this void—felt colder now, heavier.
"What do you mean, 'no'?" I said, my voice cracking. My throat was still raw from screaming, but I didn't care. "I didn't agree to this! I'm not some hero, or warrior, or—whatever this is supposed to be! You've got the wrong guy!"
The orb flared, brighter than before.
No.
This time, it came with a wave of something—power? Pressure? I couldn't tell—but it made my knees buckle. I dropped to the ground, gasping as my head spun. It wasn't just the word that hit me—it was the meaning behind it, an overwhelming sense of finality that left no room for argument.
"This isn't happening," I whispered to myself, clutching at the nonexistent ground beneath me. "This isn't real. It's just a dream. Any second now, I'll wake up in my bed, and everything will go back to normal."
But even as I said it, I knew it wasn't true.
The stats. The description. The voice. It wasn't a dream. It was real. And the worst part? Somehow, deep down, I knew I couldn't escape it.
The bonsai tree pulsed faintly again, its light growing softer, almost soothing—if it weren't for the fact that it had just dropped this nightmare on me.
I looked up at it, my body trembling, my thoughts racing. "Why me?" I croaked. "Why not someone else? Why not some no-life otaku who'd love this crap? I don't even like RPGs!"
The orb flickered, its light dimming slightly as if it were... considering my words. Then it brightened again.
No.
It wasn't just a denial this time. It felt like an answer, a cold, unyielding truth pressed into my mind.
I wasn't chosen because I wanted this. I wasn't chosen because I deserved it. I was chosen because I was... average.
Somehow, that made it worse.
I collapsed back onto the nonexistent floor, staring up into the endless void. My head was spinning, my chest tight, and my mind screamed at me to reject everything. But there was no escape.
The glowing orb pulsed one final time, its light enveloping me. There was no warmth, no comfort—just the cold certainty that everything I had known was gone.
And then, I fell.
The void shattered around me, light and sound swallowing me whole as I tumbled into the unknown.