Ivy High School, a certain classroom.
The students were sitting in their seats, waiting for class to begin, the preparatory bell having already rung.
However, in the last row, a boy hung his head low, his eyes half-closed in drowsiness.
"Ugh, did I stay up too late last night playing Hunting Witcher?" Ed mumbled, too tired to even open his eyes.
But, as the student with the least presence in the class, even if he fell asleep during class, it didn't matter because no one ever noticed him.
Ed felt content with this: "I'll just sleep a bit longer!"
Just as he was about to lay his head down—
Boom!
Suddenly, a blood-red light curtain exploded in the classroom, as if a bomb had gone off!
Everyone was enveloped in the light, dazed and stunned, before everything around them began to spin!
Ed didn't even have time to process anything before the world went black, and he lost consciousness.
...
How much time passed, he couldn't tell.
When Ed opened his eyes, he found himself standing on a vast, desolate land.
All around him were scattered gravel and bones, the air carrying a biting cold wind.
It felt like a massive, barren wasteland!
And the wasteland was shrouded in a blood-red mist!
The mist was eerie and full of a murderous aura, with strange dark shadows occasionally darting through it, accompanied by the growls of what seemed to be monsters.
Ed shuddered, and the others didn't fare much better. Even the bravest students were trembling, their legs barely holding them up.
"Damn it! Where are we? How did we get here?"
"Is this some kind of prank show? The set looks way too real…"
"Shit, get me out of here!"
The students were in utter chaos, but it was all useless.
Before long, night fell, and the wasteland grew even darker!
The visibility dropped even further!
Through the sparse blood mist, the group could make out a pale moon hanging high in the sky.
Its light cast a sickly white glow down on the land!
The moon, usually a symbol of purity and beauty, was anything but that in this moment.
As the students' bodies touched the moonlight—
"Oh my god, it's freezing!"
"Shit, I'm freezing to death! What's going on?"
"Want me to lend you my jacket? Fuck off, I'm freezing too!"
Almost everyone shuddered at once, quickly huddling together to warm themselves, groaning in discomfort.
But among them, Ed was the exception. He felt no cold at all. Instead, he stared up at the moon in confusion.
He was just as puzzled as everyone else, but he didn't speak up. It wasn't that he didn't want to; it was just that, as usual, he was the quiet type in class.
Every day, his only companions were computer games and novels. He had no friends, so naturally, no one ever spoke to him.
"Ed, aren't you cold?" At that moment, a short-haired girl unexpectedly looked at Ed.
"Luna?" Ed turned to the blue-haired girl. Luna was said to be an orphan, and she was incredibly shy, just like him. They had a few things in common.
"I'm freezing to death. It's like being in an ice-cold world, suddenly having my clothes stolen… and it's not just physical; it's psychological too."
Luna shivered as she spoke, her voice trembling.
"I can't feel the cold you're talking about," Ed replied. He was the only one in the class who didn't seem affected.
Seeing how everyone else was reacting, Ed wondered: What's wrong with me? Am I just in better physical condition?
"You really can't feel it?" Luna asked, her curiosity piqued. "Even the class president, with the best physique, is freezing, and I suspect it's because of the moon!"
This matched Ed's own thoughts. He turned his gaze to the moon, which looked like the pale, glaring eye of some giant creature.
"I think so too," Ed said.
Though everything felt strange, they still had the mood for small talk.
Most of the others were more inclined to believe they had somehow been transported to a movie set, with the moon being a fake prop and the cold air just the result of air conditioning.
"Damn it! I can't take it anymore! I'm getting out of here!"
At that moment, a student stepped forward.
He wore gold-rimmed glasses and had an expression of indignation as he looked up.
"Get me back right now! If you don't, no matter who the mastermind is, I'll sue you into bankruptcy!" he yelled, seemingly shouting at hidden cameras behind the blood mist.
But all that responded to him was silence.
Ed then asked, "Luna, what did you mean by the psychological feeling you mentioned earlier?"
Luna seemed uneasy. "Ever since the moon appeared, I've felt like there are a lot of eyes watching me from the shadows... it makes my back feel cold."
"I think the moon is causing that too!" Luna said with firm certainty.
Ed furrowed his brows. "No, I don't think it's the moon."
"Because… I can also feel the sensation of being watched, like you said!"
As soon as Ed finished speaking, the blood mist suddenly erupted, and countless dark shadows began to move violently, drawing nearer by the second!
In the blink of an eye, a horde of bizarre, monstrous creatures leapt out from within the mist!
They were grotesquely overweight, towering over 2 meters tall, with sickly gray skin. They had humanoid arms and legs but crawled on all fours like bloodthirsty, feral beasts!
The monsters were all heading straight for the students, their eyes gleaming with a bloodthirsty hunting hunger!
Ed reacted the quickest, his shock evident. "These monsters… they look so much like… ghouls!?"
Meanwhile, the student who had been shouting to be sent back still had no idea. He was still yelling at the sky above him.
Suddenly, a ghoul lunged in front of him, its face coming dangerously close to his.
The boy's breath stopped instantly, and his pants were instantly soaked with fear.
Hiss!
The ghoul stretched out its decayed claws, piercing the boy's neck as easily as stabbing through tofu.
Then, with one swift motion, the ghoul grabbed the boy's head, twisting it effortlessly with a sickening crack, detaching his head from his body.
Roar!
The monster tossed the boy's body aside, and with a spray of blood, the boy's head hit the ground. He hadn't even registered what had happened before he died.
The other students weren't faring any better. One slightly overweight boy had his abdomen ripped open, with several ghouls fighting to tear into his entrails!
"Where did these monsters come from?!"
"Run!!!"
The other students were completely panicked, their only thought in their minds: run.
More and more ghouls were flooding out from the blood mist!
A slow reaction meant certain death!
Luckily, Ed had reacted the quickest. He was already a fair distance away.
And, considering his physical condition wasn't bad, he felt like he could easily outrun the others!
It didn't matter if he was being chased by beasts—just as long as he could run faster than the others!
"Ed!"
But just then, a sharp scream came from behind.
Ed turned and saw Luna. She had tripped over the roots of a tree in the wasteland, and now she was desperately looking to him for help.
Behind her, a ghoul was charging toward her!
"What?!" Ed's mind buzzed, and he immediately sprang into action.
He rushed over and helped Luna to her feet, just as the ghoul reached out its claws, aiming for her.
Ed gathered all his strength and delivered the hardest punch of his life!
Bang!
Just barely, he managed to knock the ghoul's claws away!
Ed grabbed Luna and started running without looking back.
He didn't even know where to go, but behind them was a bloody massacre.
All he could do was drag Luna along, running for their lives!
The thick blood mist completely obscured the path ahead. Ed racked his brain, trying to figure out how to escape this hell.
But soon, he wouldn't have to think any longer—because ahead, through the mist, several ghouls appeared, blocking their way!
"Fuck!"
Ed cursed under his breath. Luna huddled tightly against him, trembling uncontrollably.
Suddenly, the sound of urgent horse hooves echoed!
Five horses broke through the blood mist, charging right up to Ed.
On horseback were armored figures, each wielding various weapons such as bows, silver swords, spears, and other strange armaments.
They were all cloaked, with alchemical belts strapped to their waists. On their backs were twin sword sheaths, one holding a silver sword, the other a steel sword.
The moment Ed saw this, a single word flashed through his mind: "Witchers!?"
As the group of Witchers approached, they exchanged words with one another.
"It seems the prophesied visitors from another realm have arrived!" one said.
"It looks like we're a bit late. We didn't make it before nightfall," another replied.
"Hiss, are we sure these are the ones from the legends? The ones who can save the world?" a third murmured.
Ed frowned, wondering why these Witchers had time for small talk when they should be saving lives!
And here he was, facing ghouls and Witchers.
Could it be that he had really been transported into The Witcher world?