A Loner's Calling

The day started like any other day, me going to school alone while observing the other students on their way while walking alongside their friends. Their cheerful voices penetrated my ears, giving me a tinge of gloom as I continued to walk towards school. That was the normal daily life of me, Ren, a loner.

Back when I was 8, I was involved in an incident, taking away all of my trust for all humans, except my family. I even had problems trusting my best friend and childhood friends because of it and no matter how much I wanted to change, this mentality still didn't go away.

Thus my current situation in school, me walking alone towards school, although I had a few chats here and there, I didn't actually try to get to know them better. But today, during a specific time of rest, it happened.

"Wha- what the!?"

A huge blue glowing circle appeared beneath the feet of our campus. It encompassed everything from this building, to the track and field course. Needless to say, the whole campus was above it. Students here and there were dumbfounded at this sudden phenomenon, others, who had the profession of 'Nerds', 'Geeks', and 'Otakus' had an expectant smile plastered on their face.

"Yes!! Finally!!"

"N-No!!"

"What the fuck is happening?"

Various reactions appeared here and there. There was even a violent reaction to the phenomenon, as expected by the bad boy of campus. His name was Takagi Ryouma, a transfer student from Japan.

By the way, the school we are studying in is one all of the countries in the world invested in. It is located in the Bermuda triangle, a place where contact from the outside is limited. I don't know why it was located in such a dangerous space, but probably because a countermeasure was made, this campus was made possible.

And since this school is one made for elites and for all races of humans, naturally there is a mixed nationality student body. Others were black, some white, others Asian, others Westerners.

During the chaos, holographic plaques appeared in front of us one after the other. It had a tinge of blue, while the characters were glowing white, and all of the plaques stated the same thing.

[Transfer to Heavenly Dome imminent… Initializing transfer protocol 111531-A… Initialization complete… All selected 'invitees' are to report to the God managing the world Unamea… Serial Number: 851325566897]

Well, everyone except me for some reason…

['Loner' title activated, declining invitation to heavenly dome… Remaining in current world… Accessing 'Status Card'… Access Complete… Using declined invitation as points for 'Status Card'… Process Complete… Accessing 'Space-Time' attribute magic as dictated by the God of Loners for all existences holding the 'Loner' Title… Magic Acquired… 'Status Card' points depleted… Terminating…]

Just as I was about to question what happened, the glowing circle below us shined even brighter before disappearing, along with all of the people and buildings above it, except me. Since I was at the second floor, without the support of the floor, I fell towards the ground. Luckily I landed on soft soil reducing my impact, just some feet away from a hole used to make the foundation of the building.

"What the… hell happened…?"

Because of the impact, my breathing was unstable. My back hurt because I fell down on my back while I protected my head using arms. Without any training prior to landing safely, this was the supposed outcome naturally.

I unsteadily got up while dusting away my clothes and body and looked around only to see an empty plot of land with some holes here and there. Hell, even the track and field course was gone.

Just then, people from outside the school, yes, there are people here other than students. In fact, it was more like a huge city on an island than just people, came running towards the school. And naturally, or more like something that was supposed to happen, their jaws dropped to the ground and scanned the entire area. Of course, their gaze landed on me, the sole person standing on this desolate ground.

"Wha--- what happened here…?"

Some people were breathless as they continued to stare at me with suspecting eyes.

'Ah shit… I know those gazes…'

The flashbacks from when I was eight returned. I was just walking around school only to get called out for no reason. What happened next was that I was accused of stealing money from the teacher while he was out. What's more, none of my classmates tried to help me, not even my best friend and childhood friends, although they had some worry in their eyes. The rest had condemning eyes looking towards me, telling me, 'Thief!', 'Give it back!', or 'You're a bad guy!'

Now, if you were in my shoes, try to imagine standing in the middle of the class, with all eyes looking towards you with distrust, disbelief, and some anger, not to mention I was still 8 years old, an elementary student. Just standing there in isolation as the rest continued to look at you unkindly while the teacher was scolding you for the crime you didn't commit just because you were there.

And everything I experienced was repeating itself here, but this time, it was much more dangerous.

'Fuck me…'

A few moments later, the police arrived and arrested me on suspicion for the disappearance of the school, as well as the students. Some other people were crying while shouting out to give back their children, others were just straight up telling me to die.

'How am I supposed to do that when I don't even know where they are?'

Such was human nature. What they see, and what they think, they believe. Much more if they were in distress. Seeing that their children went missing, and that I was the only one present, gave them a target to push all the blame to protect themselves from the sudden loss of their children.

And now, the police were taking me in, what else would you think if you didn't know what happened? You would probably be like these other people, bawling their eyes out while telling me to die.

'This is why I can't trust humans…'

Their nature is trash, mine included. That is why I strived to change myself, but didn't get any results, and now you want me to go through it all again…?

'This shitty world…'

I swallowed up all of the complaints I had and complied with the police's instructions. Moments later, we arrived at the slammer. They locked me inside and told me that they were going to get some processes done to take me to court. They also said that if I didn't have a lawyer, which I didn't, they would provide one for me. At least, the police are neutral, unlike the people affected by this incident outside.

Thanks to their neutrality, I was able to regain my calm and recall what had happened back in the school.

'Something about a heavenly dome and a reporting to God, as well as Status something… What was it…? Status… status…'

I recalled hard about what was written on the plaque. Because it happened all so suddenly, I had a hard time trying to remember.

'Ah that's right, 'Status Card'.'

Once I thought about it something appeared in front of me out of thin air.

'What the…?'

It had the same blue tinge as the plaque earlier, as well as the glowing white letters. But somehow, it was arranged like something from an RPG game.

Name: Ren Cruz

Age: 18

Gender: Male

Class: N/A --- LVL 1

Titles: [Loner] [Invitee That Has Declined]

HP: 1049/1050 (50+1000)

MP: 27025/27025 (25+25000+2000)

STR: 212 (12+200)

AGI: 209 (9+200)

INT: 712 (12 + 500+200)

WIS: 215 (15+200)

VIT: 210 (10+200)

Skills: [Space-Time Magic Lv. 1]

'…'

I was speechless at this sudden turn of events. Isn't this just like those novels where you were transported to another world with game elements? No wonder those Otakus had a grin on their face. Their dream probably came true.

But for now, instead of thinking about them, how about I try to understand this concept of 'Status Card'.

Loner – You are always alone. You do not trust anyone. You think and decide by yourself alone. You reject any invites to gatherings. You reject any groups. And you are also the strongest when you are alone.

 STR, AGI, INT, WIS, VIT + 200 when alone

 HP + 1000 when alone

 MP + 2000 when alone

 Class Experience gained + 150% when alone

 Skill Experience gained + 200% when alone

 All bonuses are negated when in a party, and a 75% drop in status is applied.

Invitee That Has Declined – You, who have rejected the God's invitation, have taken up the power of the invitation as your own.

 Status Card Points + 1000

 MP + 25000

 INT + 500

 Affection with God who had invited – 100

Seeing this really made my head hurt, literally. I had no idea whether this was strong or not. I also had no idea where I could use this for. While I was contemplating on why I had this, the police came back suddenly and called out to me.

"Hey, get up. The trial will be starting soon."

With an indifferent voice, he took and slid the key he was holding into the keyhole of the iron bar door and opened it.

'Hmm…? Does he not see this floating plaque?'

"What are you waiting for, get a move on."

With an irritated voice, he ushered me to stand up and walk, of course, I complied. I stood up and walked towards him, and then headed to the court.

'For a change in status, my body does not seem that different…'

When I tried verifying what my body could do with just walking, results did not show.

'… Maybe I should try some stuff later…'

Moments later, we arrived at the court, and inside, hell waited for me.