1 The Summoning

Waking up and found myself gawked by a bunch of old men in cliché wizard costumes wasn't how I expected my new life began. Anyone in my position would have felt awkward or confused or both. But, I had trouble to express my emotions.

Speaking of my condition, people would have asked: "Why I became like this?" "What caused it?" "When it happened?" "How it happened?"

To answer those 4W1H questions, I must start with my death. I joke you not! I died. How I died wasn't important.

After I died, I found myself in none of the afterlives I knew of; I'd found myself in the black ocean of nothingness. I assumed it was the void.

I didn't know how long I stayed in that place, but my end was close. Of that, I was certain! That void had been trying to absorb me. Slowly. A bit by a bit.

It was the most horrifying; I had been scared, full of dread. But, the longer I stayed in that place, the less I cared about what would happen to me. In the end, I lost my ability to feel fear, then other emotions.

However, my primal instinct to live kept struggling. Screaming at me to get a grip and found a way to live on.

When I thought I would have become one with the void, there was a bright white flash and then I found myself here. I was clothed in the same clothes when I died, consisting of a white T-shirt, a checkered red shirt with folded up sleeves, jeans, and a pair of sneakers.

Be that as it may, going back to my predicament, I had my attention on the robed men — actually, I had my focus on something above their heads.

[…: Court Mage of Melromarc: Human: LV…]

Words and numbers were floating above their heads. The floating… Character ID? All right. Let's call it that! So, those Character IDs weren't the only strange things in my field of vision. There were also features and functions you would have found in your computer monitor when you played MMO Games.

There were Levels (instead of one, I had two LVs) and Gauges for HP, MP, and SP:

[Role-Playing Gamer (LV 1): Spear Hero (LV 1)]

[HP: █████[150/150]████]

[MP: █████[50/50]█████]

[SP: █████[50/50]█████]

A digital clock between LVs/Gauges and a radar-like mini-map:

[3:31 PM]

A button to access Main Menu in the corner of my periphery vision:

(Menu)

And, a notice board with several notifications written in it:

[Notice — The System has hijacked the World]

[Notice — The System has absorbed the Holy Spear]

[Unlock — Holy Spear Menu]

So, Court Mage of Melromarc? Spear Hero? Holy Spear? Sounds familiar. I had some assumptions, but I held those assumptions for now.

I had my focus on the item in my hand and saw a gaudy-looking spear with a white shaft, golden decorations, a black needle-like protrusion on the bottom, and a red gem. It was a familiar spear for I had seen it!

It was the Holy Spear, wielded by Motoyasu Kitamura; Hero of the Spear and a supporting character in the Rising of the Shield Hero and the protagonist of the Reprise of the Spear Hero!

I soon connected the dots and then realized I'd been resurrected in the world of the Rising of the Shield Hero and had taken over Motoyasu's role.

Well, canon was done for sure. Did I care? No. I did not. What mattered to me the most was having a second chance in life.

I assumed that bright flash had brought me there. I realized how cliché my situation was and recalled some self-insert fanfiction I read in my previous life. Someone or something had picked me up from the void and gave me a power like The Gamer for an unknown reason. Alarming and worrying, to be honest.

I didn't believe the one behind all of these had done it for free; it had a purpose and I didn't know whether it was for good or bad. However, I didn't dwell on it; I was just starting and it was too early to bother myself with it.

Going back to the topic of me being the Spear Hero. Truth be told, calling myself a hero was a hilarious concept. I didn't have any conventional heroic qualities and attributes. I was a selfish guy who would have done something for something else in return.

Be that as it may, I viewed my surroundings and found myself in a room made from stone bricks; there were archways made from stone. I lowered my sight and found geometric patterns on the stone floor, painted in some sort of fluorescent material. There was also an altar whereon I was standing.

I wasn't alone on the altar; there were three unconscious guys. I had my attention on their Character's IDs.

[Ren Amaki: Sword Hero: Human: LV 1]

[Itsuki Kawasumi: Bow Hero: Human: LV 1]

[Naofumi Iwatani: Shield Hero: Human: LV 1]

If I didn't know any better, I would've assumed they were cosplaying rather than the real ones. But, it felt somewhat strange because I only knew their appearance in 2D. Now, they were real!

I ignored the sense of congruity and inspected Ren's appearance carefully, inwardly planning to do the same with Naofumi and Itsuki afterward.

When I was about to move my attention away from Ren to Itsuki, a pop-up window cropped up in my field of vision. The Status, History, and Skills of Ren Amaki were written in it. I skimmed it and focused on important things.

While skimming Ren's info, I wondered if it was something like Observe skill; I had read some Gamer Fanfic in my previous life, and Observe skill or its variation was always mentioned without fail; it was an important element in Gamer Fanfics.

After I finished reading Ren's info, I moved on to Itsuki's and Naofumi's Information. Afterward, I checked their Holy Weapons, starting with the Holy Sword.

[Holy Sword: A Divine Construct forged by the world to defend it from a catastrophe that had the potential to destroy it. This Weapon grants the wielder several powers as the following:...]

'Proficiency and Energy Grant, huh?'

I discovered the strengthening methods of the Holy Sword and recalled them vaguely in my memory. It was said that each Holy and Vassal Weapons have their unique methods to strengthen themselves and their wielders.

[Unlock — a strengthening method: Proficiency]

[Unlock — a strengthening method: Energy Grant]

Those notices appeared on the notice board.

I realized I was lucky to find out these methods so early. I then decided to check out the Holy Bow and the Holy Shield; I unlocked Job Assignment and Reinforcement from reading the info of the Holy Bow, Item Encyclopedia and Cash Strengthening from the Holy Shield.

I stopped checking out their information when they stirred awake and stood up.

"What's all this?" Ren asked.

"Oh, Heroes! Please save our world!"

"What?!" Naofumi, Ren, and Itsuki all responded in unison.

"There are many complications in this situation," the representative explained, "But to offer a simple answer to your question, we have summoned you all, Four Holy Heroes."

"Summoned?" Ren asked again.

"Our world teeters on the brink of destruction. Heroes, please lend us your strength." He and the rest bowed very deeply to us.

Ren frowned slightly and pointed his sword at the robed men. He then declared coolly, or attempting to look cool, at least, "Don't you feel any guilt for calling people into your world without their permission?"

"Besides," Itsuki chimed, "Even if we save you and bring peace to your world, you'll just send us back home, right? That just sounds like a chore to me." He was glaring at the robed men, who looked like a deer in a highlight from their action.

"Yes, well, we would very much like you to speak with the king. He will discuss future compensation with you in the throne room," said the representative, and then he leaned against a very heavy looking door until it opened, at which point he pointed in the direction we were to go.

"Fine."

"I don't think it matters who we talk to, but whatever."

Ren and Itsuki complained before leaving the room in the direction indicated.

I looked at Naofumi who was apparently at lost and recalled Naofumi was very naïve at the beginning of the series.

He was a good and compassionate guy. But, his luck was so bad because he was chosen as the Hero of the Shield in a country that hated the existence of the Shield Hero.

Realizing what would happen to Naofumi in the foreseeable future, I decided to take Motoyasu's stance when he was the protagonist in Reprise of the Spear Hero; I would support Naofumi, subtly. I didn't have Reprise-Motoyasu's power, so I couldn't just be a trigger happy like him.

If I had Reprise-Motoyasu's power, I would've thrown away all subtleties out of the window and razed this kingdom to the ground.

"Come on," I said as I extended a hand toward Naofumi. "Let's go."

"Oh, umm, okay." He responded shyly.

We walked out of the darkened room and headed for the audience chamber.