Chapter 2 - A Heroic Revelation (Part 1)

The Reimagining of the Bow Hero

Chapter 2 – A Heroic Revelation

Author's Note: Chapter 2 is out, not much to say. There isn't that much room for deviation from canon, but it will happen very soon.

*DISCLAIMER! For this chapter only, some words said by the king and the robed people will be the same as in the LN. Since they already scripted most of this out, there is no reasonable reason why they would suddenly change it, since there hasn't been enough time for the protagonist to make any changes to the timeline.

" Where was I?"

Those where the only words in my mind as I heard a group of people dressed in strange robes chattering among themselves. They were staring at me with pure astonishment, and I didn't feel comfortable being the center of attention in the midst of a bunch of strangers.

As my eyes swept the room to further grasp the situation, I saw three other normally dressed men. They were also bewildered and did not understand what was going on.

How did this happen? I remember before blacking out that I clicked on some weird link and downloaded it and read some sort of story.

The next moment, I was here. I didn't even have time to say good-bye to my dormmates.

What I could grasp so far is that I was in a dark, dingy room made with stone. This looked like the inside of that castle I visited while in Southern Germany.

Strange patterns littered the floor I was standing on. It was glowing, emanating turquoise light, providing the only illumination other than the bright door that the strange people were blocking.

As I looked down, I noticed something strange. I definitely didn't have that before.

Why did I possess a bow? This bow was unexpectedly light, like some sort of Nerf toy. It's composition, however, felt high quality. It didn't make any sense how something so beautiful and heavy in appearance could be lighter than some cheap plastic. I also had some arrows in a quiver behind my back.

None of this made any sense. The only thing on my mind, and most likely on the other threes as well was:

"Where the heck are we right now?"

I was going to voice my concerns, but the man carrying a sword appearing similar to my bow asked the exact same question to the people clad in robes.

"Oh Heroes! Please save our world!"

The three of them shouted in unison.

"What do you mean?"

I didn't speak though, as I did not want to offend these strange people. I would like to have better knowledge of the situation anyways and letting those three do the talking would be most beneficial. I was without any allies, in an unfamiliar place.

I couldn't afford to make any mistakes.

One of the ones in the robes answered our question.

"There are many complications in this situation, but to offer a simple answer to your question, we have just completed an ancient ceremony and summoned you four Heroes."

"I was summoned? How come?"

I almost wanted to laugh out loud. This sounded like some social experiment pulled off by the other fraternities, to try to get me to screw up the test. That explains why the strange email was sent, and the brightness was turned up. Maybe one of them was hiding in my room and bopped me on the head with a baseball bat.

I was so about to call them out on that but decided to wait. These people could be a cult or serial killers for all I know, so I didn't want to risk anything. Patience is key, after all.

The robed individual continued his clearly scripted monologue.

"Our world teeters on the brink of destruction. Heroes, please lend us your strength."

The men with the sword and the spear began complaining.

"I won't help you."

"Me neither."

"Send us home, will ya?"

"Yeah, this isn't funny!"

They continued ranting on and on.

Surprisingly, the man with the shield stayed silent.

I, for one, did not comment at all. I wanted to see what the robed people would do to such a reaction. I could clearly tell that the men wielding the sword and the spear were quite stupid. Out the bunch, only the man with the shield seemed to have some brains.

All they did was continue bowing, waiting for the blabbering to cease.

After even more complaining, the man with the sword yelled: "Have you no remorse for summoning us here? Did you stop to consider our feelings?"

I did agree, but no need to babble about it like a heartbroken teen.

The man with the spear said: "Even if we do help you out and save the world, what will we get? This seems like such a chore, like we're janitors or something. I'm not doing forced labor!"

This went on for a while more.

After respectfully bowing for even longer, the complaining ended.

The man who was speaking to us peered up, and then offered the two a deal they couldn't refuse.

"We would like very much for you to speak with our king. He will discuss payment and compensation with you in the throne room."

The men with the sword and spear gleamed in excitement. What an obviously greedy bunch.

"Fine."

"Whatever."

"We'll do it."

"Sure, we better get something for this."

The duo quickly walked out of the room. The man and the shield and I trailed behind.

As we began scaling the steps, I decided it was a good time to make some acquaintances. I was pretty sure I was summoned to another world, anime style, but I still had my doubts. Anyways, if we really were kidnapped, it was important to make friends in order to make an escape plan.

"Hey, my name is Satoshi. What's your name?"

The man with the shield tersely responded.

"My name is Naofumi. Nice to meet you."

I decided to ask him a question.

"Do you think we really were summoned here?"

"Yeah, I think we were. I was reading a book, and then I blanked out and waked up here. That is too abnormal to be anything but a summoning."

His words did have some sense to them. I won't bother to make friends with the other two, since they were too stuck up and could get me involved in their trouble. It was better to wait and see until making any rash decisions.

As we walked by a window, we glanced outwards, sweeping the landscape below with our eyes. What lay before caused our jaws to drop in unison.

It was truly breathtaking. Fluffy, white clouds lined the sky, a city resembling a medieval setting sprawled outwards from the castle we were in. The houses were neatly lined up, with small, windy alleyways adjoining the larger, cobblestone streets. It was like something out of a Disney princess movie.

I wanted to see more, but the robed individuals urged us on. We were ushed up the stairs and down a hall, and right through the throne room door.

There, an old man wearing regal robes sat before us, all high and mighty on a throne.

"Ho. So these are the four Holy Heroes of Legend." He remarked in an authoritative voice.

Thanks for reading! Chapter 3 out tomorrow!