Summoned

Within a dark room, seated at a desk, squeezed between two tall bookshelves, was a plump young man who stared at a bright screen.

The glow of the screen bouncing off him, lightening his already pale skin.

His brown hair which reached his shoulders, swayed as his head turned, with his shifting focus.

The young man wore a black tracksuit with a green trim, moderately contrasting with his hazel eyes.

On the screen was a beige website.

Positioned in the corner was an anime profile picture, underneath it was the username: "Adamas."

In the middle of the website were several blocks of words.

His facial expression changing every so often, from mild interest as he started scrolling, to shock as he laid eyes on the words on the bottom of the page.

Seeing the words: "The End," the man threw his head back.

Exasperated, his eyes widened as he muttered to himself: "There is no way."

Not desiring the truth that he was faced with, he read through the page again.

Seeing the same text, he exhaled deeply, as if his soul was sucked out of his body, his posture weakening into a downward slump.

Which left him close to falling off the chair.

"Maximus's Journey, it ended?" He asked, his body sluggish and voice croaking.

He wanted to reject this reality.

However, it was the only answer he had, and the final one.

He slowly pushed himself off the chair, till he was standing up.

Slouching, he shut down his computer showing the message: "User Adam's computer is shutting down."

Adam had half the mind to throw his computer that displayed such forsaken information out the window.

His remaining common sense resisted the urge to do so.

Arms hanging loose at his sides, he went into another room that contained a large bed.

Posters of dragons and other fantasy creatures were on the wall from each direction.

Lazily, Adam jumped onto the bed.

Fatigued by the revelation of the news, he closed his eyes.

He thought that he might as well sleep.

The online novel, Maximus's Endless Journey, one of the main sources of his entertainment for the last 15 years, spanning 10,000+ chapters and much of his young adult life, was now over.

He did not know what he should do. What could he do?

He felt as if he was cheated.

Adam knew that was his bitterness, but such despair at losing something you adored for more than half one's life left a person angry.

The idea popped in his head that he could go demand a sequel, or some form of continuation.

But, the momentary realist in him knew that too few people wanted to work on one story for more than a handful of years, let alone decades.

He let loose a scream into the pillow to ease his anger.

The cool to the touch blanket he laid upon chilled his aggressive spirit.

He waited for his fatigue to force him asleep.

Not able to after several minutes, he left the room returning to the living room.

Stretching, he looked up, a glass ceiling above. Several lights of various colors sparking and bursting in the sky.

Adam wondered: 'Fireworks? Must be the 4th.'

He playfully closed his eyes, thinking: 'I wish if I could have a journey, that didn't end because an author got tired.'

A firework was the next best thing to a wishing star after all.

His gaze remained on the sky.

The pulsing, prismatic nebulae and stars bursting with color calmed him.

He mused: 'Yeah, how great that would be to have a life-changing moment.'

His gaze dropped from the ceiling, he had just taken one step when he had observed a blue dot appear beneath one of his feet.

Confused, he got down on his knees to investigate what it was.

He was bewildered when the dot grew rapidly, the perimeter of it becoming 1 foot, then 2 feet, ending at 10 feet.

He noticed with the growth of the circle, more designs appeared, that were reminiscent of sigils, which were interwoven, and layered.

Wave-like light beams paraded rhythmically around the edge of the circle.

That's when it clicked, this was a summoning circle!

The light encircling him became increasingly vibrant, appearing as if it was activating.

He had just wished upon fireworks, and moments later he looked like he was going to be summoned somewhere.

Adam knew about summoning from novels, but it was too soon. It may not be a conventional summoning either.

He crossed his fingers that it would be a fantasy world.

There was no telling of where it would bring him, however.

He would like time to say goodbye to his parents at least.

To stock up on modern tools, and resources too if there was more time as well.

They could be useful to bargain for things, wherever he was brought to.

However, he did not have the chance to do either. They were on a business trip.

When he tried to leave the glowing circle to access his phone to call, he was knocked back.

Strangely, it didn't hurt him.

Certain he did not have much time, the light that seemingly signified that the circle was activating becoming even more intense.

Adam examined his surroundings, one last time.

His stirred memories giving him the words he wanted to say.

He muttered: "Goodbye, Father and Mother, I am gonna be going now."

"Take care." Adam whispered.

There was an awkward pause, as he stayed in place for several seconds.

He cleared his throat, seeing he hadn't yet vanished, Adam reminisced.

His thoughts returned to Maximus's Endless Journey, which got him through many difficult days.

A few words, as his eyes dampened, escaped him: "I will show you a real journey, Maximus."

His words seemed to have left the surroundings chilled, as if time had stopped flowing for a split second.

As quick as the circle had appeared, Adam was summoned away, navy blue particles fluttered and trailed after the vanishing light.