Chapter 1: The beginning

As my consciousness dances around, my concept of time is non-existent. I don't know how long it has been. I don't know how many times I had my consciousness forcefully extracted out of me through the engulfment of the sleepiness residing in me. I don't know how many days it has been since I last ate. I don't know why I'm still alive....

 The only thing I know was that they took me away from everything I love. They dragged me away from my house, away from my parents, away from the town I grew up in, and threw me into the cargo bay of a van, which isolates me from any possible light source, leaving me in the complete darkness, making me unable to see anything- I have become blind.

 I slowly breathed in and out, trying to gain control over my emotions. It took quite some time, I just experienced the textbook example of hell, it wouldn't be easy to calm myself down. My heart is still beating fast, despite 'it' happening some time ago. I slowly breathed in. I slowly breathed out. I repeated this loop for hours, until I am calm and able to think clearly. As I close my eyes and focus on the world around me, I find myself able to feel my surroundings. I can feel the cold metal wall my back is laying on, as well as the cold metal floor I'm sitting on. I can hear the sounds of the wheels spinning made by the van, as well as the laughing of the pigs driving the van. I can smell the paint on the walls. It is as if I could see through my heart. I slowly crawled around the isolated space, and I soon realise, it is unexpectedly large, the ceiling almost tall enough to allow me to stand, the space of this cargo bay could probably hold 4 to 5 people of my size.

 Think happy thoughts, think happy thoughts! Maybe I can make something work, maybe, just maybe, I can return to my normal life. I started to recall the precious memories stored in my brain, the data so important that I can never forget them. The recording of my time spent with my family. "It is only after you lose something that you realise how much you love them," they said. This cannot be any truer. My eyes produced a river of tears, and I am thrown into despair once again, despite my original aim to be able to think optimistically. How ironic.

 Time flies, with me doing nothing but trying to calm myself and simulate what's going to happen in the near future. Suddenly, a bright arrow of light is shot into my eyes. Someone opened the door. I instinctively closed my eyes, my brain trying to protect my eyeballs from the penetrating beams of light. Some seconds pass by, but I don't open my eyes, not because of the brightness blinding me, but because I don't dare to face what lies ahead, awaiting me. Rivers of sweat go down my face, and to my neck, I am nervous. No, to be more precise, I am scared, I am terrified, just thinking of what they are about to do to me petrifies me, I cannot move, I cannot think straight, its as if my body now has the weight of a mountain, and my brain malfunctions, like a computer short-circuiting. I count my fingers to make sure they're still there.

I try to quell the rising panic within me, I need to calm down.

*inhale*

*exhale*

 Every nerve in my body is strained with anticipation and dread. I slowly open my eyes, and slowly process the information my eyes are giving me. It is like the curtain of a theatre slowly revealing what is on the stage. I see two young men looking at me, both of them similar in height. They are wearing a fancy suit, the kinds of suits businessman wear. They signal for me to come down, and guide me to a gigantic building. As we enter through an elegant jade door, a storm of thought enters my mind. How much resources did it take to build this? How many people could be saved if only the resources allocated to this building was used for food? How many people died to hunger because of hunger, while this building prospers like this? Ugh, my head feels like exploding, and the pain in my heart makes me want to puke. These people are disgusting.

The soft embrace of the wind wakes me up from my world, and I force myself to analyse the interior of the building. I am greeted by a huge chandelier and two flights of stairs right after I enter. They signal for me to go up the stairs, and so I did. Each step feels heavy, it's as if I have forgotten how to walk. Every step felt like climbing a mountain, and there are probably dozens of steps before I can arrive at the second floor.

 What should've been minutes of walking felt like hours of mountain climbing, it took every single last energy from every single cell in my body for me to reach the second floor, perhaps it is due to me not drinking and eating for the past few days, perhaps it is due to my mental fatigue. Once I finished my tiring climbing, one of the men earlier handed me a cup of water and a piece of bread. At first, I got confused, what are they trying to do? Is there poison in there? Are they trying to kill me? But there are easier methods to get end me, and poison feels too merciful and painless. That's when the thought stroke me- maybe…. They need me. I take the cup of water and bread and gulp them down, like a tissue being flushed down a toilet bowl, the bread disappears within mere seconds. They look at me, point to a room nearby, I assume they're telling me to enter.

I open the door, and my first impression of the room is that it isn't half bad, its plain, its shaped like a square of about 5 metres length, and the ceiling about 2 metres. The first thing that one sees upon entering is a plain white bed, with the size accommodating for only a single person. There is also a small table, chair, cabinet and washroom inside as well as a door, which I assume leads to a balcony. The lights on the ceiling are cylinder-shaped, and are paired together, as if representing two people that cannot be separated. I enter the room, still looking around, and unable to process what happened today, and the roller coaster of emotions I felt earlier is still lingering in my heart.

They close the door, and leave me alone. Finally, some privacy. I lay down on the bed, extremely tired from everything that happened today, and after some time, went to sleep.

My mind flies into the depths of sleep, and my body slowly relaxes itself, every single muscle in my body gradually loses tension. Hours pass in the silent asylum of the room. My mind dances in the world of dreams, and I vaguely see all the eight planets in our solar system orbit around the sun.

As the sun peeks into the window, a gentle whisper wakes me up from the deep state of sleep I was in. My eyelids fluttered open, reluctantly allowing the gentle morning sun to embrace me. Along with a slow stretch, I slowly get up, until I am sitting down. I didn't have the energy to check the door out yesterday, but now, as I have nothing better to do, I decided to try to open it. Mother nature playfully blows at me, making my reflex forcefully close my eyes. I slowly open them, excited to see what lies in store for me in the views of the balcony. Damn, what the hell is this green and blue grandeur. I have never seen anything as beautiful as this. It is an essence of nature, contrasting to the man-made building I am in. The bright sun smiles onto the forest, mountains, rivers, everything below it. The birds in the sky squawk, as if to greet the sun good morning. The animals below accompany the birds as well, the sheep bleat, the cows moo, the chickens sing a melody to wake everyone up. They all live in harmony, in the luscious forest. They drink together in the cerulean river. They play together in the verdant meadows. They eat together in the lush pasture. Ahh, what a happy life they have…. If only us humans could live like that…. What a great thing that would be.

 **knock knock**

WHAT THE HELL my heart just skipped a beat. Oh, someone is knocking the door. I wake up to reality, and close the door of the balcony, and head to my room's door to open it. Oh, it's one of the men that brought me here. Wait what? His eyes are turbid, could he possibly be blind? But he isn't holding a stick, how can he not bump into everything around him like a silly child? Wait, I shouldn't be focusing on that, the more important question is, how did I not notice that yesterday? "Mmm? Why are you looking at me like that?" He said, while turning his head like a curious child. The tilt of his head cracks gravity in half, so enthusiastic, so playful, I refuse to believe someone like this would abduct me. "Oh, my eyes. Yeah, I'm blind," he added. Wait…. If he's blind…. How does he know I'm looking at him? How does he know which part of him I'm looking at?

 My intrusive thoughts defeated me in battle and controlled me to ask him about the things I am wondering about. As soon as the question went out of my mouth, I Immediately regret it, I wish I could eat back my words, I wish I never said it.

 "You see, I'm quite good at martial arts, and hence have refined my 4 other senses to it's limit. Despite being blind, I can still tell that you have short hair, and are currently wearing jeans. I can make out what is in front of me by using echolocation, the same way with how bats navigate. However, I unfortunately cannot differentiate colours," He explained.

 What? How does that make any sense? Am I in a movie? I thought this type of stuff is only possible in movies? Is my life a lie? Wait, why is he telling me that? Why is he somewhat being friendly with me? Isn't he a cruel person that took me away from my family?

"Look, I know your scared and confused as to why we brought you here. I know you probably hate us, but please, I beg you, cooperate with us. We mean no harm; all we want is your cooperation. To be frank, you are like a knife. You can be dangerous, but you can also be useful, our objective Is making you the best you can be," He added.

 What is he talking about? Aren't they villains? My brain is being overloaded with the extreme changes in reality in the past few days. Why me? What is so special about me? I am just a normal human, like every single one of my friend and family. Why did you choose me? I try to ask him this, but the only thing that comes out of my mouth is an awkward dry cough. My questions are stuck in my throat, I do not have the courage to ask him.

"Come now, you need to eat up, follow me, let's have breakfast," he said. Despite his sound being soft, it still shocked me, as my consciousness isn't focused on him. He starts to walk, and I follow closely behind him Why do I trust him? How can I trust him? But wait, if he has evil intensions, he could've done it much earlier. It makes no sense to wait so long. It makes no sense for him to pretend to be nice to me, after all, I am vulnerable.

We walk for minutes, but these minutes feels like hours, as the awkwardness prevents me from chit-chatting with him. Damn I knew this building is huge from the outside, but taking this long to reach a room from another room is on another level of humongous. My thoughts eat away the concept of time, and before I realise it, we have arrived at a dining hall.

Huge is an understatement. You could probably fit in hundreds of people in here. The ceiling tall enough to fit a giant, while the room itself is around the same size as a basketball field. Hundreds of shining chandeliers hang from the ceiling like monkeys playing in the forest, while the tables are covered with white silky cloth, emitting an elegant aura. The chairs are made out of high-quality wood, as well as fancy carvings on the legs. It doesn't take a professional to figure out that everything here is expensive and is obviously made for rich people. So why did he bring me here?

He keeps walking, and stops at one of the tables, he prepares a chair, and asks me to sit down. He leaves the room, and comes back with some bread, and serves it to me. He then sits on the other side of the table and starts talking, "Hey, I know your confused, but let me just quickly explain your current situation." I slowly nod, what other choice do I have. "We are an organisation with the goal of protecting peace between all the worlds. Our organisation is called "Worlds Beyond Reach". We took you away from your family because we saw your potential to be dangerous, and our goal is to try to make you into something that will benefit the universe. A hero," he continues.

 What? I don't understand, am I in an anime? Am I in a dream? "What do you mean? I don't understand. You haven't even introduced yourself to me"

 "Ah yes, my bad, my name is Max Scott. I am a rank 'D' fighter. Back to my explanation, we are currently living in a world. In the multiverse, there are infinite universes, and in each universe, there are countless galaxies, and in each galaxy, there are an abundance of solar systems, and in each solar system, there are usually 5 to 15 planets, although there are some exceptions. Regarding our organisation, it is currently only available in this galaxy, although we are planning to expand. We rank our fighters into ranks ranging from 'F-' to 'A+', as well as the exception, special rank 'S', 'F-' being the weakest, and 'A+' being the strongest, however, as there are sometimes creatures whose strength is so insane that it cannot be contained by even the strongest of rank 'A+' fighters, we call them special rank 'S'. By the way, despite our organisation working in the entire milky way galaxy, there isn't a single fighter above the rank of 'C', and our entire organisation probably wouldn't be able to take on a single 'B-' or 'C+' ranked fighter. By the way, a single 'F' ranked fighter is strong enough to take on 15 normal adult males and come out on top, while a 'C-' ranked fighter can pose a threat to a small kingdom. You, however, aren't even at rank 'F' yet, but you definitely have the potential to be strong, much stronger than even myself. All in all, I know this is a lot of information to take, and hence I have recorded this conversation, I'll send you the file along with your new phone issued by the organisation later," He replies.

This is totally a cliché anime plot isn't it, am I the mc of an isekai anime? No way, right? By the way, this guy has been yapping for so long, I want to eat my bread…. "I see, thank you very much, uhm, sir Max Scott."

"Please, call me Max. I shouldn't be stopping you from eating, I'll wait for you outside. Do let me know once you have finished your food, and I'll escort you back to your room," he says

"Thanks." Finally, I can eat! My stomach has been crying for the past god knows how long, now then, bon Appetit. I bite into the bread, and oh my, it feels like I just got sent to heaven. The bread is so fluffy and soft, my teeth feels like it's digging into cotton, while the taste is perfect. There's no improvement that can be made to it. The exact amount of sweetness, saltiness, as well as spiciness is mixed into a harmony of flavours dancing on my tongue. My tongue is blessed by the embrace of the harmonious orchestra produced by every single ingredient in the bread. The texture is soft, but also crunchy, while the flavour satisfies every single taste bud on my tongue. Please please please, I wish for this bread to never finish. This is heaven, if only I could keep eating this forever. Bite after bite, I slowly eat the bread. I want to suck it like a vacuum cleaner, but I'm scared of finishing it too early, I want to prolong this experience as long as possible. I don't want to finish this meal, but alas, everything will always come to an end, and despite me trying my best to prolong the lifespan of this bread, it still dies to my mouth.

I have nothing else to do, so I get out of the room and ask Max to bring me back to my room. I try to make myself comfortable on the walk back, and try to engage in a conversation with him, "Hey, what happened to the other guy?"

 "Oh, the other guy that was with me? He's josh, he's on a mission right now, he'll be back soon though," he answers

"Hmm, I see", I reply.

What else can I talk about? Urgh, why am I so socially awkward. Oh right, I can ask him about that, "Say, you said you mean no harm, and are just trying to help, but why were you so rough? Why would you not gently tell me and my family?"

 "Think about it carefully, if we randomly approached you, would you believe us? If we were to suddenly tell your family we're going to take you away, do you think they would accept it just like that? We were also worried of you getting out of control and harming other people. Once again, I assure you we mean no harm. Let's make a deal, if you are able to touch me in a fight, just a single touch is enough, I'll let you return to your family, or even better, bring your family here, whatever you want, but first, you need to prove your strength, so that we can count you in our fighting force in emergencies," he responds.

"I see"