Where it Began

Hello everyone, I'd like to thank you for giving this a read, while also telling you that this is my first ever novel so I'm a beginner writer. As such, the quality may not be spectacular and I'll probably make a bunch of mistakes, in which case please feel free to point them out, and I don't just mean grammar mistakes. Any constructive criticism is welcome so that I can take it into account and improve, as long its not straight-up insults. Hope you enjoy it!

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It was a rainy day, skies darkened with clouds and the city being showered with a heavy downpour. In this city, on the poorer side, stood an orphanage.

The lights were burning bright and children went about their day energetically, only slightly affected by lethargy. In this excited environment, there were two brothers in one of the rooms.

Cassian and Nikolaos Antoniou have been together ever since they could remember, having each other's backs. Though it was mostly Cassian. He was 2 years old when his brother was born and their parents decided they were not worth the hassle and abandoned them at an orphanage. Something about being too young to be saddled with children and wanting to enjoy life. Pricks.

Ever since then, they grew up together at the orphanage. Several people considered them for adoption but were discouraged because they came as a package deal and the potential adopters were not ready to care for two kids.

Cassian as the older and the brain of the duo quickly came to realise and accept the fact that they were most likely going to stay at the orphanage until they hit 18. Not wanting him and his brother to have a crappy life as street rats or homeless, he did his best at the public school they went to and supplemented it with self-study in the local Internet café in hopes of getting a good job.

As soon as he could, he started working two part-time jobs to generate some money. Considering he had a free roof over his head and free meals, he was able to save a decent amount of money by having few expenses. However, the world reminded him of its unfairness.

Some of the other kids got jealous that he and his brother enjoying 'luxuries', like snacks, that Cassian bought with his money, and targeted them. It led to a fight and the brothers got somewhat roughed up before the fight was broken up by the kind but strict Matron of the orphanage. 

Nothing too serious happened, the injuries they sustained were only a couple of bruises, and the kids that started it got punished, but Cassian was frustrated and got a membership at a kickboxing club along with his brother, so they could defend themselves from both the other kids and the thugs that frequented the area, with whom Cassian had a few altercations.

Now they were 16 and 14 respectively and were in their room where they spent most of their free time, enjoying their hobbies. Anime, Manga, Novels, and Fanfiction, along with Games and CYOAs. They did all this on Cassian's laptop that he bought with his earned money, nothing exceptional but it was a godsend to them.

CYOAs, short for 'Choose Your Own Adventure', were a type of game where one could build their characters by buying various perks and items with a limited pool of points. Various CYOAs were made for different verses and could be applied to other fictional works. All of this was facilitated by an all-powerful being nicknamed 'Jump-Chan', whose goal was to give people these opportunities and then derive entertainment from observing their new lives.

"Hey, Cass, hurry up already! What's taking you so long?!" Currently, the brothers were playing one of these CYOAs, it was one about "The Witcher", their favorite series and games. Both of them were completely in love with the franchise, except for the disgrace of a TV Show, and have played "Witcher 3" nearly a dozen times. The setting they came up with was, what if a witcher and a sorcerer were transported to Danmachi?

Cassian chose to be a witcher, an obvious choice for him and pretty much everyone who has interacted with the franchise, meanwhile, Nikolaos decided to go with being a sorcerer, having had a deep fascination with magic and everything to do with it ever since he first came to know about it. When he first found out that magic was not real at 9 years old, he cried for 2 weeks straight with Cassian barely able to calm him down.

"Shut up, perfection takes time." Cassian was currently finalizing his build. They also took two skills from a Danmachi Doc to link the two properly and round out their characters for roleplaying.

"There! I'm done, now we can-" Cassian's words were cut off as suddenly everything went dark and they lost consciousness. When they finally regained their awareness, the brothers could see nothing but a vast cosmos surrounding them and yet they could still sense each other's presence.

"Cass what's going on?!" Nikolaos tried reaching out to his brother but was interrupted by a bright flash of light, until a gigantic being materialized in front of them. It was in the form of a planet-sized woman with dark blue skin and flaming hair as if it were made of nebulae. She was dressed in a black bodysuit and her eyes looked as if they contained bright suns. It was an otherworldly sight and the brothers could do nothing but stare in fascination.

(Image)

The figure turned to them and inspected both for a moment before she smiled gently and started talking.

"Greetings Cassian, and Nikolaos, I'd like to apologize for the sudden appearance and the situation I've caused, but considering you two, I'm sure you won't mind once you hear about my proposal." Said the being in a gentle voice.

Cassian finally finished reeling from the sudden cosmic flashbang and immediately started analyzing the current situation and the being in front of them. He was mesmerized by her, the majesty exuding from her was breathtaking and she looked ethereal, but he gathered his wits quickly and started talking to her.

"Who are you? And what's going on?" Although he already had an inkling of what was going on. The being chuckled as she also realized this, she could easily read their minds but where was the fun in that? Nigh-Omniscience was quite boring after all, so she preferred to keep it suppressed.

"I think you can already make some guesses, but it is better to clear. I am, as you suspected, a being you can view as a Jump-Chan, you can address me as such as well, and I am offering you two the same opportunity that was offered to me a long time ago by my own Patron, to go on a journey to a different world." Her voice sounded as ethereal as she looked as if it was coming from afar and multiple directions.

"Wait, your patron? Were you the same as we are right now? Being offered this by a different Jump-chan?" Asked Nikolaos. Excitement was welling up in the hearts of both of them at this turn of events.

"Quite right. I was once a normal mortal as well until I was whisked away by my patron. Since then I have visited countless worlds and slowly become the cosmic being that I am now. However, I retired a long time ago and settled down and the boredom got to me. So, I have decided to seek out potential candidates and have them become jumpers under my patronage. As long as you don't abuse your powers, this offer is open for you two, and I will have something entertaining to observe. Don't worry, I won't invade your privacy. Too much." She smirked as she said that.

Nikolaos was all but jumping in excitement and agreement, however Cassian, the more cautious of the two reeled him in. He still wanted to clarify some stuff before he agreed, though he realized his consent mattered little if the being before them was actually malicious. "Can you tell me what world will we be sent to? And with what powers? I hope you're not some sadist who refers to our suffering as entertainment."

Jump-chan smiled at this. "No, I'm fairly vanilla to be honest, and quite on the moderate side, huhu. That is why my one requirement to you is to not abuse your powers and become vile monsters. But, the chances of that are quite low in the first place, after all, I was careful in my selection. As for my entertainment, anything will do, whether you decide to become an adventurer in search of dangers or farmers building a family in the countryside. The world you will be sent to is Danmachi a year before Bell arrives at Orario, although this is an alternate universe, quite exciting as I have not been to that world myself. As for your powers, you will be inserted as the characters you just designed."

"I see, then we accept your offer and thank you for this" Cassian was hardly containing his excitement now, this was like a dream come true. He didn't care about being yanked away from his old world as the only person he actually loved was coming with him. Nikolaos was right beside him, eagerly nodding his head in agreement.

"Splendind! Now then off you go to your new life!" Jump-chan clapped her hands and suddenly everything went black once again.