Chapter 1: Where am I?

  I sighed in relief, sitting back in my worn-out office chair within my room—a space with a memory foam bed on the floor to one side and a desk with my gaming laptop and gaming console on top of it. My eyes were glued to my laptop at the final chapter of my horror story, “Blank Canvas Agency,” to complete the entire saga. Stretching my arms overhead, I looked at the timer to find it was close to three in the morning before chuckling.

  “All that time to complete one story,” I paused and looked up at the ceiling in deep thought before groaning. “Yup, still feel like a dick for abandoning my other stories...”

  Getting to my feet, I made my way to my bed and closed my eyes, going to flop down on my soft memory foam mattress after turning my laptop off, causing my room to go completely black. Wearing nothing more than my black sports shorts, I allowed the darkness to slowly take me.

  “Sleep time,” I whispered.

  Resting face-first in my bed, I smiled and began to drift off into sleep, only to feel a strong gust hit my half-naked body. This snapped me awake almost instantly as I pushed myself up to my knees and looked around. My focus fell on the only light coming from around my bed as a gust of wind surrounded my form, forcing me to cover my eyes.

  “Human...” a raspy voice called as I snapped my attention toward the voice to see a worn demon lying against a ruined wall.

  My eyes began to scan my surroundings, finding myself in a ruined castle. Looking behind me, I found the bodies of three people who lay upon the ground, the light in their eyes absent.

  “I must beg you... to save this world...” he begged as I turned toward the man, who had blood gushing from his mouth while one of his hands held onto what seemed to be a holy sword that was plugged into his chest. “I do... not have much time...”

  “Save the world? What? Huh? I don't even know what the hell is going on,” I stammered while getting to my feet and walking over to him, confused and worried.

  As I got closer, I could see the man a little more clearly, even with the lack of good lighting. He was a well-built warrior, armed in heavy black armor with his helmet lying beside him, with blue skin and crimson red eyes, followed by silver hair that was combed back.

  “Please... protect my daughter,” he said, looking into my eyes before the light in his disappeared.

  “Dude, I don't even know who you are! Don't die on me with this cliffhanger, man!” I shouted, grabbing his shoulder and shaking his corpse.

  “Papa?” A young girl's voice was heard as I turned toward the noise to see a kid peeking behind the wall at me and her now-dead father.

  I had no idea what to say, nor did I know what to do in this situation. Hanging my head down and letting out a heavy sigh, I turned and looked at the crying girl. She was the exact image of the man who talked to me before passing, aside from being a toddler, having longer hair, and being a girl, judging by her voice.

  “Do you know what is going on?” I asked before a dark elf came out from behind the girl and huffed.

  She had greyish skin and long white hair tied into a ponytail with silver eyes, which snapped over to me. Unlike me, she wore a black and grey maid outfit along with a weapon tied to her side. There was her bust, which was B, but I did not look too long before turning away with a flushed face.

  “Human!” the dark elf screamed, which caused me to snap my attention to her face as she pulled out a rapier and thrust it straight into my chest without hesitation, causing my eyes to go wide.

  “Fuuuuuu—” I screamed, my hands gripping the blade that had pierced through my heart, since I had no shirt on to begin with, blood gushing from my mouth. “I just... fucking... got here...”

  ‘And you will remain here.’ A voice whispered into my ear.

  I opened my eyes to stare into the dark elf who had impaled me, seeing the dread in her eyes.

  “Monster!” the dark elf screamed, pulling out the rapier and quickly cutting my head off.

  ‘Again.’ The same voice spoke, followed by laughter.

  My vision returned to find myself standing up straight as the dark elf stared at me in disbelief.

  “What kind of magic is this?” the dark elf questioned while I raised my hands in surrender.

  “I have no idea what the hell is going on!” I admitted that before the girl walked over to begin to cry over her dead father. “All I know is that I am here, and that guy told me to protect his daughter.”

  The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

  The dark elf only glared at me before swaying her hand to glow green and swinging it toward me.

  “Ye who lie shall burn by thy sin. Speak but the truth and be spared by thy pain,” the dark elf chanted before my entire body was engulfed in green light. “Are you a hero of the human kingdom?”

  “No,” I answered, confused, before finding out I could not move due to the green light that encased my form. “What the fuck?”

  “You are bound by my magic and cannot break free until you answer my questions,” the dark elf stated while glaring at me.

  She then fell silent as the green light never faded.

  “Who summoned you?” she asked.

  “That guy,” I said, nudging my head toward the corpse of the demon king.

  “That ‘guy’ is the High King Zovran Vaelor. Ruler of this—” She paused, her gaze looking to the ground, then gritted her teeth before refocusing on me to see that the light had not changed.

  “...not to be rude, but... the fuck is going on?” I asked, looking around in confusion while trying to struggle out of the green light.

  “You really have no idea what is going on?” she asked in a soft yet annoyed voice.

  “Not a clue. I just appeared here when I was about to fall asleep on my bed,” I stated while trying to move my body again.

  “What were my lord's final words?” the woman asked, looking to the fallen demon king.

  “...protect his daughter.”

  The dark elf turned to stare at me, awaiting anything that might show I was lying. After what felt like hours, she sighed and shook her head.

  “Let me see your stats...” the dark elf demanded while sheathing her sword and undoing her spell, allowing me to move my body.

  “Sure... how do I do that?” I asked, rubbing the back of my head.

  The dark elf groaned and shook her head.

  “Say ‘stats’ and then move it to me,” the dark elf explained.

  “Nana...” the girl cried while looking up at the dark elf.

  “But after we leave... I bet there are more heroes around to make sure the demon king is dead,” the dark elf, known as Nana, said before the sound of running echoed behind them. “We wasted too much time. Come!”

  Nana swept the girl into her arms before running through the hidden entrance, from which I quickly got to my feet and followed after. It was rough for my feet since I had no footwear whatsoever, but I kept up to the best of my ability. After many twists and turns, we came across a wall that led to nowhere, but instead of slowing down, she sped up, which I was forced to follow while huffing and puffing due to my low stamina.

  By the time she was supposed to crash into the wall, we came out the other side to find a single figure staring at us. A man wearing a white robe raised his hands.

  “Bind thy enemies and hold them still. Be sacred and obey, for I am the divine,” the man chanted as he swayed his fingers at us.

  In a split second, all three of us were wrapped in a golden rope that toppled Nana and the girl, followed by me last, who landed on my side.

  “Come on...” I whimpered while looking up at the man who walked over to us.

  “What do we have here? Another hero? Or a slave?” the man asked, squatting down and looking at me.

  My eyes looked up at the man to see his Caucasian face and brown eyes, followed by black, messy hair.

  “Neither?” I answered unsurely while glancing at Nana and the kid.

  “So, a freshly summoned one,” he said before laughing and slowly getting to his feet. “Let's see if we should save you or give you mercy for helping the demons.”

  “Yeah... gonna be honest with you, man... I am not liking any of those options,” I admitted with a nervous laugh, which he snickered at.

  “Show me what you are, for you are before the divine. Hide not what you shall be, nor what you could be,” he chanted while swaying his hands upward as if swiping through an app.

  Before my face, my stats revealed themselves—not just to the man, but also to Nana and the girl. It did not take long before the man started to burst out in laughter.

  “Holy shit! Man, your stats are shit!” the man shouted. “You are no stronger than an average civilian. You sure you are a summon?”

  I looked at my stats as a tear formed in my eye.

  [Status]

  Name: Gideon Johnson

  Age: 35

  Race: Human

  Class: Summoner (Conditions not met)

  Stats

  Strength: D-

  Agility: F

  Endurance: D-

  Magic: F

  Perception: D-

  Luck: F-

  Curses:

  Rejected by Death

  Ink-Bound

  Servant of the Canvas

  I could not help but silently cry at my stats and the three curses that pretty much ruined whatever I thought this life held for me.

  “Who gets stats like you? Even an F- in luck,” the man continued to mock before shaking his head and aiming his hand at my head. “I would put you out of your miserable life... had it not been for you being rejected by death...”

  He paused while looking up at the ceiling in thought, only to smirk and chuckle.

  “That doesn't mean you cannot make a great meat shield for me,” he commented while taking in a deep breath. “Serve me, ye who are but a lost lamb. Be thine shield, you who can never die. Kneel and remain silent while coming to me at every beck and call...”

  The golden rope around me began to shift into a snake, which slithered toward my ear. By the time it touched my ear, it shattered before the man's eyes became black.

  “Mine,” the man's voice released a single word that I had heard from the times I was supposed to die by Nana.

  Next thing we knew, the man began to scream as his blood continued to flow out from his mouth, eyes, ears, and nose. He eventually collapsed to his knees and faced the ceiling with his mouth wide open in a silent scream. At his death, the golden ropes that held Nana and the girl faded away, allowing us to get to our feet. My focus remained on the corpse and his blood that had created a symbol of a 'Z' under him.

  “What was that?” Nana questioned, staring at me.

  “The fuck are you asking me for? I don't even know what I can do!” I replied before Nana shook her head and turned to run past the corpse, with me behind her.

  Even though I was huffing and puffing, I kept pushing myself; otherwise, I would be caught again. It did not take long before we came across a balcony overlooking the kingdom that was being attacked everywhere, where Nana whispered to the girl, then turned to me.

  “We are jumping off here. There is a hidden cave we can use to hide for now.”

  I blinked and was about to ask her something before she threw herself off the balcony. Watching her jump, I groaned while rolling my eyes before peeking down at the darkness below. Who the hell would jump off a balcony without having a means to save themselves? Then I remembered one of my curses. I was unable to die... but it said nothing about me not feeling the pain.

  “Who killed Benny?” I heard from behind me, from where the dead man was.

  “Fuck it, YEET!” I shouted before launching myself off the balcony and gritting my teeth with limbs spread out.

  ‘What fun,’

  //to be continued...