[Nightmare]

The cat looked at the group with an awkward expression.

"Recent, unprecedented mutations in the beasts and monsters in Myriad have driven our forces to the brink of collapse.

I have been sent here to find noble warriors powerful enough to save our world.

You three are those people.

As Sir Helix has stated, I cannot leave here without our saviors." He explained with desperation in his eyes.

"Hah." Helix chuckled bitterly.

Lina and David, too, were depressed about what they had just learned.

It's one thing to dream, but it's another to face the possibility of death.

"I'm assuming we're leaving immediately, yes?

I assume a minute here is like a day in Myriad due to the traveling gap or something ridiculous." He asked sarcastically.

"That… would be correct. 2 minutes is a day in the time warp between Myriad and Earth." The cat confirmed with a puzzled expression.

Lina and David looked like they had just stepped into an alternate dimension.

"Okay, since we've established that we're officially cringe-worthy light novel protagonists, and I don't want blunt force trauma, I'll agree not to ask any more questions.

I'm sure you don't want to waste half a year explaining things to us when your world is at war.

However, I have three conditions for leaving immediately and without a fuss." Helix declared.

The cat gulped.

"A-And those would be?" The emissary asked nervously.

"First, I refuse to accept an official cringe-worthy alias like Helix the Shadow Whisperer.

That includes puns." He demanded.

The other two teens, remembering their dark history from middle school, burst into laughter.

"Make that a demand for me too!" David roared.

"And me as well!" Lina giggled.

The cat was laughing too, but he was sweating.

,m "Of course, we will ensure that your official titles reflect your fancies." The emissary promised.

"And of your other two asks?" He gulped.

"Second, I will call you Yakuza or Yakuza Cat from now on.

I ask that you accept this as an honorable title, considering I'm calling you a badass.

At a minimum, I ask you not to sanction or punish me for doing so.

I will refrain from calling you that during official decorum.

Is that acceptable?" Helix asked with a grin.

He wanted revenge, even if it was a first-rate show of pettiness.

"... Yes, that's acceptable." The cat replied while gritting his fangs.

The emissary might have fought back if the title didn't denote a fierce adversary in this strange world.

"Lastly…." Helix began with a dramatic pause.

Everyone looked at Helix with bated breath.

They were out of time, so this was the last demand before being hauled away to a strange land.

"I demand you feed us immediately upon entry.

I wouldn't have been nearly this cranky if you at least offered me some catnip or something." Helix asserted with a serious expression.

The emissary's eyes widened, and he burst into laughter.

"Aren't you the ambitious one?" The cat added with a snort.

Everyone but Helix was bending over, laughing for a solid minute.

Since Myriad was on the [brink] of collapse, Helix worried that they'd have to kill monsters for food if they laughed too long.

"Yes. I accept your demands."

The cat's diamond-studded earring glowed, and he casually pulled out a piece of jade-colored chalk from thin air.

Then he turned to face the wall.

"W-Was that an item storage!?" David asked with a trembling voice.

"Hmmm? Yes. Most people use the tattoo on their Nightmare interface by touching their neck.

I have fur, so that's difficult. So I use a storage earring for convenience." The emissary replied while showing David his empty paw.

Helix and Lina chuckled at the exchange.

The emissary smiled and started marking the wall.

He started by making a large circle that autocorrected its proportions.

"Oh wow…. Hey emissary. That's a magic circle. Right?" Lina asked with glittering eyes.

"That's right." The emissary replied with a pride-filled smile.

"It's not just any magic circle either.

You're looking at a special magic circle that humans can only use once in this world.

It requires an immense amount of spirit particles stored in this chalk.

So the first magic circle you see is also the most powerful in Myriad." He explained.

"Also, please call me Kylon."

"Nice to meet you, Kylon! My name is David." David replied.

"My name is Angelina, but people just call me Lina.

Nice to meet you, Kylon." Lina added.

Kylon smiled while working.

"It's nice to meet you both as well." He replied.

After an awkward silence, Lina turned to Helix with a scowl.

"It seems weird introducing myself to someone with a dossier on me." Helix sighed.

"But my name is Helix."

Helix stopped talking after saying his name and looked down at the crate.

Kylon nodded his head while continuing to work.

Lina huffed, and David gave Helix a wry smile.

Both felt he was being rude by not addressing Kylon.

However, Kylon was secretly grateful for Helix's cooperation.

On the outside, he was confident and powerful.

However, he was sweating bullets on the inside and immensely relieved that Helix hadn't put up more of a fight.

He was a nervous individual by nature, and his mission was of utmost importance, and Helix's cooperation was critical.

"What do you want from Myriad, Lina?" David asked excitedly.

"A harem." She replied without hesitation.

She had a determined expression on her face that lacked the slightest amount of blush.

"Y-You want a harem?" David asked with a bright red face.

"Hmmm? You don't?" She asked with a wicked grin.

David looked away from her with an embarrassed expression.

"Um… well, maybe if the women there w-want to be part of a harem.

I'm just surprised that you want one too." He stuttered awkwardly.

"Why wouldn't I want one? Because I'm a woman?" She replied with a mocking grin.

"Everyone wants an attractive appearance, wealth, and a harem on the side.

Isn't that right, Helix?" She asked while flashing him a wicked grin.

Helix sighed.

"It's true." He replied with a melancholy expression.

"W-What? You too, Helix?" David stuttered.

"Of course, David. While most people aren't willing to invest in their appearance, who wouldn't want to be attractive?" Helix asked rhetorically.

David unconsciously adjusted his glasses bitterly when he heard Helix's question.

"As for wealth, I could care less about living lavishly.

But I would like to be able to feed my NEET-like aspirations by throwing money at all of my problems—"

"True… but harem? [You're] interested in having a harem?

I thought that you were head over heels for Kylie." David interjected.

Helix laughed when he saw David's frantic expression.

"Why are you so embarrassed?

Most harem protagonists treat women like drunk drivers and swerve them mercilessly.

So it's not like having a harem will turn your life into a porn parody." Helix chuckled.

David's turned bright red again.

"You better hope that the world supports cultivation, David.

Otherwise, your life will be 900 chapters deep before you lose your virginity.

By that point, you'll be an old man." Lina giggled while curling a frizzy lock of hair.

Helix coughed after seeing David's painful level of embarrassment.

"To answer your question, I have a crush on Kylie.

But being surrounded by powerful women that can do all the fighting and shower me with magic items is a dream.

Moreover, I'm being dragged away from Kylie permanently.

I doubt I'll find someone else who can break me from my lazy ways again.

Relationships are a pain." Helix reasoned dryly before looking at the crate again.

David's eyes widened when he realized he had brought up a sensitive topic.

However, Lina wasn't even paying attention.

She stared at the beautiful magic circle slowly developing on the alley wall.

"What about you, David?

What has you excited?" Lina asked with a smirk.

"Ummm… I'm not sure." David replied with a wry smile.

"I'm excited to learn magic. That's all I've thought about."

"Aren't you ambitious?" Lina remarked with a snarky expression.

"You sound like you're planning on ruling the world." Helix commented with a bored expression.

"No, I'm not hoping to rule.

But if it's an option, I will push for wealth, beauty, power, prestige, and a harem that receives dozens of applications weekly." She proclaimed with a confident expression.

Helix smiled wryly at her proclamation.

"I'm not sure why you weren't pushing for those things on earth." He replied.

"Hah. Like I can compete with the wealthy, gorgeous women with their father's connections and mother's genes." Lina replied bitterly.

"Well… you do have a point." Helix said with a melancholy voice.

"What do you want from Myriad, Helix?" David asked.

"We're going to Myriad no matter what.

So aside from classic Helix responses like [to survive]—what do you want to do?

I'm sure that there's something that you want from Myriad." David reasoned.

Kylon turned his head to hear Helix's answer and study his facial expressions.

Everyone waited for his response with anticipation in their eyes.

"Broken stats." Helix replied without hesitation.

"Eh?"

Lina unconsciously released a dumb-sounding noise following his answer.

Everyone was similarly surprised.

"Why are you all surprised?" He asked with an eyebrow raised.

Helix's glossy black hair and pitch-black eyes complimented his serious expression.

His eyes weren't comical one-dimensional black holes.

He still had regular brush strokes of white in his iris' that distinguished them from his pupils.

However, they were relaxing when he was calm and vicious when he narrowed his gaze.

"The best way to survive in a violent world filled with monsters is to be a broken cheat character that can destroy everything without trying." Helix reasoned.

Lina burst into laughter.

"You know, I thought that you sounded ambitious for a moment!

Turns out it's the same classic Helix response with a hint of romanticism." Lina declared with a mocking smile.

"Turns out, you're going to be the same in both worlds."

Helix gave her a slight smile and then looked at the crate again.

"Just watch. Helix is going to be the broken protagonist." David chuckled.

While he was laughing, he had a complicated expression on his face.

He admired Helix but also wanted to be the hero.

By contrast, Lina immediately frowned, and her face turned dark, arrogant, and resentful.

Helix was extremely talented and had confidence that no one in the group had.

He was also attractive and could easily be accepted by the popular cliques if he wanted to.

While he acted lazily and complained, he was the hardest working person they had ever met.

By contrast, David lacked confidence, appearance, and talent.

And while Lina desired confidence, power, and wealth, she was no different from David.

Like most people, she accepted that she couldn't achieve those elements in her life without sacrifice.

Her genes ensured she would never be a famous idol—it was a fact.

She would have to sacrifice her life for wealth.

Wealth is only truly appreciated at a young age when you desire it and have free time to enjoy it.

Working 80-hour weeks to obtain it is the opposite of what she desired.

Lastly, power is the [result] of the things she wanted.

In short, her sudden rise in confidence was due to being opportunistic—it wasn't a personality trait.

Myriad was their chance to turn their life around and become someone else.

So the fact that Helix was willing to turn it down only increased David's admiration for him.

The chance that Helix might outdo her made Lina resentful.

"Hey, you three—" Kylon called out.

"What is it, Yakuza Cat?" Helix interjected.

Kylon gnashed his fangs in response to his behavior.

Helix wanted to get in one final jab before being hauled away to Myriad against his will.

Seeing Helix's complex expression, Kylon's face softened.

"The warp gate is ready." He continued.

Lina's eyes sparkled and David's face filled with excitement.

"Let's go!" Lina cried.

"I'm ready whenever you are!" David added.

Helix looked down at the crate.

He had his phone in hand, staring at it with a bitter expression.

On the screen, there was a group message with three words.

[I love you.]

It was a text he planned to send to his entire family—and Kylie.

However, his phone had no signal.

The wheel on the message spun endlessly, forever trying to send the message but failing.

Kylon looked at Helix with a remorseful expression.

He knew that the teen was hiding his phone to prevent the others from realizing the loss they were able to experience.

He was relying upon Helix, yet he couldn't allow him to say goodbye to his family or loved ones.

"Well, let's get going, Yakuza Cat." Helix said with enthusiasm.

"I'm expecting a snack the moment I walk through that gate.

So make sure that happens, okay?" He added with narrowed eyes and an evil grin.

Kylon started to gnash his teeth subconsciously but snapped back into reality when he saw the glint in Helix's pitch-black eyes.

While Helix was complaining, he secretly protected his friends from the reality they were ignoring.

Only Kylon knew that, and he couldn't help but admire him for a moment.

"Okay, then let's go see your new home.

There will be a banquet waiting for us.

After that, your exclusive servants will show you to your room." Kylon announced with a bold voice.

"Yours will be male, of course." He added while winking to Lina.

"S-Servants?" David asked.

"That's right. And you can ask them to do [anything] for you." Kylon replied.

Lina and David's eyes shone brightly for a moment while quickly lining up.

"W-Wait. Just to be sure, what did you mean by [anything]?" David gulped.

"It means they're prepared to have sex with you if you ask them to." Kylon replied bluntly.

He knew that the teen in front of him wouldn't believe him if he didn't come out and say it.

"By a shocking twist of fate, it looks like you're not going to die a virgin." Lina laughed.

While David was bright red, he didn't care about her thoughts.

Helix sighed after looking at his friends' expressions.

Seeing the two weren't moving, he unceremoniously walked through the rainbow-colored gateway on the wall with a lifeless expression.

Kylon didn't know whether to laugh or cry after watching Helix's exit.

He didn't have time to waste, so he quickly made more cringe-worthy promises and pushed the other two through the gateway as quickly as possible.

—

[A/N: Gramatical mistakes and minor inconsistencies = more content. ;)

Thank you for reading, and please drop lifeblood stones! They don't mean much to many, but they mean [everything] to authors.]