Swimming through the sea that is early morning drowsiness, Victor slowly opened his eyes.

Blinking away the blurry vision that came with waking up, Victor expected to see his room's ceiling which had a floral design in it. He did not want this room. Instead, he had another room larger than the one he at last got with enough space to hold all his books, games and his precious PC.

But his older sister forcibly took his room's ownership from him and he was left with his sister's supposed room. In other words, what he instead got was a small room barely enough for his PC, study table and his bed. He had to keep his books in a box on the ground! 

Victor: "What the ----------"

When he opened his eyes, he was still met with a ceiling, just not the one he was familiar with. This ceiling also had a floral pattern but unlike the one he saw every day, this one was more elaborate with its design and detail. Trying to view the rest of the room, he got up.

Victor: "Ah------"

His body ached, not the slight ache that people experience after a bad night's sleep or the satisfactory burn that came with the previous day's workout. Instead this ache was akin to the pain caused by torn muscles or a broken bone. His ears ringed with an irritating sound. His eyes felt dry. Combined with the confusion of waking up in a place which he did not recognise, he felt like a patient of coma waking up after a long time.

For his limbs, he could still move his hands although not without a slight pain but his legs felt too numb to move.

Slowly getting used to the state his body was in, Victor slowly started to get up.

???: "THUNKK...."

Suddenly, before he even had a chance to observe the room, he heard the sound of a metal object falling on the ground. It sounded very similar to a plate hitting the floor.

Suprised, he looked over the room to find the source of the sound. Looking around he first noticed how big the room was. Much bigger, than even his sister's room, in fact, this was twice the size of his sister's room.

Even the bed he was in would be able to accommodate three more people alongside him.

Moving his eyes over the room, he got where the door was located. Standing there was a woman with brown hair and a modest maid outfit. She looked to be in her thirties. When Victor's eyes landed upon her, her own eyes widened as her entire frame started shaking.

Woman: "H-He is awake. Master, he is awake, M-Master."

She went running out of the room without even picking up the plate which she had dropped. Victor could not figure out whether the emotions in her voice was fear, amazement, relief or disbelief. To him, it sounded like a mix of all of them.

He had wanted to ask her some questions but now that she had ran off, he decided to analyse where he was and his situation. Moving out of the bed was unfortunately our pf question, as his leg's numbness still had not faded. So, while he was scared who the woman was about to call, he had no choice but to stay here and think about the situation.

His thoughts first went to whether he was kidnapped or not. But due to several reasons, he concluded that the answer should be 'no'.

When someone thought about kidnapping, they would most likely think that the kidnappers would keep the kidnapped person in a dingy, dark basement away from civilisation so that they could not be tracked. The kidnapped person would have their eyes covered and mouth gagged while they were tied to a chair or a pole.

But instead, he was in a 5-star room, with proper ventilation and plenty of windows to light up the room. He was neither tied not blindfolded but instead was sleeping on the coziest bed he had ever laid on.

In short, this room didn't fit the bill for the rooms where you would keep a kidnapped person in. But he didn't fully let go of the idea, after all his expectations were based upon knowledge gained from TV shows, movies and books; in other words fiction. And fiction is known for exaggerating things so he could not base his opinions entirely upon his knowledge of fiction. Plus he still did not know who the maid or the person whom she called 'master' was or what kind of people they were like.

Looking around the room once again, he concluded that the owners were probably very rich or that he was currently in a 5-star hotel.

'No kidnapper would be this rich.' Victor mused.

Victor: "Even if they were why would they kidnap a random highschooler like me?"

That further made the idea of a kidnapping even less believable.

Resuming his analysis of the room, he noticed that there were tables on either sides of his bed. Looking at the closest table, he saw a bunch of vials, weird coloured stones as well as a stethoscope. But what caught his interest was on the table on the other side of the bed. On it were several photo frames shining under the sunlight. At the angle he was sitting, he could not see the photos clearly due to the intense sunlight that was being reflected by the frame.

Sensing an incogruity, Victor tried to move his body towards the table where the photos were kept. But the numb feeling in his legs still persisted so he had to instead use his hands to try to crawl to the table.

???: "Ah!..."

But a voice reached his ears before he could reach the photos. Suprised by the high pitched voice, he looked towards the doorway to find its owner.

Standing there at the junction of the room and the hallway, was a beautiful girl. She had lustrous blond hair which were tied to form a single braid going down her back. She wore a simple red dress similar to the colour of her eyes which were like a light ember.

But right now, the little ember in her eyes was tainted with several complicated expressions. Her jaw had still not closed from the little sound she had made upon seeing Victor.

Victor tried to decipher the expression she had. At first, he thought about whether the girl did not like him trying to touch the photos. But an angry person would not hang out at the door, gawking at him instead of screaming at him about 'How dare he try to see her photos!!.'

His next thoughts made the most sense. She was the 'master' the maid lady had been calling out to since she reacted the same way to his awakening as the maid, he assumed that his situation was not as simple as just waking up from sleep in another place. That would also hopefully explain the pain that his body felt upon waking up.

Her eyes fluttered with various emotions. Before finally, she gritted her teeth and get expression landed on determination. Looking towards the hallway she called out.

Girl: "Crass, come here quickly. He really is awake."

Hearing the volume and intensity of her voice, Victor jumped a little from the shock. He did not expect her dainty, little frame to make such a loud declaration. In height she looked to be around 5"5 and was probably in her late teens or early twenties.

Her expression changes once again, this time it was filled with guilt and regret. With a face like that of a stray kitten, she walked towards Victor. Standing in front of Victor, her mouth opened and closed several times as if she had lost her voice. Being unable to formulate any words, the girl gave up. Her gaze fell to the floor and her face turned bitter.

On the other hand, Victor was very confused. He did not know who the girl was and why she was making that face. He did not know where he was or why he was here. He had an abundance of questions but no answers. So coming to the most logical conclusion, he decided to speak to the only other person in the room and ask her to answer his doubts.

Victor:"Ahhh! Wha----......Hmmm?"

The first question he was about to ask was about his whereabouts currently. But instead of any legible sound, his throat burned with a hellish intensity and only gasps and moans came out.

Just now when he had tried to speak, he found out how dry his throat was and how much it hurt to speak.

Girl: "Ah! Wait, I will get you some water. CRASSS, come here quickly and also bring some water. Hurry!"

In the meantime, the girl seemed to have figured out Victor's troubles and ordered the same guy who she had called before to bring some water.

'How would he even be able to hear her?' Victor mused.

Rubbing his throat, trying to get used to how parched it was, Victor once again tried to formulate words and ask the girl.

Victor:" Umm...... Who ...... a-are you? ....... Where am I?"

Barely rasping out his two most prevalent question, his throat burned even more. Just as he finished speaking, he was thrown into a coughing fit.

'God! I didn't know coughing could hurt this bad' Victor realised.

Everytime he coughed, it would feel like his chest would burst out. He desperately needed some water to quench his thirst.

In his coughing fit, Victor had forgotten about the person to whom he had asked his question. The already large eyes of the girl had widened even more. Her jaw once again dropped for the second time since he had seen him.

Girl:"Huh!?"

A sound of disbelief came out of her mouth. Victor's ears caught that sound and he tried to push through his fit to look at the girl. Upon seeing her expression, he tried to reach out his hands to console her. But before he could reach her, his dry throat caught up once again.

Snapping out of her daze, the girl finally noticed the state that Victor was in. Moving towards the bed to try to comfort him, she reached out for his back.

Girl: "---------"

But she hesitated. While Victor felt like his throat would be ripped out, she was hesitant to just reach out and comfort him a little bit.

Girl: "Am I and idiot? Yup, I am definitely an idiot!"

Slapping her face with her own two hands, she came to some internal conclusion. With her little hands she started to stroke his back gently muttering a few words to herself.

Girl: "I know this might not be enough. But please bear with it a little while longer......... And I promise, this time I won't hesitate."

If Victor had heard it, he would have probably questioned the intent behind the last line she spoke, but right now he had forgotten even the numbness of his leg or the pain of his muscles. Right now, he did not have enough brainpower to process what she had said. He only wanted one thing now------- water.

???: "I am here as you called, my lady. I have brought some water just as you commanded. Ah! It seems he really is awake."

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Gulping down about 10 glasses of water, his throat still felt a little dry but atleast he did not feel like his throat would actively combust and he could speak a little better now.

Looking at the two other people in the room, they were patiently waiting for Victor to cool off his throat. They had not said a word ever since he had snatched the glass of water and tried to drown his throat in it.

The newcomer was a blue haired man, probably older than the girl but not by much. If he had to guess, Victor would say that he was in his early twenties.

Looking a little closer, he seemed to be wearing some sort of uniform. From his frame, he looked rather fit and even his posture screamed of grace.

'My God, he is the very definition of elegance.' Mused Victor.

When his gaze landed on the blue haired man, he just regarded Victor with a smile and spoke.

Man: "It's good to see you awake Victor. You........ were truly great out there."

'Huh!? How does he know my name?' Victor questioned in his mind. So far he was sure that he had not uttered his name even a single time. So how, did this man know his name? Now that thought about it, even the girl was acting like she knew him. But this was the first time he had seen these people.

Even more, what's up to their reaction upon seeing him. Both the maid and the girl acted like they had seen a ghost when they saw him awake.

Where was he? Who were these people? Why did they react like that?

Well he did have one possible explanation. He had cycled through many explanations in his head till now. Was he perhaps kidnapped? Maybe he had somehow passed out on the street, forgotten about it and these kind people had given him shelter. He could be in one of those mangas where the MC is bought by some rich girl and is forced to become her butler or something. Maybe this was a dream, and he would wake up tomorrow as normal in his room or maybe his past life had been a dream and he was actually just waking up from a coma.

But he had rejected all these possibilities for being absurd and too unrealistic. And yet, he had a feeling that the most unrealistic among them was the answer.

Victor: "Who are you?............ No more importantly, where am I?"

Man: "Huh!? Vicor what.... a-are you-----"

"Crass" the girl called out, stopping him from saying anything else.

Girl: "I know how you feel but nothing can be done about it."

She explained to Crass. Victor still did not understand what they were talking about and was starting to get frustrated by their lack of response.

Victor: "Hey! Don't talk amongst yourselves. Answer me."

In response to Victor's outburst, the girl gave him a wry smile. Taking a deep breath, she faced him and spoke.

Girl: "I know you are confused right now. But I can assure you that you are safe here and that all your questions will be answered."

An ugly smile rose on Victor's face. He was spiralling further and further into his negative thoughts. The supposed idea that would explain this situation, had always been a dream of his. But now that he thought about it, he sorely regretted it, it seemed like the worst thing in the world.

'To just leave it all behind. '

Victor: "My whole body's aching. My legs feel like lead and just a minute ago my throat was about to burn off and you expect me to feel safe? Be a little sensitive, Damn it!"

The girl recoiled, probably hurt by Victor's harsh comments. Victor felt a little bad, but right now he could not care less.

Girl: "As you wish, I will a-answer your question."

Gulping down the lump in his throat, Victor readied himself for the worst.

Girl: "To put it simply, Victor this is not your world. This is a world different than yours. As you would have said, you have been isekaie'd."

Victor:"Huh!????"

Well now....... isn't this a dream come true?

Still not accepting what was laid out for him he reached for his pocket out of instinct.

Victor: "Oh?"

He had felt something was wrong with his body ever since he woke up, but now he truly understood what it was. Patting the blanket, he now had no reason to deny it. He could not deny it. For it was a fact something was wrong with his right leg.

To put it bluntly, there was nothing below his right knee.

'Well that explains the numbness that I felt.'

What a way, to get introduced to this new World.

What a way, for his 'dream' to come true.

And thus marked the beginning of the story of Victor in this new World.

Chapter 1: Waking Up is Always So Hard

Phase 1: Introductions

Arc 1: Climb