Bonus Story:
My First World:
Meeting the Water Priestess
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WHEN I LOOKED at the clock, the hands were pointing to midnight on the dot. I set down my book and stretched out.
My desk was occupied by a notebook and a set of math problems. I had drawn, erased, and redrawn so many auxiliary lines over the proof I’d copied down that it had become completely incomprehensible. There was a cup of tepid hot cocoa in the corner. My mother had made it to encourage me in my studies, and my guilt over slacking off to read rather than study prevented me from touching it, leaving it to go cold. It felt wrong to throw it out. I downed it in one gulp. The gritty texture that had settled at the bottom made my guilt even worse.
Even if I wanted to start studying again, there was little point in doing it today. Surely, the risk of ruining my health by staying up outweighed any benefit a few extra hours of studying could provide. Once I reached that epiphany, I closed the notebook and problem set, shoving both into the shelf by my desk. I didn’t have any reason to study so hard to begin with. I’d taken my grades into consideration when picking the school I was testing for—even my teacher had said I was all set to pass.
Yet when it came down to it, I didn’t have the courage to sit around doing nothing, nor did I have the motivation to throw myself into pointless preparations. So I was left wasting day after day on half-baked measures. It was a real drag.
Once my writing supplies were put away, I found my hand reaching out for the novel I’d been reading. Only ten pages left. Why not finish it before going to sleep? That would certainly give me more motivation for the next day.
The book was one where a young boy summoned to another world accomplished great feats with the immense powers granted to him by a beautiful goddess. I’d already read it a number of times. I knew every development from beginning to end, and while they didn’t excite me by this point, it didn’t sit right with me to leave it half-finished. I read the last few pages in no time, then set the book to the side and took a big stretch.
Why can’t something like that happen to me? I thought. And the moment I did, I felt the backrest of my chair disappear and my body toppling backward.
✦ ✦ ✦
Somehow, I’d tumbled into some water. I didn’t remember hitting the surface, but the moment I opened my mouth to cry out, a large volume of water suddenly rushed in and sent me into a panic. I flailed my arms, not knowing which way was up, quickly brushing up against what I assumed to be the bottom. With that point of reference, I lifted myself up somehow or other. Now that I was sitting up and calming down, I realized the water only reached to my knees.
What was the meaning of this? Why was I naked?
Just then, I heard a splash.
I looked up and came face-to-face with a naked girl, collapsed on her behind, like I was on mine. Her eyes were wide open, her mouth flapping wordlessly. I didn’t know where I was, but this could be an extremely problematic situation. What if the girl screamed? What if someone heard her, raced in, and got the wrong idea? I needed to calm her down, fast. First, I would have to explain the situation… Except I hadn’t the slightest idea. Why was I here? My thoughts were flying all over the place.
I got to my feet but then suddenly remembered I was buck naked. The girl was staring at me as I presented myself. It was hopeless. Who in their right mind would hear out my excuses?
“Oh… Oh…”
A faint, lovely voice leaked from her lips. She was on the verge of recovering from her initial shock. No doubt she would make a loud noise soon. Just my luck. I had to get away.
I turned, only to find an enormous stone statue blocking my path. It had a long horse-like face over an emaciated body with pronounced ribs. Six fragile, gnarled arms extended from each side, as if to catch me right in the act. To the left and right, I was surrounded by walls. The only exit had to be…
“Oh, dear God…”
I heard a voice from behind. She was finally coherent. I made my resolve to confront her. For some reason, she was tearing up as she looked at my face. Even more perplexingly, there was relief in her expression. On her knees, she shambled up to me, looking up to me with her hands in prayer.
“Please, please save us. Save the world.”
What was she talking about? I was the furthest thing from God, but when I saw the look in her eyes, I couldn’t say no.