Chapter 1: How It all started...
"Hahaha, EZ!"
A young man laughs, looking at the screen of his computer, and typing.
"G-E-T-R-E-K-T.."
A snicker escapes his mouth as he's smiling from whatever the screen shows him.
*Ring~!*
The phone beside him vibrates, singing a melodic song.
He takes his eyes away from the screen and glances at the phone, grabbing it and answer the call.
"Hey, Goth! You call right on time!"
He speaks to the person on the line named "Goth." His face display excitement as his voice mimic it.
"I must tell you that if you keep that toxic behavior of your going on, either you get a perma-ban or not, our guild is going down."
The synthesized voice reply through the phone, warning him about his recent activities.
"Yeah, Yeah, Yeah! I know!"
"In the end, It's them who starting first! No matter how many losses they get, they still don't learn their place!"
He says, standing from his comfy gaming chair and walk around in his room.
"Yes, but couldn't you just mute their chat?"
"It's better hearing the peaceful silence than the dog's barking."
Goth's voice sound concern as he suggests a better way out for him.
"Nah, man. You know, I love reading the reaction, especially when It's from The Golden-Spoon 7th."
"Okay, Okay! Off with the nonsense. I've called you because I have urgent information to inform you about the big league, starting this November."
His eyes fill with sparkle, anticipating the news.
"In the participant list, our guild, The Brewing Good Old Time, is on the list."
"And the top notable fight of this year is..."
"Is?"
Goth drags his voices, exciting him up.
"It's Shelby of TBGOT versus Gordon of TGS7!"
"Yeah! The year I've been waiting for is coming!"
"The day I'll kick Gordon's ass!"
Shelby- a young man in his early twenty and a full-time pro-gamer of the popular ongoing MMORPG, The Lunes', is at the top among the billion.
For Shelby to become the best among the billion, he has invested countless times, training.
And spend his fortune to gains his strength.
Shelby participates in countless competitions throughout the game's lifetime, winning most of them, and is revered as the best player of Lunes'.
"Glad they listened to your whining, Shelby."
"Well, that Gordon guy is expecting this as well since he's been topping up a lot lately."
Shelby jumps onto his bed, laying down on his back with a smile on his face, speaking to Goth.
"Haha! Don't worry, friend! I'm a light year ahead of that guy."
Shelby looks to the left, where there is a picture of a girl in a maid's outfit is singing on the stage, smiling sweetly.
"Don't you dare overestimate that Gordon guy! He's a loaded bastard, and who knows what other than money that he doesn't lack?"
Shelby chuckles.
"Still, he doesn't have the blessing of my dear Noki~!"
Here is Shelby- apart from a young man in his early twenty and a full-time pro-gamer, he's a part-time otaku and a loyal fan of Noki, the rising idol of the decade.
Other than spending his time playing Lunes', he's spending his time training his voice, singing along Noki as she lives.
And as a loyal fan, Shelby never misses any of her shows, from the live performance to her cooking class that lives only on mobile devices.
Shelby shapes himself to be the ideal person that Noki likes. A man who can cook, clean, and is funny is what she describe in one of her Q/A.
"Right, Noki-chan's blessing is op."
"The last time you've taken a photo with her make us a champion of the last year."
Goth laughs, talking about the event from the past.
"Hey, by the way, Goth."
Shelby sits upright, asking Goth.
"Yea?"
"Today, I'll be online a little too late, around midnight. I have to attend Noki-chan's cooking class and doing some stuff."
"Jeez... Alright, Take care then, Shelby."
"Yea, see you later, friend."
Shelby ends his conversation with Goth, getting off from his bed.
He looks at his phone's screen, seeing the time displayed.
" Already 4:11 pm? Damn, time does fly fast."
He walks to the door, twists the knob, and gets out of his room.
Shelby gets down a stair and is on the first floor of his house, heading to the living room.
"Noki-chan's class is about to live any second now~! I can't wait!"
He grabs earphones and plugs them into his ears.
*Ring~!*
His phone vibrates again as the notification that states, "Noki♪ cooking class is live now! Come and join her in making a masterpiece!"
Shelby taps the notification without hesitation, joining the show as the first person.
"Hi! Hi! Noki-Doki's here! Greeting every Pokies for attending the class!"
A 3-dimensional girl with turquoise hair and matching eyes, giving the attendee a radiant smile and waving at them.
"Hehe! Thanks, Mr. Shelubi, for his diligence, attending at the first person as always!"
Shelby bites his lips, trying to contain himself.
He taps and sends a heart into the chat.
"♥"
***
Right now, with over thirty-thousands attendees, Noki is wholeheartedly teaching them to cook a four colored cake called, The Pokies's power!
"Here! At this part, Pokies must carefully measure the amount of the food coloring. If too little, the color will be faint and vibrant! But if too much, the color will be too saturated!."
Noki expresses her worries while she's whipping the ingredients, mixing them together before take the pink food coloring and pour a single drop into the mixing.
Shelby's carefully follow her instructions, whipping the cream together, only that he's not using the pink but blue coloring.
"See? It's just brightly pink, not too faint and too saturated. "
"One done, three left! What do Pokies think about what color Noki-Doki should use? Let me know below~!"
"Yellow!"
"Red!"
"Green and purple!'
"Baby blue is best with pink!"
The chat is flooding with various ideas and comments for the color.
***
Time goes by and half an hour passed by in a blink of an eye.
"Is anyone finishes yet? For Noki-Dokis' is done, and now I'm taking it out from the oven for everyone to see~!"
Noki put on a pair of cute baby blue baking gloves in her hand and taking the colorful cake out from the oven.
"Tadah~! How was Noki-Doki's skill? Comment down below, Pokies!"
The cake fit its name as The Pokies's power since it represents her fan's idea.
On the table is the cake baked by her, made of four colors, pink, green, orange, and blue.
Noki starts decorate it with various fruit and sweet of the four colors. There are strawberry, matcha powder, orange, and blueberries.
"Great work, my Noki~!"
"Look tasty!"
"Here's my ♥"
"I would like to buy the Noki-Doki's hand-crafted cake!"
While the chat is busing praising her cake, Shelby casually takes his version of cake out from the oven.
"W-What is this c-crap I've made?!"
The cake he made is poorly colored, each color mixed with one another, resulting in becoming gray.
He places it down on the table and looks at Noki's cake.
"How can it be? I follow her instruction correctly and without any mistake!"
He looks around in the kitchen.
"I remember using this blue food coloring..."
He found the bottle of blue food coloring.
He examines it closely, but when he turns it around, he finds something that surprises him.
"A-A nail paint?! A nail paint!!!!"
His eyes almost pop out from its socket when he learns of its true identity.
An image of his mother comes into his mind, revealing her cooking the breakfast while watching the video on "how to polish one's nail."
And then she mistook the 'real' food coloring for her nail paint and taking it with her after cooked her breakfast.
"A-And this nail coloring? No-scent, chemical-free?"
"That's the reason why I don't notice the smell. It has no smell!"
"C-Curse you, Mother!"
His voice echoes through his house.
Shelby is the type that could mistake the poison for a cure. He is careless.
***
"It seems like that Noki-Doki's time is out, thanks to all Pokies attending Noki-Doki's class today!"
"Before we're parting, Noki-Doki is proud to announce that, in this year competition of Lunes' that held in November. Noki-Doki will be performing a live show as the special guest of the event!"
"Also, Noki-Doki will be performing a new single! Be sure to book a ticket before it's running out!"
Shelby's ear twitches as he heard what's she said.
"Goodbye! See you next weekend, Pokies!"
The show comes to an end with Noki's farewell to the viewers.
It's a short time, but it restores people's spirit by enormous amounts. Look at Shelby as an example.
"She's performing for this year's competition?! The official doesn't talk about this?"
He forgets the cake and throws it in the trash as it's uneatable.
He opens the browser and looks at Lunes' official website for the topic regarding Noki.
"Yeah, I'm sure they keep their lip tight is intentional."
"Anyway! This year is a good year for me! Kicking Gordon's ass, and enjoy Noki's performance for free!"
"I must tell Goth about this..."
Shelby type Goth's contract and calls him.
The two talked about the topic regarding Noki and her appearance at the competition.
"Yeah, see you!"
He looks at the time displayed on his phone's screen and sees that it's now 7:39 pm, just right on time for his mother to come ho-
*Knock!*
"Shelby! I'm home!"
The door smashes open as Shelby's mother steps into the house with a smile on her face.
"And I've bought you your favorite snack!"
Shelby follows her voice and walks into the living room, where she's carrying a basket filled with stuff.
"What is it, mother?"
He takes the basket, helping her carry the stuff.
"Haha, I'll cook dinner, and you'll see."
Shelby curls his brows.
"So early? Dad is not even home yet, mother."
"Hmm? Oh, about that."
"Your old man is staying late for an OT."
Shelby's family consisted of three, his mother, his father, and Shelby.
They're not wealthy, but they live happily nonetheless.
His father owned a business that works for the video game giant, The Elek-trick Artist.
And his mother is a chef of a local restaurant that surprised Morton Lamby once, the world-renown chef, making him praises her for her cooking skill.
"Oh! I forget to buy some milk!"
His mother opens the fridge and surprises to see no milk.
"Shelby, could you go and fetch me two cartons? I'll give you 10$ as a walking fee."
"Okay, mom!"
Usually, Shelby will outright refuse to do it, but if there's a reward as an exchange, he'll do it no matter what.
****
Shelby walks out of his house and along the street, listening to Noki's song, Shining bright and brighter.
♪♪♪
He made it to the grocery store located inside the park.
*Dee, toot!*
The door slides open for him as the sensor detects his presence.
"Ah, 812 welcome you."
The store's clerk drowsily greets him with half-closed eyes.
He takes a basket and looks for the milk.
He finds them in the fridge and takes two cartons into the basket.
He glances at the green can in the left corner of his eyes, a Devil energy drink.
For a gamer who like to stay late into the night, this is essential.
He takes two cans before walking back to the counter to checkout but grabbing some snacks along the way.
"12$ Do you want these? Two for one price."
The clerk suggests a promotion, but Shelby declines it with a wave.
The stuff is packed into a plastic bag as Shelby pays the money.
He grabs the bag and left the store.
♪♪♪
While walking along the trail, Shelby takes a break and resting on a bench.
He looks at the sky. The star reminds him of the song he's listening to right now.
Shelby looks around for people before starts singing along while looking at the stary night.
♪♪♪
The star in the sky starts to shine brighter and brighter.
Shelby realizes something weird and stops singing. Only that's it's too late.
The star reveals to be falling, and it's aiming at Shelby.
The song is at its last chorus as the star hits the ground, obliterates everything around.
*Booom!*
Shelby dies, obliterates by a meteor.
***
Shelby's POV
"Shine brighter, brighter!" was the last thing I heard before it comes crashing on me...
While I'm thinking about it, I feel a sense of jubilation, sadness, and guilt?
Did I die?
That's means I'm missing the chance to kick Gordon's ass forever?! And Noki's performance?!
I could cry, but I couldn't feel anything.
I can't breathe, but I don't feel suffocated.
I can see only the darkness that surrounds me.
"I see. lets me give you an offer."
The voice of a woman echos in this empty space, coming from all the places.
Hello? Who is it? Is it the goddess just like some manga?
"Haha, the mortals even have the records about our existence? Interesting."
She chuckles softly.
Huh? Did she hear me?
"Anyway, you just died, and it's intentional."
W-What?!
I'm not surprised that I'm dead, but it's intentional?!
"We've been observing you throughout your whole life and have made the decision."
"We saw your potential, and you are an important person for our plan."
Then an image of a blonde girl in a white dress appears before my eyes.
She looks at me with her black eyes, captivating me with them.
"I'm sorry to kill you in such a way, but the tune you listened to got me emotional, and I unconsciously bought down a star on you."
She fidgetings, adverting her gaze away.
"I plan to make you stumble an air and fall head-first into the bathtub then drown to death..."
Eww? T-That's painful.
Anyway! Now I know why It's intentional.
At least, getting squashed by a meteor is not painful at all, not at all.
"Okay, let get to the point. I come to give you an offer, an offer that you will not decline!"
Okay, please revive me and go away!
"No! That won't do!"
Why? You killed me! An innocent person!
You rob me of the happiness that yet to come!
"Hoho?"
She smirks and places her hand under her chin.
"You want to live? Okay, I can give you that only if you listen to what I'm going to tell you first."
Okay.
"I want- No, We want you to save our world from the tyrant demon king who is currently gathering his force, preparing for the world domination."
Well, that sounds like the most protagonist in this kind of genre is dealing with, fighting with the demon king.
"After you've defeated the demon king, the god will send you back in time prior to this moment."
She walks around back and forth, explaining to me.
Why should I do that? There are more people suitable for this task more than me.
I'm not the trained soldier nor the strongest person. Why I'm your only choice?
"Again, as I said. We've been observing you throughout your lifetime and have decided that that person will be you."
"A-And..."
I focus my non-existed ocular power and glare at her.
Somehow she notices it and stager for a moment before continuing.
"W-With my power... S-Sending you back right now is impossible."
Okayyyy?
Huh?
WHAT?!
She covers her ears.
"I'm sorry! But my mana is depleted from summoning the star on you!"
"T-The only way for you to go back is to defeat the demon kin-"
No!
I don't want to!
Why?
"P-Please! Our world needs your help! If I let this continue, our world, and soon yours, will be ruin!"
I could only hear the first two sentences.
She extends her hand forward to me, looking at me with teary eyes.
"B-Beside! The time in your world will be freeze and will continue once you're back!"
She taps the air, making the golden transparent panel that floats between us.
"Think of it as a vacation to another world that you wish one day you'd be there."
There is an image of a beautiful seaside, forest, and snowy mountain are showing on the panel.
"Beautiful, isn't it? Our beautiful world's natural wonders, but these may no longer exist without your help."
S-So she's saying these are the samples of the places from her world?
"Well, I don't know what you mean by "Isekai" or "Manga", but I do understand you have the wish to visit the world beyond your reality."
Y-Yeah, she observed my whole life, and I literally once have that wish.
"How was it?"
She looks at me, smiling softly.
Okay, now, that doesn't sound half bad. I'm dead, but no at the same time.
"That's right~"
She nods.
I could still be there for an event, complete with Gordon, witness Noki's performance, and back home safe and sound.
Also, I get to have the chance to witness the world beyond that I could only imagine.
Most young men like me have a similar dream.
Okay, brief me more.
"I see you make up your mind."
She smiles.
"From now, my name is Vivi. I'll be your guide and help with your task."
The girl introduces herself.
"Okay, I'll tell you about our "problem."
"The world of Celle, filled with magic and mythical creatures, and a variety of races, is your destination."
"And from our observation, we see that you have a long time experience over the year of fighting the monsters and alike though the magical device you called, Computer."
I like the fact that being good at Lune will do me something good.
Now I'm not regretted spent my time training.
"There, on Celle, our god has created a weapon to defeat the demon king, but it appears that the weapon is lost, and the demon king is aware of the situation, so he's preparing for the world domination!"
"And that including, taking his ambitious plan beyond Celle as well."
W-What that mean?
"It means that's the demon king may invade another world."
H-He can traverse through space?
I'm genuinely surprised as I raise my audible-thought high.
This setting is too bizarre! The demon king who know of space voyage an-
"N-No, no, no! It's the use of dimensional magic!"
Vivi waves her hand and sweats, explaining the truth.
Oh, so that's how he goes around?
"Yes, It requires a certain degree of strength and mana before traveling to a different dimension, but doing that makes you weaker since some of your strength is spend for the magic itself."
I-It sound complicates, but I don't think that's matter right now.
"Y-Yes. Ahem! Let's get back to our topic."
"The demon king, his lair is located in the Baltik, deep within the demon territory."
Hahaha, you make it like I know where that is.
"Oh! I completely forget about that."
She rubs her head and blinks at me.
"Don't worry, I, as your guide, will do my job."
"Anyway, we're against the time. I will explain more to you as we go on."
She turns her back to me, looking past her shoulder with a smile.
"Are you ready to depart, our savior?"
Yeah! This forceful vacation to another world of mine, a place that I'm unwilling to go, but I'm excited to see what is beyond the pages with my own eyes.
It's starting as Vivi's hands glow golden yellow, writing the strange scriptures on the air.
"Here we go!"
The light pours in from the gap created by Vivi, blinding me with eternal white.
And this is how a side quest that is not meant to do is to start.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone