Chapitre 4: Oh my Gods

This time, the arrow grazed his left arm and tore through the fabric of his long-sleeves. He turned around once more and the figure disappeared from where it was previously positioned. Kairo went pale after seeing the blood that gushed out from his arm.

"No, no, no…." It was only a small wound, and the arrow looked so primitive and easy to break. As he continued to get away from his pursuers, more and more people are looking at him in confusion.

'Everyone is really dressed in Ancient Greek clothing. And everything around me looked ancient as well. They called Washington a 'little man trapped inside a shiny rock' and they have no knowledge whatsoever about proper law enforcement. Just what the heck is this place and how did I get here?'

"Help! Help me!" When he rounded in the corner, he saw the biggest house he's seen so far. It was better than most houses in terms of their splendour, but it was nowhere near his ideal dream house. What caught his attention, however, was the beautiful woman who was perched by the house's huge window.

The woman looked alarmed when she met his eyes. Then, as if drawn by a strong magnetic force, Kairo found himself sprinting towards the house. The woman also hurriedly got up from her seat and went downstairs to get a better look at the situation.

"Open up! Please, help me!" Kairo banged the door, and it was opened by the same beautiful woman. When he got in, the woman closed the door and turned to look at him, her eyes looking concerned.

"Were – were you sent by the gods to torment me some more?" She asked in almost a whisper.

Her question did not register in Kairo's mind after he finally got a closer look at the person who opened up the door to her shelter. The woman was really a sight to behold. She had a very smooth skin, with silky brown hair styled in a classic messy bun. Her peplos stylishly hugged her body, highlighting her curves. Her eyes were a lovely shade of green and, was it his imagination? Or was she really literally glowing a faint light? But most of all, she's – "Huge…" Kairo gulped as he wasn't able to keep himself from uttering that word.

The woman is more or less seven feet in height, which you don't see quite often.

She placed her hand on her chest and blushed at Kairo's 'compliment', which the latter only found odd. He quickly recovered himself from the embarrassment. "I mean, th-thank you, ma'am for letting me in!"

"So… you are not sent by 'her'?" Kairo did not get her question but he shook his head like he understood it.

The woman sighed in relief. "Then, what seems to be the problem?"

Then again, Kairo did not find his voice to respond to the woman's inquiry. She had to repeat her question once more for him to regain his sanity.

"I – I was chased by men and someone tried to shoot me." He showed the woman the wound from his arm and she quickly stood up and began to close the windows that remained open in her house. The room got darker and that's when Kairo realized that his eyes were not playing with him. The woman is really glowing.

"Why? What happened? Will you please allow me to take care of that injury?" The woman made herself busy and looked for a clean cloth and water to clean his wound. He allowed her to do so.

Kairo got more and more perplexed at what's happening to him as he tried to recall everything that happened ever since he arrived in this strange place. The setting, the people, the sudden turn of events, and this glowing giant woman in front of him – everything is just surreal!

Kairo, being the weeb that he is, can only come up with one crazy conclusion. "Did I just get isekai-ed?"

The woman, who finished tending to his wound, only looked at him in confusion. "I'm sorry?"

"It's nothing. Thank you." He quickly recovered himself and thanked the woman for helping him.

She made herself comfortable and sat in the chair across him. Then, her eyes travelled up and down his figure, which made Kairo extremely uncomfortable he wished he'll disappear. Finally, the woman spoke.

"Why are you dressed in such strange clothing? Are you from somewhere else?"

Despite her mature look, he realized that the woman seems to be fond of asking a lot of questions, and is almost childish in her behaviour. He noticed her playing with the loose strands of her hair and her toenails which were visible under her peplos were fidgeting and always moving. He wanted to call her 'cute' for these actions, but she was just so huge that the adjective seems inappropriate.

Before he can respond, the woman asked another question. "More importantly, how can you see me?"

Now, that's another surprise. "Uh – because you're there? In front of me?" He sounded so stupid in that answer. 'But the question itself is stupid too! You're so big how could I not see you?'

"So… you are not a mortal, then?"

Kairo is losing his head in trying to understand her. These questions are driving him nuts.

"Fine, I'll play with you. What event is coming up that made everyone around look excited?"

"Are you perhaps interested to participate in that race?" She's just answering him with more questions!

"Race? What race? Isn't it cosplay?"

"Cospi?" The woman cocked her head to the side, unable to comprehend what he just said.

"ARGH!" Kairo groaned in frustration. "Please, just tell me this – and don't give me a question this time. Where am I and what is this place?"

"This place is called Olympia." She said it like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Olym….pia?" He felt like his head will explode any moment now.

"Yes, Olympia…. And the Dactyls are about to begin their race later to the summit of Mt. Olympus. Many spectators are eager to know who among them will gain the favor of the gods."

Olympia…..Dactyls…. Mt. Olympus…..gods…..

Kairo's stomach clenched as he slowly, painfully, tried to grasp the absurdity of this entire thing.

Olympia…..Dactyls…. Mt. Olympus…..gods…..

Olympia….the place where the Olympic games originated….

Dactyls…..the archaic mythical race of male beings associated with the first creation of men in Greek myths....

Mt. Olympus…..home of the gods….

His voice quivered as he asked his next question to the glowing, big woman. "Who – who are you?"

"Oh – please forgive me for the late introduction. My name is Pandora. And you are?"

Kairo can't believe what he just heard. He stood up and paced around the room, taking it all in - slowly, painfully, and begrudgingly committing himself to the impossible realization that he went back or got 'isekai-ed' to when the world was still young. It hit him like a blast of ice water to the face.

Olympia…..Dactyls…. Mt. Olympus…..gods…..Pandora…..

"Oh my gods." He put his hand on his head and started to massage his temple, "I'm in Ancient Greece, just in time for the first ever Olympics."