The Enlightened Blade

Raj helplessly stared at the screen in front of him as he mentally cursed his English teacher. So much for getting a head start on my homework, he thought as he leaned back in his chair. He rubbed his weary eyes and glanced over at his phone.

“Damn, it’s already 10 pm?” He said, partially shocked. “Well, I suppose I can read a bit before I sleep.” Raj knew that it was his own fault that he had a terrible sleep schedule; he participated in a HEMA group nearby at least 3-4 times a week, and today was one of those days. He found the sword to be his weapon of choice, and despite most of his friends and foster family telling him it was a waste of time, the enjoyment it brought him made it worth it. It was just such a badass weapon.

He opened up his favorite LitRPG book on his laptop and scrolled to the chapter he was on. I would love to be in one of these books, he thought for the umpteenth time. Slicing up monsters with a god-tier sword. Logically though, I know I would die in the first two seconds, considering that there is no way my nerdy ass survives against literal monsters. I am way too reliant on a modern lifestyle. I can dream though.

On top of his geekiness, Raj knew he was not too special in the looks department. He had what he referred to as “the typical Indian package”, which featured jet-black hair and dark brown eyes, along with chocolate brown skin.

Raj kept scrolling through his favorite book series, smiling slightly as the main character absolutely pummeled a Chupacabra type monster. His smile quickly morphed into a smirk as the seemingly overpowered main character started running for the hills when the monster’s hella strong mama popped out for a visit. Never get too cocky is the lesson this mc is currently learning, Raj mused. Raj took his eyes off of the screen for a moment to look around his small dorm room. It was mandatory for freshmen to stay in the dorms, which was the only reason Raj was doing it and not staying at his foster parents’ house. His foster parents were not the greatest of people, but they had taken him in, and he had been with them for a record time of 2 years. They only lived about 25 minutes away from his college, so the commute was not bad. I just have to do this for one year, he said, in an attempt to console himself.

He was snapped out of his musing when his phone started ringing. Who the hell is calling at this time, it is almost 10:30 pm, Raj wondered. Of course, it is this idiot. Raj answered the phone to hear his best friend Arjun on the other end.

“Yooooo, Raj. Besht buddy. Ya know I love you rightttt.” Arjun slurred. Immediately, Raj knew exactly where Arjun was. Raj and Arjun had been friends since elementary school, so they knew each other pretty well. He knew that Arjun was absolutely hammered. Though to be fair, I think anyone could figure that out. He must have drank everything in the cabinet the way he is talking. Raj also knew the reason why Arjun was calling.

“Can you pick me uppp? Pretty plea—uek.” Raj heard him start to throw up, and patiently waited for him to finish before allowing himself to tear Arjun a new one.

“Dude, just no. I swear to god, I am not your personal chauffeur service. Call an Uber or something, or better yet, just don’t go to the goddamn parties. I swear, how drunk are you? I can hear how drunk you are. How does that even make sense?!” Raj berated. “Also, do you even know how late it is? What makes you think I am going to drive across town to pick up your sorry ass?”

“Awww, come on, don’t be like that, my numero uno familia. Jusht come on alllllll the way overr to here, give me upsies, and then we can party tomorrow!” He responded, making sure to put his bilingual talents to use. Raj just let out a groan.

“Greeatt! Shee you in a few!“ Arjun cheerily replied.

“I hate you,” Raj replied as the call ended. He wanted nothing more than to forget about Arjun and keep reading, but he knew he could not just leave him drunk and alone at someone else’s house. He would at least do him the favor of leaving him drunk and alone at his own dorm. Raj allowed himself a minute of respite before he forced himself up and out of his chair, and after a quick search for his car keys, he stepped out of his dorm and headed down the stairs. As he walked down the stairs, he was shocked to feel a slight tremor beneath his feet. An earthquake? On the East Coast? Then the tremor left as quickly as it came, leaving Raj wondering if the tremor had even happened in the first place. My sleep deprivation is finally catching up to me.

He got into his car and started driving towards the party that he knew Arjun was at, sulking as he drove when he thought of the warmth and comfort of his bed that he could have been enjoying. It took about 10 minutes before he arrived at the house, and the sight that greeted him was a typical one for a college party. Raj’s eyes narrowed in on Arjun though, who was leaning against the mailbox of the house. Raj hopped out of his car and all but dragged his drunk friend into the car. It took a ridiculous couple of minutes, and Arjun was twisted and turned around, but Raj finally got Arjun into his car. They did not make it far before Raj felt vibrations again, however, and this time they were much stronger. He could feel the car shake and groan.

“Yo, Arjun?” Raj nervously asked. “Do you feel those tremors?”

“Dude, I can barely tell up from down, and everything is yellow. I really don’t think I can—what the fuck?” Arjun was interrupted by the car practically being thrown to the side due to the force of the tremors. “Never mind, I feel them. Are they growing stronger?”

“Yeah, I think they are!” Raj replied.

System Initializing…

Raj started freaking out. He had read enough books to know that the only reason a message like that could appear was if they were about to enter into a LitRPG-like system. Arjun tried to say something else, but his voice was drowned out by the earthquake. Suddenly, a white light as bright as the sun overtook his vision, effectively blinding him. The light somehow got brighter and brighter. Raj felt his body start to freefall somehow, and he desperately tried to grasp onto something, anything, but to no avail.

Scanning Planet…

“WHAT THE FU—!” His words were suddenly stuck in his throat, and Raj saw one final flash of the white light before his vision went dark.

User-2,021,864,094 has been transported to the tutorial.

Planet “Earth” has been successfully inducted into The Greater Collective.

Planetary Level has been evaluated to be at “E”.

Welcome to the Fight.