The blurry, whitish light was beginning to fade, and Gyro's eyes caught sight of the vast swath of green stretching across a distant valley.
"I…what am I doing here?" he wondered, unsettled as he looked at his body.
He wore the casual clothes he'd had on as a university student, and his distinctive transformation bracelet was fastened to his right arm. His job as the Red Astro Ranger had started to consume his entire schedule—something he wouldn't complain about, having worked incredibly hard to earn a spot on the Astro Red core team.
Now he couldn't remember a single thing he'd been doing before suddenly appearing in the middle of nowhere.
"Young man, do you plan to travel with so little luggage?"
Gyro leapt in surprise and turned toward the faint voice behind him. An older man with a long beard and flowing robes was walking along a wide dirt path just a few meters away.
"N-no! It's just—there's nothing here!"
The elder looked at him curiously and raised the staff hidden in the wide sleeve of his robe, pointing ahead.
"What are you talking about? The town of Carora is just up the road."
Carora? Gyro didn't recall any place by that name. He figured a teleporting villainous monster in battle must have sent him to a rural area. Now he feared he might have ended up in another country.
"Um…excuse me, I think I'm a bit lost. Could you accompany me into town? It might help me get my bearings."
The man tilted his head, somewhat puzzled by the boy's request.
"As long as you can keep up, I don't mind."
"Understood!" Gyro straightened, offering a salute in gratitude to the first person he'd met.
Before long, Gyro grasped the man's warning: though his own training made the pace easy enough, he felt the need to increase his stride to close the gap.
"Impossible."
Ahead of him stretched massive walls—no city in his world or any nearby one used such defenses, since the monsters he knew could simply fly over them. This would be a cage for any resident.
"Where am I?"
"In Carora. Are you feeling ill? You look very pale."
Gyro's mind raced. Through the grand gate, he saw a strongly medieval style everywhere: steel-armored soldiers with swords and spears, and the villagers' traditional garb within the walls.
A soldier emerged from around the corner and extended his free hand—his other grasping a spear.
"The entrance fee is thirty bronze coins."
Coins? The toll startled Gyro—he had no local currency on him.
"Hard times drive up the price of everything."
Muttering to himself, the old man produced a dark leather pouch that jingled as he moved. As he lifted his robe, several pouches dangled inside alongside a subtly gleaming metal plate.
He selected a couple of brown coins of different sizes and handed them to the guard, then looked back at Gyro expectantly.
"Aren't you paying?"
"Y-yes!"
Gyro began patting every pocket on his clothes. Inside his shirt, one tap dislodged something that fell to the ground.
"What's that?"
The elder peered at the object shining at Gyro's feet.
"It's a pen."
Of all the things an Astro Ranger learned, one was that he needed his own pen to sign the gifts fans brought him.
"This is a pen? It looks like a crystal. Is it magical?"
He turned it over in his hand, watching the sunlight glint across its three facets.
"It's used for writing."
Gyro took the pen, wrote his name on his left hand, and held it out for the elder to see. The thin blue line looked elegant and radiant.
"Incredible engraving magic. I'll buy this from you—you clearly lack the coins for the gate."
The man withdrew a couple more coins from his pouch and gave them to the guard. The soldier, annoyed by the delay, clicked his heels and returned to his post.
"My name is Gyro. Thank you for helping me pass through."
"I am Abasgo, a traveling monk. It's uncommon to see lost children along the roads outside the town," he said, gently stowing the blue pen in one of his pouches.
"Clearly, I'm neither from here nor very far away."
Gyro sighed, disheartened by how different the town looked from his own city. "I'm really in trouble," he thought. This was essentially another world.
He had to find a way to survive while seeking a path back home.
"Master Abasgo, is there a way to earn those coins you use?"
"Every job pays in coins like these," Abasgo replied, playing with an opaque coin between his fingers.
"Tell me where I can start!" Gyro said eagerly, clenching his fists.
"You can clean shops, carry goods in the market, or go to the adventurers' guild—if you don't mind risking your life."
"Wait—are there heroes here too?"
"There are Rangers here as well," Gyro thought, recalling his own team.
"We must go there at once!"
"Are you a warrior?"
As the Red Astro Ranger, he indeed was. He'd fought many battles against monsters led by Atrocytus, the Lord seeking world domination.
"I prefer to think of myself as a hero. Another Ranger might recognize me if they saw me."
Puzzled, Abasgo led him to the town's guild.
Gyro burst through the door, brimming with energy, hoping to meet another Ranger who knew him. He even had his transformation bracelet on display to prove he was the genuine Red Astro Ranger.
At the reception desk, the clerks were taken aback by the whirlwind entrance.
The young receptionist Juna had been on the job only a couple of months and still felt like a novice. Each adventurer required a different approach—some more unpleasant than others.
She usually chose the morning shift, thinking early risers would spare her the worst clients.
But today, a storm in human form stood before her.
"Where are the other Rangers?"
What was a Ranger? She hadn't memorized every monster in the guild's bestiary, but she didn't recall any group by that name around Carora.
"E-excuse me, sir—does that refer to some guild?"
"Yes! Do you know of them?" Gyro asked excitedly.
"Not at all—we have no record of that group here."
Gyro's shoulders slumped. His eyes, once fiery red, dimmed.
"Are you a guild member?" Juna asked nervously in the awkward lull.
"No… I need to join. I need coins to contact my comrades."
"Were you abandoned here?" Juna thought.
She'd learned not to pry into adventurers' lives—many harbored tragedies that would break anyone's heart, and she couldn't afford to lose focus.
"I need your name, age, and skills," she said, filling out a form.
"Gyro Marlon, twenty years old."
"Marlon? Of the Marlon family?"
Juna paused over the surname. The House of Marlon held royal favor in the capital for generations of loyal service.
"House? No—my family's very ordinary."
She hesitated—there was no rule against a shared name, and nobody would be foolish enough to risk royal wrath.
"Do you have any adventuring experience?"
"Yes, I'm a hero."
That couldn't go in official records—the title "hero" was bestowed only by the crown.
"Hmm. How about warrior experience?"
Gyro thought for a moment. He never shied from fighting Atrocytus's monsters, but he didn't like being seen as a mere brute—he was a hero.
"I protect people."
"Then… a tank warrior or a paladin?"
"Yes—those suit me better."
Juna wasn't sure if that was valid, but she hadn't seen many newcomers like him. Most novices gave up after a few days and never returned.
"Adventurers start with a copper badge," she said, handing him a dull brown medallion.
Gyro recalled seeing a shiny silver one once on Abasgo.
"I recently met someone with one of these—but gleaming silver."
Juna frowned. "That'd be platinum or mithril; those don't come through this part of the kingdom."
Gyro let it drop and saved that question for Abasgo.
"On the board are the available quests. Choose one, and they'll assign it to you directly."
Gyro scanned the accumulated papers for something familiar: orcs, undead, bandits, harpies. None of these seemed like Atrocytus's creations. He preferred not to face anything that looked human.
"Boars!"
A quest to hunt boars for a market stall. Gyro had grown up on a farm and was used to pigs, so boars shouldn't differ much.
"Are you sure?!"
Juna looked horrified—wild boars were nearly as large as men and traveled in packs. Hunting them was even more dangerous than combat.
"I've fought monsters charging at me before," Gyro said confidently.
The quest was open even to copper ranks. "Whoever set it for beginners was crazy," he thought.
Though he disliked seeing novices get themselves killed, he resigned himself to signing up.
"You need… five completed quests to upgrade to bronze."
"So I'm worth less than a bronze coin?" Gyro thought as he left the guild. Abasgo waited outside, playing with the blue pen he'd sold him for the gate fee.
"Boy, this crystal is amazing—it draws lines that brushes couldn't match."
Gyro peered through the pen's crystalline barrel at the nearly full ink reservoir. It would last long enough as he earned money to repay Abasgo's kindness.
"I have to hunt boars for my mission."
"You chose to die outside the town, and after all you went through to find it…"
Gyro laughed at Abasgo's jest. Such scoldings felt both distant and oddly comforting.
"You're quite the mystery, Abasgo—your badge still shines stored away."
Abasgo gave him a calm look, as if uncertain what he meant.
"My master was a great man who valued simplicity and humility in life. You remind me of him—about twenty years older, of course."
He didn't know if he'd ever return home or even to his own world. But humanity wouldn't miss a single Red Ranger for a little while. Wherever they were, the Astro Rangers saved those in need.
Abasgo turned to walk on through the crowd of townsfolk. Gyro hurried after him, eager to learn all he could about this place.
●●●●●
IN THE HUMAN WORLD
Months had passed since the southern district lost all contact. Atrocytus's greatest assault had begun there, the missing count in the tens of thousands. No one knew how he amassed such an army of monsters for an invasion of that scale. Studies showed these creatures were extensions of his own power, and he couldn't spawn more without rest. Had he been stockpiling troops all this time?
And even if so, why that day?
Broken, weary cries came from the rubble of a collapsed building. A girl, no more than five years old, lay slumped against a massive slab.
How many days had she been there? Her sobs begged for water, and she was barely clothed.
A reddish flash streaked toward her. A dust-covered suit of armor approached.
The girl was too weak to flee, despite her fear.
The figure knelt and removed his helmet, revealing a sweat-streaked, bearded face etched with exhaustion.
"Little one, it's okay."
He scooped her into his arms and gently straightened her head, which she couldn't lift.
"Have you seen your parents?"
The girl, eyes barely moving, pointed with a trembling finger down the street.
Another section of building had fallen there—he was certain there was blood beneath.
Horrified, he shielded her eyes and decided to leave—for the new base he should've reached two hours ago.
Why did that cursed day have to happen?
The day the world lost its Red Ranger.
●●●●●●
Chapter One complete.
HELLO, I'm Soviet. I conceived this story when two anime concepts struck me as fascinating, and my passion for these saviors reignited.
I'm confident a great tale will unfold by blending these two perspectives. Stay tuned for more adventures of Astro Red and the events that led to a world that lost him.