Chapter 1: The Beginning
The school bell rang out with the same kind of weary groan that only a Monday morning could produce.
Andrew rocked farther back in his chair, eyes flicking between the lit-up phone screen and the half-scribbled math problem on the board. Another dull day, another dull class. But at the very least, Chrono Duel Saga, which was his favorite strategy webtoon, had just released a new chapter. That in itself made enduring calculus worthwhile.
"Dude, you're going to burn out your brain," Mario chided, nudging him gently from the side with his elbow. "Hide that away before Mrs. Tanaka catches you with it."
"She won't. She's too busy demonstrating that x is something we'll never use in everyday life," said Andrew, not bothering to glance up.
Mario chuckled. He had that soft, effortless kind of smile—like someone who actually believed everything would turn out okay. He was the kind of guy who watched cheesy romance movies on weekends and somehow still got people to think he was cool. Andrew didn't get it, but he respected it.
"You say that now," Mario said, "but wait until you fall in love and need math to calculate if your crush even knows you exist."
Andrew smirked. "Spoken like a man with a hopeless crush."
Mario blushed, glancing toward the other side of the room. Andrew followed his gaze and, yep—there she was. Emma Reyes, top of the class, the smile of a Disney princess, and the reason Mario spent half of homeroom checking his breath.
"You've gotta talk to her, man," Andrew said, nudging him this time.
"I will," Mario mumbled. "Eventually."
After school, they headed to the park with a football under one arm and a bag of snacks in the other. The routine was sacred: football, then video games, then whatever random nonsense Andrew could convince Mario to watch—including webtoons that made absolutely no sense to anyone but him.
"You still think if we were in a game, you'd be the general and I'd be your knight or something?" Mario asked, trying to flick the ball up with his heel and missing.
"Nope," Andrew said, catching the ball. "You'd be the hopeless romantic knight who dies protecting his princess, and I'd be the strategist who forgot to bring reinforcements."
"Wow. Thanks for the vote of confidence."
They laughed like they always did. It was easy. Comfortable.
And then the sky cracked.
Not with thunder. Not with rain.
But with light.
Blinding, swirling green and violet light that twisted like a vortex straight from Andrew's webtoon panels. The football dropped. The wind howled. Time stopped—literally. Birds froze mid-flight. Leaves hung suspended in the air.
"What the hell—" Mario started.
And then they were gone.
Not running. Not teleporting.
Just gone.
As if reality itself had decided two best friends were no longer part of the equation.
When Andrew opened his eyes, the sky was wrong.
Too big. Too bright. A hundred shades of blue he didn't know existed. He could smell pine trees, metal, and something… burning?
His hand was clenched around a sword.
And in the other… a flame. Dark green, cold as ice.
He stood slowly, armor clinking at his shoulders.
"Mario?" he called out, heart thundering.
"I'm here," came the answer. Mario stepped out from behind a tree, wearing chainmail, a shield strapped to his arm and a look of complete panic on his face.
"What… what is this?" Mario asked. "Where are we?"
Andrew's eyes narrowed. "I think… I think we've been summoned."
"Summoned? By who?"
Before Andrew could answer, a horn sounded in the valley below.
And the war drums began.