You know that moment when you realize you've made a series of catastrophically bad decisions? I was having that moment. Specifically, while dodging a monster that looked like someone's nightmare had nightmares.
"JAYDEN, MOVE!"
Right. Moving.
I threw myself sideways as a massive spiked club slammed into the ground where I'd been standing a second ago. The impact cratered the earth and sent me tumbling across the grass like a discarded candy wrapper. My everything hurt. Especially my pride.
"Newton!" I gasped, scrambling to my feet. "Please tell me you have a plan that doesn't involve us dying!"
"Working on it!" Newton's voice cracked as he frantically mashed buttons on some kind of mechanical gauntlet. Sparks flew from the device. That seemed bad. "The mana converter is fried! I need thirty seconds to recalibrate!"
"Thirty seconds?" I stared at the monster advancing toward us - a goblin, if goblins were eight feet tall, built like a bodybuilder, and wearing scavenged armor that looked like it came from previous victims. The Goblin General's yellow eyes fixed on me with an intelligence that made my skin crawl. "I'll be dead in five!"
The creature grinned, revealing rows of jagged teeth, and raised its club again.
How did things even end up like this?
Six Hours Earlier
My alarm clock didn't go off.
Of course it didn't. That would've been convenient, and convenience wasn't something the universe typically offered to Jayden Jalayan. Instead, I woke up to my mom shaking my shoulder with one hand while balancing a phone against her ear with the other.
"--yes, I understand, but I can make it work with the shift on Thursday if-Jayden, get up—no, sorry, not you, Mr. Henderson-"
I groaned and pulled the pillow over my head. "Mom, it's Saturday."
"It's Tuesday." She yanked the pillow away. Her eyes had that exhausted look they always had lately - three jobs will do that to you. "You're going to be late. Again."
Tuesday. Right. School.
I dragged myself out of bed and immediately stepped on something sharp. A Lego brick I didn't even remember owning. Because of course. I bit back a curse and hobbled toward the bathroom, my mom's phone conversation fading behind me.
Our apartment was small - tiny, really. Two bedrooms that barely deserved the name, a kitchen/living room combo, and one bathroom that had seen better decades. The walls were thin enough that I could hear Mrs. Chen's TV blaring from next door. The place wasn't much, but Mom worked herself to exhaustion to keep it.
Ever since Dad...
I shut that thought down and focused on getting ready. School uniform - wrinkled but clean. Hair - a lost cause, as always. Face - still mine, unfortunately. Brown skin, dark eyes that Mom said looked like Dad's, and an expression that my teachers described as "chronically unserious."
Breakfast was toast. We were out of butter. Naturally.
"Love you, kiddo," Mom called as I headed for the door. She was already on another call, probably for her afternoon shift at the diner. "Stay out of trouble!"
"Trouble actively seeks me out, Mom. I'm innocent."
Her laugh followed me into the hallway. At least I could still make her laugh.
I made it halfway through the school day before my luck really kicked in.
Marcus Webb spotted me in the hallway between third and fourth period. I saw him at the same time he saw me - a mutual recognition that meant nothing good for my immediate future. Marcus was built like someone who'd taken "varsity linebacker" as a personality trait, and his current expression suggested he remembered something important.
Specifically, the twenty bucks I owed him.
Twenty bucks I definitely didn't have.
Our eyes met across the crowded hallway. His narrowed. Mine widened. He started moving toward me like a heat-seeking missile.
Time for Plan B: tactical retreat.
I spun on my heel and speed-walked in the opposite direction, weaving between students with the practiced ease of someone who'd spent his entire academic career avoiding confrontation. The bathroom was just ahead - sanctuary, safety, a place where—
I pushed through the door and immediately knew something was wrong.
The tiles were too clean. There was a faint smell of lavender. And there were definitely no urinals.
Oh no.
"You've got to be kidding me," I muttered, but my voice sounded too loud in the quiet space. The girl's bathroom. I'd run into the girl's bathroom.
This was fine. I'd just slip out before anyone—
Footsteps. Coming closer.
Panic mode activated.
I darted into the nearest stall and quietly locked it, pressing my back against the door and holding my breath. If I was quiet enough, whoever it was would just—
"—can't believe Mr. Patterson assigned another essay," a girl's voice echoed off the tiles. "Like we don't have lives."
Great. Just great. Now I was trapped.
I stayed perfectly still, barely breathing, praying to any deity that would listen that she'd just do whatever she needed to do and leave. I closed my eyes, counting the seconds.
Curiosity, as it turns out, is a dangerous thing.
I don't know what possessed me - temporary insanity, maybe, or just the cosmic need for my life to get worse - but I found myself slowly, carefully peeking over the top of the stall.
Blonde hair. That's all I registered before my foot slipped on the inexplicably wet floor.
Everything happened in slow motion and way too fast at the same time. My arms windmilled. My body twisted. And my head met the porcelain toilet seat with a sound that echoed through my skull like a gong.
Pain exploded behind my eyes.
The world tilted sideways.
And then there was nothing but darkness and the distant sound of someone screaming.
Present
The Goblin General's club whooshed past my head, close enough that I felt the wind of its passage.
"Twenty seconds!" Newton yelled.
I rolled under another swing, came up running, and immediately tripped over a rock I swear hadn't been there a second ago. Bad luck. My constant companion. I hit the ground hard, tasting dirt and blood.
The goblin loomed over me, raising its club for a finishing blow.
This was it. This was how I died. Not in some heroic last stand, but because I'd tripped over a rock while running away from a monster I'd only encountered because I'd hit my head on a toilet after hiding in the girl's bathroom to avoid a bully.
My life was a comedy of errors, and the punchline was about to be terminal.
The club came down.
Five Hours Earlier
I woke up to someone shaking my shoulder. Again.
"Hey. Hey! Are you okay?"
My head felt like someone had used it as a drum. I groaned and tried to sit up, only to realize I was lying on grass. Grass? Since when did school bathrooms have grass?
"Easy, easy," the voice said. "You took a pretty hard hit. Do you remember your name?"
I blinked away the spots in my vision and found myself staring at a kid about my age. Short - maybe five-foot-four - with messy brown hair, glasses that were slightly crooked, and a blue padded jacket covered in pockets. He looked like he'd raided a tactical supply store and a RadioShack at the same time.
"Where..." I started, then stopped. Because it wasn't just grass. It was a massive open field surrounded by stone walls that looked like they belonged in a fantasy movie. And there were people - hundreds of them, all around my age, all looking just as confused as I felt. Some were dressed normally, like me. Others wore elaborate robes or armor that definitely wasn't from any cosplay store I'd ever seen.
"New Genesis Entrance Exam staging area," the kid said, helping me sit up. "You're bleeding, by the way." He pressed something soft against my forehead - a handkerchief. "I'm Newton. You are...?"
"Jayden." My voice sounded distant to my own ears. "What... what's going on? Where am I?"
Newton's expression shifted to concern. "You don't remember coming here? Do you know what day it is? How many fingers am I holding up?"
"What? No, I—" I tried to think back. The bathroom. The girl. Hitting my head. And then... nothing. How did I get from a high school bathroom to... wherever this was? "I was just at school and then—"
"ATTENTION, CANDIDATES!"
The voice boomed across the field, amplified by something I couldn't see. Everyone fell silent. A man in a crisp black suit stood on an elevated platform at the far end of the field. He held a clipboard and looked supremely unimpressed with all of us.
"If you hear your name, answer PRESENT," he barked. "If you don't answer, you will be marked absent and forfeit your chance at admission. We have one thousand candidates and limited time. Let's begin."
He started rattling off names. People around me called out "Present!" in various degrees of confidence. I just sat there, holding Newton's handkerchief to my bleeding head, trying to process what was happening.
"Jayden Jalayan!"
My head snapped up. How did he know my—
"Jayden Jalayan!" Louder this time, annoyed.
"Say something," Newton hissed, elbowing me.
"Jayden Jalayan, FINAL CALL!"
"Present!" I shouted, my voice cracking.
The man's eyes found me in the crowd. He made a mark on his clipboard, then started walking. Directly toward me. The crowd parted for him like he was radioactive.
He stopped in front of me, looked down with an unreadable expression, and then leaned in close enough that only I could hear.
"You're Jason's kid, right?"
My blood went cold. "What did you—"
He pressed something into my hand - an envelope, slightly worn - and straightened up. "Good luck on your exam, Mr. Jalayan." Then he was gone, moving back toward the platform and continuing his roll call.
I stared at the envelope. My hands shook as I turned it over.
Written in handwriting I'd recognize anywhere, even though I hadn't seen it in over a decade: From Jason. Your dad.
"You okay?" Newton asked, but his voice sounded far away.
I tore open the envelope with trembling fingers. Inside was a single piece of paper, the words hurried and slightly smudged:
Jayden,
If you're reading this, you made it to the New Genesis Entrance Exam. I know you have questions. I know you're confused. I know you probably hate me.
I wish I could explain everything - about this world, about why I left, about what I had to do. But I'm almost out of ink and time is short.
Pass the exam. Get into New Genesis. Everything will become clear.
I'm sorry I couldn't be there.
- Dad
I read it three times. Then a fourth. The words didn't change. My dad - who'd vanished when I was five years old, who Mom never talked about, who I'd spent my whole life resenting - had somehow known I'd be here. Had left me a letter.
"Jayden?" Newton waved a hand in front of my face. "Hey, you're bleeding more. We should get you to a medic or—"
"What's the exam?" I asked, cutting him off.
Newton blinked. "What?"
"The entrance exam. What is it? What do I have to do?"
"You... you really don't remember anything, do you?" Newton studied my face. "Okay. Okay, this is fine. Maybe you hit your head harder than I thought. Here's the basics: this is New Genesis, a magical academy in another world. The exam tests combat ability. We're being sent into a contained forest area filled with goblins. Kill a goblin, take its ear, turn in the ear for points. Each ear is worth one point. Top four hundred students with the highest points get admitted."
"Magic," I repeated slowly. "Goblins. Another world."
"You're taking this really well for someone with potential amnesia."
I looked at the letter in my hands again. At my dad's handwriting. At the words everything will become clear.
I thought about Mom, exhausted from working three jobs. About our tiny apartment with thin walls. About Marcus and the twenty bucks I owed him and the Lego brick I'd stepped on this morning. About my entire life, which seemed to be one long string of bad luck and disappointments.
And I thought about the fact that my dad - wherever he was - had left me a message. Which meant he'd been here. Which meant there were answers.
"I'm doing it," I said.
"Doing what?"
"The exam." I stood up, ignoring how my head spun. "I'm passing this exam."
Newton looked at me like I'd grown a second head. "Uh, Jayden? No offense, but you don't remember anything about magic. You're bleeding from a head wound. And you're going up against a thousand candidates, most of whom have been training for this their entire lives."
"Yeah." I folded the letter carefully and put it in my pocket. "Sounds about right for my luck."
"That's..." Newton pushed his glasses up. "That's actually insane."
"Probably." I looked at him. Really looked at him. This kid who'd helped me when I was unconscious, who'd given me his handkerchief, who was looking at me with genuine concern despite knowing me for all of five minutes. "You seem to know what's going on. Help me?"
"You want me to help you cheat death via goblin?"
"When you put it that way, it sounds bad."
Newton stared at me. Then, incredibly, he smiled. "You know what? Sure. Why not. Someone's gotta make sure you don't accidentally kill yourself." He pulled out what looked like a modified smartphone from one of his many pockets. "But we're doing this smart. I'll explain the basics of mana, how to enhance your physical abilities, and—oh, this is important—how to not die."
"I like that last part."
"Most people do."
The man in the suit's voice boomed again: "CANDIDATES, PREPARE YOURSELVES. THE EXAM BEGINS IN FIVE MINUTES. MAY THE BEST FOUR HUNDRED SUCCEED."
All around us, people were stretching, checking weapons, some were already glowing with what I assumed was magic. They looked confident. Prepared. Like they belonged here.
I looked down at my wrinkled school uniform and the blood on Newton's handkerchief.
"Newton?"
"Yeah?"
"I have no idea what I'm doing."
"I know." He tapped me on the shoulder. "But hey, what's the worst that could happen?"
Present
The worst, apparently, was a Goblin General.
The club descended. I closed my eyes.
And then Newton's voice rang out: "NOW!"
Four Hours Earlier
"Okay, so mana is basically life energy," Newton explained as we sat on the grass at the edge of the staging area. Around us, other candidates were doing their own preparations - some meditating, others sparring, a few showing off elaborate spells that made my head hurt to look at. "Everyone has it, but using it requires focus and intent."
"Like the Force?" I asked.
Newton blinked. "What?"
"Star Wars? The Force? No?" I sighed. "Never mind. Different world, right."
"Right. Anyway, the most basic application - and the one that'll keep you alive - is physical enhancement. You channel mana through your body to become stronger, faster, more durable. But that's instinctive stuff that happens naturally when you're in danger. What I want to teach you is token summoning."
He held up his hand. A faint blue glow surrounded his palm, and then - like something out of a magic trick - a small pentagon-shaped coin materialized in the air above his hand. It was translucent, shimmering with inner light, and had the letter 'C' etched on its surface.
"Tokens," Newton continued, "are condensed mana given physical form. You can sacrifice them to summon items through Equivalent Exchange. The rank of the token - D being lowest, then C, B, A, and S being highest - determines the quality and power of what you can summon. The purity and density of your mana determines what rank tokens you can create."
"And I just... make them? How?"
"Focus your mana into your palm. Imagine it condensing, compressing, taking shape. It's about intent and concentration." He demonstrated again, creating another C-rank token with barely any effort. "Try it."
I held out my hand and stared at my palm like it owed me money. "Okay. Mana. Focus. Condense."
Nothing happened.
"You're thinking too hard," Newton said. "It's not intellectual. It's more like... flexing a muscle you didn't know you had. Feel the energy inside you and push it out."
Feel the energy. Right. I closed my eyes and tried to focus inward. At first, there was nothing. Then - faint, like a distant heartbeat - I felt something. A warmth in my chest, spreading through my limbs. It felt alive, responsive.
I imagined pulling that warmth into my hand, compressing it, shaping it.
Something flickered above my palm.
"There!" Newton said excitedly. "Keep going!"
The warmth flowed from my chest down my arm. It felt like trying to hold water in cupped hands - slippery, wanting to escape. But I focused, compressed, and—
A small blue pentagon materialized. Then another. And another.
When I opened my eyes, five tokens floated above my hand. Each one had a 'D' etched on its surface.
"I did it!" Then the warmth in my chest suddenly felt more like emptiness. My hand dropped, and the tokens fell into my palm. "Whoa. I feel... drained."
"That's normal. You just converted your life energy into physical tokens. Your body will recover, but don't push it." Newton examined my tokens. "Five D-ranks on your first try. Not bad for someone who learned about mana twenty minutes ago."
"Is D-rank good or..."
"It's the lowest rank," Newton admitted. "But it's something. Here—" He pressed three of his own tokens into my hand. They felt warm, almost alive. "Take these C-ranks. You'll need better quality for the exam."
"I can't just take your—"
"Consider it an investment in keeping you alive." Newton's expression was serious behind his glasses. "Now listen carefully. Equivalent Exchange is the fundamental law of this world. To get something, you must sacrifice something of equal value. Tokens work the same way. Sacrifice a D-rank token, get a basic item - a knife, maybe, or a length of rope. C-rank gets you better quality items. And so on."
"How do I sacrifice them?"
"Hold the token, focus on what you want, and will it to change. The universe does the rest. But be specific - vague wishes get vague results. And remember: the tokens determine potential and quality, but summoned items aren't permanent. Lower rank items are fragile, don't last long. You're essentially borrowing power."
I looked at the eight tokens in my hand - five D-ranks and three C-ranks. "So I could summon a sword?"
"You could. But can you use a sword?"
"I mean... how hard can it be? Pointy end goes in the other guy, right?"
Newton rubbed his temples. "This is going to be a disaster."
"Hey, optimism. Ever heard of it?"
"I've heard of realism. And realistically, we should stick together in the exam. I'll handle the technical aspects, you handle the..." he gestured vaguely at me, "...whatever it is you do."
"Get into trouble?"
"Yeah. That."
The man in the suit's voice boomed across the field: "CANDIDATES! THE EXAM BEGINS NOW! ENTER THE FOREST AND CLAIM YOUR EARS! FOUR HUNDRED WILL SUCCEED! NINE HUNDRED AND NINETY-SIX WILL FAIL!"
"Wait," I said. "Nine hundred and ninety-six? But there are a thousand of us."
"Four already quit," Newton said, standing and offering me his hand. "Smart people."
I took his hand and let him pull me up. My head still throbbed from earlier, and I felt weirdly empty after creating those tokens. Around us, candidates were surging toward the massive forest entrance like a tidal wave.
"Ready?" Newton asked.
I looked at the tokens in my hand. At the forest that probably contained actual monsters. At the letter from my dad in my pocket.
"Not even a little bit," I said. "Let's go."
Present
"NOW!" Newton shouted.
Blue electricity erupted from his gauntlet - finally working - and arced toward the Goblin General. The creature roared, momentarily distracted, its club halting inches from my face.
I didn't waste the opening.
My hand closed around three tokens - two D-ranks and one C-rank. I'd never done this before, but Newton's instructions echoed in my head. Focus on what you want. Be specific.
I need a weapon. A sword. Something to fight with.
The tokens in my hand grew hot. Then they simply... weren't there anymore.
And in their place, a sword materialized in my grip.
It was crude - plain iron, basic crossguard, grip wrapped in leather that already felt like it was coming loose. The blade had a faint blue shimmer that was already fading. But it was a sword, and I had it, and the Goblin General was turning back toward me with murder in its yellow eyes.
I swung.
The blade connected with the goblin's armored forearm with a sound like a bell cracking. The impact jarred my entire arm. The goblin barely flinched.
Then it smiled.
Its massive hand shot out, grabbed the blade, and twisted.
The sword shattered like glass.
"Oh, come on!" I stumbled backward, staring at the broken hilt in my hand. "I literally just summoned that!"
"D-rank tokens create low durability items!" Newton yelled, still frantically working his gauntlet. "And you don't know how to use a sword anyway!"
"Now you tell me!"
The Goblin General advanced, club raised. I was out of time, out of options, and out of stupid ideas—
Actually, wait. I had one more stupid idea.
I dropped the broken hilt and charged forward. No weapon, no plan, just pure desperation and the faint hope that my bad luck might accidentally work in my favor for once.
The goblin looked almost confused as I closed the distance. It probably expected me to run away. Most sane people would.
I was not, it seemed, sane people.
I pulled my fist back and punched the creature square in its ugly face.
My knuckles connected with something that felt like punching a brick wall. Pain exploded up my arm. The goblin's head rocked back maybe an inch.
Then it grinned, opened its massive jaws, and caught my hand in its mouth.
Teeth like daggers pressed against my skin. Not biting down yet - just holding, like a predator playing with its food. The goblin's eyes glinted with cruel intelligence. It was going to bite my hand off. Slowly.
Hot breath washed over my trapped hand. I could see down its throat. Panic clawed at my chest.
The tokens - I still had five tokens in my trapped hand!
Something sharp. Small. Anything!
The tokens burned.
The goblin's jaws started to close.
And a dagger materialized in my palm - cheap, rough, barely six inches long and already feeling fragile. But it was there, blade pointing upward, and the goblin's mouth was closing and—
I didn't think. I just shoved upward with everything I had.
The blade pierced through my own hand first. Pain whited out my vision. Blood, hot and slick, poured down my wrist.
But the dagger kept going.
It punched through the roof of the goblin's mouth. Through flesh and bone. Into the brain cavity.
The Goblin General's eyes went wide. Its jaw went slack. The light in its yellow eyes flickered and died.
The massive creature swayed for a moment, making a wet gurgling sound. Then it toppled backward like a felled tree, hitting the ground with enough force to shake the earth.
I stood there, frozen, with a dagger through my hand and the goblin's blood mixing with my own.
"Jayden?" Newton's voice sounded very far away. "Jayden, oh god, your hand—"
My legs stopped working. I hit the ground hard, gasping. The dagger dissolved into blue motes of light - its durability spent - leaving just the wound. A clean puncture through my palm, bleeding freely.
"That was..." Newton dropped to his knees beside me, already pulling bandages from one of his many pockets. "That was the stupidest, most reckless, most absolutely insane thing I've ever seen anyone do."
"Did it work?" I asked through gritted teeth.
"You killed a Goblin General. On your first day of knowing magic exists." He wrapped my hand with surprising efficiency, pulling the bandage tight enough to make me wince. "You're either incredibly lucky or incredibly unlucky, and I genuinely can't tell which."
"Both," I managed. "Definitely both."
Around us, the forest had gone quiet. Other candidates were emerging from the trees, drawn by the commotion. They stopped when they saw the Goblin General's corpse. Whispers rippled through the gathering crowd.
"Is that a General?"
"No way..."
"Who killed it?"
"The kid in the green jumpsuit?"
Newton helped me sit up, keeping pressure on my wounded hand. "You realize a Goblin General is worth fifty points, right? That's fifty goblin ears."
I blinked. "Wait, seriously?"
"You just guaranteed yourself admission to New Genesis. And probably terrified everyone here." He glanced at the growing crowd. "Some of them look like they want to challenge you. Others look like they're calculating if they can steal your kill credit."
"Great. Exactly what I needed. More enemies."
"Welcome to New Genesis," Newton said dryly. Then he smiled. "But hey, you passed. Your dad would be... well, I don't know what he'd be, but you made it."
I looked at my bandaged hand. At the dead Goblin General. At the crowd of candidates staring at me with expressions ranging from awe to anger to fear.
Then I looked at Newton - this nerdy kid who'd helped a complete stranger, who'd taught me magic in an hour, who'd watched my back in a fight against impossible odds.
"Thanks," I said quietly. "For everything."
"Don't thank me yet." Newton helped me to my feet. "Now comes the hard part."
"Harder than fighting a Goblin General?"
"Way harder." He grinned. "Now you have to survive being the center of attention in a school full of magical nobles who think they're better than everyone else."
I groaned. "My bad luck is gonna have a field day with that."
"Probably," Newton agreed cheerfully. "But at least it'll be interesting."
The man in the suit's voice boomed across the forest: "EXAM CONCLUDED! ALL CANDIDATES REPORT TO THE MAIN GATE FOR EVALUATION!"
I took one last look at the Goblin General - the monster that almost killed me, that I'd killed in the most ridiculous way possible.
Then I followed Newton toward the gate, toward New Genesis, toward answers about my dad.
My hand throbbed. My head still hurts from hitting the toilet. And I was pretty sure this was just the beginning of a very, very complicated situation.
But for the first time in as long as I could remember, I felt like I was moving toward something instead of just running away.
Even if my bad luck would probably make sure the journey was as painful as possible.