If I had to describe my last normal day on Earth, it was chaos. Not only was I behind on my rent, I was really going deep, like I'm drowning in debt and the business was not doing well. I was on the verge of giving up.
It was a Friday night and rush hour, the orders stacked higher than usual because I was doing it alone. My two employees quit a day ago and I didn't have a choice but to do the process and cooking at once. My oven was exhausted and hissing like it wanted to surrender before I did.
My name's John, proud owner of John's Pizzeria. I was boxing my final order for the night, 2 large pepperoni with extra mushrooms and cheese before riding my bike to deliver it to my customer, when suddenly my bike stopped moving. I thought maybe the bike's chain ring was cut. I looked at it but it was intact.
Suddenly, there was a green flash and a pull, and suddenly I wasn't on the road anymore.
When I opened my eyes, I was standing on a red-carpeted floor surrounded by knights, priests, and a king sitting on a golden chair that looked scary.
A dozen people in robes were chanting around a glowing magic circle. The smell of incense was in the air and right next to me was my pizza box still warm and my bike.
"Who dares interrupt the summoning!?" a guard barked, sword halfway out.
"Uh," I said. "Delivery?"
No one laughed.
A priest with glowing eyes stepped forward.
"I shall appraise this intruder!" He raised his staff. Light shimmered over me, then words appeared in midair.
Name: John Avery
Skill: Master Chef (Unique)
Level: 1
Title: Accidental Summon
The king frowned.
"Master… Chef?"
The court murmured.
"Is that even combat-worthy?"
"Sounds useless."
"Can it bake monsters to death?"
I raised my hand weakly.
"I can make a mean pizza?"
The king's expression turned cold.
"Dispose of him."
"...wait, what!?"
Two knights grabbed my arms. One of them muttered, "Sorry, orders are orders. Useless skills have no place here."
Useless… My skill is…useless!?
Back on Earth, my food had always made people happy, even when I barely scraped by. And now, I was about to be killed because I wasn't "hero material."
Not the best first impression in a new world.
As they dragged me toward the door, my brain screamed one thing: move.
I twisted free, slammed my pizza box into one guard's face (extra cheese really is sticky when hot), and sprinted toward the open gate with my bike.
"Stop him!" someone yelled.
It was too late because I rode on my bike and stomped on the pedal and sped off down the cobblestone path before the gates slammed shut behind me.
The wind roared in my ears. My heart pounded. My pizza box attached to the back of my bike still has the one left box inside that was tucked safely inside.
"Okay," I panted. "Step one: escape. Step two: find a safe place."
The road twisted into the woods. Trees thick as towers loomed on both sides, their leaves tinted faint gold under the setting sun. Fireflies drifted through the air.
It was peaceful and quiet.
I slowed down and noticed something strange, I couldn't hear any birds' sounds which was weird since this was woods. It was slightly hot. Woods are supposed to be colder. I looked around and saw it, the hot temperature, burning itself and becoming and in a pile of ashes, there was an egg and then it hatched. A chick, as large as a chicken's chick emerged. The fire was not red. It was gold.
The bird grew rapidly. Feathers grew from its skin. It was yellow to red, more like the color of fire and then it flew.
A giant shadow moved beyond the trees.
My throat went dry.
"...please tell me that's not a dragon."
The heat pulsed again, and a voice brushed my mind like wind through a forge.
"You bring warmth that is not flame… and scent that wakes memory."
The forest trembled. The dragon-thing landed on the top of my pizza box as small as a dove.
"Human. Feed me what is inside this box."
And that's how I learned two things that day:
One, pizza travels through dimensions surprisingly well.
Two, never underestimate who might want the first slice.