As I read the text, the words glowed once again, as if it was recognizing me reading them aloud.
Koji laughed,
"How did we manage to find an old book about people getting Isekai'd."
Mina chastised him,
"SHH! Keep going."
I continued,
"First, King Agaman of the Amethyst Kingdom summoned the Roanoke Girls Academy. Referred to as The First, they were summoned when a great goblin tribe invaded the Amethyst Kingdom."
A simultaneous "Ahh!! Gross" resounded between all the girls of the group.
Hino and Mina both grabbed each other looking pale as ghosts.
Mina explained,
"Goblins…. I hate goblins… after watching THAT show's first episode I haven't been the same."
I smirked,
"That's just a TV show, lets continue. It has information on goblins…
Species: Goblin
Subspecies: Cave Goblin, Mountain Goblin, Water Goblin
Evolution Cycle: Infant Goblin, Mature Goblin, Hobgoblin, Hobgoblin Warlord, Hobgoblin King, Goblin God
Height: 1-4 meters.
Lifespan: 50-200 Years
Available Classes: Shaman, Warrior, Beastmaster
Species Information: Residing on the northern most continent of Avalon these creatures are fierce. Possessing volatile temperament and murderous instincts they're one of the most dangerous species within all of Avalon. Once a tribe is large enough, a king will arise and the pursuit of world domination through forced breeding of mainlanders occurs. Goblins posses extreme potency with the ability to reproduce with any species, be it other monsters or humanoids. In the name of their god Cthulic. They will spread their likeness to all corners of their world. "
The faces of those at the table began turning green and even Akira looked away in disgust.
I continued,
"The first heroes were summoned and trained to fight off the goblin hordes. Being other worlders they were given advantages, generally stronger than those native to the land."
Koji sneered and raised one brow, "Is this really an old book? Why are there common Isekai tropes…"
He stopped talking, noticing Mina glaring at him to shut up so they could keep reading.
"When a hero is summoned to Avalon they're given the opportunity to choose their class or classes, special abilities, as well as physical traits and much more.
Guaranteed one C - A level skill with the opportunity of getting additional skills at random. Among The First, there was one who even received a S+ ranked skill.
Despite having these new and impressive abilities the Hero's were unskilled in the ways of war. After being summoned they had to be trained for over 10 years in martial arts and spell craft, yet still they were lacking.
After years of war and millions of lives sacrificed, they were successful in defeating the goblin king. Fifty were summoned, yet only four remained in the end.
Those who survived lived out their days in their new world, in luxury as the heroes who saved it"
Hino gasped and grabbed Akira's sleeve, "So they couldn't come back after… All that hardship and they had to stay in that place?..."
On the following pages it detailed the first names along with notes of how they died.
Deathlog:
Shira - Stabbed through the heart with a dagger of Icefrost.
Akomo - Devoured by a mammoth bear.
And it continued….
I paused and dropped the book onto the table, covering my mouth in disgust as to what I was reading. No one else can see what I just read but that has to be wrong....
Akira laughed, "It can't be that bad."
He then grabbed the book moving it in front of him and said,
"Guys some books can get a bit dark, but I'll keep reading. I want to see where it goes from here".
Akira flipped to the next page without reading the bottom line of text assuming I had read it all aloud.
I don't know if what I just saw was real or not, but at the bottom of that page I could have sworn one of those deaths said death by insemi--. What is this book?
Everyone looked in my direction asking if I was ok, I didn't want to weird them out if I had just seen that text wrong.
It must have been my imagination. It couldn't possibly have said that.
Akira looked my way and kept reading,
"Relax Yuki it's just a book, Minamoto will hold your hand I'm sure if you get scared."
We were so young and innocent in those days Minamoto and I blushed and couldn't even look one another in the eye as she grabbed my hand under the table.
"The second summoning was two hundred years following the first, performed by Empress Koraru of Pearl Empire.
Under a full moon she summoned thirty members of the Hachioji High School Academy basketball team.
These heroes were summoned to battle an onslaught of monsters coming from the ocean. The majority of this army was made up of Demon Clams and Murlocks.
Species: Murlocks
Subspecies: Saltwater Murlock, Freshwater Murlock, Boglock
Evolution Cycle: Infant Murole, Mature Murole, Murlock, Murlock Lord, Murlock King, Murlock God.
Height: 1-6 meters.
Lifespan: 50-200 Years
Available Classes: Spearman, Mage,
Species Information: Murlocks reside in large underwater cities. Venturing out to attack merchant vessels and steal treasures from the mainland. Muroles cannot survive outside of the water unless they have evolved from a Murole into a Murlock. At this evolution, they gain feet and the ability to breath air. Murlocks over the millennia have tamed the demon clams as their battle pets. Using them to traverse the sea like human upon boats.
After a decade of war they defeated the majority of the water monster army. Yet there was a significant cost, they lost over half of their summoned heroes.
Finally they were left to fight a water god. Without the ample time to prepare, they... lost. This outcome caused the Kingdom of Pearl to be burned to the ground, and the summoned souls were killed in a war not of their own. "
Akira stopped on the page where the death log of this group was detailed, visibly disturbed by what he read,
"The heroes lost… I've never read a book where the hero didn't win in the end. I guess it's possible. In most movies the hero gets really lucky, things go his way at key moments where it really shouldn't. As if god was on his side."
Sora, another club member, grabbed the book to re-read the name of the second group.
"No way… guys I remember hearing about this from my grandfather. He used to tell us a story of his friend who went missing. He searched for him for years after they didn't show up for a basketball game."
Full name Soran but we all called him Sora. He was tall, with brown hair and green eyes. He appreciated the finer things in life and always made sure to wear something stylish. Sora was a friend to pretty much everyone in the class. Especially when finals or any big tests were coming up he would find ways to break the tension in the classroom. Keeping everyone level and not stressed out. If Hino was the younger sister, Sora was definitely the middle child. In this club we were as close as family. I didn't have one myself so this club was everything to me.
Sora grabbed his phone and started scrolling through his contacts,
there it is, Grandpa, he started to call...
*Ring ring*
*Click*
His grandfather answered the phone in a strained tone of voice,
"This is Grandpa!"
Sora smiled just hearing his voice, showing the close relationship he had with his grandfather.
"Grandpa! I need to ask you something. You told us a story about your friend who went missing when you were in high school. What was his name?"
His grandfathers tone suddenly stiffened and he let out a deep sigh,
"What do you want with Remi? He was my best friend, even going to different schools we always played basketball on the weekends. Hmph. I'll never forget him… His name was Remi Akamura. He and his three brothers were all on that trip together when it happened. When he..
*Crying noises*
*Sniffling and the sound of the phone cord ruffling*
"Grandpa has to go…"
"Wai–"
*Click*
Sora stared at the phone in confusion,
"That was weird. Grandpa is usually a lot more composed. We can look for his friend's name on the death log right? I wonder if his name is listed here."
Page after page he flipped seeing the gruesome details of their deaths, all manner of foul things happened to them. Some were devoured, some were flayed...A death in battle, seemed to be mercy.
The world of Avalon was hell yet everyone expected it to be heaven. Sora finally stopped flipping pages, sitting there with a dreadful look on his face. He found it,
"Remi was eaten alive by sharks defending the Pearl Empire."
Sora stood up visibly distressed, he began looking around.
"If someone else wants to keep going, go for it. This book is a little much for me…"
He nervously scratched the back of his head and walked towards the bathroom. Moments later we heard the sound of puking.
Hinabi walked over, sitting where Sora was prior.
"I'll handle this for you bunch of babies. Probably just a coincidence. There is no way a book this old has information about his grandpas old friend. It only says the first name of the people it HAS to be a coincidence."
Hinabi, the tomboy of the girls in our club, dressed mostly in the guys uniform with a set of large over ear headphones around her neck. She had short black hair with a pair of golden eyes. She was considered one of the boys, only showing her girly side when it suited her needs. Absolutely beautiful though, she could have had all the guys wrapped around her finger. Yet it's not the guys she was after.
Hinabi took the book ,
"Now it should be the third summoning rig--"
She paused and asked,
"How far apart were the other two summoning's? Ah no matter."
She reached for the second seal to reveal the text. Hinabi struggled to open the seal, she started to jerk the seal trying to break it when all of the sudden she heard a click coming from the back of the book.
She dropped it onto the table, nervously smiling…..
"Guys something clicked. Uh…Yuki, you break the seal."
I looked over and saw Hinabi inching farther and farther from the book. She pushed the book in front of me.
I opened the prior page and it had illuminated text. Almost as if it was burning in the pages.
On the bottom of the page it read,
"Consent is required to continue. Press the back diamond."
There is a foggy mirror like button in the shape of a diamond on the back of the book..
I flipped the book over for everyone, showing the raised diamond shaped button.
I considered for a moment, then held my breath and pressed it.
"Ouch!"
I retracted my finger which was now dripping blood profusely, it was now apparent there was a tiny blade under the button which absorbed a bit of my blood. The diamond turned blood red, seemingly draining more of my blood than I realized.
"This fucking book cut me!"
I started to suck on my own finger yet it did little to stop the bleeding.
The lights flickered once again and the button was now gone. The back of the book was flat, no indication that it ever had a button in the first place.
The book ripped itself from my hands and slammed back onto the table, as if a demon itself had grabbed it out of my hands.
We all heard a whisper,
"Consent granted"
The book started to glow red as the second seal was broken and the pages began to flip on their own.
All of us had a blank stare of fear and confusion as we couldn't tell if what we heard and saw was real or not. We couldn't all be crazy.