(Sigurd Agnarsson)

  Four years. For four damn years, I have had a crush on Helena Brown. Be it the crude, chaotic halls of Oak Summit High, the plethora of kaleidoscopic irises in the Summit Art rooms, or that fragile day in freshman year, as we both ran soaking wet through the torrential downpour of rain, sprinting after the school bus that we had missed by a mere five minutes, laughing at the circumstances. Her presence was a beacon; her eyes a ray of light— a ray that shined on me and my shitty life.

  The way her luscious brown hair flowed in the wind, the way she smiled under the sun, the way her cute freckles spread through her face, the way she hangs around the library to study under the dim yellow light with books scattered across the table, and how her name was set right at the peak of the list top-achievers, in my eyes, it made her seem like a goddess.

  Helena wasn't a stranger to attention. She had a few flings here and there in the past, but they had never amounted to anything.

  “Come on, Siggy. Don’t let us down.” My twin encourages me further.

  Einar has always been the golden child. Quite literally. Where my blonde hair was scraggly, long and rough, his was smooth and styled. My blue eyes were dull while his were radiant and shining. Where my physique was scrawny of a medium stature, his is that of a varsity captain—a three-year starting tackle built like a truck.

  “I don’t know…” I scratch my hair, “I just-”

  “It’s senior year, and she’s heading to Dartmouth! This is your last chance.” Einar continues, “Hey, take it from me. Remember her? Ah… beautiful woman. She was one of the only reasons I remembered Grayson’s house party. I should have kept in contact with her…” For a second, something flashes across Einar’s face before he shakes it off and turns to Albrecht, “What about you, Alby?”

  The boy eyes us as he adjusts his jeans and senior jacket. “What?” he asks, speaking with a slight German tinge in his accent. “What happened?”

  “How’re you and Luna?”

  “Well. She is a bit… rowdy. Loud. I don’t think my parents would approve of her. I don’t even know how I managed to take her out to prom.”

  “You’re not dating her, however.” Sebastian finally engages, continuously pressing his phone, as the rings echo in the classroom.

  “Can you even ask her out when she’s always surrounded by crooks?”

  “Oi! You can’t be talking”

  “Huh? And why’s that?”

  “Why’s that? DUDE. You’re still focused on that one girl for a while now, and from what we heard? It hasn’t been going anywhere! Secondly, you’re literally over here rolling for a god roll weapon in Earthwreckers! It’s a zero-point one percent chance to roll it!”

  Sebastian held up his finger, “So you’re telling me there’s a chance?” He chuckles, “It’s my lucky day today. I can feel it, a miracle is bound to happen~!”

  “Fuck. What did I expect? This man is gonna gamble his soul away at one point.” Albrecht shook his head, “Getting a girlfriend is the least of his priorities.”

  “Put him on his deathbed, and he’s rolling five godrolls in a row.”

  The three of them share a laugh. While I stand there, silent. There were no openings for me to join in or anything. Were the videos I watched pointless in the end? ‘How to talk like a chad~Andreas Tatius’. What a load of bullshit.

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  Before we knew it, a bell rings in the halls, signaling the end of recess. However, today is a special day, and we aren’t returning to classes. “Well now!” Einar stands up from his chair. “Signing time! I’ve always wanted to do this.”

  “Oh, right.” Sebastian looks at the clock, “Ughh…I don’t want to go out, man…”

  “Too bad, bro.” Albrecht kicks Sebastian off the chair, “Get up, stop gamblin,g please.”

  “Noooo….”

  My twin brother slings an arm across my shoulders, handing me a yearbook, “Last chance, dude. You have to be the one to do it. Find Helena, and get her number.”

  “B-But…” I hesitate, contemplating the seemingly simple yet daunting task up ahead, “I don’t…think I can do it-”

  “Oh, because of other people, huh? Don’t worry about that.” Einar points to himself, “You know I’m going to be distracting them. Now go, go find Helena.”

  Everyone always called her prom queen. I was surprised Einar didn’t accept Helena’s invitation to prom— even more so when he showed up with that girl. Safe to say, the outrage that followed was crazy. Crazy to the extent that no one ever saw her after prom day—not even Einar. Rumour has it that Einar's fan club bullied her into leaving North Dakota.

  It has always been this way. Einar was a celebrity at our school.

  “Alright…Thanks, Einar.”

  “No problem Siggy!”

  The four of us walk out of the classroom and glance out the window. We watch as the younger students pack up for their next classes. The seniors, on the other hand, are gathering in groups, exchanging goodbyes. Some are already starting to sign each other’s books.

  We hear some of them shout from below, “Where’s Einar?! Bro, I need to keep in contact with him!”

  “I need his number!” A girl shouts, “You miss every shot you don’t take!”

  Einar palms his face, “God damn it. I hate this part.” But then he places his hand on my shoulder, “But go! Find Helena! While I distract everyone else yeah!”

  Three of my friends waved me off as I head to the opposite direction with a new goal in mind. Even though his instructions and guide were clear and proper, I can’t help but shake slightly as I move.

  ‘Damn it, Sigurd! Keep it together!’ I slap myself as I turn around and sprint towards the nearest staircase.

  ***

  “Apocalypse of the sole Human”

  A thousand copies sold on the first day, then fifty-thousand the following week, and then three-hundred thousand in the following months. By the end of the year, it had sold over thirteen million copies worldwide.

  Celebrities were endorsing it, TV shows talked about it with their audience and members, youtube videos focused on analyzing the little throw away details of the book, analyzing the near sentient-like world of the novel. Praising how real, vibrant, and alive the world is. And how it all affected the centerpoint of the story.

  Wilhelm Weaver, the main protagonist of the beloved novel, had been a constant hot-topic on the discourse of the book. A lone human pulled into the world of a random book, forced to face the world by himself.

  Yes, many light novels follow the same premise, but none was as captivating as this hard-copy.

  The Prospect of a lone human with nothing to his name forced to survive in this new world, where the readers follow his every train of thought, as he adapts and analyzes how the world functions. Slowly merging his human mentality and culture with the new world just to blend in and avoid death. The story of how he brings technologies of his old world into the new with trains, scrying eyes as a new form of cameras, and more had really pulled the interest of many readers.

  It was just him and his taskmaster of a mentor, Yukile, learning how to avoid the treacherous and breathing new world where any slight mistake will cost him; 8Forcing him to rely on his wits and ingenuity to survive. That concept had been a hook for a lot of people, and their promotion of it seemed to spiral its popularity out of control.

  Millions of fans enjoyed the sheer absurdity of the situation, which pushed the agenda of the novel’s popularity further. From it, there were communities, sub-reddits, and even a Discord server filled with hard-core fans aching to know what happens next; Forming theories of the world that had been meticulated perfectly in their eyes and the future of their beloved Wilhelm Weaver after the first volume.

  Just then, every single copy of the book has began to hum with a small energy. Before growing exponentially in power. The runes on the books were now glowing, as millions of confused humans were staring at them. They continued to hum quietly, pages flipping rapidly back and forth before they tear out of their covers, flying towards the air, ready to meet their siblings.