The afternoon sun slanted through the windows of Class 3-A, turning the floating chalk dust into lazy golden spirals. Nishikawa Hinata leaned back in his seat by the window, pen tapping idly against his notebook, when the classroom door slammed open.
He raised his head with a somewhat annoyed expression. Because of work, he did not have the chance to read. That was why he waited until the class was empty before opening his books, but now someone had come to disturb his peace.
Recognizing the two girls who were charging straight at him, his expression relaxed a little.
"Class Rep!" One of the girls, Watanabe Yukino, the vice class rep, skidded to a stop in front of his desk, eyes sparkling. "I watched the premiere last night! You were 'fucking' incredible!" she said, exaggerating the 'fucking' with fluent English.
Right behind her, Sato Rina bounced on her toes, twin tails swinging. "Hina! Hina!" she said, trying to draw his attention toward her.
Hinata leaned back so he could see the two of them. Once she noticed she had grabbed his attention, her excited voice echoed through the room. "Hina, that scene where you smiled at the female lead in the rain? I died. I literally died. I was just screaming, that over there is my Hina! He is my class rep and seatmate!"
Hinata chuckled slightly. He was a little embarrassed but at the same time not. After all, this kind of attention was his daily routine.
Before he could answer them, the rest of the girls in his class swarmed in like bees to honey.
"Nishi-kun!" they all squealed like crazy K-pop fangirls. Behind them were the class boys, who were already sighing and signaling him to be strong and stay safe.
Hinata shut one eye with a small smile. "Guys, you know I was about to read, right?"
"Class Rep, that is not important now! Do you know your fake confession scene I posted on TikTok has reached one million likes in just a day!"
"Nishi, can you help me with maths? My parents are not around today, so it will be a good time to learn things!"
"Class Rep, our volleyball team lost our coach. Can you fill in in the meantime?"
Hinata raised both hands in surrender, a soft laugh escaping him as he tried to calm everyone down. His dark hair fell just right over one eye as he tilted his head slightly. "Guys, relax. You are acting like I am some celebrity… though I would not mind becoming one," he said, making an idol love sign with one hand.
The entire class went silent for only a moment before everyone started squealing again.
"Hina is so cute!"
"Someone check my BP, I think I am going to die!"
"Nishi, let me braid your hair."
From the back row, a boy of average height and average looks, who in most scenarios would keep to himself, walked up and tapped Hinata on the shoulder.
"Class Rep, your life seriously sucks. Heavenly looks, heavenly grades, heavenly physique. You are like a walking cheat code that us chopped guys envy."
"Oh my God," Yukino exclaimed. "Is that jealousy I hear from you, Kobayashi~?"
The entire class burst into laughter as Kobayashi squeezed his face. "I will say no more."
The class soon went into chaos mode as everyone talked loudly among themselves, though they did not leave the area of Hinata's desk. After all, he was the glue that kept them together. Whether you were smart or dumb, rich or poor, beautiful or ugly, Hinata had created a class where everyone could be equal. Seeing the class so vibrant, he could not help leaning his face on one arm and smiling.
"You guys are hopeless."
Everyone turned toward him to say something, then the ground trembled, causing all of them to go still.
It started small, like a subway train passing underneath. Pencils rolled and someone's water bottle tipped over.
A second later, the entire classroom shook hard enough to rattle the windows and force desks to scrape across the floor.
However, even with the trembling, no one panicked. Instead, their eyes fell on one person, and he was already moving, springing out of his seat and bolting for the door. "Everyone stay calm! I will open it!"
He slammed the handle down.
It didn't budge.
He yanked harder. Nothing. The door was sealed as if welded shut.
"Shit, everyone, get together! Into the middle, now!" he shouted, his voice cutting through the rising panic like a blade. "Do not scatter! Hold on to each other!"
Chairs toppled as the class stumbled toward the center of the room. Yukino grabbed Rina's hand. Kobayashi clutched the back of Hinata's uniform. In seconds, the entire class huddled together, hearts hammering.
A glowing circle of pure light exploded across the floor beneath their feet. Then light surged upward in a pillar that swallowed everything.
And just like that, they were gone.
…
In the divine hall of the Goddess of Love, twenty-four students from Class 3-A materialized on a marble platform. Golden pillars soared into an endless sky. The air smelled of lilies, and a radiant woman with flowing silver hair and wings of pure light stood before them, arms raised in welcome.
"Heroes from another world," she began, her voice like chiming bells, "I am the Goddess of Love, and I have summoned you to…"
Before she could finish speaking, Yukino cut her off.
"Um… excuse me, Goddess? We are missing someone."
The goddess tilted her head. "Missing?"
The class erupted in overlapping voices.
"Hinata is not here!"
"Where is Nishi-kun?!"
"Class Rep! He was right next to us!"
The goddess's luminous eyes narrowed. She scanned the group once, then twice. Her expression shifted from serene to faintly troubled.
"Come to think of it… where is the brightest star among you?"
***
Far beneath the surface of that same world, in a chamber carved from black obsidian and lit only by blood-red candles, Nishikawa Hinata woke up in chains, and the only thing he could do was scream, or at least he tried to, as pain tore through every fiber of his being.
A thick leather strap was jammed between his teeth, tied so tight his jaw ached. His wrists were bound above his head to a cold stone altar. Every nerve in his body burned as if lightning were crawling under his skin.
Robed figures surrounded the altar. Their faces were hidden behind white smiling masks. They chanted in a language that hurt to hear, voices rising and falling like a storm.
"Awaken… awaken… awaken…"
One of the cultists stepped forward, his voice trembling with ecstasy.
"The vessel is prepared. The brightest soul of the summoned heroes! Now… kill him."
Hinata tried to beg them to wait, or listen, or maybe even spare him, but his words came out as gibberish.
As he struggled, the chains rattling and clashing against each other, a towering figure lumbered out of the darkness.
Nine feet of muscle and fur. Horns curling from its skull. Hinata knew his share about monsters from anime, manga, and novels, so he instantly recognized what it was… a minotaur.
The monster stared at him with blank eyes, an axe the size of a grown man resting on one massive shoulder.
Hinata's heart slammed against his ribs. He thrashed against the restraints even harder. His muffled scream never left his throat.
The minotaur swung.
The blade sang through the air.
And Nishikawa Hinata's head left his shoulders in one clean, merciless arc.
Blood sprayed across the altar like ink on black paper.
The cultists' chanting reached a fever pitch.
The chamber trembled.
And somewhere in the darkness between life and death, something ancient opened its eyes and smiled.