Kazuki Ren never expected his life to amount to much. At twenty years old, he was already burnt out. Dropped out of college. Lost in routine. Wake up, survive work, scarf down cheap convenience store food, pass out. Rinse and repeat. His dreams of becoming someone—anyone—had long since faded into the gray blur of everyday life.
So, when the sky cracked open that night, Kazuki thought it was a hallucination brought on by exhaustion. The thunder didn't sound real. The light wasn't from any city streetlamp.
And then his room disappeared.
The floor beneath him vanished. Gravity yanked him sideways—no, upward—into a whirlpool of swirling stars and cosmic energy. His body disintegrated into light, reforming in a place that smelled of grass, ozone, and something ancient.
When he hit the ground, he landed on soft earth, surrounded by towering trees and an eerie silence.
His head throbbed. "Where... am I?"
Before he could take in the scenery, he heard whispers. Cloaked figures surrounded him in a circle, kneeling. Hooded, reverent, trembling.
"It's him…"
"The God of Calamity…"
"He has returned."
A girl stepped forward, lowering her hood. Her silver hair shimmered under the twin moons above, and her glowing blue eyes locked onto his. Her beauty was otherworldly—delicate and powerful all at once.
"My name is Lysaria, High Priestess of the Lunar Temple," she said, her voice a soft melody. "We've waited centuries for this moment. You've answered our summoning."
Kazuki blinked. "Wait, summoning? What—?"
Before he could finish, a bloodcurdling roar shattered the silence. Trees splintered as a colossal beast—eight meters tall, red eyes blazing—charged through the forest. Its jagged teeth dripped with black saliva. A demon, straight out of a nightmare.
The cloaked figures screamed and scattered. Lysaria drew a glowing sigil in the air, ready to protect him, but the beast was too fast.
Kazuki didn't think.
He raised a hand. Pure instinct.
And the world exploded.
A blinding bolt of white lightning ripped through the sky, slamming into the demon with a deafening boom. The creature didn't stand a chance—it was vaporized in an instant. The earth shook. The trees bent outward from the force. For several seconds, nothing moved.
Everyone stared at Kazuki.
His hand was still raised, faint sparks crackling around his fingertips. The air hummed with raw magical energy.
"Did… I just do that?"
He turned to Lysaria, but she was already kneeling, her head bowed low.
"You command the sky… You truly are the God of Calamity."
Around her, others followed, chanting. Worshiping.
Kazuki's brain short-circuited. A god? Him? He had never even been in a fight, let alone wielded magic. But what he'd just done wasn't a dream. He could still feel the heat of it pulsing through his veins.
"This has to be a mistake," he muttered.
"There is no mistake," Lysaria said, lifting her gaze. "The world has long awaited your return. Our prophecies spoke of a being beyond magic, born of another realm, who would descend when the skies cried lightning. That was you."
Before he could protest again, movement from the treeline caught his eye.
Three more girls stepped forward from the shadows. Each striking in her own way.
The first was a beastkin warrior, tall and muscular, with golden furred ears and a wild look in her amber eyes. She studied Kazuki like prey—or a challenge.
"So this is the god?" she said, resting a giant axe on her shoulder. "He doesn't look like much. But that lightning… I felt it in my bones."
The second was a swordswoman with scarlet hair and sharp red eyes. She crossed her arms and scowled.
"Tch. If he's a god, he better prove it. I don't kneel for just anyone."
And the third… was quiet. An elven girl, small and serene, robes flowing like water. She said nothing, but her glowing green eyes watched Kazuki intently. Her staff hummed softly in response to his presence.
Lysaria gestured to them.
"These are the chosen warriors of the prophecy. Bound to serve and protect you. Together, we must stop the Empire of Thorns before it awakens the Void Serpent and plunges the world into ruin."
Kazuki stared at them all—these beautiful, dangerous women, the strange moonlit forest, the faint hum of godlike energy still vibrating in his bones.
This wasn't a game. It wasn't a dream.
It was real.
And somehow, he was the center of it.
"Okay… so I've been summoned to another world, accidentally nuked a demon, and now I'm apparently a god."
He exhaled.
"Could be worse."
Lysaria smiled gently. "Your journey begins now, my lord."
As they led him deeper into the forest toward a glowing temple in the distance, Kazuki couldn't help but wonder just how far this strange new life would take him.
One thing was certain:
This world would never be the same.