Bruce came along too!

"...Holy crap... What the heck happened?"

Thanks to his father training him with a bamboo switch since childhood, Chuan Wenwu was in excellent physical shape. So although the decidedly unscientific teleportation circle had left him dizzy, he soon recovered.

His eyelids slowly opened. As expected, his surroundings had changed completely. The open, grassy plaza beneath blue skies and white clouds was gone, replaced by a rather dim enclosed room. It was spacious, and he could see the neat seams between the enormous stone blocks used to build it. Judging by the style of the oil lamps hanging on the walls to provide light, this seemed to be a medieval-style building.

"I crossed into another world?" Chuan Wenwu sounded a little awed, but also somewhat resigned.

He readily accepted that he had crossed into another world. Why hadn't he first suspected that he had been kidnapped?

Come on, who the hell would dare kidnap someone at the Tokyo Ruins? Did they have a death wish?

Besides, when that strange book called the Four Holy Weapons Book suddenly began glowing, turning its own pages... and even flying, Chuan Wenwu had realized something was wrong. Then he had lost consciousness, and upon waking, found his surroundings transformed in a way that felt all too familiar. With a name that carried the meaning of excellence in both scholarly and martial pursuits, he naturally thought of the supernatural phenomenon of "crossing into another world," something he had only seen in novels and anime.

Ohohoho... Am I the protagonist now?

The corners of Chuan Wenwu's mouth twitched unnaturally, as though he were desperately trying not to laugh.

Indeed, although he was working hard to get into a military academy and become a soldier, Chuan Wenwu was still, first and foremost, an eighteen-year-old boy. Well versed in the art of having fun, he had naturally fantasized about crossing into another world and embarking on an exciting fantasy adventure.

Now that his fantasy seemed to have actually come true, how could he not be delighted?

But I can't laugh just yet.

Still, Chuan Wenwu quickly forced himself to calm down. After all, no rule guaranteed that someone who crossed into another world would enjoy smooth sailing and have everything go their way. Chinese entertainment had already cycled through several waves of trends: showing off, broken engagements, worthless underdogs, systems... All sorts of genres had enjoyed their turn in the spotlight.

Among them, stories where the protagonist started out in utter disaster were hardly rare... In fact, they formed a sizable category of their own. It was all well and good to watch, amused, from a reader's perspective as the protagonist struggled to survive, treading on thin ice before gradually rising and turning things around. But if that kind of "good fortune" actually befell him, he wouldn't be laughing.

Let's wait and see... Wait, goddammit, where's my dog?!

Chuan Wenwu suddenly realized something and hurriedly looked down to search. He distinctly remembered gripping Bruce's leash tightly when he crossed over. Surely he hadn't come here alone while Bruce stayed behind in his original world and became a stray?

"Phew..." Chuan Wenwu let out a long breath of relief when he spotted the big yellow dog at his feet, apparently still unconscious.

Could it be... that the choice I made while scrolling through short videos, "go on an adventure in another world with Bruce," actually came true? I should've picked the hundred million...

That absurd thought popped into his head out of nowhere, but Chuan Wenwu relaxed a little. He crouched down and rubbed Bruce's head vigorously, muttering softly as though talking to himself, "Big Yellow, thank goodness you came along too. Otherwise, your big brother Chuan would have to wander this other world all alone..."

His rough handling soon shook Bruce awake, and the moment Bruce woke up, he let out several fierce barks. "Woof, woof, woof!" He, too, remembered the strange changes before he lost consciousness, and his owner hurriedly fleeing with him... Whatever that thing was, it wouldn't lay a paw on his master!

Then he saw his owner's big face right in front of him. His owner seemed fine?

"Woof?"

Bruce's confusion was plain in his bark, as though he were asking what had happened.

Chuan Wenwu slowly shook his head, signaling for Bruce to settle down and stop barking while they patiently watched how things unfolded.

This seems to be an altar...

Only after confirming that both he and Bruce were all right did Chuan Wenwu begin carefully examining his surroundings.

Beyond his earlier, fleeting impression of a "medieval building," he noticed that he seemed to be standing on a raised platform. Geometric patterns that looked as though they had been drawn in fluorescent paint covered its surface, and all sorts of strange objects he didn't recognize sat at its corners... Everything about it felt deeply familiar, convincing Chuan Wenwu that this was an altar.

And someone seemed to have deliberately brought him here.

Summoning?

The concept sprang into his mind. He frowned and slowly pushed it down.

He and Bruce weren't the only man and dog on the altar. Three men who had yet to regain consciousness stood beside him... No, while Chuan Wenwu was thinking, all three woke up one after another. They exchanged bewildered looks, each wearing an expression that asked, "What on earth is going on?"

Chuan Wenwu also shook his head, indicating that he knew no more about the situation than these three strangers, who seemed to share his predicament.

"Hm?"

Chuan Wenwu narrowed his eyes slightly. While studying the three men, he noticed that they weren't empty-handed. They were holding a sword, a spear, and a bow respectively, as though they had been born with them.

A sword, a spear, a bow... Chuan Wenwu lowered his gaze to his own arm. Sure enough, he saw a small metal round shield attached to it, with a dark green jewel embedded in its center.

He had no idea what material the metal shield was made of, but it was exceptionally light. He barely felt any weight on his arm. Combined with its small size-it wasn't even as big as a pot lid-that explained why he hadn't noticed it since waking up.

"What a strange thing."

Chuan Wenwu tried taking the shield off. It came off easily.

He tried attaching it to his other arm. That worked too.

He tried putting the thing on Bruce's head... That failed. The shield seemed glued to his hand, and he couldn't shake it off.

"So this thing can't leave my body! If you're giving me equipment, just give it to me. Why throw in a binding curse?" Chuan Wenwu was briefly at a loss for words.

This strange piece of equipment had suddenly appeared on him, and since he couldn't throw it away, he could only keep it. Fortunately, the shield was small and light enough that wearing it on his arm barely restricted his movements. On the other hand, what good was such a tiny shield? It could only cover half his body. Protect his head, expose his ass... It couldn't even cover his whole ass!

Whatever, whatever. My shield, plus those three guys' sword, spear, and bow, make up the exact set of weapons from the Four Holy Weapons Book I saw earlier. So I really did cross into the world of that novel?

Bad luck, bad luck. That book's story was so clichéd that I only skimmed it for the gist. I can't remember the names, places, times, or events...

Fuck!

At the thought that the book should have been his cheat advantage, but he had skipped a careful reading to save himself the trouble, Chuan Wenwu felt regretful. Blame swiftly followed. Who makes a cheat advantage like that? You could've at least given me a heads-up... If you'd told me earlier, wouldn't I have memorized the hell out of it? Even setting all that aside, if you'd made the story in that book just a little more interesting, I wouldn't have found it completely unreadable, okay?

So it's all the author's fault!

While his mind raced and his gaze wandered, Chuan Wenwu suddenly paused. He had spotted a very small "..." icon in the lower-right corner of his vision.

What's that?

Just as he was about to investigate this new oddity, the sword-wielding man standing in front of him addressed the people below the altar.

"Hey, what is this place?"