A pungent animal smell hit Kuro as he woke blurry eyed on top of a bale of hay. Beside him, a horse nibbled and snorted at his hair. He sat up slowly. It was a little strange to have all his senses back.

  Looking around, he saw an orb about the size of a tennis ball hovering at his other side. As he got to his feet, the floating ball hovered up to meet him and resume its position next to him. He backed up to put some distance between himself and the strange artifact, but it began to follow. He sped up.

  So did the orb.

  Soon, he was running back and forth inside the barn in a panic as the little drone stuck close behind.

  “Stop!” he finally shouted.

  The orb halted in midair. Kuro blinked and stared at it in disbelief.

  “What the hell? Does this thing understand me?” he thought.

  He peered at its shimmering surface, but almost jumped out of his skin when the barn door creaked loudly.

  Suddenly aware that he was in some stranger’s barn, Kuro quickly ducked behind a stall. A young woman with blonde hair flowing past her hips walked in with a bucket in hand. Kuro peaked between the slats of wood to watch her. Whistling, she carried on working obliviously.

  As she neared his stall, she stopped dead. Kuro knew she wasn’t looking his way, but her eyes were fixed on something nearby. He followed her gaze and went saucer-eyed. The stupid floating orb had caught her attention. She got close enough to inspect it before she too went wide-eyed and dropped the bucket.

  She whipped around and caught sight of him crouching in the shadows like some peeping Tom. Kuro immediately tried to come forward, palms held up, to try reassuring her. But that had the opposite effect.

  Before he could get a word out, she screamed and turned to run. He bolted after her, frantically trying to shush her.

  “Please be quiet.”

  Just as she crossed the threshold, she lost her footing and fell, turning to see him standing over her. With tears in her eyes, she began to beg.

  “Please, don’t make me your-”

  But she trailed off and fainted.

  Kuro glanced around to see if anyone noticed the commotion. The yard was edged with trees and thick bushes, and there didn’t seem to be anyone else around. With a relieved breath, he stepped over the girl and made for the open gate. There was no way he was sticking around to find out what happened next in this scenario.

  Outside he was confronted by cobblestone streets, thatched rooftops, and horse-drawn carts. Houses were built far apart, allowing for each person to have their own farm on this hilly territory.

  Kuro had no idea where to go, but considering he could find himself in trouble for suspected burglary or worse, he thought it best to leave town. Not even two steps from the house, he noticed the little orb had appeared beside him once more.

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  “Not you again,” he sneered. “I guess I'm stuck with you, huh?”

  As he walked, keeping his head low, he grumbled.

  “Considering how that girl reacted to seeing you, do you think you could just hide?”

  Instantly, it vanished as if erased from existence.

  “Whoa, it can do that?” he said.

  Mentally patting himself on the back, he followed the main road out of the village. As he passed by, the townsfolk looked him over inquisitively. The stares made him keenly aware of his situation and he thought over everything, trying to make sense of it.

  The strange orb that had made itself his companion, the things the administrative voice had said to him, they all pointed to one thing. He could hardly believe it, but it seemed like this really was a new world.

  As he approached a stone bridge at the edge of town the setting sun put to rest any lingering doubts. It was light pink with a ring like Saturn’s.

  Kuro stared at it for a while.

  “I guess that settles it,” he muttered to himself. “One minute I’m rolling in dog poop, the next I’m in a new reality. Either that, or I’ve gone crazy.”

  A shout from behind snapped him out of his thoughts and he turned to see the same young woman from earlier. Only now, she was on a bike, pedaling toward him at full speed. With his stomach in his throat, he tried to make tracks, but she leapt off her mount and bounded over his head to the other side of the bridge.

  With his escape route blocked, he skirted to a stop.

  Now sporting a pair of golden gauntlets and a shield on her back, she wielded a huge war hammer in one hand. For a second, Kuro was taken aback with the way she carried the thing. It was bigger than her.

  As she faced him down, a boiling, burning aura poured from her body. Kuro felt like he was at the bottom of the ocean as this intense pressure weighed him down. He dropped to one knee, barely able to lift his head. With each step she closed the gap between them. A violent red aura burned around her body, disturbing the air and generating an upward draft. It caused her hair to lift and her skirt to flutter dangerously high, revealing thick thighs.

  “I have never been so humiliated in my life!” she cried. “What was it? What was it this time? Was I not good enough even to be your slave?”

  Kuro managed to eke out a response.

  ”I don’t know what you’re talking about,”

  "Don’t play dumb with me! I know you’re a Slave Lord.”

  He may not have understood what she was referring to, but it didn’t sound good. A jolt of fear ran up his back and he began to blurt out everything.

  “No, no! I really don’t understand what you’re saying. I’m not from here — I came from another world called Earth! I mean, I don’t know if this place is also called Earth, but it’s not the same Earth.”

  He was on the verge of collapsing with the amount of force she was putting out, but with sweat pooling at his temples, he pushed through.

  “I— I went through something traumatic and a hole opened in the fabric of reality. Someone called the Administrator sent me here and I just woke up in your barn. I don’t even know how I ended up there! I don’t know what the orb following me around is, I don’t know why the sun has a ring, I don’t know anything! I swear I’m not lying, so please, don’t kill me!”

  The girl stared at him a moment more before lowering her hammer. Gradually, the oppressive aura faded..

  “You mean… you’re not a Slave Lord?”

  Kuro shook his head tiredly.

  “I don’t even know what that is.”

  “Well, why didn’t you say so in the first place?”

  “I was about to, but you fainted.”

  She gave a nervous laugh and rubbed the back of her neck in embarrassment.

  “Oh right…”

  Then, her voice fell as she said, “That does explain your low level. So, you didn’t reject me because I am hideous?”

  Kuro’s head snapped up and he looked at her aghast.

  “What? Hell no! I could never reject a major cutie. Seriously, I had to stop myself from thinking about taking a piece when you passed out.”

  She blushed hard and glanced away.

  “Stop it, you’re making me blush. You really shouldn’t talk to a young maiden like that.”

  “Sorry, can’t help it. I always tell the truth when I’m scared shitless.”

  With a slightly confused, but charmed giggle, she went over to pick up her bike.

  “My name’s Cinti, by the way. Hop on. It’ll be dark soon and you don’t want to be wandering around the forest at night.”

  Kuro glanced around at the thick copse of trees on either side of the bridge. It was getting a bit gloomy. Uncanny shadows were beginning to reach for their boots from beneath the canopy.

  “Hurry up or the monsters will get you,” she called. “You can stay with me for the night.”