Another Stupid Isekai

- H-how?! W-W... - Will couldn't wrap his head around my words.

- Did you go? - asked Aisha.

- Yes, and no - I quickly answered. - I was supposed to go, but then a funny thing happened.

- Funny? - asked Blue.

- Yes. As I stepped into the portal leading, allegedly, back to earth, I found myself in a city, just like ours. There I met Alexandra and a bunch of other people. It was hard to wrap my head around what was happening, so I lied low at the beginning. Their world was slightly different from ours, but the main principles remained. And as I went to sleep on the first night there, I had a dream, or maybe I should say a vision.

- Vision? - asked Hatta.

- Yep. Guess who was that.

- Xuvi? - asked Blue.

- No. The Great One.

That shocked everybody. People were looking at each other, blinking like it was a visual problem.

- He asked me to fix that world for him, in exchange for not invading us ever again. I took the deal, obviously.

- What do you mean by fix? - asked Aisha.

- They were constantly invaded by monsters, and people were dying almost on daily basis. There was a bunch of them that could hold their ground, but the rest couldn't. I helped them get stronger.

- So you weren't on earth? - asked Will.

- No. The Great One said it's too early, but I was contacted by him yesterday, and he wants me to do something in exchange for the intel on how to open a gate back home.

- Wait, wait, wait. Go horological, because I already have a mess in my head - said Blue. - What happened with those people from another world?

- I helped them and left. Then I talked with Xuvi. They offered a deal. They want to hack the device and fight with The Great One, but they need crystals.

- But from what you just said, The Great One had to know where you were, or was it just a coincidence? - asked Blue.

- No. He knew very well, and contrary to what Xuvi thinks, he doesn't want to annihilate them. He said to me, that they are a safety measure in case whatever he is doing with us doesn't work. He also said they are our enemy, and the deal is just a lie to mind control us, and then fight with him if they crack the device. He also said they won't make it anyway.

- What was the deal? - asked Will. - Whatever it is, I'll help you.

- I need to go somewhere, but it's dangerous, so I need to get stronger first.

- Where?

- Loistavadvaar.

- That's the city with gates - Aisha pointed out.

- Do you know where it even is? - asked Hatta.

- No. I need to find it, and since there are monsters in the wastelands, and also the ghosts of Bahumdabars, it won't be easy.

- Wait, wait, wait. That's some new information - said Boris. - Elaborate.

- This is something Ki'rei told me. There are monsters killing monsters on the wastelands, and they get stronger by consuming crystals. On the top of the food chain are dead Bahumdabars. The device keeps them moving.

- How does she know that? - asked Blue.

- She is an excellent scout.

- That's why you brought us here, so she wouldn't be able to spy?

- Yes, and no. I'm more afraid of bugs she could plant all around the city. Xuvi have advanced technology. Who knows what they can do? I didn't want to take any chances.

- That was a good idea.

- So, what do you all think we should do now? - I asked them ignoring Blue's compliment.

- It's pretty obvious for me. We don't trust both of them. We ignore Xuvi completely since they can't do anything to us anyway, and we do what The Great One wants since he actually can kill us. And by ignore I mean they don't get any more crystals, ever. Who knows what they can do with them? I don't want to find out. On top of that, we hunt and get stronger, so we can protect ourselves.

- That sounds reasonable - Boris agreed.

- How strong are those ghosts? - asked Will.

- I have no idea. I can try getting some informations from Ki'rei - I answered.

- That's a good idea, but be very subtle about it, so she won't tell on you - said Blue. - We should also upgrade the device. Maybe with more resources, we will be able to employ Jayadeva on finding a way to jamm all the bugs or at least localize them.

- We also shouldn't talk about this among ourselves - said Aisha. - We can't risk showing our hand to them.

- I agree - said Hatta.

- I hate keeping secrets from Irina - said Boris. - But I guess we don't have much choice.

- We don't. Even if Xuvi won't do any big moves because of fear, they still can be subtle and even try to eliminate us with poison, or other things - said Blue.

- They gave me sixty days to bring them the crystals they asked for.

- Then tell them we have some disagreement about this. Some of us are suspicious, and very cautious, so there will be a delay. Just buy more time.

- What if they will start targetting us? - asked Aisha.

- Then the rest will know that something is on, and we can start yelling at the great for intervention. We are his pet project. He won't let us get killed by them - Blue replied.

- That is a big assumption - said Will.

- Call it an educated guess. I didn't have a better idea right now. Besides, we are all pretty tough, so it won't be easy to take any of us down.

- He is right - said Hatta.

- Let's go back then - said Amit, and sighed heavily.

One by one, I took them back to the alley, so they wouldn't have to deal with the presence of The Void again. We couldn't talk about that stuff anymore, so people naturally went their separate ways.

The day came to an end with 82 566 130 points remaining on my account.