My Shonen Protagonist Life Started When I Was Thirty [Temp Title][Original]

[ryuan]

AN: If someone can figure out a better name than this, please give me ideas. I'm not entirely sound on the name. Other than that, I'm trying my hand on something "original", if by "original" I meant severely ripped off another series but with enough AU elements it's better not to pretend it's a fanfic.

~~~~~~~~OOO~~~~~~~~​

I was doing nothing particular right now, and neither I had anything planned for the rest of the day.

I had just finished the divorce hearing yesterday, celebrating the end of that circus with a whole pizza all for myself and a bottle of beer. When I woke up today I booted up my laptop and started browsing the internet, still being too tired to start being productive, and I was planning on eating the leftovers from yesterday as lunch and hopping to order something for dinner. The only compromise to my previous routine was to take an early shower and put on some fresh clothes, but other than that I was doing a passable impression of a lazy ass Otaku, or one of those fat dudes in their mother's basement.

I checked some of my e-mails and found the usual list of spam, which were deleted, a few forwarded messages from my sibblings, which were also deleted, and the few actually relevant e-mails from my relatives. After the usual pleasantries I got the expected reactions from the suspected parties, and a quick reply later I was back to goofing off online.

Taking this day off as an opportunity to read the backlog of manga series I usually enjoy, I typed the address to my favorite site. Except a different page appeared, one themed after an ancient book with a title in old style cursive writing.

The Tale of The Heroes of Light, it read. There was nothing else on the page save for a single button titled open. Well, I had nothing better to do, might as well see what it is about. Maybe it's some kind of new game?

Once I clicked in the button a soft, melancholic tune started playing and images appeared across the screen. Monsters of all kinds full with teeth, priests praying towards an idol obscured by the view point, soldiers and knights fighting against other soldiers and monsters, several other examples of humanoid races, from classic elves to orcs to what's commonly know as kemonomimi, people with certain animal traits like ears and tails.

Well meet, Hero of Legend.

A raspy, old sounding female voice echoed and I blinked, as the sound didn't seen to come from the screen, almost as if it came from the inside of my head. I almost looked at the bottle of beer I had with me, when the voice continued.

The world of Azzengard needs you. The, there was a horrible screech, worse than a chalkboard being scratched, the one who can oppose the Demon Lord. Come, and save our world. Our lives are in your hands.

"A bit over dramatic but stand-"

The screen lit up with light blinding me, and I felt like I had taken a dive into a bonfire, my body burning from the tips of my toes of my feet towards my upper body, consuming me. I tried to scream, but there was only light and the sounds of crackling fire.

~~O~~

"...come, ... ght!"

"Ow", I groaned before opening my eyes. It was the middle of the day, the light of the noon glared directly at my head. That in itself wasn't a problem since my office had a large window where I usually leave the curtains open.

Except the light didn't came from my office window, but instead from an open stone window on the strange hall I found myself within.

That sobered me up really quickly, and I tried to stand up to see where I was. Something was really wrong and I didn't liked it.

Quickly looking around I saw soldiers in shining plate armor armed with lances guarding the entrances of the hall. The hall itself was a large room with plenty of light coming from the open windows, and the whole place seemed to be made of cut, smooth stone. There were also several other people in the hall, wearing what could be charitably called medieval outfits, if they came out of anime or video games.

To my left there were some girls wearing different outfits each, from casual clothing to school uniforms, while in front of me there was some kind of throne with a man who was clearly a king, the golden crown on his head unmistakable on his head.

"... do you accept this quest?" He asked with a grave, somber tone.

"Excuse me?" I said in a voice that was just a little bit louder than normally polite. "I'm sorry, but I was out of it for a while, I seen to have just woken up. Care to repeat what you just said once more?"

For the first time the people of the hall took notice of me, from the girls at my side, to what I assumed where the courtiers and the king himself.

"Who... you might be?" Asked a man to the king's side that screamed evil vizier, with his gaunt face, bald head and an actual Fu Manchu mustache.

"My name is Andrew Yutaka Higashigawa", I introduced myself, "I came from the United States of America."

"I see", said the apparent vizier before turning to his king, "should we see off this intruder, my king?"

And things went off to a wonderful start. "Wait! Can somebody at least tell me what the hell is going on? I was back on my house when I was engulfed by this blinding light, then I went on what I can only call a tunnel of searing fire before waking up here!"

I already had some vague idea on what this situation could be, the fucking nerd I was, but the vizier looked far too eager to throw me out on the dungeons for some reason.

The king looked curiously back at me, while the vizier stared back with a face almost as if he had tasted something incredibly sour.

"Then what proof do you have?" He almost hissed those words to me.

I tried to answer him, but before I could do that heat started to sear through the side of my face, near my left temple and cheekbone. It was like someone was hammering on my skull, and I could feel it drawing a mark on my head as if a demented tattooist tried to use a jackhammer on my skull. Soon however the heat and pain subdued, and I was left panting.

"What... what was that?"

Somehow along the way, the vizier and the girls had came to my side. I stared back at the man, and somehow his stare softened once he saw something in me, before nodding and going back to his king.

"Are you alright?" Said one of the girls and I nodded, the pain from before already subduing.

"I already feel a little better", I said while rubbing my left side for a bit, still with a tingling sensation.

I heard someone clear his throat, and we all faced the throne once more. "I suppose on the face of new developments we should clarify to Andrew Yutaka Higashigawa his situation."

Oh, now he wants to explain things to me? "Andrew is fine, your Grace."

The king seemed satisfied with that, before he straightened up.

"This is the kingdom of Mordonia, on the world of Azzengard. Before, our world was peaceful, until a being know as the Demon Lord appeared and started invading the world with an army of demons two thousand years ago. Upon hearing the prayers of the world, God had chosen four Heroes of Light to receive His blessing. With unmatched power, they opposed the Demon Lord and defeated him, sealing the portal to his dimension. However a prophecy was made in which one day he would return, a blood red eclipse that could be seen across all the world heralding his return."

He paused for a moment letting me digest those words, since apparently those girls already heard this already. I nodded to him, and he continued.

"Seven months ago, a blood red eclipse darkened the skies and demons started pouring from the darkness ever since. Slowly the kingdoms of the world started to be besieged, small incursions of demons growing in numbers and scope until a great horde of monsters started destroying them."

That sounded really awful, and as expected this kind of setup would lead to a certain, predictable path.

"And thus we used an ancient, sealed ritual passed down from my ancestors to this day, which would allow us to summon four heroes from another world to save us from certain destruction. Heroes who gained the blessing of God, possessing great powers, who together would oppose the power of the Demon Lord. Those heroes are you."

Ladies and gentlemen, the 'adventurers summoned from another world to save the land' classical story. Often it's about a group of mundane people that receives either great natural powers or artifacts of immense power to aid in their quest to save the world, and usually those chosen ones are young teenagers at the oldest, to reflect the ages of the target demographic for this kind of story. In this day and age it's rare to see an actual adult stepping up to this role in this particular genre.

Which in turn raised a few flags hinting at the unusual circumstances of this particular story.

Looking at my side I saw the girls, all of them teenagers.

The one farthest away screamed Asiatic, though I wasn't sure if she had Japanese, Korean or Chinese ancestry. With long smooth black hair tied in a ponytail with a bow and pale skin, she was clearly a beauty with proportions that aren't usually found in someone of her potential race.

The one next to her had a light, almost white platinum blonde hair, and while she wasn't as developed as the black haired beauty to her side, she was still beautiful in her own way with her long hair, ivory skin and red lips.

To her side was a girl that had a bombshell of a body, specially for someone of her apparent youth, with long wavy golden blond hair and piercing blue eyes. She had a confident air to her that also added to her own beauty.

At my immediate side was the last girl, shorter than the rest and likely younger, with shoulder length burgundy hair and gray eyes, she gave more of a cute air than beauty, but I was sure she would grow up to break several hearts in he future.

Finally little old me, emphasis on old here. Thirty years old, just this side of overweight before being classified as obese, with short black hair in a buzzcut because I can't take care of my hair if my life depended on it. Half-japanese, half-american, with tanned skin born out of long time outdoors in my youth, the only thing I had unusual about myself were my blue eyes, a legacy of an old Dutch ancestor or so my family claims due to this trait cropping up often enough in our family.

It's clear that there's a pattern here, and I broke it.

Four girls, one guy.

Four teenagers, one adult.

Four quite attractive girls, one... well I wouldn't say ugly but it's obvious to anyone I'm not on the same level as them.

Four Heroes of Light, and one literally odd man out.

It's no wonder the vizier was startled by my appearance.

"The proof that you are all Heroes of Light are the divine marks on your bodies, which also shows to the world the kind of Hero you are."

The girls nodded, and their own marks were plainly visible. A bow in one of them, a dagger in another, a tome on the third and a sword on the last, all in visible parts of their bodies, such as their hands, arms and legs.

"Can someone tell me what the mark looks like on me?"

One of the girls, which I will dub as Little Red for now, turned to me and took a look. "It's some kind of... flag on a spear?"

"It's a Standard, if memory serves right. It's a type of flag used for communication back in the day."

"Not only that", continued the king, "but each divine blessing is slight different to each one of you, taking a form you're comfortable which you can access instinctively, and would most likely make good use out of it. Supposedly, the specifics of this power would come naturally to you."

Just as he said that I became aware of something, an action, a command I could take to manifest my powers.

"Status."

Just as I said that, a small semi-transparent black window similar to one from a certain video game appeared in front of me, listing a few interesting things about me.

Simple things like name, age and gender were listed. The important information however was my class and my bio, with my class being Commander, while my bio was corrupted, for lack of better terms. Where there would be a simple description of who I was, instead there were corrupted text not unlike the infamous Zalgo text.

Still, how convenient it is that my power manifests itself as a video game interface. I wonder what the other girls blessings looks like.

Oh right, I was almost forgetting a small little detail I really should had addressed before, but you know, powers and all that.

"Is there a way for us to go back to our own world? Because I'm not entirely comfortable with the whole 'being kidnapped to risk my life for people I never meet before against my will' thing."

There was a gasping sound, and Little Red looked back at me as if I had kicked her puppy. "Don't you want to help those people?"

I shook my head. "It's an entirely valid question. Once this is over, how am I supposed to get back?"

"If that's what you're concerned about, fear not", said the king, "once the Demon Lord is defeated you will be able to return back to your own home, at the exact same moment you were summoned."

That sounds awfully convenient. A bit cliche, but it's not unheard off in such stories, kind of like in Magic Knight ********, to be honest.

"Now, I ask you all once more, do you accept this quest?"

So that's what he said before. All girls at my side gave their affirmative answers without hesitation.

Well, I can't be the one that pussy out right? Besides if I want to get out of this place I need to defeat the Demon Lord, which means I need to fight and get stronger first.

"I also accept this quest", I said in a clear tone, even if inwardly I was no where nearly as confident as I somehow made myself sound like.

"Good, good", muttered the king before clapping his hands, "please follow those servants. They shall lead you to a room where you all should be able to supply yourselves with anything you need."

Little Red did a fist bump with a small squeal. "Alright! Let's go everyone, adventure awaits us!"

As she went ahead following the servants, I couldn't help but wonder how things will turn out in the future. Somehow, I doubted this would work nearly as well as Little Red thought it would.

I would know, I'm part of this story.

 

[ryuan]

The room we were lead to was on the right wing of the castle, and as we passed the corridors the servants and some courtiers milling about paused to stare at us, a few women visibly gasping in shock at the sight.

Perhaps it was awe at seeing the Heroes of Light so close, or maybe it was the shortness of one of the girls skirts, a mystery for the ages.

The room itself was almost bare of decorations, save a few paintings depicting scenes of war and a couple of weapon racks with shining weapons, far too ornate in my opinion to be practical. Four golden chests glistened on the light of the sun.

"We have prepared another room for you, lord Andrew", said one of the servants and I nodded.

It was obvious they would have four chests already prepared if they were expecting the summon to succeed. Not only that but I'm a man, and certainly you don't expect me to be on the same room as they change out into armor. While I knew it wasn't on purpose, the fact that I was already being segregated from them left a bad taste in my mouth, as if I didn't belong with the others. Perhaps I didn't, or perhaps it's just my insecurity acting out again.

I ruthlessly stamped out those thoughts before addressing the girls with a smile, which I hoped wasn't nearly as brittle as I was feeling at the moment. "I will leave you young ladies to your own thing. See you soon!" I finished with some cheer before following the servant.

A few minutes later I reached the armory where a few other servants were bringing in a few other things for me.

"We hope it's to your liking", said the servant, "the court Rune Scriber will enchant the equipment you wish to take, so pick whatever option you feel is best."

I nodded and was about to thank him but he quickly left, while the rest remained on the room to aid me.

"Give me a minute", I said to them, before using the instincts I acquired with the class.

"Equipment", I said and a screen appeared in front of me. It had several tabs with information I could peruse, with an image of myself and my current clothes.

The tab of 'equip' showed my clothes and the various slots for equipment I had available: body; head; hands; leggings; boots; two ring slots.

In another tab I had 'runes', which the system supplied they were placed directly on my body and there were several slots for it: body; head, which was currently locked since my Divine Mark was slotted into it; two arms slots; a single legs slot. I briefly thanked the system for providing me with some more info about this world, before going to the next one.

The tab 'proficiency' showed me a list of potential equipment types and my respective proficiency rank with them.

Fists (E); Knife (E); Sword (E); Spear (E); Staff (E); Hammer (E); Axe (E); Bow (E); Tome (E); Gun (A);

I stared long and hard at my list of proficiencies, and I tried my best not to cry. I clicked on the weapon proficiencies and my fears were confirmed. Those ranks next to my weapon proficiencies showed me the degree of talent I had with them, and how effective they would be in my hands. They didn't had a progress bar, so they probably could only upgrade themselves through special events or rare items, if that were possible in the first place. At least one of my weapon proficiencies where quite high.

"Can I see your guns?" I asked a male servant and he gave me a confused expression. "Your firearms?" Still the same thing. "Arquebuses? Flintlocks? Matchlocks? Muskets? Rifles? Revolvers? Uses a bit of black powder inside a chamber that's lit with a spark, which then uses the force of the explosion to propel a ball of lead?"

They all simply shook their heads as I finished my explanation.

If that wasn't fantastic! The only weapon type I'm not absolutely shit apparently is the only one that doesn't exist in this world.

Alright, that's not all that bad. It just means I need to either invent the weapon or commission it to someone. How hard it could be to make such weapon in a fantasy land with magic?

Next item of business would be armor and shield, which instead of ranks only had a yes/no setting showing if I was proficient with it or not. Fortunately I was proficient in light and heavy armor, alongside shields.

Those done, I went ahead to actually choose my weapons and armor. Most of what they showed me was utterly impractical, but one particular set drew me to it.

A pair of steel greaves that were easy to put in, differently from the other abominations in display, a breastplate over mail on my body. Both arms where armored with steel, though my left arm had a more prominent shoulder plate though not to the degree of the other armors. Over my body I wore a blue tunic with gold inlays, and on my head I had a closed helm that gave me the appearance of being a knight of great stature. The visor didn't impair much my field of vision, and I could open it to regain most of my peripheral vision.

For weapons I choose to take a long sword and a dagger, and I completed my equipment with a wooden shield.

"Good selection", said one of the servants, "and you're in luck the armor fit you well."

Thank you for pointing out my weight, I couldn't possibly realize that by myself, is what I wanted to say but instead I simply smiled and nodded. "It's a bit of a snug fit, but it will remind me to get some much needed exercise." I finished with a small laugh, making the other servants chuckle themselves.

After a few tests and realizing my equipment menu didn't allowed me to equip my armor with the click of a few buttons, I nodded to the servants who would lead me back to the girl's room.

While we walked, I tried another relevant menu.

"Skills", I said out loud and the menu appeared in front of me. It had three tabs, with an arrow pointing downwards that was grayed out. The first tab read Tactical, the second one read Strategical while the last one read National. Both Strategical and National tabs were grayed out and I couldn't access them, the Strategic tab being accessible when I reached level five, while the Nation tab had an ominous 'you are not worthy yet' message popping up. Still, the least the system could do was to let me see ahead of time what those skills did so I could start thinking up build options.

Sighing in frustration, I opened my Tactical tab, and found I already had a single skill unlocked.

Mind of Command (Level 1) (Basic) [0%]
Grants 70% resistance to outside psychological effects.
Increases ability to retain calmness during stressful events.
A Commander must be able to give orders and analyze the battlefield with clear, calm poise, for he is the linchpin of his army integrity.

That was perhaps my most vital skill, considering it allowed me to pretend I was always in control when internally I wanted to panic. It also gave me a large resistance to mental influence, though the wording of the skill implies that certain forms of mental influence can bypass this bonus entirely. If I were to take a guess any effect that would try to force a change in my psychological state would be opposed, but any effect that would try to convince a change wouldn't. Something to keep in mind in the future.

Also, the many skills I had were all in a tree format, so if I wanted to have a certain skill I'd need to pay a certain 'skill tax' in order to get it. Of course, I had one extra mandatory skill I had to take before I could even begin to look at the others.

Acquire Cohort (Level 0) (Basic) [-%]
Allows to recruit Cohorts to your army.
Abilities granted to Cohorts increases as they level up and skill level increases.
Only God can grant his blessing to mortals, and what is a Commander but a god to his soldiers?

"Party, party options", I called those menus since they looked relevant, and a new message saying 'you are not worthy yet' appeared.

I think I will be seeing that phrase a lot.

"We're here", said the servant.

I thanked him before I went ahead and knocked on the door. "It's me, Andrew. Are you girls decent?"

There was a small squeal from the inside, some thumping noises, before Little Red's voice called me in.

Once I opened the door the four girls stuck a pose.

"Ta da!!!"

It was an interesting sight, to say the least.

From left to right, Little Red was wearing an outfit that had absolutely no armor in it. Being some kind of dress with a leather corset on top with a long sleeved white shirt underneat, and a short black skirt. She had some kind of high boots that acted as leggings somehow, which I had no idea how she put on considering the thing is hugging her leg. On her shoulders was a red hooded cloak, and inwardly I was hoping whatever demented mind was directing this circus wouldn't get sued. Her weapons were a short bow and a pair of knives on her belt.

Next was the golden blonde girl, Goldilocks, and she was wearing an abomination against practicality. It was basically a dress where I could see some steel leggings on underneath the gown that went to her ankles. It had a suspicious 'v' entrance at the bottom in between her legs, almost as if hinting of things to come if she suffers enough wardrobe damage. Whatever it was on her upper body, it wasn't armor because it was too form fitting to her figure, not to mention that it was some kind of strapless thing that left her shoulders bare, leaving several places without even the lip service of protection. She had steel armor on both of her arms that matched the style of this weird 'battle gown' she wore, and to add insult to the injury she wore some kind of circlet on her head instead of a proper helm, not that I was expecting something sensible from her at this point. Her weapon of choice was a longsword, except more ornate with two golden wings as crossguard, and a shield decorated with feathers and what looked like some gem on the center.

Continuing, I took a look at the platinum blonde girl, henceforth dubbed Snow White if only to keep to the theme. She was wearing the most sensible clothing so far, in the sense that thick tome she had chained on her belt indicated she wasn't meant for direct combat in the first place. A black skirt under a red mantle on her hips, a red form fitting shirt that left exposed some cleavage and a pair of long red gloves that looked almost like a second skin on her. She wore a pair of leather shoes and showed a lot of leg to anyone that saw her. She had some kind of hair clip on her head, and her weapons of choice were the tome on her belt and the staff on her hands.

The final one on this room was the black haired girl in a ponytail and a bow, which shall be Beauty from now on. She wore the least revealing outfit, though not necessarily the least sexy, so to speak. A black form fitting long sleeved shirt under a black corset that acted as a push up bra, leather vambraces and pants that at least looked sturdy. She too had a cloak, tough hers was black and her hood was up, hidding her black hair from view, with her using the ribbon of her bow as a bandana. Her weapons of choice where a pair of knives and a short bow on her back.

I stared at the group posing for a moment, before I started clapping a bit awkward but not trying to be discouraging.

"Those are some fairly unique choice of equipment for you girls", I finally said after some internal struggle, "they are enchanted for protection, aren't they?"

"Yeah!" Said Little Red, "they're fairly resistant against cutting, stabbing and tear, we tried with a normal knife earlier and there was no damage to the armor! She even tried to smash a hammer against her breast plate multiple times with no visible damage. They are easy to blend in basically anywhere", I made a point not to look at Goldilocks outfit, "so not many people will question us walking around wearing this."

"Hey girl, slow down a bit", said Goldilocks, "let some of the others talk a little bit with the old man, alright?" She said with a chuckle making Little Red blush. "Anyway, those outfits where already in the chests and are apparently made specifically for each of us. I heard something about a prophecy, but I zoomed out on the details for a bit. Nice armor by the way."

"Thanks", I said with a smile before I remembered I had my helm closed. Opening it up I meet face to face with the girls. "I will send the armor to the Rune Scriber for further enchanting later, but I like how it works. Now, how about we introduce ourselves? Tell each other our names, age, place of origin, likes and dislikes, hobbies and perhaps dreams for the future? We are going to be together for a long time after all, might as well get used to each other."

The other girls nodded. "Alright, I will go first then. My name as you already know is Andrew Yutaka Higashigawa, but people usually just call me Andrew, I'm thirty years old and I came from a small town in California, United States. I like playing video games, hanging out with the few friends I have and drinking at my favorite bar. I really dislike unnecessary drama. My dreams of the future involves getting out of this mess alive, finish getting my degree and find new work since I'm unemployed."

"Those are some disappointingly low key dreams, more like short term goals", said Snow White.

I shrugged, "once you get to my age either your idealism is so thick you could cut it with a knife, or your priorities shift to more concrete things since you don't have the benefit of a family to support you anymore, and you have to worry about things like employment and taxes. Or perhaps that's just me, I admit I'm not what most people would call average, after all."

They all nodded, apparently accepting my words at face value.

"My name is Ciara Morgan", said Goldilocks, "I'm seventeen years old and I also come from the United States, Washington DC. I like going out with friends, working out, and being treated as an equal by men. I dislike worthless chauvinistic pigs that think they're better than women and sweets. My dream for the future is to start a career in politics and perhaps one day become president."

Her speech sounded a little too political for comfort, but hey, I'm not going to judge her.

"Well, I suppose I can go next", said Snow White, "my name is Sophia Weiss, and I'm also seventeen years old. I came from Berlin, Germany. While I'm also fluent in english it's my suspicion that we are under some kind of effect that allows us to break the language barrier, since I doubt the people of this land also speaks German. I like swimming and studying interesting subjects, while I dislike liars and to waste my time. My dream for the future is to start a company that will have international renown."

We're seriously entering into copyright infringement territory at this point, that with the blatant references.

I turned to Beauty, and she pulled down her hood. "My name is Aizawa Kaoru, or Kaoru Aizawa in your reading I guess. I'm seventeen years old and I came from Tokyo, Japan. I don't speak english very well, so Sophia's theory is probably correct. I like reading and martial arts, while I dislike those kimo-ota that plagues my country and wimpy men. My dream for the future is to be a successful architect."

Don't think I didn't saw you glancing at me when you told us what you dislike missy. Still nothing really surprising with her, rather standard all things considered.

I turned back to Little Red, who cleared her throat before starting. "My name is Rosalia Callahan, I'm fifteen years old and I came from New York City, United States. I also like video games, going out with my bike and enjoying nature. I also dislike liars and those that take advantage of others. My dream for the future is to one day join the military!"

The three other girls glanced at Rosalia for a few moments, who started to fidget under scrutiny. Ciara had a satisfied look on her, while the other two were more curious than anything.

"Well", I said getting their attention once more, "nice to meet you all. I hope we get along well, as fellow comrades in arms."

"Yeah! We're going to kick so much ass!" Said Rosalia in an enthusiastic manner, earning a chuckle from Ciara and Sophia, while Kaoru simply shrugged.

There were still a few things we had to take care off first, but I had a good feeling about this group.

 

[NowaifuNolaifu]

Ok so Ruby and Weiss from RWBY, Arturia from Fate/ and... motoko frol Love Hina?

 

[Nangal]

I'm thinking MC is Charlie and the girls are his Angels. Either that or he is Bosley.

 

[Kildar]

I'm thinking MC is Charlie and the girls are his Angels. Either that or he is Bosley.

Click to shrink...

Personally i think the MC is the demon lord, waaaay to many hints about it otherwise.
Should be fun either way

 

[Lector312]

Why necro?

 

[WCR I]

Because no one looks at last post date.

Also, Ryuan? You rusty dude. The opening is cluttered and suspension breaking, I was actually tempted to ask how you hacked ryuan's account. But going with a benefit of doubt, I'll just go with you obviously rusty. Would probably be nice to read when you get back to form, but as is, I can't read past the intro to the King it's so bad.

 

[ryuan]

Eh, not my best Wich is why I didn't even came back after a year.