My summon to another world was even weirder than I expected

Beep Beep Beep …

From under the sheets in one of the rooms of a humble house in a small neighborhood, a trembling hand reached toward the alarm clock next to the bed, with alternating intentions of either turning it off or breaking it. Finally, after much hesitation, the owner of the hand decided to turn off the alarm, after which he grabbed the glasses next to him, a bit more angrily as the anger built up in his heart. Perhaps next time, the result will be different.

Slowly, the sheets slid to the floor, revealing what had been hidden beneath them. Zack slowly opened his eyes as he got up and, with unsteady steps, made his way to the bathroom. As he approached the mirror, he saw his reflection, which grew larger with every step. When he reached the sink, he began to get ready to leave the house. After all, there was school today.

Zack was a typical 16-year-old boy; nothing had ever happened in his life to suggest that he was anything more special than a stone on the ground. Zack's parents were prestigious lawyers, and as a result, they were extremely busy every day. Zack couldn’t remember a time when his parents weren’t working on "extremely important" cases that couldn’t wait for them to do normal family things, so Zack had a lonely childhood.

That didn’t mean he hated his parents. Zack was grateful for the opportunities they worked to give him. However, their absence also forced Zack to mature faster. This, along with his parents' desire for him to enter a good university, led Zack to move to the capital to study while his parents advanced their careers abroad.

Though Zack didn't neglect his studies, due to his lack of interaction with people during his childhood, Zack had two flaws: difficulty interacting with others and a passion for reading. Being from a well-off family, Zack’s parents made sure to provide him with a strict education from a young age, which caused him to have little contact with children his age.

In his free time, and to escape from his studies, Zack looked for ways to entertain himself. Unfortunately, Zack’s parents used their house almost exclusively for sleeping, so there weren’t many ways to entertain oneself. The only thing available, aside from the basic needs of any family, were books.

With nothing else to do, Zack began to read. Whether it was reality or fiction, Zack ended up reading every book in the house. The first gift he asked for his birthday was books.

And that’s how Zack became known to his classmates: a solitary geek, always accompanied by a book in his hand.

After taking a shower and changing clothes, Zack checked the time and decided to head to school. Zack wouldn’t be considered attractive, but people definitely wouldn’t find his appearance unpleasant. He had soft features and black hair that gave him a calm appearance, along with his glasses, which gave him an intellectual look. His average height of 1.75 meters made Zack go unnoticed most of the time.

Zack turned around before leaving his apartment to make sure he hadn’t forgotten anything. After a final check, Zack nodded in satisfaction and headed to school like any other day. Only God knew that today would be completely different from the rest.

…

In a large room with big windows showing beautiful views of the outside and walls depicting great feats performed by heroes of the past, accompanied by beautiful decorations that gave the room an elegant touch, a group of people in embroidered robes were speaking words whose meaning was beyond what most could decipher as they formed a circle in the center of the room.

Outside the circle, two people were speaking quietly, not wanting to distract the robed figures from the mission they had been entrusted with.

"Is everything ready for the ceremony?" asked the figure on the right, a chubby man with a small mustache adorning his face, dressed in slightly tight official clothes that seemed about to burst at any moment, nervously watching what was happening before him.

"Yes, Mr. Prime Minister. Everything is ready; we can begin in a moment," replied his counterpart, an elderly robed figure with much fewer adornments, watching the circle with impassive eyes.

"Good. Remember, we cannot fail His Majesty. His patience is running out," said the Prime Minister lightly, but if one knew him well, they could detect the worry in his eyes. Clearly, the king they were referring to was not someone compassionate.

The Kingdom of Parmece is a country located in the northern part of the central continent. Despite its incredible military power, its soldiers are in constant war with the demonic continent to the north, dealing with constant invasions to occupy the lands of the central continent.

This situation has caused the Kingdom of Parmece to block the demons' offensive, while the other countries around it enjoy the abundant resources of the continent and uninterrupted peace at the cost of Parmece's soldiers' lives.

The king has been dissatisfied with this status quo for a long time, and despite repeated requests for help to bear the burden of the war from neighboring countries, the actual support that has reached the borders is almost nonexistent. Remembering the anger in the king's eyes when messengers praised his efforts with arrogant looks, a shiver ran down the Prime Minister’s spine. He was sure that if it weren’t for the fear of being attacked from multiple fronts, the fate of those messengers would have been the deepest torture chambers in the palace.

"Don’t worry. We've checked everything multiple times. The ceremony will be a success, and His Majesty will get the heroes he needs," replied the other figure with respect in his voice toward the royal family. Whether that respect was genuine or not, only he knew, although there was a hint of amusement in his eyes.

The old mage knew very well the current king’s character. Where others saw greatness, he only saw greed and a thirst for conquest—a person who demanded nothing but total submission from those around him. Having someone like that as king was far from ideal for the nobles or the mages. Fortunately, it was these same thirsts for power that kept the king busy with foreign politics, allowing each noble to manage their territory with a degree of independence and maintain a balance in the country.

The kingdom's current situation is as close to peace as it has been in centuries. Even though a large portion of the troops are stationed at the kingdom's border, large-scale confrontations rarely occur, and with the threat from the north, neighboring countries are too afraid to declare war for fear that troops would be diverted south, allowing the demons to attack them.

Mages don’t mind this situation; peace means time to research and develop their magic. No self-respecting mage would wish for a real war, as that would mean abandoning their studies to go to the battlefield where they could die. As for honor and glory, heh. They are mages; no one is more noble on the continent than they are.

The old man sighed with regret at the ritual. The ritual being prepared before him had been used on previous occasions when humanity was on the brink of extinction, as humanity's last hope. Now it was nothing more than another tool of power for an arrogant, narrow-minded man with aspirations of grandeur.

In fact, he was sure that if the army weren’t limited by the demonic hordes, the central continent would be plunged into war—a war caused by the current king.

The Prime Minister was about to respond when suddenly the circle on the floor of the room began to glow, and a solemn atmosphere filled the room. The hearts of both men skipped a beat from the amount of mana in the room. Soon, the mana converged into the center. Green lights began to shine all over, creating hundreds of complicated geometric shapes.

The ritual had begun.