It was a pitch black space of nothingness, almost as if it was a void. Hajime felt numb in every sense, as if he was a part of the abyss. The only thing he knew was that he was floating through the vast space, surrendering to wherever the nothingness would take him.

There were no thoughts he could conjure, he could see but there was nothing to look at, he could hear but knew nothing could make any noise, scents were non-existent, and he felt like he could touch something, but he had no body. It was the strangest thing ever, yet it felt natural to him, like it was a part of life.

But there, after what seemed like an eternity, a light seeped through. It was the first thing he was able to see after the monotonous void-like space he grew accustomed to.

What is that...light? Hajime finally mustered up a thought.

The light got brighter and brighter, and at the same time, he felt like it was reeling him in, like a hand from a higher power was pulling an imaginary string attached to Hajime.

What is...this?

**HoloWorld: Alternative!**

"Heaven, Underworld, and Earth. The three main lands that constitute good and evil. With the power bestowed upon me, I seek the future of the damned. Premonition!" A green-haired girl who had red eyes with bonbons chanted.

A transparent orb presented itself before her eyes. It exhibited a world full of tall rectangular structures, moving inanimate bodies with round objects underneath to help them, and fancy clothing worn by the people that don't look as traditional as the other side.

It was very different from the world she lived in. Matter of fact, all of these things were very foreign that she wondered how anybody could use magic for so long to move such objects through fancy roads without running out of mana.

"Waaahh!! That's amazing! Tanigo-sama knew you were the perfect person for this job, Rushia!" An elven girl with pointy ears, dark skin, and orange eyes said. She also had a tiny floating fairy beside her with the appearance of a panda.

"That's a bit of an exaggeration, Flare. I just happened to have this in my repertoire of skills!" Giggling, Rushia gave a small smile.

"Still, look at this part of the world that Tanigo-sama told us to look through. People really are constructing buildings with their bare hands. They don't even have at least a magician somewhere assisting them, even if they happened to be commoners." Another girl said.

"Hmm...Oh, now that you mention it, Tanigo-sama said something about how the world we were gonna look through didn't have any magic!"

"Wow, that's the first time Noel remembered something. I guess some nutrients did go to your brain instead of that big chest of yours."

"HEY! I'M NOT A BIRDBRAIN, MARINE!"

Marine was the girl dressed in a pirate's attire with cutlasses sheathed on both sides of her hips, while Noel was the girl dressed in white and dark cyan clothing with a mace located at her left hip.

"Say, shouldn't we get this over with and find the black-haired guy with silver eyes now-peko? That's what Tanigo-sama told us to find-peko."

"That's easy to say, Pekora. However, with how vast this world is, I can't even begin to discern most of them, since this world is mostly comprised of black-haired people." Rushia giggled nervously.

Usada Pekora. The girl had very fair skin, blue and white hair, and orange eyes. Her clothes consisted of a fluffy white dress and what looked like a black full-body undergarment — something which seemed to be of royal prestige.

"Hmm...Oh, I remember now-peko! Tanigo-sama told us to find him in a country called Japan! The flag is said to be all white with a red circle at the center-peko!"

"Ah, if that's the case, I think I just passed through a country that had that flag... and here it is!"

Rushia zoomed into the land of Japan. The citizens there had narrow eyes and all looked very similar to each other with their matching apparel — almost as if they're intentionally uniform. From first impressions, Japan displayed beautiful sights such as trees with pink leaves, high mountains, huge rivers surrounding paths towards bright temples and castles, and bright neon lights in huge cities. It was almost as if Rushia was an eagle in the sky, observing a land that has achieved true peace.

Shifting from place to place, she caught a glimpse of a silver-eyed man entering an edifice painted with white walls everywhere and what seemed to be foreign characters more complicated than the Earthian alphabet printed at the entrance. No matter how they looked at it, it didn't seem to go by a pattern to deduce how it should be read.

"Oh? Is this the guy Tanigo-sama was looking for? He seems a bit average though...and not to mention, this world doesn't have any magic. I wonder if he'll even be fine when we transport his soul to this world." Rushia said.

"We have no choice though. Tanigo-sama ordered us to get this guy, right? Besides, his 'Foreseeing' ability has never been wrong. Surely he sees something within this guy." Marine said, putting both of her hands behind her head.

"Hmm...oh? A fight is escalating." Pekora said, looking at the orb.

"Eh? They use fists without 'Self-Enhancement', huh? At least he's being resourceful, but..." Noel blankly stared.

"So this is what a fight looks like in this world. Looks rather boring-peko." Pekora blankly stared too.

"...Oh? Ah-" Rushia cut herself off as Hajime was thrown out a window.

"Well...at least we can get his soul now. Flare, please help me make the magic circle." Rushia said.

"You don't think it'll be too late to get his soul?"

"It won't. His soul will stay in the Realm of Nothingness."

"Ah. Well then, let's get going." Flare said.

Rushia and Flare each held white chalk and started inscribing the magic circle on the cold hard stone floor. A huge eight-pointed star-shaped symbol was placed in the middle of it with a cross on either side. Between every point of the symbol read "Life After Death", and Mercury, Salt, and Sulfur were written at every 1/3rd of the circle within the boundaries.

With all that done, the magic circle was finally finished. The two put the chalk to the side and slapped their hands together, making the dust disperse.

"That took long enough. Now, let's all gather around and let Noel chant the spell." Rushia said.

Everybody closed their eyes, put their hands forward, and Noel started the Holy Ritual to summon Hajime. However, her mana pool alone couldn't suffice the requirements of the ritual. Thus, the five linked their mana pools together — almost like a mana thread sewn together — to ensure the ritual would be done successfully.

"The skies have darkened, the air is tainted, the water is scarce, and the lands are barren. Amidst the darkness that shrouds the world, a bright light shines. This light is the hope that will save the world and bring peace and greenery back to the lands. O, Almighty Father! Lend me your power as I summon the light of hope! The Chosen One!"

Amidst the chanting, their body hairs stood straight as an arrow as the temperature dropped down. Their hair, clothes, and pendants swayed slightly during the ritual. Their energy was slowly depleting yet it maintained a constant state that could keep them going without getting fatigued. The energy from the circle was so massive that the wind from it could almost blow the five out of balance. Lighting up in a bright white glow, they covered their eyes with their arms as it proceeded to keep shining brighter and brighter than the sun.

And finally, the glow disappeared, the air calmed down, the room became warm, and they lowered their arms. There, they saw the man they wished to summon sitting on top of the magic circle.

"Ah! The ritual worked!" Noel yelled.

"We did it-peko! We summoned the Chosen One!"

"H-Huh?"

Hajime looked up to see a chandelier hanging from the stone ceiling. To his front stood the five girls from earlier who attempted the Holy Ritual with each wearing very different outfits that didn't make them seem to belong to the same group. Scanning the rest of the surroundings, he found himself sitting on a cold stone floor in a room with stone brick walls.

What is happening? Where am I? Who are these people? I died, didn't I? Is this...heaven?

He looked down to see that his hands, legs, and body were intact, and he still wore the outfit back from when he visited the hospital. To confirm one more time, he touched his head everywhere, checking if he could feel any pain or bleeding.

"Say, didn't the description of the spell and the tales say that the Chosen One could never be summoned unless in dire emergencies? The legends are true!" Rushia said.

"Hey, can you understand us? Everybody, do you think he can speak Earthian?" Marine asked the others.

Earthian? What the hell is that? Hajime thought.

"W-Wait a frickin' minute!" Hajime shouted, instantly jerking upwards and stepping back once before putting his fists up.

"Woah, woah! Calm down! We're not here to hurt you, you know?" Marine put her hands up.

"Who are you five? Why am I here? What happened to me? Where even am I?"

Hajime glanced at their hands and hips, and they possessed weapons like a mace, bow and arrow, and swords. The other two were empty-handed, but he didn't want to underestimate them. If he were to fight, he had to fight till his last breath. No use in running away if you're surrounded by walls.

"P-Please calm down! We have no intent to hurt you! We can't really explain everything, but we could answer some of your questions!" Flare said.

"Is that so? You guys are armed, so I could be dead any moment."

The five looked at each other and then nodded. Flare got the quiver and bow from her back, Noel grabbed her mace from her left hip, Marine picked up the cutlasses from her hips, and they slowly put it down on the floor. Afterwards, they raised their hands in the air.

"Does this convince you enough? We can even back away from you and give you a way to the door if it isn't." Marine asked.

Hajime stared at them and then down at the weapons. "I guess you can consider me convinced now, but just know I'm not gonna be all friendly-friendly, you know?"

Besides, I do need to know where the hell I am. Hajime lowered down his hands. "So, I believe we came to a mutual agreement to not spill blood, eh? How about we introduce ourselves? I'll tell you my name after yours."

"Alright!" Marine said as they stood in front of Hajime. "My name is Houshou Marine! Captain of the Houshou Pirates! I have sailed the seas so much that I practically know it like the back of my hand!"

"My name is Shirogane Noel! You can call me Danchou if you wish! I'm the leader of the Knight's Order, the largest military force of the Kingdom of Wiesenland!"

Wiesenland? Kingdom? Largest military force?! Hajime wondered what these words meant.

Bit by bit, his view shifted from her face to her chest. Oh, they're definitely large, alright. He blankly stared.

"My name is Usada Pekora-peko! I'm the Princess of Pekoland Kingdom! This is my pet, Don-chan!"

A small rabbit resting around her neck straightened itself and crawled to her hand, which Hajime assumed was Don-chan.

"Isn't she cute? I mainly use her for scouting and such-peko!"

"..." Hajime kept observing silently, and amidst the introductions, a thought popped into his mind.

The scene looked familiar. Not the introduction, but the people themselves. He knew he saw them somewhere, but couldn't quite put his finger on it just yet. It couldn't change the fact though that he knew he had seen them a million times before.

"My name is Uruha Rushia! I'm a Necromancer from the Underworld! Please don't be intimidated as I'm actually quite a kind and gentle girl! Pleased to make your acquaintance!" She bowed.

It was at this moment Hajime finally recalled who they were. They were HoloFantasy, a part of Hololive 3rd Generation back in his world. Since the rest of them have finally introduced themselves, he could already take a good guess as to who the elven girl was. Not to mention, he also knew the name of the fairy panda-like creature.

"My name is Shiranui Flare! 2nd Daughter of the Shiranui Elven Village's Chief, Shiranui Kaen! This is my trusty fairy companion, Kintsuba! As much as she looks like a panda, she's actually a fairy. I hope we'll do well in serving you!" Flare said.

"Hmm...if you don't mind, do you five happen to belong to Hololive?" Hajime asked.

After he had realized the five were exactly the same as HoloFantasy in his world, this thought popped up. He was simply curious since he wanted to at least know what to call them as a unit.

"Oh? Wait, how do you know our organization's name-peko?"

"Ah, don't mind it." Hajime said, clearing his throat and standing tall to cue his introduction.

"My name is Hajime Kumoyama! I'm 22 years old. I'm not that much of a big deal back in my world. I was just a normal student before all this. Now...I wanna ask why I'm here-"

After Hajime stated that, that's when he thought back to that void-like space.

Ooh...so that's what the bright light was...but were they the ones who made that, I wonder?

"How...am I even alive to begin with? Did you five do something?" Hajime asked.

"Oh, we summoned you via a Holy Ritual called 'The Chosen One'! You see, this ritual allows us to summon a Chosen One after a specific soul has gone to the afterli—" Noel was cut off when Flare put her arm on her shoulder.

"S-Sorry, Kumoyama-sama. We don't wanna put too much pressure on you as you might still be confused about everything. But it is true that you are the 'Chosen One'. This ritual could never summon anybody else BUT the Chosen One!"

"Kumoyama-sama?" Hajime asked about the sudden honorific.

"That is your first name, right?" Flare asked.

"N-No, that's my family name...Ah, it seems your name format is different here. I'd like to reintroduce myself. I'm Kumoyama Hajime. Please call me Hajime as that is my first name."

"Oh, it seems I got my info mixed up. I guess your world was very different, huh?" Flare scratched the back of her head and giggled.

"Hmm...well then. You all summoned me, and it seems you have no intention to harm me, so what happens now?"

Hajime could only think of two things. One, he has to meet somebody important. Two, he's gonna do something else to progress through this series of events.

"Ah, that reminds us! We gotta take you to Tanigo-sama now!" Marine said.

"Tanigo? Motoaki Tanigo?"

"Huh? Yeah, that's right...But how do you know his name, Hajime-sama?" Marine asked.

"Oh, I didn't. Just that I know somebody with a similar name in my world." Hajime chuckled.

Yeah, can't just tell them that that's literally the guy who owned Cover Corp. back in Japan who also owned Hololive. Hajime sweated internally.

"Well, anyway, it's not like I have that much of a choice as of now, so please take me to Tanigo-"

A quick vision struck Hajime's mind for a split-second. In the vision, he saw the five, along with many others standing behind, beside, and in front of him with a smile. The atmosphere was different though. Currently, the situation felt calm and novel, but the vision Hajime saw made his heart skip a beat.

"Oh? What's wrong, Hajime-sama?" Flare asked.

"N-Nothing. Anyway, please take me to Yagoo-san."

"Yagoo-san?"

"I-I mean Tanigo-san." Hajime giggled nervously.

Damn, I wonder what I'm gonna be getting myself into here. Not to mention, what the hell was that?