An original story. (Author Notes & Chapter's List at the End.)
In Another World With My NFTs
Saving Everyone with the Power of JPEG
Chapter Zero
“Projection: Laughing Skull!”
I raised my hand and focused my mind on the image I wanted to summon. A skeleton emerged from the ground in front of me.
“Go!” I declared. The skeleton rushed towards the monsters attacking us.
“Thanks, Chad!” My companion went the monsters. Sword shining in her hand as she activated a skill.
“Gah!”
”Puffgh!!”
The forms I summoned, and my companions fought the monsters. I’ve done this many times and I can’t get used to it. Being an adventurer doesn’t suit me. Why can’t I be an accountant in this world?
“..?!”
I barely gathered my thoughts as I got ambushed by a monsters. I dodged but its claws got my hand.
“Grrrr…”
(It hurts!)
I quickly focused my mind.
(What NFT can I use to get out of this?)
I thought hard about the images as I struggled with pain. I had less than a second to choose something so I summoned the first thing that came to mind. “Projection: Frilly Petals!”
A badly drawn bouquet of flowers appeared in the air. It took the monster by surprise and gave me enough time to summon a weapon I can actually use.
“Projection: Laser Grid!“
Beams of light appeared out of air and killed the monster. They also burned a few trees around.
That was my strongest projection, but I can’t control the beams direction. (The lasers I summon don’t harm me, but it’s pain to only use them when I’m a safe distance away from others.)
“Gaghhh!”
”Gyah!”
“We did it!”
My companions finished their part and I congratulated them.
“Chad, you really are something.”
“Your necromancy is great.”
“It’s not necromancy, it’s a form of projection, but it’s pain to use.”
I complained, but to them, it sounds like a roundabout boast.
That’s right. I’m an overpowered main character in a fantasy story. Or at least, that’s who I became now… Inside, I’m just a gaming freak who got scammed into saving another world along with my selectively fated companions.
How did this happen?
' * * * '
It all started 6 months ago…
One day I just transported to this world. Without warning.
I was mentally preparing for a job by playing a video game. Thinking back on that day, I got absorbed in it so I wouldn’t have gotten prepared for the job anyway.
When I woke up here, I was hearing a voice in my head.
“Hey, wake up! Hey! Hey, can you hear me? Guys, I think we messed up while summoning him, he’s deaf now.”
“…Are you talking to me?”
“Good, you can hear. our world is in danger and we decided to summon a chosen one from another world to save it. Chad McNicely, you are the chosen one who will save our world.”
“…Did I just hit my head?”
I found it hard to believe, but I was in a different place from where I was before. It felt like a dream. The two moons were visible during the day. I didn’t have a shadow. I’ve read enough stories to know where this is going, but it was still absurd.
I talked to the voice in my head.
“Why I was chosen?
“To be honest, each one of us had a person in mind, but didn’t agree on who to summon. So, we compromised. We chose the person from Japan, an island on earth who wanted to live in another world the most.”
“But I don’t want to live in ano-- …wait. Japan?”
“Yes. We concluded you’re the person who wanted to live in another reality the most out of everyone in Japan.”
“Everything you just said is wrong! I wanted to live in another reality? What’s this about Japan?”
“Why the hostility, earthling?”
“No, I mean. I’m not Japanese!” I don’t even speak that language. “Have you heard about any Japanese person named Chad McNicely?”
“Yes.” I don't see him, but I can feel him pointing at me.
“Look, you’ve chosen the wrong person… How did you conclude that anyway?“
“We scanned all the players of Japanese video games and counted their comments online. It took a huge effort in our part. Apollo needs a week’s rest now.”
“…” (Who’s Apollo?)
“Out of the 36,042,106,013 comments after we filtered out the words of profanity, yours had the most longing for another world and unsatisfaction with reality.”
”I think you’re miscalculating.” The algorithm that chose me doesn’t seem reliable, and why filter out the profanity? I don’t swear, but that’s only because I’m scared of offending people. I'm just that of a coward.
“It’s accurate. See? You never uttered any word of profanity yet.”
“That’s not the point!" (…I am a coward you know?)
“That’s because you were weak. We’re giving you strength.”
(Another cliche, huh?) “Can’t you just let me back and choose another person?“
“It’s impossible. We had to kill your body from the other world to send you here.”
“Wha- I’m not in my body?” I looked at my hands then ran them along my face. I still feel the same. Even my bed hair feels the same, I should stop procrastinating hygienic activities.
“Anyway, we’re also giving you a special power. The power to project any image you want into reality.”
“You didn’t answer my quest-- Wait?! I can turn my imagination into reality?”
“Yes, it’s an amazing power!”
“Why can’t you lead with that?” If this was true, I wouldn’t mind living in this world. I could become rich and live comfortably. I wouldn’t need that job! Wait, we’re talking about the same being who messed up and summoned me here. “…what’s the catch?”
“You can only project images that were on your computer before we summoned you.”
“Oh, that’s good.” I was preparing for a day like this. I had millions of images and memes there, even games screenshots.
“Oh, and out of them, you can only project the images that you own.”
“…what does that mean?” Doesn’t
“Any proof of ownership would work. You need to make the image yourself, or take permission from the creators of them. We have to keep things ethical, so we can’t give you the power to project anything you want.”
“WHY?! COPYRIGHT LAWS ARE FOLLOWING ME HERE TOO?!” I had terrible past with copyright laws. I was banned from my favorite community ones for using images without mentioning the sources.
“We concluded that you own about 500 images. You can use these to help you.”
“Wait… 500? But I don’t have my bad art saved there, nor I got permission from anyone.”
“They’re saved in a folder called ‘NFT’ …? You also have a few in other folders.”
“NFT?” I remember… It’s that fad of a few years ago… I can’t believe I still have those saved. “You mean blockchain addresses count as ownership proof?”
“What’s a blok chein…?”
“Now that response makes sense.”
It marked a dark time of my past when I thought I will get rich quickly. Art in form of digital tokens that promised to increase with value in the future. I bought too many of them, only to see their prices crash a few years later. I’m still bitter for the money I lost. Some people are still into them, but since the news stopped covering them, I don’t know what happened after I left the blockchain side of the internet.
“You’re saying that I can project any of the images of that folder?” I deleted that part of my past from my memory, but I’m sure there should be useful things in there.
“Yes! We’re giving you that power to help save the world.”
“Can I have a look at them?” I don’t know how that would work, but this summoner is giving me the power of projection, something like that should be easy for him.
“No problem… Wait a bit… Hmmm… Your computer is like a maze, how do you navigate it? What’s that folder beside it? It’s full of encrypted files.“
“That’s private!” Looks like they can’t access password-locked files. The passes will die with me.
“Done.”
“..?!!!” Suddenly, I can see all the file system of my PC in my mind. I focused my mind on a folder and I can see its contents.
“Now, try to project something?”
“How? Projection: Frilly Petals!” As soon as I said the name of one of the easiest images to imagine, a badly drawn manifested in front of me. The way to do it came naturally to me without being told.
“See? It’s an amazing power. Now I can leave you to save the world.”
“Wait… You’re leaving me like this? You didn’t even say anything about the threat I’m supposed to fight!”
“Go north and you’ll find a city. Join the adventurers guild or something. Maybe find some friends, you didn’t have any in your previous world. right? Fate will do the rest. Bye.”
“Wait!!” Did he just insult me at the end? (I have hundreds of friends. Online…)
I looked around and found myself in the plains. The two moons were still visible and sunset began. I still had no shadow. (I don’t know how far the city is.)
I focused my mind on my folders data. (Is there any NFT that can be useful here?) Sorting through 500 images wasn’t easy, but I quickly found something--
“Projection: Castle of Dreams!” A badly drawn castle emerged in front of me. It was the size of a house. (Looks like I can manipulate the size of my projection.) “I feel tired, it seems I can’t use this repeatedly, it makes sense.”
I opened the castle’s door and explored inside. It seems I don't have the power to project something this large completely. The colors inside were pale at the edges, and parts of the design were messed up, but it had what seemed like a bed in the second floor, so I decided to sleep there for the night.
“What a nice ability…”
When I thought back to the beginning of that conversation. I realized my logic went away as soon as the power of projection was mentioned. I was scammed into being summoned here.
That was just the start of my daily struggles & achievements in this other world.
The End?
Author Notes
This story was written for @dreemport's August Writing Challenge, and is published exclusively to Scholar and Scribe until the challenge ends.
"In Another World With My NFTs" is a parody of Japanese anime/light novels. More specifically the Isekai genre. This chapter is a pilot chapter (one-shot) I wrote it as a proof of concept so I could claim I own this idea. It may or may not have a continuation.
For those who don't know what I'm talking about, an isekai story is any story about a character transported to a different world. Either via reincarnation, summoning, or teleportation. It's a popular storytelling genre in Japan that it introduced many sub-genres with stories that feel like copies of each other. Crunchyroll made a video for a quick introduction.
I tried to parody as many as I can of the tropes:
- The main character is summoned to save the world with no explanation. 🗹
- He was chosen seemingly at random from Japan? ...🗹
- He has a powerful ability unique to him. 🗹
- He has a bunch of friends who praise him at every opportunity. 🗹
I had the idea "The NFT Isekai" for a while now... A story where the main character's powers are based on NFT art. The idea of Projection came later but it was the basis of this story. I wanted to make a commentary about NFT in the blockchain world, but I couldn't do enough above, I might do more in a future chapter if I continued the story.
Isekai stories usually depend on the world-building and creative uses of the protagonist's power, so I guess one chapter isn't enough for that. I don't have a clear idea of the world in this story too, and I kept a few things vague intentionally.
If you want a continuation of this story please tell me in the comments! The comment & donations keep me motivated!
EDIT: The story continues in the next chapter. Though you can read this Chapter Zero as a standalone short story.
Chapters List
- Chapter 0 (Current)
- Chapter 1: Blue Bells
- Chapter 2: The Waylosers
- TBA
- The title is designed using Canva. The second image is drawn by me.
 | "In Another World With My NFTs" by @ahmadmanga is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 |
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