Chapter 3: The Cliche Exposition.
By the way, Ryutarou got ignored because of the girls. Granted, he was neither a sexy lady nor a cute girl, so it was natural to forget him.
Anyway, Ryutarou was a typical musclehead boy. He had trimmed black hair, a bear-like frame, and dark eyes, stood around 190 centimeters tall, and wore the uniform like the rest of the students.
Overall, Ryutarou was just a stranger and a side character that didn't matter to Rob whether he was alive or not. It might seem inhumane, but that was how it was.
Nevertheless, Rob stopped thinking about it and found that the other students had filled up the chairs after Aiko and Kouki's group.
Rob decided to sit at the tail of Aiko's table. Coincidentally, he sat beside Kentarou Nomura.
By the way, Kentarou was one of Kousuke Endou's two close friends. The other one was Jugo Nagayama, who was sitting on the other side of Kentarou.
How could Rob know that they were Kentarou Nomura and Jugo Nagayama?
Rob could do so because Kentarou's funny hairstyle reminded him of Rock Lee's from Naruto. Well, Kentarou's hairstyle didn't exactly look like Rock Lee's, but it was pretty much the same in Rob's eyes.
Overall, Kentarou was an ordinary Japanese boy with an average body shape, black hair, and black eyes.
Meanwhile, Jugo was a young man with a body shape similar to Ryutarou Sakagami, short spiky black hair, thick eyebrows, and slanted eyes with black irises.
At first glance, Jugo looked intimidating because of his body shape. However, he was a loyal and brave boy who would defend his friends without a second thought.
"Huh?! You- Kousuke!? Since when you're there?!"
Kentarou raised his voice in fluster when he finally noticed Rob's presence. He also referred to Rob as 'Kousuke' since Rob was inhabiting Kousuke's body.
Like it or not, Rob had to accept being referred to as Kousuke.
Anyway, Kentarou's loud voice grabbed the other students' attention. They turned to see what the commotion was.
However, after seeing 'Kousuke Endou,' some students immediately lost interest. However, some started teasing him by overreacting as Kentarou had done.
"Whoa?! Endou! You're here too, huh?"
"Endou! Your presence is so thin and forgettable as always!"
"What the hell, man?! Don't surprise me like that!"
"Are you sure you're still a human, Endou?"
It appeared that such a commotion caused by Kousuke Endou wasn't something new for the students. They even treated it as a source of amusement.
After all, Kousuke Endou's thin presence was famous (or infamous if you prefer it more). It allowed him to disappear and reappear anytime and anywhere like a phantom.
Meanwhile, Ishtar was perplexed. He looked at the commotion bemusedly.
Back to Rob, when he realized that he was occupying Kousuke's body before, he expected something like this to happen. However, he didn't expect it to happen this early!
Besides that, Rob was irritated by Kentarou's overreaction and the others' teasing. Still, he kept his real feelings to himself as he didn't want to show any behaviors out of Kousuke's character.
Even though Rob managed to blend in so far, he didn't know if he could keep it up in the future. He didn't want the students to figure out his real identity in this mess, not this early at least.
Rob didn't know what these brats would do to him if they discovered he was not the real Kousuke!
'I guess I have to pretend to be Kousuke until I can openly be myself. Man, it sucks!' Rob complained helplessly.
Nevertheless, Rob used what he remembered from the anime adaptation to impersonate the real Kousuke. "You all are noisy! I'm always here, you jerks!"
When Rob complained to everyone with a whiny voice, he felt dead inside. After all, using such a whiny tone damaged his dignity as an adult.
However, Rob knew that this was just the beginning.
After the commotion ended, everyone seated themselves. Then, Ishtar rang the small bell he took from the table.
A group of maids entered the room while pushing trolleys filled with refreshments. The hormonal boys reacted in exaggerated manners when they saw those attractive maids.
Well, Rob also did the same. He wasn't ashamed to admit that he was somewhat perverted because it was just how he was.
On top of that, his current body was that of a hormonal teenager, so Rob couldn't help it.
When the girls saw the boys' exaggerated reactions over the maids, they put a frigid glare as if they were looking at a disgusting piece of shit.
However, no girls paid attention to Rob. It appeared that they had lost his presence.
As such, Rob couldn't help but feel complicated feelings. On the one hand, his thin presence made him somewhat annoyed. On the other hand, it showed how useful it could be at a time like that.
Rob didn't dwell on it too much, though.
After the kidnapped earthlings got their refreshments and became comfortable, Ishtar started speaking, "Now then, I am certain you all must be feeling very confused about the situation you have found yourselves in. I shall explain everything, starting from the beginning. All I ask is that you hear me out until the end."
Ishtar's explanation was so generic that it seemed as if it came out of a cliché Isekai story. Moreover, Ishtar's explanation was something that Rob already knew.
Still, Kousuke listened to Ishtar's explanation to see if he would find any deviation from what he knew from the original story.
Maybe this wasn't the original universe but an alternate universe. Who knows?
In short, this was what Ishtar said:
This world was called Tortus, and within Tortus lived three different races: Humans, Demons, and Demihumans.
Humans lived on the northern half of the continent. Demons stayed on the southern half. Lastly, Demihumans lived far to the east within a massive forest.
Humans and Demons had a strained relationship as they had been at war for hundreds of years. Although Demons lacked the sheer numbers Humans possessed, their strength far surpassed most Humans, balancing the difference nicely.
Both sides were currently locked in a stalemate, and a big battle had not broken out in decades. However, there had been disturbing movements among Demons as of late; Demons had managed to tame Monsters.
Monsters were supposedly wild animals that had undergone a magical metamorphosis after having mana poured into them. Although it seemed that humans had yet to understand the biology of monsters, they were not quite sure.
It appeared that monsters were powerful and capable of using unique magic. As such, it was proof that monsters were a dangerous threat.
Up until that point, very few people had been able to tame such ferocious beasts. Even those who could tame monsters could not handle more than one or two at a time.
However, the situation had suddenly changed, meaning that the only advantage the humans had over the demons, numbers, had been eliminated. As such, humans faced an unprecedented crisis that threatened the existence of their very race.
'Overall, everything sounds similar,' Rob inwardly drew such a conclusion after hearing Ishtar's explanation.
However, Rob still had some doubts. So, he returned to reality when he heard Ishtar continue speaking.
"The one who summoned you all here was the blessed lord, Ehit. He is the guardian deity of us, humans, and the one true god worshiped by the Holy Church! The supreme ruler who created the world itself! I suspect Lord Ehit grew aware of our plight. He realized that humanity was doomed to extinction, so he summoned you here to prevent such a disaster. You heroes are humans from a world greater than ours, and therefore carry within you strength that surpasses the humans of this world."
Ishtar paused for a moment before continuing hesitantly, "Or at least, that is what divine revelation showed to us. Regardless, I implore you all to do as Lord Ehit has willed you. Please, defeat the Demons and save the human race from destruction."
By the way, Ishtar had mentioned that over 90% of humans revered Ehit. Those who received revelation from Ehit were without exception given high-ranking positions in the Holy Church.
After Ishtar finished talking, Aiko stood up and began hotly protesting, "You cannot possibly be serious! You were telling these children to fight in a war!? That is unacceptable! As a teacher, I cannot allow it! Send us back right this instant! These kids all have families back home who must be worried sick! You can't just kidnap them like this!"
Each of Aiko's words dripped with rather evident anger. However, the students were staring at Aiko with expressions that students shouldn't have when looking at their teacher.
It was as if they were thinking something along the lines of 'Look, Ai-chan is at it again, always trying so hard~' as she tore into Ishtar.
However, Ishtar's following words froze the students' blood, "I understand your feelings, however... I am unable to return you to your world at present."
Silence filled the room, and every present even felt the oppressive atmosphere. Everyone but Rob stared at Ishtar blankly, unable to properly process what the old priest had just said.
Meanwhile, Rob had a poker face as he stared at Ishtar. He had expected this development after realizing where and when he was.
Rob had read the original story till the latest chapter of the After Story series. He was also confident with his memory, so his knowledge of this world was quite vast.
Nevertheless, the oppressive silence got destroyed when Aiko screamed in disbelief, "Wh-What do you mean... you are unable!? If you called us here, you should be able to send us back, should you not!?"
"As I stated earlier," Ishtar began calmly as if he was unperturbed by Aiko's sudden outburst. "It is Lord Ehit who summoned you all here. The only reason we were in that room was to greet you heroes and to offer up our prayers to Lord Ehit. We humans do not possess the power to interfere with other worlds, so whether or not you can return also depends on His will."
"N-No way..." Aiko slumped back into her chair, and all the strength drained out of her.
The other students started yelling as the truth of Ishtar's words sank in.
"You have gotta be kidding me? What do you mean we cannot go back!?"
"You cannot do this! Please, send us back somehow!"
"A war!? You cannot be serious! Take us the fuck back right now!"
"This cannot be happening... this cannot be happening..."
Weekly Power Status
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Ranking 
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