Naofumi regained consciousness with a pounding headache. 'What just happened?', he wondered as he slowly opened his heavy eyelids. He was brought out of his thoughts by a robed man speaking unusually loudly, but he couldn't immediately grasp what his words were.

"-we implore you O' Great Heroes! Please use the power within your legendary weapons to defend this world!" The robed man continued to plead, almost as if giving a sermon. The young college student finally sat up, realizing he was laying on the ground. He also found that he was not alone - three other young men were also sitting next to him, all holding their heads and looking about.

As the men stood on their shaky feet, one of the men near him spoke up. "You can't honestly expect us to just help you. You summoned us from our own world without any warning and you tell us to risk our lives? For all we know, you'll abandon us as soon as we save your world. I'm going to need some kind of insurance before I agree to anything."

He was a young man, maybe high-school aged, with dark hair, sharp eyes, and an athletic looking build. Naofumi figured he exercised regularly back in his own world, but his thoughts were put on hold as he noticed the long blade in the man's hand.

Looking around, he noticed all of the men near him had some kind of weapon. The shortest of the group, a boy with medium-length blond hair and a strikingly feminine face, was gripping the handle of a bow. The last and most distinct of their little squad was a fairly tall man with long, blond hair in a ponytail and was holding a long spear.

Remembering the story he had been reading before he lost consciousness, Naofumi realized that it could only mean one thing.

'I'm the damn shield hero? Really? I still don't see how a shield is a weapon at all. This thing is supposed to help me save the world?' He looked to his right arm and sure enough, a small gleaming shield lay on his forearm. It almost seemed to be attached to his arm despite not having any straps or handles.

"Rest assured Heroes! You will be properly compensated both during your time here and when you return to your homelands." The robed man couldn't quite hide the twitch of his eye as he spoke. It wasn't hard to tell that he wasn't expecting the Great Heroes to be so defensive.

The blond boy finally spoke. "Very well then; I will hear you out at least. Saving the world can't possibly be that difficult for someone like me." Naofumi noticed the pride in his voice and scowled a bit, both at the boy and at himself for not feeling anywhere near as comfortable as the others seemed to be.

The four men were led through a magnificent castle, and eventually ended at what appeared to be a throne room. On it, sat an old man in gaudy looking robes and a crown upon his head.

"Great Heroes! I welcome you to our great kingdom of Melromarc. I am the king of this country, Aultcray Melromarc XXXII. I want to know your names." He sat in his throne strongly, giving off an air of both superiority and authority.

The men began to introduce themselves.

The dark haired man is Amagi Ren, a 16 year old high school student.

The short boy is Kawasumi Itsuki, a 17 year old high school student.

The taller man is Motoyasu Kitamura, a 21 year old university student.

"My name -" "Ren, Ituski, and Motoyasu right?" Naofumi began to speak but was cut off. Irritated by being left out he continued. "King, you're forgetting about me."

"Oh, my apologies." The king said without a single shred of remorse. 'He didn't even ask for my name afterward? What an asshole!' thought Naofumi.

"I'm Iwatani Naofumi, 20 years old and a university student as well." He introduced himself, noticing that the King's eyes were closed and he almost seemed to be ignoring him completely.

"Anyway, let me explain to you what is going on." The king remarked, opening his eyes to look at the Heroes.

The King reiterated what the robed men had said, but with slightly more detail.

The world was under assault by "the Waves": large rips in the sky that appear and spawn increasingly difficult and destructive monsters. How they function or how to truly stop them was unknown, but surviving a wave involved defeating a "boss monster", an incredibly powerful foe that generally required incredible cooperation by not only the four Heroes, but by the entire country's force.

These waves would supposedly be stopped by the four Heroes, and the world would be at peace forevermore. 'Not a lot of details there. Getting to the root of the problem would normally be the easiest way, but when nobody even knows why the waves started in the first place it's pretty difficult to make any specific long-term goal'. Nafumi thought to himself silently.

He spared a glance at the other Heroes who stood besides him. All of them held stoic faces that barely seemed surprised at the lack of real information about the situation. Feeling a little out of place, Naofumi fidgeted slightly.

"I understand, but don't think for a second we're going to be doing this for free. I expect something in return after being brought here without any warning." Ren said confidently.

A hunch-backed, grey-haired man with a sharp nose spoke up. "Of course, you will be compensated accordingly after the waves are eradicated." He was obviously one of the King's aides, and the crooked smile he gave did nothing to ease Naofumi's initial impression of the royalty.

"Well. As long as you promise, it's fine by me." Motoyasu said flippantly. He obviously wasn't taking this whole situation seriously.

"That's right, we won't let them despise us." Itsuki mentioned, stepping forward slightly. Naofumi narrowed his eyes at the younger man. 'Who the hell is them in this situation? And why would they despise us if we're their super special Heroes?'

The King continued. "Well let me finish this conversation. I want you all to review your current statuses."

Naofumi looked back to the King, confused. 'Status? Does he mean like our equipment?' He thought to himself, but said nothing.

Instead, it was Ren who spoke up after a few moments when nobody said anything. "You mean you haven't seen it yet? Check the lower corner of your vision. Do you see the little icon there?"

Naofumi immediately recognized it. Seeing something in your peripheral vision, even if it's barely noticeable, is easily seen because it stands out. "Focus your vision on it." Ren continued. He seemed to already be extremely comfortable with how this world worked, and it annoyed Naofumi to admit that he had no idea how it worked himself.

He focused his thoughts on the small icon and immediately a screen popped up in his vision, startling him. It showed all kinds of information, from HP and MP, to levels and statistics. It even showed the equipment he had currently on him: World Traveler's garb, The Legendary Shield, Memento.

Naofumi looked at the word Memento in his inventory, instantly knowing what it referred to: the necklace his younger brother had bought for him a few years ago as a birthday gift. He wore it everywhere as a reminder to always trust his family.

His brother was the golden child in the family, and Naofumi himself was the shut-in. Their parents loved his brother unconditionally, went to his sports matches and always gave him the benefit of the doubt. Naofumi wanted to believe his parents loved him and his brother equally, but he knew that it was lopsided.

He was stuck with the annoying chores and was consistently berated by their parents for not having goals like his younger brother, or going outside like his younger brother.

After awhile, he began to feel like a failure as both an older brother and a person.

One day, his brother came to him on his birthday. Knocking on his door, he said "Naofumi, can I come in?"

"Yeah, give me a second Kagami" Naofumi replied. Moments later the door was opened to show a fairly clean bedroom with little besides a desk which housed a computer. On it, one could see videos and hear music playing through the headphones that now laid on the desk.

"What's up? Didn't you have practice today?" Naofumi asked, curious as to why his brother showed up. He was used to being left to his own devices these days.

Kagami looked away, slightly embarrassed, before presenting a gift bag to his older brother. "I skipped out today because..." he had difficulty continuing. Whether it was from embarrassment or something else, Naofumi couldn't tell. "...because it's your birthday Naofumi. You never come celebrate with anyone, not even me, mom and dad. I get that you really enjoy games and music and all that, but you really should let some people into your life. I feel like my brother is a ghost sometimes, so I wanted to get you something this year. Maybe soon we can find things we both enjoy so we can start to feel like part of the same family."

Taking the gift bag from his brother, Naofumi looked at him. Kagami's eyes shown with pride, but the embarrassment was still there, easily noticeable by the fact that he didn't look Naofumi in the eyes. Taking that as a hint to open the bag, he reached in and pulled on a chain.

Lifting the chain, a rather plain necklace was revealed. It was a golden chain with a small charm on the end. The charm showed a shield with a sword crossed over it.

"I know you really like those online games with swords and stuff, so I wanted to get you something that would remind you that even if your world inside those games is where you like to be, you'll always have a piece of that world here in the real one." Kagami blinked away a tear from his eye.

Naofumi looked at the necklace, then to his little brother, then back to the necklace. "Kagami this is awesome and all, but you really didn't have to buy me this with your allowance. I know that you only get ¥1500 (roughly $15 USD) per month. How long did you save up to buy this for a brother who had nothing to do with you?"

"Only a few months!" Kagami replied quickly. "Only like...6 months or so." He finished, looking away again. Naofumi was dumbfounded. His little brother really cared for him that much? Even though he's done nothing but fail as an older sibling? No guidance when he needed it, no help on homework, nothing. And yet Kagami was willing to sacrifice this much for him?

Naofumi sighed, 'He really is the better brother after all.' he thought to himself, bringing Kagami into a full hug. "You really shouldn't have, I know you wanted to take that one girl out on a fancy date soon, and you spent all your money on me. Either way, thanks Kagami. It really does mean a lot to me."

Kagami sniffled and buried his head into his older brother's shoulder, smiling and trying desperately not to cry. "I'm glad you like it Naofumi. I wanted your 20th birthday to be super special, even if you didn't want to spend it with anyone. You're going into your first year of college and you're about to leave behind everyone you knew from high school, so if you remember anyone, I want it to be me: your only brother."

Naofumi had struggled to gather the funds necessary to go to college, so he was a few years behind. Working two part-time jobs and saving whatever he could was the only way he could afford it, even with the laughably high interest rate loans he was going to need to take.

"I'll never forget you Kagami, I'll be back before you know it!" Naofumi let out a smile, something that was a rare sight these days. Naofumi let go of his younger brother and turned around. "Help me get this thing on, I've never worn a necklace before so I suck at connecting these things. My hands are too big." he joked, eliciting a laugh from Kagami who quickly helped his brother attach the two sides of the chain around his neck. 'A perfect fit.' thought Naofumi.

Ever since then, Naofumi had never taken the necklace off. It had only been about 8 months ago, but the thought of his brother brought peace to his mind.

"You will all be forming separate parties to go on a trip." Naofumi was shaken from his thoughts by the King's aide. He realized he was still staring at his menu while gently holding the spot on his jacket that was covering his necklace.

"Why?" It was Itsuki that spoke next.

"The legends say that each weapon has an...attitude per se. Their progress is limited whenever they are close. Because of this, it is best for you to split up into separate groups to maximize your growth."

'Assuming the legends are true, it would make sense.' Naofumi thought, 'but has it ever been tested? Why would they assume the legends are true without finding out whether it's true? And if it is true, why?'

Suddenly, a message popped up in his vision. Curiously, it was translated into Japanese for him automatically. "WARNING: The legendary weapons cannot function properly in close proximity to each other for long periods of time. It is strongly recommended to split up until absolutely necessary to avoid wasted potential."

An unusual message, but it appeared to verify what the aide claimed. Deciding to think more on it later, Naofumi looked back at his status menu, which reappeared after he focused on the big X in the corner of the warning message.

Seeing a bunch of his stats, his eyes naturally roamed to the highest and lowest numbers to identify his strengths and weaknesses.

'Hmm, Defense is extremely high at 40, with HP at 130 and MP at 120. I assume MP has something to do with magic. How do we learn magic anyway?' He thought to himself. Continuing to look over his stats, he saw one stat in the single digits and narrowed his eyes.

'Attack Power of 1? I guess it makes sense because I just have a shield rather than a weapon, but with my Strength being at 14 wouldn't it at least be a little higher?' Naofumi mused. 'It's going to be extremely difficult to do any damage with no Attack Power, especially if I have to be alone to do it.'

His thought were once more interrupted by the aide. "Don't worry too much about that though, we are preparing suitable companions for you as we speak. You should all rest and relax in one of the rooms. We will have you ready to go first thing tomorrow morning." The older man finished speaking and immediately a beautiful brunette woman in a flowing dress approached.

"I will take you to your room. Please follow me." She spoke politely, bowing slightly and unknowingly, or knowingly, flashed a small amount of her cleavage at the Heroes.

"They treat us quite well for being Heroes. That girl they had escort us was pretty cute!" Motoyasu's carefree voice resounded through the room. 'His priorities are obviously more focused on saving girls from their virginities than saving the world from destruction.' Naofumi thought.

"This world is a lot like Emerald Online, it's like a game and has similar systems." Motoyasu continued.

"What are you talking about? It's not an Internet game, it's a game in the third dimension. It's called Dimension Wave." Itsuki interjected.

"Of course not. It's like an RPG. It's identical to Brave Star Online." It was Ren this time.

'I've never heard of any of those!' Naofumi thought to himself. 'A game in the third dimension? What does that even mean?'

Motoyasu stood from his place on the bed. "Well let's agree on something. Everyone knows what an RPG is right?" Everyone agreed, with slight variations on the details.

"Just to be sure, we're all from Japan correct? Who is the current president?" He questioned. Immediately, all four men said different names, many of them being completely unknown to the others.

More questions about the Japan they came from were asked, and every single one ended with each man giving an answer that contradicted the others.

"I can't believe it. I would have thought we were just from different regions, but it turns out we're from completely different worlds." Naofumi sighed as he slumped into the couch. "Why does it feel like you guys know all about how this works when I'm pretty much clueless?"

Everyone stopped chattering and looked at Naofumi with...pity?

"Maybe it's because you're the Shield?" Itsuki said, obviously uncomfortable.

"To be honest, being the shield class usually means you have the least experience in the game. Generally those classes fall off later on in terms of level scaling, and overall they end up being significantly weaker than almost every other class." Ren said, plainly.

Motoyasu got in Naofumi's face, bending down to see eye to eye with him. "In other words, you're a loser with no future." The reality of that possibility was damning, and Naofumi was shocked into silence.

"However," Motoyasu backed up, and now had a smile on his face, "although you may be weak, your job is one of the most important ones. Protecting others isn't easy, since you have to predict not only the opponent's movements and actions, but your allies' actions as well. Keeping them alive is your priority, and their lives are constantly your responsibility. Healers are just as important, but a good Defender makes the Healer's job a cakewalk."

Naofumi listened with baited breath. He had no idea that the decidedly weak Shield class could be such a critical element of a party. Even when he played games back in his world, he never played RPGs; mostly fighting games and RTS (real-time strategy) games where your skill was based on how many actions you could complete per minute. The overall mechanics of RPG parties were unknown to him.

Ren decided to speak up again. "He's right. Defenders aren't known for dealing much damage, but they are extremely hard to take down. In any game, dealing the most damage isn't always the deciding factor. Surviving what your enemy can throw at you is what lets you win."

"Speaking of which, what is your Attack Power and your Defense Naofumi? We're all level 1, so our Attack Power isn't extremely high either, and my Defense is pretty low as well." Itsuki questioned, tilting his head slightly, almost like a dog.

Nervous, Naofumi answered. "My Defense is 40," the others nodded their heads, expecting this. "But my Attack Power..." he trailed off.

"Well? What is it?" Motoyasu prodded, nudging his arm with the pole of his spear.

"My Attack Power is 1." Naofumi admitted.

To say the others were shocked would be an understatement. Motoyasu, who had been leaning against his spear like a walking stick, stumbled slightly. Itsuki flinched and his eyes widened. Ren's reaction was much more subtle, but if one was paying attention, they would see his brow furrow.

"That's...concerning." Itsuki replied. "My Defense may only be 12, but I'm a Bow wielder. We're more suited for Speed than Defense. But even my Attack Power is above 60. Having an Attack Power of 1 will make it extremely hard to fight alone. Luckily, we're all getting companions in the morning to work with us."

Ren stayed silent, while Motoyasu struggled to hold in his amusement. Eventually, the dam broke and his boisterous laughter echoed through the room. Naofumi merely looked down in shame.

"Your Attack Power is only a single point? You'd have better luck throwing weak monsters at your enemies to kill them!" He continued laughing, although nobody joined him.

Shortly after, the eldest Hero calmed his glee and got slightly more serious. "For real though, you need to really step it up if you want to survive! Even a crappy Defender has a weapon to use, so you'll need to find one. Too bad it won't be a legendary relic like these, but that's what your shield is for right?"

Naofumi looked at his right arm, where the Shield rested. The gem inside was a deep green color, but momentarily flashed a dark red and reverted back. 'Are my eyes playing tricks on me?' he thought, swearing he wasn't losing his mind.

"Anyway, let's all head to bed. They didn't say when we would be up tomorrow, and who knows if time is kept the same way here as it does back home." Itsuki said, standing from his seat and stretching. He walked to the door and opened it before calling out once more. "I'll see you guys in the morning!"

Ren and Motoyasu soon did the same, leaving Naofumi to sit in the lounge by himself.

"So I'm not useless, but I'm pretty close to it right now. I'm here in another world with a shield stuck to my arm and a King who obviously doesn't like me much. I should have paid more attention to the RPGs my friends wanted me to play, maybe I'd have a bit more of an idea what the hell's going on here if I had." he muttered to himself out loud.

Naofumi looked back at the Shield attached to his right arm. "Just what are you anyway? What's your story? Surely the Shield Hero isn't supposed to just sit there and take all the hits for everyone else. Being a human pincushion doesn't sound too fun. I'll need to find a weapon, and fast." The Shield flashed red again, as if expressing its displeasure at him.

Shocked, he wondered out loud to himself if the Shield itself was alive and sentient, and very shortly after, the gem in the center of Shield switched to a gleaming blue color before reverting back to the forest green.

"So you really are alive. Are the other weapons alive too?" he asked, curious. The shield turned blue once more, answering his question. "Can you teach me how to protect people? Apparently it's all I'm good for." The shield flashed a blazing crimson color for just a moment, then settled into a dark shade of blue.

"Can you teach me how to fight? I was a shut-in back in my own world and never bothered to learn to defend myself. I worked out sometimes, but it wasn't a priority. More like a hobby." The Shield slowly turned a dark shade of red. "Why?" It turned an even darker shade of red, nearly black now. 'Is this thing really going to tell me no? I didn't ask to have it strapped on my arm!' he thought, frustrated.

After asking several more questions and receiving no response, Naofumi assumed the Shield was ignoring him now. "Fine, be that way. Stupid Shield." He cried out as a jolt ran up his right arm. 'Damn, temperamental thing aren't you?' He thought to himself. When there wasn't another shock to his arm, he assumed the Shield couldn't read his thoughts.

Deciding to retire for the night, Naofumi walked away and found the room he was shown by the pretty woman from earlier. Luckily, he didn't get lost along the way despite the incredible size of the castle.

Laying down in bed, the events of the day finally caught up to him and he dozed off. Although he was halfway between consciousness and sleep, Naofumi swore he could hear a voice whisper in his head.

'Be careful tomorrow...'