Se7en

I followed the group of warriors back to their town. Although it was quite awkward because I was the only one inside a vehicle and they were all walking. It can't be helped, I don't trust them yet until I see the town. It was truly awkward letting them carry those heavy rabbit meat on their backs though so I finally offered to carry some of the meat. Of course, I wasn't stupid enough to carry the meat inside the van and smell it inside. No, I tied them down on the roof of the van. The solar panels will need some clean-up later though.

I popped my head outside the window of the van to ask something.

"Hey...the mage...was it Marlon? How long till we arrive in your town?" I asked Marlon who was still carrying the meat on his back. We have been traveling for around an hour. I'm starting to get anxious since they said that the town was near.

"Mage? Are you from The Dark Era or something? People call us Magus nowadays. And yes it's Marlon. Marlon Neester. We'll arrive at around...another hour from now...I gave you my name, I don't believe I've caught yours?" Marlon replied to me.

"Brandon Budiman." I answered briefly.

"Brandon? That sounds a bit Sumarian." He replied.

"Sumarian?" I didn't know where that was.

"A country south from here...you really don't know anything do you?" He gave me a frown. I must've looked like an illiterate dumbass for not knowing anything.

I stopped talking to him after that. The rest of the journey went by quietly...at least inside my van. The rest of the group were talking merrily among themselves.

**

We arrived in the town near sunset. The Town of Brent, that was the name Marlon told me. A remote town of 2500 in population situated smack cab in the middle of the Orient Republic. He didn't tell me much about the town but he did tell me that the current mayor is his younger sister. The arrival of the group was met with a flurry of cheers by the population, especially the little children who were busy jumping up and down while asking the group 'how did the hunt go?'.

The town's architecture reminded me of a Fantasy novel. It also reminds me of the atmospheric role-playing game The Witcher 3, one of my all-time favorites. There was one striking thing that made the town unique though...every part of the town was painted white. This was the most unique places I've ever been to and I travel a lot back on Earth as well. I was curious about why they decided on the white paint job. Was it tradition? the current trend? maybe all of the Orient Republic's buildings are white as well?

Many of the town people finally noticed me and my white van. Children were, of course, curious by nature so they started to approach the van until their parents pulled them away. A group of similarly uniformed soldiers in leather clothing approached the group.

"Magus Marlon, welcome back. Uh...what is that....thing...and why is someone sitting inside of it?" A soldier asked Marlon directly. His face showed utter confusion.

"Ah, that's someone we found while hunting the rabbits. Don't worry, I checked him he's safe. He just wants someplace to lay down for a while I heard. I say we let him stay in the town for a while" Marlon said to the soldier.

"But...will your sister approve of this? I must report to her first" The soldier spoke with hesitation.

"Since when does Brent refuses visitors? Tch. This is partly why our economy is declining. You can report to her, sure, but he will be staying here for the night. I'll take any responsibility." Marlon said with a tinge of annoyance in his voice.

"A-as you wish, Magus Marlon. We will prepare him an accommodation." The soldier replied.

That won't do. I don't know if some criminals were already eyeing me and my white van ever since I stepped inside the city. If I left the car outside while I sleep indoors, I'm afraid someone may steal the van or at least some of the things inside of it. I stepped outside of my car to say something to Marlon.

"That won't be necessary. I thank you for the hospitality but I will be staying inside my vehicle for the duration of my stay" I said in a polite tone.

"Are you sure about that?" Marlon asked.

"Yes. Just please lead me to a safe space where I can park my vehicle and I'm all set. We can discuss more things tomorrow. I also need to ask you for some information but I don't want to bother the rest of your day. I've been a bother long enough today." I answered.

Marlon stroke his chin. "Alright. I think the city square is probably the safest place to be since there are a lot of guards there. I'll get one of my men to take you and your vehicle there. "

**

A soldier appointed by Marlon did end up leading me to the town square. When you hear 'town square', your mind immediately goes to things like a fountain or like a big open field. I didn't expect to see that THING.

"What the actual fuck..." I muttered.

What's in the middle of the square was a giant skull of a mysterious beast with a long snout and sharp rows of teeth. I stopped in the middle of my tracks because I was so shocked to see such a sight. The soldier who escorted me here noticed that I stopped.

"Ah, that's the normal reaction we get from visitors here. That's the skull of a dragon." The soldier said to me.

"B-but why the hell do you have that in your town square?" My voice was stuttery since I was still dumbfounded.

"It's a long story. You should ask someone else I'm busy. Long story short, that dragon attacked us ten years ago which caused massive destruction to our town and its population. That thing is one of the reasons why our town's economy is currently stagnating. We keep the skull there as a tragic reminder of the event." The soldier spoke.

"Ten years...ten years ago? What year is it now?" I realized that they may have their own calendar and timeline.

"It's currently 1905 TPE. Why the hell don't you know that? Who are you?" The soldier was starting to be suspicious of me.

"Ah, sorry I just kinda forgot for a second there haha...You can leave now I'll be fine." I gave a nervous laugh and a poor excuse in hopes he doesn't pursue it any further.

The soldier frowned but his body language signaled that he was about to leave.

"Alright...come to the Magus Association building tomorrow afternoon. Magus Marlon still has something to talk to you about." The soldier left.

I was now alone in a foreign town. The town square still has some number of people near sunset. Children were playing among themselves running around and merchants were selling their goods. But I can tell that while the children were all smiles, the adults were instead all gloom. The soldier said the economy is currently not doing very well after the dragon attacked. I wondered why.

I parked my car in front of an empty building in one of the corners of the town square.

"...what now?" I muttered to myself.

A lot of things just happened today that I didn't have any time to emotionally react to any of the events that just occurred to me. I was transported to another world. I'm alone. All of my 25 years of life were on earth.

"Can I return?" I don't know any way to return.

"Will I survive?" I don't have any fighting experience or any sort of survival experience. My life was devoted to cinema. I'm not like some sort of technology wizard that would be able to bring a technological change to this backwater fantasy world. My profession is utterly useless here.

I started to think about my parents. We fight a lot and disagree about a lot of things but they were still MY parents. You only know how much you love something after you lost them. That statement is especially true now. The reality was starting to set in my head that I may never meet them ever again if I'm stuck here.

"How the hell am I going to make a living here?" As I said, I don't have any experience with anything other than filmmaking. I can't even do business or sell anything. Although perhaps my modern knowledge will help me somewhat.

"Films...I can't watch them anymore" On a sudden struck of hard-hitting realization, I finally realized that what I love the most in the entire world, films, were not something I can access anymore.

"No more theaters, no more directing...."Fuck. Tears were starting to build up in my eyes. I don't know how I'll survive. I hit the steering wheel in frustration.

I spent five minutes in silence before another realization came up inside my brain.

"But wait...." I still have all of my filming equipment in the van right now. I even have a projector so I can show footage of my films. The solar-powered generator will also power every electronic device I own...

"Should I continue making films here?" It was a dumb idea. This was a fantasy world with no modern technology whatsoever. Even on earth, moving pictures or films were invented after other technological breakthrough occurring first like the industrial revolution and the invention of electricity. Should I already be introducing films to a crowd that wasn't prepared for it yet? The film industry took decades after its inception before becoming a household entertainment.

But even if I did try to make a film here, there was an incredible amount of problems logistically. For starters, the storage spaces of my computers and camera were limited. Even if I did try to make films here, I could probably only make a few of them before running out of spaces. There were a couple of other problems as well...

My thoughts were interrupted by a sudden ringtone on my phone that signaled a message arriving. The phone was in my trouser's pocket. I completely forgot to check my phone! Any sane person would check for any sort of signal if they're stranded somewhere. But my storytelling brain immediately told me that I was not on Earth anymore so that's why I didn't check.

I opened my phone to see what it was. It was utterly odd. Was there a signal? The phone notification showed that I received an SMS message. I opened the app to see who it was.

Sender: +627777777

Message: That wouldn't be a problem.

"What the fuck?" I muttered. Who was this? Maybe this was a message that was sent before I was transported and I only received it now due to a bug? I didn't know the answer. But perhaps it wouldn't hurt to reply anyway. Who knows, someone might answer. Probably not...

To:+627777777

Message: Who is this? What wouldn't be a problem?

I hit 'send'. Oddly enough, the message went through. There must be a signal. After only a few seconds, I received a reply.

Sender: +627777777

Message: The problems you thought about before...the logistical issues of making films in that world—that wouldn't be an issue.

What the fuck?