?The lavish halls of the royal court reeked of desperation, masked poorly by incense and polished stone. King Theron, paced nervously before a massive summoning circle etched into the marble floor. Around him, his queen, the Royal Summoner, an elderly mage with trembling hands, was looking at ancient, glowing parchments.

  ?"Are you certain, Master Elara?" the King implored, his voice raspy. "Calamity X? The legends... they speak of nothing but ruin."

  ?Master Elara adjusted her spectacles, her gaze fixed on the glowing runes. "His legend, Your Majesty, promises unparalleled might. The whispers say he has no peer. Imagine, a bloodline imbued with such power! Our women... they would bare super-humans." She ignored the hushed whispers of protest from the Queen, her face a mix of fear and forced resignation. "We lack the sacred Tears of a disaster class beast, but our intent is pure. We must try."

  ?King Theron swallowed hard, his eyes gleaming with a desperate hope that overshadowed any dread. "Proceed, then. For the future of the kingdom."

  ?The Royal Summoner began a guttural chant, the words echoing unnaturally in the cavernous space. The summoning circle pulsed with an ominous, sickly green light, growing brighter with each syllable.

  ?Meanwhile, in a different dimension, on a street corner in a city that never slept, Dawn sighed, clutching her worn purse. Another day of minimum wage, another stack of bills she couldn't quite meet. No family left, no real purpose. Just the grind. She begins to get a call and drops her phone. "Great," she muttered to herself, "Just what I needed."

  ?Her phone, old and cracked, vibrated. She looked at the screen. The caller ID glowed, stark and unfamiliar: "RESTORATION SITUATION, F-RANK." Confused, Dawn stared at it. Restoration situation? F-rank? What was this, a game? Curiosity winning over skepticism, she picked the phone up and tapped "Answer."

  ?Before the phone even reached her ear, the world dissolved. The bustling street vanished, replaced by a blinding, solid white void. A touchscreen holographic HUD shimmered into existence before her, almost transparent against the stark backdrop. A deep, synthesized, and utterly emotionless voice resonated through the empty space. "Welcome, new Incarnate. Select your legend's avatar that you will use for this F-rank Restoration situation."

  ?Dawn blinked. "What do you mean, restoration situation?" she mumbled, her voice small in the vast emptiness. There was no reply. She looked at the screen, and indeed, it was exactly like a character creation menu from a video game. Bewildered, she quickly scrolled through the options, settling on a generic young adult avatar that looked vaguely like herself, except cleaner. When prompted to pick an ability, she hesitated. Support situation... what could be useful? Her gaze fell on "Beast Tamer." Yeah, that sounds pretty versatile. Animals help with various tasks, right? She confirmed her choice.

  ?"Situation initializing. Get ready." the robotic voice intoned. The white void shimmered, then fractured, the sterile light giving way to the ornate, sunlit expanse of a royal courtyard. Dawn found herself standing precisely within a complex summoning circle, still disoriented.

  ?The elderly Royal Summoner, his eyes wide with a mix of awe and confusion, stammered, "You... you answered the call! What is your name, great hero?"

  ?"Dawn," she replied, her voice still shaky.

  ?The Summoner frowned, exchanging hushed whispers with a nearby Royal Guard. "Dawn? This isn't Calamity X," he hissed, low enough that he thought Dawn wouldn't hear. "But she should still be capable of producing strong offspring. We can auction off the breeding rights for a fortune!"

  ?Before Dawn could process the horrifying implication, the Summoner turned back to her, a forced smile on his face. "Welcome, Lady Dawn! We have excellent equipment prepared for you in our armory. It's near the dungeons, just down these stairs." He gestured towards a dark, stone staircase.

  ?Still reeling, Dawn followed. Once deep within the dungeon's damp, torch-lit depths, they led her into a small, grimy cell. Before she could protest, chains erupted from the walls, binding her wrists and ankles. The summoner's smile vanished, replaced by a sneer. "Enjoy your new home, hero." The heavy iron door slammed shut, plunging her into near darkness.

  ?Dawn struggled against the chains, panic rising. Her chosen ability, Beast Tamer, was utterly useless here without an animal in sight. She was trapped. She yanked on the iron links, the metal biting into her skin, her mind a frantic storm. Where was she? This was no game. The very air felt different, heavy with a latent magical energy she had only ever read about in fantasy novels. Auction off the breeding rights for a fortune… The summoner's words echoed in her head, the full horror of them slamming into her consciousness. They hadn't brought her here to be a hero; they brought her here to be livestock, a breeding animal to be sold. A cold terror seized her, a suffocating fear that overshadowed the shock of this new world. She was powerless, utterly alone, and her life was no longer her own.

  ?Across the multiverse, back on Earth, an adult male, roughly thirty years old, sat in a luxurious, minimalist living room. He wore an expensive suit, his tie slightly loosened, a half-empty glass of amber liquid on the sleek coffee table before him. He was scrolling idly through a data pad when his phone chimed. The caller ID displayed "CONTAINMENT SITUATION, S-RANK."

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  ?With a faint, almost imperceptible sigh, he stood, adjusting his tie. "Right. It's been a while since I've had a containment mission." He accepted the call. The white void of the character creation room materialized around him. The same robotic voice spoke. "Welcome, Calamity X."

  ?"Situation details?" Xander asked, his voice a low, gravelly monotone, devoid of inflection.

  ?"A new Incarnate has been trapped within their first situation," the voice replied, its voice unwavering. "Task is to rescue or eliminate the Incarnate before the kingdom's plan of introducing the Incarnate's bloodline into their own is successful."

  ?I wonder if they have any potential, Xander thought, the flicker of a cruel smile touching his lips. He closed his eyes for a moment, a flicker of something unreadable crossing his face. "Give me my Obsidian Terror loadout."

  ?"Terror loadout registered. Ready to proceed?"

  ?Xander loosened his tie further, a subtle gesture of annoyance. "Ready."

  ?"Initializing situation."

  ?The white room dissolved, replaced by the sunlit grandeur of a royal courtyard. The Royal Summoner, just emerging from the dungeon stairs, froze. Before him stood a towering, ten-foot-tall demonoid made of obsidian, its joints flaring with dark, royal purple fire. Its head, horned and expressionless, turned slowly, fixing its gaze upon the Summoner. Xander felt the faint, terrified magical signature of the new Incarnate coming from the dungeon entrance.

  ?"The recall crystal," the demonoid's voice boomed, deep and resonant, "Of the hero you just summoned. Give it to me."

  ?The Summoner hesitated, utterly terrified. His eyes darted from the colossal figure to the dungeon entrance, clearly contemplating escape. With blinding speed that defied its size, the obsidian demonoid moved, appearing instantly before the Summoner. The ground rumbled faintly.

  ?"I'll only ask one last time," the demonoid spoke, his voice an inescapable command. "Give me the recall crystal for the hero you just summoned."

  ?In a frantic, trembling motion, the Summoner fumbled a small crystal from his pouch and thrust it forward. He then barely managed to stammer, "Who... who are you?"

  ?The demonoid's voice rumbled, the purple flames at its joints flaring brighter. "I am known as Calamity X."

  ?The Summoner's jaw dropped, his face paling to an ashen white. After a stunned moment, he found his voice, a desperate, almost pathetic declaration. "But... but it was you I wanted, Calamity X! Instead, we got this random hero, Dawn!"

  ?The obsidian demonoid leaned closer, its purple flames momentarily engulfing the Summoner in their heat. The flames flared wildly for a second, a silent expression of a rage that had no end. If you know of a calamity's name, you survived that calamity, and to Xander, that was an unacceptable insult. His voice dropped, filled with a chilling, dangerous amusement. "So you thought summoning a calamity would help your people?"

  ?Before the last word finished, the Summoner burst into a torrent of dark purple flames, his screams choked off as his form quickly blackened and then shattered, encasing him in solid obsidian. The purple flames receded, leaving behind a smoking, obsidian statue.

  ?"You have summoned calamity to your realm," Calamity X rumbled to the now-dead statue. "It will come. But I have to finish something first."

  ?The obsidian demonoid turned, its footsteps echoing ominously as it strode purposefully down the dungeon stairs. Dawn waited, chained and helpless, below. The obsidian demonoid strode into the dungeon, his purple flames casting dancing shadows on the grimy walls. He found Dawn, shackled and terrified, in the cell. With a surge of that dark, powerful energy, the chains holding her shattered, clattering to the floor.

  ?Dawn flinched, pulling her freed wrists close. She was utterly terrified of this towering, formidable demonoid, but relief washed over her. "Thank... thank you," she stammered, her voice barely a whisper. "You... you freed me. I'm Dawn. And... I think I'm an Incarnate. That's what the system voice called me."

  ?Xander, the Obsidian Terror, paused, his head tilting slightly. He wasn't surprised by her words so much as her openness. He looked at her, his expression unreadable behind the demonic visage. "If you are what you say you are," he rumbled, his voice a low vibration, "take a point with one finger." He extended a massive, obsidian digit, expecting her to do the same. Then, he drew a straight line down through the air. "Stash."

  ?Dawn, confused but instinctively obedient, mimicked the motion and uttered the word. Before her, a small, swirling void, like a gap in reality, briefly opened, then snapped shut.

  ?"This is your first situation," Xander continued, his voice devoid of warmth. "If you die now, that's it. You're dead. You don't get the respawn feature until after your first successful clear." He held up the crystal he'd taken from the summoner. "I got your recall crystal. Since Cosmo sent me directly, I won't have one."

  ?Dawn tilted her head, confusion still warring with fear. "Recall crystal?"

  ?Xander let out a short, exasperated sigh, the sound like grinding stone. He looked at Dawn, his gaze penetrating. "Do you think you could survive in a cutthroat world like this?"

  ?Dawn looked down, defeated. "I'm not sure," she mumbled.

  ?"And you're willing to let them do this to you without any punishment?" Xander's voice was a low, dangerous rumble.

  ?Dawn's head snapped up, a flicker of raw fury in her eyes. "If I had power like you, I'd make those responsible pay!" she yells. "But no, I'm stuck down here with a worthless power."

  ?A genuine, evil-looking smile crossed the demon's face. Maybe I can show her how to thrive in this world, and it will give me a pastime as well, he thought. He opened his own Stash, the void appearing on his massive hand, and from it, he pulled out four gold coins, and a sleek, black business card with a single silver symbol etched on it. He pressed it into her trembling hand. "Use this to find me," he said, "and put it in your Stash. Leave the gold in your pocket."

  ?Dawn looked confused. "What's a stash?"

  ?Xander let out another sigh. "Items in your stash stay with you," he explained. "Things on your person would convert when you go back to your own world. Don't worry about it unless you decide to move forward on this path. But for now, just sit tight until I can get your situation status as complete."

  ?Xander looked down at Dawn's recall crystal in his hand. It wasn't glowing yet, meaning the mission, whatever it truly was, wasn't complete, and she wouldn't get paid if it wasn't successful. "Stay here," he ordered, his gaze sweeping the dungeon's depths. "When I'm done, I'll crush your crystal to send you home." With that, he turned and began to ascend the dungeon stairs, leaving Dawn alone with her fear, her confusion, and the impossible gold.