I'm Not the Hero

When it comes to action and adventure, every hero needs a good sidekick. Holmes has Watson, Batman has Robin, and Daniel has . . . Orrin. More like brothers than friends, they always have each other's backs. And as Daniel is the big, strong, handsome type, Orrin is more than happy to remain in his shadow at school, at parties, pretty much everywhere. Then things take a turn for the truly weird when a terrible accident catapults the pair into a world totally unlike their own, in which the rules of a role-playing game hold sway.

When quiet Orrin and his extroverted best friend, Daniel, were transported to a strange RPG-based world, not much changed between them. Daniel became a hero of legend, while Orrin remained his unobtrusive shadow. Only when they faced a particularly lethal foe did Orrin step out of his comfort zone and display his true worth—with powers he didn't know he had. Of course, Daniel got all the glory, but Orrin doesn't mind. He's just happy they're both still alive.

On Earth, the scrawny Orrin may have been a big nothing, but he had a bigger buddy in his athletic bestie, Daniel. They were inseparable, like two sides of the same coin. But when a tragic accident transported them to an RPG-like reality, that coin got seriously flipped.

Back when things were normal, Orrin the Timid tried saving his best friend, Daniel the Popular, from a runaway truck. But he failed, and the resulting crash landed them both in a world of magic, monsters, and levels. There, Orrin grew from a mild-mannered sidekick into a legit powerhouse, unlocking Administrator-level powers unlike anything else. Still, things are tough for the former zero.

Orrin and Daniel need some serious power to get home, the kind usually found in dungeons. But someone has been clearing the hidden places of power ahead of them for reasons unknown. And unless Orrin and Daniel can beat the baddie to the punch—or rather, the stab, slash, and hack—they aren't going anywhere.