In hindsight, things could’ve been worse. Much worse. For example, what if one day on Luminosa was equal to a year on Earth? Then I would have either found myself the only human left on the planet or in some kind of advanced intergalactic civilization. The first outcome would be more likely, considering humanity’s tendency for self-destruction.
So, perhaps having time flow at the same rate in both worlds was a good thing. Well, I personally would’ve preferred if no time had passed here at all, but that would also mean repeating the last grade of high school and trying to explain why I suddenly gained the body of a professional athlete and aged by a few years. I still looked younger than my actual age — you just don’t get much older when you cultivate Mana to a certain extent — and most would assume that I was either in my late teens or early twenties.
Anyway, according to the couple, it was the year 2018 — ten years had passed on Earth since my disappearance, which led to many implications. For one thing, I had already been presumed dead according to American laws. For another… I couldn’t be so sure that my old man was still alive, and my little sister was already a full-fledged adult.
“Interesting…” I whispered after the unfortunate frat boy, whatever his name was, answered one of my questions. “So there are two sequels to the Witchman, and the third installment is universally acknowledged as the best game ever?”
“Yeah, man, this game is in another league altogether!” he replied enthusiastically. We both ignored the blonde girl who was giving me flirty glances while trying to flash a fair bit of her neckline. At least she knew how to keep her silence when men talked about man stuff.
“I see, I see.” I nodded while stroking my chin. “What else can you tell me about the Witchman?”
I already anticipated hours upon hours of carefree gaming. Oh man, I missed video games so much. The main source of my entertainment back at Luminosa was using my magic to fight baddies. It could get repetitive very fast. Wait, wasn’t that pretty much the same thing people usually do in RPGs, anyway?
“The Netflex also announced a TV adaptation of the original Witchman novels planned for next year!” It was as if he tried to distract himself from the fact that he now needed to find a new girlfriend. Unbeknownst to him, he actually didn’t. As for the reason…
“Thank you, man,” I said as I patted him on the shoulder. “You told me everything I wanted to know. The rest I can find on my own, so you’re free to go.”
“I was just about to tell you about the mods that make the game even better!” the guy said before the meaning of my words really hit him. “W-wait, are you letting us off? Just like this?”
“Yes, of course!” I confirmed. “What, did you think that I’d get rid of you too?”
“Actually, yes, I expected as much…” he said as he glanced at the three bodies peacefully lying on the ground—one of them stripped to his underwear, another stinky, and the last Asian. In the end, I didn’t have much choice but to take the Latino gangster’s clothes. The Asian’s were too small for me, and the black guy’s were too big. Yeah, that was because his size didn’t fit mine and totally not because he had shat his pants. Anyway, now I looked rather funny wearing an oversized black leather jacket with a pink tank top underneath, skin-tight blue leggings, and flashy sneakers to complete the image. Yeah, in real life, thugs didn’t care about their appearance that much, unlike what I saw in the movies. That wasn’t different in both worlds—usually, only those at the top of the criminal hierarchy knew how to dress with style and take care of their looks in general. It didn’t help that the jacket was from the black guy and the rest of the clothes from his Latino friend.
“And you were right!” I beamed at the couple. “Don’t worry, losing memories isn’t painful. In fact, in your case, I think it would benefit both of you.”
“Wait, I don’t want to forget her betrayal!” the fellow game enthusiast found the courage to talk back to me.
“What betrayal?” Sarah blinked her eyes innocently. “We are just friends, Fred!”
“Friends, my ass! We’ve been dating since high school!” he argued. “We were planning our wedding next year! You said that you loved me!”
“Don’t listen to him, my Savior! He’s just delusional!” Sarah pleaded as she tried to give me the cutest look she could. “I’m single and available!”
I sighed. Dealing with those two was objectively more bothersome than taking care of the three would-be robbers. I didn’t want to listen to their rambling anymore—I touched the girl’s forehead first, sending the thinnest line of Electricity Mana towards a certain part of her brain. Mindwipe, that was how I called this little technique of mine—it had taken me a fair bit of trial and error to figure out which parts of the brain to stimulate and with how much power to avoid making someone a vegetable.
I caught Sarah’s limp body before it could hit the ground and gently placed her some distance away from the three unconscious men. Even if she was annoying, she was still just a girl and didn’t deserve to get head trauma or worse just because of my negligence.
“Sorry, man, but I don’t really care about your love troubles.” I shrugged before approaching Fred in one smooth motion and mindwiping him before he could say another word. I accurately placed his body with his back leaning against the wall, and then moved his girlfriend to rest at his chest. I made sure to arrange them to look like a cute couple just dozing off. When they wake up in fifteen minutes, they shouldn’t be that shocked. Also, I hadn’t held back much when using mindwipes on the three thugs, so they had lost way more than a dozen minutes of their past—days, maybe weeks—and it would take them far longer to recover. It would’ve been bad if they awoke near an unconscious woman.
“With this done, let’s see how the world changed while I was away,” I whispered to myself and left the backstreets with a confident stride.
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As my family had lived on the outskirts of New York City and I had been underage before being kidnapped to another world, I couldn’t be sure how much that particular part of the city, filled with bars and clubs, had changed. I checked the phone I’d found in the pocket of my jacket and discovered it was just past 3 AM. Oh yeah, I also had another phone in my leggings, of all places. That was a bonus of robbing clothes from two people instead of just one. And a fair compensation for me looking like a clown and getting some curious glances as a result. No one dared to provoke me in any way, though, even this late at night—most people would be wary of someone with my self-assured body language and superb physique.
I wondered if I should visit one of the night establishments and have some fun there but decided against it. I had just one grand in cash from my three thug friends, and I didn’t ask for the PINs for their cards. Plus, I wasn’t sure if I could pass facial recognition with my current appearance. Instead, I decided to enjoy some Earth food. The only burgers I could have on Luminosa were those I made myself, and I wasn’t that great a cook.
It didn’t take me long to find one of the McTrump’s restaurants that was open 24 hours. The sleepy cashier gave me a strange look as I ordered all types of burgers on the menu. For better or worse, there wasn’t an audience to see how much I could actually eat in one go. As someone who had already reached the peak of physical and magical development that was possible in my second world, I could easily consume a hundred people's worth of food as I could live without any for years.
“Did fast food always taste so bland?” I asked myself after finishing a Big Tasty. The taste from my memories was more vivid and fresh.
Perhaps I’d changed way too much to enjoy mundane food. During my years back at Luminosa, I’d eaten the most grand dishes provided by magic-wielding cooks, all ingredients filled with Mana to the brim. I recalled how surprised I had been when the roughly grilled meat of a First Tier Magical Beast—the lowest Tier of all—turned out to be superbly delicious.
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In the end, I only managed to finish a few more burgers before reluctantly accepting the fact that Earth food was no longer able to satisfy my taste buds. That made me miss the other world, even if just for a moment. I left the restaurant disappointed.
I don’t need to eat more often than once every few months, anyway… I shrugged. And usually, anything tastes great when I haven’t eaten in a while. Perhaps I’ll get used to my home planet’s cuisine sooner or later.
Next, I wanted to find a nearby computer club. Pretty much all of them operated 24 hours, so I could spend the rest of the night playing games. That would be a great way to use the free time I had until visiting my old house. I didn’t want to wake everyone in the middle of their sleep, after all.
I asked several people for directions, but none could give me an answer—it didn’t help that most of the passersby were drunk. I was about to approach a group of loud young people when my Mana Sense caught something unusual at the edge of its sphere—Mana.
One thing I noticed about Earth was that it was almost completely devoid of Aether. And what was Mana if not Aether converted by a living being into something it could use? So, I logically assumed that Mana Cultivation didn’t exist on Earth, which was completely in line with my common sense. That also meant it would take me forever to recover the Mana I’d used on the thugs—maybe a few months or so. In comparison, it would’ve taken me a couple of minutes back at Luminosa. With such a minuscule amount of Aether, I couldn’t imagine any normal human being able to sense it, let alone absorb and control it. But now my presumptions were contradicted by someone—or something—with actual Mana. Perhaps that was some kind of Artifact from another world or from an ancient era when Earth had more Aether? There was only one way to find out.
When I reached my destination, I froze for a moment. First, it was the second time I ended up in a dead-end alley today. Second… I witnessed a scene straight out of a horror movie. A man was hugging a woman—so far, so good. His lips were at her neck as if he was kissing her. Except his sharp teeth were piercing her skin as he sucked her blood with fervor. The guy was either a psycho or a vampire, and by the way his eyes were completely crimson, and the woman didn’t even scream as if she were in a deep trance, I assumed the latter.
“What the actual Puck?” I exclaimed as I approached them. The vampire jumped in surprise and let go of the woman. “I never expected to see a bona fide vampire on the first day I arrived back on Earth. Don’t be so nervous, dude; I won’t kill you just yet.”
The man, who seemed to be in his early thirties, reminded me of a certain King of Pop—pale as snow with a pug nose and curly black hair. A thin line of blood flowed from his lips as he looked at me in confusion.
“W-who are you?!” he asked, his voice trembling. “I-I set the barrier! You aren’t mundane, that’s for sure, b-but if so, then what nonsense are you spilling? A-Are you trying to break the Veil Code?!”
His words reminded me of an awesome game where you played as a vampire. There was the concept of the Masquerade—a set of rules that all vampires followed to hide their existence from humans.
Don’t tell me that stuff is actually real, I thought. Well, I don’t really care that much.
Using my Mana Sense, I explored the body of the vampire. It turned out that when foreign blood reached his heart, it transformed into Mana, which was then absorbed by his body. I didn’t know it was even possible to get Mana from sources other than Aether. And that, in a certain sense, explained my question. I also checked the woman, and she didn’t seem to be in any serious danger.
“What’s going on, dear?” the woman, a redhead with a cute freckled face, asked the King of Pop, whose eyes had already changed to gray.
“T-This man said he’s going to rob us,” the vampire shouted as he grabbed her hand and dragged her away with him. “Let's run, Alisa!”
For a moment, I wanted to stop them and interrogate the unusual specimen, but then I reminded myself that I had more urgent matters to attend to—video games wouldn’t play themselves! After a brief consideration, I concluded that the situation wasn’t as bad as it looked—the two people had matching wedding rings on their fingers, so I thought it wasn’t some random assault. If having your blood sucked was deadly, then they wouldn’t have ended up in such a relationship. Perhaps I was letting a dangerous monster go, but that seemed unlikely from the clues I’d already received, and my intuition told me he wasn’t that bad of a guy. In any case, I was no longer a Chosen Hero trying to save every person I met. I was just some guy who wanted a quiet life.
Eventually, it was by mere chance that I found a fitting establishment—I noticed a cool-looking signboard, and it turned out to be an internet café. I bought a day pass for $20 and was then left to my own devices. The administrator didn’t even look at me, as he was busily playing something himself.
I was wary that, similar to my taste for Earth food, I might find that video games no longer held the same appeal for me. Thankfully, I was wrong. Among what was available on my extremely impressive-looking computer, I chose something I was familiar with—the second installment of Cosmos Craft, a strategy game I had played as a teenager. I started playing the campaign and instantly found myself engrossed. I was faintly familiar with most of the units, and the main challenge for me was to control the strength of my hands and fingers to avoid damaging the keyboard and the mouse. The gameplay felt rather slow and easy, and with my reaction speed being supernatural, I doubted that even pro gamers could compete with me if I trained just a bit. In the end, I caught myself noticing it was already 9 AM. What? If you rob someone, be ready to be robbed yourself. So now their things had become rightfully mine.
It was time to visit my family. I really missed my old man and little Leah. Today was Sunday, so they were most likely at home—if they still lived there, of course. If they didn’t, it would take some effort to find their current whereabouts, which probably wouldn’t be that hard in the era of the internet. Anyway, I wanted to see their faces.
There was no way I would meet them looking like a clown gangster, so first I visited a second-hand shop and bought normal clothes for $500. I decided to keep the Latino's sneakers as they were in decent shape and fit me well enough, but everything else went in the trash. And, of course, I didn’t forget to buy underwear—I had been reluctant to wear the dirty boxers of the thugs, so I had spent the night going commando, while wearing skin-tight leggings. Okay, perhaps the strange looks I had been receiving weren’t just due to my lame style…
Now, wearing blue jeans and a black t-shirt, I could no longer be mistaken for a hobo. It still wasn’t the best outfit I had ever worn—I would have preferred to have at least something magically enhanced—but I didn’t feel like a complete joke anymore, either. I still received some passing glances, but mostly because of my toned arms and handsome face, if I had to guess.
I knew my approximate location and where to go, so only one thing remained—walking. Sure, I could have caught a cab, but I was kind of short on cash and not in a hurry. I wanted to enjoy a relaxing stroll while sightseeing in the city I had missed for ten entire years.
At some point, I saw some teenagers playing basketball on a playground. It so happened that the ball flew toward me. Of course, I caught it effortlessly. Then I had the strange urge to throw it into the hoop, and so I did. I made the shot, of course. From more than a hundred feet away. With a smile, I waved to the astonished boys and continued my little journey.
When I saw a group of young men working out at a park, doing pull-ups, muscle-ups, and handstands, I couldn’t help but show off a little, too. If I used some magic, I could do a hands-free pull-up, but that would be overkill, wouldn’t it? So, I just made a one-handed muscle-up. Except I did it with a completely straight arm, pulling myself up like a lever. Then, I followed with a one-handed handstand on the bar. For some reason, the workout bros weren’t as impressed as I’d expected, but they still showed a lot of appreciation and asked me a bunch of questions. I decided against showing them something even crazier and said my goodbyes.
One thing I was sure about was that an easy life on Earth wouldn’t be hard to achieve with my strength. All you needed was money, and I could excel in any sport with just enough practice. I could easily become the best MMA fighter or the best football or basketball player. The only thing I needed to worry about was showing off too much of my power or accidentally losing control and hurting someone. But those were plans for the future; for now, I needed to figure out if I should restore my original identity or get a fake one. To make that decision, I needed to meet my family first.
The closer I got to my old house, the more nostalgia I felt. With each passing minute, the streets became more and more familiar. Soon enough, I reached a suburban area where private homes became more common than apartment complexes. Here and there, I could recognize playgrounds where I’d played with my friends, places that held my long-forgotten memories. It was quite funny— as I cultivated my body and mind with mana, my memory became better, eventually reaching a level where I could never forget anything, but that worked only for new memories. Because of this, my past before the summoning became too vague compared to my new experiences. But now, I was recovering some of what I had lost.
I felt warmth in my heart when I eventually reached a lonely two-story house at the corner of the road. Maybe it was just me, but it didn’t seem to have changed one bit since the time I’d been kidnapped to another world.
Home, sweet home.