"You are dead."
"Huh?"
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The blue sky with some clouds towered above my head, but despite this, the sun would not stop reflecting onto the wet tarmac. My gaze, which was enchanted as I looked upwards, watched two singing little birds flying side by side. The sun in Front of my eyes caused my pupils to shrink and I felt a sudden stinging sensation. I was blinded, but my attention quickly switched back to the birds I was watching. Gray-brown plumage with an orange patch on its face extending to its chest and a comforting chirping sound kept my ears from straying away by its tone.
The two creatures were perched on a beautiful cherry blossom tree that was right next to me on the side of the road. A gentle breeze brushed through my hair and through the crown of the tree. Scattered, pink-colored cherry blossoms flew through the air and fall to the ground due the force of gravity. This gaudy pink of the blossoms reminds me a lot of my favorite sweet dish. A mochi with a gummy consistency and juicy strawberries inside, we're talking about strawberry mochi.
Taking the first bite of a strawberry mochi is an incomparable experience. The outside is soft and slightly sticky, while the inside surprises you with a sweet filling of a strawberry. The fruity sweetness of the strawberry harmonizes perfectly with the subtle sweetness of the mochi itself. The soft, elastic texture and the juicy, fruity center provide a wonderful contrast which makes every bite a delight. Just thinking about it makes my mouth drool.
However, strawberry mochi is not the only thing that comes into your mind when you see cherry blossom, it also represents the spring season in this country. Lost in my thoughts, I unexpectedly heard a melody that resembled bells. These bells were coming from a large building about six hundred meters in front of me. This ringing of bells was always a bad sign for teenagers like me.
When I finally snapped out of my thoughts and returned to reality, I stood there like a statue, unmoving. Both in question and in shock, my facial expressions changed until I made a sound.
"Damn, I'm gonna be late for school!"
Spring, the period of the year that marks a new school year in Japan. In my case, the second year at my high school starts today. If this had been my first school year, I would certainly be excited, which I was last year. As a new student at an unfamiliar school, you're always excited since you don't know the teachers or the students, so everything was new. But this year is different. This year I am quite familiar with the school as well as its teachers and students. Despite being in a different class this year compared to the previous year, it doesn't change the fact that I know some of my classmates from the time we have spent together. But I am probably the luckiest person I could have ever been.
According to a message from a friend, I'm in the same class as my two best friends from childhood, Yorihiko and Koji, this school year. Yorihiko is very intelligent, especially when he wears his glasses, and was the best student in our grade last year. But while Yorihiko studies and gets good grades, is Koji the complete opposite. He sleeps almost every lesson, but when he's awake, he's an energetic joker who keeps everyone entertained, but in a cool and funny way. Even though they don't look the slightest bit alike, not even related, you would think that they are like brothers or even twins. At least that's what the other students say, while I spend time with them like the third wheel. Unlike them, I don't have any special qualities, my grades are average and I'm not that energetic. I'm basically average.
...
By now it was a quarter past three and the school bell announced the end of the first day of school. The windows of the school building reflected the sun, which was still shining, trying to peek out between the gray clouds, and the students leaving the school grounds, either individually or in small groups, through the school gate. After their classes, many students go to their chosen activities, like school clubs, or they go to the cram school to continue studying in preparation for upcoming tests or exams.
But neither Yorihiko, nor Koji, nor I had anything like that to do. We've never been interested in joining clubs, nor in going to cram schools. Whenever there was a test coming up, we formed a small study group and were taught by Yorihiko. We always tell him that we want to thank him for it, like a meal of his choice for example or something like that, but he never accepted such things because he wanted to prepare for his desired profession as a teacher. Even though he seems very modest, he is still a nice guy. Not just Yorihiko, but Koji too. He always cheers me up when I'm feeling down, and his willingness to help others is also remarkable.
No matter how often I think about it, I just can't stop thinking that I don't belong to this group.
Scattered in my thoughts, the three of us walked home. The school is located in the Kanagawa prefecture in the large city of Sagamihara, our houses are not too far from each other, about a fifteen-minute walk to school for each of us. My small one-room apartment is located near the Yokoyamakyuryo-Ryokuchi-Park, opposite the Sagami Line. Yorihiko and Koji live as neighbors with their parents near a middle school that we attended together back then, right across from the Yokoyama-Park.
We sometimes meet at an intersection to walk to school together, but today was a small exception since I overslept today and was late.
After a few minutes we arrived at the intersection and from here we parted ways, my friends and I said goodbye and I continued my own route. Without expecting much, I noticed how the clouds in the sky became thicker and thicker until they colored the whole sky into a deep grey. Suddenly something wet touched my nose, sporadic watery drops hit the road, changing the smell of the air.
"Rain?" I asked myself.
I automatically looked at my school bag, which I had hanging on my left shoulder, and unzipped it. I held the bag open with my left hand while I rummaged through it with my right hand, looking for my umbrella. The roof tiles and bushes around me played their piece of nature's music through the pounding, rattling rain, like an orchestra, while I was still searching for an umbrella.
But through this musical orchestra, muffled sounds of splashing were suddenly added, at first the sounds were quiet, but they grew louder from time to time, as if something were approaching me. I finally found my umbrella, and turned towards these splashing sounds, which were actually footsteps. But before I could really realize what was going on, it happened...
In a second, another dull noise sounded, like a butcher stabbing and cutting into the meat with his knife. Unfortunately, this sound was not coming from a slaughterhouse, but from my own body, because somehow... I had a knife stuck in my stomach.
The knife blade was more than halfway in my stomach, piercing my skin, my blood vessels and my flesh. A large blood stain was visible on my school uniform and red liquid droplets were dripping from the blade onto the ground. Reflexively, I held both hands close to my stomach as my brain probably thought it would be able to stop the bleeding, but of course it didn't. Offended and with heavy body movements, I held my head up to see the person responsible for this with half-closed, struggling to hold my eyes open.
Unfortunately, I couldn't see the person's face because it was covered with a long brown coat and a high collar, and the person was wearing sunglasses and a black hat, so I couldn't see what kind of person it was. The only guess I was able to make in this short time was, that the stature of the person was clearly a man.
My vision suddenly became dizzy, and I was barely able to keep standing. I felt my legs trembling as I tried to stand straight, but my feet slowly went numb until I couldn't feel them anymore, just like my hands, which were already soaked by the rain and stained blood-red by my blood.
I felt like I was going to fall asleep at any second, it was like coming home from a long, exhausting day at school. I lost my balance like a timer was ticking down and fell onto the cold, wet tarmac. My body temperature continued to drop until I couldn't move an inch, let alone feel anything. All my senses disappeared with a click, like clicking a light switch to turn off the light. I lost consciousness... Or at least that's what I thought, but no... I died.
My surroundings were as black as darkness I told myself, even though my eyes were closed, and I couldn't see or sense anything. I felt like I fell into a black hole with no return.
But the thought of being lost in the infinite darkness didn't last long. A gentle tingling and flashing opened my eyes, where a small light appeared right before my own eyes at the other end of this darkness. Seizing this light, I raised my right arm and tried effortlessly. But my arm was too short, or the light too far away, but suddenly the light spread out to fill my entire surroundings.
Seconds later, the light faded, and I found myself in a white room, or rather a sphere. This sphere was empty, no matter how much I tried to look around, I couldn't see anything except a white void. Well, I may have exaggerated a little, but it was true that there was nothing around me except what was in front of me.
I was sitting on my knees on a small dark green cushion on some tatami mats, with a small brown wooden table placed in front of me, with a small bowl of rice crackers and two teacups filled with green tea on it.
One cup was on my side of the table and the other on the other side of the wooden table, which probably belonged to the person sitting on the opposite side. Also sitting on his knees was an old man, or rather a grandpa, since he had a long white beard and a wrinkled face, wearing a white kimono without any knitting. He also has a strange purple-green mark on his forehead, which was discreetly large, but I didn't mention it to avoid possible danger or general outbursts of anger. I'd better not stare at this spot either.
"You're dead." An old, odd voice interrupted the silence in this sphere. The old man in front of me finally opened his mouth and made sounds that didn't sound good on my part.
"Huh?"
I replied, without knowing what was going on. There was another dead silence until I opened my mouth and asked with a raised voice:
"What do you mean you're dead?!!"
So, does that mean I really died? Just like that? Who was that guy who stabbed me anyway? Or another important question, what will happen to me? Lost in my thoughts again, I suddenly heard quiet laughter on the other side of the table.
"You have such a late reaction time. As I already mentioned, you're dead. You were cold-bloodedly murdered." said the grandpa.
So it is true, I'm not alive anymore. Even though I should be grimacing in grief or shedding tears, yet I remained calm while still asking myself one thing.
"Who are you, old man?"
After this good, but also stupidly asked question, a dull rumble of anger rang out. His face was red as a tomato and was boiling hot as he screamed demonically.
"Don't call me old man! I'm a god!"
My body winced in shock, and I went silent. I shouldn't use the word old man again for the time being, as it was probably more unfriendly than I thought. But I had never expected the word god coming out of his mouth.
A god, huh. In my world there are people who believe in one god, others believe that there are several gods, and still others think that there has never been a god from the beginning, mostly scientists who are more on the side of nature and its development since the Big Bang. But it seems that there is a God after all, because he is sitting right in front of my eyes. His bright red face has not returned to normal yet and his wrinkles are wrinkling close together, he looks like I shouldn't say anything more, but I still have an unlimited number of questions that I would like to know the answers for.
"Can you prove it? That you are a real god?"
After my question, his face began to normalize - it was easier than I thought.
"You want proof?" he asked me, and I nodded my head in reply.
"How about an unknown world?" God asked.
I wouldn't have expected that question even in a hundred years, but here it was. A world foreign to me? Does he mean that I get reincarnated?
I've often seen this kind of situation in anime or in some light novels, but no one would believe that something like this would happen to me of all people. Is this the beginning of a highly sought-after Isekai story?
"An alternate world?" I asked the older man, but he only answered with one word.
"Reincarnation."
Reincarnation. I already suspected it, but I was still surprised when he mentioned it. When you get reincarnated, you start at the Beginner stage in the form of a baby. It is randomly decided whether you are reborn as a noble or as a commoner, but there is another possibility, and that is being reborn in the slums, people struggling to survive in the worst streets and darkest corners.
That would be the least I would wish for. However, there was one thing that should never be left out in the other world. Before I asked possibly the most important question of my life, I swallowed a small amount of saliva that had accumulated in my mouth down my throat.
"Does that mean there are also-"
Before I could even ask the rest of my question, the bearded man interrupted me.
"Absolutely."
When I heard what I wanted to hear, I couldn't pull myself together and immediately thought... of demi-girls. The thought alone made my mouth drip with drool.
Demi-humans are a combination of human and animal, a human with animal ears and tail, or an animal that walks and behaves like a human on two legs instead of four. For this reason alone, I want-
No! I need to go to this world! I wiped the saliva flowing down from my mouth, placed both hands on my lap and spoke confidently to God, who was taking a sip of green tea on my opposite side.
"I agree. Please send me to this world."
Setting the cup down and stroking his long white beard, the old man said.
"Very well."
His left arm lifted as the sleeve of his white kimono hung down a little, his left hand pointing frankly at me. I wondered what he was trying to do, but a moment later I understood it, as his hand shone with a white and gold-colored light.
Is that what I think it is? Is this real magic? I wonder if I will also be able to use magic one day when I reincarnate. I'm incredibly tense and terribly excited, so much that even my heart is beating faster than usual.
Seconds later, my vision blurred again, and I felt tired. Initially I fell asleep, my whole body felt light like a feather, yet I had no sensation in my arms and legs to enable me to move them. It was almost like floating in the emptiness, until I felt like I was lying on something hard and slightly damp a millisecond later and my back hurts.
My ears suddenly heard a buzzing and rustling noise after that formerly quiet place called sphere, but I couldn't categorize it properly.
Bzzt Bzzt were the buzzing noises around me, could they be insects? And this rustling might be leaves, am I in a forest?
My eyelids still felt heavy, so I couldn't open them straight away. Nevertheless, I tried to open them slowly, but I was blinded by a bright light as soon as I glanced, I used my hand to cover the sun and held it in front of my eyes so that they could get used to the brightness here. I'm currently lying on the ground, so I sat up straight and looked around me, the first thing I saw were trees circling a small meadow three meters in diameter. As already suspected, I really am in a forest, and asked myself.
“Where... Where am I?”
Then I briefly looked around me again to possibly gather more information.
“Is this really a new world?”
It certainly looked like it, when I examined the plants more closely, I couldn't recognize any of them from my old world.
These flowers, for example, which grow scattered but multiple times in this small meadow, are unfamiliar to me. They have nine blue blossoms per flower, but the tips of the flowers are white, and somehow, they give me a feeling of longing... But for what?
I still can't believe that I died and now stand in a different world, but somehow, I feel a pain in my chest, such as another knife is stabbing me. Is it perhaps because I'm on my own now? I doubt it, because I've been living alone since I was in primary school, or is it because my friends aren't here?
Friends... I looked sadly down at the ground and clenched my hands together. I wonder what they will do now when they hear that I have died. We may never see each other again one day, but I wish with all my heart that we could see each other, even if it's for a short time.
My hands unclenched and slapped both my cheeks to pull myself together and look forward to the future. Even though it's hard for me, I must leave my past behind me and start living in this world. I stood up, left the small meadow and walked into the shadows of the trees, hoping to meet an inhabitant of this world.
Without a map or a compass, I have been walking through a spruce forest for about fifteen minutes.
During this time, I hadn't met a single soul or any sign that anyone had been here recently, so I just kept walking, hoping to finally get out of this dense forest.
Finally, after another half an hour, a ray of light shone in front of me, it must be a place where the sun's rays are not blocked by the treetops. As quick as the wind, I ran wildly towards this clearing, and when I made it out of the forest, I was greeted by a strong breeze.
I was standing in front of a vast green landscape, its grasses doing a little dance in the breeze. The air was refreshing, better than in the city where I lived, it smelled so beautifully of the natural surroundings and the gentle breeze was slightly refreshing. I wanted to lie down on this grassy field and enjoy the pleasant silence, I might even fall asleep. But instead, I stretched out my arms wide to catch the breeze, and then looked around me, behind me was the spruce forest I just came out of, and in front of me was the landscape, what I would describe as the outside world.
In any case, when I had turned my head to about the two o'clock position, I recognized a small spot far away from me. Perhaps it's a village or even a town, if I get the outlines right.
“Is that... a town?”
I should take a closer look at it, so I thought.
I therefore set off for the long walk, and after an arduous walk of about a kilometer, I found myself standing in front of a large wall with a large gate, where a line of about eight people with luggage and some even with carriages were standing and waiting in front of it.
Perhaps they were waiting to be checked by the guards who were on duty in front of the gate to be able to pass. It is also possible that you need to pay an additional entrance fee, I had read something like that somewhere. I have a thousand-yen bill, but I certainly won't be able to pay with it, I'm sure there's another currency here. But somehow, I must get into this town to at least be in a safe place without being attacked by wild animals. Although I was still surprised that I didn't come across any animals in the forest, apart from insects and birds. However, I accept the consequences that will come and lined up as the ninth man as well.
While I waited until the people in front of me were done and my turn had come, I marveled at the large wall constructed right before my eyes. I had never seen such a magnificent old structure before, at least not in Japan. This place looks more like the European Middle Ages, which reminded me that I was in a different world. I stepped forward daydreaming as the person in front of me walked on, but then I was woken from my daydream by a loud, powerful voice.
“Halt!”
Shouted a tall muscular man, wearing a knight's armor and holding a spear in his left hand. He has a helmet on which only covered his cranial head, so you could clearly see his tanned moustachioed face and his dark brown irises staring at me. He doesn't look very friendly with that gloomy expression on his face, have I done something wrong?
Before I realized it, the puffy muscleman was standing in front of me, where you could clearly see the difference between me and him. He was much taller than me, possibly 1.90m, and broadly built, while me, with my puny 1.75m and thin arms, was standing in front of him shaking like a bug.
Suddenly his moustache moved, and his lower jaw opened his mouth, where sounds came out.
“I've never seen you before. Who are you, kid?”
He looked at me grimly, while I already turned to stone in fear and didn't moved a bit. But he asked again.
“Who are you, boy?”
Damn, what am I going to do now? No one would believe that I was reincarnated, what do I do now? Should I just say that I'm a student? But which school, are there even schools here? I have no idea! Maybe he will believe me if I say that I'm just a traveler. Exactly! That sounds good!
This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.
“Ehm... I'm a traveler... Right, a traveler!”
The guard's face approached my face till there was only five centimeters between us. He looked deep into my eyes, cold drops of sweat streaming down my forehead, then he looked down at my body, noticing something I hadn't considered.
“You claim to be a traveler? Where is your luggage? And where are you from? This is my first time seeing those clothes.”
He's referring to my black school uniform that I wore before I died.
Wait a minute... There is something wrong... No, no, it's not the time to think about it now, I'm screwed! I have to think about something as soon as possible, think!
Then, I thought of the stupidest thing I could ever do. I raised my left arm and pointed with my left index finger in the direction I had come from earlier and the people standing behind me. I shouted loud and clear.
“A hot woman with melon-boobs!”
“What? WHERE?!”
The bearded man turned, without hesitation with blushed cheeks, in the direction I was pointing. Of course, there was no one with that kind of description. But I took this chance and ran through the entrance gate to the town, like my life depends on it.
Strangely enough, the other guards who were also standing at the gate didn't stop me, judging by the way they were looking, they were probably fooled too.
Such idiots, I thought but the tanned guard quickly realized that I was running away and was the only one running after me.
“Stop!” he shouted.
“There was no hot woman with melon-boobs!” he added.
What!?
Did he really believe that? Jerk. To lose him, I ran into a crowd of people on a street as I walked through an alley on the right.
I stopped after a while when I noticed that no one was following me anymore. My back hunched forward, I took a little breather, supporting the upper half of my body with my hands on my thighs. I think I actually lost him, but I had never thought that such a tall person could have so much stamina. I suddenly felt like I was in PE class after an endurance run. Sounds like haa haa were just coming out of my body, longing for air now, with a variety of other sounds silencing my own.
I was curious to see who could make so many sounds at once and gently lifted my head. My vision, blurry at first, visualized a large number of people walking through a long stretching street that resembled some sort of a shopping passage or market street. I wandered through this passageway with my eyes wide open and my mouth open because I couldn't hold back my curiosity. Like a summer festival in my hometown, there were several different stalls selling different kinds of food, from fruit to meat, but also ready-cooked dishes such as grilled chicken and, if I saw correctly, weapons, equipment and accessories.
I wonder if there are strawberry mochis here? Well, I doubt it, since this world is probably more like the European Middle Ages, there are certainly no Japanese dishes, which I personally think is quite sad. Perhaps there might be a place that resembles Japan.
Suddenly, a loud rumbling from my stomach overwhelmed my thoughts. Now that I think about it, I haven't eaten anything since lunch at school.
Speaking of lunch, judging by the sky of this world, it seems to be noon right now. I have nothing against a second lunch, but a snack should suffice, because I can't think clearly with an empty tummy. Therefore, I turned to a fruit stand to my left and looked for something tasty.
Mmm...
I can't read the plates. Unfortunately, it's written in a different language. Wait, how was I able to communicate with the guard earlier if it's a different language?
Huh? What does it say? I stared at the sign again and suddenly the strange characters changed into my language. 10 copper coins appeared on this plate.
I thought it was cool that I could read and speak the new language, but unfortunately, I can't buy anything without the money of this world and will probably starve to death, I sighed.
Then a strange sound caught my attention. Peep Peep A sound not too different from the message tone of a smartphone. However, it couldn't be my smartphone that was making this sound, since it was in my school bag in Japan.
Surprisingly, a blue transparent screen that looks like a display suddenly appeared right in front of my eyes. This kind of display reminds me of games, but also of anime, to be honest I feel more and more like I'm in an anime.
This display says that I have received 30 silver coins, but I got money just like that? Maybe God is involved here, if so, then... Thank you God!
Proudly, I turned to the seller and said:
“Two apples, please.”
The shop worker took two apples out of the basket and gave them to me after I took a silver coin out of a mysterious pouch in my trouser pocket and pressed it into his hand. The seller then gave me back 80 copper coins, apparently one silver coin was one hundred copper coins, as far as I understood it correctly.
That may sound like a lot, but this weird pouch, seems to have some sort of other dimension inside, where I can probably store large items. Quite useful, if you ask me.
Anyway, without thinking any further, I turned to the street and walked a little bit ahead, but as I was about to bite into one of the apples with pleasure-
I was bumped by someone and all I heard was the dull breaking of an object. My eyes were wide with desolation as I looked at the innocent victims of this crime, both apples lying broken in front of my feet. Devastated, I fell on my knees and propped my body off the ground with my arms.
“My food...”
Feelings of despair and anger mingled in my mind, trying to come up with a plan to punish this bastard!
“You'll regret this!”
I silently stood up and set off after him, I ran after a person wearing a dark green cloak and shouted.
“Wait!!!”
The culprit ran into an alley on the right, until he noticed that he couldn't go any further.
“Damn it! A dead end! cursed the person in the cloak. Just a few meters away, I also emerged into this alley and said with a squeaky voice.
“Now I caught you!”
The person looked at me and saw that I was, once again, out of breath and dripping beads of sweat down my forehead. Oh God, I should exercise more...
“Because of you, I dropped my fo-...”
Before I could finish my sentence, a slight breeze that somehow came through the alley interrupted me and pulled down the hood of the person's dark green cloak. That was the reason I couldn't finish my sentence and instead dragged out that one word. With my mouth open and my eyes wide, I saw who the person was.
A girl. She has chestnut brown hair that goes down to her shoulders and is evenly cut, and she has emerald-green eyes that sparkled at me and made me feel like I could see a reflection of myself in them. And her gentle pink lips, which also looked very soft and had a slight shine, put the finishing touch. My breast feels strange, it's not pain, so it must be something else, but what? It's the first time I've felt something like that. Now I was standing there with a blushing face, staring at this beautiful girl, until she suddenly opened her mouth.
“Who are you? I don't have time for you.”
Before I could say anything, two more people appeared unexpectedly.
“There she is!”
Shouted one person, followed by the other.
“You're not getting away from us now, girl. Give us back what you stole from us!”
Who are these two? They certainly don't look like soldiers, but more like junkies who mess around with young women.
The left one is certainly taller than me, but shorter than the soldier from earlier, he's thin but lightly trained, and he's holding a shortsword in his right hand and a green glass bottle in his left. The right guy is short and fat so you could use him as a mini wrecking ball, he doesn't have a weapon in his hand, but he seems to be carrying a dagger around his waist.
What did the fat guy said about giving back what she stole? I wonder what it is.
“I'm the one who stole it? You were the guys who robbed me!” said the girl.
Now the two junkies are supposed to have robbed her? I'm confused, who robbed from whom? This situation is easily getting out of control and I couldn't hold back any longer, I had to do or say something. Yes, exactly, say something... But just what? I pondered until I actually thought of something. Stop! Exactly. A simple “Stop!” would do.
“Stop!”
I actually said it, now that I think more carefully about it, it sounded really lame, that's embarrassing. Why couldn't I think of anything better, Gosh I'm an idiot!
While I was insulting myself in my thoughts and despairing at the same time, there was silence around me. Curiously, I looked in both directions to see what was happening, but they actually stopped shouting at each other. I did it, at least I thought I did.
“Who is this guy?” asked the fat person.
Eh?
“That doesn't matter. We're just after the prey.” replied the tall person.
Eeehh??
“If we have to, we'll finish them both off!” he added, walking towards me with his weapon in his right hand.
EEEHH??? I thought.
I took a step back in fear, closed my eyes and crossed my arms in front of my head to protect myself. But nothing happened... It was quiet and no one harmed me. I opened my eyes again and looked ahead.
“Huh?”
Magically, the two people walked very slowly, it was like they were caught in a slow-motion. Suddenly, a soft chime, like a bell, sounded and the blue transparent display appeared again, out of nowhere.
“Uh?”
Unlike before, the displayed text is different.
A Skill? Like a Skill, in all the games I've played? Why now? Anyway, I took advantage of this and dashed before the thirty seconds were up.
First, I ran to the shortsword wielder and kicked his sword out of his hand, next I took the glass bottle from his left hand and smashed it onto his head, the shards of glass flying around but not falling to the ground, just like the victim.
Then I rushed to Fatty, who was currently drawing his dagger out of the sheath around his waist. But I was quicker and pulled it out before him, cutting his belt so his pants would fall down, and tying his legs together with the belt I cut off so he would hit his face. The thirty seconds now ended and the skill, and therefore the slow motion, was over, my actions were effective. Confidently, I asked them straight up.
“Do you want more?”
But neither of them showed any reaction, they seemed to be unconscious. I poked their heads with a stick lying next to me to test them. Both are really unconscious?
Well, the tall one is understandable since I hit him with a glass bottle straight on the head, but I don't understand why the fatso, who just fell on his nose.
“Amazing.”
A startled female voice spoke, that belonged to the girl with chestnut-brown hair. She walked towards me, my face flushed again, and my heart was racing. I still don't understand what this strange feeling is. Is it a disease or something? What illness could have such symptoms? But before I even realized it, she was already standing in front of me, just a few steps away, her hands hidden behind her body.
“Hey you. What's your name?” she asked me, her body leaning forward and her voice soft and smiling.
Automatically, like every time I'm greeting someone, I told her my name, even though I wasn't fully focused.
“My name is Yuuji. Yuuji Takahashi.”
“Yuuji Takahashi. That's a funny name. Anyway, my name is Monika, nice to meet you. And thanks for your help, by the way.” she giggled.
So, Monika is her name, a beautiful name for a beautiful girl. Wait, did I just call her beautiful again? What's wrong with me?
Wait, how can I be so stupid, it's quite obvious why I'm feeling so strange. But is it really what I think?
“Oh, that was nothing.” I said as a little cover up, I mean, if this skill hadn't suddenly activated, I would already be dead.
Again, ironic. But then I heard another grumble, just like before, and my thoughts switched to the feeling of starvation in my stomach.
Monika looked at me in surprised and giggled again. She then suggested something to me that I had never expected.
“Follow me, I'll buy you something to eat.” she said with a gentle smile. Without hesitation, I asked.
“What, really?”
“Yes, I dropped your food earlier, after all.”
This girl seems nice. But why is a girl nice to me of all people, is she an angel? Or is this the fate everyone is talking about? Or is this even the beginning of a so-called harem, a group of women who are accompanying me on my adventure? Now I'm all fired up! I'm so excited to see what else this world has to offer me.
We left the junkies behind lying on the street and headed to a pub in the western part of the city, where Monika led us.
We ate wild boar goulash with some brown bread and a small salad as a side dish and drank mead.
Mead is a sweetened honey wine made from honey and water. As it's an alcoholic drink, I'm not actually allowed to drink it because I'm still a minor, but when I took a sip, a bell rang again and the same display appeared.
This time it said
During the meal, Monika told me some stories about her fights against monsters. It was getting dark by the time I realized it, but before she might leave in a minute, I wanted to know one more thing from her.
“What was stolen from you?” I asked. But she looked at me questioningly.
“Hm?”
“Those guys earlier. You said that you were robbed,” I continued.
Monika seemed to remember that scene, her eyes suddenly widened, and she opened her mouth wide like she was unable to breathe. Her face turned bright red, and she babbled confusedly, which I couldn't understand at all. I wonder what's wrong with her.
I didn't go any further into this topic as she wasn't quite focused. Instead, I thought about what I was going to do the next days. Since I'm in a fantasy world, I need combat experience so I can fight against monsters in case I get into trouble, maybe a hunting ground or something. Maybe Monika knows some good hunting spots.
“Monika, do you know where you can go hunting here as a newbie?”
Monika's face returned to normal, and she looked at me in surprise.
“Hunting? As a rookie, you definitely shouldn't go too deep into the forest, otherwise you can easily lose your orientation. And I'd also recommend getting yourself some standard equipment, without a weapon you're not going to kill a monster, or even a wild animal.”
Equipment, huh. I wonder how much equipment costs. I still have 29 silver coins and 80 copper coins left, I wonder if this is enough. Perhaps, I might get some equipment like I did with the coins earlier, but that might be asking too much. Then the sound of a message tone sounded again...
... Hm, that was easier than expected, at least I have a weapon now to protect myself if something happens to me.
“If you still need equipment, we can get you some tomorrow in the morning,” Monika suggested.
“It's okay, I already have some equipment,” I said to her.
Then the girl stood up unexpectedly and said with a grin.
“Then we'll have more time to hunt tomorrow.”
“It's already dark, I'm afraid I need go now. I'll meet you tomorrow morning when the bell rings at eight o'clock.”
Then, with no further comment, she ran through the entrance and left the inn. Now I'm alone again, wondering what actually happened.
Eight o'clock tomorrow, huh. I looked out of the window and saw the gloomy darkness of the night and individual lights from the neighboring houses. I also need a place to sleep, thanks to the money I've received, I don't have to sleep outside on the street, I can just get a room.
According to the signs here, single rooms are available for 70 copper coins, I don't know if that's cheap, but I have the money. I paid at the reception and went straight to my room, which is on the 2nd floor. I opened the door and saw a small room, but enough for one person. There was barely any furniture, a bed, a table, a chair and a closet. I took off my school uniform jacket and hung it in the closet, then I took off my black shoes, put them in front of the closet and sat on the bed without hesitation.
Then I suddenly remembered the thing I wanted to think about.
Why am I sitting as Yuuji Takahashi here, at this moment? I mean, I got reincarnated, no doubt, but it's still strange that I kept my old body instead of being a baby now. I don't really mind, but it's quite strange. Another thing that came to my mind was this world in general, it's similar to a game because of the skills and monsters that exist here, but at the same time it's different. The citizens of this world are not NPCs, rather they have their own will and behave normally.
Nevertheless, obtaining skills and money, and suddenly learning the language, is similar to a game.
Huh? A game? In this case, I should have a personal menu or a status window. How do I open it?
I tried with a few finger movements, but nothing happened. Then I decided to close my eyes and concentrated to imagine a status window, hoping that something would happen. Seconds later, a sound was heard that was different from the previous sounds, I instantly thought of a xylophone.
I quickly opened my eyes again and saw the familiar blue-transparent display in a square shape.
Name: Yuuji
Level: 1
Job: None
HP: None
MP: None
ATK: None
DEF: None
CRIT: None
ITEMS
SKILLS
None? What is the meaning of this? How can I have no parameters, especially HP? Apart from the name and the level, there are two buttons for Items and Skills.
This must be a bug, I can't explain it otherwise, and what is meant by job? Probably this job display will change when I add one, if I get one in the future.
First, I pressed the item button and checked what items I had. Another square window appeared next to the status window. There were several small squares on the window, which probably represented the individual slots. Five of these slots were occupied by icons which, according to the picture, were the items.
Iron sword
Iron breastplate
Gloves
Silver coins
Copper coins
On the bottom right corner of the icon were numbers indicating the number of items. In this case, silver coins 29x / copper coins 10x.
I pressed on the sword symbol excitedly and saw what happened. A light suddenly appeared in front of me and formed an elongated shape. When the light faded, I was holding a real One-Hand Sword in my hands. I stared at the sword with amazement and felt the slight weight on my hands. I wonder if I can wield it.
I wondered how I could make it disappear again. I pressed the icon depicted with the sword again. The iron sword lit up again and broke into little stars, answering my question.
I actually want to know a lot more about my status and this world, but I should call it a day and think about it tomorrow. I lay down on my back and covered myself with the blanket.
A lot of things happened today, I still feel like I'm in a dream, that I'm in a real fantasy world. I closed my tired eyes and fell asleep immediately, while I thought one last time about the girl called Monika and said a second before I fell asleep.
“Monika.”
I was sleeping deeply, unaware that someone had entered my room through the window and was standing in front of my bed like a black shadow.
Suddenly I saw a familiar light, which blurred my vision at first. After it got better, I saw a person I had met half a day ago sitting in front of me.
“Huh? ... Why am I dreaming ... about God?” I said, half asleep.
“It's not a dream, son.”
“Huh?”
To wake up, I slapped my cheeks with my hands, which made them turn red. I quickly realized that I was back in the sphere where I met God.
“Eh? ... EEeehhh??? What happened?! Why am I here AGAIN?!”
I lost my cool a bit, but understandably.
“Calm down, son. The thing is... you're dead.” God told me calmly.
Dead...
When I heard this word again, it turned into cold sweat running down my back. So does this mean, game over?
“Death, again? But how?” I asked God, who answered me as follows.
“Your head has been chopped off.”
I immediately grabbed my neck, on which my pale and mute head was sitting, to check that I wasn't sitting headless at the small wooden table. Of course I was shocked, mainly because I didn't know what would happen to me now.
Will I... just disappear?
“It can't end like this! I didn't even live a whole day in that world!” I said raising my voice.
“That's why you'll be reincarnated again,” said the bearded man. I can go back again? I asked in surprise, to be sure:
“Is that true?”
God nodded.
“That's just an exception. I'll send you to the same world, but you'll get a new body.” he mentioned.
“A different body? I don't care! As long as I get reincarnated!”
At that moment, I didn't care about anything else, different body or not, I must get back as soon as possible and catch that bastard who killed me.
“Alright, but this time you need to take care of yourself. If you die again, you can't reincarnate any more. If you die, you die permanently.” he said seriously.
This is my last chance, I should take it and not give up under any circumstances! So I said, with a self-confident and serious expression.
“I'm ready.”
God nodded again and stroked his beard.
“All right, here we go.”
Once again, he held his left hand in my direction, which was already beginning to glow white-golden. I closed my eyes and fell asleep to the pleasant warmth. My body became light again until it lay on something hard.
I slowly opened my eyes and saw a dark, starless night sky. Then I stood up and looked around me, I recognized this place because I had just walked here this afternoon. It was the street where the inn is located. I suddenly remembered why I was here in the first place. I have to find that bastard!
Without further hesitation, I ran towards the inn, where I suddenly saw a shadow jumping out of the window - if I wasn't mistaken, it was my room. That must be him, I thought. The suspicious person saw me and fled. I quickly ran after him.
“Stop, wait!” I shouted.
After a short while, the distance between us became smaller until I grabbed his cloak. However, I tripped over the broken road and fell to the ground, but I managed to tear off a small piece of fabric from his cloak. At the last moment, I only managed to see a strange symbol, or rather a tattoo, through the hole on the left side of his back. Far ahead, the murderer disappeared into the shadows of the dark streets. Even if I got up now, I wouldn't be able to catch him, so instead I went back to the inn and slowly opened the door to my room.
This moment I knew that I would see my own corpse, but without knowing what to do in this situation. The room, bathed in the ghostly moonlight, made my heart race as I entered. A feeling of trepidation tightened my throat. The door creaked softly as I closed it and walked to the bed. In front of me lies what I was actually unprepared for.
On the bed, which once had a snow-white bed sheet, was painted with a blood-red color, surrounded by the feathers of the pillow and a rumpled blanket, laid my old body. Eyes closed, skin pale and lifeless, and with a clean cut through the neck. It was like looking into a twisted mirror where the reflection of my former life was trapped. I shuddered and my breath hitched.
“That's me,” I whispered, unable to look away.
“That was me.”
My mind raced back to the last moments before I died both times. The pain, the darkness, the feeling of letting go. And then- the awakening in this new body, in this new world.
It was a miracle, an extra chance, but now, right here in front of my own mortal shell, I was overcome by a wave of fear and doubts.
“What am I now?” I muttered.
“An impostor? A spirit who has deceived the course of nature? Or just a stranger walking in someone else's body?”
The questions swirled in my head, incessantly, like a storm that knew no calm. I felt uprooted, lost between two worlds. The sight of my own dead body confronted me with the finite nature of life and the fragility of existence. My old self was accusing me, challenging me to find my place in this new reality.
Tears burned in my eyes and an indescribable pain pierced my heart. I had thought reincarnation was a blessing, a chance to do things differently. But now, faced with my own corpse, it felt like a curse.
A curse that condemned me to walk eternally between life and death without ever really belonging there.
“Why?” I screamed into the silence, my voice broken and desperate.
“Why was I reborn when I'm going to die again anyway? What is the point of this existence?”
My knees gave way, and I sank to the ground, my body gripped by uncontrollable trembling. The scream that came from my soul was a wild, primal sound - an echo of my innermost pain and my deepest despair. It echoed through the room, penetrated the walls and merged with the cold, silent night.
And there, kneeling in front of my own dead body, I realized the cruel truth. Reincarnation was not a gift, but a burden. A burden that forced me to face my own mortality and the endless cycle of life and death.
That night, under the nightmarish light of the moon, I learned the truth of suffering and loss - and the price you pay when you challenge fate.