Afterwards, we moved out of the woods thanks to Akabane’s directions. From the looks of it, they seemed to be adept at the terrain, judging by how quickly we, or rather, they were moving despite only traveling on foot. Only now did I realize their sharpened boots and gloves were more than mere decorations—aside from being weapons that they could use in combat against other strange insectoid creatures like that horde of hornets, these people could cut through branches, leaves, and even rocks with just a swing of their arms.

“Say, Yakushi,” as he split open another rock with an ax kick, Akabane called out to me. “You said you’re an Unborn, right? What tribe are you from?”

“I… um, I’m not sure what our name is, either…” I showed a sheepish grin while scratching my cheek in embarrassment. It would be best to not reveal information about Japan and Earth, not that they would understand anyway.

“This is tricky, then. Can you at least remember the general direction?”

“I guess… we’re from the far east, separated by an ocean.”

It wasn’t necessarily wrong information, and it did describe things well yet vague enough to avoid more questions.

Or at least, that was what I expected, until the red-armored man answered:

“Oh, so you’re from the same place as Blue!”

“Eh?”

“Oh, right, I forgot to introduce the rest of us to you,” Akabane flashed a friendly smile and started gesturing, first at the man in the same kind of armor as him, but with a hint of azure hue and a larger, less sharp pair of gloves. “Blue here is Aozaki Kaiji. He’s also a drifter from the far east that got stranded here a long time ago. Guy is pretty shy though, so he doesn’t talk much.”

“I-I'm Yakushi. Pleased to meet you, Aozaki-san,” I turned to the man—upon closer inspection, he seemed to be quite bulky, with muscles larger and far more defined than Akabane, while standing around a head taller than him—and gave a polite bow. Without a word, the man just nodded back, true to his comrade’s description of a man of few words.

Immediately, another jumped into the conversation. Her bright yellow armor was much slicker than the males’, almost more similar to a bodysuit rather than an armor, and the way it accentuated her curves made direct eye contact a rather uncomfortable experience, causing me to turn away with my cheeks red up to my ears.

Without regard to her appearances, the woman continued with a beaming smile:

“Unlike Blue here, Big Sis here can hold a proper conversation! I’m Yamabuki Shiori, the lone rose of the group, but these guys call me Yellow instead. Pleased to meet you, Yakushi-kun!” She raised her hand forward for a shake.

“Um… Pleased to meet you, Yamabuki-san,” I replied the gesture, but not turning my head towards her.

“Green here!” The man next to her pointed at himself . “Name’s Midorikawa Ryuuji. Unlike the others, I’m the only one capable of recon by flight, so I’m pretty important you know, kehaha!”

As he finished his introductions, his back buzzed a thundering sound, almost the same as the hornets from before. Upon taking a closer look, his armor had a pair of wings on the back that he could seemingly control with little difficulty.

Well, this is a game world after all, as much as I hate to admit it.

My eyes then glanced at the final person left. He was similar to Akabane in build, and even his armor was the exact same appearance as Akabane’s, but instead of a red color, this one was a pure jet black.

“... Kurogiri Urame.” He was short and to the point. From the sound of his voice, he was the one who shouted the warning about the hornet’s hive earlier.

“Well, anyway, that’s all of us.” With a clap, Akabane concluded. However, the man soon let out a sigh afterwards. But, ah… that’s a bit of a predicament, huh? Considering Blue’s situation here… you can probably guess what the chances of you returning home are.”

It was an euphemism for the fact that I couldn’t “return” to where I came from. At least I didn’t exactly care for the world I was in before, so losing this dash of self-proclaimed hope wasn’t such a bad thing.

“Then… Can I stay in your village, at least until I’m able to find a new place to stay?”

“Of course,” with a light pat on my shoulder, Akabane nodded. “In fact, our tribe, the Mujin, is famous for taking in nomads from ancient times. Feel free to make it your new home, even.”

“Leader, you can’t…” a voice from his teammates interrupted him, but it was swiftly ignored.

“We’ll worry about that later!” Laughed Akabane. “Now, what says you?”

“... Thank you for your kindness, Akabane-san.”

“No problem. Just make sure to keep up with us, you hear?” With a grin, Akabane replied.

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“I’ll try my best.”

“Then get ready.”

Before I could ask, the crimson leader had already turned to the rest of his friends. “You hear him, guys! Let’s kick it up a notch! We’re losing daylight!”

Right away, they made me regret the words I had uttered.

A sound wave vibrated through the air, sending the nearby tree branches and leaves into disarray. Small cracks appeared on the trunks and rocks, while the earthy smell grew ever so stronger. The group in front of me had already disappeared from their usual spot, leaving behind what could only be described as a complete mess.

“You have got to be kidding me…”

I had expected them to be stronger than an average adult male thanks to the equipment that they wore, let alone a feeble one like me. Yet, I could still not fathom the gap between us would be this big. All I could see within that fraction of a second was a multi-colored blur coming from them, and this wasteland that was the result of their little take-off.

“Kuri…”

“Sorry buddy,” hearing Akari’s light sob on top of my head, I raised my finger for the critter to cuddle, “that must have scared you, huh? Well, at least we have a path for us, so…”

Before I could finish my sentence, however, a familiar green shadow had already waved towards me:

“Oi, new kid!” With his wings still vibrating, Midorikawa Ryuuji floated in mid-air, his mouth forming a wry grin. “What’s wrong? Katta got your leg?”

At least I knew well enough that he was making a joke, even if I didn’t know what kind of creature he was referring to. “Eh… You guys moved a bit too fast, I couldn’t keep up…” I let out an embarrassed laugh, trying to follow along.

“Well, I expected as much, shishi! But that’ll teach ya’ not to be too cocky, eh?”

“Y-Yeah, I’ve learned my mistakes.” I bowed, trying my best to stop my tongue from making a clicking sound. People like him were the kind that I wanted to avoid most back on Earth.

But before I could ask for help, Midorikawa was already gone. I didn’t even get the chance to turn around—all of a sudden, a sharp pain jolted from my back, while my legs soon were kicking air.

“Ready kid? Off we go!”

”H-Hold on, what do you… WAHHH!”

”Kuri! Kuriii!”

I had underestimated these people yet again. All I could see and hear were zooming sounds of meaningless occurrences, as well as constantly changing scenes and colors, as if I was watching multiple fast-forwarded videos at the same time. That, combined with the lingering super sense from the incident, meant my brain was being forced into overdrive at the mere ride that I was on.

“YallrightkidImmatakethatasayeskay?” Within that cacophony of noises, a certain voice buzzed in my ears. Most of the contents were lost, so I didn’t catch what he meant, but even if I could make out what he was saying, I doubt I would be able to answer. The sheer speed in which we traveled, the constant whipping of winds on my face, plus the sensory trip that I’d rather never experience again all resulted in one thing—my cheeks were already stuffed with contents that I should not mention or describe, or I risk the probability of me spurting it out along the way.

At last, when I was barely able to tell right and left apart, the moving stopped. However, it wasn’t a pretty landing—in the final stretch, unknown if it was intentional or not, but Midorikawa’s hand slipped, resulting in me sliding a good few meters off our initial spot, while I got to taste an extra layer of dirt along with whatever gastric content already bubbling in my mouth.

“Welcome to our village, kid!” The perpetrator, unaware (or definitely aware) of his doings, was about one step away from bursting into laughter.

“At least… blergh!”

Only after throwing up the stuff out of my system was I able to continue. “At least get me up first, will you?”

“Hehe, fun ride though, right?”

”You…”

I managed to swallow back the rage about to burst out. Calm down, Yakushi, you’re still not in a position to be against them yet.

“Sure, it’s a new experience at least.” I wiped my mouth while dusting off the remaining dirt on my clothes.

“Kuri! Kuri!” Akari, whose legs and stomach were glued tight to the top of my head, cried out in protest.

“See? Even the little girl agrees, shishi.”

“No, I’m pretty sure she… Wait, ‘she’? You can tell?”

”Huh? ‘Course I can tell,” Midorikawa’s goggled helmet moved ever so slightly upward as a result of the man raising his eyebrows. “A female Onigiri has a white underarm, while a male’s is red all over. You’re its partner, and you didn’t even know that much?”

“I… uh… just received her recently. We aren’t that familiar with each other yet.”

”That so? And yet she seems mighty attached to ya’.” Midorikawa rubbed his chin, eyeing Akari still sitting on my head. “A special case, this one.”

”B-By the way, where are the rest of the group? Were you the only one who came back to get me?”

“Huh? Yeah, Red’s orders. We got back to the village like, right away, before we realized you were missing. So he asked me to go back. I’m the best when it comes to speed after all.” Midorikawa ended his story with his face up in the sky, clearly boasting his abilities.

But even someone like him had his limits, as he stopped the childish attitude soon after and gestured behind me. “Anyway, let me say it again, kid. Welcome to our village!”

As I turned around, it was indeed a marvel to behold.

Never in my life had I witnessed such harmony between man and nature. There were no houses, not even the old straw-roof, bamboo-wall design you’d often see in ancient times. Instead, everyone lived directly in the trunks of giant trees situated all around the grassy field in the center of the “village”, and yet from within those trees, I could see a glimmering blue light unlike any kind of lamp I had seen. There was something magical about this place—my ears heard the sizzling sound of cooking, the chattering of people trading; my nose smelled the mild sweetness of flowers, the earthy scent of the rich soil, yet mixed within was a distinct smell of spices and condiments in cooking. But the most obvious proof of this miracle of a village was, without a doubt, the scenery right in front of my eyes.

On the grassy field, children of all ages gathered, each with their own Akari-like critter. Unlike the armored adults, these children just look like regular kids you could find anywhere on Earth, from their small stature, to their soft skin and their clear, untainted laughter like the cleansing sound of a bell. You couldn’t find something like this nowadays—where everyone and their mother all had their faces glued to a tiny screen, trapped without the scent of fresh air in ages.

“Yo, kid!” Midorikawa once again sounded, interrupting me from my daydream. “Red’s calling. Come with me.”