Where... am I...

...

I am... floating...

I moved my body around, as it responded sluggishly akin to being submerged in water.

A few bubbles were formed as I tried to calibrate my limbs to my bodily senses again.

There was nothing here.

I was facing the surface of this dark sea, rocking along the ebb and flow of the calm waves.

Yet somehow... I felt something was off with this place.

Like I didn't belong here.

A feeling of dread started to creep up behind me like a pair of arms.

I turned around quickly, dragging my body along as if my life depended on it.

Nothing.

Strange... I could've sworn there was someone in fr-

Just as I closed my eyes, I was forced to open it again.

Like some kind of surgical tool attempting to pry open my eyelids forcefully, ignoring the pain from the tearing of my skin.

And then I saw it.

A pair of red eyes, staring right back at me.

----------------------------------------

I awoke violently on top of my bed, as I felt the cold sweat coming down my forehead with my fingers.

The uncomfortable feeling of sweat sticking to my body was second only to the intense beating of my heart.

A... nightmare... huh...

Not having my medication around, I had completely forgotten about the abnormal conditions of my body.

Schizophrenia, a mental illness that continues to plague my life even in my dreams.

...That was a recurring dream, something that I haven't experienced for a long time.

How long has it been, I wonder... ...probably on the day my parents died in that car crash...

July 15th.

When my other self manifested and took me along all sorts of trouble...

...What was I being all happy about all of a sudden. Am I an idiot? It's the same, here or any other world.

I'm the same as usual...

Correcting my lackadaisical attitude, I sat up straight on the bed I was lying on a moment ago.

The surroundings were the same as when I went to sleep. White-painted cement. There were a few other tables and small containers lying around. They had some writing on them with some kind of black ink, but I didn't understand a word.

More importantly, I felt okay now that I had a day's rest. Thus I began to process my current situation.

Where am I... I'm in ...a nocturnal city if I remember correctly. 

When did this happen; Last night when I was rescued by a girl who called herself Vlad Red, from a cave full of goblins.

Who was this Vlad Red? Sounds like an alias... but I can't really judge the naming sense of another world. For all I know, I might be the weird one here.

Vlad Red... she's beautiful...

Wait no...

Focus, White. Focus...

...She's a veteran swordsman clad in full black armor and wields a two-handed greatsword. The doctor touched on it briefly when he questioned me, but I think she is what he calls, an adventurer? 

If adventurers exist in this world, then surely an Adventurer's Guild too right? I should look around for that.

What was my mission; To purge Cross Porters. Cross Porters are people who have come to another world and creates disturbances with the world.

Why... I was killed in my previous world, so this was an inevitable situation I've brought myself into.

Hmm... something doesn't feel quite right here. But I can't put my finger on it...

Fumbling around my pockets, I tried to make out of my possessions. 

A set of house keys. An earpiece. A wallet with name cards and $10 bills. 3 pieces of grape-flavored rock candy.

The MP3 player was discarded to save my life yesterday. This was all that I had left in my name.

...

Doesn't seem like much really. Maybe I should try bartering these around? The trope that people from other world adores things from Earth might exist here. If I ever get in contact with someone influential, I should try to trade off those paper bills as collectible currency.

Mn, sounds like a quick get-rich scheme... seems quite feasible too. I'll do just that if I get a chance to.

Are there smiths in this country? They might take interest in the design of these keys. Well, I can't really teach them how to make it though...

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

The wallet itself is made of cheap cloth, but it should be able to arouse the curiosty of some merchants. Same with the design of the earpiece, they might prove to be quite the asset for someone rich.

Depending on the technological state of paper-making, these name cards could potentially get me something as well. Maybe I should market this as a find in some ancient ruins I stumbled into? I hope they can't read English...

...

As I took out everything I had and laid them on my bed, I realized just how little I had. I was brought to this world unreasonably without a starter pack. I couldn't help but feel a little frustrated at my own situation.

I returned everything into the two side pockets of my pants.

...Well, nothing I can do about it for now... This pretty much sums up everything.

Then I should take my leave here if I want to make the best use of the day.

There was an open window beside my bed that led to an open view of the streets, and the light of day wouldn't last forever. It was a common fact that time was of essence if I wanted to survive.

Should I? 

I looked outside the window of the room, and I realized that the hue of the sky held signs of turning slightly orange already.

It was close to evening, I must've slept through the day last night...

It's safe to say that she isn't coming right?

...A pity. Well, I should leave. I don't need to attach any kind of strange emotions onto a stranger I've just met... After all, I have too much of an information handicap. I'm desperately in need of understanding how this world works, hierachy and all. We might chance upon each other when I wander around this city.

In the distance, I could see a few dots in the sky moving about. There were quite a few of them.

Are those dragons...? Well... no point thinking about it now.

Straightening my vest and posture, I opened the door and went outside.

There was a counter attended by 3 young women. They didn't have any particular features that stood out to me; I had seen many nurses like these during the many times I was hospitalized.

Looks like make-up doesn't exist in this world either... I thought to myself nonchalantly.

Walking towards the counter to bid my farewell and thanks, I noticed that the 3 women looked kind of puzzled. Like I was saying something strange.

Hmm? Well no matter. It looks like the doctor who treated me yesterday isn't here as well... I should take my leave for now.

Exiting the premise, I looked around me.

The road's just dirt... Truly a medieval era.

A horse carriage carrying several cargo and live animals went past me. There were many roadside stalls that just set up simple tents and wooden boxes to hold merchandise apparently. A pedestrian walked by me, wearing very rigid and poor looking clothes...

Quite unreal, I must say... Even their clothes look like that. Hmm, can I sell my clothes this way too? The technology and weaving techniques on fabric and dye shouldn't be very advanced as well...

I looked at my clothes. The outer vest was covered in dirt. My inner black shirt where the vest weren't covering was partially soiled as well. My black pants were also quite dirty, and my boxers have underwent quite a bit of a crisis over the past 2 days as well... The only thing that was left intact was the pendant strapped around my neck. It was a memento from my late father.

...I stifled my tears for a moment there. 

...Let's move on.

----------------------------------------

Exploring the city for not even close to 5 minutes, I understood the place a little better.

Mm, mm.

This city was nocturnal, wasn't it?! No wonder there were so few people around! The stores are mostly closed too, I can't get any information like this! 

Hmm... was it a coincidence that this city has adopted the cycle of the forest nearby?

...Talk to a passer-by? ...Unlikely... Even if we spoke the same language, I'm probably unable to hold the conversation on my own... haha...

As I was at wits' end and wandering aimlessly around the streets, I started to realize that better constructed buildings were increasing in number as I entered the heart of the city.

Looks like I'd been circling around the commoner's area for awhile now... This looks to be the commercial district.

There were a few open stores. I immediately walked up close to one with a few glass panels displaying something.

This looks like a clothing store. ...Well that's pretty lucky. This is my first stop for bartering, let's hope they speak Earth language and appreciates the value of my dirty clothes...

Sighing at my bleak prospects, I entered the store through the door.

A chime sounded at the doorstep, signalling my arrival.

Shortly after, a female clerk dressed neatly in grey clothes appeared and greeted me.

"....... .... ........, ... ... . .. ... .. ...."

The clerk's reaction was understandable... Starting off with a graceful bow to greet your potential customers was great, but it shouldn't be used on someone like me, covered with dirt.

...

As expected she stopped momentarily when her face noticed the state I was in.

More importantly... 

"...., .... ........, ... ... .... .. ........ ....... ... ...........?"

The clerk was skeptical when looking at my unusual and dirtied clothes and seemingly asked me a question judging from her tone. I have a feeling she wants to drive me away as soon as possible too...

I am sweating bullets right now, it's like speaking to a foreigner! W-what do I do...How do I answer her?! I'm not the most social person in the world! T-that's right, sign language! I know sign language! Should I do it or not? Will she throw me out thinking I'm a lunatic flailing my arms around in the air crazily?! Ahhh... ahhh...

Noticing the commotion or that the female assistant had not returned from the entrance after greeting a customer for quite some time, someone else came out from inside the clothing store.

"...., .. ..... ......... .....?"

A massively-built man in his 30s wearing a white tank top appeared before me. Sizing me up from head to toe, he looked like he came to an understanding.

"Buying or trading?"

"?!"

Ah, looks like it went through. He's speaking English! Or was it translated automatically, I don't know. Thank god we can converse normally...

"A-ah...trading, if possible. Al-although it may look like this, the-th- ouch! Err... the-they are...uhhh... of good q-"

"I know, trading right? Those clothes are clearly of quality I've never seen before, well..."

The man coughed a little.

"Barring the cleanliness of them aside..."

"Ha...haha..."

I'm gonna get ripped off, aren't I... My first impression on him wasn't too good... ahh... I've dug myself into a hole now...

As if ignoring the stupid look on my face as I bit my tongue in the middle of my business pitch, he spoke out curtly. Not knowing whether or not I've been shot down, I peeked at his expression as he was thinking hard about it.

He shook his head up and down a few times and opened his eyes. He clapped twice, and another 2 female assistant wearing the same grey clothing came out from inside the store. He spoke something to them.

"........, ..., .. ... .... ....... ... .... ..... ... .... ....."

".........., ...... ........" The two assistant gave vocal consent together, and began to escort me inside.

"I will evaluate these clothes after you've taken them off, then we'll talk about the trade. The female assistants will help you get dressed. You should pick whatever you want, but it will be deducted from the compensation from your own clothes." The man explained.

"I-I understand, tha-thank you very much!"

The man waved me away, beckoning me to go ahead.

----------------------------------------

 It's as I had expected... the standards of clothing is pretty bad in this world. This store even seems like a high-end one, judging from the furnishing in this place... They don't even have the concept of cloth-hangers, the clothes are just stacked into some sort of rectangular pigeon hole. Well, I gotta admit their management of items are still pretty neat though. Everything that I'd taken out to try was ironed out as well, as expected of a store catering to rich people~

After awhile had passed, I came out of the store with my pendant and boxers intact.

...I can't let go of these two after all; One of them was a priceless memento while the other was just a matter of comfortability. It would feel extremely chilly underneath if I wasn't wearing underwear... This store did not sell underwear...

Bartering off my vest, white shirt, and black pants had given me a rough-feeling black shirt made of some sort of hide, and a pair of pants that was one size bigger than mine. It was meant to be tied with an alternate black string that worked like a belt. I also got a leather pouch strapped around my waist where I kept my remaining inventory.

I had gotten an additional amount of 4 gold coins and 27 silver coins from that transaction.

Although I felt like I was slightly cheated by the clothing merchant Richard, I was still quite satisfied with the outcome of getting anything at all. I recalled the brief conversation we had before I left.

"Thank you for the smooth transaction, we hope to see you again. If there is any other peculiar pieces of clothes that you may come across again, please patronize us again. My name is Richard Brownfield, salutations to you, White."

"L-likewise..."

There was another feeling of dissonance when I had left the store, but I shook it off quickly, happy with the recent exchange.

Naturally with bad things, come the silver lining! Everything is turning up for me!