As Charles Darwin once said, "It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that is the most adaptable to change." And that's exactly how human beings have been able to survive and thrive for so many centuries. We are master adapters: We adapt when we move to a new place; when we are in a new job or in no job at all; when there are natural calamities; when climate conditions change; when we are surrounded by unpredictable political, social, and living conditions; and the list goes on. Up to this point, humans have been highly capable of surviving in a multitude of environments and situations.

Humans even though are frail creatures they are beings capable of adapting to extreme changes in the environment. They are beings capable of bringing a miracle even in the most direst of situations. I can be considered one of the members of this amazing species.

I can be considered showing the amazing adaptability of this species at its finest at this moment. I am a normal person named Austin who was living his life just for living but suddenly died while watching a horror movie due to a heart attack. After death what a person would normally expect is nothing, because no one knows what happens after death but I somehow transmigrated into a fantasy world.

Well, I don't know whether it's normal for people to transmigrate after death or if I am an exception, but I know that I am going to live a considerably different life from now onwards.

At first, it was really hard for me as I didn't know whether I am Austin or Dustin, it became really confusing sometimes between these 2 identities but now I don't have these problems as both personalities and memories have synchronized into one so I am both Austin and Dustin.

If I had to tell about my life as Dustin then I was a child who was abandoned at the door of the village chief of the village I currently am living in. The village chief may look like a bad person but he has a heart of gold, he adopted me, a child who had no place to go. If I had to describe the village in one word then I would choose poor, people barely meet their daily-daily needs, and living in a village that is at the border of the continent with a lack of resources is tough itself.

The village chief who in a sense can be considered my father lives at the border of the village. It may look ridiculous that the village chief is itself living at the borders of the village that is near the dark forests but the reason he is getting this sort of celebrity treatment is because of me, It is not because I did some kind of mistake but my existence is itself a problem in the eyes of the other villagers.

The old man's name is Thomas without the last name just like me as in this world the last name is sort of considered a privilege of nobles or members of higher society. The old man usually deals with any kind of conflict in the village as there are no government officials or police officers anywhere close to the village.

It had been a year from when I magically became Dustin from Austin. I am going to be of 6 from 11 December which is nearly 8 days away as today is 3rd December. I am still having trouble adapting to this new world and how things work here even though I have adapted to my new body.

The thing that is definitely similar to my old life is the number of friends I have in this world which is equal to 0, I mean its not my fault that my face is average and people don't fall for me at first glance, and neither I have charisma or intelligence to manipula-I mean befriend the neighbor kids.

I was walking around the village to pass my time as obviously there is no net or phone to pass my time in this world and I don't have friends to play with me.

"hey, creep who allowed you here "

"boss, this boy needs a beating"

" "

It looks like I was wrong after all, you don't need friends to play after all it can be idiots who make life more entertaining.

I looked behind me and there stood 3 generic bullies found in any kind of face-slapping story. Bully 1 whose name I don't remember, Bully 2 whose name I never knew, and Bully 3 who is equal to not existing as he never speaks or takes any kind of action.

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These 3 think they bully me while in reality, they are my entertainment in this boring world. I smirked and brought a huge smile to my face as I walked toward them and stood face to face with them.

"wh-what"

Bully 1 was probably scared by my domineering attitude as he stumbled for words for some time and then just said one word. I looked at him and then looked behind him with a fear-stricken face. I changed my expression to someone who was deeply afraid for his life and seeing my expression the kids looked behind their backs several times and of course, there was nothing there.

"W-What are you looking at, you creep"

"yes, do you think we will buy your stupid act"

I acted more scared and started to shake and had fallen on my knees, even my eyes started to shake like I was experiencing a great terror, Overall it was a convincing act.

"The-they are just kids please don't hurt them, I am sure they didn't want to do anything bad"

The bullies' faces became more pale and pale as they, again and again, started to look behind them, I wanted to give them one last scare that might or might not become a trauma for life but then suddenly bully 3 broke for a sprint and started to run without looking back at his comrades.

"STO-STOP"

"WAIT FOR US!"

The bullies who were dumbstruck by the betrayal of their comrades also started to also run in fear of the imaginary spirit I had created but you got to say it's always the quiet one who brings amazing surprises, I observed these idiots running, and then I got the answer to my question.

Oh! That's why he ran so fast.

If you observed them carefully then you would notice even though bully 3 ran ahead of time the other bully was catching up to him, it might be possible for him to be slower than his comrade but that was too slow even for him according to my observation of one year.

While he was running his right leg was disharmony with his body, in simple words his right leg was injured. He probably realized if there was an actual ghost there then the only chance for him to survive was to run first.

"You don't have to run faster than the bear to get away. You just have to run faster than the guy next to you."

These exact words were spoken by Jim Butcher and these words were applied by the kid in a real-life situation. He is just a kid so there is no way he would he actually thought of so many things, it's more likely he would have done it at a subconscious level but even then its strange as a kid of his age usually would cry or not be able to even run cause of pain.

It was like he was used to injuries and the pain, kids who usually exhibit signs of such a level of self-protection are usually bullied, harassed, or even.

I sighed and started to resume my walk, it was not like his life was any of my business. The cold and refreshing air blew at my face and it reminded me of the foil air of my old world.

Supernatural stuff like spirits, demons, and mythological creatures might be just a legend in my old world but all of it was really here.

Magic and supernatural abilities also existed in this world.

I remembered suddenly that I was assigned the task of cleaning the house by my old man which I had nearly forgotten.

I changed my direction and suddenly started to run towards my house near the end of the village, I quickly reached my house and found that no one was there. I started to clean the house before that old man came and started to scold me.

If I was on earth this much work would be considered too much for a 5year old brat but people of this fantasy world have a very good constitution in general.

I quickly finished the work and made the house all shiny and clean, the door suddenly opened and the old man came inside and looked all over the house in amazement and said

"you actually for once did something useful"

My face turned black at his words, I knew I am a lazy kid with no motivation and my future dream is to become a househusband with a rich wife so all my life I have to do nothing but still, what do you even expect from a 5-year-old kid.

He came to me and started ruffling my hair but I shook his hand away from my hair as he always messes up with my black and shiny hair, well it was also because of his envy of my beautiful hair.

The old man might be the strongest person in the village as he usually hunted beasts and animals in the outskirts of the black forest. This might be the reason why people have no choice but to listen to his words whenever this is a conflict.

Even with his strength that could be considered phenomenal on earth, it is nothing great compared to the superhumans present in this world.

He looked at me for some time, probably forming words to say to me.

"Brat what do you want for your birthday"

Birthday. Truth be told 11th December is probably not my real birthdate, this day became my birthday because I was abandoned on 11th December.

I could ask him for toys like other kids or even some kind of games, I kind of like those toys and games as they are a good method to save yourself from loneliness.

But.

"I want some kind of balm or medicine that quickly heals wound "

Hearing my words he narrowed his eyes and started checking my entire body, he probably checked every corner of my body, and when he found nothing.

"I can't see any wounds on you, don't tell me you got in a fight and hurt some other kid"

"Why are you speaking like I am some kind of bandit"

Seriously! Does he think I am some kind of gangster that likes to get in a fight and if I do get in a fight there is no way I am letting that person be able to have some kind of leverage against me?

So what should I do, do I tell him what I found when it's just a guess for now, and even if it's true it will be hard for him to interfere in other people's family matters, In it this situation if we take a wrong step it will make that quiet brat life more miserable.

"I-Someone is hurt and I need the medicine for him"

"Who is it?"

He looked at me with his sharp gaze and I uncomfortably avoided his gaze, I really didn't want him to know or interfere in this matter but I actually didn't have a choice as I am just a kid, and no matter what I do no one will take a kid seriously.

I told him about bully 3 and his leg injury and how I suspect he is suffering from domestic violence, I didn't know much about his family so I don't know whether both parents are making him go through it or his mother is also a victim.

The old man's gaze softened after hearing my words and he said these words to me

"Lay off your hands from this case, I WILL TAKE CARE OF THIS IN MY OWN WAY"