Suzuki takes a quick glance around to gather his surroundings. Underneath him is a sturdy oak chair, properly supporting his back. In front of him is a table, with a glass vase containing a single blue orchid sitting as the centerpiece. The table seems to be made from the same material as the chair. At the other side of the table is another chair, though it’s empty. The room appears to be some kind of small, homey dining area, attached to a nearby kitchen.
From the otherside of the room, off from the kitchen, a door opens. On the opposite side of the door is a pure white realm. Not like the white of a wall, but a devouring white that seems to go on for eternity. Something that appears to have an infinite amount of depth. From this mass, a man steps into the room. He has a clean, fresh pressed black suit, with a white undershirt and a red tie. His short, white hair has been neatly styled into a small wave. While he has white hair, he doesn’t appear to have any wrinkles on his face, and any wrinkles he may have under his eyes are hidden by tinted sunglasses. He wordlessly walks to the other side of the table, pulls out the chair, and sits down.
“Hello? Who are you and where am I?” Suzuki says, waiting for an answer.
“Hm.” The man grunts. “Well, this may come as a surprise, but I owe you a favor.” The man says, while pulling off his sunglasses. From underneath, his golden eyes are revealed. “You see, I accidentally made some kind of mistake in my world that affected you.”
“A mistake in your world? What does that have to do with where I am and who you are? What did you do?” Says Suzuki, seemingly unfazed by the man’s peculiar eye color.
“Please, let me finish. You see, there are multiple worlds and several dimensions that exist currently. Each world has its own single deity. If there are issues, we do what we can to communicate with each other. I, of course, am a deity myself. I rule over the world you will be joining soon.” Explains the deity.
“However, to get on track, I made a mistake. Sometimes, I interfere in the world, usually in a small way. This time, I was experimenting with manipulating a stillborn child in the womb. I had been changing its genetic code, organic material, and modifying specific sequences. Doing so, I happened to create a copy of you - down to the soul. If it was just a body, it would be fine. However, even across worlds, one person and one soul can only exist at one time. Because of this paradox, the two of you have now merged.”
“Joining another world? What is this, some kind of trashy isekai? What’s with this plot dump, anyways. Am I supposed to believe you? How am I supposed to return?”
“The snarky comments are much appreciated, and very necessary." The deity retorts sarcastically. "Whether or not you believe me is up to you, Suzuki.” Finishes the deity, swiping away at Suzuki’s comments.
“Alright, fine. Let’s assume what you’re saying is true. What does this merger mean for me? How is it that two of the same person merge?”
“If I had to guess, there was some kind of war between consciences. Since you are older than the child that was going to die, I believe you devoured it, so to speak. You will be alone in your own head. You don't have to worry about someone else being inside of your body at the same time, do not worry about that. However, you will now obtain that child’s body in this other world.”
“Why don’t I stay in my original body? Why am I taking over his body instead?” Asks Suzuki.
“That is a good question, but I am not sure exactly. I think it may just be up to chance. But, I didn’t bring your conscience here into this realm just to reveal these things to you. I brought you here to apologize for this inconvenience.”
Suzuki suddenly stands up, slamming both hands on top of the table. “Inconvenience? Another world my ass. What about my wife? My kid? My family? I don’t want to be in another world. I’m happy where I am.” Retorts Suzuki.
“I’m sorry.” Says the deity calmly while retaining a stern face. “This is an error that can not be fixed. It is not a question of whether or not you will go to another world, you are already there. Currently, you are laying in bed in your house in the empire of Belmont.”
“Empire of Belmont? No, no no. I was in the US. America, on Earth. I fell asleep next to Akina, after we put Rowan to bed. You can’t do this to me. I don’t want to leave them yet.”
“There is nothing I can do. That’s why I brought you here to apologize. Please, ask for something. I will give some kind of gift in return for my mistake. You will be in my world, after all, so I will grant you some type of boon in your new life. This will be my apology.”
This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.
“I don’t want an apology, or a gift, or boon, or whatever. I want to be home. Can I make that my gift? The ability to go home?”
“I am sorry. Please, ask for something reasonable. I can not send you back to your old world, it simply doesn’t work like that. These worlds and dimensions flow down stream from each other. It is easy to go down stream, but impossible to go backwards. That is why you could move to my world, and why I can not send you back. Now, ask for a gift.” Replies the deity.
“What is the state of this world I’ll be entering?” Suzuki asks the deity.
“Well, it’s similar to the late medieval period from your old world. This world is organized into several connected continents. The other unique distinction is the inclusion of magic, magical formulas, and magical creatures.” The deity explains
“Wait wait wait. There's magic? I’m going to a world with real magic?" Suzuki says, pausing for a moment. "Alright then, I know what I want.”
“Hoh? Alright then, Suzuki. Tell me what you want, and I’ll grant it.” Exclaims the deity, the tinges of a smile on his face.
“I want the ability to grow very quickly in whatever field I want.” Says Suzuki expectantly, as he leans forwards.
“Hm, care to explain further? What do you mean by ‘very quickly’ and ‘whatever field you desire’?” Says the deity as he folds his arms and leans back into his chair.
“I want to be able to grow in experience at about 10x the pace I do right now. If it would take me two weeks to learn a spell, I want to be able to learn it in a day and a half. If it takes me 30 seconds to memorize a word, I want to be able to memorize it in 3. This should apply with any field, too. That would include fire magic, water magic, light magic, even things like sword fighting, archery and summoning too.” Says Suzuki.
“Ha! Alright, I understand. I can already tell how you’re planning to try to return.” Says the deity while nodding his head, before pausing and looking Suzuki directly in the eyes. “That’s quite the wish, and I will grant it, but on one condition. Since you’re asking for something that’ll put you so absurdly ahead of anyone else in my World, you’ll receive a hindrance.”
“A hindrance? What is it going to be?” Says Suzuki, now nervously fidgeting with the ring on his left hand. He looks at the deity, trying to gauge his reaction. However, the deity raises a single finger to his lips, before winking. Immediately, Suzuki slouches in his chair, asleep.
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“He’s moving! He’s moving his arms! Someone, go grab the Mistress! Quick!”
Suzuki glances around the unfamiliar room, taking in the new sights. He’s currently laying on some kind of fluffy bed, with white, silk sheets on. The room is bigger than the one he fell asleep in by a good 10 feet on each side. The woman, who appears to be some kind of maid, is still in hysterics, yelling all too loud around someone who just woke up.
What moved was not his arm. The arms he was looking at were much smaller, hairless, and white. His arms were clear of blemishes, missing any kind of scar or callous he had had. His fingers were slender, and his ring was missing from his left hand.
Suzuki touches his face, feeling for the stubble Akina liked for him to have. She always thought it made him look older. But, now, there is nothing. No stubble at all.
A woman runs into the room, and another maid follows her in. The woman appears to be around 24, the same age as Suzuki. She has a long, green dress, with gold thread embroidered into her dress to highlight its edges, as well as a flower on her left side. Her blonde hair is done up into a bun on her head, and her blue eyes look at me in surprise. She holds up her hands to her mouth, before slowly making her way over to my bed.
“I can’t believe you’ve woken up, Liam…”
“It’s been three years… We never thought you’d wake up.” The woman says, as she reaches down to Suzuki, tears forming in her eyes.
She picks him up quite easily, before taking him in for a tight hug.
She lifts Suzuki up in the air, getting a good look at him, luckily giving Suzuki time to look over himself.