Usually when someone is sent to another world they should get a super power or at least have a beautiful princess asking for help. Yet here I am. No super powers, no grand adventure calling me, and definitely no princess.

I don’t even know how I died, or rather if I did. Fell asleep at home and then woke up naked in a forest. I didn’t possess another body or reincarnate either. I like to think I’m good at taking things in stride but waking up without clothes in the middle of a forest after living in LA is very, VERY, off putting.

For a long time I just wandered in the forest. Foraging wherever I could. However the animals seemed large, and vicious, when compared to their earth equivalents. There was even a deer that shot lightning from its antlers that felt like getting tased, it wouldn’t run away until I got a solid punch on its snout. So hunting was pretty much off the table.

I had to give my thanks to survival shows and my uncle who was obsessed with hunting, because that knowledge was pretty much the only thing that kept me alive. That and dumb luck. Or as I like to call it, Plot Armor.

I was sent to another world, I’m allowed to think of myself as a main character!

After those grueling weeks in the wild I cried with joy once I found a town. Honestly “town” might be an overstatement. It was more like a village that reminded me of ancient china. Rice paddies and wooden huts on the edge of the mountain forest created an almost idyllic scene.Thankfully whatever malevolent ass that sent me here had the good sense to at least let me understand the spoken language, though not the writing.

Not that it helped with my first impression.

I am a large and hairy man that had just spent over two months wandering the wild. The first thing I heard upon reaching earshot of the village was a young woman screaming about a monster coming from the forest. Then within a few moments I was surrounded by men with spears. They obviously didn’t have much training from their roughspun tunics and the way they shook in their boots but I still went to my knees and put my hands up. I only got out the word “Water…” before falling face first into the dirt trail.

After waking I realized that not only that I was tied up, but also the fact that I hadn’t gotten the water I asked for. However they at least had the decency to give me pants.

“He could be some sort of demon, or a beast man! Have you ever seen a human that was so big and hairy.” While accurate, I am a bit sensitive about my appearance, so I was very offended by the conversation I woke up to. I wasn’t in a cell, in fact the village was so small they didn’t even have one to put me in. I seemed to be in some sort of stable from the sounds that surrounded me.

“Excuse me…” I tried to speak but it came out as a ragged gasp more than anything. The two men that had been outside the door of the small room turned and nearly jumped out of their skins.

“Water, please.” They looked at each other and seemed like they wanted to run away. I recognized one of them from the men that had surrounded me. He was the larger of the two and seemed a bit less afraid when compared to his colleague, but that wasn’t saying much.

I layed on my side and closed my eyes until a strange scraping sound brought me back to reality. The guard I recognized was using his spear to inch a bucket of water towards me. While I appreciated the gesture, the way I had been tied up made it impossible to grab said bucket. I flopped like a carp out of water to reach the water that I had finally been given. Then proceeded to nearly drown myself by shoving my entire head into the bucket and sucking down as much as I could. I was fully aware of how ridiculous I probably looked but damn was I thirsty.

After drinking enough water to give me a stomachache I realized sleep was probably the only thing I could do. So that’s what I did.

I was woken up again by a scraping sound once again. This time it was a bowl of what I could only describe as a watery gruel, though that was much better than the weeds and fungi I had been feasting on in the forest. I once again could only shove my face into the container and eat like a literal pig. Though it was very filling.

This routine continued for a few days until the guard, a man about my age who was apparently named Zhou, decided he would place my meals and water in front of me instead of pushing them in with his weapon. It wasn’t much but at least he was less wary than the beginning.

“Where is the prisoner?” The authoritative voice came from a ways away but could still be easily heard. It caused Zhou to stand abruptly at attention

“Why is this door open? He could be dangerous!” The man seemed almost panicked as he spoke though he still marched into the small room without so much as flinching.

“So this is the beast-man?” He looked down his nose with a haughty expression, sizing me up. I met his gaze. That caused him to flinch.

“We should kill it, put it out of its misery.” I blinked several times before what he said was processed.

“What the hell for?!” I shouted. He jumped back out of the doorway.

“It can speak?” there was terror in his eyes. Then he composed himself.

“Regardless, a beast is a beast, even if it has cultivated to human form. We are obligated by imperial law to dispose of any demons we find.” Beast-man, demon, what in the world did these people think I was?

“I am a person, Human, I know I’m hairy but I’m one hundred percent human!” I was starting to fear for my life at this point, in ancient societies like this it wouldn’t be out of place to execute someone based on such assumptions.

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

“Elder Zhang, I do not believe this person is as dangerous as he appears.” Zhou was the one to speak up, and I decided that he was going to be my best friend if I survived this. The man who was called elder Zhang sized me up again before harumphing.

“Can you prove that you are human?” His voice was thick with malice. I sat confused for a few moments.

“How?” I honestly couldn’t think of anything. Surprisingly Even the elder seemed like he couldn’t think of anything either.

“Sir, we could put him to work while observing him, I believe no demon would be able to do such a thing.” Zhou spoke again and I nodded earnestly along with him.

“Fine, You will be responsible for him.” The elder definitely wanted my head, I could tell. I let out a sigh of relief once he was gone.

“Let’s go.” Zhou either wasn’t much of a talker or he honestly didn’t like me. I decided to assume the first one because he spoke up for me.

The annoying thing was that he never untied me. It felt like I was being put on parade as I marched through town with a rope tied tightly around my torso. We passed several small groups of people most just stared with interested expressions. There was one woman who ran and hid. We reached the edge of town. the sound of metal striking metal and the smell of fire became stronger as we approached.

Zhou sighed heavily and turned to me.

“Don’t speak out of turn when you meet the old man.” That was all he said before opening the door.

“Old man!” He shouted above the din. The sound of a hammer falling didn’t diminish and Zhou just waited patiently. After a little while the Noise died down and an old man came out from the back of the building.

“What the hell do you want?” The man couldn’t be younger than seventy, completely bald and with muscles that looked like they could rip a lesser man in half. Zhou bowed respectfully, clasping his hands in greeting. I tried to follow his lead, but being tied up wasn’t helpful at all. He eyed me quizzically.

“The Elder has asked me to watch after the man who came from the forest and put him to work. As you have no apprentice I thought you would like an extra pair of hands.”

“He’s too old to become an apprentice.” The old man waved as if to shoo flies.

“We need only make him work, you are under no obligation to teach him.” The elder looked me up and down as if examining fruit at a market.

“Fine, He looks strong enough to carry firewood if nothing else.” the old man acquiesced. At that Zhou bowed again then quickly turned and walked out of the building. I was stuck standing there before the old man.

“So get to chopping wood. It’s on the side of the house” The old man spoke sternly. I looked down at my bindings and back at the man with indignation written across my face. The old man sighed.

“Shouldn’t a beast man be able to break a flimsy rope?” He looked at me like I was an idiot.

“I’m human.” The, you’re too ugly to be human, routine was getting old fast.

“Really? Never seen a person like you. Foreigner then?” He shrugged and pulled a knife from nowhere and sliced the air between us. Then the bindings fell. Perfectly cut. I shivered, realizing this man could kill me in an instant.

“If you’re human, bathe once in a while. You’re disgusting. There’s a river out back. Chop some wood and take a bath before you come back.” he went back to the back room and the rhythmic sound of a hammer filled the air once again. I did as I was told. You see a man cut something from halfway across the room and you do as he says.

The pile of wood was enormous. I spent several hours chopping until the sun started to get low. Once it did I went to the river the old man had spoken about. It was a peaceful scene, the sun setting beyond the mountains framed by purple and orange clouds. I decided to take my time. It had been far too long since I cleaned myself. The sun was completely down by the time I was done and climbed out of the river. I put on my roughspun pants and went back to the shack. The same rhythm of hammer strikes rang in the air when I returned. The old man must never get tired.

I entered the shack and looked around. It was a humble home. There was already dinner for two laid out on the table. I took a seat at one end of the table and waited for the sound of the smith to die down. It didn’t take long for the older man to come to the table with sweat beading his brow.

“You made dinner?” His question startled me.

“Nope, I thought you did.” I immediately responded. Suddenly a humming could be heard outside the door as it was pushed open and a woman entered.

“Grandpa! I hope you-” Her voice cut short as she looked at me and was replaced with a shrill scream. I recognized it as the same scream I had heard the day I entered the village. However from this distance it was enough to cause harm. That’s no exaggeration. I have been near jets taking off and I was still Impressed. The old man started smiling as she ran away.

“Well, No point in wasting food. Let’s eat.” He had already loaded himself a bowl of food before he finished speaking.

I didn’t need affirmation on this, I hadn’t eaten a real meal in far too long to object.

It was incredible. Maybe it was just that I hadn’t seen proper food in months but it was the best meal I had ever eaten.

__________________________________________________

Zhou was feeling troubled. He had been for the past week. It all started with a hunters report about a beast-man fighting against a thunder elk outside the village. At first he had assumed the hunter was simply drunk. Then a few days later said beast-man came stumbling out of the forest. Once Zhou saw him it was obvious he was just a foreigner yet that made the hunters report even more troubling. It required someone of the initiate’s realm at least to deal with a thunder elk. If they had a good enough weapon and protection from lightning. For a naked man to supposedly fight off such a creature by simply punching it could be considered terrifying.

He was brought away from his thoughts by the door to his little home being slammed open by a tall farmer girl. Xue helped out around the village and was well liked by everyone for the most part, if she was a bit loud.

“Monster!” She was shouting as she rushed in.

“There’s a monster attacking Grandpa!” she grabbed Zhou by his shoulders and was shaking him back and forth, tears welling up in her eyes. Zhou’s confusion didn’t last long.

“He’s not a monster.” He spoke calmly yet his voice wavered from the motion. Xue paused suddenly.

“Huh?”

“He is working for the old man while under observation.” He tried to explain it simply. Honestly the situation was a bit strange. If it had been a demon, they would have had to kill them. Or if he was some sort of bandit he would be sent to Iron Fall City to be put in jail. Yet he seemed more like a lost foreigner than anything. If you didn’t include the fact that he had the exact same accent as the villagers.

It took a bit of time but once Xue was calmed down and sent home Zhou let out a sigh of relief. To hell with all of it. It was time for bed. He Pulled out a clay jar filled with his favorite wine and drank until he forgot that there was a wild foreigner that fought spirit beasts while naked in the village.