Wake up...
Who...Who's there?
Do you remember?
Remember...what?
Do you remember who you are?
Who...am I? I know who I am.
Do you?
What kind of question was that? I'm sure who I really am.
Even if it means living a boring life you disliked the most?
...Huh?
You only want to leave your world because you hate it. Because you hate yourself.
Excuse me. Who do you think you are, trying to judge what I want in my life?
Because I know everything about you.
Since when? Just who are you judging my decisions anyway?
...It's a simple answer.
I am you.
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I gasped as I quickly got up from my bed.
That dream again... I couldn't recall anything from it. But I know it's not the good dream you usually have or a neutral one where you could fly in the sky. But it was like it was questioning me with something. Yet I couldn't recall what. Then again, this was my third day in another world and the place I was transported to wasn't much like the ones that the heroes were experiencing right now.
Long story short, I'm currently in a village that was said to be near the territory of demons called the Demon's Border. And from what I know from the soldiers who were in charge of the army here, I'm supposed to be part of a kamikaze army on the frontlines. AKA a suicide squad or meat shields. Yeah, like that's a good life for me from the so-called god.
What's worse was that most of the soldiers were total pieces of shit. They harass us, treated us like dirt, and only see us as tools or would-be corpses. It's not like I'm the exception to all of this and there weren't any excuses behind their actions. I know that I said I'm relieved I didn't become a Hero or some kind of "blessing" from god, but this was worse than the company I worked for before my "death" back in my world.
But at this point, it seemed like there was no way out of my current circumstances.
If I run, I would die. If I participate, I would die.
But worrying about what would happen won't help me improve my situation. I decided to get up and wore my usual suit. Normally, people give us clothes that should have to help us fit in the medieval world of swords and magic. Here, they did so, but it seemed like we have the right to refuse them.
Well, it worked for me since I complained about them a bit, but mostly because of cliché reasons and the fact the village was miles away from a kingdom, as well as having a low population of residents before we arrived here.
Still, it wasn't enough. We're still marching to our death soon and we have no right to refuse. I already saw some of us try to flee, but they were cut down by soldiers and shot by their mages. If this is how God sent us to hell, they already succeeded.
"Hey, otherworlders! Day's burning bright out! Get your ass out here or we'll make you!"
I sighed. Well, I rather not idle here. I grabbed my briefcase (I blame God for not giving me an Item Box to store anything, which I doubt) and headed out from my crappy room. If I recall, I could get to the courtyard on the right side of the hallway before turning left and then left again. It was annoying for me to memorize, but again, my life depended on me trying not to get lost in this dinky castle.
C...m...
Huh? Did I hear something?
...o...e...
It was faint, but I knew I heard something. Was I not getting enough sleep that I'm starting to hear voices?
"Hey! Don't make me repeat myself! Unless you want me to send you into the Demon's Border next?!"
My eyes widened when I hear one of the soldiers screaming. Dammit, what am I doing? I can't be here listening to imaginary voices! Besides, those soldier jerks were getting more annoying the more they screamed at us. So I rushed out of the hallway before I ended up idling again.
Even in another world, some things are the same.
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Once I entered the courtyard, it didn't take long for me to be forced into packing up supplies into several carts. Along with this exhausted packing, the only jobs otherworlders could do before their fateful day (aka probably tonight or so considering how those jerkish soldiers were too secretive to tell us) were sharpening weapons, forced to become sparring partners or rather, training dummies for the soldiers to abuse and harass, and worse of all for the unlucky pretty women, becoming "companions" for the night. Even with how hard we worked on them, there was nothing to gain. Not even our levels increased from it, we were just doing slave work before our deaths. Like our escape attempts, trying to refuse those jobs would make things worse for us.
So it was this or death. There was no way out.
"Hey? Do you have some time to talk, pops?"
I frowned when I heard a new voice. I turned to see a brunette-haired man grinning at me. He seemed like he was in his 20s and he looked like a college student, but I couldn't tell since he was wearing a tattered outfit those jerks provided him along with the others. I'm guessing he turned to me because I was one of the few who was lucky to wear my clothes from our world. That and he still thought that I was older than 28.
"Man, I can't believe how ruthless those guys are," he hissed. We're supposed to go into the frontlines without any training and they start treating us like slaves. Don't you wish you can get back on them before we're forced to fight?"
I wish I could, but I rather stay silent than get in trouble. I just wanted to survive in this hellhole and this young man wasn't helping.
"Hey, pops. Earth to pops~. Are you listening to me?"
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I already heard you. But again, I had to stay silent or I would not get a high chance to survive. If I don't...
SMACK!
"What the hell are you doing, other?! Go back to work!" One of the soldiers ordered before he started whipping the young man's back with his whip. "We only have a day until we depart for the Demon's Border! So stop talking and start packing!"
He kept whipping the young man for a while as I did my job quietly. Eventually, the soldier left and I could hear the youth whimpering behind me. On one hand, I got some peace and quiet. Honestly, I tried to step up, but it seems that even in my numbing emotions,
I did notice my hands were shaking. Guess that means I'm still a coward, not like it matters here. No matter what I did, he would still be beaten up. I was mentally chuckling at the irony. Just how much do I have to give up just to survive this crapsack world of swords and magic?
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Eventually, to my relief, we were asked to go back to our rooms for the rest of the day. It wouldn't be long till we get to that dreaded border and predict the ways to die there. As I sighed, I stopped to wonder what the hell god was thinking dropping me into this shitty village, if I can call it a real village since there were barely any real villagers here.
Yeah, the chances of me living here were getting thinner. Might as well start writing a will in my briefcase. At least I still got a few sheets of paper and pens inside.
As I placed my briefcase on the bedside table, I noticed something was placed there before I even took out a single sheet of paper. It seemed like a silver ring inset with a purple gem, with a small white card placed on the side.
Strange... Did one of the otherworlders leave their marriage ring behind or something? It seemed unlikely considering there was also a card that seemed to be addressed to me despite it having no name on the back. Not to mention I didn't bother to get along with them at all. Well, might as well check the card first before I throw it away.
[This is yours. You will survive if you wear it. If you keep living, then you will find the new life you so desired.
Everything will be answered in due time.
I wish you luck.]
New life? What the hell was this card talking about?
Honestly, I'm too tired to understand or find the whole logic of all of this. After I wake up, I'll try to throw the ring away. This is the world of swords and magic, so there is a high chance someone gave me a cursed item that convert me into a mindless slave or worse. Either way, I dropped myself on the very uncomfortable bed of all my life and let myself drift off to sleep.
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"Once upon a time, there was a young demon.
He was born in the forest of the dark world and treated like any other demon from many humans see and fear – a monster. However, in the other demons' eyes, he was different.
His appearance resembled a human child. He even acted like a human child. And he possessed a human-like curiosity around his new world. What was curious about the demon was that he seemed to be stronger than any other demon we know.
He hiked through the woods without a care in the world. Even if monsters tried to eat him, he was able to defeat them with nothing but the clothes on his back.
And when bandits try to kill him, he just went off his way as he left the corpses of his attackers behind.
It wasn't known what happens if other humans encounter the young demon. But if you dare meet him outside the Border...
Make sure not to see him as a monster."
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I let out a yawn as I felt several bumps on the carriage. It was early morning and the soldiers rudely woke us up just to get ready for the dreaded trip. But at least I managed to sleep for a few hours, which was a lot compared to my sleeping schedule when I was back surviving in my previous job.
So what about that ring from yesterday? Unfortunately for me, I decided to keep it in my pocket. I don't know why I really wanted to keep the ring in the first place, but it's better than nothing, I think.
Besides, whether it's cursed or not, I couldn't exactly go out there unprepared. All that was left for us otherworlders was to face the music and see what the hell those soldiers were planning.
The ride itself would take a few hours and we didn't even know what the Demon Border looked like. So that was enough for me to rest and contemplate what went wrong with my life. Besides, it seemed like I'm not the only one.
"I'm not gonna die... I'm not gonna die..."
"Please, I don't want to go out there and die!"
"It's over... It's all over... I didn't even get a girlfriend yet!"
"If this is how I die, I might as well die not as a virgin."
From how loud their murmurings were, I felt like everyone lost their hope of living through this. All except one. It was the same man who got beaten up all because he tried to talk to me. For some reason, he growled while glaring at the guard who was supposed to guard us, yet I could see his fists shaking. A sign that he was also scared of dying.
Regardless, it would be bad for me to stare at him any longer, so I should close my eyes and take a nap before...
"Hey, glasses guy! We meet again."
I groaned. It seemed like I couldn't get away from this annoying guy. It felt like a leech who won't leave my side. I would try ignoring him again, but since the guard didn't seem to bother with the murmurings, I decided to humor him a bit.
"What is it? If it's about yesterday, I'm sorry." Well, I'm not really sorry, but I felt a bit of regret leaving him like that. Emphasis on the word "bit".
"Yeah, no. It's my fault for nagging you like that. I felt a bit bored and want to talk to someone before, you know, we possibly die on the battlefield and the only thing I talked to are those strange soldiers and those birds pooping on me."
Yipee... I am so lucky...
"Well, what's the point of you talking to me now? You said it yourself. We're gonna die regardless," I asked bluntly. "We're nothing more than meatshields to those soldiers and they are free to beat us up not caring whether we can survive them or not."
"Yeah, I'm aware of that. That's why I'm planning on not dying once we get off this cart."
“Planning on 'not' dying”? Something about his wording seemed very suspicious. "What are you planning, kid? If you do something stupid behind their backs, you'll die even before we arrive at the Border."
"I know. But once we arrive there..." The young man looked around to see if anyone noticed him. Then when it seemed like no one was listening, he turned back to me and whispered in my ear. "I'll try to snatch one of their swords and armor and try to run away as far away from that shithole."
I raised my eyebrow once I heard this. Somehow, the whips and kicks seemed to mess with his head a lot. Of course, I'm not bothered by it. Instead, I was growing curious about one thing regarding his crazy plan.
"What about the demons running amuck then? They said they are much stronger than any monsters outside the Border. It's practically a death wish if you tried to escape from it."
I would expect him to realize his mistake. But he just grinned and said, "No problem. What the soldiers don't know is that I have the [Swordsman] job class along with my special skill, [Speed Adaptability]. Even when I'm wearing armor, I can still run as fast as those soldiers and demons can no problem! Although, I can't exactly carry you along with me since my skill only affects the equipment I'm wearing."
Wow, what an optimistic guy. "I appreciate your optimism, kid. But what happens if a soldier catches you instead? They may be inept, but they are not weak against the demons. After they killed some of the demons chasing you, they aren't going to let you go even if you snatch their equipment away."
"Isn't it obvious?"
He raised his head and when I look at his face, my eyes widened. Rather than seeing his youthful smile coming from a normal college kid, he was showing utter malice from his twisted grin and the shadows under his eyes.
"If those demons won't kill them, I will take care of myself if they dare try to force me to stay. That's what they get for treating me like a shitty ragdoll."
So much for being a normal and optimistic college kid. Then again, everyone stopped being normal the moment they stepped into this world. From what I know, this world is full of shining fantasy kingdoms that hide a darker side where demons walk about in all sorts of forms.
And we're all living in one right now.