God planted two dragons and a tree in the first world.
A black dragon, a white dragon, and a tree.
The black dragon's wings covered the sky, and his claws split the earth.
God gave the black dragon a curse.
The white dragon's scales kindled auroras, and his cry shook the forest.
God gave the white dragon a blessing.
The tree joined heaven and earth and watched over them all.
God gave the tree a rift.
The black dragon came to know sorrow, the white dragon came to know love, and the tree came to know emptiness.
***
He stared blankly at the empty air where the light called an angel had vanished, then looked around.
＂F-First... should I try going home?＂
Based on the information that had been placed in him, he headed home.
It was the only thing he could do right now.
He would gain nothing by simply standing in the middle of the road.
As he walked, he took in a scene of warm sunlight shining on the stone-paved ground, with people of various species running over it.
Two-story buildings of dark-brown brick, along with small wooden buildings.
The road was paved with rough, uneven stones.
With every step, he felt more keenly that he had not died.
Rather, the wind against his skin and the warm sunlight awakened a vivid sense of being alive.
“Ha ha ha!!”
He saw children laughing as they ran ahead of him.
Smiles were etched on everyone's faces.
In contrast to the expressionless faces he had seen until then, his breath trembled.
Everyone walking around him moved so slowly that he could clearly see each step they took.
His previous life, which had made him feel as though he alone were standing still.
He stopped walking.
His breath trembled, and the corners of his mouth lifted.
“It doesn't... it doesn't feel like I'm the only one standing still.......”
A small child collided with a green-skinned child, and both of them fell.
“Hey! Are you all right?!”
A woman who appeared to be the child's mother helped the small child up.
He could not miss the look she gave the green-skinned child.
Disgust was etched into that peaceful world.
He almost let out a hollow laugh.
Species discrimination.
Among the information placed in him, there was something called species discrimination.
Orcs, beastfolk, mages, humans, elves, and more... Every species possessed reason and formed a nation.
‘Maybe it's on the level of white people, yellow people, and black people.......’
There had been racial discrimination in his previous world, and seeing species discrimination here as well meant he could not help but laugh.
＇Whether I should call that ordinary..＇
Since discrimination was nothing new, he simply kept walking.
He held out a hand to the green-skinned... Orc child.
“Are you all right?”
The Orc child stared blankly up at him, then hesitantly reached out a hand.
The Orc child's hand in his grasp had thick skin.
But the young Orc's grateful smile was simply the smile of an ordinary child.
“Th-thank you.”
“All right. Play carefully.”
What if it was discrimination?
What if they found it unpleasant and pulled away?
His steps were light.
There was no one here.
No one who knew him, no one who knew his past.
He was gradually coming to understand what true freedom was.
As he continued walking, he arrived before the tree in the plaza.
When he reached the base of the enormous tree, eight stories tall, green light poured down from the sky to the ground like gemstones.
＇If I go straight left from this tree...＇
Along the street, many shops that did not exist in reality—weapon shops, herb shops, and more—stood in a row.
It did not seem to be a large village, but it instead made him feel as though he had traveled to a small rural village.
It was all right to show any side of himself.
This was a world where he did not need to meet other people's standards or goals.
The wind blowing through that world was free.
According to the memories that had been placed in him, a small wooden house was his home.
‘Is this my home now... Desi's home.’
A house on the outskirts of the village.
A two-story house like a wooden cabin came into view.
Smoke was rising from its chimney.
As though taking flight, aspiring to become a cloud.
When Desi opened the wooden door, a warm-looking woman came out of the kitchen.
An older woman of short stature, with short brown hair and a plump figure.
She was Desi's mother.
“Desi? You said you were helping Makani. What happened?”
“She said I was no help and told me to go home.”
He searched through Desi's memories and gave an appropriate answer.
＇So that girl was Makani.＇
The first thing he felt when he stepped into the house was warmth.
It was as though the warmth of the sun he had felt outside lingered indoors as well.
Sunlight coming through the window dyed the inside of the house a soft orange.
Poorly crafted wooden furniture caught his eye.
He dropped to one knee and touched a crudely made chair.
In his memories, it was the first chair that young Desi had made with his father.
He stroked the chair and bit his lip.
‘It must be about ten years old.......’
The house was filled with things that had passed through the hands of the family.
There was not a single object in the house that had not, at some point, been touched by each of their hands.
He climbed the stairs to the second floor.
The creaking sound shamelessly announced its existence.
A room like an attic in a cabin welcomed him.
A triangular ceiling, one wardrobe, a small desk, a rectangular window, and a soft bed.
He threw himself onto the bed and thought again.
‘I jumped into the Han River, and when I opened my eyes, I was in the Otherworld. What does that strange light, the being that calls itself an angel... want from me?’
Before he could even finish his deep thoughts, he fell asleep.
The soft bed and the faint scent of grass drained the strength from his whole body.
They embraced him so completely that he forgot the cold water of the Han River, the stinging failures, and the heavy circumstances.
.
.
.
[Soul? Soul!! Hey!!!!]
In the darkened room, it was the angel's voice that woke him.
A sphere of white light glittered before his eyes.
[Soul, wake up! You need to take the next lesson!]
Feeling something run from the corners of his eyes, he muttered.
＇Didn't it just call me hey?＇
“...Angel?”
[It's funny when you add an honorific to angel!]
The angel cackled mockingly and began flying frantically over his head.
[I came to see whether you were adapting well~ Here is a quiz! Which country is this village in?!]
At the angel's words, he let out a quiet sigh and spoke.
＂It's a country called Refko. It's a country of humans.＂
The angel gave an intrigued “Ooh” and began asking him several questions.
The country of the Orcs, the country of the elves, the country of the beastfolk, and more...
He waved a hand as if annoyed and shouted.
＂In order: ＇Ragizme,＇ ＇Basoda,＇ and ＇Skipano＇!! I know, I know!!＂
The angel let out a mischievous laugh.
[Ah, by the way, Soul is human! You know if you look in that mirror over there, right?]
As the angel moved, swaying, toward the corner of the room, his eyes naturally followed.
He slowly approached the full-length mirror beside the desk and looked at himself in it.
Brown hair and a build with lean muscles caught his eye.
＇I'm.. handsome.＇
[You didn't just think you were handsome, did you?]
“...I didn't?”
The angel snickered and needled him.
[Oh, narcissism. This is a disaster. The Otherworld is doomed~]
He cleared his throat, turned around, and put a question to the angel.
“So... what am I supposed to do? You should at least tell me why you brought me here.”
What he needed most now was the reason he had come to this world.
At the very least, he wanted to hear that he should become a hero and save the world.
Complete freedom was sweet, but the lack of a role that had followed him endlessly throughout his previous life made him uneasy.
The role and duty to study because he was a student.
The role and duty to be obedient because he was a child.
The role and duty to obey orders because he was a soldier.
The role and duty to find employment on his own because he was an adult.
Now that he had no role, every warmth and sensation felt light and sweet.
But the absence of a role for his entire life made him bite his lip with anxiety.
Because of the experience of getting lost and wandering in freedom that had suddenly been given to him.
As though it had fallen into thought, the angel neither moved about nor spoke.
After floating there like that for quite some time, a voice flowed from within the light.
[Actually... I'd like to know, too, but they say it is still too early.]
“They say? Who?”
He asked, his eyes filled with suspicion.
[That... is for next time!]
＂Th-Then... what about... something like superpowers?＂
He thought that perhaps he would at least be given a System window or something special.
He had believed they would not abandon him here as though they had simply tossed him aside.
But then came the angel's obnoxious laugh.
[Hahaha! Sorry, but there is nothing like that!]
He spread both arms and looked desperately at the angel.
“Th-Then! What about the owner of this body? What happened to the soul of the boy named Desi? Is he still inside this body?”
Borrowing another person's body filled him with unease.
If the original soul returned, what would happen to him?
Had he unintentionally taken Desi's body from him?
But the angel spoke words he had never expected.
[He is dead. So don't worry~]
“D-Dead...?”
At the words that Desi, who had been lying asleep in a grassy field, had died, his heart sank.
Had Desi died when he entered the body?
Was it his fault?
[He had been kept alive for you, so it is all right. Wasn't it in the memories I gave you before? Desi's memory of falling from a cliff.]
He searched through his memories and shifted his gaze.
There was a memory of Desi falling from a cliff about a month ago while gathering herbs with Makani.
Desi had not died from a height where death would have been unsurprising—where being alive was, if anything, the stranger thing.
He snapped his head up and stared at the angel.
“N-No way...”
[That's right. The boy named Desi was supposed to die then. That is why he was the perfect fit. We left him with an empty soul in order to put you, Soul, inside him.]
At the words that they had made someone already dead act like a living person, he recoiled a step.
The angel felt more like a demon.
[Then, see you again next time~]
With those words, the angel swiftly emitted light and disappeared.
“Damn...”
The one left behind let out a hollow laugh as he spoke.
Then he flinched at the voice of a middle-aged man coming from beyond the door.
“Son, come down for dinner~”
He stopped short.
Son.
When had he last heard the word son?
Was he even allowed to hear it?
“Yes... yes!”
.
.
.
When he went down to the kitchen, he sat before a small round table.
Bread and soup were set out, and a warm atmosphere flowed as though they truly were a family.
“Makani told me. You said you were going to help, but you just slept? I even let you off from the fieldwork today because of that...＂
His father had a bushy beard and a long scar of unknown origin on his left cheek.
His father's scolding reached him before the sweet scent of bread.
And his mother's voice sounded softer than the soup.
“It's because you made him work too hard yesterday.”
His eyes almost filled with tears.
His former family had treated him like he was invisible.
Parents who had first felt shame at the sight of their weak, timid child.
But this place was different.
Even as he scolded him, his father quietly placed bread on his plate.
His mother added more meat.
Was it because the lighting here was warm?
No, was it because there were truly warm people here?
＇Perhaps... this might be an opportunity...＇
Days when tomorrow had always been frightening and terrifying.
But now the expectation that he might even look forward to it began to swell.
He spoke to himself.
‘Desi, I'm sorry, but I'll borrow your life for a while.’
That was how he was drinking in warmth with abandon.
He was warming his whole body.
.
.
.
“You need to get up early tomorrow, so get plenty of rest, son.”
Hearing those words, he went back up to his room.
‘Son... When was the last time I was called that?’
It felt as though something bitter in his mouth had disappeared.
His parents from his previous world, whom he did not miss.
A life in a world he did not want to see, where he could not even raise his head.
‘Yes, this is an opportunity. An opportunity to live again.’
And he quietly vowed.
“At least in this life, I won't return to an ending where I throw myself into the Han River.”
***
[Will it really... be all right?]
[What do you mean?]
[What someone like that could possibly do.......]
[Don't worry... This world needs him. No, I need him..]