“Gaaahhh!!!!”
I screamed, shooting upright without even knowing what had happened.
“W-Wha-!?”
My hands immediately went over my body, almost instinctively checking myself for injuries.
Yet, the more I touched myself, the more something felt…
wrong.
My body felt different.
Lighter.
Smaller.
I looked down at my arms, blinking several times as I stared at them.
They were noticeably thinner than I remembered, the muscles I’d once been accustomed to seeing practically nonexistent.
“…What?”
I hurriedly stumbled out of the bed and toward the nearest reflective surface, only to freeze when I saw the person staring back at me.
Dark hair.
Hazel-green eyes.
A skinny frame that looked almost like a twig compared to the body I remembered having.
And, most importantly…
“That’s not me…”
My breathing became heavier as fragments of memory slowly began returning to me.
That strange conversation I’d had with that man in my dream.
The ridiculous offer he’d made.
The things he’d said about giving me another chance.
I had dismissed the entire thing as nothing more than some bizarre dream.
But now…
“No way…” I whispered, my eyes widening as realization slowly settled in.
“Did it actually work…?”
My hands trembled slightly as I stared at my reflection.
“I…
I got transmigrated…!”
.
.
.
Some time later~
…
I sat quietly on the edge of the bed, staring blankly at the floor as the initial panic finally began to wear off.
After spending what felt like an eternity piecing everything together, I’d managed to establish three things with absolute certainty.
First, this clearly wasn’t my original body.
Second, I definitely wasn’t in my old room.
And third…
“Yeah…
I’m probably in another world.”
I leaned back against the wall, releasing a long sigh as I looked around the unfamiliar room once more.
There really wasn’t any other explanation for what had happened.
The furniture, the clothes, the layout of the room…
none of it looked remotely familiar, and the person staring back at me in the mirror certainly wasn’t the person I remembered being.
I was younger, noticeably thinner, and apparently Asian.
I wasn’t exactly sure how I knew the last part, but considering the note I’d found beside my bed, it seemed pretty obvious.
My eyes drifted toward the piece of paper sitting on the nightstand.
“Whoever brought me here…” I muttered, picking it up again.
“You could’ve at least made me super handsome or something.”
I unfolded the note and read it for what must’ve been the fifth time.
Ryu Takane.
Apparently, that was my name now.
I was seventeen years old, Japanese, and, according to the information I’d been given, an orphan.
Beyond that, I had absolutely nothing to go on.
No parents.
No relatives.
No background.
Nothing…
“And I’m an orphan too…?” I rubbed my forehead, finally understanding why nobody had come rushing into the room after hearing me scream.
Still, there was something else that bothered me.
The note had been signed by someone named ROB.
Whoever ROB was, they clearly knew exactly what was happening.
The problem was that they had apparently decided I didn’t deserve any kind of explanation…
“This is just great.” I quickly glanced toward another piece of paper lying beside the first…
“Hm?”
I picked it up and unfolded it, finding another message written in the same handwriting…
…
§
You’ll be starting from scratch.
If you want to see what you can do, you’ll need to check your Status.
Just say it like you mean it for it to appear.
And tata!
Hope you enjoy yourself!
-ROB
§
…
I stared at the note for several seconds before slowly looking down at my skinny arms: “Starting from scratch?”
I sighed: “Yeah…
I can definitely see that.”
Whoever ROB was, he certainly seemed way too casual about throwing someone into another world.
Still, if this was really happening, I might as well see what I had been given…
I wasn’t excited or anything.
Definitely not.
After finally getting myself, I closed my eyes…
‘Status.’
“…”
“…”
“…”
Nothing…?
“…”
I opened one eye, saying it again, this time, out loud: “Status.”
“…”
My eyebrow twitched: “Ah come on…!” I waved my hand through the air, as if physically interacting with an invisible interface would somehow help.
Then, making sure to put some actual emphasis behind it, I shouted: “STATUS!”
Before I could properly process what I had said, a translucent screen suddenly appeared in front of me…
My mouth slowly fell open…
“N-No way…” The screen floated in the air, displaying a small collection of information about myself…
…
______
[Name: Ryu Takane
Age: 17
Height: 171.3 cm
Weight: 62.2 kg
Health: 100%
Stamina: 100%
Condition: Normal
Abilities;
-Overcome – Lvl (MAX): ??????]
______
…
I stared.
Then stared some more…
Thinking to myself: ‘…That’s….
it?’
My expression slowly twisted: “You have GOT to be kidding me!”
I had expected something more.
A bunch of stats, skills, quests, maybe even some kind of inventory or leveling system!
Instead, I had one ability.
And even that ability was nothing but a giant pile of question marks.
“At least show me what I’m working with!”
I sighed, remembering what ROB had said during that strange dream.
Apparently, he’d chosen what I would be reborn with, but that didn’t exactly explain what Overcome was supposed to even do.
Still…
It was real…
That was the important part.
It wasn’t some hallucination, nor was this some elaborate dream.
There was an actual status screen floating in front of me.
Curiosity eventually won out, and I slowly reached toward it.
My finger stopped just before touching the interface, only for a strange ripple to spread across the screen when my hand passed straight through it.
“Huh?”
I tried it again.
Then again.
After several attempts, I finally leaned back with a nervous grin.
“Well…”
I couldn’t help but chuckle: “…Looks like ROB wasn’t kidding about the system.”
The fear I’d felt earlier had almost completely disappeared, replaced by curiosity.
Whatever this world was, whatever had happened to me, I was going to figure it out.
I had to.
And if I’d genuinely been given a second chance at life…
That meant I’d died in my previous one: “I guess this’ll be my second run.”
I looked around the unfamiliar room.
“But where the hell do I even start?” That question alone had about a hundred problems attached to it.
I knew practically nothing about Japan, its culture, its currency, or even where I was supposed to be living.
I could probably figure out the currency eventually.
…Probably.
For now, there wasn’t much point in staring at a status screen that refused to explain itself, so I got up and began searching the room.
“Let’s see here…”
If this was supposed to be my new home, there had to be something here that could tell me who Ryu Takane was.
I checked the drawers.
Pens.
Notebooks.
Random scraps of paper.
Nothing inherently useful.
I checked another drawer.
Nothing.
Another.
Still nothing.
“Man…
This guy really didn’t leave me much of anythin’.” I eventually moved toward the closet, and opened it…
“Huh?”
Several sets of clothes were neatly arranged inside, most of them looking fairly ordinary.
What immediately caught my attention, however, were several uniforms.
I pulled one of them out.
“…School uniform?”
I stared at it for a moment before checking the pockets.
Nothing.
Of course.
I was about to put it back when something sitting on the shelf above the uniforms caught my eye.
Another note.
“You’ve got to be kidding me…”
I grabbed it anyway and unfolded it.
§
Oh, btw.
You have school tomorrow…
Don’t be late!
-ROB
§
…
I slowly lowered the note: “…School.”
I stared blankly ahead: “Of course I have school.”
I rubbed my face.
“Why wouldn’t I!?”
Apparently, being thrown into another world wasn’t enough.
I had to deal with being a seventeen-year-old student on top of everything else.
“Seriously, ROB…
You couldn’t have mentioned that earlier?”
At least the uniform gave me some idea of what I was supposed to wear.
That was something.
I put the note aside and continued searching the room before eventually deciding I’d found everything important.
Then I headed downstairs.
The moment I reached the bottom, I paused.
“…It’s actually pretty nice.”
The house wasn’t extravagant, but it was clean and well-maintained.
The furniture looked decent, the rooms were organized, and everything seemed to have its place.
It had the strange feeling of being lived in without actually looking lived in.
I wandered through the house for a while, checking the kitchen, living room, bathroom, and the other rooms.
At least I wasn’t homeless.
I opened the refrigerator.
There was food.
Not an enormous amount, but enough to get by for a while.
The cupboards contained some basic necessities as well.
“Okay…”
I nodded slowly.
“Food, water, electricity…”
I stopped.
“…Money.”
My expression immediately dropped.
“Wait.”
I looked around the kitchen.
“How am I paying for any of this?”
That was rather important.
I checked the counters.
Nothing.
The drawers.
Nothing.
The cupboards.
Obviously, nothing.
Then I noticed something sitting directly in the middle of the kitchen table.
A note.
I stared at it for several seconds.
“You know what?”
I walked over and picked it up.
“I don’t even want to know anymore.”
I unfolded it anyway.
§
Before you panic about money:
I’ve left you enough funds to keep yourself afloat for a while.
Food, utilities, school expenses, transportation, and other necessities should be covered.
You shouldn’t have to worry about money immediately.
But once you’ve gotten yourself settled…
You’ll need to find a job.
Don’t expect me to keep funding your life forever.
Good riddance!
-ROB
§
…
I stared at the note.
My eyes twitched.
“Find…
a job?”
Before I realized it, I’d crumpled the paper slightly in my hand.
“Seriously!?”
I threw my free hand into the air.
“I just got transmigrated!”
I began pacing around the kitchen, my frustration rapidly building.
“I don’t know where I am, I don’t know anyone, I don’t know what the hell is going on, and now I have to get a JOB!?”
I stopped.
“…And school.”
My face fell.
“Right.”
I sighed heavily before placing the note back on the table.
For a few moments, I simply stood there.
Then, as my frustration settled, I started thinking about it more rationally.
“…Actually.”
ROB giving me unlimited money would’ve probably been worse.
What would I even do with infinite money?
I didn’t understand this world’s economy, society, or government.
Having an endless source of money would attract attention eventually, and there was no way I could explain where it came from.
Not to mention I’d become completely dependent on it.
Or worse…
“I’d probably become a complete idiot with it.”
Power corrupts.
Absolute power corrupts absolutely.
I scratched my cheek;
“Yeah…
Giving me unlimited cash probably would’ve been a terrible idea.
A convenient, but terrible idea…”
At least this way, I had to actually live.
Work.
Study.
Figure things out on my own…
It was annoying, sure, but it also felt more natural.
I looked around the kitchen again, taking stock of what I actually had: “A house, food, money for a while, a school to attend, and some kind of weird ability…”
I counted them off on my fingers.
“…I guess that’ll be enough to start with.”
For now.
I headed back upstairs, returning to my room before sitting down on the edge of the bed once more.
“Okay…” I stared at the ceiling thinking: “I need a plan…”
The first priority was survival.
I needed to figure out where I was, understand the language properly, learn how the currency worked, and figure out how this school operated.
And eventually…
“I need a job.”
Just thinking about it made me sigh.
But school was another problem.
I couldn’t exactly ignore it.
If I stopped attending, people would eventually start asking questions, and considering I knew practically nothing about this world, school might actually be one of my best opportunities to learn.
I’d meet people.
I’d learn about the culture.
I’d figure out how society worked.
Maybe I’d even figure out exactly when I was.
I felt myself frowning at the thought of it…
“If I focus entirely on surviving, I won’t have any kind of normal life…”
And if something went wrong, I’d have no safety net.
Skipping school to work would only create more problems, and completely abandoning it would probably draw even more attention.
Besides…
I was seventeen now…
If this world worked anything like the one I knew, school was probably one of the few places where I could blend in naturally.
I released another sigh: “…Fine.”
My eyes slowly drifted toward the uniform hanging in the closet…
“Welp…
School it is.”
Even if I had no idea what kind of world I’d been thrown into.
And the fact that I didn’t know what Overcome could do, nor did I know who ROB really was, and I didn’t even know what kind of life Ryu Takane had lived before I took over his body.
One thing was becoming increasingly clear to me…
If I wanted answers…
I’d have to go out and find them myself.
I leaned back against the wall, closing my eyes: “Survival comes first…”
I paused: “…Then figure out the rest.” For now, that seemed like a decent enough plan.
And tomorrow…
I’d finally step outside and see what kind of world I’d been reborn into.
.
.
.
End