So This Is How My Story Begins.
Not With A Truck. Not With A Heroic Sacrifice. Not Even With The Dignity Of Choking On Food Like A Normal Person.
Just Me, Akai Ren, Twenty-One Years Old, Unemployed College Dropout, Standing In Front Of My Family's Rusted Gate In Suburban India, Having What Might Have Been The World's Most Anticlimactic Death Vision.
Let Me Back Up.
It Was Supposed To Be A Normal Spring Day. The Kind Where The Sun Blazes Overhead Like It's Personally Offended By Your Existence, Where The Air Shimmers With Heat And The Distant Sound Of Auto-Rickshaws Creates A Symphony Of Urban Chaos. My Mom Had Been Yelling From The Kitchen About Milk—Again—Because Apparently, I Have The Memory Retention Of A Goldfish When It Comes To Basic Household Responsibilities.
"Akai! You Forgot The Milk Yesterday Too! What Am I Supposed To Put In The Tea?"
"Sorry, Ma!" I Had Called Back, Already Pulling On My Black Tracksuit Jacket. The One With The Kanji Characters That I'd Bought Online Because It Looked Cool. For All I Knew, It Said "I Wet My Bed" In Japanese, But Ignorance Is Bliss When You're Trying To Look Edgy.
My Hair Was Doing That Thing Where It Sticks Up In Twelve Different Directions Despite My Best Efforts With Water And Prayer. But Honestly? I'd Given Up Caring About My Appearance Months Ago. When You're Unemployed And Living With Your Parents At Twenty-One, Vanity Becomes A Luxury You Can't Afford.
The Plan Was Simple: Walk To The Market, Buy Some Snacks, Maybe Flirt With The Girl Who Works At The Phone Repair Shop (And Inevitably Fail), Then Come Home And Waste The Rest Of The Day Watching Anime And Feeling Sorry For Myself.
Standard Operating Procedure For Akai Ren.
I Walked Toward The Gate—The Same Wrought-Iron Barrier That Had Separated My Family's Small Compound From The Bustling Street For As Long As I Could Remember. Paint Peeling, Hinges Squeaking, But Solid. Reliable. A Constant In My Thoroughly Unremarkable Life.
My Hand Reached For The Latch.
And That's When Everything Went Sideways.
The Moment My Fingers Touched The Metal—Cold Despite The Blazing Sun—Something Exploded In My Head. Not Pain, Exactly. More Like... Knowing. Like Someone Had Shoved A Memory That Wasn't Mine Directly Into My Brain.
I Saw Myself Dying.
Not Metaphorically. Not Dramatically. Actually, Brutally Dying.
Blood. So Much Blood. My Stomach Carved Open Like I Was Being Prepared For Dissection. The Taste Of Copper In My Mouth. The Feeling Of My Life Draining Away Drop By Drop. And Standing Over Me, A Figure In Dark Clothing, Face Obscured, Holding A Blade That Gleamed With My Blood.
I Didn't Scream. Couldn't Scream. I Just Stood There, Frozen, My Hand Still Gripping The Gate Latch, While My Brain Tried To Process What Felt Like A Memory Of My Own Death.
"What... The Hell... Was That?" I Whispered To Nobody.
The Vision—If That's What It Was—Felt More Real Than The Ground Beneath My Feet. More Real Than The Sweat On My Forehead Or The Sound Of My Mother Still Ranting About Dairy Products In The Background.
But I Was Alive. Standing. Breathing. My Stomach Was Intact, Thank You Very Much.
So I Did What Any Rational Person Would Do: I Convinced Myself It Was Just Stress And Sleep Deprivation, And I Opened The Gate.
The Moment I Stepped Through–
Nothing.
Not Darkness. Not Light. Not The Sensation Of Falling Or Flying Or Being Squeezed Through A Tube.
Just... Nothing.
Complete, Absolute Void.
And Then
***
I Woke Up In A Field.
Not Gradually. Not Peacefully. One Moment I Was Experiencing The Concept Of Nothingness, And The Next I Was Flat On My Back, Staring Up At A Sky That Was The Wrong Color. Too Pale. Too Empty. Like Someone Had Forgotten To Finish Painting It.
I Sat Up Slowly, Head Pounding Like I'd Been Hit By A Cricket Bat. My Clothes Were Torn—Jacket Shredded, Pants Ripped At The Knees, And What Had Happened To My Shoes? I Was Barefoot In Grass That Felt Too Perfect, Too Green, Like It Had Been Designed By Someone Who Had Only Ever Seen Grass In Pictures.
"Where..." I Began, Then Stopped. My Voice Sounded Strange. Echoed Wrong.
The Field Stretched In Every Direction, Endless And Uniform. No Roads. No Buildings. No Telephone Poles Or Street Signs Or Any Of The Urban Clutter That Had Surrounded Me My Entire Life. Just Grass And That Unnaturally Pale Sky And Silence So Complete It Made My Ears Ring.
And In The Distance—Maybe A Few Kilometers Away, Maybe More—A City.
But Not Any City I'd Ever Seen. Spires That Twisted Toward The Sky Like Frozen Tornadoes. Buildings That Seemed To Float Without Support. Lights That Pulsed With Colors I Couldn't Name. Architecture That Defied Physics And Probably Several Other Fundamental Laws.
I Stared At It For A Long Moment, My Brain Struggling To Process What I Was Seeing.
Then The Realization Hit Me Like A Truck—Which, Considering My Current Circumstances, Was Probably Poor Phrasing.
"Oh No," I Whispered.
Then Louder: "Oh No No No No No."
I Scrambled To My Feet, Spinning In A Circle, Looking For Anything Familiar. A Sign. A Landmark. Hell, I Would Have Been Happy To See A Cow.
Nothing.
Just Me, Alone In A Field That Belonged In A Fantasy Novel, Staring At A City That Belonged In A Video Game, With Clothes That Looked Like I'd Been Mauled By A Very Polite Wild Animal.
The Truth Was Undeniable, Terrifying, And Oddly Exciting:
I Had Been Transported To Another World.
"I GOT ISEKAI'D!" I Shouted At The Sky, My Voice Cracking With Equal Parts Terror And Glee.
No Response. Not Even A Bird.
But Honestly? After The Initial Shock Wore Off, A Part Of Me—A Significant Part—Was Kind Of Thrilled.
I Mean, Come On. How Many Anime Had I Watched Where Some Ordinary Guy Gets Transported To A Fantasy World And Becomes Overpowered? How Many Light Novels Had I Read Where The Protagonist Gets Magic Abilities And A Harem Of Beautiful Girls Who Inexplicably Find His Awkwardness Charming?
This Was It. This Was My Moment.
I Struck What I Hoped Was A Heroic Pose, Pointing Dramatically Toward The Distant City.
"I Am Akai Ren!" I Declared To The Empty Field. "Former College Dropout, Current Interdimensional Traveler, And Future Legendary Hero!"
I Paused For Dramatic Effect, Then Grinned.
"And My First Order Of Business In This New World Will Be To Find All The Catgirls, Beast-Girls, And Warrior Women, And Convince Them To Step On Me!"
The Silence Stretched On. A Single Bird—Or What I Assumed Was A Bird—Circled Overhead, Probably Judging My Life Choices.
I Cleared My Throat, Feeling Slightly Embarrassed. "Too Honest?" I Asked The Bird.
It Flew Away.
"Fair Enough," I Muttered.
But Embarrassment Aside, I Meant Every Word. If I Was Stuck In A Fantasy World—And All Evidence Suggested I Was—Then I Was Going To Enjoy It. No More Boring Suburban Life. No More Disappointing My Parents. No More Watching Other People Live Interesting Lives While I Accomplished Nothing.
This Was My Chance To Be Someone. To Matter.
Even If "Mattering" Mostly Involved Pursuing My Extremely Specific Romantic Interests.
I Started Walking Toward The City, My Bare Feet Surprisingly Comfortable On The Perfect Grass. The Distance Was Deceptive—The City Seemed Close, But I Walked For What Felt Like Hours Without It Appearing To Get Any Larger. Either It Was Much Farther Than I Thought, Or This World Operated On Video Game Logic Where Distant Objects Stayed Distant Until You Hit Some Invisible Trigger Point.
As I Walked, I Tried To Make Sense Of What Had Happened. The Death Vision. The Gate. The Sudden Transportation. Was I Actually Dead? Was This Some Kind Of Afterlife? Or Had I Genuinely Been Transported To Another World Like In All Those Stories I'd Consumed?
The Grass Beneath My Feet Felt Real Enough. The Sun—Or Whatever Was Providing Light In This Washed-Out Sky—Was Warm On My Face. I Was Hungry, Thirsty, And My Feet Were Starting To Hurt.
If This Was Death, It Was Remarkably Inconvenient.
No, I Was Probably Alive. Probably Actually In Another World. Which Meant This Was Either The Best Or Worst Thing That Had Ever Happened To Me, And I Wouldn't Know Which Until I Figured Out Whether I Had Any Special Abilities.
I Stopped Walking And Held Out My Hand, Concentrating.
"Magic Missile!" I Said Confidently.
Nothing Happened.
"Fireball!"
Still Nothing.
"Status Window! Menu! Inventory!"
The Empty Field Continued To Be Unimpressed By My Attempts At Gaming The System.
I Sighed. Apparently, I Was The Kind Of Isekai Protagonist Who Had To Earn His Powers The Hard Way. Or Maybe I Didn't Get Powers At All. Maybe I Was Just A Regular Guy Who Happened To Fall Through A Dimensional Crack And Would Now Have To Survive On Wit And Determination.
That Was... Concerning.
But Not Enough To Dampen My Enthusiasm. I Was In Another World! A World With A City That Looked Like It Had Been Designed By Someone On The Best Drugs Available! There Had To Be Adventures Waiting For Me. Quests To Complete. People To Meet.
Catgirls To Befriend.
I Resumed Walking, And This Time I Started Talking To Myself—Partly To Stay Sane, Partly Because The Silence Was Getting Oppressive, And Partly Because I'd Always Been A Little Weird About Thinking Out Loud.
"Okay, Akai," I Said, Addressing Myself Like A Sports Commentator. "You're In Another World. You Don't Have Obvious Magical Powers. Your Clothes Are Destroyed, You Have No Money, No Identification, No Knowledge Of Local Customs Or Language, And No Survival Skills Whatsoever."
I Paused. "This Is Either Going To Be The Greatest Adventure Of Your Life, Or You're Going To Die Horribly Within The First Week."
The City Seemed To Shimmer In The Distance, Like A Mirage.
"Probably Both," I Added Cheerfully, And Kept Walking Toward Whatever Strange New Life Awaited Me.
After All, What Was The Worst That Could Happen?
That Question, I Would Learn, Was A Mistake I Should Never Have Asked.