What in the world happened...?
My head hurts. It seems I hit my head and passed out.
I remember now... When I was on my way to the communal bath, a cute girl jumped out from around the corner, and then something heavy hit my head...
Crack! My head felt like it was splitting open.
I slowly opened my eyes.
I saw the ceiling of a room, not the ceiling of the hallway.
It seems I was carried to a room while I was passed out.
The room looked similar to the one I was assigned to, but the atmosphere was a little different. I turned my head.
In my line of sight was something that looked like a kitchen, where a girl with long, silvery hair was standing with her back to me.
She seemed to notice that I was awake and turned around, running to my side. Then...
"I-I'm so sorry!"
The girl's voice was a little high-pitched, cute, and loud.
I flinched at the sudden loud noise.
Tears welled up in her eyes, and she looked like she was about to cry.
I was flustered, not knowing what to do with a crying girl in front of me. I decided to try to calm her down.
"Um... please, just calm down..."
I wasn't used to talking to a cute girl like this, so I was nervous and my voice was barely audible.
Still, she must have heard me, because she spoke to me slowly, her eyes still full of tears.
"W-well... I didn't know anyone was here... and I thought you might be a suspicious person..."
It seemed she had arrived earlier than the other students, just like me, and when we encountered each other at the corner, she thought I was a suspicious person and attacked me.
"N-no, it's okay. I'm glad the misunderstanding is cleared up."
I told her I was fine.
Since I was resting in her room, it meant she no longer thought I was a suspicious person.
I was relieved.
"Um... when you fell, your room key dropped..."
She explained.
Oh, so she realized I was a student staying here because I had the key, and the misunderstanding was cleared up. I understood.
"Oh, I see... By the way, the exam is still a week away. Why are you already here?"
I was here because Selitia-san told me to stay here to take the exam, but the girl in front of me had silver hair and didn't look like she was from the same world as me. Then why is she here?
"Huh? Um... well..."
The girl blushed and fidgeted shyly.
"I might have gotten the exam date wrong... Weren't you the same?"
...Oh, that's right. She doesn't know I'm a person from another world, and I don't want to tell her.
It was a little embarrassing when Dion introduced me as a person from another world in the city.
I had to play along with her story.
She's a little clumsy, isn't she?
"Oh, y-yeah, that's right. I was just wondering about the other people..."
I gave her a flimsy excuse.
Does she suspect me? I thought, but Reina's eyes didn't show any suspicion. She just looked genuinely worried about me.
I didn't want to lie anymore, so I decided to leave the room.
"Oh, well, I'll go back to my room now."
I stood up to leave the room. But because of the shock from earlier, my body swayed as I stood.
"Are you really okay? Please, tell me if there's anything I can do."
Huh? She said "anything"...
No, that's not what she meant.
She's just worried because I swayed.
Besides, I don't have the courage to ask her for "anything"...
"I'm really okay. Well then, see you later... um..."
I'll probably see her again on the day of the exam.
I was about to say my goodbyes, but I realized I didn't know her name, and I was at a loss for words.
She must have noticed my predicament.
"I haven't told you my name yet, have I? I'm Reina. Reina Shiruno... And you?"
Reina told me her name and then asked for mine.
I was about to say "Yuto Shindo" but then I realized that would tell her I was from another world. So I said the name Selitia-san told me to use.
"Oh, I'm Yuto. Yuto Shindo. Nice to meet you."
I introduced myself.
Reina looked down and mumbled something after hearing my name.
Her voice was low, so I couldn't hear what she was saying. But I thought she said something like, "Yu-..."
"Okay! Nice to meet you, Yuuto-kun."
I felt a little weird, but I thought it was just my imagination and decided to ignore it.
"Yeah, nice to meet you, too. And you can just call me Yuto, no need for the '-kun'."
Since we'd be at the same academy, I wanted to be friends with her.
"...Okay, I got it. Nice to meet you, Yuto, for a little while."
Reina replied.
What does she mean by 'for a little while'?
Does she think one of us will fail the exam?
But there's no point in talking about that now.
I decided to leave the room.
Reina was still worried as I left, but I told her I was fine and headed to the communal bath.
The communal bath was pretty normal and wasn't that different from my world.
Still, once I got in, I felt my body becoming incredibly light. I wondered if the water had some kind of magical power in it.
The bath felt so good. I thought things like this were great for healing the body.
Then I got out of the communal bath and went back to my room.
I turned off the light in my room and got into bed.
It was my first night in another world.
I tried to think about my anxieties and hopes for living here from now on, but...
I can't. I was exhausted from everything that happened today, and my eyelids were heavy. I was getting sleepy.
I'll just go to sleep today and think about everything tomorrow.
With that thought, I closed my eyes and fell into a deep sleep.
I woke up the next morning to the sound of knocking on my door.
Right... I have to go to school...
My consciousness was hazy from sleep, and I forgot that I was in another world.
I was about to get ready, but the knocking continued and showed no signs of stopping.
My mom, who usually wakes me up, would have stopped by now.
"I'm up..."
I mumbled as I walked toward the door.
But the knocking didn't stop.
It was getting annoying, so I went to the door to tell them I was awake.
Huh? That's weird... Was my room this big? I wondered as I finally reached the door, which I should have reached sooner.
I was still groggy, but I figured it was someone I knew, so I opened the door.
Standing there was a big, well-built man.
"You're finally here," the man said with a slightly exasperated look.
I was slowly waking up and remembered that I was in another world, and the man in front of me was Dion.
I immediately covered my bedhead with my hand.
"W-what do you need?"
I asked Dion nervously.
I had no idea why he was here, as he had finished guiding me yesterday.
"Hey, you can't talk to me like that. I came here all the way to train you for your exam."
Training for the exam? I wondered if it was something like high school entrance exam prep.
But what kind of training would it be? Studying? From a muscle-bound guy like this?
"Hurry up, don't make that face. Get changed and come out to the dormitory's yard."
Outside? It's not studying? Is there something besides a written exam?
Dion said that, closed the door, and left. He was probably going to wait for me outside.
I did as Dion said, got changed, and went outside. I recalled the map I saw yesterday and went to the yard.
Dion was standing in the yard.
"Good, you're here. Let's do this. Get your Maseirin ready."
Dion got into a stance.
I did as he said, put the Maseirin on my finger, and summoned my Jinki.
"D-do what...?"
I did as he said, but I didn't know what I was supposed to do, so I asked Dion.
"What? It's training for your combat exam. Hurry up and come at me. Your attacks won't do anything to me, though."
Dion looked confident and provoked me with his finger, as if to say, "come at me."
So there's a combat exam.
Dion was underestimating me. I was annoyed by that and took his bait.
"Ugh, you're all talk... Fine, I'll do it. Let's go!"
I shouted, held my Jinki, and rushed at Dion.
The next thing I knew, I was on the ground, looking at the blue sky.
My body ached... A very energetic-looking Dion was looking down at me. It seemed he had beaten me up.
And he did it with his bare hands, without even using a Jinki...
"Come on, get up. You're a transferred person, you can do better than that."
Dion reached out his hand to me.
A transferred person? Is there something special about them?
"Is there something special about being a transferred person?"
I asked as I took Dion's hand.
"You transferred people have your physical abilities enhanced when you come to this world. Didn't you feel anything after you arrived?"
An enhancement? There's something like that?
Now that he mentioned it, I did feel like my body was a little lighter.
When I left the castle, I did feel light, so that's what it was.
I must have been too nervous and restrained in the castle to notice.
Dion pulled my hand, and I stood up.
"Let's continue."
Dion got into a stance again.
I slowly held my Jinki and went at him again.
The training continued until evening.
I was holding my knees, trying to catch my breath.
Dion wasn't even breathing hard and seemed completely fine.
In the end, I couldn't land a single attack on him.
My Jinki was still heavy, though it was a little better than before. At first, I couldn't even swing it. And even when I did, he dodged it or punched it with his bare hands, then counterattacked and sent me flying.
"I'll be back tomorrow."
Dion said and left.
I dragged my beaten-up body to the dormitory cafeteria, where the cafeteria lady worried about me as I got some bread and other food. I ate in the cafeteria and then went back to my room.
I'm so tired... I just want to go to sleep...
But I knew there was a written exam, and I couldn't just go to sleep without studying. So I took out a textbook-like object I bought in the city, opened it, and looked at the contents.
I flipped through the pages. As I kept flipping, I started sweating. Why? Because...
Oh, no... I don't understand any of it...
I couldn't understand anything written in the textbook from this world.