I've seen some crazy things since getting dropped into this world like slimes, talking animals, near-death experiences but nothing prepared me for what happened next.
Tweety and Fel stood across from each other in the clearing like two ticking bombs. Fire and wind, heat and storm, it was like nature itself couldn't decide which disaster to unleash first.
The orcs, bless their porky souls, had no idea what was coming. They stood there grunting, clubs raised, staring at the two divine beasts as if trying to figure out which one looked tastier.
Then suddenly, a spark, just one tiny spark flickered from Tweety's feathers. In an instant, it spread like wildfire, red and orange combined like someone ignited a match, except that it needed probably a trillion matches to make a fire like Tweety had created.
The air around him shimmered with heat. Flames coiled from his wings, twisting upward into blazing spirals. The ground beneath him glowed red, melting into molten streaks and grass grass burst into fire.
Across from him, Fel's fur rippled as a powerful wind burst outward.
The giant trees bent, and the very air sharpened into invisible blades.
When those two forces collided: fire and wind, it was like watching a volcano and a hurricane having an argument.
"Ahh, yeah," I muttered weakly from behind Shiro. "Totally normal evening. Just some prideful beast showing their power."
The orcs clearly didn't think it was normal.
Half of them tried to run, the other half dropped their weapons and screamed but it was too late.
Fel roared in a deep, thunderous sound that rattled my bones. His gale force ripped through the clearing, slicing through trees like paper.
Tweety responded instantly, unleashing a column of flame so intense it looked solid.
The two elements met midair and everything exploded.
I barely had time to think.
The shockwave hit me like a truck, making it hard for me to breathe. It was like fire's heat spread throughout Fel's wind. The ground cracked beneath us, the trees behind me snapped like twigs, and the air felt molten.
"SHIROOO!" I yelled, grabbing onto his tail as the fire hurricane's force was about to vacuum me up.
He didn't even flinch. The massive tiger just stood there calmly, fur rippling in the wind, eyes glowing faint blue.
"Hold tight," Shiro said casually, as if we weren't being hit by a divine natural disaster.
"WHAT DO YOU THINK I'M DOING!?" I shouted, clutching his tail for dear life while my clothes flapped like laundry in a hurricane.
The orcs were done for.
Tweety's flames turned half the clearing into a glowing crater, while Fel's wind picked up the other half and sent it flying somewhere very far away, possibly in orbit.
And just when I thought it was over, Tweety and Fel unleashed their minor elements. Water, lightning, everything!
Fel's golden eyes flashed, lightning crackled through the wind, splitting the night sky like fireworks from hell.
Tweety's flames shifted, turning blue, then white-hot, scattering sparks that burned the ground but somehow never touched me.
The air itself howled as both forces met again, creating a swirling inferno of fire and wind that sucked in the last few unlucky orcs.
They didn't even have time to scream.
Then, just as suddenly as it began, there was silence.
The storm faded and flames died down. The only remaining evidence of the power showcase was the smoke on the ground and the clearing of what used to be giant trees's territory. The smell of grilled pork was too powerful to ignore.
I blinked. "Is it… over?"
Tweety landed gracefully on a rock, looking smug and Fel stood opposite him, fur spotless, eyes sharp.
They just… stared at each other.
Like two professional chefs judging whose dish was cooked better.
Meanwhile, I was still clinging to Shiro's tail like a terrified koala.
Tweety tilted his head slightly.
"Still alive, John?"
I groaned.
"Barely. You two just deep-fried the ecosystem."
Fel snorted softly.
"Your human companion is amusing."
"Amusing?" I said weakly. "I almost became charcoal!"
Tweety ignored me, wings folding elegantly.
"Still as destructive as ever, Fenrir."
"Still as dramatic as ever, Phoenix," Fel replied smoothly.
"Maybe I can claim the first spot now? It has been centuries since the last showdown we had," Fenrir said.
"Pardon but I disagree with that. I should be the one to claim the first spot."
Suddenly spark danced and surrounded them and suddenly vanished.
The two divine beasts stared each other down again but this time, instead of hostility, there was something else.
Respect.
And maybe a hint of competitiveness.
I sighed, slowly letting go of Shiro's tail.
"Can we… not do that again? My heart can only take one apocalypse per day."
"Nonsense," Tweety said proudly. "This was an excellent demonstration."
Fel's tail swished.
"Indeed. The orcs are well-cooked."
I blinked. "Wait, what?"
They both turned toward the smoking crater.
"Dinner," they said in perfect unison.
I groaned.
Before I could argue, a voice cut through the smoke and silence.
"Fel! What are you doing this time!? Don't tell me you started another fight!"
I froze. No. No way. That voice!
Out from the treeline came a man in travel gear, his hair a bit messy. He looked like someone who definitely didn't sign up for divine explosions before breakfast.
And sitting inside the sling bag at his side was… a familiar blue blob happily peeking.
My jaw dropped.
"...No way."
Tweety tilted his head.
"You know this human?"
"Know him!?" I blurted out. "That's Mukoda! The Mukoda! The guy who, who feeds that guy!" I pointed straight at Fel, who flicked an ear, unbothered.
Mukoda stopped mid-step, blinking at me.
"Uh… yes? Do I… know you?"
"Oh my god," I said, nearly vibrating. "You're real! I mean…uh, I'm John! I'm from Earth too! Well, technically the same Earth? Long story. I just can't believe this!"
He stared, looking more confused by the second.
"Ah… you're…accidentally summoned too?"
I nodded rapidly.
"Yup! Showed up late to the summoning party! I got… teleported by accident while delivering food."
Mukoda blinked, an awkward smile twitching at the corner of his mouth.
"O-oh. That's… unfortunate?"
"Honestly, it's been an experience."
He glanced at the scorched ground around us, then back at Fel and Tweety, both glaring at each other like they were still debating who technically "won."
"You were… caught up in that?" he asked carefully.
"Yup!" I said, still grinning like an idiot. "Front row seats!"
Mukoda sighed. "I'm really sorry about that. He-" he gestured toward Fel "-tends to go overboard sometimes."
"The Phoenix provoked me," Fel said flatly.
"You insulted me first," Tweety replied, feathers flaring slightly.
Both what they said was a lie. They just did it with no words at all.
Mukoda looked like he wanted to disappear.
"...Can we not do this again, please?"
Fel huffed. Tweety rolled his eyes.
I just stood there, desperately trying not to say 'I can't believe I'm standing next to the protagonist.'
Finally, Mukoda rubbed the back of his neck and tried to smile again, clearly trying to find something normal to say.
"Um… so… you're traveling too?"
"Yeah," I said. "Mostly trying not to die, actually, plus feeding those beasts and please do not mistake them as cute smidgets, their big big beasts."
He nodded, a genuine smile on his face. He leaned on me and whispered.
"Did they forcefully make a pact on you as familiars?"
"Yes!"
"We're on the same boat then, John."
Sui popped out of his bag then, bubbling cheerfully.
"Who's that, Master~?"
"Ah, um… another person like me. His name is John" Mukoda said gently.
Sui tilted her head.
"Another? Yay! Hello!"
I waved, instantly melting a little.
"Hi, Sui. Big fan."
Mukoda blinked. "...Fan?"
I coughed.
"Yeah. I was reading and watching your anime when I was summoned right to the world Mukoda-san was summoned too."
Fel's tail flicked behind him.
"He smells like you Mukoda."
Tweety fluffed his feathers proudly beside me.
"He is my human. Best cook!"
Fel glared at him.
"My human is the best cook. He makes good food with his strange sauce!"
Mukoda stared between the two divine beasts.
"Oh no. Not another one."
Mukoda sighed, smiling faintly in that tired, polite way only overworked adults can.
"Well… I guess we're traveling in the same direction. Let's head back to camp. You look like you need rest."
I blinked, still processing the fact that Mukoda-san just invited me to his camp.
He turned toward Fel.
"And you. No more explosions today."
Fel grumbled softly but obeyed.
As we started walking, I tried to play it cool, but my grin wouldn't go away.
Because, well, I just met the guy who made survival in another world look easy.
And I was 90% sure he'd end up cooking for me before the night was over.
Dinner had finally settled into something Mukoda called Konkatsu. It was delicious! His skill.was truly absurd while mine, mine I was still struggling.
Fel was lounging under a tree like a king, Tweety perched proudly on a rock still glowing faintly from his last ego flare, and Sui was busy bouncing on top of Shiro's head while the tiger pretended not to mind.
Meanwhile, Mukoda and I were sitting near the campfire, just two Earth guys talking about home except one of us had a magical shopping app, and the other was trying really hard not to sound jealous.
"So, you really can buy anything from your world?" I asked, trying to sound casual while inwardly vibrating.
Mukoda nodded. "As long as I have money for it. It converts local gold into yen somehow. Don't ask me how it works, I just know the fees are terrible."
"That's… insane," I said, half in awe, half in despair. "Do you have any idea how much I'd pay just to get real coffee again?"
He blinked.
"Oh, you're a coffee guy too?"
"Bro," I said seriously. "I've been drinking boiled acorns-like for a week. My skill just made it feel like coffee but it can't trick my brain.
Mukoda's face twisted in sympathy.
"That's… tragic."
We both stared into the fire like two survivors bonding over shared trauma.
Then, out of nowhere, my idea of what I had planned if I ever met Mukoda-san sparked in my head.
"So, uh," I started, "hypothetically… could you, like, sell stuff from your skill?"
He tilted his head.
"Sell? You mean-"
"I mean buy," I said quickly. "From you! You order, I pay. You get profit, I get the item. Win-win."
For a moment, Mukoda just blinked at me.
Then his eyes slowly widened.
"You know," he said, voice low and thoughtful, "I've actually thought about that. I even registered with the merchant guild."
"Really?"
He looked into the fire, and I could almost see the gears turning in his head.
"If I can charge a little markup for each order…" he murmured. "It could become a steady income stream… I wouldn't have to rely on Fel to hunt everything…"
His tone changed.
It was subtle at first, that polite, tired energy shifting into something sharper.
Then his eyes gleamed slightly in the firelight.
The man had awakened his inner merchant.
He turned to me with the kind of grin that made me nervous.
"How about this," he said. "If you buy from me regularly, I'll give you a ten-percent discount on orders above 300 gold."
I blinked.
"You're offering… bulk discounts?"
He nodded seriously.
"Of course. Repeat customers deserve loyalty incentives."
"Oh my god, you're an isekai salesman now."
He smiled faintly, but there was calculation in his eyes.
"You have no idea how long I've wanted to earn my own money without me thinking about expenses."
"Honestly? Respect," I said, extending my hand.
"You've got a deal, Mukoda Trading Co."
He actually shook my hand, looking satisfied. And just like that, a new and possibly illegal interdimensional business was born.
Across the campfire, egos were colliding again.
Fel flicked his tail, looking down at Tweety with the air of someone who'd just remembered a mildly amusing insect existed.
"Tell me, Phoenix," he said, "why do you remain in that pathetic, chick-sized form? Is it a fashion statement?"
Tweety didn't even look offended. He just preened one glowing feather.
"Efficiency. I don't need to waste mana to look impressive. My power speaks for itself."
Fel huffed.
"A convenient excuse for being small."
"Convenient excuse for shedding fur," Tweety shot back.
Fel's ears twitched.
"You-"
Mukoda sighed beside me. "They've been like this since we arrived here."
"Yeah," I said. "They sound like old coworkers arguing about lunch."
Meanwhile, Shiro and Sui were having their own brand of chaos.
"Sui~ jump again~!"
"No, little one," Shiro said patiently, tail flicking. "You are heavy when you land."
"Hehe~ boing~!"
"…I stand corrected," Shiro muttered as Sui bounced off his head again.
Fel gave them both a side glance, then looked back toward me.
"That tiger. Is he also your familiar?"
I froze, realizing he was talking.
"Uh… yeah. That's Shiro. Long story short, he cried over a roasted boar and now he lives with me."
Fel blinked slowly.
"He wept over food?"
"It was a very good boar," Tweety said, defensive.
Fel sighed.
"Your companions are… unusual."
"Understatement of the year," I muttered.
As the night deepened, the fire crackled. Sui kept bouncing. Fel and Tweety's glaring had downgraded to smoldering silence, which, honestly, was an improvement.
Mukoda was scribbling something in his notebook, probably calculating his future profits and for the first time since I arrived, I felt like maybe, just maybe, I'd found a small slice of normal in this weird world.
Sure, "normal" involved divine beasts with hunger problems, but hey, it was better than selling pizza.
The next morning smelled like forest dew and hope
Hope, because today, I was finally going to get something from Earth.
After weeks of eating mystery meat, monster jerky, and whatever Tweety didn't burn beyond recognition, I was about to place my very first order through Mukoda Trading Co.
Mukoda stood across the fire with his magic tablet screen open, looking way too professional for someone sitting in the middle of a forest.
"Alright," he said, adjusting his glasses. "What'll it be, John-san? Make it count."
I rubbed my hands together.
"Okay, okay, don't laugh, but… the first thing I want is a book."
He blinked.
"A… book?"
"Yeah." I grinned sheepishly. "A camping cookbook. Something that explains proper recipes, portions, fire control, you know, basic stuff."
Tweety made a quiet, judgmental sound.
"You require a book for that?"
"Yes," I said firmly. "Because someone refuses to measure heat and burns half my dinners."
"Art cannot be measured," Tweety replied, offended.
"Yeah, tell that to my last pot of stew."
Mukoda chuckled.
"That's… honestly, a pretty smart first buy."
He tapped a few buttons on his glowing screen. "Hmm… 'The Complete Campfire Cooking Guide for Big Appetite' paperback edition. That one?"
I nearly cried.
"Yes, that one!"
"That will be… 2 gold after conversion," Mukoda said, glancing up.
I handed it over immediately.
"Take it. I'd pay triple."
The moment he confirmed the purchase, a small flash of light appeared, and suddenly there it was.
An honest-to-goodness, Earth-printed camping cookbook.
Crisp cover, glossy pages, no mana in sight.
I took it reverently, holding it like sacred treasure.
"Oh, man… real paper… real ink… oh, it even smells like bookstores back home."
Mukoda smiled, a bit nostalgic.
"I remember that smell too."
For a moment, both of us were just two guys far from home, missing the small things that used to be normal.
Then Shiro pawed curiously at the book.
"Is it edible?"
"NO!" I yelled, pulling it away. "This is knowledge, not lunch!"
Sui tilted from Mukoda's bag.
"But paper soft~"
"Please don't start," Mukoda muttered.
"Alright," Mukoda said after a moment. "Next item?"
"Rice," I said immediately.
His head snapped up, and for the first time since I met him, his expression lit up.
"Rice?" he repeated, like I'd just said the magic word.
"Yes," I said. "Real, white, fluffy rice. Jasmine, basmati, heck, I'll take instant if it's edible."
He smiled, not just politely this time, but genuinely happy.
"You have no idea how long it's been since I met someone who actually misses rice."
"Are you kidding? I'm Asian! Rice is 50% of my DNA!"
He laughed, pulling up his store menu.
"Let's see… ten-kilo bag of Japanese short-grain. That's 5 gold after conversion."
"No! I'll buy 5 sacks on the spot." I handed over the pouch like it was a holy offering.
Mukoda's smile widened.
"5 sacks as it is."
A moment later, the air shimmered again, and a big bag of rice appeared right between us, perfectly sealed, with Japanese writing across the front.
I just stared at it, awe-struck.
"…It's beautiful."
Tweety peeked over my shoulder.
"What is it?"
"It's happiness," I whispered.
Mukoda crossed his arms, looking proud.
"You're officially my first paying customer. Any more else?"
"Darn right I am," I said, clutching the rice like it was a newborn child.
"Is it edible raw?" Shiro asked curiously.
"No!" I said again. "Stop trying to eat my culture!"
Fel raised an eyebrow from where he was lounging nearby.
"You two are loud."
Tweety scoffed.
"You wouldn't understand. It's a sacred human ritual."
Fel looked unimpressed.
"It's a bag of seeds."
I glared at him.
"You just wait till I cook it. You'll kneel before rice."
Mukoda snorted quietly.
"I'd pay to see that."
"Good," I said. "You'll be my second customer."
That morning, we didn't slay monsters or set the forest on fire.
We just sat around, sorting through rice and flipping through a cooking book like two nostalgic Earthlings rediscovering sanity.
Tweety and Fel continued pretending they weren't interested, but their ears and feathers twitched every time the word "food" came up.
Sui was still bouncing around with Shiro, who at this point had completely given up on acting dignified.
It wasn't much, just a quiet morning in another world. But for the first time, it almost felt like home.