Ethan closed his menus and started walking again, this time with more purpose. He needed to understand this place, to see if it matched his memories or if things had changed.
As he walked around the street, everyone kept looking at him, not only was he a giant amongst them, he was too handsome! If only he had known, he would not have made himself so unique!
Nevertheless, the festival continued around him as the afternoon wore on.
Everybody around him felt real. Completely, utterly real. Not like the NPCs from the game, which had limited dialogue trees and repetitive behaviors. These people had expressions, mannerisms, conversations that flowed naturally, and even actions that were not in a game. Looking ahead, he could even spot a mother scolding her child for running off, and two old men nearby argued about fishing techniques.
Ethan found himself stopping to just observe.
As he walked around, he spotted a blacksmith hammering away at his forge, sweat dripping down his face with the rhythmic clang, clang, clang of metal on metal.
In the game, that blacksmith had been a quest giver and a shop interface. Here, he was just another person, doing his job and living his life.
It was fascinating, and more so even, terrifying.
If these were real people, then this was a real world, and if this was a real world, then Ethan wasn't just trapped in a game… He was somewhere else entirely.
The thought hit him like a physical blow. His knees went weak, and he had to grab onto a nearby fence post to steady himself.
"I'm not logged in," he whispered. "I'm not wearing a headset. I didn't transfer my consciousness. I'm just… here."
His best imaginations had actually come alive, but he never expected that he wouldn't be enjoying it. Those isekai stories he'd read, those anime he'd watched late at night when he should've been sleeping, they were happening to him now!
Transported to another world! Given a new body! Starting over with nothing!
Ethan pulled himself together with effort, panicking wouldn't help, neither would denial… Besides, hadn't he wished for this? Hadn't some part of him always wanted to escape his miserable reality and live in a world where he could finally escape his life completely and live a different life. Magic, beautiful fantasy girls of different races, power... Where he could be someone important...
Well, that was in a world where he would be the main character, with an enormous harem of girls from different races… who was to say who the main character was in an online game?
Well… As the saying goes, Careful what you wish for, you just might get it… or was that just Eminem?
He straightened up and looked now. The sun was getting lower already, painting the sky in beautiful shades of orange and pink, the most beautiful sky he had seen yet… well, as someone who barely touched grass, it might have been an overstatement.
The festival showed no signs of stopping—if anything, it seemed to be getting livelier as evening approached. Lanterns were being lit, and the smell of cooking food grew stronger as people grilled meat, and mostly fish on the sides of the roads around the town square.
Ethan's stomach growled. When had he last eaten? In the real world, it had been at least a day.
Do I even need to eat? he wondered, but his growling stomach answered that question clearly enough. This body—his body now—needed sustenance, not just a bunch of code running on servers. Not only that, but he also needed rest, he could feel the tiredness.
Well, he also needed time to process everything and if possible, make a plan.
He navigated through the winding streets, using his memories of the game's layout and the occasional glance at his Map interface. Salt Fish Town had three inns: the Gilded Trout, the Silver Scale , and the Rusty Anchor.
Ethan headed for the Rusty Anchor which was the cheapest. He had no idea if his five gold coins made him rich or poor, so better to be conservative.
The inn was exactly where it should have been, tucked into a corner near the town's small port. It was a squat, two-story building with a faded sign showing an anchor covered in rust. Through the windows, he could see the warm glow of the common room.
He pushed open the door, and the smell of ale and stew washed over him. The common room was moderately busy—locals mostly, eating and drinking, their conversations creating a low murmur of background noise.
Behind the bar stood a heavyset man with a magnificent beard, wiping down mugs with a rag, and for a moment there, it looked just like his in-game animation. In the game, this had been Innkeeper Grom, a simple vendor NPC who rented rooms for 1 gold coin a night.
Now, he looked up at Ethan's entrance with real eyes that actually saw him. Well, not just him, everyone inside looked at him. He was like a standing log of wood.
"Help you, stranger?" Grom's voice was gruff but not unfriendly.
Ethan approached the bar, acutely aware of how he looked—like a dirt-poor traveler who'd spent the day walking through mud. "I need a room for the night."
Grom sized him up with a practiced eye. "Thirty bronze. Includes breakfast. Extra five if you want dinner tonight."
"I'll take both," Ethan said, reaching for his coin pouch.
He pulled out one of his gold coins.
Grom's eyes widened slightly. "You want to break a gold piece? You sure, lad? That's a lot of coin to be carrying around for someone dressed like…"
He trailed off diplomatically.
Ethan blinked. "Is it? How much is—"
"A gold piece is a hundred silver, son, and that on turn's a hundred bronze. You're asking me for change on what most folks around here make in months."
The words hit Ethan hard. One gold coin was a few months' wages? That meant his five gold coins were… were at least ten months of salary for an average person in this town, or maybe even a year?
He wasn't dirt poor! He was actually relatively wealthy!
"I, uh," Ethan stammered, feeling extremely stupid. "I'll still take the room… And dinner."
Grom shrugged and pulled out a lockbox from under the bar, counting out change for him. He handed Ethan a stack of coins.
"Room three, top of the stairs. Dinner'll be ready in an hour. Mutton stew tonight."
"Thank you," Ethan managed.
"Also, you might not want to be flashing that around everywhere. Not sure where you found it—" He paused, glancing at Ethan's hip, "don't care either, but be careful." Grom advised.
Ethan nodded, offering his thanks with a word before proceeding. Hearing an NPC he had interacted with quite a few times talk so much at length and even offer advise… it was both fascinating and scary.
He climbed the creaky wooden stairs to the second floor, found room three, and unlocked it with the iron key Grom had given him.
The room was small and simple, with a single bed with a straw mattress, a small table with a washbasin, one chair, and a tiny window overlooking the street. It was dark now, the festival lanterns creating a warm glow outside.
Ethan closed the door, locked it, and sat on the bed.
The mattress was lumpy and smelled faintly of mildew, but what choice did he have? Then again, if he knew just how rich he was, he would have gone to the most expensive Inn—or if he had just listened to the street vendors advertising, he would have realised the disparity in denomination.
He lay back, staring at the rough wooden ceiling. Part of him—a large part—expected to wake up, to find himself back in his shitty apartment, back in his own actual body. Another part of him, growing stronger by the minute, knew that wasn't going to happen.
This was as real as anything. All of a sudden, he had become the character he created, Yamamoto Odinson… 'Such a dumb name.' He thought to himself with slight embarrassment. If only he had known this might be an actual life he would be living, he would have chosen a more fitting name!
"What am I going to do?" he asked himself, no answer in sight, like talking to the empty room.
The room, unsurprisingly, didn't answer.
He closed his eyes, still half-hoping he'd wake from this impossible unimaginable dream.
Sleep came slowly, and when it took him, Ethan—Yamamoto Odinson, slept in another world for the first time.