Arrival

In my youth, I used to read stories of this long ago: of high school teens hit by trucks, or cast into strange portals, finding themselves in magical worlds to slay monsters and make allies. I believe the term for such adventures is ‘isekai.’

But I’m not a teenager anymore. I’m in my second year of college, trying to choose a career and find my purpose in life. Or, at least I was a college student: just a week prior I dropped out, on the recommendation of my advisor, and I was weeks away from being homeless as well. Of course, this was all due to my own failures, but I could not bring myself to think about the many mistakes I made.

I somehow felt a sense of nostalgia as I poked and prodded my way through the thick brush, searching for any sign of activity or civilization. That was the first thing I should do… right?

The voice’s words continued to echo in my mind, words I could not easily shake from my consciousness. I would have to find this voice again and confront these inner thoughts, but my first objective was to survive in this unfamiliar world.

I only traveled for a few minutes before I heard the faint noise of activity, and when I drew closer, I recognized human voices. I turned to face the direction of the noise, and what I saw next filled me with relief: an enormous village sprawled in front of me, protected by tall, stone walls and dozens of patrolling knights.

As long as I could understand their native language and they could understand me, I would not go hungry in this new world.

I crawled my way out of the woods and approached the front gate. The gate was wide open, with no guards stopping the flow of traffic coming in and out, so I assumed I could just walk right in.

Yet I hesitated, unable to put that next foot forward. An entire village was in front of me, and if I hoped to survive this world I would need many things here: food, supplies, shelter, and allies. So why was I so afraid of entering?

I pushed my intuition aside and stepped into the village. The smell of freshly-baked food and smelting iron quickly overtook my senses, and the sound of conversation and laughter filled my ears.

Walking through the village, I admired the medieval appearance of each building, as if I was walking through an old village in Europe. The streets were lined with dozens of little shops and vendors, with a variety of exotic fruits and hand-stitched clothing on display.

I passed a sign, which appeared to depict a map of the land. To my dismay, I could not fully understand the text on the sign. However, I did recognize a single phrase boldly scrawled on the very top.

Kingdom of Memoria.

Memoria… Where have I heard that name before?

“Excuse me, sir, would you be interested in these juicy peals?”

I turned to face the voice, and standing beside me was a market vendor, proudly directing my attention to what resembled large apple/pear hybrids. While attempting to decipher the map, apparently I had blocked their stall.

“Oh, sorry, I don’t have any money,” I embarrassingly chuckled. I did have some money on me, around $14 in change, but I had the feeling that my currency was worthless here.

“Well, if you have no business here, then scram. I’m trying to make a profit here.”

“Wait!” I shouted, perhaps a little too loudly, “I’m visiting from afar, and I’ve never been here before.”

The vendor let out a small sigh.

“You’re in the village of Dawn, just a half-day’s walk from the castle walls. Although, if you were visiting, surely you must have some money.”

“Well, I lost it on the way here, so I’m just trying to get by until I can find work,” I said, lying through my teeth.

“If you’re looking for work, I suggest you head south of here towards the Whisperwood Thicket. An old sorcerer in need of an assistant lives there.”

“Thank you,” I smiled. While the vendor refused to return my smile, she did reach into her stall of goods and picked out a juicy, ripe peal.

“I’m feeling generous today,” she said, tossing me the peal. “Have this on the house, and get out of my sight before I call the guards here.”

“Yes, and thank you so–”

“I said scram!”

I quickly left with valuable information, some fresh food, and the relief of knowing I could both understand and speak the native language! Of all the possible obstacles, a communication barrier would have been the worst.

As much as I despised the idea, finding work was necessary for my survival. With no time to waste, I put my best foot forward and prepared to head south towards this “Whisperwood Thicket.” But before I could take another step, a villager suddenly pointed in my direction and shouted.

“It’s him! It’s Blake Seer!”

Quickly, the townsfolk around me began to point at me one-by-one with expressions of shock on their faces.

A dreadful chill ran down my spine. The peal slipped from my hand and fell to the ground.

“The man from the poster!”

“The one wanted by the kingdom! The former hero!”

Wanted? Former hero? I did not recall committing any crime, and I was certainly never a hero.

“There must be some kind of mistake! I’ve never been here before, I’m just a… a tourist!”

“Is this not your face in this poster?” One woman shouted, holding a faded, stained piece of paper to my face. To my shock, she was right: the face sprawled across the worn parchment was, in fact, a very detailed depiction of my face.

Panic seized my body. I tried to give a defense, but no words could slip through the knot in my throat.

“Seize him!”

By the time some of the villagers began to rush at me, my instincts finally took over. I broke out into a rapid sprint, for running was what I did best. I bounded over vendor stalls and weaved through narrow alleyways, dodging the crowds and rushing straight back towards the gate.

But my luck had run out: the gate of the town was sealed, with armored knights standing watch outside. Once I was in their sight, they brandished their gleaming steel swords and systematically advanced towards me.

No way out, and no room for negotiation. If I was caught here, it was truly game over. I could not possibly face even the unarmed villagers in this state, let alone trained, armed soldiers.

Yet I knew deep down… I did not want to die here.

I thought back to the brief display of magic I saw in the square. Surely, in a world of magic, I could harness the power of mana, too?

I held my hand out while both the crowd and armed knights closed in on me. Of all the powers I possessed, whichever one that might emerge next was completely up to chance: I could totally embarrass myself here and now, or I could accidentally blow the entire kingdom away.

I took a deep breath, cleared my mind, and imagined a surge of energy flowing through my body, like water in a turbulent river.

What followed wasn’t a display of magic power, but rather a violent chorus of screams filling the void within my mind.

My head burned and my vision faded. My world fell into chaos, and quickly turned to black.