It Was A Tragic, Dramatic Irony

"Watch out, Senior Katagiri!"

Silence struck when the clock hit twelve at midnight.

It was deafening—so much so that it annihilated the teasing sound of the treacherous rain.

Along with it, the wheezing wind washed over the surroundings.

What happened next was something that Yui Katagiri, a senior police detective, would have experienced in a full 4K HD clarity—right as her left foot landed on the slipperiest patch of pavement known to mankind.

Unfortunately, as if fated by such a cruel coincidence, her left foot somehow had managed to step then eventually slip on the wettest surface existed while running.

She all of a sudden slipped—dramatically, comically.
Her body was flung backward in an absolute cinematic slow motion scene. A sight to behold, left everyone in-awe. Or perhaps, in-shock.

Meanwhile, her head struck a marble block in a single, brutal impact—right at the cornerstone of the pavement—resulting in a concussion that knocked out her consciousness.
Taking her life in the process. 
And yet… she died.
What a tragically dramatic, ironic end for the police officer.

The one who had served her country as its best detective. Brought down not by a bullet, but by her own clumsiness. Not to mention a f***ing set of flip-flop.

Or… should we go back and take this experience from her point of view instead?

Alright, let’s go.
...

[REWIND SOUND PLAYS IN THE BACKGROUND]

...

"Wait, now?! You gotta be kidding me!"

The scream of disbelief burst out in panic, after receiving the phone call for duty.

The one kind that came from a reasonable crash-out, you could say.

That’s because I had just returned from my totally normal, casual daily routine.

Well, you know… buying instant ramen noodles and collecting movies or animanga like they were some kind of rare Pokémon.

Some of them were rare catches too, at least in my eyes.

The former was an emergency, honestly. I usually stockpiled them for a week, and I’d already run out of instant ramen noodles at home. And do you want to know why?

So, after I got back, I took a shower and checked the cupboard to see whether there were any ramen cups left.

Only to realize… I hadn’t bought any.

Not a single cup in my inventory to eat.

So, I put on my leather jacket, some pants, and flip-flops.

And before I left, I scribbled a note for my son, saying I’d be late to prepare dinner.

Well—if you could call a cup of cheap ramen “dinner,” that is.

…Yeah. I’m such a terrible mom. I know.

But hey, I was planning to make it up for him. Maybe grab his favorite pudding on the way home, or something sweet to ease the guilt.

Something... refreshing. Comforting. Familiar.

Like taking him to the recreation park, for example.

That would have been great, right?

Except, I never made it that far.

Because the next thing I knew, I wasn’t at the convenience store.

And obviously, I wasn’t on the road as well.

I wasn’t even in my damn flip-flops anymore.

Instead, I was—

Wait. What is this? Is this… grass? Am I touching it? As in touching the grass? If that's so, why do I hear birds chirping? Why do I smell… lavender? Is someone burning incense?

I took a glance in a sight of view, the one to behold in an amazement: a mesmerizing lavender garden displayed right in front of me.

"Milady Clarisse! Had some ailment taken thee? You fell all of a sudden!"

Huh, what? Milady… what now?

Why is there a woman in lace shouting at me in perfect medieval tongue nonsense, like she’s straight out of a Shakespeare play?

I blinked. Once. Then twice. After that I sat up.

However, that proved to be a big mistake. The pain exploded at the back of my head—like someone had dropkicked me through five layers of concrete, or falling from the rooftop.

Right. I really died, didn’t I?
I slipped. Hit a marble block. Instant knockout.

What a dumb way to die. A tragic irony.

I was a police detective. A national asset.

I solved homicides, dealt with mafia rings, cracked cold cases in my sleep — all I had to do so I could feed my son after the divorce. And for a while... I was proud of that.

But now... I’m lying in a field, wearing someone else’s body, surrounded by flowers and people calling me Lady Clarisse.

This has to be some kind of hallucination.

Or isekai, the so-called parallel world.

Same shit. Same difference.

...

All of a sudden, the time stopped.And there was a random panel shown in front of me.

[Name: Clarisse von Fahrmann]

Okay, what in the name of character was that?! Goddamnit.

Never in my entire life I have had heard something like this in any isekai ever!It sounds like those names from teen comics, with toon or something. I don't know.

No, wait... is this story even an isekai genre by its tag? It doesn't seem so.

Because, if it indeed is, why do I wear this prim-proper princess dress with a fan in my hand as if I were a renowned, well-respected noble?

I thought I was going to be some kind of a military soldier like Tania the Devil!

Or else, a saint, healer, or some kind of elf heroine in another world!

No no no, usually it's a half-elf by some tropes much more but that's not the point. It's more like... why the fuck am I even being here?! And it's not like I was jobless enough to get reincarnated to begin with so I wouldn't experience that too.

Wait, wrong anime.

Just when after I finished ranting, another random panel popped in.

[Role: Villainess]

Villain- what?

I had no idea about any of these. Also, why did these panels keep randomly popping up!?

[Background Story: Clarisse von Farmann is the leader of a mafia syndicate group that operates in the dark, the most wanted criminal due to controlling illegal stuff e.g. crime affiliates, weapons, and drugs etc. Her mission along with this syndicate is to get rid of corruptions inside the kingdom's governments, each of these run by seven powerful families. She will seduce, lure them into submission, girlbossing her male leads in the process.]

Wait, so... I had to act as this role. Interesting. 

No, detective. It's not the right time to be amused.

I mean, hold on... was I always that kind of a menace?

This seems like a gooner fantasy, if anything.

I mean, I used to pretend as one but never really meant it before.
Well, if you could call cosplaying as one, obviously.
And just after I malded for a few minutes, those random panels were gone.
Soon, the scene changed with me already standing, while doing an extremely narcissistic pose.

The fan covered my face with my head tilted slightly.

So dramatic, ugh.

"You're so awesome, Milady! To elegantly wake up like that!"