A new world

We reappeared sometime later with Misaki still tightly clinging onto me. I slowly opened my eyes and discovered we were standing in some kind of forest. The trees were of types I had never seen before, the flowers were of vibrant colors I never thought possible. The chirping of birds, the distant growl of animals, everything in this new world took my breath away the moment I set my eyes on them. It was a dream come true, and I still couldn't believe I was actually here.

"Umm."

I looked down at the girl still tightly pressed up against my chest. "Ahem." I cleared my throat.

"Woops." She quickly let go of me and took a step back, clearing her throat as well before looking away in a different direction. Wow. Misaki looked like an actual archpriest.

She was wearing a pair of white and blue robes, adorned with golden threading. There was a cape attached to her clothes at the back, and its color complemented the rest of her attire. On her head rested a headpiece which resembled a nurse's cap, but somehow styled to fit into the fantasy setting. And in her right hand, which she was only just noticing herself, was a large mage's staff, curved at the tip to give it that iconic half-moon shape.

"Daichi? Where are we? God, what am I wearing? And what is this stick?"

For a second there, I was worried she'd appear wearing nothing, since I forgot to include all of that when filling in her character sheet. Luckily, that wasn't the case. She looked absolutely stylish.

Wait.

I hurriedly looked down to find I was also wearing...

"Hell yeahhh!" I shouted, causing my ex-wife to nearly jump out of her skin.

"Wha... what is it?" Misaki swung her staff wildly. "Is it a spider?"

"But my dear former life partner," I replied, pulling out a pair of sleek sunglasses from my jacket pocket and sliding them onto my face, grinning. "Don't you see who is standing before you? Don't you see who I have become?"

I struck a pose for emphasis, spreading my arms wide so she could take in every little detail of my incredible attire.

From the top of my head to the soles of my feet, my outfit was absolutely legendary. My boots were jet black, polished and gleaming underneath the afternoon sun. My slim black trousers were held up by a utility belt, carrying all manner of tiny gadgets and tools that could only be described as futuristic. My long black coat jacket was super cool and fresh, concealing the two custom long-barreled pistols with bayonet attachments resting in the holsters on either side of my thighs. And across my back, tall and intimidating, sat a massive-ass plasma sword.

It was the ultimate video game attire, combining aesthetic, style, and resourcefulness. Oh, and I also now had blue hair.

"You look dumb."

At the sound of Misaki trying to ruin my mood, I let out an exasperated sigh, dropping my arms to my sides.

"And what's with that hair? You look stupid."

I took in another deep breath and exhaled. This was a new world, we just arrived, I wasn't going to let her get to me.

"Alright, see you later," I said to my ex-wife as I turned around and began casually walking away. Was it petty pretending to leave her behind? Yes. Was it childish? Yes. But hell, after all the bitterness and heartache she'd caused me to suffer through the past several months, I wanted her to feel at least a fraction of the pain I felt.

It was only fair.

Plus, I needed to find a road leading into town anyway. From there, I'd ask around for an adventurer's guild. This was usually the first step in all of the games I've played, and if so, things should be pretty straightforward from...

"Wait, you can't leave me here."

Misaki ran forward to intercept me, rushing to stand in front of me. "We have to stick together," she said, pointing her staff in my face. "That's what the hobo said. We have to work together, remember? To defeat the demon prince or whatever."

"First of all," I began, pushing her staff away from my face. "The god, not hobo. Please try to remember that. Yeah, I'm pretty sure he just added that last part in as a formality. I mean, do you know how many people he has sent to this world already, telling them to do exactly the same thing? Also, let's be real for a moment. None of this," I said, gesturing to the forest around us, "none of this is your style. I'm sorry you died and were transported to this world with me, even though it's still technically your fault."

Misaki crossed her arms at that, glaring at me.

"But we can't go back to our old life. That's just not how things work. My advice, now that we're here, is to do what we both want. For me, that's..."

I reached down to the handles on my sides, then pulled out both pistols from their holsters in a single swift motion. I held them both up for her to see. "Let me quickly introduce you. This is Vanessa," I indicated to the pistol on the right, adding a spin for dramatic effect. "And this right here is Ashley." I added another spin for dramatic flourish, eventually pointing both guns toward the sky.

"And together, we gon be hunting monsters, demons, and whatever helps me level up faster and make more money in this new world."

"So what? You're just going to leave me here?" Misaki still had her arms crossed as she glared at me.

"Ah, yeah. Pretty much."

I shoved my pistols back into their holsters as I proceeded to walk past my ex-wife, resuming my journey out of the forest. But, again, I wasn't trying to lose her. I deliberately wasn't walking fast enough.

Misaki began scurrying after me, whining the entire time while she stumbled through the forest brush. "B-but you can't leave me here. I-I don't know any of this stuff like you do. I don't know where to go from here, or what to do next." We were walking along the forest path as she kept up her complaints. "You were right, none of this is me. Everything is happening so fast, and I am so confused. I just need some time to think. I just... Yee, awch."

Misaki soon tripped on her robes and landed on her face. I stopped and turned around. She had gotten up and was now patting the forest floor in front of her, searching for her glasses. They came off her face when she fell.

That wasn't good. She needed them to operate. She needed them to be able to do anything.

I went to go help her.

"Here."

I picked up the glasses and handed them to her.

"Thanks."

She took them from me, wiped off the lenses with her robes, then placed them back on her face. She blinked a few times.

"Great, you can see again. Later." I got up to leave, but she quickly reached out and grabbed me by the arm.

"At least let me follow you until we get out of here," she said. "Maybe to a town or something. As soon as we're there, I promise I'll leave, and you'll never have to see me again."

I thought about it for a second. Or more accurately, I pretended to visibly think about it in front of her. From the start, I was already not planning on letting her trek in the forest alone. Who knew what kinds of things were in here. But as soon as we were in town, that was it.

"Fine," I responded.

We were now strolling through the forest with my ex-wife walking along five paces behind me. We remained mostly quiet on our journey, but the silence was occasionally punctuated with "Yeee's" and "Yaaa's" whenever Misaki accidentally trod on a flower with the plant screaming back at her in protest. I would turn to see if she was okay, and she would have this horrified look on her face, mumbling to herself in terror and pointing at the strange-looking magical flora she'd just stepped on.

I mean, how many times did I have to tell her we were living in a fantasy world now? The normal rules from our world didn't apply here. If she was going to be living on her own soon, then she needed to begin adapting pretty quickly.

Eventually, we broke out of the forest and came upon a large field. Following the distant clanging of iron and murmur of voices had paid off. Up ahead, some miles away, I could see signs of civilization, most likely a small town for adventurers, and I was practically bouncing in my boots with excitement to finally lay my eyes on some real-life medieval architecture.

Holy cheese, I was going to see some demi-humans too. Elves, goblins, mages, you name it. I was going to see all of them, and boy oh boy was I eagerly looking forward to the opportunity.

"Ugh!"

Of course, the magical moment was suddenly ruined by my ex-wife who just stepped out of the forest behind me. I turned, and nearly jumped back in shock when I saw the state she was in.

Misaki's once luscious straight hair was now disheveled, with parts of it covered with what looked like tree roots, leaves, and bright green cobwebs. Wasn't she following directly behind me? How did all of that happen?

"Is it finally over?" she asked through gritted teeth, eyes narrowed in exhaustion and frustration. "Are we there yet? Because I really need a shower."

"Ummm..."

I initially wanted to give her a reply right then. I wanted to explain a few things to her, like how she would probably be required to complete a quest or two in order to make some money before she could even afford a public bath. Meaning, she was going to get a whole lot sweatier before she could even think of getting clean.

Also, I was pretty sure her mind was still operating on the availability of 21st-century technology. She was most likely thinking a shower in this world was just like the ones from our previous lives. That was another disaster of a revelation just waiting to happen. But the reason I was cut off from communicating all of this to her was due to what I was suddenly looking at.

"What is it? Is there something on my face?"

"Ummm..."

A little trivia about my ex-wife: she absolutely hated bugs. Cockroaches, grasshoppers, centipedes, all of it. Even butterflies, arguably one of the prettiest insects to ever exist, were also a no-go. To her, if it's tiny, crawls, wears its skeleton on the outside, and has more than four legs, or no legs at all, then it was disgusting, repulsive, creepy, and needed to be obliterated with a government-funded laser cannon from space.

So, remembering all of that about my former partner, I suddenly found myself lacking the words I needed to explain to her about the giant pink spider resting on her head. The thing was absolutely huge. Thin long legs spread out in all directions, securing its position on top of her hair. Black beady eyes, three on each side of its face. It was also probably responsible for all the green webs in Misaki's hair, now that I think about it.

"Ahh."

"Will you just spit it out already, Daichi?" Misaki asked, her short patience already reaching the limits of her equally short temper. "Why do you keep looking at me like that? Is there a spider on my head or something?"

I nodded.

"Because I stumbled into a bunch of gross green webs back there, and..." Misaki suddenly trailed off just as a terrified expression engulfed her face. "W-Wait. What are you saying, Daichi?... Eh-Is there really a...?"

I nodded again, slowly this time.

"...Haha, hahahaha, hahaha."

Misaki threw her head back and began laughing like a crazy person. "Come on, Daichi, do you really think this is a time for jokes?"

"But I'm not joking," I responded flatly. "There is really a freaking giant eight-legger sitting on your head right there." I added, pointing directly at the thing chilling on top of her head.

Misaki instantly stopped laughing and blinked twice in confusion. She slowly reached up to pat the side of her head.

"Pree." The creature made a sound and repositioned its legs when Misaki accidentally touched it. Well, at least now she knew I was not joking...

"BWHAAA!"

What came next was a series of undignified screaming and frantic swinging of her staff as Misaki burst into a terrified frenzy as she tried to shake the creature off.

"YAAA! YEEE! AHHH!"

She swung her staff repeatedly, jumped up and down, even dropped to the floor and began rolling back and forth on the ground while still crying out. But the creature wouldn't fall off.

"Just hold still for a second," I said. "Let me see if I can... Oof."

I suddenly found myself falling on my ass while clutching my jaw in pain. In an attempt to help remove the creature, I had received a panicked blow to the face from her staff. Honestly, I was just glad she didn't poke my eye out with the pointy end.

Having regained a little composure while still freaking out, Misaki eventually got to her feet, then used the aforementioned pointy end of her staff to pry the spider loose from her hair.

"Get, off, meee!"

"Preeeeee!"

The creature screeched as it was forcefully removed, and as soon as it came off, Misaki flung it back into the forest, and it clung onto a nearby tree.

My ex-wife was breathing heavily, no doubt still in shock from the encounter, but thinking the whole thing was finally over couldn't have been further from the truth.

She straightened up her staff and took a stance, just as her eyes began glowing brightly. She looked determined. Focused. But most of all, she looked hella pissed off. She aimed it in the direction of the spider on the tree, and still sitting on my ass on the ground, I watched as the staff sparked with the first signs of magic, and soon enough, a tiny ball of energy formed and began rapidly expanding.

I couldn't believe it. I was about to witness my first display of magic in this world. But of all people, why did it have to be from...

"Annihilation!"

A massive energy beam suddenly shot out from the tip of the staff, zipping forward in the blink of an eye and simply obliterating the tree in front of it. The top half of the tree was gone, and in its place, a smoking stump was left in the ground. There was no sign of the pink spider.

I was left stunned at the sight, my mouth hung open in astonishment. What the...? How...? Huh...?

I glanced over at Misaki and saw her eyes were back to normal. She took in a deep breath, exhaled, then settled her nerves before turning to face me.

"Was that magic I did just now?" she asked, flashing a nervous smile.

Speechless, I simply nodded.

"Cool," she responded. And without saying another word, she turned, staff in hand, and began walking in the direction of town. Still a bit shell-shocked myself by everything that just transpired, I had no choice but to get up and follow.

I did remember specifying in our character sheet that training was not required. Our powers were going to be second in nature to us, as easy as breathing. Like we've had them for years, and have already mastered them. So I was not surprised to see Misaki tap into her abilities in a fit of anger, and perfectly execute a magic spell.

However, what I was definitely surprised about was the amount of power she had put into said magic spell. That shouldn't have been possible for a beginner like her, so what the hell happened there?