Episode 1: Daily life of Transported young man

A young. average looking man extracts water from a well, he puts the full wooden bucket down with difficulty and looks at his tired reflection in the water

Taro: (is this what my life has turned into? all i do is work to the bone everyday, with little to no pay, this is not the isekai fantasy i expected at all)

Taro picks up 2 buckets full of water, each in one hand, and walks to where he must deliver them. On his way, people wave at him, laugh and say things that, contrary to what they think, he can understand.

Taro: (yeah yeah im stupid and something is wrong in my head, whatever you say, mister adventurers who haven’t made it big because you’re scared of traveling out)

Taro puts the buckets in front of an old priestess

priestess: now go sweep the hallway

Taro: y-yez

despite his fatigue, he runs to his next task, picks up a broom, and starts sweeping

Taro:(It's frustrating that it's been a year since I was transported to this world and though I can understand most words now, I can barely speak the language. Everyone treats me like an idiot because of that. i guess i have to thank Sidra, i learned a lot thanks to her, whether i liked her method or not)

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a memory resurfaces in Taro’s mind, of when he was recovering from being transported to this world. His dominant arm was recovering from injury and his left hand was too weak to properly pick up soup with a spoon so Sidra, a priestess of the church, roughly the same age as him, fed him, but before each bite, she would say a word and point at an object or emphasize an action, it confused Taro at first, but he understood that she was trying to teach him the language of the world

Taro: (she doesn’t seem to understand my language, and looks like she wont take no for an answer, its embarrassing but i guess i’ll just have to play along)

Sidra: soup!, soup!

Taro: z-zuup…
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Taro:(i kinda miss her now, i wish somebody told me where she was sent to)

after reporting that he was done sweeping, Taro had the rest of the day to himself, so he headed to the local guild office to get some extra money

Taro: (not that i could spend it on anything fun anyway, but there’s nothing to do here, not even books to read. there’s no privacy either so i cant even jerk it a little, might as well spend my energy earning some extra money, perhaps i can afford a cool sword someday)

in front of the guild counter, a familiar face was there. Ari, a local adventurer

Ari: yo. brute, going to pick up weeds again?, you should join me on tonight’s patrol, you could learn a thing or two about real quests

Taro: my… neem iz Taro (and im not joining one of those stupid quests again, they just make me carry their equipment and laugh at me all the time)

Ari: yeah but brute is simpler to say, and it fits you better

guild secretary: don't bully him Ari, he’s my best forager.

the secretary arrived with a stack of papers, the man had an eyepatch, was missing a hand and a leg, presumably a former adventurer, forced to retire and work in the counter due to his injuries

Ari: probably because nobody else takes the foraging quests

Taro: (I don't know what's worse, when she’s bossy, or when she’s a smug brat)

guild secretary: here’s your daily quest Taro, you know the drill, a bag of blue flowers, a bag of fragrant tree bark, and fill the jar with fragrant sap

Ari: wait brute, before you go, i’ll teach you how to mana enhance your body. What if you find a monster or a bandit out there?

Taro: dat… not wo-work (if i knew how to say she’s a terrible teacher because she tried to teach me that before and it was absolute nonsense, i would say it, but i dont know the words)

Ari: huh? Of course it works you brute, it's as natural as breathing, I can't believe you’re the only one who doesn't know. Even Shizuka knows how, and she is a Transported just like you

Guild secretary: let him be Ari, his job is foraging, your job is to keep the threats away from the village

Taro: tank you… mazter (thank you very much, you’re one of the few in this world that treats me well, i’ll be the best forager and make you proud)

Taro went on his way to the usual spot on the outskirts of the village, the entrance to the forest

Taro: (man, i already took all the low hanging flowers on these trees. I either have to climb them or go deeper into the forest… or both)

as he tried to climb, the rough edges of the tree bark reminded him that it wasn’t a simple task, but thinking about how the guild secretary called him “his best forager” motivated him to push through the pain, and even though he wasn’t very athletic, he managed to hang on and pick some more flowers off the tree

Taro: (i wonder if i could fall from here safely if i knew how to mana enhance myself. how does one even do that anyway?, Ari said you have to “take a deep breath and feel like you’re burning”...)

He climbed back down, looked around, and then adopted a pose of supposed focus

Taro hmmmmmmm

he was not feeling anything

Taro: haaah… haaaaaaaaa (i feel like i'm trying to super transform like in those animes)

he started to feel warm, but he wasn't sure if it was the supposed mana, or his own body heat

Taro: haaaaaaaaaaaaah!!

he realized he was being watched by a weird bird, it was like a toy made of leaves, makeshift eyes, and string. just when Taro thought it was just some lost toy, the bird flew away

Taro: … (Was that a… spirit? oh man how embarrassing!. i thought this place was private enough)

by force of embarrassment, he went deeper into the forest

Taro: (i know it could be dangerous, but that poor tree had nothing more for me anyway, i cant just make it bleed more sap or climb it higher, i gotta find another tree. and if i find a monster or a bandit, well, it was a good life i guess…)

he tried to remember the good times, but couldn’t find anything noteworthy

Taro: (who am i kidding?, my time in this world has been miserable. Compared to this, my monotonous life as a university student was way more interesting and better!... man, i also miss my family, i hope they’re not too worried about me missing, i … i miss my life so much)

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Taro started reminiscing about his past. His daily routine of going to school, working part time, returning home to an empty department, watching anime or reading manga. He traveled from the countryside to study in the city, he had a few friends, but not close enough. He often wondered what was the point of even studying there, perhaps he would be happier as a farmer in his hometown, but then he remembered he wanted to study in the city to stay away from the boredom of his little town

One day, while working at the convenience store, a huge earthquake struck the city, he could see the products flying off the shelves, then the shelves themselves toppling like dominoes, he tried to shelter himself under the counter, but then the ceiling collapsed, the counter blocked the impact, but it was starting to crackle and bend under the weight. Taro realized he would be crushed

Taro: (im going to die like this?, squashed under a convenience store? without having done anything in my life?!)

he felt the ceiling beam pressing down on the counter, he tried to stop its advance by attempting to lift it up, but it was futile, it was a massive force, gaining space over him little by little

Taro: (im going to die, im going to die, im going to die!, im going to die!!)

no matter how much force he used, the counter continued to bend inwards, slowly crushing him, he started to see blurry, then he saw flashes of light, sparks, an unfamiliar smell, then he passed out

when he regained consciousness, he was in a bed looking at an unfamiliar ceiling, he tried to move, but was covered in bandages, next to him, a young priestess holding his arm and massaging it with her light surrounded hand, he could only stare in disbelief, trying to process everything.
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Taro: (I guess I really did die that day… It's so easy to feel sad… I need to focus! I'm the best forager in the village!, gotta get it together!. im here now, this time, i’ll make the most of my life, I don't want to regret dying with nothing to my name again)

As he regained hope, Taro found another blue flower tree, and he diligently continued his mission as the bird from earlier continued to observe him.