Darkness Before The Dawn

King of Cultivation

I didn’t think that it would come to this—

All I had ever asked was to live a simple life. A simple life with less responsibility—you could say I didn’t ask for much. I’d been living on my own ever since my parents kicked me out at the age of eighteen.

Luckily, I was able to find a place that wasn’t above my means—I had found a job at a local convenience store, but I can’t say that I was excited on that fact.

I had spent years staying inside, growing accustomed to living in my own world, but now the real-world calls and I can’t ignore its summons.

It is my first day on the job and I am already counting down the minutes until I can go back to my apartment, switch on my computer and tune out the world like I’ve been used to.

There is another convenience store worker who had been showing me how everything works and where everything has its place to go—that sort of thing.

“I’ll be right back, I have to use the bathroom,” she said.

She was a forgettable face, and I couldn’t help but think this way about her. The brightness of the lights beat down from above me, the hum from the fridges and the music in the background all made my shift feel like it was never going to end.

My eyes darted to the customer once the bell rang at the door. He had entered the convenience store, had taken down his hood from his sweater so that I could see his face.

“Welcome,” I greeted the customer.

Finally— a customer in what seems like a good half hour—this is going to be a long shift, isn’t it? I could just feel that this was the case. I didn’t imagine this job would be so boring. I knew something was up the way he was looking down, avoiding my gaze.

“C-can I help you?” I had asked, hoping that starting up a conversation might change the tense mood.

He had medium length shaggy blonde hair and wild eyes.

I kept thinking to myself,

Don’t give me a hard time.

Just get what you want and leave me be

The man took out a knife and wanted all the money in the cash register.

“All of it”, he demanded.

“Okay— here, you can have it—that’s all the money in the cash register”

He took the cash but didn’t stop there, taking out his knife, he proceeded to jump behind the desk. I tried fighting back but it proved near impossible to completely get away and dodge the knife. The knife stabbed into my chest, I could feel the blade inch closer to my heart, each time missing its mark.

The hunger to kill drove him to madness, the lust for assuring I’d be dead.

"What did I do to you?"

“T-tell me,” I managed to say, blood spurting out from my lips.

"You are needed in the other world"

I looked at his eyes, the wildness calmed down, but I still didn't have a clue what this guy was saying or why he said such a thing.

>>Other world<<

What the hell could that mean? The pain wouldn't leave my mind; it reminded me I am still human—the blood pooled all around me.

“I’m back” I heard the voice of my co-worker.

Save yourself, run—

I thought to say all of this but words wouldn’t form from my mouth and so I wasn’t able to speak what I wanted to say.

“O-oh my god” I heard as she screamed from the top of her lungs, she covered her mouth soon after.

I'd already lost so much blood that everything around me was fading away, my thoughts disappearing, the darkness and everything became but a blur. The distant bell of the convenience store rang once he had left.

When my eyes opened from what was a haze, I didn't expect to be anywhere pleasant. I thought that because of all I did in this life I'd end up in hell or something worse.

But my arms were slumped over a desk, I sat up and could see what were bookshelves that lined about the walls, and the desks in which there was a light illumined to read books. This place must be a library—

H-how am I in such a place? I thought for sure that I would either be in hell or in the body of an infant or something—reincarnated perhaps.

But this wasn’t the case, how strange—I was pleasantly surprised for once. I see how being isekai’d can go but I never thought that it would happen to someone like me.

It's not normal that one would have a second chance at life and to think I was able to. It makes me wonder if I am deserving of a second chance at the life— I screwed up in the first place, after all—I dropped out of art school and lost any ambition I thought I had.

I am needed in this other world, but why and how? —I guess I am here to figure out why I am needed in a place where I might never belong. I looked both to my left and to my right, to my left there was but an empty seat but to my right there was a girl who was surprised to see that I had awoken.

"Leon, why did you come here if you didn't plan on studying?"

(Leon? Huh? Is she talking to me—)

My silence made her wonder why I wasn't saying anything. I guess it would be me she’s referring to—after all, it's not like there's a ghost behind me or anything.

But my name isn’t Leon—it’s Kazuki, Kei.

“I’m not Leon—my name’s Kei—”

“Huh? —what do you mean—is this some kind of joke?”

“No, why would I joke about who I am?”

“Leon—”

For a second I thought of this name and then thought of my own name, information came into my mind and gave me one big headache. While I know my name on Earth is Kazuki, Kei—here of all places my name is Leon Brighthart, second son of the Brighthart noble family.

Truly, this must be the other world he spoke of, there's no other explanation that can make sense seeing as these lamps were powered not by lightbulbs but by crystals. One quick look around and one could see that the whole place was bedazzled by crystalline architecture—not just the chandelier but the walls and the windows being frosted glass.

Seeing as the girl I was talking to had both purple hair and purple eyes I had to assume that in a world which makes the high school students dye their hair black— this purple color wouldn’t be permitted—and if it’s somehow a natural hair color in this world, which it might just be then it’s all the more dubious.

She was dressed in a crop top purple sweater and a pair of jean shorts, with a yellow witch hat and red high heeled shoes. I didn’t wish to keep on lying to this girl, even if right now she’s a stranger to me, to Leon she must’ve been a friend.

“Can I tell you something?”

She stopped studying the book that was in front of her and devoted her full attention to what I had to say:

“S-sure, what is this about, Leon?”

“Now what I am going to tell you; you must keep to yourself and not tell a single soul”

“Huh, what’s that?” She had asked, her eyebrows raised.

“Just up till about a few minutes ago, I was in another world”

Her face looked confused but then she had started to laugh a bit,
“W-wait, are you being serious?”

I nodded, wondering if she would believe me after all.

“Let’s say I believe you. What then?”

“If you believe me and what I am saying to be true, then I can tell you all about the other world so that you can know that I am not lying or making all of this stuff up”

“Hmm, this is unlike you, maybe you are telling the truth”

“So, you’re saying that you aren’t actually Leon, but you somehow are in his body?”

“Yeah, that’s pretty much it—and unless I can find out what’s my purpose to be in this world, I probably can’t return to my world anytime soon”

“I believe you”

“But whether I believe you or not it doesn’t make much of a difference because both of us have been sent here to this place in order to prove ourselves worthy of our family names”
“What do you mean?” I had asked.

“We both were exiled by our families—such is the fate of those who haven’t manifested magical ability yet”

“I take it you don’t remember my name—it’s Elisa”

“Could that mean that you’re a—"