A Thousand Miles Away

As the story unfolds further, here I am—sitting in an interview room with the journalist interviewer who seems just as interested in my story as they are in me. Because, let's be honest—I am the interesting part.

"So, what happens after? Are there any side effects from coming to this world, Mr. Nakagawa? Do you still have the same intent you did when you first arrived? Can you give us more details on how you became one of the greatest rulers of the Mother Nature continent in the early 20th century? And how does someone who reportedly despises the concept of heroism end up saving more people than the so-called heroes of the Kingdom of Edan?"

Heh. Such direct and prying questions. But I'll entertain them.

"Well, if you really want an answer, stop dumping all those questions on me in one go."

I light a cigarette.

I woke up in a forest, my head throbbing after being exposed to that blinding light.

"Urgh... Where am I?"

I noticed my brown sweater was missing.

"My sweater. Wait, where is my sweater?! I was wearing a second ago!"

Then, out of nowhere, a portal materialized in front of me. From the portal, Lucey, a character I hadn't expected, suddenly appeared.

"Oh right, I almost forgot," she said with a mischievous grin.

Lucey reached out her hand through the portal and handed me a sack of coins.

"Here ya go <3," she said, seemingly pleased with herself.

I examined the coins she gave me. They came in different variants: gold, silver, and copper, I think? I wasn't well-versed in this kind of stuff.

I couldn't help but wonder, "How much is it worth?"

She explained the basic part to me.

"Well, the sack I gave you is worth around $500 in Earth money. The gold coins are worth $100 each, silver is about $10 per coin, and copper is around $1 per coin. Prices change depending on where you are, but that's the general idea. If you're looking for a place to stay, an inn or a motel will usually cost you around 5 gold per month. So spend your money wisely."

She gave me a sly wink after the simple explanation. (Oh boy.)

"But wait, where am I then? What is this place?"

Seriously, where on Earth am I? Or is this even Earth? This place feels kind of... how should I put it? Dreamy. It feels majestic, like one of those places where you'd watch a sunset on a beach. Hmm, it feels nice. Reminds me of something.

While I was admiring my surroundings (and daydreaming), Lucey was explaining to me where I'm at.

"This is the New World! This place used to be the fiery pits of hell, but it's transformed into a ma-"

I interrupted her lengthy ass speech.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. Say, Where can I find the nearest village?"

She frowned at me with an annoyed face.

"Jeez, fine. If you keep moving in that direction north up here, you'll find a road leading to a town. You can ask the people there for a place to stay. Don't be rude to anyone, and please be careful on your journey."

Wow, I never knew she actually cared for me that much. Well, I can't go back on my word. I'm going on this adventure to unlock its secrets, especially to discover more about myself.

"Alright, sounds simple enough. Oh, right, before I go, where's my brown sweater?"

With a cheerful glint in her eyes...

"Oh right, I'm keeping it for myself, consider it as payment for the sack of coins and the information. Arigato. <3"

...

......

........

OH, HELL FUCK NO!

With a surge of panic coursing through my body, I grabbed her shoulder with an angry expression.

"OH HELL NO BITCH! YOU'D BETTER HAVE YOUR REFUND BACK, BECAUSE YOU BETTER GIVE ME BACK MY SWEATER! GIVE IT BACK!!!"

I kept pushing her insistently.

"Stop it, Nakagawa! I'm getting dizzy..."

"I DON'T GIVE A DAMN ON WHAT YOU DO TO ME, HECK! YOU CAN EVEN ERASE MY MEMORY AGAIN! JUST GIVE IT BACK!"

With a desperate plea, she begged me to let her keep my sweater.

"Please, Nakagawa! Just let me keep the sweater, it's so nice and comfy! Please..."

She looked at me with those goddamn puppy eyes.

Fuck... her cry is cute, I'll give her that.

"Alright, fine. But wait—where the hell am I supposed to get my gear and armor? And how much would it even cost to protect myself? I'm basically defenseless right now. Also, wouldn't I look weird in my current clothes? This is a fantasy world, after all."

She just brushed it off like it was no big deal.

"Oh, don't worry about it. A basic sword isn't that expensive—probably around 3 silver. It's the kind a regular knight would use. But a full set of armor and gear? Now that's where it gets pricey. Depends on what kind of armor you want. Either way, it's a reasonable cost. It's an O.K. cost. ;3"

Alright then. Cheapest gear it is. Simple enough.

"But what about my appearance? Wouldn't I look out of place?"

She coolly dropped what was probably the cruelest info I've heard so far.

"Don't worry. The town is filled with people who look totally unique—different styles, personalities, you name it. Some of them probably ended up in the same predicament as you. So you wouldn't really stand out, I think."

...Oh shit. What the fuck?

"You gotta be kidding me. There's actually people in the same situation as me?!"

"Well, yeah. This is the world of post-hellhole, after all. Plenty of young, clueless teenagers like you—some older, some younger—wanted a world of fantasy, adventure, and quests. So, many of them just decided to stay here, I suppose. So don't worry if your outfit looks weird. They'll just think you're the new guy in town."

Damn. When did hell get this interesting?

"So, they died and got sent here?"

Lucey didn't look comfortable with that question.

"Listen... just don't bring that up, alright? It's a painful topic. And try not to cause trouble with the other adventurers, either."

Huh. Seems simple enough. I like how thoughtful she is sometimes—especially about other people's feelings.

"Alright then, best be on my way. I've got a hell of a lot to do from the ground up!"

She lit up. "That's the spirit! Oh well, I should go too. Don't wanna keep you waiting on your spiritual adventure as a hero~. I'll contact you later to record your progress, okay? Oh, and don't forget to pray for me and always keep shining with that positive energy! Cya ;)"

And just like that, she vanished into thin air. Magic really does look cool.

"Cya..."

After all that madness, I started walking the way Lucey told me to.

Wait...

Where did she tell me to go again? She pointed north, and then... Wait, what did she says after that? Well, this is pretty fucking impractical situation that I am at. But hey, she did say as long as I find a road heading north, so I'm good.

Ah well. I'm going south instead. Let's see what happens, hehe. What's the worst that could happen?

So I went the exact opposite way Lucey told me. After a few minutes of walking south and getting lost a little in the forrest, I actually ended up on a road—just like she said.

"YES! I knew my genius tactic would come in handy. Now, only one problem..."

...I don't know where north and south even are on this road.

"Dammit, Lucey! She didn't even give me a fucking compass! That's probably, like, the most important item I should've asked for!"

Eh. I think I'm supposed to go west now, because I went opposite of where I was told to go. That makes sense, right? Silly me.

Man, I should really try remembering things before I make dumbass decisions. But hey, I'm already here. Might as well commit.

While continuing my journey to the "West"—get it? Hehe—I stumbled upon a group of adventurers. Maybe they can help.

There were four of them. One dude, three girls. They had unique hair colors, full gear, flashy weapons. One girl looked like a mage or a wizard. A total buffet of isekai tropes. Man, I didn't want to talk to them at first—especially since their leader looked full of himself. Meanwhile, I looked like a shady bastard with just a white shirt and black jeans. But screw it.

Don't judge a book by its cover.

"Howdy, everyone. Sorry to interrupt your journey, but can I ask a question?"

The yellow-haired hotshot looked at me with eyes so intense they could probably slice a watermelon clean open.

"Why yes, you can ask the question?"

Straightforward? Nice. I like that.

"Thank you, sir. Could you point me to the nearest town? I seem to be a bit lost."

He suddenly gave me this suspicious-ass look. Like I was either stupid or secretly evil.

"You're not from this area, are you?" he asked, all serious.

The girls started eyeing me like I was sketchy as hell...

"Uhh, yeah."

Geez. Why do they all look like I'm about to steal their wallets or something? I should explain a bit more.

"Oh, uh. Someone told me to go up north and head west. But I got kinda confused trying to navigate the road, and I don't have a compass either. Hehe."

He looked even more suspicious now. Like I just confessed to murder or some shit.

"You do know you're walking south, right? And heading to the eastern part of this area—not west? And there is only one road that leads to the town. Who are you? Answer me."

Uhhhh. Oh boy. This is bad. They're already super suspicious. The girls looked like they were getting ready to wreck me.

One of the girls—pink hair, sword out—shouted, "Tell us who you are, stranger! Now!"

The mage girl looked surprised, frantically grabbing her staff like she was ready to blow me the fuck up.

The older woman with glasses and short blue hair spoke in this elegant voice, "My, my. Looks like we've found ourselves a little spy~"

WOOWWWWW!!!! WHY ARE THEY GETTING READY TO BEAT ME UP?!

"WOW! Calm down! I-I um....."

The yellow hotshot raised his badass Atlanta-looking spear toward me. "Go on?..."

With my scared-shitless handsome face, and both arms up, I squeaked out, "I, um... I.... kinda..."

He shouted, "SPEAK UP NOW!"

"OKAY! I LOST MY MEMORIES!!!"

......

"What?"

"Huh?"

"Excuse me?"

"Pardon?"

The yellow guy and the three girls all spoke at the same time, completely thrown off.

Guud.