Tall grass. A shifting breeze. And silence, besides that.

Gray stood there for a bit, wondering what he should do. "Eliza really just left me here like that?"

Granted, it was important...

Gray was just a feeble mere mortal in comparison to Eliza who... now that he was thinking about it, either wasn't entirely human, or a human who had superhuman powers.

Both were... mildly terrifying options to consider.

But Gray just boxed up those emotions and thoughts into a small compartment in his head and focused on what he should do in the meantime. "Let's see..."

The sun was sinking in the horizon now. The sky was starting to turn purple as night drew close...

If Gray was being honest, it was kind of terrifying. While the grasslands seemed peaceful during the day, and while he hadn't seen any sorts of animals earlier going around with Eliza... that didn't mean there weren't any.

Plus, if this really was a different world... No, an 'isekai' like John would call it. Then...

"Monsters... are probably a thing here, right?"

Magic was real. So odds were high that monsters were too. After all, Eliza had mentioned being sold to 'adventurers.' Which meant that there were people who 'adventured'... which implied a sort of RPG setting.

Maybe? Gray didn't know, but he knew that he would rather not find out by facing a monster himself. Still, now that he had that thought, he couldn't help but feel paranoid.

The shifting tall grass suddenly seemed like it was hiding wicked monsters and dangerous enemies...

"Calm down." Gray muttered to himself to cut through those thoughts. "Nothing will happen. For now... let's just take inventory."

Standing around was pointless.

Gray didn't know how long Eliza would be gone, so running around was dangerous. But just wasting time standing wasn't good either. "...Should I see if everything's still working?"

His laptop bag, his laptop, his cellphone, a notebook, and some pencils.

That was what Gray had on him. Well, other than his clothes. But since he had time, he should check to see if his laptop was okay at least. "Let's see..."

Despite the crazy mess Gray had gone through, a quick check inside the bag showed that his laptop was perfectly fine. Unscratched, uncracked, undented... and perfectly operational.

Other than the fact that it had 10% battery life left since Gray had been planning to charge it when he got there.

"Hah... of course." Gray sighed and checked the bag again. Then he realized that he had forgotten his charger anyway, so it was pointless. Just one of those days...

Surprisingly, the pencils and notebook were destroyed.

"Huh." Gray blinked as he stared at the mess of paper confetti and wooden shrapnel at the bottom of his laptop bag. "Weird."

All things considered, the laptop was what should have been broken apart.

After all, Gray 'did' fall through a floor or two in that building. For the impact to somehow ruin the paper and pencils and not the laptop though... "Really weird. But then again." He let out an exasperated laugh. "What isn't about this whole situation?"

At least the stuff could be used as fire started for whenever Eliza got back.

Gray sighed and then decided to sit down. Pulling out his phone, he muttered, "I should see if there's anything else I can't remember or say."

There were gaps. Not in his memory, but in his ability to 'recall' and 'communicate' certain parts of his past.

So Gray needed to figure out what the limits of that were. "Let's see..." He opened up a word processor app and then started typing.

First, his family. He had a mother and a father. Both super strict and with heavy expectations. A younger brother who was more than just a bit of a weeb. A younger sister on the way if all things went well...

But other than that...

"Blank?" Gray frowned. "No, I just can't type it." He could still recall the details in his head. But when he tried to verbalize them, put it into words... he couldn't.

Gray's frown deepened and he changed tactics, writing down other things.

He remembered how long he had been in university (four years now), what he was studying (computer science and advanced encryption), and what he wanted to do as a career (computer algorithms analyst).

But Gray couldn't remember any details.

Names, descriptions... if it was in the general sense, description was possible. But almost as if names were taboo, trying to say them, write them, or even think about them...

It just made Gray's thoughts freeze. No, it felt like 'something' scrubbed it away, leaving just static.

Honestly? Enough to give more than a healthy dose of existential dread.

But Gray boxed those thoughts and emotions away like always and slipped his phone into his pocket. "Just what did I get myself into...?"

This was insane. Literally something out of fiction.

But it was reality now. Gray's reality. And one that he definitely wasn't prepared to handle. After all, unlike his brother, Gray was just a normal person. Sure he had watched a bit of anime every now and then and played a few RPGs... but that had mostly been because of 'her.' She had adored them, so Gray had gone along with her interests.

But as for Gray himself...

Gray ran his hand through his hair and sighed. "Come on, man. Get it together."

This was a crazy situation, yes. But it was reality.

Gray couldn't be wasting time on 'what if' and 'why me.' He had to make sure he stayed alive. Because he couldn't die. He wasn't allowed to. So-

A faint rustling in the grass nearby.

Gray blinked and looked over. "Eliza? Back already?" He stood up and said, "What did you find-"

*boing*

Gray froze. A quick flash of realization and horror. 'Not Eliza. A monster.'

A flash of green shot out from the grass.

Gray dove to the side, instinctively swinging at the green blur with his bag.

*boing*

A sound like a rubber ball bouncing around echoed. And shortly after, the sound of something sizzling.

Gray scrambled to his feet and held his laptop bag in front of him like a shield, cautiously checking what had pounced at him. And when he saw it... "Huh?"

It was cute. A small, basketball-sized blob of green goo. It had small black eyes and a wide silly smile. Something so adorable that you would want to walk up and hug it.

But Gray remained frozen still, feeling nothing but fear. Because he could see it.

At the bottom of that green blob, the grass was slowly dissolving with a hissing sound.

'Acid...? A sentient blob of acid? Wait, no. If this is like an anime or RPG world, then...'

A slime. That was the monster sitting there. The creature staring with a deceptive cute smile and face.

Gray gulped. 'Slimes are supposed to be weak, aren't they? So weak you could like kick it and blast it apart? No one said they were made of acid...!'

Trying to punch or kick that ball of green acid...

Yeah, Gray wasn't stupid. But this also confirmed something for him.

This world definitely wasn't a game. And thinking it was would just result in death.

After all, if Gray had tried to punch that right now instead of hitting it with his bag... No. Better to not think about it. But... 'What do I do now?'

Eliza wasn't around.

And Gray was alone.

Running was no good.

In the growing night, it would just lead to Gray getting lost... or worse, encountering MORE monsters.

Call out for help?

Maybe if Gray did, Eliza could hear him. It was a longshot, but it was an option. Except... something was telling him that would be dangerous. That if he did, he might find himself in more trouble than just this slime.

So that just left fighting.

One problem. Gray sucked at it. Not only that... 'How do I fight something that will eat through my flesh if I just touch it?!'

The slime jiggled, its emerald goo body shining with the fading sunlight.

Gray gulped. Then he remembered. 'Wait.' He quickly glanced down at his laptop bag and realized. 'This didn't melt.'

The slime was acidic. But that acid didn't eat through the laptop bag. And the reason was...

'This thing is polyester!'

Although it felt like fabric, the laptop bag was actually 100% reinforced polyester. Technically plastic. That was why it hadn't melted at all.

'Maybe.' Gray wasn't sure if that was the exact reason, but he knew that he wasn't defenseless. He straightened himself and swallowed, then shifted the laptop bag off his shoulder. He held onto the handles at the top and took a breath, carefully watching the slime. 'One shot.'

The slime was just a blob of acid and goo. If it got hit with one good blow, it would split apart.

Gray was sure of it. So... 'Let's go, Slime.'