Kazuki Arata long considered himself quite the expert when it comes to fantasy. Having spent hours on end on anime and video games has familiarized him with unknown worlds like the one he now finds himself in.
However, nothing could have prepared him for this. For once, he found himself in a fan's wildest dream... or his worst nightmare. Reality is harsh, and it's not every day that you end up with powers that would subject you to the envy of geeks worldwide.
What the Hell? I did not sign up for this!
Kazuki's eyes frantically surveyed his surroundings which looked nothing close to the Aria Alley that he was in mere minutes ago.
Gone were the neon lights, the tight passages, and the numerous bustling restaurants.
His eyes now lay sight on rock formations and broken-down buildings scattered all around as well as this granite tower that stuck out and extended skyward.
The desolated appearance of the place is further amplified by the sky: not a clear blue or a calm black, but scarlet. Like blood.
By all means, the place looks like one of those ancient cities that often show up in movies and TV shows, those that often hid treasures and dangers.
He felt that something was bothering him.
He wished to never hear those sounds again, and he hastened his pace and broke off into a run past the supposed streets of the city ruins.
Eventually, his feet stopped their frenzied run. This brought him to a stop in front of a corner between two towering structures. Seeing a window on one of the rocky structures, Kazuki nimbly jumped and rolled down inside the structure nearest him.
He still cannot believe what he saw. Moments ago, he saw horrors that should not exist in this world. Thinking about those things, Kazuki felt himself shudder a bit.
He scrambled for thoughts, but none really made sense. For now, the danger dissipated, and he had more time to collect himself.
This is something that could only make sense if he were in a work of fiction. Recalling all the things that he spent time reading and watching, Kazuki drew blanks except for one thing.
"Did I somehow die and get reincarnated in another world?"
Left pondering that question, Kazuki reached into his pocket. Feeling his smartphone and his wallet there and the fact that he is still in his school uniform opens the possibility that it was not the case.
Predictably, nothing special happened when he flicked his fingers together or tried drawing a magic circle in the air.
"No powers, too..."
"Trucks cannot fit in Aria Alley's small passages, and I did not get struck by lightning, so those methods of getting waltzed into a fantasy world are out of the question," mulled the teen.
The daily life of being an ordinary high school sophomore certainly feels a lot better than this. What started out as a rather innocent investigation had taken a turn for the worse.
"Regardless, I have to get out of here quick."
He spoke with urgency as his nose continued getting assaulted by the smell of sulfur and smog. Ever since finding himself in this world, those stenches have not subsided one bit.
He had hoped that he would eventually desensitize himself, but it's not getting any better.
Finally getting up after the momentary break, he walked carefully and leaned against a dilapidated door several meters away from the window from which he entered. Placing his ear against the door, he confirmed that the place had gone quiet.
Seconds after the door let off a creaking sound, another unwelcome sound entered Kazuki's ears – the same growls and screeches that had trailed him for so long.
"Ah crap!"
They have been waiting. He could not determine where they were coming from exactly, but he knew that he had one way to go: forward, through the narrow roads and empty streets of the ruined city.
Wasting no time, Kazuki once again broke off into a run, his medium-length hair and bangs swaying as he ran full speed ahead.
He did not have a direction in mind, but the first thing he needed to do in order to regroup would be to get away from the immediate danger.
Strangely enough, the growling did not follow Kazuki after he went through the fourth corner in this labyrinth of a city.
He mostly focused on running, yet part of him cannot help but recall the events that led to this situation.
Kazuki's run through the city continued for what seemed like ages to the teen. Shuffling past the buildings and heading straight for the skyward tower that looked so far away, he felt himself slowly running low on stamina as he approached a clearing.
Then, his feet reflexively came to a screeching halt.
Surprised, Kazuki Arata's eyes widened at what stood in front of him.
A shadow towered over him just as he fell on his back out of reflex.
"You gotta be kidding me."
A loud screech followed as his mind replayed the events that occurred just hours ago. The saying goes that curiosity killed the cat.
Who knew that such a truth would have taken such a cruel form at this point in time?
Truck-kun can't get you in an alleyway? Sounds like a challenge!
Challenge accepted?
@EternalSunset0 It would be a very skinny truck-kun.
Truck-kun strikes again. Nice style and grammar. The read is a breeze.
well, nice story plot.
Good chapter. Nice ending. for sure. Good writing.
Thank you. Hope you enjoy the series.
@EternalSunset0
Wow! A awesome start I feel sorry for the heros when they end up in a scary place like this With nothing like their real life
well-detailed description of background and scenes reminds me of western fiction and novels instead of normal web novels which tends to focus on character dialogue and interaction. as someone who read through walls of isekai WNs with MTL'd English text / forced translations that's barely edited, good English is a breath of fresh air again
well it's still too early to judge since this is still just the prologue and only one character is introduced
relying on standard tropes ( or 'as promised' = yakusoku as the japanese says) can be a double-edged sword. the 'isekai summoning', truck-kun, and the likes can get the readers familiar with the genre up to speed as to what's going on but it can shy away viewers who aren't familiar with the tropes.
so far everything looks good but except for the fact that "those sounds" were never explained before they were mentioned (and it's only mentioned a little later in the text, so it doesn't make much sense in terms of grammar)
Thanks for the feedback!
Yep. The work is intentionally trope-y because I'm specifically targeting a specific audience. My personal goal is to make something that would look right in place alongside other LNs with the storytelling style, the character archetypes, and such. Such is my goal, to make something very similar to a Frankenstein of the shows that I liked but with varying executions and blending of plot points.
Yeah, I did feel that I wrote too detailed for the genre though. I guess it's part of making up for my weakness with thinking of dialogue, or unique ones, specifically.
Thanks for the feedback with "those sounds."
Truly a very unique twist on a Iseiki has begun here, honestly when you mentioned the part about the truck not being able to fit all I could imagine was a personified pickup trying hard to squeeze past so that it could fulfil its duty to fate! :D
It's actually not an Isekai despite it looking like such haha. I get that a lot though, and I can see why
@EternalSunset0 Oh well, then I really can’t wait to see how the tables get turned, admittedly I’ve omit gotten to the first chapter so far so that was a mere first impression
@MorganLionheart All cool. The setting's actually somewhat more similar to what you have in your story than an actual Isekai.