The small black pot holds simmering stew enough to eat for two meals. The aroma permeates around the small straw hut, mixing with the smoke from the burnt firewood and reaching all corners of the small room.
I grin happily when the sweet smell of potato stew enter my nostrils as I stir the pot with a large wooden spoon. Bits of colourful root vegetables bob up and down the surface.
“It’s a good day for stew hehe.”
Salivating ungracefully, I put down the pot from the stove and placed it on the table.
Dinner~ Is~ Served~
“Ah right— my bread”
I stand up and turn around to reach the counter for some stale bread I managed to get cheap yesterday, but I can’t even take a step before an episode of dizziness hit me.
Feeling my consciousness gradually departing my body and waving me goodbye with a smile, I swore inwardly.
FUCK, I WANT TO EAT MY POTATO STEW!
><><><><><><
My eyelids are closed shut and my body feels heavy. I'm lying on a hard surface and there's suffocating smell of smoke.
Cough cough cough
Fire?
Wait nononono— I can’t die just yet. Who the fuck kills their main character in the first chapter of the story? [A/N: Literally every isekai story]
When I sit up and blink my eyes, I wake up to the same room inside the same small hut I was in just before I fainted.
What happened?
Covering my nose and mouth, I quickly reach to open the windows and air the room of smoke.
“It must have been carbon monoxide poisoning. Really, which dumb person cook with firewood in a closed room?”
Me. I'm that dumb person.
That was me before I knew cooking in an enclosed area isn't the smartest move.
Wait, carbon monoxide? What is that?
A sudden rush of memories fill my head like pouring water into a glass.
The memories show a 30 year old working woman in a country called Japan, she was classified a ‘corporate slave’ in that era, only working day in and out with little time for herself. She was a closet otaku and her only solace from her depressing life was reading light novels, mangas, watching series of anime and playing otome games.
Then she died from over-exhaustion.
With that said, the current situation is very familiar something I saw in that woman’s memories. It’s a very generic isekai trope.
“I reincarnated in a different world~~~” genre
That means the memories I saw was my previous life.
Not that I'll start suddenly switching personalities. I’ve been born in this country, lived in this world for 15 years as “Tina”. (Yes, that’s my name.)
I’m not going to have an identity disorder. I’m me, the past life is already gone and I’m going to live in the present.
And that’s how I came to realise, I'm in a fantasy story world.
Not that I remember my past life reading THIS or THAT book, rather there were too many books with plots completely wiped out of my memory once I’m done reading.
Even if I’m not sure about the particular novel, I’m sure this is a made-up fantasy world.
How, you say?
Leaving the potato stew which is now disappointingly cold after being left for the night, if I look out the window right now—
It's morning, the sun brilliantly shines down over the small huts squeezed closely together at the edge of the town. Further away, there are a few stone and wooden buildings. The living conditions improve as you walk towards the centre of the town. It’s a populous town located near the Duke’s castle, trade is affluent and travellers frequent for visits.
Now, if you see over the busy crowd from outside the window, you’ll see a traffic of people moving about. A majority of them are commoners, they are all brown-haired and brown-eyed.They all wear normal clothes and have varying normal physique you'd expect a normal person to have. Like the default characters when you press start on a new game. The faces are a bit blurry because they have no distinguishing features.
If I look at one person now and was asked to pick that same person from the crowd five minutes later, I wouldn’t be able to.
I’m the same, perfectly brown hair and eyes, no pretty features. If someone had to describe the word “average” they might as well pull me and let myself be the perfect example of “mediocre”.
In that mob of exemplary NORMAL people, I would occasionally find particularly odd-looking people in the midst of chaotic crowd (this happened every few months in the past) - rather, it was strange I never stopped to question their appearance before I regain my memories.
"Odd-looking" because they have the most colourful fucking hair I’ve ever seen.
And you have to trust me to believe it’s all NATURAL - as in, their hair comes out of their roots PURPLE. Or GREEN. Or BLUE. Or RED. You get my point.
Actually, there’s one outside right now. Look at him, you can almost imagine roses drawn in the background with all those sparkly effect. Glaring red hair, a perfectly chiselled jawline, fine eyebrows, a confident look in his eyes - his face is a 10/10 masterpiece.
Now we’ll move on to describing his body - tall, broad shoulders, long legs, muscular but not bulky. The way he moves and carry himself exudes this aura saying “LOOK AT ME I’M AN IMPORTANT CHARACTER”
Ugh, what an attention-seeking man.
Anyway, I realise that in most stories, reincarnators have the story revolve around them whether they want to or not. This always happen despite saying “Nooo~ I’ll stay away from the story~~”
That is, ultimately because they’re DUMB. How do you expect to escape from the story while you generously sink you feet in the plot, dabble with all sorts of main characters and do things that make you stand out?
Obviously, I want to continue living my easy-going life.
I’m not the richest person as of right now, but I’m affording a small hut for myself while supporting myself with farming and sewing. This was already a big progress when you think of how women have a hard time supporting themselves with gender inequality in medieval times.
I don’t want to continuously have to worry about when I’ll die.
I don’t want to meet with a prince - or any royalty for that matter.
I don’t want to get involved in some bullshit drama which is not drama (Your lover doesn’t love you back? Ooh cry me a river, why don’t you?)
And to pursue such ideals, I need to pursue the life of a mob character.
This is how you live a life of mob.
I've long been a fan of the original host retaining their identity and control vs the body snatcher, homeground advantage should be dominant, however we know assimilation can dig deep, how certain influences, knowledge, experience etc can alter your perception of everything, what was she like before Pandora's box opened? Much like Eve upon eating an apple, your world view just got exponentially larger.
Would a 15 yr old be able to dominate a 30 yr old? Or will it be a harmonious Googlepediatube balance of only taking what you need without investing to heavily in anything weighty? By that I mean, can the original use the memories of the other like Google?
But what if the 30 yr old was a swinger, drug addict, involved in charity, serial killer, a person with a strong sense of self, would the 15 year old be able to separate themselves from that background noise that easily? Can they guarantee the thing they like is their true preference or that snatchers? Are they moving along a certain pathway because they want to or is it that other person directing the show...it's interesting to wonder.
It's more like watching a television about the life of that woman. And it'd be the same long argument of if violent games/movies really affect one's character.
@yam.laure but a person's memory comes with all the trimmings, a total sensory explosion, let's say alcohol is your poison, you might subconsciously hunger for a glass of 5 because you liked it after dinner etc or you really enjoy singing etc you can be influenced. Do you act at home the way you act at work? are you the same in front of family VS friends?
"Odd-looking" because they have the most colourful fucking hair I’ve ever seen.
I knew it!!!
Oh my god, thank you. Finally a story that sticks to what it promises. No cliche romance ftw!
rather there were too many books with plots completely wiped out of my memory once I’m done reading.
agreed
Why japanese? I think that one should write about what he/she knows. Asiatic authors write in a pretty different way than most, and even amongst them there are differences (from the writing style one can easily discern a japanese novel from a korean o chinese one).
If one have not lived in Japan for a few years it would be better not write about a japanese MC.
Hiya~ ok I'm going to tag this spoiler cuz the comment got way too long.
Making her Japanese was my noob mistake because I wrote this on a whim (but I can't fix this anymore so just gonna have to let it go ❄). My thought when I came up with 'Japanese' is that the isekai genre is saturated with Japanese light novels, mangas and anime. (But yes there are Chinese and Korean ones in the mix too.) Hope you don't think too much of it since her Japanese nationality doesn't play much role in the rest of the story. Moreso because she doesn't let her past life affect her personality.
PURPLE. Or GREEN. Or BLUE. Or RED. You get my point.
You've never seen someone with red hair? I know what you mean, but like...lmao
Will there be a cliche of death by snusnu?
Thank you for the chapter.<3
That AN totally sold me in! Let's read more chaos!
nice.