My name is Kayo, Aonaki Kayo, and I’m an otaku. This means that I’ve played thousands and thousands of games in my free time for the eighteen years of my life – it’s what I love doing the most, after all. My life was completely normal, I didn’t have many friends at school and was trapped by that demonic creation every day, but after coming back home I’d be free to do whatever I wanted. I didn’t even have bad grades, which is surprising to say the least.

Why am I using past tense, you ask? That’s because last week I had a fever. It was supposed to be just fine in two days or so, so I didn’t go to the doctor. Maybe that was my mistake, because just one week after I’m lying in a hospital, close to death. It is my bad for underestimating it, but I’m not sad.

I live alone, there’s no one in this world that really cares about me, so being alive is just the same as being dead, really. I won’t have time to regret the games I haven’t played yet so far, because I won’t be in this world. Or well, if I’m lucky enough I’ll even be reincarnated into some fantasy world where I’ll be a knight or mage or well, whatever fits, and enjoy another life.

As if…

I close my eyes.

And then reopen them, and I’m in a completely different place.

“Where the Hell am I?” I scream to myself and ask, but I can’t even hear my own voice. “Wait…” I say to myself as I open my eyes again and focus on what I’m seeing.

Blue, blue, blue.

“I’m drowning!” Suddenly I realize and start to move my arms desperately, trying to overcome the water suffocating me. Luckily, I’m not that much of an idiot, I do know how to swim and in around three seconds I’m on the surface.

“Uuuh!” I breathe finally as my head pops up from the shore of some river I’ve never seen, then while breathing heavily and trying to calm down I look around me and focus my attention on where I am.

“Did I really just reincarnate?” I ask myself hopefully as I look at the beautiful view I’ve never seen before. Purple trees, a beautiful river between plains and a forest, everything cloaked in the beautiful green of some tall grass and the flowers that dance around me.

“Either that or I’m on some pretty strong drugs.” I conclude as I finally get out of the water. I’ve prepared for many years just in case I got reincarnated, so I have half an idea for what I should do. Let’s look at my reflection in the water… I want to see if I changed my appearance.

I nod in confirmation as I’m definitely not the person I see, but there’s not much of a change. I used to be unbelievably skinny, almost anorexic. And so am I right now, I notice by looking at my hands and legs. But this body has probably been starved or something, this is barely healthy.

Then I look at my face – it used to be somewhat rougher in my previous life, now I have a girl-like appearance, even as a man. My countenance is very soft and cute, like an antelope I guess. My hair is now blonde or light brown, while my brown eyes have been turned to green.

“Sure, it’s not the worst. But I doubt this body can survive for a day or so…” I say to myself, looking at the desperate condition it was in. “I’m probably fourteen or something… that’s a farmer’s hat on me, hmm?” Oh, there we are! I understood what the situation is like, I think.

This is probably the young son of a farmer wearing a pretty unaesthetic straw hat who, while working to keep himself useful for his family fell into this river and died.

“Well, if I could talk to the body’s owner for the last time… then maybe I could fulfill his wishes. After all, I’m taking his body. I hope he gets reincarnated as well.” I say to myself, shedding a tear for the soul that has been lost. I don’t want to be too emotional, but I also want to be thankful to this person. They allowed me to use their body, willingly or not, while there’s a chance they won’t have another one… or well, who knows. Not me, at school they told me reincarnation wasn’t a thing.

“But why do I look so anorexic… oh, maybe it’s poverty?” I continue thinking about my situation. “Well, the obvious choice here is to follow the cobblestone path that leads to this river and see what’s up. Maybe I can meet this guy’s dad… that wouldn’t be amazing though. He’d probably want me to stay here, but I want to explore this world…”

Then I arrived at a focal point in my head. “IS THERE EVEN MAGIC IN THIS WORLD?!” I screamed to myself with horror as I arrived to this realization. Who even says this is not like Earth? Maybe it’s just the same boring magic-less, level-less world… I wouldn’t be able to know if I don’t ask anyone. So, I guess my only choice can be to follow the path.

As I reminded myself what to do, I also looked in amazement at how beautiful the natural scenery was.

I had thought those things with courage, but at the time I didn’t really understand just how far this river was from any land where I could find people. I had to walk, walk and walk for one hour to finally meet the end of the path, which led to a fancy-looking village. “Why did the previous owner of the body choose to walk this much…”

The biggest insult to me was the fact that at the end of the path there was another river. “You chose… to walk… this much… when there was one where you came from?!” I couldn’t understand and my mind struggled while watching the normal-looking humans sitting by the river and washing their clothes or having a bath.

“Maybe he didn’t come from this way, I suppose.”

Setting those thoughts aside, it’s time to do something that my timid nature usually refuses completely: talk to a stranger to know information that is probably basic in this world. How’s a person going to react to a question such as “Is there magic in this world?” If there’s magic, they’re going to think I’m an idiot for not knowing, if there isn’t they’re going to think I’m an idiot nonetheless. Will Japanese even be fine to talk to them? Well, in most Isekais it is.

But before I could make my way to one of the people sitting by the river’s shore, another person stops me from the back with his hand, then starts to talk using a very fluent Japanese.

“Neisa… you’ve come back. Everyone was worried about you.” The person said. As I looked in his eyes I could see many unusual things. This person has a felt hat but this climate is incredibly hot? This person has just one eye, and the other is a glass eye? This person has a smirk on his face while saying those things? In general, he looks like an old man with gray hair, but his arms and legs were muscular.

“Of course, I’m joking. Did you really believe that?” The man started laughing.

“We thought you wouldn’t be back. You’ve got guts, kid.” He then said. “No one in their right mind would stay in this village and accept Count Vinegar’s duel, so I guess you are not courageous, just an idiot. If I can suggest, just leave him your field… I don’t want to see a lot of blood being shed, okay?” Then he starts walking away, leaving me completely confused.

“The hell has this guy done?” I just ask myself and face palm.

But before I can ask more questions to the old man that seems to be leaving with the slowest walk ever, another person stops me… by hugging me in the back?

As I look behind me I notice it’s a girl. Ironically, she has the same straw hat I have, orange-colored short hair and a determined look on her face. Her eyes are closed as she keeps me in place via hug, hurting my frail body.

“Neisa, I can’t believe you’re back! I thought you had decided to leave the village for good, I couldn’t bear that… *sigh*” As the girl starts crying and looks happy, she meets my confused face and her expression instantly fades. It’s my time to explain myself.

“You probably wouldn’t believe it, but I think I hit my head. I don’t remember… anything. Who are you?” Let’s go with this, maybe it works. I can’t say I’ve been reincarnated, after all – first Isekai unwritten rule, isn’t it? This will also make it easier for me to ask obvious questions.

But the face of the girl that was so happy just a moment ago immediately turns into despair. She looks beyond sad as she sees no trace of irony in my words, but immediately she starts talking while repressing her feelings.

“Y-you remember my name, right?” She says with a look of preoccupation. But my answer would have to be peremptory in this situation. “Sorry, no. Who are you?” I say as I try to keep my calm.

“You’re joking, right? It’s not funny, Neisa… I understand you might want to deny reality but—“

“Please. I don’t know if I have much time, I’ll probably regain memories in a bit, but I need to know what they’re talking about. Who’s that old man, who are you, who’s Count Vinegar, what’s going on? Can I use magic?” These are all of the questions I need answers for, now to pray she takes me seriously.

Luckily, from the look in her eyes complete seriousness was back in her expression as she accepted how things were and tried to help me. It probably had much to do with me saying that my memories would come back, I suppose. She’ll cry a lot more later, then, because I can’t be the previous owner anymore.

“I don’t know what to do…” Suddenly the girl cried out, then regained her composure and started talking again. It’s clear she’s trying to be mature in a situation that never happened to her. “Two months ago, this village, the one you work in as a farmer, if you at least remember that, was overtaken by the noble family of the Vinegars, who now own this territory. Because the farmers wouldn’t allow the new taxes coming from the Vinegar family, Count Vinegar decided to duel every farmer that would’ve not accepted willingly his taxes.” I nod at that information, realizing this is some sort of feudal system.

“The only person who didn’t accept the taxes was you, because your field is barely big enough to keep yourself satiated.” She explained again, making me nod. “Because he’s so superior to you in a duel, everyone thought you would’ve run from this place and become a criminal. So did I when you didn’t show up today. I felt so sorry because I don’t have enough food from my family’s farm to help you…” She says again with a look of remorse in her eyes, it was clear that this person cared for Neisa more than expected. They were close, like brother and sister, that was my guess.

“Where’s my family? Can they help me?” I immediately asked, but that question shocked the girl in front of me as her green eyes were open wide. “Well, your family, they’re… you’re an orphan, Neisa.” She tried to explain in the clearest way possible expecting some sort of reaction, but I knew I couldn’t really fake the sadness a child would’ve had by knowing his family was dead.

“Oh…” I just say, lost in space with my view. “I didn’t think you were really at square one, sorry.” The girl seems to be much more pessimistic over my conditions now, as she finishes to explain: “my name is Sophia and I am your best friend. The man you met right there is a noble working under the Vinegars. I’m sorry it had to be like this, I think it’s better to run now. If you don’t remember anything, at least you won’t die…” Sophia says. She is right – in a duel I can’t see the previous owner of the body, probably because of the starvation caused by his measly means of getting food, beating anyone, not even Sophia who looks healthy.

But there’s still a chance. “Is it a physical or magical duel?” That’s my next question, along with a sliver of hope. If it’s magic… maybe I can win.

“Magical… he said he doesn’t want to get his clothes dirty with your blood.” The last words said by Sophia managed to send a chill down my spine.

For two reasons actually.

The first one is obvious; this person looks like the Devil incarnate and he wants to show me I’ve disrespected him and that the price for that is death. Probably, even if I give up my field there’s no chance he leaves me alone.

The second one is that there’s magic in this world. Let’s go! Are there levels too?

“Is there a way to see my magic?” I asked, but Sophia’s face became difficult to read once again.

“I’m sorry but, you can’t use any magic. You never could, since birth.”

Well, it’s doomed.

-=-

From what I learned, this world doesn’t have levels. It doesn’t have classes. It’s no MMORPG. There’s just magic, which seems to be hereditary, most people can use it but not everyone can use it at the same level, and it’s mostly used to oppress the masses.

But honestly, that just looks like bait, doesn’t it? What kind of world would be like this?

So, after knowing that my duel against Vinegar is tomorrow, I became a conspiracy theorist.

After all, what are the chances that the masses, who are mostly ignorant, don’t know about the class system, so they can’t use their classes and level up? Left with an ounce of magic knowledge, they think they’re just inferior by birth. Maybe that’s not the truth – that’s my belief. Maybe I’m just an idiot but there’s one way to find out.

What I know from MMORPGs is that one of the most important qualities that they have is to quantify the world. What am I talking about? I’m saying that everything has a set number of HP (Health points), meaning that their life is reduced to a bunch of numbers. Experience is made up by a bunch of numbers and so on. Such a system removes chaos and helps make the game regular. And if there’s something I learnt from watching Sophia perform magic while trying to teach it to me and failing miserably is that her magic is extremely regular.

If she shoots out a fireball, it’ll always burn the same space. She told me she always needs exactly two fireballs to burn a monster alive and so on. Most importantly, there’s no spell limit, yet everyone learns the same spells. Why? Maybe because there’s a system that’s being hidden? That’s what I think.

And there’s just one way to figure it out. So, late at night in the village, without having slept at all because I had no clue where my house was, I decided to leave the village and attempt to choose my class. In some MMORPGs you’re locked at level one until you select your class, maybe that’s the case? It would explain why, despite Sophia using her spells multiple times, the fireball never got stronger or faster, or anything more really.

So where am I headed? Naturally, to Count Vinegar’s palace.

No, I don’t have a death wish. Don’t say that. But I feel like it’s the place where I’ll find the most answers. After all, my experience in games tells me that you either choose your class when you’re born or with an item. In some games it’s at the Church, but the Church is public and the villagers still don’t have any skill in magic despite having to fight small monsters that attack their crops every day. As such, I think the only private place where farmers can’t go is indeed a noble’s house.

How do I get in? Not as a maid, that’s for sure. But as I reach the place that looks like Dracula’s Palace in the middle of the night but standing in the grass and purple plains instead of a rocky mountain, I immediately have an idea in mind.

I’ll get through a tree while everyone is sleeping.

I do have a death wish, maybe.