Rains pour on the port town, violent winds and crashing waves ring loud in people’s ears. The port town now filled with warriors and mages as it turned into a battlefield, one where power and tactics clashed.

Many ships docked at the port with many soldiers from an unknown land standing by, as near the buildings, the settlements of the locals, are those who came to protect it from these unknown invaders.

Standing out of the crowd was a woman with striking pale green hair, standing stoically amongst the battlefield as time stood still, everyone in that moment considering their course of action in this battle that may have grave consequences on what’s to come.

Slowly one-by-one people around her moved, some started attacking the other side using their superior range with their bows and magic, creating an opening into the ships where many more enemies lies, and that’s when she makes her move, covering far more distance than the rest in the same amount of time, she walked onto the ship filled with enemies, all of them know full well she is a threat with the sword in her hand.

As soon as she made her final step, the mooks started rushing in, all coming at her one by one as she stood there on the gangway by her lonesome while the rest were all preoccupied with enemies of their own.

All of them went down like flies, dodge to the side or back, then retaliate in some strike, repeated over and over until all within that ship died, certainly foolish on the enemies’ behalf, but not unexpected.

Arrows and spells flung across the waters, some able to retaliate, some unable to.

The battle rages on for who knows how long as the last ship sailed into view, many enemies walked onto the mainland. Everyone was already running ragged from making sure these invaders didn't attack any civilians. The sky turned unnaturally red as the scene look ever bleaker

With supporting fire from her allies the green-haired mercenary makes her way onto the last ship, putting her sword away and casting a long range lighting spell towards them.

Despite their best attempt to overpower her through sheer numbers, all of them were defeated with little difficulty, all fried by the spell.

With the end of the slaughter there was only one opponent left. Only her and that last enemy are on that ship.

A strange opponent to be certain, what might look like a heavily armored man that conceal his entire body, is actually something that seems extremely out of place in this setting. A man in a large metal suit with appearance being less of a knight in heavy armor and more akin to something more advanced, something far in the future.

The metal suit stands tall with multiple long jointed arms, and covers the one piloting the suit with no way to see through the dark visor.

Multiple archers and mages boarded the ship to aid their powerful comrade, firing at the metal suit to little effect, but with power in numbers his health slowly whittled down little by little.

The mercenary approached the metallic opponent, rushing in with a clean strike and avoiding the incoming counter attack, then following that up with another attack. Unlike her allies’ attack, she’s able to deal significant damage with each strike, and the final opponent already looks to be on his last leg.

The man in the suit then threw a punch at this powerful hero, but it too was avoided, from that he earned a slash to the side, lowering his health to critical level.

Seeing the final foe on his last leg, the mercenary took a few steps back as she suddenly threw the sword spinning into the air.

She jumped and grabbed onto the sword, falling down onto her opponent and-

*Slash*

 

——————————————

 

Within a small unimpressive house show a man all by himself. He was ordinary, living a simple life with a simple job. Antisocial if a decent man overall, he sits on his couch playing a video game, entertaining himself with its strategic gameplay and well-crafted story, though this time around he was playing a secret level in the game, seemingly disconnected to the plot at large.

“(It’s certainly a strange level. I wonder if any of it means anything to the story at all, maybe someone online will make a long as all hell analysis or something.)” He thought to himself as he shut down the game. Putting his controller down and leaving him with his thoughts. “(Now what? Guess I could talk about the game… But it’s still rather new there’s no way I could talk about it now without spoiling someone… You know what. I’ll just go read some webnovels instead for now.)”

A man with simple needs for entertainment. Just like any other.

He went straight to his computer to read something fun, some fantasy tales, fictional stories of sword and magic, of a different world than the mundane one he is in now. No magic to speak of as far as he is aware, anything mentioning it is probably just hoax or absurd coincidence. The sight of a white-haired girl wielding a giant sword prowling through his neighborhood while leading a gang? People are just seeing things.

After getting some readings done he then went to bed. Still having some days off to himself he looks forward to tomorrow, perhaps replaying the game, going on the forums to talk smack, it would no doubt be a day like any other. He sleeps comfortably in a somewhat luxurious bed with many figures he collected by his shelves, many expensive figures most will be envious of.

*Knock* *Knock*

The next morning after a nice breakfast he heard a knock on his door, a visit he wasn’t expecting to have today. An annoying neighbor? Solicitor? He’ll just have to open the door to find out.

“Ummm…” Instead of those possibilities he found a tall woman in a black suit, the kind you’ll find in things like a spy film.

“You still owe our gang 10,000 dollars. Pay up now or else…” She said in an intimidating tone he wasn’t expecting. He had been given money and expected to repay that debt at some point, it’s how he can collect so many expensive items, but he remembered that it was a white-haired girl that made that deal with him, for generosity's sake even, he thought.

“Sorry but I don’t remember getting a loan from a gang or anything.” He nonchalantly stated, thinking this might be a scam where someone tries to appear dangerous to intimidate money out of people.

“So he really is that clueless huh.” A voice behind the tall woman was heard as she stepped aside to show the generous girl he met not too long ago. Now that he got a good look at her again she certainly looks very out there, white hair aside her eyes are heterochromia with one brown and one green. Her appearance is striking.

“Yeah you’re the one. Sorry but I don’t have that much money on me right now.” He casually said seeing his girl that by his own admission is a bit odd.

“Your order, boss?” The woman in black asked the girl, ready to reach for the gun she kept holstered, while he looked completely oblivious to the possible danger in front of them.

“Haaah… Well we need to make an example one way or another. But we’ll give him one more chance. You have until tomorrow to pay up, or else consider yourself dead.” She said before walking off with her subordinate.

“(…Well that was weird.)” He thought, still thinking it was some weird roleplay or something. “(Well I can’t say I didn’t owe her something least. Maybe I should go to make a withdrawal. There should be an atm near a convenience store here. Might as well stock up on snacks as well)”

And so after dressing himself up properly he traveled to the nearest store, being a small town it doesn’t take long at all, and he first went into the store to check out some snacks, with a few people he recognized there as well.

Unfortunately this day things go a little differently.

“(This day is going real badly!)” He and the other customers were all lined up as a group of robbers take them hostage while they all can hear the police siren outside. Soon enough the situation escalated as the police rushed the building and a shootout began.

*Bang* *Bang* *Bang*

Throughout the chaotic shooting the bystanders all panicked, some cowered, some tried to run, and one was very unlucky.

It wasn’t known who shot him, but in the chaos that he was fatally shot down, a few bullet holes can be seen on his body as blood dripped out and lost his life almost instantaneously.

It wasn’t a day like any other, and it was his last for this life.

 

“(Wha… What happened? Where am I? It’s hard to see…)” When he is brought back to consciousness he finds himself barely able to see and move. Having no idea what’s going on at all.

He can see a few figures at least. Whoever they were they were looking over him in the somewhat dark room. “(Shit am I in a hospital right now? I don’t have enough money to cover that!)”

His assumption was quickly dashed however as soon as he noticed the rather poor state of the room they’re in, as well as the fact that none of them even look like doctors or nurses. He can barely see at this point, but can make out well enough that he knows wherever this is, he is unable to recognize it.

“(Wait… How are they carrying me so easily… No they’re way bigger than me!)” Realizing that he began to panic, thinking that perhaps he has been abducted by giant people or some such. He began to struggle, barely able to move a muscle as is.

As he is being hugged by an unknown woman he starts to gather his thoughts and finally realizes what’s going on.

“(Wait… I’m small! Like a baby!)” He realized. With that realization came another one right after. “(I’ve reincarnated!?)”

And so it was. To his surprise he has a second chance at life, in a world foreign to him. He died in that shootout, but fate has other plans waiting for him.

“(Why does this place look so meh? Am I born dirt poor? Doesn’t sound like much of change then.)” He thought to himself as he got a better look of the room he’s in. It’s small, made out of wood, and seems to be lacking anything resembling modern technology. No lightbulb, no air conditioner, no phones, nothing of the sort.

Seeing as he is a baby, he quickly resigned to letting himself be taken care of, for him going with the flow is the best thing he could do.

Throughout the months of being a useless baby he had used the time to learn more about the people around him. Aside from mother and father he also has two older siblings, one boy and one girl. From what he can understand it’s a pretty damn ordinary home, nothing special about it at all. Much to his chagrin wherever this is it is very archaic. If he were to describe it then it’ll be medieval at least.

A few more months passed and now he’s able to move around a bit, crawling but not quite walking just yet. He is making progress. All the while he starts listening in to what people around him have to say, learning more about the living condition he is in, what his family is like. Luckily for him whatever language they’re speaking it’s not too hard to pick up on.

By the end of the year he is able to walk, with his parents and siblings watching with joy. He’s not sure how to feel since he can walk before, and this is the first time he’s on the receiving end of this and actually aware enough to remember it. “(It’s embarrassing honestly.)”

The few years of growing passed by in a flash. He didn’t exactly have much to do as a baby so he just sleeps and moves around a bit, being taken care of by everyone. Being just a toddler.

Soon he turned five, being able to have a bit more freedom as his family lax their intensive care on him and turned their focus to other matters. Walking freely around the house and seeing just how lacking it is in almost everything he comes to rely on in his previous life, no modern technology exists much to his chagrin, and looking out the windows which allow him to see other houses in the area he can tell they’re of a similar quality to the one he is in. There is nothing outstanding that he could see right now, perhaps if he were to go outside he can, but at the moment his family forbade him from doing so. “(I just need to be patient or whatever. Honestly, will I get to see anything new and exciting in this life? If not it’s all just the same crap in the end.)”

Two years passed by once more like the wind. Now at seven he found himself able to leave the house for a while to explore the village he is in, though the first time he did so his older brother was accompanying him as well.

“(It’s all just a bunch of cheap houses isn’t it? There are people out and about, but I don’t see much of anything else. This place seems real small too.)” He looked around with his brother right behind him. It’s a small huddled community scarcely filled with farms. It was the most typical village he could think of.

“Not much to look at eh? Well can’t blame you for being a little underwhelmed. This is just a rural village far east from where the big wigs are.” His brother casually stated. Much to his chagrin there really is nothing special about this world he now lives in.

“It’s boring.” He muttered at his brother’s comment. From how it seems this is just the mundane world after all.

“There is a large fortress northeast of here I guess, but no one was allowed in as far as we know, probably full of fancy stuff us common folk will never see.” His brother off-handedly mentioned. A bit more interesting but nothing he could work with any time soon.

“What am I supposed to do growing up?” He asked his brother, by this point already seeing all that needed to be seen and on their way back.

“I mean there’s not much of anything to do in this small world of ours. Just farming, tailoring, chopping, hunting, all those labor work to keep this village afloat.” His brother stated in a bored tone.

“(So either try your luck moving out or stay here doing boring manual work for the rest of your life. Yeah, whatever this place is, just ended up being another ordinary world, nothing special about it like in those novels. Just my luck. There’s not even any video games, internet, or anything like those.)” He thought to himself, feeling bummed out by the reality setting in. “(Guess I’ll be back to regular schedule in a few more years…)”

“Now that I think about it, you haven’t got to know other kids your age right?” His brother asked as soon as they reached their house. Pushing his younger brother’s shoulder in a rough if playful manner. “You haven’t really been playing like kids your age either. Just cooped up for the most part. You should go catch some sun sooner or later, cause you're gonna get used to it eventually.”

“Right right.” He said in a somewhat bored tone.

His family wasn’t exactly unaware that he was quite reserved for a kid his age, who tends to be wild and very curious, asking questions about everything. But they simply brushed it off as him being slightly different to other kids and left it at that, never considering any extraordinary conclusion.

On the next day he walked around the village with his sister instead. They were going to go see other kids his age to get him acquainted. “(Isn’t a full-grown man in a kid’s body interacting with kids weird as hell?... I know no one will know but ugh… Just don’t talk too much I guess. Less awkward that way.)”

Where she took him was some sort of playground for kids. There is some playground equipment he can recognize like swings and slides. He is a bit taken aback seeing those familiar equipment. “(Should I be surprised? I mean these aren’t all that advanced or whatever, some people can think of these stuff in their sleep.)”

He can see other kids and their family members as well, thinking to himself that it doesn’t seem all that different to what people do in his previous life, minus the school itself which he is glad isn’t a thing. “(Going to school again sounds like a nightmare.)”

While having to talk to other kids his age he mostly kept to himself and only responded when asked, occasionally getting comments at how much he kept to himself.

“Hey Marko, what do you wanna do growing up? I wanna bash a monster’s head in!” A boy similar in age asked him, introducing himself as Dane earlier.

“(Monsters? Like wolves and bears and all that nonsense? I’m not sure how well that’ll go down.)” Marko thought to himself before responding dryly. “Nothing comes to mind.”

“Well that’s lame. I want a partner or two when I grow up!” Dane said the expected enthusiasm of a child.

“Anyone who wants to go toe-to-toe against monsters has to train rigorously every day. You youngsters need to remember that.” An old lady in red said, her face already full of wrinkles and all pigments in her hair absent. By her side is a girl who is clinging to her like a nervous wreck. “Now now Cece, you need to open up a little.”
“(Light blue hair?)” Marko thought to himself seeing the striking color of the girl’s hair, the one who seems to be about a year or two younger than him. Unusual hair color was heard of in the old world of his. There are many superstitions of what they signaled. Sign of a prodigy? Good or bad omen? Evidence of the supernatural? There are so many tales about it he doesn’t really know what to make of it, but it is interesting at the very least.

“The old spear lady!” Dane exclaimed seeing the old lady approaching them with her granddaughter by her side.

“Spear lady?” Marko muttered, looking at the gentle old lady in front of him.

“Yeah! She was super strong when she wasn’t all wrinkly! She hunts down a dragon all by herself!” Dane enthusiastically answered after hearing Marko’s puzzled tone.

“A dragon?” Marko incredulously repeated. He thought this was just some wild rumor and at best merely a giant lizard.

“Come now boy. Haven’t you heard anything else I’ve done?” And the granny didn’t even deny it, which makes him all the more confused.

“(Maybe she has gone real senile?)” He rudely thought as he witnessed the conversation in front of him.

“What else do you do?” Dane asked while other kids also surrounded them, wanting to listen in on the old veteran’s experience.

“All of you are putting me on the spot dear. But if you insist I can tell some tales from my time as an adventurer.” She said with a tired smile.

“(Adventurer?)” Marko however was more confused at that word, hearing that term a few times all with different meanings, wondering what this one could be about.

“Let’s recount some tales I could still remember shall we?” The granny said, gesturing at the kids to sit down and patiently listen.

 

<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

 

“So this is where a monster stampede is predicted to happen right?” A woman in red armor said, holding her spear firm as her pale cyan hair shines bright in contrast to her sister’s.

“Seems like it. Make sure to leave none alive alright? I’m counting on you while I keep them busy.” Her sister, a dark-haired woman clad in black armor wielding a massive sword and shield in each hand.

“Heh, no need to tell me that Sis.” She replied with a smirk on her face as she twirled about her spear.

Both of them stand ready for the imminent danger that could sweep an entire village clean.

Soon enough they could feel as if the earth was shaking. Sounds of so many footsteps drowning out each other, representing the unrelenting chaos of monsters and their destructive instinct.

“Here they come!” The knight clad in black shouted out, holding her shield in front of her as a hoard of all kinds of monsters ran towards their direction in a frenzy. No one may fully understand why such a large pack of monsters all collectively move together in one destructive unit, but all cared more to prevent their rampage than ponder on what they don’t understand. “[Spotlight Wall]!!!”

Shouting out the name of the technique a large shining wall of light appeared as if to engulf the hoard, shining in many colors to disorientate, confuse and enrage the crowd of monsters, putting their attention on them specifically.

*Sizz*

The greatsword lit up in flames as the shield lady swung it left and right, creating large intimidating walls of flames, creating more hindrance for the monsters, deterring them from spreading out further. “All yours Sis!”

“Heard that loud and clear!” A spear-wielding lady shouted as she leapt into battle, jumping high up into the sky and slams her spear into a large bipedal monster that greatly stands out.

Dodging any incoming attack from the frenzied monsters all the while dealing precise and lethal attacks, she was in the heat of battle, using her superior skills to outwit and respond on-the-fly against the hoard of monsters that were over a hundred.

“[Earth Spikes]!” Her sister in the back shouted out as what looked like spikes of rock protruded out of the ground in rows, piercing through the thick skins of monsters who were all rushing in towards them.

“Thanks for the assist!” She looked back to thank her before leaping over the wall of rocks, throwing her spare spear down as it lit up violently. “[Spear Burst]!”

Throwing the spear down as it lit up in violent red colors, as soon as it hit the ground the area around it imploded, causing a large shockwave that blew many monsters off balance and any caught in its blast radius turned into sludge of blood and gore.

The battle continued on with the spear-wielding lady leading the offensive as the shied lady kept the monster’s attention and provided assistance with attacks of her own.

All before long the herd of dangerous monsters were thinned out until nothing was left. The sisters taking their moment to process this fact collapsed onto the ground in exhaustion.

“Haaaah… Haaah… That’s… the biggest herd we go against ain't it?” The spear lady asked, catching her breath laying on the ground.

“Yep… If that goes any further I don’t think a few scratches will be the last of our problems…” Her sword-wielding sister replied.

“Fucking hell… Can’t a few more people with balls show up?” She complained hearing such a fact.

“They’ll realize eventually that you can't get by without such a glory-or-death scenario.” Her sister casually mentioned, both having to sleep in the dirt and gore with how exhausted they were.

“Well, wouldn't it be nice if they learned that earlier.” She stood up supported by her spear, seeing the clear fields of corpses they created. “Yeah I don’t feel like salvaging all of that.”

“Me neither.” Her sister shakily stood back up as well, looking at their completed objective. Certainly one of the larger spectacles they have caused…

 

“Get back here!” She leaped up and ran along the building walls as she chased down the notorious thief. Both of them played a game of cat and mouse as they ran across the capital, running through everything leaving others confused and terrified at the two speed demon running through all of them without giving pause.

*Grab* *Slam*
“Gotcha!” She shouted out as she finally grabbed onto the thief and slammed her against the stone road, causing it to shatter under the force. The thief screamed out in pain as she felt as if her spine had been shattered to pieces.

*Stab*
“Tch! Annoying little-!” Despite the incredible pain she is in she quickly uses her free arm to grab her knife and stab her pursuer’s wrist, paralyzing her hand and losing her grip on the thief, letting her run away despite heavy injury on her back.

“[Earth Wall]!” Looking back for only a moment the thief casted a spell that caused the ground to rise up, forming a wall to prevent her pursuer from reaching her.

Unfortunately it only slowed her down slightly as she merely jumped over, still having the thief in her sight.

“[Mana Blast]!” Seeing as it didn’t work she opted for a simple magic blast, non-elemental spell that isn’t all too effective, the caster’s power makes it seem more formidable than its entry-level requirement would suggest.

That doesn’t have any effect either as she merely shrugged it off, hardly able to describe the impact as slowing her down.

“Here I thought your sister was the tank!” She remarked seeing how her attack doesn’t even do anything.

“As if that means I’m frail!” The spear lady shouted back, hearing the remark of the thief.

The cat and mouse game continued on and on for what seems like an entire day as both’s stamina were completely spent in the end.

“Haaah… This little chase ends here you tiny little thief.” The spear lady said, panting just like the thief in front of her who can’t even exert enough energy to leap over the building and walls that are preventing her escape, ones that she can traverse through just fine a few hours earlier.

“Like hell it is!” She remains defiant as she brandishes her knife, ready to fight who she knows all too well is a seasoned adventurer with many battles under her belt. She rushes in anyway trying to find an opening.

“Yes it will- Tch!” The lady holding her spear tried to retaliate immediately as she saw the thief rushes over to her right, trying to flank her, her wrist hasn’t completely healed yet however, which leads to it not moving as she would like and causing her to flinch temporarily from the pain.

As the thief tried to stab her waist she quickly rotated her body around to avoid the incoming blow.

*Punch*

“I still have another hand, bitch!” She retaliates by punching the small girl right in the jaw with her left hand. Despite being completely fatigued, a single punch still sent her flying into the wall of the nearby building.

*Smash*

She rushed in, tackling the girl and pinned her right into the wall, with both on the brink of collapse.

*Swish* *Twist*

“Grrr!” Both of them grunted as the thief’s knife presented itself, she tried to retaliate despite being pinned down, the spear lady grabbed onto her wrist which held the knife, both sides struggling to take hold and use the knife to end the conflict, to get what they wanted. It took both of the girl’s hands to match her pursuer’s left hand.

*Punch* *Clang*

Using her right arm with the wounded wrist, she punches her face in which loosens the grip on the knife and drops it to the ground.

Seeing as it’s not enough she also headbutted the girl, knocking her out cold before feeling as if she would see the same fate as well, but keep herself steady as she carried her to the authorities.

 

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

 

“(Magic and monsters? What the hell?)” Marko was preoccupied while the other kids listened in closely and mesmerized by the story told. He was flabbergasted at the stories that were told as if they were fact and not some fantasy.

“Hey hey! Can you show us a magic or two?” One of the kids enthusiastically asked.

“Hmm… I supposed I could, I may lose my edge but I can cast a spell or two.” The granny replied.

*Sizz*

Suddenly a ball of flame appeared in her hand. It's small but no matter how one looks at it there is no trickery here, it is a simple matter of a small flame appearing out of thin air, controlled by the one who created it, not using anything but her own power.

“(Huh!?!?)” While everyone else was impressed at the sight he was completely taken aback, feeling as if his world had been flipped over. “(Does that mean what I think it means?)”

“Cool! Any other spell?” Dane asked with wishful eyes.

“Don’t get too spoiled now. But I guess just one more would be fine.” The granny said as she pulled another spell. Small ice shards appeared in her hand, reflecting light beautifully before shattered into nothing and disappeared.

It was a small and truly magical moment for him, feeling as if he stepped into a wonderland. His head filled with feelings of wonders that were lost to him long ago.

“Hm? What’s wrong Marko? Hey?” Dane, seeing his odd reaction, approached him and poke his head curiously.

“My my, seems someone is mesmerized.” The granny commented with a small chuckle. All the while he stared into nothing, with his expression in shock.

“(Wait… wait… wait…)” It took him a whole minute to even begin gathering his thoughts while the kids dispersed already, with the granny moving along with her granddaughter.

Now he was left alone in his confusion. It feels as if time slowed down for that moment as his thought catches up to the true situation of the reality around him.

“(THIS IS A FUCKING ISEKAI!!!)”