CH1: Waking up in another world as a girl

One day, I'm lying in bed, lamenting my uselessness and hopelessness and really wishing I could be more than I am. Then the next thing I know, I find myself lying in a grassy field. Wtf?

As the shock fades away, and I take a look around, I start to feel this irrepressible joy. As if a wish I had was granted. This body should be strange and new, yet it feels completely natural, and is clearly in better shape than my old one. There's an energy inside me that feels so much better than the lethargy I remember always having. Almost like being a kid again, or at least how I remember being as a kid (admittedly, my only memories of that are the good ones). 

How a 35 year old man of 2019 earth, ended up in a grassy field as a young woman, is a complete mystery to me. Yet somehow this feels like something I'd wished for, for a long, long time.

I ended up going for a run, then did some twirls and a summersault, and then rolled around in the grass. All I have on is a plain white sundress, and a pair of plain white panties and a plain white bra. Why are panties a pair anyway? English is weird.

While staring out at the grass, I wondered what this all was. It doesn't feel like a dream.

What? A little status box appeared, like a notification from a game. I know it's grass. I tried focusing on myself and seeing if I could make that appear for me.

... What?

It may seem a little off topic, but I've always been able to tell when I'm dreaming. There would always be some part of me that knew, and sometimes I'd even edit or alter the dream if something didn't seem right. I mention it, because that same instinctive sense is how I know this isn't a dream. I can't alter it.

That definitely looked like a stat block from a status screen, just incomplete. A staple of a genre of fiction I've been reading a lot of. Waking up as a girl one morning is another story premise I've seen a few times (though it seems far less common). Waking up in another world as a girl though? That’s not something I’ve seen a whole lot of. Especially when there’s no intro talk with a god or anything. This was just a sudden transfer!

I might normally consider the comfort and happiness I feel with my new body to be a sign that I’m not who I remember being, except I remember always being uncomfortable with my old body, so the idea of this new one being a better fit doesn’t seem strange. Pretty sure I was trans, but it was never a big enough issue to do anything about it. Too many other issues in the way. I got no complaints about the name. I’d often thought Alice would be a good name if I had to pick a female one for myself, and this is close enough.

One thing very clear though: This new body is a definite upgrade over my old one. I’m thin, light, and … huh, I’m totally lacking in body hair. This doesn’t seem natural. Brown skin, green hair… long ears? Okay, this is weird. 

CH2:

So, skipping the boring stuff, I found a town. I’d also found some monsters along the way, (you know, slimes, goblins, lizards, giant rats, standard fantasy game stuff) but since they ignored me, I left them alone. There seems to be an adventurers guild (another classic of fantasy otherworld stories), that doubles as an Inn, Bar, and Restaurant. Mostly because the town is too small to bother making separate buildings for them all. Seriously, I’ve seen like five people in all… okay, maybe calling this a town is being overly generous.

When I tried to sign up as an adventurer, I could tell they didn’t really believe my story of being lost in the meadow, but they didn’t ask me any further questions. Instead they just handed me some blue orb thing, saying I had to just put my hand on it, and they’d be able to make me a card. The orb spat out an ERROR window. I can’t be an adventurer.

… Oddly, that was probably the most shocking thing to me. Becoming a young woman? No problem, felt great. Being in another world? Read plenty of stories about this kind of thing. Might be fun! Can’t be an adventurer? OMG!!! WTF IS THIS?!?! I’m not proud of how long I stood in shock.

It’s a standard in these kinds of stories, isn’t it? Wake up in a fantasy world, become an adventurer, level up a lot, find exploits, save the world? Some of the darker stories might throw in a betrayal or two, but they still tend to follow the same script. How can I follow the story properly if I can’t be an adventurer?

“Well, if you’re really determined, you can still enter the dungeon at Lackwood.”

Oh. The local branch manager managed to offer me a hope to latch onto. Truly, he’s a gentleman! Befitting of his office!

“Anyone is allowed in the dungeon. It’s not safe though, so you’d better make sure you’re strong enough before you go.”

Ah, right, I should probably confirm my actual abilities in some way. Normally, I might do something like look for a weak monster to fight, but they all ignore me, and I can’t bring myself to just attack without any provocation.

Well, the first step is… grab a stick and practice swinging with it! Lots of heroes in games start with a stick! There’s no sticks. This is a grassland. Grass everywhere. Closest thing to a forest or woods is taller grass in the distance.

Grab some grass then? A true swordmaster can use anything as a sword! … I can’t even pluck the grass. My hands just slip. Is this sturdy grass? Or am I just weaker than a child? What can I do?

At that point, I realized I’d wandered far enough into the meadow that monsters were roaming the tall grass all around me, yet were ignoring me. That’s probably not normal. I guess I could still be a scout, or a message carrier? That sounds a lot less fun though. Exploring new places can be fun, but carrying messages, or just acting as a forward scout for a group, do not sound like fun.

Ch3: 

So, I’m kind of an idiot, but a lucky one it seems. See, I got so distracted by my thoughts, that I got lost, and failed to notice the sun go down. It was at this point that I realized a few things: I wasn’t at all hungry despite not eating anything, I wasn’t thirsty despite not drinking anything, and I wasn’t tired at all either. That last bit honestly felt pretty amazing. In my previous life, I got tired so easily it was hard to do anything.

“Anyone, please… save me”

And I just heard a voice. Super faint. I start running in the direction it comes from and wonder: My hearing was never all that great, so how do I know where the voice is coming from? Even now it feels like there’s a warmth in my chest as I seek out this prayer, that guides me towards it… why do I call it a prayer?

Running is great, really great. In my past life, I hated running, because I’d get super tired very fast, and I hated how it felt to be so tired. I’d enjoy dreams of running though. Running barefoot along a trail in the woods, is a dream I still remember even though it’s been many years since I had it. It was fun in the dream, just like it is now. Only now, is way better, since the dream was so vague and missing details. 

The breeze along my face and in my hair as I rush through the meadow on my toes. If this were my previous life, my calves would be feeling sore after just a minute of this. Here, I feel free. My body doesn’t feel like a cage or a burden, I’m free to just run as I like without issue. Even when I found trees and entered a wooded area, I continued to run freely, without difficulty. Which actually surprised me considering I’m having to go through bushes and don’t have anything to protect my arms, feet, or calves. Somehow, it didn’t hurt at all, and nothing really seemed to slow me down.

… until I got caught in a hunter’s trap. Strangely, it didn’t hurt, I just suddenly got whipped up into the air and dangled by my ankles and hung there for a bit as I tried to get my bearings.

Well, I don’t really hear or see anyone coming… wait, is that rabbit laughing at me? It’s totally laughing at me.

Started thinking about how to get free, and realized I could slip my feet out of the loop really easily for some reason. Like, I’m pretty sure the space I just slipped them through wasn’t large enough… yet it went fine. Didn’t even leave any marks on my skin. I’m really starting to wonder about this body of mine. It’s really weird.

The direction the prayer came from is still clear to me somehow, despite the sudden change of orientation I just went through, and despite the fact that the prayers actually stopped a while ago. Considering that I’m pretty sure I’ve been running for  hours, they probably fell asleep. At least I hope they did. Also: I’m pretty darn sure it was a prayer and I’ve got some kind of weird ability to hear prayers, because if it was an actual voice, there’s no way my hearing is good enough to have heard someone so far away that it takes hours of running to get there.

Ch4:

Good news: I found the person who’d been praying. 

Bad news: I discovered I can’t do damage at all.

I found a bandit camp, and ended up in a fight with bandits. At least I assume they are bandits. The kidnapped girls and general lack of discipline gives me that impression. They sure don’t act like soldiers. Could be mercs, I suppose. Maybe if I learn more about what’s going on I’d be able to figure it out.

During this fight I learned that I don’t fear getting hurt at all. I don’t know why, but having a sword pointed at me or swung at me didn’t scare me at all. I’d often heard that fear can be irrational, but that was always about people fearing things for no good reason. Not failing to fear things they should… no, wait, I’d also hear that young adults often acted like they thought they were invincible. So I guess lack of fear is also common, at least among youth. I’m hardly young though!

Anyway, the lack of fear probably wasn’t irrational, since I was easily able to dodge their attacks, and land blows. It’s just my kicks and punches did absolutely nothing. I even managed to steal a dagger from someone’s waist and chuck it at them, only for it to bounce harmlessly off them. Later when I tried stabbing them, it slipped out of my hand the moment it touched them. I think the laws of physics are broken or something here.

Sadly, the bandits were too smart for me. They got a net and caught me with it. It’s a lot harder to dodge a net than a sword or hand. I’m pretty sure I could’ve escaped the net, but it’d take too long to do while they were watching, so I just let them take me to where the rest of their captured prey were.

So, that’s how I found the person who’d been praying. Bunch of young women and a few girls were all in a room, and one of them started praying again, after being woken up by my suddenly getting dumped into the room. The thud I made as I hit the floor sounded like it should be painful, but it didn’t hurt at all.

I’m really not sure how to answer the lady’s prayer. She’s praying for someone to save her, but I don’t know how to do that. I don’t think I’m in any real danger myself. I’ve broken physics badly enough so far, that I’m pretty sure I could escape by myself if I wanted to. The problem is saving everyone else.

While unsure how to save anyone other than myself, at least there was one thing I knew I could do. I walked up to the young lady praying silently in the corner, (I heard her, but could tell it wasn’t a real sound now that I’d gotten close) sat down and drew her into a hug. I’m not really sure how I knew this would work, yet I did, and it did. She was surprised at first, but then embraced me, and after a bit I ended up with her sleeping soundly with her head in my lap as I tried to think of a solution… except all I could think about at first, was how glad I was that the hug thing went so well. It probably shouldn’t have if this were the world I came from. Sudden hugs from strangers are not always received well, though I may just lack the skill to tell when it will or won’t work out. 

Maybe if I’d had the skill to know, I’d have been able to offer comforting hugs to people in my past life. I often wished to comfort people but had no idea what would be appropriate and just did nothing. It resulted in me often wishing I could be a cat, since I’d so often seen people take comfort in the affections of a pet cat. Plus, pet cats had no responsibility! Made it seem a lot nicer than what I was.

Ch5:

When Sabrina woke (the lady who’s prayer I’d heard) we talked a bit, and I explained how I heard her prayer, but didn’t know how to save her. The possibility of finding and alerting the nearest town guard came up, but I didn’t know where that would be, and neither did she. After all, neither of us really knew where we were, and I didn’t have a convenient auto-map like some game world visitors get so I couldn’t even reliably backtrack to where I came from (not that the outpost I’d run into before had enough people to help).

After a while though, I had an idea: “Try praying to me. Pray to Alicia. Pray for a blessing.”

I don’t really know how to describe it, but it worked! Somehow I was able to grant a blessing, though I’m not really sure what it did exactly, it seemed to give her energy and heal her injuries. Her prayer also gave me some sort of instinctive insight into her character. Like, I instinctively knew she was someone I wanted to bless. She then convinced others to pray as well, and I ended up blessing everyone. However, many were people I felt did not deserve it. If not for the situation, I don’t think I would’ve blessed them. Had to fight my instincts a little there. 

When I finished blessing everyone, I suddenly felt very tired and passed out. Honestly, what kind of goddess can I be if I pass out after a mere dozen blessings? Sure, I’m only a “godling” but that’s something like a baby god, right? … Okay, I’m just making wild guesses here, but the whole hearing prayers and granting blessings fits! Plus, being a goddess sounds a lot more fun than being human like I was in my past life.

While sleeping I had some unpleasant dreams, as if my imagination were playing out all the ways the attempt to escape could go wrong. So, I was quite grateful when I woke and learned none of those came to pass. In fact, the escape was surprisingly uneventful. They just ran. The bandits were too slow to notice because there was no guard watching over the prisoners, just guards watching out for attackers. On top of this, my blessing apparently gave them enough stamina to run all the way back to town. The fact that they found a road and got to town is something I consider a pretty amazing bit of luck. Well, I’m glad to know I didn’t exhaust myself for nothing, and actually succeeded in saving everyone! Leaves me feeling pretty good!