Jason strolled through the bustling street; the sun had begun its descent, casting a warm golden glow across the street. Navigating through the crowd with a backpack slung over his shoulder, he put his hands into the pockets of his hoodie to warm them to combat the increasing cold

"Can't wait to get out of this cold," he muttered. He spotted his go-to convenience store."Might as well grab some snacks for tonight."

Taking a slight detour from his destination, he walked towards the convenience store on the other side of the road.

'What to get…hmmm, maybe just some soda; I don't have much money on me anyway,' he thought as he crossed the street. 

However, his thoughts were abruptly interrupted as the screeching sound of tires pierced the air. Instinctively, he turned to see a truck hurtling towards him, seemingly appearing out of nowhere.

His heart raced as he took a quick step forward, narrowly avoiding the oncoming vehicle. The truck whizzed by, the incident sending a rush of adrenaline through Jason's veins. A mix of shock and relief washed over him as he steadied himself on the sidewalk.

"Whoa, that was too close," Jason muttered to himself, his pulse still racing.

 "Damn, I almost got isekaied," he said, chuckling and laughing off the incident. Shaking off the close call, he continued on his way to the convenience store.

The neon sign of the store flickered overhead, and the entrance bell jingled as he walked in. The air inside was much warmer, and the shelves were lined with various snacks and drinks. Jason walked over to the beverage section. As he looked through it, he heard a familiar voice behind him.

"Hey, Jason! Long time no see!" It was Amanda, a fellow student from one of his classes; she stood behind him with a friendly smile on her face.

"Hey, Amanda, what's up?" he greeted her.

"I was just grabbing a snack. How about you?" Amanda replied, holding a bag of chips.

"Just getting some soda," Jason explained, holding up the pack of the beverage he had selected.

"You're going back to your apartment, right?" she asked, her eyes gleaming with excitement as if she had realized something.

He nodded.

"Perfect! I actually have something for you." She reached into her bag and pulled out some books.

 "These are for your friend, Jake. I borrowed them from him a while ago. I was going to your apartment to give it to him, since you are here, I thought you could pass them along."

"Sure thing!" he answered, taking the books from her.

"Thank you. Also, let him know I'll give him the last one back next week," she said with a grin.

Jason chuckled, slipping the books into his backpack. "I'll let him know."

"I'll see you tomorrow," she said as she walked out of the store.

After paying for the pack of soda, Jason walked towards the glass sliding door of the convenience store. He noticed an unusual brightness emanating from the other side. 

Shielding his eyes with one hand, he continued walking. Irritated, he muttered, "Seriously? Who is shining their car lights in front of the store?"

Sliding the door open, he stepped through fully expecting to confront the person in the vehicle. His hands were still on his face, shielding his eyes. Instead of the cold he expected when he stepped out, he felt heat—not just any heat, but scorching heat. The air had changed as well. He opened his eyes as they adjusted from the blinding lights to a bright blue sky. He looked around in confusion, as he was no longer in the familiar cityscape but in the midst of a vast rocky desert.

"Uh, what the...?" Jason muttered, his eyes widening as he looked around at the endless expanse of sand and rocky terrain stretching in all directions. He blinked, thinking that this must be some sort of a vivid dream or a hallucination. He looked behind him, expecting to see the store, but it was the same expanse of desert.

"What in the hell is going on?" he said to himself as panic started to set in.

As the initial shock passed, he tried to make sense of what was going on.

"Okay, this has to be some kind of a joke," he muttered to himself.

His legs started to give way as he sank into the ground, trying to comprehend what had happened.

'Holy shit, did I just get Re:Zeroed,' he thought, remembering the anime he had been watching since last week. He sat there in silence, the reality of the whole situation sinking in. After a while, he stood up.

"No use in sitting here. Might as well figure out where I am," Jason said to himself. With newfound determination, he surveyed the desert landscape around him. The heat was intense, the vastness of the terrain was intimidating, and taking a deep breath, he walked into the unknown, hoping this was just an elaborate dream that he might wake up from soon.

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Jason had been walking for hours—or that was what it felt like to him. He had lost track of the flow of time. His head was aching, the relentless sun beating down upon him, its scorching rays reflecting off the vast expanse of the sand dunes and casting long shadows behind the imposing rock that protruded from the ground.

He trudged through the unforgiving terrain; each step sent tiny plumes of fine dust into the air, adding to the oppressive atmosphere. He felt the heat radiating from the ground, creating a shimmering mirage in the distance that played tricks on his tired eyes. The air was dry, and the heat made it difficult to concentrate. He touched his forehead, feeling the beads of sweat forming on his skin. The exhaustion weighed on him, and a sense of disconnection from reality settled in.

His mind wandered between delirium and desperation, and illusions danced on the horizon, teasing him with false promises. The silence of the desert was only broken by the occasional gusts of wind, carrying with them the whispers of distant sand grains. His throat was parched, his lips cracked, and the taste of dryness clung to his mouth.

"I am going to die here," he muttered, the words escaping as a hoarse whisper barely audible in the vast emptiness surrounding him.

He had been walking in the direction of a large mountain in the distance; it was the only thing that stood out in the landscape that surrounded him. The sun had reached its zenith, and the heat was becoming unbearable. Seeing the large rocks in the distance, he walked towards them, hoping to find some refuge from the heat.

He fell to the ground below the rock, relieved to have escaped from the heat. Leaning against it, he sat there, closing his eyes, finding solace in the still cool surface of it. He took a deep breath, feeling the dry air sting his lungs. The determination to get out of this he had found before was slowly waning, now replaced by desperation and despair.

Despair soon turned to anger. He was angry at whoever brought him here.

'What random omnipotent bastard had decided to make his life a living hell? Who decided that had decided that I suffer in this hellhole,' he thought as anger surged within him.

He clenched his fists and pounded the ground with one hand. The grains of sand scattered, and a muted thud echoed in the vast emptiness around him. With an abrupt burst of emotion, he screamed into the vast emptiness around him. The sound of his own voice seemed foreign, as if the desert itself had absorbed the essence of his anguish. For a moment, he sat there, his chest heaving as the echoes of his scream dissipated into the hot, still air. The vastness of the desert seemed to mock him, indifferent to his struggles.

He was ready to give up. There was no energy left within him to continue; he didn't even have enough to open his backpack and drink the soda he had bought from the store. He laid there on the ground, looking at the base of the rock above him.

 That was when he saw it. At first, he thought his mind was playing tricks on him—a small pebble was floating in the air.

"Huh," he said dumbly as he reached out to grab it. Then he saw more stones and pebbles floating in the air. He slowly stood up and realized that they were floating around him.

"What the hell is going on?" he said to himself. Thinking that it was caused by dehydration, he opened one of the cans and drank the soda and sat there for a while thinking he will stop seeing the floating rocks, but he didn't stop seeing them.

'Am I doing this?' he thought.

"Maybe I've finally lost it," he said to himself, cackling like a madman. He started moving his hands like one as well, and to his astonishment, the stones moved as well.

Seeing this, he started taking the situation seriously. He slapped his face to make him focus.

"Maybe I am not seeing things," he said out loud, seeing a small rock to his side. He raised his hands, trying to make it float as well, and to his surprise, it started levitating from the ground. A mixture of awe and trepidation filled him. His laughter echoed through the vast emptiness of the desert, a wild and unrestrained sound that carried both madness and triumph.

"Holy shit, I have the force… is this the force?… ah, who cares, this is amazing," he said, moving the rock around him. 

He experimented with his newfound powers for a while, amazed at what he could do. Now he looked around and saw a large boulder.

"Why limit myself to pebbles and small rocks?" he thought.

He extended his hands towards the large boulder and tried to do the same thing he had done with the smaller rocks, he tried to replicate and bring forth the same feeling he felt before. To his delight, the boulder started to rise up from the ground.

"Wooooo," he said as his voice echoed through the rocks scattered around the desert. Suddenly, he started to feel weaker; he started to sweat immensely, and exhaustion clawed at his every fiber. His arms trembled under the immense effort, and the boulder fell down with a large sound to the ground with Jason following. He laid there for a while, gathering his strength.

"Ok, I... may... have... gone too... far," he gasped out. It looked like he needed more practice with his newfound power.

"I need to find a road or something that will lead me to civilization," he said to himself as he laid there on the cool rock. He slowly stood up; the weariness that had weighed him down had evaporated, leaving him strangely invigorated. Guided by an instinct he didn't quite understand, he set off in a direction that felt right.

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This is a rewrite of the fic i had posted a month ago