Chapter 1 - Wait So…I’m Actually in the World of a Novel!?

-

There are four types of people in this world.

Ones who tell the stories, others who listen to the stories, some who live the stories, and those who create the stories. But what if there was another option?

The people who literally get sucked into the stories.

…

What the heck? This subway train is even more crowded than usual. I don't even have time to think in this environment, I keep getting pushed and shoved from left and right. Now that I think about it, it's probably because of that 70% sale going on at the local supermarket that I heard my mom nagging to her friend over the phone about.

I gripped harder onto the strap hanging from the ceiling to stabilize myself. Then suddenly, I felt a strong force of another person collide into my back.

'Shoot!' Agh-!

I stumbled forward and fell onto a large group of people. They quickly moved out of the way, ending in me collapsing onto the floor.

"Ugh….."

Damn. If they were able to clear this much space for me, they should've done it earlier. Idiots.

I forcibly lifted myself up and stumbled to my feet. I covered my face to hide my visible embarrassment.

'Oh. My. God, That was so incredibly embarrassing. I just want to jump off a bridge and forget this ever happened. I hate my life. I hate everything. Why is this happening to meeee~AAAAAAA…..'

Multiple thoughts ran through my hand like a marathon. And this is why I hate crowded places like this.

The surrounding people seemed to not even care and looked back to their phones. They filled up the space again that was once made for my falling body like it never even happened.

'Thank god these people are like mindless zombies, they will probably immediately forget about this incident in a matter of minutes.'

Then another thought made its way into my mind. One that contained a considerable amount of desire.

'I want to go home quickly. I want to read.'

…

"Moooooom~ I'm home…" I lazily yelled as I entered through the front door. I shut it and set aside my worn-out shoes and socks.

Right then, I saw my mom peep her head from the corridor.

"Ohhhh~ Honeyyy! Come come…I made your favorite!!" She yelped with excitement and smiled.

"I'm not hungry." I said as I brushed past her shoulder. I headed for my room at the end of the hallway.

'I want to read. I don't want to eat.'

"But sweetie-"

"I said I'm not hungry!" I shot her a mean glare as I stepped into my room and aggressively slammed the door.

I know what you may be thinking. I was too mean. But you don't know the full story. She isn't the woman you think she is.

I tossed my bag onto my bed and sat down at my desk. Anyways, you may be wondering who I am. I'm a 21 year-old male by the name of Hinata.

As you can expect, I'm a low-life who works at a mediocre, corrupt sales company as a lowly employee. I live in a small house with just my mom- …Wait. Before I continue, I'd like to address something. You may think I'm "odd" for being a 21 year-old full-grown man who lives with their mother, but it's not that simple. I don't live with my mom, my mom lives with me.

To sum it up, I pay for our living expenses and our small house using the money from my job and the inheritance my dads' parents left me (which isn't a lot). My mom may be a wretched person, but she's still my mom. To be honest, I don't know how much longer I can keep this lifestyle up…I'm running out of cash. But one thing I do know is that I love reading. I love books, manga, novels, ANYTHING of the sort.

It was a way I could escape from my torturous life ever since my childhood.

I opened the drawer and pulled out my favorite novel. An action-packed fantasy consisting of 361 chapters, in which I'm currently on chapter 359. I'm so close to the end, but I don't want it to end. I want to keep reading, I absolutely hate the feeling whenever I finish a novel. It fills me with a strange emptiness I'm incapable of describing…

The title was plastered on the front cover. 'I became the richest person in the world by becoming a bounty hunter!' Yes yes, I know. Cliche name, same old boring extremely long title, and stupid plot. But you know, it's good. It's a good book. Maybe not the best in the world but I like it. A lot. I opened the book and continued where I left off.

'Chapter 359: It Was a Miracle'

…

Huh…? It's only been 5 minutes since I started reading…why am I so tired?

I stared down at the book which started to appear blurry.

'Damn it…I wanted to read more…I barely read anything today.'

Then everything went black.

…

"…"

"….🟥…"

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"⚫️⚫️⚫️⚫️"

"Ohh- ohhhh! He's awake, he's awake!! The 🟥🟥⚫️ has awaken!"

I slowly opened my eyes.

"Mmmm…" Where…where am I? I half-heartedly looked around and saw two women hovering over me.

The taller woman dressed in red who seemed to be more mature spoke. "Quiet down Rui. You will break the 🟥🟥⚫️'s eardrums if you keep yapping like that."

🟥🟥⚫️? What is she saying? It's censoring out…?

The other one responded in a hurry.

"Ehhh~!? S-sorry Akane…" She was a short but rather cute girl who was covered in all pink clothing.

I looked behind them and saw an odd empty landscape…it resembled an empty futuristic setting. Layers of computer and TV screens were behind them.

"Who…are you? Where am I?" I barely managed to mutter out the simple words, as my mind was still in a daze.

"Hehe! And why exactly should we tell you that?" The one who I assumed goes by 'Rui' said teasingly.

The other one who was called 'Akane' opened her mouth. "Quit it Rui. Just tell him."

"Fiiiineee~" She groaned but immediately perked back up. "Hello my beloved 🟥🟥⚫️! I'm Rui and this lady here is Akane! Your one lucky man…I can't go into too much detail in order to protect the ⚫️⚫️⚫️⚫️ but I can tell you this…you will be entering the world of the book you so dearly love."

"Book…I…love?" I asked confused.

Akane answered instead of Rui almost immediately. "Yes, that is the case. Listen closely 🟥🟥⚫️, you will soon wake up in the world of, ''I became the richest person in the world by becoming a bounty hunter!' Ugh…how I hate saying that atrociously long name."

"Just call it RBH for short! That's what I call it!" Rui proudly suggested.

"What does that stand for…?"

"Rich Bounty Hunter!"

"Uh ok, I'll remember that. Anyways, as I was saying, you will wake up in the world of RBH filled with the characters from your novel. I'm sure you're aware of how the world works, right? Since you read the novel…I doubt I'm going to have to explain anything. But for the sake of it, I'll grant you this."

At that moment, I felt something touching my cheek. I shifted my view and spotted a small miniature fluffy fox with a tiny pair of Angel wings on its backside.

"Ooooo! Isn't he cute…His name is Yuki and he will be your helper~ If you ever have any questions ask him!" Rui exclaimed.

I got up and formed a sitting position. "This can't be real right? This makes no sense. I'm dreaming."

"Nope you're not! Heh~"

I was dumbfounded but shook it off. It's not like my life back at home was any better…

"Even if this was real, why me? Why is this happening? Who are you? How is this possible? What am I even supposed to do!?" Thousands of questions filled my head.

Rui just giggled.

"Silly, I can't tell you 'how" or 'who" just yet because your the 🟥🟥⚫️! But I can tell you why. This is something that we only grant a few people. We have decided to give you a second chance at your life, hooray!!" She jumped and put her hands into the air.

I looked over at Akane.

"What she says is true. It is solely a gift. You get to live another life, a better one."

I stuttered. "I..I…h-huh?" Suddenly a bright light started to cloud my vision.

"W-wait! What about my life back at home!? My mom!"

"Oh that! Well they-"

"—"

'Damn it! What did they say? I can't see anything! So..bright…'

…

"Ngh…"

I slowly lifted myself up and put my hand on my head.

"Ughh…my head hurts…"

Suddenly, it hit me. I remembered everything. It must've been a dream, right?

That was, until I looked around and noticed where I was. I was in the middle of a busy village. The surrounding roads were filled with passing people. I then felt something fluffy moving around in my lap.

"E-eh?…what…"

And there it was. A small fox with wings sleeping in my lap.

Wait so…actually? Uh…no way…

"I'm…."

"…"

"I'M ACTUALLY IN RBH!?"

…