Waking Up in Another World!

"Hey, wake up! Come on, wake up, hurry up!"

A woman's voice broke the silence, forcing Kazuki to open his eyes that were still heavy with sleep. He groaned softly, trying to understand what was happening. His half-closed eyes slowly opened wide as he realized someone was standing in front of him.

"Wait, who are you?" he asked in a hoarse voice, still not fully conscious.

"Nomura Yuina! How can you forget your own classmate's name?" the woman replied in an annoyed tone, her hands clenched at her waist.

*Nomura Yuina...* Kazuki nodded slightly to himself. *I remember, she is indeed my classmate. But I rarely talk to my classmates, so it's natural that I don't really remember their names.*

"So, what is it, Nomura-san?" he asked again, while rubbing his still-heavy eyes.

They had hardly ever spoken, so it was a bit strange that she suddenly woke him up.

"What? Are you seriously asking that? Can't you see our surroundings?" Yuina shouted in a desperate tone, her hand pointing around them.

Kazuki frowned, then slowly looked around. His still blurry eyes began to focus, and he was startled.

"Uhh, huh? Where is this? Wasn't I just sleeping in class? How did I suddenly get here?"

They were both now in the middle of a vast forest, surrounded by tall trees that reached toward the sky. The surroundings felt strange and scary. Cold air gripped his skin, making him shiver.

"What, you just realized it now?" asked Yuina, her face full of worry.

"Well, yeah, I just woke up," replied Kazuki while standing up, trying to understand the situation that was happening.

Suddenly, a rustling sound from the bushes made both of them tense. Kazuki immediately became alert, his eyes staring at the source of the sound.

"Hah!"

From behind the bushes emerged a giant snake with a large, scaly body. What made it more frightening was the presence of horns on top of the snake's head.

Yuina immediately hid behind Kazuki, her hands gripping Kazuki's arm tightly.

"Wow, is this a snake with a new style? How can a snake have horns on its head? Isn't that kind of funny?" said Kazuki while smiling.

"Hey, this is not the time to joke, you know! Look, you're making it red!" Yuina shouted, her face pale with fear.

"Can snakes even understand human language?"

"Hey that's not important! Now it's really angry now" Yuina shouted.

The giant snake was indeed getting angry. Its glowing red eyes stared sharply at them. Without warning, the snake attacked, its large body shooting quickly toward Kazuki and Yuina.

*Hoho, looks like I have to use my power after all,* Kazuki thought to himself. *I wanted to live as a normal human, but what can I do, right?*

He exhaled softly, then raised his hand toward the snake. Suddenly, something strange happened. The giant snake suddenly stopped in the middle of its attack, then began biting its own body. In an instant, the snake fell to the ground, no longer moving.

Yuina was wide-eyed, her eyes staring at Kazuki in bewilderment.

"What... what just happened?" she asked, her voice trembling.

Kazuki then turned to Yuina.

"Ah, that was just a coincidence. Maybe it was exhausted," he answered casually, trying to avoid further questions.

"What do you mean it was exhausted! That makes no sense, you know!"

"Well, you don't have to believe me if you don't want to," he answered with a blank face.

"Uhh..." Yukina's face clearly didn't believe Kazuki's words, but she didn't pursue the question further.

"So... what should we do now?" she asked, her eyes still staring at the giant snake that was no longer moving.

Kazuki nodded, then looked around them again.

"First, we need to find out where we are. Second, we need to find a way out of this forest," he answered calmly.

Yuina nodded slowly, although her face still looked worried.