New Beginnings

The sounds of the crowd of people conversing with one another begin to make my skin crawl. Out of everything to fucking happen to me.

But that's not important right now. Just what in the world happened?

I propel my legs forward and use them as a cane in order to stand.

Taking another look around, there were people of many different sizes. Some were substantially enormous with arms that seemed like they could punch through bricks, while there were others that were so minuscule and feeble that it's taking everything out of their body just to stand and walk.

Hold on a second.

I've seen this trope many times before in manga.

A foreign land with architecture I've only seen in history books, clothing that seems so unfashionable that it makes wearing a trash bag justifiable, and people that don't look Japanese at all.

No way...

Right?

I must be dreaming. Yes. This is merely a dream in which I become aware that I'm dreaming.

Yes.

A lucid dream.

Now, let an atomic bomb fall out of the sky, leaving only me to brisk in the ashes of all of these ingrates that others perceive as people.

I pause and look at the sky.

Nothing.

I feel a bump on my shoulder, the force being so extreme, I find myself on the ground.

I look up to a brolic man, maybe 2 meters tall, wearing steel armor that's polished so cleanly that I can see my own reflection in it. He towers over me.

"Move."

He stares at me with an intense look in his blue sapphire eyes, trying to intimidate me.

Who the hell do you think you are? You are nothing but an ant on the ground for me to step on. A lowly peasant who should be bowing to their king with their head so far into the ground, he should be practically kissing the floor.

I soften my face to hide my malice.

"I'm so sorry, sir."

I bow.

He loosens up his stance, clanking his armor, and begins to walk away.

"Peasants need to learn to get out of the way."

My fist tightens.

What the fuck did he just call me?

I try my best not to say anything back. This man could chew on my bones if he wanted to. 

I clutch my shoulder.

This is definitely not a dream, though. I felt that pain, and it felt too real. How fucking cliche is this? But I could use this to my advantage.

I need to scout out my surroundings and think of how to live to see the next day. There's no time to think about how utterly ridiculous this is.

I begin to take steps to start my walk around what appears to be a town. As soon as my feet touch the rough, dirty ground from that first step, I realize that something's missing.

Shit. I don't have shoes. I left it at the front door of my house. I can't just walk around barefoot. I'll look mental.

Looking around, I spot a stall that sells clothes. I take a closer look and realize that they sell boots as well.

Raggedy and ugly as they are, it's still better than going barefoot.

Fuck, I don't have any currency.

I take a glance at the shopkeeper, who is preoccupied with a customer trying to strike a deal. 

This is no time for morals. I'm flat out broke, clothes soaked from my sweat, caused by the abomination of the blistering heat, and desperate. I just have to go for it.

I focus even harder on the shopkeeper and wait for my chance. The shopkeeper converses with the customer even more and guides him to another product.

Now.

With full haste, I grab the boots and leave the stall, taking small looks behind me.

He hasn't seemed to notice. What a fucking joke of a vendor, can't even protect his own merchandise.

I put the boots on and go on my way.

Why is it so big? Who is this fucking made for, a cyclops or something? These are double the size of my feet.

Strolling around town with boots that seem equivalent to a clown's, I look more ludicrous than before.

I take note of everything that I see. Seems that my intuition was right. This world has not progressed far, but it was obvious at first glance, with the way people were clothed.

Going under a bridge, into what looks like a more remote part of the town, the scenery began to change a bit. There was an uneasy feeling in the air.

I continued on, thinking that it was all in my head.

I stumble upon an open space on which I hypothesize is a town square. But scanning the area, I witness something that horrified me.

A group of girls with ears sharp enough to cut paper, their bodies frail and lifeless, with rusty chains covered in dried blood on their hands and feet. None of them looked a day older than 12 years old. A short, plumpy man with a mustache, leading the way for the group.

Step after step, each girl appeared as if they would collapse the further they went, the light in their eyes completely gone. How cruel. The girl in the back loses her footing and stumbles onto the grimy, muddy floor.

The man turns back, walking towards the filthy girl while grabbing something from his pocket.

"You useless fucking brat!" He grabs the item from his pocket and hits the girl with it. It's a whip, about 3 meters in length. 

The girl lets out a bloodcurdling scream and receives wounds all over her body.

"Get up," the man overshadowing the girl on the floor. She attempts to rise, but her body gives up.

"I have no need for useless merchandise."

The man unsheathes the sword he was carrying on his belt and slices the defenseless girl on her neck, and she starts to bleed out, grabbing at the wound, attempting to put pressure on it. But it's no use. 10 seconds later, she chokes on her blood, and her lifeless, begrimed body lied there, her arms falling to the ground.

"That's a lesson for you all. If you prove to serve no purpose to me, you'll turn out like that," the man said, laughing maniacally, his eyes filled with pure joy.

They continue on and out of sight.

I walk over to the body of the deceased girl and take a closer look.

It's as I thought. She doesn't appear human; her pointy ears and lustrous silver hair lead me to believe that there are different races in this world. This one is obviously an elf.

And it seems that this world has slavery prevalent as well.

How fucking cruel.

It's ironic, a man like me, who views others as just mere pawns on a chessboard, found this scene a bit grotesque. There are limits to my inhumanity. 

This is just sickening.

I walk away from the scene and continue my tour around town, witnessing even more trafficking. I was right. The more I walked, the more races I saw around town. Although there was one key point.

They were all locked behind cages.

Do the humans in this world dislike other races that much? Are humans at the top of the system? I have many questions, but my thinking process is interrupted.

My stomach rumbles and begins to ache, begging for me to put food in.

All that energy spent strolling around town made me build up an appetite. Despite the things that I saw, I'm surprised that I'm able to even keep an appetite.

Then I remember. I still don't have any currency.

What even is the currency in this world? How does one obtain it? A number of thoughts flood my mind.

Whatever. I can think about it later.

I look around and realize that there were numerous stalls selling food, ranging from fruits such as apples and oranges, to bread. 

So, agriculture is advanced enough for them to have some knowledge of baking bread. The people here might not be the doltish apes as I thought they were.

I set my eyes on a bread stall and put my plan in action. 

Again, waiting for the shopkeeper to be engrossed with the customer, I carefully look for my chance. Pretending not to look suspicious, I examine the bread, making it appear as if I'm interested in buying it. The shopkeeper turns around to grab more products.

Now.

I grab the bread with such delicacy that it makes me think that it was my calling to be a thief. With precision and swiftness. Perfect.

I straddle away, hiding the bread out of view in my pocket, and take quick glances behind me to take notice of the shopkeeper.

He's not there.

Where'd he go? Surely, he couldn't have just disappeared.

At a second's notice, I feel an enormous arm around my neck, forearms big enough to fit my entire head in, putting me in a headlock.

"You little thief!"

My eyes wander above my head and I can see a bald man, beard longer than his neck. It was the shopkeeper.

"Give me the damn, bread back!" His grip tightening even harder.

I flail my arms around, trying to make an opportunity for me to escape. I try to propel my legs up.

Wait, what?

My legs aren't on the ground.

The shopkeeper lifts me into the air, and the world starts to fade away, my vision starting to blur.

I need to do something, anything.

I begin to flail my legs as well, desperate for a miracle.

"Look, kid, just give me back my damn bread, and you can just go."

Hell no. I'm not going to even consider it. I'm not going to listen to this half-witted pig. Does a king bow to his servants?

I think back to every single action movie, manga, or anime that I've seen. How would a character get out of a headlock, facing death like this?

The world starts to get darker and darker. My pupils starting to disappear behind my eyelids.

In desperation, I use my right leg and kick at his body, coincidentally hitting between his legs.

The shopkeeper loosens his grip, dropping me and hurls over, grabbing at his crotch.

"Fuck!" He rolls on the ground, writhing in pain.

Now's my chance.

With water dripping from my eyes and coughing, while trying to catch my breath, I ran harder than I've ever before. The bread still in my pocket.

I find an alleyway and collapse there, sitting against a wall, finally relaxing my body.

I could've fucking died.

What matters is that I made it out and secured my dinner as well.

I reach into my pocket and pull out the bread, still somewhat hot. I notice something else in my other pocket and reach for it, dragging it out. It was the JUMP magazine.

I still have this? Looks like it came with me when I came into this world. I have no use for it now, and it's probably useless, since people won't even understand it. But wait, why am I able to converse with people in this world? The writing in this world, something I've never seen before and am not familiar with, is something I'm able to read with no problem.

Must be a perk that I received when I came here.

I chomp down on my bread, and just as I was about to finish, a cloaked figure appears out of the alleyway. His build, slender and in poor health, stretched out his hand.

"Kind sir, may you spare me some food as well? I haven't eaten in days." His voice, barely able to speak audibly enough for me to make out what he was saying.

I clutch at my bread, cradling it as a mother would hold her precious child.

Are you fucking kidding me? I almost got killed for this bread, and this disgusting, unsightly pebble on the road wants me to give it to him? Let hell freeze over a million fucking times, that is never happening.

The man understood my actions and pushes even further, grabbing my arms.

The man broke down in tears. "Please, kind sir, you don't understand, I am but just a humble beggar whose wife and kids passed away last year from hunger, afraid that he's going to be next."

I swat his arms away, my face filling with disgust.

You fucking aggravating swine. I have no interest in your story. Die in a hole for all I care. I can't take any more of this bullshit.

I turn my back on the man and stride away.

I'm not entertaining this.

Suddenly, I feel a sudden impact on my back and try to make sense of it. My body, barely listening to me, turns around slowly and falls on the cold, hard ground. I gaze upon the man, who is now holding a knife covered in blood.

Blood?

Who's?

I perk my head up slowly and notice that I am lying in a red pool.

What is this?

The man hurriedly grabs the bread, still clutched in my hand, and runs away.

Now I really am going to meet my end. Here. It's cold.

Fuck.

I'm starting to pass out. 

A faint voice calls out in the distance, "Hey, are you okay?"

My consciousness, fading.

A woman with hair as beautiful as the stars, color the same as her soft, brown, hazel eyes, face seeming more valuable than the rarest of diamonds, rushes over to my aid. "Hey, stay with me! Just hold on! Everything will be fine!"

Her delicate, soft fingers grazing my face.

I don't feel anything.

Am...

...I dead?