1 1. Orario

Ren looked around at the infinite void that seemed to encompass his very being. He sighed in resignation after accepting the inevitable thought that he had been plaguing his mind since he arrived here.

He was dead.

Ren had lived a somewhat average life. He was seen as kind and easygoing. He had made a few friends here and there and felt quite fulfilled even in his death. Still, it was hard to accept the fact that he was dead. He wondered how his friends and family would react after finding out about his death. His only regret was that he couldn't be there to comfort them.

Thinking about this, he sighed in sorrow only to find his consciousness drifting away. He tried to resist, but he was powerless against this feeling and swiftly fell asleep.

...

Laying in the middle of a forest clearing was the body of a young teenage boy. The boy moved around as he felt the light rays hitting his face. Rubbing his eyes as he groaned in frustration, the young boy forced himself to sit up when he finally realized something was wrong.

'Where am I?' Ren wondered to himself as observed his surroundings. The last thing he remembered was floating around the void before abruptly falling asleep.

He forced himself to calm down as he stood up. He looked around a bit before setting off in one direction. He had nowhere else to go.

Ren distracted himself from his fears as he looked around. It was only then that he realized that this forest was beautiful. The smell of the forest made him feel at peace.

A while later, Ren noticed that he was close to leaving the forest. He couldn't help but smile as he ran out of the forest.

"Woohoo!" Ren let out a cheer as soon as he exited the forest. However, the joy he was feeling quickly turned into embarrassment when he noticed a carriage passing by. The passengers were staring at him like an idiot.

"Sorry!" He muttered as a blush spread across his cheeks. He turned to walk away when he quickly realized a problem.

'I don't know where I'm going...'

Too embarrassed to ask those on the carriage for directions, he simply decided to follow them. In fact, he could see many more carriages up ahead and a few behind him too.

As he walked, he noticed a giant stone wall ahead. At first, he was dumbfounded by the fact he had missed such a wall, but then he thought of something.

'Attack on Titan?' Ren thought as the colour faded from his face.

He quickly erased that thought from his mind when he realized that there were other people outside said walls. His curiosity increased as he continued toward the walls.

Along the way, Ren thought about the many anime and novels he had read to understand where he could be. He noticed that many people were dressed in clothes from the 18th-19th century England.

'Did I time travel?'

It wasn't until he arrived closer to the walls and overheard the conversations of some of the carriages around him that he had some sort of clue as to where he was.

'Dungeons and quests? Is this a fantasy world? Have I isekai'd!?' Ren became a little excited as he thought about it. Having no idea that his bright enthusiasm was attracting the attention of others, he began to wonder about what kind of world this was as the line moved forward.

"Hello there young man. Is it your first time here?" Ren was brought out of his thoughts as someone spoke to him. He turned to see that it was one of the city guards on the sides of the gate.

"Oh sorry, hello. Yes it is." responded Ren, a bit flustered.

"I see no wonder you were so excited. Anyway, Welcome to Orario young man." said the city guard.

"Thank you very much." replied Ren as he entered the gates.

It was only after a while that Ren caught on to what the guard said. "Orario?" he thought as he saw the tallest tower he had ever seen, Babel.