Episode 1 - The options for a dying boy
Words. They look so beautiful. With every turn of the page, a person gets drifted to a sea of knowledge. People who don't love these things are wasting a huge chunk of their time. The words are powerful, their meanings are absolute. And no one can understand their value more than me.
A dying boy.
Yes, that's what I am. With needles pierced into my hand, heartbeat-analysis machine connected with wire to my thumbs and clad in navy blue overalls, I am nothing more than a piece of vegetable right now. Although I am still glad, my upper body is somewhat motor because of which I can read various kinds of books given to me by my parents.
They hardly come to meet me nowadays. Maybe they don't have time? Maybe they have forgotten about me already. Well, why won't they?
I still remember their painful face when they used to look at me with a motivating smile while hiding their tears behind it. My mom didn't notice but I could clearly see the lining of tears marked near her eyes because she had wiped them before coming inside the room of "Patient 303".
Yes, I wasn't Yohei Ichiri anymore. But just a number. 303.
To be honest, I would have died already if not for the solace I found in these books, my only friends. Connected to the hospital bed while losing my capacity to walk because of cancer, I had already given hope of breathing fresh air again. Even the doctor had told me that it's impossible for me to survive.
By the time I heard about that, I literally didn't have any hope for living some more or even trying to fight my death. People who wish to live are the ones who has ambitions for their future. However, small their dream maybe but they want to accomplish a thing. It may be as small as completing the homework, giving two square meals to the family, or just dumping the leftovers in the trashcan. But they have something to look towards in the future.
For me, any ambition for the future was dead. There was no hope left and no will to fight whatsoever. I would have tried to do something crazy to myself if it wasn't for the books my parents left me. There were many of them ranging from old fairy tales to dark ones. And some silly uncle of mine even sent a bunch of hentai disguised by covers such as "How to find true love 101".
Crazy people.
The book that allured me most was this one – The 48 laws of power. It was legit good. If there was any practical book made for a "Successful future" tutorial it was this one. I was never politically active. Most of the political bullshit I heard have been from news channels who always cover their own agenda and do propaganda business for either the ruling party or the opposition. But this book through its teaching of how to become a pretty good diplomat taught many more things than that. It covered each and every base from which a person can get screwed and provided a solution to those problems. To cut a long story short, a person who has memorized each and everything in this book will never become a failure in life. That's for sure. So I made it a goal to read it again and again.
That didn't stop my health from deteriorating but at least I was able to bypass the time suggested by that hentai NTR villain like a doctor. I hate him and his horn-rimmed eyes. I thought he would happy to see that his expectation has failed but his face made me think, he is the kind of doctor who is happy to say this with a smile – "The operation was a success. We did very well. But the patient couldn't be saved."
But sleeping continuously on the same bed for 11 years without stepping outside, stopping all kinds of movements, did make me feel a bit relieved to see him when he would try to make my body move to perform some operations.
But in the end, I could only extend the deadline by two more years.
I had learned a great deal of things from 48 laws of power. I don't know if heaven or hell exists or if god is present. It's not I am an atheist. When I was still healthy I used to love visiting Shinto shrines with my grandfather before he passed away. If God exists, my only wish would be that he gives me a chance to implement the things I learned from this book in some way. I don't want to let go of this knowledge. I am so set up on the idea that I wouldn't mind becoming a spirit who haunts this hospital as long as I get to keep this knowledge with me. But…
Shit. I think the time may be really up. It's night. The nurse had switched off the light before going outside the room. In this entire darkness, the moonlight seems to shine more brightly today as if nature wanted to provide me limelight. I think even it understands that my time is up. I can feel numbness reaching different parts of my body until it hits the organ that makes me gasp in pain. My heart.
I don't know if people understand dying that they take the idea of killing themselves so lightly. The human body doesn't want to let go of this world in my opinion. It screams and tears you from outside and inside, screaming to imprison your soul in it. Every cell seems to cry and pain you so brutally in trying to prevent you from ceasing to exist. The bile juice begins to pile up and seems to jump in the guts gashing away at the intestines and sending a tense putrid smell from inside.
Beep…Beep Beep…Beep Beep Beep Beep Beep…Beep Beep Beep Beep Beep Beep Beep Beep
The heartbeat analyzing machine seems to be caught in the fever too. The heartbeat is falling rapidly. I want to turn my head away so badly but the neck seems to have transitioned to muscles that were no longer in my control. It stopped me from catching up with the oxygen in the air. The carbon dioxide that hasn't been able to escape outside from this dying body, is slowly eroding me from inside.
Beep Beep Beep Beep Beep Beep Beep Beep Beep Beep Beep Beep Beep Beep Beep Beep Beep Beep
Yes, the machine has gone haywire. The consciousness begins to get dim little by little until its darkness surrounded by nothingness, that's all I can see. In the last moments, I want someone or something to grab me, support me and hug me to sleep with the promise that it's just a dream and everything will be okay tomorrow.
But I surrender. I am dying here all alone without any last kiss or hug from mom, without any last words from dad. I accept the defeat. Because I didn't want to delude myself. At least in the last moments of my life. If death has come for me, I want to stare it in the face with fearlessness. I was just a victim of circumstances here. A prisoner without any sin. I want to look at death in the eyes and make it blush in shame (I have read in the manga that death is a woman).
"Oh so at last you came…"
I open my eyes and see a white-haired girl staring at me. She has a white top with a white skirt that reaches till her knees in the name of clothes. Does she like white color so much? She seems to be of my age. But what is she doing here? Am I hallucinating of seeing a girl, because I haven't seen a female figure in a long time except for my mom?
"Who are you?"
"I am time."
"Time?"
"Yes, time…"
She smiles while saying something so ridiculous. Or does she means that she is a goddess of time?
"So you are the goddess of time?"
"No…No. I am not anything like that. Though thanks for the compliment." She blushes hard.
"So who are you? And where am I? I thought I was…"
"Dead?... Yeah, you are dead. This is just a different realm where I have transported you."
I am getting confused every second. It's like having over the top thoughts like maybe the nurse mixed drugs in today's meal to experiment on me with some kind of anti-cancer medicine and it became a hallucination-inducing drug when it broke down in the digestive system. Or is it one of those scenarios which I have read many times in different manga which were becoming popular nowadays. The events lead to the protagonist's death in the first chapter itself and he finds himself in another world with the help of a god/goddesses.
"Why are you staring at me so much? It's embarrassing." The goddess or not-a-goddess cups her cheeks with her hand to showcase her embarrassment.
"You didn't tell me? Are you a god or not?"
"No, I am not. I am just a unit of time."
"Unit of time?..."
"Yes. There is a god of time but there are too many realms with too many universes with too many worlds to keep track of. So he created units of time like me. You can say that I am a child of God."
Yeah, yeah the people who wear white capes and provoke terrorism say this all the time, and it's never a good thing.
"So why was I brought here by the child of time god?"
"To put it simply, I was asked to ask you if you would be willing to go to another world."
So this was an Isekai scenario.
"And why would I do that?"
"… because you weren't doing anything better, I suppose? I mean you were going to die anyway."
So in short she is giving me two options – either I chose to go to this new world or either I leave myself to the fate which awaits me after death.
Who in their right mind would even choose the second option?????
"That's agreeable. And I would be more than willing to go. But I need to ask this. Why me?"
I seriously don't care at this point. In this other realm or whatever it is, I am able to feel my body, I am able to feel the oxygen traveling to every core. I am so excited to feel that my feet could really work, I want to run wild around the child of God or whoever she is, like a crazy maniac. There is nothing in the environment and yet the sense of smell seems heightened. I think I can breathe life now.
"Father keeps track of everyone through us. I have been keeping an eye on you for a long time."
"Me?"
"Yes. Because of an error made by Aunt Death, your death date was ranged to way earlier timeline but what's written in her book cannot be erased. So instead of trying to give you memories that would make you terrible while parting, she decided to curse you with an incurable disease. She seems to be sorry for creating such a fate for you. But in return, she has asked the god of life to reincarnate you into a royal family in Saudi Arabia. But father has another plan for you…"
This… seems a good option to consider. But let's hear what her father has to say.
"He told me to keep an eye on you when you begin to show interest in the diplomatic book you read. See, the thing is gods of the various kinds have too many things to consider before choosing an action to occur in the world. Even if they send a simple wave of wind to Earth, it can become a typhoon in the long run."
"Ah! The butterfly effect."
"Yes. So they create various test worlds to check out the effects of their actions. And usually, people like you, who meet the requirements for the experiment are told to go to one of those worlds. Currently, the other ones are full but father wanted to see for himself that if a person can become the king of one whole world that he has created if given a little boost."
"The whole world…?"
"Yes. Too many worlds have accepted democracy in one form or another and most gods were happy by it, to see that their children are becoming less cruel towards each other but, it's been failing lately. Most democracies aren't democracies anymore. So father along with some other gods wanted to see if making a person the king of the whole world is a good thing."
"So they are going to make…"
"No. No. NO don't get ahead of yourself please. Gods don't work like that despite the belief of you humans. They can only create conditions that are simplest in nature. It's up to humans to turn that simplest favor into a huge advantage. Even nature does a better job of deciphering those omens. Otherwise out the same element as coal, how do you think the diamond was formed that you humans so badly want to mine now."
I think this girl has some serial ill-will towards humans.
"Still. Isn't it a mistake of gods. I mean even people who do believe in them only believe for their own benefit be it mindfulness or having a faith to do better than they did yesterday. But gods never appeared and never told anything about this. If Ms.Death…"
"Mrs.Death. She is married."
The fuc-
"If Ms.Death would have told me that she made an error in my fate, I could have done better things with my life before I literally became a living vegetable on a hospital bed."
"Everything is done for a reason. Even she didn't know where your fate lied. But because of her, you have reached here where two beautiful options awaits you."
She is right in a way. To be born in a royal family, who wouldn't want that? That too in a Middle Eastern country. Sheikhs live an exotic life. I really want to choose this. But my heart betrays me. I have got this gift, my body back in a healthy shape and form after such a long time. It's not that life in a royal family would make me paralyzed to boot again but the knowledge I have gained would amount to nothing. If gods really wanted to test me to become an emperor of the whole world I would like to do that. No, I would like to challenge them.
"I have decided… I would want to go to the other world."
"Okay. If you have decided that, but…may I ask why? Because you humans are greedy …ahem…attracted towards a lifestyle with little work and great rewards, aren't you."
"Maybe. A vast majority are like that. And it's not their fault. Everyone tries too hard to achieve things they can afford even the people who are into a shady business that they would choose the lifestyle of royalty anytime. But not for me and people like me. I have been imprisoned in this kind of prison-like lifestyle for so long. The royal family would be another prison for me…keeping me bounded by their riches instead of this disease. Meanwhile, I may die while landing on the world where you and gods want to send me. But at least I would die unrestricted and unbound by such rules and materialisms."
The girl seems shocked for some reason. She puffs her cheeks in anger and embarrassment at the same time.
"If you liked my answer you can compliment me, you know."
"W-Why do you think I would compliment you."
"Damn… if you give up that frown you are kinda cute."
Shit. Did I say that loud? The girl blushes so hard. It's as if steam would come out of her ears, based on the redness of her cheeks.
"D-Don't tease me like that. Anyway. I will send you to another world. I will give you little missions to do while I am there and you will have to report to me."
"How would I do that?"
"I'll come up in your dreams."
That seems oddly romantic.
"But… you are sending me to another world. Isn't this the time where you are supposed to give me some kind of power."
"You are being given a chance to go to another world to make your own legacy. What else do you want?"
Is this girl for real?
"Wha-… See… I barely know how to fight. In fact, I am terrified if I'll even be able to run like a normal person. It has been years since I have felt my feet. How well do you think would my fighting skills be based on these conditions?"
"Okay. Okay. I can give you one thing. Father advised me against it. But I'll do that."
"Really? Why?"
"I have already lost the bet when I told him that a filth…ahem…a human would choose Mrs.Death's option anytime over the task that requires hard work. And father bet that you wouldn't. He was too sure about that, so I was kind of afraid that perhaps there's a minute chance like 0.000001% that you'd choose her to invite, so I made a second bet that if you are able to finish the three missions set by father, he'd make me…"
Her faces go crimson again. By this time I do find that reaction of her's oddly cute. It makes me want to tease her more so that I can see this cute reaction again and again.
"He told me that I would have to become your slave for one year and my rights as a child of time god would be snatched."
"Wow. That makes me want to try double hard."
"Hmph. In your dreams, You wouldn't even be able to complete the first mission. But I don't want this to be a handicap to you. So I'll give you the "Status" power. In short, it would display your status to you and let you scan others and know details about them as well. And based on how many enemies you defeat directly or indirectly, it will give you experience points which you can use to upgrade yourself. Other than that, when you become an owner of a particular land it would give you details about that too. This is the only thing I can give you."
"That's more than enough. At least, it's better than going there empty-handed."
"Just say "Scan" in your mind to use it"
Hmm… 'Scan'
A blue light appears in front of my retina which begins to display a variety of information about me:
Name – Yohei Ichiri
Age – 17
Race – Human
Status:
Attack – G
Defense – G
Agility – G
Magic – G
Magic Defense – G
Damn!
I thought it would be low but…
Let's check the white-haired girl:
Name – Yua
Age – 20
Race – Goddess
Status:
Attack – SSS+
Defense – SSS+
Agility – SSS+
Magic – SSS+
Magic Defense – SSS+
Special ability – Time manipulation
Whoa! What's with this god-like ability. Oof she is a GOD.
"How are you still 20?"
"So you used the power on me. Tch... I feel stupid for giving you that. But anyway, I am 20 because the earlier child before me reached her limit. As for me, I was made 20 years ago to keep an eye on earth. But… no, don't worry its nothing."
"Still, your name's Yua. Pretty cute for a snob."
"Human do you want to die?"
She grins in a sadistic way, that sends a shiver down my spines and the clenched fists of her makes me think twice before saying anything more in case of incurring her wrath.
"Hmph… Just get ready. In a few seconds, you'd enter the new world. I would give you general information. Rest you will find on your own. For your first mission, you will have to go to the nearby village from where I'll drop you. There's a village festival going on. At the festival, there's going to be a match. The one who wins it will marry the lord's daughter. This would be the first step to the goal you have been tasked with. Don't disappoint."
"Wait-…Marry…Daughter…What?"
But my voice gets cut off as Yua disappears and bright white light surrounds me and leaves me blind for a few moments. I have to close my eyes and yet the intensity of light hurts me. I had recently recovered from pain where I felt like my organs were being ruptured, so this kind of attack mixed with the nostalgic pain from previous experience hits me harder than a nail on the head. But it soon becomes calm. The white light is slowly losing its pallor. It is fading out slowly. And then I see…