Starting Point (1)
Starting Point (1)
"......."
I stared at an unfamiliar ceiling.
I sat up, feeling the absurdly soft mattress against my back.
Leaning against the headboard, I took in the room.
Shockingly bare. Nothing special at all.
The only feature worth mentioning was a large open window beside the bed.
Beyond it, beyond the warm sunlight pouring in, I could see a massive thicket blooming with white flowers. Thanks to the distance, it didn't feel too stifling.
After surveying the room, I briefly retraced what happened before I woke up here.
First. The Creator's question, flashing at me like an easter egg.
Second. Answering it while barely in my right mind.
Third. My vision went dark.
"And I opened my eyes to this."
I muttered the words and lifted a hand. The hand was far too thin. I absently touched my Adam's apple.
When I first woke up, a curse reflexively escaped me. The voice that came out was a deep, resonant baritone that could've melted my ears off.
It didn't take me long to realize the voice had come from my own mouth. That didn't make it any less jarring.
Even now, it still felt wrong.
"Hoo."
I let out a short breath.
Having all four limbs intact was a plus, but this body clearly had some... issues. For one thing, just breathing was an ordeal. And a sluggish languor clung to me like a drug that refused to fade.
—Are you confident you can complete a story that satisfies you?
The Creator's question drifted across my mind just as I started to lean into the headboard, weighed down by that poison-like lethargy.
"Tsk."
My arms and legs remained heavy. My body rejected the very idea of getting up. But as long as the nerves were still connected, it couldn't ignore the commands from my brain.
Maybe my body had accepted my will to move, because my sluggish limbs started to pick up speed.
The more I moved, the deeper the lethargy seeped in. I kept moving anyway.
Once out of bed, I walked over and stood in front of the sunlit window.
There was no mirror in this room, so I figured I'd check what "I" looked like through the glass. That's when I discovered I was wearing a ridiculous pair of glasses.
Round lenses of opaque glass, with swirls painted into them—the kind you'd only see in cartoons.
I was wearing them now.
"......There's got to be a reason."
A reason to be wearing glasses only a moron would put on.
To find out, I took them off.
"Nngh...."
The moment the glasses came off, everything I saw twisted violently. The shock sent a nasty spike of pain through both eyes. I squeezed them shut before I could stop myself.
"Tsk."
I clicked my tongue out of habit and rubbed at my throbbing eyeballs.
'Gray... and rifts.'
The instant they were off, my vision was drenched in gray, with cracks running through everything around me.
I decided not to dwell on it for now.
Once the pain subsided, I put the glasses back on. I didn't want to, but I couldn't see without them. I had no choice.
"Gaunt."
That was my first thought when I saw my reflection in the window glass.
Tall frame. Broad shoulders. Considering how emaciated I was, the width suggested a solid underlying bone structure.
A sharp nose, and a mouth that looked almost handsome.
Even with those moronic glasses, the face was decent enough. The character I'd possessed was clearly a good-looking guy.
'The voice was already something special.'
Handsome was better than ugly.
But I wasn't here for a second life of leisure.
Awakened, monsters, gods.
In this blood-soaked world, if I wanted to create the ending I sought, a healthy, able-bodied ugly bastard would've served me far better than a disease-ridden pretty boy.
'Still too early to judge.'
I could search the room more, but I decided against it.
If the Creator really had sent me here, and wasn't being sadistic about it, then anything helpful—a note, an item—would've been left in plain sight.
'There's nothing within view.'
The only piece of furniture in the room was the bed.
If I left the room and still found nothing outside, I could always come back and check under the bed or lift the mattress.
"Hoo."
My chest felt tight. I exhaled heavily, then forced my heavy legs toward the door.
'Maybe the lack of furniture just made it look big.'
The distance from the window to the door was a lot shorter than I'd imagined. Back in my old world, a cramped room like this would've been inconvenient. But considering my current state, it felt just about right.
Click.
I pushed the door open. Despite its old appearance, it was well-oiled. It swung smoothly, without a single sound.
"A study?"
I'd expected a hallway or a living room. It was a miss, but a welcome one.
"So the guy had at least a shred of decency."
On the desk in the study sat a large glass case. I spotted it right away and moved toward it.
"A letter."
Inside the glass case were five tiny orbs, smaller than a thumb, spaced evenly apart. All five shimmered with an ethereal blue light.
Outside the case lay a single envelope. Just as I'd said.
"......What is this, the Middle Ages?"
The envelope was sealed with red wax.
I applied enough force to pry the wax off, then pulled out the neatly folded letter inside and opened it.
『I do not expect anyone to read this letter. But if, against all odds, you are reading this—whoever you are, nameless stranger—I say: you utter madman. Or madwoman. Whichever.』
"Cough, cough!!"
Too sickly to work up a proper rage, my boiling anger came out as a hacking cough instead.
I gathered myself and kept reading.
『That was a compliment. Don't take it too hard. Besides, getting upset won't do anything to me. Don't strain that wreck of a body over nothing.』
I'd felt it from the moment I opened my eyes. This body was definitely defective.
『Nor have I written down any convenient method to return to your original dimension. Don't get your hopes up. The higher the hope, the harder the fall.』
"......."
I'll be honest. I had gotten my hopes up a little.
My old life was the usual story. Never knew my parents. No one I could call a friend. There was only one thing I felt any real attachment to.
My money.
'Well... no point dwelling on it.'
I didn't even know what had happened to my original body. No sense worrying about it now.
'It's not like money disappears.'
I went back to the letter.
『And I hope you're not enough of a moron to think dying might send you back. The fact that you're reading this means you went through every question I threw at you. On the off chance, I'll write it again. If you die, it's over.』
—If you fail, you lose everything...
Apparently, that had included my life.
『I have nothing more to add. The things you want to know will naturally resolve themselves once you consume the Essences in the glass case.』
The five glowing blue orbs.
『What's sealed in the Essences are the memories of the "me" writing this letter. And the memories of the "you" reading it.』
So that's what was inside those pretty little things.
In the stories, people who possessed a character usually got those memories automatically. I'd wondered why I hadn't. Turns out he'd set it up so you had to acquire them manually.
『Take them one at a time, starting from the left. As you consume them, you will naturally learn how to use that pathetic heap of a body, along with the memories. However—there is a high probability that your "original" self, the one reading this, will grow indistinct. The memories won't clash, but if your personality blurs, you will become a being closer to the "me" writing this letter than the original "you." This is a problem I cannot help you with, so curse me if you must.』
"You son of a... Cough!!"
『Of course, I imagine even cursing is difficult in your current state.』
"......Hoo."
I took a long, slow breath in and out to calm myself.
A couple of cycles helped.
『Whether you consume them or not is your freedom. I will not force you. That garbage body will recover in time, so there's nothing to worry about. Once your body recovers, you'll more or less figure out how to handle its power. However.』
『You will waste a great deal of time doing so.』
"Waste time... damned bastard."
Once again: I wasn't here for a second life of leisure.
It looked like a choice, but there was only one real option.
『Lastly, I urge you not to remove the glasses until your body has fully recovered. If you already took them off before reading this, my condolences. It must have been quite painful. Take it as a lesson that excessive curiosity is poison.』
"......."
I crumpled the letter in my hand before I caught myself.
『If you removed the glasses, you've likely seen it by now. A gray world, riddled with cracks. Don't get excited. There's no special ability. Your eyeballs are just broken. That's why it looks that way.』
I barely stopped myself from tearing the letter apart and read the final line.
『I suppose I should end with something meaningful. It makes for a better impression.』
"Ha...."
A laugh slipped out before I knew it.
『To the stranger whose face and name I will never know—I do not know what ending you seek. But I will root for you. For I believe the ending you desire is not so different from my own. Do your best.』
The letter ended there.
I smoothed out the parts I'd crumpled, folded it neatly back the way it had been, and slipped it into the envelope.
"So I have to eat these."
Five Essences glittered inside the case.
If I swallowed them all, there was a high probability my personality would blur.
Click.
"What does it matter?"
Waking up here had rattled me. I won't deny that. But now, having read the letter, my resolve was absolute.
'I will.'
By any means necessary, I will reach the ending I want.
I opened the case.
**
Exactly five days.
That was how long it took to swallow all five Essences. And in that time, I learned one utterly appalling fact.
"I'm the root cause...."