Being Isekai'd Isn't All It's Cracked Up to Be
There is a trope that appears in countless novels—a subject of both love and hate. Transmigration to another world. Reincarnation into another world. Summoning to another world. If written well, it’s an incredibly fun and intriguing premise. But for most, it’s a fantasy born from the desire to escape the crushing weight of reality.
The methods of getting there are just as varied: trucks, a god’s mistake, death from overwork, summoning, portals, transmigration. And they usually come with a Status Window and a Munchkin-level cheat ability on the side. Well, the reason for going there is one thing, and the cheat ability you get is another.
Thinking back on it now, when I was first summoned, seeing the faces of those bastards who begged me to save them because they were being invaded by a Demon King or demons—it was a stroke of luck that my deep-seated distrust of humanity kicked in, allowing me to avoid becoming a pawn of the kingdom. No, honestly? I truly, fucking looked down on this other world. Maybe it was prejudice, or maybe my thinking was short-sighted because it felt like some ridiculous, novel-like situation. No, wait—honestly, that’s how it usually goes, right?
Most stories go like this: "Modern civilization is the best! Modern science is the world's number one!" You think you’ll be in a situation where you’re praised and worshipped as a genius just for spouting off superficial or vague knowledge. But that’s all bullshit.
"Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic."
This is a world where magic, which doesn't even need to reach that level of advanced science, actually exists. You don't need nuclear power plants, thermal power plants, or coal power plants to generate energy. Just by having some arrogant, bookworm researcher from a corner of the room wave a staff and mutter a few words, they get treated like gods who can say, "Let there be light." If their magic class is high? They’re evaluated as strategic national weapons or critical infrastructure. Why? Because there’s Mana that can do anything. Why? Because monster byproducts, Magic Stones, make life affluent.
But I didn't have a shred of talent for "creating" new magic. I could use things neatly if I had a "Magic Stone," but... hm? You’re asking what that has to do with this situation? ...Ah, right. My bad. I was rambling. Damn it... Ahem. Anyway, you honestly know the ability of that bastard called the [Hero], right? The status window ability we’re all familiar with. Plus, cheat skills. Honestly, including the guys who died after being dragged across the universe and dimensions, if you had a "functioning brain," the Hero should have grown up quickly and cut off the Demon King’s head. But unlike us, this bastard gets stronger with "points." Even putting aside skill proficiency, he’s a guy who can gain abilities just by looking at them, yet what does he do? He spends his time living like some Japanese light novel harem protagonist, traveling around, having a grand old time, and laughing his head off.
Huh? Am I jealous? The fuck would I be jealous of? I’m dying of frustration here! My Korean blood, the blood of a "fucking Kimchi-man" who looks for efficiency and grinds even in healing games, boiled over and spat out rage. While some of us are holding off monster waves on the western front, that dog-like bastard is having a vacation on the eastern coast with the women who fawn over him? If I had that kind of "Status Window" and "Skills," I would have cut off the Demon King’s head ages ago and wished to be sent back home.
Do we have status windows and skills too? And an Item Box? An Inventory that the Hero doesn't have? Hey, you idiot. What kind of status window just shows my current state? What kind of growth requires me to crack open monster skulls to level up? Honestly, what we expected was to get stronger with points like the "Hero," and even if we had cheat skills... *sigh*, what’s the point in talking about it?
I shook my head with a long sigh. Maybe it was because I was in the boonies? Unlike the city, the clear night sky was filled with stars—constellations completely different from the ones on Earth—and two moons hung there, asserting their presence, which only made my heart feel heavier.
Tap! Tap!
I felt pathetic, sitting in front of a campfire in a camp near a forest with a sinister name like the "Entrance to Death," where there were no streetlights—or rather, no Mana Lights.
"Ah, fuck. The pathetic bastard is the Hero, that son of a bitch. That Japanese bastard."
At my words, the "peers" around me giggled and cursed the Hero. After a round of enjoying ourselves by badmouthing the Hero, the Yankee suddenly let out a complaint.
"Ah~ fuck. I want to hang out with princesses, saints, or elf girls too."
"You? With that face? Just go to a brothel."
"What? What! What’s wrong with it? At this level... ah, fuck."
Everyone burst into loud laughter at the Yankee’s behavior, his head drooping as he shrank back after speaking with such confidence. I mean, the guy’s nickname is "Face Dick" and his name is Johnson.
"Hmm, a friend with good self-objectification."
By the time the roar of laughter subsided, I teased him again with a chuckle. It’s already been six years since we were dropped into this other world. Unlike when we first arrived, my friends of various races have now fully "adapted," hiding their hearts that have been burned to charcoal and just chewing through this moment with laughter.
Transmigrators. Or the summoned. Through various sources, I found out that out of the ten thousand people who were scattered across the globe and the dozens summoned to the kingdom, only a thousand remain. Or is it? Should I say "survived"?
"Anyway, they say that dog-like, idiot Hero bastard got his ass kicked by another 'transmigrator' the other day and finally came to his senses, so let’s have some expectations."
At my words, everyone in front of the campfire went quiet for a moment, then gave a wry smile. The meaning of the laugh wasn't exactly positive, but still—if a man gets beaten in a 1:1 fight, and not even by a man, but by a "girl" he was hitting on... yeah, even if he’s a 19-year-old kid who thinks he’s the protagonist, six years have passed, so he’s 25 now. He should have some sense knocked into him by now. I swallowed a sigh, thinking that.
Among the transmigrators, there are already those who can overwhelmingly defeat the Demon King. There are even those who have already won. But we can't kill him. Because the only one who can kill the Demon King is the special and magnificent Hero. It’s a truly contrived and shitty situation, a setting that feels like something out of a bad novel.
"Still, fortunately, he’ll finally come to his senses and do some training. No, he has to."
My expectations, and those of my peers who nodded with faces that said, "It’s better late than never," were rewarded with another six years passing by. You fucking son of a bitch.
Kuaaaaang!
A massive, circular dome of fire erupts in the middle of the enemy lines. However, I grit my teeth as monsters fill the holes created in the flames in an instant, and I step out from the castle gate to swing my sword. A feast of black, blue, and red. The heavy weight of the greatsword, transmitted through my hands, swings with a sound that cuts through the air. The sensation of bone and flesh being pulverized as they collide with inertia. The blood, bodily fluids, and spinal fluid of the monsters torn apart by the greatsword in my hands unpleasantly soak my entire body, but I cannot stop. Only the glow of Aura on the ridiculously crude, solid Mithril Greatsword in my hands illuminates the surroundings as I carve a path.
How much time has passed? How many have I killed? How long do I have to keep doing this? I squeeze out strength even at the limits of my limits. I continue to struggle. Forget rest; I would give anything for just a single sip of water. I’m confident I could eat even the most disgusting, foul-smelling pig slop as a delicacy right now.
Skakak!
Even if hundreds are cut down in a single swing, they are replaced in less than a second. That damn Demi-Lich skeleton bastard.
"Fuck!! What is the Hero doing!!"
At my shout, filled with rage, a booming voice reaches my ears from afar.
"Th-the Hero party is currently in a battle with the Demon King!"
"Still?!"
"Yes!!"
That idiot bastard! It’s been 12 years since the Hero got beaten by a transmigrator and another 6 years passed. I knew it! I should have known when he started moving his tongue and spitting saliva instead of moving his body and sweating!
"Haaaat!"
The Aura that responds to my feelings of rage devastates the surroundings in a single blow.
Kwaaaaaang!
"Attack! Push them back!"
In time with my attack, various spells are embroidered across the night sky from the castle walls. At that moment.
Paaat!
Pillars of light form around my body.
"Wh-what is this?"
As I look around in confusion, the monsters step back, as if avoiding the light. I hurriedly look at the castle wall behind me. Several pillars of light have appeared inside the wall as well. One. Two. A total of eight. And in various places far away, too. Never mind the far ones. I can’t see them well anyway. I turn my head and scan along the castle wall line, estimating the number of light pillars I can see. Including the ones nearby and myself, a total of fourteen. Then...!
I quickly grasped the situation. An unprecedented joy washed over my body, and I clenched my fists tightly and crouched down.
"You fucking cute son of a bitch! You finally did it!"
As I turned around with a triumphant smile, my eyes widened. I narrowed my brows and glared, taking in the sight of light pillars forming beyond the monster army as well. Why there...?
Ding-! Ding-!
A warning bell rings, striking my head hard. The instinct that had worked so hard to grab my life by the collar and save me in every desperate crisis until now rang like crazy, as if everything I’d felt before was just child’s play, but—
"Wa-wait!"
Before I could even shout urgently, my feet were lifted into the air in an instant, and at the same time as the sensation of my internal organs being pushed toward the ground, I lost consciousness in a vortex of intense Mana I had never felt before.