Actually, It's Not Dangerous!
"I'm screwed..."
I had a gut feeling that I was utterly fucked as I stared at the scene before me. I'd known from the moment I started this lifestyle that a day like this would eventually come, but my own laziness and fear had kept me from dealing with it. And now, shit had finally hit the fan.
It was something I clearly had to do someday. If I didn't sort this out right now, I'd probably die.
It was undeniably a massive problem. Staring into the empty void where nothing existed, I began to agonize over what I had to do next.
The time was exactly one year ago.
One day, I woke up to find myself opening my eyes in a completely unfamiliar place. It wasn't something I'd wished for, nor was it something I was forced into against my will—it was purely a freak accident, coincidence piled on coincidence.
I'd been an ordinary college student, but suddenly I was living in a strange place, thrust into an entirely different body without even a moment to adjust.
The unfamiliar sensations were one thing, but the real disaster was how much smaller I'd become—impossibly tiny compared to before. And it wasn't just my height. If that had been the only change, it might've been bearable. But no—my gender had changed too. How could it not be a nightmare?
At first, I was so shocked I just sat there in a daze for what felt like ages. And to top it off, while the body was well-proportioned and beautiful in a way, it was a child's figure, with a face that was more cute than pretty. That made it all the more depressing.
The one small consolation was how adorably cute I looked overall—enough to make mirror-gazing enjoyable. My striking silver hair and eyes that shimmered like the moon gave off an otherworldly vibe, like I didn't belong in this world.
But that didn't last long.
My parents were gone anyway, and my friends from college had drifted away after military service and returning to school—no one left who knew me. Even if I'd truly vanished, no one would come looking.
Besides the body swap, there were plenty of other weird things. The place I was living in was bizarre. It wasn't just a remodeled house; it was a total stranger to me—a large home deep in the mountains, complete with an attached warehouse, way too big for one person.
That oddity tied into the others, confirming I'd ended up in a completely different world. The random trivia, magical knowledge, and latent mana in my body were the clinchers. It wasn't exact proof, but enough to infer this wasn't my original world.
Back home, there was no such thing as mana—magic was just for novels and movies. Yet here I was, knowing how to brew special potions from herbs and ingredients. No matter how I thought about it, that was abnormal.
So, I concluded this was an isekai world. Which meant venturing outside to buy stuff? Terrifying. It was an unknown realm—who knew what could happen? I could get lost, or run into strangers... So I holed up inside.
The food stocks were plentiful, and with this body's tiny appetite, I figured I could last a good long while.
A whole year without talking to a soul had made even the idea of human conversation daunting. I'd always been awkward with people back in college—no friends then, and a year alone? Forget it.
You might wonder how I survived solo for a year, but I had my knowledge. I experimented with potions—ones with special effects, basic recovery brews. With magic theory in my head, I spent days locked in my room researching spells. It was surprisingly fun, even in just that short year.
Then, the problem I'd been putting off exploded: food supplies ran out.
I couldn't just forage random mountain stuff or hunt. My only option was to head down the mountain.
Maybe mark the path to avoid getting lost? Magic markers would handle that—no worries there. But still, going out scared me shitless. Talking to people? Nightmare. And if this was a brutal fantasy world, I had no confidence surviving outside.
In the novels I knew, a kid like me wandering out meant kidnapping, slavery—game over. Even with magic skills, one slip and I'd be done.
"Ugh..."
Still... I turned to gaze at the warehouse. Once full, now completely empty.
If I didn't buy ingredients now, the last scraps would vanish in days. I'd starve to death, skin and bones.
"Haaa..."
The day had finally come. I had a few days left, so I could've delayed, but after a year of procrastination leading here, delaying more was idiotic. Beyond lazy—stupid.
Live and learn, but this was different.
"Hup!" Slap! I smacked my cheeks with both hands. Snap out of it. I'd postponed this forever. Couldn't stay put. I couldn't rot in this house forever, right? At least reaching the nearby village would make life easier.
Self-sufficient foraging in the mountains? No way. Lasting a year on warehouse scraps was a miracle—mostly thanks to my tiny stomach.
"Alright! Today's goal: find that village somewhere out there!"
With purpose set, I pulled up my hood, shrouding my body, and stepped outside. Just keep walking straight—eventually, I'd hit a path out, right?
A sudden question popped into my head. Why hadn't I left the house in a whole year?
As I'd said, I assumed it was isekai—backed by the knowledge, unfamiliar mana, and deep-mountain isolation. It wasn't unreasonable. I'd decided it wasn't my world, freaked myself out, and barricaded indoors. If someone called me a total loser, hermit shut-in, I'd nod without hesitation.
I figured outside was danger central. Even hiking the mountain scared me—descending to a village? Impossible.
Or it should have been...
I looked around with a blank expression. Towering skyscrapers lined the streets. Massive wheeled metal beasts roared down avenues. People chatted away or stared into perfectly handheld metal gadgets as they walked.
I knew exactly what this was, where I was. How could I not? Just a year ago, this was my world.
Sure, unfamiliar things zipped by—S-Ranks, A-Ranks, booming voices from building-mounted metal plates—but my dazed mind barely registered them.
People glanced at my deeply hooded figure, then looked away. To them, I was just some weird stranger. My witchy robes screamed suspicious.
"Excuse me, could you please take off your hood?"
"Ah..."
Neatly uniformed folks approached cautiously. I knew exactly who they were: the people's guardians, upholders of public order.
"No..."
One year of "isekai" life. Or rather, one year of deluding myself it was isekai and rotting at home.
After that long, lonely stretch, the truth that greeted me was joyful yet heartbreaking: it wasn't dangerous at all.