I blinked. Once, twice, three times, but I still couldn't understand what the hell was going on...Everything around me was covered in snow.Which was strange, considering I had been in my room watching Fate/Grand Order: Camelot for the fifth time.And not in this godforsaken place.
"What the hell...?"I looked at my hands — they were smaller, paler.And my voice? Way too high-pitched compared to what I remembered.
I didn't need a scientific explanation.I'd read about this.I'd seen it in hundreds of stories.
Isekai.
Transmigration.
Magical reincarnation.
But I never thought it would happen to me.
Unfortunately, I didn't have time to think it through, because a shiver ran down my spine.
Cold.So much cold.
Where am I...? Alaska?
"It doesn't matter," I muttered under my breath, rubbing my arms.I had to find shelter, because at this rate, I doubted I'd survive this weather.
All around me was snow, and more snow. No trace of human civilization.I couldn't stay still.I hugged myself, though it did little good.No coat. Just a thin white shirt and pants far too light for this frozen hell.
And honestly, waking up in the body of a boy in the middle of nowhere didn't make things any better.
"Okay... think," I whispered with a trembling voice.Keep moving. Stay warm. Look for something that isn't white.
I took a deep breath and started walking before my body froze entirely.The first steps were slow.The second ones, clumsy.The third... painful.And then... I just kept walking.
I didn't know how much time had passed.The gray sky didn't move.The wind kept blowing, as if pushing me toward a place I couldn't see.There were no footprints behind me.Not even mine lasted more than a few seconds.
Wasn't I supposed to get a cheat skill or something?A system?Anything?
Nothing.
Not even a floating screen.Not even a celestial voice.Not even a goddess telling me I was special.
Just the sound of wind... and snow crunching beneath my feet.
No infinite inventory full of food and winter clothes.
What a cosmic scam.
No isekai tutorial, no starter powers.
I sighed.My breath turned to mist and vanished into the wind.
Well… cheat or not…If I don't find shelter soon, the next scene will be my frozen corpse,and I won't even get a Game Over screen.
I took a few more steps, dragging my feet, no longer expecting miracles.
But then… the white changed.
Not like in the movies, where everything transforms magically.It was subtle.
The wind stopped in an instant.The snow beneath my feet no longer crunched the same way.And the silence… wasn't so complete anymore.
Far ahead, through the mist, I saw shadows.Dark.Long.Thin.
I rubbed my eyes, doubting my vision.
Trees?
I took another step.And then another.
The mist parted like a thick curtain… and there it was.
A forest.
Well… it's something.
...
Mmm, okay, maybe I could make a fire.Not the best idea.Nor the brightest.
But it was either that or letting the cold finish off whatever was left of my soul.
I searched for some branches…Tried to do it the old way.With a rock.With friction.With desperation.
I moved into the trees.
The forest was… strange.There was an unsettling silenceThe kind that, if this were a video game, would trigger a boss battle scene.
But… shouldn't I be in the newbie village?
Crack.
"Uh… was that a branch?" I whispered, looking around.
But I hadn't stepped on anything...
And then I saw it.
A person?Maybe the one who'd ask me to save the world, or rescue a princess trapped by the Demon King.
"H-hello?" I said, hoping for an answer.
The figure didn't respond.It just took a step forward.
My body was still trembling,but something inside me screamed loud enough to drown out everything else.
DANGER.
I quickly turned in the opposite direction to runBut something blocked my way.
Another figure.
Another one.
Three more.
Emerging from between the trees.
DANGER.
DANGER.
DANGER.
DANGER.
I ran as fast as this body would let me.My legs screamed in protest.My breath felt like wet cloth in my lungs.But I didn't stop.I couldn't.
What was I thinking...?Why the hell did I think there would be normal people in a place like this?
I turned my head.
Bad idea.
The figures were still following me.And now that I could see them more clearly…Did they have glowing purple lines on their faces?
Not tattoos.Not paint.
They looked like veins.Pulsing. Glowing.As if something was flowing through them.
"Shit, shit, shit!"
What the hell are they?A virus?Zombies?
I don't know,but whatever it is,it's not good.
My brain was spitting out absurd theories at the speed of light,but my body only knew one command:
Run.
Am I going to die?
They were getting closer.
My body felt heavier by the second.My chest was burning.My vision blurring.
What a joke.
A broken laugh escaped my lips.Between the blood, the ice, and the fear—I laughed.
I had a future ahead of me.A family that loved me.A life.A warm bed.
And…
The girl I liked confessed her feelings to me just before all this happened.
Shit.
Shit.
I stopped.
My legs gave out all at once.I dropped to my knees.
I stayed there, breathing as if every breath was my last.
This made no sense.
Why me?Why here?What kind of universe throws me into a frozen wasteland full of monsters?
I didn't ask for this.I didn't want this.
I just wanted to go back.
Shit.
Well…At the very least, I'll make sure to bite them really hard.
I turned my head, preparing for the inevitable "battle."
My arms trembled.My legs were jelly.But if I was going to die, I'd do it facing forward.
Or at least…that was the plan.
Because the very next moment…
Did I fall?
Yeah.I'm falling.
And in the next instant, everything turned black.