"Hey, did you hit your head somewhere? Oi oi, your forehead's all red."
It hurt. The forehead I had slammed was hurting. My brain was working at full capacity just to process that simple fact.
Why did my forehead hurt if this was a dream? I desperately searched for the answer to that question.
"H-hey. Takuma?"
That's right. I must have bumped into the phone I left by my pillow. I couldn't remember exactly where I'd put it, but I did remember using it a little before going to sleep. I probably hit it when I rolled over in bed.
If that was the case, then even if someone slapped my arm, it shouldn't hurt. Because this was just a dream.
"Hey, Tong. Can you slap my arm for me?"
"Takuma… Are you okay? You've been acting weird for a while now…"
"Yeah, I might have hit my head and gone a little crazy. So please slap my arm. I need it to come back to my senses."
"If you say so…"
Tong grabbed my left arm with his left hand and gave it a firm slap with his right palm.
"How's that? Satisfied now?"
"It hurts…???"
The moment Tong slapped my left arm, the spot where he hit began to sting with a gradual, burning pain. It wasn't an exaggerated pain. It felt strangely realistic, even gentle, as if he had held back for my sake.
It wasn't too painful, but I could clearly feel it in my arm.
It was so real it almost felt like this place was actually reality.
"H-hey!?"
Without caring how I looked, I started pinching and pulling at various parts of my body—my cheeks, the back of my hands, the flesh on my stomach, my thighs, my calves. I grabbed and yanked every bit of skin I could reach.
Every single spot hurt. Clearly. Undeniably.
"Hey, maybe you should go see a doctor…?"
Tong spoke to me gently, clearly worried.
Until just moments ago, I had thought everything Tong said was just my imagination. But now I knew better.
This white-haired old man was undoubtedly a real, living person, and he was genuinely concerned about me.
"Sorry. Just give me one minute. Don't talk to me."
"O-okay…"
I decided to calm down and think rationally.
I still couldn't completely let go of the idea that this was my dream, but judging from the current situation, this wasn't a dream. This was an unknown world—an actual, real world. That meant if I died here, I wouldn't just wake up in a cold sweat thinking it was a bad dream. It would be real death. In the worst case, I might even feel the pain as I experienced my own end.
And if this was reality, then I had been transported to another world. Or rather, judging by my clothes, it was more like I had been summoned than reincarnated. Either way, that didn't matter right now. The real problem was that there had been no explanation at all when I arrived.
In normal isekai stories, a god would usually appear, give you some special ability, and explain the world. But there was nothing like that here. There was no convenient plot armor from fiction—just the harsh, cold realism unique to reality.
This was most likely not the world I knew. It probably wasn't even Earth.
I was worried about my original world, but what concerned me even more was what would happen from now on.
There was no god to explain things and no divine assistance. That meant I currently had no money, no home, and no job.
I checked the pockets of my sweatpants, but of course nothing convenient was inside. All I had was my own body, the sweatshirt and pants I was wearing, and my underwear.
I didn't know how much time had passed, but when I opened my eyes again, I was still surrounded by creatures in shapes I had never actually seen before.
In my original world, I was supposed to become a working adult next year. It was time to stop throwing a tantrum like a child and accept reality.
I had come to another world. And this was undeniably real.
"Sorry. I've calmed down now."
"I see. So, are you okay, Takuma?"
"Yeah… Well, no. I'm not okay."
"Really? Then I should take you to a doctor right—"
"No, my body is fine. What's not okay is my future… or rather, my current situation."
The pain in my forehead would probably go away soon if I left it alone. I might get a lump, but that would heal with time.
But there were many problems in front of me that wouldn't be solved so easily.
"What's wrong? If you're in trouble, I can listen."
"Ah, thanks, Tong. You're a really good guy…"
"Hah, you're late to notice."
Tong grinned and patted my shoulder two or three times.
Even though I was wearing bizarre clothes, had spoken arrogantly to him despite being half his age, and had acted like I was losing my mind, Tong still responded to me warmly.
I didn't know if there was a god who had summoned me to this world, but I was grateful that the first person I met was Tong.
"Like I said earlier, Tong, I'm not from this town. And as you can see, I don't have anything except the clothes on my body."
"Hey now, what happened to you…?"
"Sorry, but I don't really know the details myself. It's like… I've lost some of my memories."
It might have been fine to honestly say I came from another world, but I didn't want to worry him more, so I decided to play it off as some kind of memory issue.
"I see. You must have gone through something so terrible that you wanted to forget it… Alright. I won't pry into your past anymore."
"Thank you. So, first things first—I need money. Is there any quick way to earn some around here?"
"Hmm… The fastest way would be to help out at my stall and pay you for it, but unfortunately, I'm not short on hands right now."
Behind Tong was a stall with equipment for grilling meat that looked like kebabs. A large chunk of meat was currently sizzling on it. I could also see tools for grilling something similar to yakitori from my world.
People were walking back and forth in front of the shop. There was no need for waiters or extra tables. For a stall this size, Tong alone seemed more than enough.
"Then I guess the quickest way is to become an adventurer…"
"Yeah, that's probably it…"
I had expected this. It was one of the classic isekai tropes. But that immediately created the next problem.
"Hey, does magic exist in this world?"
"Yeah, of course. Plenty of it."
"So… how do you use magic?"
"Mostly by watching and copying. I learned by imitating my dad. I've heard that adventurers who use magic buy spellbooks and practice with them."
"Can anyone use fire or water magic?"
"No, it depends on the person. No matter how much I tried, I couldn't use any other magic."
So there was an aptitude for magic after all. That meant I needed to find out what my aptitude was. More importantly, I first needed to know whether I could use magic at all. Eventually, I'd also have to figure out if I even had mana.
For now, I'd put magic aside and focus on more immediate problems.
"Going back to what we were saying—where do I need to go to become an adventurer?"
"If you go straight down this road and turn right, you'll find the Adventurers' Guild."
"I see. If you happen to know, are there any jobs that even someone like me could do?"
"Let's see… Gathering medicinal herbs or odd jobs should be available."
It looked like I had avoided the classic "killed by a monster right after arriving" event. Of course, there was still a chance I might run into monsters while collecting herbs.
"Got it. I'll head to the Adventurers' Guild for now. Sorry for all the trouble."
"What are you talking about? When I was your age, I caused way more trouble than this."
"I see."
Even though I was in a completely unknown land, I somehow felt strangely at ease.
It was because this place had the same kind of atmosphere as the part-time job I used to have in my old world—people casually chatting while working hard.
"Alright, I'm going now."
"Hey, Takuma."
As I started to walk away, Tong called out from behind me.
I turned around, and something shiny like a coin came flying toward me. I hurriedly caught it with both hands.
"This is…"
"It's a silver coin. Real money."
It was thicker than any coin I knew, and an unfamiliar person's face was engraved on its surface.
"Wait, this…"
"I'm giving it to you. And take this too."
As he spoke, Tong handed me a skewer with three round chunks of grilled meat on it.
"Becoming an adventurer costs five copper coins. That silver coin is worth ten copper coins. Use the rest to buy the bare minimum of what you need. Also, no matter what you do, you can't work on an empty stomach."
Tong was giving not only money but also food to a complete stranger. At that moment, he seemed like a god to me. For a second, I even wondered if Tong himself was the one who had summoned me to this world.
"I'm really sorry… but I'll gratefully accept it."
"Yeah! Just make sure next time you come here, you pay properly and buy from me."
"Got it. I'll come back with more than enough money to cover today's share."
After making that promise, I finally left the area.
I quickly disappeared into the crowd of people, and Tong's figure vanished from sight. But even then, I had the feeling that Tong was still watching over me as I walked away.