1 Chapter 1

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Rewrite, complete! I hope I get this better than the first one! If you have any ideas, let me hear it out!

Anywho, without further ado,

Story Start!!!

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My name is Roneru Aberego, and I really need some nice cold coconut juice.

For a 15 years old guy living on a society where poverty is the norm, I expected less from my life and what I would eventually achieve. To a place where various of real life facebook aunties roams among the crowds, and a place where homeless people tend to live under a cold rundown bridge in hopes that everything will get better soon as the government bathe on cash and luxury, Philippines wasn't really the most stable country and I am one of those that were unfortunate enough to live in this country.

By all sorts, I am not a guy who was that much special....well, on my opinion, that is. I didn't have that much interesting childhood and lifestyle, like many, I am but another normal dude with below average looks walking down the streets. And the sad part is, I didn't even care. It's not the best or most satisfying thing to be stepped down at while everyone were there to laugh at my pitiful state, but as life goes on, numbness starts to occur. I can't do anything about it, and I plan to just stay away from it. Unlike those anime or manga protagonist I read from the internet, I wasn't someone that would eventually go unga bunga and scream sex at the top of my lungs to overcome my own hardships while chasing a car on the road, just like that Takashi guy. It's either I'd accept the harsh reality of society or live my life whining about how unfair the world truly is.

My point is, I want to have a break from these awful problems I— no, the whole world was facing on. And what would be more refreshing than having a nice cup of cold coconut juice, or how we call it in Philippines, a nice cold Buko Juice.

The cold but sweet juice that they sell on the streets, it had always never ceased to amaze me how it always sooth my mind and calm my nerves. It makes all problems fly away as if like a drug meant to make me forget things or how a drunk man would drown in alcohol just for his wife to turn as pretty as the bitch Goddess Aphrodite in his double sighted eyes.

And this, is where an unfortunate problem seemed to slap me right in the face out of the blue.

With a cold cup of Buko juice held on my hand as I tried to take a tiny sip of it, I blinked as the unfamiliar sound of crowds chatter seemed to resound on my ears when I was sure that it was only me and the vendor that were there on the streets when I first bought my drink. Now I'm more confused than ever, the shade of mango tree that loomed over me was gone, and to my feet, I saw that I was stepping on a foreign unfamiliar ground that consists of what seemed like cobblestones.

So, slowly but surely, trying to register the strange change of the ground and loud noises of crowds, I lifted my head to confront the vendor of coconut juice—

"Hey, Manong—..."

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"...—wha....t....da faq..."

Only to come face to face with an unfamiliar and ridiculous neck breaking skyscraper that towered all the buildings I have ever seen, making it as if those latter structures looked liked an ant compared to a human looming from the heavens. It was then that I realized that I, with my cup of cold Buko Juice still on hand, was mysteriously transported to an unknown territory...

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And why the fuck was I, in the name of SHREK, was wearing damn rags??!!

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I am quite a religious man myself. I believe that God was real and that he possess an unparalleled power that might even be far beyond human comprehension. As a filipino, I was taught of religious stuffs and christian beliefs, that God is an omnipotent being that can do unimaginable things.

But this... This is just absurd.

I am a guy who serves christianity and respects God; however, I am still a man of science myself. While I know that God is not true and cannot exist by multiple legitimate scientific explanations, believing in something is not a crime. And that.... Is where my disbelief came from.

I have confirmed that I am not on high right now, and that my beloved coconut juice did not contain any foreign drug products like those weeds or whatever those were called. Which leaves my situation to another case... And that is, being transported to another world. I am by all case not dense when it comes to anime and weeb culture, so the thought of being yeeted to another world had already reached my mind. The only problem is that—,

"Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit."

—I don't know how to react and how to properly respond.

I clutched my head, trying to calm myself down, mutterings of mine only reaching my own ears alone. Deep breathe in and deep breathe out, the infamous technique to calm one's mind had successfully failed for the first time. No matter how I tried to calm myself down, only the sound of my rapid heartbeat came to reach my ears and mind.

Being dropped in the middle of an unknown crowded territory was not the best thing to do, not only that, to where the place I have been dropped on is not the best suitable place either. Heck, the question of  how in hell's anus have I been transported was not even helping me calm myself down. No God to show up, no random omnipotent being greeting me with a smug smile and yeet me into a world where I would do my best to fill their boring interest....

I was sent here after buying my damn drink for crying out loud, a simple cold coconut drink!!

Sent to a different world all alone, on a foreign territory I do not know off. A place were the worse could happen, I could be ganged up by some random thugs and stripped all of my belongings as if like that of the legendary Ricardo Milos dancing over some dumb tiktok dance song, or kidnapped by some certain white vehicle and rip off of my internal organs— corpse to be thrown away on a nearby river and never to be found. Anything can be possible, and I in hell wouldn't let my intestines be stolen as I knew that it wouldn't even be helpful anyways.

Calm down is all I could do for the moment. There's nothing left to do than just that. Yet even still, I failed to do just as that. I need to chill, everything will be alright brah. Everything will eventually be.

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Perhaps drinking coconut would do.

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Alright, chill the fucc down acquired. New achievement unlocked and it's called 'why u do dis to me.'

It was quite some time, but eventually, I have controlled my breathing and calmed down a bit. I can feel my heartbeat slowly pumping normally and my breathe was well stabilized. Although, the sensation of saliva slumped down into my throat remains there, still, I was assured that I am quite already calmed down. Not gonna lie, drinking coconut juice helped me even more, even if I was hesitant to drink it, fearing that I would be sent to yet another damned world if I do; luckily, it did not.

Now that I was a little bit on control to my head, I can now focus to where or what place I was mysteriously yeeted on. It was the first time that I can clearly check my surrounding vicinity, that is without freaking out and shaking uncontrollably as if I was on sort of a standing seizure. So when I laid my eyes to the place standing right infront of my eyes, well... I wanna say awestruck, but that would be just nothing but an exaggerated comment.

I was sitting on a comfortable wooden bench in a place to what I can think as a reminiscent of a park, with a fountain of water just spraying behind my back. Onto the surrounding, as far as my eyes can even see, the stacks of buildings built on a design that can be said as that of the early ages came greeting my sight. When one building structure was there to be seen, another would be there laying on it's side and so on and so forth. On the ground below, was gone of the asphalt road, and instead came the cobblestone ground that stretched up very far from where I am seated. The bright heavens of blue painted the same sky I am familiar with, clouds visible here and there where as the almighty sun shines the brightest glow up in the furthest sky, namely, the outer space. Heavens speaking, it was imposible to not take note of the abnormally tall building that stood far to my front, abnormally so that it looks as if it stretched far even to earth's, or whatever this planet is called, stratosphere...well, that's an exaggeration but it still stands in a metaphorical sense.  If I were to be asked if the scenery is good, I would be lying if I answered with a simple yes; for a complement to a place such as this must be superior than just a simple yes.

Fresh air, soothing wind, this scenery was very familiar on my mind. The image of the vast of green, the wide know ocean, and the liveliness of people, it was those days where social media was yet to influence nature's destruction... Good ol' days.

Speaking of people, now that I look at it, it's weird to see that people such as these wears clothes I am very unfamiliar to observe for normal civilians standard while still very knowledgeable to what these clothes are. Some people wears light brown or white long sleeve buttoned up shirts and some metallic plates across to various parts of their bodies, some also wears normal RPG-style dresses that consists of long sleeve shirt and pants— some wears skirts for female standards, while others wears adventuring attire similar from those fantasy games I once again know of.

"Hm?" I raised an eyebrow as I soon shifted my line of sight from the people's dress to my very own clothes.

I remember wearing a standard blue T-shirt and black jeans along with dark gray shoes when I first went and bought my coconut juice, but now... It was different, no. Very very much different. Instead of the blue, black, and gray combination of my clothes, I was wearing...

Literal rags.

While there was still the clear resemblance of a t-shirt and a pants, they were torn in various of parts. Holes we're visible here and there, revealing some of my skin from the outside views. It was dirty, stains of dried up mud seen to the majority of the clothes. At my current state, I am sure that my figure would stand up more clearly and that I am an easy spot for a thug to see— good news is, my pitiful clothes screams nothing but poorness, to which I am. I am broke. But what I do found note worthy to this was that..... I have no shoes.

I am not a guy who would just scream and curse to whom God have dropped me in here, no. Now, however, is a different situation. If I could, I would've just screamed like one of those Eva Unit from a certain anime or yell the name of a certain white haired impostor child among adults with rage and cut my own arm.

"...mom, come pick me up. My Philip The 3rd 1840 New Micheal Jackson Super Rocket Shoes is gone..."

This is basically heretic! To whomever bastard to put me here was sure of an asshole. Not only did he yeeted me here like a man child without my consent, but also took my Philip The 3rd 1840 New Micheal Jackson Super Rocket that I don't even know the brand as I just made it up Shoes from Seven-Twelve Suri-Suri Store of Uncle Ben.

"...ha, troublesome." I shook my head, sighing as I dispatched the bad random joke that appeared to my head. "That's one down to survival, I guess."

Well, clothes is one of the necessities of survival, so I guess torn up clothes are allowed?... I don't know. However, the main problem I need to seek out for this sole moment was information. Without information, I will never know where I am and what kind of danger that lurks upon the shadows. If I can obtain info, then maybe, just maybe, my chances of living would rise up. Thus, maybe if I can live through this life, then I may as well learn something new from this world. I never know; perhaps they're would be flying hamburgers on the sky ready to be catched by some people. Or perhaps I was just being paranoid.

"So, obtain information it is." I said to myself as I stood up from my seat, a cup of coconut juice still on my hand. I was quite saving this drink, in case I get another panic attack to this day.

Sun beaming with heat, I stretched my hands and yawned. Perhaps this was already a tiring day, but I can't complain, I really can't. Obtaining information now, aye? That should be easy.

...well, if I have the courage to, which I don't...

Well, shit. No problemo though, I know people here would reaaaally love to hand over information. Everything would be fine. What could definitely go wrong?

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"Shit."

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"...—wryy?"

When I said that everything would be fine, I was very much being sarcastic. No way in hell with my luck would it be that easy. I was joking to myself as well when I said that nothing could go wrong, and the same goes to everything I said back then. But this...

"..."

This escalated up very fast. And for the worse as well.

When I had successfully convinced myself to ask some random dude and overcome

my hesitation, I did not expect for some dude in an adventuring clothes to respond to my callings so easily. What an idiot. To actually pay attention to some random guy wearing rags with the face such as mine, people would definitely want to stay away from such figure that radiates S U S aura, but this guy did not. What an idiot. Problem is—

"Sorry, what?"

—I don't understand anything of what he was talking about.

I'm an idiot.

I truly am an idiot. No doubt that my brain the size of a pea did not thought of this problem. I was focused more to my own problems that I did not pay attention to what rule this world has set in place. Lips sealed shut, I stared at the guy currently speaking in nothing but silence; thin line across my mouth, I felt as if my internal battle with my own self slowly fades away.

I took a deep breathe, gathering as much air as my lungs can, and muttered under my breath, "...punyeta."

Language.

When it comes to anime, the isekai genre may I point that out, some were rather bad when they convey the idea of otherworldly languages. While some might've pointed out the different language that other worlds supported, some of them ignore the damn thing and tell it as if the language is as the same as the language those world different to ours uses. Honestly, it was a low-ball of some, while not all, author to ignore that fact. But what can I say, it is what it is. I can't blame them though, it's a fictional story they were writing; everything is possible.

And this, is impossible. Impossible for my mental health, and impossible for my stone age monke mind to comprehend.

"..."

I continued to stare at the man in silence whereas the said man wryly looked back at me, his words almost slowing down to mere words than a sentence while I tried to make sense of what he was trying to say. If I were back on my home world, I would be thinking that this guy was just joking around and would also join him spitting nonsensical language to pray for the uganda knuckles God or whomever deity he was speaking to. However, this was not like that, he spoke with such proficiency that I doubt he was spouting nonsense, even though that I don't even know what— in my father's balls of steel— he was talking about.

How it sounded like was almost gibberish, if not a whole gibberish language. I heard him say some reminiscent words like 'Sau' and 'Cown' which almost made me think that he was baiting me to fall from those 'Deez Nutz' jokes I found everywhere in the internet. But alas, it was unfortunate and yet frustrating that I cannot understand a single thing of what he was saying.

The guy chuckled for a moment, nervousness coupling the growing impatience that was plastered across his face when suddenly, the voice of a woman seemed to catch his sole attention. Quickly waving at me as a sweat dropped to his cheek, he jogged away and used this new opportunity to walk away in a rush. A walk so fast and obvious that it made the guy who said he's 'fast as faq, boi' looks like he was as slow as a snail.

I can't blame him though, for a random guy with an attire that basically embodied the phrase, 'sussy baka,' I get it that he would be bothered uncomfortably. Especially when they guy who tried calling you never even spoke a single thing. If these were the cops of this land I was speaking to, I would be held in bars for who know when I would get out.

With a sigh leaving my throat, I slumped down to the same bench chair I was sitting on many minutes ago. As I sat there alone, I leaned back to the long seat and stared directly at the orange filled sky.

The sun is already setting, it seems that time really flies by faster when you're focused and busy to a certain thing. The formerly busy streets filled with people became less and less, while shops after shops— those that costumers squish themselves onto like a can of sardines— were already closing in for the night. Lights coming from various of lampposts opened up, lighting up the cobblestone way for any passerby that might've passed by.

I was left there, all alone, looking just up at the orange sky. Orange, the same color as those fire that burned through a campfire, spreading warmth to those campers that ever approached it. I too, want that warmth to my own. That cozy warm embrace of satisfaction that flows within my body if I ever take a rest, that place where I can live quietly and peaceful even if I were already face to face with the most troublesome problems I can ever dream. Yet, that would not be the case and could never happen due to my current situation. I am no longer on my primitive cave of home many call a house, nor am I there to eat on a table as I hear the same old rumbling of a grumbly someone. I am no longer within a warm company I quite know of and cherished.

Then, with an audible click, a new thought came to my mind. All problems seemed to have suddenly vanished, all the frustrations I had met to this day grew non-existent, as my breath became heavy and heartbeat accelerated to a terrifying amount. All of my listed nuisance, those worry for danger, communication problems, survival needs, all gone as my mind raced for one thing. And that one thing is,

Family.

I am no heartless guy, although much to how I already am a crackhead, I held respect to those that raised me up. Even if I were to be yelled at for whatever dumb reason something might've happened, even if I were to be laughed up by falling down to my very own, even if to this kind of age— I were to be smacked by the almighty leather belt; I, from now and forevermore, still respect my family. I love them, more so than ever. Despite the down and lows, I am fond of my family. They were my drive to keep living, my purpose of living my life to atleast accomplish something even with this laziness of mine.

If I were to compare myself to an anime character, I would laugh at myself at how pathetic I am. While they can live without their family, I cannot. And this... This is far more worse than just leaving for college or going on a business trip. The worst part though, is that it was only now that I think of it. I was too swallowed up to the hows and whats of my current situation that I forgot the who.

Eyes that I did not even remembered closing, shot open, and before I can even react, the orange sky was now filled with the endless darkness of the night. Time truly flies too fast when it came to me. The inaudible noises of gibberish language filled my ears as not far from me, was an open restaurant of some sort beaming in energy. Light came in and out the same way as how many people entered and exited the place. One group even looked replenished as they left the place. As if they had came out of a pub full of living embodiment of beauty and lived to tell the tale of how they got laid by some certain cat girl or something. They were on groups, some wearing what looks like those clothings I often see on manga series that focused on the Edo Period of Japan. Joy were plastered across their faces, all as if they carry each other's backs and support one and another, a truly comfortable company of their own.

How envious.

Atleast those people would have a place to stay and people to talk with, whereas I was like the other side of the company's coin. I shifted my look back at the sky, staring at the stars that had seemed to shine bright like a diamond and tried to cheer myself up.

"It's okay, brah. Everything would be alright, brah."

I wonder, what would happen now? How curious it is to talk about the unseeable future and what would be my fate. My family, meanwhile, how would they react? How would they cope if they found out that I was missing? Who would eventually carry the responsibility as the eldest brother? As far as I know, my sibling can do neither that or even clean our clothes.

I cracked a humorous laugh.

To see my sibling struggle to wash their own clothes would be a fun thing to watch. But unfortunately, I cannot. If this was a dream, it would be already nice to wake up. I already had enough fun to view this magnificent land of dreams, it is time to stop complaining and finish up my essay about political governance and stuffs.

I'm tired, even if all I did was complain and brainstorm nonsensical stuffs, it was tiresome enough for my brain to comprehend. As I lowered down my vision from the dark starry night, I came face to face with the same lone tower that pierced the heavens. What I first saw, would be the same as my last, as many have said. The incredibly tall tower loomed high above, as if it looked down on me like a mere peasant. But as mighty as it was, it was as lone as I am. One tower that was so high and tall that it TOWERED all any other buildings.

"INAFF." I chuckled to myself, laughing at my own pun with a taco filled command as I leaned back to the bench. I can feel my lips curve into a hopeless smile, cold wind blowing about the side of my face as I looked back at the starry night sky. I can feel my eyes dripping low, the feeling of tiredness flowing across my entire body as everything suddenly felt heavy.

I'm tired. I want to sleep. This is all just a dream. It definitely is.

This is a dream...

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This is a dream...

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This is—..

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..—a dream.....