1 New World
2022, Spring
Rinko Ma had just arrived home after spending all day at college attending his classes. He quickly walked upstairs to the room he was renting (MN in the USA) and put his things away. He rested a bit and then headed downstairs to make himself some ramen.
Having cooked, he now was munching on a big bowl of ramen while walking up the stairs, when his foot suddenly slipped! Tumbling down the stairs he crashed hard into the floor below! before he passed out from the pain, he noticed that his leg was bent at a weird angle and it felt like he had seriously injured his neck. Soon his vision slowly started to blur and turn dark.
255 B.C
Rinko suddenly opened his eyes and found that he was surrounded by various strange-looking people, they looked extremely poor and were carrying wooden spears.
Looking around he thought perhaps he had wandered around in his sleep and ended up in a historical reenactment or some kind of LARP. Suddenly a well-dressed soldier-looking guy in armor started shouting out orders and soon everyone including himself was being herded into columns of men. He was handed a spear and suddenly found himself marching along with the others.
He wanted to protest but thankfully he witnessed what happens to those who do, a teenager had started running away from the column and soon a couple of riders had ridden him down, LITERALLY! he was trampled to death by the horses! everyone soon quieted down and all obediently marched along. He wasn't sure if he was dreaming or not, one thing he knew for sure was the blood and screams of pain! all looked and sounded real!
As they marched along, they could still hear screams of the fleeing youth, soon Rinko noticed a soldier ride up the boy, jumped down off his horse, and quickly ended his life with his sword! Rinko didn't know what was going on, but one thing was for sure, he knew he safer marching in line with the others.
For the next few hours, they slowly marched, and finally, they reached their destination. It was a large town with high walls! Rinko was shocked to see thousands of men climbing ladders and hurling themselves at the town's defenders! he was a good distance away and yet he could still smell the stench of blood in the air.
Marching along with the others, he soon found himself below the walls guarding the town, for the next few hours he watched as men climbed ladders to fight, occasionally the defenders would fire off a volley of arrows, and a few men around him would get hit and fall screaming to the ground.
Rinko was horrified, he could hear hundreds of men screaming out in pain, and occasionally would see a fine mist of blood spray from atop the walls! he knew someone had just been killed. As the fight carried on he soon noticed that he was now only a couple of rows away from the nearest ladder! in a few minutes it would be his turn to climb!
Having marched all day in the hot sun without any water, he was now tired and thirsty. He was now standing in front of the ladders! his legs felt weak and his arms were shaking! he tried to convince himself that the shaking was from adrenaline running through his body, but he knew he was terrified. He had never even been in a fight in his entire life! now he found himself in front of a ladder and every cell in his body was telling him that if he climbed it, he would die!
It wasn't long as he stood in front of the ladder before a soldier dressed in armor came and pointed his sword at him and ordered him up! Rinko knew he would be killed if he didn't start climbing, but with no other choice, he made his way up. He was almost to the top of the ladder when his hands suddenly lost strength for a second and he lost his grip on his spear! he watched in horror as his only weapon fell below. He couldn't climb down to grab it, and with no other choice, he was forced to keep climbing without a weapon.
Finally, after what felt like forever, he had made it to the top of the wall, he was relieved, he had witnessed others die after falling from their ladder after the enemy had dumped boiling water on them from above.
Looking around he noticed a fierce fight atop the walls! from the look of it, the fight was in their favor, the enemy was outnumbered and slowly being whittled down. He watched as hundreds of soldiers fought all around him! as he watched the battle, he noticed that most of the defenders had nice armor and were obviously better trained, while his side looked like a much of poor homeless people! thankfully he noticed that his side had managed to open up a bunch of footholds all over the walls and was now slowly pressuring the enemy soldiers with their overwhelming numbers.
Rinko looking out at the troops below noticed that his side had the other outnumbered by about 30 times. He was relieved, they would eventually win the battle it seems, if he could find a safe group to hide with he would be able to survive the battle. Looking around he noticed one enemy soldier on the other side that towered over the rest, he watched as the armored-clad soldier fought five enemies off at once, in a matter of moments he had killed them all! he even managed to cut two of them in two with one sweep of his sword! what kind of strength did he have!!!
Rinko seeing this, started heading away from that enemy soldier. It seems fate had other plans as a soldier from his side in nice armor started barking orders at him and the soldiers around him, they soon formed into a small group and were herded towards the strong enemy soldier!
It wasn't long before he and about twenty others were in front of the strong enemy soldier! Rinko finally realized that he still had no weapon! he tried to push his way back and away from the enemy but the others behind him wouldn't let him, if he moved then they would have to be in front and die first, they stubbornly refused to let him pass!
Rinko now found himself in front of the enemy soldier! he suddenly felt himself receive a hard push from behind and found himself stumbling towards the enemy along with a few other fellow soldiers! Rinko with five other soldiers was now in weapons range of the enemy soldier.
Rinko watched as the enemy soldier swung his sword at him, noticed at the last moment that Rinko was unarmed, and instead of striking him, killed the man next to him! Rinko seeing that he was temporarily ignored, knew he only had a second to act before it would be his turn! with no weapon and no other choice! he bent down and tackled the enemy soldier! taken the enemy soldier by surprise he managed to tackle him to the ground! he quickly through his body on the weapon arm of the enemy and closed his eyes and hung on for dear life!
With his eyes closed, he could hear the angry shouts of the enemy soldier! soon the shouts turned to wails and then eventually quieted down. He slowly opened his eyes and was shocked to discover about 10 spears in the body of the enemy soldier!
Rinko was stunned and silent for about fifteen seconds! when suddenly the armored soldiers who ordered them forward walked to the front, he cut off the head of the enemy and raised it into the air! and shouted.
"THE ENEMY GENERAL! HAS BEEN KILLED BY MY HAND! "
Rinko was too shocked by all this to really pay attention, his life had been balancing on the edge of life and death there and he was just glad to have survived. Soon cheers erupted all around him and the enemy soldiers started to flee.
( 255 B.C, three months later)
Rinko along with a few thousand others was now being allowed to head home. Rinko had learned that they were conscripted about a year ago to fight in the campaign against Wei. The others had been fighting for a year now, luckily for him, it had only been the last few months, and all of that was spent defending a castle that was never attacked.
The military had shifted forces around and they now defended the new front with veteran soldiers and the militia was no longer needed, they had been gifted with a bit of food and a small amount of money and sent home. Rinko by now had realized that he was in the manga Kingdom thanks to listening to the various soldiers talking.
He had apparently woken up in the body of a poor peasant by the name of Rin, other than that there was nothing special about the previous person who owned this body. He lived a basic impoverished life in this era. He had no idea how he had gotten here, he didn't meet god or anything special, he had slipped on some stairs, and poof! he woke up here.
Having walked a few days alone, he sorted out his thoughts, he was about ten years from the start of the main plot of the story. He had a horrible social status, he was a poor peasant, with no money, no power or influence, and no backing of any kind. The previous body's owner lived alone and had no living family. In a few years, the king would die, so there was no point trying to suck up to the current ruling faction, not that he had any means of evening entering the capital's inner area or getting involved with its politics.
For the moment he was homeless and broke. He needed money to feed himself and to afford a place to stay. Having set a goal for himself he made his way to a large town and started working at any place that would hire him, the first few months were hard, he slept outside and had to steal or beg for food before he finally found a job. After his first paycheck (figure of speech) he was enjoying a night out when he ran into a bunch of starving orphans, feeling pity for them he treated them to a meal, them being children he had let his guard down and was taken by surprise when they started mugging him, beaten with sticks and rocks he was left battered in the back streets.
254 B.C
Rinko was dead tired as he made his way into his room, he spent all day cooking food, and cleaning. He had managed to secure himself a steady job as a cook, he had basic cooking skills and copied everything the others did to the best of his ability. He now had his own room in a run-down home, a blanket served as his door and the walls had cracks, but he now had a roof over his head and a safe place to sleep.
He was starting to make a bit of extra money after a customer asked him for something to eat saying anything would do, Rinko without thinking about it quickly threw together a quick easy modern dish and served it, soon the boss found out after the customers kept requesting his cooking. Rinko sold a few recipes and ideas to the boss for a bit of spare change, he couldn't just give away all his recipes for free. The place was now busy and drawing in people thanks to him, at first he was paid little for his recipes, but as business improved he was able to get more and more money for them. He now had a small decent amount of money. He even ran into the group of children who had mugged him, they looked like they had lost even more weight so he reluctantly still fed them as they ordered food, to get a bit of revenge he made their food extra spicy and watched as they reluctantly ate their meal.
253 B.C
Rinko wasn't rich, but he also wasn't poor either. He saved every bit of money he could and moved to the capital, he was now a proud owner of his own run-down shop, and he opened up a small gambling spot in the back alleys of the capital that also served alcohol and food. He had a friend that dropped out of college in his past life and started making his own drugs, occasionally they would still hang out and Rinko would help him out a bit, eventually, he didn't want to live that life, breaking contact with his friend and focused on his studies.
Thankfully he still knew his basic chemistry and soon a new drug was circulating in the underworld of the capital. During the day he was a cook and owner of a gambling hall, but at night he was a small-time thug in the underworld. He saved a few orphans that had a few screws loose by his standards and groomed them to be his henchmen and muscle. They started small, they fought the smallest gangs first and incorporated them into his gang after they were defeated, he made sure to eliminate the ones that would cause trouble.
(a few months later)
Rinko was walking down the street, it was starting to get dark outside, he was heading home when he heard the sound of a young woman crying, following the sound he came upon a young woman kneeling down behind her home with a dagger in her hands, it was obvious that she was on hard times and couldn't take it anymore.
Having arrived in this world and almost dying many times, Rinko was no longer that innocent college student, he could now be a wild beast willing to do anything to survive. He turned around and started walking away when he heard the soft sobs of the young woman once again... Reluctantly he turned around...
Both of them were now next door to his gambling hall, he had bought the place next door for cheap/threatened and had turned it into a hotel, the young woman from earlier was sitting on a bed looking nervous. Rinko had learned the woman's husband had died in battle and now she could no longer feed her children, she was broke and would soon lose her place, Rinko wasn't a saint, and wouldn't just give her money, she would need to earn by working for him. He had been blunt, looked her straight in eye as she knelt on the ground crying, and told her how she could earn money by working for him.
The young woman had decent looks and was now nervously waiting in bed, soon Rinko left, and not long after another man entered and closed the door behind him. Rinko had already been paid, he would keep sixty percent of everything she made, in exchange, he would protect her and provide her a discreet place to offer her services, and like that, his hotel had become a brothel.
Rinko had a high standard for cleanliness of his hotel thanks to his modern standards and worked hard to keep it looking nice and comfortable to the customers. He provided nice clothing for his girls, compared to other women in the area they now looked like they belonged to a higher social standing. With his modern thinking, he knew that some of the women had children and without really thinking about it he provided daycare for the woman, some of the women had wept after learning this, they had been forced to leave their children at home all alone, now they at least knew their kids were safe and being fed.
Rinko wasn't a saint, these women were one of his geese that laid the golden eggs, they brought in money for him and he was determined to keep them employed and working for him. It didn't take long before he started serving the local officials, he trained his girls to perform in various roleplays and use his drugs to enhance their client's experiences. The girls and his pockets were soon flowing with coins from the various officials who had more money to spend than the broke fools in the backstreets.
249 B.C
Rinko was furious! he suddenly found himself once again surrounded by Qin soldiers, in front of him was a Qin soldier barking orders to the new recruits!
Rinko was finally starting to enjoy his life, he met a young woman and was now the proud father of two sons and a stepdaughter. When he first met his future wife, she was a shy thing but a bit of a stalker, now she was a proud mother and boss of the underworld in the capital. Despite now being his wife she was still a bit of a stalker and he would still sometimes see her hiding behind something following after him! "DAMN WOMAN! JUST COME OUT AND WALK BESIDE ME! YOUR LUCKY YOU'RE SO CUTE!" he would often think.
Rinko and his family were enjoying a nice walk around town when suddenly soldiers started shouting about a new border skirmish, it seems after the King died, the various factions had started competing for more power, and now one of them wanted to earn a name for themselves with the various border skirmishes going on.
Unfortunately for Rinko, they started recruiting in the capital first, taken by surprise when one soldier started questioning himself, having learned of Rinko's peasant background he soon found himself enlisted! Rinko brought along twenty of their people with them, all spread out and acting like they were customers of the various shops. His wife was angry and signaled their men to attack! seeing this he had to calm his wife and signaled his men to back down. This was the capital and the soldier looked young but had very nice armor on, he likely had a very influential family background.
So reluctantly, he found himself in the military once again, he quickly spent half his wealth bribing various officials and military officers. He wasn't able to buy his way out of the military but he was able to move himself to a better unit, instead of being trained with peasants he was now training with the regular infantry. They all had decent armor on and a few even wore expensive armor, clearly from a powerful family.
Rinko had bought himself a cheap set of armor and a sword and was soon training along with the other soldiers. A few weeks into training he noticed that all the soldiers with powerful backgrounds and decent armor were always training in the rear of their formation, Rinko always seemed to end up at the front of the formation with the poorer soldiers in the military. From the looks of it, he and the others would be sent in first, but at least he knew that the peasant militia force would be sent in first before the regular soldiers. He made sure to train as much as possible, he almost died in the last battle and he didn't want to feel so helpless this time, he spent every possible moment training and learning as much as he could.
248 B.C
For half a year they trained, marched, learned to follow orders, and practiced formations. Eventually, the time came for the army to march and Rinko soon found himself once again staring at a battle happening at the border. Wei had attacked one of their border cities and had laid siege to it.
Under the cover of night, thousands of Qin soldiers had managed to sneak into the city, the city finally received reinforcements skyrocketed their morale!
Rinko had to admit he enjoyed the looks the citizens gave them as the regular soldiers marched into the city. The next few days were a blood bath for the militia, they were stationed on the walls first and faced the brunt of the enemy's attack. Rinko watched from down below in formation with regular soldiers, occasionally they would be sent up on the wall to help push back a foothold the enemy had managed to gain on the wall. On one of these missions, he arrived at the top and almost puked! the ground was covered in blood, guts, and dying soldiers! the troops quickly dealt with the enemy soldiers securing this section of the wall, now safely back down on the ground he couldn't hold it in anymore and puked his stomach out, causing a round of laughter from the soldiers, despite laughing Rinko could see that many were not doing much better. There was so much death in the area that he swore he could taste the taste of blood from the air.
Rinko knew soon that they would be sent up, the enemy had managed to secure a small spot on the wall around three of their ladders and was slowly funneling in troops there onto the wall. The militia had them outnumbered but slowly they were being pushed back, it was clear that they wouldn't be able to stop the enemy.
Once again Rinko and the regular infantry were ordered to assist the militia on the wall. Rinko now had his blade plunging into enemy soldiers, with fellow soldiers on either side of him, they slowly pushed the enemy back. Rinko took a slash across the chest but thankfully his armor kept the wound shallow, and he kept fighting! killing the enemy soldier in front of him.
Qin forces had pushed back the enemy soldiers all along the wall, and now the Qin General seeing that the enemy was spent having attacked the wall for the last few days, ordered the army to march out of the city and attack.
The soldiers that beat back the Wei troops on walls now watched as the Qin forces marched out. Rinko and the troops around them were ordered to protect the wall, so he watched as a bloody battle happened out on the plains below the castle walls.
Wei now outnumbered ordered a retreat, the bulk of their army fled but a brave rear vanguard stayed to face the Qin forces and stop them from pursuing the rest of the army. These brave soldiers were soon surrounded and slowly destroyed by the Qin soldiers, bravely they fought to the last man taking many Qin soldiers down with them.
Rinko standing atop the wall silently observed all the dead bodies down on the ground below. He had once again almost died, if it wasn't for his armor, he would have likely ended up as one of those corpses lying on the ground. Glad he didn't run into any strong fighters today, he soon vowed to train three times harder from now on.
He now wore his armor at all times to get used to its weight and had a custom sword made and shipped to him, it was very heavy, and spent as often as possible swinging it! at first, he was often made fun of because he struggled to swing it, but soon those who tried to use it themselves found out how heavy it actually was and would no longer harass him.
