I have been cheated...

Glass shattered as I threw my ashtray unthinking, the source of my anger fell to the floor as I stared while the knocking continued on my front door. It was funny in a way, mid thirties and a smoker cancer should be what gets me. Nope!

"Dusty are you ok?"

I opened the door to the worried looking face of my 26 year old niece, take a deep breath, and attempt to calmly explain that I am indeed not.

"HahaHAHAHA I have fucking cirrhosis of the liver! I DRINK MAYBE TWICE A DAMN YEAR!"

I have never been the best at calm but nor am I a violent mad man towards those who do not deserve it so I calmly pick the info packet up and hand it to her. Truth is I have known this for a bit already and been going through the treatments. At stage four my chances do be slim though. That's what actually managed to set me off. The call reporting my current results or rather lack thereof.

"Go ahead and make the calls and let everyome know. I'll write up a just in case will and all that. Now just, go please. I know yall have been worried but that's actually been more stressful than this. Worry about yourselves I'll live or I won't.

The anger in her own eyes is clear but to be honest I'd prefer they not watch me fade to nothing. So I watch as off she goes to start the usual prayer chain nonsense and ready to blow like a firecracker. Good. That's more proper, the usual angry munchkin. Let me remember that instead of a bunch of crowding and staring.

Living room first I pet the two fluffballs in the three level cat tree. Tsuki the massive white tabby striped tom immediately tries arguing with loud yowls as he tries taking all the pets for himself. Saki, his black and white dwarf partner in crime tries to become parrot kitty as per usual climbing up my arm and chest as I keep fighting her to stay down. This of course obviously meant that the orange chiwheenie, or whatever the person giving him up called him, absolutely had to try to run up my leg and into my arms. Twas just a law of the universe that they all be jealous and clingy as always.

"Can you three go five minutes without being clingy and jealous! Atlas calm down and sit I'm not..."

'Going anywhere' is what I was going to say. It's what I always told him. Something wet dripped onto my hand so I moved on cleaning the living room and straightening my mangas and lightnovels baffled at the sudden influx of trashy isekai nonsense I'd gathered recently. Some bs about becoming a gacha machine stared at me at the end before I shelved it. Clearly I wasn't just sick I was losing my mind!

Kitchen next I finally cleaned the pans and such from todays linguini and put the latest cookbook I'd been studying back on the shelf checking for random odds and ends and pleasantly surprised to find none. There was always a random piece of nonsense like a fork or a spoon or one of my many handheld consoles. Neat! Onto the disaster ahem bedroom...

Glass swept I cut up an old box and taped it into the window to keep the nights chill out and picked up my stuffed bear pocketmon and plopped the fat ass back in his proper place as my pillow and tucked the blankets back on my bed and the various card sets in their deck boxes back on their shelf below the handhelds, next came the actual fantasy books as well as history books on alchemy and philosophy and the like. Heh not as bad as I'd expected minus the broken window. Calmest bipolar moment in a long time seems letting out how I feel more often helps.

Bathroom is clean already as usual. One does not clean for a living, even for a shirt time, and let their own bathroom become trashy. Gods above and below the literal shit I have had to deal with! Grabbing my medicines from behind the mirror I start taking them one by one before closing it and checking myself. Yellow is the optimal word for how I'd describe meself these days. My muscle is fading, my long blonde hair that used to attract all the nuisances male and female alike is now more straw-like than silky. But no.

"I'm not dead yet you son of a bitch!"

Nodding firmly I head towards my room amidst constant vicious attacks by my snuggle pup before following his demands and getting into the bed. I allow myself to pull him against me as he sighs heavily like a deflating balloon and finally calms his attempts to meld into me. Right then and there I decide for sure while I kiss behind his ear whispering as the top of his head presses up into my chin.

"It's ok Atlas. I'm not going anywhere."

***

-"this"- will be text the mc can not understand

***

A suffocating feeling woke me and I tried to throw off the blankets but for some reason couldn't find them! Snapping to awareness all was still black and a weightlessness was almost all I could feel. Like I was floating in water yet not drowning in it my movements were slowed but somehow the feeling didn't fade despite realizing there was nothing of actual physical substance here. A nightmare then since this is an impossible scenario, how irritating. Holding still I try to focus and wake myself to no avail but I did get other results! My feet hit the bottom telling me this was a container of some sort so I did the only logical thing I could think of and tried to stand. Stretching and popping feelings came from my limbs and back in a way that I feel should have been painful until finally my shoulders hit the top. Following this my arms and and shoulders seemingly expand, reaching for the edges until I finally reach them. Lips split in a smile I growl in the darkness as I push against it in all directions while it seems to shrink again and panic tries to cloud my mind. I really can't breathe now! Fire spreading through my chest limbs straining I my heart races till a cracking sound comes from above. Freedom can almost be smelled and seen as my fingers claw into it ripping off pieces. I'd have laughed at the time if it had occured to me I was hatching from an egg! All that mattered right then though was those sweet sweet gulps of air as I heaved in heavy lungfuls.

"Now then, analyze situation. Stone walls weird magic circle, soldiers straight out of some idiots light novel. Seriously no one but the important folks could afford plate back then! Oh for fucks sake there even be a wizard! I need to read less fantasy. Besides if I'm going to dream of isekai I should be a protagonist! What is this?! Where's my system!? NO! Instead I get knights with dog catching gear and a wizard experimenting on me! I've been cheated!"

-"Do you have any idea what he's yelling about"-

I think knight A is making fun of me.

-"Stay calm gentlemen he's just been called from his rest and is likely confused. Besides if the necromantic part of the spell may have called a soul from someone who has never spoken our language!"-

Not sure what magic man over there is saying either but he isn't waving his arms around so I'm probably safeish for now at least. This has started to get boring in fact. Shortly after he speaks clothes hit me and I put I slip on the boring crap. Stiff and heavy it looks plain but feels strong. All white long sleeve shirt, long white pants and no decor or anything in sight I'm starting to feel like a priest. Heh time to role play I guess!

"Bless you all for saving me from the sin of my nudity I shall be forever grateful."

Pale lips split in a smile and after a few words the knights begin filing out taking their lassos on a stick with em and with less distractions it's time to get some more details. As we walk apparently. Nothing more is said so I simply take in details as planned, and honestly so far it looks lime a stereotypical wizards tower. Most of the walls are the same plain grey but some of the wooden doors have some sort of personalization. Flowers attached in various ways to some of the door ways others have mounted heads of weirdo beasts so I'm assuming different people live in them and it isn't till we are about halfway to the bottom that he opens one of the plain doors beckoning me inside. Inside is about as plain as the rest with a straw stuffed mattress of likely the same linen me and baldy are wearing, one tiny table and a chair. That is it. Wow.

"Chaya."

Don't need a translation for a name when the person is pointing at himself during it so I do the same for him after a pause. No way am I giving a wizard my real name.

"Anuel."

Following this with a gesture I can't help the smile on my face. I've long given up on this being a dream and it's time I stop pretending so I reach my hand out for a shake and he keeps up his smile and he grasps my wrist, I'll play nice and find out what I have to do to get home.

"I am afraid there is no way home for you Anuel. The ritual we used was a combination of necromancy and alchemy, the body you are in is new as you'll notice over time. It does likely resemble your original one quite strongly however."

Logically it is quite obvious this man isn't yelling but every word seems to pierce my ears and go straight to my brain, the entire while he's speaking random flashes of everything I've ever done go through my head. Random bits of my hunting attempts only successful from some nonsensical bit of luck. The books I've read and the games I've played follow and at the same time flashes of things I should not know go through my head! Memories of learning to write and read with letters that look more like runes than letters to me more than anything else. If this bastard is seeing everything I am he's getting far more out of this than I am!

"I've been cheated again..."

The words come out a hoarse croak barely audible but the chuckle above me as I drop to my knees is clear as day.

"It may seem so right now. But you'll be getting more than most can pay for in a lifetime. All you need do is be a good boy for his highness and you'll have everything. Power, wealth, women, everything."

Probably tempting for most. All I want is to hold my dog another night though. Like I said I've been cheated.