OA: Contains minor blood and injury descriptions.

  This is a story that actually happened to me about half a year ago.

  I, Sumire Yamanaka, a lively third-year high school student, was walking home after school when I tripped dead center on an empty road. Embarrassed, I froze in pce for about five seconds before slowly lifting my face—and found myself in another world.

  There was no doubt about it: a genuine alternate world. Leaves of colors I’d never seen before, and a jungle-like ndscape impossible to find in Japan. The obviousness was almost comforting. Well, not really.

  Stunned, I scanned my surroundings. Seeing nothing but the same unfamiliar scenery, I started walking.

  There was absolutely no sign of people. Trees thickened overhead, letting only a narrow glimpse of the sun shine through. I just wanted to meet someone—the first vilger, at least.

  Three days passed since I started walking. For a fragile girl like me, a casual club member, I thought I’d done pretty well. With only a sweet bread, some snacks, and two bottles of water (one for my friend), I wandered this unknown world aimlessly. I was already exhausted.

  During the day, I aimed vaguely east, where the sun rose, shuffling along. At night, whenever sleepiness threatened to overcome me, unfamiliar pnts would suddenly scream or mysterious lights would flicker in pces no humans could be. Terrified, I continued on by the moonlight, trembling. My limit was near.

  Really, it was okay now, right?

  It was okay if I colpsed here, wasn’t it?

  In those isekai stories, whenever the protagonist colpses from exhaustion, some sparkling prince or surprisingly kind bandit usually comes to save them, right? Could I expect that too? Could I?

  Half in sweet denial from fatigue, half at my physical limit, I summoned my st strength toward a clearing where the trees thinned. Whether it was grassnd, a spring, or a thicket of screaming pnts—I was determined to colpse there.

  You’d think I’d just fall over then.

  But I couldn’t.

  Someone else was already there.

  Right in the middle of a soft, ordinary grassy clearing—perfect for colpsing—someone was lying on the ground.

  Face down, drenched in blood, utterly still.

  I’d believed I had no energy left—not a single calorie—but surprise does more than scream; it can blow fatigue away.

  “...Are you... dead?”

  I crept around the figure, moving closer to the face. Judging by size, it was a man. He wore off-white long sleeves and pants, stained heavily with blood. His head and hands were mostly red too. A belt was fastened around his waist, with a sword sheath lying nearby, but the sword itself was missing. The blood looked fresh—this was a recent colpse.

  Even if fresh, I didn’t have the courage to colpse right next to him. What if he was dead? That was scary.

  I stared intently at his unmoving fingers as I approached carefully. After much hesitation, I made a peace sign with my left hand—index and middle fingers together—and gently touched the man’s neck, who was lying face down, his head slightly turned to the side.

  “Eeeee! He’s alive!!”

  Covered in blood, I’d unconsciously assumed he was dead. The warmth of his skin startled me so much I fell backward. I touched him again—it was still warm. My fingers slid over sticky blood, but I could feel his pulse.

  If he was alive, I had to help him.

  Trembling, I flipped him onto his back. No response.

  Throwing caution to the wind, I lifted his shirt. I dampened a handkerchief with water from my bottle and wiped the blood away, revealing hair that shimmered with a rainbow-like silver glow and a fairly handsome face. Call me shallow, but my worry intensified.

  Though pale, he had no rge wounds on his head and his injuries were less severe than they looked. He was scraped up all over, painfully so, and I couldn’t help but wince quietly. But even a novice could tell this wasn’t fatal. The real disaster was his clothes.

  “Ugh...”

  Relieved, I let out a breath as the man groaned. He winced in pain and moved his trembling right hand, searching for something, but soon gave up and became still again. I cautiously spoke.

  “Um, are you okay?”

  His eyelids twitched, and his glittering silver shes lifted. Through the narrow opening, I glimpsed navy eyes—bright and beautiful, illuminated by the light, deeply otherworldly.

  He stared bnkly at the sky, then slowly turned his gaze left and right, finding me near his head. Silence stretched. He tried to speak, grimacing against the pain, only managing moans and breaths.

  “Uh... Do you live nearby? I think I got really lost... You’re hurt, and... um...”

  Are you okay? No, you clearly are not.

  Will you help me? Actually, that should be my line.

  While I fumbled for words during this shocking first meeting, the man quietly watched me. Another pause.

  “Let’s... look for someone together.”

  He nodded slowly, deliberately, and I finally felt a moment of relief.

  Wait, he could understand my nguage?

  Disregarding unnecessary thoughts, I helped him sit up, removed his blood-soaked long sleeve, and carefully poured some water on his wounds. He was clearly muscur and expressionless; if anything, I think I looked more pained. The darkened, filthy clothes were impossible to wear again, so I offered him my bzer. It was tight on his shoulders, and tying the sleeves at the front barely made a difference.

  “Do you know which way the vilge is? Or if there are dangerous animals? Or where the river is? Or any edible pnts?”

  I had dozens of questions, but chose the most urgent since he was injured. The man stared ahead bnkly before slowly turning his head to me, his shoulder now leaning on mine. He tilted his head like a bird, almost cute—but nothing progressed.

  As my sugar-deprived brain struggled to decide what to do, he raised a shaky hand and pointed straight ahead.

  “Wait, are we going that way?”

  That was near where I had come from. It seemed like I’d be backtracking. Before I arrived, the jungle had been a hundred percent uninhabited wilderness, as I had confirmed with my own eyes. The pce he pointed at was thick with leaves, so dense I couldn’t see beyond. There was nothing edible on the ground either.

  Just as I was about to stand, a rge bush rustled nearby. I froze, staring intently.

  Wait—did he just point the way? Or was he warning me?

  I looked at him sharply, but he was still so out of it I wasn’t sure he was really awake. Returning my gaze to the bush, the rustling grew louder. Something was definitely approaching. The thick trees and vines obscured the source, leaving me completely unable to guess what it was. While I was confused, the sound increased.

  If it’s human, that’s one thing. But what if it’s a wild boar or bear? Two exhausted people like us would be nothing but a meal. The scent of blood must be in the air, too.

  We had no energy to run. Like a stray cat caught in traffic, we stood frozen, watching the rapidly shaking bush.

  ? Higher quality and advanced chapters up in Patreon