It’s dark.
I can’t feel any light, as if everything has been painted black.
The first strangeness I noticed was the smell.
It was so rotten it felt like it was piercing my nose. A sensation like mud was rising in my throat. Startled by the discomfort, I opened my eyes and sat up.
“—Got it!!”
The first thing that came into my sight was a dark corridor.
Even though no light should have been entering, it was a dimly glowing stone space.
Looking around, I saw something like a small altar sitting behind me.
It was so weathered that it looked like it would crumble at any moment, and it took careful observation to realize it was an altar.
On a small stone pedestal were the remnants of two candles.
Something that looked like animal hide was offered, with an old arrow stuck in it.
“What is this…”
I, who tend to talk to myself, naturally let out some words.
“I-I don’t understand… It’s creepy…”
As I continued to speak, my heart’s beat quickened.
The palpitations grew larger, as if leaping.
I really don’t understand.
I can’t grasp the situation.
Did I fall asleep… and then wake up?
But there’s no warm bed here. There’s no noisy mechanical alarm clock, no morning sunlight spilling from the curtains, and no electric light.
An unsanitary, cold stone floor.
A stench that felt like it was crushing my nose.
A creepy, faint glow from the stones.
It’s creepy…
I covered my mouth, waiting for the nausea to pass.
Then, a roar echoed from far away—
“—, ———!!”
It was a wail that lacked any semblance of reason.
A vibration of heat and murderous intent, like the angry roar of a wounded beast.
“W-wait… Wait, wait, wait…!”
Because I don’t know what’s happening, I have no idea what I’m saying.
Swept away by my confusion, I started running in the opposite direction of the roar I heard.
“—Haa, haa, haa!”
Panting, I ran through the stone corridor.
I turned a few corners—but, frustrated by the unchanging scenery, I just kept running away into the distance.
—Along the way, there was a disgusting, squelching sound.
I felt like I’d stepped on something angular and checked the sole of my shoe.
There, an insect the size of my fist was wriggling, emitting screams of agony—
“Ugh, ugh!”
I cried out at the gruesome sight.
I’m not particularly afraid of insects. However, encountering a large bug, the kind you’d never meet in a concrete-filled city, triggered a strong physiological disgust.
The insect chirped.
Its cries sounded as if it were begging for help.
Suddenly, I felt a chill and looked up. My gaze was drawn to the path ahead.
Around the next corner, an insect the size of a person peeked out.
It was an impossibly large size, beyond common sense.
It moved its characteristically angular limbs with a nasty, creaking sound.
At first glance, it resembled a stag beetle. However, its abnormal size and its two unusually shaped horns chipped away at my sanity.
“—!”
I couldn’t even scream anymore.
If I made a sound, I felt like the monster would leap at me, so I had no choice but to run backward.
—I ran, and I ran, and I kept running.
The idea of choosing a path was beyond my thoughts; I could only keep moving.
I ran until my stamina gave out, and my running speed naturally slowed down.
That’s when I began to regain a sliver of my reason—
“—, ———!!”
The beast’s angry roar struck my ears again.
This time, it was much closer.
Foolishly, I had run all the way back to the path I had initially fled from.
My blood ran cold.
My confusion accelerated.
However, as I got closer to the beast’s roar, I began to pick up other sounds.
It was the voices of people talking.
“P-people! People’s voices—!!”
Like a moth drawn to a flame, my body moved involuntarily in the direction of the voices.
My slightly spinning brain was seeking others—Seeking “people.”
As I approached, the beast’s roar grew louder, but the human voices also became clearer.
“—Keep your distance! Keep your distance and buy time!!”
It was a deep voice, a mature man’s, giving orders to the people nearby.
When I arrived and saw the scene, it was like a fairy tale.
Some wore leather armor and wooden bows of the kind you’d only see in museums.
Others swung robust iron swords with brute force.
Some shot fire from wooden staffs that had no mechanical components.
These unreal-looking humans were engaged in a fierce battle with a wolf about two meters tall.
I didn’t have the courage to jump into their midst.
I could only stand far away and continue watching their fight.
“If we buy time, we can manage! Hang on!”
The man with the deep voice, who seemed to be the leader, relayed instructions to a warrior wielding a greatsword.
The warrior swung the greatsword high and prepared to strike.
However, before he could, the giant wolf charged at him with terrifying speed. The warrior was blown away like a bouncing rubber ball.
The wolf’s attention then shifted to the woman with the fire-spewing staff. Noticing this, the other humans shifted their formation significantly to protect her.
—Along with this, there was a considerable movement.
The battlefield was approaching me.
I was confused.
And I was afraid.
If I had been calm and had some余裕 (Yoyuu – leeway, composure), I might have been able to move from this spot. But right now, I could only stand there, dumbfounded.
—My eyes met with the leader, the man with the rapier.
“What!? Who are you!?”
The man shouted at me with a startled expression.
“I-I got lost… —P-please help me!!”
I desperately pleaded for help.
My words were fragmented, but I felt my intention should have been conveyed.
However, the man’s reaction to my SOS was incredibly cold.
“…Hey. You need help? Are you an idiot?”
“—Huh?”
Not an affirmation, nor a denial.
Contempt returned, as if such a request was out of the question.
Under normal circumstances, I would have noticed.
That these people didn’t have the leeway to help anyone.
Their attire, the weapons they held, the enraged beast, the dangerous situation—I shouldn’t have missed it.
But right now, I didn’t have that much cognitive ability.
“This is a labyrinth—or rather, we’re in an ‘Unmanaged Area.’ You were prepared for this, weren’t you, kid?”
The words that followed from the man were even colder.
And then, the cold rapier the man held grazed—and cut—my thigh.
-“One Day in Another World”
