"Ugh..."

A moan escapes my lips as my consciousness returns. I lift my hand over my forehead and slowly open my eyes.

"Huh?"

I stare up at the foreign ceiling. Then, rising myself up, I scan around the room.

The white walls are silky smooth, while the dark-oak flooring shines brightly. The room is spacious, probably due to the lack of furniture and decorations. The only things in this room are a dark-brown dresser standing in the corner, this throne-like bed, and four identical paintings hanging on each wall.

There are no windows, so the only light source is a rusted-golden candelabra hanging in the center of the ceiling. Only four of twenty of its candles are lit. As for the door, it stands across from me.

"Wow..."

I take a moment to admire the room. Athough it's all plain looking and the room lacks a few more items, it all looks well-made and expensive. Have I always lived in such a noble-like house?

Wait, this might not be my room... Is this a friend's room, or did I go on some trip and this is the hotel room?

"..."

I don't know... Eh, why can't I remember? Who are my friends anyway? Huh. W-what about my family? No... I can't remember them either. Okay, how about myself. My name is... Uh, what was it again? Shit! Age? Height? Anything?!

My breathing has gotten out of sync as my heart pulses abnormally fast.

"Alright, calm down."

I slowly breathe in and out until my pulse normalizes. I then close my eyes. Taking one more breath, I enter my mind. If one place had answers, it would be here.

I search throughout the void. After checking every nook and cranny, I stop and reopen my eyes. Falling onto my back, I exhale.

"Impossible... What in the world is h- Ack!?"

Suddenly, my body jolts. Nausea rushes into my system, and a high-pitch noise rings in my ear. I attempted to cover my ears to stop at least the noise, but it only got worst. I clench my teeth as the ringing and nausea intensify. Pain similar to that of being stabbed bounces throughout my entire body. With every bounce, it leaves a small cut that stings.

After reaching my head, the pain bursts through my mouth. I scream.

"AHH!?!"

It doesn't stop... The pain that leaves my body only returns and does it again but with more power. I pull on my hair while tears rush down my face and blood drip from my ears. My screaming continues, getting louder as time continues.

...

Then it all stops. I find myself staring back at the ceiling with my hands still connected to my hair. I relax my hands and put them aside. I exhale.

"I remember..."

I pull myself up. I move my hands to my ears and then back in front of me. After checking to see that there was no blood, I clenched them.

"I died."

My memories have been reinstalled in my mind. I go through them one at a time. Then, after viewing them all, I come back to reality and let out a loose laugh.

"How could I forget?"

I remember them all - my death, the voice, my attitude, and... my promise.

I nod to myself as I recite my promise.

"This time, I will live a life of adventures and contribute to society. I will live as a decent human being! Now then..."

I look around again. Recalling the voice, this must be the new me and my new home. Wait, I'm not a baby?

I take a peek at myself. Sure, I'm smaller than I once was; however, I'm only the size of a child, not a baby. Did the transfer take it out of me that it took this long for me to remember? No, that can't be... I didn't receive the memories of this childhood. I can't recall my new parents or anything... Did I get transferred into a living body? I don't know...

"Well, sulking isn't going to do much."

I'm in a whole different world, after all. I did get to keep some of my common sense and knowledge, but that was of Earth. This world's logic could be completely different. Oh, weren't there those novels that depict this exact scenario? Ah, that's right... Although I did keep some of my memories, I only kept those that pertain to specific events. Everything else is a blur...

"Alright, what I need now are..."

Wham!

I jerk my head forward and watch as a young lady bursts through the door. First, she falls to her knees, panting crazily. Then, as her breathing normalizes, she gets back up. Our eyes then meet.

""...""

I examine the lady. She has long black hair, and mixed within is a white rose ornament which hides her right ear. Her outfit is a black kimono, and white flowers of different sizes and types are scattered throughout. In the middle of it lays an outline of a rose.

My cheeks heat up as I continue to stare at her white eyes. Suddenly, however, tears run down her cheeks. She charges at me.

"Sho!"

She embraces me tightly. My face gets smothered between her ample bosom. My cheeks, now on fire, touch her skin. Her heartbeat resounds in my ears.

"..."

After a moment, she pulls away, wiping her tears on the sleeves of her kimono. She smiles.

"Please forgive me, Sho. It has been too long. For a moment, I thought this was a dream..."

Her hand reaches out to me and softly touches my cheek.

"T-this is real, right?"

I silently nod.

"Oh, thank the Gods!"

She charges at me again, embracing me even tighter than before.

She must be my mother, right? That's highly possible, but there are other possibilities. I guess there's only one option...

I gulp as I move to her ear. I whisper.

"W-who... you?"

Huh, what's wrong with my voice? I can't form coherent sentences now? Darn, I hope my message got through...

It did as the lady's body twitched. She quickly pulls away and stares into my eyes. Her tears return; however, they are quickly wiped away. She softly chuckles.

"Is that so... I guess there would be no possible way to survive without any problems afterward. We should be glad that this is the only thing wrong."

Huh, survive what? Did I follow the 'reincarnate into someone who's about to die' path? Good thing I'm playing the amnesia role then...

The lady reaches for my face and begins rubbing my head. She smiles warmly.

"Let's start over. I'm your mother, Nii Michiko. In case you forgot, your name is Nii Sho. A year ago, you suddenly fell into a coma and had slept since. We were starting to worry as none of the doctors could figure out what was wrong. They tried an assortment of skills and potions, but none worked..."

My ears twitched.

How can a body survive that long?! I didn't see any tubes or medical instruments on me. Could it be that this world has something more advanced? Maybe these skills and potions have such an effect?

Michiko must have seen me lost in thought as she changed the subject quickly.

"A-anyway! Your father has also been quite worried too. How about we see him? Here, I'll give you a lift."

She bends down at the edge of the bed and motions me to crawl to her. After doing so, she takes hold of me, positioning me into a cradle carry, and slowly lifts me. Her body shakes like a rocket as she ascends. But, once up, her shaking stops. She then makes her way through the door.

"..."

We enter the hallway. The walls are lined with candles, which are alternatively lit and un-lit. More of those identical paintings from the last room hang between the candles. So I guess that makes that room my room, right?

A staircase leading downwards is at the end of the hallway. There are two closed doors leading up to the stairs. What could be in them? Maybe one of them is a...

As I stare holes at the two doors, Michiko chuckles.

"Curious?"

Faintly blushing, I nod. She smiles and points to the door on the right.

"This door leads to the supply closet."

She opens it, revealing only various cleaning supplies and instruments scattered throughout the room. As she closes it, she points to the room on the left.

"And that room over there is your father's study. Though, he mostly uses it to store all of our books."

I smile as I listen. That's it! If I could access that room, most of my problems would go away. Unless... What if those books are only fiction stories? That wouldn't be good... Let's find out.

"Peek?"

Michiko shakes her head.

"Sorry, but you'll have to ask your father. He... doesn't like anyone, including me, to enter."

Darn, I guess I'll have to sneak in later. First, though, what could Kaichi need to hide? Is this leading to an unfaithful husband scenario?

I continue pondering in thought as we continue down the hallway. I snap back to reality once we start walking down the staircase. At the bottom, we find a young man walking back and forth, muttering to himself. I take a second to inspect him.

Unlike Michiko, the man has short silver hair. His skin is paler than hers too. Also, he is wearing a plain black yukata.

After taking a single step, his head jerks to us. He charges at us.

"So, how was... Sho?!"

Once making contact with me, he effortlessly snatches me from Michiko with tears in his black eyes. He tightly embraces me, way harder than Michiko's embrace. Then, as I start to suffocate, he lets go and ruffles my hair.

"Thank the Gods; you're all better! I, uh, glad we didn't have to..."

His voice trails off. He shakes his head with a cough.

"Nevermind! All that matters is that you're back."

He continues patting my head; however, he instantly stops when Michiko whispers in his ears. He looks down at me with tears reforming in his eyes.

"I see..."

He shakes his head and smiles.

"Well, that is a shame, but at least you're back. I, uh, am your father, Nii Kaichi."

He reaches out and hugs me one last time. After release, he faces me.

"We'll celebrate tomorrow, but first, let's take you back to bed. We wouldn't want you to relapse, would we?"

Kaichi then carries me back up the stairs and back into my room. After placing me in bed, he whispers 'goodnight' to me and then exits, leaving the door cracked.

For the 3rd time today, I find myself staring at the ceiling. I don't feel tired, though...

Why put someone asleep for an entire year back to sleep anyway? Aren't there other things to worry about?

"Oh well."

I lift myself and smile.

This is the perfect time to sneak into the study. I need to hurry and get those books. I can't learn of this world without them, after all.

I quietly crawl out of bed and land on the floor. However, as I let go of the bedframe, I instantly fall onto my butt.

"Ouch..."

I blink. Huh, what happened? Oh, I guess this body has forgotten how to stand... That voice did say that I would have to face complicated challenges, but how does forgetting the basics... Never mind, there's no use complaining. I'll just have to relearn how to walk... later. I can't wait on those books. They're tempting me...

I grab ahold of the railing and pull myself up. Then, taking small steps and holding on to the wall, I slowly make my way out of the room. As I shuffle, I notice that the study door is cracked open. Did he enter after tucking me in? I hope not...

Once at it, I silently push and make my way inside.

"..."

The room is not what I was expecting. There's a single bookshelf with books scattered about in the corner. A reading chair with a standing candelabra is next to the shelf.

A few more of those identical paintings are scattered about on the walls. On the back wall, two large windows let the night's light shine through, slightly lighting the desk in front of it; however, a lit candle on the desk lights the majority of it.

"Sho, what are you doing out of bed?"

Behind the desk, Kaichi sits with a quill in his hand. He stares at me with his head tilted. Darn, he is in here... There's no turning back now.

"Huh? Oh, do you want a bedtime story?"

Well, that's not what I wanted, but it gets me closer to my goal...

I nod. Leaving the desk and quill aside, Kaichi stands and walks over to the bookcase. He grabs a book on the top shelf and plops down on the chair. He pats his legs.

Waddling to him, I climb his legs and take a seat. He puts the book over me so that we can both see. Then, he turns to the first page.

Great, it's a picture book... Wait, huh?

A picture almost fills the entire page; however, a small caption displays writing in a foreign language underneath it.

This isn't Japanese? Haven't they been speaking it since the beginning? Could it be that their spoken language is different than their written one? I guess that's a possibility. Great, another task I must conquer. At least I learned this now rather than later...

While staring at the letters, Kaichi clears his throat.

"Ready? This is a tale of a hero who the demon king banished. He was sent to a world without magic and skills..."

...

"The hero continues having fun with his friends as they explore the world - The end."

Kaichi closes the book.

"Did you like the story?"

I nod. Well, at least to the parts that I listened to. But, in truth, I have been trying to decipher the letters through the story. I understood a few words, but I still couldn't read a single line. So I probably will need to ask for help from one of them...

"That's nice. So, do you think you can go to bed now? Here, I'll tuck you in again."

Once again, he lifts me and takes me back to my room. Then, after doing what he did earlier again, he leaves. Again, I stare up at the white ceiling.

I have to work hard. So starting tomorrow, I'll focus on walking and reading. Then I'll read all the books I can to learn about the world. Afterward, I can make my plans for my future...

I close my eyes. My consciousness slowly fades as I fall asleep.