His mind, starting and stopping. Realization spurring it into action, and realization sending it to a halt.

Far from home in a flung-off world of fantasy.

Was it shock, or acceptance? Before he knew it, Gray had returned to a standing position.

The elements around the woman had disappeared, and she said, "Do you believe it now?"

Gray laughed. "Whether I believe it or not... doesn't really matter at this point, does it?"

Denying something didn't make it go away. At best, all it did was suppress the memory of it.

The woman nodded. "That is true. However, it may come as a shock." She frowned, staring at Gray's face. "Are you-"

-Bury it. Forget it. Gray smiled. "I'm fine, fine. More importantly..." He stepped forward and held out his hand. "I haven't introduced myself, have I? I'm Gray. Gray Smith."

"...Gray, is it?" The woman nodded and grabbed Gray's outstretched hand. "You may call me... Eliza."

Gray froze. "...Eliza?"

The woman... no, Eliza nodded. "Yes. Eliza."

"Just Eliza? No last name?"

She shook her head. "...No. A last name... such a thing would not be granted to one such as myself. More importantly, for Gray to have a last name... can it be that you come from a distinguished family? Smith... ah. Are you perhaps an artificer?"

-Was it a coincidence that the woman he found shared a name with her? Or was it fate? ...No, Eliza was a common enough name. Slightly rare, but still, within the realm of belief.

Gray realized his thoughts were derailing and shook his head. "No, I'm just an ordinary... scholar. Right. A scholar."

"A scholar... I see. No wonder your hands are so delicate. Such a body is ill-suited for combat." Eliza nodded, as if that answered a few of her questions.

Gray let go of Eliza's hand and laughed. "Yeah, I'm not cut out for much outside of studying and comp- composing."

"Composing? Are you a musician as well? Traveling to far off lands for inspiration perhaps?"

Gray scratched his ear and averted his gaze. "...Something like that. I'm not really familiar with this area or with magic. Do you think you could answer a few of my questions?"

-A blatant lie. Even a toddler could see through his evasive words. Obviously, Eliza could do the same. But perhaps out of gratitude or sympathy, she simply nodded and said, "What do you wish to know?"

Gray sighed and looked up at the sky from his seat on a grassy clearing. A small area near the waist-high grass, but where the grass was only ankle-height.

The sky was the same clear blue expanse, containing the same radiant sun. But despite that, it wasn't. Transported to another world, huh?

Eliza had gone off to look for food in the distance, leaving Gray alone with his thoughts.

What he should do from now, as well as what he wanted to do.

Gray shook his head and tapped the pen in his right hand against the notebook in his left.

Note-taking. About one of the only things he could do in this situation.

He would have preferred checking his phone again, but with no way to recharge it in the foreseeable future, he decided to conserve the remaining battery just in case he needed it for something important, like looking up first aid or some other skill.

So note-taking it was. More specifically, he summarized what Eliza had told him.

Wyrd. That was the name of the world Gray had found himself in. A strange world consisting of just two nameless continents, one three times as large as the other, and an endless sea.

It was a world of fantasy and magic, with Humans, Elves, demi-humans (known in this world as Anima), and Demons.

The first three races controlled the larger continent, dividing it up into the countries of Newark, Harmonia, and Xian, ruled by Humans, Elves, and Anima, respectively.

The smaller continent was home to the Demon race and known as Urs.

Somehow, Gray had found himself near the border of Newark and Harmonia. As for Eliza, she didn't know for certain due to being unconscious, but it seemed that the ones who had bought her were planning to explore the ruins in this area for treasure. She was most likely brought along to handle any difficult encounters and... other needs the two men might have had.

As for magic, Eliza didn't know much about the theory behind it. All she knew was that magic served as a way for people to manipulate the world through the 'energy' they possessed inside them. An amount determined by one's 'magical prowess'.

As a side note, Gray didn't have a single bit of magical prowess.

"...That's everything."

Gray put his notebook back in his bag and took a look around.

It was quiet. Peaceful, even. If not for the fact that he knew otherwise, Gray might have believed he was somewhere in Europe. Might have believed he was studying abroad and taking a short vacation to enjoy the scenic view instead of sitting in the open fields of an unknown world.

Gray sat there for a while and allowed the calming breeze and fresh air to settle his mind.

Then he heard a rustle in the waist-high grass behind him.

Gray jumped to his feet and turned around. What was that?

The grass was still. Unmoving. However, Gray wasn't fooled. His blue eyes were alert, scanning the area for any oddities.

It was quiet.

Gray picked up his backpack in his right hand. It wasn't much, but considering nothing else was nearby...

A tense silence. It was eventually broken by a soft breeze passing by, causing the grass to rustle. A sound almost exactly what he had heard.

Gray sighed and shook his head. Getting scared by some grass... could that be a new achievement of sorts? Either way, Gray relaxed and turned around, looking in the direction that Eliza had gone-

BOING.

A springy sound from behind Gray. Something completely at odds in this grassland.

He turned, just in time to see a green streak fly towards his chest. Before he could register what it was, he got the wind knocked out of him. A heavy blow, like someone had kicked him.

Gray gasped and staggered backwards.

BOING. That sound again, the springy noise that didn't fit.

Fortunately, while his mind was still processing what was happening, his body was one step ahead of him. Gray threw himself to the side.

Again, that green streak flew through the air. This time, however, it landed on the grass instead of on Gray's chest.

Gray spun around to take a look at what had attacked him.

A small, basketball sized blob of green goo with small black eyes and a wide, matching smile.

"A slime?"

Was the monster happy at being addressed or just amused at Gray's confusion? Either way, its smile grew and then it rippled.

BOING.

Gray's eyes widened and he frantically jumped to the right. Or rather, he tried to.

A sudden pain in Gray's chest. Burning. It felt like his chest was being burned away.

Caught off guard by the sudden change, instead of jumping, Gray tumbled to the side. A slow and awkward motion that made him an easy target.

The slime lunged, turning into a green streak.

Fortunately for Gray, it had been overly ambitious.

The streak flew past where Gray's head had been, missing him by only a hair's breadth.

HISS.

The sound of something burning- no, of something dissolving.

With that, Gray realized it. He quickly dropped his bag and took off his shirt, throwing it aside. The moment he did, the burning sensation stopped. Acid.

Gray turned around to look at the slime. It had landed back on the ground again with its back turned to Gray. But unlike the previous times the slime had landed, this time the grass around it was slowly turning brown. It seemed like the slime had decided to increase its acidity and the grass was taking the toll for it.

The slime slowly turned around to face Gray, its smile never dimming. If anything, it seemed to grow even wider, the once comical expression now distinctly sinister.

Gray let out a breath and picked his bag up from the ground.

Eliza was somewhere off in the distance. While she was fast to the extent of near teleportation and could use magic, he couldn't rely on her to save him from the slime. But besides that... it was a slime. The typical beginner's monster that is farmed en masse for experience points. Losing to it... no, dying to it...

LIVE.

Was it the indignation as a gamer for being looked down upon by a slime, or something else? Either way, any fear Gray might have had was thrown out the window, replaced by a clear mind. He tightened his grip on the bag in his right hand and carefully observed the slime, waiting.

The slime rippled.

Gray tensed.

The slime lunged, turning into nothing more than a green streak heading towards Gray's head-

"Got you!"

THWACK!

A sound smack. Gray's bag collided with the slime, sending it crashing back to the ground.

It landed, and its ever-present smile changed into a small 'o'. Wobbling around, it looked like Gray's counterattack had done substantial damage.

But Gray wasn't done.

"Take that! And that!"

Repeated blows to the slime's gooey body. The black bag in Gray's hand turned into a makeshift flail, smacking the slime over and over again.

From the side, it might have seemed like one-sided bullying, but Gray didn't have the state of mind to even consider it. Or rather, he knew just how much of a deadly killer was hidden behind that cute appearance, so he didn't hold back.

"Ha... ha..."

Gray leaned over to catch his breath. How many times had he attacked the slime? He had lost track after ten. Either way, all that was left of the slime now was a patch of brown grass and a small black pebble.

A few minutes passed while Gray observed the patch of grass to make sure the slime wasn't just pretending. After being convinced the slime had died, Gray glanced at the bag in his right hand. It was surprisingly unscathed after being put through such abuse. He wondered about that for a moment until he remembered. That's right... this thing is 100% polyester, isn't it?

Polyester resisted chemicals pretty well, and since the slime had essentially been nothing more than a blob of acid, it looked like Gray had lucked out. If the bag had dissolved while he was hitting the slime, who knew what would have happened? After all, that was his only weapon on hand.

The thought of trying to punch or kick the slime flashed through Gray's mind. He suppressed a grimace and then carefully made sure to take better care of his bag in the future. After all, if more slimes show up, this is all I have to defend myself.

Rustle, rustle.

Gray froze and slowly turned his gaze back towards the tall grass. "...You have got to be kidding me."

It was like something from a horror movie, only with cute green blobs. One, two... six slimes slithered out from the tall grass. Each of them had on a wide smile, a smile that grew even wider upon seeing Gray.

Faced with such absolute despair, Gray laughed and said, "Looks like Professor Oak was right after all. It's dangerous to go into tall grass without a Pokémon."

The slimes rippled, and then six green streaks flew towards Gray.