As I opened my eyes, I find myself standing on a cobblestone road. The road was lined with cobblestone houses, the walls made out of elegant stone, and shuttered windows with tiled roofs. In the dim of the night, the color of the walls was still vibrant. The walls were also etched with various designs, mostly waves, seaweeds, fishes, and other sea life. Reminds me of fantasy architecture somewhat.

Fantasy?

The word popped up in my head like a long-lost memory suddenly reemerged from the depths of my mind.

"What does it mean?" I asked myself.

The streets are dimly lit by lanterns attached to metal poles erected near the houses by metal chains. I decided to knock on the door at the nearest house. I banged my right hand on the door a few times. I heard faint footsteps from the inside. It stopped, then the echo of the footsteps got weaker and weaker. I waited until I realized what was going on.

How can I be so dumb? Of course, no sane person would help a suspicious stranger in the middle of the night.

I walked away from a particular house. I decide to find assistance from the proper authorities. Maybe there is a police station nearby. Not that I remember what a police station is anyway. As I roamed the streets, I try to avoid dark areas, like alleyways. I think that criminals like to attack vulnerable people in the dark. The good news is, I remember essential things. The bad news is, I don't know who I am and my past. At least I know that I'm alive. Or maybe this is the afterlife?

I continue to walk. As the chill from the breeze made my body tremble slightly, I realized something. Under the weathered, ragged robe that covered my body, I was shamefully naked. It made me more desperate to find help. Maybe the authorities can provide me with some clothing. I don't want to die of hypothermia. Walking on the cobblestone streets for a while made my feet uncomfortable. But I am slowly getting used to it. As I took one more step, I felt a breeze. A breeze that can only be described as salty, like the sea. There must be a coast nearby. How I figured that out with my missing memories, I have no idea.

I exhaled in resignation. I guess this is my fate now, being lost in a town with lost memories. As I walked further, I heard a faint sound. It is a sound that is disgusting, like somebody is repeatedly slapping a fish covered in slime on a wall. My heart raced. It is getting closer and closer. I looked around. In the front? There is nothing there but more of the cobblestone road. I looked to the left, a dark empty alleyway. As I sensed movement, I immediately turned to the back.

Nothing. Just the dimly lit cobblestone road.

I heard the continuous slimy sounds getting closer and louder. All of the parts of my brain screamed danger, urging my body to run right now. I quickly turned my head to the left. Amongst the shadows of the left alleyway, a shape is now rapidly scuttling towards me. It knocked over pieces of wood as it charged. Two long, curved sharp things were jutting out of the shadows. In a panic, I ran. I don't know what it is, and I don't know where to go. All I know is that thing is dangerous. My legs carried me faster than I'd ever been. The adrenaline in my body made me run more quickly.

I heard it chasing me. It was getting closer. Then, I turned my head around as I run.

I instantly regretted it.

Behind me is the most freakishly massive bug that I'd ever seen. Six flat legs carry its elongated black body. Its too long pincers on each side of its head are itching to grab me. Its large eyes are glowing with malice.

I hastily turned left towards an alleyway, almost slipping on the wet stone. I continue to run, avoiding pieces of rotting wood and other trash. In desperation, I screamed for help. My calls for help echoed throughout the city. Hopefully, someone heard that. I saw another path. I turned to the right. I tripped over the stone steps; my arms took to the brunt of the impact. The fear of potentially dying got me back up instantly. I reached the top of the stairs, and I realized something. Can a bug that big, wide, flat, and heavy climb stairs?

I decided to rest and keep myself vigilant, watching the staircase. Now, as the adrenaline subsided, I noticed how tired I was, how painful my body aches from running, how hard I'm trying to breathe. I noticed that the smell of the sea has grown more robust and more pronounced. I can feel the salt in the air tickling my nose. From the alleyway, the dreaded enormous bug crawled out of the darkness. Its two pincers twitched. It moved its body bit by bit as if trying to find me. Its glistening exoskeleton dripped a clear, slimy liquid. It took another step forward.

Then its eyes saw me. It lunged at the first step of the stone stairs. It bumped its body against the stairs.

Then its wing pads moved slightly, revealing a pair of beating insect wings.

Oh fuck.

I hoped nobody heard me scream like a girl. I quickly got away from the stairs. I ran towards the wide stone bridge. The dog-sized insect has flown over the stairs, landing on the stone pavement. It barreled towards me. It seems like its flying ability has a limit. Thank god. But it is now getting closer and closer. My feet are getting sore, making me slower. I can't continue to run forever. Do I jump off to the deep canal below and swim away? Or will I continue running forward to safety? Or maybe there are more of these things in the canals?

"Halt!" As I ran towards the finely sculpted stone railings, ready to take the risk, I froze at the sound of a voice—the voice of someone in charge.

I turned my head towards the other side of the bridge. A group of armored men with square shields and lanterns stood tall in the dimness of the streets.

"Shoot that bug!" The same voice ordered.

One of them pulled out a crossbow between the shield wall's gaps and aimed at the enormous bug. In an instant, it was impaled by a bolt. It leaked black sludge as it perished.

"Make sure that it is dead!" The same voice ordered. Two arrows impaled the insect carcass. The line of men marched forward. I ran towards them but stopped as they drew out their swords and crossbows.

"Wait! I'm not an enemy!" I pleaded. "I need help! I'm lost!" My voice squeaked.

"Hold!" The same voice ordered.

"But sir, it might be a Doppelganger." A weaker voice warned.

"He's too helpless to be a Doppelganger." He replied. "Make way."

For some reason, that hurt a little.

The soldiers' line split into two groups, making way for a slightly smaller figure covered in metal, head to toe. Unlike the other soldiers, he has a blue plume on his helmet and a set of shoulder plates decorated with two engraved clamshells. His stature is slightly smaller than them, but he is equipped with a stern face and an equally harsh demeanor that no one can easily face.

"Come with us." He ordered. "Don't you know that monsters are active at night?"

"Monsters?" I asked.

"Never mind then, let's go to our barracks and talk about your situation." He spoke. "Thank fortune that your insides haven't been turned to liquid."

"Wait, what?" I exclaimed.

"These Canalbugs inject some kind of acid from their proboscis, turning your insides into goo." He explained.

I think I'm going to throw up.

"Let's hurry, or worse, things may attack." He warned.

We walked through the cobblestone streets while a couple of soldiers was surrounding me.

Now that I don't have to worry about being attacked, I realized how beautiful the city is after climbing up a wide stairway beside the road. Looking back, I saw the city's landscape.

Buildings of carved stone or stone bricks were finely built over islands of rock that stood close together. The city is full of watery canals that separate these square islands of stone. Between these islands, a vast network of bridges connected the city. The town is in between the coastline and a naturally formed stone wall. The city reminds me of Venice, even though I don't know what Venice is. Maybe Venice, in my fading memories, looked something like this. As I processed the sight, I realized that the stone wall is actually a colossal cliff face. Above the cliff is a series of towers. Occasionally, we were attacked by different kinds of creatures in the streets that they called monsters. More of those Canalbugs struck us. Enormousrats, large spiders, monstrous serpents, and a few enormous crabs also ambushed us from the alleyways' darkness or the canals. It's freaky how they are the size of big wooden crates. After the encounters, they collected their corpses and shoved them in sacks; its space seems limitless in my eyes.

How can they live in this place, with so many of these things around? Two were injured by the crippling grab of the pincers of one of the monstrous crabs. Their legs were crippled, bleeding profusely. Their comrades wrapped their legs into a splint, each of the injured drinks a small amount of red liquid inside a glass flask. Their bleeding miraculously stopped, but they continued to be carried by his teammates.

Then we encountered another group of soldiers wearing the same armor. The soldiers guarding me briefly chatted. They talked about me, and they moved to other things. They parted ways after sharing their reports. As they go further, the lights of their lanterns faded in the darkness. We stepped down on another set of stone steps, leading towards a road beside one of the wide canals lining the city.

The moon shone as the clouds blocking it floated away. The moonlight made the still waters gleam. They got closer to the cobblestone road beside the canal. As the soldiers determined that this area is clear of monsters, we walked further. From afar, a tower on the canal stood guard over its waters. Unlike the other buildings in the area, this tower is the only one illuminated inside and visibly full of people. Wooden boats were parked at the bottom of the tower, floating on the waters. The soldiers were watchful of the canal beside us. The guardsmen's swords, crossbows, and shields were ready for any attack; their shoulders tensed as they walked.

Suddenly, a horrid stench assaulted the deepest ends of my nostrils, making me gag. The smell is like a pile of fish and meat was left to rot for months. It seems like they smelled it too. The soldiers readied their weapons. They looked around cautiously. Then, we heard a sticky sound. One of the soldiers turned his lantern towards the stone railing. Sets of sticky black and grey hands were trying to climb up.

"Drowned!" One of them called out.

"Chop of their hands! Don't let them climb up!" The man in charge of this group ordered.

A large part of the group rushed towards them and chopped off their hands. Splashes echoed from the canal as they fell. Something cold and slimy had touched my shoulder. I turned, and I saw a sickly, grey, rotting humanoid covered in seaweed, starfish, and barnacles. Its eyes and maw were hollow but full of hatred. Before it could do anything to harm me, it was interrupted by a sword cleaving off his head. One of the soldiers has saved me.

"Thank you." I showed my gratitude.

He nodded and charged towards the large rotting hermit crabs behind us. One of the hermit crabs was impaled with a crossbow bolt, rendering him dead. The other one was stabbed by the soldier who saved me. The terrifying encounter ended. The soldiers were sweating, catching their breath. They were tired of patrolling the city while fending off monsters.

"Don't worry, men, home is nearby!" Their leader cheered them up.

They straightened up at his words and continue to march towards the tower on the canal. With no more trouble, we arrived in front of the imposing tower. The tower's drawbridge is positioned upright, blocking the entrance.

"Guard Captain Vonn and company, reporting in!" The leader of this squad shouted.

"At ease!" Another voice shouted from the inside. "Who's that kid?" He refers to me.

"I don't know either! Maybe he's one of them!" he replied.

One of them? Who's them?

"Lower the bridge." That voice shouted, ignoring me.

The wooden bridge is now being lowered by chains attached to the edges of the structure. The process ended with a low thump. We walked over the bridge. It creaked and croaked as we took steps towards the inside of the stone tower. As we entered the building, we were tightly surrounded by stone walls at each side, dotted with neatly arranged holes. In front of us is a pair of wooden doors reinforced by flattened bars of iron. As the portcullis behind us closed, and the drawbridge is set upright, the doors opened loudly.

It is warm inside.

That was the first thing that entered my mind. In the room is a stone furnace, the centerpiece of the stony room. Its fires dimly lit the room with an ominous but warm orange glow. Beside the furnace are an anvil and a metal basin full of water. Wooden stools and crates were also scattered in the room. Behind the doors are soldiers wielding spears. They closed the doors behind us.

"You can now rest upstairs. Vonn removed his helmet, his red locks of hair flowing down his armor; his wrinkles deepened in the orange light of the noisy furnace.

His troops hastily climbed up the wooden ladder leading up to another floor, with the sound of the metal bar locked in place on the doors. He coughed.

"You aren't from 'round here, am I correct?" He accurately guessed.

"I guess so," I answered. "I don't remember anything except how to move."

"You're definitely an Otherworlder." He stated like it was apparent.

"Huh?"

"You know, getting isekai'd?" His words started to make less sense.

"Isekai'd?" My mind tried to remember what that means.

"I guess you are a Lost One then."

"Can you explain more clearly?"

"Basically, you came from another world."

"Huh?" My jaw dropped.

"There are three kinds of Otherworlders." He started. "Reincarnated are people who died from their previous world and came here. Wanderers are people from another world who accidentally wandered here. Lost Ones are people like you, who appeared here without their memories from their world."

"Is that possible?" I asked.

"You're here, so yeah." He confirmed. "Luckily, our government has a program for people like you."

"Program?"

"Yes, a state program." He confirmed. "It is designed for people like you in getting jobs. In our city-state, the famous City of Currents, no one is left behind."

"City of the Currents?"

"This city."

"So, like a nickname?"

"Yeah."

"Why is it called that?"

"Long story." He answered. "Now rest. You need it. I will assist you in getting a job tomorrow." He led me upstairs, where all his fellow guardsmen rested. He let me sleep in his place on one of the wooden bunk beds. As I placed my behind on the white mattress, the bed frame creaked audibly. Thankfully no one woke up. I lay on the bed, staying still. I felt my eyes and body getting heavier.

I resigned myself to my fate as I closed my eyes.