With one more final step, Zach found himself at the top of the trail, the expansive pine forest below him nestled neatly between two mountains tipped in snow.
He pulled the straps on his giant backpack tighter, grabbed his canteen hanging from his belt loop, and took one long swig as he let the morning rays banish the chills of early morning.
Colorado was beautiful, and the more Zach stared at all the nature before him, the bigger his smile got.
He needed this, a vacation away from all the noise, a time where he was not hounded by calls, having to sit in meetings spanning longer than an hour, talk to clients who insisted on him doing things that were downright impossible, and no evaluations from HR.
He was alone, his phone and laptop left at home as a tracphone sat snugly in his cargo pants, and no way in hell for any of his colleagues or family to reach him.
Zach let out a long exhale, the cold atmosphere of the mountains making it visible as it floated up into the beautiful blue sky that was still stained orange as the sun continued to climb upwards.
He took a quick look at the signboard next to the little viewing area that gave him his location, altitude, and a few bullet points about the wildlife. Heading over to the railings of poorly painted wood, he saw a beautiful lake still covered with a layer of mist.
There were other fellow hikers and or campers, but they paid him no heed as he pulled out binoculars and took a long survey of everything there was to offer.
"Definitely worth it." Zach whispered as he pocketed his binoculars and headed toward the area designated as a campsite.
He spent the next thirty minutes pitching a tent (hehe), but before doing so he made sure to meet the few people who would also be staying in the clearing. There was a couple currently on their honeymoon, a family of four, and a loner like Zach named Joseph who had a hobby of camping out and seeing the stars.
Zach did his best to get to know them in a friendly way, and after, he made sure to set his tent as far away from the couple as possible
The action did not go unnoticed by Joseph.
Instead of following Zach's example, he did the opposite, setting up nice and close to the couple while giving Zach a thumbs up. He could only applaud the man's boldness.
Now settled, Zah crawled into his tent and lay on the filled up air mattress. He took a moment to soak it all in, the sound of birds, the laughin of children not far off, the occasional trickle of water, the stiffness of the air mattress beneath him, the smell of pine, and the coolness of an autumn breeze that made its way through the mesh of the tent entrance.
Peace.
No longer did he need to worry about his job, the still lingering soreness of his heart after his recent breakup, the death of his Father which was not something he needed to think about, and the nagging of his roomate Sophia who insisted he watch one piece.
No, they were all slid under the rug, allowing Zach to sink into a tranquil serenity that could only be better with one thing.
Manhwa.
So, Zach leaned over and rummaged through his five foot backpacket he had begrudgingly been hauling around all morning, going to a specific pocket that contained four volumes of a new webtoon that had made waves in the community.
He had wanted to read them earlier, but this vacation was planned beforehand and he would have nothing better to do if he did so. Zach had contemplated bringing his laptop, but he would notice the emails from his co-workers, which would make his guilt skyrocket to heights he feared would cut his sabbatical short.
As a result, he had just a tracfone and the necessities needed for camping, minus the manhwa of course.
Itching with anticipation, Zach grabbed a grocery bag out and opened it.
However upon pulling out one of the four volumes, he froze, his brows furrowing as he read the title of the monstrosity before him.
The letters of the title Love and Artifacts were made up of swords, spears, and armor, but that was not what made Zach almost puke blood. Underneath the title, one man stood towering over a shorter guy, pulling his chin upwards as if they were about to kiss. Of course they were both handsome beyond belief, and Zach just stared for a good minute in pure hesteria.
He threw the book to the side, scouring the rest of the bag to find only the subsequent volumes of Love and Artifacts, meaning the new hit manhwa HURRICANE FIST was nowhere to be found.
He even checked his backpack again, but also came up empty, leaving a hollow place in his heart as he realized who did this.
His roomate Sophia was the only one heartless enough. She must have wanted revenge because Zach would always flat out ignore her when she kept trying to make him watch anime. He was a manhwa enjoyer, anime just never was his cup of tea, but it seemed Sophia was a little more petty than Zach initially thought.
"How...how could she?" Zach shed a single tear as he once more looked at the cover of the BL that was at the foot of the mattress.
A little helpless, he picked it back up and turned it over to read the blurb on the back.
[ Left alone since young, bullied by those he thought once loved him, and with a heart shattered long ago, Hal wanted nothing more than to prove them all wrong.
Despite his measly talent with a sword, the fact he is a bastard, or that his otherworldly white hair and snow white skin made him standout, he will fight for his dream of standing at the top of the world known as Albion.
Hal will become the number one at the most famous Academy, he won't hesitate to slay the legendary beasts of old, and he just might be able to meddle amongst the giants known as rankers.
Though, it may be a little harder than he thought as he succumbs to those verdant green eyes that demand his attention.
Eyes attached to the most perfect face, wild midnight locks, and a devilish smile that will make his cold heart beat with warmth.
Davaniel Lionsgreat, the second prince of the human realm. ]
Zach tossed the book to the tent's floor, a frown deeply etched on his face as he refused to touch it again, though at the very least he found kindling for his fire tonight.
Deciding he would not dwell on the fact his vacation was slightly ruined, he got up and did the few things he had scheduled besides reading what was supposed to be HURRICANE FIST.
He set out to go fishing, which made a few hours go by, but to no avail of catching anything worthwhile.
Zach then went exploring the trail, where he also met Joseph, the sleazy guy telling him the couple had been very loud earlier while they had some fun if he was interested.
He was not, as anything with the oppsite sex was a tiring thought, the breakup with Cassandra not a chasm of depression he wished to fall into.
Later, as the sun was slowly dipping back toward the horizon, Zach unfortunately found himself back in the tent.
The silence was suffocating.
He let his thoughts wander for a few minutes, but boredom got the best of him and he grabbed the first volume of Love and Artifacts.
"No way I am actually doing this?" He whispered as he randomly opened a page in the manhwa to get a glimpse of what was going on.
On it, the main character Hal was within the academy for adventurers, the current scenario being the class of Monster Slaying. The teacher was a tall woman in leather armor, her brown hair pulled back in a long ponytail, glasses hanging on her small nose, and amber eyes that glowed like magma.
She was very pretty, but Zach was more focused on what she was saying.
Apparently there were monthly beast waves with a huge final one at the end of the year. A little cliche, but Zach's interest was somewhat piqued. The first years dealt with the monthly ones, while second years and some of the Orders of Humanity dealt with the final big one that spanned almost half the continent.
Interesting.
Zach looked over his shoulder to make sure there were no cameras, then took a moment to check around the tent to make sure there was no host who would barge in and say something about being caught reading BL.
Thankfully, such fantasies were for nothing, Zach slowly turning to the first page and shaking his head.
He knew that reading this had to be some sort of sin, but there was truly nothing he could do to pass the hours. Nature was beautiful, but no matter how much Zach admired a tree it would still be a tree.
There were also events for the camping trip, like canoeing, ziplining, and others; but that was in two days. He would rather read this than just sit and do nothing.
'Oh well, no one will know'
.
.
.
Zach gently closed the book as he had finished all four volumes, having to use the electric lamp he brought to continue his journey as the sun seemed to set without him realizing, then it somehow began to rise without his knowledge.
How odd.
Setting down the last volume, Zach blinked a few times in absence before shuddering. Goosebumps ran up his arm, as Love and Artifacts was truly revolting and amazing at the same time.
'Why did such a story have to be tainted by BL, and a harem of overly handsome males no less.'
It was indeed one of the many manhwas out there, that was Zach's final evaluation as he pulled the covers over his body and decided to sleep. He had done what all fellow enjoyers of web novels and manhwa did, binging an entire series without stopping, no matter how much his body called for the absurd thing known as rest.
Now though, he could get plenty of it, which was much easier as he sunk into his mattress. The feeling of silk sheets that were strangely warm, a pillow fluffier than he remembered, and the slight scent of honey helped greatly.
Then, slowly, Zach noticed that the latter seemed wrong. He had ignored it at first, but it truly was odd how comfortable he was, and upon slightly opening an eye just out of intrigue, he froze.
He did not remember his pillow having a golden cover that was gleaming obnoxiously, nor that he had a fancy humongous blanket covering him.
Opening both eyes now, Zach slowly sat up, his sense of reality slipping each second that passed.
'What?'
No, he must have fallen asleep faster than he thought, because the double king size bed, the frills on the edge of his blankets, the pillow covers that looked like real gold, the giant room with crimson wallpaper, and an arched window showing a view of a mountain range stained in blue pines trees made little to no sense.
"Young Master, it's me, Charles." An older male voice called as the big double doors that led to the room were swung open.
A butler getting on in his years wore what might have been accepted in the 18th century, a suit with coattails, a fancy white vest, and a golden monocle all but affirming Zach's thought that this was definitely some sort of hallucination or vivid dream.
"Um hello." A squeaky voice called out to the old man.
Confused, Zach glanced around with curiosity to see who spoke, "That was weird." But upon the same voice speaking what he was thinking, he realized that it was him.
He was the one talking.
Charles raised an eyebrow, "Good morning young master Erwin, and what might be troubling you?"
Zach's body stiffened as if cold water was splashed on his back, his mind recalling that not long ago he had heard the name Erwin; or rather read it.
In a scramble to understand, Zach spoke aloud, "his last name was Everett right?"
Charles walked forward, "Oh, do you prefer young master Everett?"
'No...no fucking way,' Zach thought as he lifted his hands to see that they were paler han what they should have been. He was half persian half mexican, in no way he understood could he get this white without some serious surgery.
"A mirror.." Zach mmbled the words, but soon realized that if what he thought could really be going on, he needed to act naturally. "Ahem, Charles, bring me a mirror."
The butler snapped his fingers, a hand held mirror appeared out of thin air. He grasped it and stepped forward before holding it so Zach could see himself.
Caught off guard that Charles did not straight up give it to him, Zach grabbed it, staring deeply at what lay within it.
There, where Zach should see his tanned skin, slightly pudgy face, beady black eyes, and buzz cut hair, he instead saw almost the complete opposite.
Wild blonde hair that looked like it was done purposely, a perfectly smooth face, eyebrows that gave him a stoic look even despite his current bewilderment, sky blue eyes, a slightly bigger nose, lips so pink it looked like he was wearing lipstick, and a chin that was sharp and defined.
He was handsome, scarily so, but that was not the biggest issue.
No, it was the fact that Zach was staring at a character he had read about in Love and Artifacts.
Erwin Everett, the first and only son to a wealthy house that dabbled in repairing armor and weapons. They had their hands in all the human provinces, though their company name was not well known as they outsourced most of their repairs to lesser known crafters in hopes of paying them less.
He appeared in the second volume when the main character Hal Haywood was a second year in Queen's Spear Academy. He was in the support course, and a simple crafter who happened to be paired with Hal during an exercise.
Within the week they worked together, they went from strangers to very close friends, to eventually lovers…
Zach was apparently Erwin, which made him want to puke, as he was the fourth member of Hal's harem.
"You have to be fuckiing kidding me."
"Young master, language!"
Zach blinked, looked up to see the stern yet caring gaze of his butler, and tried his best to smile.
"I apologize, my hair is bothering me."
Charles' butler instincts kicked in, "We can have maid Anne come and give you a haircut, though you did insist you wanted to grow it out young master, to be more like your mother."
'That's right, how could I forget the horrifying fact Erwin wanted to be female, going as far as to cross dress on certain events like the Winter Ball or on other special occasions. He had deeply loved his mother who passed away early in his life, causing him to want to be a lot more like her, that he might as well be a woman.'
Zach frowned, still wanting to believe that this was all a farce.
To wake up in his tent, continue his short but blissful vacation, and drag himself back to be a functioning member of society. He did not have suicidal thoughts, he did not really hate his job, just dsiliked it, and he did not have any goals that needed to be quenched by transmigrating.
'So why? Why am I inside of a BL manhwa right now?'
"Young master? If you are feeling down I can allow you to wear your mother's wedding dress, though only for an hour, no negotiating."
Zach met the gaze of Erwin's butler, his mind still processing everything as he blankly stared.
"Okay, two hours, but I will stand my ground here."
Zach shook his head and laid back down, his head resting comfortably on the pillow and his gaze focusing on the chandelier made of gold hanging from the ceiling, balls of blue fire where candles or light bulbs would usually be.
'I am really in another world, just like that. No goddess, no vendetta, no death. My mother who is all alone, my dog Fenrir, oh god no. Sophia wants to dye his white fur pink, and with me missing she will be able to. Cassandra, though we broke up it was more of a small break, we were moving away from each other and she was starting to come around to the idea of long distance dating. Why now? Why Love and Artifacts? What should I do? I don't have any goals, maybe survive? I never would have thought that I, of all people, would transmigrate.'
It was a problem, especially as Zach was starting to think more clearly.
Love and Artifacts might be a romance first and foremost, but there was plenty of bloodshed, horrible acts that clearly went against the Geneva Conventions, beasts waves, murderous demons, monarchs wanting to eradicate humanity, and side characters or even main harem memebers dying miserably.
Erwin was one such character.
Although he got resurrected, it would still not be on anyone's okay list to just die outright, resurrection or not.
As Zach was truly coming to understand the hell he had found himself in, he heard the voice of Charles as the older man was holding back tears.
"Fine! Young master, you win, you can wear the wedding dress all day."
Zach almost choked, realizing that if he was indeed stuck in this world, there were a few things he would definitely need to change.
His first goal was to not wear dresses, which was easy enough.
His second goal however, well, he needed to know more, a lot more