On a vast grassland with no end in sight.
The boundless blue sky, along with its passing white irregular clouds.
"...w-where is this?!"
A slightly hoarse and shaken voice suddenly rang out on this peaceful land.
It was a sixteen- to seventeen-year-old-looking young man.
"W-what's going on?!"
Black hair mixed with brown colored ones.
The same with the eyes, a southeast Asian descendant.
"A-anyone? N-no one?"
His voice was shaking. Everything he saw was currently new to him.
"There's no way this is real."
That's right, there's no way he could be calm in the situation he was in.
He looked at his surroundings, left, right, up, and down.
Even touching the grass and smelling the fresh breeze that caress his skin.
The hard ground and softness of what felt like pressed weeds would feel.
"How could this happen to me?"
It looks like he already had a hint of what has happened.
Because of the realization on his face shows.
The young man felt his strength leaving his knees suddenly.
He lost his footing and fell down on his butt on the ground.
With a frightened face and terrified eyes, he had his two hands holding the area on his chest.
"I-I...I remember it now.I....I....I-I....I'm in another world."
...
The grassland is vast, full of meadows and flat grounds.
There's a shallow river that divides the grassland in half.
In which both ends connect to the horizon and an unseen destination.
At this time, a small raft carries a person floating along the current of the river.
"It's been two days, and I have yet to see another person or another terrain nearby."
Juan sighed depressingly while he lay down on his makeshift raft.
"I wonder if this raft made from all the shrubbery I gathered can last."
"All I had was this river water; if I can't find any food soon, I won't last long."
"So I had to at least preserve my physical strength until I could find something."
Traveling the vast grassland on foot?
Who can survive in this place with no food other than water around?
No animals are in sight, but flowers and weeds do grow everywhere.
"The land looks eerie. The water at least has fish. But..."
Indeed, although he could see the food underneath this water.
He could only see them but could never touch them.
"Only if I had with me a fishing tool. Sigh, I'm starving. Water won't let me live for long."
He could only sigh at what fate had thrown at him.
This event in which he was now was truly both a blessing and misfortune in disguise.
Juan was just an ordinary old man born in the 21st century.
After he had finished his game that day. He found that it was already late at night.
So after some clean-up, he stepped down from his gaming chair and laid down on his bed.
"An old man is still playing FPS during these days, even competing with those young ones all night."
He couldn't help but chuckle as he felt the softness of his bed mattress enveloping him.
"Unfortunately, I don't have much time left to enjoy this world. There are still many things I haven't enjoyed yet. Too bad."
By the time he was done muttering, drowsiness had already engulfed him.
Moonlight shone down on his aged face, coming from a gap among the ceiling's wooden house.
And by the time he woke up, he had suddenly found himself in this place.
...
"I got isekai. Although unbelievable, it did indeed happen."
At first, he was afraid, terrified of suddenly arriving in a strange place.
During that time, he was distraught, distracted, and even thought of this as a lucid dream.
Muttering, shouting, and even asking questions that only he could hear.
No one's going to answer him, nor is anyone there to talk to him.
But... from the initial panic.
He slowly came to himself and started to calm down his chaotic mind and restless heart.
The loud, thumping beat of his heart that kept ringing in his ears slowly receded.
That's when he noticed another change.
"I regain my youth."
Looking at his youthful hand that was blocking his eyes from the bright sun, he thought.
It should have been a happy thing. Not dying.
To be forgotten and rot underground.
"But...I don't know if this youth could last me till tomorrow."
And another change he found in himself was in his clothes.
He found himself wearing a pajama set he wore before he appeared here.
"But it's not loose. Did it change to fit my current youthful body, or has this always been its size?"
In any case, he had no way of knowing.
Because, all this time, what he wore was of no importance as long as it was clean and fitted him.
"Ugh..what should I do now?" he said, turning around and lying on his back.
He looked down at the shallow river underneath.
Amused and searching for anything useful he might find coincidentally.
Who knows? He might find something that will become his cheat later on.
"As if that will really happen. This is no illusion or fantasy, but a reality."
Although getting isekai is already out of the norm and only happens in anime and imagination.
Further events that might transpire will not really happen due to their illogicality.
"Reasoning and logic, huh. I'm better off thinking I'm the protagonist now if I still want to live another day."
Although he had some expectations in his heart.
Reality is reality; there's neither the power of friendship nor any dormant power inside him awakening during life and death moments.
"Even if there is indeed my hidden cheat, I can't take the risk. No sane man would do it."
Juan is an old man from the modern world.
A reader, from the audience viewpoint.
He saw all those protagonists and heroines in many novels as nothing more than puppets of fate.
They had everything in common.
Reckless, arrogant, dense, fool, idiotic, loser, and self-righteous.
"Although I can't say I'm different, I had my own personality. I will never become like that."
The river current flows to the south.
He got the direction by using the sun's movement in the sky.
"The real problem is survival. Ahhhh. This is so hard."
Juan scratched his head angrily.
His voice was greatly suppressed to prevent inviting trouble he could not see.
This world might not be simply a grassland.
It's better to be careful and cautious at all times.
"I can only wait till tomorrow, huh? Should I really eat some grass to live on?"
A hard choice to make, that's why he hesitated.
To pay with ones life or to let go of any shame just to survive.
...
The sun set, and the whole grassland started to get covered in a dim environment.
Night came and blanketed the land.
"Although I had seen this already yesterday during my first night here, it still took me away."
Stars so clear filled the night sky like a sea, glimmering and flickering.
It made him stop all thoughts and just immerse himself in the depths of its mystery.
"There's no light or air pollution in this place. Well, this is at least to be expected."
"I can guess this world might be from ancient times if I hypnotize this information correctly."
Either way, he needs to survive to find that out.
"If I met people of this age, with how barbaric this era might be, being cooked after being killed might be better than getting roasted alive."
Just thinking of such dangerous things gives rise to shivers on his skin.
"Now that I thought about it, I have been drifting off for a long time already. I don't know how many kilometers I have traveled."
He wasn't the type to count and measure any mathematical formulas in his mind.
Nor any petrified young man who was still counting without sleeping even after a long time.
So he had no idea how much distance he had covered all this time.
"It's already night, and I had to sleep without any mattress, pillow, or blanket once again."
He wonders what's going to happen to him.
"Please let me drift this river safely. I don't want to fall off while drowning asleep, nor do I want to get eaten by something underneath this waters."
The cold wind blows, sending shivers to his flesh.
It made him subconsciously lay sideways and curl up, wanting to keep himself warm with his own embrace.
"I better sleep early this time too. Even if there is something unknown out there, I can do nothing but wait and let fate help me escape."
With that said, he closed his eyes and fell asleep.
It was a tiring day.
So even with the uncomfortable feeling everywhere, he managed to send himself to sleep.
The night breeze blew by, causing rustling sounds from the grassland.
Aside from that, everything is quiet and peaceful under the starry skies and gentle starlight.
Suddenly, Juan opened his eyes and looked at the boundless mystery above.
His face shows an unbelievable expression at this time.
The drowsiness in his eyes suddenly vanished at this moment.
He seems to have remember something he did not bother thinking yesterday.
What was reflected in those pupils was...