In the end, he wasn't the same as those protagonists in other novels with plug-in cheats.
He arrived in this world with his youth instead. That's already enough sincerity for an Isekai person like him.
He didn't want to be too greedy, or who knows when he might get unlucky?
Ceth nodded quietly before she sat on the stool around the already-prepared food on the table.
She had a faint arc around the corner of her lips, though. This scene was naturally seen by her two parents.
They just smiled quietly before they sat on the table too.
"Juan, go on and sit. No need to be shy. Ha ha ha."
Garu laughed as he motioned for the still-standing Juan to sit on the remaining stool on the left besides Ceth.
Juan nodded humbly, his face flush reddish slightly. This made the two adults in front chuckle.
"Good."
The atmosphere is very warm and joyful.
This made Juan calm down considerably; his embarrassment and shame dissipated under this warmth.
There's bread on the plate, a piece of meat, and vegetables in the still-hot soup on the table.
'This feeling... is like a family.'
This felt somewhat nostalgic, recalling something he had long since forgotten.
"Juan, don't be shy and just eat more. You're still growing after all."
Juan nodded softly.
He felt warm inside, and so he couldn't help but show them a happy expression from the bottom of his heart.
"Yes."
Garu didn't laugh boisterously this time, though. Juan was actually expecting him to do that, but he got it wrong this time.
But instead, Garu somehow just gave him a warm smile, that of a father looking at his youngling.
'I'm way older than the two of you. Though I don't really mind,' Juan thought inwardly.
Ceth was also quite proactive, passing him more meat silently. He didn't even get to say anything other than 'thank you'.
'This family....'
Those assumptions he had about them might just be him overthinking things. It made him relax around them.
After a while, the table was cleaned up. Garu and Juan remain seated on their stool, resting after filling their belly full.
Garu's wife washed the dishes, and her daughter Ceth helped at the side.
"It's about to get dark," Juan muttered while looking outside.
The surroundings were peaceful and warm amidst the setting sun's atmosphere.
This made him feel like he was reminiscing about his previous world.
The modern buildings, concrete roads, street lights, games, anime, and fashionable ladies passing on the streets showing their thighs and chests.
People, friends, families, relatives, acquaintances, and classmates.
He wonders whether they are still alive right now and what their life has become.
"I should get going now, Village Chief," Juan said before he stood up gently somehow.
"Alright, take care on your way." Garu nodded as he smiled at him.
"Juan, don't forget to come early tomorrow morning for breakfast, okay?"
This one came from Garu's wife after hearing him leave.
"Yes, Madam."
Agreeing this time seems to be just a matter of saying two words.
Juan doesn't feel that embarrassed or shameful anymore.
After he replied, he turned his eyes on Ceth, who had just turned around to meet his eyes.
Then he saw her wave her left hand, still dripping with wet.
The last orange rays of the setting sun seem to add more charm to her actions, even without her making an expression.
But..
'Did she just smile at me? '
Juan didn't know, because he seemed to be hallucinating at that time.
He didn't even know how he walked his way back to his house, as he seemed to be absentminded all this time.
Once he closed the door to his house, he suddenly lean back and slowly let gravity pull his butt on the ground.
"What did that even mean?"
It could only mean one thing that could be interpreted by what he was feeling right now.
'When did I fall for her? '
They just met this day, though.
We spent the whole morning on a tour sticking together, and even by then, he was always on guard for any tricks she had.
'It must be the continuation of the honey trap. Garu have ordered her after all; she can't just stop like nothing happened.'
'They haven't really believed in my story yet and were suspicious after all; it's been just two days since I arrived.'
By being on Garu's side, he will always be under their monitoring.
'They must want to let my guard down by letting me feel that cozy and comfy family gathering dinner thing. And all of this will last for a week.'
Juan calmed his somewhat flustered heart. He relaxed, with some nervousness still remaining inside.
"One of the four major illusions in life." He couldn't help but chuckle.
"There's nothing to overthink, actually. It's all part of life. I'm just a leaf sweep by it's current."
He stood up and walked before his bed before he laid down, looking at the ceiling calmly.
"It doesn't matter if this is their trick, test, or anything. I'm already so old, but here I was still taken in panic about such complicated thing."
'I better stop before I get hurt.'
"Well, after all, I'm a single dog for once in a lifetime already. My experience isn't actually a good thing.'
'Investing my time in such emotions will just get me nowhere but shame and painful memories. A waste of time."
Juan raised his right hand, wanting to grasp something in the air.
"I don't need a family. I don't need a woman's love. I don't need responsibility. I just want to be truly free and live in fun and happiness."
'Can I even achieve that small goal in this life? '
In the end, the world is so big, and he can't explore it for answers because of danger.
The answer he keeps on thinking about, the future he will stand in. All of this is not important to him right now.
'I'll just go with the flow. There's no need to change. Just integrate into this village. By then, a week later, this farce and illusion will also stopped.'
Juan soon closed his eyes as sleepiness pulled his consciousness into the embrace of darkness.
It was a tiring day after all.
...
The sky at night looked picturesque even without the existence of the celestial body—the moon.
The stars keep on shining and shimmering as they hang above to give those below hope and a little bit of security.
The forest which should have been bustling with insects echoes and cries as well as other nocturnal animals howling suddenly went quiet.
Under such mysterious scene, the darkness that usually sleep during the day started to wake up silently.
A huge patch of darkness-like shadow rose up from the forest below.
It brought along terror that made every soul that near it cower and shiver in fear.
A while later, the shadow became as tall as that of a hill, wriggling eeriely like a jelly monster with no definite form.
The shadow monster has two red circles on top of its body's center position, which must be its eyes.
It looked around its surroundings and started moving around like there weren't any trees around to hinder it's movements.
Yet it just passed by those obstacles like they were really nothing.
Not even broken branches, nor sounds of any collision or earth shaking.
The shadow monster moved around randomly, like a ghost. It's eyes were surveying its territory like it always do.
Just then, it found something interesting.
A while later, it saw a quiet village situated outside the forest on the edge of the grassland.
Looking around, it saw numbers of houses and architecture with people and animals resting inside them.
It was about to move forward, wanting to leave the forest and enter the grassland, when it suddenly stopped.
The shadow monster seems to be thinking about something, so it does that.
Just like that, it stood there like a hill, watching the village quietly with its eerie red circle eyes.
When the stars receded and the sky brought brightness, the shadow monster that had been standing all night at the edge of the forest had already disappeared.
It's disappearance is like a mystery. It leaves nothing nor any evidence behind.
Just like a ghost that only appears at night.
...
It was already dawn by the time Juan woke up. He stretched his stiff limbs out before he left the cold bed behind.
"So cold. I completely forgot about this yesterday. I should gather some firewood during noon."
He can't continue sleeping like this. After all, it's easy to get sick sleeping in a cold environment.
Soon, he started doing push-ups, sit-ups, squats, and other exercises he knew would warm his body up.
"It's quiet cold at night; the wooden bed felt like I'm sleeping in a refrigerator instead. This can't go on."
After sweating for a while, Juan left the house and locked it before stepping towards Garu's house.
Although it was quite cold outside, Juan was shivering.
He still persevered and forcefully suppressed his laziness to return as he started jogging out of the village.
"I'll wash my face first in the river before I go and have breakfast."
Since it's quiet early and the sun is not really out yet, Juan made a decision and jogged out of the village as he made his way to the river.