If I had to describe my life in one word, it would be a boring stamp rally.
I wasn't born to rich parents, nor was I struck by extraordinary misfortune. I went through elementary, middle, and high school, and then attended university on a scholarship.
Although I had some trouble during job hunting, I managed to get a job at a nearby printing company, a ten-minute walk from the apartment where I lived alone during college.
From there, it's been the same monotonous days of stamping the same thing over and over again.
On weekdays, I walk to the company, and on weekends, I spend my time either sleeping at home or watching YouTube. When I watch VTuber streams and play social games, the weekend ends before I know it.
I don't have any particular hobbies. Sure, watching streams and playing social games might be hobbies, but I don't have any money, so I don't spend on donations or in-game purchases.
There's no significant change, and I don't dive into events myself.
So, my life is just a stamp rally, pressing the same stamp every day.
"Ahh, I want a girlfriend."
I muttered that in my room, not because I really wanted one, but just to show a bit of 'urgency' in my life for a change of pace.
It was really just lip service.
I don't intend to go to places where I could meet someone, nor do I plan to try dating apps. I've heard that STDs are on the rise lately, and that scares me.
I don't want to take on challenges and fail. I don't want to get involved in anything either.
In the end, I love this unchanging daily life.
When I looked away from my smartphone and glanced outside the window, the setting sun was shining in.
"I need to buy some food."
I don't bother with cooking. Living alone as a man without a girlfriend or expensive hobbies, I get all my meals from the convenience store. Convenience store meals are easy because I don't have to think about them.
I always get a 550 yen ramen and a vegetable juice, at least pretending to care about my health.
When I left the room with only my keys and smartphone, the sunset was illuminating me.
"...There's nothing in my life."
That's how I want it, so it should be fine. But am I really satisfied with my life?
"Stop, stop. Thinking about it won't change anything."
I shook my head to dismiss the thought. Then, worried that someone might have seen my odd behavior, I looked around... and felt relieved that no one was there.
It felt a bit eerie that no one was walking around on a Sunday evening, but I figured it wasn't something to worry about since the sun was still up, and just as I was about to open Twitter...
There was a creepy man in front of me.
"Ha, ha..."
He was breathing heavily as if after an intense exercise. His eyes were wild... and he was staring at me. No, he was glaring at me. Despite it almost being winter, he was wearing only a tank top, and his skinny body looked extremely cold in the autumn wind.
...What the hell, this is creepy.
I thought and dropped my gaze to my smartphone. It's best not to get involved with people like this.
That was my mistake.
"...Hah!"
The creepy man's eerie breath reached my ears, and something stabbed into my chest.
"Ah..."
I tried to scream, but only a strange sound came out. Realizing it was my own voice and collapsing to the ground happened simultaneously.
"Ha, ha! You! You've been watching me all this time! You! You put a bug in my house and even installed surveillance cameras!!"
The man was saying something, but it didn't register in my ears. It couldn't!
It hurts, it hurts, it hurts, it hurts!!!!
The pain was burning my brain. My chest hurt so much that I couldn't think of anything. I couldn't breathe. I didn't know if I should inhale or exhale.
My vision was spinning. The man's figure was fading. Warmth was flowing out of my body, and I was getting extremely cold. My vision was turning black.
I'm dying.
"...I don't want... to die."
I don't want to die. I don't want to die.
But even though I don't want to die, the bleeding from my body won't stop.
I'm dying.
And then, my consciousness faded.
When I woke up, there was a wooden ceiling above me.
Is this... a hospital? No, a hospital would feel more sterile. Then where is this?
Thinking that, I tried to look at my body and sit up, but...
"Aeh."
I couldn't lift my body. My head was too heavy to lift. Also, my voice sounded oddly high-pitched, unlike my usual voice.
What is this? What's happening?
Wanting to know what had happened to my body, I lifted my hand and saw... a white, plump arm.
"...Ueh?"
I tried to say "What the heck," but my mouth wouldn't move. Moving my tongue around in my mouth, I realized something shocking.
I had no teeth.
Were my teeth pulled out? No, that wouldn't explain this situation.
Incomprehensible, my emotions overflowed, and I started to cry.
"Waaah! Waaah!!"
As I cried like that, a woman appeared with the sound of running feet, bringing a sense of relief.
But she was incredibly tall. This woman, several times my size, gently picked me up and said,
"Itsuki. Are you hungry?"
She began to soothe me.
Even though I'm an adult, I calmed down unconsciously. I felt my overflowing emotions settle back into my chest.
"Were you lonely? You're a good boy."
Listening to the woman's strangely calming voice, I began to understand my situation.
A small, white arm. A mouth that couldn't speak. No teeth at all.
And most notably, the name "Itsuki," which had no connection to my original name.
It's unbelievable, but it seems I've become a baby.
"Daddy will be home soon."
"Mmm."
The language I heard was Japanese, and the woman in front of me, who seemed to be my mother, was Japanese too.
It appears I was reborn in Japan... maybe? If so, what happened to my dead body? A random attacker incident would be national news, so I'd like to see if there's a TV.
I tried to move my neck, but it was too heavy.
Why...?
Then I remembered what I learned in home economics class and understood.
This body's neck isn't strong enough to support itself yet.
So, I only moved my eyes to look around the room... there was no TV. There was just a futon for a baby to sleep in.
The floor was tatami, and the room was divided by sliding doors, giving it a very traditional Japanese feel.
Maybe I was reborn into a fairly wealthy family.
Thinking that, I felt relieved. Being reborn in Japan alone made me feel lucky, but being born into a wealthy family was... a silver lining. This way, I was less likely to die soon.
If I had been reborn in a country with poor security or in poverty, it would have been different.
I don't want to die anymore. That obvious thought was stuck in my head.
I still remembered the pain of being stabbed in the chest with a knife or something.
I'd do anything to escape that pain. That pain was so intense that I thought that way.
As I felt a deep sense of relief, sleepiness overwhelmed me. A baby's body gets sleepy easily, even without doing anything.
Thinking that, I closed my eyes and felt my body being laid down. My mother must have put me to bed.
Feeling a sense of relief, I was about to fall asleep when my mother clasped her hands together and prayed strongly,
"Please, let him reach three years old safely."
Her words, which I didn't understand as someone who had never raised a child, strangely lingered in my ears.