"Oi, you've gotta be kidding me."
Theo's back was drenched in a cold, sticky covering of sweat. He felt scared, very, very scared.
As a typical weeb, he had of course had wishes of reincarnating, conquering the world with his heroines and other generic trash tropes, but there were limits.
There were several anime one wouldn't just want to reincarnate into, because no amount of preparation could help you avoid a horrible, painful fate.
"Why?" He felt like crying.
He was wearing the exact same jumpsuit, he held the same nylon bag in his hand and he had just suddenly appeared at the middle fountain of the city square.
Would he soon encounter a fairy-like depressed half-elf, become a legit retarded simp for her, start returning back in time from death?
Leading the army of some stuck-up noble to eradicate some white whale terror, confessing and...
Theo's face paled even further. He remembered that one scene... the most horrible death in the series.
Getting mauled inside out by an infinite number of insidiously cute rabbits.
'Forget it, I'm not sticking to the plot! I'll live a normal life in some far-away town, far from all the action. That'll be good...' He thought to himself.
Unknowingly, he had started biting deep into his fingernails at some point but he had also stopped shaking.
'How did I even die anyways?' He tried to pull himself back into his memories but couldn't, like there was a mental block in his mind.
That sort of feeling when someone tried to tried to form answers during a test but then came up with nothing.
'Ah forget it, shouldn't it be about tea time with Sylviana now?' Theo thought with a bashful expression as he remembered...
'Huh?' His thoughts hit the brakes. 'Who's Sylviana, damn this.'
Instantly, he remembered, his contractual relationship. Yes, the Text duke family!
Theo caught himself once again, sweating profusely once more.
'Seriously, what's all this? My thoughts, my memories, they're different?'
His heart started to palpitate strongly in his chest, so much it almost felt painful.
'Heart? My heart? Yes, I remember! The Div–'
Theo's head was suddenly rammed with a brain-splitting headache — Aren't brains already split though? — putting a sudden stop to his thoughts.
He screamed, causing stares in his direction.
Some were confused, as they had just noticed his presence there and whispers flared up as some in the crowd recognized him.
"Hey isn't that?"
"Yeah, sure is."
"He has some boldness to show his face in public again."
"They do say the younger generation holds no fear these days."
"What the world has become, Frank, can't tell if it's boldness of pure retardedness."
Theo remained oblivious to his surroundings as he felt like a war was going on in his head.
Two separate personalities clashed, one struggling to assert dominance over the other and soon enough, a merge was forced to take place.
"Oi, shouldn't someone help...?" Someone asked worrisomely, seeing blood pour out of Theo's orifices like a stream.
"Can't have a corpse in front of my business, call the Von Ayzrel family to come clean up their mess."
Unable to hold it any longer, Theo's body swayed and collapsed, swimming almost lifelessly in the fountain water.
———
Theo woke up with start.
The first thing he saw was a pitch black which transitioned into the soft surface of the bed he woke up on as he raised his head.
His mouth felt bitter as he touched his mouth and felt the dry spittle which had rolled out of his mouth in his sleep.
"Where..." He turned his head and saw a beautiful sight.
Beside his bed, a girl who looked to be about sixteen sat, her neck hunched over as she furiously tapped at her phone, completely oblivious to his awakening.
Her long hair was a unique shade of whitish-grey, bordering close to silver. It perfectly complemented her sunset orange eyes, yet also looking like a fiery explosion frozen in time.
Theo didn't know how long he had been staring, only remembering himself when she looked up from her phone.
Their eyes met and once again, he could only stare like a fool.
"What's the disgusting look for, bastard?"
"Huh?" The mood in the room switched instantly, catching Theo off-guard.
The girl stood up, her expression contorted into one of hate and disgust as she started into Theo's very being.
"I said what's the look for, you disgusting piece of crap!" She raised her voice once more.
Theo hurriedly got off his bed and knelt in a sudden rush of fear. Bowing his head, his body was shaking as he spoke.
"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry Sylviana! Please don't hurt me, please don't–! Please..."
Theo had surprised even himself. He didn't know what had happened but his memories did.
His mind felt like it was split. One side contained all his memories of earth and the other... the memories of Theo Von Ayzrel.
"If not for grandfather, you wouldn't even be worthy of licking my feet, not to talk of making me sit for four gruelling hours by a pig's bedside!" The girl, Sylviana screamed in a rage.
Then, something happened.
Her leg raised, fully covered in a small tornado of orange flames.
Theo's expression changed from one of panic to one of absurd levels of fear as her flaming leg connected with his chin with a dreadful force.
His body cut through the air which offered barely any resistance and smashed gracelessly through the window.
He screamed horrendously as he fell, his entire mouth part was disfigured and ash black from the flames.
His body landed into a perfectly sculpted cushion-shape bush which accepted all the force of his fall, giving his body no damage whatsoever.
Theo's entire worldview was spinning, the sky seemed so close to him and the ground was so far away.
His pain receptors were overloaded as he continuously kept screaming, he didn't even know when he was grabbed by the collar and received a heavy smack on his face.
It was equivalent to having a large slab of heavy stone slammed into his face.
He screamed even more.
"Shut it you pig!"
He received another flaming slap, forcing out whatever remains of teeth had remained in his mouth.
Suddenly, it didn't feel painful anymore, adrenaline coursed through his veins, temporarily alleviating the pain.
"A-ah..." He tried to force something out through his larynx but failed to do something.
"You, what order did I give you?"
Theo couldn't speak but he remembered vividly through the other part of his memories.
— Don't go out, EVER, till we set off for the academy, pig!
"Oi, Maya!" Sylviana screamed impatiently. "MAYA!"
She shouted again, in a much more louder tone that made Theo partially deaf for a moment.
A maid hurriedly rushed out from the building, looking worried and pale.
Just one glance from Sylviana and she lowered her gaze and did as she needed to do.
Her pale hands were placed on Theo's mouth, speeding up the regeneration process around that area.
Suddenly, she stopped and looked up to Sylvania.
"I-it'll leave a-a scar... T-this inj-jury is too sev-vere..." Maya fumbled with her words as she couldn't bear the oppressive aura flowing out of Sylvania's body.
"Oh? Even better, patch him up and give him a mask or something. I've been worried about my health lately with such a lowly thing breathing the same air as me." She replied.
"Send his body to the living room when you're done."
Theo remained weakly conscious. The adrenaline was starting to wear off as he slowly fell unconscious.
By now, he knew that whatever this world was, he hadn't reincarnated into any anime he knew.
He was... all alone.