"Help! Someone save us!!" "I don't want to die!!" "I still want to have a wife?!"
One by one, the villagers were slaughtered by soldiers under the orders of the ruthless king of Vanceburg. The villagers were labeled as traitors for refusing to provide military aid to the kingdom. Regardless of age or gender, they were all killed. Not cold, but cruel.
"Sister... will we be safe?" A young boy looked at his sister as they hid. His sister only gave a sad smile while scanning their surroundings.
"I don't know, little brother. I'm not sure... there's a chance we'll be safe." She gently stroked his hair.
A few minutes later, a soldier found them.
"What's that? A cat? A rat? No... it's a human. Enemy spotted!" The soldier shouted to call his comrades. They rushed towards the siblings' hiding place. The sister and her brother grew anxious and tried to escape. However, the sister was captured while the boy managed to flee.
"I'm sorry... sister..." His sister smiled, relieved to see her brother safe, just before a sword pierced her.
"Whoooaa, a kid escaped!" The soldiers turned their attention to the fleeing boy and gave chase, swords in hand. However, the boy was more agile than they expected.
"What now? If the boy gets away, we're dead."
"How about we ride horses to catch up faster?"
"We don't have horses... there's only..." One soldier pointed to a large wild boar.
"Hmm... any ideas?"
"Based on my experience, we can tame the boar with carrots." The soldiers stared at him.
"Why don't you try?"
They handed him a stick tied with a carrot and placed it in front of the boar. In an instant, the boar dashed forward at full speed.
"Wow, I didn't expect that to work!" The soldier rode the boar in pursuit of the boy.
"Huh?! A boar rider?!"
The boy ran towards a cliff, frantically thinking of a solution but finding none. The soldier stood behind him.
"Prepare yourself~!!!"
The soldier lunged at the boy, knocking him off the edge.
"Is this... my fate as the main character...? What kind of unfairness is this..."
He closed his eyes, preparing to accept his end.
But when he opened them again—
"God... where am I~ ouch..."
He looked around. The place was unfamiliar.
"Wait... where am I? And my body... it feels different."
Everything around him seemed normal.
"Did I... get reincarnated? But... I don't have any powers... Wait. Rule number one of isekai: you get hit by—"
As he pondered, a woman called out to him.
"Adrian, come downstairs."
A gentle female voice spoke his name.
"Huh, o-okay..."
(How does she know my name? Suspicious...)
He went downstairs and saw a woman and a man.
"Adrian, come eat."
"O-okay."
Adrian scooped food onto his plate.
"...Since when did I have a mom... and this must be dad..."
He thought silently.
"Um, mom... how old am I?"
"Seventeen, why do you ask? Don't tell me you forgot?"
The woman smiled kindly while the man read the newspaper.
"Whaaat?! Huh? How? Just now I was like 9 years old, and suddenly I'm 17?!"
His brain froze. He sat silently for a moment.
"Son, why do you look so shocked?" (Am I dreaming? Maybe...)
Suddenly, everything went dark.
"Huh? Mom? Dad? What's going on? I don't even know if those were my real parents!"
Then, he felt someone touching his cheek. He opened his eyes.
"Huh?"
"Finally, the kid is safe."
A man in a white coat smiled. Adrian looked at him in confusion.
"Huh... where am I now?"
"Hello, I'm Professor Zach. I saved you from the past."
"Huh? Why did you save me? Don't you know that even moving a single stone in the past can change the future?"
"I don't care about that because you're in the future now... and~ I have a mission for you."
He handed Adrian a tablet filled with information.
"What's this?"
"A mission."
"What kind of mission?"
"Go to another dimension."
"Huh? We just met like five seconds ago, and you're already giving me orders? This isn't fair!"
Adrian looked at him, shocked.
Without wasting time, Zach opened a portal and pushed Adrian through it.
"Good luck!!"
"Huh?! Can I even return safely? I don't understand anything!"
"Of course, you're the main character."
"WHAT—"
Everything turned dark.