The strange thing turned out to be edible. No, saying it was good would be the exact term.
For Noah, who hadn't had a proper meal in weeks, this dish seemed to be a true delicacy worthy of the finest restaurants. He devoured the contents of his plate greedily, without caring for a second about what was around him.
However, when he was finished, he felt the gaze of that girl, Doll, on him, who seemed pleased to watch him eat.
"W-What?" he asked, trying to appear threatening despite his reddening ears.
Doll replied with a simple shake of her head before clearing the table.
"Glad you enjoyed it, little Lisa," she added as she stood up. "Hm… There's not much here compared to where you come from, I imagine. But if you enjoyed yourself here even for a moment, that makes me very happy."
A delicate smile appeared on her face; the kind of smile betraying a care he had only ever seen in movies and other media. Doll then left the room, wishing him a good night, leaving him alone again with his thoughts.
"A video game world, huh?"
Ah… Maybe it wasn't so bad. If it really was a video game world, then these people, these NPCs with exaggerated personalities, were undoubtedly created for a specific role in the game's story. Perhaps this Doll was created to embody pure kindness – that sweet and caring character who heals the hero's wounds after a tough quest.
"Pfft! Yeah, right!"
Noah let his body fall onto the bed. Hero of the story? He didn't believe it for a second. He was Noah, a pitiful loser in his former life and nothing more. Those reincarnation stories where the pitiful protagonist becomes a great hero adored by everyone in another world? Nonsense.
He hadn't succeeded in meeting basic expectations like doing well in school or finding a girlfriend in his past life. Changing his body and world wasn't going to change him. He was beyond help, and he knew it.
———
Well, as irredeemable as he was, he still clung to life. After all, life isn't all suffering and disappointment. Sometimes, you sit back and think, "Yeah, I'm glad I experienced that."
Or in this case, sometimes you lie down and think, "Yeah, I'm glad I saw that!"
"Hmmm… Have I gained weight again?"
It was Doll who had returned to the room, dressed in nothing but a towel. She stood in front of a mirror, pinching her cheeks with a worried expression.
"?!!"
Without warning – not that she needed to warn anyone, actually – she opened her towel, presenting her naked body to the mirror. Noah had to suppress his inner scream. That perfect skin, those wet curves appearing in the mirror's reflection, those mounds elegantly placed there by a genius architect… Was this what it meant to behold the divine?!!
"Ah! Thank you, whoever sent me here! THANK YOU!!!"
A few minutes later, the young woman was dressed in a strange black outfit and headed toward the door, not without turning to him with a smile. Had she noticed him watching? Maybe, but it didn't matter! He was now a girl, and "girls can look at other naked girls without a problem!"
Having found the perfect justification before heaven, Noah went back to sleep with a smile on his face, trying his best to engrave this memory in his mind.
———
When he woke up once again, Noah had learned new things.
First, the phantom stiffness between his legs was quite unpleasant in the long term. Painful even. Maybe he should avoid encountering any form of "fan service" in the future, much to his chagrin.
Second, he had slept until 1 PM…
No, there was nothing particular to add. He had slept until 1 PM. The only issue was that outside, there was still no sign of the sun. Surely a problem with the clock, for sure.
"Hm."
Gently, Noah turned the door handle and stepped out of the room. There was no one in the hallway, which motivated him to head to what he thought was the living room. He took great care to muffle the sound of his steps and not press any switches along the way.
He didn't cross paths with anyone, but unfortunately, when he reached what seemed to be the front door of the house, he found it blocked.
"Of course…"
Breaking down the door was an option, but he felt rather weak since his stomach wound. How had he survived such a thing anyway? He vaguely remembered taking damage that should have brought him below 1 HP more than once.
Yet, he was still here, alive, like that time when his mother – well, Vasilisa's mother – had beaten him that evening. Did that mean the people of this world were very hard to kill, or was it just him?
Anyway, he didn't have enough information to answer that question. The first thing to do was find a way to escape this place. Doll seemed very nice, but as a very wise man once said:
"The greatest traitors are the nicest people!" — Noah, date unknown, place unknown.
"Hm… Hm??!"
And a solution suddenly came to mind. Yes, he vaguely recalled a dazzling light, an arc of lightning that had sprung from his fingers, and then nothing.
"... Ah!"
He snapped his fingers in excitement. This was a video game universe, a fantasy universe! And where there's fantasy, there's magic!
He looked at his hands with a big smile. Why hadn't he thought of this before? Casting spells, defeating enemies while cleverly keeping his distance, using a power that didn't rely on physical strength – he had always loved being a mage in games!
If he hadn't been dreaming, then he had all the characteristics to be a great mage! Finally, life in this new world seemed a little less depressing!
It was decided, he would become a genius mage and return to Vasilisa's manor just to see his – well her – mother's face!
He just needed to…
"Yah!!!"
"Hah!!!"
"Z-Zam!!!"
"Z-Zing!!!"
"Doom!!!"
… He just needed to remember what he had to say.
"..."
Pointing his fingers in any direction, Noah uttered every word that came to mind, but nothing. A great void. It was the great void.
"Hm…"
He remembered the part where light came from his fingertips, but not much else. He had a vague impression that it was something related to Halloween, but that didn't help much.
"Pu… mp… Pumpkin?"
No. Too long. He remembered it was a less pompous word.
"Hat!!!"
Wrong. He noted not to aim at his head on the next attempt.
"T-Threat!!!"
But still no trick in sight. He was starting to despair. Could he never enjoy a small moment of pride? Of course, he had to forget the name of the spell right when it mattered!
"And that's how, kids, I always ended up with bad grades in math…"
He let out a sigh. That was just his luck. He consoled himself, thinking that maybe he simply didn't have enough "MP" to cast a spell, even though he didn't really believe that.
Anyway, he had to get out.
At one point, he considered using a pin to unlock the door but remembered he had postponed watching a MeTube video on the subject over and over again. Procrastination haunting him even in his hobbies – it felt like a very bad joke.
"..."
Fine. If he must.
"Hehe!"
"Hoho!"
"Hihi!"
No. It wasn't a witch's laugh.
"A-Awoo!!!"
"W-woof!!!"
"Grrr!!!"
Nor a werewolf's growl.
He wanted to test vampires too but was pretty sure no spell in the multiverse required a sucking sound to be cast. Skeletons didn't really make sounds he could imitate, and he would have already burned down his room at the manor if he needed to make zombie sounds.
So that only left…
"... Ghosts? But… do those things make noise?"
It was worth a try. What did he have to lose? The poses and things he'd already yelled were more likely to make him scream into his pillow at night than trying to mimic a ghost.
"S-Swoosh? Oo-ooo?"
Another failure. He sighed.
"Boo?"
At that moment, the magic finally worked. Electric arcs formed on his right arm and concentrated on his index finger as a long sequence of strange characters appeared in his mind.
[I AM BOO.]
The strange characters stopped and imposed this mysterious phrase on him. The lightning was finally ready to be unleashed and destroy its target.
The [Great Lightning Arrow]. Without knowing how, he knew the name of this spell. He also knew that with it, he could easily blow up this door if he wanted to.
Only there was a problem.
"Excuse me…"
Just as he was about to unleash his magic on the door, it opened to reveal a young girl with red hair and green eyes. She carried a large bag on her back and wore a simple, unadorned dress.
When their eyes met, the girl seemed alternately confused, happy, confused again, and clearly frightened. All within a single second.
The next second, Noah couldn't stop the spell, and the arrow shot from his finger, ravaging everything in its path.