As I ponder by the lake. My hair was disheveled, a stark contrast to the meticulously clean clothes that clung to my thin, frail body. The clothing was decent, almost elegant in its design, but the state of it was far from pristine. Ragged at the edges, stained from days or weeks of neglect, and an odor clung to him like a permanent shadow.
...right im practically homeless well probably atleast well i guess i should get a move on in this unknown world.
As so i stood up and decided to walk through the forest. The trees were very inconsistent in size, one was unnaturally big as a six story building, then some was were fairly normal, while majority of it was small...
The tree sizes are too inconsistent, probably of high competition..? oh well not the time to ponder for this kind of stuff.
______________________________
After an hour of walking
I finally stumbled through the bustling streets of an unfamiliar city.
Hah...heh
too exhausted...It's hard to walk in a skinny body. I was honestly expecting a town or something but this is actually better...i think so atleast
If it wasn't for the nagging sense of déjà vu gnawing at me, I would've thought I had hit my head too hard from the fall and fallen into some weird dream while being in a coma But no, this was far too real.
The air smelled of magic, like static crackling before a storm, and as I wandered through the crowded market, I saw it everywhere: people manipulating the elements, conjuring fire or ice, floating effortlessly above the ground. It was like the entire world was alive with power.
I called it! i really did reincarnate in a fantasy world
And yet… I had nothing.
My hands were empty, and my body as weak as it had ever been.
"Are you serious?" I sneered inwardly. "Where's the damn system? Where's my quest log? My power leveling? My cheat skills?"
But there was nothing. No holographic interface. No voice in my head that would speak in a monotone and tell me, 'Congratulations, Host! You've earned 100 XP!' I scoffed at the absurdity of it all.
"This is so dumb," I muttered under my breath, hands buried deep in the pockets of my ragged tunic. "Why couldn't I be like the other reincarnated losers with their overpowered abilities? No, instead I get to deal with this—being born into some magic-infested world with no way to even start."
I was first trudged on to a lake drowning then on through the streets, my mind swirling in frustration. This was unfair. All those isekai anime, all those novels, all those stories I'd read back in my past life. They all had one thing in common: the protagonist always got something. Whether it was some kind of overpowered skill, a system, or just sheer dumb luck—something always came with the reincarnation.
But not me. Nope. I just woke up one morning drowning in a lake in this hellhole of a world with no guidance, no instructions, and no idea of what the hell to do next.
But despite my bitterness, there was a strange curiosity tugging at me as I observed the magical displays around me. High-class people whether noblemen, merchants, and soldiers alike—manipulated the world's elements like it was second nature. A noblewoman casually twirled her hand, and suddenly, a vine of flowers erupted from the cobblestone street. A soldier wielded a sword of flame, effortlessly cutting through a training dummy with no visible effort.
Then, I saw the poor people. They were the ones that caught mostly my attention. Unlike the high-class folk, they were struggling. Some tried to use their meager magic, but it barely flickered, a pale imitation of the grand displays he saw earlier. The beggars were the ones whose hands shook as they tried to summon even the smallest spark. It wasn't that they didn't have magic—they did...perhaps it's the lack of instruction like me? It was just that the world had ground them into the dirt so much that they could barely make their powers work. I leaned in a wall as i continue to spectate the people in the city.
And that made me think—really think—about how easily everything in his past life had come to him. I hadn't realized it back then, of course. Who does when they're surrounded by comfort? But now, here i am in a world that seemed to care very little for anything other than power and status, and I was nothing. My magic? Nonexistent.
Well maybe theres a possibility i can use magic, since despite the resemblance of this body compare to mine, it wasn't my body. So possibly this body could have mana or perhaps not i mean there could be a condition where a person has no mana in there body, i mean saw it from other novels or games or fanfics i saw other characters that doesn't possess mana...?
Is this some kind of punishment for being a backstabbing selfish bastard? The thought flickered through my mind, but I quickly dismissed it. That was too dramatic. I simly didn't believe in fate or karma or any of that nonsense. Im not some romantic fool, pr some tragic hero destined for greatness. Im just a guy who died because of a slip and got dragged into this weird world with no explanation and was now trying to figure out how to survive.
"Pfft. This is so… dumb," I muttered again. "I'm not even some hero. Just some average kid who got thrown into the wrong place at the wrong time. I don't even have a reason to be here."
Yet, even as I grumbled, there was something gnawing at me, something deeper.
Aside from my failing grades I wasn't an idiot. Deep down, I understood something that I couldn't ignore. In this world, power was everything. And without it, you were nothing.
Was that why I was stuck here? Was this some twisted cosmic joke? Or was it something more? Had my life, the one I took for granted, been so devoid of meaning that I had to be reborn into a world like this to truly understand what it meant to have nothing?
I sighed heavily, leaning against a nearby wall, staring at the chaos unfolding around him.
"I hate this," I whispered, almost to myself. "I don't even want to be here."
But the more I stared, the more the words echoed in my mind, the more the weight of them felt strange. Was I really just angry that I simply didn't have power? Or was I frustrated by the futility of it all? The desire for control. The search for meaning. The constant need to fill the void left by something I couldn't name.
Maybe it wasn't just about the magic. Maybe it was about something far more fundamental.
And just as quickly as the thought appeared, it vanished into the noise of the world around him.
With a sigh, I pushed myself off the wall and looked around. No answers came, but maybe—just maybe—I'd find something soon. Maybe something to cling to. Because, in a world like this, if you didn't find something to hold onto, you were bound to be swept away.
Im gonna have to rob food and drinks or im gonna die from dehydration and hunger.
________________________________________________
30 minutes later....
I ran and ran as if my feet were the wings of a desperate bird, soaring away from a storm that threatened to tear me apart. as a bunch of guards ran behind me.
I am so dead!!!
I thought as i had a crossiant in my mouth while holding a bunch bags of sweets, as i continued running.
"Come back here you runt!!!" a guard behind me shouts as they continue chasing me.
I could've sworn stealing was easier!? like i wasn't expecting the guards to chase me down i was only expecting the baker to be chasing me instead!?...i guess to be fair the bakery i stole from looked like it was for people that are decently rich...
I continued running and running as i ran closer and closer, where i saw the cliff...as i got closer to it's edge
Please oh lord give me atleast a plot armor to survive where a hero or mysterious entity save me or i somehow had special powers where i can save myself unscratched...!
Those were my last thoughts as i jumped off, as I hugged the bags of sweet breads as i ready myself for the free fall...
_________________________________
My body plummeted through the frigid air, the icy wind howling past my ears as I free-fell off the towering cliff. The jagged rocks and treacherous landscape rushed up to meet him, the ground racing toward his inevitable impact. Pain exploded through every fiber of his being as he crashed into the harsh, unforgiving earth below with a sickening crunch. Bones shattered, flesh tore, and blood sprayed across the brutally cold stones. An agonizing scream ripped from his throat, but it was swiftly choked off by the sheer force of the collision.
T-This isn't the plot armor i was hoping for this is hell...
Despite the devastating trauma i faced, I didn't lose consciousness. I remained cruelly aware as my body was pummeled against the unyielding terrain, each bounce sending fresh shockwaves of blinding pain through his fractured skeleton. My brown hair hair was matted with blood and debris, and my black ornate eye rolled wildly in their sockets as I choked on the coppery taste of my own blood.
*cough* *cough* "...h-w the h-hell am...stjll alive..." i struggled to talk as i continued to cough more blood, my eyes felt like it was about to pop out from that free fall.
With a wet, squelching sound, my internal injuries shifted and settled, my ruptured organs grinding against my broken bones. The agony was unbearable, a searing hellfire that consumed every cell. my legs twisted at obscene angles, the flesh shredding away from the jagged ends of snapped femurs and tibias.
this is hellish...it hurts so bad i can't even lose my conciousness...
Gasping and retching, I could only lay in a mangled heap, as my life force felt like it was ebbing away with every labored breath. Yet it didn't quite felt like it, and so i realized...
I can't die...