"Why do other people who travel to other worlds either get their souls transferred or directly land in a girl's bedroom, while I get an extreme airdrop from ten thousand meters high? If you can't choose the coordinates properly, just don't choose at all!"
On a beach at the border of Iberia, in the land of Terra.
A figure suddenly burst out from beneath the water, struggling to walk a few steps towards the shore before collapsing onto the sand as if utterly exhausted.
Spitting out two mouthfuls of seawater, the young man named Steven lay flat on the beach like a salted fish, loudly complaining about his predicament.
As a transmigrator, this wasn't his first time being transported to another world. But compared to his last experience—where he was thrown into Minecraft—this time was much harder to accept.
If he hadn't already been a well-trained Minecrafter, his life might have ended before it even began, crashing straight to his death from such a high altitude.
Falling from tens of thousands of meters with no protective gear at all—even hitting the water would feel no different from slamming into concrete.
What's worse, he didn't even hit the water directly. No, he just happened to crash into a girl who was speeding along the water's surface.
Yes, the same girl who was now floating on the waves, gradually drifting towards Steven.
Heaven knows, Steven had made sure there were no signs of human life in that area of the sea before he dropped. Who could've predicted she would suddenly appear from beneath the surface?
Her speed was nothing a human could achieve. She was like a swordfish charging through the ocean. The fact that they collided so precisely was unreal—it hardly seemed fair to place all the blame on Steven.
"Still, to survive being hit like that without turning into a puddle of flesh, her physical abilities must be at least on par with Captain America, right?"
Steven glanced at the tall girl he had dragged to shore after swimming for so long, a trace of worry flashing through his eyes.
Had he ended up in a world filled with super Saiyans or something? He had just escaped from a torturous world and really didn't want to suffer again.
One thing was certain: this world was nothing like where he had previously lived.
That much was clear from the two bright moons hanging in the sky.
Who knew what kind of strange world this was?
Better to look at the girl and take a break.
Shifting his gaze back to the girl lying beside him, Steven realized he hadn't gotten a good look at her when he first crashed into her. Later, when they were both swept into the current, he had even less of a chance to see her properly.
Only now did he have the time to carefully observe this native of the new world.
The first thing that caught his eye was the strange triangular hat on her head—the kind usually only worn by hunters in Western Europe. Yet, beneath that hat was a stunningly beautiful face with features more aligned with Eastern aesthetics.
Her long white hair, wet and clinging to her pale and almost unnaturally fair face, only added an extra layer of ethereal beauty. Hidden within her hair was a pair of long, elfin ears, making it clear that she wasn't human.
"An ocean elf?"
Steven stared at those delicate elven ears on her jade-like face, fighting back a strong urge to reach out and give them a pinch to see how they felt.
Steven felt more relieved than anything else—after who knew how many years, he had finally seen a normal human face again.
Whose face is supposed to be square, anyway?! Even a strong-jawed face has its limits!
Unable to resist his inner urge any longer, Steven reached out his hand toward the unconscious girl—not to touch the lofty peaks hidden beneath her strange black cloak and dress, but to pinch her delicate face without hesitation.
Like kneading dough, he molded her exquisite and beautiful face into all sorts of shapes.
Although Steven knew his actions were a bit over the line, he simply couldn't control the impulse that came from the bottom of his heart—especially after so many years of not seeing what a standard human face was supposed to look like.
"It feels so good not to see a square face."
Just by squishing the girl's face, Steven felt an almost overwhelming urge to cry.
No one could understand what it was like to live for hundreds of years in a world full of blocks and pixels—except for him, the unlucky one who had been transported into the game of Minecraft.
Watermelons were square, houses were square, even the sun was square, and, worst of all, Steven himself was square.
Not to mention a face as beautiful as the girl's—even if someone with an Ugly Bastard face were to appear before him now, he'd probably want to squish it too.
But as he continued kneading, Steven suddenly felt a gaze as sharp as a knife pierce through him.
When he lowered his head, his eyes met those of the girl—her crimson pupils staring straight into his soul.
Not even rubies could compare to the vivid red of her eyes, and the fury and murderous intent within them made her current feelings crystal clear.
"Uh..."
"Y-You're awake?"
Caught red-handed pinching her face while she was unconscious, Steven didn't know what to say. He awkwardly held her small face, forcing out a rigid and uncomfortable smile.
He even forgot to remove his hands from her face.
"..."
The white-haired girl said nothing, only staring at Steven with a cold, murderous gaze, as if she had already decided he was a dead man walking.
But just as Steven was considering whether he should pull out his Netherite Sword from his inventory to prepare for battle...
The girl's once steely, cold eyes suddenly showed a hint of confusion.
And soon, that confusion spread across her clear eyes, stripping them of their sharpness and hostility.
Like someone struggling to recall a forgotten answer, the girl shook her head vigorously. Her triangular hat, seemingly fixed to her hair, fell off as she shook, and the last glimmer of clarity in her eyes vanished.
Her once sharp gaze softened, and the face that had been pulling away from his hand now nestled back into his stiff palm.
The girl looked at Steven with the innocent eyes of a newborn, her lips parting as she softly uttered a single word that made Steven's mind go completely numb.
"Dad?"
Steven stood frozen in place as if petrified by a spell, unmoving even as the tall girl began to rub her cheek against his hand of her own accord.
...
When he fell earlier, he did seem to have made rather direct contact with her head.
Could he have knocked away her memory due to the impact?
What was this supposed to be? I Accidently Erased An Elf Woman's Memory After Arriving Into This World, So I Become Her Step-Father In This Isekai World?