The night sky stretched quietly above the sleeping small village, a dark blanket with no wind or sound moving through it. Every house had gone silent long ago.
People rested without stirring, including Riot, who lay on his bed with his arms slack at his sides. He slept deeply, without worry, without trouble, and without the suffering that still waited for him…
just not yet...
On the right side of the room, next to the first bed, Saruto remained awake for quite an while.
He lay flat on his back, staring up at the ceiling.
His thoughts replayed everything that had happened since he arrived. Each memory lined up in order, moving one after another in a way that felt strangely natural.
It felt so natural, 'I almost forgot about being a transmigrator here…' He said within his thought.
Then his mind had simply picked up the story on its own.
'From being transported within the game lore, meeting two actual talking hero…'
'And…' More memories followed. 'Nearly get roasted alive by that grumpy… baron…' Yawning
Letting out a small breath, he spoke quietly to himself, the whisper barely audible in the dark.
"Well, It's not bad I guess... I will enjoy every last bit of this moment even if it's a dream…"
His eyelids grew heavier by the second.
The fatigue that had been building all day finally settled into his body, easing into his shoulders, his arms, and his legs.
The soreness faded little by little as he relaxed fully onto the mattress.
His eyes closed without resistance, as the exhaustion caught up with him fully.
Finally drifted into sleep...
.
.
.
"Hey Saruto, wake up." A voice reached him through the silence.
Saruto didn't react. The voice gave an amused sigh, as if this was an ongoing problem it had expected.
"I'll tickle if you continue sleeping. Mm?"
Saruto moved with a groggy stir, his voice rough, half-mumbled and annoyed.
"Agh… I need sleep jackass, wha— huh?"
He stopped mid-sentence.
His eyes opened properly for the first time, and confusion hit him immediately.
The space around him was completely white—an empty stretch of whiteness in every direction.
The ground beneath him was white as well, a smooth and featureless surface with no shadows or texture. There were no walls, no ceiling, nothing except the blank expanse.
"What's this? Where am I??"
"What's this, indeed! You're in my realm, of course!" A cheerful voice answered behind him.
Saruto turned around.
Standing there was a white humanoid figure outlined with simple black lines. Its shape resembled a basic cartoon-style character—plain, minimal, and almost flat in appearance. It had no face, no hair, and no clothing, only the simple structure of a person drawn with clean, bold strokes.
The only feature it had was a mouth.
Saruto stared at the figure for a few seconds longer than necessary, eyes narrowing slightly as if waiting for the rest of it to load.
Then he spoke, without thinking.
"Oh geez… you look like one of those bald characters only created to fill the background?"
The words came out flat and automatic. Not loud. Not dramatic. Just a clean, straight up insult.
"Seriously?" the figure replied. "Is that the first thing you say to your summoner?"
The space fell into an awkward silence. The white void seemed even emptier than before.
"Eh…"
Saruto blinked once.
Then twice.
"EHH?!?"
"NO WAY!" Saruto's eyes widened in sudden realization, his body stiffening.
The figure's mouth stretched into a wide grin, clearly enjoying his reaction. "Hah! It took you that long to realize?"
"No, not by that actually." Saruto clarify immediately, before going back to his shouting.
"A summoner should be a goddess! Or something like a divine being! You're just a bald white dude!"
The grin vanish.
The figure froze in place. its body language somehow shifted into an exaggerated sulk, despite having no face at all, shoulders drooping slightly as if deeply offended and rob of his dignity
"Hey…" it muttered. "I'm broke. I just can't afford it since I exchanged it for creative mode power…"
Saruto stared.
For a moment, his expression went completely blank. Struggling to hold back his combustion.
Saruto stared at it again.
"Pfft!"
He burst out laughing, doubling down at the stomach with both hand. "So that's why your realm is freaking empty! HAHAHA!"
The figure raised a hand and lightly facepalmed itself.
"Can't believe I selected such a hooligan…"
Then it straightened itself. "Anyways." It snapped its fingers.
The white void peeled away all at once.
Saruto felt the ground vanish beneath him for a split second—then color slammed into his vision. Green spread under his feet. Wind brushed past his face. Trees stood ahead, their leaves shifting. Mountains rose in the distance, solid and unmoving.
Saruto's laughter cut off mid-breath.
"ACK!"
He dropped straight down and landed hard butt first.
"Hey—!" He winced, grabbing his lower back. "That hurt!"
As hes about to push himself up.
His palm pressed into grass.
Not flat. Not fake. Individual blades bent under his fingers. Cool. Slightly damp.
He slowly dragged his hand through it, feeling the resistance, then lifted his fingers and watched the grass spring back into place.
His head tilted up, then higher.
The plain stretched wide around him. Trees framed the edges of the field. The mountains stood like silent walls in the distance. The blue sky felt deep, open, and heavy with space.
Saruto didn't move.
Didn't speak.
For a full minute, he just sat there, legs folded awkwardly, hands resting in the grass, eyes scanning left, then right, then up again.
The figure crossed its arms. "There." It gestured lazily at the land.
"Is this what you wanted to see?"
It leaned forward slightly. "Now, I would like to continue our interaction, but let's get straight to the point."
It pointed at him. "Do you want to ask any questions?"
Saruto blinked once.
He planted one hand on the ground and pushed himself upright, brushing grass off his clothes. As his thoughts snapped back into place.
"Oh, uhh."
"Hmm…" He rubbed his chin. "Now that I think about it…"
He raised one finger. "Yeah. I do."
He took a breath, and started listing out his question.
"What are you?" lifting one finger.
Another finger went up. "Why was I summoned here?"
A third finger. "How come I'm stuck in this bastard's body instead?"
A fourth finger started to rise. "Are you the one who crea—"
"Okay! Okay! Okay!" the figure shouted, flailing both arms. "That's too long!!"
Saruto stopped mid-gesture, mouth half-open almost finishing his sentence.
He slowly turned his head to look at the figure. "…You asked if I had questions though?"
"One at a time, idiot! I'm not a quest log provider!" the figure said.
*
To be continued...
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