Tsukishiro slowly awakened from endless darkness, his head splitting with pain. His body still retained the agony of being hit head-on by a massive truck, to the point where even breathing felt difficult.
I really have ridiculous luck… I got sent flying by a truck like that and I'm still not dead?
Enduring wave after wave of pain, he forced his eyes open, only to see a wooden ceiling above him.
Strange… where is this place?
A strong sense of confusion rose in his heart as he shifted his gaze, carefully observing his surroundings.
With that one look, he nearly cried out in shock.
He was lying inside an unfamiliar small room. Tatami mats covered the floor, and several ink-wash calligraphy paintings hung on the walls. The scene before him was unmistakably that of a traditional Japanese-style room often seen in anime.
Lowering his head in disbelief, Tsukishiro discovered that the body he was inhabiting was dressed in a kendo uniform commonly seen in anime. More importantly, his hands were smooth and delicate—clearly the size of a child's.
Which meant—
I crossed over! And… I even turned into a child?!
"Hiss—"
At that moment, countless fragments of memory surged violently into his mind. His head throbbed as if it were about to burst, his breathing growing rapid and erratic.
After a long while, the scattered memories were fully absorbed. His breathing gradually stabilized, and Tsukishiro lay drenched in sweat, bitterness filling his heart.
So I really did die…
He had been struck squarely by a speeding truck and died on the spot. But the crystal disk he had bought from an antique shop—something he had always treated as a mere ornament—suddenly burst forth with blinding light, wrapped around his soul, tore open a rift in space, and brought him to this world, attaching his soul to this unlucky body.
This body belonged to a twelve-year-old boy named Ryuudou Reikan, the eldest son of the head priest of Ryuudou Temple and the foremost candidate to become its next abbot.
From Ryuudou Reikan's memories, his father—the head priest of Ryuudou Temple—was a rare, genuine mage possessing spiritual power. In the entire town, there were fewer than five mages with spiritual power comparable to his.
As the only high-level mage of Ryuudou Temple, his father often traveled around exorcising spirits and subduing monsters, earning fees to sustain the temple's upkeep and daily expenses. Since Reikan, a child born with enormous spiritual power, turned three, his father had devoted most of his time and energy to teaching and training him—day after day, year after year—until today, when he was twelve.
Ryuudou Reikan himself possessed outstanding talent as a mage. In just nine short years, he had already reached the pinnacle of a mage apprentice, with becoming a full-fledged mage only a matter of time.
A few days ago, while his father was away, Ryuudou Reikan had secretly accepted an exorcism request. Due to his lack of experience, he was suppressed during the battle against a monster. By the time his father rushed back to rescue him, Reikan had already fallen unconscious.
"Creak—"
Just as Tsukishiro's thoughts were in complete turmoil, the door was suddenly pulled open from the outside. A little boy around three or four years old ran in. When he saw that Tsukishiro was awake, his eyes lit up, and he rushed over, calling out in a childish voice,
"Big brother, you're awake!"
The little boy spoke heavily accented Japanese, but Tsukishiro—having absorbed Ryuudou Reikan's memories—understood him perfectly and knew exactly who he was.
His four-year-old younger brother—Ryuudou Issei.
Looking at the little boy gazing at him with concern and affection, Tsukishiro felt a complicated mix of emotions and froze in place.
"Big brother? Are you okay?" Seeing his brother's dazed expression, Ryuudou Issei waved his small hand in front of his eyes and asked worriedly.
"I-I'm fine. Issei, go out first. Big brother needs to rest a bit more. I'll come play with you later," Tsukishiro said as he came back to his senses. Forcing a smile, he reached out and patted Issei's little head.
"Then it's a promise, big brother!" Ryuudou Issei grinned widely, his big, adorable eyes sparkling. "Let's pinky swear! Liars turn into puppies!"
Seeing how serious Issei looked, Tsukishiro couldn't help but laugh helplessly. Because "he" usually focused on cultivation, he often broke promises to Issei, which was why the little boy had developed the habit of insisting on pinky swears for everything. Subconsciously, Tsukishiro rubbed Issei's head again, then extended his hand with a smile.
"Alright, let's pinky swear."
Although Ryuudou Reikan had become Tsukishiro, after their memories fused, Reikan's habits and personality had also blended into Tsukishiro's soul. Making such a promise felt completely natural to him.
"I knew big brother was the best!"
After hooking pinkies and sealing the promise, Ryuudou Issei cheered excitedly and ran out on his little legs, carefully closing the door behind him before leaving.
"That brat…"
After Issei left, Tsukishiro chuckled softly, muttering under his breath as he wiped the sweat from his forehead.
Since I'm already here, I might as well settle down. Crossing over is a done deal—first, I need to adapt to this environment.
Thinking this, Tsukishiro slowly sat up and stepped onto the tatami. He gently stretched his limbs a few times, calming his emotions. Then, following the posture preserved in his memories, he sat down and began his first cultivation session according to the secret training method passed down through generations of Ryuudou Temple.
With Ryuudou Reikan's memories and cultivation experience, Tsukishiro quickly entered a meditative state.
His mind gradually settled into calmness. He gently closed his eyes, thought of nothing, shut off all external senses, and allowed the chaotic images in his consciousness to flash by one after another—until they were completely cleared away…
Moments later, Tsukishiro entered an extremely profound and mysterious state.
Compared to the noise, constant change, and vivid colors of the real world, this place was incomparably tranquil and vast. Boundless currents of energy drifted slowly, like a massive nebula revolving in silence…
Standing quietly at the center of the nebula, Tsukishiro observed everything. It all felt strangely familiar, yet utterly foreign. In a daze, he felt as though he had returned to his mother's womb. Warm, gentle currents surrounded him from all sides, drawing him into a state of thoughtless serenity, intoxicating and impossible to escape.
Vaguely, he sensed thin streams flowing endlessly out from the enormous nebula. Their other ends plunged straight into his body. Within these streams, the essence of the nebula was methodically transformed into a kind of pure power, which was then absorbed and stored by his body.
He knew clearly that this power was spiritual energy—the very foundation upon which mages relied to survive.
Due to his body's discomfort, Tsukishiro soon withdrew from cultivation. Even so, his body had still been nourished and repaired by spiritual energy, and the pain had lessened considerably.
Opening his eyes, he felt a wave of discomfort and instinctively looked down. Earlier sweating had left his entire body soaked. Now that his control over his body had increased significantly, the unpleasant sensation became impossible to ignore.
After a moment's thought, he stood up. Relying on the memories in his mind, he found a clean set of casual clothes in the wardrobe and changed into them. Then he pulled open the door and slowly walked out of the room.
~~~~~~
Notes:
Tatami: Traditional Japanese straw mats used as flooring in Japanese-style rooms.