2,405 Words
"I like you! Please go out with me!!"
Early in the summer of my second year of high school, under the stifling heat of the afternoon sun, I confessed to a girl who was essentially the idol of our class. The cicadas were buzzing so loudly in the trees nearby that I had to practically shout to make sure she heard me.
She blinked, her perfectly curled eyelashes fluttering in surprise, before a deeply apologetic, almost pitying smile crossed her lips.
"Ah~, sorry. Dating a guy who's shorter than me is just physically impossible."
"...!!"
I went down in flames. Not just flames—a catastrophic, ego-shattering explosion. For the record, I thought I actually had a pretty good chance of winning her over... I think.
Despite my looks, I was actually quite popular in class. My grades were terrible, but I had great reflexes. I always shone during P.E., weaving past the taller guys in soccer and sinking impossible shots in basketball. Whenever I scored, the girls on the sidelines were constantly squealing over me, rushing up to hand me towels and patting my head with affectionate smiles.
Because of that—because of the attention and the cheers—I genuinely believed I was popular in a romantic sense. But it seems I was sorely, pathetically mistaken.
"Heh... hehehe..."
Trudging home alone along the street, I caught sight of my own reflection in a shop window. Staring back at me was a pint-sized figure that could easily be mistaken for a middle schooler... no, at worst, an elementary schooler who had just gotten lost on his way home.
Ah, I see...
It all made sense now. The girls were only squealing over me because I was small. They were just treating me like a cute, harmless stuffed animal. A mascot to be coddled.
It absolutely wasn't because I was manly, reliable, or cool.
"..."
Her words echoed relentlessly in my head: "Dating a guy who's shorter than me is just physically impossible."
The three golden conditions for a popular guy: High income, higher education, and being tall...
My grandpa used to say that back in the day, and my grandma would always laugh, waving her hand and calling it an outdated way of thinking. But looking at the harsh reality of modern romance, I still believe being tall is a mandatory prerequisite for being popular.
A short guy might make a cute mascot, a fun friend, or a great younger brother figure, but he will never be seen as a man.
Consumed by a suffocating despair, I continued walking. The humid summer heat had suddenly broken, and a heavy, unnatural chill swept through the streets. Then, as if reflecting the pathetic, dreary state of my heart, the sky began to darken with rolling, bruised clouds.
Raindrops began to fall, fat and icy, steadily growing into a heavy, relentless downpour. The streets cleared out in an instant. Ah, man, I'm completely soaked... The moment that depressing thought crossed my mind, the sky flashed a blinding, violent white.
Rumble, rumble... KRA-KOOM!!!!
"————!!?"
According to one theory, the odds of a human being struck by lightning are about one in a million. It's the kind of freak accident you only ever read about in the news, completely detached from your own mundane reality.
And just now, in a grand display of cosmic irony, it seems I managed to hit that one-in-a-million jackpot.
Lightning? Huh? No way... Am I going to die...?
My entire body went numb, locked in a rigid spasm of pure voltage. The world inverted. I felt my flesh charring, the scent of ozone and burnt hair flooding my senses, my life slipping away into the encroaching dark.
No, I don't want to die...
I hadn't even gotten to enjoy life yet. I was only seventeen.
I wanted to get a cute girlfriend, go on normal dates, do all sorts of dirty things, and live happily ever after. I wanted to experience a youth that didn't end with me being treated like a neighborhood pet!
I want a girlfriend... I want a girlfriend...
Ah... but since I'm a short, unpopular loser, I probably wouldn't have been able to get one anyway...
"..."
If that's the case... if this is really the end, then at the very least...
"I-If I'm... reb-born... make me t-tall..."
With those final, pathetic thoughts echoing into the void, I drew my last breath...
—————
...And that is the tragic, tear-jerking story of my past life. Man~, it brings me to tears no matter how many times I think about it~. Yup, yup.
As you might have guessed, I was struck by lightning and died. And then, defying all scientific logic, I was reborn. Reincarnation, as they call it in all those light novels I used to read.
Right now, I have been given the name "Line" and am walking the path of my second life in a world completely alien to the one I left behind.
Being reborn with my past memories fully intact is probably incredibly lucky. I retained my common sense, my experiences, and my personality.
I don't know if they actually exist, but if there's a God of Reincarnation sitting on some cloudy throne out there, I think I'd thank them with all my heart for this second chance.
And then, immediately after, I would lodge a furious complaint with every fiber of my being.
Because...
"Ugh, uuu... Why... Why did it turn out like this..."
I checked my current appearance in a tiny, meticulously crafted hand mirror. Staring back at me was a face that completely defied my previous life's mediocrity.
A sleek, pointed nose, sharp, expressive eyes, and slightly frizzy brown hair that gave off a wild, energetic vibe. Honestly, if you look at the features individually, I think I've got the makings of a pretty handsome guy... probably.
However, this supposedly blessed new body had one fatal, universe-shattering flaw. And that was...
"Why the hell am I so small~!!! Uwaaah~!!"
On the verge of death, as millions of volts fried my nervous system, I made a desperate wish. I prayed that if there was an afterlife, I wouldn't be a short guy like I was then, but rather a tall, broad-shouldered, handsome man. A guy who could effortlessly sweep a girl off her feet.
But looking at the cruel reality of my situation...
If I had just been reincarnated as another short human... that would have at least been manageable. I could drink milk. I could stretch. I could hope for a late growth spurt. But in this life, I fell staggeringly, comically shorter than that.
I was reincarnated into some unknown dwarf race called the Tontatta.
A dwarf! A literal dwarf! I, who dreamed of being tall, who died cursing my lack of height, was unexpectedly reincarnated as a miniature creature meant to live hidden deep underground. How could such a cruel tragedy happen!?
My current height is roughly twenty centimeters. The exact same miniature size as a certain famous Pink Ball from a video game that inhales everything! Poyo~...
"I wanted to be reborn as a tall human... If that was impossible, I would've settled for a Giant... Why, of all things, did I have to be a dwarf..."
From what I've gathered, the new world I've reincarnated into is completely different from Earth. It's a vast, chaotic place filled with oceans and bizarre islands. Just as there are normal-sized humans, there are also dwarves like me. There are towering Giants who shake the earth when they walk, Fish-Men who dominate underwater combat, Merfolk, the Longleg Tribe... anyway, there are apparently all sorts of fantastical races.
And among all of them, I somehow managed to draw the absolute worst, smallest possible race for myself.
Stomping my tiny feet in a tantrum, I smashed the ground beneath me. Thanks to the bizarre, superhuman physical strength innate to the Tontatta, a small crater actually formed under my heel, sending pebbles flying into the towering blades of ordinary grass surrounding me.
"Ah, man, I can't take this anymore. I have zero motivation."
Sulking, I kicked a stray pebble and flopped down onto my favorite Fluffy Mushroom, just like always. The cap of the mushroom yielded perfectly to my weight, forming a natural, incredibly plush bed. Being able to sleep on something this ridiculously soft might just be the only perk of being reincarnated as a dwarf.
Ah, I really want to be a big man.
As I lay there, staring up at the massive canopy of green leaves filtering the sunlight, lazily lounging on the mushroom...
"Hey! Line! What are you slacking off for, resu!? It's time to tend to the Flower Field, resu!"
With the rapid patter of tiny footsteps rustling through the underbrush, a ridiculously serious guy with an equally serious aura approached. He had a pointy nose, a fluffy tail swishing behind him, and a ridiculous pair of pilot goggles strapped to his head.
"Sigh... It's you, Leo. What a pain..."
"What do you mean, 'a pain'!? What do you mean, resu!?"
This tiresome, aggressively diligent guy is named Leo.
He's about the same height as me... meaning he's a fellow dwarf of the Tontatta Tribe. More specifically, he's my childhood friend in this life, and I suppose, despite my constant complaining... my best friend, too.
"Honestly! Why are you always so irresponsible, Line, resu!?"
Leo glared in open anger, planting his hands on his hips and looming over me—well, as much as a twenty-centimeter dwarf can loom—while I remained sprawled out on the mushroom like a melted puddle. He was as stubborn and rigid as always.
He's not a bad guy. In fact, he's incredibly brave and loyal to a fault. But... honestly, he's a pain to deal with.
He's my childhood friend and best buddy, but... he's a pain.
Actually, the entire Tontatta race is a pain.
They are strong, fast, and completely incapable of understanding sarcasm or nuance. They take everything at face value. They are just an absolute pain to deal with.
Ah, what a pain.
"Just how lazy can you get, resu!?"
"Huh? Did I say that out loud?"
"Loud and clear, resu!" Leo stomped his foot, mirroring my earlier tantrum but with far more righteous indignation. "Everyone is working hard to prepare the soil, and you're here sleeping on a mushroom!"
"Hehe, my bad, my bad. Look, I'm just gathering my energy for the big harvest. Well, anyway..."
"Don't run away!!"
"Whoa!?"
I tried to casually roll off the mushroom and make a break for the treeline, but in an instant, a sharp tug caught my clothes. Before I could even take a step, my body was sewn directly into the dirt.
"What are you doing, Leo!!"
"This is what you get for trying to run away, Line, resu!!"
My body, stitched firmly to the ground by thick, sturdy threads, probably looked like a discarded felt applique right now.
I couldn't move an inch. My arms were pinned, my legs were locked together, and even my fluffy tail was anchored to a nearby root. Physically speaking, stitching a living human body to the ground without causing any bleeding or pain shouldn't be possible, but this guy, Leo, could do it as easily as breathing.
"You can't escape my mystic art, the power of the Stitch-Stitch Fruit, resu!" Leo declared proudly, crossing his arms over his chest.
"Grrr..."
Ever since this guy ate some incomprehensible, awful-tasting fruit called the "Stitch-Stitch Fruit", he gained the mysterious power to stitch anything to anything else. It completely ignores the laws of physics and biology.
As expected of another world. True, untamed fantasy.
"Now, Line! Just come quietly to the Flower Field with me, resu!"
I was completely immobilized, unable to move my arms or legs, totally at the mercy of this miniature boy scout... but having lived among the Tontatta for years now, I knew exactly how to get out of this situation. I had the ultimate weapon against their kind.
And that was...
"Alright, I get it, Leo. You win. I won't run away anymore, so untie me." I sighed, letting my head drop in mock defeat.
Leo narrowed his eyes, leaning in suspiciously. "Liar! You clearly look like you're fully intending to run away, resu!"
"I'm not lying~. I really saw the error of my ways. I won't run~. I promise~."
"Eh!? Really!?" Leo's stern expression instantly melted away, replaced by a beaming, totally trusting smile. "Well, if you promise, I guess it's okay, resu!"
The moment he heard I wasn't lying, Leo looked completely relieved and quickly undid the threads binding me, pulling them away with a swift flick of his wrist.
Yup... he's too easy. "If you promise, I guess it's okay, resu," my ass. That was the most deadpan, unconvincing lie I've ever told in two lifetimes.
"There, you're free, resu. Now, let's head to the Flower Field together..." Leo turned around, already pointing the way toward the agricultural sector.
"Hey, Leo. You know how I said I wasn't going to run away?"
Leo paused, glancing back over his shoulder with a confused blink. "?"
"I lied~!"
"Ehhh!?"
I stuck my tongue out at him, kicked off the ground with a burst of Tontatta speed, and bolted into the underbrush, leaving a trail of dust in my wake. That's right, the way out of this situation... was simply to tell a 'lie'.
These Tontatta dwarves absolutely never doubt people's words. If you tell them it's raining, they'll believe you even if they're standing in a desert. They have an overwhelmingly gullible and trusting nature that honestly makes me worry for their survival as a species.
"Uwaaa!? You tricked me again, Line, resu!" Leo's furious, betrayal-laced scream echoed through the forest behind me.
"How many times is this now? Learn your lesson already!" I yelled back over my shoulder, laughing as I bounded over a massive tree root. "You need to start doubting people! Otherwise, one day you're gonna end up believing a lie you can't take back! See ya~!"
"Ah! Wait! Get back here, resu!"
"Hehehe! Catch me if you can!"
Laughing mischievously, feeling the wind rush past my face and my tail acting as a rudder behind me, I spent today playing another high-speed game of tag with Leo through the oversized wilderness of our home. It wasn't the tall, romantic life I had wished for, but... maybe being a dwarf wasn't entirely bad.