Hi.
Yes, you. Don't look behind you. Look at the screen. Good.
My name is… well, not important yet. Actually, it is important, but I'll get to that when I get to it. For now, just know this: I died.
No dramatic music. No tragic monologue. No last words like "Tell my family I love them" or "I regret nothing."
Nope.
I got hit by a truck.
I know. I know. You're already rolling your eyes. "Truck-kun again?" Listen, don't blame me. Blame the multiverse HR department for having exactly one method of isekai recruitment.
For the record, it was a white truck. Always a white truck. I was crossing the road, minding my own business, thinking about absolutely nothing productive—probably food—and then BAM. Lights out.
No tunnel. No angels. No life flashing before my eyes. Just instant off.
When I woke up, there was nothing.
And by nothing, I mean Nothing™.
No sky. No ground. No up or down. Just an endless void—pitch black, empty, silent.
But here's the weird part: it was… comfortable.
Yeah, I know how that sounds. "Oh no, the void is cozy." But it was like floating in a perfectly temperature-controlled blanket that also didn't exist. No pain. No hunger. No thirst. No existential dread—
Okay, minor existential dread. But manageable.
I floated there. Or maybe I didn't float. There was no gravity to float in. I simply was.
Time passed.
How much time? No idea. Seconds? Years? Enough time for me to think:
Am I dead?
Is this hell?
If this is hell, where's the demon receptionist?
Why am I weirdly okay with this?
Did I forget to delete my browser history?
Important questions.
Eventually, boredom set in.
Which is impressive, considering I was literally surrounded by nothing.
"So," I said aloud.
Yes, aloud. Don't ask me how sound worked in a soundless void. It just did. Deal with it.
"So… anyone gonna explain this, or am I supposed to vibe here forever?"
Silence.
I sighed. Or imagined sighing. "Classic. I die and even the afterlife ghosts me."
Then—
[Anomaly detected.]
The voice wasn't loud. It wasn't quiet. It was… absolute. Like the concept of sound decided to rent space inside my head.
"Oh," I said. "Hi. You're late."
[Irregular soul displacement confirmed.]
"…You know," I continued, "most people start with 'welcome' or 'do not panic.'"
[Calculating corrective measures.]
"That sounds like panic," I told you, yes you, the invisible audience I had apparently decided existed. "If a cosmic voice starts 'calculating corrective measures,' that's never good."
The void shifted.
Not visually—because there was still nothing to see—but conceptually. Like reality cracked its knuckles.
[Forceful transfer initiated.]
"Forceful—wait, what?"
Pain.
Sudden, sharp, real.
I sucked in a breath and—
—fell.
No, scratch that.
I slammed back into a body.
MY body.
I gasped, lungs burning, heart pounding like it had just remembered its job after quitting for several centuries.
Light stabbed my eyes.
"Ah—! Why is existence so bright?!"
I rolled over and promptly fell off something soft.
Thud.
"Ow. Yep. Still alive. Or alive again. That's new."
I lay there for a moment, face pressed against what felt like a wooden floor.
Wood. Floor. Gravity.
All excellent signs.
I pushed myself up and took stock of my surroundings.
Bedroom.
A small one. Plain walls. A bed behind me. A window letting in morning sunlight. No chains. No torture devices. No demonic altar.
"So this isn't hell," I muttered. "Or it's a very minimalist hell."
I staggered to the bed and sat down, rubbing my face.
"Okay," I said, talking to myself because who else was I going to talk to? "Let's recap."
I held up one finger.
"Step one: I die. Thank you, Truck-kun, may your brakes forever fail."
Second finger.
"Step two: I chill in the void. Very relaxing. Would recommend. Four stars, missing snacks."
Third finger.
"Step three: creepy cosmic voice yanks me back into reality without consent. Rude."
I looked around again.
"…Step four: I'm in a random bedroom, probably in another world, because that's how these things go."
Yes, these things. I read novels. I watched anime. I know the tropes.
If this wasn't an isekai, I would eat my nonexistent hat.
"Which means," I said slowly, "I should probably check a mirror."
I stood up, half-expecting my legs to fail. They didn't.
"Nice," I told them. "Good job, legs."
There was a small mirror on the wall.
I walked up to it and froze.
Okay. Not because I looked horrifying. Quite the opposite.
I looked… different.
Same general shape. Same age range. But sharper features. Healthier skin. No eyebags that screamed 'three hours of sleep and poor life choices.'
"Oh," I whispered. "Ohhh."
I leaned closer. "Yeah, that's definitely not my old face."
I straightened up.
"Alright. New body. New world. Standard package."
I paused.
"Which means I need a name."
The reflection stared back at me. He—I—looked… neutral. Blank. Like a character sheet waiting to be filled.
"Well," I said, "I can't exactly use my old name. That feels… messy."
I tapped my chin.
"Adam."
The reflection didn't argue.
"Yeah," I nodded. "Adam works. Simple. First-man vibes. Easy to remember when the world starts throwing dragons at me."
I pointed at the mirror.
"Congratulations. You are now Adam."
Adam pointed back.
"Good talk."
I flopped back onto the bed and stared at the ceiling.
"So," I said to you, "what do you think? Overpowered magic? Cheat skills? A harem I'm definitely not emotionally prepared for?"
I waited.
Nothing happened.
"…Right. Imaginary audience. Still not answering."
Just as I was about to continue my internal stand-up comedy routine—
[System initializing.]
I sat bolt upright.
"Oh no."
Golden-blue text flickered into existence in front of me.
Floating. Transparent. Definitely not hallucination-level stuff.
[Welcome, Host.]
[System binding complete.]
"Hold on, hold on," I said quickly. "I did not agree to any binding. I didn't even read the terms and conditions!"
[Consent inferred from survival acceptance.]
"That's illegal in at least twelve universes," I argued.
The text didn't care.
A faint ding echoed.
[Primary Interface unlocked.]
[Designation: Adam confirmed.]
[Multiversal Anomaly Status: Active.]
I stared.
Then I leaned back and laughed.
Not a hysterical laugh. Not a villain laugh.
Just… amused disbelief.
"Of course," I said. "Of course I'm an anomaly."
I looked straight ahead.
"At this point," I told you, "I feel like I should apologize in advance."
The system text hovered patiently, like it had all the time in existence.
Which, knowing systems, it probably did.
"Well," I said, cracking my knuckles, "guess this is where things get interesting."
The text pulsed once.
[Chapter One Complete.]
"…Hey," I frowned. "Who said you could decide that?"
Silence.
I sighed.
"Yeah," I told you as the world seemed to settle around me. "This is going to be one of those stories, isn't it?"
And somehow…
I smiled.