Joshua dulnuan, a chubby guy, lean back at his chair, eyes blurry from watching anime non-stop last night.
Around him, echoing the sound of ballpens writing on paper, students studying seriously, staring at the front, intently. I scoff internally, why bother studying hard, 90 in your grade is the same as 75...
the professor in front, lecturing without pause, he goes on and on.
the professor spoke "do you know how hard is it to live as a filipino in the colonial spanish era? forced labor! tribute system! you lot won't survive!
why? because when I only assigned some extra readings, and already some of you complain behind my back!" he lectured endlessly.
I, Joshua dulnuan! a weeb, don't give a damn!, I thought in my mind as my head rested on the table, my eyelids grew heavy.
anxiety,
deadlines,
the hustle bustle of the classroom.
vanished for a moment, darkness consumed him...
X----------------------------------------------------------X
"hmmm.... why does it feel cold..." I mutter hoarsely, the voice escaping in my mouth, dry and weak.
opening my eyes, rotting wooden walls greeted my vision..
faint light scatter through the broken nippa roof...
moving my arms, I felt weakness and nausea,
"what the hell? I ate in the morning right?" I thought...
my stomach rumbling loudly, instinctively I touched it...
I felt.... sharp.. what? ribs, hollow stomach. like I didn't eat for weeks.
fear welled inside me, as an ominous feeling crept on me...
I tried to speak again "ahhh...." a younger voice, but hoarse from fatigue...
panic starting to well up on me, touching my face, ears, chest, everything...
my breathing grew rapid, huff, each breath felt like a hurdle
"No, no, no..."
getting myself up, intense dizziness struck me, the world spinning violently, plop, my legs grew weak, as I landed in my butt, my hand hitting the ground first,
and... what I felt is not tiles... but cold dirt.
I mutter to fearfully to myself "Am I isekai'd?" though he is a avid reader, and a weeb, but he knew the dangers of isekai fiction, danger is everywhere, and what can he do? a normal 21st century nobody in this new world? to further confirm his suspicion, he got up, and slowly.
tap, tap, tap, the ground hitting his bare feet tells him of the cold ground, and the cruel fate he will face.
gathering my strength, I forcefully open the thin wooden door, creak, echoed the weak sound of wood rubbing against the ground.
my mouth opened wide from, shock, fear, and confusion...
the soft light of the afternoon illuminates the whole... town, yes! not city, but like a rural town in the province!
rows of wooden houses, smoke rose from some houses, the smell of food hit my face, immediately my stomach protested from rumbling loudly, chicken wandering in the distance, pecking the ground... pecking some naughty kids... eliciting joyous laughter.
bare chested men, carrying some kind of firewood, others, a basket of fish... while women gathered in a circle, with each mortar in front of them and pounded some unprocessed grain...
further in the distance.. is a... fortress? with high walls surrounding it.
but why does it have a bell on top? also in the rampant, are some people walking... no, patrolling, the weapon in their hand glinted ominously even under the soft orange light...
while I was in deep thought... a wrinkled hand tapped my shoulder, flinching slightly.
An old woman voice sounded "Diego? did you recover now?.."
turning my head slowly, I saw an old woman, her face exhibited a motherly and concerned face, and beside her is a little girl, age 7-8,, looking at innocently with her with her cute brown innocent eyes, holding a clay pot emitting a fragrant smell.
the old woman spoke again "sigh... those spaniards are getting overbearing each year...
like a lighting struck me, I thought "huh... spaniards?", the sound in the surrounding vanished, putting me in a stupor...
I mutter hoarsely "I really am isekai'd... no, time travel in the past"...