After a moment, I had my answer. “Well, I like making scale models and working with my hands in my time off, so I’d like to live in a place—preferably alone—where I can create things for a living. I’d like a compatible skill set for that life. And as I said before, I like cats, so if I could have a quiet life with a cat as a companion, I’d have no complaints.”
“All right,” she said, pausing to consider the options. “Out of the available candidates, the world that would best accommodate your requests is a typical fantasy realm with swords and sorcery. How does that sound?”
“Fine by me.”
“All right. Now, on to your skills. What do you want to make?”
“I’ve always wanted to try swordsmithing,” I suggested.
“Then a blacksmith would likely be the most fitting profession. You’ll need language and crafting skills. I can also throw in some fighting skills for your self-defense. As a trade-off, you’ll have the bare minimum in magical ability, but you won’t need it for day-to-day life anyway. What do you think?”
“Sounds good to me.”
“Last but not least,” she continued, “how old do you want to be? Pick whatever age calls to you, whether it’s ten years old or seventy. You won’t want to be too old, I suppose, but it’s all the same to me.”
“Hmmm, I don’t want to be a kid again...” But that said, I did want enough time to enjoy my second life. I gave it some thought and landed on something in the middle.
⌗⌗⌗
After I gave an answer, my consciousness slowly faded...and when I woke up, I was already in this forest. I stood up cautiously, expecting some dizziness, but I shouldn’t have been worried. I looked down at my hands, but I couldn’t tell whether I was now the age that I’d requested. Hands change slowly over time, I suppose.
As I took a breath, a sharp pain lanced through my head.
While your body is adjusting to the new environment, you may get a headache. That’s proof that your new skills, knowledge, and memories are syncing up with your body, so don’t worry.
“So this is what she’d meant. Did it have to hurt this much? She wasn’t going to give me any particularly powerful skills anyway,” I grumbled to myself.
I’ll prepare a place where you can live and work as a blacksmith, along with some provisions, like food and ingredients.
Or so she’d said, but looking around, there was nothing that stood out among the trees. Maybe it wasn’t around here. While it was unlikely that she would’ve purposefully started me far away from my would-be home, it wasn’t impossible. It’d be extremely irritating if that were the deal though. In the worst-case scenario, the place could be so far away that I’d never find it. This clearing where I’d woken up would’ve been the perfect spot for a house, but it was currently empty, so I struck out to explore my surroundings.
When I stepped into the forest proper, the fresh, woodsy scent hit me anew. The sunlight filtered through the foliage, and it was pleasantly cool beneath the trees. The leaves rustled gently, along with the occasional chitter and patter above me. There must’ve been some small animals playing amongst the branches.
The trees themselves were no different from those in my original world. Elegant and tall, each tree was a pillar that held up the sky with its crown. I touched one of the trunks; the rough bark felt the same as well. As far as I could tell, there weren’t any dryads emerging from the woodwork either.
I heard a scratching sound in the branches close by. Looking over, I saw a green, squirrel-like creature pop out from amongst the leaves. I’d never heard of any squirrels with green fur back on Earth, so this creature must’ve been unique to this world. Seeing its appearance struck home the fact that I was in a new universe!
I was so excited that I walked toward it without thinking. It shrunk back in fear, and I soon came to my senses. Even if it looked adorable, with its chubby cheeks and round eyes, it might be a dangerous animal. Maybe it was even venomous. I was in a completely unfamiliar environment, so I had to be on my guard.
When my headache subsided, a great torrent of knowledge flooded my mind. It was as if I’d just installed a new knowledge base. At least now I wouldn’t be done in by my own ignorance. It would’ve been pathetic if I were decapitated for unwittingly insulting a noble, for example. However, even though the newly installed data had come with a general picture of this world, including information about the fauna, I didn’t know any of the nitty-gritty details. What kind of habits did that green squirrel have? Was it venomous? I wished I had someone to guide me.
My stroll had yielded no great discoveries, so I turned back around and suddenly caught sight of something large back where I’d come from.
“What in the world?” I muttered. It definitely hadn’t been there when I’d first passed through. Or maybe it’d been invisible, who knows?
The large something turned out to be a small log cabin. I guessed this was where I was supposed to live. The cabin looked safe enough, but I approached it with caution nonetheless. As I drew closer, I could instinctively perceive that there was no one inside. Maybe heightened senses were part of my resurrection package as well.
I glanced through the window lattice, and the cabin looked empty inside. Just to be safe, I headed toward the door in a half-crouch, so I couldn’t be seen from within. There was a simple pull handle and keyhole on the door, but no knob. I tugged lightly on the handle and the door opened easily—it hadn’t been locked.
I peeked through the crack. There still weren’t signs of anything living, and the air smelled clean. It seemed safe.