An unfamiliar ceiling.
The moment I opened my eyes, I spent a long while just staring up at it.
A worn wooden frame. A whitewashed lime wall with hairline cracks. Faint light seeping through a small window.
It felt like I'd just woken up. No, more like I'd closed my eyes and opened them again without even a chance to dream.
"...What."
A slightly cracked voice slipped through my lips.
Was it already morning?
Yesterday, my head had been splitting, my body completely drained. The moment my back hit the bed in the healing sanctuary's guest room, my consciousness had snapped off like a switch...
Yet even though it felt like barely an hour had passed, the room was already filled with thin dawn light.
An unfamiliar ceiling.
Unfamiliar air.
An unfamiliar bed.
And, an unfamiliar world.
Only then did yesterday's events come flooding in all at once.
"Ha..."
The hand covering my forehead slowly slid downward.
Obtaining the Dimensional Archive, becoming an alpha male, crossing through crazy worlds several times, and finally ending up here.
I'd been through so much... it was really fucking rough...
But honestly, now that I thought about it, it hadn't been all bad.
'Hmm... sex.'
The fact that the first word to pop into my head this morning was "sex" left me no choice but to close my eyes.
"Yeah, a man's gotta be consistent..."
The exact moment I muttered that.
Knock. Knock.
A knocking sound came from the door.
"Siyoon."
It was Kaya's voice.
"You're up? Don't keep Garen waiting."
I reflexively tried to sit up and froze solid.
"Ah."
My gaze slowly moved downward.
And my eyes went wide.
'Wow.'
I was fucking shocked.
Morning wood. By dictionary definition, it refers to the state in which blood flow to the corpus cavernosum increases during sleep, causing the male genitalia to unconsciously stiffen immediately after waking. Generally speaking, it's treated as an indicator that vascular health, male hormone levels, and nervous system reactions are all within normal ranges. In simpler terms, it's the phenomenon where your manhood has already clocked in for work before you've even gotten out of bed.
But this... well, it far exceeded such normal parameters. An incomprehensible feeling, you could say. It wasn't at a healthy level; it looked ready to burst through my pants and advance into society.
Lying stiffly on the bed, I denied reality for a moment.
'...Hold on.'
Had I ever looked at my dick straight-on like this before?
It's big.
Fucking big.
I'd wished for it, sure. But I never thought it'd shove such a perfect result in my face like this.
Impressive. No, really. I might even be a little moved.
"...Hmm."
From outside the door, Kaya called again.
"Siyoon?"
"Ah, yes. I'm up."
My voice cracked slightly.
"Then come out."
"The thing is..."
"Why? Is something wrong?"
"I'm not quite ready yet."
A brief silence.
The air outside the door seemed to freeze for a split second.
"Ready?"
"Yes."
"You haven't even washed your face?"
"That's part of it."
"...Then what?"
I squeezed my eyes shut.
How was I supposed to explain this?
'My morning wood won't go down. I'm currently in a state where it's difficult to appear in public. I've simply become too healthy as a man.'
Ugh!
"...There are circumstances."
From outside the door, Kaya spoke in a very low voice.
"Suspicious."
The moment she finished speaking, the doorknob turned.
"Shit! Wait, wait a minute!"
I practically flew to the door. I grabbed it with my hand.
Clack!
Kaya pulled from the outside.
I desperately held it shut from the inside.
"Why are you blocking it?"
"No, really, just wait!"
"Why, what is it?"
"I'm just a little...!"
"A little what."
"No, it's just a little awkward!"
Kaya's voice grew colder.
"Open the door."
Clack!
Clack!
"Can't you wait just a moment?"
"You've got a talent for talking suspiciously."
Kaya put more force into it.
I swallowed a curse inwardly.
'No, fuck. Why is she so strong?'
Every time the door rattled, my heart rattled with it. This wasn't a matter of life and death, but it was a real battle with my dignity as a man on the line.
"Kaya?"
Now Mari's voice joined in.
"What are you doing?"
"I don't know. He won't open the door."
"Is he running away?"
"He might be."
I felt like banging my forehead against the door.
"...I'm not."
"Then open it."
"No, I mean..."
"What is it."
"It's a little difficult to say."
"Even more suspicious."
Clack!
Clack!
Clack!
In the meantime, fortunately, the great vitality of morning was calming down with surprising speed.
"Ha... shit."
I closed my eyes and slowly exhaled.
Right. For now, I'd regained my social viability.
Eventually, I let out a long sigh and let go.
The door swung open half a beat faster.
Swish.
Kaya peered inside first, and right behind her, Mari stuck her face in.
Their gazes swept across the room once.
The bed.
The table.
The washbasin.
And me, standing there perfectly fine.
Kaya narrowed her eyes.
"Just what were you doing?"
"It's a little... there were circumstances."
"Even more suspicious."
"I'm telling you, it's awkward to talk about."
"If you don't say it, I'll keep being suspicious."
"Well then... that's just something I'll have to live with."
Mari snickered and said, "He's really weird."
"I know."
"Shut up."
Kaya stared a moment longer before finally sighing.
"Fine. As long as you didn't run away, that's enough. Hurry up. If you keep Garen waiting, you're the one who'll suffer more."
"...I'm already suffering, though."
"That's your problem."
After the brief commotion, I stepped outside and the dawn air hit me.
It was refreshing.
It smelled like a village close to the forest. The scent of damp earth, grass, and wood just before it warmed under the morning sun. Somewhere in the distance, a bird chirped briefly, and the wind brushed past the leaves once.
In the eastern sky, a very faint golden hue was spreading. It hadn't fully risen yet, but the sun was definitely coming up. Sunrise light seeping between the trees faintly colored the village rooftops.
'...Nice. It feels like I'm camping for the first time in a while.'
It was so nice.
Simply because this wasn't a world where I'd die the moment I arrived, this morning felt insanely good.
But the problem was, feeling good was one thing, and attention was another. As the villagers began moving about one by one, gazes started gathering on me.
Black hair.
Black eyes.
An unfamiliar East Asian face.
There was no way eyes wouldn't be drawn to me.
"Is that the guy from yesterday?"
"They say he's an outsider."
"He's with Roy's party."
"Look at that hair color..."
"And his face......*lick*"
'Who the hell licked?'
Whispers drifted through the morning air. I muttered inwardly.
'Aah, have I already become an isekai idol?'
Mari said mockingly from right beside me.
"Must be nice."
"What is?"
"Everyone's looking at you."
"Hmm... I suppose it's because I'm too handsome~"
"You're so annoying this early in the morning."
"Thank you."
"That wasn't a compliment?"
"Then... are you jealous?"
"Kaya, can I burn him?"
"No."
"Why!"
"Garen will probably do that first."
At those words, I shut my mouth.
Great, just great.
We headed straight for the Loenheim Guild Hall.
Perhaps because it was early morning, the guild wasn't completely packed yet. Still, the door was already open, and from inside came the sounds of preparations.
Someone organizing the reception desk, someone chewing on breakfast, a few adventurers who had come out early inspecting their weapons.
The guild before the peak hours.
Maybe that was why. I stood out even more in other people's eyes.
"Is that the guy?"
"The one Garen wants to see?"
"He's gonna get wrecked from day one."
"That guy's the one who saved Roy's party yesterday?"
I raised my head, pretending not to hear.
'Well, since it's come to this, I gotta save face.'
But when we went out to the training ground behind the guild, there was no time for that.
Wide dirt ground.
Weapon racks.
A wooden scarecrow.
And Garen standing in the center.
He didn't speak.
A solid body.
A posture without any unnecessary movement.
Simply standing there, he gave off a feeling that the space around him grew quiet as well.
The moment Garen saw me, he gestured shortly.
"Come."
I blinked once.
"Huh? Right now?"
"You're noisy."
Garen tossed a training wooden sword my way. I fumbled to catch it.
"No, at least say something first..."
"Pick it up."
"...Huh?"
"Come at me."
Ah, he meant pick up the weapon?
Garen picked up a training shield and a short wooden staff instead of a wooden sword. The moment I saw that, my face contorted.
'No, how am I supposed to pierce through a Defense 300 Garen!'
How is a 21st-century part-timer supposed to beat a fundamental otherworld warrior?
One of the adventurers watching from the back snickered.
"Oh boy, he's caught Garen's attention."
"That brat's not gonna run away because it's hard, is he?"
"Haha! We're in for a fun show from this morning!"
"Look, he brought out the shield. It's over."
Mari, standing outside the training ground, clicked her tongue with her arms crossed, while Kaya watched without a word.
Garen adjusted his grip on the shield and held the staff short as he spoke.
"I said come at me."
"...Yes?"
"If you don't come, I'll come to you."
"I'd like that even less."
I awkwardly adjusted my grip on the wooden sword and stepped forward.
Garen moved first.
Fast.
He didn't come in to block the wooden sword. The shield covered my vision first.
I reflexively raised my sword, but the moment I did, the side of the shield knocked away the wooden sword and swept my wrist.
Thwack!
My hand went numb.
"Ack!"
Next, the staff struck the side of my thigh with a smack.
"Too slow."
"That fucking hurts!"
"Real combat hurts more."
And he came in again.
Garen pushed at my chest with the shield, blocked my vision, and threw off my balance. The staff whipped around like a ghost, targeting only gaps like the back of my hand, my wrist, my thigh, my side.
Thwack.
Smack.
Tap.
"Foot."
Smack!
"Eyes."
Thwack!
"Wrist."
Tap.
"Again."
"No! W-wait...!"
I kept rolling across the ground.
Laughter burst out from behind me.
"He's done for."
"He's a total newbie!"
"That guy saved Roy? That fresh-faced brat?"
"Haha! Well, it's impressive he's not running away!"
"He's gonna be rolling around all day today!"
I gritted my teeth as I dusted off the dirt.
'Bastards...'
I went back in.
This time, I thrust the wooden sword first. Garen didn't dodge; instead, he deflected it with his shield. The moment the wooden sword was pushed outward, the staff struck the back of my hand.
"Ack!"
"Your openings are huge."
"Can't you at least say it nicely?"
"No."
I got hit again.
But after rolling around a few times, something strange happened.
I should say my body understood first.
My feet found their footing again. I could see the direction my waist was turning. I got a feel for where to push the shield. I could read little by little when the staff was targeting my gaps and when it was going for my legs.
Not completely, just enough to get hit less.
But that difference was bigger than I thought.
Garen's shield came in again.
I reflexively laid my wooden sword flat to deflect the shield. Even though I couldn't fully block it, I avoided a direct hit.
I immediately sidestepped and thrust the tip of the wooden sword in.
Whoosh.
The wooden sword made it near Garen's side.
Just before it touched, the staff tapped my wrist and threw off my thrusting angle.
But this time, I didn't fall.
Garen's eyebrows moved ever so slightly.
"That one was a little better."
One of the spectators in the back muttered.
"Oh?"
"Did he just deflect that?"
"Garen almost got hit?"
I breathed heavily.
I was sweating, my whole body was numb, and my wrist throbbed.
Still, the more I got hit, the faster my body learned.
'Heavenly Demon Physique... this trait seems way better than I thought?'
Garen came in again.
This time, the shield came right up to my chin.
I reflexively raised my wooden sword to block, and with a crack, my entire arm rang.
In the very next moment, Garen's leg hooked my ankle.
Thud.
I fell face-first into the dirt.
"Kek! Sand!"
"Your upper body is rising."
"If someone hadn't kept attacking my face with a shield, that wouldn't have happened!"
"Don't exaggerate."
Laughter erupted from behind again.
"Wow, he's really rolling around."
"It's amazing he's not running away?"
"He's got guts facing Garen!"
"Haha! He's tougher than he looks!"
I got up again, grinding my teeth.
Embarrassing. It fucking hurts.
‘But... this is strangely doable, isn’t it?’
Once, I was pushed by the shield but didn’t fall. Another time, even as I took a hit from the wooden staff, the tip of my wooden sword grazed the rim of the shield.
It was a difference that amounted to almost nothing, but it was completely different from before.
Garen had seen all of it.
And at some point, he stopped moving.
I stood there, gasping for breath. My hands were trembling. My arms were numb, and my wrists and the backs of my hands were bruised from how many times they’d been hit. Sweat ran down the nape of my neck.
“...Is it over?”
“Why? Do you want to keep going?”
“Mm... no. Please refrain from saying such cruel things.”
“No.”
A few people laughed again.
Garen looked down at the shield and wooden staff, then looked back at me.
“Your basics are a mess.”
“...I suppose they would be.”
“You haven’t been formally trained, either.”
“That’s true too.”
“But you learn quickly.”
I caught my breath as I listened.
“It seems you’re not entirely lacking in a sense for real combat.”
“Rather than a sense for real combat... I think it’s because I really almost died yesterday.”
“That is real combat.”
He had a point.
Mari muttered with her arms crossed.
“Tch.”
Kaya added briefly.
“He might be useful.”
“Is ‘he might be useful’ really something you say to a person...?”
Garen settled the matter as it was.
“Formal registration is on hold.”
“What does that mean?”
“For the time being, you’ll need to be monitored and evaluated.”
“No, listen to me for a second.”
“Until Roi recovers, I’ll place you temporarily in Roi’s party.”
A brief silence passed.
The first to react was Mari.
“What? Why do we have to take in that outsider?”
“Because you have the most complaints.”
“That’s the reason?”
“Watch him yourself and decide.”
“Wow, your personality is really...”
Mari frowned, but she didn’t ask any more.
Kaya let out a small sigh and accepted it.
“Understood.”
Murmuring spread through the surrounding crowd again.
“He really put him in Roi’s party.”
“An outsider?”
“Roi’s party’s got rotten luck too!”
“But his face is kind of worth looking at...”
“Why would a kid like that pop out from around a goblin den?”
Ignoring the whispers, I looked down at the wooden sword.
My body was bruised and torn all over, but somewhere inside, something had changed a little. Separate from the pain and injuries after being beaten, it felt like the sensations I’d just learned were still lingering in the corners of my body.
Garen spoke one last time.
“That’s all for today.”
“...Thank you?”
“It’s not something to thank me for.”
“Then should I apologize?”
“I’ll consider it if you come again tomorrow.”
‘Oho?’
I saw it, just a little... the possibility of a tsundere!
Garen turned and walked away. The people naturally made way for him. I watched his back for a moment, then returned the wooden sword to the weapon rack.
Kaya came over to me.
“...You held out well.”
“Did I?”
“Yeah. Usually, people get knocked flat and run away.”
“Hmm...”
I grinned and held up a V sign in front of Kaya.
Mari cut in bluntly.
“...What are you doing? Anyway, this afternoon I’ll show you around the inside of the guild. Don’t try to run away again or get any weird ideas.”
“Do I look like someone who would do that?”
“Yes.”
“You thought before saying that, right?”
“Do I need to think about it?”
I swallowed a hollow laugh and looked past the training ground, toward the guild.
The morning sunlight had climbed higher before I knew it, and the guild had grown noisy.
The sound of people laughing, the sound of weapons clashing, the argument coming from the reception desk.
They were the sounds of a living world.
I opened my palm once, slick with sweat and blood.
It hurt. It was a little embarrassing.
Still, strangely, it felt bearable.
Really.