What, Failure to Transition!? Prologue 2/3 (Patreon)

Prologue 2/3 - In the White Space

Two men, presumably killed in a truck accident, and a woman in kimono, suddenly appeared in a pure white space that seems to be the afterlife.

The woman's appearance, with her wisteria-colored, calmly patterned kosode (Short-sleeved Kimono), and her straight, shoulder-length black hair with an upswept hairpin, gave Yoichi the impression that she was out of place.

Then again, there is no way to answer what kind of outfit is appropriate for this white space. However, Yoichi still thought that the short-sleeved kimono of the woman who appeared in front of him was even more too out-of-place, that every person inside the same room as her will feel rude no matter what situation she was in.

The age of the person in question looked like she is in her late 20s to early 30s.

She had slightly thick eyebrows, deep double eyes, a nose that was neither high nor low, and somewhat thick lips and a small mouth, all of which gave the appearance of an "ordinary" figure with a perfect balance.

The woman in kimono was appalled at the sight of the men.

Then, her gaze darted back and forth between the two.

“Why is it two of them?”

“Excuse me, did we just die?”

 “Huh? Oh, oh, yes, yes. I'm sorry for your loss.” 

“Waaa!! I knew it!”

What had been ambiguous a moment ago was now confirmed by the woman. It's a strange thing to be convinced by an unidentified woman who appeared out of the blue, but for some reason, they were both convinced.

The only thing that bothered them was the woman's words.

Was the woman's words meant that there should be only one in the room?

If that was the case, Yoichi thought, and if the other one could come back to life, he would like to bring the other guy back.

It was not that he wanted to die.

It was just that, if he did die right now, he would indeed have no regrets.

(Yep, I'll just drop out of this life so that I don't have to think about the money for the next month.)

It's pretty shameful, but it has indeed been in his mind.

“Uhm, excuse me, Mr. Towdow Yowichi?”

“Yes!” “Here!”

Surprised, the two’s gazes fell on each other.

“You have the same name as me?”

“Looks like it.”

“Let’s see here. It spells ‘東’(East) for Tou, ‘堂’(Temple) for Dou, ‘洋’(open sea) for Yo, and the ‘一’(number one) for Ichi “ (東堂洋一To dou Yo ichi)

“Ah, that would be me.”

(It wasn't me...)

“How about you, by the way?”

“Mine’s spelled Wisteria ‘藤’, Temple’堂,’ Yang ‘陽‘ and the unit for one’一.’” (藤堂陽一 To dou Yo ichi)

“I see……Well then, Mister Todou with Wisteria and Temple, etc., please wait for a little while.”

Then the woman in kimono began to speak to the East Temple(東堂) Todou.

To summarize, this woman was one of the administrators of the world, a god-like being, if you will.

She went and told that this East(東) Todou will be reincarnated in another world later. Yoichi, who often read web novels to pass the time, could easily understand it. Still, Todou didn't seem to be familiar with that area, and the woman who was the administrator was not very good at explaining it either. In the end, as a result of Yoichi's supplementary explanations, Todou finally understood what was going to happen to him.

The place of rebirth is a fantasy world of swords and magic.

Although its historical background is close to medieval Europe, the magical culture makes it challenging to compare civilization with this world.

It seems that Todou will be born into a family with a delicate situation as the would-be third son of a knight-errant family. Still, with the current unrest in the world, there is a high possibility of an all-out war in the near future, and the higher his military service, the better he will be able to rise above lowly nobles.

In a world where the aforementioned magic and skills exist, what’s even more exciting is that after reincarnation, he will be born with a cheat ability.  That is, a foul bonus ability related to the memory of his previous life, meaning all the knowledge and experience he gained on Earth will be remembered in full once he’s born on the other world. But that doesn’t stop at that. With a body originating from the administrator here, he will also receive a boost in all stats, meaning his body will be much stronger and resilient compared to common men of that world.

If he wants to, he can become strong enough to waltz into the Demon King's castle and defeat him on his own.

Yoichi was impressed with how straight the road to success of his newly gained colleague will be.

“In other words, what I’m gonna be in will be like those we see from main characters in recently trending role-playing games?”

“They aren’t recent, and I’m not sure if they’re still trending, but they were trendy a long time ago. That said……”

. 

Yoichi explained various scenarios to Todou, and before he realized, the distance of the two had shrunk considerably.

“Well, It’s not like I got another choice, haven’t I? I believe that my wife and kids can get by on the insurance money. So, let’s enjoy this new life of mine to the fullest!!’

Todou exclaimed as he made an incredibly quick switch.

“If, by any chance, we're both going to the same world, we might be able to see each other again, right?”

“Well, I don’t think so. If I get reincarnated as well, wouldn’t I be in a different body altogether? How would we know if we meet the right person?”

“You have a point there. Let’s see……why don’t we have a call sign? Just in case.”

“Hmmm……Okay then. The callsign is TOKOROTEN (心太).”

“Aren’t you a bit too harsh!? Well, if you say so.”

“Uhm, excuse me…”

The two were exchanging pleasantries when the administrator interrupted them.

“It’s time to go. Are you ready?”

“Yeah, I’m ready. Well, see ya later.”

“Yeah. See you later.”

“Then, I’m going to begin your reincarnation.”

“Bye~.”

After a very light farewell, the other Todou disappeared.

“Now then……”

The administrator suddenly knots her forehead at Yoichi.

(Why are you looking at me like that? I’m the one who should be worried here!)

“What should I do, Mister Wisteria Todou?”

It's probably a way to distinguish between 東堂(East Temple) Todou and藤堂 (Wisteria Temple) Todou, but being called that out of the blue made Yoichi raise his eyebrows a bit.

But as he didn’t find it unpleasant, he didn’t point it out.

“Wait, wait, wait. Why are you asking me? Do I have a choice here?”

“uhmm, you see, to tell you the truth, the person who was supposed to come here was 東堂(East Temple) Todou, you know?”

“But I died too! I died, right?”

“Well……I guess?”

“So…… is there something you can do about it?”

When Yoichi’s eyes lost color as if he had given up, the administrator suddenly began to get down on her knees.

“I’m very sorry!! Please don’t be mad at me!”

“No, no, how could I?! Well, to be honest, there’s no point trying. I guess it can’t be helped that I’ll disappear like this?”

When Yoichi rushed to follow up, the administrator immediately rose up with a fwip.

Her face was wet, with tears of regret for her actions.

“That won’t happen, I swear! I will use all the authority I have to give the best privileges as I can!”

“Really? So, I have a choice, after all!”

“W-well, yeah. Somehow.”

The manager's expression and tone of voice changed so quickly that Yoichi was almost tempted to ask her to give back the tears he had just shed.

For some reason, there were no more tears and snot in the administrator’s eyes as well.

“I just confirmed your body. As far as I can tell, there's very little damage to it, so it’s still possible for it to be restored. So, it's possible for you to come back to life as is.”

(Ummm... I'm kind of sick and tired of living in the real world as a break-even employee.)

“Can I go into another world as well?”

“Oh, you would prefer that?”

“Well, that depends on the conditions, of course.”

Then, when did the administrator take it out? She began flipping through the pages of her notebook, which seems to have come from thin air.

“Let’s see……Sadly, there’s no more available space to use as a vessel for your reincarnation, so it’s impossible with a new body. But if it’s just a transfer, I can still manage somehow, as you still have your body intact.”

“Transfer……So I’m going to a different world with my old body? Can I survive with just that?”

“Since Mister Todou from earlier has used up the prepared skill set, all that remained in stock is the ‘Standard Skill Set.’ Are you okay with that?”

“Standard Skillset……what does it contain?”

“Well, they are: 【Appraisal】, 【Infinite storage】, 【Language comprehension】, and 【Return】. Four of them in total.”

Yoichi received an explanation for each of them.

 【Appraisal】 

You can check the information on what you see.

It seems to be a skill that was able to confirm the information in considerable detail.

The source of information is something like the Akashic Records, if you can understand it.

【Infinite Storage】

Items within a radius of one meter around the user can be moved in and out of different spaces. In principle, there is no limit to its volume or weight, but it cannot store sentient life. And the flow of time is stopped inside 【Infinite Storage】. It's probably what's called an item box.

【Language comprehension】

Understands all languages at a native language level.

It also supports reading and writing.

It is probably for not having trouble with the language, even in another world.

【Return】

Returns to the set home point in an instant.

Once you set a home point, you cannot change it for 10 days, starting from the next day.

So it's like a transition skill dedicated to returning to base?

“I really like to give you a stat increase and a unique skill, but that’s the best I can do for now.”

 “No, no! Although they’re the common skills we see in other world novels, they’re all pretty handy! Thank you!”

“That would save me a lot of trouble. Well then, shall we start the transfer?”

“Yes, please.”

The administrator stretched out her hand to Yoichi.

Yoichi's vision went white and blurred, and soon he lost consciousness.

When he opened his eyes, he saw a white ceiling.

Apparently, he was lying on a bed.

Looking around lightly, he saw a tube extending from his arm.

At the end of it was what looked like an IV pouch, and if he moved his head a little more, he could see an electronic device displaying an ECG.

A clear mask was worn around his mouth.

As he lightly raised his head and looked around, his eyes met with a nurse who has just passed by.

The nurse, who looked startled for a moment, rushed over to Yoichi.

“Mr. Todou, can you hear me?”

Yoichi nodded lightly as he couldn't seem to get his voice to come out properly.

“Thank goodness......I'll go get the doctor, so please wait a little while.” said the nurse, and then she left the side of Yoichi at a trot. 

I'm not sure what the situation is, but this doesn’t seem to be a medieval European world of swords and magic to me, thought Yoichi.

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