BANG—
A car slammed into the stone boulder the size of an average tree.
The impact threw the passengers forward, seatbelts snapping tight.
The car's front was a shattered windshield, hood bent upward and tires bent at impossible angles. The windows were gone, shards scattered across the ground. Steam hissed from the wreck, and the faint smell of burnt metal stung the air.
Inside the wreck, two young men lay unconscious beside the shattered window, blood slowly pooling beneath them.
The silence fell.
Then–a heartbeat echoed.
***
A young man with stitches and bandages lay in a wooden bed, eyes fluttering open.
He saw unfamiliar surroundings.
The quiet made his head spin. He blinked rapidly, trying to make sense of the room
"Too calm"
"Is it a dream?"
He looked at his body and saw his wounded forearms with stitches, almost healed.
"It hurts..." He paused.
"Wait, why did I have this wound?"
He slowly rose, holding his forearms and, search for a cloth to ease the pain.
...
As he scanned he guessed what this place was:
It resembled a wooden shack constructed from bark and vines. It's similar to a survival house he saw on the internet. Rough but sturdy.
He blinked, he paused, and his realization struck. He squinted his eyes to confirm it.
Yep, he was right, the shack wasn't made from ordinary wood—it was made from a thick wood he saw in the book.
"Whoever built this is stronger than a bodybuilder."
Inside the shack was a bed, a table and chair, a cabinet beside the bed, and a barrel with a flickering light in the corner. He noticed and looked at it.
"What the—"
Behind the barrel was a glowing rock, looking at it would probably make him temporarily blind for a day.
But what got him interested is the floor.
"Why is it glowing?"
The floor is shimmering with dust similar to the rock he saw. He slowly crouched down and touched it.
He felt a sudden bolt in his body, like goosebumps head-to-toe and he stood up slowly
"Aw, that hurts like hell," he muttered
Before him was a door, also made from wood. Without hesitation, he opened it.
Sunlight sliced through the forest canopy, painting the ground in gold. Mist curled around the trees, and dew glimmered on every leaf. Birds chirped in the quiet, the forest alive but still asleep.
Outside he sees a young woman with an unfamiliar outfit. Her gown was deep green, cinched at the waist with a leather belt. Flared sleeves brushed her wrists, and a coif covered her braided hair.
The girl was washing clothes from a nearby river,
As she noticed him, she ran towards him, cheerfully waving her hand. It was like they met every day.
"Hello Norman, Good morning! Did you sleep well?" She said with a joyful voice.
'Norman? My name is...' he thought.
Confusion twisted his thoughts.
"Excuse me… where am I? And who are you?"
She paused.
"I'm your wife, Stella. Don't you remember me?"
Norman's eyes darted around Stella's house. He didn't recognize a single thing—no wedding photos, no reminders of a life he had never lived. His brain felt like it had been downloaded with someone else's memories. He rubbed his temples. "Wife? I don't even—". His hands shook as he gripped the door, trying to process the impossible.
His fingers twitched as he glanced at Stella. He had spent most of his life in front of screens, chasing pixelated girls he would never meet. Real women? That was a world he had avoided entirely.
He was just a college dropout from America, buried in games, with no experience of the "real world" He claimed he belonged to.
Suddenly, a pain aches in his wounded forearms.
"Are you okay?" Stella said calmly.
"Yes"
"No! You're not okay! Let's go inside I'll treat your wound."
"I thought you already treated it, I know because it has stitches!"
"Yeah, but you shouldn't move... I was worried about you." She blushed.
Norman reddened, hiding his face and covering up using his palms.
They both entered inside, Stella holding him, and carefully sat Norman in the chair.
"You don't have to do this... I'm okay"
'I'm not okay' he jokingly cried in his thoughts
Stella looked inside the cabinet and found an old cloth, she ripped it in half and carefully covered up the wound.
"Done!"
She swiped the sweat on his forehead and stood up, looking worried.
"Thank you." He mumbles.
"You don't have to, I'm your wife and it's normal to treat you."
"Gosh, you always make me worried!"
"1 week ago you went outside to hunt while it was raining, and you got bitten by a bear. Seeing you like that—"
Norman understands how Stella worries. But right now, he didn't remember a single memory of hunting outside while it was raining.
Stella's tears were dropping on her smooth skin as she cried. Even though he was a 'stranger' to her. He felt bad and wrapped his arms around her, slowly stroking his hair.
She cried on Norman's chest, also wrapping her arms around him tightly.
Norman didn't say a word and just nodded.
"Promise that you wouldn't do that again," she mumbled.
"I promise."
A floating light the size of an average television appeared in front of him.
[ Change class ]
[ Force Job Change ]
Hunter > Farmer
[ Successfully Changed! ]
[ Congratulations You are now a Farmer! ]]
His mood shifted, as he looked at it.
'What is this?'
"Stella, did you see that?"
Norman pointed his finger at the 'Floating light'.
"No."
'Oh my God, I'm speechless'
Without doubt, the floating window is invisible.
Norman's happy, 'handsome' face shifted into a dull lifeless zombie. Stella shook him.
"Norman, are you okay?"
"Yeah, I-I'm okay."
Norman looked behind the barrel and took the glowing stone.
"Stella, do you know what this is?"
He showed the stone to Stella to confirm something.
"That's a mana crystal."
The mana crystal is a type of mineral, with a different color. The power is imbued in it; every natural element emits a different color.
'Mana crystal? This dream is insane.'
He put it back behind the barrel. The flickering light didn't fade.
"Honey, can I ask you a favor?" Stella mumbled.
Stella gulped, tying her hair using the same cloth she ripped, seductively looking at him,
"It's too early for that Stella!"
He just woke up and a 'stranger' was already seducing him. What a wild dream.
She leaned close to him biting her lips. Norman's body couldn't move.
"Honey."
'Norman's heart raced. This couldn't be real… could it?'
"Yeah?" Norman gulped
"Can we..."
"Can we go to the Festival of the Moon tomorrow?"
Norman sighed and nodded.
"Don't be surprised, it's normal because we've done this every year" Stella winked.
"Hahaha—"
'—Wait Festival of the Moon?'
'I heard it before, it was like buying unique items at the store and celebrating the "Great Moon" on the second day of the spring.'
He looked at the calendar, finding the 2nd day of spring. It was indeed the second of the spring tomorrow.
The calendar only had five months, different from Earth, and the days had fifty instead of thirty.
'...'
'Wait, don't tell me—' he thought.
He gazed at her, full of questions.
"Stella."
"Yes!?"
"Do we live in Sunhaven Town?" Norman asked
"Yes, and we have been here for 3 years. Why?" she answered.
The realization struck him.
'I was Transmigrated into Celestia Saga."