A/N: heya welcome to this story~
this is the first time I'm making fanfic with first person pov (not really because the 000 one but that one stopping midway with the first person pov), so i don't know how this story is gonna be.
So it's probably gonna be just for fun story instead of serious serious story, i hope you enjoy it.
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9:26 PM
I should've left work 26 minutes ago. But looking at all the unfinished work for tomorrow, I know I'm stuck here late again.
Eight years since I graduated college. Eight years since I thought this job would finally let me earn real money-not like my old part-time gigs. My parents died back in high school, so I've been on my own.
I wanted that money to buy manhwa merch-to fill my room with posters of handsome characters who'd help me forget the stress.
"I've saved up plenty... but when do I even have time to enjoy it?"
My phone buzzes in my pocket. That's weird-I always keep my group chats muted during work hours, and hardly anyone messages me privately.
"What now?"
I check it. Another wedding invitation. Of course. After eight years, all my friends are getting married, starting families.
And me? Every relationship I've had ended badly. Either they cheated, or they called me weird for liking manhwa at my age. . "It's fine," I mutter. "I'm still young. I can still figure this out."
But it doesn't feel fine. I turn my phone off and force myself back to work while drinking the already cold coffee.
And then 2 hours later, finally I'm free. Now just need to walk to the train station before the last train leaves.
I don't remember much what happened during the walk because I'm just so tired. Before I realized it, I already arrived at my home.
Making sure the door is locked and throwing my shoes at the entrance, I immediately went to my room upstairs.
Click
Turning on the lamp. Finally I'm home. Without wasting time, I immediately lay down on the bed.
"Ahhh... so comfortable...."
And slowly my eyes start closing... NOT!
This is the free time that I've been waiting for, so I immediately pull out my phone to check if any of the manhwa I follow got updated or not.
And with the manhwa update schedule, of course there's going to be a lot of updates, so I immediately read them all.
The time already shows 11:56pm, but who cares about that? I need to read the new updates!
And so an hour passed.
"Kyaaa~ he's just so handsome!"
After reading my favorite one that I saved for last, I finally finished them all.
That platinum blonde hair shining like moonlight, those red like blood eyes - and that jawline so sharp it could cut through steel! And don't even get me started on that sculpted chest visible through his half-unbuttoned shirt... Ugh, why don't real men look like this? Every panel was absolute perfection!
"I'm curious what the others thought about it~" I muttered as I checked the comments for this latest chapter.
The comments flooded in:
"Why is FL still with him after what he did in her past life??"
"When will she finally run away like the title promises?!"
"I swear if she forgives him after chapter 12's flashback..."
My grip tightened on the phone. "Tch-they don't get it!" My thumbs flew across the screen:
"He was confused in his past life! Look at chapter 15-he literally saved her from the bandit! That's character growth!!"
But as i was replying to those comments another notification suddenly popped up.
"Bro this is just discount Gilgamesh. Same face, same ego, same 'look at me I'm a god' vibes. Even the gold hair combo. Fate/Zero did it better"
I blinked. "Who the hell is Gilgamesh?"
My thumb hovered. The name rang zero bells-some anime thing, probably. But if this guy really was a copy...
I opened a new tab so fast my phone stuttered.
Search: "Gilgamesh Fate anime"
Images loaded. My breath caught.
Gold armor. Sleek blonde hair. Eyes like blood full with arrogance. That same fucking smirk.
"...What."
Looking at the image and damn... he's really handsome...
Because of that one image, I decided to search for more information about this anime called Fate.
I never watched anime before except during my childhood when my father showed me Naruto and Inuyasha. But this seems pretty interesting. I'm also curious about this Gilgamesh guy.
And since this is anime, it didn't take me long to find all the shows where Gilgamesh appeared.
"What the hell... why are there so many Fate anime? And why is Gilgamesh a kid in this one? But he's still so cute though..."
It's already 1am now and I should be sleeping, but unfortunately my coffee is ready and I don't want to waste it. So I'm probably gonna watch one episode before sleep.
"So the first one is Fate Zero?"
"Well, let's see how good anime are~" And I hit the play button on my phone.
And suddenly 8 hours passed before I realized.
"Saber! With my Command Spells, I order you to destroy the Holy Grail!"
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"
With the Command Spell, Saber didn't have any choice but to use her Noble Phantasm - destroying the Grail along with Gilgamesh standing beside it.
"Noooooo Gilgamesh!" I screamed, watching him get obliterated by Saber's attack.
The ending song for this episode started playing.
"What the hell! I thought I was gonna see Gilgamesh vs Saber - the fight I'd been waiting for! That bastard Kiritsugu ruined everything!"
After watching this far, I'd been having so much fun. I thought I'd just check out handsome Gilgamesh and then sleep, but who knew it would be this good?
Especially when Gilgamesh appeared, making all the Servants freeze just by standing on that light post. And then that idiot Tokiomi used a Command Spell to make him retreat! Why? Gilgamesh could've wiped them all out right there!
At least Gilgamesh killed him later. Served him right for selling Sakura to that worm family...
"Sakura..." Just thinking about her made me sad again. I couldn't believe something so horrible happened to such a cute kid. Thrown into a pit of worms... They didn't show everything, but I knew exactly what went on down there.
"Ughhh, that stupid Tokiomi!!!"
I spent the next few minutes cursing Tokiomi when my phone suddenly vibrated with a message. I paused my rant to check who'd message me this late.
"Huh? From the office?"
"Why are you not coming to the office? Are you sick today? If so please inform us early so we know you won't be coming."
Wait... what?
I checked the time on my phone. 9:07 AM.
"What the fuck! How long was I watching?!" I jumped up to run to the bathroom.
"Ugh!"
When suddenly my head exploded with pain. My whole body felt like dead weight. My eyelids turned to lead as I crashed to the floor - everything went black.
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And that's the last thing I remember from my previous life.
The moment I regained consciousness, I realized I'd become a baby. At first I thought I was regressing like some manhwa protagonist - I even started planning how to do better this time.
But no. Turns out I'd reincarnated in another world. The realization hit when I noticed I was in an orphanage after someone came to check on me.
She talked about finding me abandoned at their doorstep at night, with no clues left behind. At least I was healthy, though who knows how long I'd been out there before being found.
At first, the shock of reincarnation overwhelmed me. But as time passed, I grew used to it. What else could I do but accept it? At least I'd escaped my soul-crushing office job. Now I just got to be a pampered baby~
The funny part? They named me Rikka - same as my past life. The caretakers just made it up on the spot since I came with no name.
Baby life was boring. Same routine every day, except for the part where the other kids peeking at me curiously.
Years slipped by until I turned five in this orphanage.
"Aunty, do you need help cutting these carrots?"
"Ohh, Rikka! Yes please, if you don't mind."
"No problem, aunty~"
I started helping Aunty Nana, This wasn't a big orphanage - just seven kids including me. Aunty Nana and Aunty Ria ran most things, while the elderly owners only visited on Sundays.
But they were all so kind. I wanted to repay them however I could, even if just by helping with small tasks.
"Hmm~ hmm~ hmm~"
"Fufu, you seem to be having fun just cutting carrots. Why don't you play with the others?"
"I don't want to! They're mean to me - they keep calling me a cheater because I always win every game!"
Of course I win. My body might be 5 years old, but my mind has 30 years of experience from my past life.
But... I don't know why it hurts when they say I'm cheating and refuse to play with me. Is it because I'm technically a child now? My emotions shouldn't be affected by kids' taunts - they're just children, after all.
"Ahhh, Rikka... I've told them so many times to stop calling you that, but they never listen."
"It's fine! I don't care about them anyway!"
I saw Aunty Nana smile at me before returning to her cooking.
Oh well. I focused on chopping the carrots. My cooking skills were decent after years of living alone since my parents died. I probably couldn't make anything fancy, but simple tasks like this were easy.
Chop chop chop.
After the carrots are done, I continue with the rest. Aunty Nana needs to cook for a lot of children, so there are many ingredients to cut.
But as I focus on cutting, I realize something - there's a crack creeping up the leek I'm trying to cut.
"Huh?"
Is this a bad product? Why is there a small line there?
When I swipe it with my finger, it feels normal - just like touching regular leek.
"What is this?"
The more I look at it, the more the crack moves, growing longer and longer. From one, it becomes two, then three, until the entire leek is covered in cracks.
But it's not just the leek. The knife I'm holding starts getting covered in cracks - or lines? I can't tell, but the white knife is now completely covered.
Then the cutting board. Then the other uncut ingredients.
"What is this!?"
My eyes feel overwhelmed. It's getting hot. More and more lines appear, and even when I close my eyes, they're still there.
"Rikka! Rikka! What's wrong? You're sweating and mumbling to yourself!"
Aunty Anna shakes me, yelling, but I can't respond.
It's too much. Everything I see is covered in lines lines lines lines lines lines lines.
Suddenly, Aunty Anna turns my body forcefully. When my eyes land on her, I hope to see her normal face - but instead, her entire body is covered in lines. Red lines like blood flowing through cuts. She looks so fragile - like touching the lines would kill her instantly.
No! I don't want anything bad to happen to Aunty Anna!
But it's useless. Even with my eyes closed, the lines remain, outlining Aunty Anna's shape.
"Rikka, breathe! Calm yourself! Someone help!!"
I hear Aunty Anna screaming, but I'm too focused on what's happening to me.
Then - a massive headache hits. My consciousness fades as Aunty Anna hugs me.
I hope when I wake up, those lines are gone...
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It's dark.
Where is this? Everything is so dark...
The moment I opened my eyes I could feel I'm on the ground but when I try to feel around me I don't feel anything...
No feeling of the floor, not even a ground I feel nothing but I can touch it like something is below me.
I try to stand up while looking around but I still can't see anything.
It's so dark where am I?
"Aunty Nana? Aunty Ria? Haruto? Akira? Yua?"
I started to walk in a random direction while calling everyone one by one but I didn't hear any answer.
The more I yell and walk the more tears start flowing through my eyes.
It's so scary being alone by yourself in a really dark place where you can't see anything and have no destination.
"EVERYONE I'M SORRY ALRIGHT! STOP WITH THIS PRANK ALREADY!"
"Please stop this!"
After I don't know how long I start to get tired, I stop before I become too thirsty or run out of energy.
"Those kids I will never forgive them if this is just their trick..."
It's so dark and my tears just keep flowing I don't know what to do.
I start to crouch down and weeping there.
"Huh?"
When a miracle appears I can see something glowing not too far from here.
At the distance giant blue line that is so bright it's brightening this entire place.
Unconsciously I start moving my hand toward that giant blue line and I can feel it on the palm of my hand it feels warm.
So without wasting time I stood up and walked toward it.
The closer I are to that my entire body feels so warm and comfortable like that giant blue line welcoming me.
I don't know what that is but I don't care, it feels so comfortable and i do anything to get out of this place.
But suddenly something is blocking my eyesight and hiding the giant blue lines that I have been seeing.
"My~ my~ this is too fast for you my girl."
A mischievous and elegant woman voice comes from behind me.
I have never heard this voice before, also her voice is so different from any voice I've ever heard it's like the voice is the most beautiful voice I have heard.
"Who?"
I tried to turn around but the soft hand closing my eyes wouldn't let me as she just held me from behind.
"Me? I have been called by many different names from many people, but you can call me Lady Ava."
Lady Ava? I never heard of anyone with that name before is she the one that rescued me after my headache?
"Nope I'm not the one that rescued you~ anyway this is a really bad place for conversation."
Lady Ava removing one of her hands that hold close to my eyes and I unconsciously want to open the eye that doesn't get held anymore.
"Ups no peeking~" but her other hand holds close both of my eyes so I can't do that.
"Faraway paradise.
Blossomed hope.
Let us send a fragrant shard.
Surely, it exists yonder..."
What is she saying? She suddenly said some weird stuff but her voice is so beautiful I don't mind if she keeps talking like this.
"Embrace this omen and walk...
Winds of Avalon!"
With those last words I can feel a wind burst around me and then everything starts changing.
I can smell a fragrant smell from a lot of flowers and this soft warm feeling like a sun and the ground feels so soft.
"Now open your eyes." Lady Ava said letting go of her hold.
And the moment I opened my eyes I could see the most beautiful place I have ever seen in my two lives.
In the distance a tall tower can be seen while around me there are so many flowers that decorate this place and right in front of me there is a table and 2 chairs and a parasol for protecting anyone who is sitting there.
"Wow... this is amazing."
I looked around and each place that I see it's filled with land filled with flowers.
"Welcome...." From the side I see the person that has been behind me walked forward.
"To Avalon"
The moment I saw her, everything around me went quiet.
She stepped into view like she didn't belong to this world. Her long white hair flowed behind her, catching the light with a soft shine. making her look even more otherworldly. I couldn't look away.
Her eyes met mine-bright pink, glowing softly. I froze. They weren't cold or harsh. Just... calm. Deep. Like she could see straight through me, yet didn't mean any harm.
I had never seen anyone like her before. Not in books, not in dreams. For a moment, I forgot everything else-even why I was angry.
All I could think was: Who is she?
"My~ if you keep staring at my face I'm gonna get embarrassed you know."
She suddenly starts acting shyly while holding both of her cheeks.
But I can see she doesn't look embarrassed at all...