Chapter 2: Life in a dangerous world

Toka could hear voices.

Numerous voices surrounded him, all strange and unfamiliar. He couldn’t understand a single word they were saying, much less make sense of their conversations. However, judging by their cheerful tones, they seemed to be in high spirits.

Something felt terribly wrong.

His entire body was wet and slippery, as though he had just been pulled out of some sticky liquid. The sensation was extremely uncomfortable.

Before he could make sense of what was happening, his mouth suddenly opened on its own.

And then...

He began to cry.

"Muahh! Muahh!"

’Huh? Why am I crying?’

Confused, he struggled to open his eyes. The moment his vision cleared, he found himself staring at several enormous figures surrounding him.

His eyes widened.

For a brief moment, he thought he was surrounded by giants.

But no.

They weren’t giants.

He was simply... different.

His body was tiny, his limbs ridiculously short, and his entire frame was so fragile that even moving felt like a struggle.

He was a baby!

A newborn, to be precise.

A woman who appeared to be a wet nurse held him in her arms. She wore a cheerful smile as she spoke in the strange language before turning around and carefully handing him over to another woman.

The second woman immediately embraced him with a bright, loving smile.

She looked exhausted, her face slightly pale, but there was no hiding the happiness in her eyes.

She was undoubtedly his mother.

Toka’s eyes widened even further.

And then, he began crying louder.

"MUAAAHH! MUAAAHH!"

His sudden outburst startled the woman, who quickly called for the wet nurse.

With a worried expression, his mother spoke a few incomprehensible words while looking down at him, seemingly trying to figure out what was wrong with her newborn child.

The wet nurse hurried over and took him back into her arms.

’W-Wait! What’s going on?!’

Toka’s mind was in complete disarray.

’How... How the hell did this happen?’

He blinked repeatedly, desperately hoping to wake up from whatever bizarre dream he was having.

But nothing changed.

The strange surroundings remained.

The unfamiliar faces remained.

And, most importantly, his tiny, helpless body remained.

’I... I reincarnated?!’

The realization struck him like a thunderbolt.

’How? Why?!’

The wet nurse gently patted his back, humming what he assumed was a lullaby. She seemed convinced that a little soothing would calm him down.

Unfortunately, Toka had other ideas.

With an angry yelp, he kicked her fingers with his tiny, surprisingly nimble feet and continued wailing.

’UNHAND ME, WOMAN!’

But the wet nurse paid no attention to his protest.

She simply continued patting his back and humming her lullaby.

Toka tried to resist.

He really did.

However, his new body was far too weak to put up any meaningful resistance. Gradually, the warmth of the woman’s embrace, combined with the rhythmic pats and soothing melody, began to take its toll.

His eyelids grew heavy.

His cries gradually weakened.

And before long, he found himself drifting into a deep sleep.

Five Years Later

Toka was now five years old.

Or rather, Aaron, as he was known in this new world.

It had been approximately five years and six months since his unexpected reincarnation, and he had more or less come to terms with his new reality.

In fact, he had already familiarized himself with his new surroundings, his family, and most of the customs of this strange world.

By the time he was two, he had developed a perfect understanding of the language spoken here. His learning ability was surprisingly impressive, and he could now read most of the books that came his way.

He had gone through quite a number of them, enough to establish one undeniable fact.

He was no longer on Earth. Not even close.

There were no cars, no airplanes, no mobile phones, and...

No video games!

THERE WERE NO VIDEO GAMES!

It was, without a doubt, one of the most devastating discoveries he had made since his reincarnation.

He wasn’t particularly skilled at playing games himself, but that had never stopped him from enjoying them. Back on Earth, he had always loved watching his friends play, offering suggestions, pointing out mistakes, and occasionally recommending a few combination moves.

Watching other people play video games had been his favorite way to relax.

Now, that simple pleasure had been snatched away from him.

What a cruel world!

Apart from that unfortunate discovery, the world itself wasn’t particularly difficult to understand.

At least, not on the surface.

Its general appearance reminded him of the countryside back on Earth. Most of the surroundings were relatively primitive, with wooden houses, open fields, and a lifestyle that seemed to belong to a much earlier period in human history.

Still, he had plenty of time to explore and learn more about it.

For now, he had something far more interesting to occupy his attention.

"Aaron! Get off that window!"

A familiar, alarmed voice suddenly rang out behind him.

Aaron’s thoughts were interrupted.

He turned slightly, only to find his mother staring at him with a disapproving expression.

With a slight frown, he rolled his eyes.

"Just a minute, Mom. I’m not gonna fall."

He had become so engrossed in his thoughts about the structure of this new world that he had almost forgotten why he had climbed onto the window ledge in the first place.

It wasn’t for sightseeing.

He was there to watch his older stepbrother spar with their father.

Aaron had an older stepbrother and an older sister.

His mother had entered the household as his father’s mistress after his stepmother had given birth to his stepbrother. A year later, she gave birth to his older sister, and he came two years after that.

As a result, his stepbrother was three years older than him, while his sister was two years older.

That made him the youngest child in the household.

Returning his attention to the sparring session outside, Aaron watched as his stepbrother effortlessly evaded another strike from their father.

The boy moved with remarkable precision, his small frame shifting just enough to avoid each incoming attack.

Aaron couldn’t help but whistle in admiration.

’He’s only eight, but he’s already stronger than Soran.’

That wasn’t an exaggeration.

From his observations over the past five years, people in this world seemed to possess considerably better physical abilities than the average person on Earth.

Even children displayed a level of physical development that would have been unusual back in his previous world.

And his stepbrother was an especially ridiculous example.

"I said get off that window!"

His mother’s voice snapped him out of his thoughts again.

Aaron sighed loudly.

’What a nagging woman.’

Nevertheless, he jumped down from the window ledge and turned to face her.

His mother stared at him for a moment, seemingly contemplating whether to scold him further. Eventually, she suppressed her irritation and spoke in an exasperated voice.

"Your father is calling for you. It’s... It’s your turn."

Aaron gave her a silent nod and began walking towards the door.

He had barely taken a few steps when her voice suddenly stopped him.

"Sweetheart."

Aaron paused and glanced over his shoulder.

He knew his mother well enough to recognize that particular tone.

She only called him sweetheart when she wanted something from him.

Sure enough, she hesitated for a moment before speaking in a pleading whisper.

"Ple-Please, hold back against your sister."

Aaron stared at her back.

There was a brief silence before he gave her an understanding nod.

"I will."

With that, he turned around and left the room.

Unlike his older stepbrother, who was practically an unstoppable prodigy in combat, his sister was...

Well, average would have been a generous description.

Aaron himself wasn’t particularly outstanding compared to his stepbrother. In fact, he had never been able to match the boy’s ridiculous rate of growth.

However, when it came to his sister, the difference was quite another matter.

Despite being two years younger, Aaron was considerably stronger than her.

Their father had always maintained that they came from a lineage of fighters. According to him, Aaron’s growth was within expectations, his stepbrother’s talent was an abnormality that appeared once in a generation, while his sister’s progress was simply disappointing.

He had never hidden his dissatisfaction with her performance.

And because of that, he had made a habit of pairing her against her younger brother every day, hoping the repeated sparring sessions would help her improve.

Unfortunately, things hadn’t gone as he had hoped.

Rather than becoming stronger, Aaron’s sister had gradually developed an aversion to combat.

She had begun dreading their daily training sessions and would often look for excuses to avoid them.

Today appeared to be no different.

By the time Aaron arrived at the abandoned garden behind their wooden house, he was greeted by the sight of his older sister standing awkwardly in the middle of the open space.

She was a slender girl with dark hair. Her foot tapped nervously against the ground while her hands fidgeted incessantly in front of her.

Every now and then, her eyes wandered towards the garden entrance, as though she were desperately searching for an opportunity to escape.

Unfortunately, the stern gaze of their father, who stood nearby with his arms folded, made even the thought of running away seem impossible.

She was practically trapped.

However, the moment her eyes landed on Aaron, her expression changed.

Her eyes lit up.

Without the slightest hesitation, she dashed towards him and wrapped both arms tightly around his little body.

"Ple-Please, I don’t want to fight!"

Her voice trembled as she buried her face against him.

"Hel-Help me tell Father!"

Aaron looked down at his sister.

He could practically feel her desperation through the tightness of her embrace.

’Here we go again...’