The Awakening

  The last sound I heard was the dry sound of a gunshot. A needle of fire pierced my back. The darkness didn't envelop me, it devoured me. I died alone, on a street, a victim of a random mugging. My life wasn't extraordinary – I worked hard as a deliveryman, lived alone in a tiny apartment, and carried a loneliness that seemed endless. Now, it's all over…

  — I failed. I didn't even have time to react. Is this how my story ends? Weak and alone.

  Or so I thought.

  When I opened my eyes again, I wasn't in a hospital or some kind of heaven. I was in a spacious room.

  Sunlight streamed softly through a window. I tried to get up, but my body didn't respond as it should.

  What… Where am I? This isn't a hospital.

  Had I reincarnated?

  After my vision adjusted, I noticed two people. The man sitting next to me, he was somewhat mysterious, with the posture of an important person.

  Beside him was a woman, dressed in light clothing, murmuring something.

  For some reason, I couldn't understand their murmuring.

  Who are you? I thought.

  They both seemed to be the same age. The man to my right had dark brown hair and was wearing something like a black robe.

  The woman on my left had a stubborn and restless appearance; her hair was messy and also brown.

  The woman looked at me, smiled, and said something to the man. As always, I didn't understand anything.

  I was quite confused and tried to stand up to talk, but I didn't have the strength to get up; I probably lost some movement after the gunshot wound.

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  I tried to say something to communicate. But somehow, all I managed to express was:

  "— Waah! Waah!"

  I was in a state of near despair, almost certain I'd been reincarnated.

  I might have lost my speech after the gunshot.

  Did someone come to save me? — I wondered.

  I couldn't move my body, only my hands and feet. I tried to sit up but couldn't.

  This is all too strange, one minute I'm shot and the next there are two idiots talking in a language I don't understand — The woman interrupted my thoughts, picking me up. That was absurd! How could a woman of that size manage to lift me out of bed?

  In the woman's arms, I took in the room around me, with stone walls adorned with paintings depicting epic battle scenes and mythical creatures.

  I was excited.

  In the paintings, there was a man dressed in armor holding a sword pointed at the neck of something. I couldn't identify what it was, but it wasn't human.

  That scene reminded me of RPG games I used to play.

  During the day I kept thinking about what the future held, since I had reincarnated I would have to make the most of this second chance.

  This time I'll make it worthwhile!

  About a month later I was sure I had reincarnated. It wasn't such a bad thing; my life was hell, I worked every day of the week and when I got home there was no one to greet me.

  The people who were around me when I was born into this world were actually my parents. I was a little worried because they were quite awkward for the owners of the house. I don't know their age, but they were probably between 20 and 30 years old, that was my guess.

  Everything here was different, nobody had Japanese or other continental features, and they even spoke a strange language. Here everything was rustic and rural, which was very strange to me, I came from the technological age, unlike here, we didn't even have electricity.

  Apparently I was the only child of my "parents," which was a good thing. In the house, it's just me and my new "parents."

  During the days, I did nothing but sleep and try to move around; it was endless boredom.

  When can a baby walk or at least crawl?

  About six months passed.

  With those six months, I started to understand some words. There was one specific word that always referred to me: Kaelen.

  During those months, I struggled with the confusion of people calling me by a name that wasn't mine. Everything remained very strange and tedious, but there was one good thing.

  I was already able to move, a little, but I could.

  As time went on, I discovered that my parents are very active. My new "mom" practiced fencing, which was very strange; I had never seen anyone practice fencing in my past life.

  Was I born in the Middle Ages?

  My new "father" had a strange habit; he would sit outside the house at night. I could never see what he was doing; I couldn't stand up yet. I only saw him sitting there often because of my "mother," who would take me to the window a few times.

  I spent days crawling around the house. I discovered that we really are in the Middle Ages, but I didn't know where I had reincarnated. Could it be?