The memories suddenly came back.
Without warning, memories that were not mine invaded me.
Born and raised in Japan. A man. It seems I was about twenty years old. I was working and single. Just an ordinary man somewhere.
The last memory was vivid in my mind. A large amount of blood spread over the asphalt, surrounded by onlookers.
I felt a burning pain all over my body, unable to move. A truck crashed into a pole and a high school student panicked nearby.
Yes, I was coming back from work that day.
I saw a high school student about to be run over by a truck, and I immediately jumped on the road to save him. While I was able to save him, I was the one who was hit instead.
Logically, doesn’t that mean I’m dead?
Or maybe I miraculously survived and I’m in the hospital now.
After what happened, it would be a lie to say that I have no regrets.
I’m really too kind. I have always been that way in my life. Whenever I try to help someone, I end up suffering some kind of misfortune. Even at that moment my life was not enviable. So the moment my consciousness began to fade, I thought.
I will stop being a good person. I will never be someone else’s replacement again.
“Huh?”
When I suddenly stood up, I felt a pain in the back of my head.
When I touched my right hand, I found some blood.
In front of me, three carelessly dressed teenagers looked at me with disdain.
“Do you understand? Even though you’re younger, you’re getting too arrogant.”
“…?”
“I know very well. Your father doesn’t care about you, right? Even though you are a wizard, your magical ability is scarce. You don’t have any talent, right?”
A burly man with an annoyingly self-confident expression in the middle laughs along with his two friends.
“Who is this guy?”
Wait, I remember this guy.
Of course you do. He’s Pick, a guy who lives near the town. And the two next to him are Nugui and Pata.
These guys are very annoying, always trying to provoke me every time we cross paths.
We ran into each other on the way to the city, and as expected, they accused me of something for no reason and beat me up. The pain in the back of my head is probably from hitting a rock when I fell.
What is this memory? There’s another me in my head, and it’s starting to worry me.
For now, I want to organize the information slowly. But they are a nuisance. I have to get rid of it somehow.
“Hey, could you leave me alone today? I don’t think it’s fun to beat up someone like me.”
“What did you just say, scum? You’re just a commoner, don’t think you have the right to resist.”
“Rock wall!”
As if in response to my call, a three meter high rock wall appeared from the ground.
“I–It’s magic…”
On the other side of the wall, Pick sat on the ground and looked up. The other two guys were also disturbed and pale.
Did I do this? Is it my magic at work?
Yes, that must be magic. Defensive magic with an earth attribute.
“Hey, let’s get out of here, I forgot, but this guy is the third son of the Starfield family.”
“It’s true, my dad always said those guys were monsters.”
Monsters, huh? If that frightens them, it’s very convenient.
The rock wall turned to sandy dust and crumbled. I smiled maliciously and held out my right hand.
“The next one will be an attack spell. Shall I crush you with rocks?”
“Ah, a-ahhh!”
The three guys fled screaming. After watching them go, I lowered my right hand.
“To be honest, I wasn’t sure if this would work.”
I muttered as I repeatedly opened and closed my right hand.
I have rather small hands. And this world seems so big.
My body also seems to have shrunk. In fact, it looks like a child’s body.
I leaned over a puddle on the ground.
An extremely young face was reflected on the surface of the water.
With black hair and a different appearance than before. I would probably be about five years old.
Am I dead?
Yes. There’s no way I could have survived that, so I must have died. And then I was reincarnated.
So I guess when I fell and hit my head, that was when I got my memories back. At the moment, that seems to be the most plausible explanation.
“Gradually, but surely, the consciousness of my past life and my present life merged, as if the consciousness of my past life was being absorbed into me.
Soon after, the integration of consciousness and memory came to an end.
“My name is Will Starfield. I am the third son of the Marquis of the Kingdom of Leticia. It’s a strange feeling, is this really my current self?
I never thought that I would be reincarnated in another world. I thought it only happened in light novels. Besides, living in a world where magic exists makes me very curious and adventurous. I am a child, after all.
Still, there’s something familiar about my face.
And this name, Leticia, rings a bell. I have the feeling I’ve heard it before in my past life.
A novel? No, it’s not a manga either. Maybe… A video game?
Suddenly there was a flash in my mind.
I remembered it clearly.
At the same time, I realized a shocking truth that sent shivers down my entire body.
Not too long ago, I was immersed in a certain console game.
This game is known as a supreme game, an RPG that is still very popular after several years and has received major downloadable content updates.
The name of the game is Star Brave Fantasy.
It’s the story of a talented protagonist of common origin who challenges powerful enemies together with his friends.
There are countless memorable scenes in the game, but there is one particular scene that cannot be mentioned without tears.
A close friend from the beginning of the game sacrifices himself in the most brutal way to protect the protagonist.
The protagonist, determined not to let his friend die, brings him back, but unfortunately he wasn’t strong enough.
The name of this friend is Will Starfield, who is me in the present.
“I–It’s impossible. Are you saying that I was reincarnated as the protagonist’s friend? The supporting character who dies protecting the protagonist? To die at the age of fifteen?”
Inevitable death awaits.
“Star Brave Fantasy” is a one-rute game. There is no survival path. In addition, Will’s death is a significant and fixed event that serves as a turning point for the protagonist’s awakening.
That’s a bit of an exaggeration, isn’t it? That’s what I thought about reincarnation.
I’m not guaranteed to be reincarnated in the future. There’s a possibility that everything will end here. Even if I can reincarnate, there’s no guarantee that I can get my memories back. No guarantee at all.
Think about it, how can I avoid the event of death?
“I won’t tolerate being the friend of the protagonist who is destined to die. I just want to live a common life and reach the end of my hope. Can’t even this humble wish be fulfilled? No, I will never allow or accept it.
If I use all my knowledge of the video game, I can certainly change my fate. I will definitely survive.
If anyone can do it, it’s me, who has completed all the elements of the game and even read the reference materials.
I still have 10 years to prepare for my cruel fate.
