This was, without a doubt, a serious problem.
Penniless and at a loss, his mind was filled with nothing but that single thought.
"Penniless" wasn't strictly accurate. His wallet was still in his pocket, and aside from having somewhat too many coins and not enough bills, it represented his entire fortune.
He had just enough in his wallet to make a trip to the nearest shopping mall from home, buy a few books, and grab lunch. And yet, "penniless" was the only word that fit.
After all, "Yeah… currency values really are completely different, huh…"
Flicking the ten-yen coin in his hand—the rare "Giza-Ju" with its distinctive serrated edge—the boy let out a long, heavy sigh.
He was an unremarkable boy. Short black hair, average height that was neither tall nor short. His build was slightly muscular, giving him an athletic look when paired with his cheap gray tracksuit.
His sharp, sanpaku eyes were the only distinctive feature, but even those had lost their spark, the corners drooping lifelessly.
He was the kind of thoroughly ordinary person you'd lose in a crowd in an instant.
And yet, the gazes of the people around him were tinged with an unmistakable air of bewilderment, as though they were staring at something exotic.
That was only natural—because not a single one of the people gazing at the boy had "black hair" or was wearing a "tracksuit."
Their hair came in a dazzling array: blond, white, and brown, to say nothing of green and blue. As for their outfits, there were armor, dancer-like costumes, all-black robes, and things that looked far too much like "those."
Battered by waves of indiscreet stares, the boy could only fold his arms and accept the situation.
"So, in other words," he said, snapping his fingers and directing them at the people who turned to look at him, "this is one of those 'summoned to another world' stories."
A massive, lizard-like creature hauled a carriage-like vehicle past him.
* * * Subaru Natsuki was a product of Japan's Heisei-era "yutori" education generation.
His life spanned seventeen years, and it would take a full seventeen years to recount every last detail.
Skipping the details, his current situation could be summed up as: "a third-year high school student who is also a shut-in."
To be more specific: "a hopeless loser who, despite having university entrance exams looming, threw away his parents' expectations and everything else, and retreated into his shell."
There was no particular reason for shutting himself away.
It started on an ordinary weekday, when he casually thought, "I don't feel like getting up today," and acted on his urge to skip.
From there, his unsanctioned absences snowballed, and before he knew it, he had become a proper shut-in who made his mother cry.
He spent entire days gorging on laziness and sinking deeper into the internet, where human contact was nonexistent— "And the result of all that is being summoned to another world… Even saying it myself, I can't make sense of it."
Having reconfirmed his situation, Subaru let out a sigh—he'd lost count of how many that made.
He had moved from the street where he'd been bathing in curious stares and was now sitting in a slightly dim alleyway.
The ground was paved. By modern Japanese standards the work was rough, but it wasn't bad.
"Assuming the current situation is an otherworld fantasy, the civilization is the usual medieval-style setup? I don't see any machinery, and the building materials are almost exclusively stone and wood…"
He organized the information in his mind, recalling the sights he'd seen on his way to the alley.
Thanks to having spent plenty of time daydreaming in the past, his mental preparation for being "summoned to another world" was excellent.
First, stay calm and assess the era's civilization—the differences in clothing, food, and shelter compared to modern Japan. He needed to determine whether physical phenomena differed and whether contact with the "humanoid creatures" inhabiting this world was possible.
"Alright, good, me. Those daydreams weren't for nothing. Civilization level—check. Money doesn't work here—check. I also managed to talk to a shopkeeper, so communication isn't a problem."
The first thing Subaru did upon realizing he'd been summoned was negotiate with a greengrocer. He'd tried to buy one of the "apples?" lined up in front of the shop, only to have his Japanese yen rejected.
From what he'd seen, the currencies of this world appeared to be gold coins, silver coins, copper coins, and the like. The straightforwardness of a world where the coins themselves held value was easy to understand—or rather, very fitting for an otherworld fantasy.
"Well, there'd be counterfeit mixes and shoddy goods. Like if a 500-won coin showed up back home, people would lose their minds."
They'd be way too heavy to carry around, he muttered to himself, as another lizard-drawn carriage passed through the street. Dust billowed into the air, but the pedestrians seemed indifferent, either used to it or simply not caring.
"Still, there seem to be fewer of those than cars. Come to think of it, I haven't seen any dogs or cats either."
The giant lizard pulling the "carriage" was perhaps a size larger than a horse. Its slender build meant its overall mass was probably similar, but seeing a reptile that massive was strikingly surreal.
"Normal… I guess. The lizards. And the people, too."
And then there was the final point he'd confirmed last—the peculiar appearance of the humans in this world.
He could accept the colorful hair. If you dyed it, virtually any hair color was possible, and since this was an otherworld fantasy, that was a given.
What caught his attention was something else entirely—for example, the "beast ears."
At a glance, he'd spotted "dog ears" and "cat ears." There were "bunnies" too, and he thought he'd glimpsed what might have been a "lizardman" here and there.
And yet, there were also people who looked no different from Subaru himself. So the conclusion about all of this was— "The genre is otherworld fantasy. Civilization is typical medieval-style. Demi-humans, check. Probably warfare and adventures too, check. Slight differences in animals, but functionally unchanged—about right."
Having organized all of that, Subaru let out a breath that was longer than a sigh.
Hearing himself describe his situation out loud made him furrow his brow at how conveniently everything lined up.
If things played out the way his daydream scenarios predicted, he should be about to deploy his modern knowledge and pull off an overpowered protagonist routine. But the world he'd landed in was subtly different from the kind where that knowledge would be useful.
"My simulation for if I'd been sent to the Sengoku period was perfect, though… If I'd been dropped into the Sengoku era, I'd have had Nobunaga conquer the whole country."
In an otherworld fantasy, the most useful knowledge he could leverage was probably the formula for black powder.
Even that might be meaningless depending on this world's level of civilization. If "magic"—a staple of otherworld fantasies—existed here, then gunpowder would be little more than a firework gimmick.
"Well, the rule that magic isn't omnipotent is its own kind of convention. If there's a chance I can contribute to the development of science or something, I'll give it my all… But the immediate problem is—"
He had no idea why he'd been summoned or what purpose he was supposed to serve.
He remembered everything clearly before the summoning. He'd left the house for the first time in a while and was on his way home from the convenience store with a cup of instant ramen for a late-night snack. He hadn't felt like riding his bike, so he'd walked.
And on the way, he'd happened to glance up at the night sky and thought, "Tonight's almost a full moon."
Then he'd looked back down and blinked—and it was daytime.
From night to day in an instant.
He'd known right away that something was wrong. That was all he'd known, though.
Now he was calm, but his panic immediately after had been the sort of pathetic display that should be passed down for generations.
"Well, being the eldest son with a missing person's report would be bad enough without all the generational shame…"
Muttering, Subaru checked his belongings once more.
In an otherworld fantasy, initial equipment was more important than you'd expect. Right now, the fact that even the thinnest thread still connected him to home mattered.
His phone (nearly out of battery), his wallet (crammed with rental video store membership cards), the cup of instant ramen he'd bought at the convenience store (pork bone soy sauce flavor), a bag of snacks (corn potage flavor), the gray tracksuit he was fond of (unwashed), and a pair of well-worn sneakers (two years old). That was everything.
"I'm done for… Why didn't I at least bring a gun? What am I supposed to do?"
The only useful thing was probably the snacks—at least they'd fill his stomach. That would save him from minor hunger pangs, and that was that.
"The situation is hopeless. And as I suspected, the cause is unknown. I don't remember walking through a mirror or falling into a pond. And above all—if this is a summoning, where's the beautiful girl who summoned me?"
The main heroine's absence, in a manner of speaking. From a 2D perspective, this was an unforgivable dereliction of duty.
To be summoned and then left purposeless with no explanation—it was like being used and tossed aside.
In reality, Subaru, having finished confirming his situation, could do nothing but slump in defeat, unable to even escape into denial.
"Seriously, give me a break. What do you want me to do?"
Whimpers and complaints spilled out, and it looked like he might break down already. He wanted to go home—that was all he could think about.
Daydreams were fine as daydreams. Being summoned to another world was only fun when you were dominating from the comfort of your imagination. When you were actually thrown in, all you could do was shrink back in fear.
"For now, survival is the priority, but… can someone with a social skill level of one even manage that?"
Apart from his family, the only person he'd had a proper conversation with in the past year was a convenience store clerk. He'd been living like that for nearly a year. He'd long since forgotten how to gauge the proper distance between people.
"I can type in a chat at the same speed as I talk…"
Subaru wiggled his fingers as he fretted about the future.
Then, his expression changed. The reason was a sound.
Footsteps suddenly echoed through the alley. He looked toward the entrance—three men stood there, blocking the way out.