I woke up slowly—not to noise, nor to anyone's voice, but to the fading end of a beautiful dream.
I had seen them... my family.
Their faces, their laughter, the warmth of their voices...
But everything vanished with the first blink of an eye.
I stared at the cracked ceiling above me and whispered to myself:
"This is reality... there's no going back now."
I sat silently on the wooden bed, took a deep breath, then began preparing for another day. I washed my face at the small sink, did my best to tidy up my worn clothes, and gathered my few belongings.
I left the inn, heading to work. The air was calm, and the village was still slowly waking up from sleep.
In front of the shop, I saw the shopkeeper sweeping the front steps.
"Good morning," he said with his usual smile.
I returned a faint smile. "Morning."
He glanced at me and asked in a cheerful tone,
"How was your day off? Did you do anything special?"
I hesitated for a moment, then answered simply,
"Nothing special... I found a better place to sleep than the forest."
He chuckled. "Good choice—sleeping on a bed beats the ground any day."
I gave him a polite smile, then started my usual tasks—carrying, sorting, cleaning... everything moving at its familiar pace.
But around midday, during a short break behind the shop, I overheard a group of young men chatting loudly.
"Did you hear? Even regular folks with no powers eventually awaken a unique ability after a few days in this world!"
"No way."
"Seriously! One guy I know suddenly gained the power to touch anything and know its full history."
One of them laughed mockingly.
"Guess he touched his shoes and found out they're cheap!"
I smiled silently. A faint, soundless laugh crept onto my face.
How could an ordinary person suddenly get a superpower?
What kind of world believes in such absurdities?
Or maybe... I'm the absurd one here.
I went back to work, but their words kept echoing in my mind like a distant hum.
I tried to ignore it—but something had already taken root in me.
A tiny seed of doubt.
Or maybe... curiosity.
...
At the end of the day, while leaving the shop, a group of people passed by.
They wore clean, neat clothes. They looked ordinary—neither strong nor wealthy—but their appearance said one clear thing:
"We belong here."
I paused, looked down at my wrinkled shirt, my worn-out pants, and shoes that looked like they'd survived two world wars.
I muttered:
"Maybe... it's time."
For the first time since I arrived in this world, I felt the need to buy new clothes.
Not to look impressive—just to stop feeling like I didn't belong.
Was it a small step? Yes.
But for me...
It was the beginning of something much bigger.