There are things you realize only after losing them.
Like the regret for a lost lover, or the longing for parents who have passed away.
The emotions that come creeping in after something is gone often make one wonder why they didn’t notice before, filling the heart with a sense of heaviness.
For me, it was the nostalgia for my hometown.
Now, don’t get it twisted; my hometown didn’t just up and vanish into thin air.
I wasn’t caught in some movie-like story about becoming a stateless person due to a sudden civil war sparked by the country one day.
Nor was my homeland suddenly annexed by an invading country.
It was just that I had drifted too far from home, to a place I could never return to.
Living a mundane life, I met an equally mundane death.
My soul left my body, never to return to the world I once knew.
But hey, they say life is full of surprises.
Having never believed in religion nor the afterlife, I found myself questioning my consciousness that lingered even after death.
Finally, I realized I had ended up in a completely different world from my hometown.
In other words, I had experienced isekai reincarnation. Can you believe it?
…Man, saying that out loud is pretty embarrassing.
But what can I do? It’s the truth that I ended up in another world, and I can’t think of a word better than “isekai reincarnation” to explain this phenomenon to others.
Maybe some renowned scholar could twist it into fancy terminology, but, honestly, my education isn’t that high, and I don’t know any better way to say it.
And to be blunt, I doubt those smart folks could label this phenomenon with something truly impressive…
Anyway, back to my original story.
Though I have taken on a form far different from my previous life, I found myself reincarnated in another world――
…Wait, never mind. It’s probably best to gloss over this part.
Thinking about it, recounting my old tales would only lead to something as cliché as a third-rate web novel.
You know, the typical plot where someone reincarnates in another world, goes on unexpected adventures, experiences epic events, saves the world, and all that jazz—it’s so predictable and boring you could pick it out by just reading the first ten lines.
Still, if I skip the whole story, you won’t understand what I’m about to share, so let me summarize my past experiences—
I had a royal and happy ending in a fantasy world, but just like how clean endings in literary works sometimes start off with less than appealing sequels, I too ended up leaving everything I built in my second hometown behind and began traversing different dimensions.
Even after a long time, I was still caught up in this same nonsense.
But how could this have happened?
Falling into a fantasy world should be something that many would welcome with open arms.
Sure, if it were a dark fantasy or a reality-based fantasy, it wouldn’t be a fun life at all.
At the very least, the world I reincarnated into wasn’t so perilous, allowing me to enjoy a rather decent fantasy life.
In fact, I even became quite famous by the end and built a sturdy foundation that ensured I wouldn’t have to worry about food.
So why on earth would I throw away that life to hop between dimensions? It seems pretty daft, right?
And shockingly enough, I’m the very fool who made this dumb choice.
The reason?
Well, there are various reasons, but the most important one would be nostalgia for my hometown.
Isn’t that a bit of a lie, though?
After all the grumbling about living a pathetic life, now I’m saying I miss my hometown?
I can’t help but ask myself that.
Even though I had long-time comrades behind me, achievements built over a lifetime, and wealth and honor I could never have imagined in my previous life,
there were times I would intensely miss the scenery from my hometown as well as my old friends and family from school who would always manage to find time for a drink even after becoming adults.
And realizing I left without giving a proper farewell to those memories, I set out once again on an adventure, feeling a strong desire to at least check in on my hometown.
Honestly, I didn’t think it was such a foolish idea.
I wasn’t making some grand proclamation or embarking on a pilgrimage from faraway lands or anything.
I just intended to find a way back to my hometown dimension and felt lonely from time to time, so I wanted to return to the place where people were waiting for me.
Yeah, that’s what I thought.
But then, awkwardly, complications from adventures across different dimensions and my shattered sense of time came together,
and when I finally managed to return to that place, I found out that so much time had passed that the world was already collapsing.
A conclusion that was utterly void of excitement or emotion—it was simply empty.
Now, all I’m left with is the task of somehow finding my hometown dimension.
To be clear, my hopes for my hometown have long since fizzled out.
The dimension that had become my second hometown has also perished, so expecting my hometown to still be in one piece seems overly greedy.
And honestly, I doubt I would get all emotional meeting my old friends and parents again now that I’ve got this body.
Yet, the reason I continue this stupid venture is simple.
Sure, I’d spent a hefty price on my sunk costs in finding my hometown,
but more than that, I just couldn’t settle down in any of the other dimensions.
Naturally, unlike what countless anime show, the common language in all those dimensions isn’t Japanese.
In fact, there isn’t even a convenient common language, which led to enormous communication barriers.
Each dimension has vastly different life forms, customs, societies, and cultures, with no guarantee they share similar values as mine.
Most importantly, even finding beings that resemble humans was not an easy task; sets me up for failure, not to mention making friends.
In that sense, you could argue it was quite the extraordinary coincidence that I ended up reincarnated in such a world.
But what can I say? I already kicked that opportunity to have a friendly and familiar world to the curb.
So, if you’re wondering why I’m going on about regret like some old fool before dying,
it’s because when people finally achieve something they’ve long wished for, they want to share just how hard it was to get there, whether by intention or by chance.
People sharing familiar forms and languages.
Familiar attire and concrete buildings made with familiar architectural styles.
That’s it.
After long efforts resembling someone searching for a needle in a desert,
I finally found my hometown dimension among countless dimensions that sparkle like stars.
Honestly, earlier I pretended it wouldn’t be that moving, but stepping onto my hometown land stirred something deep within my chest—it’s simply human nature, isn’t it?
Surely, it’s normal to feel comfort upon returning to the place where one was originally born, barring any bitter feelings directed at it.
Even if nobody waved at me, it makes sense that I would feel glad to see the familiar scenery.
――Yeah, I ought to have felt that way.
―Click!
So why, upon returning to my hometown, am I surrounded by countless people and facing down the barrel of guns?
“Uh, wait a minute.”
The eerie sound of a trigger being pulled and a bullet loading into the chamber.
Even after a long time, the sounds from my past two years of experience made me realize what it meant, and I instinctively raised both hands above my head, while frozen in disbelief, my eyes darting side to side.
It seemed my long-awaited return to my hometown was met with a rather aggressive welcome.
👀👀