Ever since waking up and sensing that something was wrong, then numbing himself through housecleaning, and subsequently joining a strange company and attending a welcome banquet, only after everyone left did Shirou feel an indescribable emotion.
Was it loneliness? He did not know.
Looking at the palm of his right hand, Shirou said softly: Trace on
Lines like a circuit surfaced, spreading from his right hand up Shirou's right arm, and then to his neck and cheeks.
Shirou's consciousness was interrupted.
His entire person felt as though he were sinking into the vast ocean.
"Ah, that really is just like you."
He spoke while gazing at the setting sun in the distance.
Sinking.
"Is your weapon inventory still sufficient, King of Heroes?"
He was in a world filled with countless planted swords, raising his sword to point at a golden fellow and speaking.
Sinking.
"It's going to be a bit painful, so you must grit your teeth and endure it!"
He raised a left hand that clearly was not his own, gripping a bizarrely shaped sword, his body pierced by many swords coming from within, yet he still ran resolutely toward the young girl before him.
Sinking.
"What kind of scenery does this look like to you? To me, this world containing countless swords is nothing more than a graveyard."
Standing in the midst of a snowy plain stuck full of swords, he asked a female wearing golden armor.
Sinking.
"Hey, this isn't a place you should be coming to right now."
A deep, masculine voice said, and subsequently a strip of red cloth wrapped around his hand, pulling him back up.
Lying in the bathtub, he regained consciousness and hurriedly sat up.
"Cough cough... cough cough cough..."
After catching his breath, Shirou looked at the Holy Shroud gripped in his right hand, still shaken.
"What were those things just now?"
Shirou let out a long breath, then got up and left the bathtub.
He changed his clothes and sat on the bed.
Placing the Holy Shroud flat before him, Shirou sorted through the strangely familiar scenes he had just witnessed.
He understood the theory of parallel worlds, because that fellow—namely the existence who walked to the end of his ideal as Shirou Emiya—was an existence identical to yet different from him.
Their essence was both Shirou Emiya, differing only in the events they encountered and the choices they made.
Yet the problem now was, why did he have these memories?
"If I want to confirm this, is the only way to do it again?"
Shirou looked at his right hand, pondering whether to do it once more.
After hesitating for a moment, Shirou placed his hand on the Holy Shroud and concentrated his spirit.
"Trace on!"
Magic circuits surfaced on his right arm and cheek, crackling and hissing.
Shirou's consciousness was not interrupted this time, but he could clearly feel the circuits being squeezed. Stabbing pains stimulated Shirou's body and consciousness.
Shirou endured it without crying out, sweat dripping continuously.
He had a hunch that as long as he weathered this period of time, there would no longer be such problems afterward.
The magic circuits resembling electrical wiring had already spread all over his body, and the pain grew increasingly intense.
"Just bear with it a little longer..."
Shirou gritted his teeth and strongly endured, and he saw that the lines presented by the magic circuits reached a certain point before rapidly retreating, the pain on Shirou's body instantly vanishing as well.
He broke out in a cold sweat, but the pain throughout his body left him unable to get out of bed to wash up, so he could only lie limply on the bed staring at the ceiling.
The instant the circuits retreated, some strange things appeared in his mind.
It was a bit difficult to describe, but it seemed as though he could choose those things.
Adjusting his lying posture, Shirou sank his consciousness inward.
He looked at the doors in front of him, which were respectively gold, red, purple, and black.
After thinking for a moment, Shirou pushed open the golden door.
For no particularly special reason, simply because it was closer.
Once pushed open, a portion of memories flooded into his mind.
The earlier part of the memories matched up; the faces and names of people he had forgotten also found their answers here.
Then on that night, he was drawn into a ritual called the Holy Grail War, summoning Saber at death's door.
Afterward, the two of them engaged in numerous battles, and he also obtained the correct method of using his magecraft from Archer.
In the end, he had Saber destroy the Holy Grail, and the other party vanished after destroying it, matching the fragment of memory he had just seen where he spoke while gazing at the setting sun in the distance.
That place was originally where Saber stood...
Afterwards was the ordinary daily life, watching Illya and Taiga exchange banter, Shirou smiled as he watched the two of them arguing with each other, and then his consciousness was forcibly withdrawn.
After being withdrawn, Shirou woke up directly in bed rather than continuing to stay in that space.
He was now unable to enter even if he wanted to, as though everything he had just experienced was merely a dream.
Yet the memory fragments he had seen earlier were all retained.
"Not a user, but a creator?" Shirou felt this phrase was extremely familiar; it seemed someone had once said something similar to him.
Shirou clenched his hands tightly, not immediately using magecraft.
After all, his body felt as though it were protesting, aching all over.
At a time like this, he ought to rest moderately. In the past, he might have stubbornly pushed through to practice, but that would not do now. He was a stranger in a strange land here, and neither could he trouble others.
Although aching, it was merely the extent of overexertion, not yet reaching the point where he could not get out of bed.
Shirou stretched a bit beside the bed and went to the living room, discovering several books placed on the table, alongside a small stack of cash and two cards. A note was stuck on top of the cash: "Deducted from your future salary, spend it freely."
Shirou looked at those cards; one was his proof of identity in Lungmen, and the other was an employment pass for Penguin Logistics, with the portrait photo taken last night.
Putting the cards and cash away into the room's cabinet and washing up simply, Shirou grabbed a cup of water and yesterday's leftover bread as breakfast, then began to absorb the knowledge of this world.
05 I hope reality is as wonderful as imagination
Shirou opened a very simple picture book in his hand, which taught children how to distinguish various common races.
Upon opening it, Shirou discovered a problem: the script was not one he was familiar with, but rather a script he had never seen before, yet he could still read it.
Closing the book, Shirou wanted to try writing the text directly, but discovered he could not recall how that character should be written.
Opening the book again, the moment he saw the characters he knew how they should be read.
"What's going on? This feeling of having knowledge crammed in like this is... is it the Holy Grail?"
Try as he might, Shirou could not figure out why this would happen, ultimately thinking of the fact that Servants were endowed with modern knowledge in the Holy Grail War.
Thinking of this, Shirou opened the book, finished reading a paragraph, and roughly understood one matter.
Which was that he only possessed knowledge regarding the written script, while all other knowledge seemed absent.
"At least give it all to me at once!" Shirou scratched his head. He had thought he could save time reading books to do other things, but now it seemed he still had to obediently study.
Still, having knowledge of the script was good; at least it could omit the troublesome matter of learning the writing system, as learning languages happened to be his weak point.
Finishing the picture book in his hand, and bridging the gap by utilizing animals he knew that were similar, he quickly learned of several common races.
Such as the people of Penguin Logistics and others.
Exusiai was a Sarkaz, whose characteristic was the halo above her head. She was rumored to be exceptionally fond of sweets, and every Sarkaz was a dab hand at making desserts.
As for Croissant, she was a Dolypod, characterized by the pair of horns on her head and that whip-like tail behind her, most of whom appeared to have quite outstanding stamina.
Sora and Texas were Lupo, commonly known as wolves, characterized by the ears and tail on their heads; their sense of smell and hearing were relatively acute.
What required attention, however, was that people frequently confused Lupo and Perro; the distinction could be told apart from the ears and tail, though Shirou was currently still not very capable of telling them apart. He remembered that both of them were Lupo simply because several people had briefly explained their races yesterday.
As for Emperor, namely his new boss, he seemed to belong to the Ancients.
The Ancients were slightly more complex; described using Shirou's memories, they ought to be the kind of beastmen commonly seen in games.
Shirou closed the book, pondering meticulously over a few points of knowledge within it, then got up and placed all the books onto the bookshelf, putting the picture book slightly to one side to indicate that he had already read it.
Dong dong dong, the door was knocked upon, followed by Exusiai's voice.
"If no one's there, I'm opening the door, y'know."
Subsequently the door was pushed open. From the knocking to the door opening took no more than three seconds—not even enough time for Shirou to react.
"Ah, you're awake. We're taking you out for a stroll on the street, to get you familiar with the neighborhood and incidentally see what you need to buy."
Exusiai was wearing casual clothes, and Texas outside the door was also dressed in casual wear, except that black trench coat added quite a bit of... underworld feel?
However, that was somewhat impolite, so Shirou hurriedly banished this thought from his mind.
"Then wait for me a moment, come on in and sit down."
Shirou invited the two of them inside to sit, poured two cups of instant coffee, and remembering Exusiai's race, poured a bit of tumor milk and sugar in; Texas's cup also had a bit of tumor milk added.
Tumor milk was largely similar to the cow's milk Shirou was familiar with, except it was called tumor milk here. For some reason, when Shirou saw this designation, it made him think of some bizarrely shaped things.
"Thanks. Remember to sort out a list of things to buy."
Exusiai accepted the coffee handed over by Shirou, her eyes lighting up after taking a sip.
Texas also accepted the coffee, nodded slightly, and took a small sip.
A faint milky taste, not bad, much better than the one Exusiai brewed.
Shirou walked into his room and changed into his original set of clothes—the ones washed last night, thanks to the dryer function. Although Texas had helped him buy clothes, those were more like loungewear; it was better to change into another set when going outside.
Changing his clothes, he put the money and identification cards into different pockets.
Glancing at the Holy Shroud beside the bed, Shirou thought for a moment before still winding it around his right arm, then slipped on his jacket.
Stepping out of the room, he saw that Exusiai and Texas had already finished drinking their coffee and placed the cups into the sink.
"All ready?"
Hearing the sound of the door opening, Exusiai jumped up from her chair, turned around, and asked.
"Pretty much. As for the things to buy, I'll decide after seeing them in person."
Shirou closed the room's door, then patted the money inside his pocket.
Should it be enough? He did not know what the purchasing power of this money was, but buying some essential supplies ought to be sufficient.
He hoped reality could be as wonderful as he imagined.
"Then let's go."
Texas shoved both hands into her pockets, walking dashingly ahead.
"Let's go look at clothes first, shall we?"
Exusiai followed along, putting forward where their first stop would be.
As for Shirou, he closed the door properly behind him and then followed the two of them.
Shirou walked upon the main street of Lungmen, walking and simultaneously looking at the text on the surrounding signs.
Before you continue