His head felt foggy, and his arms and thighs ached as though he had been hit by a cement truck.
He remembered being attacked by a beast, but it seemed he had not been eaten yet?
Rhode opened his eyes and did not see an unfamiliar ceiling.
The sunlight was a little harsh. His eyes narrowed into slits, and he instinctively tried to raise a hand to shield them.
Rustle... Someone thoughtfully drew the curtains, making Rhode's eyes feel a little better.
"Judging by the time, he should be waking up about now."
Rhode heard someone speaking. It was an elderly woman's voice.
But he could not understand a single word. It was not the Chinese language he knew, at least not Mandarin.
Nor did it sound like English or any other language he recognized.
Rhode tilted his head slightly and saw an elderly woman standing by the window, with pink hair and a strange red cloak draped over her.
She was probably the one who had just spoken.
"How do you feel?" A kind old man's voice came from the other side. Rhode saw an elderly man in a jester's hat sitting cross-legged on a chair beside the bed.
Naturally, Rhode did not understand that sentence either.
Rhode's throat was dry, and he asked with difficulty, "Where is this?"
The two elderly people on either side of the bed exchanged glances, both looking confused. They had not understood Rhode either.
After thinking for a moment, Rhode tried, "Where is this? Who are you? Uh... nei dou hai bin dou?"
Seeing the two elders grow even more confused, Rhode had a bad feeling.
Mandarin did not work, English did not work, and his terrible Cantonese did not work either. What was he supposed to do now?
The elderly man in the jester's hat lightly hopped down from the chair. Rhode noticed that he was shorter standing than he had seemed while seated.
That was terribly rude. Rhode criticized himself before noticing that the old man was unbelievably agile, nothing like someone his age.
"It seems there's a language barrier? What a headache." The old man looked troubled.
"A language I've never heard before." The pink-haired woman asked, "Where exactly did you pick up this child?"
"In the forest. Didn't I tell you already?"
At that moment, someone knocked on the wooden door, and a seventeen- or eighteen-year-old girl walked in.
"Master, it's about time. If we don't leave now, we'll miss the regular meeting."
"Ah, I nearly forgot. Porlyusica, can I leave this child in your care?" the old man asked the pink-haired woman.
"I refuse. I hate humans, Makarov, and it's too noisy here."
While saying that she hated humans, the pink-haired old woman helped Rhode sit up and poured him a glass of water.
"Thank you," Rhode said instinctively.
Porlyusica could not understand him, but she could roughly guess what he meant.
She did not respond, instead turning and leaving directly. "His injuries are no longer serious. I'm going back."
"Ah, thanks." Makarov understood his old friend's personality and knew there was no point trying to persuade her.
Rhode took a sip of water to moisten his dry throat and watched the pink-haired woman leave in confusion.
The short old man was discussing something with the girl who had just entered.
They were still speaking a language Rhode could not understand, but from the way they occasionally looked at him, he guessed it was probably related to him.
At that moment, a faint pain in his left leg made Rhode frown. He noticed bandages wrapped around his left arm and waist. When he raised a hand to touch his head, he found his forehead had also been carefully bandaged.
The injuries all over his body reminded him of the attack.
The whole thing was rather bizarre.
Rhode remembered staying up late gaming with his roommates, then not wanting to move after waking up in the morning.
The two roommates who had gone to buy food had disappeared one after another and had not returned for a long time.
Unable to bear the hunger, Rhode had no choice but to drag the remaining roommate out to look for them.
One went to the new cafeteria, while the other went to the old cafeteria.
As a result, Rhode had been playing on his phone while climbing the stairs. He tripped and fell hard to the ground.
When he climbed back up, he found a vast forest before him.
What should you do when you were walking along and suddenly found yourself somewhere unfamiliar?
Do not panic. First, take out your phone and check your location. If necessary, call emergency services...
But he could not find his phone.
When he had tripped just now, it seemed to have flown away.
Rhode realized that something was seriously wrong. He might have encountered something science could not explain.
There had once been a CCTV program called Running Far from Science. It talked about ordinary people going to sleep at home, then waking up in a city thousands of miles away.
Rhode suspected he had encountered the real thing. Of course, there was an even worse possibility: perhaps he had not arrived in another city, but another world.
Thinking carefully, had his two roommates encountered the same thing? Was that why they had not returned?
No matter what, he first had to find someone and ask.
Rhode did his best to determine the direction. After hesitating for a while, he decided to head west—the weeds over there seemed to have been trampled.
Yet he regretted it just minutes later, because he startled a beast as large as an elephant.
He had never seen such a gigantic creature before—a bear covered in spots, with a pig's head and pig hooves.
The branch Rhode had broken off for self-defense posed no threat to it at all.
The instant the beast pounced, the branch snapped. Rhode was flung away, and everything went black.
Before passing out, he heard birds chirping, wolves howling, frogs croaking, and the roars of unknown beasts.
This definitely was not a normal world. But Rhode had been in no state to think about that at the time.
He only felt that death had come too suddenly, and there were still so many things he had not done.
If there was a next life, he would never use his phone while walking, especially while climbing stairs.
But now, it seemed he was not dead. Had the people here saved him?
"Hi, hello!"
Rhode's thoughts were interrupted by a gentle voice. It was the girl who had just entered.
She wore a dark red dress, her long white hair falling to her waist. Her bangs were tied into a tuft and combed over the top of her head. Her features were delicate, and her smile was gentle.
She was the sort of girl whose appearance and temperament would draw attention wherever she went.
Rhode could not understand what she was saying, but judging from the way she waved, she was probably greeting him?
"Hello," Rhode replied. Her bright smile slightly dispelled his unease.
Just as the Master had said, the girl wore an expression of just as I thought.
"Unfortunately, I can't understand what you're saying either. I imagine you must be quite troubled and uneasy too."
"Ah, you can't understand that either... Anyway, the Master has something to do and needs to go out, so he asked me to look after you for now."
The girl tried hard to communicate with gestures, but unfortunately, it had little effect.
"Oh, right! I haven't introduced myself. My name is Mirajane."
She pointed to herself and slowly said each word, "I, Mirajane."
"Mira... jane?" Rhode hesitantly imitated the syllables he did not understand.
Mirajane's bright smile returned. "That's right. Mira. Jane."
Rhode was infected by that smile and repeated it after her twice, his pronunciation gradually becoming more accurate.
"Mirajane." He had learned his first word in this world.
"Then what about you?" Mirajane pointed to herself. "I, Mirajane."
Then she pointed at Rhode. "And you?"
Rhode understood what she meant and pointed to himself. "Rhode."
"Rho... de?" Mirajane repeated after him.
"Rhode." Rhode corrected her pronunciation slightly, just as she had done for him.
The first step of communication had begun at last, though somewhat awkwardly.
"Please take care of me, Rhode." Saying this, the girl extended her right hand toward him.
Rhode gently took her fingertips. "Please... please... Mirajane."
He had not managed to learn the phrase that probably meant something like "Nice to meet you."
Grrrr... Rhode's stomach made an untimely sound.
Rhode clutched his stomach and opened his mouth, not knowing how to explain.
Mirajane smiled knowingly. "Ah, I understand that one. Wait a moment."
She made a pressing-down gesture with both hands, then turned and left the room.
Rhode watched her leave the infirmary. Picking up the cup, he took small sips of water while sorting through his few memories from after he had tripped.
First, there was the suddenly appearing forest, the strange-looking beast, then the people he saw after waking up and the unique language they spoke.
This was definitely not the world he knew, nor was it an ordinary world.
Rhode wanted to know how long had passed since he fainted, what had happened during that time, where this was, how to get back, and many other things...
But even basic communication was a problem. There was nowhere to ask about any of that, which was truly troublesome.
He lifted the blanket. His leg still hurt a little, but he could move it. His injuries probably were not too serious.
"You'd better not move around... though you can't understand me." Mirajane came in carrying a tray, placed it on the bedside table, and made a welcoming gesture for Rhode to eat first.
On the tray were a glass of milk and two sandwiches that looked quite exquisite.
The triangular slices of bread were cut neatly, with lettuce, tomato slices, and ham between them. Their vivid colors were instantly appetizing.
Rhode picked one up and gave her a questioning look.
With her approval and the urging of his stomach, Rhode bit off one sharp corner of the "isosceles triangle."
The first taste was the soft, sweet fragrance of bread and the smooth, savory flavor of ham.
Then came the slightly sour juiciness of the tomato. Combined with the overly sweet sauce, it was a little unfamiliar to Rhode.
But the fresh, crisp fragrance of the lettuce balanced it nicely.
Only after swallowing that bite did Rhode feel truly alive again.
But after that, he no longer had the leisure to savor the food. Like a cow chewing peonies, he only cared about swallowing huge mouthfuls.
After finishing one sandwich, Rhode's hunger eased considerably. He picked up the glass of milk and felt warmth on its surface. It had clearly been heated specially.
She must be a gentle girl who was very good at taking care of others, right?
Rhode gave her a grateful look.
Mirajane smiled and quietly watched him eat and drink.
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