Don't Play on Your Phone While Walking

My head felt fuzzy, and my arms and legs were sore, like I'd been hit by a truck.

I still remembered being attacked by a beast, but I didn't think it had eaten me yet?

Rhode opened his eyes and didn't see an unfamiliar ceiling.

The sunlight was a bit dazzling, and his eyes involuntarily narrowed into slits. He instinctively tried to raise a hand to shield his eyes.

Swish... Someone carefully drew the curtains, making Rhode's eyes feel a little better.

"Calculating the time, he should be waking up soon."

Rhode heard someone speaking, a slightly aged female voice.

But he didn't understand a word of what was being said. This wasn't the Chinese he was familiar with, at least not Mandarin.

It didn't sound like English or any other language he knew either.

Rhode tilted his head slightly and saw an old woman with pink hair, wearing a peculiar red cloak, standing by the window.

She must have been the one who spoke just now.

"How are you feeling?" a kind male voice came from the other side. Rhode saw an old man wearing a jester's hat sitting cross-legged on a chair by the bed.

Of course, he didn't understand this sentence either.

Rhode's throat was a little dry, and he struggled to ask, "Where is this?"

The two old people on either side of the sickbed exchanged glances, their faces showing confusion. They hadn't understood what Rhode was saying either.

Rhode thought for a moment and tentatively said, "Where is this? Who are you? Um... Lei dou hai bin dou?"

Seeing the increasingly confused look in the two old people's eyes, Rhode knew something was wrong.

Mandarin didn't work, English didn't work, and even broken Cantonese didn't work. What was he going to do?

The old man with the jester's hat lightly hopped off the chair. Rhode noticed that the man wasn't as tall standing as he was sitting.

That's a rude thought, Rhode criticized himself, and only then did he notice how incredibly agile the old man was, not at all like someone his age.

"It seems like a language barrier? This is troublesome," the old man said with some distress.

"A language I've never heard before," the pink-haired lady asked, "Where exactly did you pick this child up from?"

"In the forest, I told you," the old man replied.

Just then, the wooden door was knocked on, and a girl of about seventeen or eighteen walked in:

"Guild Master, it's almost time. If we don't leave soon, we'll be late for the routine meeting."

"Ah, I almost forgot. Porlyusica, can I leave this child in your care?" the old man asked the pink-haired lady.

"I refuse. I hate humans, Makarov, and it's too noisy here."

The pink-haired old lady, while saying she hated humans, helped Rhode sit up and handed him a glass of water.

"Thank you," Rhode said instinctively.

Porlyusica didn't understand, but she could probably guess what Rhode was saying.

However, she didn't respond. Instead, she turned and left directly: "His injuries are no longer serious, I'm going back."

"Ah, thanks." Makarov understood his old friend's personality and knew that trying to persuade her would be useless.

Rhode drank some water to moisten his dry throat and watched the pink-haired lady leave in confusion.

The short old man was talking to the girl who had just entered.

They were still speaking a language Rhode didn't understand, but judging by the occasional glances they cast his way, he guessed it was probably about him.

At this moment, a slight pain in his left leg made Rhode frown. He noticed that his left arm and waist were wrapped in bandages. He raised a hand to touch his head and found his forehead was also bandaged properly.

The wounds all over his body made him remember the attack again.

The whole thing was rather bizarre.

Rhode remembered that he and his roommates had stayed up late playing games. When he woke up in the morning, he didn't want to move.

His two roommates who went to buy food had gone missing one after another and hadn't returned for a long time.

Rhode was too hungry to bear it, so he pulled the remaining roommate along to go find them.

One went to the new cafeteria, and the other went to the old cafeteria.

As a result, Rhode, while walking up the stairs and playing on his phone, tripped and fell hard onto the ground.

When he got up, he found himself in front of a large forest.

What should you do if you suddenly find yourself in an unfamiliar place while walking?

Don't panic, check your phone's location first, and call emergency services if necessary...

But he couldn't find his phone.

His phone seemed to have flown out when he tripped.

Rhode realized that things might be getting serious. He might have encountered a phenomenon that science couldn't explain.

CCTV used to have a program called "The Science of Faraway Places," which talked about ordinary people who would fall asleep at home and wake up in cities thousands of miles away.

Rhode suspected he had encountered reality, though he also entertained a worse possibility: not just another city, but another world.

He wondered if his two roommates had met the same fate, which was why they hadn't returned yet.

Regardless, he needed to find people and ask for directions.

Rhode tried to get his bearings, and after some deliberation, decided to head west – the grass there seemed to have been trodden upon.

However, within minutes, he regretted his decision as he startled a beast as large as an elephant.

He had never seen a giant beast like this before – a bear with a pig's head and hooves, covered in spots.

A branch Rhode had broken for self-defense was completely ineffective against it.

The moment the beast lunged, the branch snapped, and Rhode was sent flying, his vision going black.

Before he fainted, he heard birds chirping, wolves howling, frogs croaking, and the roars of unknown beasts.

This was definitely not a normal world. But Rhode couldn't afford to think about that then.

He only felt that death had come too suddenly, and there were still many things he hadn't done.

If there was a next life, he definitely wouldn't play with his phone while walking, especially on stairs.

But as it seemed now, he wasn't dead. Had the owner of this place saved him?

"Hi, hello!"

Rhode's thoughts were interrupted by a gentle voice. It was the girl who had just entered.

The girl wore a dark red dress, her long white hair cascaded to her waist, and her bangs were tied into a bunch and combed to the top of her head. Her features were delicate, and her smile was gentle.

This was a girl whose appearance and demeanor would attract attention wherever she went.

Rhode couldn't understand what she was saying, but seeing her wave, he assumed she was greeting him.

"Hello," Rhode replied. The girl's bright smile dispelled some of his unease.

"Just like the Guild Master said," the girl said with an expression of "just as I expected."

"I'm afraid I don't understand what you're saying either. I imagine you must be quite troubled and anxious."

"Ah, you don't understand this part either... Anyway, the Guild Master had to go out, and asked me to look after you for a while."

The girl tried hard to communicate with gestures, but with little success.

"Oh, right! I haven't introduced myself yet, my name is Mirajane."

She pointed to herself and said slowly, syllable by syllable, "I, Mirajane."

"Mira...jane?" Rhode hesitantly repeated the few syllables he didn't understand.

Mirajane's bright smile reappeared on her face. "That's right, Mi-ra-jane."

Rhode, influenced by her smile, repeated it 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 to Rhode, "And you?"

Rhode understood her meaning and pointed to himself, "Rhode."

"Lau...de?" Mirajane repeated, mimicking him.

"Rhode," Rhode corrected her pronunciation slightly, just as she had done for him.

The first step of communication, though a bit awkward, had finally begun.

"Please take care of me, Rhode," the girl said, extending her right hand towards him.

Rhode gently grasped her fingertips. "Please... please..., Mirajane."

He hadn't managed to learn the phrase that likely meant 'Nice to meet you.'

Grumble... Rhode's stomach made an untimely sound.

Rhode clutched his stomach, opening his mouth, unsure of what to say.

Mirajane smiled knowingly. "Ah, I understand this. Please wait a moment."

She made a gesture of pressing her hands down, then turned and left the room.

Rhode watched her back as she left the infirmary. He picked up a cup, taking small sips of water while trying to recall the fragmented memories he had after stumbling.

First, the forest that suddenly appeared, the strangely shaped beast, then the people he saw upon waking, and the unique language they used.

This was definitely not the world he was familiar with, nor was it an ordinary world.

Rhode wanted to know how much time had passed since he fainted, what had happened during that time, where he was, how to get back, and many other things...

But with even basic communication being a problem, there was no way to ask about these things, which was quite troublesome.

He lifted the covers. His leg still hurt, but he could move it, so the injury wasn't severe.

"It's better not to move around too much... even though you can't understand me." Mirajane entered with a tray and placed it on the bedside table. She gestured for Rhode to eat.

The tray contained a glass of milk and two exquisite-looking sandwiches.

The triangular bread slices were cut neatly, with lettuce, tomato slices, and ham sandwiched in between. The vibrant colors were appetizing at first glance.

Rhode picked one up and gave her a questioning look, unsure.

With her nod and the rumbling of his stomach, Rhode bit off an acute angle of the 'isosceles triangle'.

The first bite was the soft, sweet texture of the bread, followed by the smooth, savory flavor of the ham.

Then, the slightly sour juiciness of the tomato, paired with the overly sweet sauce, made Rhode a little unaccustomed.

But the fresh, crisp aroma of the lettuce relieved this point very well.

After swallowing that bite, Rhode felt truly alive.

However, from then on, he couldn't bother to savor the deliciousness, just like a cow chewing peonies, he only focused on devouring it in large bites.

After one sandwich was gone, Rhode's hunger subsided considerably. He picked up the milk cup and felt the warmth on the cup's surface; it had clearly been heated specifically for him.

She must be a gentle girl who takes good care of people, right?

Rhode cast a grateful look her way.

Mirajane smiled, watching him eat and drink quietly.

This is my first time writing a novel (not really)

This is my first time writing Fairy Tail (not entirely either)

Anyway, please collect and invest!