Michael opened his eyes and saw himself staring at a dimly lit ceiling.
That... looks familiar, he thought.
"You’re awake!"
He looked to the side and saw an unfamiliar woman sitting right beside him. She was wearing a bright orange vest and a white hard hat with a green cross painted on the front.
"An... emt?" he muttered out.
"Yes, I am," the woman answered. "We just got a report from your watch that you seemed to have suffered a major heart attack. We’ll take you to the ambulance now."
Then, he heard the door open as two men came inside, carrying a large stretcher towards his side.
Huh?... what’s happening?
He looked around and saw a scene that almost gave him another heart attack.
Right by his side was his prized collection of anime mangas and figurines. Beside that was his personal computer, still turned on, with the screen frozen at a ’lose’ screen from one of his favorite fps games.
What the hell?
This was his room from his previous life, back before he was Reborn.
"Sir! Sir! Are you alright? We’ll carry go to the ambulance now," said one of the emts.
But he immediately shook his head and said, "No need. I’m fine."
He stood up, stumbling for a few seconds before he finally found his footing.
"Are you sure sir? It looks like you still need some first aid," said the woman.
"I’m fine," he insisted.
He was still trying to take a grasp of what happened to him. When he took the mushroom, he didn’t expect to find himself suddenly back in his old room right where he left off.
For a brief second, it made him think that everything he experienced in the Royal Continent was just a dream. The realness of this situation made him think that he just had a lucid near-death experience.
Reborn, Metropolis, his family... It was surreal to believe that everything was just a dream.
Going to the hospital certainly wouldn’t help him now. After all, no one would ever believe him when he tells them that he experienced 13 years in another world where magic and monsters existed.
This is just a hallucinogenic experience from the mushroom, he tried to convince himself.
[Don’t go thinking I’m gone.]
Suddenly, he heard Harbinger’s voice echo out from his mind. He didn’t think he’d be this relieved to hear him in this moment.
You’re still here!
[Of course, I am. Did you think that it was all a dream?]
Michael was ashamed to say that he did think about it for a brief second. But the appearance of Harbinger, and therefore of Aubilities and magic, meant that everything that happened in the Royal Continent was real. It wasn’t a dream.
ChatJK5? You here?
However, the presence of his trusted AI partner was severely missing.
Why is she gone and you’re still here?, he asked Harbinger.
[I don’t know. But good riddance, am I right?]
Michael had no idea why he was here. He had no idea if this was even a hallucination in the first place.
It certainly felt real, as he felt the pricking sensation of a needle as the emergency medical technicians gave him some medicine to make his condition better.
Once they were sure that he wasn’t in any more danger, they quickly left his apartment, leaving him alone.
What now? Should I just wait until the hallucination effect is over?
[What’s the fun in that? I want to explore.]
In truth, Michael was a bit hesitant to go out. If he went out and saw the real world, a part of him would think that he wouldn’t be able to return to the Royal Continent.
But the old man’s words assured him that that wouldn’t happen.
Nothing here was real.
He walked up to the door and slowly made his way outside.
As soon as he stepped out, the sounds of honking cars and shouting pedestrians immediately rang out in his ears.
I guess some things don’t change.
When he was first reborn, he thought the world of the Royal Continent was crude and basic. After all, they had no advancement in technology whatsoever.
But after seeing the real world again, he was changing his mind.ʀᴇᴀᴅ ʟᴀᴛᴇsᴛ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀᴛ novelꞁire.net
The Nation of Reborn was definitely much more refined than this place. There was no trash littered around in the streets, no rats sneaking around in the sewers, and definitely no drunk guy sleeping on the floor.
Just then, he suddenly felt a vibration in his pocket.
BZZT BZZT!
He took out the phone from his pocket and saw a myriad of missed messages written inside.
{You’re not coming on your shift?}
{We’re swamped over here. Can you come?}
{The manager asks if you can take an extra shift.}
It had been so long that he had completely forgotten his job in the first place.
Of course, he ignored the text messages. He wasn’t going to spend his day here hunched over in a cubicle.
Just then, he heard screams on the other side of the street. It wasn’t screams of terror—it was excitement!
He saw people rushing through the streets, holding up their phones and a piece of paper for someone to write a signature with.
He went up on his toes, peering through the crowd to see which celebrity it was that graced the streets with their presence.
Unfortunately, there were too many people for him to take a good look.
He walked closer, eventually finding himself at the edge of the crowd.
And finally, he saw her.
Hair as black as the night, skin as flawless as a pearl, eyes shining like a star, and lips as luscious as a cherry.
It was Yuna Kim!
She was currently signing vinyl albums and taking selfies with her fans. Despite being overwhelmed with literally a thousand people screaming at her face, wanting to get her attention, she managed to keep her composure and smile at everyone she met.
Yuna...
If it was before his reincarnation, he would have just been satisfied with standing by the sidelines and observing her from afar.
But now, he wanted to go up and greet her like an old friend! It had been so long since they’d seen each other back in the Royal Continent.
Unfortunately, there were hundreds of other people who seemed to feel the same way. They were desperate to get her attention, and he wouldn’t be able to squeeze his way through.
It didn’t matter anyway. She wasn’t the Yuna that he’d been acquainted with all these years.
He slowly started walking away.
But then, he suddenly heard a change in the environment. Instead of excited screamings, there were now just murmurs and silent snapshots from cameras, wanting to capture this moment.
He turned around and saw Yuna standing right in front of him.
He almost couldn’t see her from all the camera flashes that were simultaneously going off at the same time. He would certainly find his face in tabloids and newspaper articles the day after this.
Yuna Kim looked at him, her eyes seemingly confused. She was trying hard to understand where or how she recognized him.
Then, at the same moment that a camera flashed behind her, she realized it.
"Michael."