Just a moment ago, I was talking with the Administrator, but now the surroundings had changed from a pure white room to a space dyed in various colors.
'Wow...'
For a moment, I thought the sight dyed in various colors was beautiful,
'B, breath?!!'
Feeling the sensation of breathlessness suddenly, I hurriedly moved my body, and
'Splash!!'
"Cough!! Huff!!!"
Only then did I realize that I was in shallow water.
"Khek?! Ugh... water went up my nose..."
After catching my breath for a moment and standing up, I could see a vast grassland spread out.
"Except for the fact that there's only grass around, well, the scenery is nice..."
For a while, I absentmindedly admired the surroundings,
"...Huh?"
Feeling a murderous gaze from somewhere, I quickly turned around and saw something with the appearance of a werewolf hiding in the bushes, licking its lips and looking at me from a distance.
"W, what is that?!"
"Grrr..."
As if insulted by being discovered, the monster walked out of the bushes, growling, and slowly approached me, and
"Gyaaaak!!!"
It instantly rushed at me and slammed me to the ground with both arms.
"What the hell?!"
Feeling that its next target was my neck, I raised my left arm, and its sharp teeth dug into my arm. But it didn't stop there and started tearing my body apart with its beast-like, slightly curved claws like hooks.
"Kuaaaak!!!? You crazy bastard!!!"
Instantly overwhelmed by tremendous pain, the thought of not wanting to die began to fill my mind, and my body reflexively picked up a nearby stone and started slamming it into the creature's head.
"Kehyang?!!"
As we exchanged reckless attacks, I luckily succeeded in embedding the stone into its right eye.
"Take this!!!"
"Kek?! Kehuk!!?"
The moment its eye was attacked, its biting force weakened, and I took advantage of the gap not to pull out my left arm but instead shoved it deeper into its mouth, pushing it back, and
"Now it's your turn to get beaten!!!"
"Keruk?! Kehek?!!!"
As the situation reversed in an instant, fear began to frost over its eyes, but
"Die! Die!! Just die!!!"
Already half-crazed, as I started pounding it with all my might, I couldn't see the fear in its eyes.
"Haa...haa..."
How many minutes had passed? When I came to my senses, it was dead, with dents all over its jaw, neck, and chest, bleeding profusely from the eyes and mouth.
"Hoo..."
As I regained consciousness and pulled out my left arm from its esophagus, exhaling, the bite wound on my left arm and the lacerations all over my body began to scream with terrible pain, as if announcing their presence, and
"Kkueuk?! Kuaaaaaaak?!!!!"
The effect of endorphins that my body had been releasing to somehow endure the pain had ended, having reached its limit due to the sudden agony.
"S, save me... anyone... please..."
And so, I faced my first death in this world less than an hour after arriving.
.
.
.
"Heuk?!!"
I don't know how much time had passed, but I came to my senses again.
"Heuk...heuk... Could this be the power of the ability I received?"
The moment I regained consciousness, memories of the ability given by the Administrator came to mind, and I hurriedly checked my condition, and
"There really isn't a single wound?"
As if nothing had happened, I couldn't even find a small scratch.
"My clothes are still torn, but... at least this is something."
Seeing that the memory of the ability mentioned by the Administrator only came to mind after dying once, it seemed that measures were taken so that you can only recall this ability after experiencing at least one death.
"...Was it set up so that I don't die recklessly?"
I don't know why such a restriction was placed, but if the memory that came to mind is true, my ability can be largely explained in three ways.
* **First** - The interval between physical death and resurrection is almost nonexistent, and at the moment of dying and reviving, all accumulated fatigue and wounds are completely recovered.
* **Second** - However, when not killed or unable to die, physical damage remains as is, making it vulnerable to methods that cause loss of consciousness like poison, suffocation, or concussion.
* **Third** - At the moment of death and body regeneration, if there are impurities in that location, regardless of material, they are removed and regenerated.
"Based on the memory that entered my mind, briefly explained, it's these three things... but is it correct that I can die from old age?"
Moreover, this memory isn't just an explanation; it shows how others have used this ability, which only increased my doubts.
"Well... I guess I have to believe it; there's nothing else I can do..."
After that, I headed to the shallow lake where I first regained consciousness to wash off the blood-soaked clothes and body, and
"...Huh?"
Only then did I notice that my body had become younger.
"This... seems to be around when I was 14 years old..."
My reflection in the water was me from childhood, about 150 cm tall with a decent appearance.
"This seems to be just before I was caught in the landslide..."
The reason I didn't quickly notice that my body had become younger was quite simple.
"Back then, I hardly grew because of the injuries all over my body..."
In elementary school, due to surgery, metal pins were inserted into my bones, and around the time I was about to enter my growth period, another accident caused damage to all my bones, so I focused on recovery and didn't grow at all, ending up only growing from 152 to 160 cm by the time I graduated middle school.
"Even in high school, I hardly grew..."
For reference, my height in my previous life was exactly 165 cm when I woke from the coma.
"...This time, I'll grow taller, right?"
It wasn't a height to call small, but both my father and mother were over 175 cm, and whenever I did something well, they would pat my head, so before I knew it, I developed a complex about my height and always secretly wished to grow taller.
"Yeah, I'll grow. Original height is genetic, after all."
After washing off all the blood from my body and clothes, I started walking to leave the grassland, and
"Oh! Finally, a road!! But... should I call this a road?"
After walking through the grass for about 10 minutes, I luckily found a dirt path with wheel tracks, and I started following that path straight ahead.
"Can I make it to the city with that dungeon or tower? I hope I'm not going in the opposite direction?"
Contrary to my worries, after walking for about 30 minutes, a tall tower and stone walls began to appear in the distance, and
"Hmm... are all those carriages waiting people?"
Similarly, carriages lined up at the entrance also started to become visible.
"...I hope I don't have to pay money or show something like an ID to pass through?"
As I got closer to the walls, all sorts of thoughts came to mind, but since there was no other way, I decided to just walk towards the entrance, when
"...Huh? Young man over there, why are you walking alone in such a state?"
Suddenly, a passing coachman spoke to me from behind.
"...Me?"
"Since you're the only one walking right now, of course I'm talking to you."
"Ah... well"
In the sudden situation, I quickly thought of an excuse, and
"During my travels, I was attacked by bandits... I threw down all the things I had and barely escaped..."
"Oh... that must have been tough."
Fortunately, the excuse seemed successful.
"That... there happens to be a seat left in the carriage; if it's okay, would you like to ride?"
"Uh... that's too kind of you..."
"No! It's really fine, so come on up into the carriage!"
"Ah, yes..."
But before I knew it, I ended up riding in the carriage with him, and
"I had heard rumors that bandits targeting carriages or travelers heading to Orario have been increasing lately, but I never thought I'd witness a victim firsthand..."
"I didn't know it would be me either..."
I continued the conversation with the coachman, acting as much as possible like 'a pitiful youth attacked by bandits'.
"We'll arrive soon... but with that appearance, you might attract suspicion, so open the third box from the front over there."
"This box here?"
"Yes, that box."
"Uh... there's a bunch of clothes inside?"
"This old man may look like this, but I've been a merchant for 30 years, so I often carry miscellaneous goods to cities like Orario."
After that, the coachman told me that I could take any clothes from that box and change in the space behind the box.
"Thank you very much. I'll wear them well."
I took out a hooded tunic, pants, a belt, and a pair of shoes from the box and changed in the space the coachman mentioned, and
'Ah! You've passed through several times before, sir! You may proceed.'
In the meantime, the inspection must have ended; when I stuck my head out after changing all my clothes, buildings with what seemed like medieval architecture began to appear.
"Is this Orario?"
"That's right. This is the labyrinth city, Orario."
A little later, the coachman stopped the carriage and handed me a small bag along with a few coins that looked like gold.
"Here, take this. You said all your belongings were taken by bandits, so you probably don't have any money now, right?"
"Ah, yes... thank you."
"With the money I gave you now, you should be able to eat and sleep for about three days."
"...Thank you so much for giving me a ride all the way here."
"Haha! It's just that you remind me of my grandson back in the village, so don't thank me too much."
The coachman said that and then drove the horse, disappearing with the carriage.
"I must treat him properly if I ever meet him again."
I made a vow to repay him someday and took my first step into Orario.