I learned to walk on two feet.
It was more amazing than I had expected.
In my previous life, I had never considered walking anything special.
I only walked from my room to the bathroom, to the refrigerator, or to the front door to collect a delivery.
But when I first planted both feet and stood up in this baby’s body, I was a little moved.
I could move.
By my own will.
I could fall, roll over, crack my head on something, and cry in Mother’s arms, but I could move nonetheless.
That alone made the world feel larger.
Of course, some of that feeling faded whenever I looked at Eugene beside me.
He had walked before I did.
No, I was not even sure walking was the right word for it.
One day, I noticed that he could already walk.
There had been almost none of the usual process: pulling himself up, wobbling around, falling on his backside.
At some point, he had simply begun moving.
Before Mother and Father, he sat quietly like an ordinary child.
But not when I was looking.
Eugene was hiding things.
His ability to walk.
His ability to speak.
Perhaps much more than that.
Still, I decided not to dig too deeply into it.
Because he scared me.
It sounded ridiculous for someone in a baby’s body to say that, but I meant it.
Eugene was frightening.
That did not mean I could spend the rest of my life afraid.
I had decided to give this life everything I had.
Then the first thing I needed to do was obvious.
Study.
In my previous life, I had looked down on studying.
I thought it would not help me in the future anyway.
Yet I could stay up all night memorizing game guides and pointless bits of lore.
Pathetic.
If I had studied the way I devoured game guides back then, perhaps my life would have turned out a little differently.
So this time, I would do things differently.
I would start by learning to read.
I had begun to understand speech—conversations, at least to some degree.
Father. Mother. Rudy. Eugene. Food. Sleep. No. Good.
Those words had become familiar to my ears.
The problem was the writing.
The letters in this world were completely different from Japanese in my previous life.
Still, the grammatical structure was more familiar than I had expected.
Father occasionally read books to us, and little by little I began to see the correspondence between sounds and letters.
Not bad.
I did not know whether I was absorbing things quickly because I had a baby’s brain, or whether I had always been a linguistic genius.
No, the latter definitely was not true.
Thinking about my English grades in my previous life made my conscience hurt.
In any case, I began searching through the books in the house.
Calling it Paul’s study would have been a little embarrassing.
Anyone expecting an impressive room lined with bookshelves would have been disappointed.
A small bookcase.
Only a handful of books.
An old desk.
Piles of miscellaneous clutter.
It was closer to a storage room with a few books than a proper study.
Still, to me, it was a treasure trove.
There were roughly five books in the house.
[Walking the World]
It was a book listing the names and characteristics of countries throughout the world.
It contained maps, place names, brief descriptions of local climates, and how people lived.
Through that book, I learned that I was in Buena Village, in the Fittoa Region of the Asura Kingdom, on the Central Continent.
The Asura Kingdom.
A country that had not existed on Earth in my previous life.
That settled it.
This really was another world.
[Ecology and Weaknesses of Fittoa Monsters]
It was a book about the monsters found around the Fittoa Region.
It explained which monsters appeared where, what weaknesses they had, and how to avoid or kill them.
Reading it made me realize something.
There were monsters here.
Swords, magic, and now monsters too.
Perfect.
The other-world stories I used to read online had become reality.
Of course, if I actually encountered a monster, I was confident I would cry and run away.
I was still only two years old.
No matter how many memories I had from my previous life, a monster bite would kill me just the same.
That made this book important.
[Magic Textbook]
The moment I saw it, my hands trembled.
Magic.
At last.
No other world would be complete without it.
Whether I was playing games or reading novels in my previous life, I had always been drawn to mage classes.
Swords were cool too, but magic was different.
You could create fire, launch water, summon wind, and move earth.
If I could do those things with my fingertips, how incredible would that be?
Of course, saying something like that in my old world would have earned me the label of a delusional adolescent.
But this place was different.
This was a world where magic truly existed.
[The Legend of Perugius]
It was the story of a summoning magician named Perugius, who fought the Demon God alongside his companions and saved the world.
I could not tell whether it was a children’s legend or genuine history.
But it was fairly entertaining.
A summoning magician, huh?
It seemed this world had summoning magic as well.
[The Three Swordsmen and the Labyrinth]
It was an adventurous tale about three swordsmen entering a deep labyrinth.
It mentioned the Sword God Style, Water God Style, and North God Style.
They were connected to the names of the sword styles Father sometimes used.
That book was useful in its own way as well.
But the most important book was still the [Magic Textbook].
For days, I devoted myself to it.
From what I read, magic in this world seemed to be divided into three broad categories.
Attack magic.
Healing magic.
Summoning magic.
Attack magic, as the name suggested, attacked enemies.
It used elements such as fire, water, wind, and earth to strike, cut, or burn an opponent.
Healing magic treated wounds.
It was probably what Mother had used when she placed a hand on my head after I fell.
Summoning magic called something forth.
The book did not explain that part in detail.
Perhaps it was difficult, or perhaps ordinary textbooks did not cover it.
And to use magic, one needed mana.
You either used the mana inside your own body or drew upon mana stored in an object.
The first was your own MP.
The second was a battery.
That was roughly how I understood it.
There were two ways to activate magic: incantations and magic circles.
An incantation activated magic by reciting a spell aloud.
A magic circle used a formula drawn in advance.
Magic circles had once been the standard, but incantations were now more common.
Apparently, incantations had been shortened dramatically, making them usable even in combat.
Magic had seven ranks of difficulty.
Beginner.
Intermediate.
Advanced.
Saint.
King.
Emperor.
God.
The textbook covered everything from Beginner to Advanced.
There was nothing at Saint rank or above.
They were probably secret arts, or perhaps I needed to buy an expensive book.
Damn it.
In every world, advanced information cost money.
I decided to begin with the easiest spell.
Water Ball.
A Beginner-rank attack spell that created and launched a ball of water.
The textbook included an incantation.
I placed the book beside me and extended my right hand.
It was a tiny hand.
Could I really use magic with this hand?
Honestly, my heart was pounding.
"May the great blessing of water be where you are, may the pure flow of water be here now... Water Ball."
I stumbled over the words a little.
My pronunciation was probably not perfect either.
But the next moment, a strange sensation arose inside my right hand.
It felt as if blood were gathering there.
No, it was not blood.
Something warm gathered from somewhere inside my body at my fingertips.
Then it was pushed out.
A fist-sized mass of water formed.
"Oh...!"
It worked.
Water.
From my hand.
I was overwhelmed.
The next moment, the water ball fell straight to the floor.
Splash.
The floorboards were wet.
"...Ah."
It had not flown.
The textbook said it launched a ball of water, but my Water Ball became one with the floor only seconds after being born.
Failure.
But even if it was a failure, the magic had activated.
I had used magic.
In my previous life, I would have rolled around the room at this point.
I wanted to do it now too, but if I actually rolled around, I would only look like a baby rolling around.
First, calm down.
The question was why it had fallen.
I extended my hand again.
I recalled the feeling from before.
I gathered the mana in my body at my fingertips.
I gave it the shape of water.
I pushed it outside.
This time, I did not chant.
I merely imitated the sensation.
Another ball of water formed at my fingertips.
"Huh?"
It fell again.
But that was not what mattered.
I had not used an incantation.
Yet it had appeared.
Silent casting.
No way.
I swallowed.
Could I be a genius?
The instant that thought crossed my mind, I shook my head.
No.
That pattern was dangerous.
I had fallen into that delusion often in my previous life.
If I could do even a little, I thought I had talent.
Then, as soon as I saw someone better than me, I lost all motivation.
I would not do that this time.
I was a beginner.
It was like getting a strike by luck on my first throw in bowling.
Or landing a critical hit on a tutorial monster in a game.
If I started thinking I was some chosen one here, it was over.
Stay calm.
An incantation was probably like an automated system.
The words helped carry out the process of gathering mana, forming it, and firing it.
Then silent casting meant doing all of that myself.
It might be faster once I was used to it, but it was unstable at the beginning.
Not bad.
It was worth practicing.
I tried Water Ball a few more times.
Twice.
Three times.
By the fourth, my body grew heavy.
It felt as though stones had been placed on my shoulders.
My head went foggy.
"Did my MP... run out?"
It really was like a game.
I tried to cast it once more.
Then I passed out.
When I opened my eyes, I was in bed.
Mother was looking down at me with a worried expression.
"Honestly, Rudy. If you’re sleepy, you should sleep in bed."
I had wet myself.
Shame flooded through me.
A man with memories of being over thirty had passed out while practicing magic and wet himself.
No, I was two years old now.
Two-year-olds could do that.
It was still humiliating.
But a thought greater than my shame came to me.
If you used up all your mana, you passed out.
And my current mana capacity was only enough for a few Water Balls.
Weak.
Far too weak.
But the next day, I noticed something strange.
I could cast Water Ball four times and be fine.
The day after that, I could cast more.
And the day after that, still more.
It seemed to increase by however much I used.
The textbook said a person’s mana capacity was mostly determined at birth.
Was it wrong?
Or was this because I was still growing?
Or was this body special?
I wanted to think, I really am a genius, but I restrained myself.
It was too early to draw conclusions.
One thing was certain, though.
Mana could be trained.
At least, mine could.
Then what I needed to do was clear.
Every day, I would use it until I reached my limit.
In my previous life, I quit when things got a little difficult.
If I fell behind others, I gave up.
I searched for excuses to say I had no talent.
I would not do that this time.
Even one Water Ball was enough.
One more tomorrow than today.
One more the day after tomorrow than tomorrow.
That was how I would build myself up.
Every day, I shut myself in the study and practiced magic.
Water Ball.
Water Stream.
Water Shield.
Ice Strike.
Ice Blade.
I tried each of the Beginner-rank water spells in the textbook, one at a time.
I put off fire magic because it was dangerous.
If I set the house on fire, my life would end even faster than it had in my previous life.
Water was comparatively safe.
Of course, there was the problem of soaking the floor, getting scolded by Mother, and receiving suspicious looks from Lilia.
But I could endure that much.
After a few days, I was able to alter the size of my Water Balls.
A few more days later, I could make two at once.
Launching them was difficult.
I could create them.
I could control their size.
But I could not fire them.
I clutched my head.
With an incantation, they launched automatically.
With silent casting, they fell.
What was the difference?
Eventually, I understood.
An incantation was not merely an order to create water.
Creation.
Setting the size.
Setting the launch speed.
Activation.
It was a system that processed those steps in order.
To use silent casting, I had to do all of it myself.
What a pain.
But it was possible.
Once I knew it was possible, all that remained was repetition.
For the first time, I launched a Water Ball forward.
The small mass of water struck the wall and burst.
"I did it."
It was a small success.
But it felt huge to me.
In my previous life, I had never been able to build up small successes.
I had wanted only great successes from the very beginning.
I wanted only results that would make others marvel.
And when I could not achieve them, I ran away immediately.
This time was different.
I had properly launched one Water Ball.
That was enough.
So I thought.
Until that night.
That night, Eugene entered the study.
I closed the [Magic Textbook].
"What is it?"
Eugene did not answer.
As always, he was quiet.
A small child in white pajamas.
Pale hair touched with gold.
Features far too composed for someone so young.
He was a boy, but he was pretty.
That annoyed me a little.
We were twins born of the same parents, so why did he look like that while I looked ordinary?
No. This was not the time to think about that.
Eugene’s eyes were on the [Magic Textbook].
"Can you read too?"
I asked.
Eugene neither nodded nor shook his head.
Instead, he looked at the book.
That look was enough.
He could read.
Probably from long before I could.
I felt strangely irritated.
"Are you interested in magic too?"
Eugene was silent for a moment.
Then he spoke.
"I’m not interested."
"Then why are you looking at it?"
"To confirm something."
Confirm something?
The words bothered me.
"Confirm what?"
Eugene turned a page of the book.
It was the section describing Water Ball.
"How this world does it."
How this world did it.
There was something odd about those words.
He spoke as if he did not belong to this world.
Of course, I had come from another world as well.
I had died in Japan and been born again here.
In that sense, I did not belong to this world either.
But there was something different in Eugene’s words.
I was trying to learn this world.
Eugene was merely observing it.
I extended my hand.
"Water Ball."
Using silent casting, I created a small ball of water.
It was fairly stable.
The past few days of practice had paid off.
The water ball floated above my fingertips for a moment before flying forward.
It struck the wall and burst.
Good.
Not bad.
I looked at Eugene.
Honestly, I wanted to show off a little.
I did not say it, but I had the feeling of, Did you see that?
Eugene’s expression did not change.
There was no admiration.
No look of surprise.
He had merely watched.
"Can you do it?"
I asked.
Instead of replying, Eugene raised his hand.
At that moment, I felt something strange.
It was as though the air in the room had settled slightly.
No wind had blown.
No mana had stirred.
Yet Eugene had merely raised his hand, and my body tensed before I could think.
Water formed at Eugene’s fingertips.
Water Ball.
It was certainly Water Ball.
But it was different from mine.
Eugene’s sphere of water was perfectly round.
Its surface did not tremble.
Though it was water, it was smooth as a glass marble.
It was about the same size as mine.
But its density was different.
I could tell just by looking.
It was not the same amount of water.
Far more water had been compressed into that small sphere.
Eugene moved a finger.
The Water Ball shrank to the size of a fingernail.
Then it expanded to the size of a fist again.
This time, it became ice.
A clear bead of ice.
The next instant, it dispersed like mist before gathering into water once more.
My mouth fell open.
"...What is that?"
Eugene did not answer.
The ball of water stretched out into a thin thread.
The thread brushed against a piece of wood on the desk.
Tap.
The wood was cut apart.
The sound was soft, but the cut was clean.
It had clearly been nothing more than water, yet it had cut wood.
I could not speak for a while.
Eugene lowered his hand.
The water vanished, and the floor was not wet.
He did not look tired at all.
"It isn’t difficult."
Eugene said.
For some reason, those words made my stomach hurt.
It was not difficult.
I had spent days soaking floors, passing out, wetting myself, and wracking my brain just to barely launch a Water Ball.
Yet Eugene had done far more on his first attempt than I had.
No, perhaps it had not been his first attempt.
Maybe he had already known something I did not.
"What... are you?"
The words slipped out.
Eugene looked at me.
His eyes were still quiet.
"I don’t know either."
It did not sound like a lie.
But neither did it sound like the truth.
It simply seemed as though the question meant very little to Eugene.
I clenched my fists.
In my previous life, I would have given up here.
There was someone better than me.
Then I had no talent.
I could not do it.
I would have thought that and closed the book.
Then I would have lain in a corner of the room, cursing him for having unfair advantages.
But I had decided not to do that this time.
Eugene was strange.
He was not someone I should compare myself to.
That was what I had to believe.
The fact that I had launched a Water Ball did not disappear.
It was also true that I had done better today than yesterday.
It was true that my mana capacity was increasing.
So I would continue.
I opened the textbook again.
Eugene looked at me.
"Again?"
"Yeah."
"Why?"
Why.
His questions were always short, yet strangely sharp.
I looked down at the book.
"Because I always quit things like this in my previous life."
Eugene said nothing.
"I would quit when things did not work after trying a little. I would lose interest when I saw someone better than me. I ran away by telling myself I had no talent."
I gave a small laugh.
It was not a pleasant one.
"That’s why I ruined my life."
Eugene watched me quietly.
"So this time, I won’t quit."
I did not know whether Eugene understood.
He did not show emotion easily.
No, I was not even sure whether he had emotions.
But at that moment, Eugene’s eyes moved ever so slightly.
Only a little.
Interest.
That was what it looked like.
Without a word, Eugene left the study.
I extended my hand again.
"Water Ball."
A ball of water formed.
Compared to Eugene’s, it was miserable.
It trembled. It was small. It was weak.
But it was mine.
I had made it myself.
That was enough.
For now.
---
Eugene walked down the corridor.
Small feet stepped upon the wooden floor.
They made almost no sound.
His body was that of a human child.
His heart beat, his lungs moved, blood circulated, and muscles supported his frame.
The body of a child Zenith had given birth to.
But what lay within was not entirely human.
The data of YGGDRASIL remained.
Level.
Race.
Class.
Skills.
Magic.
Resistances.
World Items.
They had not vanished.
They were simply different from before.
Within the game, everything had been clear.
Magic had been in spell slots.
Skills had cooldowns.
Resistances had been simple numbers, and equipment had existed in an inventory.
But now it was different.
Magic no longer felt like something activated by commands, but something closer to sensation.
Skills, too, felt like the response of muscles.
Resistances felt not like numbers, but like a membrane spread between skin and soul.
World Items no longer functioned as mere items.
They existed inside Eugene.
Deeper than his heart.
And this world had another kind of mana.
The mana Rudeus used.
The power that flowed when Zenith used healing magic.
An organ humans in this world possessed from birth.
Eugene could sense it.
It differed from the mana of YGGDRASIL.
It was weak.
It was imprecise.
But it was not closed.
The magic of YGGDRASIL invoked a completed result.
A predetermined spell produced a predetermined effect.
But the magic of this world was crude, and yet it could be touched by hand.
Its form could be altered, the intermediate stages could be twisted, and its flow shifted according to one’s will.
Water Ball was weak magic.
By YGGDRASIL’s standards, it was almost embarrassing to call it magic.
A Beginner-rank attack.
A child’s toy.
But within it were the laws of this world.
Creation.
Form.
Projection.
Maintenance.
Transformation.
Every stage was open.
Eugene had confirmed that.
That was all.
He found no amusement in it.
It was not enjoyable either.
The sense of having gained a new power was faint.
But one thing had changed.
Rudeus.
That child was weak.
His body was weak, his control of mana was rough, and his judgment often wavered.
But he did not stop.
Even after seeing someone better than himself, he had extended his hand again.
Eugene did not understand that.
He examined his own emotions.
In his previous life, he might have felt more irritated.
Or perhaps he would have laughed at him.
Or perhaps he would only have thought him troublesome.
Even now, Rudeus was troublesome.
But it was different from that.
It was as though the feeling lay behind a thick pane of glass.
Joy, anger, displeasure, surprise.
He could feel all of them, but they did not stir him deeply.
Was it because of his heteromorphic body?
Was it the effect of fusing with a World Item?
Or had he always been that kind of person?
He did not know.
Perhaps it was all of those things.
Though he had been born in human form, his heart settled colder than a human’s.
The emptiness that had always been there felt more distinct within this body.
Rudeus was trying to live.
Eugene understood that fact.
But he did not understand why Rudeus tried so hard.
Because his previous life had been a failure?
Because he regretted it?
Because he wanted to live differently this time?
If those were his reasons, then it was all the stranger.
Did starting over change the ending?
Did living give something meaning?
Eugene did not know the answer.
Nor did he want to know.
He merely stopped before the window at the end of the corridor.
Beyond it lay the night of Buena Village.
Dark, quiet, and a small world.
Beyond that, there would be a larger world.
Kingdoms.
Continents.
Monsters.
Warriors.
Magicians.
Beings called gods.
But to Eugene as he was now, all of them were far away.
If he reached out, he could touch them.
If he wished to destroy them, he could destroy them.
If he wished to protect them, he could protect them.
But he did not want to do any of those things.
Eugene looked outside for a while, then closed his eyes.
From the study behind him came the soft sound of water again.
Rudeus was making a Water Ball.
Weak, unstable, trembling magic.
But it continued.
For a long while, Eugene listened to that sound.
It was a sound he could not understand.
And yet, strangely, he could not ignore it completely.
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