"Oh, I can't wait. I want to get home and start playing the game." I, Sosuke Kubinashi, 24 years old, was on my way home from work, excited to play a new game I had just bought. But it's not nighttime. There is still some light before the sun sets. As I walk down the street, I can hear the voices of children playing in the nearby park. Today, I finished work early so I could go home and play games. When it's for gaming, even boring work becomes easy. If I finish quickly, I can play sooner. Since tomorrow is Saturday, I can stay up all night without any problem. I'm going to enjoy it to my heart's content. I'm a guy who earns money from work and spends it on otaku hobbies like anime, games, and light novels. Moments like these are my source of happyness. "Time for a gaming marathon!" Even though I'm walking with high excitement, I stop precisely at the red light. It would be pointless if I got carried away and died here. I'm not the kind of guy who'd get run over by a truck for such a dumb reason. While staring at the large truck coming from afar, I let out a small snort. The stares from the parent and child next to me are painful, especially the mother's; I wish she wouldn't look at me like I'm some kind of pervert. The girl next to her mother was playing with a ball on the ground, even though it's a pedestrian walkway. Isn't that dangerous? This isn't a park anymore, you know? While glancing at the girl, I thought to myself that recent parents are not doing a good job. I'm staring at the truck approaching from a distance, which is making a heavy, oppressive sound. Just waiting for the traffic light to turn green. "...Ah..." At the same time as I heard that faint voice, a small shadow crossed my field of vision. The girl ran out onto the road chasing the ball. I told you not to do that! It's because you're playing with a ball in a place like this that this happened! Even as I shouted such things in my heart, for some reason my body was moving. The blaring car horn and the high-pitched braking noise resound vividly. There is no time. I dashed onto the road, picked up the girl, and hurled her towards her mother, along with my game. Despite falling on her backside, the mother somehow managed to catch the girl. Unfortunately, my game couldn't be saved. The moment of relief was short-lived, as an enormous shock struck my body. The impact surged through my entire body, destroying me from within. Something important is being torn apart, broken, and flying away. Before I knew it, my field of vision was turned upside down. "Huh?" The mother's shocked expression showed up in complete reverse. My field of vision suddenly changed, then shifted to focus on my blown away body. There was no head. The blood-covered body flew away like a rag. Ah… my head must have been blown off.

As the world moved in slow motion around me, my brain, fintly stirring with thoughts, came to an understanding. My head was blown off. Then my vision spun wildly, leaving me unable to grasp anything—my head was smashed against the concrete. ◆ When I woke up, the first thing I felt was light. The dappled sunlight shining in from between the branches and leaves is creating a distinct shadow on the ground. A path continues all the way further in. Trees spreading out as far as the eye can see. It's a forest of trees tens of meters tall, giving the impression of a jungle or a dense forest. "... I don't get it." Why am I in the middle of a forest? I helped a girl who jumped out onto the road and then got hit by a truck. The impact should have sent my head flying, covered in blood, and I should have died. If this is me dreaming while lying on a hospital bed, it's surprising realistic. Things like the air and smell are too good. Well, that's just impossible. Given that my head should have been severed, there's no way I could have survived. It's instant death. If it's possible to consider anything else, could it be that I died and ended up in a different world? It's a common development in web novels, games, and anime. A person who died in modern Japan receives cheat-like abilities from a god and is reincarnated or transferred to a different world. And then, there's the type who becomes invincible or takes it easy in another world, getting caught up in various incidents. Being an otaku myself, stuff like that really gets my blood pumping. My current situation seems to be the case of beeing transported to another world. I mean, I'm not a baby or anything, right? When I glanced down at my body, for some reason, my lower half was wrapped in something dark gray, almost black. "Huh?!" For a moment, I thought my lower body had been mechanized and turned into a cyborg... but no. My lower body was encased in armor. It was heavy, solid armor like a knight would wear, with no skin exposed at all. Looking down at my feet, I saw a red cloth hanging behind me. It seemed to be a cape. When I checked my chest, arms, and shoulders, I saw the same dull gray armor emitting a faint glow. "Why am I wearing armor!?" I twisted my body and hit the armor to check. A metallic sound echoed through the forest. "Looks like the real deal..." Apparently, I'm clad in full-body armor. And it's high-defense, too. Why am I in a forest like this? I have no idea. Could this be some kind of perk from being transported to another world? If that's the case, maybe I have some amazing abilities. No, wait. Don't jump to conclusions, Sosuke Kubinashi. It's still not certain that this is another world.

If I make it through this forest, there might be a modern Japanese city waiting for me. Who knows what could happen. Right now, there's not enough information. Anyway, let's try walking towards a populated area. Then we'll see. ◆ The chirping of birds echoes through the forest. I aimed for a populated area to gather information and kept walking straight along the road. The surrounding scenery remained largely unchanged, with trees endlessly flowing by in my field of vision. Despite being in full body armor, I felt light on my feet, as if I didn't feel any weight at all. It was like it was a part of my body. The clattering sound was annoying, but I had already gotten used to it. At this point, it feels like I'm cosplaying in full body armor as I walk. No matter how much I walk, the road is lined with endless trees, and occasionally, I see plants with strange and unusual shapes. Something that looked like a red rafflesia parasitic on a tree, and mushrooms with a poisonous purple color. The parasitic rafflesia seemed to have tentacle-like appendages growing out of it, wriggling around like a living creature. I feel like just by touching it, I could be engulfed and consumed by those appendages, or even dissolved. As expected, it doesn't seem Japanese. Could it be that I've been transported to a foreign jungle? Or is it a different world after all? While observing various strange plants, I continued forward. After walking for a while, I arrived at an open lake. In the transparent water, I could see the shadows of fish and other living creatures darting around. On a fallen tree, a colorful bird stands as if it's targeting something. Even animals I've never seen before are coming here to drink, putting their mouths to the water's surface. It's a beautiful lake unlike any I've seen before. However, I could only feel a sense of disgust. It felt like standing on the edge of a cliff, ready to fall at any moment. I don't understand why. To be clear, I'm not afraid of water, nor do I have any past trauma from drowning. Yet, my body is reacting as if to pull me away from it. Despite being just a perfectly normal lake, I couldn't help but feel fear and discomfort. I wasn't feeling thirsty, but I didn't know when I'd have the chance to drink again. This forest might be vast beyond measure. Who knows when I'll reach civilization? So, even if I wasn't thirsty, I needed to drink while I could. The lake's water didn't look murky, so it seemed safe to drink as it was. Ideally, I'd boil and sterilize it first, but I had no way to collect water, so I had no choice. Suppressing my inexplicable fear of the lake, I stepped closer to the water's edge, treading on the grass. With each step closer, I felt an overwhelming urge to run away. It was an inexplicable impulse. It was as if my body was refusing to go any further. There were no ferocious crocodile-like beasts lurking nearby. After carefully checking my surroundings, I forced down my fear and peered into the water's surface. My reflection showed me clad in full-body armor. However, I had no head.