Chapter Text
Where is this? It's cold. It's dark. I can't feel anything. I can't see anything. I can't remember anything.
Oh, I think I still remember my identity.
Alissa Wagner. 35 years old. A mother of three sons. And also the wife of Paul Wagner. The five of us are a normal, well-off family living in the small town of Podelzig, Germany.
But while I was on my way to a college teaching job, I was hit by a swerving truck on the autobahn near Frankfurt.
Ah, yes. An accident. Of course.
No wonder the cold and darkness feel so oppressive. So this is what death is. I'm dead.
But before I could comprehend the meaning of my death, my entire body was suddenly seized by excruciating pain.
Furthermore, I heard the rumbling and screams of people around me. They sounded half terrified and half panicked. Could those be the voices of people who witnessed my accident? Hmmm… strangely, the voices I heard weren't German, but I could still make out what they were shouting.
“Oooyy!!! She's here!!!”
“Praise the Goddess, She's still breathing!”
“Put the ladder goes down here!”
But a moment later, I heard nothing more.
…
I opened my eyes and looked around.
It seemed I was now lying in a dim, rickety room, lit only by an oil lamp and the sun, which had long since set, but was still trying to shine its rays across the horizon through the windows and curtains, trying to illuminate the room with its remaining light.
But despite the room's "backwardness," I felt that it was at least somewhat "clean." I also noticed that the furniture around me felt a little larger than usual.
I tried to move my arms and legs, but suddenly the pain shot back into my body, and I groaned in pain.
But the pain had at least confirmed one thing: I was still alive. Hmmm... with an accident as serious as the one I just experienced, you normally take the victims to the hospital first, right? But judging by my surroundings, I was now in a remote hut with no electricity.
I stopped trying to move and immediately went back to rest. Now I felt every muscle in my body screaming in pain. This was further accentuated by the fact that almost 75% of my body was covered in bandages and medicated oil. Wait a minute? Medicated oil? When in the world were people still covered in medicated oil after a fatal accident?
As I lampooning my current situation, a sound came from outside the room: the patter of footsteps stomping on the wood of this rickety hut. The door burst open, revealing a boy, about 10 years old, panting heavily after running toward the room where I lay. Judging by his expression, the boy looked worried, shocked, and happy.
Less than a second later, our eyes met, the boy ran off again, shouting something. His screams sounded like a cry of pure worry. They weren't in German or English, but strangely, I understood what he was shouting.
"MOM!!! Melissa's awake!"
...
Now I was surrounded by four people. Two boys who appeared to be brothers, and a man and a woman who appeared to be a married couple. Even though I'd never seen them before, something inside me told me they were my family. The two boys were my older brothers, and the couple were my mother and father.
"Melissa... are you okay?" The oldest boy asked me worriedly.
I probably looked dazed in their eyes. What else could I do? I was suddenly faced with four strangers, but I suddenly considered them family. It took me a moment to process all of this.
"Benson, call the doctor to have Melissa examined again." 'Papa' ordered the eldest son, shaking his head slightly toward the bedroom door.
"Yes... Yes, Dad!"
...
Ten minutes later, a middle-aged man with black hair, glasses, and bright red eyes, wearing a long white robe, entered the room. From his attire, I could at least guess that he was the "doctor" who had examined me. Without wasting any time, the man examined me from head to toe, touching my body with his fingers.
"Melissa still seems a little confused..." The doctor who had just examined my leg immediately reported the results to my parents while cleaning his glasses with a cloth.
"It's understandable. She fell from that height and with quite severe head injuries, her survival itself is indeed a miracle."
"Melissa also may have suffered memory loss due to the impact on her head. She need some kind of rehabilitation to regain her physical function. But at least she made it through the critical period and has no permanent or catastrophic disabilities."
This "doctor" explained the results of the examination he had just performed.
I lampooned to myself, That's it? Not even a stethoscope or anything like that? Just holding it? But judging by his attire, I doubted this guy is even a ‘doctor’, could he be a medicaster?
But wait, I fell from the cliff? Not a traffic accident?
But suddenly, my ‘Mom’ hugged me, sobbing with joy. The sudden hug made my newly healed body scream in pain.
“Praise the Goddess, Melissa… you are okay…”
“Wow, wow, slow down, Mrs. Moretti…” The doctor tried to pry me from Mom’s embrace.
“Melissa just waking up doesn’t necessarily mean her body is fully healed. This child still needs to rest.”
“I’m… I’m so sorry, Doctor, but once I found out Melissa was safe…”
“It’s okay. I also understand the relief and joy a parent feels when they hear their child survived a disaster.” The doctor replied casually, then gave additional instructions.
“Oh yes, for the next week, Melissa should minimize her physical activity and eat lots of hard-boiled eggs to speed up her recovery.”
“Doctor White, I can’t say anything more than thank you very much. I don’t know what I can do to repay your kindness.” ‘Dad’ bowed his head as he took off his hat.
"It's okay, Mr. Moretti. Melissa's accident was the result of my subordinate's carelessness. All I can do is take responsibility for my subordinate's actions and remedy this mistake as best I can so our vacation doesn't end in tragedy." The doctor replied to ‘papa’ with an elegant refusal.
"Thank you for your kindness, Doctor White. May your kindness be repaid many times over by Goddess." ‘Mama’ bowed her head to the doctor and made a gesture to her chest. Doctor White simply nodded in response, then simply left the room.
After Doctor White had completely left, his footsteps barely audible, "mama" looked at me gently and stroked my head.
"Melissa... praise the Goddess, you're safe."
"Honey, let's follow what Doctor White said earlier. Let Melissa rest first," ‘Papa’ reminded ‘mama’ while gently patting her shoulder.
‘Mama’ nodded back with a slow nod.
"Melissa, honey, you must be hungry, right? You've been asleep for three days! Mom made your favourite oatmeal porridge with a boiled egg, just like the doctor recommended."
"Benson, Klein, come on out of here, let Melissa rest first." ‘papa’ ushered the two boys out of the room.
"Okay..."
"Melissa, when you're better, we'll play together again!"
"Klein, remember what the doctor said, Melissa needs to rest first." The oldest boy had reprimanded Klein.
"Then... Then I'll read you stories and fairy tales!"
Watching Klein and Benson interact reminded me of my own children. I smiled and chuckled in response.
"Ufufu, thank you, Klein," I replied softly.
"Yes... yes... enough playing. Melissa needs to rest first." My ‘papa’ quickly pushed Benson and Klein out of my room.
The room was now quiet again, a stark contrast to the atmosphere just a minute before.
But this solitude and loneliness didn't make me melancholic. I finally had time to organize all the information that had suddenly arrived and been stuck in my head.
I looked down at my body, my hands and feet still struggling to move. They seemed much smaller than they had been before. Along with the furniture and people appearing larger than usual, I could tell I was now in the body of a small child.
Isn't this... what's it called again? Often seen in the Japanese cartoons my kids religiously watch every week? Isekai?
Speaking of Isekai, this situation reminded me of a discussion I had with my three children a week ago.
…
I saw my three children discussing something in Sieg's room, the oldest of my three.
“Heyyy…! It's already past the bedtime! School starts tomorrow! What are you three talking about, staying up at this hour?”
“We were talking about 'what would you do if you were sent to an isekai?'!” Johann, my 13-year-old second son, enthusiastically answered my question.
“Isekai?”
“That means Another World, mom…” Sieg, my 15-year-old eldest son, replied with a slight sneer, as if it were none of my business.
“Okay? So, what would you do if you were sent to another world?” I replied to Sieg's sneer with a hint of challenge.
“Of course! I'd definitely go on adventures in other worlds! Discover new things! Defeat the Demon King! Become a hero!” Sieg enthusiastically answered my challenge.
“And you CAN do all that?”
“Geh…” Sieg was a little shocked by my question, realizing how absurd everything he wanted was.
“But… But surely people who are sent to Isekai must have special ‘cheats’ to do all those things.”
“Heee… I see…” I responded half-heartedly to Sieg’s statement, then continued my question to my second son.
“What about Johann? If you were sent to…, what was it called again? ‘Isekai’? What would you do?”
“If I sent to Isekai, there would definitely be magic, right? I would research the magic system in that world and become the greatest wizard on that realm!” Johann answered with enthusiasm that matched Sieg’s.
“Magic, huh… What about Lutz?” I immediately lobbed a question at Lutz, my youngest son, who is now 11 years old.
“When I watch the anime, I usually find the technology in isekai a bit outdated, right? I want to bring modern technology to isekai and dominate that world with it!” Lutz was a bit nervous and awkward answering my question, but the look of joy on his face and the sparkle in his eyes made me believe he had as much enthusiasm as his older siblings.
"Ufufu... you guys are so funny..." I chuckled at my children's enthusiasm.
"What about Mom? What would you do if you were sent to an Isekai?" Lutz asked me innocently.
"Hmmm... what should I do? Mom doesn't really want to go either..." I replied, exaggerating my gestures and looking up at the ceiling.
Lutz didn't seem too pleased with my answer, which seemed to be like avoiding the question. I couldn't help but smile at that and immediately hugged my three children.
"But if I were forced to choose, I would want all five of us, along with Dad, to go to the other world!"
...
Remembering the memories I had with my three children, whom I would never see again, made my tears flow uncontrollably.
That’s right. Come to think of it, what I was experiencing now was akin to those cartoons that often refer to this as "being reincarnated to an isekai."
And my suspicions grew stronger as a red light crept into my room. As I looked out the window to find the source of the crimson light, my watery eyes widened when I saw it.
The full moon, which had just risen after sunset, shone a bright crimson, illuminating the night, enveloping the dark world in its strange and eerie crimson light. Seeing it made my eyes water even more.
"Hahaaa... a crimson moon. This is clearly in another world." I laughed to myself softly, as if laughing at the absurdity of my current situation. I also whispered softly to myself, expressing the regret I felt.
"Paul... I'm sorry I can't be with you until we grow old. I'll leave our three children in your care. Hehe, they're all so handful, but they're all just like you when you were a teenager, so I'm sure you can handle them."
"Sieg... I'm sorry your mother couldn't watch you compete in the karate tournament. But I'm confident you can win this fight because I believe in you. I hope you'll use your strength to protect your younger siblings."
"Johann... I'm sorry your mother forgot to buy you a pentab. I was supposed to buy it for you today after class for your birthday next week, but fate had other plans. I hope you continue to hone your creativity and continue to be the most different among the three of you."
"Lutz... I'm sorry your mother forgot to give you a gift after you won the science fair the day before yesterday. Hehe... even though you're the youngest, you're even smarter than Sieg in science. I hope you use your smartyness to help your siblings."
Sigh… after pouring my heart out to myself and shedding all my tears, I'm now relatively calmer. Because if I think about it, I, who was in that fatal accident, normally wouldn't have had the chance to regret things like I just did, let alone live a new life like this. Only by being sent to another world could I do all of that.
I took a deep breath, accepted the situation I was experiencing and feeling, and then meditated to explore the information contained within this child's body I now inhabit.
I am now a 5-year-old youngest daughter of the Moretti family. With two older brothers, the oldest is Benson Moretti, and the next is Klein Moretti. I have a father named Gregor Moretti and a mother named Luna Moretti. And I'm not Alissa now, but Melissa. Melissa Moretti.
As I whispering that to my own heart to firmly planted myself to this new world, Melissa's mother, I mean, my mother, who had just entered with oatmeal and boiled eggs, suddenly panicked when she saw me in tears.
"MELISSA! WHAT HAPPENED TO YOU!?"
Oof… this is awkward.