Inside his luxurious apartment, the wealthy businessman Jean Prince lay on the couch, engrossed in a book he had received from his grandfather years ago.
As a child, books had never caught his interest, so he had tossed it onto a shelf, where it remained untouched for many years. But recently, while packing during a move, the strange book caught his eye. Curiosity sparked, and he decided to finally see what it was about. Two weeks ago, when boredom set in, he pulled the book from the shelf and began reading.
The book looked a little out of the ordinary. It had a thick leather cover that wrapped around its pages. The book wasn't particularly thick or thin, containing about 200 pages. But what truly made this book stand out in Jean's eyes was the complete lack of a title. There was no name anywhere—neither on the cover nor inside the book itself.
As for the story, it was set in a mystical, strange world unlike Earth, though Jean noticed that many of the characters and places resembled Japan, albeit from a time further back in history. The narrative followed a character named Takeshi Ren—an orphan who grew up on the streets of Seiraku Village. For most of his early life, Takeshi wandered the streets, begging for food and spare change. People often took pity on the poor boy, offering him what little they could.
This was how he survived until the age of ten, when he met another boy of his age who would become his best friend. Takeshi admired him greatly and followed him through everything he did.
At the age of fifteen, Takeshi's friend decided to train to become a swordsman. His dream was to serve under a powerful clan and one day clash swords with equally strong warriors or slay mythical beasts. Takeshi, too, followed this dream. The problem was, they had no money to afford training under a master swordsman.
However, they managed to find an old, one-armed man who claimed to have been a former swordsman and was now teaching kids like them for fun. The two boys decided to join his classes and began their training. Among the other children who attended these classes, Takeshi was the best. His skills with the sword were unmatched, and he quickly earned the respect of everyone around him. Word of his talent spread, and before long, every kid in the village knew Takeshi's name.
Not long after, while walking the streets, he was approached by a swordsman from the Ishinari Clan, who asked to see his skills. Excited, Takeshi obliged and demonstrated his swordsmanship. The swordsman was deeply impressed and offered Takeshi a chance to join the clan as a servant, with the potential to become a warrior after years of training. Takeshi was overjoyed—his dream had finally come true—and he accepted without hesitation.
The rest of the book chronicled his time as a servant of the Ishinari Clan, detailing how he eventually rose to become an official warrior. Jean quickly read through these chapters, captivated by the story.
On this gloomy night, Jean found himself reading the final pages of the book. Along with a few other warriors, Takeshi had been sent to investigate the ruins of an ancient, abandoned temple—rumored to be thousands of years old. This was Takeshi's first mission as a swordsman of the clan. The last few lines of the book depicted how, during their journey to the temple, Takeshi and his party made camp for the night in a forest filled with trees with yellow leaves.
What?! It ends just like that?!
Jean thought in bewilderment, rereading the final lines a few more times to make sure he hadn't missed anything.
It was so intriguing up until now—why did the author have to leave it with such an open ending?
Jean reflected, his disappointment solidifying. He sat there in disbelief for a full minute before finally deciding to put the book down.
Just as Jean was about to close the book, something unbelievable happened. A new page materialized out of thin air—right after the last written page. Once it fully formed, a strange symbol appeared on its surface. Out of sheer curiosity and amazement, Jean reached out to touch the mysterious page, wanting to confirm if it was real.
But the moment his fingers made contact, the symbol began to glow. In less than a second, an incredibly bright light burst from the page, flooding the room and completely blinding him. His vision faded to black. A few seconds passed before the darkness dispersed, and Jean's vision slowly returned.
But as he looked around, he realized something was very wrong—he was no longer in his living room. He now sat on the ground that was nearly completely covered in yellow leaves, and in front of him flickered a faintly burning campfire.
As he surveyed the area further, he noticed five other people sitting around the fire, chatting among themselves. Each was dressed in armor and carried swords—katanas, he realized. When Jean looked down at himself, he saw that he, too, wore the same type of armor, with a similar sword resting by his side.
A chill ran down his spine as the scene stirred something in his memory. It all seemed... familiar.
What just happened?
Jean thought, eyes wide.
Where am I?
But before Jean could think any further, a voice called out,
"What do you think, Takeshi?"
The moment he heard it, Jean froze in disbelief.
Takeshi? Wait... Don't tell me—
Then it hit him. The campfire, the yellow leaves, the armor... it was all familiar for a reason.
I'm inside the book!
His heart pounded as his thoughts raced.
How did this happen? How is this even possible?
Before he could make sense of it, the voice called out again,
"Are you okay, Takeshi?"
What shocked him even more was that the man was speaking a language Jean didn't recognize—yet somehow, he understood every word. And when he opened his mouth to respond, the same unfamiliar language flowed out of him effortlessly.
"Ah, sorry. I spaced out a little. Could you repeat the question?"
The man sitting to his right chuckled and replied,
"I asked what you think we'll find in the temple. After all, it once belonged to the Kageyama Clan—and there are rumors they made contact with a high-ranking demon from the Shadow Realm."
Jean blinked.
Shadow Realm? Demon?
He quickly searched his memory and recalled that, in a few bits of worldbuilding, the book had briefly mentioned a mysterious parallel dimension known as the Shadow Realm—a place inhabited by demons.
Trying to stay calm, he answered as naturally as he could:
"Well... I hope we find something interesting—just not as extreme as a demon."
After hearing that, all of the men around the campfire frowned slightly. One of them spoke up,
"That's very different from your usual attitude. You're always the one chasing danger and mysteries."
Jean's eyes widened in alarm.
He's right. That's nothing like Takeshi.
He quickly recalled: Takeshi was always calm in the face of danger, fearless and composed—even if, so far in the book, he hadn't actually encountered any real threats.
Now that I've become Takeshi Ren... should I act like him? Or just be myself? Or maybe a mix of both?
He paused for a moment, then shook the thought away.
No! That's not what I should be thinking about right now. I need to focus on how to get back to Earth!
The five men didn't pay much attention to Takeshi's unusually quiet and reserved behavior, continuing to chat amongst themselves. Meanwhile, Jean was desperately trying to make sense of what was happening—and why he had been transported into the world of the book.
All I did was touch the page that appeared… Wait— That actually happened. In the real world. A page materializing out of thin air? Ridiculous!
As he thought it over, Jean came to a sobering conclusion: there was no way for him to return home—at least not for the time being.
His thoughts then shifted to something else. He knew this world was filled with strange and dangerous creatures, some even fascinating. But the book had mostly focused on Takeshi's life, glossing over the broader worldbuilding.
I have no idea what else exists out there, he thought.
And do I even inherit Takeshi's swordsmanship skills… or do I have to rely on my own nonexistent ones?
While the others spent the night laughing and talking, Jean sat in silence, thinking through every possibility—about this strange world, his new identity, and what lay ahead.
Eventually, one of the men spoke. "It's about time we get some sleep. Tomorrow won't be easy. The trek up the mountain is rough and I suppose that all of us wish to make it in one piece."
Jean nodded along with the others, silently agreeing. Soon after, he drifted into sleep—marking the end of his first night in this strange and unfamiliar world.