Chapter 1

Part 1. 1% 

He had possessed a body in another world.

If one day you were suddenly hit by a truck-kun and sent to a fantasy world, what role would you want to take on?

A swordsman or magician boasting special abilities, or a noble or royal with the power to control the world, or even a life of wealth and leisure where you can play and eat to your heart's content. The options one can imagine are endless.

He too had dreamed of such a hopeful life, but…

"Prisoner number 444. It's time for your meal."

He had possessed the body of a prisoner.

And not just any prisoner, but one condemned to die the next day.

***

To explain how this happened, the story goes back a few hours.

It was a day like any other.

He woke up late, spent most of his time in bed, made do with frozen meals, and prepared to go out late at night. He put on a black hoodie and jeans, and finally pressed a dark purple baseball cap firmly onto his head.

"Phew..."

Feeling the winter's lingering chill in his visible breath, he began walking. After being cooped up all day in a tiny studio apartment, his joints felt awkward as he moved.

Still, he had to move if he wanted to earn money. Just across the crosswalk and he'd soon reach his destination…

Ding.

A cheerful notification sound stopped him in his tracks. The pedestrian signal was on, so he could have crossed, but some instinct made him pause. He took out his phone to check the message that had just arrived.

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DU Convenience Store Manager

Evan... I'm sorry but you don't need to come in to work starting today. I'll deposit your pay for the work up to yesterday. Thanks for your hard work all this time. 

PM10:50

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It was a sudden notice of termination, but he had only one thought about it.

You could have contacted me earlier. I came all the way out here for nothing.

He had expected to be fired soon, since it had been about a month since he started working. Still, if they were going to fire him anyway, it would have been nice if they had told him at least a few hours before his shift, or even 30 minutes before. Was it reasonable to contact him just 10 minutes prior? It was especially vexing since the convenience store was right in front of him.

The manager must have felt awkward about this too, as another message was added.

—--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

DU Convenience Store Manager

Sorry for telling you at the last minute ᅮ Did you already come out??

It's absolutely not because you did a bad job!! You did really well. It's just that late-night sales have been declining a bit lately ᅮ So I'm planning to take over the night shift myself... I'm sorry…

And I'm saying this for your sake... Try to smile more from now on~ Brightly~ Sometimes I was startled when I saw you ᄒᄒ;; Looking at the CCTV, it seems customers were also startled by you and didn't come in...~ᄏᄏᄒ;; I hope you don't take this the wrong way...ᄒ PM10:52

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It's common to ramble on when feeling embarrassed, but in doing so, one often ends up saying unnecessary things. He looked up at the manager whispering with the evening part-timer in the convenience store, then looked back down at his phone screen.

Sometimes people seem to believe that as long as they preface something with "I'm saying this for your sake," any statement becomes warm advice and encouragement. While it had been a while since he'd received such unsolicited concern, this too was nothing to be surprised about. He stuffed his phone into his pocket indifferently.

"I wonder what the customers said..."

No matter which part-time job he got, he was always fired within a month at most, and while the attitude of the boss giving notice of termination varied each time, the reason was always the same.

'The customers feel uncomfortable around you.'

It had been like this since he was young. Pale skin with veins faintly visible, sunken eyes, dark circles, a gloomy expression. Honestly, even just his appearance might make people want to keep their distance, but there was an even clearer reason.

He could see ghosts.

He had probably seen them since the moment he was born. That's why the staff who cared for him as a newborn in the orphanage sometimes felt a chill from the baby's gaze directed behind them, and why all the children he grew up with avoided him. So as soon as he was old enough to live independently, he left the orphanage as if he had been driven out.

Having seen ghosts for so long, he wasn't scared unless it was a particularly malevolent spirit. He generally ignored them, but when he was younger, he occasionally tried to help those who had ghosts attached to them. He would warn them to be careful on night roads, tell them not to go to certain buildings, or ask if they had recently brought home any strange objects.

About half were grateful, while the other half got angry. Even if he had only intended to focus on the former and be glad, later on they too would persistently question him and try to get more out of him, so in the end both sides were just troublesome. He hated getting involved in complicated matters.

As a result, he gradually stopped saying anything at all, and now he only occasionally observed ghosts that looked interesting.

'It's unpleasant.'

But just staring blankly into space was enough to make others uncomfortable. Throughout elementary, middle, and high school, students avoided him, and teachers were wary of him. He was referred to as "that kid, you know" throughout the school. He felt like a piece that didn't fit in this world at all.

He wasn't particularly hurt by this treatment, but it was a bit unfair when he was chased away with salt thrown at him the moment he set foot in a shaman's house. He thought they would accept him as a kindred spirit, but to be treated like an evil spirit instead.

He wondered if something would change when he became an adult, but nothing did. The only difference was that he heard less unsolicited advice to "be more cheerful" than when he was younger, which was more comfortable. Unfortunately, he had just heard it again today after a long time.

"I was going to buy juice at the convenience store..."

He was reluctant to go into the place he had just been fired from to make a purchase. Although he had grown up receiving all sorts of stares, he wasn't that thick-skinned, and he didn't want to cause unnecessary discomfort to the part-timer and manager who were probably still talking about him.

Instead, he decided to go to the convenience store on his way home. It was strangely colder than usual, so he picked up his pace. It was a dark night with clouds covering even the moonlight.

Meow–

Just before turning the corner of the alley, a small sound stopped him. He reflexively turned his head to check the source of the sound, and a faint smile spread across his face. It was a black cat.

Somewhere he had heard that black cats were a bad omen, but he thought it was complete nonsense. All cats in the world are cute, and cute things can't be sinful, so why label them as a bad omen? How dare humans say such rude things about cats. Ah, perhaps there had been a factional dispute among cats. Maybe the Cheese, Mackerel, Calico, and other factions had deliberately tried to slander black cats.

This imagination was a bit cute, but he couldn't continue with such pleasant thoughts in the current situation.

"It's dangerous there. Come here."

The black cat was sitting in the middle of the road. Feeling very uneasy about its position, he gestured for it to come out quickly, called out, and even tried to intimidate it, but the cat didn't budge an inch and just stared at him. Somehow, it seemed as if it was calling him.

Can't be helped, he thought as he reached out and began to approach the cat.

Screeeeeeech–

The last things he registered were a heavy sound assaulting his ears, intense headlights flooding the road, and the truck bumper right in front of his eyes as he turned to the side.

That was the end.

There was no pain.

***

And so, in the present, he opened his eyes here.

At first, he naturally thought he was dead. He believed the reason his consciousness remained instead of being cut off immediately was simply time given to reflect on his life one last time before dying. The only thing he was curious about was whether the cat was safe.

Strangely, it seemed like the cat had whispered something to him at the last moment…

'Now... ― has ...become.'

Pfft, he laughed. Death was so empty that he was having such nonsensical delusions. He hadn't had great expectations or passion for life, nor had he lived particularly diligently, yet was he hoping for a death that wasn't shabby? Just as he was thinking that dying while trying to save a cat was more than he deserved, he froze.

...Did I just laugh?

How?

I should be dead… is this an illusion?

Clang!

At that moment, as if to prove it wasn't an illusion, an external sound struck his ears. It was the kind of sound that might be made when opening a heavy door. Simultaneously, he gasped and opened his eyes.

The faded monochrome scenery gradually took on color. This place was... a bright space where sunlight poured in abundantly.

Sunlight.

It had definitely been an ominously dark night, but now the midday sun warmly touched his body. The pitch-black robe that remained distinctly dark even under the sunlight felt unfamiliar.

With eyes wide open, he kept looking around the space while fumbling to touch his body with his hands. His hands moved normally and he felt no pain anywhere on his body.

Could this be... the truck-kun?

Since he was always alone and bored, he had read web novels a few times. And in the case of novels tagged with "isekai," the main character, who had a hard life in their previous life, would possess a new body in another world and live a wonderful life.

As the isekai genre became very popular, most novels explained the death process that the main character encounters before moving to a new body as the truck-kun. On the way to school—splat. On the way to a job interview—splat. Even on the way to take the college entrance exam—splat.

Death may be empty, but the new life afterwards is brilliant.

Excitement started to build within him. It seemed like he had also been hit by the truck-kun. Now, what kind of life awaited him? Maybe he was the eldest son of the imperial family or part of a renowned family of swordsmen or magicians. Maybe he was the youngest heir of a powerful duke’s family, feared even by the imperial family. Or perhaps he was part of a secret guild that held the entire empire in its grip.

Anything would be fine. A new life full of hope…

"Prisoner number 444. It's time for your meal."

What?

Before he could even understand the words pronounced in a thick voice, clang! Something fell to the floor. It was a sharp sound like that of metal dishes hitting a stone floor.

Only then was he able to expand his field of vision. The small square space, where nothing could be found except a blanket that looked like a sackcloth, looked like a prison. The sunlight he had perceived earlier was pouring in through a small window above, but it was so small that one could barely stick a hand through it, and the window was densely covered with bars.

Thud! A heavy sound came from the side. As he was blankly staring up at the window, the man, thinking his words were being ignored, had kicked the prison bars.

Startled by the noise, he reflexively flinched and turned around, and the man sneered. The man's dull blonde hair and dark blue eyes, presumably those of a jailer wearing iron armor, came into view. It was an unfamiliar appearance that seemed to indicate this was definitely another world.

"You're going to die tomorrow, so you don't feel like eating? Then I'll kindly throw it away for you!"

The man completely flipped over the food tray with his foot. The pieces of black bread rolling on the cold stone floor looked as hard as rocks, and what was probably soup was dark and murky. It seemed that from the start, only inedible garbage had been placed on the tray.

Belatedly, he also noticed the handcuffs on his wrists. Combining his situation, the space, and the words the man had uttered, he finally reached a conclusion…

I'm... a death row inmate?

But I just died?