Asian Experience becomes an Isekaie

Asian Experience becomes an Isekaied life

By

Soul71

Thanks to Killerarmyguy and Linnear for the edits

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The thunderstorm raged over the rural town of Toyone-mura in the Kitashitara District of the Aichi Prefecture in Japan. A place he was not from nor born anywhere near the area. No Jake Diaz, a once naive boy from Indiana, now abandoned in Japan by his father years ago when he left his then-wife and him behind. His mother was no help. When it came to custody she could care less about him. His mother was more than happy to pay his father child support if it meant she didn't have to deal with him. When his father brought them all overseas to visit his wife's, now ex-wife, family, he didn't know his last parent would abandon him as well in another country, no less. The woman he grew up with, thoughtful of like a mother, albeit an aloof mother but a mother nonetheless, abandoned him too in the wake of his father's actions. She didn't say a word to him when she dumped him on her family's doorstep before running back to her cab when he was just standing there like a confused ten-year-old. He never heard from her again. Not that he cared; he was quickly whisked off to an orphanage down in Osio that went by the name of Elizabeth Saunders Home.

The last eight years of his life had been one cruel reminder after another that he did not belong to the Japanese culture. How could he not feel like an outsider when he didn't understand the language, written or verbal. With no one willing to take him in back in the States, he was stuck in Japan until he could find a way to go home. However, as the years passed, he wondered if he even wanted to go back to the States seeing he had nothing left there to return to. Once he had reached the age of eighteen and the orphanage kicked him to the streets, he had to find work quickly or sleep in the streets. Which he did for a few days until the owner of the oden and ramen shop he has come to work at for the past three years of his adult life. The only good thing that came out of it all was that the Japanese government gave him permanent residence, something he knew would open up a lot of work when it came for him to do so.

The fragrant broth bubbled as he brought the noddle basket up and out of the hot liquid, shaking off the excess broth when he lightly struck it against the rim of the basket holder before dumping the hot Udon noodles out into the awaiting bowl. His eyes glanced up as a new ticket was added to the growing orders for that evening, which, in his opinion, was turning out to be a slow night. Not that he minded, really; he enjoyed the slower nights, and since he slept in the back room, he worked a lot of hours. Something he was happy for since he was saving up what he could to move out of the owner's shop and into his own place. Jake knew if he went back to the States he wouldn't feel like the outsider he is due to Japanese culture. He had nothing wrong with it. He was indeed an outsider who they were forced to take care of Jake, something he would always be thankful for. He had picked out a nice little property on the outskirts of town, away from everyone's judging eyes. Something he didn't blame them for. It was just their way when it came to foreigners especially that far out in the country like he was. When the orphanage kicked him out, he took the nearest train to the farthest place with what money he had would get him.

The soy sauce sizzled in the pan as he poured two teaspoons of it into the dish. His Japanese was crisp and fluid as he asked his coworker if he would get the duck breasts out of the refrigerator as he rapidly stirred the vegetables that went with the dish. His knife moved quickly over the cutting board as he sliced the duck adding four of the slices to the pan to reheat the duck, giving it a stir before he turned around and opened the rice warmer where their latest batch was resting. His hand moved mechanically as if he had performed the task he was currently doing a thousand times. Which he had as he packed the rice into the bowl before carefully plating it. He drizzled the contents of the pan around the mound of rice, taking the ticket off the cooking line, and rang the bell, placing the ticket on the counter and then the bowl and plate on top of it. His towel moved over the hot pan as he cleaned it out before putting it back onto the fire.

That was what his life had been like since he came to live in Toyone-mura. Not that he minded; it was quiet, the workers for the dam were decent tippers, and the work was steady if the pay was rather low. His blue eyes glanced up when the owner's daughter spoke to him through the gap of the shelving of the plating counter as he worked over the dumpling pan while his coworker went to the john. Jake nodded in recognition when she passed on the customer's praise of the food he had been served. As their night came to a close, normally around nine o'clock. There wasn't much of a nightlife in Toyone-mura, especially in the middle of winter; it was the reason the young adult population of Toyone-mura was moving out to the bigger cities to find work. He found that little town just what he needed. The only place in the world you will be lost forever, given how it still looked like it did from the 1990s. When the shop wrapped up, he was pretty much left to his own devices once he threw the lock and waved to the owner's daughter, silently telling her the store was in good hands.

Jake was sitting cross-legged as he got his paperwork ready to see if he could acquire the house he was looking at for free, given the government program he had just learned about. His thumb scrolled up on his screen as he sat hunched over on the little mattress he'd been using for the past three years. His eyes read down the screen, nodding along to what he had to do to get that free house. His grunt of annoyance filled the area, knowing he would have to go into the village and speak to someone at town hall to get the ball rolling. He was getting tired of sleeping in the back of a ramen shop. With the papers he needed sorted and tucked safely away, he rolled over and pulled the thin blanket to his shoulder, thinking of the time he would be living in his own house.

The birds sang as he walked through town towards the records building. A smile graced his face, seeing the tiles of the roof of the house he was interested in from below him as he crested the walking path down the slope of the mountain. Thoughts of advancing his life as he made his way down the steps that had been carved into the slope between the winding roadway. However, his eyes widened in recognition of what he was seeing as a strange light encircled his body.

"Oh, hell no! I am not getting Isekaied!" Jake screamed out in his native English. He tried to sprint out of the circle only to have his nose crash against an invisible wall denying him passage back to the life he knew. "Fuck this shit! I am not doing this, you hear me..."

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A scent not native to him filled his nose as he leaned against the trunk of the tree he was resting against in his long trek back to the town he first started in its adventuring guild, now called by another name. He didn't know if it was a good thing or bad thing, that he remembered everything from his rebirth to the present. From his childhood, the moment he learned that there was indeed magic in that world as his own made itself known to the years of his apprenticeship as a battlemage. He just thought it would be cool and badass if he could tank damage and deal out world-ending spells. His mood soured when the reason why he was adventuring alone and not a part of a party flashed in his mind as he sipped on his water skin. His teeth tore at the quarter bit of the loaf of rye bread he had left from his rations, knowing he would be arriving in town by mid-afternoon. He was pondering if he even wanted to go to the village as the sight of his so-called friends and the girl he thought he was in a relationship with entangled in one another. He didn't stay a moment longer when he saw them. He was only thankful the quest they were on at the time was already completed and all that remained was to collect his reward at the Guild House. So he packed up his bedroll and left the three of them there in their depravity.

When he arrived at the Guild House before his former party did, he collected his share of the money for the job on its completion. Then, he proceeded to remove himself from the party he had belonged to. He noticed something in the woman's eyes that handed out quests to other adventurers of the required rank so those weak wouldn't take on more than they could and not get killed in the process. It seemed to him that she knew what his former party members were up to. He spun around, asking loudly how many of them knew about his former party members. The way most, not all, of them, looked away told them what he needed to know. And so when he turned his attention back to the receptionist he too saw how she couldn't look him in the eye. He made his displeasure known and what he thought about them all. With that, he went to the Guild's leader asking to be released from his responsibilities with them if that was how he was to be treated, only to have the leader threaten him with being blackballed no matter if he was a battlemage or not. While magic was everywhere, only twenty percent of the world's population could use it to its fullest. The rest could only use the most basic of spells, for the most part, if that at all. So the Guild wouldn't let him go so easily.

When the people he was born to in that world learned that he had the might of a Grand Wizard, they were shocked. His parents didn't hesitate to take the money the mages were offering when they removed him from his childhood home and took him to one of the many towers of magical learning. For years, he hated those people because of how quickly they could throw him away. Then again, he knew that was just how that world was, which he came to learn was called Yardrat. As he moved from one teacher to another, like all boys, he was fascinated with swords and swordplay. Hence why, he sought to become a battlemage if he was to make a living for himself in that world. Still, though, he was not happy about staying in a Guild that would lie to his face for however long they were screwing him over. And so he began to adventure out on his own. He did wonder where the harem he had seen in other Isekai manga and anime was or where he was supposed to have some god-like ability when he was growing up, yet none of that ever happened, nor did he hear some goddess asking him to defeat the Demon King, which isn't a thing on Yardrat, along with that he didn't find other people like him sent there from Earth.

So he just went about life like he would have done on Earth. He didn't think he would be able to return to Earth even if he wanted to since he had no idea why he was brought to that world. He would have thought whoever did that would have erased his memories since he wanted nothing to do with why he was brought to that world. His life might have been shit on Earth, but it was still his life. Whoever brought him there had no right to mess it up no matter how shitty it was. He might have access to magic and whatnot. He might have only been an Udon slinger in his old life; it might have sucked greatly, yet his life was never in danger like it was now just to make coin. Granted, he wouldn't be as rich as he is now back on Earth. Still, he would give that all up as he stared out onto the rolling green hills he hadn't seen for a year due to the quest he had been on to subjugate the Giant Earth Boar that had been terrorizing the northwest region of the continent. As large as it was, it transversed a vast area; however, in the end, it now lay dead, and his reward was waiting for him back at the Guild Hall. They knew not to mess with his pay, given how he nearly destroyed the place when the Guild Master thought she could pocket half of his reward simply because she could. That almost cost the woman her head, and shortly afterwards, he was sent on this quest. He was thinking throughout the year. The Guild couldn't do anything about another guild in another country, no matter how large his Guild was. Not that he cared if he had to start over from the bottom up since he'd already hit the highest rank within the Guild.

The only thing that had been holding him back was the fact they were in the middle of the country, and it was two months travel, if one disregarded his teleportation magic to places he'd already been to, in either way to reach the borders of the kingdom he found himself in. His metal gauntlet rested on his knee as his red eyes, something he's learned was a common thing in Yardrat, scanned over the fields. He sensed the goblins that were hiding in the tall grass. A magical word danced in his mind as he conjured a bow above his hand as his detect enemy spell highlighted their bodies. His will guided the conjured arrows to their targets, easily killing such weak monsters compared to him. As he rose from his spot, flashes of his early days played out before him as he drew his dagger from its sheath, recounting how hard it was when he was first starting out killing goblins. It was why he chose the profession of a battlemage rather than a normal mage, seeing how he wasn't going to rely on someone else to protect him whenever they were out on quests. He opted to become what he was now. He wasn't saying he couldn't throw a fireball, sling a bolt of lightning, or freeze his enemies in their tracks. He could and has done such; they just didn't have the power to level mountains like a normal mage could if they had the mana pool. His spells tended to focus more inward than outward.

The burlap bag bumped against his thigh that was filled with the right ears of the goblins to serve as conformation on his kills. While the ears weren't valuable on their own, given each only fetched three copper pieces, which were half the size of a fifty yen coin. While silver coins were the size of a five hundred yen coin and gold were the size of the old half-dollar coins of the country of his former birth. He put a barrier around the bag so the goblin blood wouldn't stain his armor. The ten ears would only net him thirty copper, just enough to buy the cheapest meal at the inn. Still, it was something not that he needed the money; he was a millionaire many times over if he converted all the gold he had to the Japanese Yen or the American dollar. The metal of his sabatons glinted the sun off its polished surface as he strolled down the dirt road that had seen its fair share of wagons, given the ruts that had been cut into the path. It was the reason he had been walking since he had landed in the port after exploring an island's dungeon for regents. Wagons tended to draw the wrong crowd, and he was in no mood to deal with bandits. Sure, he could easily handle them with ease. Why bother? He saw no need to go out of his way to rid the world of a few rogues.

He kept his disgust at the smell that filled the air as animal droppings marred the road as drivers guided their wagons through the streets. Riders following after, their animals leaving their presence behind. Tennis shoes were another thing he would rather have than the so-called shoes they had on Yardrat. However, his feet had toughened up throughout the years. Still, he would kill for a pair of sneakers! His highly polished sword bumped against his left thigh. While he could conjure a sword out of mana. That would still put him at a disadvantage should he run out of mana. Plus, there were monsters and such that were resistant to magic and magical items such as conjured weapons. He ignored the looks he was getting, walking in full armor minus a helmet and his shield, but he could conjure them, so he saw no need to hinder his hearing and sight with a metal helmet and cloth didn't provide enough defense for his liking no matter how much cloth boosted his mana output and damage. His conjured helmet met the same defense as any runic steel helmet that he saw lining the armor stalls he ambled passed.

Raising the hood of his cloak, not that it was going to rain anytime soon. No. He just would rather not deal with the stares. It was like they had never seen magical armor before, or was it because he was a gold-ranked adventurer? He didn't know, nor did he care, yet he wasn't stupid enough not to stuff his guild identification beneath his breastplate. A scowl formed on his face as the sign for the guild swung in the breeze. He was nearly run over by newly minted adventurers as they burst out the door on their way to start their new path in life. The four young upstarts just stared wide-eyed at his armor as they parted for him. Jake - he never went by the name he was given when he was reborn - heard their excited chatter through the door as it closed behind him. Nevertheless, he would take the greenhorn's stares over the ones that currently were levied at him.

Jake had no problem returning their hateful glares when he lowered his hood. His hand rested on the hilt of his sword as he walked up to the receptionist's desk. His eyes moved to and fro, peering out the corners of his eyes, making sure no one would try to make a move on him. Never taking his hand off his weapon, with his free one, he reached back and pulled out the boar's right tusk from the pouch that lined the back of his belt.

"The jobs done, the boar is slain, now for my money," Jake said coldly as he stared down at the woman. He paid no attention to how quiet the hall went when the words 'boar' and 'slain' in one sentence.

"Hello to you too," the woman huffed. "I see your year away didn't teach you any manners."

"Manners? This coming from the very person who tried to stiff me on my reward, how is stealing from me akin to manners? Manners aren't lying to my face for however long you lot knew about those fucks, now my gold," Jake asked, continuing with his coldness.

"Here," the growl never touched the air, yet Jake heard it in her words as she dropped the heavy bag of gold onto her desk after the Guild Master had counted out every single piece of gold that was a part of the reward, "now take your gold and leave."

"Hold your horse's sweet cheeks; as soon as I know that there are three hundred pieces in there, I will not before," Jake said, picking up the heavy bag. It did feel like three hundred pieces of gold. "Put those eyes back in your head before I pluck them out," he said darkly to those eyeing him.

"You can't talk to us like that!" a young boy he'd never seen before exclaimed as he strode towards his table. "We're all adventurers here; we need to support..." The boy looked at Jake oddly when he simply belted out laughing.

"You think these idgits here care about any of that?" Jake took note of the copper plate that dangled on the leather cord that was tied around his neck. "Kid, be careful of who you trust in this guild; they're nothing more than liars and cheats. I'd advise you to seek other..."

"That's enough!" the Guild Master thundered.

"Is it?" Peering up at the woman, "You sent me off to hunt that damn boar before I could hash this out with these lying curs," Jake said, spreading his arms wide. "You tried to cheat me, and you wonder why I hate you."

"Be thankful that you're a mage; otherwise, I'd have..." Her heart was in her throat. A chill cut her to the core as those murderous eyes of his glared up at her as his magical pressure pressed down on all of them.

"Go ahead and try, I dare you. If you think you can do what the boar can't, I'm all for it," Jake uttered, taunting her to act.

"Count your gold and get out; there's no place for you here..."

"Oh? Does that mean I'm free to seek other Guilds?" Jake asked with hope.