Chapter 1: It’s A Miracle! Wataru, Reincarnated!

“...Urr...”

Wataru woke up in a field! He slowly rose to his feet, and looked around!

“...Wh-Where am I!?!?”

Who could have blamed him for being surprised!? Just moments earlier, he had been sent hurtling by a truck and crashed into the asphalt! But somehow, he was now standing in a tranquil field of grass he had never before seen in his life!!! The sky was endlessly blue and clear, with a nice refreshing breeze grazing his skin! Dear Readers, you must be as clueless as he was as to what had just happened! In the next instant, our hero heard a voice coming from beside him!

“Good... You finally came to...”

“!!!!!!!!!!”

A feminine voice! Of all the things he could have woken up to, there was a petite, cute girl standing there! How could this be!? Wataru, who held the 10th dan in both karate and judo, had not been able to detect this girl right next to him!? Even if he had been unconscious and thus completely helpless, the mere fact was too pathetic for words!

“Who the hell are you!?” Wataru shouted!!! The girl was nearly brought to tears! She, by the way, had soft brown hair, held in place with a cute, white headband! She was dressed in a clean, pure-white, one-piece dress! Her shoes were black sandals, easy to move in! Her age was maybe 17! That is, the same age as Wataru! Wataru should have been ashamed! How dare a Japanese, bushido-abiding male yell at such a dainty mademoiselle!? Utterly unacceptable!!!

“M-My name... is Aria...” the girl said, trembling!

“Aria! I’m sorry I yelled!!!” Wataru bellowed! Having realized his mistake from seeing the terror on Aria’s face, Wataru immediately dove down to all fours in a dogeza, a Japanese bow reserved for the most extreme displays of apology! And sorry he was indeed, from the bottom of his heart!!

“Aria! Hit me!” Wataru declared with a face as horrifying as a gargoyle’s, leaping to his feet! This was his way of showing how sorry he was! But, of course, it only terrified poor Aria even more! He could not have made a worse decision!

“U-Um, I’m not going to hit you... But what happened to you? I came out to pick some herbs and found you on the ground. I was worried, so I was watching until you...”

“Right! What happened!? I was just going to school like normal, when I was almost run over by a truck! When I opened my eyes, I was here!!!!!!” Wataru shouted from the depths of his soul, lost in complete and utter confusion!

Then, a rustling was heard from the bushes in the distance! Wataru immediately and instinctively clenched his fists, instantly on guard!

“Who goes there!?!?!?”

Two people emerged from the bushes at the sound of Wataru’s intimidating summons! They were massive, tall in stature, with green skin and pig-like faces...! In fact, I’d go so far as to say that these weren’t people at all!!!

“O-Orcs...!”

“Orcs???”

What!? Are!? Orcs!? We’re all screaming it! I know you are!

“Y-You don’t know what orcs are? They’re pig-faced, humanoid monsters. They often attack and rob travelers around these parts!” An impeccable exposition! Thanks for the concise explanation, Aria!!

“Heh heh heh, fork over all you got!”

“That’s right! Don’t you fight back!”

The orcs held up their clubs! Among warriors, this was an unmistakable declaration of battle! Wataru immediately readied himself!

“Are you... the bad guys...!?” Wataru asked, his fists held high!

“Gheh! Do we look like the good guys?”

“Just give us your money, punk!”

With no more time for discourse, the pair of orcs swung their clubs with scary expressions on their porcine faces!

“Ahh!” Aria turned away in fear!

Wataru, however, did not falter one iota!! In fact, he bravely took a single step forward, then dove directly within range of the orcs’ attacks!!!

“Sorry, but... It’s time to do a little lawn work!!!”

He began to throw punch after punch with both fists!!! It was a machine gun-like rush of super-speed punches!! Allow me to explain! This move was none other than Gatling Knuckles, the secret weapon of the greatest boxer in American history!!

(*Gatling Knuckles: Invented by boxer Michael Adur, from Colorado, in the 1960s. His career suffered for a long time due to his short stature, but after inventing, perfecting, and using this move to his advantage, he eventually became the world flyweight champion. However, since this skill requires extraordinary shoulder strength, he was one of the only boxers to have ever used the move successfully. Some boxing fanatics call it the Legendary Attack. [2] )

Fist! Fist!! Fist!!! Wataru’s fists rained down on the orcs like a powerful storm! They didn’t even have a chance to fight back before they were blown away in astonishment! Moreover, Wataru’s rush produced such powerful winds that the grass all around was uprooted and blown away! In an instant, the field became a desert, as far as the eye could see!

The orcs smashed right into a dune! Fortunately, they survived because the sand cushioned their fall! But, they had no intention of continuing this fight!! Naturally!!!

“Wh-What the hell is this guy!? Yikes!”

“He’s too strong! L-Let’s beat it!”

The pair of orcs forced their bruised bodies up and ran off with their proverbial tails between their legs! Wataru had won, masterfully!!!

“Wh-Who are you...?” Aria asked, her eyes a teensy bit wide with fear!

Dear Readers, you already know the answer! That’s right!

Wataru threw back his shoulders and shouted it to the heavens: “I am Wataru Ito! Hot-blooded Fighting Teen!!!” A moment later, he returned to his standard low roar of speaking volume and added, “...But more importantly, where am I!?”

Aria was taken aback by the question! “Where...? We’re on the Wind Continent, of course.”

Wataru’s expression shifted in astonishment!

“W-Wind Continent...!? I’m not in Japan!?!?!?”

“‘Japan’???” Aria tilted her head as she repeated the unfamiliar name! “I don’t know what you’re talking about... But there’s no country on this continent called ‘Japan.’”

“How can this be!?!?!?”

Wataru was confused by Aria’s explanation! This could only mean that the impact of the truck colliding with him had teleported him to a different world! But how could something so unrealistic have happened!? It was impossible!!! The very idea wasn’t just illogical, it was ridiculous! Preposterous!

“But there’s something else you need to know, Wataru.”

“What!?!?!?”

“You’ve hurt your arm.”

“Hrm-mhurm!?!?”

He looked down at his right arm and discovered a tiny scrape. Of course, such a little thing would never be considered an injury to the likes of Wataru, a TRUE MAN! A couple of squats and he’d be as good as new!!

“Let me take a look.”

“Wha!?!?”

Suddenly, Aria gently touched his arm! Wataru’s breath was taken away!

“S-Stop it! A young lady like you shouldn’t touch a man like that!”

Wataru, a virgin, immediately tore his arm away from her hand! For all his mental training, he didn’t stand a chance against the embarrassment of Being Touched by a Girl!

“Hold on! I just want to heal it!”

“What!? Then go ahead and touch me!!!” As long as she was touching him for a good reason!

Aria placed her hand against Wataru’s arm once more, and a bright green glow began to appear where she touched him! Wataru was exactly as surprised as I know you must be at this very instant, Dear Readers!

“You glowed!? Wh-What... kind of martial arts is this!?”

Even more surprisingly, when she lifted her hand, the skin below was completely healed!!

“Martial arts? No, this is magic,” Aria countered, as if this was something Wataru already should have known!

“Magic...!!!”

He had heard of that! Magic! That thing that comes up in a lot of fantasy fiction! That thing!

“H-How could this be...!? Then I’m really...! Not in my world anymore...!?!?”

Not even Wataru could keep himself from feeling a sense of dismay at this revelation! There was no magic in the world he came from, so if there was magic here in this world, obviously it was not his!!

But...!

Another of Wataru’s amazing talents is his alacrity in getting over bad news!!

“Okay, then, Aria!!! Who’s the strongest in this country!!?”

“The strongest? Well, that has to be the Demon Lord...”

“Hm. Zhe Moon Lao, you say... Is he Chinese? If he is, then he must be formidable indeed...”

China had an amazingly long 4000 years of history on its side! Therefore, Chinese kung fu, as it is passed down from generation to generation and being improved upon all the while, would have to be extremely powerful! It was said that a true master of kung fu would be able to defeat any technological weapon of the modern era!! This Master Moon Lao was sure to be a worthy adversary!

“Chinese...? I don’t know what that is, but I don’t think so. The Demon Lord is the king of all monsters. Like those orcs, earlier.”

Ah ha! So he didn’t use kung fu!!!

“I got it! First things first, I have to fight him!”

Dear Readers, I can hear you shriek: “Why!?” Easy! No matter what situation he was in, it was Wataru’s destiny as a hot-blooded fighting teen to go find anyone stronger than him!!

“The Demon Lord lives in a big castle, north of here. But the Demon Lord is very powerful...”

“That’s what I like to hear!” Wataru said, and took off running to the north!

“You’re going south!”

“Wha!?”

Whoops! How was Wataru supposed to tell north from south in this world, anyway!?

“Wait, Wataru! Take me with you!”

“I can’t! Bringing a girl to a fight!? Ridiculous!!!”

“The truth is, my parents are imprisoned in the Demon Lord’s castle!”

“Sh...! Shocking...” Wataru couldn’t conceal his dismay at the suddenly serious tone that this introduced into the story!! What a twist!!!

“From what I hear, the Demon Lord, in his conquest to push the human race to extinction, is kidnapping people from all over the world... And my parents are doctors, so they were kidnapped, too!”

Outrageous! Wataru was incensed, twitching his impeccably built pectorals in fury!!

“H-How dare he! Okay, let’s go get your parents back!”

And so, Wataru and Aria embarked on their hot-blooded adventure!

The pair immediately began walking north, heading towards the Demon Lord’s castle. The cloudless blue sky was infinitely grand and picturesque, and the rays of sunlight beaming down on them looked divine. The sky in this world looked the same to Wataru as the one in his old world. Wataru felt a sensation akin to nostalgia as he explained to Aria that he had come from another world. Naturally, she was confused, but after she patiently listened to Wataru’s hardcore and thorough explanation, she finally came to understand his situation.

A few minutes after Wataru finished describing what had happened to him, they reached the edge of a giant, dungeon-esque forest.

“Going around this forest will take us too long. Let’s cut straight through, Wataru.”

“Right!”

The pair stepped into the forest without hesitation. It was a thicket of mossy trees, strangely humid and dark despite it being the middle of the day. The mysterious yet terrifying forest was reminiscent of the Forest of Fuji, a family-friendly sightseeing spot in the province of Yamanashi.

“Something’s not right about this forest...!!”

“Wataru, I once heard that the way to the Demon Lord’s castle is guarded by powerful monsters called the Four Masters. I’m sure there’s one of these monsters in this forest.”

The Four Masters! AKA “The Elite Four,” “The Four Heavenly Kings,” “The Fearsome Foursome,” among other things! The top guardians of Demon Lords throughout any number of fantasy series! The inflators of word counts found in so many light novels!!!

“Hmm!!! Is that one up there!?”

Wataru’s trained eyesight spotted a knight standing alone in the forest! The knight’s armor was pitch-black and wickedly spiked, with a skull-like helmet to complete the whole ensemble! It looked pretty freaking sweet!

When the two approached the knight, the knight puffed out its chest and declared with a laugh: “Mwahahahaha! I am Résistance, one of the Four Masters! The most powerful knight of the realm, thoroughly and unequivocally loyal to the Demon Lord!”

The knight’s voice seemed androgynous, so I will refrain from using any gendered pronouns, for now! Résistance, as the acute accent in the word may suggest, is French! It means “rebellion”! Or “resistance”! Which, now that I think about it, makes it the worst name imaginable for a loyal knight!!!

“Grr!!! I sense a dark aura... This knight can fight...!!!”

Wataru was intimidated by Résistance’s nefarious aura! But he couldn’t afford to back down now!

“If you wish to proceed, you’ll have to go through me!”

“Done!!!!!”

Surprise attack! Without a moment’s hesitation, Wataru kicked off the ground to sprint at an incredible speed!

“Raaaaaghh!!”

He rapidly closed the distance between them! Clenching his right fist, he threw a punch smack-dab against the knight’s armor with all his might!!!

“Smsh!!!!!”

And yet...!

“Hmph. That’s all you got!?”

“Wh-What...!?”

Résistance was as cool as a cucumber, without having budged a single inch after taking Wataru’s punch directly to the chest. The knight’s black armor was much harder than Wataru had imagined!

“Grr... I’m not done yet!!”

Now, Wataru leapt high into the air and pistoned one leg out, aiming a jump-kick into his opponent’s face—I mean, into that awesome skull helmet!

“Hmph!” Résistance ducked calmly, dodging the kick!

“Damn!”

Wataru’s attack missed! Despite wearing such heavy, full-body armor, Résistance was astoundingly quick on his or her feet!

“Now it’s my turn! Hragh!” Résistance produced a giant sword from within his or her armor, and raised it high above him or her!

“Wataru! Look out!” Aria shouted!

“Grrrraggghhh!” Résistance swung down his or her weapon!

“Ddg!!!”

Wataru instinctively dove backwards, avoiding the sword by a hair! Even Wataru would suffer more than a scratch if he took a slash like that!

“Mwahahahahaha! Wataru, was it? Can’t you do any better than that?” Résistance laughed, smug amusement oozing from underneath his or her helmet.

Upon this mockery, Wataru snapped!

“Then... Spd!!!!!”

With a sharp shout, he sprinted toward Résistance, at the impossible speed of 130 km/h! Considering that the top speed of the world-famous athlete, Usain Bolt, was 36.57 km/h, we can see how ridiculously powerful Wataru’s leg muscles were!! He jumped again with inhuman force behind his step, and made another jump-kick!

Drsh!!!

Wataru’s foot collided with Résistance’s armor, the sound of the impact echoing through the forest! So powerful was the impact that the knight couldn’t help but take a step back!!

“Grr... That wasn’t bad! All right, I’ll unleash my full power!”

With that, Résistance swung his or her sword down at Wataru! Danger, Wataru Ito!!

But, then—!!!!!

“Ctch!!!!!”

“I-It can’t be!”

Wataru had caught the blade of the sword between his bare hands! How surprising!

“A-A Shinken Shirahadori!!” Résistance cried out in astonishment.

But let me be clear... This was no ordinary Shinken Shirahadori!!!!!

“Your buddy here... is going to get a little shorter...!!!!!” Wataru threatened in a growl!

Then!

Snapppp!!!!!

With a twist of his waist, he snapped the sword in his hands!!! He broke a steel sword in half with nothing but pure muscles!!!

“That’s incredible, Wataru!” Aria tossed another compliment at Wataru! Not even our Dear Readers can stop themselves from feeling satisfied by how well she was playing the role of the light novel heroine!!! But without warning, a piece of the sword that Wataru had snapped off stabbed Aria right in the forehead!

“Grraaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaggggggggggggghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh-hhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh-gggggggggggggghhhhhhhhhhhhhhh-ghghghghghghghghghgh!!”

Blood spewed out of her forehead! How was this allowed to happen to such a picture-perfect light-novel heroine!?

“Are you okay, Aria!?!?!?”

Of course, it was no problem! She could use healing magic!

Now, allow me to explain to our Dear Readers who may not be hot-blooded fighters! The move Wataru just performed is called the Hot-blooded Shinken Shirahadori!

(*Hot-blooded Shinken Shirahadori: A technique invented by a master of hardcore karate at the end of the feudal era. The move is most well known for aggressively snapping the blade the user catches in their bare hands. According to legend, this martial artist went into battles completely unarmed, and broke the swords of countless samurai with his bare hands. He was given the name “the Blade-Snapping Warrior,” and was widely feared by the samurai at the time. [3])

“...Damn it! My sword, the soul of a knight, broken in half...! I’ll admit it! You have bested me!”

Résistance surrendered with surprising ease for such a supposedly loyal knight!

“You did it, Wataru! You defeated the first of the Four Masters, and so soon!”

“That I did!”

It was amazing how fast it all happened! We’re still in Chapter 1 and he already took out the first of the Demon Lord’s Four Masters! Without warning, Résistance reached up and cast aside the skull helmet! Résistance’s naked face was suddenly revealed!

“Wh-What the...!?”

Wataru figuratively clutched his pearls in shock! It turned out that Résistance was a beautiful woman!! Her attractive, Western features were accented by long, silky blue hair! Her skin was as smooth and white as marble!

Her eyes were the same pretty blue as her hair, so alluring that anyone who stared too long into them might become lost!

“I thought you sounded androgynous... You’re a woman! I’m sorry I hit you!” Wataru apologized, meaning every word! As a proud Japanese male, he would never have struck a woman if he had known!

Aria was curious, however. “Wait, you’re obviously human... Why are you helping the Demon Lord as one of his Four Masters?”

Résistance answered with a stoic expression: “I once challenged the Demon Lord to a duel. He defeated me without much effort... I thought he was going to kill me, but he demanded that I serve him as a fighter. That is why I’ve sworn my loyalty to the Demon Lord.”

Once again, it made little sense that a loyal knight would have the name Résistance! I fear that this knight did not look too far into the meaning of the word when she decided to call herself that!!

“The Demon Lord... let a human live...?” Aria asked, dumbfounded! With her parents kidnapped by the Demon Lord, who could blame her for doubting the validity of Résistance’s backstory!?

“The Demon Lord aims to exterminate weaker species. That’s why he wants to bring humanity to extinction. On the other hand, he has a place for people like me, with a certain caliber of strength in combat.”

“I see! Then, Résistance... Do you agree with him!? With the Demon Lord!?!?!?” Wataru demanded, glaring at the knight!

She slowly shook her head! “Not exactly... But now that I owe him a life debt, he is undoubtedly my master. As a knight, my master’s ideology shouldn’t concern me.”

“Huh, okay... I don’t really get it, but whatever!! We’re off to the Demon Lord’s castle!! See ya!!!”

Wataru turned to head deeper into the forest, but Résistance reached for his arm!

“Wait!”

“S-Stop it! A young woman like you shouldn’t go around touching men!”

Wataru the virgin ripped his arm away at the speed of sound! He had been unaware of Résistance’s gender until only a few moments ago, but now that he knew she was a she, not an androgynous, faceless, enemy, he wasn’t comfortable being touched by her!

“I must ask a favor of you, Wataru. Allow me to join you on your quest.” Wataru, Aria, and all our Dear Readers gasped in astonishment at hearing this!

“Wh-What!?”

“Does that mean you’re betraying the Demon Lord to be on our side!?” Aria asked.

“Not quite. I’m not betraying the Demon Lord, per se—just making myself neutral,” Résistance answered, brushing out her beautiful blue hair with an air of utter neutrality!

“Don’t try to muddy the water with semantics! Wataru, we can’t trust her! It’s dangerous!” Aria frantically protested! But she had a point!

“...Why do you want to come along in the first place!?”

“Because I’m interested in what lies ahead of you, Wataru. Maybe you can defeat the Demon Lord, when I couldn’t. I want to see how your story ends.”

“Huh, you want to see what my journey holds, huh!? All right!! Then we’re good! Come along!!!”

Wataru accepted Résistance’s group application with astonishing speed! Aria was dumbfounded!

“Wataru! Wh-Wh-Wh-What are you thinking!?”

Aria still considered Résistance an enemy, as Aria’s parents had been kidnapped by the Demon Lord while Résistance had chosen to serve him even though she was human! Who could have blamed Aria for being taken aback by the knight’s wanting to join their party!?

“Calm down, Aria! What could possibly go wrong!?” Wataru, ever the true epitome of masculinity, remained endlessly positive, and, dare I say it, naïve.

“As I’ve said, I will be neutral from here on out. I won’t get in your way, and I won’t aid you in your battles. I’ll just be watching. That won’t be a problem then, will it?” Résistance added, hoping to dampen the fires of Aria’s rage!

“F-Fine, then...” Aria reluctantly accepted the newcomer, too!

And so Résistance joined Wataru and Aria! One of the Four Masters down, three to go! Can Wataru defeat them all and make it to the Demon Lord!? Stay tuned to find out!!!

In the center of the badlands stood a giant castle that towered into the sky. It was an impressive European-style castle built from white and black bricks, reaching nearly 50 meters at its highest points. It had no glitz or glamor about it, yet it still seemed to radiate a foreboding aura. The steel gates were sealed tight, making it plain for all to see that entry would not be easy.

The top floor of that castle was the residence of the Demon Lord Deus, the most powerful being in the world, feared by all. He looked surprisingly young, seeming to be about thirty years of age. With his chiseled Latino features and white long hair that reached his shoulders, he was unmistakably attractive. He wore a long, white coat with an easy, breezy beauty, making him the perfect foil for Wataru, who wore his black school uniform with a burning passion. Deus was six foot one with slender legs, but the most noteworthy feature of the Demon Lord... was the color of his skin. While his other features were the same as any human, his skin was a vibrant purple. Like a Gray Alien, his appearance was unsettling in a way that placed him firmly in the Uncanny Valley. To top it off, his eyes were the red hue of a roaring flame, and exuded a peculiar aura of both mystery and intelligence.

These were the typical physical characteristics of all Demons, who were stronger than humans and had purple skin. Most had red or blue eyes, and their hair was white without exception. Some Demons had horns on their head, but Deus did not.

“My Demon Lord! Th-There’s trouble afoot!”

“Hm? What’s going on...? Nom nom...” Deus was eating his pudding à la mode from a cup and relaxing on his throne when one of his messengers, a blue slime, came rushing into the room, its body jiggling along the way.

“Résistance, one of the Four Masters, has been defeated by a human!” the slime reported with a shriek.

Deus calmly raised an eyebrow. “What...? Résistance, defeated...? Nom nom...”

“Yes, My Demon Lord! What’s worse, Résistance has joined the humans!”

“Oh... Nom...” Despite this shocking news report, Deus continued to calmly enjoy his pudding à la mode. “How disloyal of her... Résistance has switched sides... Munch... Nom nom... Perhaps it was a mistake to recruit that one as one of the Four Masters, after all... Gulp...” Résistance was a human, after all. Perhaps it was only natural that she would rejoin the humans so easily. “...So, who defeated Résistance?” Deus asked, having finished his treat.

The slime wobbled impressively for a moment before answering, “He called himself Wataru Ito!”

Deus’s expression froze for a moment. After a deep breath, he spoke in a decidedly collected tone. “Hm. ‘Wataru Ito’... A strange name. Not one I’ve heard on the Wind Continent...” Which should come as no surprise to you, Dear Readers, since Wataru wasn’t of this world to begin with.

“Yes, My Demon Lord! I have never heard of such a name, either!”

“In any case, that human sounds intriguing. Just like me, he’s... Hm, no matter. It would be interesting to see what he’s capable of...”

With that, Deus crossed his slender legs and reached for a second cup of pudding à la mode. The slime jiggled even harder than before and reprimanded its master: “M-My Demon Lord! Forgive me, but perhaps that is one pudding too many. Didn’t your doctor instruct you to limit yourself to one sweet treat per day...?”

“Shut up!! I want pudding!!!”

“Ahh!!”

The scream echoed through the room. Deus, the tyrannical Demon Lord on a quest to bring humanity to extinction... had, from his unbalanced diet, fallen ill to a horrible disease known as... diabetes.

To be continued in the next chapter, “Wataru VS the Second of the Four Masters! The Dramatic Rap Battle!!!”

*Sources:

[2] A Deep Dive Uncovering the Origins of the Legendary Attack, Gatling Knuckles — Isekai Tensei Publishing

[3] Hot-blooded Karate Encyclopedia — Isekai Tensei Publishing