It was an ordinary life.
Neither good nor bad, just a plain and boring existence.
I wasn’t particularly good at studying, nor was I physically talented.
And yet, I didn’t have any other special skills either.
I felt like an existence that had been mass-produced carelessly, like poorly made industrial parts.
That was me.
I graduated from an unknown university and got a job at a company I didn’t know well.
It’s already a given that it’s a black company with endless overtime, and every day I was forced to do a job that felt meaningless for a low salary.
It was exactly the kind of work suitable for a poorly made part (cog).
The only small pleasure on my days off was binge-watching movies and anime on Netflix or Amazon Prime or devouring free manga.
Other than that, I would occasionally splurge by adding just one more dish from the supermarket to my dinner.
Weekdays were just about being tired and going to sleep, so there was nothing there.
Because of this, I had never had a girlfriend up to this point.
No, I think I wouldn’t have been able to get a girlfriend even if I hadn’t lived this way.
I had neither confidence nor energy.
I had a desire for it, but I would just stop in my tracks before that.
Ah… what am I even doing…?
There I was, alone in a shabby apartment room, hanging my head.
Today was a day off.
But life was just as usual.
On the table in front of me was an empty container of the side dish I had just finished eating.
The only window in the room was stained with a twilight hue, unavoidably announcing that the end of this day was approaching.
Of course, tomorrow I had to work.
I felt gloomy.
I really didn’t want to go…
What am I working for…?
I know it’s for a living, but I’ve started to dislike the fact that I’m working for such a boring life.
“Phew…”
I let out a deep sigh and stood up.
Maybe I should take a little walk to clear my head…
Thinking that, I took my phone and left the apartment.
The sunset pouring between the buildings was dazzling.
Being bathed in sunlight like this made me feel a little calmer.
Just when I was feeling slightly at ease…
“Kyahhh!”
A young woman’s scream echoed nearby.
What happened? What’s wrong?
Turning in the direction of the sound, I saw a girl who looked like a high school student, staring up at the sky with a look of shock.
From her expression, I could tell something extraordinary was happening.
Was it a UFO appearing?
Or was a meteor falling?
Or maybe a missile from some country?
There was an atmosphere of tension around.
So I quickly directed my gaze where she was looking.
Then, what came into view was a single… iron pipe falling from above.
What? Just an iron pipe?
Compared to a UFO, meteor, or missile, that’s nothing.
Or is it…?
“Fugohh!?”
Just then, an incredible shock hit my body.
It felt like being shot in the chest by a tank shell.
Of course, I’ve never been shot by a tank, so I don’t really know, but anyway, it was a tremendous impact.
No way…
I understood what had happened.
It was a demolition project going on nearby. The scaffolding had collapsed, and the falling iron pipe pierced my chest.
I never imagined that such a disaster would befall me.
Even now, a part of me doesn’t want to accept this as reality.
“Gah… cough… cough…”
But this pain is real.
My lungs filled with blood, and I couldn’t even make a sound, let alone breathe.
Am I… going to die?
No, I guess I am…
In this situation, I can’t imagine surviving.
I can feel my body saying it’s already over.
“Someone! An ambulance!!”
I can’t see anything now, as my vision has blurred, but I can hear someone shouting.
A stranger is calling for help for me.
Thank you…
For someone like me…
But I think it’s already impossible…
I’ll just accept that feeling.
My body, torn to shreds, is screaming in pain.
Is it time to say goodbye?
Ah… is this how it ends…?
In the end, my life… had been “nothing”…
I have no past worth looking back on.
Just as I thought that, in the next moment, as if a shutter was closing…
My consciousness faded away.
＊ ＊ ＊
I woke up to the sound of bubbling.
Huh?
Am I still alive?
What is this sound…?
It’s like… yes, it sounds just like a water pump bubbling in a fish tank…?
Could it be… the sound of an oxygen inhaler?
I’ve seen in dramas where liquid oxygen bubbles next to a machine.
If that’s the case, does that mean I’m in a hospital?
So I was saved, right?
If that’s true, it’s thanks to that stranger who called the ambulance.
But my vision has been completely dark, and I can’t see anything.
No matter how hard I try to open my eyes, I can’t.
Is it possible that I’m covered with bandages?
However, I don’t feel anything around my eyes.
In fact, I don’t feel my eyelids at all.
What does this mean…?
I want to know what’s going on.
Open your eyes, come on, open them.
That was quite an accident.
Recovery must be extremely difficult.
I need to do rehab too.
I’ve been given a second chance at life.
I don’t want to just lie in bed all the time.
What has happened to my body?
I want to know that as soon as possible.
So open your eyes.
With strong determination, I wished to understand my situation.
Then, as if responding to that will, light began to seep into my vision.
Oh… I can see.
The light spread.
And I started to see the surroundings.
But what was there was completely different from what I had imagined.
What was swaying around me was water.
Bubbles were rising with a bubbling sound in it.
Yes, I was in water.
…Huh?
What is this place!? What’s going on?
And, can I breathe!?
In a panic, I started to worry about breathing, but I soon realized I wasn’t suffocating.
It was okay until I opened my eyes, so it felt odd to be worried now.
Looking around, I figured out that I was floating inside a cylindrical tank of water.
I have no idea why I was okay in that condition, but for now, my body was what mattered.
What happened to my body?
With nervousness, I cautiously turned my gaze to my body.
Then—
Huh…
I was stunned by a state I never anticipated.
It wasn’t that my limbs were missing or anything like that.
My body itself was gone.
No matter where I looked, there were no arms or legs, nor torso or head.
So what was there, you might ask…
It felt as if only my consciousness existed within the tank.
I didn’t understand.
It didn’t feel like being a ghost or anything like that.
When I turned my consciousness inward, I could indeed feel my existence.
But this feeling is very small.
If I had to compare it, it felt as tiny as a cell.
A bad premonition crept in.
Wait… am I a cell?
Amid growing anxiety, suddenly a human face appeared before me.
Whoa!? W-who? You surprised me…
To the tiny me, she was as big as a giant, so I was indeed scared.
The person who appeared was a young woman.
She looked to be in her early twenties and was very beautiful.
She leaned close to the tank I was floating in, wearing a complex expression that mingled anxiety and anticipation.
Then she murmured:
“Welcome to the world… my baby.”
” baby.”
