Welcome to the Underdark
Chapter 1 – Letter
He woke up suddenly. He broke out in a cold sweat, which covered his body. The tips of his fingers were trembling. He thought that this wasn’t his body. There was an unnatural time lag between the body moving after thinking.
“Where am I?”
He was surprised after speaking these words.
It wasn’t japanese.
However, it was possible to understand.
What?
Futoshi opened his eyes wide.
It was a small room.
“Was I thrown into jail?”
He thought that it was a prison. However, it seemed to be different. Innumerable books are piled in the corner of the room.
It’s probably not a prison.
The air was damp.
Apparently, he was underground.
There was a round window near the ceiling.
The light of day entered through there.
“What… is this?”
Futoshi muttered to the pattern towards his feet. Letters and shapes were written in something like white chalk. Drawn with fine characters, straight lines and curves in a wonderful balance.
Futoshi stood in the centre. He lowered his eyebrows. He had a headache, and was wearing a hood.
He felt nauseated.
I remember…
He should be dead.
He took such a bullet.
He shouldnât be alive.
“Then, here…”
He wondered if he was in the afterlife.
He looked at his palm.
It was starting to sweat.
This is not my hand.
It was missing the mark made by the bean which he crushed every morning as practice.
This was a beautiful healthy hand.
“What does this mean…?”
Futoshi feared.
It was not a fear of violence and death.
It was a fear of the unknown.
“A mirror…”
He said, looking around the room. There it was. A small mirror, carelessly placed on the books. It was as if someone expected it to be used from the very beginning.
“A… ah….”
He looked at himself in the mirror and felt a deep sense of despair. The reflected face was not his. The face he had was stern to the extent others would move out of his way. His hair would casually grow. There was a wound above his cheek starting from his right eye.
But…
The figure reflected in the mirror was quite different. With short silver hair, the foreigner had quite the figure. It’s nose was small but the shape matched with the childish round eyes. Also It’s lips were pink.
Is it a woman…?
It’s features were so lovely as to bring up the question.
Not so tall either.
The body was so thin that Futoshi, who had trained, couldn’t even imagine it.
Is it a manâŚ
He confirmed it as well.
After finishing confirming, Futoshi pulled his hands out of his pants.
He inhaled greatly and tried to regain his calm.
Due to force of habit, he thrust his hands in his pockets.
“Hmm…?”
There was a paper in his pocket, so he took it out. It was a good quality paper which was folded in two. He opened it.
It seemed to be a letter, but the words weren’t written in japanese. Still, Futoshi was able to understand.
———
Nice to meet you, and I’m sorry.
I think you are probably surprised by such a sudden thing.
I’ll express it frankly.
Your soul and my soul swapped places.
Presently, I dislike my world. Therefore, I did a lot of studying and a method of transmigration was obtained. However, a body to accept my soul was needed. I could not choose my own.
By what standard your body was chosen, I know not. The responsibility for your body being chosen is not mine. It lies with your bad luck, and your soul which was expelled from your body, transferred to my body. I’m not certain what becomes of memory and language.
It is possible that you may not be able to read this letter. I found that there was nothing left to learn in my world.
Goodbye person whose name I do not know.
Timasu Meruma
———
“I can read it… idiot!”
Futoshi chuckled to himself as he crumpled up the letter.
In other wordsâŚ
This world differed from Futoshi’s world. It may be dangerous just to believe this letter, but, it’s probably not a prank. Understanding a language that isn’t japanese, the change of figure, it shows the credibility of the letter.
“I don’t seem to be concerned?”
Futoshi laughed.
“Hahaha, I don’t know either… when it comes to this, I’ll start again in this world.”
—
Something…
Futoshi began to wonder as he crossed his arms. It was a thin arm which he could not think of as his. The clothes he wore were like a red school uniform. He was surprised at such a strange hobby. However, he was convinced that it was possible since the world was different.
He opened the letter which he crumpled up in his hands moments ago.
“Timasu Meruma…”
Finally, he repeated the words…
Because he couldn’t understand the meaning, it was probably his name.
I got a name.
Futoshi looked around the room and wondered what he should do next.
Four walls were covered with books, another only had a small desk.
If you turn to the ceiling, there was a door. A ladder went down from there.
He decided to climb up the ladder. There was no helping it, this room was of no help. That much was obvious. He thought about knowledge and read through the books in the room. However he flipped through a little and gave up.
It was awfully difficult.
He climbed the ladder.
He pushed the doors open and stepped outside. This place was like a warehouse. It was made of stone and the barrel like containers were displayed in rows. It was filled with the smell of dust and mold. He was not used to it being so long. The window for lighting was huge, the outside was brightly lighting the warehouse.
“Meruma-Sama! Meruma-Sama!”
He heard a knocking sound on the door, steadily and suddenly.
Futoshi was startled.
The door of the warehouse was violently knocked on.
“Meruma-Sama! Is this underground? Might I hear it!”
A Womanâs voice.
Still very young.
It was like the lovely tinkling of a ringing bell. However, it was shouting hysterically.
“H, Here I… come.”
Futoshi answered fearfully.
First, it was necessary to become accustomed to the name ‘Meruma’.
“Ah, you came here?”
The womanâs voice became openly relieved.
“Because father is angry…”
“U, Understood.”
Futoshi made up his mind and opened the warehouse door. Standing in front of him was a young woman, her height not too high, having long red hair. There were no traces of freckles surrounding her small nose. Her lips were puffy like a chestnut.
Because her figure was like a housemaid, she seemed to be a servant.
This man belongs to a wealthy family, Futoshi instantly judged.
When he went out of the warehouse, there was a long luxurious corridor. From that, he understood that Meruma was a man of an affluent household.
“Meruma… Sama?”
The maid asked worriedly.
“Such a dated estate… wow.”
Futoshi muttered unintentionally.
“Eh? … What is it?”
“Nothing, I’m alright.”
To the puzzled maid, Futoshi shook his head immediately.
“More importantly, whatâs your name?”
“… Yes?”
She seemed to be surprised by the sudden question, the housemaid opened her eyes wide and looked puzzled.
Futoshi tried to ask in a modest attitude again.
“Will you tell me… ?”
“Ah, Erm… Ari-desu, Furankitto Ari. Did you forget?”
“Is that so… thank you Ari.”
Puzzled, Ari gave a small nod.
“Yes… It is Ari-desu.”
“Ari… where is father?”
Hearing Futoshi’s question, Ari frowned.
“F, Father?”
“I said it… different? Was it… Father? Is, papa unpleasant?”
“Meruma-sama, is something wrong? Always… with father…”
“Your father!?”
“Are you ok?”
Being serious, he was worried.
Ali approached by one step and looked into his face.
“Relax, relax … You know where father is?”
“Gurande-sama, is in the study”
Meruma’s father, he understood that the name meant Grand.
Futoshi nodded and went along through the corridor.
“Meruma-sama!”
Ali came up from behind in a panicked voice.
“Hmm?”
He muttered and turned around to Ali’s questioned face.
“The study… is the other way?”
“Ah!”
While returning down the corridor, Futoshi said.
“Is that so!”
He passed in front of Ali and stopped.
While turning around, Ali was still watching motionlessly
Damn…
Futoshi wanted to search the house in various ways as he wished. He did not need to answer his fatherâs summons. Rather, in this world, meeting in the state that he is in as Meruma, Futoshi knew nothing.
âMeruma-sama… are you alright?â
Ali asked, while catching up with a trot.
â…Strange, what isâŚâ
âIs that so?â
He forced a laugh and scratched his head.
âAre you slightly sleepyâŚ? Is your head racing…?â
âThat is soâŚâ
Ali nods.
âIs that so, well canât be helped. Have you drunk any water? Iâll bring some right awayâŚâ
âAh, thatâs good, Iâll wait here.â
âUnderstood.â
Ali bowed her head and briskly walked across the corridor.
After confirming that she disappeared, Futoshi ran in the opposite direction.
What do I do�
It doesn’t matter where or what it is.
He dashed out of the house, itâd also be good to go somewhere else.
âBut, thenâŚâ
He would be the same as his old self.
He would lose a family, and a house to call home.
Apparently, Meruma had a seemingly good house. Quite rich, large corridors, high ceilings. Moreover, the corridors were like a detached room. From a window in the huge house, you could see a bigger mansion on the other side of the garden.
âTherefore ⌠is there any way we can make use of this environmentâŚ.â
He clenched his teeth, Futoshi decided.
Anything is alright!
He wanted information.
Thinking he was far enough away from Ali, Futoshi opened the door.
There was no particular reason.
Anyway, he wanted information on this world and Meruma. Therefore, if he had known that a beautiful girl with fair hair was on the other side of the door, he would have never opened it.
âK, KyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaAAAA!â
A scream echoed out.
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Translatorâs Corner
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Elsondwarf:
Well thatâs it for this chapter, Iâm personally having fun translating this chapter!
Sam Jakes:
Iâm having fun editing it too! Being an octopus is a tough job though. ~~(-3-)~~
Elsondwarf:
…
Howâd you guys find it?
Also, Donât worry, Sexy Fun Times in chapters ahead!
P.S. props to the guys at RTDÂ and the /r/noveltranslations subreddit for helping out on the bits we couldn’t decide for all hells what is going on đ
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Welcome To The Underdark 