His recovery seemingly taking an eternity, Dillon began regaining some degree of consciousness as his eyes weakly fluttered, his mind slowly recovering from the strange sensation he felt when he was in his room, but was still unable to summon enough will to actually make his eyes reawaken
"Master, he's regaining consciousness!"
"Get him some water A. He might be dehydrated."
After hearing this, Dillon felt his mouth being gently opened as he feels the sensation of what is possibly bamboo, since he has never actually felt it before but simply suspected it as such, gently pressed against his face and water flowing down into his throat which is helping regain sense of his surroundings, giving him the strength to finally open his eyes. Based on the posture of the girl closest to him, he is lying on the lap of the girl with short bright rose pink hair hung in twintails and big blue eyes, her smile being comparable to that of a gentle comforting summer wind, wearing a short robe colored whitish-pink with a floral theme. Based on her current position, it seems the girl is sitting in such a way that his head is lying above the fabric of her clothes. But what rendered him confused were the mouse ears on top of the girl's person and the small tail at her back side. Standing close to him is another girl with long dark brown hair hung in a long ponytail, supported with red string and ornamental beads, and eyes, wearing a robe similar to the girl whose lap he's lying on, but colored dark blue; her expression hardly carrying any degree of friendliness as she looks completely stoic. Much like the other girl, this one has the ears and tail of a Shiba Inu dog, and lastly, hovering in the air to some extent is a large red daruma doll with cat ears and a white nose and mouth
"Er...what's going on here? Why am I out in this field and what's with the cosplay you two are wearing?" With some thinking, he associated the more serious voice he heard from the dog girl and can only presume that the 'Master' he heard of is the girl he is leaning on.
"That's what we want to know. And why are you calling our normal clothes cosplay?" In contrary from his belief mere moments ago, the other voice he heard before his eyes opened came from the daruma doll itself.
With a simple uncertain blink of his eyes, Dillon was struggling to gain proper coherence of the situation as his sanity was already being strained from what he experienced what felt like moments prior as he looked toward the two girls next to him "Er, am I going insane or did that daruma doll just talk?"
"Despite appearances, I am actually a person like you stranger. This is just a sort of disguise I use when I travel the countryside."
"Okay...then what about the animal appendages? Your ears and tails. Those surely are fake right?" Deciding now that he had been taking too much time in his current state, Dillon accepted the outstretched hand of the girl whose lap he was resting on and slowly pulled himself up.
The girl in the daruma simply sighed as it turned toward the two girls "A. Un. Do you two mind packing up our camp? I want to talk with this man by myself."
"Understood master!"
After seeing the pair depart, learning of the friendly girl's name as Un, the daruma fell to the ground in front of Dillon
"Do you mind if I inquire why you believe what we are is a work of fiction?"
"Well, where I come from, people don't wear animal accessories unless they're dressing up for fun."
"You're...You're making a poor case for yourself. It's honestly kind of confusing me. You say you live among Myumons who lack animal spirit? Based on your words, you are saying you are the same, but that simply cannot be. Especially when you are a panther Myumon based on what you possess on your person." Much like what she said, the woman's voice carried tones of uncertainty and turbulence.
After hearing this, Dillon instinctively moved his hands toward the top of his head and his lower back, feeling two triangular shaped bounds of fur and a finely combed tail "What the heck?!"
"So you weren't lying? This is new to you?"
"Obviously!"
"Hm...where are you-Actually. I should be asking for your name first."
"It's Dillon. Dillon Hi-I mean Virgil. Dillon Vergil. My friends gave me a nickname in Vermillion."
"That's a nice name. Dillon Vergil and Vermillion. But I'm going to stick with the former. My name is Daru Dayu. Now, can I ask where you are from if the idea of Myumons is foreign to you?"
"Finally a question getting right to the point to solve this confusion. I'm from Japan."
"Nihon?"
"Eh, close enough."
"I can't say I'm familiar with such a place. None of the twelve citystates here in Sound World have that name. Is Nihon a small village?"
"Not...really. Wait, you said the name Sound World. Is that the name of this world?" 'Oh god, if this is going to be one of those sappy Isekai kind of stories, I am going to puke. That genre basically killed what little good classic literature that was left in Japan.'*
"Indeed. Based on what you're saying, is this world you're from this Nihon? Do you mind if I ask how you got here?"
"Well, Japan is a country in my world. It's simply called Earth. And it's kind of blurry. It happened so fast. Let me try to remember...I noticed a strange app on my phone that led me to what I presume was an advertisement for a music label. I think it was called...what was the name? Oh! Unicorn Virtual Music." Dillon stopped speaking as he scratched the back of his head "No offense Daru Dayu, but could you come out of that thing? If anyone comes by, they're going to think I'm insane, talking to a massive daruma and all."
'DAGGER! So he finally made his move and corrupted this young man into a dark monster. I can only presume that this Dillon was the dark monster that attacked Trichronika earlier. But who turned him back? More importantly, how long will it be before the bastard realizes that Dillon is not in his clutches?' "You don't need to worry about such things here in Sound World. Things like this is considered the norm. But there is something I heard about earlier today worrying me a little. Do you mind if I look at your Melodisian Stone?"
"My Melo what?"
"Melodisian Stone. It's a special gem that exists in all Myumons. It contains sound energy that is an almost essential part of our day-to-day lives. Let me have a look at it."
"Er sure."
After giving this approval, Daru Dayu approached Dillon, the small arms reaching toward his chest as he felt something being pulled out, a small diamond shaped crystal manifested from a small myriad of colors that spawned around the area of his heart, the crystal having a faint glow amid the dark purple coloring
"Oh that is not good. You probably won't understand this, but your Melodisian stone is very much corrupted right now. Corrupted and very much weak. It is as if you suffered some sort of sorrow in your past which made it weak when you came to this world."
"I take it that's a...bad thing?"
"Bad is a monumental understatement. If you become corrupted, you lose all sense of presence and hunt down anyone in your way. If my suspicions are correct Dillon, you have already been warped into such a being but someone was able to purify you. Unless you can strengthen your Melodisian, you will suffer this kind of fate time and time again."
"So what do I have to do? As you can imagine, I do not exactly want to be a mindless monster."
"If you want it to be stronger, you need to absorb positive energies from adoring crowds in concerts. Ideally, you will want to find a music label to affiliate with as a means of facilitating this. While we are independent, we already have some dedicated support in our homeland to give us traction. We call ourselves Tsurezure Naru Ayatsuri Mugenan."
Hearing this from Daru Dayu simply made Dillon deeply exhale as the Melodisian is returned back to his chest "Fair enough. So where should I go to find a label?"
'Hm, Midi City is the closest city-state to here and it IS large, but it's also Dagger's base of operations. But then again, sometimes the best place to hide is in a crowd. And this man needs some traction if he's going to get by in this world.' Daru was feeling some degree of apprehension regarding the subject since it does mean it could potentially send Dillon right into the hornet's nest "Your best bet is Midi City. It's a few days southeast of here. Unfortunately, I don't know anyone who resides in the city so you are going to be on your own. But if you need support in any way, take some sound dollars, find a store that sells cell phones and add our contact information to them. I'll have Un provide you with what you need. Remember that we're all very busy people, so we won't be able to guarantee contact at all times. But we'll try to keep the line clear for at least a month until you're able to get things under wraps. Obviously, I'd hurry and find work so you can make yourself secure. If you need help in any way, we'll do what we can."
"Daru Dayu, you have no idea how thankful I am at this offer of generosity. I mean, I'm just some random schmuck you found in the middle of freaking nowhere. Why support me to such an extent? I'd expect you to rob me blind and leave me to die, or ignore me. The latter is something of a minor norm in Japan. Our culture is sort of reclusive and strict on morals."
"Then your people are idiots. No offense meant. But any culture that believes kindness is only a front for cruelty deserves to die out. Besides, you should be giving thanks toward Un. She was the most adamant about making you sure you came to with some comfort."
"Heh, you're not the only one who would think that way."
Exchanging some light-hearted chuckles, A and Un returned with their backpacks filled with the camp they had in the distance, Un passing a stack of bills, enough non-perishable food to last the next couple of days, a piece of paper with all three girls' cell phone information as they part ways: A, Un, and Daru Dayu going northward, Dillon receiving a friendly smile and wave from Un as he proceeds along the road to the southeast
'Well this is going to be quite something for me. I'm stranded in some unknown world with only the clothes on my back, some spare food and money given to me by Un, and three phone numbers so I have some help in the immediate future. But a few days. That's going to be fun. It's as if I'm going native and going on a long hike. I really hope it doesn't rain."
A/N: I do not necessarily share Dillon's viewpoint on the matter of Isekai aka Other World. I for one LOVE the genre, especially when done well, since I love the idea of alternate worlds with unique cultures. Heck, I've been doing it myself for the last couple of years, if barely, with my alien species. Outbreak Company, Re:Zero, GATE, Isekai wa Smartphone tomo ni, Konosuba, Re:Creators, and No Game no Life come to mind. But the quote: 'Too much of a good thing' is where I start having issues. Considering how popular the genre is becoming in Japan's anime, manga, and light novels, the fact it's becoming over-saturated is something of a worry, in my own honest opinion.