Hi there. If you're reading this, well, all I can say is… you should probably turn back. Leave. Forget this ever happened. For your own sake.

...Cool, did the "Fake" followers leave? They did? Thank God. Actually, on second thought… I won't thank God. He's the one that got me into this situation.

Well, I mean, yes; he brought me into the world of an Isekai anime (marking me as a true Isekai Protag, ha!), but the world he brought me to was definitely not my first pick. Why, you might ask?

Just read the tags of this fuckin' fanfic, you dingus. It's RE:ZERO. RE-FUCKING-ZERO. I might have prior knowledge of this universe and its functions, but DYING is still painful! I'm not absolutely omniscient on this Verse after all, I'm just one guy! I forget shit!

HOW WAS THIS SUPPOSED TO BE MY 'PERFECT HEAVEN'?!

Y'know what? Forget it. I'll just show you the shenanigans and stuff that being a "Virtuous Follower" in the eyes of God got me.

Word of advice: Always make sure you *aren't* some reincarnated Fallen Archangel before you die. If you are, pick one of the Abrahamic religions and *pray* for enough time to make up for your previous life(lives?) sins. I got lucky.

10:40 PM; July 20, 2021.

That was the exact time of death of one young Zakariya Moalin, coffee-addicted high-school graduate with an obsession with writing. What did he die from?

Good question, it wasn't some virus or anything. He just was misfortunate enough to die before his eighteenth birthday, all of natural causes. It was Eid, a holy Holiday in his family's religion and culture…

His religion and culture. Yeah, he strayed a long way back, but that was all on his own idiocy. He believed in everything, in God, in the end of the world and Judgement Day. He was basically as obsessed with gaining knowledge of his religion when he was younger.

The only thing that kept him from God, the thing that made him feel like a loser; was the fact he was unable to properly memorize a few lines used in prayer. For nearly 9 years, his own idiocy and laziness kept him from getting anywhere.

Until last week, that was. With a sudden dream that he could barely even remember, but it gave him all the motivation he needed. Because as he tried to remember the dream, he remembered the black, jagged crack in the sky blue skies and the feeling of power.

For years he begged for a sign, and his mind, that was his sign. And so he worked up the courage and motivation to try relearning his faith's simple practices in secret… up until today. Typing away at his computer, relaxing with a refreshing cup of tea next to him, the smell of the fresh brew invigorating him just as much as the drink itself.

As he reached over to the drink, he paused and got up, almost instinctively; ignoring the looks he got from his older brother and father. He reached into the large sofa next to him, rummaging underneath and pulling out his trusty ol' IPhone 7, before walking to the kitchen and searching for a knife. Once he found the sharp, orange vegetable knife; he felt lethargic; like his body was having a massive caffeine withdrawal.

He collapsed to the floor soon after, with him noticing something peculiar. Something that induced many emotions all at once. Fear, joy, anticipation, dread, and confidence. A constant mixture of self-contradictions.

Then, beings with faces as bright as the sun descended from the skies and sat around him in throngs stretching as far as he could see. Then he saw what he could only describe as the Angel of Death itself, sitting in front of him with a smile. "Good soul, come out to forgiveness and pleasure from Your Lord! Good Brother, come with me to meet the All-Gracious!"

And without hesitation… he took their offered hand.

Standing before the Creator was awesome, humiliating (in a good way), and terrifying. God was simultaneously handsome and beautiful, but those human words couldn't describe him in enough detail. Trying to describe his appearance would be a futile effort, as he was beyond human explanation. All Zakariya could feel was joy and fear at the same time. Joy to be able to meet his Creator, the Lord of the Universe and Creator of Humanity. But also fear, for knowing he was far from the best or most devout follower of God. He hoped his recent attempts would have been enough... He also noticed he could not speak, all he could do was watch as God stared into his very being. Then, the Most Supreme and All-Knowing frowned.

"Abraham Gadreelson. Zacharias Mephilosti. Zakariya Moalin. All names for the same soul, who I've given 3 separate chances for. You had so much time to change, to accept me into your heart." The Creator said, the words echoing in such a way that Zakariya's mind couldn't but also could understand him. This was really trippy, if he was being honest. Then, God smiled, filling Zakariya's soul with unprecedented joy. "And you took it. Of course, you required a sign to accept me, but I could see you already had faith. You just had issues with applying yourself, with anything really."

Zakariya so badly wished to be able to speak, to be able to thank his God; but as a simple soul in front of the Almighty, he could not find the strength nor the ability to do so. All he could do was continually watch and look into God's indescribable eyes, as unconditional love and mercy shone within them. The Deity then stood from his Divine Throne and placed a gentle hand on his head. "I'm proud of you, child. I knew you could prove to me that you were stronger than a human's base instincts." God then chuckled. "Tell you what. I can't send you to Heaven right away, since Earth's day of judgement hasn't arrived; and I think you deserve a little 'Welcome Back Home' gift. I'll send you off to another world. I know the perfect one for you. I'll even let you take a few things to go with."

Instantly, Zakariya found his voice. "I… I'd like my Phone and the knife I died with, My King." He requested in a soft and humbled tone, for which God complied with a smile. This was too strange, too good to be true. He's lived three lives already? What did any of this mean? He wasn't going to argue with God though, if he was to be sent to another world, so be it!

God hummed and paused. "Despite your former disbelief, my child, I have noticed your faith in me is the strongest in this reincarnation. You even proved it by being here. Yes, you had your doubts and moments of disbelief, but there were many factors at play; starting with the time period you were raised in. I do not blame you. I do not hate you. I love you, just like any one of my creations." With those words, the Deity drew Zakariya into a hug. "I also have some advice for you. Cherish the world you'd be sent to. Please, live your life to the fullest, child. Even with the greatest mountains, I know you will succeed. Besides..." The creator smiled. "I know your brethren will likely shower you in gifts for being able to Rise again. Now… stay safe."

"I will." With those words, the beauty of Heaven and its Ruler faded from view as he felt his soul be pulled elsewhere. Instantly, a dark miasma and shadowy hands appeared around him, and tugged him into his new world. Zakariya's eyes widened briefly, as he recognized the dark presence, before he was pulled into darkness.

REDEMPTION

Chapter One - RE:SURRECTED

Arc 0: Rise of the Nameless Grace

The first thing Zakariya saw when he finally opened his eyes, freed from the abyss of darkness that snagged him, was a busy… marketplace. That seemed eerily familiar. And was filled with creatures that sure as hell did not exist on Earth. But they did exist in… "Re:Zero…" Zak muttered to himself, his eyes looking around the foreign yet familiar surroundings. Then it hit him, as well as the panic. "I'M IN RE:ZERO'S WORLD WHAT THE HELL HOW DO I SURVIVE THIS-"

Immediately, a feeling of calm and confidence washed over him. It was as if his emotional state was a bonfire, and someone threw the entire ocean at it, dousing it entirely. He also felt an object resting on his chest, causing him to look at himself. His skin had lightened considerably, as if his originally almost caramel-colored skin from when he was younger had returned. He was also dressed comfortably in a striped black-and-white shirt, gray jeans, white shoes… and a silver heart-shaped locket on his chest. As he touched it, the same feeling of calm returned, and he found himself unable to take it off.

Interesting.

Now that he got a chance to look over himself and was calm enough to not make any rash decisions, he sat down somewhere and began to think, fiddling with the locket. "Okay. New world. I know a lot about this world… but annoyingly enough, not everything." He then reached into the pockets of his pants and found his phone inside, fully charged and with a fully functioning Internet… somehow. Probably God and Heaven shenanigans. He also had his knife sheathed by his side. Self-defense if necessary.

Beginning to move around, the teen tried to think of what point of time he was currently in so he could plot. Not only that, but was Subaru still here? He could work with almost any situation, but it'd be cool to have Subaru around, just so he could have an Earthling bro by his side. Zakariya then frowned. What would happen in the case Subaru didn't exist in this world? Perhaps it was a world only meant for him made by God, and thus Subaru wouldn't be here? That made sense, though it was depressing, mainly because he would love to have someone to bounce ideas and anime recommendations off of.

He then stopped in his tracks, a sudden thought ramming into him like a runaway train. What happened to his family? He just randomly collapsed dead in the kitchen, what would happen to them? He hated the thought of being his family's cause of despair and pain. He wished he could contact them, to be able to tell them he was alright, just sent off to another world by God himself; and that he was a reincarnation apparently. But he couldn't, which brought him quite a bit of sadness. "Not that they would believe me if I could…" He lamented.

He was subsequently brought out of his thoughts when he heard the sound of a carriage nearing him, along with a cry of panic. Zakariya turned immediately, noticing a young child (barely in his teens, from what he could see) dangerously close to being run over by a carriage. The reincarnated teenager knew he wasn't the most athletic, but he couldn't just sit there and stare, could he? Dashing at the carriage with no regards for his life, he grabbed the child and rolled away from the danger, coming out mostly unscathed aside (from being a little bruised due to the sudden impact with the floor). He then released the young teen when he was sure they were safe. "Are you okay?" He asked tiredly, his low stamina catching up to him. Sprinting like that made him faster, yes, but it made him so fuckin' tired. The boy he saved nodded, much to his relief, as Zakariya immediately leaned against a nearby wall as people clapped for him. Including the Knight that saved the child originally. 'Whoops, minor change but a change nonetheless. Let's hope Murphy's Law doesn't bite me in the ass.' He thought worriedly, as he tried to regain his bearings, looking at the kid he saved for a second. The pale blue-eyed teenager wasn't looking at him still, staring off into the distance, but smiling regardless. He also found that he wasn't that tired actually, just a bit injured from the fall.

From that point on, Zakariya tried avoiding the mistakes his favorite protag Subaru did, namely he avoided trying to 'gather information' and he avoided the Demihuman bar. But he knew meeting the Fruit Vendor: Kadomon Risch, would be beneficial in the end… despite him being broke. Their interactions went roughly the same as Subaru's went in canon, though with a difference being Zak was just flat broke with no coins or anything on him.

Eventually, Zakariya found himself sitting on a particular set of stairs, wondering who'd appear to his side in this timeline. He still didn't know how to feel about the new situation, let alone with the idea of being in a world where he was now replacing the Main Character, but he knew he had to act as normal as possible to survive "Arc 1". And survive he'd do, he refused to die unless absolutely necessary.

He sat there for what felt like hours, watching the sun slowly dip down into the horizon. Mild doubts crept up his throat the entire while, though he was forced to calm down whenever he started to verge on a panic attack. What if he was late? What if this was the wrong alleyway? When he saw the full moon fully come up and settle into the sky, he sighed. He might have been to late… or maybe too early?

He definitely didn't see any ice magic-induced panic in the streets, nor did he see a little blonde runt running around the rooftops like he should have… "I'll have to investigate…" He then paused, as his stomach grumbled. "After I find something to eat… fuck."

Turns out, surviving in a world without money was going to be more difficult than he expected… and he wasn't planning to go to drastic lengths and steal money or food yet… Zakariya grit his teeth for a moment, before sighing tiredly and pushing it off. It was fine, he had fasted through entire days before, and this would be no different. He just needed time to find intel on where to find food or money without any… morally dubious solutions.

It only took another hour of aimlessly walking Lugunica's streets with a slight paranoid look in his eyes for him to grow too exhausted to continue, walking over and sliding down a wall, a tired sigh escaping him. He still refused to lower his guard, however, as he kept his hand near where his knife was and kept shifting his eyes around. He couldn't-

"Hey, I know you!" He heard, as he jumped in a panic, pointing his knife at the direction of the voice. Before him was an armored knight, the same one from before when he saved the kid. His helmet was removed and kept under his arm, allowing him to see their flaxen-colored hair and battle-hardened brown eyes. "You're the guy who kept my son from getting crushed by that carriage!" The knight then laughed nervously, scratching the back of his head. "Honestly, Heires always just escapes my grasp, it's like he's trying to look for trouble!"

Zakariya blinked as the knight extended his hand out to him for a handshake, taking it and wincing slightly from the knight's superhuman strength. "Oh, it's no problem…"

"Ah, right! My name is Brunaulf!" Brunaulf introduced himself hastily, as Zakariya nodded.

"Right, it was no problem, Brunaulf. I just saw a kid in danger, and my stupid hero complex kicked in," He laughed in return, as he took his hand back, trying to act like his hand wasn't throbbing in pain. "What brought you here anyways?"

"I was looking for you!" Brunaulf responded, to his surprise. "After all, you saved my son! I need to repay the favor!" The knight then looked him up and down before smiling. "You seem to need a place to stay anyways, judging by how tired you look."

"I-"

"I insist, I know my wife and kids wouldn't mind. We're pretty well off with my job, after all," Brunaulf chuckled, though there was a sharp tone hidden in his voice. He wasn't going to be allowed to turn this down, he could see it… this man was determined to pay him back.

Zakariya sighed, realizing he had no choice here. "Alright, if you insist… just until I can get off my own two feet though. And I will pay you back for every coin spent on me." He said firmly, as the knight nodded and shook his hand firmly again.

"Alright, it's a deal! Now c'mon, Shayna and Heires need to interact with actual human beings after all, instead of just messing around with magic or swords in their rooms all the time," He chuckled, as Zakariya cracked a little smile. It sounded like a cute little family…

His gaze then shifted to the skies, his smile widening. Maybe there was a point to doing good things to break the continuity… he wouldn't have found this option otherwise… But still… 'I need to be careful, especially with all the people who would kill me for getting in their way by changing too much…'

His goal, above all else, right now… was to survive.

"Flaya! Heires! Shayna! I'm home!" Brunaulf called out as he opened the door to his modestly-sized house. While he had the chance to, Zakariya admired the structure for its design and colors, despite being a simple pearl white-color; it was shining as if it was made of some extremely polished and smooth white stone. It seemed to be two-to-three stories tall and had a smaller building attached to it next to it… sort of like a garage in a way.

He eventually shook his head and made his way into the house when he saw Brunaulf staring at him expectantly, which caused the man to chuckle. "Brunaulf, dear!" He heard a woman's voice call out, as she came out of the kitchen with a small smile on her face. "Welcome home! You didn't tell me we were having a guest!"

Brunaulf's wife, Flaya, was a gentle-looking woman. She had a soft, round face with a small nose, framed by long, flowing orange hair that reached her waist and green eyes. She held a large knife in her hand, with what seemed to be some sort of animal meat still clinging to its slick surface. At the moment, she also wore a simple red dress, covered by an apron. Overall, she was the epitome of 'motherly anime character'.

Brunaulf smiled and walked over to his wife, kissing her softly as he then took the meat off the blade and consumed it raw. Flaya frowned at that, flicking his nose. "Brun, you can't just abuse your Divine Protection to eat raw feeb!" She chastised him, as Brunaulf laughed again.

"Sorry, sweetie! It's a habit I can't just break yet!" The knight apologized, wiping away a tear of laughter, before gesturing at Zakariya. "By the way, this is the boy that saved our Heires!"

Flaya blinked for a second, before her smile widened by several degrees, her aura of cheer and positivity increasing with it. She then gave her husband the knife she held, dashed over, and took his hands into hers as Zakariya could only stare. "It was you that saved our boy? Oh, I was hoping I would meet my son's savior! I knew my prayers would be answered!" She cheered. "Shayna! Heires! Come downstairs, you two! Especially you, Heires! Your savior is here!"

He stared down the stairwell that Flaya led him to, the young mother basically jumping giddily as she did so, with Brunaulf following close by and leaning against a nearby wall. "So…"

"Just give it a second. Shayna takes her sweet ass time when responding to us, and Heires is still learning his way around this place," Brunaulf explained, as Zakariya hummed and nodded. That was fine.

First to come downstairs was a… tall, flaxen-haired young woman with silver eyes. She wore a dress similar to her mother's, but hers was a amber color instead of red; and around her neck was a necklace of… teeth? His first thought was this woman was strange, strange beyond belief…

His second thought was that she was pretty. She seemed to inherit all of her mother's traits face-wise, as well as hair length.

His third thought…

Deadly.

The way her silver eyes stared at him, it put him on edge and almost scared him. The only thing keeping him from hyperventilating from the woman's gaze, was that same feeling of calm that washed over him again. He then looked away, as Flaya smiled coyly at him. "Oh? What's wrong, sir hero? Can't look a pretty girl your age in the eye?"

That wasn't it, he just couldn't keep staring at those terror-inducing eyes… "Mother, could you stop teasing father's guest?" He heard another voice say, the one of a young boy, barely in his teens. He looked over to the side of Shayna, seeing the same boy from before in new clothes.

He now wore a green sweater along with white shorts and brown shoes, his orange hair messy and wild, as if he just got out of bed or the shower. His pale blue eyes still staring past him… strange.

Flaya pouted at her son's interference. "Oh, pooh… no one here lets me have any fun," The lady complained. "Besides, its not like I meant anything by it! I just wanted to see if I could get some sort of reaction out of our guest… or maybe even Shayna…"

Zakariya blankly stared in disbelief as Flaya now was poking her fingers together shyly. The fuck was going on here?

"Mother dearest, you know I am not interested in friendly interactions with other people outside our family," Shayna shifted her deadly gaze to her poor mother. "Let alone romantically as you keep suggesting me to do. Let the poor boy go and let us just eat."

"Oh, you're all so boring!" Flaya complained again, before perking up. "Oh well! Nothing a bit of roast feeb and roasted 'tatoes won't fix!" She then skipped off cheerfully to the kitchen, as Shayna sighed tiredly once her father had went to follow his wife.

"Forgive my mother for her… actions," Shayna said, grabbing his attention again as Zakariya looked at her. "She is quite adamant on me finding friends… or a partner of any kind."

"Oh, it's not a problem! Not at all! After all, not my place to pry into family stuff!" Zakariya hastily said, raising his hands up in surrender. Besides, that wasn't even why he was acting off! It was just this woman was scary! And knowing this world, that meant she could kill him in a second! He didn't want to die on his first week, let alone his first day! "Some people just don't want any social interactions or romance! That's fine!"

Shayna blinked for a second before smiling slightly. "Yes, that's true. Thank you for being so understanding." The young lady came downstairs properly, holding her little brother's hand as she did so. "I am Shayna Oatsky, a knight-in-training under my father's supervision." Zakariya shook her hand when she offered it, noticing the calloused texture. Yep, definitely a swordswoman. "And this precocious little ray of sunshine is my little brother, Heires."

Heires grumbled at his sister's praise, taking his hand out of hers. "Stop treating me like I'm still nine, sister! I am old enough to introduce myself!" Heires then stuck his hand out, completely missing his position as he did so. "I'm Heires Oatsky! Pleasure to meet you! I heard you were the one to save me from the carriage earlier today! I really am at your debt, I could have died if those ground dragons ran me over and all!"

Zakariya stared at Heires, his eyes widening slightly as he came to a realization. Heires was sticking his hand out to shake something that wasn't there… because he had entirely missed him. He stared right into the boy's pale blue eyes, a fear entering his eyes as he realized two things.

Firstly, he might not have an easy time living here in such a strange family. There was a reason he was sent here.

Secondly…

Heires Oatsky was blind.