I died, and then woke up.

Was this a coma? A lucid dream? I'd rather die than end up a vegetable.

Anyways, if this was a dream, I may as well as enjoy it before I wake up. With unexpected ease, I sit up and collect myself; I don't feel any pain, even though I had just been run over by a truck. Well, that would make sense, considering that none of this is real.

My consciousness seems to have remained perfectly intact. In fact, I feel better than ever before. Although I haven't exercised in decades, my body feels strong and nimble, as if I'd been working out for years. My track suit seems a little baggy, but other than that, I feel positively great.

Instinctively, I reach up to my face to rub my eyes after letting out a great yawn—wait. Where are my glasses? What's more, my face feels… somehow different. Panicked, I began to feel around my body only to find that I had completely changed. I immediately rush toward a trough of water placed in the corner of the room to confirm my suspicions.

Green eyes, dirty blonde hair. A European-looking face that could be considered handsome enough to turn a few heads.

Ha…?

I've become my avatar in that shitty game I signed up for?

Right as I take in my new appearance, I felt a disgruntled huff of warm air lick my scalp from above. I reflexively look up to come face to face with a horse. Startled, I jump backwards into the haybale, further dirtying my sweat stained tracksuit.

Actually… where am I? I have a general idea of the things in my surroundings, but I haven't a clue where or what this place is. Around me, there are bales of hay stacked atop a dirt-padded floor. The room is large enough to house a horse nearby, but not spacious enough for much else. When I glance out the window, I see small wooden cottages scattered throughout a pastorale field of plains and crops with villagers in plain clothing milling about. It was only when the stench of farm animals assaulted my nose that I've fully come to terms with the fact that I'm in a stable of some kind, and this is a rural farming village. Did I end up in Europe somehow?

Just as I'm fully coming to my senses, a small, holographic window appears from the side of the horse, who is gazing at me with a confused expression.

"Horse."

Well, jeez, thanks. Like I needed that to—

Wait, did a user interface just appear out of thin air, like in a video game?

The moment I had thought that, another graphic appeared in front of me, expect this time I was the subject of identification.

Player Name: Rudeus Greyrat.

Male, 19 years old.

Character Information & Equipment:

Job: Villager Lv 1, Mage Lv 1.

Equipment: Magic Staff Aqua Heartia.

Yeah, this is definitely some kind of fever dream. I'm currently unconscious, in a coma most likely, and there are surgeons trying to reconstruct my mangled body. As soon as I wake up, I'll grovel toward my siblings, and get a job for real. At least I know for sure that I'm still alive.

Well, if this is the type of coma that I'm in, I may as well enjoy it, right? It seems that I had been "transported" to the world that I created earlier as my character. So… I guess that would make me a mage. Speaking of which, I think my staff "Aqua Heartia" should be around here somewhere, since I had selected [Bonus Weapon] level 6 as a skill earlier. (Sidenote, couldn't my subconscious mind have named my weapon anything less embarrassing than "Aqua Heartia"?)

Using my Identify skill, I quickly found my staff under a pile of hay.

Despite the name, it looked actually kind of cool, or rather, expensive. The staff shaft was made up of a dark, aspen wood that felt smooth to the touch. The core of the staff, a spherical azure crystal of some kind, was surrounded by a shiny silver ring and two black-steel protrusions from the top. When I held it up, the entire staff reached about up to my chin, but it didn't feel unwieldy in my hands at all.

As I don't want to spend my entire coma adventure in a dirty barn, I made a quick check of myself before heading out to explore the new world. Except my glasses, I had been wearing the same clothes as when I got ran over. While my clothes were a bit large, considering that I had literally changed bodies, my sneakers and socks still seem to fit, thankfully.

There was a pair of sandals strewn about the entrance, but I'd rather not steal somebody else's shoes.

Here it is—my debut as a mage in this fantastical world! Finally, I step outside of the musty barn and take in my environment. I had been locked away in my room for the better half of my life, the fresh air and sun certainly felt great on my face. Before I knew it, I let out a great sigh and a wide smile.

The sky, tinged with a dash of ruby red, blew a gentle wind that shook the leaves of a sloping tree nearby. Nobody seemed to be out in the fields right now, which made the scene even more idyllic. A sparrow glides across the half-harvested golden fields of wheat, its cries blending in with the villagers' screams. Ah this is just perfect—

Hold on, what's with the commotion? All the farmers working the fields had left their tools in a hurry. Moments later, a small crowd of stout-looking young men emerged from the village, all carrying makeshift weapons. In a frenzy, they began to knock over carts, creating some sort of barricade along the main road into the town. Upon a closer look with my Identify skill, none of these guys seem to be actual soldiers—their jobs either say "Villager" or "Farmer", and their levels are only in the mid 20's.

Ah, I see what's going on here. I've played enough tutorial levels to know where this is heading. I look toward the direction where the men are pointing and shouting, and naturally, a band of armed men were rapidly approaching the village. Even without my identify skill, I could tell at a glance that these were bandits, or in other words, the beginner mobs I was supposed to kill and save the village from. I've got to say, for a coma, this is a surprisingly coherent plot point.

Alright, before I charge in guns-blazing, let's make sure that I actually know how to cast a spell. The last thing I want to do is to die at the tutorial level when I still haven't figured out how the controls work. I'd just probably respawn in the barn again if I were to die, so it's not as if this is a huge deal.

By now, the bandits had already begun to engage the villagers. It's probably a case where they're just going to be at stalemate until I show up and wipe the floor, considering that all these villagers are NPC's, so I didn't pay much attention to the skirmish. I heave my staff forward toward a tree, aiming directly at the trunk.

"Let's see… Activate!"

I have no actual idea how to cast a spell, as I don't know anything about their names. If this is a game-coma, then all I have to do is think about it, and it'll activate, right?

"Go! Magic! Uh… Abracadabra?"

Alright, I'm kind of feeling like an idiot right now. I've been shouting nonsense at this poor tree for over a minute now, without anything really happening. Do I have to be so lame, even in my own fantasy? I wasn't the type to give up when I'm so close to actually using real-life magic. I continued shouting, albeit louder and with choreography this time.

However, my wizard shenanigans didn't last long.

"The hell?"

In my pathetic attempts at casting magic, I had inadvertently drawn the attention of one of the bandits, who were now looking right at me.

"Shit! These country bumpkins have a mage backing them up? Listen up, forget about the small fry. Take out that mage if you wanna live, now!"

Uh… Sir, who might you be referring to? I'm just a level 1 villager who so happened to be carrying a staff. Well, it's too late for that now. A group of bandits broke off from the main group and began charging toward me—they were so close that I could use the identify skill on them.

Bandit Leader Hugo

Male, 38 years old.

Job: Bandit Lvl 19,

Equipment: Iron Sword, Bandit Bandana, Iron Armor, Leather Shoes.

The guy at the front of the pack must be the bandit leader, Hugo. A level 19 bandit sounded like a lot to handle for the tutorial level, but since this was my own fantasy, I can't lose here, right?

As the band rapidly closed the distance, I grew more panicked. I still have no idea how to cast a spell, and at this point, I've been just blurting out whatever spell names I could remember from video games I used to play. Sure, it wasn't as if I could lose here, but as an ex-veteran NEET without any experience confronting people, having a group of buff men swarm you with violent intent is scary, nonetheless.

In just a few short seconds, the bandit leader Hugo had come face to face with me—I was effectively in his strike range. Everyone knows that mages don't fare well in hand-to-hand combat. Perhaps realizing this fact, I could sense the overconfident glare in his eyes as he gave a nasty smirk.

Woosh.

The bandit swung his sword, only to connect with empty air. Despite the supple muscles bulging from his tunic, even an amateur like me could tell that this guy had no real sword training. Furthermore, my new body was nimbler than I had thought. As I continued struggling to find the right words for a spell, his unrefined strokes kept missing me. That is, until—

Rip.

"Ha! You're getting slow, mage. You seem quite young. I'll tell you what—drop the staff and walk away, and I'll let you live. I'll definitely fetch a good price for it."

Shit, ow! Did this guy actually hurt me? Damn, my own fever dream fantasy is getting more and more realistic. I glance toward my shoulder, and what do you know, there's a huge gash with blood dripping down my arm. The freshly opened wound is throbbing with pain, but the adrenaline is keeping me from wincing.

I mean, I know that if you get cut, you'll bleed, but since this isn't real, I'd expected my HP bar to just go down a little bit or something.

In our brief exchange, the rest of the bandit leader's pack had caught up with him. This isn't good—if I don't do something now, they'll surround me. Then, I'll be done for, surely. No way in hell am I dying at the tutorial level.

I grimace, and perhaps thinking I'm weakened, the bandit leader Hugo lunges forward. As the point of his sword is thrust toward me, my mind races to find the right words for a spell.

…Ah, how could I forget?! Of course, of course, this one has to work. It's a classic!

"Fireball!"

As soon as my unfamiliar voice finished the incantation, a great sphere of fire erupted from the tip of my staff. For an instant, the bandit's face flashed with surprise, but before the rest of his body could even react, the man was engulfed in flames.

"Argh! Shit, shit! It burns! Help me! Help me!"

The bandit leader's subordinates, who were watching the flaming man in awe and fear, froze with their jaws open. Hugo was now rolling frantically on the floor, singing the grass as he tries desperately to put himself out and screaming all the while. Slowly, each of the bandits turned their eyes on me, and with a look of sheer terror, dropped their weapons one by one and turned tail.

Now with their backs toward me, this was the perfect time to follow up with a counter-attack. Once more, I aimed my staff forward and gave the incantation. Another fireball shoots from my staff, arcing through the air at a great velocity before reaching its destination. The fireballs themselves were large enough that even a beginner like me could aim them.

There are only about 5 bandits left. I continue to cast fireball, and the tide of battle quickly turned in my favor.

However, just as I cast my last fireball, the remaining bandit who kept his Copper Sword had deflected my spell before it could connect with his torso. The fireball ricochets off the blade, striking a cart that was used for the barricade nearby. Tch, that must've been luck. Quickly, I let off another fireball, ending the mob's life.

By now, the main group of bandits have noticed me as well. Knowing that they cannot win this battle, they began to retreat into a forest nearby. Naturally, I began to chase them down for the experience points. But, just as I point my staff once more toward the criminals, an older-looking villager in leather armor comes up from behind me and blocks my path.

"Please, Sir Mage! Don't shoot! I certainly do not doubt your abilities in the magical arts, but in the off chance that your Fireball hits the forest, our village will be done for!"

For a moment, the fear in the man's eyes took me by surprise. For an NPC who was getting saved, his expressions were rather gruesome. Damn, what kind of fantasy dream is this? Like, seriously, what kind of line is that?

"Look around you, Sir Mage. The threat has been dealt with for now. Please."

As the older man is pleading with me, he gently clutches my hands. I look down, and my grip on the staff had turned my fingertips stark white in contrast to the villager's blood-soaked palms. Finally, my breathing begins to calm down, and my body relaxes a little.

The adrenaline is leaving my system, and I finally take in what's happening around me—villagers are desperately peddling buckets of water from the well to the cart, now completely consumed by the flames; the bandits, which resembled a pile of charcoal in the vague shape of a person, can be seen twitching from time to time; a woman and her child gather around the corpse of a younger-looking villager, who didn't look much older than me.

The images before me didn't seem real at first, not until the smell assaults me, at least. The metal tang of iron from the blood, the smothering smoke, laced with hints of burnt meat, all wafted throughout the air by the autumn breeze.

This can't be real, right? I'm just in a dream, right? I didn't actually kill those people, right? These are just NPC's that I made up, right?

I need to sit down for a bit. I'm not feeling so well. My vision's going blurry.

And so, I black out for the second time today.