A/N: Here's Chapter 2! Apologies in advance. I'm not good when it comes to translated Japanese.

"AHHHHHHHH!" I screamed as I suddenly awoke and catapulted myself into a sitting position.

I was hyperventilating and clutching my chest. It was like I woke up from a really bad nightmare. Only difference? When you wake up from a nightmare, at least you were safe and sound in your bed, reassuring you that whatever happened didn't really happen in real life. That easily grounded you in reality to an extent. Here though? I didn't even have that privilege.

As a matter of fact, I wasn't in my bed at all. After taking a few minutes to calm down, I took a moment to take in the scenery around me. This wasn't my room, this was a forest. Was this a dream? I pinched myself multiple times, and it hurt. This wasn't a dream. Somehow, I got sent here while I was asleep, and I don't even know why.

"What the hell is going on here?" I said to myself after a long period of silence. I was still feeling a little disoriented and more than a little annoyed, but obviously I wasn't gonna get anywhere sitting on my ass all day. So, I stood up and began walking down the first path I saw. Hopefully, it'll lead me to a city or town where I can ask for help.

But wait, let's back up for a bit. Let's retrace our steps and see where this whole mess began. First off, I came home from work last night, tired as hell, and watched anime til I went to sleep. Next, I woke up in some bizarre dimension trapped in a glass dome and saw some man have a back-and-forth conversation with some eldritch being. Then, said being did something to me and I went back to sleep. And finally, I woke up in this forest with nothing but the clothes on my back. No shoes though. Just what the hell is going on here? Why the hell did that eldritch being send me here? So many questions, and so far no answers.

-x-

After walking through the forest for about half an hour, I finally came across a clearing up ahead.

"Alright! It's about time I found my way out of here!" I exclaimed with sudden enthusiasm. Can't wait to get some help and start sorting out this whole mess! I ran closer toward the clearing, and before I knew it, I was out of the forest. I took a few minutes to take in my new surroundings. There, right in front of me, was a town up ahead. Great! Just what I was looking for! But, for some reason, I couldn't help but think that this place looked familiar to me. Also it was strange that a town was right here in the middle of a forest. Why was that? Oh well. That can wait til later. Right now, I have more important matters to tend to.

I walked toward the town, and while doing so, I took note of the white brick road I was walking on, as well as what seemed to be the gate leading into the town. Was I about to enter some old world European town or something? Am I halfway across the world? How the hell will I be able to contact my family if it turns out this place doesn't have any phones? I swear, this situation was getting stranger and stranger by the minute.

As I got closer, I noticed two people standing outside the gate, and they're carrying…. spears? Huh. I didn't think there were still these kinds of towns where guards would walk around carrying medieval weaponry. Wait. That doesn't make any sense. None of this makes-

Stop!

If I keep thinking about shit like this, my head's gonna explode!

Anyway, the closer I got, the more detailed those guards became to me. They were….. green? And they appeared to have pointy ears? Either these guys have a bad case of gangrene and pointy ear syndrome, if that's a thing, they're wearing costumes, or they aren't human. Either way, I was starting to get really scared and nervous.

My movement became awkward and stiff, and I was breaking out in a cold sweat, yet I continued to approach the gate. Yes, a larger part of me wanted to run away as fast as I could, but with the situation I was in, what choice did I have? Another town or city would've been several miles away from here, and I didn't want to try to take a risk that most likely had a 99% rate of me dying. So I continued onward, erring on the side of caution just in case. Hopefully these guards will be friendly. Or hopefully they'll think I'm invisible and won't notice me.

Slowly, ever so slowly, I was about to pass by the guards. Slowly….. slowly…. slowly. Almost there…. C'mon. Just a few more steps. Just a few more-

"Oi!"

"WHOA JESUS!" I yelled in surprise.

My concentration was completely broken by the sound of one of the guards talking to me. Shit. So much for getting by them without a problem. Both guards were just looking straight at me now. No doubt they were about to question what I was doing here. I got a real good look at their faces. Green skin? Pointy teeth and ears? Yup! Definitely not human. They looked humanoid, strangely enough, but by this point, I was scared out of my wits. Suddenly, my legs buckled and I fell on my ass, helplessly looking up in terror at the guards. Depending on whether or not I could talk my way out of this, this could go one of two ways: 1). They arrest me and leave me to rot in a prison cell, or 2). They kill me and feed my remains to their brethren. Either way, I was fucked. My imagination continued to go into overdrive until one of the guards started to speak up.

"Daijōbudesu ka?" asked one of the guards.

Wait, what? Was that…. Japanese just now?

How and why did a monster know how to speak Japanese? Did I land in some weird JRPG world? Or some random isekai anime? I get that in those kinds of anime, most, if not all, of the sapient, fantasy creatures speak Japanese because speaking some made-up language would make the narrative hard to follow, but come on! This might as well be a dream, yet it isn't. I was here in this fantasy world, and everything I'm seeing is completely real.

My fear abated somewhat, I tried to muster some courage in an attempt to speak to the guards. Sadly, I'm not all that fluent in Japanese. I know a few words and phrases, but my main language is English. It's not gonna help, but it's better to do something than nothing at all. So I took a deep breath and thought about what to say. I opened my mouth and formed the words.

"Uhhhhhh…. Top of the…. morning…. fellas." I said nervously in English. "N-N-N-N-Nice….. w-w-weather…. we're…. having…. t-t-today?" I was so screwed!

The two guards looked at each other, then back to me. One of them began to speak.

"Nani… datte?" said the guard.

Okaaaayyyyy… Didn't quite understand what he just said, but I'm pretty sure that means that he didn't understand a lick of what I've just said. Before the guards could continue to interrogate me, a voice called out from behind them.

"Oi!" called out the voice. I searched for the source of the voice and found it came from another green monster that was approaching us. He too was humanoid like the guards, but he was jacked as hell! His eyes were completely covered in shadow too. It's like this guy might snap my neck in a millisecond if I so much as look at him funny.

"Rigurdo-sama!" said one of the guards.

Oh, so this guy was their superior? And that name. Why does it sound familiar?

At this point, I settled with just sitting there and watching their conversation. Obviously this guy came over to see what was going on at the gate. I couldn't understand what they were saying, so I just paid attention to their hand gestures and body movements. From those alone, I could tell the conversation went something like: 'Who's that guy,' 'We're not sure,' 'Is he suspicious,' 'We don't know, what should we do?' Talk about nerve wracking!

Just before my imagination could go into overdrive again, the muscleman monster, Rigurdo, I think he's called, directed his attention toward me and said something.

"Oi!" said Rigurdo, as he beckoned me to come with him with a hand gesture.

"Oh wonderful. This is gonna go over well!" I said to myself internally with a touch of sarcasm. My fear was practically back in full force. At this point, I couldn't run away unless I enjoyed being dead. So, with no other options, I reluctantly walked past the guards and followed Rigurdo into town. I seriously wish that this was all a dream.

-x-

I was lead to some kind of guard shack. On the way there, I saw dozens of other monsters walking around town. There were more of those green monsters, as well as pig men, lizard people, and wolves, among other things. This town was like a melting pot of different species. I'd be impressed if I wasn't so scared right now. Some of the monsters I saw briefly stopped to look at me. They probably thought I looked strange, but then again, I was barefoot and wearing nothing but my Mario pajamas, and Mario doesn't exist here, so I guess I did look weird to them. Walking barefoot is doing a number on my feet though.

As we entered the guard shack, Rigurdo looked back at me and pointed toward a door at the end of a hall, meaning we were gonna have our little talk in that room. I walked past him and was about to head into the room, but I stopped halfway in to look behind me and saw Rigurdo talking with a couple other guards. No doubt he was asking them to guard the door so I wouldn't escape. I turned back around and into the room. It was a completely featureless gray room with one window that was barred. The only furniture was a gray desk and two chairs on both sides. Looking downward, there was also a crystal ball on the desk. Sheesh! If that crystal ball weren't here, this could very well be an authentic interrogation scene from one of those old film noirs. There's me, the 'bad guy,' and Rigurdo. Now all we needed was someone to play the good cop and we'd be all set! Or was Rigurdo the good cop? If so, who's the bad cop? A film noir with monsters as the cast? Hmm? Interesting.

Before I could ponder further, the sound of the door shutting behind me shook me back to reality. Rigurdo walked past me to sit behind the desk. He motioned for me to sit down in the other chair. I nervously obliged. I started taking deep breaths to try and calm myself down. God, I hate being under pressure. Meanwhile, Rigurdo was staring right at me, with his hands firmly tented on the desk. Finally, he opened his mouth and begun to speak.

"Anata ha dare desuka?" asked Rigurdo in a firm and to-the-point tone.

Japanese of course. I'm not gonna get anywhere by simply speaking in my native tongue. So, why not try to use hand gestures and sign language? I'm not a sign language master, but I'll try my best to get the point across.

"Uhhhhhhhh…. I," I began in English and gestured to myself, "am….. lost. Wandered…. through forest," I made my hand walk on the desk with my fingers, "and… I…. need help," I once again gestured to myself and stretched my hand out to Rigurdo, indicating that I needed help. I hope he understood that.

"Hmm?" hummed Rigurdo in slight confusion. He opened his mouth and spoke again.

"Shi no namae ha Rigurdo desu," Rigurdo gestured to himself, "Anata ha dare desu ka?," He gestured to me. Oh, so he was asking me about my name. I could do that much at the very least. I began to open my mouth and answer him.

"My… name is-"

*BZZZT* The sound of static rang in my ears.

"Ow!" I yelped as I held my hand to my head in pain. What the hell was that? A sudden migraine? Where did that come from? Rigurdo was just staring at me, and he opened his mouth to speak once again.

"Daijōbudesu ka?" asked Rigurdo in concern.

"Hai-hai! Daijōbu." I said in a quick reply. Hey, if there was a time to use what few Japanese words I knew, this was definitely one of those times. Anyway, let's take this from the top.

"My name is-"

*BZZZT* The sound of static again.

"Ow! Ow!" I yelped. Another migraine. Come on man, get it together!

"My-"

*BZZZT* Static.

"-name-"

*BZZZT* More static.

"i-i-is-"

*BZZZZZZZZZTTTTT* Even more static.

Damn it damn it damn it! What was wrong with me? Why can't I tell him my name? What's with the fucking migraines? Why is this happening? Why? Why? WHY?

Before I knew it, I fell out of my chair and was sprawled out on the floor in a fetal position, clutching my head with both hands in a futile effort to make the pain go away. It was like my head would split open if I so much as moved one of my hands slightly.

"Oi! Oi! Daijōbudesu ka?" asked Rigurdo as he jumped from his seat. I was barely able to hear what he was saying. There was a ringing noise in my ears and I was starting to get lightheaded. My vision was also starting to blur a bit, but I think I saw Rigurdo walking past me to open the door. Was he going to call for help? I… don't…. know.

Oh man….. I think….. I'm about…. to pass out. The world….. is going….. dark.

Help…. me…