an: my weakness is grammar. so...

A Handsome Counterpart

"Ugh..."

A groan escaped out of a bare-chested youth, who was currently laying on the ground. With a post-developed face and an immature yet refined figure, the eyelids opened and what was revealed was a pair of crimson eyes, dark as blood. The youth possessed silk, dark black hair, complementing his refined figure and looks. A handsome youth, to perfectly describe the laying figure.

The shade of his eyes revealed grievance from migraine. After a few seconds, the figure finally sat up and looked around.

"A forest...? Weren't I supposed to be on the road, on the way to my home? Wait, I was, in the forest, then..."

He moves his hand subconsciously, only to feel a cold, sharp sensation. Surprised, he snapped his head towards the source and moved his hand away. Beside him lay a sword, dark grey blade, black hilt and a bright silver quillon with a kite-shaped red gem in the middle, not too small and not too large either. Perfect size for the youth.

The youth scrunched his forehead, and the migraine came again. Several proclamations came out of his mouth out of confusion.

"I'm Kazuma... Kazuma Satou... Kazuma...?"

"I'm 12 years old, and 16? 12? 16?"

"I'm a shut-in NEET, a Crimson Demon, a shut-in, NEET..."

"Supposed to be a magician yet proficient at sword... a HikiNEET who likes anime and was a weeb... a warrior... a NEET? A..."

The youth grasped his head with both of his hands, eyes wide open and keep saying the things that serve as his memory without him knowing that they exist.

"Prideful, depressed... I'm proud? I'm depressed?"

"Agh... What...? What is this?!"

This serves as the first to happen within his experience, so the confusion keeps pilling up. And the memories within what he currently experiencing is even more confusing than what serves as the first to happen in the first place, so the confusion doubled.

The forest was silent once again. As the youth was contemplating, the organisms within the forest made the scenery more alive. The birds fly through the branches of trees, the butterflies descend on flowers and many more organisms keep passing by. A fine ecosystem showed by the forest, showing off its prosperity.

Finally, after minutes of thinking, the youth named Kazuma stood up and looks up. A bewildered look clearly shined on the shade of his dark, red eyes.

"I'm Kazuma Satou, a 16 years old HikiNEET from Japan, Earth who transmigrated and got his soul merged with a 12 years old youth named Kazuma, a prideful, arrogant Crimson Demon whom a warrior instead of a mage from Crimson Village, Kono who died out of unknown reasons."

Kazuma never heard, experienced or even read what he just stated, but it was there, residing within the deep of his brain. Normally, common sense would win and he will treat this piece of information as nonsensical. But with where he was currently and how he look, what excuses did he have to deny this?

Sometimes, the reality is even more bewildering than common sense.

Inspecting his body, he hadn't realised it before but his body is pretty refined, but it was currently filled with scars and wounds, proving that the information of Kazuma, a Crimson Demon who was a warrior instead of a mage, that sourced from his brain to be true.

There's a scar that stands out from its peers, it was located in the middle of his torso. A hole, to put it frankly. Kazuma wanted to come up with something more appropriate but it was truly a scar in form of a hole.

Kazuma Satou, a HikiNEET from Earth will be disgusted and even horrified at this hole on his body, but although Kazuma did feel that way, there's a contradictory feeling besides being repulsed.

Proud.

A sense of proudness, accomplishment. A feeling of being proud because he possessed such a terrifying scar. The true feeling of a warrior, who deemed his terrifying and ugly scars as trophies and achievements. These scars, for a warrior, could not be traded for anything in this world.

The scars are the proof of his hard work. The proof of what he's been through to achieve the strength he presently possessed. Of course, the feeling isn't as clear as the feelings he personally feel, but it was there, and Kazuma thought that it wasn't creepy at all. Instead, he felt proud.

Even when Kazuma was conscious of the transmigration, it was still confusing to feel two feelings that appeared at the same time. Contradictory, especially.

He felt lethargic, yet enthralled.

Submissive, yet arrogant.

Hopeless, yet determined.

Weak, yet strong.

He felt fear, yet he felt brave.

At the bottom, yet he felt like at the top.

A wimp, yet he felt like a warrior.

A calculating person, yet he felt like a straightforward one.

He felt selfless, yet he felt selfish.

He doesn't worth his life, yet he felt like his life is worth many, many times than others.

Two contradictory feelings, yet he felt them as if they were his feelings that came from the depth of his heart. It was unsettling, yet feel amazing yet scary. It was like seeing things from two different perspectives. Real perspectives, not just merely a thought.

A dumbfounded youth blankly stand in the middle of the forest. If Kazuma's peers saw this scene, they would have their mouths wide open in bewilderment. This is Kazuma, a proud, arrogant Crimson Demon who literally offended a whole faction just because they hurt his pride! And he's blankly standing in the middle of the forest? Nonsensical!

The sun was on its way to the peak, indeed, a warrior must train with diligence.

The shade of his dark crimson eyes turned from bewilderment to the usual cold ones. But if there was someone who inspect his eyes with immense focus, they could see that the cold look from his eyes was different from the past. If before it was like an uncontrollable blizzard, so cold you will feel uncomfortable, then now it was like a peaceful, snow rain, cold yet attractive. It was as if something has controlled the coldness within his eyes.

Kazuma looks ahead and sighed.

"Fear yet brave, weak yet strong, submissive yet arrogant..."

Someone who has a perfect personality did not exist. But what if, two contradictory feelings could be felt by the same person? At the same time?

"Hahahahah!"

Kazuma laughed in sarcasm yet excitement at the wide forest. He felt tired, yet enthralled. Fear yet brave. Calculating yet straightforward.

Immediately, he felt like something has been unrestrained. There are no more limitations, restrain, rules that always hold him back. This world is Kono, a fantastical, wonderful world with numerous races and wonders. The world was still wide, so many undiscovered lands and unknowns, from its lands, its seas, its forests, its ravens, its pits, its caves, its mountains, its swamps, its rivers, its lakes, its oceans. Itself.

Mages, warriors, magic, monsters, goddesses, gods, everything exists. There was no lackness to what Kazuma Satou likes to call, a "Fantasy World."

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!"

Kazuma Satou, yet Kazuma let out an unrestrained roar of laugh. He ran through the forest in glee, completely forgetting the pride and the submissiveness that resided within his soul, scaring the bugs and organisms near out of their souls.

He arrived at the hill, which overlooked the vast forest. Green, fresh, wild and free. The perfect descriptions to portray the current scenery. Him being bare-chested and sweaty made look him wild yet aesthetic with the glistening sweats that reflected the sunlight.

His handsome face had a grin plastered on it, his dark crimson eyes were wide open, and being bare-chested made him look even more attractive. It was as if nothing could stop nor could it hold back the things he wanted to pursue. Setbacks, obstacles, trials, calamities...

It was as if nothing among them could block him from pursuing the path he wanted to chase. The path he had his sight on. Even when the ending of death is certain.

He felt lethargic, yet enthralled.

Submissive, yet arrogant.

Hopeless, yet determined.

Weak, yet strong.

He felt fear, yet he felt brave.

At the bottom, yet he felt like at the top.

A wimp, yet he felt like a warrior.

A calculating person, yet he felt like a straightforward one.

He felt selfless, yet he felt selfish.

He doesn't worth his life, yet he felt like his life is worth many, many times more than others.

"I'm Kazuma. I have no surname yet my surname is Satou, I came from Earth yet from Kono. I live as a HikiNEET yet as a warrior. I thought a lot yet I don't... I'm a mere young man, yet I'm a Crimson Demon who used swords instead of spells to feel the thrill of having things achieved by my own strength, not mana... I thought it was a dumb and stupid principle, but yet... I felt like it was absolutely correct..."

Contradictory to his wild, feral act before, he stated the identity of himself slowly. His dark red eyes stared straightforward at the sun, he looks absentminded, yet conscious.

Today, a being that wasn't supposed to exist, exists.

He is Kazuma Satou, yet Kazuma.

"Wait, my beloved sword!"

an: Yes, Kazuma, the Crimson Demon who likes to use weapons instead of magic is merely an OC.