A Middle-Aged Man Becomes the Strongest in Another World: The Physical Specialized Awakener - Chapter 1

When I opened my eyes, I found myself lying on the grass. Above me was a cloudless blue sky with scattered branches from nearby trees coming into view. 

“Ow… damn, that hurts…” As I pushed myself up, a sharp pain shot through my whole body for a moment. The last thing I remembered was heading home from work.

I was dragging my exhausted body down the stairs when, suddenly, a sharp pain hit my chest. I lost my balance, half-conscious, and then…

By that logic, I should’ve woken up in a hospital bed. So why am I lying outside?

My clothes were the same as when I left work. Shirt, slacks, and tie. Though now that I think about it, my shoulder bag is gone. My pockets are empty too, no wallet, no phone. Wait, no phone? This is seriously bad.

I stood up while going over all this in my head. Besides that sharp pain earlier, my body is moving just fine. Weirdly enough, even the pain from my stiff shoulder, something I’d been dealing with for a while, is completely gone.

“…Where the hell am I?” I am standing in the middle of a vast field I had never seen before. Grass came up to about my ankles, stretching out in every direction. Here and there were scattered trees, and further off in the distance, I could see a thick forest.

On the opposite side of the forest was a dirt road. Following that road with my eyes, I spotted what looked like… a town? No, more like a village, maybe a small settlement? Even from here, the buildings clearly weren’t from modern Japan. The architecture was something I’d only seen in fantasy games or historical dramas.

“This doesn’t feel like a dream. Might as well check it out.” There was no point in standing around. I decided to head toward the village.

As I started walking, I quickly noticed something strange. My body felt amazing. Sure, the shoulder pain was gone, but so was the stiffness in my knees and back that had been bothering me for years. My steps were light as I walked down the dirt road.

I also realized I wasn’t alone. There were others walking along the same road. At a glance, they didn’t seem Japanese. But they didn’t exactly look like people from any country I knew either. They looked kind of Western, but with softer facial features, easy for someone Japanese like me to get used to. 

What wasn’t so familiar was their clothing. Their outfits looked like they came from centuries ago. Even the civilians had weapons like daggers hanging at their sides. A few of them gave me strange looks and to be fair, I probably stood out. Here I was, unarmed, wearing modern clothes that no one here had likely ever seen.

Still… where am I?

I eavesdropped on some people chatting as they walked. “…The knights in Mainen closed off the dungeon…”

“For real? I heard adventurers from the neighboring kingdom were after it too…”

Strangely enough, I could understand their language, like it was my native tongue. No delay, no mental translation, it just made sense.

But hold on… “Knights? Dungeons? Adventurers?”

Those words felt incredibly out of place, like something from a fantasy RPG. Actually, it reminded me of the video games I used to escape from real-life stress like divorce, overwork, toxic office politics…

Had I finally snapped? Was this some elaborate dream my burned-out brain was hallucinating?

…No. Everything around me felt too real. The scenery, the sound of the wind, the smell of the earth, the sensation of dirt under my shoes.

If anything, “I’ve been transmigrated to another world” felt more believable than “I’m dreaming.”

As I walked, I eventually reached the entrance to the settlement. Though the “entrance” was just two wooden posts stuck in the ground.

The place looked more like a small town than a village. Two-story houses lined a winding main street, and I counted at least 50 buildings. The layout reminded me of a Japanese residential neighborhood, but the materials were clearly old century style, timber, plaster, and stone. The road was paved with uneven cobblestones.

It was like walking straight into a fantasy game. The people here were dressed similarly to those outside. Some were selling things from street stalls, others just going about their day.

“…What the heck is that?” I spotted a group of four clearly armed individuals, two men, two women, wearing flashy, rugged gear.

“Flashy” might be the wrong word, “heavily armed” was more accurate.

One man carried a massive polearm that looked like a halberd. Another had a towering shield strapped to his back. There was a woman in a pointed hat and cloak holding a staff, and another agile-looking woman with a bow and quiver.

They looked exactly like a classic RPG adventurer party.

Unlike the casual townspeople, they were decked out in well-worn gear and gave off a serious vibe.  Even to someone like me, it was obvious, they were seasoned fighters.

“…Did I really get transmigrated into a fantasy world?” It sounded crazy. But seeing it all in front of me, I couldn’t deny it.

I walked the length of the town’s main street. It was like a market district, shops selling food, clothes, and daily necessities. What stood out most were the weapons and armor shops lined with deadly-looking gear you’d never see in modern Japan.

And finally, I noticed something I’d somehow missed before, a lot of the people walking around had animal ears or horns on their heads. They looked human, but not quite. In games, you’d call them beastfolk or demi-humans. Seeing them in real life was honestly a bit jarring.

I also saw a few more adventurer-types like the group earlier. They all had different gear, but the same unapproachable air about them.

After circling the street, I ended up back at the entrance of town.

“This… really is real, isn’t it?”

I couldn’t deny it anymore. I must’ve fallen down those stairs at the office and somehow ended up in this world. Given the heart pain I felt before, maybe I even… died back there.

If that’s the case… What now? First, I need to figure out how to survive here.

I had nothing, no money, no place to stay, not even food. I didn’t even know if they had day labor jobs in a small town like this and even if they did, would they hire me?

Getting dropped into another world only to starve to death on day one? That can’t be how this ends.

“You wouldn’t happen to be looking for the Adventurer’s Guild, would you?” A voice called out to me from a short distance away. It was an elderly man who looked like a local.

“Huh? Uh… well, not really. Wait, what’s the Adventurer’s Guild?”

“Oh? Then perhaps you’ve just had your Awakening?”

“…Awakening?” I was completely confused, but the old man continued talking.

“Hmm. Seems you really don’t know what’s going on. Is it your first time coming out of some village or something?”

“Ah… yeah, something like that.” I had no idea what he meant, but I decided to play along for now.

“Well then, all the more reason to head to the Adventurer’s Guild. Follow me.”

“Uh, alright…”

I hesitated for a moment, but the old man seemed genuine, no sketchy vibes. So I followed him. I mean, I had a general idea of what an “Adventurer’s Guild” was. He probably wasn’t leading me anywhere weird.

“Still, it’s rare to see someone your age awakening. It’s going to be a tough road, but hang in there.”

“Uh… thanks.”

We walked through the street, and he led me to a three-story building I had passed earlier.

“This is the Adventurer’s Guild. Talk to the young lady at the reception desk, she’ll tell you what to do next. Take care now, and try not to push yourself too hard.”

I thanked him, and as he walked away, I heard him mutter, “Poor guy… looks like a decent man, too…”

I still didn’t fully understand what was happening. But if the Adventurer’s Guild could help me figure out how to live in this world, then it was worth a shot.

With that in mind, I stepped through the open doors and entered the Adventurer’s Guild.