Dream Life Volume 1 Chapter 1 Part2

I woke up in an unfamiliar bed.

Everything was dim and the window shutters had been closed. Light hazily streamed through the narrow openings of the shutters.

Where am I . . .

If this were a light novel, I would have muttered, "this ceiling looks unfamiliar". I don't have that kind of composure right now though.

I feel abnormally sleepy even though I usually don't have any problems waking up. Maybe because of that, my head is feeling really muddled right now. When I try to shake my head to sober myself up, I suddenly see the face of a large and young caucasian woman.

Woah! What a huge person. She's a quite a beautiful blonde though . . .

I was briefly astonished because she seemed to be almost twice my size. However, that astonishment quickly changed into a kind of fascination as I gazed at the side of her beautiful face.

No no, this isn't the time to be charmed by someone. What did I do last night . . . I can't remember . . . rather than that, I have to figure out a way to fix this situation . . . I'm sharing the bed with an unknown woman . . . did I drunkenly force her to go to bed with me? . . . nah, I'm not that resourceful.

My thoughts were in a complete mess as I panicked. For the time being, I wanted to leave the bed, so I reached out to grab the bed cover. When I saw my hands, I almost raised my voice.

Small . . . the hands of a child . . .

I gaze fixedly at my own hands.

The small squishy hands did not have any unnecessary hair and looked very smooth. They were a faint pink color, as if they were the hands of a baby. I survey my surroundings one more time.

It's not the room that got bigger, it's me that got smaller. I've become a child . . .

The sounds I made as I moved my body around seemed to have woken up the woman sleeping next to me.

"What's wrong Zack? X X O O . . ."

I understood the words she said in the beginning but I couldn't understand anything after that.

A lot of her words sounded similar to English but there were still many words I couldn't understand . . . wait second. Her words are suddenly turning into j.a.panese on their own despite the fact I've never heard them before. How is this happening . . .

In my state of panic, I wanted to ask the woman what was going on, but the words didn't come out. When I stiffen do to my confusion, she embraces me in her large arms.

"Did you . . . have  . . . scary dream . . . ?"

When I connected her words I understood that she had asked if I had seen a scary dream.

My face was gently pressed against her abundant chest.

The unique scent of a female and the soft pounding of her heart naturally calmed me.

It seems like I've really become a child. This dream feels so realistic . . . no, not just that, it feels too realistic. I couldn't have reincarnated?

I desperately attempt to retrace my memories. However, I can only remember returning home to read web novels and then having a dream where I made a TRPG character.

Well . . . that does seem kind of strange. Why would I dream about something like making a TRPG character? Could it be . . . Reference . . .

While thinking it's impossible, I tried using the skill I acquired when I configured my character, "Reference".

Reference seemed to be a skill that floated inside my head the names of objects I've touched along with some simple explanations.

Trying it on myself first seems okay. According to Reference . . . my name is "Zacharias Lockhart". A three year old, male human. If Reference only gives me this much, I can't understand anything . . . if this is the world of T&D (Tunnels and Dragons), then maybe it's possible for me to look to at my status. Should I say it in my mind or something . . ."

I silently say "Status" in my mind but nothing happens. Things like numbers and menus didn't appear at all.

It's no good huh . . . wait. When I activated "Reference", I said it in j.a.panese in my mind. Instead of saying "Status" in English, maybe I should try saying it in j.a.panese instead . . .

With nothing to lose, in j.a.panese, I say "Status" in my mind. Suddenly, a display appears in front of me with the name Zacharias Lockhart on it. My status and skills were also displayed below that.

Physical Strength: 2/50

Reflexes: 4/90

Body manipulation: 4/90

Stamina: 5/120 (80 X 1.5)

Magical power: 4/100

Emotional Strength: 120 (80 X 1.5)

Intelligence: 100

Dexterity: 2/50

Appearance: 87

Charm: 82

HP: 48

MP: 40

Skills: None

Special Abilities: St.u.r.diness, Illness Resistance, Poison Resistance, Mental Fortification, Sight Enhancement, Berzerker, Memories from a Previous Life, Reference, Combat Magic

I remember those numbers after the slashes. This body unmistakably belongs to the character I created. Still, are the numbers small because I'm a child . . . No, my Intelligence and Appearance statuses are maxed out though. Since I'm still at this age, the Appearance status value sort of makes sense. But why are Intelligence, Emotional Strength, and Charm also maxed out . . .

As I thought about it, I suddenly wondered why I could think so calmly.

To begin with, I'm not really a person who panics easily. However, I don't remember having enough courage to be able to stay calm in this abnormal situation. Is this because of the Emotional Endurance status? It might also be because of my Mental Fort.i.tude skill, but still, panicking shouldn't be impossible.

I came up with a theory.

This is just a guess, but maybe my desire to be reincarnated caused me to accept this situation? I would be happy even if this was a dream. I have a feeling that my dream of being reborn is keeping my heart calm.

As I thought about such things, the woman who was embracing me began to softly snore.

Her nice scent gives me a good feeling but there's no s.e.xual arousal. It probably can't be helped since I have the body of a three year old . . . while I'm at it, let's try to use Reference on her.

I gently touch her arm and say Reference inside my mind.

Her name is Tanya Lockhart. 23 years old. Female human. She is probably my Mother since I'm sleeping with her and she shares the same family name. How did I call her before . . . something's floating inside my head . . . "Kaa-sama (Mother)"? . . . my memories are coming back bit by bit . . .

Zacharias Lockhart's infant memories were gradually restored within my mind.

It's possible that until now, the memories of Kawasaki Yatarou could not fit inside this small childish brain. In order to protect the brain, the memories were probably sealed. Once I matured to the point where my brain could deal with the sudden influx of information, the memories were unsealed and then reorganized. After that, it seems like my consciousness was revived.

What am I going to do after this? If this really isn't a dream, if I've really reincarnated, then I should check to make sure if I've really been reborn as that character. If we a.s.sume that I've reincarnated . . . then my wish has come true.

Since I never got a proper explanation, I held doubts towards my supposed reincarnation.

. . . But, why me? Why was it me who got reincarnated? Meeting G.o.d, an Administrator, or even that boatman who ferries the souls of the dead across the River Styx would have been fine. I never got an explanation from anyone though. I did die right? I'm pretty sure I felt a sharp pain in my chest when I was using my computer. Wasn't that a heart attack or something? Maybe a stroke? I can't really deny that having a heart attack at such an age is a bit premature . . . however, people who reincarnate like that are usually get support from someone right? Or maybe they meet a G.o.d who admits making some kind of mistake . . . no, thinking like this is pointless. I've probably read too many light novels. For now, even if I think about it I probably won't get an answer. Let's just go with the flow . . .

And so, that's how my new life began.

When Tanya, my Mother, woke up, I decided to get up with her.

However, once I left the bed I couldn't stop trembling because the room was colder than I thought.

Mother takes a look at my s.h.i.+vering body and immediately begins to take out some clothes. She tells me something but the only thing I could hear was a foreign language. At most, I could pick out a few words.

As she pulled out the clothes and talked to me, I could slowly begin to understand her words.

I feel like I'm beginning to remember. The words I had learned before my consciousness are naturally popping into my head. There aren't that many to be honest. Well, I am a three year old after all . . .

She handed over to me a stiff beige s.h.i.+rt that was made of linen and had a round neckline. A cord was bound around the loose waist area. There were also trousers that were made of the same material. The long cuffs were rolled up so that I would be able to wear it. The shoes were were made with crude animal hide and furthermore, the size didn't match. I was somehow able to make it fit by wearing many layers of woolen socks.

"Good morning Zack. You still haven't greeted your Mother yet."

Embarra.s.sed by the radiance of her gentle smile, I barely managed to murmur, "Good morning, Mother."

She seemed to think that my behavior was really charming and hugged me while laughing.

It was a little frightening when my body was raised to a height three times its own size but since this was the same as my former height, there was an unexpected sense of security.

As I swept my glance around the room, another person rose from the bed.

It was a man who had a brown beard. Although he had a beard, he was still a young and handsome man. Since my memory had already organized itself, I already knew who this man was.

If I'm not mistaken, he's my Father. His name is . . . Matt? My Mother seemed to call him Matt. He's Matt Lockhart then hm?

"You've already woken up, Zack?"

"Good morning Father."

After I greeted my Father, my Mother brought me back down.

The two people then embraced each other and exchanged kisses. It seemed to be their way of greeting each other in the morning.

It feels quite embarra.s.sing if they kiss so boldly like that in front of me. It feels like a normal thing to me though . . .

Since there were two memories coexisting within me, it was still a bit unstable.

Let's organize the memories slowly. Since I don't know anything about this world, I have to make sure they don't suspect me of being possessed by a demon or something.

My Father and Mother change their clothes and open the window.

The window was only made of wood and had no gla.s.s. Through that window, the dazzling light of the morning streamed through all at once into the room.

Since both of my parents wore simple linen clothes like me, I couldn't really see them as knights.

No matter how I look at it, they seem like a young couple of farmers. If they put on a sword then they might look more knight-like though . . .

My Father who was oblivious to my thoughts stretches while gazing outside through the window.

"We have quite fine weather today. Even the cows seem to be in a good mood."

Surprised by my Father's words, I blankly stare at his back.

Cows? Isn't this a knight house? Does this world fight on cows or something? I really need to properly gather more information or else I'll say something wrong . . .

I became motivated as I concentrated on not making any mistakes for my first day.