It was 6PM. The sky was slowly turning dark, but the lights in Tokyo still shone brightly. People were getting off work, all you could see were their tired faces. Still, many of them would head to Shibuya, a place famous for the Shibuya Crossing and its street music performances.
Our protagonist, Arata Ren, similar to other people was getting off his work as a convenience store clerk. With his impressive title as an aspiring musician he couldn't miss the street performances in Shibuya, even tough he was still a layman in terms of music skills.
That's right Ren didn't know shit, his skills were singing in front of the mirror and playing You Are My Sunshine on guitar.
While walking through Shibuya and listening to the performances. He spotted a few suspicious looking men inside a bar harassing a girl.
Ren wanted to ignore this situation, but as soon as he was about to turn around he saw the face of the girl.
Mikami Shika,
His co-worker.
The girl he kinda liked,
They watched Frieren: Beyond Journey's End together, after all.
She always said that she would like to be rescued by someone like Himmel. That's why he decided he's gonna save her.
Just like Himmel the Hero would.
Ren walked into the bar and said "Leave the girl alone she's with me."
'Fuck that was cringe!' he thought.
The men started whispering something to each other, and then one of them said "She's yours? Then come and catch her!"
He pushed her toward me.
It was unexpected. Ren wasn't ready he tried to catch her into his arms but the force of the push was too big. She crashed into him, and Ren fell backwards, hitting his head on a chair.
'What's happening?' Ren thought he tried to open his eyes but they were starting to get blurry.
The last thing he saw were the men looking at him with their mouths open, and his co-worker Mikami Shika, trying to say something to him that he couldn't hear.
'Am I... dying?'
'I guess I wasn't Himmel the Hero huh' That was his last thought as he died.
Tokyo, Adachi district - in one of the run down apartments, there was a boy peacefully sleeping on a tatami mat, there wasn't any thin mattress underneath him. He was probably too poor to afford one. There were a couple of unopened packs of instant noddles near him, and a note with some writing.
The boy was average looking but that might have been because he looked like a skeleton. Only skin and bones no meat.
Clearly he hadn't been eating enough.
'Didn't... I die?'
'Why do I feel like I'm alive' Ren thought as he opened his eyes.
"Whaatttttttttt!!!!!" Ren shouted but his voice was very weak.
He couldn't believe what was happening clearly he died and now he is in a run-down apartment.
At least the layout of the room convinced him that he was still in Japan.
Ren tried standing up but then he realised that he didn't have any energy.
'Huh what's wrong with me?' Ren thought, confused.
He looked at his body first, and what he saw shocked him everything was smaller, his hands, legs. He resembled a vampire with how pale his skin looked.
Quickly Ren looked for a bathroom so he can see how he looks like. But no matter where he looked there was no bathroom, only a door to exit the apartment.
Trying to calm himself, he went too look for anything that could show his reflection. That's when he spotted a small mirror, grabbing it quickly he looked at himself. What he saw almost made him drop it.
This wasn't his face.
The only resemblence was the brown hair. His eyes were now a soft and peaceful green. Anybody that would look at him couldn't help but have a positive feeling about him.
'Did I get transported to a different world or am I still in the same one?' Ren wondered a bit confused.
He started looking around, this time calmly. He spotted the noddle packages near the place where he woke up and a note beside it.
Curious, he walked over, sat down on the tatami mat and picked up the note.
The paper was fresh maybe slightly crumpled, but the writing was very pleasant to look at.
[This body's name is the same as yours: Arata Ren]
[There are no relatives or strong personal connections, so you don't have to worry, no one will notice you're not the same person.]
[You don't need to care about the landlord as he doesn't care about you, only about money]
[Inside one of the noddles packages there is ¥200,000. With it you should be able to survive for at least a month]
[Survive in world and help people just like Himmel the Hero would]
[Take care, and thank you for everything]
'Thank you for everything... but for what?' Ren wondered.
Everything looked like it was prearranged for him.
While he was thinking about the note and how his live will now look like, he heard a sound in his mind.
[DING DING DING]
[The Japanese Music System Welcomes you!!!]
An almost transparent window floated in front of him with the same words he just heard.
"Is this really a system the same as in novels?" Ren said still being in shock
[That's right host!]
[I'm a system that holds every single song created by a japanese person from your previous world]
[Host can talk to me in his mind]
[I can answer a few of your questions before my AI will leave and you will be left with the base program]
Ren quickly took a deep breath to calm down and started thinking about the questions he should ask.
'Are there any hooks? That I'm not aware of?' Ren questioned
[No, host but the system will automatically unbind when Host reaches a certain degree in popularity or status in the entertainment industry]
'How much exactly?'
[I can't give a specific number but it will happen when you reach a status of a legend]
'Why me?'
[Because you have ambition. You want to make music and help people]
[The system's mission is to help others through music]
'I know that I have ambition but helping people...'
'I guess I died while trying to help, maybe I shouldn't deny it' Ren thought.
'How can I get the songs? and will I even be able to even perform them?'
[That's for host to explore. But there is a beginner package prepared for you host just need to open it in the system]
'What's up with this body and this note? and why does it say Thank you for everything?'
[The body was prepared with the help of the system as for the note ... Sorry Host I must go now. No need to worry nothing bad will happen to you because of it]
"WHAT answer my question!!" Ren shouted but his voice came out weak
"Huh.. Why?"
[Oh noo Host I forgot to say this but your body suffers from a Vocal Cord Paralysis]
"Then how the hell am I supposed to sing?!"
Silence, you could only hear the breathing
As you have probably guessed...
It was a hellish start.