Jake opened his eyes and let out a small yawn, rubbing his face with his tiny chubby hands, blinking in the soft morning light. As he gazed around the unfamiliar room, a sense of disorientation washed over him. What happened? Why couldn't he remember anything? This wasn't his bedroom. Where was he, and why were his memories so foggy? The last thing he remembered was trying to summon companions from the system.
Ding! Summoning of companion successful — due to unforeseen conditions, one companion is suffering from a debuff which reduces their rank from Tier 4 to Tier 2. Condition is temporary and curable.
The two-year-old toddler pushed himself up into a sitting position, his chubby little hands gripping the soft sheets beneath him. His large brown eyes darted around, taking in the strange wooden furniture and ornate decor that surrounded him.
"Mama? Papa?" he called out tentatively, his voice barely above a whisper. There was no response. That's right, he thought. I'm all alone. Just like my first life — no parents, no pervy old uncle, just me.
A growing sense of panic crept in. He didn't recognize this place at all. Where were his parents? Was he an orphan all over again?
Just then, the door creaked open. A tall, elegantly dressed woman with long dark hair entered, a warm smile on her face.
"Ah, you're awake, little one," she said softly, approaching the bed. "Do not be afraid. You are safe here. You have been brought to the royal palace of Tristain. My name is Duchess Vallière."
Treated? Tristain? Jake's eyes widened, but even as she spoke, something about the room felt thin — wrong, somehow. Like it was slightly out of focus at the edges. The Duchess explained about a summoning ritual, familiars, a girl named Louise who came in with pink hair and wide, disbelieving eyes — and it all should have felt real. It didn't.
This isn't right, Jake thought distantly, even as tears spilled down his cheeks and Louise placed a comforting hand on his back and promised to care for him. None of this feels solid. Why does it feel like I'm watching it happen to someone else?
The Duchess's voice grew fainter, the room dimmer, as if the whole scene were being pulled underwater.
System Alert: Erroneous timeline branch detected. Discarding false projection. Resynchronizing host to primary reality.
The world shattered like glass.
Jake's consciousness slowly returned as he began to stir. His eyes fluttered open to an unfamiliar sky. The last thing he actually remembered — the real last thing — was an intense magical ritual, then darkness as his body succumbed to mana exhaustion. Whatever palace, whatever Duchess, whatever girl with pink hair — none of that had happened. Just static noise thrown off by a summoning gone sideways, some glitch in the system trying to process a dozen possible outcomes at once before settling on the one that stuck.
Pushing himself upright, he took in his surroundings — a grassy field, rolling hills, scattered trees in the distance. No sign of a ritual site, no indication of where he was.
"Where... where am I?" he muttered, voice hoarse.
"Ah, you've finally awoken," a soft voice spoke.
Whirling around, Jake found two young women standing nearby — twins, with long silky blue hair and piercing red eyes, dressed in casual clothes, though they looked younger than they had in the show he remembered.
"R-Rem? Ram?" he stammered, unable to believe his eyes. These were the iconic twin maids from Re:Zero — a series he'd been obsessed with in his previous life. "But — how? How are you here?"
The elder twin studied him. "You know our names," Rem said. "How is that?"
Looking closer, Jake saw Rem was covered in blood, her horn missing. Ram lay nearby, bleeding from a stab wound to her stomach. Both looked like they'd just been in a battle.
His mind raced. Had the summoning somehow pulled him into the world of Re:Zero? He pinched himself, wincing at the pain. Real. This time, this was real.
"I'm not entirely sure how I know your names," he said slowly. "But I know a lot about you and your world. My name's Jake. I think I ended up here by accident."
Ram, bleeding, narrowed her eyes at him. "By 'accident' — do you mean you're not from this world?"
"That's right. I'm not from here. And I know things about you both that I shouldn't."
Rem tilted her head, studying him. "An outsider, then?"
"Yes. I'm not sure how I got here — I think it happened during a ritual I was performing, back where I'm from."
Ram crossed her arms. "And the purpose of this ritual? Were you attempting to summon us?"
"No — not you specifically. It was meant to summon a companion to join me in a new world. I never expected it to bring me here."
"Summoning, you say?" Rem murmured, eyes widening slightly. "How fascinating." She paused. "But I'm afraid all the time we have is running out. You should escape while you can, Jake-san. We were in the middle of a fight — our pursuers are closing in. We'll buy you time."
The twins exchanged a brief glance, communicating silently. Jake waited anxiously.
Finally Ram spoke. "Well, outsider, it seems you've found yourself in rather unusual—"
"Commander! Found the pair of oni bitches!" a gravel-rough voice cut in. Armed men — human and beastmen alike — surrounded them from all sides.
"So what've we got here, lads? A hero, protecting damsels from gentlemen like us?" The leader cackled. "Cranks me right up. Get lost, kid, if you don't want to end up a bloody smear on the floor. These two oni killed forty of my boys — for a little joke we played on them. Though one of 'em lost her horn doing it."
"I'm sorry, Nee-san," Rem murmured to Ram, who was bleeding heavily from her forehead, horn gone.
Jake stood frozen, paralyzed by fear, the killing intent and bloodlust rolling off the bandits palpable. Sweat beaded down his face. He could only feel disgust at his own weakness as—
Ding. System update completed.
Summoning of companions completed.
Rewards available — open now? Y/N
Mission updated!
First Combat Scenario
Rem and Ram are injured and unable to fight. Protect and escape with both of them.
Reward: ???
Rem and Ram have thinned the bandits' numbers. Finish off the rest.
Kill remaining bandits: 6/46 left.
Reward: 1000 EXP
Relief washed over Jake. At least he hadn't stumbled into the hands of total strangers — these were people he knew and trusted, even meeting them for the first time. And the system was finally back online.