Rio wakes up and finds himself chilling in a realm of clouds—with an angel casually standing in front of him. First things first, the angel breaks the news: yep, Rio just died. And no surprise here, it was another hit-and-run by the infamous Truck-kun. But instead of heading to the afterlife, Michael (yep, the angel has a name) tells Rio he’s getting a one-way ticket to another world.
Now, unlike those other overachievers, Rio doesn’t have to save the world, defeat a demon lord, or collect seven magical socks. Nope—Michael says Rio has no mission. He’s free to do whatever he wants. So, naturally, Rio requests a slow and relaxing life. Michael, being the bro he is, sets him up nicely with a basic rundown of this magical new world called Fi, where about 20% of the population can use elemental magic.
Lucky for Rio, his most compatible element is water. To keep things cozy, Michael preps a starter pack that includes a small ice house, a two-month food supply, and a protective barrier to keep monsters out. There’s even a monster guidebook—because you never know when something with teeth and claws will show up uninvited.
With everything in place, Rio goes outside and tries his new powers. He shouts “Water Ball!” and boom—a ball of water pops up in his hand. Turns out, casting magic is easier than expected. In fact, he can even skip the chanting and just think it into existence. Naturally, he heads to the bathhouse… only to realize he can only make warm water. No hot bath = no peace.
So, he decides to make a fire. Problem is, he has zero clue how to do that. After some sun-gazing and a lightbulb moment, he makes a magnifying glass out of ice (don’t ask how, just wizard things), uses sunlight to spark a fire, and finally heats his ice bath. Not bad for day one in magical survival mode.
The next morning, over breakfast, Rio reflects—Michael gave him food for two months, but he’ll have to hunt eventually. A butter knife isn’t going to cut it (literally), so it’s time to train. He tries blasting a water ball at a tree. It hits… like a wet sponge. Not very lethal. So, he experiments: compresses the water for a high-pressure jet. Great in theory, but in practice? It’s more Super Soaker than deadly beam.
He recalls Michael’s advice—magic is all about imagination. So, he keeps practicing day after day. Eventually, his water jets get better, and he even learns to make hot water for proper baths! Though, controlling the temperature is still a work in progress.
Next up—ice magic. This time, he tries forming ice straight from the air. It works! …Eventually. Took around 3 to 4 business days, but who’s counting? Sadly, unlike water, ice isn’t as easy to throw around. Combat training isn’t going great, and after hours of trial and error, Rio faceplants from mana exhaustion.
He calls it a day. But when morning hits and his mana bar refills, Rio is back at it—because if he wants a chill life in a magical world, he’s gotta learn to chill and survive.
This becomes Rio’s daily grind for the next few weeks. Thanks to all the training, he can now summon ice instantly—yep, no more waiting 3–4 business days. It’s finally a viable attack! With his magical toolkit ready and his food stash running low, Rio heads out into the forest for his first real hunt.
Right away, he spots a pair of animal footprints and follows them to a nearby river. While he’s there, he finds some handy flint and realizes he can start fires by striking it against his sword—primitive but effective! He also takes a moment to gather some detox herbs, because you never know when forest sushi might backfire.
But then—growl. A low, rumbling sound behind him. Rio turns and freezes as a Lesser Boar locks eyes with him like it’s ready for a one-on-one wrestling match. The boar charges, and since this is the first time Rio has ever been in a real fight, he mentally blue-screens. Just before impact, he snaps out of it and jumps aside. Close call!
Now that he’s got his head in the game, he uses his magic: he whips up an ice track to make the boar slip (Mario Kart style), then follows it up with a series of ice spikes. Boom—instant, pointy death.
After turning the boar into future bacon, Rio flips through his monster guide and learns that the Lesser Boar is literally the weakest thing in the forest. Not exactly encouraging. The guidebook is designed for rookies like him, but there are two ominous bonus pages at the end. One is about Dragons, which, according to the book, can solo entire cities. The official advice: “Run.” Unofficial advice: “Run faster.” Not that it’ll help.
The second page mentions Demons, but it’s hilariously vague—basically just says, “If you meet one, you’re doomed.” Great. Super helpful.
The next day, Rio heads out to hunt again. But surprise! He gets ambushed from above by a giant assassin hawk. This bird isn’t just big—it’s packing wind magic and slashes through prey like it’s got built-in razors. Rio runs while conjuring ice shields on the fly. He doesn’t want to fight this thing, but he’s definitely not outrunning it either.
So, he counters with water jets. The hawk dodges and swoops down with a slicing wind attack, but Rio blocks it just in time with an ice shield. The blow smashes across the hawk’s eye, sending it crashing to the ground. The hawk eventually gets up, now rocking an eyepatch-worthy injury, and flies away—but not before locking eyes (well, eye) with Rio, making it personal. That bird’s got beef now.
Rio, still alive and mildly traumatized, is starting to rethink what “slow, peaceful life” really means. While running from the hawk, he also manages to get completely lost in the forest until late at night. While wandering, he stumbles across a glowing lake—and in the middle of it, a Dullahan just casually standing there. And it’s already spotted him.
As time passes, Rio continues training like a man on a magical gym grind. He can now hunt and preserve food with ease, and his magic is looking seriously dangerous. He can summon massive sheets of ice and slam them down instantly, and his water jets are powerful enough to slice through solid rock. Not bad for a guy who couldn’t heat bathwater a month ago.
But combat training doesn’t stop with ice. Ever since the Dullahan encounter, Rio has gone into the forest every night to fight it. It wasn’t listed in the monster guide, so either it’s not a monster… or it’s just too high-level for beginners. Either way, Rio isn’t backing down. Armed with his trusty ice stick, he charges forward, swinging like a magical baseball champ against a headless nightmare.
This whole thing with the Dullahan is less of a deathmatch and more of an intense training montage. The headless horseman totally outclasses Rio in both strength and skill, but that doesn’t stop him from doing his best—blocking attacks with his trusty ice shields… only to get flattened in seconds anyway.
Strangely, the Dullahan never speaks a word. But Rio can’t shake the feeling that this creepy, silent warrior has taken it upon himself to play “battle sensei.” Then one day, the Dullahan raises its sword and uses water magic to extend the blade—surprising Rio, who had no idea it could use the same element. After showing off the magical blade, the Dullahan casually hands it over to Rio, then walks out onto the lake like some mysterious boss character on his break.
Some time later, Rio is out hunting again when—bam!—he’s suddenly ambushed by that same assassin hawk. Only this time, it’s black. Rio figures the hawk must’ve hit the gym and evolved, all to settle the score. Petty? Maybe. Terrifying? Definitely.
The hawk dives in, launching wind slashes. Rio panics and throws up five ice walls. But evolved hawk means stronger wind slashes—and those walls get shredded like wet tissue paper. Cue full-on panic mode. Rio zigzags across the field, throwing up walls like a panicked Fortnite builder, dodging incoming attacks.
He finally sees an opening and launches a volley of ice spikes—but the hawk speeds up and dodges like it’s in an anime tournament arc. Then it screeches. Not just a regular screech—a magical, high-frequency, ice-melting screech that disrupts Rio’s magic, leaving him defenseless. Great.
The hawk hovers in front of him, clearly charging up something massive. Rio senses electricity in the air… then ZAP—a bolt of lightning fires at him! Luckily, he channels his inner survival instinct, uses a stick as a lightning rod (not OSHA-approved), and jumps clear just in time.
Half-fried and still twitching, Rio prepares for round two as the hawk dives in for the kill. At the last second, Rio whips out his ice sword and parries the talons. After a few intense clashes, Rio spots a gap in the hawk’s guard—thanks to his grueling sparring sessions with the Dullahan—and lands a clean stab through its neck. The hawk crashes to the ground.
Rio approaches it, understanding its desperation. It lost an eye to him and pushed itself to evolve, all to prove it was stronger. But Rio trained too. And in the end… he won.
As he walks home, Rio is shocked—literally stunned—when a dragon appears out of nowhere. Remembering the monster guidebook’s warning (“Run, and pray”), he freezes. But instead of roasting him alive, the dragon talks to him via telepathy. It’s not hostile—it’s actually searching for a black hawk that flew this way.
Uh oh.
Rio nervously explains that… yeah… he may have accidentally killed the hawk in self-defense. The dragon is surprised a human could do that, but doesn’t seem angry. Instead, it notices the sword Rio is carrying and recognizes it as the Fairy King’s blade. For Rio to have received it, he must’ve done something to earn the King’s favor.
The dragon, intrigued, decides to chat. Rio, still pretty clueless about this world, jumps at the chance to ask questions. They talk for hours—sharing stories like old pals—until evening comes, and the dragon says it’s time to head home.
Rio thanks him for the chat, and the dragon thanks Rio too, saying it’s been ages since he’s had such a fun conversation. As they part ways, a scene cuts to Michael, back in heaven, casually going over Rio’s reincarnation paperwork… and then he notices something odd.
Turns out, Rio was granted a hidden trait: eternal youth. Weird, because Michael hasn’t seen a hidden trait since that hero girl he sent to Fay… 10,000 years ago.
Leave a Reply