Tags/CW: slow burn, action/adventure, strangers to enemies to lovers, sadodere, unconventional relationships, blood and violence, battle scenes
A/N: I just got into this manga like last weekend and now I've thought out an entire arc for a Y/N "OC". I debated making this yandere, but I've yet to see how this would exactly pan out in time
Among the rest of the reincarnators, you were the smartest in his opinion. You knew the importance of a first impression, and whether it had been faked or not mattered little in the moment because you had all the right reactions.
You were wary of your environment, not taking everything in stride so quick: your eyes glittered significantly at Jack’s bomb-making ability (which wasn’t extremely important for evaluation, but it granted a boost to his ego); your shoulders slacked and faced fell when that mustachioed stuffed shirt demeaned him; and your eyes widened in horror as the royal guard had been summoned to apprehend and pummel him…
—
Patience and self-preservation were virtues to be savored. But the rate at which these events occurred, with no fanfare or pushback, made your stomach churn. It was already bad enough that they had taken you from your home with the intention of making you a soldier for some war, but now, apparently, they were selling people into slavery if you weren’t useful?!
The thought prompted you to glance at your Status Window. It listed the following: your name, level, class, karma, and skill.
The skill of [Animal Translator] caught your eye in particular. That was off. You liked animals fine, but otherwise, how would that be useful in a war of all things?
Your mind centered you back to the nauseating display of violence. You’d remembered his skill of [Bomb-Making] - that was certainly more suited for war!
So what the hell were they playing at?
“...hey!” you called out. Your voice had been drowned out in the waves of clanky metal armor.
“Hey!”
Your legs, though feeling like jelly, carried you unconsciously toward the scrap. “Hey! Stop!”
One of the knights noticed and threw his arm out to block you. “Get back! This is official business from the king’s royal guard!”
“But he has a useful skill!” you defended, “I don’t know how things work here, but where I’m from, bombs are a lethal weapon commonly used in wars!”
During your explanation, the gaggle of knights dissented to make way for the king’s advisor to approach you. “Furthermore, he hasn’t even done anything wrong!”
A quick glance at the abused man made you wince. The knights had roughed him up something serious; bruises had already surfaced on his skin, with blood pooling from his cut lip and maybe shallow cuts from inside his mouth. This, along with the heavy, sharp breaths he was taking, would have concerned you if you hadn’t seen the bulletproof vest he was sporting. You could take a guess that he was some sort of veteran.
The mustached advisor of the king gave a dismissive wave. “Maybe at some other level. But at a mere one, he’s nothing but a hindrance! And you…”
You flinched at your status window reappearing beside you. He scoffed at your stats.
“...What exactly can you offer us in terms of talking to animals!? And on top of that, you’re a ‘bard’ class? Please!”
With another gesture of his hand, the guards were prompted to surround and apprehend you, as if you weren’t just some girl, but a common criminal!
“Wh-What’s wrong with you all?! I haven’t done anything wrong!” you screamed.
You looked to the other reincarnators for any trace of terror or apprehension like what you felt… but they were all just smiling and snickering at your expense!
Weren’t they from the real world like you? Why weren’t they speaking out? Why were they so okay with this!?
The royal advisor, humming, drew your attention to him, caressing his bushy, white mustache. He leaned forward in an exaggerated manner, letting his beady eyes roam over you in a manner so lecherous it excited goosebumps to form on your skin.
“You would certainly fetch a good price on the slave market.~” he purred.
Your blood ran cold. You looked around the room, waiting for someone- anyone to oppose this! Why wouldn’t anybody help you!? You…you…
You threw your head back, shrieking at the ceiling. “I wanna go home!”
Ker-chink.
BLAM.
Chink.
BLAM.
The firing of a shotgun echoed throughout the room. It jolted you, making you cry out, prompting the guards to drop as they clamored in confusion and anger.
You groaned when your knees hit ivory marble floors. And before you could steady yourself, you felt various shoved from the guards as they crowded around the bomber-man, who had now stood upright.
Initially, you leaned forward to get a better look at what was happening until warm, wet liquid pooled under the palm of your hand. Then you finally noticed. The advisor had been littered with several hoes in his head and an eye vacant!
You gasped sharply, scooting backwards.
Gunshots turned you back to the fray of knights and one man. He’s very crafty in how he evades and executes them. One such display has him taking one knight of guard and using him as a shield while his comrades open fire, and- shit- wow, the sound of multiple guns at once is loud.
You gritted your teeth and put your hands on your ears as you scrambled to get your footing on the ground. You looked back to see the other reincarnators making a run for the exit. You would have to follow suit; there was no telling if a stray bullet would hit you or not.
“Have a little gift, from me to you.”
The sudden shattering of glass as the rogue reincarnator threw himself out of the window was enough to kick you into high gear. You didn’t know what kind of gift he left, but if it were of any similar nature to how he dealt with the guards, then you’d be damned if you stuck around to find out.
—
Escape was proving to be a concept that was far easier said than done. After leaving the throne room, you ran wherever your feet could carry you. But every passage was a dead end. You didn’t seem to be getting farther or closer to where you needed to go… wherever it was!
‘Of course I can’t find my way out of here! I’ve never even been here before!’ you thought.
You made a sound of frustration as you caught more guards at a turn of the corner. Two of which came up to question you upon noticing your unfamiliar form of dress.
“From where do you come?” one of the knights asked.
“From- from there! The throne room!” You point down the hall, though you were a good several turns down from your original location.
“So, you’re with the reincarnators?”
“Yes? I mean, if that’s what you call it,” you replied, “Not like I died.”
“We’re on the lookout for the rogue reincarnator by the name of Jack Aaron, the bomb-maker. Just a while ago, he attempted to assassinate His Majesty, the king. Have you seen him?”
Your eyes widened, thinking back to the sudden explosion that shook the ground during your escape. You hadn’t even registered it, hopped up from your own adrenaline.
After a beat, you suddenly shook your head, “I-I haven’t.”
But the knights didn’t seem all too convinced by you, though. They exchanged a glance, one of them then leaning in to whisper something to the other.
You reeled back when he made a grab for you, “Wha- stop!”
“Come with us. The king is in critical condition, but he still has a need for you!”
“I can- I can’t do anything! I talk to animals! I’m a …bard or something!”
The other knight snatched you before you could dodge him. You kicked and screamed, but were helpless to your captor's strength.
Your resistance was met with the knight in front of you, unsheathing his sword in warning.
“We can’t find the other reincarnators, so right now you’re all we’ve got,” he stated. “Just stop resisting. If you continue to struggle, we’ll act under the assumption you’re involved with the rogue.”
A sardonic voice rang across the room. “Hmm~? Involved? With little ol’ me?”
All three of your attention had turned toward the end of the hall. His appearance was as stark to this world as your own: very modern, rugged, and crass.
Jack Aaron.
“Hey, there,” he announced. “Manhandling a girl like that doesn’t seem very chivalrous.”
The knight with the sword lost his originally attentive manner as he made a mad dash towards Jack. The former approached with a cool stride, the unsheathing of his army knife seeming to go unnoticed by the knight until he attempted to slash his head off. Jack ducked before turning his left shoulder to strike true across the man’s face.
You shrieked when he turned and saw his eyes were maimed in a bloody horizontal line. He wailed in agony, grabbing madly at the air, running around like a chicken without its head, and only ceasing when he hit one of the castle pillars and crumbled pathetically to the ground.
Jack sucked his teeth, “So dramatic. Like, just die already, y’know?” he took out a handgun and ended the man's misery in two shots.
“Now, what’s this about you being my partner?”
You felt the knights’ breath hitch when he turned his sights back to you. He pulled you close, wrenching your arms behind your back in a painful grip that made you finally sob.
Why, why were they being so rough with you? You were so tired of it!
“He-elp…” you squeaked.
“Don’t come any closer!” The knight warns. His leather-gloved hand then creeps up to your neck.
“You’ll come with me, or I’ll snap her neck.” You can hear the sneer in his voice, “Unless you’d be so heartless as to let a young girl die.”
Jack doesn’t show any urgency about your predicament. He hums and scratches the back of his head with the butt of his gun. Despite the knights’ threats, he’s musing. It’s like he’s just been given a pop quiz, one he doesn’t know the answer to, but is pleased to be challenged on.
It honestly shouldn’t have been such an enigma from your perspective! You knew you couldn’t do much at the time, but you technically gave him leeway to escape. You didn’t even know what he was doing back here!
“That depends on whether she wants to be an accomplice,” Jack said, giving you a pointed look.
You immediately cry out, “Yes, please! Save me!”
“Shut up!”
“Help!”
Cocking the gun, Jack began sprinting towards you both. “Don’t jerk around so much, you two!”
But before he could do away with your attacker, a sudden weightlessness had overcome you. You didn’t even realize your eyes had been closed until you felt the breeze of the air push up past you. The sky, as well as the castle top, was getting further and further from you. All tension left your limbs: arms and legs in your center vision had been pushed up by the air.
Briefly, you let go of hope.
—
*You called for [HELP]!
*The birds began to carry you.
*You have used 1/3 calls.
—
The knight was already halfway dead by the time you’d fallen. Jack made quick work of him, using the same method as he did his comrade, since you weren’t in the way of the blood splatter, some of which speckled his cheek.
He was mildly disappointed with how things turned out. After all, you had been the only one of those bastards not to look down on him back in the throne room. He felt he owed you only that choice of not fucking dying like the rest of them would. But no, the bastard had to go and toss you out of the window.
What did he think that was going to do exactly?
Did he think he was going to make a jump to save you since he thought you both were allied? He’d be mildly impressed if the tactic wasn’t so cheap.
He hummed to himself, going to look out the window to satiate his grim curiosity. He’d expected you to be a gangle of contorted limbs and gore on the ground. But he didn’t see any mark of your landing.
There was no blood or guts… it was like you had disappeared in a puff of smoke.
At the very least, he was certain you weren’t dead. Even with the logic of game mechanics here, he knew that bodies didn’t phase out of existence like the ones he’s seen back home.
…Unless this had something to do with your [Skill]. Whatever that was.
The knight’s pathetic sobbing returned Jack’s attention to his fragile state. He shot two bullets in his mouth and chest, respectively. But somehow, the NPC had found it in himself to cling to life, albeit loosely.
Jack would quickly relieve him of his burden.
Groaning when turned over by his boot, his breath then hitched as he was met with the barrel of Jack’s handgun.
“Throwing a girl out of the window to save your own ass,” Jack chided softly, “You’re seriously the worst.”
[looks behind his shoulder, smirks] Yeah, okay, I see what you're saying.
[looks anywhere else, bright red] Thanks Jack, you piece of shit. I'm sure he didn't notice that.
[smirks more, turns back to Aaron] So what, he's got a girlfriend and you're all fucked up over it?
You don't know what it's like, man, you haven't even talked to him, he's so just ugh.
Okay. [Aaron realizes too late from Jack's smirk what he's about to do, and all he can do is sit there in horror as Jack looks over his shoulder again and] Brandon! Hey!
[hisses] Jack, no, Jack you shithead no ohmygod, ohmygod.
