HOTD: Life As Komuro Takashi Prologue

Prologue

The streets were bustling with people—students heading home from school, white-collar workers out to relax after their shifts, and a few idle rich kids cruising around in cars I could only dream of affording, likely wondering which girl they'd spend the night with.

I sighed as I looked around at the vibrant world, feeling like a stranger in it all.

At 26, I'd been out of college for two years but still hadn’t found a stable job. For two years, I've been drifting, searching for that ideal 9-to-5 job with decent pay.

A job that could help me cover a down payment on a house, manage monthly mortgage payments, and still allow me to live modestly. But even this modest dream feels out of reach. Why?

I come from an ordinary family. My parents are honest, hardworking office workers, and their income barely allowed us to live comfortably.

My parents live in an old two-bedroom apartment built back in the 1980s. They had some savings, but most of it went towards my college education. Then, last year, my grandfather passed away from cancer. The medical bills and funeral expenses drained our family’s savings completely.

"Damn it..." I muttered as I watched a Ferrari pull up to the entrance of a high-end hotel. I couldn’t tell what model it was or how much it cost, but I knew anything with a Ferrari logo was way out of my league. Of course, it’s the same for most people. Even the cheapest Ferrari is a distant dream for someone like me.

"What a life of indulgence... but man, I envy it," I thought as a young man stepped out of the expensive car.

He was probably around 20, dressed head-toe in designer clothes, with a handsome face that was spoiled only by a sly smirk.

That look alone was enough to make any guy dislike him. He walked around to the other side of the car, opened the door, and out stepped a long, fair leg wrapped in a red high heel.

My eyes widened at the sight—I’ve always had a thing for beautiful legs and stockings, and this was a sight to behold.

My gaze traveled up to the owner of that elegant leg—it was a stunning woman with long, silky black hair that looked like it was straight out of a shampoo commercial.

She was dressed in a red dress that matched her shoes, exuding pure sensuality. Her long, stocking-clad legs just added to the effect, and I felt a stir in a certain part of my body.

Fortunately, I had been "trained" by watching dozens of live-action romance films from Japan and hundreds of animated ones, so I quickly regained my composure. When I looked up again, I saw her wrapping her arm around the handsome young man as they headed into the hotel.

"That woman... hmm, she looks close to 30, maybe older. They don’t look like siblings; they’re way too close for that. Definitely something shady going on here!" I mused, shaking my head. "Looks like a cougar-and-cub situation. The young guy's got himself an older woman! Lucky guy... that mature beauty is incredible."

As a fan of older women, I couldn’t help but feel envious as the pair disappeared into the luxury hotel.

And as for what they were going to do in there? I could bet my life savings on it—they were definitely getting a room.

Even if the woman wasn’t thinking about it, the guy certainly was. Judging by how close they were, they’d probably already gone well beyond the friend zone. These two were definitely seasoned players.

"Sigh... A life of sinful indulgence," I muttered, finally turning and heading back toward my own home.

Although I felt a pang of envy, it quickly faded. I knew where I stood in life. That kind of lifestyle felt like a parallel universe to me, worlds apart.

Right now, what mattered most to me was securing a stable job with decent pay. Women and luxuries were secondary. After all, how could I even think about such things when I could barely put food on the table?

After walking for about half an hour, I finally left the city center and turned onto a small side road, heading towards a cluster of old apartment buildings in the distance—my home. The people in this area were barely scraping by, living on the edge of poverty, a stark contrast to the opulence and indulgence of the city center.

As I walked, I noticed a small street stall by the side of the road, displaying an assortment of trinkets. Since it was still early, I figured I might as well take a quick look to pass the time.

“Welcome, welcome! Three items for ten dollars, no matter what you choose! How about it, young man? Want to pick a few?” The stall owner, a man in his fifties, greeted me with enthusiasm. Business was clearly slow—the narrow road bustled with locals, but I was the only potential customer around.

Ignoring the owner’s enthusiasm, I casually glanced over the items. To be honest, none of them caught my eye. I’d much rather spend the money on a few romance films from the underground shops near the bridge than on useless trinkets. But since I was bored, I continued browsing.

Suddenly, a simple silver ring caught my attention. It was unremarkable, nothing fancy, but for some reason, it gave me a strange, indescribable feeling. Curiosity piqued, I picked it up and examined it, trying to determine what material it was made of.

“How about it? Do you like that ring? Pick two more, and it’ll be ten dollars for all three,” the stall owner chimed in, eager to upsell me on other items.

But I was focused solely on the ring in my hand. “How much for just this ring?” I asked.

“Ah, I don’t sell them individually. How about picking two more?” The owner feigned reluctance, trying to stick to his deal.

“No, I only want this ring. Name your price,” I insisted. If it weren’t for this ring giving me such an odd feeling, I wouldn’t have bothered buying anything at all.

The stall owner thought for a moment. “Alright, five dollars for the ring. How about that?”

“Deal. Here’s five,” I agreed without hesitation. I didn’t bother haggling—after all, I was paying just a little more than what the three-item deal would’ve cost. I handed over the money, took the ring, and headed home, the peculiar feeling still lingering in my mind.

The next two days passed uneventfully. I wore the ring on my left middle finger, not caring about the usual meanings of which finger should wear a ring—I just thought it looked interesting.

Now it was Sunday. After lunch, my parents left to visit my grandmother and play mahjong, leaving me home alone. I sat at my computer, trying to kill time.

“Sigh... so boring...” I muttered as I quickly finished watching the latest episodes of anime and reading the newest manga releases. Once again, I was left feeling restless.

“Maybe I’ll play some Counter Strike Online. It’s been a while,” I thought, spotting the game icon on my desktop. I clicked on it, and as the game loaded, I activated a headshot cheat—just for fun. I wasn’t interested in using the more extreme cheats, as that would suck all the enjoyment out of the game.

An hour passed, and with the help of my headshot cheat, I was unstoppable—dominating every round. By the end of the match, I ranked first, of course. Naturally, many players were cursing me for my shameless tactics, but with a skin thicker than a brick wall, I couldn’t care less. I ignored the insults without a second thought.

As the next match was about to begin, I got up to make a cup of coffee, hoping it would help me stay sharp. When I returned, the new round was just starting.

But something was off in this game. My opponent had also activated cheats—specifically, a teleport hack, which was the most annoying one of all. I was quickly killed several times in a row. It was clear that someone on the other team was getting revenge for my earlier dominance.

"Dammit! You son of a—!" I shouted in frustration after dying for the tenth time. I was furious, now experiencing the same frustration I’d caused my opponents earlier.

"Damn it! Don't push me!" I slammed my mouse down after yet another death. Just as I was about to switch out of the game and turn on all my cheats for payback, my angry outburst caused me to knock over my cup of coffee, spilling it all over my keyboard.

Annoyed, I was about to grab a towel to clean up the mess when suddenly, I felt a sharp jolt in my left hand—the one wearing the mysterious ring. It was as if I’d been shocked by electricity. In that brief moment, thoughts of the many light novels and fanfic I’d read about transmigrating to other worlds flashed through my mind—how the characters often spilled something on their keyboards and ended up transported to a different world.

Could this be his chance? I had long given up on this world, so the idea of being a "lucky" transmigrator didn’t seem so far-fetched to me. My heart raced with excitement as I stared intently at my coffee-soaked keyboard.

One second passed...

Two seconds...

Three seconds...

Ten minutes later, I gave up all hope. If it were going to happen, it would have by now. Since I was still standing in my room, and the coffee on my keyboard had nearly dried up, I sighed in defeat. "Looks like my transmigration isn't happening today. Guess I’ll just have to keep trying."

With that, I resigned myself to my fate and turned toward the kitchen to get a cloth. The coffee had mostly dried, but since it was sweetened, it would leave the keyboard sticky if left like this. I grabbed a dishcloth and headed back, ready to clean up the mess and resign myself to my routine life once again.

However, as I turned, something felt wrong. I was walking toward the door of my room, but everything in front of me suddenly began to stretch and extend, as if the room were expanding. The door grew farther and farther away, and it felt like I was being pulled backward at an alarming speed. Panicked, I glanced over my shoulder—and sure enough, my body was flying backward, toward my laptop.

My computer screen, no longer displaying the familiar XP interface, was now replaced by a swirling black hole.

"What the hell!? Computers can create black holes and suck people in now!?" I shouted in disbelief. Those were my last words in this world.

As I was engulfed by the darkness, a rush of sensations overwhelmed me—heat, cold, weightlessness—all colliding at once. I felt disoriented, like I was being torn apart and put back together again. And just as quickly as it started, everything slipped into silence.