LIGHTNOVELONLINE It’s been roughly a day since I successfully returned to my hometown.
After such a long time, I’m being welcomed with open arms by complete strangers.
Of course, that’s sarcasm.
If the weapons in front of me could turn an elephant into a beehive in an instant, then that’s not exactly the kind of welcome I’m talking about.
‘…So, what exactly is this place?’
I glanced around, hoping for answers.
The room wasn’t particularly wide or narrow, and there were just two chairs and a desk in the center.
In between them, there was an invisible wall dividing the room exactly in half.
If this had been my life before I died, I might have thought this room was decent enough for a house.
But ironically, I’m not someone who’s destitute enough to be bothered by a single room, plus considering the situation I’m in now, that thought quickly vanished.
It’s only been one day since I set foot on my hometown soil.
Here I am, experiencing the unprecedented ordeal of being kidnapped and held by an unidentified armed group…!
‘It can’t be related to dimensional travel… right?’
My hometown was an ordinary place.
In other words, it was far from the hidden secrets of an underlying world found in urban fantasy or any kind of magic.
That means they couldn’t have captured me for reasons like how I got here or to stop an invasion from another world.
Of course, if something like a technological singularity happened while I was away, it might change things.
But honestly, if a singularity had occurred, I should be staring down plasma weapons instead of regular guns, so I shook my head and ruled that out.
‘Considering they haven’t tied me up, it doesn’t seem like they planned to do anything weird…’
I suppose there are reasons why I was taken here peacefully without any resistance, but still, I wasn’t exactly under any restrictions other than being trapped in this room.
Given my rather unthreatening appearance, just locking me in a room should be enough to keep me confined.
If they were really going to commit human trafficking or body experiments, they would’ve tied me up to prevent any resistance, which likely means they aren’t planning something violent.
Then, I’m left wondering who these people are that put me in such a place without any explanation.
After contemplating that for a while, the conclusion I reached was pretty straightforward: I have no idea.
Honestly, it’s been a short time since I set foot in my hometown, and there’s no way I could have committed any kind of crime in that brief period.
If I had to guess, perhaps the ground I first stepped on was accidentally in a restricted area.
Nevertheless, wouldn’t it be excessive to draw so many guns on an unarmed, non-resistant person?
Wasn’t that whole area a wasteland? What could possibly be there that warranted dragging someone off without any explanation?
I really should have screamed “No! I don’t want to!” while being dragged away.
…Well, fine.
For now, I’ll let this go.
It’s better to save my energy for what’s to come rather than pondering my reasons all night.
After all, once I decide to leave, I can escape from here anytime.
Of course, that escape will have to wait until I understand this group’s identity first.
If it’s a warlord or a criminal organization, that’s one thing, but if it’s a state organization, forcing my way out could lead to serious trouble.
Sure, taking down a small group of law-breaking criminals would be easy enough, but if it’s a national investigative bureau, they wouldn’t just stop looking for me; they’d pursue me even harder.
Well, technically, it wouldn’t be a situation I couldn’t bounce back from, but still, I really didn’t want my first step on my hometown soil to turn into a manhunt with government agencies.
I was a model citizen who hadn’t committed any major crimes, except for jaywalking, during my previous life.
As I mentioned before, I spent a long time searching for my hometown, and I’d hate to end up on the news for some weird reason or become an internationally wanted person all because I couldn’t wait a moment longer and caused a scene.
You want an anecdote?
Well, humans learn from their mistakes, don’t they?
And honestly speaking, the dimensional creatures that suddenly attacked me without explanation might also share some blame.
Although whether I’d understand their language if they explained is a whole other story.
Regardless, having learned from my previous experience, it really is a blessing that I won’t act rashly in my hometown.
I’ve gained insight.
Isn’t that commendable?
‘…No, let’s stop with these pointless thoughts.’
I shook my head, trying to brush off the self-reproach.
It’s not wise to dwell on the past, especially since I was picking up on the presence of someone approaching from beyond the door.
I figured someone would eventually contact me after a considerable amount of time had passed since they brought me here.
To be honest, I was a bit worried about what I’d do if no one spoke to me for several days.
For now, as I decided earlier, I’ll stay calm until I uncover the identity of this group and their purpose for imprisoning me.
I began thinking of possible responses depending on how the person who entered would appear.
―Click
With a heavy sound, the door attached to the far wall started to open.
Unlike ordinary doors, its futuristic design hinted this facility was anything but typical.
It looked far more suitable for a sci-fi movie than reality, so it was only natural to have that line of thought.
A whirring sound followed, indicated that the door was fully open, and someone stepped inside.
Dressed in a white coat with a matching tie, holding a file and a document bundle, and her long blonde hair tied back to avoid interference,
she seemed to have a rather rigid personality about her.
‘Hmm, first impression isn’t half bad…’
After seeing the woman who entered the room, I decided not to show any hostility.
I knew it wasn’t correct to judge a person solely on their appearance, but it was true that I could make some rough guesses.
If someone abnormal approached a person being held captive, it’s only normal for them to have bad intentions, right?
In that sense, the woman in the white coat looked quite the opposite of that standard.
After all, white coats are typically worn by doctors or scientists, so I didn’t recall them giving off a bad vibe.
In any case, I could relax a little knowing I wasn’t captured by a perverse group.
She took one step, then another.
The blonde woman slowly approached the center of the room.
Eventually, she made eye contact with me as I leaned against the opposite wall and abruptly froze in her spot.
A brief moment of silence.
The woman, whose face was almost unreadable, continued to stare at me for a moment with her steps halted.
“…Wait a minute. Who is this cute little thing?”
She covered her mouth with her hand and muttered as such.
“….”
I was momentarily frozen, caught off-guard by words I never expected to hear from someone who looked so stiff.
Then, as I quickly corrected my initial impression of her, I started analyzing my situation.
Hmm, it seems I might indeed have ended up with a perverse group after all.