Who is this boy sitting on a stool with his head against the table, looking like he is absolutely done with it all?
Why yes, that's me!
Well, a question for you, dear audience.
Why would you do after abruptly finding yourself in a fictional world… it's a cool something, right?
But there is a catch.
You are 80 years before canon.
Yeah. It's as bad as it sounds.
I sigh for like the 100th time today.
"Ma, another ale please!" I say to the lady of this little tavern where I've been frequenting lately.
"Ayeee, coming right up." She responds from the counter.
Sighing again, I take a swig off my mug, ignoring the looks some people are giving me.
They are probably wondering how I'm still sober, since I have had a lot to drink.
Yeah, probably.
Well anyways, introductions are in order.
My name is Komeh and the way I appeared in this world was very jarring.
Let me paint a picture for you. You wake up one morning and go sky diving because you needed a break from work or maybe life, you jump off the plane with your chute strapped to your back, your landing location is perfect, a grassland, so when you got to the right altitude, you open your parachute and gradually descend to the earth, you are with me so far right? Good.
Okay, so you are descending with your parachute and then the moment your foot touched the ground, BAM! That's it! You are in another world.
No meeting with a god, no dying, just one second landing with a parachute and one second fantasy world.
Yeah, yeah, crazy, isn't it?
It gets better… or worse, I don't know.
I didn't even have time to lament on the situation because it seemed like, not only was I abruptly transported to another world, I had also gone through some changes… many changes.
First of all, I was no longer human. I was now an elf, a dark elf to be precise. I looked very young compared to my previous appearance, where I used to have short black hair and hazel eyes, I now had neck long white hair, purple eyes and very extensive white tattoos all over my body, and an earring on one of my ears.
To be honest, I looked very cool.
On my back was a backpack which I later found out had some space whammy shit going on inside it, it was sort of like an inventory.
The most exciting thing from all the changes I noticed was that I now had a lot of knowledge in my head, mystical knowledge, and I could tell that I was now capable of using magic, something that could only be considered impossible back on Earth.
That was enough to make me forgive whatever bastard sent me to this world, enough to take my attention from the once thriving village that was in ruins from what was obviously monster attack.
Seeing the ruins around me, I posed a question.
Where am I?
The answer came to me as if someone was whispering it in my ears.
Danmachi.
That word brought forth another surge of excitement.
Come on, is there anyone who hasn't fantasized about being transported to a fictional world before? Especially one such as Danmachi where it seemed like every trope was available to you.
A world which has gods, monsters, adventurers, dungeons, Demi humans, beautiful girls and beautiful girls (I have to say it twice), of course I would be happy… yes I would be happy, that is until the second half of the answer came to me.
80 years before canon…
What.
The.
Fuck?!
That was my honest reaction.
I barely even remember canon details and yet I've been flung to 80 years before canon?
What was I supposed to do here?
I don't remember shit about this time period, I mean was there even anything to remember in the first place?
Getting this worrying information, I decided to use one of my special abilities to solve the problem.
I wrapped the problem in a box then compartmentalized it, yeah, I wouldn't be dealing with that anytime soon.
Anyway, I decided not to think too much about it. I was an elf so as long as I didn't fuck around enough to find out, I wouldn't be dying anytime soon, which means I would live long enough till canon… if there is still a canon by then.
And I also had magic, so fuck yeah.
So with those resolutions, that was how I made my way to Orario.
"Here ya go, Komeh."
My attention is brought out of my introspection as Ma, the owner of the tavern drops a mug of ale in front of me.
"Thanks Ma… you're the best…" I say as I indulge myself in the Devil's nectar.
"Kikikki, of course, I am, silly." She laughs as she walks back to the counter area.
Ma, the owner of this tavern is an elderly lady who looks to be in her mid 30s, she runs the tavern with two other girls, who usually helps in the evening hour.
Ma is a tall lady with a muscular build, short dark red hair and green eyes, her most distinctive feature is the vertical scar over her left eye.
There is probably a story there.
All in all, she has a dom mommy and tomboy vibe going on.
I don't really know her name so I just call her Ma, she seems to like the pet name too.
Finishing my ale, I stand up from my seat and drop some valis on the table along with some tip.
"See you later Ma!" I say over my shoulder as I leave.
"Ya better be careful out there Komeh!" She responds back.
"Aye, aye."
Oh yeah, Ma has a Kansai-ben as well… don't ask me how.
•••
Walking along the streets of Orario, I take in the sight that has become very familiar to me for the past two months.
To be honest, Orario doesn't look that much different from what I remember of canon.
I mean, what everyone cares about is the dungeon so nobody is really bothered enough to want to advance society.
Only the gods who wants comfort are the ones that actually do anything about it and a few outliers.
The obvious difference between now and canon is that there are a lot of high level adventurers.
A lot of people are level four, even people who belong to Familias that I've never heard of.
Although the drawback to this is that war games seem to be a frequent thing.
As for me, I have not joined any Familia yet.
Honestly, there is no one that has managed to interest me, all the Familias that I'm interested in has not been formed yet.
Hell, the gods that would form the Familias might still be chilling in Tenkai at this point.
What a hard knock life, my guy.
Reaching my destination, the Tower of Babel looms before me in all of its glory.
A stark reminder of my new reality.
I walk towards the dungeon entrance with my backpack on my back. Around me are adventurers of varying Familias going about their schedule for the day.
Walking down the stairs that leads to the entrance, I once again consider my options.
I realized some time ago that there are two characters that I remember from the show that should be around at this point in time.
Riveria and Ais.
Ais is a no, no, no. No matter how powerful I might be without a Falna, going to floor 37 to rescue young Ais is suicidal… and even though I have an ability that lets me sense the location of living beings and monsters in my immediate vicinity, scouring through the whole floor to find where she is hibernating would be difficult. And because of that, I have to put that plan on hold.
As for Riveria, she would be around 19 or so… but I also have a feeling she's still at the peak of her racism… so I'll shelf that for later as well.
The last option is enrolling in the school district… I don't even know if that exists at this point in time. I should check back on that later.
Walking down the stairs and stepping foot on the stone floor, I take in my surroundings, there are people of various races here.
Some are entering the dungeon while some are leaving. Few have a bitter look on their face, few are smiling, few have a neutral expression.
The smell of danger hangs in the air but these men and women brave through it seeking their goal despite the dangers lurking in every corner.
Some are here to amass fortune, some are here to accrue fame and some are here because that is the only option they have.
As for me, I am here for a different reason.
Walking over to one side of the wall, I sit on the floor, cross legged as I remove my backpack from my back.
Reaching into it, I take out my trusted partner.
"Hey, isn't that guy…" Some random guy says pointing at me to his friend.
"Oh shit, I thought they were just rumors." Another voice adds.
"You mean, he actually does this once a week?"
"That guy, he is…"
Holding it with both hands, I run my fingers over the strings of my banjo, a beautiful sound filling the air.
"Komeh! Komeh, the bard!"
And so today, having nothing substantial to do, I once again bless the dungeon with a beautiful melody.