Chapter 3: Chapter 2: Absurdity

'It seems I have been reincarnated'

"Bell" thought to himself as he was being nursed by a local mother whom Zeus asked to look after him while he was away working the fields. It has been a year since Zeus had journeyed from Orario to their new home in a rural mountain village.

'I still can't believe I reincarnated into the world of Danmachi. As Bell no less!-'

"Bell" had recovered his memories of his past life slowly but surely over the past year. His recollection had forced him to sleep often, so the first year of his new life all meshed into a blur of being fed, proceeding to sleep, and repeat.

'Though I lived a cycle like that for most of my previous life, not being able to control anything was rather terrifying and annoying'

'I also still can't get used to being called "Bell" too'

Though "Bell" recovered a majority of his memories, he failed to recover stuff regarding his identity and the people he had associated with before, though he feels he would have trouble remembering those people regardless of his reincarnation.

Due to having lost his original name, he had no choice but to take on the name of "Bell". But he has had problems adapting to his new identity and new life in general.

'How the hell do fanfiction isekai MCs just accept a new life like this? Do they not even question the absurdity of it all?!'

Blindly accepting he has somehow managed to survive after dying in his previous life, and being transported into a world he previously thought was just fiction wasn't something "Bell" was willing to do.

'Maybe this is just a near-death hallucination? I adored Danmachi my whole life, so maybe I induced this illusion to cope with reality?'

Such was the first thought made to explain "Bell's" absurd situation, but the complexity of this illusion was too much to just accept it as an illusion or self-hypnosis thing.

'My senses are just too convincing for this to be fake. Even the minute details like the texture of my surroundings, and the ambient noise...I can't seem to find any explanation'

'And even if I do, whatever gave me the realistic sensation of shitting and pissing my pants...just know, you're days are numbered-'

Though "Bell" said that he couldn't find an explanation, there were numerous plausible scenarios he thought of, such as a complex matrix-like simulation, but that was treading on the realm of a whole other level of absurdity he wasn't ready for.

'Even if I just accept I have somehow reincarnated. I don't even want to get into what I should even do now'

'Guess I'll just start with the basics all those isekai fanfics start with...SYSTEM!'

But nothing appeared.

Assuming it might require his actual voice to activate, "Bell" began preparing his vocal cords. He had previously failed to even utter a word whenever he needed something, so he had been training from the brief moments he was awake the past year to begin speaking.

He was determined to make a breakthrough this time!

"Sy...Sy...Sysu-"

As he was trying his best to pronounce "system". His caretaker, a local mother named Idyia, noticed this and realized he was soon going to speak his first words.

"Oh gods, baby Bell is gonna speak his first words! I'm here child, what are you trying to say? Si?"

'Damn it. I thought Idyia would be preoccupied with her other child'

"Bell" didn't want Idyia to notice his attempt due to the peculiarity of his chosen word. Children tend to first speak words often said around them, thus speaking "system" in a rural farming village of all places would arouse suspicion.

'Maybe Idyia never heard the word "system" before? I might be able to make her think its some made-up baby language'

But just as "Bell" was about to put his plan into motion. It was halted by the appearance of the person he didn't want to meet the most.

"Yo Idyia! How's Bell been doing?"

'Shit. Its Zeus'

Zeus, chief of one of the strongest familias ever created in the history of Orario, and if the myths of "Bell's" previous life hold true in this one, a major god in Tenkai with influence that might even rival Ouranos.

'Now that Zeus is here, I definitely can't get away with saying "system" without suspicion...wait...Zeus would've heard about me saying it regardless if he was here or not...SO I CANT EVEN SAY IT IN THE FIRST PLACE-'

"Bell" wasn't a rather logically smart individual. By most standards, he would be classified as beyond dumb. Years of social neglect and isolation have led to his current state. Although he is able to master systematic knowledge with some proficiency, he has difficulty when it comes to basic logic.

Tasks like scheming and planning never came to "Bell" naturally. Thus he always found it difficult to keep suspicions about his intelligence to a minimum.

"Oh, you're here Zen! Bell was just about to speak his first words!"

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Zen was an alias Zeus gave himself to avoid detection in this new life he has with Bell.

"HIS FIRST WORDS! BELL IM SO PROUD OF U! WHAT'S IT GONNA BE? I HOPE ITS "GRANDPA"!"

"Quiet down Zen! Let the child speak"

'Damn it. What should I do now? I definitely can't say "system" now, and it would be more suspicious if I gave up halfway through. Guess I'll just pivot and say another word that's similar'

'What can work though? Sys...Sysu...I think...this can work'

"Sy...sysu..."

As "Bell" struggled to pronounce it as best as he could. The 2 adults stared down at him in expectation, and then finally...

"SISUTA!"

Idyia beamed at his first word while Zeus was dejected he wasn't Bell's first word.

"Zen why are you so sad? What Bell said was just absolutely adorable!"

"It's just... I wanted to be Bell's first word..."

"Oh, who wants an old man like you, my daughter is just absolutely adorable, Bell would choose her over some old bloke any day!"

"Ack- That hurts, but at the same time, who knew my grandson was such a player at this age? Our perversion really does run in the family HAHAHAHA"

"If Bell turns out to be a pervert after all the care I put into raising him, I'm siccing my husband to hunt you down as punishment Zen"

"Do you worst. I may be old, but I can take on that bloke Aeetes any day HAHAHAHA"

Looking at the scenario folding out in front of him, "Bell" couldn't help but be fascinated by it. Though Zeus barely appears in the canon of Danmachi, his influence is felt throughout the story. So seeing how he acts and behaves while knowing the true extent of his power only invigorates the curious reader within "Bell".

Though just as quickly as he was entranced, he just as quickly snapped out of it. Though "Bell" was puzzled by how he arrived at his current situation, he would eventually choose to ignore it if enough time had passed with nothing happening. He would choose to live his 2nd life to the fullest.

But a certain question he thought to himself while analyzing his situation would always stop him from the notion of selfishly living his 2nd life. It's a question that most of the isekai stories he read barely take into consideration. The consequences of such a question could determine "Bell's" entire outlook on this life he has.

That question being. "If I'm in Bell's body...what happened to the original Bell?".

Had "Bell" recovered his past memories when he was older and been able to remember his previous life and current life's memories, he can conclude that his past and current life are one and the same.

But "Bell" reincarnated as a toddler, so that was immediately out the window.

The next assumption would be that his past memories are the remnants of a very distant past of Bell. This idea makes the huge claim that his modern world was a previous version of the current world of Danmachi, which is just absurd. But even if we were to assume it to be true. It would automatically be taken out of consideration.

The world of Danmachi already has a cycle of reincarnation built into it. And as far as the source material is concerned, Bell's past life was Argonaut, the first hero. Even assuming he was a distant incarnation of Bell, for Bell to recover his memories of an even further past life, and not those of Argonaut would not even make sense.

That left only one possibility left, outside of absurd simulation shenanigans. "Bell's" soul had somehow assumed control of the original Bell's body...and the original Bell's soul has been left to an unknown fate...worst case...death.

This was what laid heavily on "Bell's" mind and what caused his reluctance to accept his new identity. His reluctance to do anything in this new life beyond pondering on its absurdity. The possibility that "Bell" may have murdered the original protagonist in the process of his reincarnation.

The idea of murdering someone is not one to take lightly. Many stories downplay the mental effects it has on a person, but those are usually attributed to a character having more pressing issues to deal with, but "Bell" had nothing else to do but ponder on the possible consequences of his actions.

"Bell" was an anti-social loner who barely spoke with another person in all his years in his previous life. The extent of social interaction he had was when he had to pay rent or bills, but even those were far and few between.

To jump from barely socializing to dealing with the possibility of murder. It was too much for "Bell" to handle. As such, he went back into the habits he had previously admonished at the end of his first life. He began distracting himself with other things to avoid confronting the problem. He distanced himself as much as possible, this time out of a sense of guilt for having robbed the protagonist he loved for so many years of his deserved life. Whenever he ran out of topics to ponder about in distraction, he would simply sleep so that he would no longer be haunted by his consciousness.

Having been overloaded with his fears. "Bell" instinctually began to fall asleep to run away from his problems. Noticing this, Zeus then prepared to take over caring for Bell, and begin preparation for the night to come.

"Looks like Bell has fallen asleep. The little kid has been fond of that ever since he was born HAHAHAH. Thanks for taking care of him again Idyia"

"Don't mention it Zen, Bell doesn't trouble me at all. You 2 take care now"

Thus Zeus waved goodbye as "Bell" slept in his arms. Unaware of the inner turmoil that broiled within the mind of his grandson.

Even when given the miracle he had prayed for at the end of his last life, "Bell" remains the same.

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