Cinnamon Bun - Chapter Twenty-One - Tiny Fish Huge Pond

Like every (Isekai) protagonist, I got reincarnated after getting hit by a hyper-speed truck.

That was an empty and dark life anyway, so I was already looking forward to a decent, unknown afterlife.

But... the world had a unique thing in mind.

In this new world, I had parents, amazing ones at that.

My father was a talented mage, and my lovely mother was a sharp and cunning merchant.

Ignoring all of my weirdness, they loved me unconditionally.

This was the life that anyone would love.

Eating and cooking delicious food, practicing archery and magic, and playing with my parents.

Everything was wonderful until... those demons separated us and it left me in a ferocious forbidden forest, just to be eaten alive by beasts.

But dying wasn't even a question.

I will go back… to them.

Markus spent his life piecing together fragments of his past life on Earth, flickers of faces, half-remembered streets, the ghost of a world that no longer existed.Slowly, gradually, he’d finally found his footing in this new world of monstrous beings. He felt grounded, as if his fractured memories could finally settle into something resembling a family.But it all went downhill from there.A lingering touch, a promise, an obsession. As if fate itself was playing a cruel joke, his life begins to spiral down. Gradually tumbling down like a crescendo of madness, dragging him deeper into something inescapable.Every attempt to claw his way back only pulls him further down, like a bottomless pit with no end in sight.How much can a person endure before they break? And when they do, can they ever truly piece themselves back together?

Nicholas Crowley is used to scraping by in a world where magic is dying. The modern age has left the arcane behind, and the few remaining practitioners fight over scraps like starving dogs. That, however, is no longer his problem. While performing a ritual, something interferes, and his soul is ripped from his body. He awakens during the Class ceremony as Nick, a kid living on the frontier of the Green Ocean, a seemingly infinite expanse of trees brimming with rare ingredients and powerful creatures. Mana is abundant here, and the omnipresent System allows for feats he had once thought impossible. And yet, not everything is as rosy as it seems. Legends walk the land, and Gods require their due. Will his experience as an Occultist be enough to navigate this wild new world?

Takahiro Nao, a 25-year-old burdened by crushing debt and driven solely by his love for his struggling family, meets a tragic end—until a mysterious Goddess of Benevolence offers him a second chance: reincarnated in another world, and his efforts there will provide for his family back on Earth. Awakening in the body of Naoki von Blackmore, a disgraced “Failed Hero,” Nao is thrust into a realm of sword and magic, monsters, and war, tasked with the impossible mission of defeating the Demon King. With newfound powers, a shadowy past, and the weight of two worlds on his shoulders, he must battle not only relentless enemies but fate itself. Blending emotional depth, thrilling action, moments of humor, and a spark of romance, this gripping isekai adventure asks: how far would you go—and what would you sacrifice—for the people you love?