(warning there is a subtle identity crisis in this chapter. I know that most of you, including me, read these stories to escape from reality or something 😅, but I think that passage will add more reality, of course I will try to add these passages less in the future. Thank you for your understanding and I wish you a pleasant reading)
(Otherwise, I will be very happy for powerstones, reviews and comments)
I woke up slowly. For a moment I just lay there staring at the wooden ceiling above me, not moving. Everything was quiet. Suspiciously quiet. Then memories began to form in my head.
Fall. Forest. Dipper. Mabel. Gnomes.
...and my new body.
I sighed softly and ran my hand over my face. "So it wasn't really a dream..."
"Yeah, thanks, Ciel. That really helped me."
I sat up slowly, letting my feet slide off the bed. I just sat there for a moment, staring at my hands. They still felt… strange. They were smaller, softer, almost too perfect. Every movement was lighter, more fluid than I was used to.
"...Rimuru Tempest, huh," I muttered to myself with a slight sigh.
Honestly? I still didn't quite get it.
But before I could sink into a deeper existential crisis, a voice called out from below, instantly bringing me back to reality. "MOVE! EVERYONE GET TO WORK!"
I blinked. "...Oh. Yeah. Work."
After a short morning hygiene routine, during which I realized once again how much my body had changed, I got dressed and, with little effort, put my hair up in a simple but surprisingly elegant braid. It was strange how naturally I managed to do it.
"...He's getting used to this way too quickly," I muttered suspiciously.
Finally, I took a breath and headed downstairs.
As soon as I entered the main part of the Mystery Shack, I was immediately hit with a familiar combination of smells – old wood, dust… and something I didn't even want to identify.
"Good morning," I mumbled, more out of habit than conviction.
"IT'S NOT GOOD UNTIL WE MAKE MONEY!" he snapped at me immediatelyStan Pines, without wasting a second. He pointed at me as if I were another item in the inventory. "You! New! You're working today!"
I sighed. "I kind of expected that."
"Hey, dude!" an excited voice called out from beside me.
I turned around and saw a tall guy in a green cap waving at me like we had known each other for years.
"You're the new one, right?" he grinned. "I'm Soos! Technician, repairman, occasional salesman... and unofficially the coolest person here."
I just stared at him for a moment.
…Okay. I've always liked Soos, but it's great to see him in person! I honestly felt sorry for him when I found out about his past with his father, so I might as well try to be a good friend to him, right?
"Rimuru," I introduced myself and shook his hand.
"Rimuru..." he repeated slowly, as if testing it. Then he brightened even more. "That sounds like the name of some secret boss or something! Do you have a second stage?"
I blinked. "...Maybe."
"DUDE!" Soos looked absolutely thrilled. "That's awesome!" Before I could say anything, a lazy "Soos, don't scare him on the first day" came from next to us.
I turned my head. Leaning against the wall was a redhead with a cap and a cup in her hand. Her expression was completely calm, almost bored, but her eyes were watching me quite intently.
Wendy looked at me briefly. "So you're the one who fell from the sky that Mabel kept talking about?"
"Probably?" I nodded.
"Hm." She took a sip. "I was expecting something... more out of the ordinary."
I stared at her for a moment. "...Should I take that as a compliment or a disappointment?"
She shrugged. "I don't know yet."
Soos leaned closer to me and added in a low voice, "This is her way of saying you're okay."
"Soos, I hear you," Wendy said without moving her head.
"I know," he smiled. There was a moment of silence before Wendy spoke again. "So… what can you do?" she asked, tilting her head slightly. "Besides dramatic landings."
I thought. "Um... survive falls from the sky?" I tried.
Soos nodded immediately. "That's a useful thing. I wouldn't give it away."
"Most people don't," I added.
Wendy smiled slightly. A small, almost imperceptible smile. I just stood there for a moment while they both continued to look at me in a low, unobtrusive way. It was strange… not unpleasant, more like that silent assessment where someone is trying to place you where you really belong.
Well... and I honestly had no idea where I belonged either.
"YES!" there was a sudden loud applause.
I almost jumped in surprise. Stan looked at us with the expression of a man who had just sensed an opportunity to make money.
"Enough of dating! We need a new product! Something that will attract tourists and make money from them!"
"What about the quality of service?" I automatically suggested.
Stan looked at me. "...That was a joke, right?"
"Yeah." I looked around the store. Shelves full of kitsch. Fake skulls. Rubber monsters. "Cursed" items, obviously made in China.
And yet… it worked. "Hmm…" I muttered. Maybe… I could help.
"Sky."
"Earth magic. How are we doing?"
A slight smile crossed my face. "Okay... let's try."
I reached out and closed my eyes. I imagined the shape. The roof. The windows. The curved walls. The Mystery Shack and every detail, every unevenness.
For a moment, nothing happened. And then… the floor beneath my feet trembled slightly. I felt a warm sensation travel into my palm and leave my body.
"Um... dude?" Soos said next to me, a little more cautious than before.
Suddenly, I felt a slight resistance in my palm. The material began to form, move… respond to my thoughts, and within seconds, there was a small, detailed Mystery Shack statuette.
Silence. "...Dude," Soos breathed in utter amazement.
Wendy raised her eyebrows slightly, but the corners of her mouth twitched slightly. Stan didn't move, just stared.
"How much for it?" he finally asked. I smiled. "How much are you offering?" There was silence for a moment and then Stan grinned. "I like you."
And so it began. Some time later, the Mystery Shack was full of people.
"That's cute!", "Look, Mom!", "How much does it cost?!"
I stood behind the counter and watched my figurines disappear at a speed I had not expected. One, Two, Three.
"Dude," Soos laughed next to me, "you're literally a walking money factory."
"That sounds illegal," I remarked.
"Mostly yes," Stan said from the other end. "But that's a detail."
Wendy leaned against the counter next to me and crossed her arms. "For a first day... pretty good."
I looked at her and said, "Thanks," and she just shrugged. "Maybe we'll just leave you here."
"That sounds like a huge honor."
"Is."
I frowned. "...Are you serious, or are you kidding me?"
A short pause. "Yes."
"That didn't help."
Time passed faster than I expected and honestly? It was… pretty cool, weird, chaotic, but cool.
Until the afternoon, everything went on in a strangely calm rhythm.
Sure — here's an extended version of this particular part, more internal conflict, more "between the lines", but still the same laid-back Gravity Falls vibe and Mabel/Dipper dynamic:
The Mystery Shack had its own chaos, but to me it was more like… a strange kind of routine. Tourists came and went, Soos was fixing something, Stan was yelling at everyone who passed the cash register, and Mabel… Mabel was just Mabel.
I spent most of my time alternating between two things: helping behind the counter and quietly watching this world behave as if it were completely normal.
And it was during those breaks between customers that I started to notice the people around me more.
"Hey, Rimuru!" Mabel jumped towards me with an energy that could probably power a small town.
"Yes?" I turned to her.
"Where exactly are you from?" she tilted her head. "Like, exactly. Do you have the internet there? Do you have ghosts there? Do you have cotton candy raining down from the sky? Do you have unicorns there? Are you the king of something? Are you an alien? Is everyone blue?"
I blinked.
Good question, but not a simple one, more like one that asks about something I myself haven't fully understood yet.Who am I? AndWhat am I? There was a moment of silence in my head. And then Ciel spoke.
"Sure..." I muttered to myself. "So, improvisation again."
Meanwhile, Mabel was still waiting for me. No pressure. Just… curious. Honestly curious. That was perhaps the worst part, she wasn't judging, she just wanted an answer.
I sighed. "Let's just say… my world is a long way away," I began cautiously. "And it's… quite different."
Mabel nodded immediately, as if it was exactly what she had expected. "So you're an alien."
"…probably?" I said slowly. And the word sounded a little different in my head than it should.
I am not a person from here.It's true, but am I even human? Or just... something that resembles a human because that's the simplest shape?
Mabel beamed. "I KNEW IT!"
I smiled for a moment, but the smile was more automatic because while she was clear… I just had another layer of confusion.
"So... an alien," I repeated more quietly, more to myself.
Ciel didn't react, it wasn't reassuring for the first time.
It's more like she was leaving me room to find the answer myself, but I didn't have it.
Mabel kept watching me, as if expecting some big revelation to come.
"And do you have any cool technology there?" she tilted her head. "Or magic? Or both? Because that would be really cool."
"I have... something about everyone..." I replied somehow.
How much can I actually say before it stops being me and starts being just a story that suits them?
"And how is life there?" Mabel continued without hesitation.
"Normal," I answered faster than I meant to. Then I stopped, normal? What does that even mean? After all, "normal" had long since ceased to exist for me.
From across the room came Stan's yelling at some tourist and Soos' laughter as he assembled something wrong again.
The sounds of life, my mind slowly began to calm down, but there was nothing I could do about it at this moment. Worrying unnecessarily wouldn't help... in time I might find my way back.
"Rimuru!" Mabel gently nudged my hand.
„Hm?"
"Look," Mabel added, suddenly calmer, "even if you're an alien... you're here, right?"
I raised my eyes and smiled, without complexity and without philosophy, just a simple sentence. "You are here."And that was all.
"Yeah..." I replied quietly. "I'm here."
After a while, when the sun was slowly setting and most of the people had left, I approached Dippro behind the counter to relax and not think about my little identity crisis. "Hey," I said, leaning against the counter. "You really look at her a lot."
Dipper looked up from his papers. "Who?"
"Wendy," I said calmly. He immediately stiffened by half a millimeter and that was enough for me. "I got him," I thought.
"I'm not looking," he replied too quickly.
"Sure," I nodded. "And I'm a normal person from a completely normal world that doesn't fall from the sky."
Dipper shot me a look. "That's different."
"Yeah," I smiled. "You're more of a... tragic romantic supporting character."
"I'm not a supporting character!"
"Mhm." Just then, Wendy walked by with a crate of supplies and didn't even stop. "Hey, Dipper," she said over her shoulder. "Can you help me with this?"
"Yeah! Sure! I can!" he blurted out immediately. As soon as she disappeared outside, he turned back to me.
"Satisfied?"
"Honestly?" I shrugged. "Yeah."
"You're terrible."
"You're the one who just changed the pitch of your voice three octaves."
Dipper opened his mouth... and closed it again, then just sighed in resignation, and I smiled a little.
A few minutes later, I noticed Dipper had disappeared into the back of the store.
And then I saw him standing by the side window, looking out completely "unobtrusively".
Wendy was out there stockpiling supplies, the sun shining in her hair and she clearly didn't care at all, Dipper stood completely still.
"You know," I said after him, "if you were a little less inconspicuous, it might be suspicious." He flinched. "I wasn't looking!"
"Yeah," I nodded. "You were just… visually analyzing the environment with an emphasis on one specific person."
"That sounds even worse!"
"Because it's worse."
There was silence for a moment, and then Dipper quieted down a bit. "...It's just hard to talk to her normally." The change in tone stopped me in my tracks.
There was no defense, more like… honesty. I leaned against the window frame next to him.
"You know," I said calmly, "in my world, people often made someone 'unattainable' too."
Dipper glanced at me out of the corner of his eye. "What about that?"
I shrugged. "Mostly nothing. And then they got away with it."
He was silent for a moment and then, "That sounds depressingly realistic."
"Welcome to the real world," I grinned.
Suddenly the door chimed.
Stan's voice came from the front, "CLOSING!"
When Shack finally calmed down, it was just the two of us sitting at the counter, the silence was different. After a while, Dipper pulled out his backpack and hesitated for a moment. "Look," he began carefully, "I'll show you something."
"If it's another dwarven army, then please don't."
"No," he muttered. "This is… important." He pulled out a book, a dark cover with a golden hand that had six fingers and the number three drawn across it. The real and only real diary of Ford Pines
I froze a little more than I wanted to. "Diary…?" I said cautiously and Dipper nodded.
I just stared at him for a moment. "You're... the author?"
"No," he corrected me. "I'm filling it in. It's… like a record of everything weird that's going on here." He opened it for just a moment, the pages were full of notes, drawings, codes.
Things I knew very well and yet… I pretended not to.
"That's... a pretty hardcore hobby," I remarked. Dipper sighed. "Don't tell anyone."
"I won't," I said calmly. And then I added, a little more lightly, "Although honestly... I expected you to be more of a... dramatic undercover writer."
Dipper shot me a look.
We sat in silence for a while.
Then Dipper closed the diary and put it back. "Do you think I'm weird?" he asked suddenly. The question was faster than anything before, honest, not disguised, I hesitated and then sighed "Dipper..."
I shrugged. "If you're weird, then I'm what? The epitome of weird?"
He didn't answer right away, then smiled a little. "Maybe."
"Thanks."
And somewhere deep in her mind, Ciel said very quietly