Just Being Alive Is Amazing: Starting Life Over in a Chastity-Reversed World - Chapter 1: Awakening

Chapter 1: Awakening

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As usual, I visit my assigned patient’s room first thing in the morning.

When we first heard a young man was being admitted, the nurses, myself included, couldn’t help but get excited, perhaps a bit rudely. But now, no one even wants to talk about him.

And it’s no wonder. This patient has been in a coma the whole time, and honestly, the chances of recovery are slim. 

As soon as that became clear, everyone stopped holding any expectations or interest beyond their duties as nurses. 

Getting too attached to a patient with little hope of recovery only makes it harder later.

I know that rationally, but it’s not so easy to accept emotionally.

He has no way of knowing that we were initially excited about him or that we later turned away and lost interest. 

Even so, I can’t help but feel sorry for him.

With those mixed feelings, I somehow ended up becoming his assigned nurse, letting myself get swept along. 

Every day, I visit the same unchanging room—a room that shouldn’t change.

As always, I check the room and the patient’s condition, do some light cleaning, and that’s it. There’s no chance for conversation.

“Good morning~! I’m coming in~!”

It’s a habit to call out as I enter the room, but it’s probably pointless.

Bathed in the clear winter sunlight, a young boy sleeps with a cute, innocent face. He’s 15, isn’t he? To be hospitalized so young, with a higher chance of not making it… If there’s a god, they must be awfully cruel.

Seeing him like this every day, I start to understand why everyone wants to look away.

In my work as a nurse, there have been lives I couldn’t save. 

Each time, I’ve felt regret. Thinking that this might be another one of those cases makes my chest tighten.

With a mix of hope for his recovery and resignation, I finish my tasks and return to the staff station.

Just as I’m settling down after the morning rounds, the sound of a nurse call rings out.

In the men’s ward, we often get called for trivial things, and honestly, it wears us all out. Still, this job is popular because it offers plenty of chances to interact with men, which is rare. Even I used to fantasize about meeting a wonderful man.

But reality isn’t so sweet. All my idealized notions about men have crumbled. 

Most patients are elderly, and even when younger ones come, they’re either too shy to communicate with women or impossibly selfish—those are the two types.

As nurses, we work hard for our patients, but we’re not slaves. Would it kill them to be a little kinder? 

Sure, the kind of wonderful person who’d be considerate to nurses probably already has a partner anyway.

While I’m inwardly grumbling, I notice something off about the atmosphere around me. Normally, someone would answer the nurse call and pass it to the assigned nurse, but everyone seems restless.

I glance at the room number flashing on the nurse call panel and realize why.

It’s a call from the room of the boy I’m assigned to.

I exchange a bewildered look with my junior colleague, who’s also assigned to him. 

This morning, I asked her to handle another task, so she hasn’t checked on him yet, which must make her even more anxious.

“Senpai, that room… it’s his, right…?”

“Yeah, it’s definitely his room…”

“How was he this morning?”

“Same as always, as far as I could tell…”

Seeing everyone frozen in confusion, a veteran senior nurse takes the initiative and picks up the receiver.

“Hello? What’s the matter?”

Even in a situation like this, she stays calm and handles it as usual—experience really makes a difference. Honestly, we could’ve responded from our terminals, but we were too shocked to act quickly. I’m definitely getting a lecture for this later…

“Yes, understood. I’ll send the assigned nurses to you right away…”

It doesn’t seem like a equipment malfunction.

Does that mean he woke up and pressed the nurse call himself? The thought only adds to my confusion.

“You two, Nakano-san and Yoshizawa-san, are assigned to this patient, right? Go now.”

“Y-Yes!”

Intimidated by our senior’s commanding tone, we hurry out of the staff station.

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When I wake up after losing consciousness in the tatami room, I’m lying on my back.

All I can see is a stark white ceiling, fluorescent lights, and an air conditioner.

Yup, a classic “unfamiliar ceiling” moment.

As I think this, I try to sit up to check my surroundings, but my body feels heavy. It’s like a rusted machine, creaking and refusing to move properly.

Come to think of it, the goddess said the evil god’s influence had reached this version of me too… 

Something must have happened to this me. After all, my soul was apparently gone, so it’s no surprise my body’s in rough shape.

With great effort, I manage to sit up and see a large window with a clear blue sky beyond it. Looking around the room, I notice a desk, a table, and a sofa packed with fancy cushions. There’s even a massive TV—how many inches is that thing?

For a moment, I wonder if I’m in some luxury hotel, but that’s not it. My left arm is connected to a bunch of tubes, and my right arm is wrapped in white bandages.

It seems the evil god caused me serious injuries, and now I’m hospitalized.

Lying here won’t do any good, so I use my movable left hand to press the nurse call button.

“Hello? What’s the matter?”

A nurse’s voice comes through the nurse call device.

But when she asks, “What’s the matter?” I don’t know how to respond. I was asleep until just now, and I don’t have any memories before that…

Thinking about it won’t get me anywhere, so I decide to just ask someone to come.

“Um… could someone come here, please?”

“Yes, understood. I’ll send the assigned nurses to you right away…”

“Okay, thank you.”

Success—I managed to call someone. Things are going smoothly, which is a relief.

But it’s only a matter of time before they realize I have no memories. I only know my name, so there’s no way I can hide it. It’s probably going to cause a big fuss…

I’m already dreading it.

As I stew over what’s about to happen, I hear the sound of someone running toward the room—pat pat pat. It’s probably a nurse or a doctor.

I’m amusing myself with that thought when there’s a knock at the door.

“Izumi-san? This is Nakano and Yoshizawa, your nurses. We’re coming in!”

“Ah, y-yes!”

Two nurses with reddish hair hurriedly entered the room.

I didn’t mean to make them rush… Did I end up urging them? I feel a bit guilty.

“Izumi-san, how are you feeling? The doctor will be here soon, okay?”

“Uh… I’m doing alright, I guess…”

One of the nurses, with deep crimson hair, attended to me while the other, with vermilion hair, was talking to someone on her phone. Probably the doctor? Their urgency is starting to make me nervous.

Also, which one is Nakano? And which is Yoshizawa? Wait, was it Nakazawa and Yoshino?

“Shiori-senpai! Dr. Kudo is here.”

“Yoshizawa-san, please contact the examination room.”

As they checked my vitals on the machines, it seemed the doctor in charge had finally arrived. She was giving instructions to the nurses on her way in… So the flustered, slender one with vermilion hair is Yoshizawa-san…

“Izumi-san, good morning. I’m your attending physician, Dr. Chisato Kudo. How are you feeling?”

“Good morning. Uh… my body feels fairly okay.”

As soon as she arrived, Dr. Kudo, a female doctor, began the examination.

“Do you know where you are?”

“Um… a hospital…”

“That’s right. Do you remember why you were brought here?”

“…I don’t know.”

Each time I answered, Dr. Kudo scribbled something on her notepad. I’m dying to know what she’s writing.

“Can you tell me your name?”

“Uh… Izumi…”

“Izumi?”

I’m sure the goddess told me before I reincarnated. Come on, remember…

“Izumi Takuya.”

Phew… I remembered it correctly.

“Can you tell me your age and date of birth?”

Oh no… I don’t know such basic information… Couldn’t they have at least told me my date of birth?

There’s no way to dodge this, so I guess I’ll just be honest…

“…I don’t know.”

“What?! Oh, sorry…”

Nakano-san let out a startled gasp at my response. I don’t blame her. Not knowing your date of birth is pretty abnormal.

“Your occupation, family structure, today’s date… anything is fine. Is there anything you can recall?”

“…Nothing… I can’t remember anything except my name…”

“No way…”

The nurses’ murmurs sounded painfully loud in the now-silent room.

“I see… For now, let’s end the questioning here. We’ll move on to some tests next, if that’s alright with you. If you’re feeling tired, we can wait a bit—”

“No… I’m fine.”

“Understood. We’ll come to get you once we’re ready.”

With that, Dr. Kudo left the room.