Warning!
You have chosen to abandon your world and live in another.
You can never return to your original world.
Continue?
A final memory from my life at home resurfaced.
That message at the end of the configuration... It really had been telling the truth.
I definitely have Appraisal, and I’m currently holding Durandal, which is supposedly a Weapon VI.
That didn't mean I could relax just because this was a game-like world. If this reality truly followed those settings, then the warning during the setup must have been equally factual.
"Excuse me."
As I was lost in thought, the Village Chief entered.
He had an older woman, presumably a servant, carry in a wooden basin of hot water.
"Ah, right."
"Please use this water to wipe yourself down."
The woman set the basin aside and handed me a crude towel. It was more of a rough rag than a proper towel.
"My thanks."
"Furthermore, I have prepared a change of clothes. Those you are wearing are soiled; we shall have them laundered for you."
"I’ll leave it to you."
Another older woman placed a stack of folded clothes onto a wooden board.
Judging by her apparent age of sixty-six and her demeanor, she was likely the Village Chief’s wife. Once their tasks were finished, she followed the Village Chief out of the room.
Left alone, I pulled off my jersey and wiped my body with the towel.
Crimson stains mottled the fabric. The bandits' blood.
No matter how much time passed, the stains showed no sign of fading. If this wasn't a game, then of course they wouldn't just vanish. As I’d suspected, this wasn't just some virtual simulation.
I exhaled a long, heavy breath.
Sure, I could use Appraisal and I possessed a Weapon VI. But who could definitively claim this was a game based on that alone?
Final Warning!
You truly can never return again.
This was a world where everything from that initial setup—including the final warning—remained in effect.
In other words, this was simply reality. The "other world" the warning had spoken of.
Yes. I had to face it.
I finally realized what I’d been doing. I had been escaping. I was averting my eyes from a truth I couldn’t bear to acknowledge.
What was I hiding from?
Murder.
If this were a game, I would have just defeated NPCs.
But if this wasn't a game, it meant I hadn't killed characters; I had killed human beings.
What I had done earlier—the act of slaughtering those bandits—was, in plain terms, murder. Assuming this was a real world.
That was why I wanted so desperately to believe this was a game. It was escapism, a hollow wish. Nothing more than wishful thinking.
I had to admit it. This was reality. I had committed murder. I had taken human lives.
When I was swinging the sword, I had been desperate, convinced it was just some game event, but the sensation of the blade biting into flesh still lingered in my palms. I had ended lives.
However, I had to look at it differently.
This was a world where bandits regularly raided villages.
If logging out wasn't an option, I would likely have to kill again. It was probably unavoidable.
If it was inevitable, then perhaps it was for the best that I got the first time over with while I still believed it was a game. If I had hesitated at a critical moment and been killed instead, that would have been the end of me.
The opponents were bandits.
I couldn't afford to mope or feel depressed. It was kill or be killed. I had to accept that reality.
I took a deep breath and steeled my resolve.
Yes, this was reality.
I had to survive in this world from now on. To do that, I would likely have to get my hands dirty again. I couldn't afford to fear that.
I needed to use every tool at my disposal.
Come to think of it, there was one more way to confirm if this place operated under those specific settings.
Character Reset. I focused on the thought.
The character configuration screen from before manifested in my mind’s eye. It seemed I could move the cursor through sheer intent. The Character Reset I had chosen as a Bonus Skill was fully functional.
It was just as I thought.
In this world, every one of those settings was active. Including the final warning.
I had chosen to abandon Japan and live in another world. It had happened before I even realized it, but there was no going back. I had to survive here.
For some reason, my Bonus Points were at 1. I should have spent them all; perhaps I had overlooked something. For now, I closed the Character Reset screen without making changes.
I decided to change into the clothes the Village Chief had provided.
Could I really never return to modern Japan?
Probably not. Not if that warning held true.
Then again, I had been considering suicide anyway. I had no lingering attachments to Japan. I was actually relieved that I didn't have to go back to a school where I had no friends or return to my father's house.
Still, it was strange the things I found myself dwelling on. Like how I’d never read the rest of the manga I liked, or how I’d never eat the meat pies from the bakery near my house again.
Was I really going to live in this world? Could I even manage it?
The clothes the Village Chief had left were massive. The shirt was baggy, and the pants were even worse. They were stiff and scratchy. The towel hadn't been very soft, either.
Would I never wear comfortable Japanese clothes again?
I told myself there was no point in wallowing.
The clothes weren't so bad that I couldn't wear them. I accepted them with a measure of gratitude. I tried to use Appraisal on them, but they didn't count as equipment.
Now that things had come to this, I just had to take it as it came. Right now, I had more pressing matters to consider.
For starters, it was probably best to unequip Durandal.
Durandal was an incredible sword—dangerously so. I had felt its power firsthand during the fight.
Because of that, it would make me a target.
If this were a game, it likely couldn't be stolen. But if this wasn't a game, those rules didn't apply.
I was currently wearing sandals. These had undoubtedly belonged to someone else.
If I could claim someone else's sandals as my own, then someone else could certainly claim my Durandal.
The possibility of it being stolen was dangerous for two reasons.
First, if Durandal were taken, I might lose the 63 Bonus Points it represented.
Those Bonus Points were one of my few advantages for survival. Honestly, they were my only real edge right now (alongside the other 99 points). I couldn't risk losing them.
The second danger was that anyone trying to steal the sword might just kill me to get it.
What was the penalty for death here? Would my level drop and would I respawn at a church? Or was death simply final?
Would those bandits be resurrected somewhere? I highly doubted it.
In any case, I shouldn't carry Durandal around openly. I could just use the reset whenever I actually needed it.
I wondered if I could make Durandal vanish even if it were stolen.
As a test, I invoked Character Reset while not holding the sword. I couldn't modify the Weapon VI setting. I was, however, able to remove the Ring of Determination from my finger. It seemed my hunch was right: if Durandal were stolen, the Bonus Points would likely be forfeit.
I picked up Durandal from where I’d leaned it against the wall and invoked Character Reset again.
Once I deselected Weapon VI and closed the screen, the sword in my hand vanished.
Next, I decided to try the Job Settings I’d enabled through the reset. I thought the words, and my current status appeared in my mind.
Villager: Lv 2, Thief: Lv 2, Hero: Lv 1
They had increased. When I selected Hero Lv 1, the details appeared.
Hero: Lv 1 Effect: HP Increase (Medium), MP Increase (Medium), Strength Increase (Medium), Vitality Increase (Medium), Intelligence Increase (Medium), Spirit Increase (Medium), Dexterity Increase (Medium), Agility Increase (Medium) Skill: Overwhelming
It seemed like an exceptional job.
Had I possessed Hero from the very beginning?
No, that wasn't it. I had acquired the Thief job when I "stole" the sandals. I must have gained Hero after that. It was likely a reward for protecting the village from the bandits.
The bonuses for Hero were incredible. They were completely incomparable to Villager or Thief. It certainly lived up to its name.
The Villager job only provided Vitality Increase (Slight). No skills at all. Pretty pathetic.
The Thief job offered Agility Increase (Small). This one also lacked skills. I suppose it was slightly better than Villager.
I opened the Character Reset once more. Since my available jobs had increased, I unlocked up to the Third Job slot. I poured all my remaining Bonus Points into experience-boosting skills.
Michio Kaga < Male, 17 years old > Villager: Lv 2, Thief: Lv 2, Hero: Lv 1 Equipment: Sandals
I exited the reset and Appraised myself. My status correctly reflected all three jobs.
I wondered if I should make Hero my First Job. I thought of the Job Settings.
I tried to move Hero into the primary slot, but it wouldn't work. I could only select Villager or Thief as my First Job. I wasn't sure why.
Left with no other choice, I set Hero Lv 1 as my Second Job. The third slot was automatically filled by Thief Lv 2.
"Excuse me. May I come in?"
The Village Chief had returned.
"Yeah, it’s fine. What do you want?"
I realized my tone was becoming far too arrogant.
Then again, the Village Chief was being excessively humble.
I suppose he was terrified because I had used Durandal to effortlessly butcher the bandits.
From his perspective, he couldn't risk me turning that blade on the villagers. But he also couldn't ignore the man who had saved the village; being cold to me might invite retaliation.
I must be a massive headache for him.
Perhaps his strategy was to act as submissive as possible and wait for me to go away.
"Breakfast will be served shortly, but we have collected the bandits' equipment. We would like you to inspect it first."
"I see."
I answered, though I didn't entirely understand.
Inspect it? Did that mean I could keep it?
Since I was the one who defeated them, it seemed reasonable. If it was valuable gear, the villagers might be afraid I’d be furious if they tried to hide it.
"This way, please."
"Is it all right if I take the equipment for myself?" I asked as I followed him.
"Yes. The gear of the bandits defeated by Lord Michio naturally belongs to Lord Michio."
"Is that so?"
So, the "looter takes all" rule was standard here.
In a world without modern police or legal systems, I supposed that was common sense.
"On this occasion, our villagers managed to defeat two of the brigands. Therefore, we would ask that the equipment from those two be granted to the ones who struck them down."
The villagers had only managed to kill two?
Now that I thought about it, the villagers and the bandits had just been poking at each other. Meanwhile, Durandal had allowed me to end my fights in a single strike.
"I understand. That’s fine."
Since I didn't know the local customs, I decided to agree.
In theory, I could have argued that since I won the battle, everything should be mine.
But that would have been a mistake. In truth, I was only a Lv 2 Villager. I didn't have Durandal out right now, and if the whole village turned on me, I’d be in serious trouble.
"Thank you very much. On behalf of the village, I offer our deepest thanks."
His level of respect was completely out of proportion for a Lv 2 like me.
"Don't worry about it."
Since Appraisal was a Bonus Skill, the Village Chief and the locals couldn't use it.
To their eyes, I probably looked like I was Level 30 or higher.
I had easily wiped out bandits who were on equal footing with the villagers. Their strongest member, a Lv 25 Villager, had been taken down by the bandit leader, so no one in the village could hope to match me.
That was the real reason he was being so deferential.
The Village Chief led me to a spot on the outskirts of the village where the bandits' gear had been piled up.
A man was standing there.
He was the Lv 6 Merchant I had noticed earlier that morning.
"This is Vikka; he is our village’s only merchant."
"I am Vikka. My gratitude for saving our village and our lives knows no bounds."