Vol 1 Chapter 1 (1/2)
Volume 1
Chapter 1
To Another World
Part 1
It was dark.
The scent of a forest. The damp smell of fresh gra.s.s. I was soon aware that this was deep inside a forest. Since it was dark, I couldn’t see my surroundings, but surely there were trees this densely overgrown not that far from my place. Maybe this was a feeling that this was an open s.p.a.ce in the middle of a forest.
However, in front of me, I could see one humongous tree. The trunk that extended straight to the sky was amazingly imposing. Its form was tinted by faint lights, expressing an atmosphere of solemness that didn’t look real.
But then, where am I? Why am I standing at this place?
「Who are thee?」(Mysterious Guy)
That surprised me.
When I thought that I was just alone here, when I looked at my side, there stood an unknown man. He was so tall that the 160 cm me had to look up and strain my neck to see his face. He had long black hair…… Purple irises? I had never seen such charming eyes before. His excessively well-featured face was lacking any expression like a doll’s. He completely resembled a delicate bisque doll.[1] He was such a transcendental and handsome person, however, I didn’t feel anything.
And then, those cold eyes were looking down at me, and suddenly his expression brightened.
「I see. So thee is……」(Mysterious Guy)
He extended his hand and touched my cheek. At that moment, my field of vision was once again enclosed by darkness.
✦✧✦✧
When I recovered my consciousness, I was in an open field. I was sitting on the ground, grasping my own knees.
My head was still hazy. It was like when you were just forcefully awakened after sleeping deeply. I felt that I had dreamed something, but I couldn’t remember what it was.
It was bright and hot.
There was a highway near me. In the front was a gently sloped hill ridge, while in the back, I could see a forest.
The road that cut across in the middle of the open gra.s.sland was an unpaved dirt road. However, since I saw wheel tracks, there might be cars here.
The wheel tracks were thin. I couldn’t see tire marks so perhaps it was a horse carriage. As far as my eyes could see, the scenery of Mother Nature extended infinitely. There were no signs of civilization like multi-floored buildings or electric cables. The sky was clear and vast. How many years has it been since the last time I saw the sight of a sky without being interrupted by buildings? Of course, there were also no jet contrails.
Ah. No good. My head was still feeling numb. While still like being inside a dream and not reality, I slowly surveyed my surrounding. I was sitting on a gra.s.sland near a highway. The area surrounding me was covered by short gra.s.s that looked like clover.
A tall gra.s.s with morning glory-like leaves was growing beside the highway. While I stared at it blankly and was thinking that a morning glory should be smaller, words appeared inside my mind. The words floated on a screen in front of me like a game window.
――――――――――――――――
― Agamena Herb[2] ―
Haemostatic・Wound Medicine
Drinking it as a decoction could restore small amount of HP
『Compounding』Potion Creation
To create it, 『Compound』 Moses Herb[3] and Blue Dewherb[4] together with Ether
――――――――――――――――
Eh? What is this? Unconsciously I tried to touch it, however, my hand didn’t feel anything. It seemed that the words were floating in the empty air. What? What is happening?
Potion, is that the magic medicine? Ether is that MP recovery thingy? Have I accidentally wandered into a game world? Or rather, was I transported to another world? Nononono, no way.
I am a college student and have otaku traits. My workplace has been decided and my graduation day is near. That is me, Kanzaki神崎 Misuzu美鈴. I like novels regardless of genre, I also really like games. Since I am useless in shooting type games, I mostly played RPGs.
Recently, novels about transported into another world are my favorite, so I read them a lot.
But even so, I couldn’t easily believe my current situation, right? Wh-wh-wh-what should I do?
Ummm, just now I could see the status of that Agamena Herb, then that means I could see other things’ statuses right? Like me for example. Umm. I wonder if it is possible. Menu? Status?
――――――――――――――――
― Kanzaki Misuzu ―
HP ：586／586
MP ：728／728
Race ：Human[5]
Age ：22
Job ：⃞⃞⃞
Attribute ：⃞⃞⃞
Skill ：⃞⃞⃞
t.i.tle ： 『Another World Traveler』[6]
Current Status ：⃞⃞⃞
――――――――――――――――
Yes, it was there. 『Another World Traveler』. It appeared.
So does this mean that the Final Answer is: I was transported into another world? Eh… But that….
「This is, why~!!」(Misuzu)
My scream echoed in the gra.s.sland.
✦✧✦✧
After being dumbfounded for several minutes;
I began to accept my current conditions. After all, I couldn’t keep denying reality and sit in this place forever.
For now, let’s reexamine my own status.
HP is life force? And MP is magic power? 「Current Status」column is maybe something that will be written with 「Poison」 if I get poisoned. Also, 「Job」, 「Attribute」, and 「Skill」 columns were still empty right now. Since I have MP, then I might be able to use magic.
Yes, it’s another world! Moreover because my MP was higher than HP, then doesn’t that mean that my magic power was high, right? If it’s about magic, leave it to me. Don’t underestimate a gamer. After all, I pride myself in remembering spells.
Yes. I might be able to use magic. Thinking about this made my feeling become a little bit better.
Since, you know. The life of an extremely normal female college student in j.a.pan didn’t need a survival ability. Not counting the squabbles when I was still small, after becoming an adult I lived a life where violence was something unrelated to me. At most, it was only verbal disputes with family or friends. In the first place, I had no physical ability. Although it was saddening for me to say, none means none. In Physical Education, I always need to supplement the practical skill exam with the paper test in tears.
I believe that perhaps if I was attacked by even a stray dog, I could die. And since it was another world, then there might be monsters.
But, it’s that. If I had magic, then my survival rate would rise considerably. Or so I wanted to believe.
I tried to listen carefully a bit. The sound of the wind. The shaking of the trees. The songs of the birds.
Since there were no obstructions, I could see around myself 360 degrees completely. If there was a monster, I would soon notice.
Although it seemed that my surroundings were currently safe, since I could be attacked at any time, I couldn’t let my caution slack.
I wanted to think about many things, but for now, let’s think what I can do right now.
Alright, Yes! Fight me! Do your best, me!
Umm. Let see. Here is what I know right now: It seemed I have been transported to another world; I could see my own status; I could see the name or effect for useable things like the Agamena Herb; I have magic power; Like this?
First, let’s try many clichéd standards of RPG and another world novels.
I wished it for it to appear. With a prayer-like feeling, I tried to shout, 「Item Box」. Then, I could see an empty s.p.a.ce in front of me. (Eh? If it was empty, then why I could see it? Yeah, I know. Although I can’t see it but I can sense「Something」. It’s just my gut feeling). Alright! I could use Item Box!
When I was pulled into this world, I didn’t bring anything in my hand. I tried searching my coat pocket and took out my smartphone and portable music player[7]. The smartphone was showing that I was in an out of service area. From my last memory of the time and date in j.a.pan, about thirty minutes had pa.s.sed.[8]
I was sure that inside the Item Box, time would not progress and nothing will deteriorate inside.
Inside the portable music player, I had put many of my favorite songs from anime songs to cla.s.sical music. In the future, if I ever really felt troubled or depressed, I would surely want to hear them badly. Inside the smartphone were pictures that were taken using its camera function. Like pictures of my family and of my friends. Both of them were precious things to me. I gently stored them in the Item Box.
I cheered myself up despite feeling down earlier after thinking about my family, and began to think of what I should do with my clothes. Since February was the start of the cold season in j.a.pan, my clothing was entirely winter apparel.
For the time being, this world is hot. From what I sensed, the temperature was about 25 degrees. I took off my sweater, scarf, and tights. The hood attached to my long coat with down feather lining was detachable, so I took it off.
I was wearing a long sleeved T-s.h.i.+rt, long skirt, and boots with a long coat on top of them and covered my head with the hood so it was quite hot. However, it is dangerous to expose my face or my hair. Since it was a standard thing in another world stories that I read where 『A Dark Eyes and Dark Haired Person was evading the persecution if they were discovered.』
Before I closed the item box, I picked 10 Agamena Herbs near my feet and stored them into the item box. Alright, my luggage became light with this.[9]
Next is magic. Magic. Unless I could use magic, I would be useless beyond this point.
After confirming the safety of my surroundings once again, I held my right hand aloft and shouted the basic magic from various games.
『Fireball』[10]
……..*wind sounds in the background*
Ugh. This is embarra.s.sing. A woman shouted 『Fireball』 alone even when she is 22 years old.
There was no change in the status. The 『Fireball』 just now didn’t register as magic. Was it that I couldn’t use magic, or was the spell 『Fireball』 no good? This was just a conjecture, but maybe my shouting was insufficient. After all, to be frank, this is embarra.s.sing. I didn’t think to say it in a whisper. Maybe it was not enough only to call the name of the spell.
*inhale* exhale* I took a deep breath and calmed down my heart a bit.
First, imagine taking out magic power. Maybe it is important to have a firm image in mind. Then, maybe it was the same thing like the Yoga breathing technique that I learned in gym?
With the “Ki” circulating in the body as the basis, I imagined the magic power flowing like it. The warmness in the body was gathered in the palm, and then I released it to the outside. Then, that magic power was shaped to my intention. Fire.
Inside my head, I recalled the image of 『Fireball』. The image of a flame. A fire that blazes up.
Without letting the image of a flame inside my head disappears, I once again held my hand aloft, and yelled:
『Fireball』
The warm waves circulating inside my body was gathered in my right hand, and it was released all at once.
*Sounds of Explosion*
A surprisingly big fire appeared like the blaze emitting outward.
Just like that, the gra.s.s was burned.
I overdid it! I didn’t know about the adjustment and was just desperately releasing magic power.
Near my foot was a scorch mark with elliptical shape about the size of a 6 Jou[11] room. Waaa, I’m sorry. I had pointlessly burned it. Fortunately, the fire disappeared without spreading any further. The scent of the green covered plains mixed with smoldering odor.
――――――――――――――――
― Kanzaki Misuzu ―
HP ：586／586
MP ：708／728
Race ：Human
Age ：22
Job ：Magician
Attribute ：【Fire】
Skill ：⃞⃞⃞
t.i.tle ： 『Another World Traveler』
Current Status ：⃞⃞⃞
――――――――――――――――
There were many changes. First, MP. That Blaze Emission seemed to consume 20 MP. And then, my job had become Magician. Maybe because I could use magic? My attribute was 【Fire】. Maybe it displayed the attribute of spells that I could use.
Yes. With this, I confirmed that I was able to use magic. That flame back there is 20, right? If the fire size was smaller, then the cost would also decrease. If there was still 708 MP remaining, it wouldn’t be immediately exhausted, or so what I wanted to believe.
I wanted to reach the nearest city one way or another. Until I could obtain a safe place, how long would it take, I wonder? Without my MP, I only had paper armor. I need to preserve it as much as possible and use it effectively.
I looked up and saw that the sun was right over my head. I couldn’t keep sitting in this place, right? Before it turns to night, I need to move to a safe place.
While being vigilant in case an enemy appears, I was thinking about where I should go.
There were three options. Follow the highway to the right. Follow the highway to the left. Go inside the forest.
Of course, I was thinking that following the highway to either direction was the best choice. However, the place where I am right now was a little bit higher, so the road gently descended on both sides. In other words, I could see both ends of the highway. So, even with my 1.5 eyesight, I couldn’t see a city on each end.
Even if there were cities it would be located far away. It would take hours, or if I’m unlucky, days to walk there.
Then, there was a road that continued to the forest from the highway. This road too had been pa.s.sed by carriages, since I could see faint wheel marks. In other words, there are people living inside the forest. Maybe there is even a village. If there was indeed a village inside the forest, then its distance from the highway would be small.
Because I am lost as lost can be, I decided to walk towards the forest.
So I won’t need to pointlessly use my magic, I picked up a small wooden branch as a weapon, and began walking on the road towards the forest. Since my MP is a limited resource, that’s why, if it’s possible then, if an enemy appeared, I could swing the branch and drive it away.
✦✧✦✧
After I entered the forest, the first enemy that I encountered was a small creature like a tree stump with arms and legs. Ummm, maybe these creatures could be called 『Monsters』? Thankfully, I could see the enemy’s status clearly. Its HP isn’t that high. Its movement speed is also not that fast and its appearance isn’t really that frightening, so I could calmly chant 『Fireball』―this time, I made sure to only produce a small fire ball ― and defeated it.
If it’s like this, then maybe I could make it through, I thought, since it went well. It was so amazing, that I couldn’t comprehend it myself.
Although, it was really terrible. Well, why don’t you just hear it: I am currently 22 years old, furthermore I spent my life in a large city in a peaceful and civilized era. A frail city girl like me won’t survive in the wild. The only animal that I had enough self-confidence to kill it were only mosquitoes. If a Gc.o.c.kroach[12] came out in the middle of the night, I would wake up my father or oniichan to exterminate it.
Banzai City Life! A hygienic air conditioned room, Come On, Come On!
In other words, what I wanted to say, is…
First, I couldn’t make a direct attack as my ethical viewpoint prevented me from doing so.
The monsters that appeared in this forest were all weak, and the ones that attacked me all had the size of small animals. Furthermore, they didn’t look frightening. Horned rabbits or mountain-cat like monsters were the main types of monsters.
Hey darling, can you hit a cat or rabbit? There is no normal girl who will hit a cat, right?[13]
It would also be no good if an insect type monster appeared. I had an extreme psychological repulsion to this that made it impossible for me to do a direct attack. After all, something like an unknown liquid came out from them, you know. There was this pseudo-gra.s.shopper jumping at me and to ward it off, I immediately swung my weapon, the wood branch. Unexpectedly, I hit it. Then the moment it crushed, I directly felt it in my hand and, gy&%$#+＊！！！！！
After the attack, I threw away that weapon (name: Wood Branch).
It means that I am left with just my magic, to bring down the kill with fire and ice.
『Fireball』
The small monsters easily got burned up, yes, I don’t want to see their corpses thank you very much!
In case of ice, it was 『Ice Crash』 , that is 『Freeze and Pulverize』.
I imagine it as frozen instantly and then shattering into a million pieces. Since I also didn’t want to see the corpse from this. Get away.
I didn’t pursue anything that I saw was running away. There were wild animals that looked like rabbits and foxes in the forest, and when they noticed me, they immediately ran away. However, monsters, no matter how weak they were, when they noticed me, they immediately came to attack.
Even if it’s true that my opponents are monsters, I don’t want to kill them. However, if they come to attack me, then I have no choice but to fight. After all, I am slow-footed so I can’t run away. If I don’t want to die, then I must kill. And because I don’t want to see the results of my killing, I burn the corpse and leave no remains. So please understand. This is only because I can’t run away.
I, Kanzaki Misuzu, who has a mentality like that of tofu, experienced robbing a creature of their life for the first time in my life, and my mental HP had already reached zero.
✦✧✦✧
I continued walking the carriage road without getting lost. If a monster came out then I will fight it. After fighting for several times, there were several thingsthat I noticed.
First, depending on the image, even the same spell will have different effect and MP consumption. For example, 『Fireball』.
I imagined a ball of fire when I recited this spell, but if I clearly imagined the size and the number of the fireball that I will shoot, then the power and the MP consumption will be changed. For example 「Three golf ball-sized.」
What I mean was that if I had imagined 「This kind of attack magic」, then I can say anything for the spell name to function as the trigger to invoke this magic, maybe just like this. So magic isn’t based on the spell, but based on the imagination. Even if the spell and the imagination don’t match, it wouldn’t matter in the end.
It seems that for magic, the one with heavier subjective impression would win. So I am really grateful from the bottom of my heart for the otaku lifestyle that I had until now and my chuuni disposition. Thanks to RPGs and animes, I know many kinds of spells, so thank goodness.
Also, maybe this also thanks to the game, even if I shoot intense fire, the surrounding trees didn’t get burned. After all in the games, no matter how intense the magic that you use, after the battle finished the buildings and things in that place didn’t receive any damage, right?
The only time the surroundings get burned from my magic was when I first using the fire magic. But I think that this was caused because that magic didn’t have any target so it ended up burned the surroundings.
How expedient[14]. But because I have such heavy subjective impression that that’s how magic works, my imagination caused such kind of magic.
No matter what happens, the one with heavier subjective impression would win. Magic is fuzzy[15], after all. Viva, my otaku heart.
And then, I noticed another thing. If I had a clear and firm imagination then the spell would be likely to be cast, but if I couldn’t have a proper imagination then the magic would fail to materialized.
There were many cases where I couldn’t make a proper image in a hurry to launch a second attack as I was deathly afraid of the monster’s counterattack.
Although I know clearly from the status that the monster have lesser HP than me, but I really afraid when they bare their fang and came to me to aim for my life. That’s why as much as possible I imagined a magic with an effect that could kill in one hit. Preemptive Strike, One-Hit Kill.[16] For a frail city girl like me, there is no other way to survive but this.
For this reason, it wasn’t magic that was useful, but Skills. The Skill that I have learned is 『Search』[17] and 『Hide』.
I acquired the 『Search』 Skill relatively early. When I was surprised by a rustling sound, I stopped and listen to my ears closely, when suddenly there a ping sound and:
― Skill 『Search』 has been acquired ―
Those words appeared.
When using 『Search』, a screen will appear in my mind. Then, it will sound an alarm if enemies appeared and a mark to represent the enemy come into sight on top of the screen. If I concentrate on that marker then I could see their status. If the enemy entered battle mode then the marker color will change from yellow to red. Yellow means unprepared enemy while red means hostile battle ready enemy. At first, its searching range was only about 1 meter around me, but, although I don’t know why, when using it the searching range increased little by little. Currently, the radius had leveled up to 10 meters.
I also easily acquire 『Hide』. When I was taking a brief rest and took a seat on a large rock. A big snake slitheringly appeared from the other side. Whoaa gross, was what I think while holding my breath and wait for it to pa.s.s. Then at that time suddenly I acquired 『Hide』. When I using 『Hide』, not only my presence but my body temperature and smell would also be concealed. But as expected, it didn’t cover the sounds I make.
By always using 『Search』 and 『Hide』, the enemy encounter frequency had remarkably decreased. If I can find them beforehand then I could evade them, and even if I get found out I could strike them before they attacked.
Just like this, even if it continue to shave off my tofu like willpower little by little, I continue walking into the forest without falling into a life-threatening situation.
✦✧✦✧
There were no branches from the meandering carriage road. Then, I arrived at a house located beside the road. There was one carriage underneath the carriage shed. There was a stable further inside, where I could hear a horse whine.
There were no branches from the meandering carriage road. Finally, I arrived at a house located beside the road. There was a carriage underneath the carriage shed. There was also a stable further inside, from where I could hear a horse whine.
The sun was already sinking and it had become dark, but there was no light coming from the house. When I tried to push the door, it wasn’t locked and the door slowly opened. Timidly, I took a peek at inside and saw a minimalist room, although it was neat and tidy.
It resembled a room in a lodge. Maybe it was a rest facility for the people that walked in the forest.
「Sorry~. Pardon me for entering~」(Misuzu)
I knew from 『Search』 that there was no one inside, however, I still feel guilty entering another person’s house without permission, so I at least gave a greeting to the inside. Since I didn’t know where the switch for the light was, I used 『Illumination』 to produce a ball of light that floated to the low ceiling.
The room I entered is the dining-plus-living room, with a kitchen located at the interior. Beyond it is a single door. There is also another door in the living room. I decided to check this door first. When I opened it, the door led to a bedroom. As the door gradually opened, I could see that there are four beds inside.
When I saw the beds, I actually felt how tired I had been, and then I just fell down on one of the fluffy beds. It was a bed that had one side facing the wall. Doesn’t this make your heart feel safer? It was a crude bed that couldn’t be said as soft by any standards; however, the sheets were clean and dry.
It seemed that I had reached a safe place before night had fallen. It was regrettable that since this place isn’t a village, but since there is a horse, then that means there are people taking care of it. There was no one here right now, but I am sure that tomorrow, they must be coming back to feed the horse. Although I had entered without permission, and I am also staying for free since I don’t carry any money, I think that if I apologize and explain my situation, it will all work out somehow. Since the forest has monsters, it is impossible to sleep outside.
――――――――――――――――
― Kanzaki Misuzu ―
HP ：432／586
MP ：251／728
Race ：Human
Age ：22
Job ：Magician
Attribute ：【Light】【Fire】【Water】【Earth】【Wind】【Void】
Skill ： Search・Hide
t.i.tle ： 『Another World Traveler』
Current Status ：⃞⃞⃞
――――――――――――――――
My MP had decreased considerably. However, it wasn’t only because I used it in combat.
As soon as I entered the forest, I was worried that if I walked the road just like this, then my clothes and my boots would become worn out. So, to my clothes and boots I gave them 『Condition Stasis』 , 『Antimicrobial Deodorization and Dirt Removal』 and 『Physical Defense and Magic Defense UP』 (Although it might be too excessive for the situation, please pardon me for it, since I already did it. Magic is fuzzy after all).
Furthermore, to prepare for an attack, I also put a 『Protection Membrane』. Since all support type magic like 『Protection Membrane』 lost its effectiveness over time, I needed to recast it from time to time. I also frequently used 『Heal』to recover my HP. The skills 『Search』 and 『Hide』 also consumed MP, and if I thought about it, I also uselessly fired attack magic numerous times. Oh well, at least I still have MP left, right?
I couldn't see the level information in the status, but from the acc.u.mulated experience, I think I had leveled up. Each of the magic’s raw power gradually became stronger and the support magic’s effect and duration also increased.
「I’m hungry~……」(Misuzu)
There was a stove in the kitchen. But I don’t know how to use it. I could use fire magic as the subst.i.tute but what about the ingredients? Catching a bird or rabbit from the forest and kill them? Me? Nope, nope, impossible, not a chance, out of question, not happening!
Certainly at my life until now, I had greedily eaten meats and fish.
I adequately understand that to obtain that dish, someone must have killed and processed them however, if someone is asked if they can do it, then the usual answer is “no, I can’t”. I am a person who really likes to eat karaage[18], however if I was ordered to pluck feathers from a captured chicken, so it can be cooked, then I am sorry, I believe it will be impossible for me.
…… Maybe, if I pa.s.sed my days without eating anything like this, then I think I could kill some when the hunger becomes unbearable. However, it is impossible for me right now. I could be called as a hypocrite and ridiculed as naïve, but impossible things are just impossible.