Vol 1 Chapter 2 (2/2)

Needless to say, that man was s.h.i.+n.

If it was a little child it would be one thing, but seeing a girl who who he couldnt deny being an adult crying in front of him, added to the knowledge that he himself might have been the reason for the tears, placed s.h.i.+n in a position that pushed the very limits of his minds processing power.

*sniffle* ...... wait a ...... *hic* ...... mo-moment ...... Ill calm down ...... soon, so ...... I-I understand. Its fine to take your time, alright? Ill wait here as long as you need.

Coming back to his senses after being talked to, s.h.i.+n finally thought to take out a towel (there were no handkerchiefs in the game so he made do with an accessory item instead) and handed it to Tiera. He then pulled the chair out from behind the counter and had her sit on it. After that, he just stood there awkwardly waiting for her tears to stop. Volume 1 Chapter 2 Part 2

After about five minutes, Tiera raised her face from the towel. Though the tears had stopped, her eyes were still red.

Im sorry, Im fine now. Is-is that so, maam. Whats with the maam? No, well, its just that even though the curse has been lifted, most of your hair didnt go back to its original color, so I feel kinda sorry about that ......

The whole time when Tiera was crying, s.h.i.+n had felt like he was on pinp.r.i.c.ks. He was filled with trepidation that they were going to repeat that scene again. From what he was seeing so far, though, Tiera wasnt giving off any indication that she was angry. s.h.i.+n was getting jumpy with antic.i.p.ating her mood. Ironically, their positions had been reversed.

Oh, please dont start acting formal with me because of that! The thing with the hair is over. I havent seen my own hair color for more than a hundred years, so Im actually really happy about getting even a little bit of it back.

Tiera smiled, and she really did look very happy. She was smiling the peaceful smile of someone who had retrieved something precious that she had lost for a long time. There was no longer any vestiges of when she had been quaking with fear.

Im a bit relieved at hearing you say so, but ...

But I thought girls hair was their life, s.h.i.+n wanted to say. His mom had told him so. So had his little sister and his female friends. Therefore, he found it a bit hard to be fully satisfied with how things turned out.

Its my hair and Im saying that its alright, so lets just leave it at that. Rather than that, is it true that my curse is gone? Ah, theres no doubt on that count. I think that if you try stepping out of the store youd be able to confirm it.

Since Tiera herself was insisting on it, s.h.i.+n decided to acquiesce and consider the issue over.

The main effect that Tiera had been suffering from wasIncreased Encounter Rate with Unique Monsters, so unless she stepped out of the monster-warding barrier around Tsuki no Hokora, there would be no way to confirm that the curse was gone.

It was s.h.i.+n who had set up this barrier, therefore it was so high level that even unique monsters could not invade. Perhaps due to THE NEW GATEs attempt to make the game world as real as possible, there were very few indestructible objects in existence. On the other hand, there were bandit players who would target player shops like what s.h.i.+n was running. Therefore, there existed numerous Barrier-Type skills to discourage or even prevent intrusion.

Honestly, Im still a bit afraid. Theres this nagging fear in me that the curse has not yet been lifted. No worries there. I know from experience, because Ive had that curse before. Eh? Eehhhh??? Youve also had this curse before?!? Ah, I also had a lot of high level monsters come after me. Theres no doubt thatPurificationclears this curse.

s.h.i.+n had gotten the curse when his stats were somewhere in the mid-800s. For him, though, the endless waves of unique monsters was merely a good opportunity to gain levels.

Well, lets see. So far, out of all the monsters that have come to attack you, whats the highest level that you have seen? The strongest was probably the Horn Dragon. I think it was around level 200. The ones above Lesser Dragons? Oh, you know of them? Ah, if its only that much, then itll be a cinch.

Horn Dragons looked like Lesser Dragons (Wingless Small Dragon) but were roughly double in size and had a single horn growing from their forehead. Lesser Dragons were around level 100, but Horn Dragons surpa.s.s that and are around level 200. He had just confirmed that Tiera was level 57, so there was no way that she could have beat them.

In THE NEW GATE, the max level for players and their support characters was 255, but the max level for monsters was 1000. Roughly 4 times stronger than the players. This was for the high level players like s.h.i.+n who repeatedly reincarnated to play with. For players like the members of Rokuten, who could easily beat many bosses by themselves, to not get bored, the game had monsters that even they cant handle without proper preparation. For s.h.i.+n, level 1000 monsters was the norm. As such, level 200 were lower than trash mobs in his eyes.

A cinch ...... when a Horn Dragon comes out the Knights Orders Elite Squad would have to come, you know. Elite Squad? Why would those elite-sounding guys have to come over? Theyre not elite-sounding, they are real elites. The best of the best. When you came here, you saw the castle walls on your way, right? Oh right, the one with all sorts of enchantments on it. Thats the fortified wall that encircles the Berylricht Kingdom. The Squad Leader of the Elite Squad of the Knights Order of that country is level 158, if I remember right. The Horn Dragon is around level 200, so its still 40 levels higher than the Squad Leader. If you claim to be able to easily beat such an overpowered monster, then people would think that you either have a screw loose somewhere in your head or that youre making an empty boast. 158 ...... you said? Yes, it would be unreasonable for even the 2nd most powerful person of the kingdom to handle it alone.

It appears that Tiera thought s.h.i.+n was surprised at how high the Squad Leaders level was. In reality, s.h.i.+n was shocked at how low it was. By the standards of the players, it was a level at which if you didnt invest heavily in your stats, you would only barely reach the middle ranks. If there were two or three monsters with higher levels than a Horn Dragon, then this Order would be overwhelmed, thought s.h.i.+n. He didnt say it out loud, though.

...... Well, its true that it wouldnt be a problem, so come on, lets step out of the shop. Wait a moment, were you even listening to what I just said? I was listening. More like, after hearing it I was even more rea.s.sured that there wouldnt be a problem. Not a problem, you say. What, you can beat a Horn Dragon? Yep. ...... Hey, Im just confirming, but whats your level? Its 255. So? ............

She became quiet. s.h.i.+n was saying it as it was, but Tiera found it hard to believe.

Tiera? 255 ...... ? The same as Master? Yes, my level is 255. For what its worth, my level is indeed the same as Schnee. Really? Really. Really really? Really really. Really rea Stop, stop! How many times are you going to repeat that?! nn ......

It was becoming a Really Relay so s.h.i.+n put a stop to it. (T/N: is more like confrontation or showdown, but puns are fun! :P)

Cant you usea.n.a.lyze? Ive the restriction off so if you just take a look you would know. Theres no way I can use it. Only skill inheritors can. What are skill inheritors? ...... I am starting to have strong doubts about your common sense.

It appears that this was another thing that everyone who lived in this world knew. However, s.h.i.+n had just arrived in this world, so talking to him with the a.s.sumption that hed know this worlds common sense would get nowhere. So much had changed since it was a game that if someone just gave him an astounded look he wouldnt be able to make heads or tails of it.

Ive been living by myself for such a long time that I dont know much of the common sense of this world.

He couldnt really say that the last time he was here it was a game, so he went with the story of being someone who had lived away from society for a long time. He figured that this way, he would have an excuse for lacking information regarding this world.

I see. From now on, I can teach you everything that you need to know, so if you have any questions then feel free to ask me. Yoros.h.i.+ku onegais.h.i.+masu.

s.h.i.+n bowed his head while feeling thankful for the Tiera that had been answering all of his questions so far.

So, about skill inheritors. As you can tell from the name, these are people who inherit long-lost skills. Ever since the Dusk of the Majesty, a lot of skills have been lost. Nowadays, there are probably less than a hundred skills left. Less than a hundred ......

s.h.i.+n was unable to hide his shock. He knew that there were a lot of skills in THE NEW GATE, but the number that Tiera gave was less than a tenth of the original number.

Nowadays, just being able to use a skill would merit you favorable treatment. People like adventurers or knights who fight for a living use Arts, a weakened version of skills. The names and effects remain the same, but Arts only have a third of the power of skills. Im a magic-caster too, but the skills that Master had shown me were on a completely different level from the Arts that I had been using so far. Gotcha, so Arts are a weakened version of skills. Can you level up each of the Arts separately?

There are levels to skills. An example would bea.n.a.lyze X. After the skill name is a number from I to X (T/N: 1 to 10 in Roman numerals), which makes for easy recognition. The lowest is I, the highest is X. Most attack skills dont have levels, its mainly the Support-Type skills that do.

I know that there are skills that have levels, but Arts dont. So they have to rely on Arts when they fight, huh. Sounds tough.

s.h.i.+n himself had a wide range of skills, so he couldnt help thinking how tough it would be to be using weakened versions of them.

What about you, how many skills can you use? From the way you were talking just now, you dont only have one, right? Two? Three? Dont tell me you have 4. Single digits? Really? There are more than a thousand skills out there. Ive never actually counted so I dont know the exact number. Hah? A thousand? What? Did I hear wrong?

Tiera thought she had misheard and tilted her tilted quizzically at s.h.i.+n, who was now saying how there were a lot of them that hed never actually used before. Well, she knew what she had heard, but it was so far removed from this worlds common sense that she couldnt help but think that it was a joke. Sometimes going too far loses all sense of reality.

You dont havea.n.a.lyze? Hmm, I guess you still wouldnt be able to see my level with onlya.n.a.lyze I. It wont hurt to still have it, though. Okay, Ill useBook of Secrets Creationnow. ?

Tiera tilted her head again at s.h.i.+n, who was now moving his fingers around in midair.

Its done. Here you go. What is this?

What s.h.i.+n had handed to Tiera was a scroll.

Skills are developed separately from character level. When a skill has been leveled up to a certain point, the player gains special bonuses like increased damage or getting to learn another related skill. Some special skills also allow the player to make aBook of Secrets. Book of Secretsis the physical manifestations of a skill and looks like a scroll. When someone else uses the scroll, they learn the skill written on it. Of course, the number of times that a player can make aBook of Secretsof a skill is limited, and the person who just learned the skill would have to fulfill the same requirements before being able to make aBook of Secretsby themselves. The stronger a skill is, the fewerBook of Secretsthat can be made of it, and there are many skills for which aBook of Secretscannot be made at all. Some skills also have level requirements, so its not possible to use skills beyond your level by learning them through aBook of Secrets.

It would not be an exaggeration to say that every player hada.n.a.lyze. There were no requirements for using the skill, and it was so low level that there was practically no limit to the number ofBook of Secretsthat each player could make of it. Thus s.h.i.+n had no qualms about making one right on the spot.

Its theBook of Secretsfor a.n.a.lyze. I think that if you read that, you would learn the skill.

He was quite certain thatBook of Secretswould work even for support characters. If it didnt actually work, he was prepared to just make an apology. For this kind of thing you wouldnt know until you actually tried it.

I can learn a skill just by using this? But I dont have anything to give you as compensation. Compensation?

He had meant to give it to her without any recompense, but it looked like Tiera would not accept it.

As I said just now, skills are extremely valuable! Being able to learn a skill is an enormous deal, and usually involves large piles of money or taking someone in as an apprentice or disciple. You arent going to tell me that youre giving it to me for free, right? Well, that was my intention. Whats wrong with it? For now, stop giving it to every random person you meet. It would be a very big deal. Depending on the circ.u.mstances, people might come after your life. THAT big a deal?!?

It hadnt crossed his mind that a single skill would be a big enough deal for people to die over. s.h.i.+n decided in his heart to only ever giveBook of Secretsto people that he could trust.

Dont be too anxious. Anyways, youre fine, so could you try using this for me? You wont ask me for compensation after I use it? Like I would!!

s.h.i.+n wanted to retorted, What am I, a vicious swindler?, but if there was a real possibility that people might target their lives then her caution was understandable.

Is giving away skills for free your modus operandi? If I was scamming you, Id be offering a higher level skill. To me, this is already plenty valuable. Anyone in possession of multiple skills would already be a huge deal. I cant use any arts, though. All I have are skills, and for me only skills feel natural, so I dont really feel like a huge deal. What a luxurious worry ...... Fine, alright. If youre going to insist on it so much, Im going to accept it without restraint. Yes, I offered it to you so that you would accept it. Rather, it would be problematic for me if you didnt.

For now, it seems Tiera was finally convinced, and she accepted theBook of Secrets. At s.h.i.+ns urging, she opened it right there and then. As she started reading, a pale light green glow surrounded Tieras body, lasting about 10 seconds.This was the visual effect of a character successfully acquiring a skill. It appears that she had indeed successfully learned the skill.

How is it?

In the game,Book of Secretsdidnt have actual text. When they are used, they just disappear, so s.h.i.+n was curious how it felt to use them now.

It was a very strange feeling. When I opened the scroll, the usage and effects ofa.n.a.lyzejust automatically came into my head. It wasnt an uncomfortable feeling, though. Heh, it was like that, huh.

While verbally expressing his admiration, inside he was feeling relieved at the success. If it didnt work, it would have been very awkward for him.

I can see your name, but everything else is a weird symbol that I dont recognize. Oh, so you can actually see my name, huh. The weird symbol everywhere else is called a question mark, and it appears when the level and stats difference between you and the other party is too great. Therefore, its to be expected that you cant see the rest. Ehh, so by all rights, I shouldnt even be able to see your name. I also now know about the skills levels and what each field is. So even though I cant see your level, I understand that that very fact is proof that you are quite powerful. Will you now believe me that even if we go outside and monsters come, it would be alright? Youve already done so much for me that I have no choice but to believe you.

Due to having receiveda.n.a.lyze, Tiera could now somehow believe s.h.i.+ns words. However, there was still a fear of being attacked by strong monsters that had been ingrained in her from experience.

Just in case, Ill leave first and look around before calling out to you. When you hear my voice, please come out. Understood.

To make sure, s.h.i.+n first left Tsuki no Hokora and surveyed the surroundings. He also usedSearchat the same time, and confirmed that there were no monsters nearby.

Its clear!

Tiera stuck out her head from the door of the store, looked around, gathered her resolve, and stepped out. BothBarrier XandWall Xhad been cast around Tsuki no Hokora.Barrier Xis an invisible wall that completely shuts out all monsters within level 900 to 1000 and below (level is derived from the ent.i.tys stats) and nullifies and deflects attacks from them. Similarly,Wall Xis an invisible wall that completely nullifies attacks from all players within level 230 to 255 and below (here, too, level is derived from stats). Both were the strongest versions of their respective skills, so even someone using the skillIgnore [Slip Through]would be unable to invade.

Incidentally, with the wrong permission settings onWall Xeven normal customers would be refused entry, so it needed to be used carefully. When s.h.i.+n was running the shop, he had set it so that on top of shutting out armed invaders, it was also forbidden to use skills or equip anything while inside.

At the moment, the two spells were deployed in a 20 mel radius around Tsuki no Hokora.

Come over here. O-okay.

At s.h.i.+ns beckoning, Tiera slowly walked over. s.h.i.+n was standing 1 mel outside the barrier, so standing next to him would inevitably mean leaving the barrier.

............ ............

s.h.i.+n was keeping an eye on their surroundings, and Tiera was feeling very nervous so for a while there was no conversation between them. After five minutes, there was still no change in their surroundings. A warm wind ruffled their hair.

Nothings happening, eh? Nothings happening indeed.

They waited five more minutes before s.h.i.+n judged that there were no longer any problems. If the curse was still active, it would have called at least one monster already within the past ten minutes.

Not seeing any monsters, eh? Indeed.

The first five minutes were extremely nerve-wracking, but Tiera gradually gained the composure to look around.

The curse has been lifted, see? It seems so, yes.

Tiera answered s.h.i.+ns questions while looking up at the sky. The sky reflected in Tieras eyes was the same expansive, blue sky that one could see anywhere. It was not the cut out sky that she could only see through the stores windows. She could feel the wind, drink in the light from the sun, and breathe in the fragrance of the forest. An overwhelming sense of nostalgia blossomed inside Tieras chest.

s.h.i.+n felt greatly relieved while looking at Tiera, who was in turn looking at the sky. With this, Tiera no longer had to fear the shadow of monsters nor fear bringing disaster to people around herself. She was now free to step outside of the store whenever she wanted.

The sky is really broad, isnt it? Yes it is.

Tiera murmured that fact as if shed just remembered it. For a while after that, s.h.i.+n and Tiera just stood there and gazed at the sky.

At the corner of Tieras eye something sparkled, but s.h.i.+n remained silent.

Shall we go back in sometime soon?

When Tiera said that, s.h.i.+n turned to look at Tiera.

Lets do that.

In the first place, they had left the shop to confirm that the curse had been dispelled, so without any further objections they went back into the store.

At any rate, it seems that the curse has really been removed.

After returning behind the counter, Tiera was earnestly muttering to herself. Though she understood it with her head, it would take quite some while for it to start feeling real.

Just saying, butPurificationis also a skill. If I had to say, its one of the rarer ones. It took me a lot of trouble to get it, so it would have been problematic for me if it didnt work. So the curse could really be dispelled withPurification. Even if I knew that, it would have been hard to get someone to cast it on me. How come? Though it is indeed a skill, shouldnt most of the priests have it? Thats not exactly true. The priests who can usePurificationare mostly very high ranked, so it would be quite difficult to get to meet one. In my case, the nature of my curse wouldnt really allow me to go to them, and I couldnt very well ask them to come to me either. I guess if the effect was just lowering your stats then you might have been able to do something about it, huh.

That that would have been dangerous in its own way was left unsaid. The moment the curse affected her, her stats would have been dropped to a tenth of their previous value, making her easy prey for any trash monster. That would have been scary in its own right.

Now that its been lifted, theres no need to dwell on it any longer. Thats true. Now you can even brazenly take walks outside. Yep. Black-haired elves might still be feared and hated, but now that not all of my hair is black Im sure they wont hate me as much anymore. Nn? Its fine if its not all black? Thats right. When affected by the curse, even when I dyed my hair it would immediately go back to being black, so just having a part thats not black would show people that Im not cursed anymore. Is that so.

Back during the game, n.o.body tried dyeing their hair for that reason, so s.h.i.+n was thinking, So thats how it is. In the first place, every player who got the curse would immediately use an item or visit a priest, so it was just that n.o.body had ever thought of it.

Oh right, Id almost forgotten, but here is your payment for the raw materials and jewels.

Tiera placed a bag bulging with coins onto the counter as she spoke. It was filled with more than 50 pieces of gold and silver coins, so it was pretty big.

Would I be able to put this into my inventory?

He tried just in case, and thankfully on top of the line showing G currency, a new line for J currency appeared and noted down the 26 J gold coins and 27 J silver coins.

The money disappeared ...... how convenient!

Tieras face looked like she really wanted an inventory too, but this was one thing that really couldnt be helped, so s.h.i.+n just smiled wryly. It would be a different matter if he had the item for expanding inventory, but he didnt have one on hand.

At any rate, it appears that I wont be in want for an inn tonight. Are you planning on going inside Berylricht Kingdom? Ah, there are a few things that I want to check up on. Do you know of any good places for information gathering? I see. In that case, please wait a while, I have something good to give you as an extra service.

So saying, Tiera went inside the door behind the counter that led to the house side. According to s.h.i.+ns memory, there was a break room back there. About three minutes later, Tiera reappeared, and held out a piece of paper towards s.h.i.+n.

And this is? A letter of introduction from Tsuki no Hokora. With this in hand, you wont need to line up to get into the kingdom.

So it seems that one needs to line up to get into the kingdom. This letter was a great help to s.h.i.+n, who wanted to find an inn before nightfall.

This would be a great help. Im going to pa.s.s on having to sleep outside after coming this far. But are you sure? Wouldnt it be a problem giving this letter of introduction to someone that youd met just today?

s.h.i.+n knew that it would be bad if this fell into the wrong hands, but Tiera shook her head vigorously.

You dispelled a curse that I didnt think could be dispelled, and on top of that you are really strong. In addition, youre really good-natured ...... This isnt nearly enough to pay you back for what youve done. Good-natured, you say ...... Im sorry, I didnt hear the last part, could you please repeat it again? Don-Dont worry about it! Anyways, theres no problem, so just take it already!

So saying, Tiera pressed the letter of introduction upon s.h.i.+n. She was trying to hide her blus.h.i.+ng face by looking down, but since her ears were all red it was all too obvious.

I get it, I get it. Very well, I will accept this gratefully.

s.h.i.+n failed to notice the blus.h.i.+ng, though. If it was happening to anyone else, he would notice, but because he didnt get many opportunities to get thanked, he was very thick about these kinds of things. (T/N: Lol where would we be without our thick-headed main characters?)

Well then, Ill be going. When I get more drops from killing monsters Ill come back and sell them to you, so please take care of me then. I know youre pretty strong, but dont overdo it. If you die, everything would come to naught. I got it. Seeya! We will await your future patronage.

Like a proper salesclerk, Tiera bowed respectfully while seeing off s.h.i.+n, who lightly waved back and left Tsuki no Hokora behind him. Volume 1 Chapter 2 Part 3

After leaving Tsuki no Hokora, s.h.i.+n cut straight through the forest, arrived in front of the castle walls, then started walking along them. He didnt know where the entrance was, so he just followed his intuition. He figured that there would be one somewhere along the wall, so he set off at a quick pace.

Still, this wall really does look pretty st.u.r.dy.

Now that he was getting a closer look, he was slightly impressed again.a.n.a.lyzeonly gives detailed information about monsters and players, so he couldnt see much information about the wall. However, he could tell that each of the enchantments cast on it were at least level V. According to what Tiera had said about how valuable skills are, s.h.i.+n guessed that there must be pretty excellent skill inheritors around.

After walking for about 15 minutes, he spotted a line in front of the castle walls. It seems that the castle gate was over there.

Drawing near, he saw a large variety of people and clothing. There was a human young man wearing tattered clothing, a Beast woman covered with armor, and a dwarf leading a small dragon. There was someone wearing a robe who was most likely a mage, and there was someone riding a large wagon who was probably a merchant. s.h.i.+n looked around curiously at the diversity in the slow moving line. While inside the game, all of the players had dressed up all neatly and tidily (given that there were those who chose to not do so), so s.h.i.+n was slightly surprised at the how different it was now.

By the time he got close enough to see the castle gate, he also noticed soldiers who were probably townsguards checking peoples identification papers and briefly inspecting the luggage in the wagons. Tiera had told him that with the letter of introduction she gave him he wouldnt have to line up, so he continued walking straight up to the gate.

As a result of him walking outside of the line, when he got to 20 mels of the gate the townsguards noticed him. They looked suspiciously at s.h.i.+n, who was approaching without lining up.

When he got within 10 mels of the gate, one of the four townsguard