CH 9-10

“Shaaaaa—!” 

3 goblins run my way while raising cries. 

But I feel no danger. 

Putting it bluntly, there’s no need to even use skills on enemies like this. 

*Swish!*

First, I slice in two the foremost one that went to my right using Shiranui. 

“Gufu!” 

Next, to the left, I ignored the lunging knife and punched the goblin in the stomach. 

I follow the attack on the staggering and pained goblin. 

*Bam!*

With a full power kick.

“Gyan!” 

The goblin goes down while raising a shameful cry. 

But a shiver ran down my back at that moment. 

And then, an impact assailed me. 

*Pang!*

“Kuh! So sly!” (Souma)

I got hit because of my carelessness, but there was no damage. 

I instead used the momentum to cut it down with my katana, and moisten my lips in order to distract myself from my agitation. 

*Swish!*

Lick.

The only one remaining is the kicked one lying on the ground. 

I hit it real hard with the handle of the sword and…

*Gan!*

*Thud!*

After bouncing once on the ground, it perished just like that. 

I defeated 3 enemies, but there was no item drop.

If you deal the finishing blow on the weak point that’s called a Critical Point, drop rate increases, but there’s no need to go hard on the drops of goblins. 

I have no issues with that point. 

But…

“I messed around too much.” (Souma)

If I continue fighting like this, I can’t complain if something happens. 

I should be careful next time. 

“Let’s change hunting spots.” (Souma)

I nodded at my own words and left the place. 

After my heart was completely broken by that young girl, I left to the field in order to recover my lost confidence. 

I jumped into the armor store and bought the best product of Lamurick which is mithril equipment. 

Well, because I said I wanted mithril products despite having newbie equipment, the clerk looked at me dubiously; since I didn’t know how to wear this nice equipment, I had the clerk help me out; tried doing little tricks like putting paper in between the armor to increase my survival rate; posed a little bit in front of a mirror after changing. As you see, a lot happened, but I safely finished my shopping. 

I actually should have departed after getting an assortment of accessories and items, but I was in a hurry. 

However, there was no need to worry. 

I went to the closest prairie at the north side of the town where the weakest monsters could be found, and fought the goblins and the weakest monsters of Nekomimi Neko which are Rural Slime and its variant, Ugly Rural Slime. They were far weaker than I thought.** 

Shiranui can defeat them in one hit and -even if it is store bought armor- I am using mithril armor that’s a high class item in early game. The attacks of Rural Slimes were nothing. 

I kill them in one hit and, even when I get hit, I receive no damage. 

It was truly one-sided.

It was good that I learned here that I don’t feel bad killing monsters, but with monsters that are not a threat at all, I don’t know how well I would be able to fight when trouble does decide to visit my doors. 

I move to a place with enemies that are a bit stronger, and decide to fight for real this time around. 

I was fighting in a place called the Beginner Prairie located at the north of Lamurick, and it is the weakest area where monsters around level 3 show up.

If I go further west from here, I will arrive at the Beginner Forest where level 5-6 monsters show up. With how things are, I would say there would be no problems at all even there. 

I pass the town and head south, to the Sealed Lands where enemies around level 25 show up. 

Right now my level and weapon proficiency is low, but my equipment alone is top notch.

This is just by feel, but I would say my attack power is equal to that of a level 40 even without skills. 

My defense is around the ballpark of a level 20 adventurer.

A level 25 monster is by no means above me. 

Of course, I don’t plan on pushing my limits here. 

With the battles at the prairie, I learned that the encounters here are almost the same as in the game. 

They won’t attack unless they catch sight of you. 

I walk while sticking to the walls so that I don’t get found by monsters, and search for my prey. 

Ignore the enemies that are in groups of more than 2. 

Search for a monster that is isolated. 

“…Found it.” (Souma)

Excluding the red hat on its head, it is a monster with almost the same appearance as the goblin of before: Red Cap.

It is a whole lot more aggressive than a goblin and its level is also high.

If I remember correctly…it is level 24.

(A fitting opponent to test my ability, huh.) (Souma)

Alone and facing the other way.

I hold my Shiranui tightly and slowly approach it with stealthy steps. 

And when I approach it to a certain degree…

(…Now!) (Souma)

I dash in one go. 

I activate Step towards the Red Cap, and after doing a Long Cancel on that Step, I mix in a Short Cancel, and Step again. 

“…Gih?” 

The Red Cap reacted there, but it was already too late. 

The Red Cap was already in the range of my Shiranui.

“Eat this!” (Souma)

This time around I shout without reservations and activate Slash. 

Not even a scream could come out. 

Shiranui sliced the Red Cap in half without allowing any resistance.

It is a saving that the cutting sensation isn’t so raw just like in the game.

The Red Cap froze in place in its turning posture, and changed into light particles.

On the other hand, I jumped back with Step after having finished swinging, and watched that event unfold. 

In Nekomimi Neko, you can’t relax until the enemy has completely disappeared.

Those were my precautionary moves for the sake of that.

The Red Cap eventually disappeared completely.

And then, at the place where the Red Cap was, the red cap which is its trademark remained there. 

My first drop item. 

This is the same as in the game. 

“…Fuuh.” (Souma)

Using skills consecutively really is rough.

I take a deep breath. 

However, I can tell power is brimming in my body after defeating an enemy beyond my mettle. 

Level Up.

While on that topic, I learned that I can defeat enemies of this rank with one Slash. 

A start that bodes well.

“Then, next time, let’s purposely fight them from the front.” (Souma)

I walk onwards to my next prey. 

The strongest enemy in the Sealed Lands are the dog monsters, Mad Hound. 

The other monsters, you can find them acting alone, but only the Mad Hounds are always acting in groups of more than two.

The ones I encountered this time around were also a group of 2.

They split to both sides and tried to attack me in a pincer move. 

I of course won’t indulge them by just waiting. 

Even if unintentional, that female bandit taught me that the established tactic to defeat a pincer attack is to defeat any one side first. 

However, the Mad Hounds are far smarter than the monsters in this area, and there will be times when they evade. 

I pulled them in to a satisfactory extent, and aimed for the moment when one of the Hounds accumulated strength in its legs to lunge at me…

([Step]!) (Souma)

Jump to the Hound. 

I immediately Short Cancel it with Slash. 

My fastest combo as of this moment cannot be avoided by the Hound.

The Hound got hit by my attack and raised a death cry as it twisted its body to try and avoid. 

I intentionally don’t cancel the skill stun of that Slash and invite the attack of the remaining one.

(…Here it comes!) (Souma)

I sense the remaining Mad Hound kicking the ground. 

The skill stun wears off at the same time I felt this, but I won’t be able to make it in time even if I were to turn around here. 

That’s why I didn’t confirm my back and activate Step, jumping to the side to get out from the trajectory of the Mad Hound’s attack.

When I change the orientation of my body in midair…

(My condolences.) (Souma)

But it might be difficult to do a Slash in this position. 

In a moment’s decision, I use one other basic skill.

([Side Slash]!) (Souma)

I swing Shiranui as if trying to smash that body from the side. 

No matter how quick a Mad Hound is, it can’t do anything in midair. 

With that direct hit, the Hound disappeared in a burst of light particles.

“Yup, looking good.” (Souma)

After that, I continued fighting in the Sealed Lands and increased my level by quite a bit. 

The battle senses that I honed in the game are returning to me.

I also confirmed that I can properly use Side Slash.

“Shiranui really is nice.” (Souma)

That goes for the skills and the attack power, but what’s most important here is that I am familiar with the use of it. 

In the first place, I have been using sword type weapons since the gaming era, so Shiranui feels right at home in my hand. 

I have done a proper explanation of the weapons, but weapons have their respective categories set like sword and spear. That decides the length of the weapon. 

There’s a Nekomimi Neko-like circumstance for this. The effective range of the skills is set in stone, so the reach of the weapon has nothing to do with it. 

It might not click at first, but what would happen if you use a skill with a weapon that has different range? 

If you imagine that, you will be able to understand the reason.

For example; if there’s a super long sword here, and a super short sword here. 

The normal reach of the longsword will obviously be far superior, but in the logic of Nekomimi Neko, when you use a skill, their range will be the same. 

Adding more to that, when using skills, even if the longsword looks as if it hit, there would be no damage to the enemy, conversely, even if it looks as if the shortsword doesn’t hit, the damage would register. There’s a lot of inconvenient situations born from this. 

Thus, if it is a sword, all of them are in this range; if it is a spear, all of them are of this range. The reach is already set depending on the type of weapon.

Also, there are a number of weapons that you could say have upwards compatibility. 

Dagger to Ninja Sword, Spear to Halberd, Sword to Katana, and many others. 

These upwards compatible weapons, for example, the ninja swords are categorized as such, but are also considered daggers, so you can use both dagger and ninja sword skills. 

Of course, the range is set the same as that of a dagger. 

That got a bit long there, but what I am trying to say here is that Shiranui, which has been designed as a katana, has the same range as a sword, and can use sword skills too. 

“As long as I have this sword, I—wa?!” (Souma)

Because I was thinking while walking, I tripped over something. 

I fell on my knees there. 

“Woah…” (Souma)

My eyes met with the evil god that was glaring over here. 

Shivers ran down my spine.

“So this is the relief of the evil god, huh.” (Souma)

The thing I tripped over. 

It is something that can be seen often in this country, especially in the territory of monsters: a relief carved in the semblance of the evil god. 

In the stage of Nekomimi Neko, the reason why there are many monsters in the Rihito Kingdom is because there’s an Evil God sealed closeby. 

My merry mood dampens in one go.

The level of the last boss, the Apocalypse Demon Lord’s level is 250. 

As for the hidden boss that is the Evil God Fragment, I think it was level 300. 

It didn’t show up in the game, but if this place has been faithfully recreated, it wouldn’t be strange for the actual body of the Evil God to be somewhere around. 

If something like that does exist, would humans even have a chance to win?

I feel stupid for getting all merry at having defeated a mere level 25 enemy. 

“I have to begin seriously thinking about what to do from here on.” (Souma)

I stand up and mutter this. 

This is something that I should have begun thinking about sooner. 

But I pretended that I was so into the game that had become real, and was avoiding thinking about it all this time.

Putting it bluntly, if I want to live in this world normally, there’s no need to push myself. 

Being able to safely hunt level 25 enemies means that I would be able to cover the lodging expenses and still have some extra. 

There’s no need to go out of my way to push myself.

But if the Demon Lord, the Evil God…no, if a slightly strong monster were to seriously attack the nation, I would have no means to oppose it.

On the other hand, if I tackle this as if I were trying to clear the game, that in itself would have its dangers. 

The reason I managed to clear the game was because the save and load existed. Because I could reset. There was a sense of safety in messing up. 

Aiming for a clear in this real world is, ironically, unrealistic. 

Also, even if I managed to defeat the Demon Lord or the Evil God Fragment, there might be the actual Evil God lying in wait. 

I doubt I would be able to win against an enemy that I haven’t even won against yet in the game. 

In that case, the last choice is…

“Returning to my world, huh.” (Souma)

It sounds like the most unrealistic option of all, but I have actually already thought of a method that might bring me back to my previous world. 

However, even if I do it, the chances of succeeding are really low. 

There’s the chance nothing happens, or I might even wind up dying. 

Also….? 

“If I am to achieve that, I can’t stay at a place like this.” (Souma)

I have to become stronger or find strong allies. 

Anyways, if I twiddle my fingers at a town like this, I won’t be able to put it in play ever. 

“Then, I…hm?” (Souma)

At the moment when I was about to bring out an answer, I noticed what was off here. 

“Eh? What’s that? A cloud of dust?” (Souma)

Is it a tornado or something of the sort? 

I was wondering if there was such a natural phenomena like that in this world, and then, reached an even more dangerous possibility. 

“Wait, wait. How many hours was I leveling up here?” (Souma)

I asked myself that.

But I couldn’t think of an answer. 

The menu screen that would normally tell me the time is currently silent. 

If the dust cloud is exactly what I think it is, this is bad. 

I tried to leave that place posthaste, but…

“I’m…rry…! …O…pen…ple…se…!” 

The moment I faintly heard that voice riding the wind, I understood that everything was too late. 

Here it comes.

She is coming.

The only character that has managed to rule both the popular NPC ranking and the unpopular NPC ranking. 

Because of her overwhelming sense of presence, many players would call her affectionately, and a lot more others would call her with resentment as…

“Train-chan is coming…!!” (Souma)