“Rest in peace, Blin.”
Blinn’s funeral was held as a natural burial.
They performed a noble ceremony, becoming one with the wildlife, mold, and trees, and then left.
They absolutely did not dump the corpse on the ground.
What they obtained as loot was Blin’s wooden club.
[Achievement Unlocked]
[First Loot Acquired!]
[You have been granted the trait ‘Inspect Trait’ as an achievement reward.]
[Trait: Inspect Trait]
[Allows you to discover information about items.]
It’s an easy achievement.
The trait you receive as a reward is a basic one.
But just because it’s basic doesn’t mean it’s a skill to be underestimated.
[Wooden Club (+1 Enhancement)]
[A club made by carving wood. The sorrow of someone who lost their family is embedded in it.]
Normally, aside from the items the system gives as rewards, it was impossible to sneak a peek at information.
However, now, using traits on items like this reveals information about them.
Information that I wouldn’t have been able to know just by observing with my eyes.
In games, you know the identity of the item the moment you acquire it, but not in real life.
When picking mushrooms, there’s no way to tell if they are poisonous or edible.
The Inspect Trait makes that possible.
It’s a basic ability in the game, but in reality, it becomes ridiculously overpowered.
“I’m starting to feel uneasy.”
creepy music
It’s ominous.
This game, even though it’s friendly, is overly friendly.
This reward isn’t from some hidden achievement like killing 100,000 goblins; it’s practically a handout, and yet it comes with this trait.
Maybe it’s not that they’re giving out rewards out of kindness, but because this game is so impossible to beat anyway that they’re just tossing them out.
Getting moved by the game system here is just as foolish as feeling touched by a teacher saying this exam is open book.
“For now, let’s go outside.”
Even though I’ve gained more than I expected for a tutorial, there’s still so much I don’t know.
Aside from ‘To clear this game, go charm the heroines you’ve created,’ I haven’t gotten any meaningful information.
I need to gather information.
For that, I need to get out of this forest first.
Finding the direction wasn’t particularly hard.
Once I figured out the orientation from the sun’s movement, I simply needed to keep heading west.
Remembering that there was a forest inhabited by goblins to the east of the starting village allowed me to make a quick decision.
After almost an hour of walking without any signs of the forest ending, I began to feel anxious.
What if this isn’t the forest near the starting village but just an isolated one with a random goblin?
As that doubt crept in, fortunately, the village began to come into sight.
If someone unfamiliar with the game had come here, they would have been stuck and died······.
Once I safely emerged from the forest, I was struck with a wave of emotion thinking about Blin.
If Blin hadn’t been around, I’d probably have stumbled into boss monsters a good five or six times while wandering the woods with a luck stat of -1.
From now on, this wooden club will be treated as a relic.
“Wow. Magnificent. Truly magnificent.”
As I climbed the hill and looked down at the village, I couldn’t help but exclaim in awe.
It wasn’t a giant city that would leave you speechless.
It was just that seeing the village I’d always viewed as a blurry background illustration brought a rush of nostalgia.
‘This really feels like an adventure.’
As I stepped into the village, my heart raced.
All the things I’d only seen through text and a handful of illustrations were now vividly unfolding before my eyes.
Not just the ugly green goblins, but people moving and talking naturally.
Who wouldn’t be thrilled watching the game they created come to life?
‘Be cautious, play it safe.’
But I can’t be reckless here.
Am I the only player who’s made it here?
It’s hard to say for sure.
Because this game allows customization of name, appearance, occupation, starting equipment, and so on, you can’t just look at someone’s exterior and declare who’s in the protagonist position.
There might be others who fell into this game like me, just having accepted Blin’s belongings.
Whether this is a cooperative game or a winner-takes-all scenario is uncertain.
If I let it be known that I’m a player, I might get blindsided by another player who had been quietly lurking.
Since I have no idea what happens when you die, I can’t help but be cautious.
Please don’t let it be that I die and then get a ‘Achievement Unlocked: First Death’ while getting a cheat skill handed to me.
‘For now, I’ll act like an NPC and observe the situation.’
You never know.
Players might pop out shouting Woohoo!
If that happens, I have to be ready to smack them from behind.
After waiting quietly for quite a while, if no suspicious folks show up, I’ll have to conclude that I’m the only player in this world······.
That would feel a bit lonely.
So how do I act like an NPC?
It’s simple.
Walk around the village with natural steps.
I could gather information about the market prices by taking a stroll around.
My real name is Yoo Jin, and it sounds fantasy enough to use as a disguise.
‘The currency unit is the same as in the game.’
A large, hard, and unappetizing-looking loaf of bread costs 3 gold.
An apple goes for 3-5 gold each.
Sharpening services for 10 gold.
Armor cleaning services for 20 gold.
What the heck. This is ridiculously extravagant.
“Is business any good?”
“Sigh. It’s tough. The war ended a few years ago, but the economy still hasn’t recovered.”
“Hahaha. When did the war end?”
“Wilhelm······.”
“Ah, that’s right. Wilhelm, year eight. So now it’s Wilhelm······.”
“Year twelve.”
“Ah. Got it.”
The name of the nation, the era, and even the current year.
I confirmed all this as discreetly as possible without arousing suspicion.
It seems obvious, but it matched perfectly with the game’s start background.
Oh no, did I end up reincarnated 100 years before the game started??? No fun revelations or emotional twists here.
‘Is this a wallet?’
As I opened the pouch at my waist, it was full of gold coins.
With excitement, I reached in and saw this notification pop up.
[Current Gold: 3000 Gold]
It’s named gold, so I assume the currency is in gold coins.
One gold coin is the typical monthly living expense for a family of four, right?
I can exchange 3 gold coins for one apple······?
What kind of absurdity is this?
I felt a moment’s rage but managed to suppress it.
When it comes to subculture, clueless companies heard that otaku games are making a ton of money, and just made a game without thinking.
“Welcome.”
Walking into a familiar building, the familiar scene greeted me.
The Adventurers’ Guild.
A place where quests are given to adventurers, along with rewards and various services.
As soon as I entered, I felt eyes on me, making me tense.
But I realized that the attention was likely because I was wearing flashy armor, rather than anything unusual about my behavior.
To others, I must look like a poor sap who dumped all his savings into armor.
“Are there any rooms available at the inn?”
“Yes. We have some.”
For now, I need a place to wash up and rest.
I’ve been walking around for hours in this armor, and I’m completely soaked with sweat.
It would be nice to test out my traits in a space free from others’ gazes.
“One night, please.”
“How much did you come prepared to pay?”
“Uh?”
“I asked how much you were prepared to pay.”
“······.”
This is infuriating.
I didn’t expect to get haggled down by an Adventurers’ Guild employee.
In the game, the protagonist got looked down on all the time for being an adventurer, but now I see why that’s reasonable.
This place is a total den of ill-mannered brats.
You have to deal with clueless people like clueless people do.
“One gold.”
“Please leave.”
“Excuse me?”
“I said to leave. You’re too rude of a customer for us to accept.”
The employee said with his hands clasped together.
What the actual heck?
Unable to believe it, I looked back, but the adventurers gathered in the guild were all sitting calmly, as if nothing was amiss with the employee’s behavior.
“What about this potion?”
“No sampling allowed. Please check the notice board.”
“Oh. My bad, I’ll head to the central plaza to check the notice first.”
That kind of conversation flows as if it’s completely normal.
If I stay here too long, I feel like I might turn into one of those sorry souls scratching the back of their heads and slinking away.
“Goodbye, customer. I hope you never return.”
“······.”
I hurriedly left the Adventurers’ Guild.
No matter how I see it, it’s a madman’s lair.
With a decent stash of starting capital, I don’t need to grind with those losers, so I plan to avoid entangling with them in the future.
That would work out better for mingling with the aristocracy, too.
There’s no reason to deliberately crawl into the group that’s playing a suppressive role against the protagonist early on.
‘Still, it might be good to know the traits’ performance or activation conditions.’
[Initial Trait: Guardian Knight]
[Stats are amplified when protecting someone. If not activated, there is a penalty of reducing basic stats by 5.]
The trait, Guardian Knight.
The condition ‘when protecting someone’ is a bit concerning.
Since it’s somewhat vague, it would be wise to find out the exact conditions.
And I still don’t know how much the stat amplification is.
It’d be great to rescue a companion and go for a trip to the hunting ground.
-Guardian Knight Recruitment
“······?”
At that moment, I spotted an eye-catching announcement on the village square’s bulletin board.
-Guardian knight recruitment for Priestess Jill Diner.
-Does not consider race, ethnicity, status, education, or gender.
-Only skills and character matter.
-Expected to be held in the capital Hameln.
Finally, it’s here.
The main heroine’s appearance event.
Wooing the heroine solves everything, who needs companions?
