The battle with Hibris’s father, NPC Brooks, was intentionally placed as a dramatic device for my tutorial.
“I need time to adapt to this changed world.”
Whether he actually thought Adella’s tail was a toy for the brothel is uncertain.
Considering he was a soldier from medieval times, it wouldn’t have been strange if he said something like that.
In the front yard, an exciting clash between two passionate individuals was unfolding.
Ping-
Brooks deflected the dagger thrown by Adella with his gauntlet.
The dagger spun around and embedded itself right in front of where I was sitting.
Hibris’s reflection glimmered on one side of the dagger, shining like glass.
“Did you say Na-me? I never would have thought your sister would be the chosen one. She’s incredibly strong…”
She sat down right next to me, plopping her behind down.
There was plenty of space, so why here of all places?
I lifted my behind and moved away a little.
“Chosen one?”
“Yes. They’re people blessed by mana, just like my dad.”
“Oh, now that you mention it, that’s what you called them.”
Even though the mana density in my past life was hundreds of times higher than it is now, paradoxically, far more than 90% of the population couldn’t even feel mana.
Instead, a small number of people gained strength faster than others through mana and aura.
These individuals were referred to by various names depending on the region: the chosen one, the gifted, the blessed, etc. and they were objects of envy.
In fact, the fact that many humans couldn’t feel mana was, upon closer inspection, a product of survival of the fittest and evolution.
Those who could sense mana were simultaneously affected adversely by magic, so genetically speaking, they could be seen as possessing inferior traits.
“Are you not worried about your dad?”
“Our dad is strong. He’s someone who returned alive from the front lines of the Rangs.”
“I bet he must have shared lots of heroic tales.”
“Of course! He boasts every day about how he saw the face of the Kaizen Emperor. Are you curious, Na-me? I can tell you all about it if you want.”
“Yeah. Just until they finish their fight.”
That didn’t sound like something an AI would make up.
Could it really be a recollection that Hibris possessed?
She seemed demure, but she rambled on non-stop.
Flags fluttered in the sky, the grand drums and the trumpet echoed through the land, forming a massive barrier that sliced through the breath of life…
It was such a cliché story.
“Isn’t it funny how someone so talkative shuts up when they’re in front of me?”
“What?”
“Nothing.”
I knelt down and stood up.
Adella’s tutorial was slowly coming to an end.
“Die, you perverted bastard!”
Slash-!
Adella swung her hand with all her might.
The aura gathered at her fingertips spread out like five branches.
A sharp wind parted the earth, and mud shot up.
Ding-
[Achievement: Dark Horse]
[▶Defeated NPC Brooks without using a gun.]
[Exp. +124]
[Lv. +1]
“W-what’s happening…? Why am I so strong? Can this even happen at the start of the game?”
The one truly shocked was Adella herself.
“I’ve never seen such talent in my entire life. You get stronger even while fighting, are you perhaps favored by the gods?”
“Huh? God? I don’t believe in that. Is this guy suddenly preaching after turning 180 degrees? Can you say that again?”
“Hibris, where did you meet them?”
“E-eh, I met them halfway up the mountain. I was wondering if they might have come over the mountain…”
“That’s impossible. Even a witch would take a week to get through that rugged mountain range.”
“Aah, is that so…”
At that moment, two transparent choices appeared before Adella.
She alternated her bewildered gaze between me and the options.
“It’s your game, so you should figure it out.”
Eventually, Adella butted in on the conversation between the father and daughter.
“Actually, we seem to have come from another world. Do you know of any way to get back?”
“Uhm…?”
“Ah…”
Brooks and Hibris both simultaneously wore sad expressions.
“Poor thing, it looks like she’s hurt her head a bit.”
“What do we do… I need to make her raspberry potato soup quickly.”
“What the hell! I just chose what I was told and now I’m being looked at like this!”
“Just eat your raspberry potato soup. I’m going to take a look around the village.”
“What’s that supposed to mean…? Is that a curse? The nuance suggests it’s definitely a curse.”
While the story was processing for a bit, I planned to check for any minor bugs or glitches around here.
*
“Want to check out the night market, Adella?”
Bubbles were rising in a jar filled with raspberries.
Hibris, sweating profusely, casually set the jar down and suggested to Adella.
“Night market?”
“Yes. During the harvest festival, the market is open at night as well. Just think about how beautiful the scene is with lanterns lit with cotton wicks glowing brightly with oil!”
“Oh wow, Na-me must have actually put in the effort for places like this? Alright, let’s go!”
Excited, Adella skipped along.
As the soft, muddy fields turned into stone paths, the thick trees began to disappear one by one.
Entering the village center, the streetlights Hibris mentioned proudly revealed themselves.
Red, yellow, green, blue.
“The colors change a bit based on the wick’s lifespan. The blue one was just replaced, and the red one is nearly done.”
“Wow, that’s cool! So pretty!”
“Heh, we haven’t even arrived at the market yet!”
Adella smiled brightly.
Hibris seemed even more excited, grasping her hand tightly and leading the way.
The sounds of bustling people drifted in.
The central plaza surrounded by red-roofed houses.
A boy, appearing to be in middle school, waved his hand energetically at the entrance.
At a glance, he looked like he could be Hibris’s age.
“Hibi, why are you just now showing up? What about the raspberry jam?”
“I can’t see it well… Oh, it’s Billy? It’s too late to make it all today, so I’ll bring it tomorrow.”
“Ugh, I reserved a spot for you! Who’s that beside you?”
“Ah, she’s a guest at my house. Look at her, she’s so pretty she can’t even make eye contact, haha!”
“I-I never! If you’re not selling today, I’m going home!”
The boy blurted out his own thoughts and dashed out of the market.
Hibris was genuinely popular among the townsfolk.
As soon as her feet touched the ground, the village merchants greeted Hibris with exuberant voices.
“Oh Hibris! Are you here alone? And I see there’s a guest I haven’t seen before!”
“Neheh, she’s going to stay with us for a night.”
“Hmm, well it’s reassuring that Brooks is here, but you have to be especially cautious of outsiders lately. Not that I’m doubting her, don’t get me wrong.”
The fruit merchant quietly spoke to the girls.
“Why’s that?”
“Well, there’s a rumor running around that a witch has made her way all the way to the southern continent after being chased.”
“Seriously?”
“Yeah! They say that the lord has locked the gates tightly ever since a few days ago on the Rapavnk side.”
“Oh my, the world is getting dangerous.”
“It is. Just when we thought the war was over and erosion had subsided, this happens? Who knows what might happen next…”
“Everything will be alright! Sell lots, okay, uncle!”
“Eh, why don’t you buy me a peach instead? You always slip away easily.”
Hibris took Adella across to the opposite side of the market.
In a small voice, she explained why she had rushed away.
“That uncle’s food isn’t good.”
Adella chuckled as she stared blankly at Hibris.
“Yeah, I did notice a few rotten ones here and there.”
“They really should run their business more honestly…! I brought her here to get this for you today. Dana’s rye bread is top-notch.”
Hibris took out a few coins from her pocket and placed them in the tin basket.
“I’ll take one, Dana!”
Dana, who had been dozing off, momentarily opened her eyes but promptly fell back asleep.
“Do you not want to check the money?”
“Dana can tell just from the sound of the coins dropping. Isn’t that amazing?”
Hibris broke the rye bread in half and handed it to Adella.
Then she took out her special raspberry jam from her bag and spread it on.
The two girls sat side by side on the stone wall and took big bites of the bread.
A sweet and refreshing breeze swept between them.
“But what was that about the witch earlier?”
Adella asked with a mouthful of bread.
“Huh, you don’t know about the witch?”
Hibris’s eyes sparkled with seriousness.
“Yeah, this is the first I’ve heard of it.”
“I don’t know much either.”
“Huh?”
“Well, I’ve never met one before. All I can hear from Wilhelm Village are mere rumors. Some say she’s a cruel half-human, half-demon who kills humans and demons alike in her madness. Others say she’s a descendant of the dragon race that brings erosion, and some say she was the one behind the palace massacre scandal in the empire.”
“Ugh, none of that sounds easy.”
Adella’s cat ears twitched.
She must have instinctively felt a sense of crisis.
Hibris casually stuffed the remaining bread piece into her mouth and hopped down from the stone wall.
“Anyway, there’s no way such a wicked person would come to our dull, boring village, right? By the way, isn’t the raspberry jam delicious? If this does well, I might sell it in Rapavnk. I wonder when the gates will open next!”
Adella clenched her fist.
She didn’t just plant a flag; she nailed it down securely with multiple nails.
‘If the main NPC is mentioning it this much, the final boss is definitely going to be a witch.’
There was nothing left to explore in Wilhelm Village.
In the first place, the village was comprised of scattered houses on the outskirts of Rapavnk.
Adella had established the optimal route based on her various gaming experiences.
‘If I stay overnight in Wilhelm, I’ll surely be given a quest the next day. The city gates will open, and it’s obvious that a mission will come up to escort Hibris to Rapavnk. And then I’ll grind for levels in Rapavnk. Na-me, aren’t you making this game too simple?’
Speak of the devil, Na-me appeared, chewing on a wooden skewer.
Unlike Adella, who was clad in medieval attire, she was still in her military outfit.
“Did you two have fun?”
Na-me asked, her tone carrying a hint of disappointment.
Adella’s lips slowly curled into a smile.
Now, it was time to cheer up Na-me.
I lifted Na-me by her armpits with ease.
In surprise, she dropped the wooden skewer she had in her mouth.
“What are you doing? Put me down!”
“Whee! Let’s go home like this! Na-me’s on a joyride!”
“Adella, it’s dangerous to run like that at night…!”
The three girls sprinted through the market.
The colorful lights blinked, leaving long traces behind.
Not wishing to simply go home, Adella kept circling Hibris’s house.
Hibris trailed behind them, panting.
As girl laughter echoed in the deep night, only Na-me wore a perplexed expression.
“Come on, go to sleep already. How long are you planning to stay awake?”
“Hey! This is all part of thoroughly conducting the alpha test! Excluding the spawn points, the first area is flawless! The festival was beautifully decorated.”
“Yeah. I fixed that earlier.”
“Now, are you going to stop sulking?”
“I never sulked!”
“Alright. Then shall we set off for our next adventure?”
Hibris offered her room to Na-me and Adella.
The creaking bed, the half-broken glass mirror.
“But I wouldn’t mind if I could just hug Na-me.”
“Get away from me; it’s hot.”
“Shirundeng!”
The room went dark.
A faint glow-in-the-dark message appeared, and Adella lightly blinked her eyes once.
[▶Would you like to save?] [Y/N]
[▶Save progress]
And the day Adella had long awaited dawned.
*
[▶Day 2]
Crash! Bam!
Hibris burst into the sisters’ room, not yet recovered from dreamland.
“Haah… haah…”
She was panting heavily, her face pale like a corpse.
“What’s going on?” Adella rubbed her eyes, yawning and asking.
“My dad… he’s gone!”
“Did he go hunting?”
“No. I mean, there’s no trace left. My dad’s things. My things. Everything’s gone. What in the world…?”
Hibris told them with a face like she was about to cry.
Na-me and Adella stepped into the living room.
“Whoa.”
Just the day before, Hibris and Brooks’s house had been a livable home, but now it looked like a complete abandoned house.
It was a landscape that hadn’t seen a person live in for at least decades.
Cobwebs covered the ceiling, and glass shards lay scattered on the floor.
Fresh raspberries and jars of strawberry jam stored for days had vanished without a trace.
“Ugh. Sniff. Dad… Dad…”
Kneeling and collapsing, Hibris began to weep.
Adella furrowed her brows and glanced towards Na-me.
Na-me looked at them with a much different expression than before and bluntly stared up at them.
“From now on, it’s a time attack. I hope you both survive.”
[▶You faintly sense a powerful energy beyond the mountain range.]
