Strongest Gamer; Let's Play in Another World Volume 1

by Shinobu Yuuki

  "Yes! I can tell you everything I know, leave it to me!"

  As a person that couldn't get enough of fluffy animals, I was unable to resist from patting Ann's head after she replied with so much energy.

  "Let's see... There's a lot of clans in this world, like mine, the Kobolds..."

  According to what Ann told me, this area was called the "Berkud Border Dominion". And there apparently was a land route that continued east into the continent, but we also were surrounded by sea in the remaining three directions. I assumed it was something like a peninsula, but Ann told me she didn't really know its shape since she hadn't traveled very much. It seemed like this country's leader was a certain Mister Dark Lord, and they had various races living together in this world, including humans like me and kobolds like Ann.

  There were familiar fantasy game races like elves and dwarfs living in harmony with races that would normally get classified as monsters like ogres, cyclops, and even goblins. It was a multi-ethnic land with many races, but since the Dark Lord united them together, all the races and cultures joined under the new demonic banner of the country of Daemon. It seemed that any differences between the clans got resolved in not so amicable terms by the Elingald clan that was composed of cyclops from the north. I guess it was easy to understand why they ended up all together that way.

  There were various races living peacefully even in the pioneering village Ann was from. It was kinda surprising to me since the Earth I came from couldn't seem to get out of conflict because of cultural differences or history. The political system seemed to be a feudal system made up by the Dark Lord as the King, and the nobility. They valued power higher than bloodline around here, so that meant nobles were beings that showed outstanding physical or mental prowess to claim their pedigree, and were considered special from the common citizens.

  It seemed the Berkud Border Dominion was governed by a Feudal Lord named Spirit King that ruled the land. That Spirit King was one of the Demon Lord's vassals, but it seemed that the Demon Lord also took orders from the Great Dark Lord. The power structure went something like this: Great Dark Lord -> Demon Lord -> Nobility -> Town Mayor -> Commoners.

  Pretty straightforward, huh? The Great Dark Lord being higher than the Demon Lord wasn't that strange in fantasy settings, but I wondered what that was like in reality. When I asked Ann, the only thing she had to say was that the Great Dark Lord was "The person above the Demon Lords", so I guess I could only imagine. So maybe Demon Lords were like Governors and the Great Dark Lord was more like a Prime Minister. The village where Ann lived was in a remote spot to the west side of this Berkud Border Dominion. Since the area around here was still being pioneered, there were small villages just like hers scattered about.

  If you went even further west, you'd find the "Polaris Channel" and the "Polaris Fort" standing in between. And west of that was a nation of humans with a different type of culture than the other races, yet still looked like a region of just human tribes. And then there were the labyrinths, like #228, that I was supposedly running, which were also under the direct control of the Great Dark Lord; making the managers running them also belongings of the Great Dark Lord, and as such they were given special treatment by the people of Daemon.

  I kinda overlooked it because a bunch of cool words like Great Dark Lord and Demon Lord came up, but the ideology of using the country's budget to create community buildings and tend to the people by the person in charge was a pretty Japanese thing to do... The tension kinda wore off once you noticed that.

  "I see, then by that classification I think it's safe to assume this 'Labyrinth #228' is under the Great Dark Lord's jurisdiction... Ah, you seem more relaxed now."

  "Huh? Yeah. I don't think you're a bad guy or anything anymore, so it's okay," Ann replied.

  "I was hired not too long ago. You said this is the Great Saredo Rift, right? I'm the apprentice manager of Labyrinth #228, located at the bottom of this ravine."

  I wasn't sure they had any concept of company training with their level of civilization, so I thought that apprenticeship was a better term for it.

  "Oh, there's a rumor that there was a labyrinth around here, but the manager wasn't anywhere to be found."

  "I saw everything I could from down here, but I don't really know anything about what's up there. Do you know anything about that, Ann?"

  "Um... A long time ago they were building something at the bottom of the Sareno Rift, like a giant scaffold. But I haven't heard anything about them aside from none of them are around anymore, and that no one returned after they fell apart, so I don't think it's possible for anyone to know..."

  "Right, so you need to build a scaffold or a staircase to go up at least, huh? Ann, do you wanna live here until we find a way to go up?"

  "Really!? Umm... You don't mind?"

  "No need to be stiff. I'm still an apprentice, even if I'm supposed to be a manager. It would be stupid to kick you out of here when there's not even an exit from the ravine, don't you think? It's the first time I've met someone that's not human, so I don't really know much about kobolds, but you're still a girl, I'm sure of that."

  And she's pretty soft, too. It would be a shame to lose my body pillow.

  "Thank you, Mister!"

  I embraced Ann as she jumped into my arms. She's so small it felt like I was hugging the little sister I never had. Although, she looked more like a large dog right now.

  "Let's eat first. I take it you're hungry, right?"

  I took Ann with me and lit the fire. I started heating up the grilled pumpkin, and threw in some salt and pepper, for breakfast. Even though there was a lot of it, it was still pretty bad. Yet, Ann just happily ate it, and let me know how tasty it was. She was such a cute girl. After seeing her eat it up so happily, I couldn't tell her how tired I was of eating them.

  "Well then, I should get to work. What are you gonna do, Ann?"

  I asked her while she drank water after finishing her meal. The water quality in this ravine was pretty good so it must have been tasty, huh?

  "I'll help too! Um, what are doing?"

  "Well, I say work... but it's really just digging out stone. Oh yeah... The village you live in is to the east, right?"

  "Yes, Milt Village. It's about an hour from here on foot."

  "Then how about I dig up stone in the east wall and make a stairway? We'll need a way to go up first, anyway."

  It would be really nice to make something like the stairs of a mansion, but I didn't really have any experience, besides games, in making something like a multi-storied cavern. It seemed like all I had to do was dig up a staircase pattern on the wall, easy enough.

  "Are you sure? You helped so much and I haven't even done anything..."

  "No need to worry. I can do business if I get to the village as well."

  Not a very childish thing to worry about, so I patted her head to reassure her. Now that I thought about it, how old was she anyway? She seemed more like a girl than a woman, so I guess I could treat her like a little sister. Besides, I wasn't lying when I said I want to connect with the village as well. They should have crops and peddlers around there. It was my chance to break away from the pumpkin diet.

  "By the way, you're a half-kobold, right, Ann?"

  "Y-Yeah... I am."

  I wondered why she looked so nervous all of a sudden.

  "I don't even know about the Kobold clan to begin with, can you tell me about it?"

  "Well... Our clan is said to be filled with dog demons. We don't grow very tall even when we become adults. We're not usually very strong, but there's a lot of us who are very good with our hands, so I guess that's our best trait? We can even see when we're in dark places. I've heard that's really useful when making stuff like basements or other things in the dark."

  "I see, are half-kobolds different from normal kobolds?"

  "Erm... maybe I'm a little weaker than a normal kobold."

  So she's delicate, huh? I guess it depended on which race you were a half o
f.

  "I'm kinda good with my hands too, but nothing compared to a real kobold."

  Looks like kobolds specialized in dexterity. Watered down traits was natural for a half breed.

  "Ah, but I seem to be smarter than normal kobolds. I can calculate and read and write stuff that's too difficult for the rest of the villagers."

  "You can do all that? That's amazing."

  Being able to deal with numbers and read and write in a fantasy world that went "Literacy, is that tasty?" was pretty good. Although it won't help much for the problem we have currently.

  "How about your stamina?"

  "Normal kobolds have more stamina... and I'm kind of a female, so..."

  Oh, yeah, I guess it made sense for males to have more stamina.

  Well, what should I have Ann help with then? Your first helper having lackluster stats in games was pretty much cliché at this point, but I didn't think it would worry me as much as it did. But I couldn't tell her to not do anything when she looked at me with such eager eyes. They practically screamed "I'll do anything!" at me.

  "Let's see, this labyrinth's special product is stone. Maybe I can show you how to deliver it... Come with me."

  I took her into the cabin and showed her the delivery box in the back.

  "This is the delivery box. The materials you put inside of here will get converted to money."

  I put one of the stones I'd left beside the box to show her how the conversion worked.

  "You put the materials inside the box like this, close the lid, and there'll be money next time you open it. One piece of stone is worth 802 DL."

  "Amazing, I've never seen anything like this before. This is really the Great Dark Lord's labyrinth!"

  So this box was rare even by this world's standards, huh?

  "I have something I'd like you to do with this. Do you think you could polish the stones that I bring here?"

  "Polish?"

  "Yeah, it seems like they get a nice luster when you do. I think the selling price will go up a little bit if we polished them properly. Wanna give it a try?"

  "Yes, I'll do my best!"

  I gave Ann a cheap cloth I bought via Tundra. I had been digging west this whole time, but I went the opposite way this time and started digging a 20x20 meter staircase in the east wall of the ravine. I'd like to leave the stone carrying to Ann, but the whole kobold thing aside, I couldn't really let a girl that was injured recently do physical labor all of a sudden. Assuming this ravine's depth was of about 100 meters, I calculated I'd roughly get at least 200,000 stones from making it to the top.

  ---Let's take it easy, I'll lose the drive to work if I think too hard about it.

  "Mister, look at how pretty it looks after I polish it!"

  Ann waved her paws at me while I carried the stones I'd dug out of the wall closer to the delivery box. Yeah, not being alone is really nice, after all.

  "Ann, what happened to the stone?"

  "Look, it's sparkling so much!"

  I looked at Ann's paws while pushing the wheelbarrow closer to where she was.

  "So they get that pretty when you polish them... Now that's a surprise."

  The stone Ann was holding looked so smooth and brilliant. It was somewhat darkish. Compared to stuff from my world, I'd say it was close to the granite they use for tombstones. It took about two or three hours to dig out the stones and carry them back. I was amazed she got them all polished up in that time. Despite being only half-kobold, I was in awe of the race's skill.

  "You're amazing!"

  Patting Ann's head to praise her had a really relaxing effect.

  "Let's try putting one in the delivery box. I wonder how much your effort adds to the price... Ah, why don't you keep the first one?"

  "Umm... Well, I want to put it in the delivery box now. I want to know how hard I worked."

  "I see, let's try it out then."

  So soft... Yes, the sweet and fluffy creature right in front of me was so nice. When Ann put the stone in the delivery box and closed the lid, the clanky sound of coins was louder than usual. Upon opening the lid, there were obviously more coins than I used to get when selling the stones before.

  The numbers added up to 5800 DL, seven times higher than the normal stones.

  "This is amazing, this sells for way more than normal stone."

  "Eheheh~"

  Ann was so happy her smile hooked me right in. Before I noticed, I was smiling as well.

  "Oh, right."

  I started up the and accessed the 'Tundra Manager > Purchase Authority' options and gave permissions to Ann. I also opened up Tundra's catalog and purchased a leather purse with a cord to strap around your neck, and put all the money from Ann's first sale in it.

  "Ann, this is a memento of the first time you came here and worked. So you have something to remember it by. Use it carefully if there's anything you want."

  "Eh... Ah... Huh?"

  I could see the surprise on her face as her eyes went between the leather purse hung around her neck and my face repeatedly.

  "I... Uh... Mister...!"

  She suddenly hugged me, crying, while burying the tip of her nose in my clothes.

  "Wh-What's wrong, Ann? Did I say something bad?"

  "A'm sho japy... Wai ar shu sho goot me...?"

  ---Erm... "I'm so happy, why are you so good to me?", maybe?

  "W-Well... I-I didn't really mean to. I just... Oh yeah! I-I just did what I would if I had a little sister... That's all."

  She was like a human, even if she was a little dog-ish. I wasn't really used to girls, and even less so to other species. That was why I couldn't shake away the feeling that she was kind of like a pet. Really, the only reasonable route for me was to treat her as if she were my little sister.

  "A-Awooo!"

  ---Oh man, she is really crying.

  She might have had a lot of sad memories in this fantasy world. I enjoyed the fluffy feeling as I stroked her head until she calmed down. That night, I found Ann trying to sleep on a bunch of cardboard pieces which happened to be on the floor as I was about to go to bed.

  "Hey, Ann. Isn't that a little hard?"

  "Yes..."

  "I bet it's cold without a blanket."

  "Y-Yes..."

  "Well, I know you might feel a bit embarrassed, but it would be bad if you got a cold."

  "Huh? Wai--- Mister!?"

  I held the sulky Ann in my arms and carried her from the cardboard to the bed, and embraced her the same way I did yesterday.

  "We're different races, so it shouldn't be that big of a deal, right...? Ah, so soft."

  I yawned right after hugging her.

  "U-Uuuh...!"

  Ann seemed like she was about to complain for a moment, but it took less than 10 minutes for the both of us to depart to the land of dreams. The softness of blankets, and the warmth of another person's skin---or fur in this case---was truly a fiendish thing...

  I suddenly woke up in the middle of the night. This soft and warm thing was... Ann? It seemed like she was hugging me back, but she was just sleeping while burying her face into my chest.

  "Auntie, it's still sour... Sara... the wind feels so nice today..."

  Ann's sleep talk made its way into my ears. I wondered if she was dreaming about when she was still on the surface... Her sleep talking voice had a pretty funny tone. Seemed like she was having a good dream.

  ---I have to return Ann to her home...

  I stroked her fluffy head while she murmured. Although I would be happy if she stayed with me forever, I didn't want to make her feel lonely from losing her family and everyone she's known all of a sudden. Even if she ended up going home... It was way better than carrying the sin of keeping her from everything she loved. I tightly embraced the softness within my arms and thought about working as hard as I could to build that staircase tomorrow.

  ◇

  The next day I started making the staircase with more conviction than ever. First, I u
sed the stone I dug out already to pave the wet ground connecting the entrance of the cabin to the stairway. It was hard to move around when the wheel of the wheelbarrow got stuck in the mud thanks to exposed soil. I couldn't really afford to keep all the stone lying wherever since the valley of the labyrinth wasn't all that big to begin with. And even if I could do that, I needed to turn this stuff in to make money. Ann still took care of polishing the stone. Since her injuries had healed completely, I got her a wheelbarrow from Tundra, and was having her help carry the stone as well.

  Anyway, my training would be over in three months. I didn't think I would be able to build these stairs all the way up by myself in that time, and if I waited for Ann to finish polishing each and every one of them, the terrain around the cabin would be completely filled with stones before we could even finish. Ann's strength and stamina might have made the job a tad difficult, but I didn't want to leave Ann alone down here without a way out when they came to pick me up in three months. The deadline might be a bit tight, but I'd like to complete the stairs.

  "Munch, munch... This is tasty, delicious!"

  Ann's eyes sparkled as she bit into a big sandwich. After three days of starting the stair digging in earnest, our muscle pain was too much to stomach, despite our best efforts to try and keep going. I decided to splurge a bit and bought some white bread and bacon from Tundra. I also managed to nab a lettuce-like vegetable and made something akin to a sandwich.

  I used a whole 20 centimeter diameter piece of bread to make the sandwich, and observed as the tiny Ann wolfed it down, with a smile on my face.

  Even though they were simple dishes, the ingredients made up for most of the taste. I felt some kind of joy as a chef... No, more like a househusband. Yeah, there was this one game about a housewife taking care of her husband and children. This was like the gender-swapped version of that... Man, my head is really hardwired to games, huh?

  "Hmm... Yeah, it's really tasty."

  I was hungry after a hard day of work, so I ate a sandwich the same size as Ann's. Albeit, at a much slower pace.

  "Oh...?"

  As the number of people increased, so did the amount of wood we used. On a certain day, when I was gathering firewood to prepare today's breakfast early in the morning, I found a clear, pale amber stone in the ever-growing plot of land I used to plant waterdry trees I used for wood.