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

by Shinobu Yuuki

  Thanks to the various kinds of potions I'd left in the mayor's residence, Deneb kept delivering fresh vegetables and meat. The flavoring and nutritional value was somewhat of a problem still, but I was happy enough to have something different to put on the table other than the endless stream of pumpkin.

  The countdown I kept scratching into nearby stone was down to ten days, assuming a month equaled 30 days in this world. Roughly every ten days, Fez would come around for the village market. Ann had left for the village earlier in the morning. She told me she wanted to eat meat and eggs last night, so I gave her money so she could buy some from Fez's shop.

  It was right about time to harvest leafy vegetables---like white bana---in the village, so there would a lot of corn, vegetable, and pumpkin cooking. I figured a growing girl like Ann would want to eat meat dishes as much as she could.

  I read about a way to brew moss tea in one of the herbalism books, so I gathered some and lined them up to dry on top of a cloth in the shade... It was bright by day, but at the bottom of the ravine where nothing but sunlight refracting off the stone walls would reach, I could still manage to dry them out... After I was done with that, I headed to the village market to window-shop for a bit. I didn't really have anything else to do there, but staying cooped inside the bottom of the ravine wasn't healthy for anyone.

  I noticed something wasn't right as I walked towards the village. It seemed there was smoke rising off in the distance. Not white smoke, as if they had an open-air fire, but black smoke, as if something was burning.

  A bad feeling had overcome me, so I quickened my pace towards the village. When I reached the small hill where I could take a look at the whole village, I manage to catch some buildings in the center of the village that were broken down, and one of them was on fire.

  "What's going on down there...?"

  I could clearly see from on top the hill that there was some kind of giant standing in the middle of the village square. It was way bigger than a single-story building. I calculated that it must have been about ten meters tall, and made of scrap and round cogwheels. There were three of those metal giants standing in the center of the village.

  "Hermit, mate! They'll see you like that, get down! Come over here!"

  I heard a familiar voice while I stared off at the warped shape of the giants. Instinctively, I crouched down and headed towards the voice. I found Fez apparently hiding inside a tiny thicket sitting on the wasteland.

  "So you made it fine? Hey, do you have a potion on you?"

  I noticed as he said it. Fez was holding onto his side, which seemed to be injured. His clothes were torn apart and there was blood coming out of his wound under his paw.

  "Yeah, give me a sec. I brought a vitality potion with me."

  These days I made it a habit to carry a pouch with a potion or two inside, similar to carrying a first aid kit for emergencies. I was happy that I'd started the habit.

  "Fez, put half of this on the wound and drink the rest."

  I rolled up a green dyed cloth and marked the potion so he knew how much to pour out, then handed it to Fez.

  "Thanks, I made a mistake... Guh..."

  It must have hurt to pour the potion on such a gash. He grimaced and downed the potion afterwards.

  "As effective as ever, huh? I was prepared to bleed out to death out here, you know?"

  When he took his hand off the wound, the gash that peeked out of his torn out clothes disappeared and was soon replaced by fur, as if nothing ever happened.

  "What happened in the village, Fez?"

  "The village got attacked by that Human clan. It was probably a party that came to plunder via a ship."

  There were humans in the village, but they were part of the population of Daemon, along with all the other races. These must have humans that come from the country that existed west of the Polaris Channel.

  "Raiders? Then they must be after anything remotely valuable they can find. What about the villagers?"

  "The villagers are as good as merchandise to them... They might be taken in as slaves. I think the ones that don't resist will be safe. As safe as a slave could be, at least."

  The word 'slavery' didn't conjure any sort of positive image in my mind. All of a sudden the deadlock inside my head unraveled with a click, like the percussion hammer of a gun clicking everything in place, and my mind was set in motion. That was how I got into the right mindset. Filled with tension, on the verge of stepping into the final stage, with all eyes on me. Right now I was a 22 year old apprentice, nothing else. Aoi Kousaka, a gamer that refused to give up until the bitter end, against all odds.

  If their objective was slave trading, they wouldn't haphazardly spill blood. Since Ann was always in kobold form outside of the ravine, she should be fine, even if their plundering involved raping the women...

  "Phew..."

  ---Now... Let's think. What can I do?

  "A raid party, huh...? What are those metal giants?"

  "That's the 'Extended Knight Armor', I reckon. The main force those humans use to fight---giants made out of metal and gears."

  "So there's a person inside of that?"

  A stark contrast from the knights that wore armor and rode horses.

  "Yeah, humans have their limits, but they have the power of those metal things. There should be people riding them. Even if they didn't have those, there's still over 30 armed soldiers. I don't think the villagers could resist, even if they wanted to."

  "Even though it's a village of 200 Daemon people?"

  "Yeah, there might be some folks that are more powerful and sturdier than the raiders among them, but they're as good as dummies with no training. When you compare them to soldiers armed to the teeth, the difference is just too great."

  So even if they looked like demons, they weren't all that strong. That counted double for villagers who were used to living in peace.

  "But you were hurt, too. Did you fight them off?"

  "No, I noticed the difference in power was too Great to fight back. I was running away to a neighboring town to ask for help, but I guess they were expecting just that. I got ambushed by a human soldier on the road north of Milt Village that connects with the closest town; that's how I ended up like this. Well... I did get lucky to meet with you here after running away."

  I had really mixed feelings about just leaving Ann in the village controlled by that raid party, but Fez's judgment was correct. No matter how much of a talented ex-mercenary he was, we were outmatched in number and equipment. Rather than resisting in a situation where many villagers wouldn't be of much use, it was better to seek out help.

  "I see. I'm glad you managed to escape, at least."

  "Are you sure? I left Ann and the villagers behind and ran away. I was prepared to take a blow to the muzzle in exchange for the potion..."

  "And you did so because your experience as a mercenary told you to, right? I think you were right... Don't worry, I'll charge you the price of the potion with something else. Your wallet will feel lighter, so you better be ready."

  "That hurts more than this wound did..."

  Knowing the price of a Grade 6 vitality potion, it wasn't a surprise that Fez was all but pleased with my consolation.

  "Haha... So you'll profit as long as I'm alive, huh? I'll avoid the road I got ambushed on and head to town to call for help. You have a house outside of the city, right? It's better if you hide."

  Fez rose up a little bit. I wasn't entirely sure what to do myself. There should have been stuff besides swords and lances in Tundra's 'Military Resources' page, like the guardian golems and such.

  As my mind started to wander I heard a sound, like a bullet cutting through the air. An arrow suddenly landed near the thicket we were hiding in.

  "Drats... They found us!"

  When I looked at the direction that Fez had turned to, I saw two ironclad men holding gigantic bows, and an armored man on horseback wielding a spear, running in our direction.

  "Mate! I'll run
north, you go the other way! It's better than getting taken out together!"

  Fez rushed behind me and jumped out of the bush. I lunged out in the opposite direction and started to run as well. I knew that if I lost even a second to doubt in this battle event that I'd end up with a first-class ticket to a dead end...!

  ◇

  I ran through the wasteland. There wasn't really much vegetation to speak of, just stones and boulders sprinkled here and there. I felt a stinging pain on my upper left arm due to an arrow that grazed it the second I came out of the bush. Blood spilled out in a stream, but there was no way I could stop running. Perhaps I'd gotten unlucky while Fez got lucky. The fact was that the cavalry soldier was still in pursuit of me. My body felt awfully light all of a sudden. Maybe those three months of work weren't just for show, but the speed of a human was not the same as a horse's in the end.

  The horse seemed to be having somewhat of a hard time running across the wasteland, and I was trying my best, but the distance between us gradually narrowed.

  "HAH!"

  I put both feet forward and slowed myself down with a slide to lower my speed. The lance of the cavalryman behind me passed right over my head and brushed against my hair. This was about the fourth or fifth time I'd avoided the lance trying to impale me. At first the soldier looked bewildered, but soon enough he started setting up the next attack immediately after I evaded. Perhaps he had gotten used to it.

  He seemed like a skilled rider, but that didn't do me any favors!

  "(pant) So... (pant) This is hard mode, huh...?"

  Words that I'd almost forgotten about slurred from my mouth as I caught my breath and prepared for the next attack. I didn't have anything on hand to make a weapon. All I had was my business suit that barely fit from all the running and workouts I'd done, and a bunch of potions. There was no way I could weaponize them. The big gash on my arm still bled quite a bit too, and my Stamina to keep me running was depleting rapidly.

  Even if I gave up and fell to my knees, I couldn't complain about it later. If this was a game, a normal player would have just thrown the controller against the nearest wall by now, but there was no reset button for reality. There were no extra lives if I met my end here.

  ---Is this what instinctive fear feels like?

  The shiver that ran across my left arm made my right arm feel heavier for some reason. Panic had started to set in and my body tensed up, but the joy and focus that surged from deep inside caused me to return to my senses.

  I wasn't getting off on my own suffering, but I was definitely one of those weirdos that got more and more excited the harder something became---I had the heart of a gamer.

  "Life may be a game, but you shouldn't underestimate the power of life."

  The horseman held his lance steady and dashed full speed towards me, ready to attack.

  "I'll say it now and I'll say it again. I'm a hardcore gamer! Pft, look down on life? Don't make me laugh. I play for keeps no matter what it is!"

  I ran towards a tall bush behind me.

  "Yeah, this is a hard level, but it's not that big of a deal! There's always a gimmick or two!"

  I timed the horseman racing behind me with his lance ready, and jumped horizontally. The sharp spearhead pierced the base of my neck all the way to the tip of my collar. Luckily it was a shallow wound... but it hurt like hell! There were no games out there that could reproduce the feeling of pain yet, so this was new for me.

  "Ngh...!"

  I rolled over onto the hard rock-filled ground and listened to the sharp neigh of the horse. He'd gotten thrown into a bush with thorns as thick as the spearhead that had pierced me just now.

  "So... The archers didn't chase me, eh? I like rises in difficulty, but that would have been a little too much."

  I got up off the ground. As the dirt and pebbles fell off my face, I looked around me and sighed in relief. There were no archers here. Seemed like the horseman was out of commission. I took a vitality potion out of my pouch and poured half of it on my wounds, and drank the rest.

  "The glass didn't break at all even after all that running? The desert labyrinth... Umm... Labyrinth #35, was it? They're my favorite glass seller from now on."

  A sharp pain ran through my body when I poured the potion over my wounds, but it faded away as the wounds themselves closed up. I tucked away the empty bottle back into the pouch. The thorny bush shook slightly---perhaps the horseman and the horse were on their last legs. I decided not to stick around long enough to find out and headed off to the labyrinth.

  ◇

  "Phew... I'm finally back."

  After reaching the cabin, I got some water with my usual pitcher and drank it up. I sat down to catch my breath on top of a wooden chair whose legs were a bit corroded by the moss from leaving it outside.

  "What can I do? I can't do much to liberate the villagers on my own. Even saving Ann alone would be difficult, especially with how I am now."

  Running away from a single horseman alone was hard enough, and there were still at least 30 more of them, according to Fez. Not to mention the three sets of 'Extended Knight Armor' out in the middle of the village.

  Storming in upfront was out of the question. Even coming up with a plan to sneak in and help Ann at the very least would be extremely hard as well. If I did it by night, the difficulty would be lower, but I had no guarantee Ann or the other villagers would not be taken away today.

  "Hmm? Did Ann forget this?"

  While I looked around trying to think of a plan, I found something on top of the table outside the cabin. A simple necklace made out of a strap and a silver ring, just like the one I'd bought for Ann.

  "It's wrapped up with a parchment... Heh. Hahahah... Ann, that's not fair."

  I spread out the parchment that the necklace was inside of, and a bitter laugh spilled out of my mouth. There were letters from this world written on it. Their shapes were somewhat different, but Daemon writing was roughly the same as Japanese.

  To Aoi,

  This is a present to celebrate the end of your apprenticeship. I had to cry for Mister Fez to drive down the price, and I managed to buy a ring just like the one you got me in the end! There's so many things you don't know about this world yet, and I'm always worried about you! This ring matches mine, so make sure you put it on, okay!?

  - Ann.

  I held the ring tightly... Yeah, it didn't bend even when I put a bunch of force on it. Guess this really wasn't pure silver. Fez, you dirty dog, I paid you at least 10000 DL when I bought Ann's! I supposed it was expected of a merchant to be as tricky as possible, though.

  "Ann, visual novel heroines use a little more roundabout methods these days, you know? Don't tell me you're the heroine of an otome game... Heh..."

  An amused laugh leaked out of my mouth. While laughing, I felt a certain something, accompanied by an uncontrollable heat overflowing from deep inside my heart.

  ---That sneaky little girl.

  This sort of heartbreaking twist wasn't popular nowadays. Was she trying to become a tragic heroine despite all I'd done? I couldn't help but laugh at myself for thinking about lowering the risks as much as possible.

  "Well done."

  I continued to laugh after finding my answer. I may have been able to find an ideal way if I'd gathered information and thought about it calmly, but I'd already decided I would save Ann...

  "Right now."

  Yes, that was what I promised Sara.

  Taking the funds I'd gathered from three months of work, plus my healthy body, and the high risk of me losing my life, into account... My range of options vastly expanded.

  ---So what if there's a power difference so large that I can't overturn it with a single sword or spear? Gamers live to turn around handicapped situations!

  But yeah, I'd like to avoid taking the wrong guess here. It wasn't like gamers at large, including myself, had no fears at all. It'd be more accurate to say we were one of the world's most cowardly beings. Even now, while a hot som
ething stirred my body and heart into action, there was still a slight shiver that ran down my spine. That was the very same reason we would do trial and error, all to prepare ourselves to take on hardship in all its forms.

  And so we stood up to fear, wielding the joy to overcome adversity, which burned bright, like a raging fire that consumed everything in its path. If I could wield that with both hands, then I had nothing to fear anymore.

  Shall we take this game of life seriously now? I guess it was about time.

  As I got up, ready to take action, I heard a very familiar sound of a door creaking open behind me... One I hadn't heard in over three months. And when the door closed with a sonorous slam, the scenery around me changed in an instant.

  ◇

  The sound of cars coming and going could be heard from outside of the window where the sunlight rays poured into the room, along with usual train and busy town noises. Instead of the feeling of my slightly crooked chair, it was the feeling of a springy cheap cushioned sofa that supported my weight. The pure, clean air of the bottom of the ravine was replaced by the characteristic cheap scent of instant coffee. I was back at that monotonous office building where everything started.

  "It's been a while, Kousaka-san."

  "It really has... Karumi-san..."

  The words were kind of stuck in my throat. The sudden change of scenery was a bit of a shock to me.

  "Your performance was outstanding. To put it briefly---well done! Even among all those that received training in the past, you achieved the highest ranking in terms of production and facility expansion."

  I could barely pay any attention to the congratulatory words being thrown at me. I looked over the room and spotted a business newspaper on the table. My heart was filled with relief by the date. Two months have passed from when I'd first started---we were in the end of August now.

  At the sight of this nostalgic, peaceful scene, I was filled with a sense of loss rather than relief from returning from another world.