Volume 1 Chapter 2 Part 1

Volume 1 Chapter 2 Part 1

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Extinct. Thats what Tiera had said.

The entire race of high humans was extinct.

...... Then what about humans, are there still humans?

Oh, theyre still around, huh.

Clearing up the misunderstanding helped Shin regain some small measure of relief.

Its the high humans that went extinct, not the humans.

Of course theyre different. In the past, a group of merely six high humans ruled over this entire continent of Leidimunt. If you pitted them against tens of thousands of humans the humans would still lose. Theyre on a completely different dimension.

Six people ruled over the continent?

The whole six people and continent ruling thing caught his attention and seemed to stir something in his memory. He felt like something like that did happen back then.

May I hear more about that?

............

It ended?

Dusk of the Majesty ...... I see.

Because the high humans also disappeared back then, it is now thought that they are extinct. There were only 6 of them, after all.

Sudden disappearance. Shin happened to know a little bit about that.

If its a phenomenon where a large number of people suddenly disappeared, its probably that.

(Its that day. The day I defeated Origin and everyone logged out. I dont have any conclusive evidence, but thats most likely the true character of this Dusk of the Majesty.)

When she was talking about kings and heroes, she was probably referring to the guilds and guildmasters. The number of people who were released that day numbered in the tens of thousands. Shin didnt know the exact number, but he was sure that there were tens of thousands of people trapped inside the game. To the eyes of the residents of this world, it must have looked like a sudden mass disappearance.

(Following that train of thought, then the six high humans who used to rule over the entire continent must have been ...)

Shin finally understood what it was that had caught his attention. Six high humans. Unmistakably,

(That was us ......)

Indeed, it was all the way back before THE NEW GATE became a death game, when it was still a normal VRMMO. In THE NEW GATE was a guild that was said to have been unbeatable.

That guild was comprised of 6 high humans and was calledRokuten [Six Heavens]. They had wiped out every major guild in THE NEW GATE, and within a month there was no player that did not know their name. They gained the reputation of mercilessly PKing any player who rose a voice in protest.

In this way, Shin had also been one of the six members of Rokuten. When he started playing he was frequently mocked for choosing the human race, so in a fit of other races arent such hotshots anyways!!! he and his guildmates decided to let loose and go ballistic on everyone else. To be honest, Shin considered it a really dark part of his past that he would never tell anyone about.

It goes without saying that all of the founding members were high humans. And they werent just any high human, all of them were mad players who had almost capped every stat. Even their weakest member had maxed out his HP and MP and had all other stats above 950.

They had slapped every major guild with a written challenge, then removed the limit on the number of participants for the guild war and taken on thousands of opponents at the same time with only the six of them. It was a crazy battle in which they had deployed ridiculously powerful AoE spells that reduced the entire field to cinders before ending it by giving all of the enemy leaders a thorough thrashing.

With such overpowered characters around, Shin wasnt sure if it was a blessing or a misfortune that he was the only member of Rokuten who got stuck inside the death game. If there was at least one more member with him, Shin was sure that they could have broken free at least 3 months faster.

............

Nah, nothing. So, we were talking about the currency?

Shin had a feeling that if he continued this conversation about high humans he would only be digging his own grave, so he steered the topic back to the currency.

Yea. So, this was the currency that you had been using?

Haaaa, taking out something so priceless just like that, I can almost believe your claim of being a high human.

It seems that she still doesnt believe that hes a high human.

Shin was puzzled at Tiera calling the coin priceless.

Is it really that valuable? A single Geyl?

In the game, 1 Geyl corresponded to 1 yen. The exchange rate to real money was 1:1000. Incidentally, there were hundreds of millions of Geyls in Shins inventory. It was a mystery why despite being gold coins and having the symbol G they were not actually called Gold.

Now Geyl gold coins, or G gold coins for short, are not things that you can get your hands on whenever you wanted. You might not know this, but Geyls are magical items that can amplify magical power. Sometimes people find them in ruins and auction them for at least 10 pieces of Jul white gold coins, which equals 1 billion Juls. Oh, Juls are the common currency nowadays. We usually say how many J gold coins or how many J silver coins or just simply how many J.

Magic casters would go to enormous lengths to own even one of these. Not counting the time Master showed me one, this is my first time seeing it. Im going to say this just in case, but 1 billion is merely the minimum price for one. People who really want it usually end up paying more than 10 times that.

Seldom is all I can say. Even when new ruins are found, theres no guarantee that there would be Geyls.

Is that so. I guess I would attract a lot of attention if I tried to cash this in, then.

Shin had originally planned to sell them as capital, but hearing how valuable they were he had to abandon even the plan of exchanging them for the current currency.

Thats a wise decision. You look like someone whod be careless about that sort of thing.

Do you have anything to sell? For starters, if you have any raw materials or items then we can buy them from you.

Thats a good idea. How about these?

Shin took out some item cards from his inventory. Back in the game, if you turned an item into a card and stored it in your inventory as a card, any more of that item that you put into your inventory would automatically be converted into card form and stack with the stack that you already have. Items in card form were basically a picture of that item. Afterwards you could return the item to its real form anytime you wanted.

What Shin placed on the counter in front of him were teeth, claws, hides, and meat from Tetra Grizzlies, Twin-Head Snakes, and Flame Boars and some brown jewels. There was a wide range of things you could do with raw materials, such as crafting things with them or selling them, so back during the game there were many places you could visit to trade them. Jewels were rare drops from defeating monsters that you could bring to a blacksmith to enhance or add an attribute to your weapon or equips. As such, they were worth a lot more than raw materials. The jewel cards that Shin had brought out this time were Grade 7, the lowest grade.

Item cards ......

No, if you have an inventory Im sure this is pretty normal for you. I dont think you know this, so Ill also say this just in case. Item cards are also relatively expensive, so you shouldnt take them out all willy-nilly either.

Thats what everyone does! Youre the one who is weird!

Mou, you just keep on throwing off my pace!

So saying Tiera deftly materialized the items from the cards and began to appraise them. Despite her surprise at seeing them it seems that she does know how to use them.

These are drops from Tetra Grizzlies, Twin-Head Snakes, and Flame Boars. Theyre all materials from ferocious monsters found only deep inside forests. Seriously, who are you?

But every single one of these monsters would take several knights to hunt ...... Forget it. There would be no end to it if I kept on being surprised at every single thing you say.

Shin had thought that they were monsters only for beginners but apparently they were surprisingly dangerous.

Well, dont worry about it. Rather than that, hows the appraisal coming along?

Since the currency is all different Im not sure if thats a lot or very little ......

Ohhh, lucky me. I gained a profit of more than 2 million.

Alright, yes please. Ah, you can keep that. Think of it as a gift to cement our future business relationship.

So said Shin while pointing at the Geyl gold coin that hed left on the counter.

............ youre joking, right?

Of course I would! Were you even listening to what I was saying just now?! In what world would someone simply give away a G gold coin worth hundreds of millions?!?!

This one.

Shin pointed at himself.

...... Im not going to give this back even if you come asking for it later!

No way I would!

The reproachful looking Tiera apparently lost to her fascination with the gold coin. She grabbed the coin with a quick motion and embraced it to her chest. Shin found himself unable to tear his eyes away from Tieras breasts, which had been emphasized by her arms pressing in from both sides.

Ahhh, the G gold coin that Ive even had dreams of~!

The reproach in Tieras face had been completely replaced by a rapt expression. Perhaps due to her slightly reddened cheeks, Shin felt a curious sex appeal from her. Shin chastised himself and lightly shook his head in an effort to dispel the unbidden improper thoughts.

Ahem, Im glad that you like it. Im sure that as an elf youd be using magic-

...... What?

Shin was about to say often anyways when Tiera suddenly interrupted him. Her face was now filled with fright and shock at what shed just heard.

....... What is it?

Ah, yes I did ...... eh? Youre not an elf?

Shin confirmed from his memory that small, pointed ears was a characteristic unique to only elves and high elves. He tilted his head in confusion, wondering if there was a race that he didnt know of.

Right now youre supposed to be seeing a red-haired black-eyed cat person!

Red-haired black-eyed cat person?

Cat people was a sub-race under Beasts that was highly popular with female players and a niche group of male players. There were numerous sub-races under Beasts, cat people being one of them, and there were further sub-classes within the cat people race, including Persian-type and calico-type. Their avatars had modeled hands, animal ears, and a tail, while some even had their body covered with feathers.

Huh? thought Shin as he looked at Tiera again, but all he saw was a black-haired golden-eyed beautiful young elf girl. There was no red-haired black-eyed cat person to be found.

All I can see is a black-haired golden-eyed beautiful young elf girl. Yep.

How can this be ......

He did intentionally emphasize the beautiful young girl part, but it was like she didnt notice it at all.

How come? Master had cast illusion magic on me!

Illusion magic?

Illusion magic was usually used to confuse an opponent or trick them into falling into a trap. There was a member of Rokuten who specialized in it, so Shin had a very vivid impression of it.

Uuu ...... to think that it would be seen through ......

Tiera was looking downcast like it was the end of the world. Shin frantically thought of a way to hearten the suddenly depressed Tiera, but no matter how hard he wracked his brain nothing came up. So he decided to explain the reason behind how he saw through the illusion.

Ummm, Tiera?

Wha-what?

Hed intended to speak to her softly, but Tiera looked almost excessively afraid.

Its about me being able to see that youre an elf. Its actually due to my constitution.

Yes. Illusion magic is for confusing an opponent and making them see an illusion. However, it doesnt work on someone with an extremely high magic resistance. Thats why I can see your real form.

But ...... regardless of how high your magic resistance is, to see through an illusion cast by Master ......

Tiera looked like she was having a hard time believing Shins explanation. According to Shins memory, Tieras Master, Schnee, was a level 255 high elf. Being a magic-focused elf and also belonging to one of the higher races must have made her magic very powerful, but there was still a lot of room for improvement to her stats, especially when compared to Shin. In combination with the extra magic resistance from Shins high human race, the illusion had failed to even register in Shins eyes.

Shin sighed and wondered what to do.

Hey.

You can see what I really look like, right?

............

There was no response. Its pretty tough being ignored, thought Shin despondently.

...... Youre not scared?

As Shin was regretting making stupid jokes that he wasnt used to making, Tiera let out a voice that he almost missed. That voice was like that of a very frightened child.

What is there to be scared of?

Shin started taking it seriously and talked to Tiera as gently as he could.

Asking if herself was a monster.

When Tiera asked that in a trembling voice, the face of one of the previous members of Rokuten floated into Shins head.

Because of how fun he found the game, Shin was proud of having logged so many hours that he was called a gamer addict, but this other member who had been hospitalized for a long time considered even that just more time to play.

When this topic came up in one of their offline meet-ups and this member confessed to feeling this way, the feeling that he got from that member back then bore strong resemblance to what Tiera was giving off right now.

In clearer terms, that feeling was the fear of having revealed your true self to someone else.

Shin remembered that fortunately, there wasnt a single person in Rokuten who actually minded something like that, so that member was very relieved.

Since hed experienced something similar before, this time Shin was able to maintain his composure and handle the situation appropriately.

...... You also dont know this, huh ...... Black-haired elves are symbols of misfortune.

Tiera answered with her head still bowed.

Symbol of misfortune, huh.

Yes, symbol. You see, all elves are born with white hair. As they grow up, it gradually changes to other colors, like blond, silver, green, or blue. I dont know if you can believe it or not, but my hair also used to be silver.

Tiera mumbled with a self-deprecating look on her face.

But now its jet black. Elves hair dont turn black. Ever.

Yes, thats why elves with black hair are unnatural and attract disasters. It was the same in my case. For example, really strong monsters would always come attack me. Due to that, I was chased out of my village.

When I was wandering around, with nowhere to go, Master found me. She said that the area around this store was surrounded by a powerful barrier so monsters wouldnt come here. I havent left this store for more than a hundred years now.

It is, but here I am able to live without causing problems for anyone else, so its fine like this.

Shin wanted to shout, Theres no way that its fine! He really wanted to tell her that being stuck inside the store for a hundred years is definitely not a good state to be in. However, he knew that just saying them wouldnt change anything, so he kept it in. He held his fist so tightly that it hurt.

It hasnt even been a whole day since their meeting, so Shin was also not sure why he was feeling such indignation and resentment on her part. However, he couldnt just sit still after seeing her like this, so he wracked his mind thinking of how he could help her.

According to Shins knowledge, there was no such backstory for elves. If this world was truly THE NEW GATE, then there has to be a proper reason for her situation.

...... Tiera, I want to confirm something.

So, from what you were saying, if your hair used to be silver, why is it black now?

Shin felt that understanding that might lead to a hint.

One day, it just suddenly turned black.

Yes, suddenly. I went to sleep like normal and when I woke up it was all black. At that time, I didnt know what was happening, and was so scared.

Tiera hugged herself as her body started to shake from reliving the memories. Shins mind whirred into high gear comparing the facts from Tieras story to all the information inside his head.

Hair color changing suddenly ...... being attacked by monsters ............ hair color ...... changing a characters color scheme ...... monsters ...... numerous attacks ...... many times ...... strong ............ changing a characters color scheme and making them susceptible to monster attacks? Thats ...... !!

Sure of the existence of an answer, Shin was muttering to himself when a light went off in his head. If he remembered correctly, then there is one possibility that matched with these conditions.

There is ...... There is one!! There is one status that fits the story exactly!

Eh? Wh-what?

Shin suddenly shouted and fixed Tiera with his stare. At his sudden shout, Tiera shook with nervousness.

Why did I even forget? But this ...... hm? Strange, why doesnt the status show up? I seem to remember setting it to automatically activate, though.

Shin was staring at Tiera because he was trying to see her status screen. If Shins prediction was correct, then it should show up clearly on her status.

OK, open the Skills window, analyze ...... analyze ...... f-found it. Oh, I have it to Show only for monsters and players, huh. If I just turn this back on, then ......

After fixing the settings, Shin stared at Tiera again. From Tieras point of view, though, all she saw was Shin squinting at empty air and moving his fingers. She was a bit apprehensive at what he was doing, but a small seed of hope which had taken root inside her chest gave her courage and dispelled the apprehension.

Alright, I can see your status now. As long as I have that ...... I see your name, level, race, and ...... ! YEAAAHHHH ITS HEREEEE!!!!!!

Shin couldnt help making a guts pose at seeing his guess confirmed. From a while ago, Tiera had been jumping at every eccentric mannerism from Shin.

(T/N: Guts pose is a yes I did it! pose. Google image it if youre curious.)

Tiera, be glad! I found out the real reason behind the misfortune!

Not huh. Theres no doubt, since its showing up on the display. The reason why your hair colored changed and you started getting attacked by monsters is because ofCursed Gift.

Cursed Gift?

Tiera didnt understand what he was saying and looked at him blankly.

In THE NEW GATE,Cursed Giftwas a random occurrence. As implied by its name, its a curse.

Players could earn titles, otherwise called Gifts, inside the game through certain determined actions, such as clearing a quest or obtaining the relevant item. Depending on the Gift, the player could get a small bonus to their stats or even be able to learn a new skill.

In contrast to that, all players were susceptible to a randomly granted Gift calledCursed Gift. It could only be removed through the itemDroplet of Purificationor the Holy Arts-Type SkillPurification. As long as it remained, the player would experience lowered stats, inexplicable unnatural debuffs, and random attacks from unique powerful monsters. The way to get it was completely random, and a part of the body of the player would automatically turn black. It would be marked on the players character screen by an icon of a laughing shinigami mask.

And indeed, on Tieras character screen Shin clearly saw the icon of the laughing shinigami mask.

Alright. Now that we know what it is, the solution is simple. Tiera, would you mind coming out from behind the counter and stand here in the middle of the store?

Su-sure ......

Confused and unsure of what was going on, Tiera obediently walked to the middle of the store without much protest.

Im going to start. ActivatePurification!!

To exorcise the curse, Shin faced Tiera, stuck out his right hand, and activated the Holy Arts-Type SkillPurification. Its a skill normally to priests but due to certain circumstances Shin had also acquired it.

Slowly, golden light gathered around the right hand that Shin was holding out. At the same time, golden light enveloped Tieras entire body.

What ...... is this ...... Its warm ......

Tiera was surprised at the light but due to the warmth it conveyed, she felt no danger. She stood there basking in the sensation of being completely cleansed that originated from somewhere in her body.

After about 5 minutes, the light gradually dimmed, then disappeared.

Even after the light was gone, Tiera remained still for a while, feeling peaceful and blissful until she suddenly returned to her senses and looked around with a what just happened? look on her face.

...... The icon is gone, but ...... was it ...... a success?

So muttered Shin in bewilderment. He was looking at Tieras status window, and the shinigami icon was indeed gone. However, a successful exorcism of the curse normally also reverted the effects of the color change. In this case, Tieras hair still remained black, but now there was silver highlight in it.

As it was still unclear whether the curse was gone or not, an indescribable atmosphere filled the air.

Sooo ...... how did it go?

Mmm, the curse is gone, but ...... yea. I guess the hair color didnt fully revert back to its original color.

Before the celebration was the bad news.

Hair?

Ahh ...... Im sorry, only a small part of your hair regained its color. Just in case ...... you might want to confirm it.

Shin spoke despondently. He retrieved a mirror from his inventory and offered it to Tiera. Hearing the word hair, Tiera snatched the mirror from Shins hand and held it in front of her eyes.

Tiera saw her own face in the mirror. It looked the same as ever. However, the single tuft of hair covering her face had changed to a dazzling silver color.

That was without a doubt the color that Tieras hair had before.

............ *sobs* ...... *sobs*

When she saw it, her eyes misted over, and a trickle of tears flowed down her cheek.

As the first drop left her cheek and fell through the air, it was as though a dam behind her eyes had burst open, and her tears gushed out seemingly without end.

Uuuu ...... *sobs* ...... eeeuuuuhhh ......

Tiera cried silently while wiping her tears with her sleeves.

In front of Tiera stood a man who looked like the very culmination of confusion.

Needless to say, that man was Shin.

If it was a little child it would be one thing, but seeing a girl who who he couldnt deny being an adult crying in front of him, added to the knowledge that he himself might have been the reason for the tears, placed Shin in a position that pushed the very limits of his minds processing power.

*sniffle* ...... wait a ...... *hic* ...... mo-moment ...... Ill calm down ...... soon, so ......

I-I understand. Its fine to take your time, alright? Ill wait here as long as you need.

Coming back to his senses after being talked to, Shin finally thought to take out a towel (there were no handkerchiefs in the game so he made do with an accessory item instead) and handed it to Tiera. He then pulled the chair out from behind the counter and had her sit on it. After that, he just stood there awkwardly waiting for her tears to stop.

Volume 1 Chapter 2 Part 2

After about five minutes, Tiera raised her face from the towel. Though the tears had stopped, her eyes were still red.

Im sorry, Im fine now.

Whats with the maam?

No, well, its just that even though the curse has been lifted, most of your hair didnt go back to its original color, so I feel kinda sorry about that ......

The whole time when Tiera was crying, Shin had felt like he was on pinpricks. He was filled with trepidation that they were going to repeat that scene again.

From what he was seeing so far, though, Tiera wasnt giving off any indication that she was angry. Shin was getting jumpy with anticipating her mood. Ironically, their positions had been reversed.

Oh, please dont start acting formal with me because of that! The thing with the hair is over. I havent seen my own hair color for more than a hundred years, so Im actually really happy about getting even a little bit of it back.

Tiera smiled, and she really did look very happy. She was smiling the peaceful smile of someone who had retrieved something precious that she had lost for a long time. There was no longer any vestiges of when she had been quaking with fear.

Im a bit relieved at hearing you say so, but ...

But I thought girls hair was their life, Shin wanted to say. His mom had told him so. So had his little sister and his female friends. Therefore, he found it a bit hard to be fully satisfied with how things turned out.

Its my hair and Im saying that its alright, so lets just leave it at that. Rather than that, is it true that my curse is gone?

Ah, theres no doubt on that count. I think that if you try stepping out of the store youd be able to confirm it.

Since Tiera herself was insisting on it, Shin decided to acquiesce and consider the issue over.

The main effect that Tiera had been suffering from wasIncreased Encounter Rate with Unique Monsters, so unless she stepped out of the monster-warding barrier around Tsuki no Hokora, there would be no way to confirm that the curse was gone.

It was Shin who had set up this barrier, therefore it was so high level that even unique monsters could not invade. Perhaps due to THE NEW GATEs attempt to make the game world as real as possible, there were very few indestructible objects in existence. On the other hand, there were bandit players who would target player shops like what Shin was running. Therefore, there existed numerous Barrier-Type skills to discourage or even prevent intrusion.

Honestly, Im still a bit afraid. Theres this nagging fear in me that the curse has not yet been lifted.

Eh? Eehhhh??? Youve also had this curse before?!?

Ah, I also had a lot of high level monsters come after me. Theres no doubt thatPurificationclears this curse.

Shin had gotten the curse when his stats were somewhere in the mid-800s. For him, though, the endless waves of unique monsters was merely a good opportunity to gain levels.

Well, lets see. So far, out of all the monsters that have come to attack you, whats the highest level that you have seen?

The ones above Lesser Dragons?

Ah, if its only that much, then itll be a cinch.

Horn Dragons looked like Lesser Dragons (Wingless Small Dragon) but were roughly double in size and had a single horn growing from their forehead. Lesser Dragons were around level 100, but Horn Dragons surpass that and are around level 200. He had just confirmed that Tiera was level 57, so there was no way that she could have beat them.

In THE NEW GATE, the max level for players and their support characters was 255, but the max level for monsters was 1000. Roughly 4 times stronger than the players. This was for the high level players like Shin who repeatedly reincarnated to play with. For players like the members of Rokuten, who could easily beat many bosses by themselves, to not get bored, the game had monsters that even they cant handle without proper preparation.

For Shin, level 1000 monsters was the norm. As such, level 200 were lower than trash mobs in his eyes.

A cinch ...... when a Horn Dragon comes out the Knights Orders Elite Squad would have to come, you know.

Theyre not elite-sounding, they are real elites. The best of the best. When you came here, you saw the castle walls on your way, right?

Thats the fortified wall that encircles the Berylricht Kingdom. The Squad Leader of the Elite Squad of the Knights Order of that country is level 158, if I remember right. The Horn Dragon is around level 200, so its still 40 levels higher than the Squad Leader. If you claim to be able to easily beat such an overpowered monster, then people would think that you either have a screw loose somewhere in your head or that youre making an empty boast.

Yes, it would be unreasonable for even the 2nd most powerful person of the kingdom to handle it alone.

It appears that Tiera thought Shin was surprised at how high the Squad Leaders level was.

If there were two or three monsters with higher levels than a Horn Dragon, then this Order would be overwhelmed, thought Shin. He didnt say it out loud, though.

...... Well, its true that it wouldnt be a problem, so come on, lets step out of the shop.

I was listening. More like, after hearing it I was even more reassured that there wouldnt be a problem.

Yep.

Its 255. So?

............

She became quiet. Shin was saying it as it was, but Tiera found it hard to believe.

Tiera?

Yes, my level is 255. For what its worth, my level is indeed the same as Schnee.

Really.

Really really.

Stop, stop! How many times are you going to repeat that?!

nn ......

It was becoming a Really Relay so Shin put a stop to it.

(T/N: is more like confrontation or showdown, but puns are fun! :P)

Cant you useAnalyze? Ive the restriction off so if you just take a look you would know.

What are skill inheritors?

...... I am starting to have strong doubts about your common sense.

It appears that this was another thing that everyone who lived in this world knew. However, Shin had just arrived in this world, so talking to him with the assumption that hed know this worlds common sense would get nowhere. So much had changed since it was a game that if someone just gave him an astounded look he wouldnt be able to make heads or tails of it.

Ive been living by myself for such a long time that I dont know much of the common sense of this world.

He couldnt really say that the last time he was here it was a game, so he went with the story of being someone who had lived away from society for a long time. He figured that this way, he would have an excuse for lacking information regarding this world.

I see. From now on, I can teach you everything that you need to know, so if you have any questions then feel free to ask me.

Yoroshiku onegaishimasu.

Shin bowed his head while feeling thankful for the Tiera that had been answering all of his questions so far.

So, about skill inheritors. As you can tell from the name, these are people who inherit long-lost skills. Ever since the Dusk of the Majesty, a lot of skills have been lost. Nowadays, there are probably less than a hundred skills left.

Less than a hundred ......

Shin was unable to hide his shock. He knew that there were a lot of skills in THE NEW GATE, but the number that Tiera gave was less than a tenth of the original number.

Nowadays, just being able to use a skill would merit you favorable treatment. People like adventurers or knights who fight for a living use Arts, a weakened version of skills. The names and effects remain the same, but Arts only have a third of the power of skills. Im a magic-caster too, but the skills that Master had shown me were on a completely different level from the Arts that I had been using so far.

Gotcha, so Arts are a weakened version of skills. Can you level up each of the Arts separately?

There are levels to skills. An example would beAnalyze X. After the skill name is a number from I to X (T/N: 1 to 10 in Roman numerals), which makes for easy recognition. The lowest is I, the highest is X. Most attack skills dont have levels, its mainly the Support-Type skills that do.

I know that there are skills that have levels, but Arts dont.

So they have to rely on Arts when they fight, huh. Sounds tough.

Shin himself had a wide range of skills, so he couldnt help thinking how tough it would be to be using weakened versions of them.

What about you, how many skills can you use? From the way you were talking just now, you dont only have one, right? Two? Three? Dont tell me you have 4.

Hah? A thousand? What? Did I hear wrong?

Tiera thought she had misheard and tilted her tilted quizzically at Shin, who was now saying how there were a lot of them that hed never actually used before. Well, she knew what she had heard, but it was so far removed from this worlds common sense that she couldnt help but think that it was a joke.

Sometimes going too far loses all sense of reality.

You dont haveAnalyze? Hmm, I guess you still wouldnt be able to see my level with onlyAnalyze I. It wont hurt to still have it, though. Okay, Ill useBook of Secrets Creationnow.

?

Tiera tilted her head again at Shin, who was now moving his fingers around in midair.

Its done. Here you go.

What is this?

What Shin had handed to Tiera was a scroll.

Skills are developed separately from character level. When a skill has been leveled up to a certain point, the player gains special bonuses like increased damage or getting to learn another related skill. Some special skills also allow the player to make aBook of Secrets.

Some skills also have level requirements, so its not possible to use skills beyond your level by learning them through aBook of Secrets.

It would not be an exaggeration to say that every player hadAnalyze. There were no requirements for using the skill, and it was so low level that there was practically no limit to the number ofBook of Secretsthat each player could make of it. Thus Shin had no qualms about making one right on the spot.

Its theBook of Secretsfor Analyze. I think that if you read that, you would learn the skill.

He was quite certain thatBook of Secretswould work even for support characters. If it didnt actually work, he was prepared to just make an apology. For this kind of thing you wouldnt know until you actually tried it.

I can learn a skill just by using this? But I dont have anything to give you as compensation.

Compensation?

He had meant to give it to her without any recompense, but it looked like Tiera would not accept it.

As I said just now, skills are extremely valuable! Being able to learn a skill is an enormous deal, and usually involves large piles of money or taking someone in as an apprentice or disciple. You arent going to tell me that youre giving it to me for free, right?

For now, stop giving it to every random person you meet. It would be a very big deal. Depending on the circumstances, people might come after your life.

THAT big a deal?!?

It hadnt crossed his mind that a single skill would be a big enough deal for people to die over. Shin decided in his heart to only ever giveBook of Secretsto people that he could trust.

Dont be too anxious. Anyways, youre fine, so could you try using this for me?

Like I would!!

Shin wanted to retorted, What am I, a vicious swindler?, but if there was a real possibility that people might target their lives then her caution was understandable.

Is giving away skills for free your modus operandi?

To me, this is already plenty valuable. Anyone in possession of multiple skills would already be a huge deal.

What a luxurious worry ...... Fine, alright. If youre going to insist on it so much, Im going to accept it without restraint.

Yes, I offered it to you so that you would accept it. Rather, it would be problematic for me if you didnt.

For now, it seems Tiera was finally convinced, and she accepted theBook of Secrets. At Shins urging, she opened it right there and then.

As she started reading, a pale light green glow surrounded Tieras body, lasting about 10 seconds.This was the visual effect of a character successfully acquiring a skill. It appears that she had indeed successfully learned the skill.

How is it?

In the game,Book of Secretsdidnt have actual text. When they are used, they just disappear, so Shin was curious how it felt to use them now.

It was a very strange feeling. When I opened the scroll, the usage and effects ofAnalyzejust automatically came into my head. It wasnt an uncomfortable feeling, though.

Heh, it was like that, huh.

While verbally expressing his admiration, inside he was feeling relieved at the success. If it didnt work, it would have been very awkward for him.

I can see your name, but everything else is a weird symbol that I dont recognize.

Ehh, so by all rights, I shouldnt even be able to see your name. I also now know about the skills levels and what each field is. So even though I cant see your level, I understand that that very fact is proof that you are quite powerful.

Youve already done so much for me that I have no choice but to believe you.

Due to having receivedAnalyze, Tiera could now somehow believe Shins words. However, there was still a fear of being attacked by strong monsters that had been ingrained in her from experience.

Just in case, Ill leave first and look around before calling out to you. When you hear my voice, please come out.

Understood.

To make sure, Shin first left Tsuki no Hokora and surveyed the surroundings. He also usedSearchat the same time, and confirmed that there were no monsters nearby.

Its clear!

Tiera stuck out her head from the door of the store, looked around, gathered her resolve, and stepped out.

BothBarrier XandWall Xhad been cast around Tsuki no Hokora.Barrier Xis an invisible wall that completely shuts out all monsters within level 900 to 1000 and below (level is derived from the entitys stats) and nullifies and deflects attacks from them. Similarly,Wall Xis an invisible wall that completely nullifies attacks from all players within level 230 to 255 and below (here, too, level is derived from stats). Both were the strongest versions of their respective skills, so even someone using the skillIgnore [Slip Through]would be unable to invade.

Incidentally, with the wrong permission settings onWall Xeven normal customers would be refused entry, so it needed to be used carefully. When Shin was running the shop, he had set it so that on top of shutting out armed invaders, it was also forbidden to use skills or equip anything while inside.

At the moment, the two spells were deployed in a 20 mel radius around Tsuki no Hokora.

Come over here.

O-okay.

At Shins beckoning, Tiera slowly walked over. Shin was standing 1 mel outside the barrier, so standing next to him would inevitably mean leaving the barrier.

............

............

Shin was keeping an eye on their surroundings, and Tiera was feeling very nervous so for a while there was no conversation between them.

After five minutes, there was still no change in their surroundings. A warm wind ruffled their hair.

Nothings happening, eh?

Nothings happening indeed.

They waited five more minutes before Shin judged that there were no longer any problems. If the curse was still active, it would have called at least one monster already within the past ten minutes.

Not seeing any monsters, eh?

Indeed.

The first five minutes were extremely nerve-wracking, but Tiera gradually gained the composure to look around.

The curse has been lifted, see?

It seems so, yes.

Tiera answered Shins questions while looking up at the sky.

She could feel the wind, drink in the light from the sun, and breathe in the fragrance of the forest. An overwhelming sense of nostalgia blossomed inside Tieras chest.

Shin felt greatly relieved while looking at Tiera, who was in turn looking at the sky. With this, Tiera no longer had to fear the shadow of monsters nor fear bringing disaster to people around herself. She was now free to step outside of the store whenever she wanted.

The sky is really broad, isnt it?

Yes it is.

Tiera murmured that fact as if shed just remembered it.

For a while after that, Shin and Tiera just stood there and gazed at the sky.

At the corner of Tieras eye something sparkled, but Shin remained silent.

Shall we go back in sometime soon?

When Tiera said that, Shin turned to look at Tiera.

Lets do that.

In the first place, they had left the shop to confirm that the curse had been dispelled, so without any further objections they went back into the store.

At any rate, it seems that the curse has really been removed.

After returning behind the counter, Tiera was earnestly muttering to herself. Though she understood it with her head, it would take quite some while for it to start feeling real.

Just saying, butPurificationis also a skill. If I had to say, its one of the rarer ones. It took me a lot of trouble to get it, so it would have been problematic for me if it didnt work.

How come? Though it is indeed a skill, shouldnt most of the priests have it?

I guess if the effect was just lowering your stats then you might have been able to do something about it, huh.

That that would have been dangerous in its own way was left unsaid. The moment the curse affected her, her stats would have been dropped to a tenth of their previous value, making her easy prey for any trash monster. That would have been scary in its own right.

Now that its been lifted, theres no need to dwell on it any longer.

Yep. Black-haired elves might still be feared and hated, but now that not all of my hair is black Im sure they wont hate me as much anymore.

Thats right. When affected by the curse, even when I dyed my hair it would immediately go back to being black, so just having a part thats not black would show people that Im not cursed anymore.

Is that so.

Back during the game, nobody tried dyeing their hair for that reason, so Shin was thinking, So thats how it is. In the first place, every player who got the curse would immediately use an item or visit a priest, so it was just that nobody had ever thought of it.

Oh right, Id almost forgotten, but here is your payment for the raw materials and jewels.

Tiera placed a bag bulging with coins onto the counter as she spoke. It was filled with more than 50 pieces of gold and silver coins, so it was pretty big.

Would I be able to put this into my inventory?

He tried just in case, and thankfully on top of the line showing G currency, a new line for J currency appeared and noted down the 26 J gold coins and 27 J silver coins.

The money disappeared ...... how convenient!

Tieras face looked like she really wanted an inventory too, but this was one thing that really couldnt be helped, so Shin just smiled wryly. It would be a different matter if he had the item for expanding inventory, but he didnt have one on hand.

At any rate, it appears that I wont be in want for an inn tonight.

Ah, there are a few things that I want to check up on. Do you know of any good places for information gathering?

I see. In that case, please wait a while, I have something good to give you as an extra service.

So saying, Tiera went inside the door behind the counter that led to the house side. According to Shins memory, there was a break room back there.

About three minutes later, Tiera reappeared, and held out a piece of paper towards Shin.

And this is?

A letter of introduction from Tsuki no Hokora. With this in hand, you wont need to line up to get into the kingdom.

So it seems that one needs to line up to get into the kingdom. This letter was a great help to Shin, who wanted to find an inn before nightfall.

This would be a great help. Im going to pass on having to sleep outside after coming this far. But are you sure? Wouldnt it be a problem giving this letter of introduction to someone that youd met just today?

Shin knew that it would be bad if this fell into the wrong hands, but Tiera shook her head vigorously.

You dispelled a curse that I didnt think could be dispelled, and on top of that you are really strong. In addition, youre really good-natured ...... This isnt nearly enough to pay you back for what youve done.

Don-Dont worry about it! Anyways, theres no problem, so just take it already!

So saying, Tiera pressed the letter of introduction upon Shin. She was trying to hide her blushing face by looking down, but since her ears were all red it was all too obvious.

I get it, I get it. Very well, I will accept this gratefully.

Shin failed to notice the blushing, though. If it was happening to anyone else, he would notice, but because he didnt get many opportunities to get thanked, he was very thick about these kinds of things.

(T/N: Lol where would we be without our thick-headed main characters?)

Well then, Ill be going. When I get more drops from killing monsters Ill come back and sell them to you, so please take care of me then.

I got it. Seeya!

We will await your future patronage.

Like a proper salesclerk, Tiera bowed respectfully while seeing off Shin, who lightly waved back and left Tsuki no Hokora behind him.

Volume 1 Chapter 2 Part 3

After leaving Tsuki no Hokora, Shin cut straight through the forest, arrived in front of the castle walls, then started walking along them. He didnt know where the entrance was, so he just followed his intuition. He figured that there would be one somewhere along the wall, so he set off at a quick pace.

Still, this wall really does look pretty sturdy.

Now that he was getting a closer look, he was slightly impressed again.Analyzeonly gives detailed information about monsters and players, so he couldnt see much information about the wall. However, he could tell that each of the enchantments cast on it were at least level V. According to what Tiera had said about how valuable skills are, Shin guessed that there must be pretty excellent skill inheritors around.

After walking for about 15 minutes, he spotted a line in front of the castle walls. It seems that the castle gate was over there.

Drawing near, he saw a large variety of people and clothing. There was a human young man wearing tattered clothing, a Beast woman covered with armor, and a dwarf leading a small dragon. There was someone wearing a robe who was most likely a mage, and there was someone riding a large wagon who was probably a merchant. Shin looked around curiously at the diversity in the slow moving line. While inside the game, all of the players had dressed up all neatly and tidily (given that there were those who chose to not do so), so Shin was slightly surprised at the how different it was now.

By the time he got close enough to see the castle gate, he also noticed soldiers who were probably townsguards checking peoples identification papers and briefly inspecting the luggage in the wagons. Tiera had told him that with the letter of introduction she gave him he wouldnt have to line up, so he continued walking straight up to the gate.

As a result of him walking outside of the line, when he got to 20 mels of the gate the townsguards noticed him. They looked suspiciously at Shin, who was approaching without lining up.

When he got within 10 mels of the gate, one of the four townsguard