GROWL! The fox demon jumped towards me in broad daylight.

I hid under my arms in fear. But nothing happened. I once again looked and to my surprise, my eyes widen, the man saved me again. His hand bitten and bleeding.

But he smiled like he felt only minimal damage and shouted at one of his party.

"Cast Shadow Grip now!"

The girl in a black cloak and scarlet robe replied:

"Behold! I cast the mighty spell that engulfs any light! The power harvested from the shadow realm! Suffer! SHADOW GRIP!"

Suddenly the fox's shadow started acting weird. Something came out of its shadow, it was like a tentacle and gripped every fox demon on the area paralyzed.

The Fox demons howled in pain.

"SHADOW SLAs.h.!.+" The man who wore a black cloak and silver chestplate screamed.

In a blink of an eye, the pack of fox demons was hacked and slashed to pieces as he returns his sword into his scabbard.

"That's awesome.." I awed as I marvel at his swordsmans.h.i.+p. Well, I've seen this ability already when my sister Namimi was using a shadow swordsman. It looked flashy and boring in the game but in real life, it looked something amazing and grandeur. I was in shock.

"That was crazy. That blade was created with the best iron there was. What happened?" the one who saved me asked.

"Umm. It was because of my Cu..." I haven't finished replying when suddenly I couldn't speak. My vision started to static again and my ear rang a painful discord.

The curse appeared again.

*CURSE: REPENT*

+The user is unable to tell anyone about the curse and any kinds of information related to the power of Nas.h.i.+ki.

My eyes started to bleed as well as my ears. Time seemed to stop since they were standing still and the birds flying were frozen in the air.

Then a countdown appeared.

*CURSE: REPENT*

+Each time these rules are broken, it will rewind back to 3 seconds.

3..

2..

1..

"That was crazy. That blade was created with the best iron there was. What happened?" his question repeated.

"Oh, umm... It was because.." I had to think of a valid reason.

"Ummm... It was... It was because of my poor swordsmans.h.i.+p. Yeah. That's it!" I felt a cold sweat dripped from my forehead.

"That was a long pause before you could answer. Are you hiding something from us?" he raised his eyebrow.

I panicked.

"Just kidding. Don't worry, I'm just fooling around." He laughed at me and his party laughed with him...

"I'm Arnel by the way." he started to introduce himself and his companions.

To shorten their introductions, they are:

Arnel, the shadow swordsman, wearing a black cloak and silver chest plate, and similar clothing that I wear. He's taller than me and looked like a college football player. He had looked.

Elena, the shadow mage, wearing a black cloak and scarlet robe. Her face is clearly hidden in a mask. She's taller than Arnel and seems to whisper something at him.

Ayumi, the shadow thief, wearing black cloak and umm.. she was too revealing... She wore a black cloth that covered her chest revealing her cleavage and abdomen. She wears pants of a s.h.i.+n.o.bi shozuko. Her appearance is pet.i.te and hides her face for a reason. I saw a glimpse of her pouting. She's cute.

Ymil, the shadow warrior, wears full armor drenched in black and a black cloak. He wields a two-handed greatsword. His appearance is big and masculine, like a scary guy.

So that's basically all of them. Well, my appearance didn't really change, the only thing different from me is my face and hair.

"I.. I'm Yakiro.." I am unable to tell them the Nas.h.i.+ki name. I still have trust issues left and they suddenly brought this up to me.

"Wanna join our party?" Arnel asked.

"Um... I don't think that's a good idea." I reject.

"Come on, partner. We can help each other here."

Partner? Since when did I become your partner?

"How can I even help when I can't wield weapons."

"You can be our supporter. You'll carry our stash, potions and extra pieces of equipment. You'll be at the rear together with Elena."

"Still, I don't see how I can benefit from this."

"You'll easily level up from us. We'll share our earnings too and you can sleep and eat. Ain't that a good ol' deal?" He smiled at me as he pats me at my back.

I was able to see his stats.

Arnel, Shadow Swordsman.

Lvl. 30

His stats were S too.

So I guess I can stay. I stared at Ayumi for a sec. She's adorable. She caught me looking at her and she quickly avoided the eye contact and started pouting again. Seems like she's a shy one. Well, it's a win for me. As long as there's Ayumi.

"I guess I'll join.."

"That's great!" He hugged me off the ground then released me as I landed back on my feet.

"Let's shake on it!" Arnel smiled widely, beaming ear to ear.

I reached for his hand and abruptly clasped my hand like a beast.

"Woah."

His grip was strong and made me think that my fingers already broke. I looked at my health bar and it suddenly started decreasing by 1 point each second.

"That's it! We're now party members!" He smiled as well as I am. Looks like this will be easy for me now. I'll level up in no time.

Wait I seem to be forgetting something.

"Wait. A handshake that's all? There's no process and no notification at all?" Oops, I said notification. Maybe they don't know what I meant but I was wrong. He started fiddling his fingers in the air and suddenly I received a mail.

I opened it and obtained 10 berries.

"That's the proof of our cooperation. We are now party members, partner."

Seems like people in this world could use this like they were taught since they were still a child. Seems like they're used to it already. Maybe it's normal for them here.

I took three berries and ate them. My health restored fully.

I looked around only to find the sun setting down. It was already getting dark. We really took our time fighting the fox demons. We started looting.

I earned a fox demon stone, fur, leather, fox demon claws, it's fang and a few fox berries. I don't know what the fox demon stone does. The fox demon berry had a description, however.

+Earn strength boost and attack boost.

So I guess this is used for strength potions.

The night has arrived and we started to walk. They said there's a town nearby and it'll only take an hour to get there.

I was walking then I felt someone pulling my cloth. I looked behind and found Ayumi. She was kind of worried and the look of her face was priceless. Maybe she already likes me! Man! This is what I like about going to the other world!

It felt like it was out of a novel!

"Umm.." Ayumi tried to speak but Elena interfered.

"Ayumi. Please leave him alone. He is tired as well."

"Y-yes!" She let go and continued walking behind me.

She's just cute! I starting to gain a bit of my humanity here.

An hour and a half pa.s.sed as we arrived at the gate of the village. It was separated by a river and connected the path with a drawbridge. It had pillars on each side and archer towers that connect to the wall every 5 meters apart. There was a wooden plank with a sign that's hanging atop with the chain as its foundation.

*Welcome to Chesprych Village*

A notification popped out as soon as I stepped on the drawbridge.

Woah. This is so cool. So cool! I looked at my party and they seem to be calm. I was like a kid talking to myself. I should probably behave. Especially when I just got revived from a hideous reality.

We went into town and everything was built in cobblestone and bricks. There are wooden structures too and the road is just pure dirt. I still had no boots yet so it was kind of hard for me to walk. There were sc.r.a.ps of metals and rocks on the road. And every time I step on them, I would take 0.5 damage.

There were still people around even it's already dark. The path was lit up with torches and the brightest building seen was the castle in the middle of the village.

But something feels off. All the people surrounding us seemed scared of us. They wouldn't even dare to look at us especially Arnel.

We've arrived at an Inn.

"I'll go in first and after I've arranged I'll tell you guys to come inside," Arnel spoke as he went inside the inn.

Minutes have pa.s.sed and he finally called us in. Elena and Ymil went in first and walked upwards the stairs. Ayumi and I walked in after. Arnel approached me while patting my back.

"Hey there, partner. I've already ordered a room for you. You'll be sleeping in the room on the 2nd floor while we'll take ours on the 3rd." He said.

"Why can't I join you guys?"

"Hey, it's a trial for you. You've just joined, partner. You need to be with us for a month before you can truly enjoy our special privileges." He grinned at me.

"Sigh... Okay." I felt bitter.

"Ayumi, come. Let's rest now." He ordered as he grabbed Ayumi. Ayumi paused for a sec and stared at me with loneliness in her eyes. But I just thought of her being shy and cute.

"Don't worry, I'll be fine," I rea.s.sured her.

The inn master greeted me with a nervous smile. I replied with an innocent one.

I entered my room and it's just like how I thought. The bed here aren't so comfortable. It's just a bed made of hay and disheveled cloth as its cover. Well, I can't argue with that. I bet they all have the same bed as I am.

I lay on my bed scrolling through my character panel. I opened my stash and took out the fox demon stone. I was curious about it. It was a small crystal like a gem with a hue of gold.

Suddenly a notification popped.

*Fox Demon Stone-Beginner pack*

Open now? Yes (Y), No (N)

Umm... I was a bit surprised and a bit curious. It took me five minutes before I made my decision. I clicked Y and suddenly icons came out rolling. It felt like a gacha.

-CONGRATULATIONS-

Received: Lioness G.o.ddess of the Crescent Moon Pet (Legendary S+)

The stone turned into a smaller gem with a gold bead at its center. It was shaped like a sphere and sized as like a ball used in baseball.

A notification popped out again like lightning. It surprised me a bit of sending my hair standing straight.

-Summon Now?-

Y, N

Yes.

Suddenly the ball flew out of my hand and floated midair. It emitted iridescent radiance which lit up the room greatly. It was too bright for me to look at. The ball slowly took form bit by bit like a blob in midair then concluded into somewhat of a human form. The bright light slowly faded and it started to descend.

It descended slowly but suddenly it just fell. I got into a panic and, jumped out of my bed as I try to reach and catch it. I was able to catch it with my hands and fell on the ground. It made a huge thud when I landed painfully.

Trying to clear my eyes, to my surprise, it was a small sleeping child with golden blonde hair and cat ears. No! No! No! I don't want to be labeled as a lolicon!

I lay her at my bed of hay and gave her my cape as clothing to cover her naked body. Before I was able to give her my cape, I couldn't help but look.

She's cute and as she sleeps, her face was cherubic. Her silky golden hair that reaches out to her waist lay dormant. It ripples when the cold night breeze came in through the window. It made her s.h.i.+ver a bit. Her skin was smooth and blooming. I ended my fantasy as I cover her with my cape. I looked at the top left of my peripheral vision where I could find my name, level, and hp bar. Another one was registered.

Nas.h.i.+ki Koneko, Level 1, Lioness G.o.ddess of the Crescent Moon.

"It looks like you're my partner now." But I didn't seem happy. The void of losing someone still remained. Even when I distracted myself with Ayumi. I wouldn't be able to forget the pain. It'll be hard for me to trust again. I just joined this party so I could just get this over with. I still didn't know why Nas.h.i.+ki sent me here. Here in Alheira. I can't believe he revived me in a mere game. Still, I have to succeed in rewriting my life so that I could get out of here.

I felt drowsy immediately and fell asleep while I sat on the ground.