Ch.158[Chapter 158] A New World

On the second day of the 14th alpha test, Sir Dominic greeted the morning as usual, striking a scarecrow with his shield.

Of course, he was still in Sir Dominic’s house, owned by Sir Dominic.

Taking a brief break, Sir Dominic picked up his water bottle and took just enough to wet his throat.

Then he sat down on a nearby wide rock to catch his breath.

“…It doesn’t seem much different.”

Sir Dominic wiped the sweat from his palms onto his clothes after gripping his shield.

A handprint appeared like a stain on his white T-shirt that read ‘This is a 14th anniversary souvenir,’ then disappeared.

Sir Dominic looked around.

Though it was called regression, the scenery wasn’t much different from usual.

He wondered if it should even be called regression when he returned with all his memories, body, experiences, and rewards intact, but since this was Sir Dominic’s first regression, he hadn’t thought that far.

Instead, Sir Dominic wiped away his dripping sweat and looked at the house that was still his property.

“You’re up early.”

Sir Dominic turned his head toward the voice.

Sir Dominica was approaching Sir Dominic with a shield in hand.

Sir Dominica arrived in front of Sir Dominic wearing extremely casual attire—a black T-shirt with white letters reading “This is not a missile” that seemed to be struggling to cover her formidable chest.

“Good morning, Sir Dominica.”

“Thanks to you. I still have a bit of a hangover—”

Sir Dominica’s one remaining eye wrinkled.

Apparently, she still had a headache from the hangover.

After drinking so much yesterday, it was only natural. As Sir Dominic thought this, he suddenly had something he wanted to suggest to Sir Dominica.

“I need to go into town after training. I should buy a bed for you.”

“Ah.”

Sir Dominica nodded at Sir Dominic’s words.

Currently, Sir Dominic and Sir Dominica were living in the house owned by Sir Dominic.

Fortunately, the bed was large enough for two people, but it was still an uncomfortable situation for them to sleep together.

For Sir Dominic, despite her being another version of himself, he felt uncomfortable sleeping with an unmarried woman, and Sir Dominica felt embarrassed and burdened about living in Sir Dominic’s house.

“Actually, I wanted to suggest that too.”

Sir Dominica scratched her reddened cheek with her finger.

Sir Dominic nodded at Sir Dominica’s words.

“Good. Then… let’s leave after lunch.”

Sir Dominic said.

Sir Dominica nodded.

And they both silently stood up and raised their shields.

Going out in the afternoon was one thing, but training was training.

Sir Dominic’s shield and Sir Dominica’s shield began attacking the scarecrow, tracing trajectories that didn’t interfere with each other.

…

Sir Dominic and Sir Dominica changed clothes and headed into town.

Normally, there would have been modern or near-future buildings everywhere, but now the town looked like a village full of wooden structures from the Old West.

“…The atmosphere feels quite different?”

Sir Dominica shared her impression.

Sir Dominic nodded in agreement with Sir Dominica’s words.

“But the roads seem similar.”

Sir Dominic said, looking at the map app.

Currently, they were heading to the Market Area, and since Sir Dominic had frequently visited the Market Area until now, he immediately noticed that the roads weren’t much different.

After passing buildings that looked like they belonged in a western movie, the two finally arrived at the Market Area.

And they noticed that even the Market Area had undergone major changes.

In fact, it would have been harder not to notice.

The Market Area had transformed into a place that seemed to be a mix of Eastern, Western, and Arabic styles.

In the past, it had been a place of nondescript buildings and complex alleys, but now it had changed to something closer to an actual marketplace worthy of the name “Market Area.”

“Apples for sale! Apples! Fresh apples!”

“How much?”

“Regular apples are 120 Credits each, fresh apples are 170 Credits, but if you spend 1200 Credits on a 10-pull, you have a 3% chance for fresh apples and a 17% chance for regular apples!”

“…That sounds like a decent deal?”

Of course, the messy economic concepts of Gacha Land people remained unchanged.

Sir Dominic shook his head.

Buying items through “gacha” was still awkward for Sir Dominic.

“I think I know from here.”

Sir Dominica said.

“Isn’t it through that alley, then turn right?”

Sir Dominica pointed roughly at the terrain.

Sir Dominic looked at the map briefly and nodded.

Sir Dominica’s directions were roughly correct.

“That’s the candy store, and that’s the real estate office…”

Sir Dominica pointed out each store with her finger.

Though appearances might have changed a bit, the locations seemed to be the same.

Sir Dominica sighed contentedly and smiled.

“Well, I guess not much has changed.”

“We’re almost there.”

Sir Dominic said.

As Sir Dominica had said, after entering the alley and turning left, they saw the furniture store Sir Dominic had visited once before.

“Good. Let’s see where the bed section is… Huh?”

Sir Dominica stepped ahead of Sir Dominic but suddenly stopped as if she had seen something.

Sir Dominic, who was putting his phone in power-saving mode to conserve battery, looked at Sir Dominica who had stopped walking.

Sir Dominic checked Sir Dominica’s line of sight and looked in the same direction.

“!”

“!”

“Um, Demon Lord? Perhaps we should go home…”

“Your Highness! It’s dangerous!”

There, Demon Lord Teu Le Vante and Hero Po Le Jak were facing each other with grim expressions.

…Of course, while maintaining their two-head-tall, soft and squishy bodies.

Demon Lord Teu Le Vante pointed a finger at Po Le Jak with furrowed brows.

Po Le Jak, seemingly provoked by this gesture, drew his equally soft and squishy sponge sword and assumed a stance as if ready to charge at any moment.

The Chief of Staff and the administrator tried to stop them, but the two remained unmoved.

In fact, the more they tried to intervene, the heavier the atmosphere became.

And finally, like a taut string snapping, like a drop of water falling into a full cup, the balance broke in an instant.

The Demon Lord and the Hero rushed at each other.

And—

They gave each other a tight hug, like “friends” who hadn’t met in a long time.

“!”

“!”

The two engaged in an animated conversation in a language only they could understand.

The Chief of Staff and the administrator both sighed simultaneously.

This is exactly what I was afraid of, thought the Chief of Staff.

The Hero and the Demon Lord are friends? What a tragic turn of events! The administrator secretly shed a tear.

Regardless of the Chief of Staff and administrator’s reactions, the two continued their conversation, waving their arms to explain something, resting their rice-cake-like hands on their squishy chins in contemplation, and then stepped back five paces from each other.

And they began to face off again with the same solemn atmosphere as before.

Sir Dominic and Sir Dominica were among those watching this spectacle clearly and from the closest vantage point.

“Shouldn’t we stop them?”

Sir Dominica asked.

“Well, as always, I don’t think it would do any good for us to interfere. Besides… this is their business.”

Sir Dominic pointed at the Chief of Staff and the administrator.

“Yes! That’s right! Demon Lord! Teach that Hero a lesson!”

“What! Your Highness. Give that Demon Lord a righteous blow!”

The Chief of Staff and the administrator began cheering for their respective masters as the atmosphere grew tense again.

Another explosive situation arose.

The Demon Lord took something out from the bag on her back.

The Hero also took something out from under his cape.

And without any signal, they threw those objects at each other.

Poof.

The two objects collided midway between them.

With a light tap, the two objects fell to the ground.

Sir Dominic and Sir Dominica confirmed the identity of these objects and opened their eyes… that is, their combined two eyes, wide.

They were Little Sir Dominic and Little Sir Dominica.

Stuffed dolls of the two.

Little Sir Dominica was flailing her limbs trying to get up, while Little Sir Dominic did a forward roll on top of her and fell back to the ground.

The Demon Lord and the Hero looked at each other with surprised expressions.

Then they approached their respective dolls and helped them stand up.

Since the Demon Lord and Hero were only two heads tall, the dolls, which were almost the same size as them, looked around as if trying to assess the situation, then hugged their respective owners tightly.

“!”

“?”

The Demon Lord and the Hero looked at each other while hugging their dolls tightly.

Sir Dominic thought they looked like children showing off their possessions to each other.

Sir Dominica smiled warmly as if reminded of her younger sibling’s childhood.

“!”

“!”

Teu Le Vante and Po Le Jak seemed to like each other’s dolls too, as they moved closer to carefully examine them.

Then, as if acknowledging each other, they clasped their squishy hands together and nodded.

It was clear to anyone watching that the Demon Lord and the Hero had found common ground.

“…?”

Only the Chief of Staff and the administrator couldn’t understand this absurd situation.