Ch.1Chapter 1. Convenience Store Worker Becomes a Totem (1)

 Chapter 1. A Convenience Store Worker Becomes a Totem (1)

There’s a game called “Surviving as Paladin.”

It’s an online game with a simple yet intuitive plot where the player, a wandering paladin, fights to save a world destroyed by demons.

Although the service was terminated 10 years ago due to lack of content and subsequent revenue decline, I enjoyed it tremendously as a child.

So much so that my young self even sent an email to the game company with a “new content proposal.”

Well, being from a child, it wasn’t particularly substantial.

[Subject: (Surprise!) Revolutionary Ideas to Increase User Numbers

Dear Developers, let me share my honest opinion.

Don’t you think the game failed because the enemy units are always demons or demon worshippers day in and day out?

Instead, let’s create a new enemy faction.

What about those barbarian tribes that appear as NPCs living in the mountains?

The barbarians’ concept is based on primitive religion and voodoo, right? We could make voodoo sorcerers or shamans as elite mobs, and the Loa spirits or whatever indigenous deities they worship as boss characters.

Doesn’t that sound fun?

Let’s make their patterns and concepts different from the demons. So, the way to create them would be…(omitted)]

I think I sent an email with roughly this content.

I never received a reply. That’s normal. Who would pay attention to feedback from a kid?

It’s also normal that the cash-strapped game company went bankrupt less than a year after terminating the service for “Surviving as Paladin,” and that the middle school kid waiting for a reply grew up to become a convenience store part-timer.

[You have received an email!]

“Huh?”

Is it normal to receive a reply from a defunct game company after 10 years?

No. This is clearly abnormal.

With a mixture of goosebumps and curiosity, I checked the subject of the email.

[Subject: UltraSansMadWithMoonlightMassacreMode Paladin, thank you for your feedback!]

“Oh come on.”

That Ultra Sans whatever was my old game ID. It’s painful to look at something I created as a kid.

Honestly, everyone that age had at least one nickname like that.

Anyway, it succeeded in capturing my interest. I clicked on the email to read the entire message.

[Let’s fight for justice!

World-saving story RPG! Surviving as Paladin.

Thank you for your valuable opinion, Paladin.

Your content improvement suggestions, which you took precious time to share, have been forwarded to the relevant department, and we have done our best to implement them after discussing with the Loa.

Additionally, the character settings you proposed have also been forwarded as improvement suggestions.

We are doing our best to show you a better experience. Please enjoy the new mode!

Once again, we ask you to closely watch the development of Surviving as Paladin as it evolves in a better direction.]

“What is this nonsense.”

Why would a game that’s already defunct need improvements? Why would a game company that went bankrupt 10 years ago have a relevant department?

Discussing with the Loa? What kind of concept is this?

“Tsk.”

My interest quickly faded.

Still, I was a little—actually, quite—excited since it was a game I once enjoyed playing. It’s just disappointing.

Thinking it must be a prank by someone who got hold of the game company’s email address, I turned off my phone screen.

And in the blink of an eye.

“…?”

Piles of wild animal carcasses in front of me.

A massive bonfire like those at campfires.

People dressed in animal hides surrounding the bonfire in a circle.

“Woo! Woo! Woo! Woo!”

Even strange shouts they were making. I found myself in a place I had never seen before.

– Uh…

A deep, resonant voice flows from my mouth.

“Ah, he responded!”

A large man wearing a bear hide who had been watching me shouted.

He was in the front row of the circle of people.

“The Loa has responded!”

The man shouted so loudly my eardrums nearly burst as he raised a double-bladed axe.

Loa? The gods worshipped by barbarians?

What does that have to do with anything?

“Malak! Malak! Malak!”

People cheering with strange chants.

Both men and women were holding weapons, and their gleaming eyes were so full of madness it was frightening.

The fact that they were all muscular also contributed to my fear.

To try to escape or do something, I tried to push against the ground with both arms…

Wait, I don’t have arms? Well, I need to stand up first…

I don’t have legs either?

Since I don’t feel any restraints, I’m not tied up.

Come to think of it, my vision is strange too. The way it zooms in and out feels like I’m looking through a camera.

Surprised, I moved my field of vision around, but it spun around too quickly.

I’ve heard somewhere that the human eye’s field of vision is about 135 degrees vertically and about 200 degrees horizontally.

My field of vision just rotated a full 360 degrees and returned to its original position. Back to the muscular man enthusiastically swinging his double-bladed axe.

Is something wrong with my neck? Or my eyes?

While my reason was paralyzed by this unprecedented fear, something strange in the corner of my vision caught my eye.

A white, rectangular paper… yes, it looked like a status window often seen in games.

[Name: Malak]

– Available Blessings: None

– Available Points: 0

– Vassal: Paya

– Enter Community

– …

The suspicious reply after 10 years.

The content that said “enjoy the new mode” and “watch closely.”

My changed body.

People who looked like Native Americans. More precisely, people who looked like the barbarians in “Surviving as Paladin” that were modeled after them.

And the status window visible in the corner of my vision.

Only then could I understand the situation I was in.

No… did they incarnate me into their game because I sent one piece of feedback?

And because of an email I sent 10 years ago?

So now that I’ve become this Loa or whatever, I have to fight against paladins with these guys?

Me, a convenience store worker of three months?

***

Let me sort this out.

I was on the verge of going crazy, but I needed to check. At the very least, I needed to know what state I was in.

– Mirror.

I requested as solemnly as possible to the muscular man standing in front of me. He must be the chieftain of the barbarians.

“Lord Malak commands a mirror to be brought!”

When he issued the order in his thunderous voice, the barbarians moved quickly to place a large mirror in front of me.

It was a very opaque mirror, perhaps due to technological limitations.

– Ah…

How should I describe my appearance?

A coiled snake with just its head poking out? It also looks like a dragon with deer antlers and a beard.

Not just a snake or dragon. It’s a wooden statue, about the size of a person.

The bluish glow emanating from the eye area makes it look somewhat impressive.

But what does it matter? I can’t move.

So I wasn’t even a living being. Just a piece of wood. This is a Loa? A barbarian god? I feel deflated.

The chieftain, watching my reaction, cautiously asked.

“Are you not pleased with the totem? The priestess Paya, daughter of Find and Ula and sister of me, Kanto, made it with her utmost effort.”

Even if you explain so earnestly, I don’t know who these people are.

If she’s a priestess, just call her a priestess. Why add so many unnecessary modifiers?

– Hmm.

I recalled the game’s setting.

Priestess. A being who communicates with the Loa and presides over various magical affairs. In modern terms, a position equivalent to the Pope.

Since the barbarian tribe is essentially a religious group, she holds a position as high as, perhaps even higher than, the chieftain.

Anyway, the priestess here is the chieftain’s sister.

– That’s not it.

Whether I like it or not, this might be someone I’ll have to live with for a long time. Let’s not create conflicts from the start.

Who knows if this rough, large man might be a lunatic who would destroy the totem for insulting his sister.

I still don’t know how much influence a Loa has in their society.

– I want to see the priestess. Where is she?

Based on the circumstances, it seems she summoned me. Perhaps she could even send me back to Earth.

It’s a faint hope, but I need to check first.

“Priestess Paya is receiving treatment due to the aftermath of the ritual. …Shall I bring her?”

– That won’t be necessary.

I don’t want to bother someone who’s sick. Now what should I do? Sigh. My brain isn’t working.

– I will hear everything after Priestess Paya recovers. All of you may rest now.

Yes, let’s secure some time first.

It’s too confusing right now. There’s too much information to process.

“Thank you. In the meantime, please enjoy the souls of the freshly killed animals.”

The chieftain and the barbarians left, leaving behind the pile of wild animal carcasses.

I looked at the status window again.

Available Blessings. It says there are none. Will this open up later? Let’s move on for now.

Available Points. I can’t tell what this is either, so I’ll pass.

Vassal… it shows Paya. Paya was the name of the priestess.

Perhaps “vassal” refers to the person who summoned me or formed a contract with me.

Enter Community? What’s this?

This one glows faintly in blue.

Should I click it? But I don’t have hands to click with.

Damn it.

As I stare intently, a white screen larger than the status window appears beside it.

[DinosaurPunch: 145th Gathering Diary]

[BasementFirstLine: Pope’s Breath Stinks Again Today] (4)

[PooPooPung: Where is the Cathedral?]

[FallenPowerKnight: How to Identify Demon Worshippers.Fact]

[GoldenDragonKing: 14th Day of Homelessness] (1)

[LoveDeathMeow: (Moving through the 384th multiverse)meow meow…]

[MorningTentPaladin: I Can’t Get It Up Anymore] (4)

[HobbyThousandDefeat: On Whether the Main God of This World is Just or Unjust] (1)

[ITrustedTheMonkeyUncle: Real-time Holy Knight is Screwed;;] (2)

[FootAndMouth: I Don’t Want to Die…] (3)

[MeleeSpy: IOnlyCommittedTheCrimeOfPlayingAGameButIFellIntoThisWorldAndTheseFuckingDemonBast…]

[SexualPaladin: Paladins~ Enjoy Your Delicious Meal Today~!] (1)

[NotACatfish: Anyone Killed People in This World?] (2)

What is this?

As if entranced, I clicked on the first post. With my eyes, not hands.

[DinosaurPunch: 145th Gathering Diary

Today’s meal is something that resembles a pine mushroom. It tastes like tomatoes. Not bad.

My stomach hasn’t been feeling well lately. I’m depressed. I feel alone. Well, I am actually alone.]

…It really is a community.

I felt both curiosity about why such a thing exists and relief that perhaps I’m not the only one who came to this world.

Should I try writing something too?

As I stared intently at the [Write] box and the keyboard window that had appeared, text began to form according to my gaze.

Let me start with a brief, casual greeting.

[UltraSansMadWithMoonlightMassacreMode: hi~]

Ah. What’s with this nickname.

How do I delete this?