Ch.2Kiryu Dojo, and the First Battle

Whoosh-! Whoosh-!!

Kendo wasn’t particularly difficult for me since I had trained for this before.

The process of learning the basics was simple. It was just endlessly repeating the same posture while swinging the sword consistently.

Whoooosh-!! Whoosh-!!!!!

I was quite confident in boring repetitive labor. As someone who lived the monotonous daily life of a webtoon artist repeating the same three-step process every day, I had considerable resistance to boredom.

“Good! 500 times! Now that you’ve finished the head strikes, let’s do 500 wrist strikes.”

Gonzaemon said with a smile.

I silently repeated the 500 wrist strike swings without complaint, believing it would all become experience points.

Whoooosh-! Whoosh-!!!

Only when I was half in a trance, focused solely on swinging the bamboo sword, did Gonzaemon clap his hands.

“Good!! You’ve swung it a thousand times. You can rest a bit now. Don’t sit down though, rest standing.”

Gonzaemon, who had been swinging his sword alongside me, said. Despite doing the same exercise, he hadn’t broken a single sweat. That’s where the spec difference showed.

By the way… rest while standing? Is this a trait of athletic people? They really didn’t seem to approve of sitting down to rest.

Well, resting while sitting actually made you more tired. I caught my breath while standing.

“Repeating the same motion without showing any boredom. I’ll acknowledge that perseverance. You’re not like other young people these days.”

Gonzaemon said with a smile.

“Thank you very much.”

I bowed as politely as possible.

“Well… kendo used to be popular back in the day, but not anymore. This kind of sweaty sport isn’t to young people’s taste these days.”

Gonzaemon suddenly started lamenting.

“My daughter too. Once she got a bit older, she quit kendo and started hanging out with her friends. Dying her hair… wearing short skirts… Tsk. I worry she might get involved with some bad guy. Especially since her curfew has been getting later recently.”

“I see.”

I listened to Gonzaemon’s words as respectfully as possible.

“Haha. Really. You’re not like other young people. Your manners are impeccable.”

I felt like my likability was increasing just by quietly listening to him.

“Thank you for the kind words.”

I said with a slight smile.

“Good. You’ve rested enough, let’s get back to training, Shota.”

At that moment, Gonzaemon called me by my name, “Shota,” rather than “Arigiri.”

‘First-name basis, huh…’

As an otaku, I knew what that meant. It indicated a certain level of closeness. I picked up the bamboo sword again.

———

After that, I learned kendo until evening.

After finishing my first training session at the dojo, Gonzaemon called me over.

“By the way… have you learned kendo somewhere before?”

Gonzaemon looked at me with sharp eyes.

“No, this is my first time.”

I answered. It was true for this world. Following the established setting of my possession was important to avoid contradictions later.

“Hmm… your form is too good for a beginner. Hahaha! You might have a natural talent for this!!”

Gonzaemon laughed heartily.

“Thank you.”

Phew. He seemed to have dropped his suspicions.

“Anyway, come back tomorrow. You’re drenched in sweat, so feel free to use the dojo’s shower room.”

Gonzaemon patted my shoulder.

Having no reason to decline, I headed straight for the shower room.

———-

After that, I devoted myself to training for a week.

It was spring break anyway, so I had nothing else to do. My days consisted of learning kendo from morning until evening, then returning home.

Naturally, I encountered other students from different time slots. There were quite a few my age, as well as adults.

“Oh, a newcomer? Haven’t seen you before.”

“You’re pretty good?”

Everyone was surprisingly friendly. Well… partly because I was being very sociable too.

After another fulfilling day of training, I headed to the shower room with the other students.

That’s when it happened.

“I’m back.”

Someone entered with a distinctively languid voice.

Long blonde hair, looks that would turn heads on the street.

And… a chest with overwhelming volume. No, while her chest was her main feature, other parts of her body were also impressive.

Yes, it was Kiryu Umi, the heroine of Psychological 3.

‘In the original story, I stalked her and then suddenly died.’

The thought left a bitter taste.

“……….”

The faces of the students heading to the shower automatically slackened.

Naturally, Umi became the topic of conversation in the shower.

“Man, I wish I could get with a girl like that just once….”

“Did you see how her chest bounced when she moved? Seriously….”

Typical high school boys. The conversation predictably went in that direction.

“Shota. You like that type too, right?”

A guy I’d gotten somewhat friendly with asked me.

“Hmm… I wonder.”

I gave a noncommittal answer. Honestly, I didn’t have the luxury to think about such things.

Inside me, a timer was ticking away.

A week had already passed. Time was really flying by.

“What’s with that bland response?”

The guy next to me laughed as he washed himself.

‘Maybe tonight… I should start gaining some real combat experience.’

After changing clothes, I planned my evening route.

I felt like someone was watching me, but I dismissed it as my imagination.

———-

After a week of training, the reward came immediately.

Ding-!!

‘Level: 2’

“I did it….”

My level had increased by 1. It was a bit disheartening that it took a whole week to level up once, but I was grateful for the increase nonetheless.

‘Strength: 15’

‘Speed: 14’

‘Endurance: 11’

‘Luck: 1’

‘Magic Power: 0’

Strength increased by 2, speed by 1, and endurance by 1. Well, these were typical level-up stats. Since the increases were random between 1-3, this was acceptable.

‘It’s not like I can reset anyway.’

I couldn’t exploit the save-and-load technique for maximum gains. This was reality after all.

‘Still… luck and magic power didn’t increase.’

It would be strange if kendo improved those two stats. I decided to simply abandon those two stats.

‘Level 2….’

I felt confident that I could now handle level 1 monsters or those of equivalent level.

‘Let’s do this.’

While there were risks, real combat experience was the best way to gain experience points.

Tonight, I decided to go hunting secretly.

Waiting until midnight, I opened the window and snuck outside. Though it was a two-story house, it wasn’t very high. I could jump down from the window without much injury.

At midnight, the boundary between Emoshita City and the shadow world blurs, and monsters begin to appear. This phenomenon continues until 2 AM. It was the ominous time commonly referred to as the “Hour of the Ox.”

I could farm some experience points by roaming around until 2 AM.

‘First… the shopping district. Let’s go there.’

The basics of RPGs start with equipment procurement. I decided to get a weapon first.

The shopping district had various stores, but the most unique one was undoubtedly the weapon shop “Hoshimaru-tou.” During the day, it functioned as a blacksmith workshop, and at night, it sold equipment for monster hunting.

“You……”

The shop owner stared at me intently.

“It seems you know about the shadow world… and the enemies you’ll be fighting.”

The owner said with a sly smile. Yes, thankfully he was perceptive. I wouldn’t need to explain my circumstances in detail.

“Take whatever you want. During the day, they’re just models, nothing more, nothing less, but they work well against monsters.”

The owner tapped the display case.

Well… available equipment was determined by level anyway. As a low-level player, I didn’t have many options.

‘Sturdy Iron Pipe’

‘Though it’s an iron pipe, it wasn’t made for industrial purposes. It was clearly made as a weapon. It’s the kind of equipment that might appeal to those who like vintage items.’

It was a basic one-handed sword-type equipment. At low levels, this was all I could use.

It was shorter than a kendo bamboo sword but lighter as a result.

“Ah… 10,000 yen.”

The owner said.

10,000 yen for an iron pipe that looked like it could be found at a construction site… expensive, but I had no choice. I paid for it in full.

I also purchased some healing potions and status ailment remedies from the store. These were essential for hunting alone. I couldn’t expect healing or support from teammates.

With that, I finished my shopping. I truly felt the sting of Japanese prices.

“Good hunting, then.”

After I had bought everything I needed, the owner said with a smile.

——-

Anyway, after procuring weapons and equipment, I went outside. Having played the original game more than three times, I knew exactly where to go.

My destination was the old town on the outskirts. It was a typical low-level field. I planned to quickly gain experience by hunting small fry there.

“Grrrr….!”

“Guooooh….!”

Sure enough, as night fell, monsters began to roam freely around the old town.

They were like black jellies. Yes, slimes. It was somewhat of an unwritten rule in creative works that slimes were the weakest monsters.

“Phew…..”

Honestly, I was nervous. However, I slapped my cheeks to focus.

“Kieeeeek!!!”

A tip for staying alert: screaming. I let out a battle cry as I charged toward the slimes.

“Gahk?!”

“Gurrrk!!”

The slimes, aggro’d by my scream, slowly approached me.

Whoosh-!

A slime’s attack wasn’t much. Just a body slam. After all, it was a low-level monster.

Tap-!

I immediately stepped back to get out of the body slam’s range.

Whack-!!

Right after, I swung my iron pipe. It hit the slime directly in the face.

Splat-!!

With a bursting sound, the slime’s body exploded.

First victory.

This… isn’t bad? I was starting to feel a bit more confident.