Ch.3Chapter 3 – Reincarnated into a Game World (3)

The first goal I’ve ever had in this world.

To go to Glesius Academy and meet ‘Mina,’ my favorite heroine.

Needless to say, there were things I needed to prepare for this.

‘How to get to Glesius Academy. The direction. And finally, the cost.’

These three things were absolutely essential for me to know in order to go to Glesius Academy.

And to learn these things, I had to go to a place where many people gathered.

No matter how much I had played Erasto Chronicle, that was just knowledge of the game, not knowledge of this world.

I had just arrived in this world, and the only person I knew was Epitrina.

I wondered if a goddess should be counted as a person, but that was something to think about later.

Anyway, it was certain that some parts of this world’s knowledge matched what I knew from the game, and some parts were omitted in the game for convenience.

Why did I think so? Well, in the world I used to live in, there were many works about being possessed by or reincarnating as characters from games, novels, and other creative works.

What hobbies could someone working at a small company have?

Drinking heavily might work for a day or two, but if you keep drinking, your liver will fail and you’ll be gone in an instant.

My senior colleague, Manager Park, drank every day and died last year from liver cancer.

So the only things I could enjoy alone were reading novels or playing games.

And among those, what I found most interesting were possession stories where people entered games or novels, and reincarnation stories where people were born as inhabitants of those worlds.

I had always thought about wanting to enter the world of games or novels rather than living in boring reality, but when it actually happened, I was a bit taken aback.

However, now that I had the goal of seeing my favorite heroine with my own eyes, I couldn’t live as an aimless idler.

Anyway, now that my goal was set, it was time to take steps toward it.

In the distance, I could see the village where I would spend the night.

Judging by the palisade and watchtower, this village seemed to have formed its own vigilante group to prepare for external attacks.

“Who goes there? What brings you here at this late hour?”

As I approached the palisade protecting the village, I heard the voice of someone who appeared to be a guard or vigilante from the watchtower.

Holding a torch, he looked to be in his mid-thirties.

“I’m a traveler passing by. I got lost in the forest and came this way after seeing the light!”

I clearly stated who I was and why I had come here.

If I hesitated and was treated as a suspicious person, forced to spend the night outside the village, I might not be in good shape the next day.

Of course, they probably wouldn’t let me in easily. After all, it’s not common for people to wander around at such a late hour.

“A traveler? At this late hour? Come closer to the bonfire.”

As expected. The man standing on the watchtower didn’t easily believe my words.

I approached the bonfire in front of the palisade as instructed by the man on the watchtower.

“Black hair and black eyes. Are you perhaps from the East?”

The guard asked if I was from the East after seeing my appearance.

He probably thought I came from the far Eastern continent based on my looks.

“Yes, I am.”

Before setting out for the village, I had looked at my face reflected in a newly made silver coin, and one thing was certain—I wasn’t a Westerner.

Should I say my face had been “surgically enhanced” to look more handsome?

This was probably one of the perks of reincarnation.

Anyway, to the people of Erasto Chronicle, I could be considered someone from the Eastern continent.

Black eyes and black hair were the characteristics of people from the Eastern continent.

“Do you have an ID or something that can prove your identity?”

“No, but I have a special power.”

“A special power? Are you perhaps an ‘Ability User’?”

The man standing on the watchtower was startled when he heard that I had an ‘ability.’

I thought for a moment about why he was surprised that I had an ability, and it made sense.

Because in Erasto Chronicle, the ‘abilities’ possessed by ‘Ability Users’ were blessings bestowed by the gods.

Everyone had the potential to awaken mana, but to receive this ‘ability,’ one had to be chosen by a god.

For example, the heroine Agnes Celestine, who held the title of Saint of the Light Order in Erasto Chronicle, possessed an ability called ‘Imperfect Divinity.’

Her ability, classified as sacred law, increased the base damage of all techniques using divine power by 125% and provided constant HP recovery to party members in the same party.

As such, people classified as Ability Users were tremendous assets just by themselves, so Ability Users were depicted as being treated with great respect in Erasto Chronicle.

“Yes, I am.”

“Hmm, would you mind if I verify that? I can’t really believe it just by hearing it.”

“Alright. Do you have any broken or damaged items you’d like fixed?”

“Broken items?”

At my question, the guard picked up something and threw it in front of me.

The object thrown by the guard was a rather badly dented helmet.

“A helmet?”

“That’s right. It got dented instead of my head when I went monster hunting recently.”

“My ability is to repair objects. If I fix this helmet with my ability, will you let me in?”

“You can fix this?”

The guard seemed surprised at my offer to fix the helmet.

“If you do that, I’ll let you in.”

“Understood.”

Having received the guard’s approval, I took out a hammer from the pouch at my waist.

By the way, this pouch was the same one that had contained the dagger, money pouch, and old sword, which I had repaired with my ability because it seemed wasteful to throw away.

Anyway, after taking out the hammer from the pouch, I thought about wanting to fix the helmet and struck it three times.

—Clang! Clang! Clang!

After three crisp striking sounds, a faint light began to envelop the dented helmet in my hand.

And when the light disappeared, the dented helmet was gone, replaced by a new helmet in my hand, polished to a shine as if meticulously crafted by a master.

“Does this prove my ability?”

“I-impossible. To think you really were an ‘Ability User.’ I’ll open the gate now. Please wait a moment.”

The guard, shocked after seeing me use my ability, asked me to wait a moment.

Then I heard the sound of him descending from the watchtower, and shortly after, a large wooden gate opened slightly, creating enough space for two people to enter comfortably.

“Come this way.”

I followed the beckoning guard through the gate and entered the village.

“Incredible. It’s really been completely fixed…”

The guard received the helmet I handed him and showed an expression of disbelief.

This helmet must have been a precious item to him.

“Do you believe me now?”

“Haha, this is only the second time in my life that I’ve seen a real Ability User.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes. Thank you. This helmet is precious to me. It’s a memento left by my brother who died of illness.”

Ah. I had no idea there was such a story behind his helmet. I wondered why he kept a damaged helmet instead of throwing it away, but now I understood.

“I didn’t know it had such meaning.”

“This helmet saved my life during the last monster hunt. So I carry it as a symbol of luck. Now its old form is gone and it’s become new. Hahaha!”

He thanked me for fixing the helmet and also told me about the only inn in the village.

“Rest well.”

“Thank you. Goodbye…”

I said goodbye to the guard and headed in the direction he had indicated.

Indeed, walking in the direction he pointed, I saw an inn with torches still burning.

Opening the door and entering, I found an old man who appeared to be the innkeeper at the counter.

“Hmm? I didn’t expect a guest at this late hour. Are you here for lodging?”

“Yes, I am.”

“It’s ten copper coins for one day, including breakfast.”

“Here you go.”

I didn’t know how much ten copper coins was worth, but it surely wasn’t worth paying with silver.

I took out a silver coin from my pocket and handed it to the old man, who gave me a pouch of copper coins in return.

“Here you go. A pouch with 90 copper coins.”

So one silver coin is worth about 100 copper coins. I should remember that.

“The first floor is full, so take the room at the very end of the second floor. Lock your door when you sleep. I’ll wake you up around breakfast time.”

“Understood. Thank you.”

I thanked the old man and went up to the second floor.

Entering the room at the very end, there was a bed with cloth spread over straw.

I put down my belongings next to it, locked the door, and lay down on the bed.

“Tomorrow I need to gather some information.”

As soon as I lay down on the bed, I fell asleep, apparently tired.

And the next morning dawned.