Ch.4Who Am I (1)

In the pitch-black space.

A voice echoes through that utterly silent place.

[Tutorial Clear~]

The voice was frivolous and at the same time extremely malevolent.

[There are quite a few promising ones in this batch?]

Before it were numerous screens.

On those screens appeared countless people.

The injured, the uninjured.

The confused, the adapted.

All of them were those who, like Frey, had been attacked by monsters.

[Those low-grade souls are surprisingly high-performing, I must say.]

Its eyes looked at them not as people, but as game pieces or toys.

Then, as it examined the screens, something strange caught its eye.

[Huh? There’s one with a strange connection?]

Unlike the others, one screen was hazy with noise, emitting only crackling static.

Perhaps a few hits would fix it.

It moved its hand to fiddle with the noisy screen, but the display didn’t change at all.

[The imprinting doesn’t seem to be working properly either…]

Instead, it only discovered more defects in the screen.

After pondering briefly, it decided on an easier method rather than struggling to fix the screen.

[I guess cheap is cheap after all… Oh well, this one’s for disposal~]

After all, there are plenty of things that can replace something of this level.

Being cheap, it probably just had some defective ones mixed in.

The creature dismisses it with such a careless thought.

And soon after, it discarded the noisy screen and data, completely erasing it from memory.

* * *

“What kind of person would do this…?”

I frowned deeply, thinking about the blue window that had appeared before my eyes just moments ago.

[★Congratulations on clearing the tutorial!! Congrats★]

A short message of just a few words.

[#%Tu$@to#$#ri#^@]

Even that quickly disappeared as if experiencing an error.

But even with minimal content, there was something clear to gain from the message itself and its nuance.

My current situation didn’t happen by chance.

And the message sent was a congratulatory message full of mockery.

‘It felt too malicious to be just a mood changer…’

Who could be behind this?

With what intention did they send this to me?

In my mind, various hypotheses were formed and collapsed in a short time, until I reached one conclusion.

It’s this guy.

The one who put me in this state.

The one who kidnapped me and put me inside a game character is this very person.

“Sigh… I don’t know who you are, but you messed with the wrong person.”

I still clearly remember the details of Perished World that I had played for a long time.

Until just now, it was merely game content, but now that it has become reality, everything changes completely. It’s all information I can use.

Even though it’s a trash game where all sorts of content changes with each playthrough, there’s plenty I can utilize.

“No matter how much I search, there’s probably no one who’s invested more in this game than I have…”

I’ve roughly grasped the ending they kept emphasizing. And whatever their purpose, it must be closely related to that ending.

I’ll do my best to interfere with their plans and behead whoever kidnapped me.

“For that… getting stronger is the priority.”

I’ve already rested enough while organizing my thoughts. Now that I have a clear goal, there’s no need to waste more time.

“I should gather what I need and move on.”

I immediately got up and began cutting open the Marang Owl’s corpse that I had been using as a backrest.

I cut, and cut, and cut again. I continue to slice open the corpse until I find what I’m looking for.

“Indeed, it’s not easy…”

If I knew how to butcher properly, I could have handled this more efficiently, but unfortunately, I know nothing about butchering, so I have no choice but to rummage through it.

The problem with this approach is that I’m ruining other potentially useful byproducts, but I can’t help it.

I can’t carry this massive thing whole, so I have to prioritize the most valuable parts.

“Ah, found it.”

After searching for quite some time, I finally managed to extract a tiny gem from inside the corpse.

It was none other than an Inner Core.

An item that increases stats and the character’s main resource when consumed with elixir, and it’s not something easily obtained.

Typically, it comes from powerful monsters like this one.

Otherwise, it’s either traded at high prices in black markets or awarded as a prize in certain competitions.

‘Since it’s hard to obtain, I should save all I can get.’

Instead of immediately consuming the Inner Core, I decided to keep it for now.

While consuming it right away would certainly be beneficial, proper preparation is needed to fully enjoy its effects.

Satisfied with just having obtained the Inner Core for now, I headed toward the carriage where I had been imprisoned earlier.

The horses had long since fled. The carriage itself was damaged in various places, likely from being trampled and hit by the rushing Demonic Wolves.

But the condition of the carriage wasn’t particularly important to me.

From the beginning, I was more interested in the items the slave merchants might have kept rather than the carriage itself.

“Maps, food… money… everything I need is here.”

I’ll need to restock when I reach a town, but for now, this is sufficient.

After stuffing everything I needed into a suitable backpack, I unfolded the map and considered my next destination.

According to the map, there are two nearby villages at similar distances but in completely opposite directions.

One is located in the Lierre Empire, a human nation.

The other is in Pandemonium, the demon nation.

I plan to pass through a village and move further inward.

So essentially, I’m choosing between the Empire and Demon Territory as a base to build upon.

‘The Empire would be more convenient for early activities.’

Both the Empire and Demon Territory have much to offer. In terms of quality, Demon Territory might even be the more attractive option.

The problem is that with better rewards comes higher overall difficulty.

If I act rashly in Demon Territory without any preparation, I’d be setting myself up for a quick death.

“The Empire is definitely the better choice.”

It didn’t take long to decide.

The risk was simply too great, and I wasn’t in such a hurry that I needed to take that risk.

I’ll need to confirm the details once I reach a city or the capital, but from what I could tell from the map, nowhere seemed to have fallen to ruin.

The map looked quite clean and didn’t seem too old.

Still, in this trash game, one can never be too careful.

Even though it has become reality, I don’t think all those unfair elements have completely disappeared.

In fact, from the place where I first possessed this body to the monsters I’ve encountered, things have been far from smooth.

“Well, let’s get going.”

I steeled myself and set off toward the village.

* * *

After walking for a full two days, including time spent camping, I finally reached the nearby village.

It was partly due to the distance, but I also spent some extra time washing off blood when I found a river along the way.

Fortunately, I didn’t encounter any monsters on the way here, which saved me from wasting additional time.

For someone who had prepared to fight multiple monsters on the way, it was a rather smooth arrival.

“What’s with all these bugs.”

Except for the bugs that visited during camping.

Whether it was because of the light from the campfire, swarms of bugs kept coming all night long, and although I definitely slept, it didn’t feel like proper rest.

Next time, I’ll make sure to prepare countermeasures against bugs before camping.

With that in mind, I looked around the village.

The village wasn’t large. In fact, it could be considered quite small.

As I had half expected, there was no adventurer’s guild or similar institution, and I couldn’t even find facilities like inns.

‘The village is smaller than I thought…’

It was so small that I wondered if there were even 20 people living here.

It was barely large enough to be called a village.

‘I might have to walk to the next village at this rate…’

To hitch a ride on a carriage, there needs to be one coming from outside or leaving from inside.

But judging by the current state of the village, it would be difficult to expect such opportunities.

Given the small size of the village, the number of carriages visiting would be few, if any at all.

I was beginning to think it might be easier to walk to the nearest village and find a carriage there.

‘There’s no reason for merchants to visit this tiny village frequently…’

As I was looking around the village, a woman who appeared to be a hunter approached me.

“Hey, Succubus. What business do you have in this small village?”

She had a crossbow in her hands, ready to shoot at any moment.