episode_0005

‘…What is this again?’

For a moment, my vision darkened as if a film had been cut off, and when I opened my eyes, the scene I saw was definitely not the hallway of the apartment I was in.

And I don’t know where it came from, but I see a strange little boy pointing a point at me.

“Hey! What are you!”

Judging by her bright voice, she has the personality to get ripped off by her boyfriend later. I looked roughly and saw that it was a woman… Right?

Anyway, understanding the situation was a priority, so I decided to get information from him.

“What do you mean? Who are you then?”

“What the hell! I am the administrator in charge of this tutorial. Do you know how confused I am right now because of you? No, before that, who are you! I don’t know someone’s name!”

“…I don’t know your name?”

“Yes! It’s normal for me to know the names and abilities of the humans in this dimension! But why can’t I know your name? Who are you?”

… Dimension? Is it possible that I’m from another dimension and this guy doesn’t know my name?

Let’s hide my identity for now. Since I’m an administrator, if they find out I’m a human from another dimension, they might kick me out or something like that. Then you will not be able to perform the quest given by the dimensional random chat app.

I didn’t show anything and calmly asked a question rather than an answer to what he said.

“Then what problem arises?”

“A problem occurred… ! On the device… hmm… You are too weak for that. Although his body appears to have been extremely well-trained, it is not beyond mortal limits or anything like that. I think the species is also human… Ugh… What on earth is this? I just wanted to get the job done comfortably and without any problems, so why… !”

What can I say, the sight of a little boy stamping his feet and getting annoyed at me is just cute. It doesn’t seem like he likes me, but that might be because I don’t feel like he has any malicious intent to harm me.

“Tell me your identity quickly! What are you! Don’t try to lie! Because I instinctively know when you’re lying!”

I’m not sure, but I think it was this guy who brought me to this space.

Then there would be no need to lose points by telling clumsy lies here.

“My name is Park Hyeon-seong. As you said, I am human and I am 28 years old.”

“Well, it’s not a lie. Since the name is similar to that of people from this area, it seems like they are from here as well.”

I didn’t avoid the kid’s glaring gaze. All you have to do is not lie.

When I shrug my head without saying anything, he asks me for the truth, as if he doesn’t like it.

“Then quickly tell me your identity! Why on earth didn’t I know your name!”

“I don’t want to talk about it? I don’t know exactly why you know my name…”

“What, what?! Where can you find something like that! Talk quickly! This suspicious guy!”

The world is not so gentle, little fairy.

I answered the fairy’s question without lying and subtly changed the subject of the conversation.

“If you want to be heard by others, don’t you have to tell your own story too? I clearly revealed my identity as you wanted. Then now it’s your turn to talk. Or talk about compensation.”

“Ah, that’s right! compensation! Human, the reason I asked you about your identity was not for anything else, but because of compensation issues!”

compensation?

Speaking of compensation, it reminds me of the fantasy novels I read in the past to satisfy my desire to increase my strength as a hunter.

A world where zombies suddenly appear one day, and the cliché of becoming stronger by catching zombies.

I ask the fairy a question with little hope.

“Why compensation? Compensation for what?”

“As you already know, this dimension is at a crossroads for survival. This dimension is too weak! So it was decided to make it stronger, even if it was by force. Oh, don’t ask who decided! Because I will never tell you!”

I wasn’t particularly curious about that. It’s not about my dimension anyway.

By the way, this story is somehow similar to our dimension.

The world I lived in was not one where magic power was awakened from the beginning.

A dungeon gate suddenly appeared in the world, and as existing weapons did not work inside the dungeon, magical power was the only thing talented humans could use to somehow survive.

The difference is that there is no dungeon gate here, and there is no dungeon break, so monsters roam outside…

“Anyway, in a situation where such an important thing was going on, a person like you appeared. A human who achieved ridiculous achievements without any special abilities! So, the higher-ups considered this important and tried to give good compensation… I couldn’t give you compensation. There is no name or status window at all! That’s why I called you here.”

After listening to it, I guess I got good grades in this tutorial and got noticed from the top.

It seems like this fairy below has to compensate me somehow.

Anyway, so it’s a good reward? You said it was compensation, right?

Are you using this opportunity to awaken your magical powers or something? really?

“Okay, now it’s my turn! How did you catch the zombies! No matter how trained you are, you can’t catch monsters you’ve never seen so easily! That’s 90 of them each!! I can’t believe it!”

What kind of fuss is there with about 90 animals?

Certainly, if I had done that without any tips, I would have been fired somewhere. There is no cure for infection in this world, so there could be a case where I become a monster.

But I’m already tired of catching zombies.

I have experience catching zombies not only in buildings like this, but also in places such as the woods and an unnamed medieval castle.

It’s been 10 years since I got my hunter’s license, including the temporary license. Where are you fooling around?

I shrug my shoulders and brush off the fairy’s suspicions. He can only be suspicious and determine whether something is true or false, and he doesn’t seem to have any intention of forcing me to do anything.

“But I actually did that and hunted all the zombies. Do you feel like I used an unclean method or some strange power?”

“No, that’s not it… He definitely didn’t use any strange methods, but caught the zombies with his own strength… How is this possible?”

It’s quite fun to see him moving his head back and forth cutely, but now is not the time.

Anyway, what’s important now is compensation.

Maybe this opportunity will really awaken my magical powers or something like that will happen. My heart races at that thought.

“Believe it or not, it’s your choice. Anyway, what’s important now is compensation, compensation.”

“Yes, compensation. Humans value rewards. Okay, give it to me right now… Huh?”

The fairy nods, smiles at me, and extends her hand, tilting her head.

“Uh, what? weird. Why isn’t magical power granted… Yikes! Why doesn’t it work? !”

The fairy groans and breaks into a cold sweat. But I don’t think anything has changed in my body…

…for a moment. You just said horsepower, right?

As soon as I hear the word magic, I feel like something is going on in my head.

That fairy is trying to give me magical powers, right? But why is the reaction like that?

You’re kidding, right? Please tell me it’s a joke. Tell me you’re just playing a prank.

“……”

“Hehe, hehe… I just can’t do it. What should I do with this… ”

The fairy, who was out of breath, met my eyes.

“……”

I don’t know, but my facial expression will be very bad.

After hearing that it was a gift, and hearing the word magical power, for the first time in a long time, I was hoping that I would be able to awaken magical power through an awakening method in another dimension.

But I guess it was too much.

“…Uh, human? Don’t be too disappointed. Humans have achieved ridiculous feats now, right? Obviously without magical power… ”

“……”

“Ugh, ugh—!! Negative resentment… ! What is this amount… ! It’s not an amount that an ordinary human can have… !”

… Why am I really going through all this trouble?

The dimensional random chat app started out as a joke, but now I thought it was offering me a way to become stronger.

I thought that if it was in another dimension, I really didn’t know. So, I accepted absurd situations as calmly as possible, and even laughed and followed the goals given to me by others.

But what the fuck is this… how…

“Human, human! wait for a sec! Wait a minute! Please calm down and wait a moment!!”

The fairy left a message telling me to wait and then suddenly disappeared before my eyes.

wait? What are you waiting for? Did you go there to find a good place to commit suicide?

I need to quickly annihilate this damned body that can’t use magical power even after crossing dimensions… So I guess I should be born again…

-Paaaah!!!

Just before the irritation and negative thoughts reach their peak, colorful lights pour out from the hand of the fairy that suddenly appears.

“Come on, come on! It’s not magic, but I brought something similar as a reward! It will never lag behind the original reward!!”

“… Something similar?”

“Spirit power! It’s the ability to contract with a spirit and unleash its power! I just gave you the ability to contract with spirits! Don’t you feel something warm inside your body?”

As I say that, I feel like something has changed in my body.

Should I say that I feel something different through my skin, rather than strength or something like that.

“Okay, I don’t have much time, so I’ll explain briefly. These are spirits created by nature’s consciousness. Divided into 4 properties and capable of growth… ”

The fairy continued to talk a lot, but in summary, spirit power was like this.

Beings with the four attributes of fire, water, wind, and earth. And by contracting with them, you can exert the power related to each attribute.

“Did you understand well? You should have listened carefully to the explanation because there is no status window! Because there is no one kind enough to explain it again.”

“In short, I can contract with the spirits of the four attributes of fire, water, wind, and earth to use their power, and grow them according to various conditions, right?”

“Yes! that’s right! Wow, human, you are really good at summarizing! It would be great if you join our manager as a junior!”

It was a spirit who made a fuss, but he just talked a lot. I was just a little familiar with it thanks to the settings of fantasy novels and comics I occasionally read.

If you can’t use magical power, it was the perfect material to fantasize about whether you could use other powers.

But now it is no longer a delusion for me.

I try my best to calm my heart, which is pounding a little, or a little too much. I didn’t want to miss the opportunity I barely got.

“Okay, then I’ll just make sure I can use my abilities properly and then I’ll disappear. Anyway, other people will know the contents of the quest. Try to survive while watching that from now on.”

“Does it still matter? Any compensation or anything like that in the future?”

“In the first place, the only thing that can be officially called compensation is being given for the first time! The rest is something you have to figure out on your own by surviving and becoming stronger. Well, if you die, it’s inevitable!”

A fairy who makes scary noises with a lively voice.

But it’s something I’m familiar with.

A diet of the weak and the strong. Survival of the fittest.

If you are not strong, you will be crushed and broken.

And I didn’t want to live like that anymore.

“Now, think that there is a door in your heart and open it! Then children will naturally contact you. You can sign a contract then! Well, if you don’t get a contract because you lack qualifications, there’s nothing you can do! From there, it’s not my fault!”

Isn’t the explanation too vague? And what is the last one?

The fairy doesn’t seem to want to explain anything further.

…Let’s give it a try. Try it alone, and if something doesn’t work, let’s talk again.

Following the slightly cheesy fairy’s words, I closed my eyes, spread my arms, and took a deep breath.

If there is such a thing as a spirit, I shouted to myself to please give me a hand.

Paaat… !

Between my closed eyes, bright lights of different colors faintly leaked in.