2 Dainte Forest
Year. 1189 from the Eldeon Calendar, the 3rd day of Month Elula.
A gracious gusty wind swirled up to the sky, cleansing the misty clouds that are masking the Majestic beauty of the clear blue sky.
The metropolis of Elmore was a provocative place even though it was just early In the morning, the street hawkers were already bursting with life and vigor, while carriages were pushing back and forth on the inception of the town.
In the long queue from the western entrance there you can see a man was lining up in at the west gate of the town.
The most unusual thing to that man is his pitch-black hair and a pair of glittering black amethyst eyes that were curiously staring at the encompassing vicinage, making the man look weird enough to deem a suspicious person.
"Haaah~ After traveling for an entire day and night, I finally arrived at the nearest town." Kiro was feeling dejected. After his long journey, he still needed to wait outside the entrance for Identity check-up.
While he was curiously staring at the landscape of the west entrance, Kiro recollected the massive event that changed everything in his life.
'It's already been a week since I was transported into this world.'
'On the first day coming from this world, it hit me so hard that all I wanted to believe in was that everything is only an unpleasant dream, but as the days go by the world is still spinning with or without me, so I finally accepted the fact that everything is real.'
'Right now, my current target is just to live a life and hope to overcome this new challenge In life.'
'Yes, even I found it myself weird with the situation I was forced into.'
'Why did I say forced?'
'Well, it all started on that day...'
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『 Welcome to the World of Eldeon. Congratulations on winning a whole new life! 』
Suddenly, a voice echoed inside Kiro's head. He felt the voice was familiar at the same time it was not.
"U—ugh." He groaned in pain; he felt like his head was about to split into two whilst like hundreds of thousands of needles were pinned to his acupuncture points.
Once his mind was stable enough for him to look around Kiro voiced out. "—Where am I?" He said in bewilderment whilst scanning the surrounding terrain in confusion.
Right at this moment, Kiro is standing in the middle of an abundant forest. Whereas the encompassing landscape was filled with lush green as a soothing orange-red hue descends to his body as if prompting him that he wasn't dreaming.
As he observed the surrounding, suddenly, the voice inside his head resounded once more.
『 To answer your question, you are right now in the middle of the forest. 』
Hearing the voice inside his head, Kiro was alarmed. "Wa—what? Did I finally lose it? After reading my schoolbooks while barely resting: did I ultimately have a meltdown to the point even in my thoughts? There is a voice echoing inside my head!" Kiro voiced his astonishment.
Hearing Kiro, the mysterious voice said in a clear tone. 『 This is not a dream, everything that is occurring at present is real. 』
"He... hehe. HAHA! Damn it, what is—happening to me? The first thing I knew after that blinding ray of light was me standing inside the forest for God knows where!" Laughing like a maniac, Kiro added. "What is more, there is a voice inside my head, claiming that everything is real."
"Do you expect me to believe in such?" Kiro jeered at the voice inside his head. Noticing it did not respond. He added.
"Why do you suddenly become quiet, huh? Well, of course, it would; because everything is just my hallucination!" Kiro bellowed his rejection, he still couldn't believe, from the sudden chain of events.
『 I know you are in a state of confusion, and your head is not stable enough to make a conversation, so I decided to make things indistinct for you to release all of your uncertainty. 』
When he heard the voice inside his head again, this time Kiro knew there was something wrong. However, deep inside, he couldn't accept the fact. "No—no! It is just a dream, yes—a terrible nightmare. As long as I close my eyes; everything will be back to normal."
Slowly, Kiro gently shut his eyes while trying to calm his chaotic mind, pausing for a couple of good minutes. Then he unhurriedly unveiled his pitch-black eyes that flickered with expectation. However, what he saw wasn't the same old 1DK room that Kiro was hoping for.
『 Do you finally believe in me? 』
The Mysterious voice asked in an amused tone.
Hearing the sudden change of the tone. Kiro irritatedly responded. "—what happened? How come I ended up being here?" Knowing that information was more important. Kiro asked something sensible.
『 As I said earlier, you've won a new life—out of the one thousand individuals who receive the prize notification. You are the only one who has the courage to tap the button as soon as it appears. 』
『 For you being here is to claim your reward—starting for today, you would now live a whole new life here in the World of Eldeon. 』
Listening to the mysterious voice respond. Kiro said while frowning in disbelief. "You are saying because of that stupid notification; I'm here, standing in the middle of nowhere?" He said doubtfully, as he added.
"A whole new life? Aren't I alive and well? The world of Eldeon? Why are you saying as if I wasn't—" Kiro cut off his words? He could not continue as a ridiculous thought flashed inside his head.
『 Yes, just like you suspected. 』
『 You're right now in a different world. The world of Sword and Magic. 』
After hearing the confirmation of the Mysterious voice. Kiro shut his mouth tightly. As a heavy atmosphere envelope inside the forest.
Eventually, Kiro broke the silence as he bellowed his disapproval.
"Huh! I don't need this kind of reward—I'm happy with my current lifestyle! Why would you decide things on your own, huh—hurry and send me back! Or do you expect me to slay the demon king or something before I could return to my former world?" Kiro howled in frustration as his face turned crimson in a fit of rage.
The moment he was awakened from the shimmering of light, everything that transpired to him was so unreal, even though he wanted to force himself to believe that the entire event was real. However, subconsciously deep inside Kiro's heart. He refused to accept that fact.
『 Be at ease. It was meant to be a reward, not a quest. So you wouldn't need to slay someone. With you, living a life in this world would be sufficient. But, I'm sad to say this, for you to return to your former world is Impossible. 』
『 Your main reward is to live a life here in the world of Sword and Magic. 』
"What? ARE YOU KIDDING ME! Do you think—I would accept everything you said. Just because you say so? Go send me back right now... Or else, I will refuse—everything from that so-called reward of yours!"
He exploded in anger, Kiro couldn't accept that he can no longer take back his preview life with a firm resolve in mind. If push comes to shove Kiro would refuse to accept any of it.
『 Haa—no matter what you say, now everything is set in motion. Even if you refuse your rewards with all of your might, the outcome would be still the same. 』
『 Now the whole thing is clear. I will now give you the rest of your rewards. 』
After the mysterious voice said those words. A pillar of white light descended from heaven, swallowing Kiro's body as a whole.
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When the pillar of light dissipated. Kiro, who was standing in the middle of the forest just a few moments ago, now found himself lying on the grassland.
Moderately, as he tried to adjust his chaotic memory whilst watching the azure sky up above. Kiro suddenly felt a strange sensation that engulfed his entire being.
Abruptly, while he was immersed in the unknown energy that's enveloping this body, a vast amount of knowledge was forcibly drilled inside his consciousness.
Then Kiro saw numerous images of unknown syllables flashed through his head. At first, Kiro doesn't know the meaning of those words. Not until a few moments later, information about those characteristics flashed to his mind.
With that, bit by bit, Kiro understood the essence of those characteristics, as he was being fascinated with the new knowledge he attained. Kiro lost the count of time as it took a half-hour before the massive information came to a stop.
"Ugh—what Is this? Hmm... From the knowledge I got a while ago, they call it an Innate skill." Kiro muttered while he was debating inside his head whether to use the skill.
Eventually, Kiro could not win to his curiosity and gave in.
"... Hmm, let's see. It should be like this [Appraisal!]." Kiro said the keyword. Then, suddenly, a 60 percent see-through HUD screen appeared before him while his eyes scanned the surrounding terrain.
[Grass] - Rarity rate: Common.
- It can be found In any wild forest.
[Greasy Grass] - Rarity rate: Rare.
- Greasy Grass Is a rare Grass that only grows in the part of the Diante Forest.
- The primary ingredient for making a mid-grade mana potion.
- Consuming will boost up the user MP recovery rate by 5% for an hour.
"Huh, what the heck is this? It looked like a transparent menu section that can only be found inside the video games—haha this is getting more and more unreal." He muttered. It was still hard for him to accept that everything that transpired was real.
Nevertheless, knowing that it would do any good for him to be a stubborn fool. He fooled himself as he said. "Anyway, for now, let's just think of it like I am living inside of a game."
"Mm, that's right, and it is not like I'm completely oblivious to this kind of matter." Kiro acted like a buffoon to move forward.
With a feign self-satisfaction smile hanging on his face. Kiro decided to move out and search for the way out, not minding the rare greasy Grass that appeared from his appraisal screen.
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After walking for about twenty minutes, Kiro eventually got out of the forest.
"Haaa~ I'm finally out of the forest; now if I just follow this road trail. I would probably reach a human settlement soon." With both of his eyes flashed in anticipation. Kiro followed the road trail.
Subsequently, walking around 15km away from the forest. Kiro noticed a small residential area, with a three-meter tall wooden wall and a 20ft tall wooden watchtower.
"Halt!" The person from the wooden watchtower shouted.
Kiro halted his movement while glimpsing at the figure of the tower guard who was standing 20ft above the ground.
"Where did you come from?" The guard said, noticing Kiro's odd clothes, he said. "With your ornate appearance. It seems to me that you're an affluent merchant."
When the watchtower guard mentioned his attire; only then Kiro realized that he was wearing the clothes of his former world. A long dark-gray sweater underneath a cotton brown vest on his chest that emphasized the muscular line of his body along with a common black slack and flat black school shoes.
Seeing the reaction of the watch guard. Kiro assumed that the clothes were flashy enough to the point he was being called a wealthy person in this world.
"Good afternoon, Mr.—" Kiro paused for a bit, hinting the guard to tell his name. "It's Milo, you can call me Milo."
"Mm, Okay Mr. Milo, I am called Kiro, and Mr. Milo is right. I'm a traveling merchant. I was on my way to reach a new town..." Kiro paused for a bit as if lamenting.
"However, when I was about to reach this village, a mishap happened, and a pack of monsters suddenly attacked my carriage." He said. "Luckily I survive by abandoning all of my belongings."
Kiro claimed the identity of being a merchant. He already thought a few pretenses if he ever came across a person or a settlement. When he was trying to get out of the forest. So naturally, he wouldn't let go of the opportunity to claim his temporary identity from the Guard's misunderstanding.
"Oh, I feel sorry for hearing that. You must be exhausted; please wait for a moment, I would come down first." Milo felt sorry for Kiro. But with his years of experience of being a watchtower guard. He can't just simply let his personal emotions disturb his work.
While he waited for the guard to come down, Kiro walked toward the entryway of the village. He only halted his track when he was about to enter the village.
After a few breaths. Kiro saw the approaching figure of Milo, giving him a slight nod for greeting the guard.
"Young man, can you show me your identification card?" Milo said whilst inspecting Kiro from top to bottom.
Kiro already knew the guard would ask him for his identification. But the problem is, Kiro doesn't have an identification card. He wasn't even a resident of this world.
"Haaa~ unfortunately, Mr. Milo, I lost my Identification card along with my luggage after a group of monsters attacked my carriage." He said with a long sigh. Like grieving from his losses.
The guard thought for a while before he nodded in agreement.
"Okay, wait here I'll call for someone to bring the anti-criminal device." The guard said while walking away from the entrance.
Kiro already expected that to happen, so he only gives a nod of approval and a satisfied smile.
From that massive knowledge, he even felt there was an enormous change from his brain. He felt like he could now perform perfect memorization. Kiro also knows how to read and write the common language of this world.
He wasn't even shocked that he could speak the native language of this world at all. It was one of the must-have skills of his main reward.
Kiro has to live a life in this world of sword and magic. How can he board this place without the knowledge about the native language of this world? So Kiro ignored those complicated thoughts as he tried his best to focus on the problem one step at the time.
A few moments later, two-shadows come to Kiro's view.
