3 Plans and Questions

[Solution: Soul acclimation has completed. Would you like to exit sleep state?]

The first thing I heard was that damned voice again. Did I even need to give the obvious answer?

[Solution: This guide cannot act without proper commands or prompts from the user.]

I wanted to sigh. 'Yes, let me exit sleep state.' There was no point crying over what I couldn't change now. The first thing I needed to do was get a full grasp of my current situation.

[Solution: Exiting sleep state.]

I opened my eyes. The light was blinding at first, but my eyes adjusted in an instant. I was staring up at a shoddy wooden ceiling. Sitting up, I found myself in a rather cozy, albeit ragged, bed. I moved my arms a bit, and I was surprised by how natural my movements felt. In my past life I was an adult male, so I had assumed getting used to my new body would take a few days at least. Was this the result of the Soul Acclimation?

[Solution: Yes.]

'I see.' Even though my new hands were so thin and small, they felt completely natural. My appearance, if I remembered everything correctly, should have been that of a 12 year old girl. Even though my race was demonic in base, the user who designed the character went through a lot of trouble to make her features entirely human. I could only be thankful for this. Even with soul acclimation, I didn't think I could adjust to having a monster's body. I decided to just look at the few good things in order to better deal with the transition.

Looking around, I finally noticed another person in the room with me. It was a teenage boy sitting reverse on a chair. He seemed to be sleeping using his arms as a pillow by leaning against the backrest. His hair was brown and curly. His build and clothes screamed farmhand from his overalls down to his ruddy boots. He stirred, probably after hearing me moving around, and with an awful sleeping face lifted his head up until our eyes met. His pupils were surrounded by a profound hazel. They were lovely eyes.

After a moment of staring in a daze, the boy's eyes shot open and he jumped from his chair.

"-------------------!"

He started talking, but I couldn't understand a word.

[Solution: Do you wish for me to automatically translate communication?]

'Yes. Of course, yes. Why would I want to possibly be stuck in a world where I couldn't understand anyone?' I raged in my head.

[Solution: Data not found.]

The damn *guide* was starting to get on my nerves. 'Just shut up and start translating you useless program.'

[Solution: Automatic Translation Activated.]

"Hello? Are you listening?"

I could understand his words. The suddenness of it all made me flinch. I looked up at him with a blank expression.

"Ah, sorry. I guess I was still half asleep. Could you repeat yourself?" I asked. My own voice surprised me. It was much higher than I was used to, but it still didn't feel wrong.

"Uhg, I was asking why a girl like you was asleep in the Asmodian Woods? If I hadn't found you you'd surely have been eaten by a magical beast by now, you know," said the boy. His voice was scratchy and deep. He was probably older than I had estimated initially. Still, his question posed a new problem. I was completely new to this world. I don't know much about it, either. How powerful are the magical beasts of this world?

[Solution: The magical beasts of this world follow the same ranking and population levels of Saga Heroes Online. They are scaled on a rank scale from 1-9 depending on their strength.]

Oh. That was actually a good thing. That meant, with my stats and skills, I wouldn't have anything to fear outside of a high leveled monster horde. I didn't recognize the 'Asmodian Woods', but I was certain that, unless it was a legendary hidden location, I wouldn't have anything to fear. I thought I knew most, if not all, of the locations within Saga Heroes Online. Were the locations in this world different from the game world?

[Solution: The game Saga Heroes Online was based upon this world from 1,500 years in the past. The world has since undergone a cataclysm and the map is vastly different from the one the user knows.]

Ah, that made sense. There was no way this world could possibly be identical to Saga Heroes Online. So where exactly was I right now, then?

[Solution: You are in Eastrock Village. A small farming community on the Eastern border of the Gransus Kingdom. The village borders the Asmodian Woods where magical beasts up to rank 3 are said to roam.]

Hah, this boy thought a rank 3 beast could hurt me? Even if I was unconscious a rank 3 beast couldn't do enough damage to lower my health points by half.

[Solution: In the case the body is attacked while unconscious this guide could take manual control over the body to defend it.]

Oh? So I didn't need to worry about being killed even while sleeping?

[Solution: Yes.]

Hmm. 'RED, out of all the living sentient beings in this world how many are over level 900?'

[Solution: There are currently 0 sentient beings over level 900.]

'Let me rephrase. What's the highest level sentient existence in this world other than me?'

[Solution: The current Demon King is level 481.]

'Isn't this too much!? Why is this world so weak?'

[Solution: Saga Heroes Online wasn't real. It was a game. Therefore players could experiment and level up without fear of death. In response to the players' levels the developers increased mob and boss levels to follow suit. In this reality if you die then you don't come back. Thus most people aren't willing to risk battling to gain experience. They usually opt to gather experience through training which takes considerably longer.]

I was immediately awestruck by the answer. In my previous life, power leveling was my call to action. It was, to me, the most rewarding experience I knew. 'RED, are there still sacred grounds with mobs of high rank beasts?'

[Solution: Yes.]

Good. So power leveling in this world was still possible, then. It seemed the different races just didn't do it. Or maybe they considered 481 to actually be high leveled. Though, if I had been born at level 1 in this world, I probably wouldn't have gotten into power leveling either.

"Hello? Did you blank out again?" Asked the boy.

It was only now that I remembered he was even there! The real question at hand was how to respond to him. 'I don't suppose I have some convenient backstory to fall on?'

[Solution: Data not found.]

'Yeah, I didn't think so.' Perhaps I could play the role of an amnesiac? Should I try to bullshit a story?

[Solution: This guide could craft a believable story for you. Do you desire this guide to do so?]

'Yes. That would make things so much simpler.'

My mouth immediately started moving on its own, "Ah, I was taking a walk with my father through the woods when he heard a pack of Devil Hounds approaching. He went off to lure them away and I waited for him. I guess I lost consciousness from exhaustion."

"Tch. Hate to break it to you kid but your dad's probably a goner," replied the tactless farm boy. My impression of him was lowered immediately.

Suddenly the door swung open.

"James! Why would you say something like that!" This voice belonged to a wide woman wearing a hemp cloth dress. Her hair was curly like the boy's. If I had to guess I'd say she was his mother. "Now don't you worry, deary, I'm sure your pap's fine. If he's brave enough to take his daughter into the Asmodian Woods then I'm sure he's strong enough to handle some Devil Hounds."

"Don't you mean 'stupid enough'?" Asked the boy. In response the woman hit him upside the head. It was like some kind of comedy routine at this point. I should probably have been trying to look sad after telling my story, but I was not personally invested enough into it. Instead I just felt like laughing. I knew my real father was fine working in his shop back home. Though he was probably crying right now over my death. I hoped my family wasn't too heartbroken. If I could, I'd let them know that I was fine.

"Ah, where am I right now?" I asked the pair, even though I already knew the answer.

"You're in Eastrock, the dullest village around." Replied James. "Where you are either a farmer or a farmer's wife. My dad carried you here after we found you lying in the woods."

James seemed like the classic rebellious teen.

"I'm sorry for my son's attitude," said the woman. "This is my blockhead son James. My name is Millie. What's your name, hun?"

Ah. Now I was in a pickle. If they introduced themselves then I'd have to give my name too. What was my name, anyways?

[Solution: This body does not possess a name at this point in time. You may give yourself whatever name you so choose.]

Well, if that was the case, since this body was originally given the username Calliope7, I might as well go with that.

"My name's Calliope," I said.

"Calliope, that's a sweet name, child. Now you said your father was walking with you in the Asmodian Woods. Why would he take his kid somewhere that dangerous?"

'Yeah, RED, why did he?'

[Solution: The current backstory was designed to be tragic. Your theoretical father was taking you to the woods to abandon you so he could continue living his life.]

'That's awful. Note to self, don't let RED make any more backstory for me.' Still, I'd already said too much and I couldn't think of any other reason why a parent would take their kid somewhere dangerous. This sucked. My real dad was the nicest guy ever, RED. Couldn't you have made a nicer story?

[Solution: Data not found.]

I didn't think so.

"My dad was really strong. He said he found something cool in the woods so he wanted to show me. Then, when we were walking, he put his ears to the ground and claimed a pack of Devil Hounds was coming. He took off running and said he'd deal with them. He told me not to move, so I didn't. I sat down and waited for two days, and then the next thing I knew I was waking up here. I should probably go back to the woods to wait for him..."

Ah, I really did suck at acting. Maybe they'd think I was in shock? That'd be convenient.

"Oh you poor dear," Said Millie. She had a sympathetic look on her face. She probably bought the obviously fake story. "You can't go into the Asmodian Woods again…"

She paused mid sentence. I assumed she was going to make up some kind of lie about seeing my dad pass by here to trick me for my own good, but she didn't. Instead she completely changed the subject.

"Ah, you've been sleeping here for a few days now. You must be starving. How about we talk more after you've eaten."

She scurried out of the room with that. James sighed before moving the chair he had been sitting on earlier to the side of the room.

"Listen," Said James, "I'm glad you woke up. You can stay here for a while and I'll ask my dad to search the woods for your father..."

Oh? What was that!? Was James actually a good guy underneath all his teenage angst?

"But you shouldn't get your hopes up. He's probably inside the guts of some Devil Hounds now."

And he ruined it. We were almost having a moment there, buddy. Why did you have to go and ruin it? Oh well. I didn't plan on sticking around this backwater village for too long. Right now I'd been given a second chance at life and I wasn't going to waste it. My level was close to maximum, and I wouldn't be satisfied by just leveling myself up anyways. I guess the only thing I could do was to start helping others to level up, too. Maybe I could start a school?

James walked out of the room and I stood up from the bed. My legs were a bit numb, but they felt good. They felt normal. It was odd how easy I found moving in a completely new body to be. I was currently clothed in what looked to be one of Millie's dresses. They probably changed me out of my clothes. What was I wearing when they found me, RED?

[Solution: Your body was naked when James Evergreen and his father Jack Evergreen discovered you.]

Ew. Okay, that was a bit cringeworthy. I may not have been a woman mentally, but that didn't mean I wanted random men to see me naked. That also really escalated the awfulness of the backstory I gave. I wondered why they didn't call me out on it… Anyways, why wasn't I dressed?

[Solution: Your equipment came with you, but it wasn't equipped from the start. Unlike the game where your character always had at least the baseline undergarments, this reality isn't as convenient.]

Let's see, if I remembered right, this account was in possession of the Heaven's Demon Garb. That item was of the master class. It should be able to change forms to whatever I desired. 'How do I equip it?'

[Solution: Take it out of your Item Pack and then put it on.]

That didn't really help me any. In the game there was a menu button that let you access your Spacefold Item Pack, but there wasn't such a button in real life. 'How do I use the Item Pack?'

[Solution: Say or think the skill's name while controlling your mana.]

'Okay, how do I use mana?'

[Solution: Data not found.]

'… Do I need to be able to use mana in order to use my skills?'

[Solution: Yes.]

Crap.