The Beginning of the Ordeal

I went up the stairs leading to the entrance of the temple.

Everything inside the temple, be it the floor, the ceiling, or the walls, was

made of an almost-transparent blue stone. Mysterious round, shining

crystals had been installed at fixed intervals along the wall. In the center of

the room was a huge cylindrical pedestal. Engraved on it was a magic circle

with an object resembling a black slate beside it.

「Woow!」

Honestly, it's too beautiful for a ruin made by humans. Rather, it doesn't

seem to have been created by humans at all.

When I got closer to the structures, I started investigating the slate and the

pedestal in the center of the room.

A few minutes later, I found a handprint-like form engraved on the surface

of the black pedestal. Does that mean I have to place my right hand on it?

I gulped. Even though I had no idea what would happen to me, I still placed

my right hand on that form. Suddenly—

『Confirming access of the owner of the gift beyond Divine rank.

Registering Kai Heinemann as a player… Complete!

Welcome to the [Gods' Ordeal]. We Wish for Your Success, Playersama.』

A transparent board appeared before me. However, it immediately vanished

when I let go of my right hand from the hand-print due to the surprise.

What the hell was that? I think I saw letters written on that, but… Let's try it

again.

I silently placed my right hand on top of the hand-print again.

「What is this?」

A little pole-like sign appeared in the corner of my right eye. I tried to tap

on it, then a transparent board suddenly appeared in front of me. Sequencelike letters were written on that transparent board. [TL: It might be the "!"

sign.]

―Rule No. 1: The player can't leave this game unless they beat it.

―Rule No. 2: The registered player won't age in this place, and the time in

the outside world is suspended until he is here.

―Rule No. 3: Player is given the [Item Box] and [Special

Appraisal]'s skill. He is also given [Escape Shoes] and [Unbreakable

Stick].

―Rule No. 4: The Elixir that can be carried in the item box is equivalent to

20 cups.

The ruin turned out to be a 『Game』.

What does it mean that I can't leave unless I beat this ruin? Wait a minute!

Even top-class hunters have to form teams with other top-class hunters if

they want to beat a ruin. And yet, I was told to beat it by myself? Moreover,

the flow of time outside is suspended. Doesn't that mean I'm bound to run

into those beasts again once I beat this ruin?

「The heck, for what reason did I run into this cave then!!」

No, calm down! Let's think about what I can do for now! Let's sort out all of

the information I got since I entered this cave first.

First, I couldn't come out of this ruin unless I cleared this 『Game』.

Second, the time outside was suspended until I left this ruin, which meant

that my time here was literally unlimited. Lastly, I had been given five

things upon becoming a player.

The first was [Item Box(Infinite Storage Box)]. It was one of the things I

had wished for since I wanted to become a hunter. I was quite familiar with

this skill. Item box was a skill granted to [Merchant]'s gift holder. It was

an ability to store a fixed amount of things.

The second was [Special Appraisal] from [Appraisal] skill. It was the

ability to read the nature of various things and was a skill usually acquired

by the [Appraiser]'s gift holder.

The third was [Escape Shoes], an item for escaping. The fourth one was

[Unbreakable Stick]. Just like its name, it was an extremely tough stick.

The fifth and the last one, Elixir, was said to be an all-purpose miracle drug

that could instantly heal any wound. This was a legendary item that should

only exist in fairy tales.

The skills that I got were supposed to be only given to a specific gift holder.

And since my gift was [The Most Incompetent in this World], I

shouldn't have gotten those skills. Since I didn't understand anything, I

decided to try them anyway.

「Item box― UWAAAAA!?」 」

The moment I muttered those words, a big header named 『LIST』

suddenly appeared on the transparent board before me.

When I tried to press that header, the words [Escape Shoes] and

[Unbreakable Stick] appeared on the transparent board.

「Is this really the item box?」

My forefinger trembled as I tried to tap on [Escape Shoes]. At the next

moment, a pair of black boots appeared right in front of me. I suppressed

my feelings of elation as I touched the shoes, then put the item back.

「I-It's gone.」

When I pressed the "LIST" entry again, the item [Escape Shoes]

appeared in front of me once more.

「Amazing! This is so amazing!!」

Item box was supposed to be an extremely valuable skill. It wasn't

supposed to be owned by a non-merchant gift's holder. Since I really got

'item box,' does that mean I got 'special appraisal' too?

I took out [Escape Shoes] again. When I touched it this time…

「APPRAISAL!」

I shouted that word, and the surface of the transparent board changed.

―――――――――――――――――――――

★[Escape Shoes]: If the user chooses to escape from their enemy, these

shoes would make it far easier for the user. However, if the user is the one

who initiated the battle, the shoes would lose their effect.

・Item Rank: Superlative

―――――――――――――――――――――

「Woow…」

I unconsciously clenched my fists. I had been wondering about what kind of

shoes they were that they allowed their wearer to escape from an enemy; it

turned out to be a national-class treasure. As long as I had the [Escape

Shoes], I wouldn't have any worries about escaping from the beasts after

clearing this [Game].

When I tried to appraise [Unbreakable Stick], this item also turned out to

be a superlative-class item, the same rank as [Escape Shoes]. The stick's

description said that it was 『A stick that will never break or deteriorate』.

These two items were definitely not something humans could make.

Anyhow, as long as I had [Appraisal] and [Item Box], even someone

with a trash gift like me wouldn't have any problem working as a hunter. It

was like a dream come true.

Now, my future after I cleared this game looked better. All that was left was

for me to clear this game.

Come to think of it, this appraisal might work on me too.

When I pointed at myself while muttering [Appraisal], a new transparent

board appeared before me.

―――――――――――――――――――――

★STATUS

[Name] Kai Heineman

[Age] 15 Years Old(Aging Suspended During The Game)

[Gift] The Most Incompetent in this World(God Rank)

[HP] ５

[MP] ３

[Strength] 0．１

[Stamina] 0．１

[Agility] 0．１

[Magical Power] 0．１

[Magic Resistance] 0．１

[Luck] 0．１

★Skills in Possession:[Infinite Storage Box], [Special Appraisal]

―――――――――――――――――――――

Yeah! The [Appraiser]'s appraisal can really be used on a person. This

status thing, is this the one those guys in the hunter guild use all the time?

Well, I had heard from my mother before that the hunter guild was

developing a magic tool to measure one's individual ability by cooperating

with the people who could use appraisal skill on a person. And they had

succeeded.

Even though I had no idea about the average value of a normal person who

had just registered to the hunter guild, mine was 0.1. Even I knew that this

was a tiny number. It might be the effect of my gift too.

I saw that 『The Most Incompetent in This World』 was flashing on the

transparent board, so I tried to touch it.

―――――――――――――――――――――

・Gift Name: The Most Incompetent in This World

・ Explanation: A gift for someone with the lowest talent in this world.

Even though the holder's relative strength, abilities, and growth rate will be

the lowest amongst the intelligent beings of this world, due to their

incompetence, the holder had no limits.

・Gift Rank: God Rank

―――――――――――――――――――――

There were no limits. I had no idea what this meant since it was way too

vague. However, according to my assumptions after reading the

explanation, it seemed that my effort was going to be rewarded. Since that

was the case, was my gift actually an incredible one? Or not? I mean, after

they learned about my gift, almost everyone had started to hate me for no

reason. I thought it was better that I don't have any strange expectations

toward my gift. Well, the truth was going to be revealed sooner or later

anyway.

And finally, I came to the elixir.

Elixir was supposed to be the name of a miraculous restorative drug in

myths or fairy tales. It could restore any kind of wound in just a moment.

To be honest, it was too good to be true, but the incompetent me had

acquired "item box" and "appraisal" after I came to this place. Just in case,

I had to appraise "elixir" too.

「No way…」

The result that came out when I appraised the fountain near the shade of

trees left me speechless.

―――――――――――――――――――――

・Elixir's Fountain:A fountain where the miracle panacea, elixir,

endlessly gushes out.

―――――――――――――――――――――

I mean, it was a fountain where elixir endlessly gushed out!

To test that, I tried to make a shallow cut on my index finger with the

dismantling knife I had brought along with me. Then, I put my finger into

the fountain.

「It got healed…」

When I saw such an unrealistic phenomenon, my eyes were wide open, and

my mouth was flapping non-stop like a fish out of water. Soon, I screamed

at the top of my lungs until my throat felt sore.

That was correct. I was elated right now.

I mean, I, who was branded as the most incompetent in the world, had

gained "item box" and "appraisal," two rare skills. As if that wasn't enough,

I even made the greatest discovery in this era, namely elixir's fountain. Not

even a first-class hunter could achieve such a feat. I would receive

favorable treatment if I reported my findings to the hunter guild.

With this, I could become a first-class hunter like my mother. However, I,

who was innocently smiling at that time, had forgotten a simple fact. There

was no such thing as free lunch in this world. Success is built atop countless

failures. Unfathomable hardship always comes along with a miracle!!