Transition to Another World, Land Mines Included. 002

Transition to Another World, Land Mines Included.

ACT 1: ESTABLISHMENT
002: We’re finally in the other world! Part 1

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——

We’re finally in the other world!

Once I regained my vision, I saw that I was standing on a grassy field. I looked down, staring at my new, delicate-looking hands. Turning to my side, I glimpsed a pretty elf with long blonde hair checking me out. She was one step short of being gorgeous, and I definitely knew her from somewhere.

“Erm, a-are you Haruka-san?”

“Yes, and you’re Nao?”

“Yep, that’s right.”

Her answer confirmed my suspicions. She definitely looked different from her previous self, but there was still some of Haruka’s aura left in this new person. And… Did she get shorter? Haruka used to be quite a tall girl, above 160 cm, with a well-proportioned body. But the elf standing before me was shorter than that, and her proportions… Let’s just say that she’s gotten a lot more slender.

“…What?”

Haruka narrowed her eyes at me, as if sensing my judgement. She sounded a little pissed.

“It’s nothing, you’ve just become beautiful! Guess that’s the standard for Elves!”

I shook my head in a panic, changing the subject. Haruka had always been pretty, so this change wasn’t too much of a shock, but she certainly looked a little ethereal now. Well, that’s because she’s no longer human.

“Hmph, you chose to become an Elf too, Nao. Just as I’d suspected.”

Haruka averted her gaze as she spoke. I thought I spotted a slight blush on her cheeks. Yep, I guess she never expected her childhood friend to call her ‘beautiful’.

“Oi oi, I know you two are close, but please stop ignoring me!”

A voice sounded from behind me, and I quickly turned around to see… A human-beast? There were dog-like ears on his head, and a bushy tail sprouting from his butt. And his face… Oh, I see. It was Tomoya. Aside from a predatory look in his eyes, he seemed mostly unchanged.

“Oh, it’s you. What are you? A dog?”

“A wolf, idiot! As a kemono lover, becoming a human-beast hybrid was my only choice!”

Tomoya puffed out his chest with pride, his ears and tail twitching with happiness. That was just like him.

“Personally, as a guy, I feel that becoming a human-beast hybrid is kinda pointless, don’t you think?” I asked.

“Well, gotta agree with you there. But! What if us hybrids can only marry other hybrids? That means I won’t get a chance to marry one. Definitely not!! I can’t let the chance of netting myself a kemono-mimi bride just get away like that!!!”

Listening to his rant, I got the sense that Tomoya did place a lot of thought into selecting his race. Not that I agreed with him at all. Oh well, I guess I could sympathize a little. I mean, a ‘kemono-mimi bride’ does sound quite exotic.

“Hmph, so you’re here too, Tomoya,” Haruka nodded in acknowledgement, looking up and down at Tomoya’s new form.

“W-What? Am I in your way?”

“I never said that… Besides, we could do with having a shield.”

“Oi, what did you just call me? A shield!?”

“O ho ho ho, what luck~! You’ll be of such great use to us, as a meat shield!”

Tomoya’s eyes widened at Haruka’s whispered threat, but before he could retaliate, she’d already turned away with a grin. To others, this exchange might sound strange, but I’m sure they were just joking with each other. Yes, that must be it.

“But the power of friendship is amazing. I was able to find you guys even though we were nothing but shades,” Haruka mused.

“Yeah. I kinda felt that I knew you guys!” Tomoya agreed.

“M-Me too. It must have been because we spent so much time together!!” I added hurriedly as they nodded at each other approvingly.

I couldn’t bring myself to tell them that I totally couldn’t tell anyone apart back there!!

“Oh? Well, yes, that must have been it. Anyway… I don’t see anyone around here who looks like our classmates, so I guess we’re lucky to be together now.”

Haruka sounded a little suspicious of me, but she ignored it, choosing instead to take a good look around us. I walked to stand beside her. She was right, there was nobody in sight, let alone any classmates. And thanks to my new ‘Hawk’s Eye’ skill, I could see much further than before, but all there was to see were grassy fields, forests, and some wild birds.

“But, what a shocking turn of events. Even now, I still don’t know if we got lucky or not,” I sighed.

“Let’s think of it as a blessing in disguise. We can’t change the fact that we met with an accident, but there’s no point brooding over it now,” Haruka gave a wry grin as she shrugged.

“Well, I count myself lucky! Now, I actually can get myself a kemono-mimi bride!”

The always-optimistic Tomoya laughed, though I couldn’t bring myself to do the same, especially when I thought of my parents. We may still be alive in this other world, but it didn’t change the fact that we’re dead in the previous one. I guess I’ll need some time before I can come to terms with this ‘blessing in disguise’, as Haruka calls it.

“Let’s put Tomoya’s daydreams to one side, and actually find out what we wanna do from now on, shall we? It’ll be hard for us to travel together if we all have different goals.”

“Y-Yeah, I guess?”

I was all prepared to tag along to wherever my childhood friends were going, but Haruka the realist was always the voice of reason. I guess I’d have to start taking this seriously, too.

“Then, first… Repeat after me, ‘Life is precious’!”

Haruka suddenly announced, pointing towards us.

“Huh?” Tomoya and I exclaimed at the same time.

Weren’t we gonna talk about our goals? Ignoring our confusion, Haruka repeated herself.

“Life is precious!”

“L-Life is precious?”

“I won’t try to be a hero!”

“I won’t try to be a hero.”

“Making sound decisions is the only way to go!”

“Making sound decisions is the only way to go!”

“Haruka-sama is always right!”

“Haruka… Wait a minute!”

“Tch!”

Whoa, she almost got us to agree to something dangerous. But why did she look so annoyed? Tomoya, being Tomoya, had slapped a hand over his mouth, so I guess that was it.

“Well, let’s start with those goals, alright? Any objections?”

She looked ready to beat down any objections we might have had anyway, so I kept silent. This had always been the case among us, so I guess things were still just the same.

“I don’t really care. As long as I can get my kemono-mimi bride and live happily ever after!”

“Me too. I don’t think I’ll ever want to travel without you guys.”

It was true. The thought of being alone in this strange other world is just too scary. Haruka nodded in satisfaction, then crossed her arms and puffed out her chest.

“Mm-hm. That’s good! Now, let’s look at each other’s condition. To survive this place, we’ll need to work together and keep each other safe.”

“I see. Erm, how do we summon our status? Do we just say ‘Status’?”

Oh!! There it is. How convenient.

——————————————————————————-

Name: Naofumi
Race: Elf (17 years old)
Condition: Healthy
Skills:
[Help]
[Aptitude with Spears]
[Magical Disposition/Space-Time]
[Spear Skill Lv.2]
[Evasion Lv.1]
[Toughness Lv.2]
[Hawk’s Eye Lv.1]
[Stealth Lv.1]
[Enemy Awareness Lv.1]
[Intuition Lv.2]
[Trap Knowledge Lv.1]
[Space-Time Magic Lv.2]
[Fire Magic Lv.1]

——————————————————————————-

My name was now written in katakana form, instead of in its usual kanji. I wondered if it was because of poor computing power.

“I can’t see any stats like HP, MP, STR or DEF. There’s no indication of our level too.”

“You’re right, but it’s good that we can see our condition and skills.”

The other two nodded in agreement, staring straight ahead at nothing in particular.

So my condition right now is ‘Healthy’. I guess it would prove useful, especially in other situations such as when I’m ‘Poisoned’ or ‘Cursed’. It meant that I would know when to get help. By the way, while Haruka didn’t play video games, Tomoya and I would sometimes get together to do so. Thus, this wasn’t totally new to us, and the experience certainly helps.

“What’s important are the skills. Firstly, ‘Help’. I trust you guys have that?”

“Of course,” I answered.

So Haruka got that too. In fact, if it had only cost 5 points, I might not have invested in it. But because it had cost 20, it had seemed much more important, and while it had been expensive, I felt it worth investing in.

“What? You guys got that? Was it really important in helping you guys create your character?”

…Yeah?

“Did you not get it!?”

“Did you not get it!?”

Haruka and I crowded around Tomoya accusingly, causing him to look flustered. This is bad. This is really bad. Especially if he’d already made some bad decisions!

“Tomoya! Tell us what skills you have, right now!”

“Huh? OK…”

Cowed by Haruka’s menacing look, Tomoya hurriedly read off his skills.

——————————————————————————-

[Aptitude with Swords]
[Sword Skill Lv.3]
[Charge Lv.1]
[Roar Lv.1]
[Evasion Lv.2]
[Toughness Lv.4]
[Speed Lv.2]
[Appraisal Lv.2]
[Smithing Lv.1]

——————————————————————————-

…Yes!! There were no land mine skills! Haruka and I looked at each other and sighed in relief.

“You know, I really wanted to get that ‘EXP Gain’ skill, but I didn’t have enough points to do that and still create a cool human-beast hybrid character, so I had no choice but to give it up.”

“Well, you made the right choice!” I hurriedly assured him.

“Yeah! I’m actually surprised you chose useful skills, knowing your eccentric nature and all!” Haruka huffed.

That was a close call! While ‘EXP Gain’ wasn’t deadly, it would have made life so much tougher for Tomoya!

“Huh, really? But won’t it help me level up much faster? Not that I think I’d engage in battle a lot,” Tomoya asked.

“But it’s a trap! It’s all a huge trap!”

And so, Haruka and I took turns explaining that many of the supplementary skills added to our lists were potential land mines. Soon, Tomoya’s face looked white as a sheet…

“SERIOUSLY!?”

He yelled, looking for all the world like Munch’s Scream.

“Wait! What? So, if I’d made a mistake with my skill choices, my life would be over!!”

“That’s right. I wonder if those cheaters who got ‘Skill Steal’ are already dead?” Haruka mused.

“Yeah, Instant Death is definitely possible for those guys. Especially if we have no way of knowing the average skill make-up or level of the people in this world, using that skill against an enemy can mean death.”

Besides, the skill is returned to the owner upon my death, plus they’ll even gain a longer lifespan because of me using ‘Skill Steal’ on them. Anyway, the ability to steal skills without any repercussions just gives me a bad feeling. Well, I guess for people who are determined to steal someone else’s hard-earned skills, ‘Skill Steal’ might still be a great deal, despite its downsides…

“Scary! How horrible!! What an evil god!”

Tomoya still looked like the Scream. Yep, I could totally empathize. I felt the same way when I first saw the new explanations after I’d selected ‘Help’.

“But I still think he(?) was actually nice? The advice provided in ‘Help’ was really convenient, and he kept reminding us that there was no way to cheat the system. So those who still decided to choose cheat-like skills are actually reaping what they sowed?”

“Nah, I don’t think so. I mean, offering that ‘EXP Gain’ skill is just plain bullying, since it gives zero merits,” Tomoya argued.

Well, I guess so. The other skills all had some sort of merit attached, while ‘EXP Gain’ didn’t… Why was that? Maybe its effect would be enhanced, when combined with some other skill? It does happen in some games, where skills seem useless on their own, but when paired with other skills, they become extremely convenient.

“Hmm, I don’t know, but he did tell us that hard work always pays off, so I didn’t expect things to be easy? Besides, he also said that what we desire is definitely within reach, which is quite good advice too.”

Haruka was right. The evil god did say those things, which was not exactly evil of him. If we wanted a skill that made life easier, we would have to put in much more effort than anyone else… It sounded just like what a fair and just god would put mortals through. And if we’d gotten those amazing skills, we won’t have enough points for much else, anyway.

“That said, the original skills that he offered… Were actually already pretty great. I mean, ‘Toughness’ seemed really important.”

“Yeah. Sci-fi stories always talk about civilizations being wiped out because they have no resistance to some illness,” Haruka agreed.

“What? Is ‘Toughness’ really that important?”

Oh, that’s right. Tomoya doesn’t have access to ‘Help’. Even so, he’d invested and gotten the skill at a high level. He’s always been lucky like that. I mean, he’d managed to avoid all the land mine skills without using ‘Help’.

“But it says there may be new, unknown viruses here in the explanation. That’s why I decided to choose it,” I explained.

“We may gain some resistance to that, but it doesn’t mean we can’t fall sick. Plus, we probably don’t have things like insurance here,” Haruka murmured softly.

She’s right. There probably aren’t systems like health or life insurance in this world. If we don’t get to work quickly, there’s a high chance that we’ll end up dead. In this world, we no longer have parents or guardians as protection.

“Really!? Phew~ I’m glad I selected it,” Tomoya finally seemed somewhat relieved.

While you can’t tell just from the words ‘Toughness’ that it applies to illnesses as well, with such a high level as Tomoya’s, he’s probably gained resistance to most diseases.

“Alright, on to my skills next. These were my choices…” Haruka announced.

——————————————————————————-

[Help]
[Aptitude with Bows]
[Alchemic Disposition]
[Magical Disposition/Light]
[Magical Disposition/Wind]
[Magical Disposition/Water]
[Magical Power Boost]
[Otherworldly Sense]
[Bow Skill Lv.2]
[Toughness Lv.2]
[Throw Lv.1]
[Intuition Lv.2]
[Disassembly Lv.1]
[Light Magic Lv.3]
[Wind Magic Lv.1]
[Water Magic Lv.1]
[Fast Spellcasting Lv.1]
[Alchemy Lv.1]
[Sewing Lv.1]
[Cooking Lv.1]

——————————————————————————-

“…Wait, why do you seem to have more skills than me?” Tomoya asked, head tilted to one side.

“He’s right. You have more skills than me too… Haruka, how many points were you given?” I asked.

It must have been quite a number. I don’t really remember the exact cost for each skill, but I’m sure her list of skills required more points than I had.

“Points? I got 200?” Haruka answered nonchalantly.

…What? 200?

“Huh!? I only had 120?”

“I had 150… Were our specs so different?”

“You still had 150! Haruka, you had almost twice the number of points I had!?”

It was true that Haruka was better at studies than I was. And, she was also much better-looking. Her athletic ability was great, her communication skills too… But to have all these calculated and given a score… How depressing.

“W-Well, I’m sure that evil god was biased! There’s no way you guys are of lesser value as humans!”

“Our value as humans…”

“Half of yours…”

Watching us sink into depression, Haruka hurried to reassure us. Tomoya looked especially upset.

“Don’t worry, Tomoya! You just need to level up your skills from now on! Come on, Nao, say something!”

Haruka thumped me on the back, pressing me to speak.

“Y-Yeah… She’s right, Tomoya.”

With a feeling of slight dissatisfaction, I glanced at my own status display again.

——————————————————————————-

[Help]
[Aptitude with Spears]
[Magical Disposition/Space-Time]
[Spear Skill Lv.2]
[Evasion Lv.1]
[Toughness Lv.2]
[Hawk’s Eye Lv.1]
[Stealth Lv.1]
[Enemy Awareness Lv.1]
[Intuition Lv.2]
[Trap Knowledge Lv.1]
[Space-Time Magic Lv.2]
[Fire Magic Lv.1]

——————————————————————————-

I’d thought my skill make-up looked good, but compared to Haruka’s, it now seemed a little lacking. I wanted to think that Haruka just got too many points. I mean, it can’t be that I got one of the least number of points compared to the rest of my class, right? I had more than Tomoya, but disregarding ‘Help’, the number of points we had at our disposal were almost the same.

“Hmm. So Nao, you’re like the tank of our group? I guess it sorta fits you.”

“Huh, really? Does that matter?”

“Of course. Tomoya’s like a reckless vanguard fighter, and because Nao’s hard to place, I decided to model myself to be the rear support character,” Haruka explained.

Oh… I guess it was true, but I wished she’d give me a cooler name than ‘tank’. Something like ‘all-rounder’, perhaps. But then, I’d made my skill selection without much thought, so I couldn’t complain.

“Well, lucky for us, we sorta match up to form a vanguard, tank, and rear support, so we’ll be alright. Let’s hurry and try to get to a city.”

“…That’s right, Haruka, you got a skill called ‘Otherworldly Sense’. Is that what’s telling you to hurry?”

“Well, if we’re near a city, then we should be OK, but back when we were humans, even a random wild boar is enough to kill us. So while we have skills now, it’s still important to find somewhere safe to settle down.”

“Yeah, I remember seeing that on the news. How people get hurt and sometimes even killed by wild boars.”

“I’ve even heard that humans aren’t a match for the house cat if it’s intent on killing us, but I have my doubts.”

That’s right, it is very difficult to catch a cat when it doesn’t want to be caught. With that in mind, what Tomoya just said didn’t sound too implausible at all. By the way, aside from our skills, I noticed belatedly that we were all unarmed. All we had were clothes which (probably) belonged in this world.

“Hey hey, can we talk later? Let’s get going! Nao, you have ‘Hawk’s Eye’, right? Do you see a city nearby?”

At Haruka’s urging, I looked around, but all I could see were fields and forests. There was nothing that resembled civilization, and over there were some mountains… Oh, could that be a road?

“I don’t see any cities, but there’s something that looks like a road over there,” I reported.

“No city? But at least there’s a road… Anyway, let’s head over.”

“Yeah.”

——

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