Surrounded by the towering mountain range was a green giant several times larger.

Just how enormous was it…? While the air here was certainly a lot cleaner than Earth’s, I still could not believe I was actually seeing the silhouette of a tree thousands of kilometers away.

The World Tree… together with the ninety-nine saplings, they served as the cornerstones of this world.

…wait, no, this wasn’t the time to be admiring scenery. That ‘thousands of kilometers’ was exactly what I must cross.

 

*Ratatatat!!*

“Not again!”

More explosive wind bullets appeared out of nowhere. I promptly dashed away.

The militarized monster avatars, driven by secret beta testers, showed themselves. Five black cricket-spiders galloped after me on their eight legs, shooting their spells all the while.

It had been twenty-four hours since my first encounter with the cricket-spiders. They never stopped attacking. Every time they ran out of magic and left, they would return a few hours after. Or just ten minutes, if luck was being particularly uncharitable.

They would just revive if I killed them. They weren’t getting the penalty to their magic like normal beta players, but they should still be losing the amount I drained from them. Yet to the contrary, it seemed their magic was even slightly increasing. Perhaps they were taking turns killing monsters or humans somewhere else.

Even when I was recovering thirty percent every hour, it still wasn’t enough. My current magic was already down to half capacity.

 

I really couldn’t afford to keep fighting them. I stayed as human and ran toward the sea.

I was ‘the demon of tempestuous mist that ravages the northern seas’, so I could cross the ocean just fine if I turned to mist here. But with the threat of wind bullets looming behind me, I didn’t dare.

Flight as a human was possible too, but keeping it up for long hours would be rough on me, plus I’d lose a lot of my maneuverability. So I decided to just run on the water.

The mist from my feet froze the waves with each step I took.

Not very stable footing, but it would suffice. I kept up my speed. Their attempts to follow me ended in shattered ice and drowning spiders.

Really… were they even using their eyes? Why did they think my ice could support their weight?

Six days of borrowed time left.

Considering I’d have to cross the ocean, the mountain range, then another strip of ocean to reach the Central Island where the World Tree was, I was cutting it really close.

 

I kept on running on the frozen path for a whole day and night. As I expected, the sea had stopped any further attacks. Still, I had to constantly create mist, so I didn’t recover all that much magic.

Perhaps I should just accept the loss of secrecy and go all-out as flying mist? I couldn’t decide. Especially when there were still drones watching me from beyond my attack range even now.

A giant shark attacked me on the way. I kept up my speed, leaving behind a sinking frozen fish.

Four days of borrowed time left.

I could finally see the shore. The regions around the World Tree and its Saplings generally had mild climate and an abundance of greenery, yet the mountains here had nothing but precipitous cliffs, its rock face permitting no life.

 

“Damn it!”

So this was why the secret beta testers didn’t attack me on the ocean. They were setting up an ambush here! Over forty cricket spiders were occupying the relatively more level areas of the shoreline, waiting for my arrival.

The ten foremost spiders fired their wind bullets in unison. I immediately stopped creating mist and dove into the ocean.

I supposed it wasn’t time to worry about keeping secrets, then…

With the full strength of my magic, I carved out an enormous chunk of frozen ocean to throw at them. They immediately blew it apart. I fully transformed into mist, blasting through the ice fragments and their ambush. I left behind several spider popsicles as I began climbing the mountain.

 

But there was a surprise waiting for me. A surprise that, I was convinced, was also unknown to the secret beta testers.

There was a reason why no one ever reached the World Tree without following the official path. The mountains itself rejected all intruders.

 

***

 

Of the secret alpha testers, the survivors with broken psyches were being kept and monitored in a separate facility. The comatose children were lying still within fifty-seven suspended animation capsules. Audrey was there in front of them, connected to her audio-visual VR set. She was in a call with Brian, who was still staying back at the 7th research center.

 

“Hahahhah, unbelievable! So she truly was connected to No. 13! I just saw our little bunny turn into the mist monster, hahahahaaah! Audrey, what about your side?!”

She coolly began her report.

“No. 13 still hasn’t shown any responses, and neither have the other subjects. Also, the supervisor of the orphanage that No. 13 used to stay in has arrived as per your invitation. How shall we proceed?”

“Oh, she’s there already? She should be quite familiar with No. 13, so I invited her for another point of view. Feel free to talk to her. Let’s see, so No. 13’s still unresponsive…”

“Then I will continue my observation.”

 

Audrey cut off the visual feed and returned her eyes to reality. Turning around, she saw a woman around fifty with heavy makeup slurping some coffee, while making herself very comfortable. She turned her smirk to Audrey.

“Done with the Deputy Director’s call? Yes, that’s right, no one in the world knows that girl more than me! The ‘demon child’ used to be such a brat when she first joined up. Nothing a few beatings couldn’t fix though, heheheh.” The supervisor woman said, sounding so very proud of her deeds.

“I see…”

“Yes! And if she hasn’t shown any responses, then we can take her out of the capsule and give her the full-body electroshock treatment just like I used to! Even the brat was scared of it back then, screaming and crying every time I did it, so it should work great here!”

 

Even among the research orphanages established all around the world, this woman was still one of the best in terms of getting results. The corporation rated her highly. And in similarly high-achieving orphanages, such cruelties were a daily occurrence.

“…We will need to request the Deputy Director’s permission.” Audrey replied.

 

Policy required the children who were forcefully logged-out due to mental collapses to be kept alive in the collection facility for exactly thirty days. Their plugs would be pulled in order.

The final processing would only begin once life support stopped for all the secret alpha testers. As of now, around seventy percent had reached the end of their lease on life. Their deaths were already confirmed. The very final tester, No. 13, had four days left.

Even if this observation truly revealed a link between No. 13 and the rabbit beastman girl, a live dissection was all that awaited her.

With how her life had been, it would have been much more merciful to just let her die in peace, Audrey thought.

Suddenly, Brian’s shout rang out from the VR device.

 

“What the hell are those monsters?!”

 

***

 

As mist, I was practically running up the mountain. Once I reached a fifth of the way, the cricket spiders finally realized the monster of mist was me. They opened fire.

I had a lot more surface area as mist, so dodging was difficult. Still, with the distance I gained, just a bit of token avoidance was enough to get me out of the way of most of the bullets. Only a few hit.

But the moment the projectiles smashed into the rock face, a vast number of magical signals appeared on my radar. Here and there, beasts made out of stone and boulders began to come into existence. They attacked both me and the cricket-spiders.

What in the world were they?!

[Rock Monster x Lots]
[Magic Points: 500~700]
[Total Combat Power: 530~780]

I didn’t see their hit points, so were they spiritual lifeforms? If they weren’t demons… then elementals?

Their magic power were about the same as me when I just became a lesser demon. Their numbers were worrying, however. Hundreds? No, perhaps even thousands.

The cricket-spiders had more combat power, yet it meant nothing in front of overwhelming quantity. They immediately gathered up and focused fire on the newcomers. It still could not stop the rock avalanche from swallowing them whole in a blink of an eye.

I didn’t have the leeway to worry about them here. If they really were elementals, then perhaps their purpose was to eliminate anyone trying to reach the World Tree without using the sanctioned path.

About a thousand of them began to move toward me. I wasn’t sure if it was because I was trying to cross the mountains, or because I was a demon, but they seemed extraordinarily hostile.

I couldn’t afford to oppose them head-on. With all my strength, I blasted freezing air at the elementals above me. The frozen boulders became obstacles for the ascending elementals chasing me, and I continued my way to the top.

 

Time after time, stony barrages assaulted me, and I would avoid them by condensing myself. My path twisted and turned. Sometimes I ignored the newly-formed elementals, and sometimes I would kill them. After what must have been a whole day, I finally crossed the mountaintop, battered and bruised.

[Shedy] [Race: Mistral Neige] [Greater Demon (High-Rank)]
[Magic Points: 1370/5220] 600↑
[Total Combat Power: 1890/5740] 660↑

Having over 5000 magic still wasn’t enough for an evolution or rank-up.

Was there even anything above [Greater Demon] in the first place…? Well, stronger was stronger, especially since the elementals were still on my tail.

The World Tree was so close the trunk was clearly visible, but only the trunk. Its higher branches lay hidden behind fog.

Surrounded by an inland sea was the Central Island, which I thought was already quite large by itself. But with how much space the World Tree’s trunk was taking up, I could barely see any visible earth.

Three days of borrowed time left. More rock elementals were forming around me.

Any more damage and I would seriously risk death here. I flew off from the downward-sloping cliff, taking a few hits from the elementals below me while dodging the projectiles from behind. Finally, I managed to escape to the inland sea.

The rock elementals stopped chasing me at the shoreline. They weren’t even shooting, despite the straight flight path I was taking above the sea.

Were they not considering the waters to be their jurisdiction since they were earth-type? Then whose…

 

“GGRAAARGHH!!”

 

The waters erupted. From under the sea appeared aquatic serpents, with fins and everything. They looked like wingless dragons.

[Water Dragon?]
[Magic Points: 465/480] [Hit Points: 1280/1280]
[Total Combat Power: 4950]

Hold up, what the hell was with that power?! And there wasn’t just one of them; hundreds of water dragons were patrolling around the Central Island, as if guarding the World Tree.

Damn it, considering how much combat power I had currently, I could die in just one hit if I wasn’t careful. Hesitation almost made me freeze up for a moment, but I pushed myself forward.

A few of them noticed me. They opened their mouths, shooting out torrents of water.

[Shedy] [Race: Mistral Neige] [Greater Demon (High-Rank)]
[Magic Points: 940/5220] 
[Total Combat Power: 1460/5740] 

No no no, too much damage! And that was just a single hit!

I attempted to freeze the water to interrupt any further attacks, but with how low my power had become, I could only create a thin layer of surface ice.

I dodged, avoiding any direct hits, twisting and turning through the water beams. At least I had an advantage in my flight speed. The swimming water dragons were slightly slower than me.

I weaved back and forth to shake off the dragons, at times approaching, at times going away from the island. After a long while, I finally managed to land on the shore.

[Shedy] [Race: Mistral Neige] [Greater Demon (High-Rank)]
[Magic Points: 330/5220] 
[Total Combat Power: 850/5740] 

I could literally die from just a scratch. Thankfully, the water dragons no longer pursue me. Again, was land not their jurisdiction? I thought they would still continue attacking since they weren’t elementals. How bewildering. But once I attempted to go inland, I understood why.

An invisible wall was blocking my path.

Was this… a barrier? That can’t be right! Were monsters not allowed to approach? I came all the way here, what the hell do I do?!

In my stupor, I barely noticed something rolling out from my [Packer] inventory.

 

*boing*

…Huh? Blobsy? She bounced ahead, going through the barrier as if nothing was there, then stopped. Then she stopped and began hopping in place, as if to say ‘hurry up!’

Why could she pass…? She’s a monster too, right?

[Blobsy] [Race: Jelly Slime] [Kin of Shedy, the Demon]
[Magic Points: 10/10] [Hit Points: 10/10]
[Total Combat Power: 10]
[Special Skill: Laundry - Cleaning]

Oh, ‘Cleaning’, that was new… wait, no, not that. She hadn’t had any important change, that was the point.

Why could Blobsy go in? Such a harmless… ah!

An idea came to mind. I transformed into my [Human Form] and gingerly stepped forward.

Nothing stopped me.

So only harmless beasts and real humans could cross the barrier, then. If my skill was still at [Humanoid Form], I might have been stuck here forever. What a relief…

‘Thank you, Blobsy! I’ll treat you to tons of food later!’

*boing!*

 

Two days of borrowed time left.

I was still some distance away, yet the Tree was already dominating my view. I ran toward it, Blobsy on my shoulder.

Aside from the moss covering the area and the Tree itself, I detected no other signs of life. After a while, I reached one of the Tree’s roots, so enormous its thickness alone took up the space of a baseball field.

 

I was here. After so long, I was finally here. My salvation must be waiting for me. I had already gambled all my hope on this, after all.

I quietly, gently touched the Tree’s roots.

…nothing’s happening? Perhaps I needed to do something? Or perhaps the roots wouldn’t work, and I’d need to go further up? But back then-

 

“――――world――――waiting―――you――save――――――――――human――――――salvation―――――――life――――――――souls―――――――――――children―――――――――――”

 

A massive influx of information poured into my mind. I nearly blanked out.

This was… the will of the World Tree? It wasn’t a matter of language or intelligence; its thought processes were simply too alien for human understanding.

If I hadn’t had the experience of processing similarly insane amount of information ever since I began the ‘game’, the Tree really would have fried my brain there and then.

I processed the vast voice of the World Tree. Slowly but surely, we communicated.

I wasn’t sure how long it took, but it must have been quite a while. As I comprehended its words, the truth of this world was revealed to me.

 

“…yeah. It’s a [Contract], then. Between you and me. Between the World Tree and a demon…”

 

***

 

“…slight fluctuation in No. 13’s brain activity!” A staff member reported.

Audrey raised her head and let slip a whisper. “Could it be…?”

“See! This was all thanks to me! I knew unfreezing and shocking her would do the trick!” The orphanage supervisor proudly said.

 

Only No. 13 was the only one left. All the other secret alpha testers had already had their plugs pulled.

The white girl was lying there unconscious, outside of her suspended-animation capsule. Dozens of electrode rods were stabbing into her flesh. A horrific sight like no other.

 

“No. 13’s vitals are… huh?”

“Something’s not right…”

“What’s going on…?”

The slight tick in No. 13’s brain activity suddenly went off the charts in a blink of an eye.

Audrey and the supervisor woman looked to the white girl. As everyone in the room turned their attentions upon her, No. 13’s body rapidly began losing color.

And collapsed into a pile of salt.

The unthinkable sight shocked the staff members into stillness. Meanwhile, the other children’s corpses that were waiting for disposal followed suit, turning into piles of salt one after another. The fully-lit room darkened ever so slightly, as though simply a trick of the light. Within the skin-crawling chilly room, a faint voice reached their ears. The voice of a girl.

 

“…I’m back…”

---

Previous Chapter | Index | Next Chapter

Nine days of borrowed time left.

I was finally on my way to the World Tree, in order to find a way to save my soul back on Earth.

I had to wonder if there really was a way… No. 01 had believed in the faint possibility, and he said as much in his testament. Yet that was no guarantee of salvation.

…at least a bit of hope was better than nothing.

 

According to the travel guide I read on the airship, there were two possible paths from the Free City of Seis to the World Tree.

I could continue south and pass through Cinqres Academy City, get on a ship to go to the Holy City Ayune, then cross a bit more land and sea to reach the Central Island, where the World Tree was.

The other path was similar. I could go by airship from Seis to Ayune, and the rest would be the same.

The Central Island was surrounded by a donut-shaped mountain range. The only way in was through the Holy City Ayune, which was why both paths required me to go there.

And it was also the most problematic part of the journey.

According to the guidebook, Ayune was the country closest to the World Tree, and at the same time housing the headquarters of the religion revering the Tree. So it must also be the main base of the corporation that was playing God to this world. It would be the most dangerous place in the world for me… and I even heard rumors of ‘Heroes’ there, too.

 

Besides, that mess with the beta players made it a lot more difficult for me to use public transportation in the first place. If I entered a large town and got discovered, the resulting complications would waste more of my time than simply taking a detour.

So I decided to take the third path: moving by myself.

I would head south toward the peninsula to the western end of Cinqres, cross the ocean by my own power, climb the steep mountain wall surrounding the Central Island, and head directly to the World Tree.

I should be able to make the distance… probably. According to the rough map I saw, at least.

 

I dealt with the watcher drones tailing me and went south, detouring around towns when necessary.

Within territories that looked like they belonged to humans, I stayed in my human form. Once I escaped the area surrounding the Free City, I could finally turn back to mist.

It wasn’t like there were no downsides to having a body with substance. The biggest disadvantage was that I had lost the ability to partially transform. I could only either be completely mist or completely human.

When dispersed, I became almost completely immune to physical attacks, and absorption would work a lot faster. On the other hand, my own attacks would lack weight, and area-of-effect spells could hurt me badly.

When in human form, I could deal out heavy strikes and change position rapidly, which made dodging spells relatively easier. But physical attacks would hurt me more, my detection range would shrink by a bit, and the most annoying thing was that I could no longer use [Packer] when human. I would have to take what I needed out of my inventory beforehand.

I gained the ability to create mist while human, too, so there wasn’t much of a difference between freezing things in mist form or in human form. And while my human form was better at short-ranged, instantaneous movements, my mist form was much faster at traveling long distance or going through wastelands.

So once I left the lands of humans, I immediately changed back into mist. My speed was probably around the same as an ordinary train’s.

Might as well take the occasion to confirm my power.

[Shedy] [Race: Mistral Neige] [Greater Demon (High-Rank)]
・The demon of tempestuous mist that ravages the northern seas. A canny spiritual lifeform.

[Magic Points: 4300/4300] 300↑
[Total Combat Power: 4730/4730] 330↑
[Unique Skill: <Reroll> <Cyber-Manipulation> <Absorption> <Materialization>] 
[Racial Skill: Fear]
[Simple Identification] [Human Form (Wonderful)] [Specialist Packer]

With the acquisition of [Materialization], [Humanoid Form] turned into [Human Form]. I wasn’t just looking like a human; I had gained a real body, one that was practically the same as when I was still a normal human, only more grown-up.

My voice was no longer simply me messing with pockets of air. I was truly breathing now, even if I was actually breathing mana, not oxygen.

In the beginning, I could recover only ten percent of my magic each hour. With the combination of [Absorption] and [Materialization], that number had jumped to thirty percent.

Yet all that did not excuse the use of (Wonderful) to describe me… just what the hell was it assessing? I agreed, [Human Form] was really quite wonderful, but still!

So my body was almost indistinguishable from a real human’s now, but the rabbit ears were still staying… unsurprisingly. Honestly, I was halfway to complete resignation by now. Weird, isn’t it? My brain was supposed to be taking over the job of the System these days, yet I was only evolving in the oddest ways.

Maybe I should just embrace the inevitable already… might as well find myself a bunny suit, in that case.

Anyway, that was about it. From now on, I’d need to learn how to fight with both forms, and how to use them in the right situation.

 

Three days after I went south from Seis, I finally began to see traces of what looked like human civilization in a forest, so I turned human again.

Whenever I turn human, first, I needed to throw out my clothes and satchel from [Packer] inventory. The moment they appear, I would slip my body of mist into the outfit and change form. Clothed human transformation, in effect.

It took me half a day to learn how to do this… god, so much precious time lost. But this was important. I would never allow myself to forget wearing clothes!

Personal dignity aside, once I started putting one foot after another on solid ground, Blobsy immediately jumped out from my satchel. She hauled herself onto my shoulder, then jiggled in joy.

Cute. I took some jerky from my satchel, fed Blobsy her snack, and began running. My sprint was as fast as a cheetah’s now.

 

The Academy City of Cinqres was supposed to be nearby. Apparently the country was gathering elite students and researchers from all over the world to do… something.

I only turned human as insurance. I had no plans to get anywhere close to the country. The people there must be doing mana research by orders of the corporation, so I expected heavy surveillance. Which meant I shouldn’t be showing my mist form here. I didn’t want to allow for the possibility of them realizing my link to No. 13.

Well, I had a feeling they already had an inkling of my identity, though… whoa!

 

The moment I exited the forest, I noticed a watcher drone. I immediately blasted mist from my fingers to freeze it.

I could now expel mist in human form, in exchange for the ability to partially transform. This mist was both me, yet not me. It moved according to my will, but it also had some similarities to spells in that it consumed my magic power.

In the end, it might not sound like much of a distinction. But the important thing here was that if an attack hit the mist, it would only cost me the magical expense of the lost mist. I wouldn’t need to worry about the attack seriously hurting me.

Well, my real body of mist would be able to do absorption a lot faster, though.

 

Just as I thought, once I left the forest and got closer to the country, I began to see a lot more of those watcher drones.

They hadn’t found me yet. All the same, the corporation would be suspecting something was wrong once they noticed dozens of drones breaking down in the same region within just a few days.

I should be able to reach the peninsula if I turned west here. I focused my eyes on what I hoped to be the right direction. There, so far away, I saw the shadow of a mountain. A silhouette robed in fog, foot resting upon the ocean.

…it was the right direction, then. As I got ready to leave-

“Whoa?!”

-I suddenly detected multiple magical signals. I promptly leaped away.

 

*Ratatatataat!!!*

The ground where I used to stand on exploded, blowing away my cloak of mist.

What was that?! I recreated my mist, checking out my surroundings. Strange monsters were surrounding me. I never even noticed.

They were colored black, with torsos and wings of a cricket and spindly spider legs.

[Cricket Spider x15]
[Magic Points: 475/500] [Hit Points: 750/750]
[Total Combat Power: 1750]

More secret beta testers?! Different avatars, but much stronger this time.

As I attempted escape from the encirclement, they gave chase, lanky spider legs running like a horse. God, that looked disgusting! And fast too, at that!

I created even more mist to hide myself. Several cricket spiders opened their mouths, wings vibrating at high-speed. Invisible projectiles shot at me.

*Ratatat!*

So this was what they ambushed me with!

Exploding bullets of wind. No direct hits, yet my mist was still blown away. Were they spells? They actually hurt me.

These monster avatars were purely long-range combatants, and their focus was on raw speed rather than agility. Their aim must be to keep me away from melee range, then… how troublesome. The moment I moved, the whole encirclement followed. But that didn’t mean I was helpless…

I dashed toward one of them, my step gouging out the earth.

They all promptly retreated. Still, I didn’t have over 4000 combat power for nothing. My superior acceleration blasted me past my target, and my claws ripped it apart from head to wings. Frost spread from its wounds to turn it into a popsicle.

They were a lot softer than the carapace spiders! I could do this!

Then, just as I got ready to leap toward my next target, it jumped. It began to hover in mid-air, wings flapping.

It wasn’t true flight. It was slowly descending, but I still couldn’t reach it.

 

*Ratttatatata!!!*

A rain of explosive wind bullets came from the other cricket spiders.

[Shedy] [Race: Mistral Neige] [Greater Demon (High-Rank)]
[Magic Points: 3860/4380] 80↑
[Total Combat Power: 4290/4810] 80↑

That really hurt. I rolled away, dodging the projectiles. I attempted a dash toward the nearest target, but again, it immediately jumped up. More bullets came.

My suspicions were confirmed. They couldn’t fire in rapid succession, and there weren’t that many bullets in each salvo. The damage wasn’t that bad.

Still, this couldn’t continue. I weaved around the hail of bullets with rapid dashes. An idea came to mind, and I immediately froze the ground.

Yes! One of them got stuck on the ice-covered earth. I instantly changed direction. Before the other cricket spiders could do anything, I tore it apart with claws and dagger, then drained it dry of magic.

*Ratatatat!!!*

A sudden hail of bullets rained down, blowing away both me and my target.

[Shedy] [Race: Mistral Neige] [Greater Demon (High-Rank)]
[Magic Points: 3440/4460] 80↑
[Total Combat Power: 3880/4900] 90↑

At least they were killable. Still, they had the advantage, and it was only going to get worse for me. I should try to repeat this a few more times. Hopefully I could get rid of another one-

 

My thoughts stalled as I witnessed the cricket spiders releasing their encirclement. They stepped back, then faded into nonexistence.

“…huh?”

…did they log out? What’s going on?

At least this was better than the alternative. Continuing that fight would have just left me worse off. I departed the area and continued toward the direction of the World Tree.

 

After that first encounter, their assaults became a regular occurrence. Yet the battles always ended in their retreat, even when they still hadn’t lost.

I see… so they were returning to refuel the magic consumed when they shot those explosive wind bullets. That was just unfair.

After another three days of constant battles, I finally crossed the peninsula. I could see the sea now.

[Shedy] [Race: Mistral Neige] [Greater Demon (High-Rank)]
[Magic Points: 2750/4620] 160↑
[Total Combat Power: 3210/5080] 180↑

Across the ocean was a craggy mountain range, towering over a thousand meters. Yet behind it was an even bigger tree. A green colossus, sharing home with the clouds.

 

“The World Tree…”

---

Author’s Notes: The secret beta testers’ avatars were controlled semi-automatically.

If defeated, a few hours of calibration and refueling magic would return them back to combat-readiness.

TN: Bigger sized map here.

---

Previous Chapter | Index | Next Chapter

No. 08’s legacy, the final magic stone, had elevated me to a higher rank of existence.

The same thing happened when I assimilated No. 17’s magic stone. I skipped the rank-up process entirely, while still gaining the appropriate magic power.

[Shedy] [Race: Mistral Neige] [Greater Demon (High-Rank)]
・The demon of tempestuous mist that ravages the northern seas. A canny spiritual lifeform.

[Magic Points: 4000/4000] 1760↑
[Total Combat Power: 4400/4400] 1936↑
[Unique Skill: <Reroll> <Cyber-Manipulation> <Absorption> <Materialization>] 
[Racial Skill: Fear]
[Simple Identification] [Human Form (Wonderful)] [Specialist Packer]

…well, let’s leave the nitpicking for next time. Basically, I gained a ton of magic and combat power.

However, the most drastic change came from the new power I gained from No. 08: [Materialization].

Before, my human form was just a paper-thin, weightless veneer. Now, I had gained real flesh and blood, crafted from matter of this world.

My body handled a bit differently from before. To be honest, I thought a body with actual substance and weight was easier to use. I curled and flexed my fingers, trying to get a feel for my new self.

“…Sherry? Is that you?” I heard Weed calling from somewhere, bewilderment in his voice.

I grew up again. I looked around 13 now, about 150 centimeters tall. Ten centimeters taller than when I first got these clothes, which meant my navel would peek out from below the hem of my blouse whenever I moved, and my knee-length skirt was pretty much a miniskirt now.

Kids this age grew up so quickly, they could gain an adult’s face in just a single year. Isaac, staring at me in amazement, came back to himself as he heard Weed’s utterance. Just as he was about to speak…

 

*clang!*

My dagger flew into the head of a spider in a corner of my view, discouraging whatever it was about to do. The iron blade sank half-way into its shell and broke off.

So just normal iron wouldn’t be able to stand up to the spider’s carapace or my current power, then.

Now, I only needed to create a bit of mist in order to gain a full view of the surroundings. I continued examining myself, while still keeping watch on the carapace-spiders.

The spiders had been watching me, too, noticing my change. But not any more; they began to move. I responded with a quiet step forward.

Just as I passed by Isaac, mouth still agape and standing stock-still, I spoke.

“…my name’s Shedy. Not Sherry.”

“Eh…” He jolted in another bout of surprise.

 

I leaped, my step blasting away a patch of grassland and bringing me to point-blank range with a spider in an instant. The vigilant spiders immediately scattered and began firing magical bullets from all sides.

Mist burst out from me, weaving itself into a cloak to hide me from sight. Its winding tendrils wrapped around my target.

The range and thickness of my mist had improved by leaps and bounds. Once the mist cleared, the spider under me was nothing more than a frozen statue, wasting away as grains of light.

 

Two spiders instantly began shooting again, while two other slid around me, swiping their claws in a pincer attack.

I stretched my cloak of mist into a thin fog, sapping heat from the surroundings.

Everything moving needed energy, whether they were living beings, machinery, or avatars. And where there was kinetic energy, there was heat. Not like I particularly understood how it worked, anyway.

Their movements rapidly dulled. I latched onto one of them, freezing the shell whole and shattering it with my claws. I drained it dry of magic.

 

The three remaining spiders decided to abandon close-quarters combat. They tried to escape the mist, their guns still firing to suppress me.

But I didn’t actually need the chilly mist to slow them down. My speed was doubled with the explosive boost in combat power I gained.

The magical rock bullets now looked no faster than lobbed basketballs. I just needed a light hop to the left, then to the right… oh hey, I think I could catch those.

So I did. Thankfully they weren’t shooting fireballs instead. I grabbed a boulder in mid-air and put all my strength into a return throw. It didn’t even come close to hitting any of them, but the sight was still enough to shock a spider into a moment of indecision. I clung to it, freezing, stabbing, draining its magic.

The moment my target was down, the other two suddenly stopped moving. They restarted a short while later, but this time, their movements were strangely mechanical.

What happened? Did they changed to using AI controllers? I didn’t quite get their intentions. If all they wanted was just a simple, indiscriminate massacre, then an AI would probably work just fine. But using soldiers with predictable attack patterns against me? They wouldn’t even be worth worrying about.

I baited them out, dodged their attacks, then froze them directly with both my hands. The last two spiders died without much fanfare.

 

“…phew.”

The spiders weren’t much of a problem. If anything, they caused more trouble to Isaac’s group than to me.

Most of the participants were dead, and the rest were beaten within an inch of their lives. I supposed that to them, their planned event couldn’t have gone any worse.

I sent them a glance. Several players shook off their shock and readied their weapons when they noticed my gaze. Isaac and Weed looked like they wanted to say something. Sandrea, who used to be such a chatterbox when we were talking about the magic stone, was now glaring at me in silence. She seemed frustrated.

…well, whatever. Not like I needed to be friends with them, anyway. And it’d be better off for them if they stayed away from scary monsters, too.

If anything, I was more curious about the secret beta testers. Why were they here?

Had the corporation discovered the link between me and my real-life body? If so, then my allotted time was rapidly running out.

 

Twelve days of borrowed time left.

This deadline must still hold true. I won’t give up. Not ever.

I left the players behind me and headed toward my final target: the World Tree.

 

“…I swear, I’m going to make her call me Sally next time we meet!”

 

…she was still going on about that? No way, not in a million years.

 

***

 

One day, on a popular video sharing website, a certain video was uploaded by players of World of Yggdrasia, the VRMMORPG that was still in beta. It immediately blew up.

A rabbit beastman girl who looked about 13 years of age. The value of the in-game bounty for her capture was equivalent to fifty million real-life dollars.

Fluffy snow-white hair, vivid-red eyes, adorably drooping rabbit ears, and a cute face to boot. It didn’t take long for the video to hit a million views.

 

Footage showing the black spiders were cut out of the site immediately after uploading, for some reason, but the scenes of her battle against the players were intact. The viewers weren’t scared by her ruthless cruelty; if anything, it only caused her popularity to skyrocket. Both the beta players and the people waiting for the official release worldwide were infatuated with her. They called her the ‘Fluffy Bunny’.

Another video uploaded by a player named Weed with the title “Collection of Glares and Roasts” also gained a huge amount of views. More and more people expressed a desire to be insulted by the bunny. Even a rumor was born, that one would be blessed with good luck if one ever met her in-game. Some were already discussing fan-made figurines.

 

The only one unaware was the rabbit herself.

 

***

 

“…hah. Hahahah, AAAAHAHAH! Man, what the hell is this?! They were experimental, sure, but wiped out by just a single girl?!” Deputy Director Brian cackled, his eyes on the monitor.

His laugh turned Audrey’s stomach. Still, she spoke. “…D-Deputy Director?”

Even she could not have predicted this outcome. The avatars might have been experimental models, but they already had proven themselves to possess power equivalent to that of modern light tanks. The girl certainly had some trouble in the beginning, yet once she acquired the magic stone, she dealt with five of the experimental models in an instant.

The few drones currently chasing after her had already been shot down. Her whereabouts was unknown.

 

“The last two avatars got the data, right? Begin upgrading the militarized monster avatars with that right now! Throw versatility out the door, we just need to hunt the rabbit. Oh man, I can’t wait to dissect that girl!” Brian ordered, sounding extremely upbeat.

Then his twisted grin turned to Audrey.

“Audrey, you’re the best secretary ever! I could kiss you just for finding that wonderful tester for us! Alright, I’ve got another job for you. Go check on the vital signs of No. 13 in the collection facility. We’ll be cornering the rabbit soon, so if the girl showed any reactions at all, tell me immediately. I’ll dissect her myself!”

“…understood.”

Audrey thought she caught a glimpse of insanity within his eyes. Still, she bowed, looking like the model subordinate.

 

Just a few days later, development of the militarized monster avatars specialized for the rabbit was done. Their designation was MO-03-B. Fifty soldiers of the Army were participating in Operation: Rabbit Season.

---

Author’s Note: Wow, Shedy is so popular (snickers)

The fan-made figurines are ⅕ sized. Only 50 will be made, priced at $100 each.

---

Previous Chapter | Index | Next Chapter

“Deputy Director!”

Audrey opened the door of the room formerly used for monitoring the 100 secret alpha testers. Inside, the Deputy Director of the 7th research center, Brian, and several staff members were watching a screen.

“Heeey, Audrey. A bit late, aren’t you?” He cheerfully greeted.

 

It had been a week since the beginning of the activation test of the militarized monster avatar mass-production models. Fifty physically and mentally resilient soldiers of the Army were chosen to be the ‘secret beta testers’.

The new experimental models had been fine-tuned based on the valuable data gained from the secret alpha testers. Extraneous functions, including evolution, were removed. The precious mana gathered by beta testers had given them a head start in power.

 

“Looks like it’s gonna be tough for the testers to get acclimatized with the avatars if we infuse any more mana. I suppose in the end, nothing beats gathering mana yourself to increase your power. But then again, what if we need to use those things here…”

“Deputy Director Brian, why are you mobilizing the experimental models?”

“Oh, this? Well, seeing your fixation with the so-called ‘bunny girl’ made me curious too. Man, I knew you were hired for a reason! Just as you expected, the bunny was after the magic stone. The player event managed to lured her out.”

 

The secretary woman’s face turned a tad pale.

A rabbit beastman girl with an uncanny similarity to No. 13. Audrey had looked into the heist of No. 17’s magic stone, and had came to the same conclusion as the players. So she connected her mobile device to one of the monitoring screens and sent a watcher drone to observe the players who planned the event.

And just as she thought, the rabbit beastman girl took the bait, and a fight had broken out. Yet suddenly, the experimental models showed up and started attacking everyone there, when they were supposed to be still in the middle of a test run far away from any human civilization.

 

“Man, gotta say, that world really is wide. I never expected there could be a single lone beastman who could fight at that level. Identifications returned some weird numbers, but if she could fight like that, don’t you think she’d make for a great performance test for the militarized monster avatars? They were made to kill people, after all.”

“But shouldn’t we be keeping them out of the players’ eyes…?”

“Oh, it’s not any different from the previous ‘berserker’ event. Besides, that bunny stole the magic stone from No. 17, and now she’s trying to get No. 08’s. Two out of our original three testers had dropped magic stones, so why didn’t No. 01…? No. 13 was next to him that time, right? If, just as you said, that bunny truly had a connection to No. 13, wouldn’t that be so interesting?”

 

Since when did he know Audrey was looking into the rabbit? She thought she saw something twisted in Brian’s cheerful smile. She said nothing, her own expression stiff.

 

“Well then. Let’s see how much of a fight the bunny and the players can give against real soldiers in experimental models.”

 

***

 

“What the hell are those monsters?!”

“Are they event monsters too?!”

“Everyone, calm down!”

“Total combat power is 1000?! And ten of them?!”

“Archers, keep them in check…”

“Damn it, there are way too many of them!”

A carapace-spider dipped low, then sent its entire body weight into an upward smash.

“Whoaa!?”

It was more than the greatshield-holder could take. He went flying, despite his combat power nearing 800. I didn’t think that bit of difference in combat power could blow him off so easily, so it must be the mass difference. And the spiders knew it too; the way they fought was centered around leveraging their weight.

 

“[Shadow Bind]!”

“[Ice Lance]!”

An archer pinned down a spider, and a magician froze one of its legs. But immediately, the other carapace-spiders moved forward to cover for it. Their claws pierced an approaching warrior.

The restrained spider opened up its crab-claws. From within, rock bullets shot out, aiming at the magicians staying farther away.

“Aaaaaagh!”

“You’ve gotta be kidding me… monsters are using [Stone Bullet]?!”

 

The mobility and agility of a wolf. The toughness of a tank. Possessing both close-range attacks and magical capabilities.

Despite personal combat power not all that much higher, they were still massacring the players one after another, without getting so much as a scratch.

I wasn’t just watching from the side. I was already busy with five of the spiders.

 

“Oof!”

I jumped back to dodge a downward claw, but another spider was already going around to my position. It swung its leg. I ducked, expelling mist as a smokescreen and jumped out of the encirclement.

The very moment I landed, a rock burst apart at my feet. As I struggled to reclaim my balance, a spider charged in.

“Damn it!”

I froze and shattered the grass under me. The cloud of plant fragments obscured its sight for a moment, and I took the chance to stab my dagger into its head.

“…tsk.”

The dagger tip chipped off. Seemed like I dealt some damage with that, at least, but not enough to slow it down any.

I put some distance between us. The spiders didn’t continue their assault. They simply moved to surround me, weaving their net.

 

I had around double their combat power, so I was still managing to deal with their coordinated attacks… no. That wasn’t right. They were playing with me.

Like a pack of wolves hunting a moose. Once their prey weakened, the alpha wolf would turn the hunt into a lesson for the other wolves. And this fight was no different. The spiders were just tormenting me.

[Shedy] [Race: Mistral Neige] [Greater Demon (Low-Rank)]
・The demon of tempestuous mist that ravages the northern seas. A canny spiritual lifeform.

[Magic Points: 1870/2060] 
[Total Combat Power: 2076/2266] 
[Unique Skill: <Reroll> <Cyber-Manipulation> <Absorption>] 
[Racial Skill: Fear]
[Simple Identification] [Humanoid Form (National Treasure)] [Specialist Packer]

I was being ground down. At least their own magic were going down, too, due to their attacks. Still, if Isaac’s group went down, the spiders over there would come and gang up on me.

I apologized to Isaac in my thoughts. I didn’t have the leeway to come help them, but I still needed them to survive until I’ve killed at least a few spiders.

I supposed this wasn’t the time to be holding back, then.

 

The spiders were still slowly circling me, tightening their net. I threw the two daggers in my hands upward. Their movements hitched by a fraction.

Immediately, I shot toward the target I had in mind. It stalled for a instant, then moved backwards and started shooting rocks.

Just as I thought. Their connections to their avatars were weaker than us secret alpha testers. And my target had been favoring ranged magical attacks over close-quarters combat since the beginning.

I dodged the rocks I already knew were coming. Before the other spiders arrived, I dispersed both my arms and clung to its top.

One of its leg gouged out my stomach. I paid it no mind. As I began to freeze and absorb its life force, the neighboring spider approached and swung its giant claws.

 

[Reroll] [Reroll]

 

The claws whiffed past my face, then proceeded to pierced through the carapace of the half-frozen spider. I jabbed my own claws into the hole in the shell and absorb the rest of its magic and lifeforce.

“Kkrrrr…”

It was the first time a spider so much as said anything, and it was also its last. As my target disappeared in motes of light, I jumped to the neighboring spider. The accidental friendly-fire had immobilized it for a few short moments. I immediately began absorption.

It returned to its senses and started rampaging. Quite violently too, since I hadn’t frozen this one. On the other hand, the other spiders weren’t coming any closer.

 

[Reroll] [Reroll] [Reroll] [Reroll] [Reroll]

 

Every time I felt like I was about to fall, I [Reroll]ed to keep myself on it. I sucked it dry in one go.

 

Another spider began shooting magic at me.

 

[Cyber-Manipulation] [Reroll]

 

I forced a success of [Cyber-Manipulation] with [Reroll]. [Fear] suddenly descended on the shooting spider, and its aim turned indiscriminate.

The remaining two spiders were calmly dealing with the situation. They restrained the terrified spider from both sides. As they did, the bound spider started to fade away. A forced logout? Immediately, I shot my dispersed arms to one of the two restraining spiders, the one on the right. I stabbed my claws inside a gap on its shell and began absorbing its magic.

The left spider smashed its claws into me, flinging me off.

“Ooof!”

At least I managed to drain dry my target. Still, that was too much damage.

[Shedy] [Race: Mistral Neige] [Greater Demon (Low-Rank)]
[Magic Points: 1475/2240] 180↑
[Total Combat Power: 1699/2464] 198↑

I lost a bunch of magic. I could still fight, just not as recklessly. Otherwise this would turn into a losing battle in a blink of an eye.

I and the remaining spider entered a staring contest for a few seconds. Then it left, joining its comrades in fighting Isaac’s clan.

I really wanted to retreat here, but I couldn’t afford to let the magic stone fall into the hands of the corporation.

So I instantly gave chase. Looked like Isaac’s clan managed to down one of the spiders, too, but they paid for it with half their members. They had over twenty people at the beginning of the battle, and now their numbers didn’t even reach ten.

The spider from my side regrouped with the other four, repairing their formation.

“Sherry!”

As I arrived, Isaac’s group turned to face me. And so did the carapace-spiders.

I would really like to complain about the fact that both sides were more wary of me, here.

Isaac, battered and bruised but with weapon still firmly held, asked.

“Sherry… these crab-spiders aren’t your friends, right?”

“…no.”

“I see… then, do you want to join up until they’re dead, first?”

“Isaa-mmmfph!” Sandrea cut in, but didn’t get to say anything before pink-head muffled her.

“…even when you look so worn-out?”

“Heh, aren’t you about the same, Sherry?”

The players were avatars, so they were still standing on their own legs, but their wounds hadn’t completely healed. Looked like they ran out of potions. Their armor and weapons were all torn and cracked, too.

My glance swept through all of them. I quietly put out my hand.

“Give me the red magic stone. Then I’ll kill them for you.”

“…magic stone?”

Isaac looked dubiously at me. Even if I could only recover my magic, it should still be enough.

“Wha-mmmfgrh!”

Again, Sandrea was about to shout out something when pink-head held her down. Pinkie reprimanded her in a lecturing tone.

“Sally, be quiet. This is most likely a required condition,” she turned to Isaac, “I think it’s fine, but what do you think, leader?”

Isaac hesitated for a few moments. He looked at me one more time, then nodded to pink-head.

“Here.”

Pink-head threw the red magic stone to me.

No doubt about it. This was No. 08’s magic stone.

Apparently pink-head thought this was a necessary ‘condition’ to trigger the next step of their quest. But that wasn’t quite right.

This was a ‘condition’ necessary for my way of life.

I popped the stone into my mouth without hesitation. As it dissolved inside me, my magic began to rapidly stir, perhaps because all three magic stones were now together.

Hot… like I was burning up. I felt as if my body was heavier, yet at the same time lighter from the overflowing power coursing through me.

I…

[Shedy] [Race: Mistral Neige] [Greater Demon (High-Rank)]
・The demon of tempestuous mist that ravages the northern seas. A canny spiritual lifeform.

[Magic Points: 4000/4000] 1760↑
[Total Combat Power: 4400/4400] 1936↑
[Unique Skill: <Reroll> <Cyber-Manipulation> <Absorption> <Materialization>] 
[Racial Skill: Fear]
[Simple Identification] [Human Form (Wonderful)] [Specialist Packer]

I was Ranking-up…?

---

Previous Chapter | Index | Next Chapter

“Sherry…?”

 

Isaac, sounding miles away, let slip a whisper.

My temper drove me to a short-sighted retaliation, and I inadvertently killed him. Still, I didn’t regret it.

Despite their plan, the players never thought I would actually show up. They gaped at my ears under the torn hood.

The corporation seeing me and making the link to the real me would be the worst case scenario here. Still, with only my face, I didn’t think they’d come to that conclusion right away. Especially when I now had rabbit ears.

So I tried to hide myself as much as I could. I was only keeping my current human form skin-deep. My insides were turning into mist, slowly covering the area.

Among the players, Isaac had the highest combat power. The lowest of them were about 300. The dangerous ones were Isaac’s clan members, who were all above 400. I readied a dagger, staying alert while wondering who among them had No. 08’s magic stone. Then Weed, recovered from his shock, frantically jumped out.

“Sherry is the bunny?! Awesome! I must have gotten so many relationship points already! Here, jump into my arms!”

 

Silence descended on the field.

What the heck? That was so far out of expectations, I couldn’t help but grimace.

On the other hand, Weed’s idiocy instead brought the players out of their stupor. “It’s the bunny!” “She’s really here!” they clamored, hands moving to their weapons. Isaac frantically ran out in an attempt to stop them.

“No, stop! Let’s try talking with her first! Sherry, you-”

 

“HUNT THE BUNNY!!”

“””Yeeaahh!!!”””

His plea was drowned out by the villainous leader’s party. They charged at me with weapons drawn.

“Too bad for Cardi! That five thousand large golds are gonna be all ours!”

“Don’t get too excited now! She can’t die!”

“Who cares, just throw potions at her and she’ll be fine! Chop off her arms and legs! Make sure she can’t run!”

 

Their combat power were about 300 to 400. They hadn’t grown much since the last time I met them.

My cloud of mist surged toward them, sapping their magic and heat, dulling their movements.

“W-wh-wha-what?!”

“M-m-my legs f-froze…”

I was already moving. I jabbed a dagger into the magician’s neck, threw another one at the archer’s, then turned around and tore apart the scout’s with my claws.

“W-What the hell is this!?

A heavily-armored warrior was swinging his greataxe in wild abandon, his face close to tears. I focused my mist to freeze half of his body, then grabbed his face. My claws crushed the frozen head.

[Shedy] [Race: Mistral Neige] [Greater Demon (Low-Rank)]
・The demon of tempestuous mist that ravages the northern seas. A canny spiritual lifeform.

[Magic Points: 1975/2030] 80↑
[Total Combat Power: 2178/2233] 88↑
[Unique Skill: <Reroll> <Cyber-Manipulation> <Absorption>] 
[Racial Skill: Fear]
[Simple Identification] [Humanoid Form (National Treasure)] [Specialist Packer]

Just as I thought, two thousand magic wasn’t enough for another rank-up.

Thirty seconds to kill them. These players had nothing more than some slapdash fighting skill, and just a bit of fear was enough to render them helpless. Honestly, they were weak. Those bodyguards at the auction were so much more troublesome.

The players had been unable to stop the battle from happening. And neither could they stop the following massacre. Even if none of them would call the dead their friends, the sight of such ruthless slaughter still unnerved them. A few players took a step back, faces pale.

Only the weak ones, however. The stronger players instead readied their weapons and charged. Perhaps they had managed to ‘resist’ my [Fear].

 

“No!”

Isaac still tried to stop them. Sandrea to his side, however, jumped out with her staff drawn and refuted.

“Isaac, enough already! Isn’t it obvious? She’s not a normal NPC, she’s an event raid boss!”

I don’t see what’s so obvious about that.

So they believed NPCs stronger than them were for ‘special events’, then, and that hostile ones were ‘bosses’.

Seemingly convinced, Isaac begrudgingly readied his own weapons.

 

“Alright, just be good now and let us capture you. [Ice Lance]!”

A magician woman fired out an enormous pillar of ice. I was pretty sure that thing was lethal, though? To humans, at least.

I was both weak to magic and lacking viable solutions to the problem. Retreat was my only choice. As I leaped back, an archer some distance away shot an arrow.

“[Shadow Bind]!”

Magicians and archers really were my worst enemies. Still, as long as I knew what was coming, it wasn’t all that difficult to deal with.

I threw out my torn coat. The strange skill hit its shadow.

“What the hell?!”

The coat froze in mid-air. I dashed out from the side, toward the archer. A nimble shadow jumped in and blocked my path.

“Lovely Sherry! Come, my arms long for you-uff!”

 

Whoops. I was supposed to use my dagger here, but for some reason I really wanted to kick his face in. So I did.

Weed staggered back. I left his feet frozen, then threw the chilly mist at the retreating archer. A player holding a greatshield intervened, blocking it.

The shielder wasn’t freezing? Was it another strange art? Or maybe they were being buffed with a spell.

This was why I hated fighting player groups. They could cover each other’s weaknesses with their special skills. I had much higher combat power, yet I still hadn’t managed to kill anyone.

 

Whoa?! I just felt something invisible trying to bind me, so I immediately jumped away. Some distance away, standing isolated was a pink-haired girl swinging a huge hammer. She shouted.

“Leader! Isn’t she supposed to have only 200 combat power? How did she resist [Slow]?!”

“Idiot! You’re not supposed to be fighting!” Sandrea, instead of the leader Isaac, rebuked the girl. My status smokescreen was still working, then. Good.

So the strange cloying feeling back then was the girl’s spell? But why did she get scolded just for attacking? Because she was a magician? But wasn’t she holding a big hammer and even wearing a leather chestplate over her robe?

…wait a minute…

 

I ignored the shielder and rushed straight toward her. Both she and Sandrea immediately began panicking.

“Ah! You idiot, see what happened?! She’s heading for you now!”

“Wasn’t it because you were shouting?! Sally, you’re the idiot!”

So there really was a reason why they didn’t want me to reach her. For example… maybe she was holding No. 08’s magic stone?

 

In trying to protect pink-head, the coordination of Isaac’s clan members began to fray.

All of them had at least 400 combat power. Half of them, people who had around 700 combat power like Sandrea and Weed, lost the space they needed to move freely. They could no longer cover for their comrades.

 

“Alright, gotcha!”

A sword-and-buckler warrior charged in. I dodged the slow-motion slash and froze his right arm.

“Waaahh!?”

“I’ll help you!”

Lowest pain setting, I see… His comrade, an archer, shot an arrow to cover for him. I hid behind the warrior, then threw out my frosty mist to drain both their lives dry.

Downing two players in a blink of an eye was plenty enough to frighten the players. On one hand, them losing their calm was a good thing for me. On the other, it also meant they were no longer holding back. No longer fighting to capture.

 

“[Fire Bolt]!”

Sandrea’s fireball erupted, torching the grassland.

[Shedy] [Race: Mistral Neige] [Greater Demon (Low-Rank)]
[Magic Points: 1935/2060] 30↑
[Total Combat Power: 2141/2266] 33↑

I dodged in desperation. Still quite damaging, despite the higher defense that came with my higher combat power.

“Sandrea!”

“Look, she’s too dangerous! We can’t win if we hold back here!”

“It’s our turn! [Shield Charge]!”

He rushed at me, his greatshield to the front. He wanted to launch me away? Too bad for him.

“Wha?!”

I didn’t budge. With his charge parried, I grabbed and froze his shield-holding arm. Having three times his combat power really helped out here.

 

“Stop!”

I instantly jumped back the moment I noticed the glint of a sword. Isaac was pointing his blade at me.

“Are you okay?”

“S-sorry.”

I could only take half of his magic and life.

Pink-head shot out a white light to the shieldbearer, releasing him from the ice. Then he emptied a small bottle into his mouth.

Huh. I just felt his magic recovering.

 

Round two, then… Fighting head-on would be disadvantageous for me. At least their potions weren’t infinite. If I focused on maintaining my magic and deal with them one by one, I’d still have a chance.

As long as there was an opportunity to steal No. 08’s magic stone, I’d win.

 

Everyone, except for the dead, had completely recovered with their potions. I cast aside my errant thoughts and refocused, daggers in both hands, readying myself with a few hops. My ears jiggled.

No one was playing around now. Even Weed looked tense, sword in hand. Isaac got ready to give the signal.

 

At that moment, a chorus of ear-splitting shrills rang out.

 

“W-what now?”

“What’s this buzzing…”

Pitch-black monsters began to appear, staining the green grassland like a spreading puddle of tar.

“What… is that…?” A player muttered. Their smile was forced, their voice brittle.

The newcomers were huge, two-meters tall and five-meters wide tarantula-shaped monsters, with claws and carapaces of a crab.

“Eh-aaarghh!”

“Shit, they’re attacking us?!”

Their sizes belied their speed. A nearby player was already torn in half by their claws.

 

I knew them… no, not me. No. 01 and No. 17’s knowledge inside me knew of them, of their possible existence.

[Black Carapace Spiders x10]
[Magic Points: 300/300] [Hit Points: 500/500]
[Total Combat Power: 1000]

They’re experimental monster avatars driven by secret beta testers!

---

Previous Chapter | Index | Next Chapter

“That’s the airship.”

“…that is amazing.”

After arriving at a town on the western end of Battrol, we hopped on another train to go south. We reached the airport.

I thought there’d be trouble with border control. Thankfully, we were riding the slow train – which had a surprising amount of passengers, I should add – and not the express train. Since the slow train didn’t directly cross borders, customs was less strict. The leader, Isaac, just needed to present his adventurer’s card, and the other party members only needed to show that they also possessed their own cards, and we were in.

They really should have checked all of us. The officers probably found it too troublesome.

So, back to the airship. It really was incredible.

The most incredible thing about it was that it actually looked like a ship. 60 meters long, 20 meters wide, made out of steel and wood, with eight propellers that were obviously much too small to drive a ship of that size. Yet it flew as fast as a jet airplane. Magic was awesome.

 

The cheapest ticket was 1 large golds and 5 small golds. The top floor rooms were 3 large golds.

So the cheapest ticket would be around the same price as riding an express train, right? Sadly, no. They weren’t tickets for the whole ride. They were tickets for a single day of stay.

If you were traveling within a single continent, a day was enough. Crossing continents, however, doubled the price. Basically, you were paying for a flying hotel room.

Isaac’s group’s yearly passes only allowed them to stay in the bottom twin room. If they wanted, they could upgrade their rooms with an extra fee.

Their yearly passes also allowed me to get a party member discount, but not a free ride. I still needed to pay one small gold as the bed-making service fee.

By the way, Isaac paid it for me.

Just as I was about to say my thanks, I found out they got the yearly passes as the reward for killing us. Screw you, then. No gratitude for you.

 

Sandrea and Weed impatiently jumped aboard. The two flitted around, going from frolicking on the top deck to watching the ground zip by in the observation deck at the bottom of the ship. I thought they were familiar with flying already? They acted like children. By dinnertime, though, all three of them disappeared into their rooms.

Our rooms were separated into the guys’ and the girls’. I checked on mine and didn’t see Sandrea there, so she must have logged out.

Food was already included in the fare. I didn’t want to waste the luxurious meal, so I cleaned it all up (with Blobsy).

*boing-boing!*

‘You liked it? Good for you.’

 

I didn’t need to sleep, and neither was there any point in just sitting alone inside my room. I decided to go to the top deck to check out the night view.

The ship had a protective bubble. Despite flying through open air at super-speed, the most I felt was just a comfortable breeze. I secured my hood, just in case, and watched the far-off mountain.

According to the guidebook, that was Mount Leonard. It was the tallest mountain in the central continent, as well as home to one of the most prominent mines. Surrounding it were three large countries, which included Battrol. Their conflicts over the mountain’s rights were unending, apparently.

…I supposed that’s how it goes. Even if mana already satisfied all their basic needs, wealth was an entirely different matter.

As I watched the night mountain going farther and farther away, I felt a magical signal behind me.

 

“So you were here.”

“…yeah.”

Looked like only Isaac came to check up on me. He seemed quite the earnest person.

He was holding two steaming copper cups. He handed one to me.

“…thanks.” I said, receiving the cup.

He smiled and took a sip of his own drink. “No problem.”

So players couldn’t eat, but they could drink? For me, everything would need to go to [Packer] storage after a few pretend-swallows and disposed through Blobsy later.

Hmm… what was this stuff? Thick, green…

“…hot kale juice?” I murmured.

Isaac besides me spat out his own mouthful of ‘hot kale juice’.

“Eww.”

“Wait wait wait, hold up, what did you just say?”

“I mean, this stuff is…”

“It’s spinach soup, for a midnight snack. Oh man, that was so out of left field. I never expected kale juice to also be a thing here.”

“…”

I shouldn’t have said that. Let’s just gloss over the matter and drink the soup. As was my habit when I was still human, I started blowing on the hot cup. Isaac stared at me.

 

“So this isn’t about the thing those two talked about earlier, but… Sherry, you really don’t act like an NP-a native of this world.”

“…you say that as if you’re not a person of this world.” I counterattacked.

“No, I mean…” Realizing his gaffe, Isaac stumbled on his words. Yet immediately after, a faint smile returned to his face. He looked like he had just thought of a funny joke.

“Well then, what if this world was fictional? What would you do?”

“…”

So he was going for that. He believed that I was a programmed NPC living in a fictional world, who was completely ignorant of ‘games’.

Maybe he thought he was just playing a little prank. Like telling a white lie to an innocent kid. All the same, I looked him in the eyes and fired his question back at him.

“In that case, if this world was real, what would you do?”

“Eh…?”

That took Isaac completely by surprise. A few moment of speechlessness later, he turned his eyes to the night scenery. He smiled.

“Then it’d be great. Just look at this view, this land. If we could visit this place, just the touring industry alone would bring in so much money. And if we could transport the resources here back, our problems would be solved. We could send our increasing population here, and utilize the cheap labor of this world…”

“…”

“Ah, sorry! I got lost in thought. I forgot it probably just sounded like gibberish to you.”

Midway through, he realized what he was saying and noticed my stare. He apologized.

He wasn’t a bad person. On Earth, he probably would be one of those successful, conscientious people you often see.

From Earth’s viewpoint, what he said wasn’t wrong. But that sort of thinking was no different from the humans here; Yggdrasia’s humans, who thought of demihumans as nothing more than just resources.

This was the moment I saw one of my choices closed itself forever to me right in front of my eyes. The choice of talking with the players. The path of mutual understanding.

 

Twelve days of borrowed time left.

We arrived at the Free City of Seis. As this was Isaac’s home country, he just needed to finish up a bit of paperwork to allow us in. Customs were way too loose. We rode a few more slow trains to get to a town to the north, where Isaac’s base was.

Just as with the Trading Confederation, the Free City of Seis was ruled neither by kings nor nobles. A council of merchants and the landowner made all the decisions.

The Trading Confederation was a country of merchants, for merchants. In contrast, the Free City of Seis put power into adventurers and their guild.

I first thought we’d be going to the base after setting foot into the town. Turned out their friends came to meet us, and we’d be going to the meeting place for the ‘party’ next.

 

“Hey, who’s that girl? The leader’s hobby?!”

“Stop that, Sherry’s my girl. I just can’t get enough of her abuse these days…”

They noticed I wasn’t a player and started teasing Isaac. And then for some reason, Weed asserted his ownership and his dangerous fetish.

Isaac’s friends numbered around ten.

I guessed one of them had the magic stone. No way to determine who at the moment, though. And what if they already took it to the meeting place? Then revealing myself here would be a terrible idea.

According to their chatter, some of the more impatient people were already gathering there.

Apparently, the get-together would be held in the rural village that was near the large grassy plains to the north of Seis. The plains was home to a kind of monster called ‘behemoths’, about as large as elephants. Their plan was to hunt the behemoths, raise their skills, and have fun while waiting for the ‘bunny’ to show up.

When we reached the village, I saw 5 parties of around 30 people already there. They were starting up the behemoth hunt.

Isaac’s party looked through the crowd. When they reached a certain group, they all winced.

“…damn it, even the unwelcome ones came.”

 

Once our group showed up, the other participants came by for peaceful greetings. Among the hunting parties, one wasn’t actually hunting, instead only torturing the docile herbivores to death. And they were going toward us.

“…who are they?” I asked someone nearby.

The answer I got was an evasive one. “They’re… umm… well, they’re bad people, I suppose.”

In short, they were people roleplaying ‘villainous outlaws’. Characters who committed crime and were taken into custody would be deleted. On the flip side, as long as you weren’t arrested, playing as a bandit or thief wouldn’t be against the game’s rules.

Still, I felt like I’d already met that group somewhere…

 

“Hey, hey! So it’s first comes, first serve when the bunny shows up, yeah?”

“No, there’s a chance this is a quest chain. If possible, we should all help with capturing her. Then we’ll decide.”

“Who the fuck cares? Fucking hell, we should have gotten the airship pass back then if it wasn’t for that white fucker. If the bunny shows up, we’ll fuck that little shit up!”

 

…aaah, right, I remembered now. That time when I assimilated No. 01’s magic stone, there was a party trying to killsteal. This guy was the leader of the party I killed last back then.

So they were still doing this sort of stuff, I see…

They were terrible people, but whatever. I needed to focus on finding out who had No. 08’s magic stone.

I began to fumble around with [Cyber-Manipulation]. While I was focusing on watching for any reactions from the players, suddenly, someone grabbed my hood from behind. I jolted.

“Why the hell’s an NPC kid here? Did you bring her in case the bunny doesn’t show up? Will we get to hunt the kid instead?” He cackled.

“Stop it! She’s an adventurer we hired!”

Tunnel vision. Damn it. There were too many players around, I didn’t detect the thuggish leader approaching.

Isaac panicked and tried to stop him. The thuggish leader took a look at him, and then exploded in another bout of laughter.

“What, did you buy her to service you? Man, this game really is the shit! I can even kill the slaves I bought and no one would even bat an eye!”

 

…he really was so annoying.

 

*

 

“…shut up already.” The NPC girl growled.

“Hahh?! The hell are you brat-aagh!!”

Just as the player holding her was about to turn to violence, two daggers slashed into his arms.

Cardi was his name. He wasn’t so much a villainous roleplayer as he was simply self-indulgent. Infamously so, with myriads of complaints lodged against him. His words, his actions were all far beyond the pale. Yet still, as long as he wasn’t violating the game’s clauses, he was untouchable. If Isaac’s group interfered, it would be they who were infringing upon the rules.

So they couldn’t do anything. And it seemed like the NPC girl they brought along finally snapped.

The thug was still holding onto her hood even with wounded arms. So she tore it off herself and slashed at Cardi with terrifying speed. A strange coat of mist suddenly appeared on her, freezing the hooligan.

“D-Damn you!”

“Die already.” She said frostily. Her dagger bit deep into his face.

 

When players received overwhelming damage, their senses would be cut off to prevent traumas. But as he was, the sight of death staring in the face was more than enough to terrify Cardi.

With his face set in a rictus of fear, he disappeared in motes of light. The mist lightened by a fraction, no longer hiding the girl from the players’ eyes.

They saw snow-white hair, scarlet eyes… and gently drooping rabbit ears.

The players were all frozen in shock at the abrupt reveal. Isaac let loose a whisper.

 

“…Sherry?”

---

Previous Chapter | Index | Next Chapter

“Oh, you knew about the stone? Are you joining the event?”

 

I turned around. Standing there was a blond-haired man. He was good-looking, but he also looked like such a sleazy skirt-chaser it ruined the whole impression. Two daggers were dangling on his hips.

Event? Magic stone? Were they players, then?

I slightly raised my vigilance and moved back half a step. That got him flustered. He waved his hands and stepped back.

“Ah, no, sorry, didn’t mean to scare you. We just put out an announcement, and I was worried no one would come, so when I heard ‘magic stone’ I just reflexively called at you. My name’s Weed. I’m a member of the clan that announced the event.”

“…tell me more.”

 

I played dumb in an attempt to glean some information. But… wait a minute? I thought the beta players could distinguish between NPCs and players?

Well, whatever. For some reason, he seemed interested in my face. He continued his explanation while constantly sneaking glances at my hooded head.

Supposedly, their group thought Tiz’s bounty was a game event. They also possessed the [Red Magic Stone] they got from killing another one of us in that event. And since they knew the ‘rabbit beastman girl’ stole the yellow magic stone, they were planning to use theirs as bait to lure me out.

 

“Around tomorrow, there’ll be a notice saying ‘Finding Buyers for the Red Magic Stone’ posted in all the central continent’s adventurer guilds and a few other places. But with such a high bounty, we weren’t really expecting the bunny girl to show up inside the town. It’s really just people gathering up for a party. So yeah, I was hoping more girls could come-”

 

“Hey, Weed!”

Another interruption. Such déjà vu… Both of us turned to look at the voice. There, I saw the powerful adventurer I met in the armor shop. Sally was behind him, facepalming and going “Aww, crap.”

“Oh hey. Isaac, I was just inviting this girl…”

“No no no, she’s not a player!”

“…wha?! Holy shit, she doesn’t have the mark!”

Weed stared in shock, alternating his gaze between me and a spot slightly to the upper-left of me. This again? Yes, yes, I got it, now could you please stop looking at my face?

“I mean, she just looks so natural-”

“I know, right?! Like, the atmosphere she has, her mannerisms, they’re all a lot more similar to us than the ingame NPCs here!”

Weed began his excuse, which was then overwhelmed by Sally’s own… wait, actually Sally sounded a lot like Salia. So easy to mix up.

Both of them continued their incomprehensible-to-NPCs rants. The powerful adventurer – Isaac, was it? – deeply sighed and turned to me.

“Again, sorry about that. You don’t really understand what they’re saying, right? Don’t mind them, just forget about it.”

…well, about that…

“I heard you’re baiting the ‘rabbit’ in the bounty?” I asked.

Isaac’s smile twitched. “Weed, what the hell have you been saying?”

“Uhh… everything?”

“Damn it, didn’t I tell you? This game’s AI has way too many dialogue and action patterns. Don’t be careless.”

“…but, I mean, you’re talking a lot of meta stuff in front of her too, aren’t you?”

They really weren’t very vigilant at all in front of NPCs, were they? Isaac’s been ignoring me, until his friends finally pointed out his own mistake.

“Ah. Whoops.” Once again, he turned his strained smile back to me. “Oh well… so I see you look quite young, but I guess you’re an adventurer too, right?”

I nodded. Isaac seemed to have finally shaken off his hesitation. He spoke up for both me and his comrades to hear.

“As you heard, we’re about to go on a rabbit hunt. The chances are low though, so it’s really half serious, half an excuse to get together and have fun. There’s no guarantee we’ll get rewarded even if the capture’s successful. Still, if you don’t mind us hiring you, we can pay you 3 small golds. How about it?”

“…hiring?”

Apparently Isaac had decided to bring me along under his employ. Why?

“Whoa, for real? Hell yeah!” Weed cheered.

“Hold on, Isaac?! Are you really bringing this NP-I mean, this girl along? Isn’t she a stranger?”

“Sally, too loud. What if she talk to other adventurers, and then they come to mess things up? We’re bringing her along to keep it secret from the normal adventurers,” Isaac replied.

“…I suppose.”

“Awesome!”

“Learn your lesson already, Weed!”

“Heheheh, alright, let’s go!”

 

Looked like they never even entertained the possibility that NPCs could refuse.

Can’t be helped, I supposed. If anything, this was actually better for me. I didn’t know what sort of event they were going to set up, but as long as I could get my hands on the red magic stone, it’d be fine.

…it was No. 08’s stone, right? Should be. Otherwise I’d be so screwed.

 

“Well then, let’s talk about our schedule.”

“Mmm.”

According to Isaac, the event would be one week later. He had already notified his friends (through the internet). Anyone who could come was welcomed to.

It would be held at their base, in the outskirts of the Free City of Seis. They showed me the spot on the simple map posted inside the guild hall. It was hella far away. It was a large country on the eastern end of the central continent.

I wondered how we were going to get there in just a week. Isaac explained. First off, the group would go by slow rail to a nearby large country called Battrol, switching trains along the way. This would take four days. Then once we were there, we’d take the airship.

…an airship?!

“Yeah. We have a yearly pass. I think we can get them to accept you as a party member.”

This was the first time I’d ever heard of airships. According to them, only the large countries had the necessary airports, and you could go to any other large country in the world in just one to two days with it.

Until Battrol, we’d just be riding normal trains, not express. They said they were here to earn some money in the first place. Wasting large gold coins for a quick ride would just be defeating the purpose.

 

We got on the cheapest train we could find. A bit tight, but still we managed to find a four-person room. We finally had time for proper introductions.

“We were hunting the water lizards in the bog nearby. Their hides and magic stones fetch a pretty good price in the Free City. So…  what’s your name? I’m Sandrea. Just call me Sally!”

“Hi, Sandrea. I’m Sherry.”

The group composed of Isaac the warrior, Weed the speedy fighter, and Sandrea the magician. Of course, I wasn’t naive enough to use my real name here. The fake name wasn’t all that different, since I needed to be able to respond to it quickly enough if someone called me.

For some reason, Sandrea pushed her beaming smile right next to my face after hearing my greeting.

“Sally is fine!”

“Hi, Sandrea.”

“Really, just call me Sally…”

“Hi, Sandrea.”

“…”

I really didn’t want to confuse her with silly Salia. And before I knew it, my insistence had already prompted Isaac and Weed to start calling her Sandrea too. She was appalled.

Miss Sandrea. I can hear you whispering “Dumbass AI…” over there. Whisper quieter.

 

“What will you do about food?” I asked.

“We’ll just grab whatever in real-ouch!”

“We have something to eat, don’t worry about it.”

Isaac elbow-jabbed Weed for his careless words.

On the train, I still went and bought food (for Blobsy’s consumption) from the cafeteria to keep up the ruse. On the other hand, despite being inside a train car, the group sometimes disappeared.

So they were logging out to eat, then. There were times when Sandrea disappeared for a whole twelve hours, even times when only one of them remained in the game. Weed was mostly here. He was here too often. I worried for his real life.

 

“It’s nice, just the two of us alone like this. Hey, Sherry, anything you want to know about me? For a cutie such as you, I’ll answer any question you have!”

“Then, how do I delete you…?”

“You have a surprisingly sharp tongue!”

He was constantly, annoyingly attempting to start up conversations, plus his eyes actually felt kind of dangerous, so I shut him down every time he started talking. Then, once in a while, he would stop moving and stared into empty air.

‘…so there’s this NPC girl who’s super frosty to me…’

A closer look revealed that his lips were barely moving. Maybe he was chatting with someone somewhere.

 

Honestly, were they even trying to fool me?

I supposed that in the end, this was just a game to them, and I was just an NPC. After seeing me unresponsive to anything meta, they kept getting more and more careless, and their logout times became more and more frequent.

It wasn’t really a problem for me, since I had no plans to make friends with them. All the same, even when they knew the NPCs here were acting just like real living people, they still wasn’t treating me as one. Even until now.

…I could see this causing all sorts of issues. Good luck, game moderators. Not like it’s my problem though.

 

And on the day before we reached Battrol’s first station, the three of them finally logged out at the same time.

It seemed they’d been grinding their magic skills on the train, but it wasn’t enough to distract themselves from the boredom.

As they disappeared, I noticed a strange pool of mana on the floor. It had a protecting barrier. It was probably marking the spot for their subsequent login.

I carefully tested out a bit of [Cyber-Manipulation] on it, subtle enough that the corporation wouldn’t find out. As I did, I got a response similar to my [Packer] skill. After some deeper snooping, I found some equipment that could be accessed through my own [Packer] skill. They looked like they belonged to the three.

This was a welcome surprise. Even if I couldn’t take them out, it might still be possible to play a bit of a prank.

 

An hour before the train reached the first station, the three finally reappeared.

“Alright, finally here! I can’t wait for the sky trip!”

“Yeah, the game’s so worth it just for the sightseeing alone.”

Sandrea and Weed immediately crowded the window. They had completely turned into gawking tourists now, entranced by the view of farmlands, villages, and the approaching town. Only Isaac was still in his seat. He seemed concerned, seeing me staying so still.

“Were you fine alone?”

“Yeah.”

I acted the part of an obedient NPC. He relaxed and whispered under his breath, “Yeah, of course, I suppose there wouldn’t be a problem when you’re an NPC…”

 

If only I was just a normal player…

Too late, now. I was neither a player, nor a native of this world. I had become something in between.

The moment that corporation betrayed all one hundred of us, players were no longer our allies.

[Isaac] [Race: Human ♂] [Player]

[Magic Points (MP): 150/150] [Hit Points (HP): 260/260]

[Total Combat Power: 1110]

[Sandrea] [Race: Human ♀] [Player]

[Magic Points (MP): 190/190] [Hit Points (HP): 135/135]

[Total Combat Power: 790]

[Weed] [Race: Human ♂] [Player]

[Magic Points (MP): 140/140] [Hit Points (HP): 180/180]

[Total Combat Power: 665]

Fourteen days of borrowed time left.

I could see the end of the line. Better be prepared, you three. Sooner or later, you’ll become my meal.

---

Author’s Note: I heard the old meme “How do I delete you?” that used to be popular back in the day actually gets an answer nowadays.

 

Slight exposition. Player storage.

When players died, they dropped their equipment on the ground, except for event items.

As mentioned in the story, the logout spot will be marked, and their items would be stored inside it. Then why were players not allowed to use [Packer] normally? Because maintaining the marked storage requires a bit of mana. Generally, the chance of players recovering their items were low, so for the purpose of economizing mana use, the game developers decided to remove the ability entirely.

 

Below is the travel path for this chapter and the next. There are some slight adjustments to the path Shedy’s taken until now, mainly because of time and date reasons.

---

Translator’s Note: Bigger sized map here.

Author’s note refers to a Japanese meme. Over in Japan, Microsoft Office didn’t used to have Clippy, they had a dolphin called Kairu instead. Which was still annoying as all hell. So when the dolphin asked “What do you want to know?”, a lot of users would type in “How do I delete you?” Newer versions these days actually have the dolphin respond to that message now, and it’ll tell you how to turn itself off while looking super sad.

---

Previous Chapter | Index | Next Chapter

VR chat boards of the MMORPG, World of Yggdrasia. Here, discussions continued just as they always have been.

“Right, so have anyone else heard about how the beta test’s going to end earlier than scheduled?”

“Really? Man, that sucks. I just got to Rank 3 recently. Things were just getting good!”

“Come on OP, that’s ignoring a lot of the facts. To be more precise, the official release is coming out early.”

“Mmm? Aren’t they the same thing?”

“It’s not the end of the beta test, the test continues into the official release. Announcement said we can either keep our characters or make new ones when it’s out.”

“Shit, I can’t decide. It’s a waste to just delete this character after all my effort, but at the same time, I know how to spend stat points better now. And I wanted to fix up my looks a little bit, too.”

“LOL, y’all spend too much time in character creation. Why not petition the devs for a one-time appearance editor?”

“By the way, you think it’s a quest?”

“What is?”

“That super-extravagant bounty issued by Touze Empire. Limited to the central continent, though.”

“Oh yeah, that bounty in the adventurer’s guild board? That’s for real?”

“Guys, deets. I’ve been holing up on the mountain killing orcs these days, haven’t gone back to town.”

“Wait, you mean the bounty that has its own chatroom? The ‘Searching for the Bunny Girl’ room? It’s actually a thing? I heard rumors saying the bounty’s 5000 large golds or something?”

“Five fucking thousands?!!”

“Yeah, that. The quest where you’re supposed to find and capture the only living rabbit beastman girl left.”

“I just had a great idea!”

“Then don’t say it if you don’t want a police visit. Anyway, maybe it’ll turn out to be a choices-matter kind of quest? Like, by the end of the quest you can choose to either turn her in for the money, or you can get a cute bunny girl as a party member. That sort of thing?”

“First off, is she actually cute?”

“No idea. Supposedly, the magic stone that the European players got from the ‘Subdue the Berserkers’ event and then auctioned off was stolen by her. So there’s a high chance it’s actually a quest chain.”

“Aww crap, so that magic stone was actually that expensive…?”

“Apparently the high bounty’s not because the stone was valuable, it’s because the bunny girl’s super kawaii. I heard that the players who auctioned the stone off didn’t actually attend, and that they’re now kicking themselves over it.”

“They got some compensation from the auction host, though. A whole 10 gold coins. Wow.”

“I get your sarcasm, but honestly that’s still a lot of money.”

“...maybe we shouldn’t auction ours off?”

“Whoa, what? You have an event magic stone?”

“We got a [Red Magic Stone] from the toad in the trailer. Our clan’s been considering where to sell it. But maybe we can use it as bait for the bunny girl?”

“A big clan? Then I suppose it’s fine. Still, don’t talk about it here. You might get people trying to steal it.”

“It’s probably fine. Our clan only have around ten people, but half of us are Rank 4. The leader’s a decent guy, so we have pretty good relations with the other clans. The problem is… if getting the bunny girl to be a companion turns out to actually be possible, our group might fracture from a difference of opinions.”

“So which choice are you going for?”

“The recruiting option, obviously!”

“Seconded!” “Thirded!” “Fourthed!” (guy players)

“Yeah, I wanna dress her in a real bunnygirl outfit and set her to work at our clan hall!”

“...ewww…” “I hope I never get a boyfriend like you guys.” “So typical.” (girl players)

 

***

 

Eighteen days of borrowed time left.

I could see the corner that I was being pushed into getting closer and closer. Normally this would be the point where I would start to either panic, give up, or get reckless, but I didn’t come this far just to get a breakdown. Besides, I couldn’t let that corporation get off scot-free now. I’m going to show them.

I needed to survive first, though.

 

Anneuf was a nice-looking port town. White buildings ascended in steps along gently-sloping streets, all roofed with red bricks in a consistent theme. Despite the distance from the equator, this country was still comfortably warm, thanks to the Sapling.

There was a castle on the highest point of the town. At first, I thought it belonged to the lord of this area. After checking on the guide map board, it turned out it was the king’s.

Wow, so a small country was really small compared to a large one… Were the international trains only stopping at the capitals?

I walked around, checking on a few different bulletin boards. Looked like fishing was the main industry of this country, and their specialty was a type of fish similar to herrings. The streetside stalls mostly sold sandwiches, which were pickled raw herrings and potatoes between slices of rye bread. Even if I could actually eat, I wouldn’t buy those… or it might be surprisingly tasty. Who knows?

*bounce*

‘Eh…? Blobsy, you wanna eat that?’

 

My conclusion was that the adventurer’s guild was my best chance for information. Would I have to actually buy one of those pickled-herring-potato sandwiches just to get a chance to ask where the guild hall was?

A few moments into my deliberations, I heard a commotion starting up on the other side of the street. I saw about ten knights, or maybe soldiers, all using pommels of their spears to bludgeon two screaming persons in adventurer’s equipment. The pair were then arrested and taken away, toward the direction of the castle.

What happened…? I got curious. I decided to buy a herring-potato sandwich (three coppers) from a nearby stall and ask the owner about it. They scowled, looking toward the arrested pair, then sighed.

“They were making a fuss at another stall, demanding the owner to release the demihuman slaves that were working there. He refused, obviously. Then they started speaking gibberish. I think it was… let’s see… ‘Just a fucking en-pee-see’? Or something like that. After that, they pulled out their weapons and started threatening him, which got the guards coming.”

“I see…”

 

I supposed they meant ‘NPC’? So those two were beta players, then.

They looked young, enough so that I couldn’t determine whether they were kids in real life or if they were just idiots. Really, even if this was an actual game, which it wasn’t, that didn’t mean players would get an automatic pass to do anything they wanted. No wonder they got arrested.

 

“There’d been more and more of those weird adventurers recently. Apparently even the guild was having a headache. Like hiring a veteran adventurer to be their guide and then skipping out on the payment, or buying up all the young slave girls, etcetera. They caused a lot of trouble, I hear.”

“Huh, they did that…?”

“And this time, they’re even demanding freedom for the demihuman slaves. Is this some new sort of thievery? Honestly. The demihumans were getting more clever these days, it’s getting so much more difficult buying new replacements.”

“…”

Demihumans really were just considered possessions here…

 

I asked for the location of the guild hall and started walking there.

From the train station to the main street was a short walk, and from the main street to the guild hall took a bit longer. It was a four-story block of pure whiteness.

I didn’t enter the guild hall right away. Nearby was a shop selling adventurer’s equipment, which I visited first. I saw a few adventurers browsing around inside.

I went toward the corner selling cloaks and coats, trying not to draw any attention to myself. I started searching.

It needed to be tough and looked nice too, if possible. I did also want some clothes, but maybe I should wait until I passed another growth spurt? Deferred, then. Let’s get some sturdy boots instead. Honestly speaking, I was already nearly outgrowing the pair I currently had. With targets decided, I started looking.

I wasn’t left alone, however.

“Fashion in this country isn’t really all that good, don’t you think?”

A blue-haired adventurer, looking around twenty, just decided to talk to me out of nowhere.

“Terrible designs. And they don’t even have the variety in colors to make up for it. At least the large countries have more stores to…”

“Sally! She’s not a player!”

“Eh?!”

So-called Sally was interrupted by a new face. A man, halfway into his twenties. Sally stared at me.

“Oh, wow! She really doesn’t have the player’s mark!”

Apparently they were players, and only players could see who else were players.

That’s fine and all, but I really wished she’d stop it with the staring. I didn’t think the corporation was monitoring all ten thousand players, but it’d still be a lot of trouble if players were suspicious of my face.

I stayed quiet. I moved a few steps away, hiding my face with the hood. The man cut in between us.

“I told you, stop it. This game doesn’t use any ordinary AI. I’m not going to help if you get arrested and your character deleted, alright?” The man turned to me. “Sorry about that.” He said, sounding not particularly sincere.

“But-I mean, I thought she was a real person, wearing those clothes…”

They weren’t caring much about keeping meta talk away from NPCs, it seemed. I never expected my choice of clothing was what nearly gave me away.

I’d been wondering what would happen to arrested players. Apparently the corporation would just delete them. To the locals, the crime would go forever unsolved. I vaguely remembered this being explained to me in the very beginning, I think.

“No, I don’t mind,” I dismissed their concern with a light shake of my head. The man left the store, dragging Sally behind him. Nothing happened, thankfully.

I sighed in relief. Because really, that guy was actually quite strong.

[Warrior-ish Man] [Race: Human ♂] [Player]
[Magic Points (MP): 150/150] [Hit Points (HP): 260/260]
[Total Combat Power: 1110]

Tiz would eat his dust. I suspected that the System-governed players could grow more efficiently than the natives of this world. They had no areas they were weak in. They didn’t even need to worry about learning how to handle weapons, nor did they need to manually train up their skills like the natives. They just needed to absorb magic power.

Sure, I grew quite strong myself. But if the players could grow the same way, group battles might become the death of me… Still, I couldn’t stop here. I’d come too far.

I changed into a decent-enough coat and pair of boots, paid for them, and left. The guild hall was across the street.

 

No one bothered to make trouble for me in broad daylight, thankfully. Slipping inside the hall, I saw over a dozen idle, loitering adventurers. There were a few who looked like they might be players, too. Why were there so many of them now? There was barely any in the last country I was in.

Most of them were crowding around the bulletin board. I glanced at it. Looked like a bounty or something.

Wanted

A young white-colored rabbit beastman girl, who commands a magical mist.

Whosoever will apprehend and deliver the girl shall be handsomely rewarded.

The girl must not be harmed.

The Emperor of Touze swears upon his name: whosoever accomplishes this matter, shall be given Five Thousand Large Gold Coins as recompense.

…what in the name of all things holy was Tiz doing?! Five thousand large golds for my capture? Was this guy an idiot?

The crowding adventurers were all hyped. They weren’t even talking about where I could be or how to capture me, they were only chatting about the things they would do after they got the money.

Still, this was just a distraction. I needed to find No. 08’s magic stone.

I secured my hood, then approached one of the idle reception counters. Behind it was a man neck-deep in documents. He looked just like the quintessential public servant, in both appearance and impression.

 

“Can I buy information here?”

“Oh, yes. What would you like to know?”

The receptionist looked up. He looked nervous, despite his polite speech.

“I’m looking for a magic stone. It looks like a gem.”

“Aaah, apologies. We’re not aware of any such stone.”

He replied, then returned to his documents. He didn’t even bother to check the records. Was it because the guild didn’t deal in such information, or did he not want to bother with me because I looked like a kid? As I mulled over what to do next, I heard a frivolous voice calling at me from behind.

 

“Oh, you knew about the stone? Are you joining the event?”

---

Author’s Note: At this point, the corporation was still not putting much focus on the magic stones, and neither were they aware of our little bunny.

So this isn’t actually an official event. It’s just players merrymaking all by themselves.

 

Native people always have some stats they’re weak at, but not players. The System allocates harvested mana in the most efficient way, so players will grow stronger than natives. The higher the level, the more obvious the difference.

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In the 7th research center of a certain pharmaceutical company, situated within a certain country of Earth, there was a researcher. The head researcher, in fact – even if these days, most of her hours were taken up by secretarial work for the Deputy Director, Brian. One of her colleagues had just shared with her an image they thought was interesting.

“Can’t be… but, what if…” Audrey muttered. The scene was burned into her mind.

 

Yggdrasia. A whole new world presented as fiction, as nothing more than a virtual reality game.

So-called ‘players’ were sent to this world as harvesters of a new form of energy, called ‘mana’. To lay the foundations, the corporation had begun interfering with the new world’s human countries since a decade ago. Temples were built in all of them as mana collectors and as revival points for players.

Yggdrasia’s humankind believed these were Temples of the God of Knowledge. In truth, these buildings served as bases for the corporation’s staff members and digistructed equipment, for on-site analysis of local peculiarities such as mana and materials, and for surveillance.

One hundred thousand AI-driven, stealth-focused remote-controlled drones were used as scouts and spotters. They flew around the whole world to survey terrains and climates. In seldom cases, a particularly perceptive monster or some other cause might still be able to heavily damage them. All the same, overall performance was good, and Earth received a massive amount of information.

Once the drones’ AI detected an unusual event, their programming required them to hurry toward the scene and record what they could. The drones at Trestan Kingdom, a country in the north-western corner of the central continent, had detected one such event at the auction hall and had recorded a part of it.

 

Right in front of the Deputy Director’s room was Audrey’s own desk. Using a audiovisual-only VR set, she replayed the copy of the recorded data that was sitting in her mobile device.

In front of her eyes, she saw a small girl fighting against a large group of grown adults inside the auction hall.

The video was filled with a strange white noise, almost like mist or smoke, and the girl’s movements were abnormally fast. Audrey couldn’t see what she looked like. Luckily, when the girl was sent flying by a wind spell, her side profile appeared on the screen for a split second.

And immediately after that, the screen whited out as if the drone was swallowed in mist, and it malfunctioned. The recording data ended there. Audrey’s colleague had lamented about the white noise. They thought the fight would have made for a great trailer video, if only the recording wasn’t so blurry.

“…”

But Audrey thought the girl looked familiar. Almost like a feeling of déjà-vu.

She had white skin, white hair… and scarlet eyes. Normally characteristics of an albino, yet with the addition of her long ears, she looked just like a rabbit beastman girl.

More than anything, however, glimpsing the side of her face reminded Audrey of a certain girl.

“…number 13…”

The final alpha tester. An albino girl born with a special power, who was called a ‘demon’ by her own mother. Her consciousness was already gone, and her comatose body was being kept in the collection facility.

Audrey remembered very clearly the photo attached to the documents detailing the girl’s personal information. It’s hard to forget that stare.

 

They just looked similar, that’s all.

Most people would brush off the matter with that. Yet for some reason, Audrey could not separate the rabbit girl from No. 13. Still, the woman decided to bury her unease, despite the protests coming from her intuition.

 

***

 

After I escaped the auction hall, I quickly blended into the crowd. I…

*bouncy-bounce*

We didn’t stay there for long. The two of us climbed on top of a building and started jumping roofs. An express train was about to leave right at that moment, so I clung to the train’s roof. We were out of the capital city.

I spent a whole day on top of the train. Once we reached the next town, I got on another train – officially, this time, with ticket bought – before the news about me could catch up, and left the country border.

I only needed to give the ticketing office my money and show them a peek of my adventurer’s card, and they let me on. They didn’t check on me too closely.

I was curious, so until the train arrived, I chatted with the middle-aged woman selling tickets. She seemed like the gossipy type. Apparently, adventurer’s cards remembered the holder’s magic. If someone else was holding them – for example, a bandit – then the card would show a black mark. It would be unusable.

So basically, you would be checked quite meticulously when you entered a large town, but inside, you just showed your card and the guards would let you go anywhere. So sloppy.

By the way, I already threw away that conspicuous red hoodie along the way. Obviously.

 

The train I was on was going to the east of Trestan Kingdom. Its destination was a small country called Anneuf.

Saying ‘neighboring country’ might give the wrong impression. In contrast to countries of Earth, which were densely packed together and covered all the land people could live on, countries here only formed around the extremely-convenient World Saplings. So there was quite a distance. It would take a whole three days of non-stop running for the express train to arrive.

Actually, this was pretty much the same speed as a linear motor train, wasn’t it? The scenery was just blazing by. Yet even when I opened the window, all I felt was a nice breeze. I wondered if the whole train was covered with a forcefield. They did have a lot of magic to waste, after all.

Well, scenery-watching like this wasn’t much different from looking through an airplane’s window, anyway…

 

Trains that crossed country borders like this one had eight cars, three of them for passengers. Twelve rooms in total. Currently there were only seven groups of passengers, so I had a whole room to myself.

From the window, I watched the white-capped mountain range passing by. I could finally take a breather. I took out some food I bought from the dining hall to feed Blobsy, while checking on the results of my evolution.

[Shedy] [Race: Mistral Neige] [Greater Demon (Low-Rank)]
・The demon of tempestuous mist that ravages the northern seas. A canny spiritual lifeform.

[Magic Points: 1950/1950] 415↑
[Total Combat Power: 2145/2145] 457↑
[Unique Skill: <Reroll> <Cyber-Manipulation> <Absorption>] 
[Racial Skill: Fear]
[Simple Identification] [Humanoid Form (National Treasure)] [Specialist Packer]

…alright, where do I even start?

First off, my class finally reached [Greater Demon]. My combat power might not look like it grew all that dramatically, but I felt like my attacks had gotten quite a bit heavier due to the higher density – or perhaps I should say ‘thicker mist’ – that I now had. In other words, a flat power increase.

Next, ‘neige’? If I remembered my French right, that meant ‘snow’, right? My newly-acquired unique skill probably had something to do with it.

 

That yellow magic stone carried within it No. 17’s power.

The unique skill [Absorption]… If I remembered correctly, the avatars’ ability to absorb mana from killed enemies was derived from this power. And as the source, No. 17’s power was a lot more versatile.

In my case, the lifeforce absorption I could do through my mist now went much more smoothly. Not only that, I could now absorb the heat in my surroundings in order to create cold air.

My combat versatility would be getting a huge boost just from this change alone.

 

Next… my [Humanoid Form]. Once again, this skill was using the weirdest words to describe improvement… this was better, right? What the hell did it mean by (National Treasure)…? What sort of evaluation was this?

As always, my insides were mist. On the surface, however, I looked one-hundred percent human. Absolutely no difference.

 

I grew in height, too, perhaps due to my higher density. Upon first gaining a body, I looked about 10 years old, at about 135 centimeters. My next growth put me at 140, and now I was around 145.

But it wasn’t just the height. A few parts of me, such as my cheeks, got a bit of a touch-up, and I was looking more feminine. Did the increase to (National Treasure) have something to do with it? I looked like a perfectly normal 12 years old kid.

But the ears. The thrice-damned ears. And the puff of tail, too. No wonder I kept getting mistaken for a rabbit beastman.

And surprises after surprises, Tiz turned out to be an emperor somewhere. I even got a weird declaration from him. Was it just because I was a rare rabbit race? Well, not like I knew how serious he was, anyway.

 

Now that I thought about it, there was a very real possibility people would put out a hit for the ‘killer rabbit’ after that rampage. I wasn’t sure how developed this world’s information network was, but maybe I should leave before border control noticed me.

In this respect, I was really lucky to have gotten the Elven Treasure when I did.

It looked like a pretty silver necklace. Supposedly, this was a magitool. According to the explanation on the auction listing, it helped the wearer gain control over the presence they emitted.

No wonder it was an Elven Treasure. The race was full of hunters, after all.

Upon seeing what it did, I thought perhaps it could hide me from [Identification] too.

If my hypothesis was right, [Identification] didn’t simply pull information about the target out of nowhere. The names I saw when I used the skill changed all the time, after all, so it must be relying on the user’s observational and detection skills to output the numbers.

In which case, if I could hide my presence well enough, would it be enough to fool anyone trying to [Identify] me, too? At the very least, they wouldn’t think I was a demon even if they were suspicious of me.

Maybe this was the treasure that those elven kids said was stolen from them. Still, it wasn’t like I could give it back to them now, anyway.

 

So, plans for the future. I’d need to start gathering information about the final magic stone, the one belonging to No. 08, once I could get inside Anneuf safely.

Twenty days of borrowed time left…

If it was on another continent, I’d be so dead. Still, the three of them agreed to meet up with each other. They had to be on this continent.

Let’s see, the fastest way would be… yeah, it’d be making contact with beta players.

I could tell them the truth, but I didn’t think they’d believe me. No. 01’s story was only barely believable to me due to his – and my own – desperation. Also, if those corporate people found out I was No. 13, they might decide to get rid of my body on Earth.

So I’d need to hide what I knew. I’d need to make contact with the beta players as a native… or in their eyes, as an NPC.

…to be honest, even I thought my plans were really haphazard. Well, not like this was a new thing to me, anyway.

 

Even if I acquired the information, if my target was far away, I’d be needing more travel expenses. Gotta earn money, too… what a pain. I only had one large gold and three small golds left from the money I took from those traffickers.

I only had a coat, which I was wearing over my blouse and skirt, and a robe left as my spare clothes. I wanted some more clothing, too.

…so many things to do.

 

Two days later, the train arrived at a port town that was the gateway to the country of Anneuf. I escaped as mist before border control came to inspect the train and disappeared into the town.

---

Author’s Note: The path she took this chapter. The numbers are the order in which the saplings were discovered.

*I used the same system of combat power as in my other work. If anyone’s curious, please check this chapter out.

---

Translator’s Note: First, larger size of map.

Second, the chapter the author mentioned above is one of Akuma Koujo’s. As of the date in which I translated this (March 16, 2019), Akuma Koujo’s translation had only gotten to, according to the raw numbering as displayed in the URL, chapter 65, while the chapter mentioned above is chapter 155. So I’m sorry people, you’ll just have to wait for the other group to catch up. If you’re curious, you can compare the magic points of characters over there to this novel to get an idea of how strong they are relative to each other.

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“…A demihuman?”

“Is that… a beastman?”

Within the dark auction hall, all eyes were on the stage. The flames revealed a single girl of white, standing alone.

With the thief revealed to be the girl who had been with them until now, Tiz almost leaped from his seat. He glared at the girl.

“…Shedy!”

But was that girl truly her?

The first time he met her, he thought she was a ten-year old kid. The second time, she looked closer to eleven. Perhaps his first estimation was wrong, he thought. Nothing more.

It was true that kids possessing high magic, as they often did among the nobility, tended to grow up faster. Yet Shedy, standing on the stage, looked as if she had gained another year of age and height within as many days. The little girl was already turning into a young lady. She was showing the first hints of a deadly beauty.

However, it wasn’t the most eye-catching thing about her. The audience was all staring at the pair of long, snow-white ears softly dangling from her head.

There were canine species with drooping ears, true, but the longest among them was only around 10 centimeters. No one had heard of, nor seen, such a species of beastman to have ears so long as to reach her chin. To have ears of a rabbit.

 

“…so, that girl was a rabbit beastman!!” Salia’s shout echoed within the silent hall. Her words couldn’t be clearer.

 

“…rabbit?” “A rabbit…” “Rabbit…!!!”

Mutters sounded out one by one. As they began to comprehend the words, the attendees ceased seeing her with fear and terror. Desire flooded their eyes.

 

“Get me that bunny!! That critter is MINE!!”

In one of the second floor booth seats, a chubby middle-aged noble leaned over the railing and screamed.

Tiz knew that face. He was the brother to the king of this Trestan Kingdom. Yet his position did nothing to deter the other attendees, full of the rich and the nobilities of other countries. Prompted by his shout and blinded by greed, they stood up, one after another, and gave orders to their own subordinates.

“Catch that rabbit girl!”

“No, auction her! I’ll pay one hundred large golds!”

“My trading firm will secure her! Get the bodyguards in here!”

“Don’t fuck with me! That rabbit belongs to Trestan Kingdom!”

“This is an auction, who the hell cares about that?! Grab her already!!”

 

A rabbit beastman. A race hitherto unseen, unheard of. And the girl was a beauty too, at that. She would fetch an absurd price.

Dozens of bodyguards were tripping over each other to fulfill their given orders. They flooded toward the stage. Seeing them, the auction host spat out orders to the surviving guardsmen.

“We’re taking her for our auction! Capture her, but don’t you dare harm a hair on her head! I’ll pay every one of you a large gold coin once she’s in my hands!”

 

Shedy just blankly stared and blinked. Her scarlet eyes swept through the hall, stopping at the approaching wave of guardsmen and escorts, and narrowed in disgust.

 

“Alright, just stay calm-aghk!”

A lithe swordsman was the first one to get up on the stage. Just as his bare hands were about to grab the girl, his movements inexplicably slowed down. The girl dashed in. Her dagger tore through his throat.

Then she bounced off. Several bodyguards reached for her, but the moment they came into contact with the mist overflowing from within her coat, their faces rapidly turned blue and their movements dulled. Daggers and claws ripped them apart.

Was that white mist some sort of ice magic?

The bodyguards realized this was no simple target. Some changed into magic, some broke apart a nearby chair to make impromptu bludgeons.

 

“This might hurt a bit, little bunny!”

One of the bodyguards quickly changed gears and grabbed a spear from the floor. He spun it, clearing off the mist, then used the pommel to jab at her.

“Agh!!”

Yet despite his seemingly-skillful spear handling, the man mysteriously slipped on a patch of frozen blood, losing his balance. The girl grabbed his face. His entire body rapidly turned pale as if the heat was being sucked out of him. In a blink of an eye, white ice covered him whole, and as the final slivers of life left him, the frozen statue shattered.

 

Witnessing the ruthless execution right in front of them and feeling the heat-sapping mist upon their skin, the bodyguards all went pale. They gulped.

On the second floor seating, Tiz was taking in the sight with blazing eyes. He asked the butler beside him, who was staring at the girl while looking just as pale as the bodyguards.

“Gramps… gramps! What the hell is going on?! How much is Shedy’s combat power?!”

 

Considering that they were employed by this auction hall, the guards must have their combat skill at level 3. Or as said among the adventurers, they were Rank 3.

And the attendees here were all either people with deep pockets or were powerful nobility. Their bodyguards must be at least Rank 4, like Salia. Perhaps there were even Rank 5s – fighters as skilled as master knights – among them.

Salia was a magic knight, possessing high magic. Her combat power was close to 400.

There should be plenty of other bodyguards here who were around her level. Even if they weren’t allow use of their favorite weapons in their capture, and even if they were hindering each other, there should be at least dozens of people above 300 power. It’s impossible for them to be having so many casualties to a little girl with only 200 combat power.

 

“I-I… I can not [Identify] her!”

“What?!”

“…her magic points, her hit points, her total combat power, they’re all hidden to my eyes!”

 

That reminded Tiz of something. When they were at the adventurer’s guild for her identification, the crystal displayed Shedy’s magic as 120, combat power as nearly 200, but no hit points.

Only [Total Combat Power] and [Magic Points] were important in combat, so people paid less attention to [Hit Points]. Even the guild staff thought it was just an error and ignored it. In hindsight, perhaps it was a sign Shedy was hiding her power.

“You’ve done it this time… Shedy!”

 

A gust of wind visited the stage, blowing away the cloying mist.

“Stop right there, villain!”

Rage colored Salia’s face so red she was giving off steam. The knight pointed the dagger in her hand at Shedy.

Noticing the woman, Shedy subtly frowned. She silently turned to face the knight.

“What are you going to do with that dingy knife?”

“You dare say that after you’ve tricked me so, knave?!”

Salia was glowing crimson now. She slammed the bandit dagger Shedy gave her on the ground.

“Nothing short of death would redeem the deception you’ve inflicted on us! Your life ends here by my hand!”

“Really…”

To Salia’s furious declaration, Shedy only responded with a chilly glance. The girl leisurely readied a dagger in her left hand, while her right was hidden inside her coat.

“Come!”

Salia was confident. If Shedy was using a water-type mist spell, then she would have the advantage with wind-type spells. Exactly the type of magic she specialized in.

‘So full of yourself with that mist, aren’t you? Let’s see how you like it when my wind blast you away, mist and all!’ Salia smirked.

And just like the knight woman expected, Shedy charged in while releasing mist from somewhere around her hidden right arm. Salia shot her arms forward.

“[Wind Bomb]!”

A burst of air exploded from Salia’s hands. Just as she predicted-no. Exceeding her predictions, Shedy blasted off as if she was weightless. The girl smiled and waved. She flew off above the heads of the surrounding bodyguards.

“Noooooo! Don’t run away, lowlife!!”

 

Shedy left Salia’s screams behind and leisurely landed back on the ground. Before the bodyguards could regain their senses, she dashed off into the crowd of attendees.

The ladies were shrieking and running from her. The merchants were reaching out with greedy eyes. Shedy simply responded with a large cloud of mist, using it to slip through the crowd and dash for the exit.

On the way, her eyes met with Tiz’s, who was still standing on the second floor. He bore his fangs in a savage grin and declared.

 

“Remember this, girl! I am Tischlar, the Twelfth Emperor of the Empire of Touze, and you. Will. Be. Mine! Just wait for it!”

“…”

 

Shedy gave no reply.

The girl escaped to the front doors and disappeared into the town. The king’s soldiers were sent out on searches, but they were unsuccessful. She was no longer in the capital.

 

This was the beginning of a flood of extravagant bounties set by the wealthy, and by the nobles of Trestan and of other countries. Yet even among them, the bounty set by the hands of the Emperor of Touze himself was head and shoulders above. All within the central continent were aware of the lavish reward.

 

Wanted

A young white-colored rabbit beastman girl, who commands a magical mist.

Whosoever will apprehend and deliver the girl shall be handsomely rewarded.

The girl must not be harmed.

The Emperor of Touze swears upon his name: whosoever accomplishes this matter, shall be given Five Thousand Large Gold Coins as recompense.

 

Incidentally, many had expected this event to further aggravate the marginalization of beastmen, yet it was not so. On the contrary, demand for young, pale-colored or lop-eared canine beastman girls surged. They were sold for extremely high prices and granted a life of luxury by their buyers.

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