The text [The First Town, Lurolona] appeared in the lower right corner of my vision.
“Hmm…?”
So I was unconscious for just a few seconds… No, if I convert that to real time, I probably haven’t slept for even a tenth of a second.
If the game company’s explanation is to be believed, the game’s flow of time will be completely different compared to real time from this moment on.
As explained, I guess we’ll be living in this world until the end of the game.
I look around, and I see a scene that surpasses reality.
A white stone pavement, a western castle in the distance… If you look closely, the stone pavement is slightly dirty. If I had to describe it, should I call it a sense of reality? It certainly exists here, that kind of dirt.
“Oh? It’s started! It’s started! Hey! Um… your name in the game… oh yeah, Therese(てりす)! Over here, over here!”
“Ah, there you are! Hey, Ta… I mean L’Arc(らるく)!”
#Note: both usernames are written in hiragana here, whereas their counterparts in Shield Hero are written in katakana instead.
A handsome man and a pretty woman are looking at each other. A Human male and a Jewel female pairing I wonder if that means they’re real-world acquaintances and were able to enter the game nearby.
“Now then! Let’s have some fun! The game has only just begun! I’ve been busy lately, so let’s stretch out the short holiday and play as much as possible!”
“That’s right! We haven’t seen each other lately… It’s been a long time since we’ve been alone together, after all.”
“Yeah!”
They give off a sweet atmosphere, but I don’t think it’s just the two of them here…
Well, I guess it’s a good thing now that I know that there are players who plan to extend their short leisure time in the game.
The voices of those who seem to have just logged in can be heard one after another from around the area, filling it with the hustle and bustle of the crowd. I’ve played VRMMOs before, but this is the first time where the realism is this high.
“Now then, while keeping my emotions in check, let’s begin the game… huh?”
Strangely, a high voice resounded.
In the character creation, you can freely fine-tune the voice, but it sounds like a female voice that a system voice would normally use.
If I remember correctly, I should have created a deep and stern guy voice. Even if I make a mistake, it’s not a loli voice like this. Did something go wrong in the settings?
… I have a bad feeling.
I then go to check my body using the reflection of a glass pane at a storefront.
“Yeah, that’s a girl, no matter how you look at it. Thank you very much,” I muttered involuntarily.
I mean… long jet black hair, a young body, tiny hands, tiny feet, and a poor looking chest.
The clothing is a simple white one piece dress, which is probably the starter equipment.
Even the way it feels to wear a skirt is carefully re-created, and the inseam is airy.
“─[Kizuna†Exceed] received a multi-chat invitation. Do you want to participate?”
The voice echoes directly in my brain. The sender is someone I don’t know named [Tsumugi†Exceed].
Come to think of it, it’s similar to my name. You must be the culprit who did this to me!
When I participated in the thing called multi-chat, I heard the sound of a system bell ring and two people’s voices along with it.
“Ah, Onii-chan?”
“Yahhoo~!”
#Illust TL: Left “[Kanade†Exceed]…” Right “[Tsumugi†Exceed]…”
The voices of two people echoed. Did they use their real voice instead of a custom one? I could hardly tell the difference.
“What the hell do you mean by “Ah, Onii-chan?”! Why did my character’s appearance and name change? You too, my dumbass sister! I’ll be coming for you later!”
#Note: (O)Nee-san, (O)Nee-chan are honorifics for calling big sister, the concept works exactly like ‘Onii’. We’ll keep the honorifics in Japanese for the dialogues.
My big sister’s name is [Kanade†Exceed]. I want to complain about their taste.
All three have the same last name, using Kanji + symbols + katakana, isn’t this the final stage of Chuunibyou!?
#Chuunibyou: 8th grade syndrome.
“Because I wanted another little sister~” said my big sister.
“I wanted a little sister too!” said my little sister.
“”That’s why we let you, our brother, participate!””
“Haah…” I let out a sigh. To think I would come to heave a sigh in a game. It seems like they had already rewritten my data yesterday, and here I was wondering why they never bothered to ask me about the appearance I chose.
“And also.”
“Hmm?”
“We’re going to live in the game world for months, maybe years, so I wanted a connection.”
“Nee-san…”
Apparently she had her reasons.
No, even so, why did you have to turn me into a woman? Wouldn’t this be classified as ‘illegal access’? Rather than that, I’m actually forced to play as a nekama until the end of the game!
#Note: Nekama originally derived from the term “okama”, which refers to a gay man or male cross-dresser and is an abbreviation of “okama on the Net.”
“And…”
“Yeah?”
“When introducing ourselves, I think “the three sisters” sounds better.”
“…”
Am I supposed to laugh in response to that? It’s okay to get angry now, right?
“Either way, it’s fine. Going with a different gender would provide a better immersion in a second life.” I gave up anyway.
Being the only male among my female siblings, I’ve experienced this kind of unfairness multiple times. It wouldn’t do well for either side to be mad while playing a fun game together with family.
“Onii-chan, what are you going to do now?” Tsumugi asked.
“Hmm~ I think I’ll get the fishing skill and try fishing.”
“Wow, you’re doing something minor… Kizuna-chan.”
“Kizuna-chan, huh…”
… I wonder what it is, this indescribably weird feeling. Did I become the youngest among the “three sisters” setting?
“At least add ‘Onii-chan’.”
“Eeh…”
“I was made into a woman. At least agree to that.”
“Ugh… It can’t be helped then…”
I wonder why she has to make it sound like a compromise there.
“I’m planning to go hunting. What about you, Kanade-onee-chan?” Tsumugi asked.
“I haven’t decided what to equip, so I’ll go check out the store.”
“Then, we’ll separate for the time being, okay?”
“That’s right. I’ll call you later… I mean, send you a chat later.”
“Sure~”
─Chat ended. Returning to normal conversation.
Now then, shall I start fishing as originally planned? If I remember correctly, the skills were acquisition-based.
I consciously open the status, skill, and item screens from the cursor menu.
Name: Kizuna†Exceed Race: Spirit
Energy: 1000 Mana: 50 Serin: 500
Skill: Energy Production I, Mana Production I
Item: Beginner’s Weapon Box, Beginner’s Energy Potion x10, Manual Guide for Spirits
I selected the Manual Guide for Spirits in the item column.
Then, an A6-sized book appeared in my hand. When I open the page, there are characters that are not Japanese. But for some reason, I was able to read it. It’s apparently known as “Spirit Language.”
“Let’s see…”
[Unlike other races, Spirits don’t have levels, HP, MP, STR, AGI, INT, MIND, DEX, and LUK. The values for all of the above are combined into a value called ‘Energy’. The more energy you have, the stronger you become.]
[The more energy you have, the more you can withstand attacks from enemies, but you have to be careful because energy is used for both HP damage and MP consumption.]
I see. It’s indeed a very unique race.
In short, if you have a lot of energy, it would mean that you have high ATT, DEF, HP, and MP, but it also serves as one’s level in a sense where, if it were in another game, it would feel like you’ve leveled down after using too much energy.
[In other races, ‘mana’ is equivalent to ‘skill points’ or ‘proficiency.’ It is possible to acquire skills by consuming mana as needed.]
[There are two types of skills: one that consumes energy per usage, and one that continuously consumes energy.]
[Skill acquisition is the same as for other races, the list will increase by performing the corresponding action.]
[For Spirits, the skills that appeared on the list can have their effects be activated for the first time through the expenditure of mana.]
[Acquired skills can be maintained by consuming energy. Otherwise, for skills that are no longer needed, you can rank down the skill, and half of the mana required for its rank up will be refunded.]
[Also, if the total energy count decreases to less than 0 due to skills based on calculation, randomly selected skills will be ranked down until otherwise.] Last sentence missing some words
It seems that Spirit is a race in which energy management is important.
Well, I’ll deal with it as it comes.
I closed the manual and threw it into the item column. Next, I chose the Beginner’s Weapon Box. There are many weapons in the box.
All of them have the name “Beginner’s” in them, and their appearance is normal.
I took out a one-handed sword that doesn’t seem like a bad option. A simple description of the one-handed sword then appeared. I gave it a quick read and returned it to the box.
Just like Kanade-nee-san hadn’t decided yet, there were a lot of weapon introductions on the official website, but I didn’t know which one was better and hadn’t decided until today. Judging from Tsumugi’s response, it seems that she has already decided on the weapon she’d choose.
“Oh?”
An interesting-looking weapon was displayed. Let’s take it out of the box.
Weapon: Beginner’s Dismantling Knife.
Description: A knife made for dismantling living beings that have been hunted.
Dismantling Weapon Description: A group of weapons created to dismantle living beings and plants will drop items after defeating monsters.
Man, the descriptions are short. Like one-handed swords are capable of being equipped with a shield, the characteristics of its skills and the like.
I’ll choose this though. It sounds interesting anyway.
I took out the dismantling knife and chose ‘confirm’.
Equipping a knife, or rather, holding it in your hand counts as equipping it?
The status screen only shows energy and mana, so it’s hard to tell if I’ve gotten stronger after equipping it with no equipment column to reference. I suppose it’s one of those VR game norms where it’ll count as equipped so long as I am holding it in hand or wearing it.
Anyway, I’ll need a fishing rod if I want to fish. Where is the place that sells rods? It wouldn’t be unreasonable to think that a tool shop would have one, right?
I select the map from the cursor menu.
The town I’m in right now… is called Lurolona. I looked for the place where the mark of a “bag” is on the map and walked in that direction.
The tool shop is a gray square building. A bag sign is standing next to it. The place had already been crowded with several people, ranging from Humans, Demi-humans with dog ears and tails, Plant People with pointed ears and white skin, and Jewel People with blue jewels embedded in their chests.
… For some reason, it’s only that Spirits aren’t here, but it must be a coincidence.
Entering the tool shop, there appear to be many items on display. From healing potions to seeds, dirty paper, copper, hammers, pots, pans, mortars, hoes, pickaxes, shovels, and rods. Oh, they sell rods here!
However, it’s a shabby rod that looks like something out of a shounen manga, just a wooden stick with a string tied to it. But if I don’t buy a rod here, I can’t fish. Anyway, what’s the price of the rod?
[600 Serin]
So, Serin in the status column is the currency? I am lacking 100 Serin though.
Things that I can sell are… the dismantling knife I just got, Beginner’s Energy Potion, and the clothes I’m wearing now.
Judging by the feeling on my body, it seems that I have underwear. So I can go without clothes as long as I buy them later… It seems that one Beginner’s Energy Potion can be sold for 20 Serin.
“Please buy this from me.”
“Beginner’s Energy Potion, yes? I’ll buy it for 20 Serin each. 5 Beginner’s Energy Potions will be 100 Serin.”
A clinking sound resounded and my Serin count reached 600. Then, I came back with the rod in hand.
“Worn-out Fishing Rod, yes? That’ll be 600 Serin.”
Hey… even though it’s the game specification, calling the things you sell at your own store “worn-out” is…
A human who was looking at the products in the store even blurted a clear “Pfft”.
“Therese… “worn-out” he said… pfft…”
“Harsh, yes.”
If this is an actual getting-transported-to-another-world situation, I will then never shop here ever again!
… Well, it’s futile to retort to an NPC. While suppressing my boiling feelings for the shopkeeper, I obtained a worn-out rod
