I headed straight to the aforementioned inn to book a room.
It would've been troublesome if I came back in the evening and couldn't find empty rooms. I didn't want to sleep on the roadside in this unknown place.
The inn was, in fact, on the main road so it wasn't hard to find. Similar to the guild, there was a board on the side of the door with a picture of a Bear and a Moon. The bear was holding a spoon and fork in both hands. Below it was written "Moonbear Inn" in bold.
I opened the gate and entered, what looked like, the dining area. Similar to the guild, there were several tables and chairs around the left and right sides, and a few people were sitting, enjoying their meals and booze. The food one of them was eating looked rather appetizing so I was looking forward to lunch today. It was already past noon after the registration, so I was getting hungry.
I can probably save some money by eating the food I have in my Inventory but… I kinda wanna try the local dishes. Isn't this what you do in tours and such?
Not that it is a tour. At least, not one that I signed up for. Sigh.
My mouth leaked a small sigh from that thought. I went to the desk where a hairy man, with thick arms and a torso, was sitting at his desk doing— what seemed like, some sort of registry.
"Excuse me. Do you have accommodations available for one person?"
"A single room costs 2 Silvers. Breakfast and dinner included for 4 Silvers and 5 coppers total. If you wish to stay for 10 days, you'll have to just pay 40 Silvers for everything. We'll provide you with a lantern and hot water once a day for free. You can use the well in the back to do your washing."
I see. Currently, I have enough to stay for a few days but if I needed to stay for longer in this place, I'll have to earn. Taking the quests was the right decision.
I'll earn money from doing that.
With my funds calculated, I decided to book a room.
"I would like to book a room for 2 days. I'll probably extend it later."
"Okay. With meals?"
"Yes."
"Okay. That'll be 9 Silvers."
I paid up and was now left with just some Copper change.
I guess even in another world, you still need money to survive. Well, I can think of ways to live a self-sustained life if it's here.
The innkeeper gave me a key and took me to my room. It was the last room on the left side of the 2nd floor.
The room was a small single room with a single bed, a thin white bedsheet, and a pillow. There was a small bedside table to put your small personal belongings on. There was also a wooden cupboard that seemed to fit into the wall.
The innkeeper left me after telling me the timing for meals here, and I locked the door and sat on the bed.
Phew.
Mission 1: 'Acquire Shelter' completed.
Mission 2: 'Get da money' started.
Mission 3:…
I nonchalantly monologed the tasks in a game-like fashion to entertain myself.
This was my first time staying at an inn. I never really went out for trips and such back on Earth. Well, my life was a really boring one after all. It was filled with school, exams, and then college. That's it. Almost all my friends would go on their individual and group trips, but my family wasn't in good shape to afford an unnecessary excursion, so I normally missed out on them all. Having 3 kids, their hands were full of school fees and daily necessities. My dad's low-paying job didn't help. I was aware of that so I didn't make such demands.
But this place I was in didn't quite give me those 'holiday vibes'. No. It felt lonely. So damn lonely. Even though I was used to living by myself. Perhaps it was because of the unfamiliarity of this whole new world.
I was alone in this strange new world with nobody to call a friend or family. I didn't know my left from my right, other than what my Map showed me, and I didn't have a stable income or home yet. Adventuring was one way to earn, but it wasn't quite a stable job— one such as myself, who was preparing for a normal corporate tech job could do. I had to, at least, obtain some money to further plan out my future actions. All this fantasy experience wasn't quite enough to make me give up on my old world and start living here nonchalantly just because I was Isekai'd. I had to go back home. If there was a way, I had to find it.
Thinking about home filled me with loneliness and a sense of longing, further causing certain emotions and thoughts to emerge in my head.
I wonder how those anime protagonists would just casually accept their new world so easily? I mean, I get the gist, but still. Leaving inter- Family and Friends— God damn it, me— and spending your life stuck in a different world is kinda scary, man.
I guess I can think of the reason…
In most anime and light novels, the protagonists had this sad and depressing life in their real world, where they didn't have much attachment to anything in life. So, it made sense when they came here and got powers and thrilling adventures, that they would rather choose to have that new life, than toil through real life meaninglessly in their old world.
I wondered if the Gods or Universe— the beings capable of such feats— intentionally chose such people to transmigrate.
No, I guess technically it should be the authors who wrote the story.
What specific reason was there that so many of these protagonists were like that? I would have liked to ask them about their mindsets. Perhaps it was so that it was easier to cover their backs, to clear their remnants of the last world.
You can't create a story if your protagonist keeps whining about getting back to his old world, huh?
There was one more reason my many protagonists liked their new worlds.
Companions.
I guess one thing that differentiates them from me is that they would have companions.
Every protagonist had them. Mostly girls, sometimes monster buddies or AI
assistants in their very head, and in very rare cases, other guys. But they did. And I suppose that's how they fought their boredom and loneliness when they weren't busy blasting enemies with their OP stats and skills or carrying out events in the story.
If you're in a faraway land, it would be reassuring to have a trustable pet or a human companion to share your happiness, misery, and boredom with. They'll add color to your otherwise grey life. Especially if you're someone who has a boring life like me.
I also felt the need to have one: a companion. What sort? I didn't know. I wasn't optimistic enough to hope to suddenly find a beauty ready to adventure along with me.
No, rather, I would be suspicious if she did.
I didn't know the norms but dangerous men and women existed everywhere. You wouldn't want to mingle around with them in a foreign land.
There was a possibility to be betrayed, even killed, and all belongings stolen in the worst case.
Then again, I don't really have anything valuable other than my Katana and maybe those black crystals in my Inventory. Just a pouch with some Copper coins in it.
All my items and my Katana were inside Inventory that probably wasn't retrievable by others. I didn't know what would happen in case I die, though.
Would the items disappear into oblivion? Or would they all be spilled out of my Inventory? Honestly, I didn't want to know since it involved the scenario of me dying. I didn't have even a single shred of desire to die in this foreign land.
I involuntarily touched the handmade necklace hanging on my chest and a smile leaked from my lips. I actually had at least one happy memory from this world. A gift from a cute little girl I saved. Not just her but the village itself was nice. They treated an outsider like me quite nicely. I was already feeling nostalgic about it. I would probably never visit it again any time soon but if I ever did, I would take a present for Lulatina as thanks for her gift.
My unusual affection for Lulatina probably stemmed from her being like my own little sister— but cuter and much more obedient and hardworking.
I wonder what that little brat of a sister is doing... She's probably watching TV all day and playing with her friends. That little shit wouldn't even bother talking to me when I called last time.
After a while of riding the thought train, I stood up and went down to have lunch.
***
I was served a broth with vegetables and small pieces of what seemed like meat, hard bread, some salad, and a big beer cup filled with refreshingly cold well water.
I wondered if people here loved soup. Their soups were rather thin and dull tasting though. But it was great to soften the hard bread which would be difficult to eat raw. The salad was plain and simple, but it worked well as an appetizer.
My stomach was now full and I was ready to get on with the adventuring work.
I had asked the receptionist before leaving, the proper grounds to hunt monsters, and was told to go through the south. There's a monster spawning ground there fit for the hunting.
I passed through the gates showing my Adventurer's ID and then went to the respective grounds. My goal was to find Goblins, Wolves, and Orcs to kill. I had confirmed with the receptionist that other than the Goblin, wolf and Orc materials could be further dismantled and sold to the guild. That would get me some extra money even after they charge me the dismantling fee.
I was not wearing any armor or anything for protection but I was confident in my stats. Unless it's some super powerful boss-level monster, the current me could easily kill them with my Katana in a matter of seconds. It wasn't overconfidence but just a deduction that came from my own experience with monsters.
However, the first monsters I found were actually slimes. There were small blobs of translucent-colored balls bouncing around here and there, eating dead leaves and humus. Each of them had a small red ball inside them which was probably their nucleus— or magic core if you will.
Now, I hadn't taken the slime subjugation but I was kinda interested in them so I took out some stones and started hitting them. Some of them passed through but some hit the nucleus removing them from the body. The slime body dissolved once the nucleus was taken out.
Slimes were always hailed as cute small-fry monsters, often taken as pets in fantasy stories. And honestly, I kind of got the appeal of that. These guys would just bounce around doing their own stuff. Even their attack, which was a body tackle, didn't hurt much. Killing them almost felt bad. Almost. I ended up killing about 30 of them for fun and experimentation.
Maybe I was the bad guy here. I wouldn't get the Slime Slayer title now, would I?
…
I didn't get such a title. Why would anyone want such a title? Killing these guys was almost akin to bullying.
Next, I proceeded further and with my Map searched for the monsters in the area. With just a simple 10-minute search I was able to find Goblin and wolf packs. I managed to kill them easily with
After I had enough Wolves and Goblins, I searched for the herb. They were supposed to be growing in the 2KM meter radius of my search so I went to those spots and collected them with their leaves undamaged. The request particularly stated that requirement. I was going to take on the other herb as well but it grew on the other side of the town near the river bed so I didn't bother. I didn't feel like running around the whole town border just to gather one extra quest item.
I managed to gather a whole bunch of the requested herb and even found some other important-looking plants and shrooms which my Appraisal showed as edible or medicinal.
All hail the almighty Appraisal!
I'll try asking the innkeeper if some of these edible herbs could be used as a food seasoning.
I really wanted to eat food with better seasoning and spices.
But before I could head back, I had one more quest to complete. The Orc Subjugation.
Now, where are those pig monsters?
I searched for them in the area and some red dots a little deeper into the forest.
Alright, let's get this quest over with!
I went to the specified area and found 3 fat pig-like creatures walking on their hind legs, wearing a pelt to cover their lower region and brandishing stone tools.
So, I was right on the money. They look exactly like how they're described in the novels. Except, looking at them in real life gives me the heebie-jeebies. Ugh.
Monsters didn't have much intelligence, but apparently, they were capable of somehow making these primitive tools.
Or did they perhaps spawn with it?
No, in the first place, how exactly were monsters born in this world? Did they reproduce and grow or did they come out of nowhere in places with something like "a high concentration of mana or miasma?" There were still plenty of mysteries surrounding the existence of monsters in this world. I'm sure the researchers and scientists of this world might have had some answers. Surely the denizens of this world knew why monsters existed. Perhaps it was a case of an alien-world evolution phenomenon with different conditions than that on earth.
I was going to hunt these guys but one of them had a boar hanging out of its back and they were headed in a specific direction. I checked on the map and found even more red dots signifying more Orcs.
Was there a settlement around here?
I didn't know how these creatures lived but the settlement was quite close to the hunting grounds. If they grew in numbers, wouldn't it become troublesome?
In that case, should I take care of them all?
The numbers didn't seem to exceed 20. But I had never fought Orcs before and so I did an Appraisal on them.
Name: Noname
Age: 3 years
Gender: Male
Race: Orc
---
Level: 15
HP: 320/320
MP: 0/0
---
Stats:
STR: 130
DEX: 65
DEF: 60
AGI: 50
VIT: 88
INT: 10
Luck: 0
---
Abilities:
None
***
Name: Noname
Age: 3 years
Gender: Male
Race: Orc
---
Level: 16
HP: 330/330
MP: 0/0
---
Stats:
STR: 140
DEX: 63
DEF: 62
AGI: 54
VIT: 86
INT: 10
Luck: 0
---
Abilities:
None
***
Name: Noname
Age: 3 years
Gender: Male
Race: Orc
---
Level: 10
HP: 260/260
MP: 0/0
---
Stats:
STR: 90
DEX: 48
DEF: 56
AGI: 50
VIT: 70
INT: 10
Luck: 0
---
Abilities:
None
***
Their STR stats were relatively high but all others were 2-digit values. If it's like this, with my stats, I could probably easily take on their entire settlement. Of course this time, I was going to utilize my magic to attack them from afar.
I followed them and finally saw what looked like a very primitive human settlement but instead of humans, Orcs were living there.
Found you guys. Say goodbye to your family and friends. I'll be taking your lives today… Saying what I'm about to do makes me look like the villain.
Aren't I the real monster here for killing monsters who haven't even done anything to me?
Leaving the questions about morality and ethics aside, how was I supposed to defeat them all without risking my life? A
I settled on
I aimed at the group where most Orcs were situated and fired a bunch of
Easy peasy. And I'm officially a villain for monsters.
[Title "Orc Slayer" acquired!]
Ah… I figured so.
I collected all the Orc bodies and went on the way back home. The sun was still fairly up so I had time before it got dark, but there wasn't much to do in this forest other than quest completion.
***