"Excuse the intrusion."
When I entered the room, a priest with a good physique was sitting in front of a big desk. At his side, there's a beautiful woman that seems to be a priestess.
The smiling priest and the cool beautiful sister.
"Hello there, otherworldler. How are you feeling?" (Priest)
"Nice to meet you, my name is Takatsuki. I think I am feeling fine." (Makoto)
"Is that so? Please tell us as soon as possible if you aren't. By the way, have you heard about this place from your friends?" (Priest)
"A bit."
"I see, I see. Then, I will explain. It may surprise you since it is so sudden, but this is a different world from the one you were in. You must be feeling anxious that you are unable to see your family. However, please don't worry. We will provide you free support for as long as 1 year until you can go independent." (Priest)
I heard that from Fuji-yan.
"Uhm, we can't return to our world?"
Well, it's not like, I have a special feeling on earth, I just want to ask this question if there is a way to go back just like in-game and in stories.
The expression of the priest darkens.
Hm? Did I say something weird there?
"So you didn't hear about that. Takatsuki-san, you were on the verge of death before coming to this world, right?" (Sister)
"Yeah, that's right. We were stranded on a snowy mountain." I don't know why she bringing unrelated topic. To what, I actually ask but I answered it anyway.
"Right, and that's the same for your friends. The condition to come to a parallel world is to die in your previous world." (Sister)
"I see....."
It's really a short life huh.....
Seeing that I was in distress, the priest smiled.
"But please don't fret. The Gods of this world are incredibly merciful. Before dying young, you were all transported to this world by them!!"
The priest makes an exaggerated pose. It feels like he is used to this.
"I-I see."
So the goddess is the one who transports us here.
"By the way, returning to your original world would mean that you will die. That would be troubling, right?"
"Right", is the only thing I could say to that.
"Now then, let's move to a positive topic about how you will be living from now on. Have you heard about skills?"
"Uhm, a bit from my friend. But not in detail."
"Okay. Then, I will be telling you. You should have gotten Inherent Skills. To be specific, something like [Mage] or [Swordsman] are the usual. You could even say that, depending on whether it is weak or strong, it will affect your life from here on!"
"Ooh…that does sound important." so if my skill is trash, my life is trash from now on.... Just thinking of it, I don't want to live that life.
"And now, the Stats. Every otherworldler usually has outstanding stats!"
"Wow..... that sounds amazing....." I said. just riding off what the priest is saying
"Yeah, more than 10 times that of us common people!"
I don't want to break his excitement but I'm kind of excited about what my skill and stats are.
So I ask.
"What are my Skills and Stats?"
"Fufufu, no need to hurry. We will be checking that now. You, bring that."
"Yes, Head Priest-sama."
The sister-san that was silent at the side gives the priest some sort of book.
"This is an item called Soul Book that can determine your Skills and Stats."
"Hoh."
An impressive item appeared.
"No need to be so nervous. Please offer a prayer to this Goddess statue here."
"hmmm.... Okay."
Like this?
I stand in front of the Goddess statue and take a praying stance.
"I look forward to it. All the otherworldlers were blessed with splendid statuses."
That is what I heard from the side.
Seriously? Is it so convenient?
The expectations of the priest seem to be sky high.
After a while, a faint light covered my body, and then, the book of the priest shines.
"Your Skills and Stats have been determined."
The priest announced majestically.
My heart is beating fast. I'm kind of nervous
"Your Inherent Skills are: [Clear Mind], [Water Mage: Elementary Grade]…and the last one is [RPG Player]."
Just hearing my skill they don't sound strong.
Also, there's one weird named skill.
"Are they strong skills?" I asked
"Hmm, the last skill is one I have seen for the first time, but the two before are normal."
Ohhh, Normal huh.... looks like I'm in a hard mode in this life.
No,No,No! let's think a bit more positive let's ask about my stats.
"How about my Stats?…"
"Hmm... let's see. Ehhh!?"
The priest makes a dubious expression.
"Isn't this some sort of mistake?"
"It can't be. What's the matter?"
"See, here. These numbers…"
"It is true that comparing them to the other otherworldlers, the numbers are low, but if compared to us…they are still low."
Ohh.... Looks like, I will really live in a hard mode from now on.
"Uhm, is there some sort of problem with my Stats…?" I still asked hoping it will just be some sort of error
"No no! It is okay, Takatsuki-san. It looks like your Stats might be a bit lacking, but there's no need to worry."
The priest was smiling as always.
But compared to before, he is using a business smile.
Seeing that smile. I know, I have a lot to worry about.
"Can I ask you to take over for the rest of the explanation?"
Seeing it as just a waste of time, the priest passed the responsibility of dealing with me to the sister.
"Understood, Head Priest-sama."
The sister lowers her head.
"Well then, Takatsuki-kun, do your best."
The Head Priest left the room not long after.
It is now the sister-san and I alone in this room.
"Then, I will be explaining about the Soul Book. Please take a look."
Looking at this sister, I think she is in a hurry and want to end this now.
Looking at the book I received, there's my name and age, the skills I heard about before, as well as things like Strength, Endurance, Magic, and others.
I can't tell anything just by looking at the numbers.
There was one part that bothered me an awful lot though.
As if saying that my life is not in the hard mode. It's in the Hell mode
Lifespan: 10 years.
And what I'm talking about is this, so to clarify what is this? I ask the sister.
"U-Uhm, what's this about lifespan?"
Dying in 10 years is too much of a joke.....
"I'll explain. In our world, we can learn about our own lifespan with the Soul Book."
"Why do I only have 10 years left?!" I asked
I am still a 15 years old you know?
Isn't this a bit too fast? Is this another short life again?
"The 10 years is something that all otherworldlers share in common."
"Is that so?"
Wow.... I'm surprised
That means Fuji-yan, Kitayama, and everyone else all have 10 years huh...
It is a really hard to describe feeling, but hearing that everyone is in the same situation made me calm down a bit.
That's way too short though.
"This lifespan can be extended by offering Contributions to the Holy Gods."
"…Lifespan is something that can be extended?"
So that is why huh.... I thought it can't be extended.
"Can you give me more details about these Contributions to the Holy Gods?"
I really want to learn about this method to extend your lifespan.
I seriously don't wanna die in 10 years.
I don't want a short life seriously.
"There's a variety of ways. The fastest one would be donating to the church."
"Money, huh."
"Yes, money."
"You can buy lifespan with money?"
"Yes, you can."
So..... As long as you have money, you can rest well and live well.
Even the earth and this another world is not different from each other huh....
"Just that, extending your lifespan for several years would require an enormous sum of money. Takatsuki-san, you don't have the currency of this world, so that method is not realistic."
"Right… What other ways are there?"
"There's defeating monsters that bring harm to people, or saving people from disasters."
"I see." so that's what we can offer in exchange for life span.
"Understood. Use your skills to help out others."
"Yes, that's right. Then, I will be explaining your skills. Takatsuki-san, you have 3 Inherent Skills. [Clear Mind], [Water Mage: Elementary Grade], and [RPG Player]."
She's really want to end here...
I know that thing already, it's written in my soul book..... Well, I haven't seen my skill so....
Let's see.
[Clear Mind]: A skill for maintaining a calm state of mind. With this, even if you get attacked by a strong monster, you will be able to act without panicking!
This is convenient why this skill is normal? it is because anyone has a skill like this?
[Water Mage: Elementary Grade]: A skill that allows you to use elementary-grade water magic. The amount of mana you have is low, so it can't be helped that it is an elementary grade! Work hard in training, okay?
Yeah, it's so low that I don't want to peek again.
[RPG Player]: A skill that allows you to use the perspective of a person playing an RPG game. You can see 360 degrees! An Inherent Skill that only an otherworldler can have! Isn't that great?!
Not great at all! first of all, I'm in a hard mode. I need at least one strong attack skill but the attack skill I have is this [Elementary grade: Water magic]
Ahhh! I don't want to complain anymore... Active [Clear Mind] this skill is really useful. It calms my mind at the very least
Well, at least they wrote the importance of the skill. So I can study it and use it proficiently.
"For now, I have a basic understanding of the skills. And so, what should I be doing from now on?"
"You otherworldlers will be able to take classes and use the facilities of this Water Temple for 1 year. You can choose the profession that fits you the most."
The sister explains expressionless. Looking at her she's really nearing at her end.
"Uhm, by the way, what profession do you recommend to me?"
"…"
Why silence?
"There's a variety of classes in this Water Temple. How about taking a variety of different classes at first before you decide on what profession to go for?"
No recommendations huh....
Meaning that there's no profession I am suited for at the current time.
No choice but to do things on my own.
Huh..... This is really a hard mode