Long Time No See

[Ichiro Mushibami's first-person perspective initiated. Narration altered.]

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...

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"Kyori...? Ron? Is that you guys?"

If I remember correctly, this black-haired woman and blonde man was the one that I had seen a few hours ago.

It was weird for me to have just met them two hours ago, but despite me not knowing them personally, seeing another person left me overjoyed.

"F-Finally! I thought that I was alone."

I mouthed off as they were stunned by my personality, yet they snapped back the moment I kneeled on the ground.

"H-How did you know our name! Are you a spy sent out to kill us?!"

"No!—Ugh!"

My stomach immediately churned back after receiving a kick to the stomach.

Are you for real?! He's being paranoid!

As I thought that they'd recognize me immediately, I had no way to prove that I wasn't a spy.

Prove...? Ah, that's right! I can show them my status!

"[S-Status!]"

I shouted. I had displayed my status with the intent to show it to the public. It was all about the intent if you want to hide it from others or not.

"Ichiro... Mushibami?"

Ron read my status first as he had his blade still wary in my throat, but after Kyori stepped in to see my status, her eyes widens with much more shock.

"Y-You're that commoner with the traveling skill! How come you look the same before?!"

If this was my world, I'd joke about using a rejuvenating set for my face. It will make your face ten years younger!

"I-I'll explain if Ron here wouldn't keep cutting off my throat!"

My throat was already riddled with scratches and cuts. It hurts like hell.

"Ron..."

"Ugh. If you take one wrong step, the next thing you'll see is your own body."

Ron lowered his weapon after Kyori tapped him by the shoulder, threatening me with more killing.

I should be scared but somehow, he wasn't particularly giving off bloodlust. He was just... scared as well.

"Just what the hell happened here?"

I sighed.

"How can you not know? It's been 10 years since we last saw you! Did you go hibernate or something?"

I was particularly sure that I wasn't a bear or a frozen soldier. I was just somehow who went through the rift of space between game and reality.

I was just...

"A player."

A slip of the tongue, I spoke without thinking.

"A player, huh... That would make sense."

"What? What do you mean?"

I was suddenly dumbfounded after Kyori said it as if it wasn't surprising. As if, they already heard that term before.

"Ten years ago, players began appearing in Carte. They were otherworlders with unique abilities that were stronger than the average."

Stronger than the average... It sure does sound like my status.

"Wait, so that means I'm not the only one who was teleported here?!"

"Obviously, that is the case. After the players, themselves began to group themselves within the Kingdom and Empire, a war suddenly broke out that claimed innocent lives."

This time, Ron spoke as if he was there as it happened.

"There were players like you back then, who were unsure and naive. They were the players that had tried to help the Kingdom from those cruel people that sided with the Empire."

Kyori gloomed over as she lowers her staff, showing a series of images that were projected into the air.

"We fought alongside them, shared moments with them, and laughed. But even though they were not in their world, they were ready to die for the Kingdom. As if they were born soldiers... were your world riddled with wars as well?"

She laughs with teary eyes, reminiscent of the moments she shared with both adventurers and players.

"No... It was quite the opposite. We had peace since the previous decade."

Earth had its share of wars, but we were currently in an age of peace.

I'm sure that those people thought that they would never be able to go back to Earth.

They lost any hope to go back, and thus without any more reason to move forward, their only choice was to fight.

"Wait! What about the other three that were with you?!"

If I remember correctly, they had a party of five, but why where were the other three? The large man that had carried me gently? The two other girls that laughed at everything?!

"They..."

Ron and Kyori could only look at each other before giving me that look. A look that had given me a hint of what happened.

They all died in the war.

It was honorable, yet the short description of their death.

That was just... stupid.

The war, that is.

BAAAAAAAM!

Suddenly, there was a loud rumbling that crept from our feet to our bodies. It wasn't an earthquake, but it was an explosion.

"Tch! Quick!"

Without delay, Ron opened the door and signaled at us to get out, pointing in the opposite direction he was in.

"Wait! What's happening?!"

"It's the Empire's warships! They're clearing out towns by bombing them. I hoped to loot this place before they appeared but I guess this is a change of plans!"

As we step out of the building, the sky was filled with floating airships that were dropping black dots that had caused small explosions, scattering black blobs that seemed to melt anything.

Those weren't just explosions, they were trying to barren the land and clear out towns of any survivors.

"This way!"

Ron had led us out of town as several more explosions follows, almost catching us by a meter close as I jump out of the open gates.

This was the nature of war.

A pure destructive force that obliterates anything. A force that they weren't afraid to show.

This is just evil from any perspective.

△▼△▼△▼△▼△▼

A few hours later after walking in the same direction, I was led to a small settlement that seemed to be where they had lived for now.

There were tents and larger tents as people from around looked at me with suspicious eyes.

It was reasonable for them to be wary of a stranger coming into their settlement in wartime.

"Kyori! Ron! How's the haul? What's with this kid?"

We passed by an old man who was hammering down on some equipment.

If he was an NPC then maybe he was a blacksmith that had given these two a quest.

"Thei. We got nothing but potions. This kid already got the good stuff."

Ron greeted the old man named Thei, pointing at me who was wearing the loot they might have been talking about.

"Aah? You sure that this guy isn't a spy?"

As I stepped in closer, my throat was greeted with another blade once again.

It was the blade that the blacksmith had been hammering down on. I wasn't able even to see him move.

"—Wha?!"

I reacted violently, falling back to my rear.

It was embarrassing as there were a lot of people that saw me fall. Standing up feels like a chore now.

"He's a player, Thei. He already appeared nine years ago before the war but he reappeared again just now."

"Well doesn't react like either one, but I sure like his pretty face. He'll be a good match with my daughter!"

The old man was talking to Ron as he offered me a hand to stand up, which I took and was easily pulled up without effort. That old man laughed at the end of his words, I didn't get to hear him that much before.

I was too focused on closing myself off as I felt embarrassed but I heard him say something about his daughter.

"If anything else, father. I'd rather not choose a man by his looks, but by his resolve."

Somehow, I felt attacked by the woman's sentiment as she walked by Ron and Kyori, taking the potions they were carrying into a box.

"Wait, why are you giving them the potions? Are you selling them??"

I asked. If this was a world amidst a war, then such supply would be vital for one if they wanted to survive.

However, just as I thought they were selling them, Kyori explains the system of sharing in this settlement.

"You see, for every loot we get, potions, weapons, and food alike are distributed equally and with reason. We give weapons to those prepared to fight for the settlement, we feed everyone equally as they all have their roles.".

Just as I noticed, everyone else was doing something distinct from each other's groups.

There were the blacksmiths, the culinary, and then the adventurers who were the most abundant in the group.

"We adventurers handle expeditions and exploration to hunt down food but sometimes we also loot downtowns that had been abandoned, in hopes to find abandoned artifacts and weapons."

"But aren't there any dungeons that you can find artifacts from?"

In the game Tentetsuki, some minigames involved dungeon hopping where skills and items were acquired.

If this was the world of Tentetsuki, then there must be a similar place.

"Yes, but most of them had fallen into the hands of the Empire. For now, the Kingdom has only three dungeons to find more items and artifacts to provide the army with.

It's just that... the Kingdom is also not letting anyone go inside except for their soldiers."

"They're disregarding adventurers?! Aren't you guys supposed to be the core strength of the army?!"

That was absurd.

The Kingdom wasn't letting anyone else go inside and hunt the dungeons except for their soldiers.

They were monopolizing the dungeon under the guise of war and letting the adventurers make do with what they currently had.

"I thought so too but, they've said something along the lines of adventurers being only savages that had no line of command. It was just a crass way of looking at adventurers."

In the game Tentetsuki, the lore was never given any focus as it was a pocket game made to be played idly, but there were a few lines that would be shown on loading screens.

It was then he remembered that the Kingdom had been long against adventurers as they threaten the Kingdom's line of power.

It was just the selfish King who was paranoid about the rise of adventurers and players, becoming much stronger than they expected.

It was the same reason why most players came to side with Empire as Kyori explained.

Even way before the war, the King had propagated a new rule to cripple adventurers and limit their freedom.

Whereas the Empire supported any kind of power that may bring wealth to them, convincing the players to fight a war against the Kingdom.

However, it was known that the players that had joined forces with the Empire were psychos that only wanted to let loose and kill.

"That is why we're left to survive by ourselves. The King still refuses the help of adventurers as, just like he said, will overthrow him once he lowers his guard."

Kyori was visibly mad as she bites her lip and crumples both of her fists.

The King's action had jeopardized not only the adventurers but the Kingdom itself. It was rather becoming imminent to overthrow the current King to improve the state of the Kingdom itself.

"So that means... We'll have to fight for survival now?"

Although the game I played had a war to be fought out, the details weren't described and that war had been going on without any progression at all except at the end where a monster attacks.

This was way beyond what I signed for.

"But don't worry. Thei and Ron can show you the ropes. They'll teach you how to fight in no time. A player like you should already know about status since there are five tutorials given, so you should have five extra skills."

"Five? I only received one tutorial after coming here!"

"Huh?! That's impossible. All the players that came to us had five quest tutorials and five extra skills. What extra skill do you have then?"

I had my status whipped out as Kyori and the others looked at it with disappointment and shock.

There was only one extra skill, and that was [Blink].

"At least he got a decent agility and attack speed. He can be an assassin with that skill, but what is with that redacted class after the commoner?"

Thei's daughter asked as they notice the censored part of my class in my status panel.

Although I thought that it might mean Otherworlder, they already know the word so it wouldn't make sense for the system to censor them still.

"I don't know myself."

I could only trail off, wondering what it could be.

"That's not important. For now, you should go get some rest. Tomorrow, we'll be training you until your bones won't bend."

"I—I'm pretty sure my bones do not bend in the first place!?"

Suddenly, Ron handed me a sleeping bag that just come out of nowhere.

"Buddy, it will soon."

With Thei somehow believing that it was true, his daughter also nods and smiles at me.

It felt like a lie. I am definitely gonna be killed tomorrow in that 'training'.