Episode 2: "Gaining a Steel Mentality Through Transference to Another World"

　When I returned to my private room at the inn, I collapsed onto the bed with a sigh.

　Wow, my stomach is so full.

　Although it was a private room, it was a cramped room of only about 3 tatami mats, and the only other things provided were a built-in bed, a small table, and a simple chair.

　But for me, a high-class room... or rather, inns that would rent a private room to a low-class male adventurer are rare in the first place. After all, inns rent rooms because they trust their customers, so they won't let guests who they're worried might miss out on the lodging fee in the first place. Low-class customers, especially male ones, have the lowest social credibility.

　Even though they are low-ranking adventurers, it's easier for women, as they have a shared sleeping quarters. They can hold onto their valuables and sleep while keeping a watchful eye on their surroundings. But male adventurers can't sleep there.

　I mean, you know, on Earth, it would be like a group of scruffy, poor, middle-aged men sleeping with one young girl. That would be like the erotic doujinshi on D●Site.

　I've heard that it was fairly common for men and women to sleep together in Edo-period inns, but the Edo period was a time of relatively good security, even though it was the Middle Ages. Don't underestimate the roughness of this world. If you leave something valuable behind when you leave your room, it will definitely disappear. The maids at the inn might steal it, too. It's also not okay to leave underwear behind when you leave. It'll get stolen by perverts...or rather, clothes are quite valuable at this level of civilization, and they normally cost quite a bit, so they're considered valuable.

　I've steadily built up the guild's trust through dirty work, and I've been able to rent a private room from an inn through the guild's good offices, but even at an inn like that, theft happens all the time, so it's the end of the world. So I leave all my equipment, clothes, and anything that could be called property with the guild. If anything goes missing from the guild's warehouse, the guild can take responsibility. They always deduct 20% of my pay, so I'll use all the systems I can get.

　After all, only you can protect yourself.

　I am feeling that very strongly right now.

　Specifically, as a line of sight from the wall.

"...Ahh."

　Trying to not show any sign of noticing as much as possible, I stretched my body and glanced over my shoulder at the wall.

　Then I saw blue eyes peeking out of a black hole.

　There are some customers here tonight too.

"Well, I guess it's time to dry myself off and go to bed."

　As I casually muttered this and put my hands on the hem of my jacket, I heard a creaking sound from the thin walls of the inn. Hey, hey, it's fine to get excited, but don't tear down the walls.

　Pretending not to notice the heavy breathing coming from the other side of the wall in front and behind me, I took off my shirt. I soaked a cloth in the tub of water provided by the inn, wrung it out tightly, and started wiping the sweat off my upper body. Phew...it was so relaxing.

　I'm a typical Japanese person, so I'd love to soak my feet in a bathtub every day, but this cultural sphere doesn't have a culture of everyday bathing. It seems that even aristocrats don't bathe every day. Strictly speaking, there are bathhouses, but they are only available as a service at high-class brothels, so a poor person like me would be turned away. Actually, brothels in this world are places where male prostitutes entertain female customers.

　So I pay the inn to prepare boiled water for me. After all, I sweat every day from physical labor, so I can't sleep like that. And if I clean the sewer, it's not good for the inn to use my bed.

　...The view from the hole in the wall.

　I really don't want to think about it anymore, but this room is a peeping room.

　There were female guests staying in the rooms on either side of me, one after the other, and they kept peeking at me changing clothes and taking a bath.

　Honestly, I really thought about blocking it, but it's not going to reduce anything so I'm leaving it as it is. To be honest, I wonder if they're really a guild if they do this to me at the inn I got with the guild's help, but then again, I can't really find another inn... I have no other place to go, you know. So I gave up and decided to at least show off my upper body. In my opinion, a naked upper body on a man has no value. It's the same mentality I had when I was in high school and I was changing clothes in front of the girls in gym class.rudeSlippery

　...As soon as I save up enough money, I'll move into a proper apartment.

　Incidentally, this gaze had never broken since he rented this room.

　This Otokojima Yuuji, despite his overly manly name, is a scrawny boy with little muscle, which makes him feel inferior, but in this world's values, a body with the most balanced and beautiful amount of muscle is considered to be that of a person.

　In other words, Yuuji is positioned as the most beautiful woman in our world.

　But he still didn't know exactly how he was perceived...! He was the biggest duck in the world! »

　After drying myself off, I put my jacket back on.

　Then he suddenly stands up and sticks the black cloth over the hole in the wall, crushing it.

"Ah... a little bit more..."

"Stingy!"

　He heard the woman swear from the other side of the wall, but pretended not to hear.

　I've already had plenty of fun wanking off to other people's bathing scenes, so that's enough for me.

　On top of that, I can't get a good night's sleep if someone sees me sleeping like this.

　I've shown you everything that's necessary, I won't show you any more...!

　In the first place, I let you peek into the bath even though I don't have a single silver coin to spare. There's no reason for you to complain.

　Generally, there are some things that you don't want people to see.

　After making sure that no one was looking through the window, I pointed my hand at the door and muttered softly.

"come, "Vending Machinevendor

　There was a creaking sound, and the space creaked.

　For an instant, the layers blurred, as if several different scenes were mixed together...

　Soon, a strange vending machine with an LCD panel appeared there.

　There is nothing displayed on the LCD panel, and only one button to make a purchase, but this is definitely a vending machine.

　The vending machine has a catalog attached to it that lists all the items that can be purchased from the machine, all of which are priceless treasures that could never be obtained with any amount of this world's gold.

　For example, legendary weapons, ancient magic formulas, or the sword techniques of a master swordsman.

It was a vending machine where you could purchase 　such things .Reincarnation BenefitsCheat

　But if there's a problem...

"...I haven't gained any coins today either."

　I sighed as I fumbled around in my pocket.

　Ever since I was reincarnated into this world, I have been summoning this vending machine almost every day. However, the all-important coins needed to make purchases never seem to increase.

=====

　Six months ago, I was involved in a traffic accident and suddenly found myself in a completely white space.

　Normally, you'd think that in this kind of other-worldly transport, some superior being, like an ultra-beautiful goddess, or an angel, or a shady salesman, who is incredibly kind to inferior creatures, would politely and courteously announce to the victim, "You died, but because it was a mistake, I'll reincarnate you in another world with cheats," right?

　There was nothing like that.

　There was just a cheat vending machine in the middle of an empty white space, and a note attached to it saying that you could buy cheat abilities according to your achievements in life, so do as you like.

　I'm really dumbfounded.

　I've read a lot of online novels, but I've never seen such a sloppy reincarnation story set in another world.

　There's been an overwhelming amount of stories about reincarnation into other worlds lately, so perhaps the higher-ups who have to manage them have grown tired of it, or perhaps they've cut costs because the number of reincarnations is unmanageable.

　...Or maybe that's just special treatment for the "heroes" who save the world, like the heroes, wise men, or librarians, and it was just a waste to spend that kind of money on an ordinary person like me. That seems the most likely, and it sucks.

　By the way, I had 16 coins to use.

　Before I knew it, it was stuffed in my pocket along with the bill.

　Is my life just worth 16 coins? Isn't that a small number? I thought to myself, but still, this is the cheat reincarnation I've always dreamed of! I did it! I was feeling excited somewhere in my heart when I opened the statement.

[Unfilial (died before parents): minus 25 coins]

[Non-repaying debt: minus 10 coins]

　The excited feelings I had about cheats and reincarnation were blown away in an instant.

　I passed away without being able to give anything back to my parents who raised me until I went to college... That's a disrespectful son. I'm really sorry. Of course I'll get a negative evaluation.

　I hope you will forgive me because I didn't die on purpose, it was an accident, but what's already dead can't be helped. Your son will somehow manage to live in another world, so please let that be my atonement.

　I had no idea about the debt, but then I realized.

　This is a scholarship. I had to pay it back after I got a job.

　Well, it was essentially a loan from the government. This was also a burden on my parents.

　So what was the plus?

[I won the gold prize in a book review contest when I was in elementary school: 1 sheet]

[I picked up a stray dog and cared for it until it died of natural causes: 5 coins]

[I was crushed on by 12 people in my life: 6 photos]

　It was like these little achievements or good deeds that were being counted.

　Even he doesn't remember all his achievements. ...I didn't even realize that he had unrequited love, so I wonder why no one confessed to him.

　Damn, if just one person had confessed to me I'd be a virgin for the rest of my life...!

[Lifelong virgin (remained chaste throughout life): 25 photos]

　Was my virginity worth enough to offset the loss of my parents?

　Seriously? Is the appraiser a unicorn or something? I'd like to ask him directly.

　Biologically speaking, isn't it a negative evaluation to have made no contribution to the survival of offspring? I can't help but feel that way. But I'll take what I can get...

　In the first place, it's not like all 12 people who had a crush on me were women. Damn, I shouldn't have noticed that.

　Now, what should I use these 16 cheat tickets for... I flipped through the catalog hanging next to the vending machine.

　And then, wow, all these cheat abilities that I've seen before just started appearing one after another.

"Limited item for first-time selection!　Set! With just 10 cards, you can have that ultimate power! You have no choice but to buy it!"Exposure ShenronBomb Dragon

　I was especially drawn to this one. It's a legendary piece of equipment that I've seen countless times on YouTube's shitty ads, but no one has ever managed to get it.

　There were other legendary abilities that everyone knows, such as the ultimate spell born from the combination of fire and ice, the right hand that cancels all supernatural powers, and the mysterious ripples that stop time for three seconds, but these were completely out of my budget. I guess you can't buy these things unless you're the protagonist or his partner. I can feel the difference between me and ordinary people.

　After looking through the catalogue, I decided to spend my entire budget on the Magic Talent. Magic is something people long for. It's a power that doesn't exist in this world, so it's only natural that I'd want to try using it.

　I stood in front of the vending machine with a pounding heart, about to press the button...

　"Hmm, is this really okay?" I suddenly became anxious.

　Would I be able to survive going to another world with just the clothes on my back?

　I mean, it's a different world where you can't communicate with other people. I took German as my second foreign language in college, but it was still so hard to get the credits. English was even harder when I was taking the entrance exam.

　I quickly re-read the catalog and realized that I had missed the part about [Otherworld Language Conversation] on the basics page. What a close call, I would have ended up going to another world without being able to communicate in the language.

　I reread it, wondering if there were other things we needed, and found something called [Disease Resistance]. This is also absolutely necessary. It is hard to imagine that people who lived in modern Japan would be resistant to diseases in another world.

　[Mental Resistance]... You become mentally tough and are less susceptible to mental interference from others. I have a relatively weak mentality and tend to worry a lot, so if I get homesick I might not be able to recover. Hired.

　[Pain Tolerance]... Becomes physically and mentally resistant to pain. This is probably necessary if you want to be an adventurer in another world. Hired.

　[Drug and Poison Resistance] ... Gain resistance to all kinds of poisons, whether natural or chemical. In a world where medicine is underdeveloped, even simple food poisoning can be life-threatening. This is also useful.

　After all that, I got all the necessary abilities that I didn't even know how I had overlooked, and by the time I got them, I already had ten cards worth.

　Hmm, it costs the same as the legendary Flame-exposing Dragon set... I thought, but no matter how good the equipment is, it can't replace health.

　Well, I can say this now because I'm dead, but health is truly a treasure, and you only realize it after you've lost it.

　A body and mind that never gets sick is an incredible cheat in itself. I bet some rich old man would be willing to pay hundreds of millions for it.

　Now, I've put in 10 cards and purchased the Otherworldly Conversation and Resistance cards.

　What else should I buy?... Maybe something magic-related should do it this time.

　With that in mind, I was flipping through the catalogue trying to find a way to use the remaining six cards, when at the very last moment I found something important.

　[Inheritance]: You will not lose any of your current personality or abilities. The cost is 6 cards.

　That was close!

　I nearly became a different person and had to start from scratch!

　If I hadn't kept re-reading it, I would have definitely missed it.

　I don't know why I missed it, but it's super important.

　Well, I could just forget about it all and be reborn as a local, but I don't want to lose who I am now. Isn't that the same as death? ... No, I think I died in a traffic accident, hahaha.

　... Something's strange. Maybe the effects of [Mental Resistance] are starting to take effect?

　Well, it's okay, I guess it's not a bad thing since I no longer worry.

　In the end, I felt it was a bit of a shame that I had put all my effort into maintaining my resistance and self-confidence... I'm sure this rare opportunity to obtain a cheat ability will never come again.

　But, thinking about it carefully, I've never seen anyone who actually retained memories of a past life while they were alive, and a healthy body must be something that people who are born with weak constitutions would love to have.

　Isn't it amazing that I'm still alive after having died in a traffic accident? Yes, yes, I have to stay positive about everything!

　With that thought in mind, after purchasing the bonus, I headed towards the door to another world that had appeared without me noticing...

　Just before I walked through the door, I noticed something odd that I hadn't noticed when I read the catalog earlier.

" Limited item! Explosive Flame Dragon Set! With just 10 cards, you can have that ultimate power! You have no choice but to buy it!"first time・times・Selection・Choice・time・

"...So there's an ability that can be purchased later.The Exposed Flame Dragon Set is not a typo