Chapter 2
When I came to, I found myself in a dimly lit passageway. Or rather...
"Stink!?"
It was so foul that I couldn't help shouting! Apparently, this was a fairly narrow passageway, because my shout echoed through it.
Anyway, where am I? Could this be a sewer!? ...I checked the map. This is Fars City (Sewer). Is this harassment? It is, isn't it!?
"I shouldn't have done anything rude..."
Maybe I had been rude without realizing it. If this was the result, I had no choice but to accept it.
Even someone as unfamiliar with games as I am knows that in pseudo-otherworld VR games, it's common knowledge that NPCs can subject you to astonishingly unreasonable treatment depending on their moods. Still, being hated by an NPC who was exactly my type was pretty shocking.
"...Brooding here won't get me anywhere. Should I move on?"
Wait. What did Iifa-sama say when we parted? Could that have been some sort of spell or password? Now I'm curious.
"Um, 'Watch your...!?"
Whoa!? Something just hit me in the back!?
"You...!"
When I turned around, there was a rat behind me—or rather, a rat standing on two legs. It wasn't cute and cartoonishly deformed like the mouse from that famous dreamland. It had the grotesque appearance of the head of a scrawny little man replaced with that of a giant sewer rat. Above that head were a black icon indicating a monster, a health bar, and some information.
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Race: Lesser Ratman Lv5
Job: None
Skills: 【???】
【???】
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Oh-ho? Lesser Ratman, huh? And 【???】 means... I see, my 【Appraisal】 level is too low.
I'm losing on Race, but I'm overwhelmingly ahead in number of Skills, and it doesn't even have a Job. I'd like to think we're evenly matched overall.
"Squeee!"
Apparently, my opponent wasn't going to let me take my time assessing the difference in strength. The Lesser Ratman sprang at me like a beast and tried to bite me with its sharp incisors. It's faster than I expected!
"Whoa!"
"Ch-chu!?"
I gave up on dodging and, on a desperate gamble, swung the starter staff clutched in my hand to intercept it. The Lesser Ratman must not have expected a counterattack, because it took my wide, baseball-bat-like swing right in the face.
A special effect appeared above the black icon: two little stars circling around it. I wondered what was happening and used 【Appraisal】 on the effect. It displayed 'Status Ailment: Stun (8)'... Hm? Had the number gone down? Then this must be the stun's remaining duration. Hurry!
"Hah! Take that! Hyah!"
"Chuh, chu, chiii..."
――――――――――
You won the battle.
Your Race level has increased. You acquired 1 SP.
Your Job level has increased. You acquired 1 SP.
Your 【Staff】 Skill level has increased.
Your 【Appraisal】 Skill level has increased.
――――――――――
"I won, but..."
As I let the battle log wash over me, I hung my head. Why wasn't I happy even though I had defeated a stronger opponent, gained a level, and received SP to acquire a new Skill? Isn't it obvious if you look at the log?
That's right! I didn't use magic! I knocked the stunned Lesser Ratman's head over and over with my staff, keeping it stunned until I killed it. Ugh, a mage who can't use magic is like miso soup without the miso...
"No point complaining. All right, time to loot it."
Having reached a state of half-hearted resignation, I drove the skinning knife from my starting equipment into the Lesser Ratman's corpse. The corpse turned into white particles, and two items were added to my storage.
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Rat Hide Quality: Poor Rarity: C
Rat Incisors Quality: Poor Rarity: C
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This alone doesn't tell me what sort of items these are. Let's check the official information. Apparently, quality has six grades: 'Divine > Excellent > Good > Fair > Poor > Junk,' while rarity has six grades: 'G (Divine Class) > L (Legendary Class) > T (Treasure Class) > S (Special Class) > R (Rare Class) > C (Common Class).'
Th-this is awful...! They're useless garbage of unknown purpose, worth next to nothing! That's a terrible return for all that effort!
No, calm down, me. First, I need to try Iifa-sama's oracle. If something useful appears, it will prove she took a liking to me. If nothing appears, then she was just toying with me. And if something dangerous shows up, I should assume she hated me. All right!
"'Watch your step'!"
I chanted the keyword the goddess had entrusted to me, praying as I did so. Let's see whether an ogre or a snake comes out...!
Rumble...
Oh? Ooooh! This is amazing! I thought I heard the sound of stones grinding against each other, but then the sewer wall moved, revealing a hidden door! I couldn't contain my excitement at this secret-base-like contraption, despite my age!
I have no idea what lies beyond it. If I found a door this blatantly suspicious in real life, I would pretend I hadn't seen it and run away. But this is a game world. I'd be missing out if I didn't go on an adventure.
"Here goes! Nothing ventured, nothing gained!"
I encouraged myself as I gripped the doorknob. Then a chime sounded in my head. That was the signal that an information notice, like a level-up notification, had arrived.
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You discovered the hidden area 'Heretical Mage's Laboratory.'
You were awarded 100 SP as a discovery reward.
Your 【Archaeology】 Skill level has increased.
――――――――――
A hidden area—and the 'Heretical Mage's Laboratory' at that! And my 【Archaeology】 level increased too. What's more, 100 SP? Even if I acquired every Skill currently available, I would still have plenty left over. How convenient. This is almost too convenient.
But isn't this too convenient? With everything arranged so neatly for me, I couldn't take it as simple goodwill, being somewhat cynical myself. And this SP seemed to have some significance too. No matter how I looked at it, I couldn't help thinking that Iifa-sama had some sort of ulterior motive.
"...I suppose I'll play along, then."
I don't know what she's thinking, but if it helps with the role-play I'm aiming for, that's good enough for me. There's nothing wrong with dancing in the palm of her hand. If anything, I'll dance so spectacularly that even Iifa-sama is left bewildered.
I steeled myself and opened the door. Beyond it was exactly the sort of place that could only be called a suspicious mage's laboratory. Bookshelves carved into the exposed earthen walls were packed with what looked like research reports, while cauldrons, flasks, and other equipment for alchemy and experiments were neatly arranged in the corners of the room.
Judging from the dust that had settled on the equipment and bookshelves, it seemed like a considerable amount of time had passed since anyone had last set foot here. I had no idea exactly how many years it had been, though.
More importantly, there was another door separate from the one leading to the sewer. What could be beyond it? I had no choice but to go find out.
Knock, knock, knock.
Just in case, I knocked on the door. Even I thought I should have done that before entering the laboratory, but I had forgotten at the time.
A minute passed after I knocked, but there was no response. Then it was probably unoccupied. I opened the inner door.
"Is this... a private room?"
Apparently, this had been the previous owner's private quarters. Judging from the amount of dust, it had probably been abandoned for about as long as the laboratory. What sort of person had lived here?
As I wondered about that, I touched the desk and chair in the private room. They were still perfectly usable. If possible, I'd like to use this place as my base. This bed was hard, but with a body made of nothing but bones, that hardly matters...
――――――――――
Would you like to set the hidden area 'Heretical Mage's Laboratory' as your respawn point?
YES/NO
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Oh-ho, so touching the bed was the condition for registering it as a respawn point. Then my answer was an unequivocal YES.
Now that I had a base, what should I do next...? I had no choice but to absorb all of the previous owner's research. Surely there would be magic here that the terrifying Skeleton Mage I aspired to become would use.
Now that I had decided, it was time to search the place. Like a hero from an old-school RPG, I would investigate every single thing in the house!
◆◇◆◇◆◇
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Your 【Appraisal】 Skill level has increased.
Your 【Linguistics】 Skill level has increased.
Your 【Archaeology】 Skill level has increased.
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Let me start with the conclusion! In my current state, making this treasure trove of knowledge my own is impossible. That doesn't mean it's painful, though, since reading is my hobby to begin with. In fact, the early experimental results are full of failures and struggles, which makes them fascinating.
But there don't seem to be any basic books at all. Everything on the shelves is either a suspicious research report or a specialized text. At my current level, I wouldn't merely fail an experiment—I couldn't even begin one. On top of that, there was much more material than I expected, and the archaic, highly technical wording was so brutal that my 【Linguistics】 and 【Archaeology】 levels skyrocketed. Some books were so difficult that I couldn't even read their titles despite having 【Linguistics】. This is hopeless!
"A change of pace, huh?"
I moved from the laboratory to the private room and lay down on the bed. As I rolled around on the hard mattress, I realized that I hadn't searched the drawers of the desk in the private room yet.
No time like the present, so I immediately opened a drawer. Inside were a drawstring pouch filled with cash and a single book. I had no use for the money at the moment, so I left it alone, but the book was another matter. Was this another research report?
"Is this... a diary?"
Contrary to my expectations, it seemed to be the previous owner's diary. If it were me, I would rather die than let someone else read my diary, but I won't show any mercy. I'll take the liberty of reading it.
"...Hm? What's this...?"
The diary was filled entirely with research-related entries. There were no embarrassing poems or fantasies. Instead, it contained entries about how that day's experiment had gone well, how the cause of a failure remained unknown, or what they would try the next day. Among them, I found a passage that caught my attention.
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◯ Month × Day
Today I went aboveground to buy supplies for the first time in a while. On the way back, I took a route different from my usual one and noticed something interesting. Apparently, if I climbed the ladder located two blocks south and three blocks west of my laboratory, it would lead to a library. I tried it out, and the security was laughable. Since it was nighttime, I was able to sneak in easily. Still, I doubt a library in such a remote area has any books capable of satisfying me. I doubt I'll ever use it again.
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To the author, this was probably trivial information. To me, it was the best news imaginable. I had no choice but to break in.
"Let's see, it's six in the evening right now. In that case, if I log out once and come back, it'll make a good break."
Modern VR equipment comes standard with a thought-acceleration function. Time passes at four times the speed in this game. In other words, one hour in reality is four hours here.
I'll take a one-and-a-half-hour break to hydrate and use the bathroom, then come back. What? Tomorrow is a day off. I can take my time and enjoy myself.