Chapter 1: What is this?

　There was no light in the void, it was pitch black.

　The only sensation was that of falling, and Tatsuro stared into the endless darkness as he held Ai in his arms.

　After a while, he suddenly saw a light shining beneath him.

　When they looked closely, they noticed that there was something similar to the void they had been swallowed in the first place.

“Is that a way out?” (Tatsuro)

“Maybe….” (Ai)

　Ai seemed to be relieved just as she began to think that she would continue to fall into the darkness forever, but Tatsuro couldn’t believe that the exit from such a crazy place would be real.

“Let’s get out!” (Tatsuro)

“Un!” (Ai)

However, that didn’t stop them from doing what they had to do to get out of this situation, and they were drawn into the light and jumped out.

The next moment I should have been falling down, but I was thrown to the side.

“Waaa!? ” (Tatsuro)

“Ueehh!?” (Ai)

　The first thing that struck him was the gap between where he was and what he saw.

　The view was so dim that it looked like the sun was about to set, a white gravel road in front of him, a forest on his left, a clear river on his right, and another forest on the other side of the river.

　No matter how he looked at it, it was a place that the two of them had no connection with.

　And one more thing.

　The two of them were currently floating in the air.

　However, the distance from the ejected void to the ground was less than a meter, and it was falling in a parabola, flying from left to right, not from top to bottom.

　It seemed unlikely that I would die even if I fell down, but if I failed to land at this speed, I would probably crash into the gravel road and be hurt pretty badly.

“Drop the purse!” (Tatsuro)

“?　…… Okay!” (Ai)

　So Tatsuro decided to take action.

First, he dexterously took off the backpack he was carrying in the air, and then he instructed Ai to drop her own purse on the ground.

　Ai, who somehow understood what was going on, did as he said and threw away her purse.

　Next, Tatsuro pulled Ai into his arms and stared at the ground in what is commonly called a princess carry.

　Then, the moment his foot touched the ground, he kicked as hard as he could toward his right hand, shifting his trajectory.

　One step was not enough, so he jumped like a broad-jumper and took four steps on the ground, and then he plunged into the place where Tatsuro wanted to go – into the river.

　Zabang!

　With a fierce splash of water, he crash-landed into the river, which was neither deep nor shallow.

“Buha” (Tatsuro)

“Buha” (Ai)

　The two of them emerged from the river almost simultaneously and wiped their wet faces with their hands.

“Are you okay?” (Tatsuro)

“Yes, I’m fine. Are your legs okay?” (Ai)

　In response to Ai’s concern, he tries to move his feet that have reached the bottom of the river.

“It doesn’t hurt, so I guess I’m okay. Let’s get to the shore.” (Tatsuro)

“Okay.” (Ai)

　They walked across the river to the gravel road and started to collect their belongings in the direction they had been thrown.

“No matter how you look at it, it’s in the forest.” (Ai)

“Yeah, it’s THE forest.” (Tatsuro)

“Why?” (Ai)

“I don’t know.” (Tatsuro)

“Right…..” (Ai)

　He stopped and looked around again while talking lightly. On the right side of the road, there were magnificent trees that could be called a large forest.

　On the other side was a beautiful river, and on the other side was another magnificent forest.

　They both sighed together and began to move their feet again.

“Where are we?” (Ai)

“Where’s my phone?” (Tatsuro)

“In my purse. Where’s your phone?” (Ai)

“I shoved it in the side pocket of my backpack so it wouldn’t get wet.” (Tatsuro)

“In that instant… You’re good.” (Ai)

　As Ai was admiring this, she realized that there was one thing that came to mind about this phenomenon.

“Is this, by any chance, what you call a warp?” (Ai)

“Maybe, it’s going to be great when I get home… but is the house okay?” (Tatsuro)

“The earthquake was pretty big. I’m starting to worry now that I remember.” (Ai)

“Well, we’d better get a hold of where we are and get in touch or go home.” (Tatsuro)

“That’s right. It’s getting a little chilly.” (Ai)

“Oh, hurry up and get our stuff…” (Tatsuro)

　《Detected intelligent life within the specified range》

　《Installing the system now.》

“Wha?” (Tatsuro)

“Eh?” (Ai)

　They looked up and scampered their heads at the sudden mechanical voice that came from just around their foreheads, but there was no one else here. So they looked at each other.

“Well, ……, that wasn’t you, was it?” (Tatsuro)

“It wasn’t me. It’ s something about intelligence, something about the system. ……, right?” (Ai)

“Un, I think it did, but I don’t know if I heard it right because it came out of nowhere.” (Tatsuro)

“”……………………… …””

They were silent for a while to see what would happen, but nothing happened. So they collected their belongings safely, although they were still curious.

　Then, thanks to the fact that they had PE that day, they had their jerseys with them and decided to change into them.

“It’s cold. I’m going to change my clothes, so please turn your back. Ah mooh, my pants are soaked too.” (Ai)

“Oh. Can I see?” (Tatsuro)

“Of course not! If you look at me, I’m not going to call you Tatsuro, I’m going to call you Eero!” (Ai)

“All men are erotic. I don’t care!” (Tatsuro)

“Give me a break, please!　My boyfriend’s nickname is Eirou, that’s not good! What do you mean, all men are erotic? Now I’m going to change my clothes.” (Ai)

“Okay, okay.” (Tatsuro)

“One okay is enough” (Ai)

“Okay” (Tatsuro)

As soon as she finished changing, she decided to take out her phone and try to contact the others.

“And?” (Tatsuro)

“No signal. …… what should we do?” (Ai)

　But as he realized that there was no way to contact anyone, and that there was no way to even find out where they were, he began to feel pessimistic.

　《System installation is complete.》

《The system will now boot up.》

“Whaa” (Tatsuro)

“Hiyaa” (Ai)

　They were startled by the voice they heard again, and immediately the following items appeared in their field of vision.

　——————————–

　Status:

　Money in possession: 0

　Party

　Skills

　Help

　——————————–

“What the hell is this?” (Tatsuro)

“Wh?　Eh?　Can you see this?” (Ai)

“Hmm?　I can’t see anything in front of Ai, but I can see status and money in front of me.” (Tatsuro)

“Hmm?” (Ai)

　They both recognized that the other person could see the same thing, but they could not see each others status.

“Status, is this a game?” (Tatsuro)

“How do I see this?　I wonder if I should touch it. Oh, the display changed. Let’s touch it, Tatsuro.” (Ai)

“Oh.” (Tatsuro)

　Then they touched the status item, and their names and various values were displayed.

　——————————–

　Name: Tatsuro Hasami

　Class: –

　Level: 1

　Energy: 50

　Magic power: 50

　Muscle strength: 10

　Endurance: 10

　Speed: 5

　Magic Power: 10

　Magic Resistance: 10

　Magic Control: 5

　Acquired Skills

　Level Eater

　Remaining skill points: 3

　Title

　None

　——————————–

“I don’t know if I’m strong or weak, but is this what a level one is like?” (Tatsuro)

　——————————–

　Name: Ai Yashiki

　Class: –

　Level: 1

　Energy: 750

　Magic power: 1

　Muscle strength: 150

　Endurance: 150

　Speed: 100

　Magic Power: 1

　Magic Resistance: 1

　Magic Control: 1

　Acquired Skills

　Martial art God

　Remaining skill points: 3

　Title

　None

　——————————–

“My status is kind of musclehead. …… Why?” (Ai)

　After looking at the status with our names and values, we each gave our impressions. We began to talk about whether we could show them to each other.

“Oh yeah, there was help on the previous screen.” (Ai)

“Was there?” (Tatsuro)

“Yes, there was! Here. And to go back, I’ll have to do this. All right, I’m back.” (Ai)

“Hmm?　Ah, this.” (Tatsuro)

　Pressing the ← mark in the lower right corner brought them back to the initial display.

　Then they touched the help section, and a white handprint symbol appeared in a black frame.

“Does this mean I should put my hand here?” (Tatsuro)

“Let’s do it!” (Ai)

　Then I put my right hand on the screen, but nothing happened.

“Did we do something wrong?” (Tatsuro)

“Then how do I…ah, we just need to figure out what we want to know in this state—what.” (Ai)

“Something happened?” (Tatsuro)

“No, it was something I didn’t know, and then suddenly I remembered how to do it. It’s kind of weird.” (Ai)

“Oh, you mean it works like that?　It’s like ……. Yeah, it’s going to take some getting used to.” (Tatsuro)

　Ai was right, this help function allowed me to understand the information by putting my hand on the screen and thinking about what I wanted to know. That’s how it works.

“Well, then how do I get someone else’s stat— that was fast.　Well, I’m thinking in my head before I say it out loud, so it’s not surprising.” (Tatsuro)

“Hmm~? Ah~ I see” (Ai)

The two of them quickly put into action the method they learned from the help function.

“Let’s see, from the system startup screen, go to “Party”, organize a party, apply for a party, accept or reject. Then, when you’ve finished organizing the party, touch the status show button.” (Ai)

“Hmm, I’ve commissioned it and hit the show button. Did you get to see it?　Isn’t Ai status a cheat!” (Tatsuro)

“Oh, I can see it here!　…… Tatsuro, aren’t you a little too weak?” (Ai)

“No, maybe Ai is just an exception, but mine is supposed to be an average level 1.” (Tatsuro)

“What’s the venerable average first level?　Oh, well, I wonder what this skill is. I’m a “Martial art god” and Tatsurou is a “level eater”. They’re both kind of weird.” (Ai)

“Oh, that’s right. Well, if you’re ever in trouble, I’m here to help. …… For details, just touch the skill you want to know about on the status screen.” (Tatsuro)

“Oh, that’s easy. I could have figured that out by doing it myself.” (Ai)

　————————————–

　Skill Name : Level Eater

　Rarity: Unique

　Type: Active Skill

　Effect: Absorbs all levels and use it as food.

　————————————–

“What the hell is this?” (Tatsuro)

“Wow, another strange skill. I think it would have been horrible if it wasn’t an optional activation type. And what about that “Martial Art God” of mine?” (Ai)

　————————————–

　Skill Name：Martial Art God

　Rarity: Unique

　Type: Passive Skill

　Effect: Extreme status increase in martial arts.

　　　　Magic status goes down.

　　　　Extreme reduction in difficulty to acquire martial arts skills.

　　　　Extreme increase in difficulty to acquire magic skills.

　————————————–

“A skill that forcibly can’t use magic and makes you super-specialized in physics? Well, it’s a good skill because it gives you cheat status.” (Tatsuro)

“Well, I’m the kind of person who doesn’t hesitate to use the magic type in games. I wish it was the other way around.” (Ai)

“”……………………………………what is this place?””

　The two of them had reached the limit of their escape from reality and had returned to real thinking.

---