Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Within every starting weapon dwelt something called a Tutorial Fairy, a kind of guide NPC.

It was the sort of thing that existed solely to explain the basic controls and had no importance whatsoever to the actual progress of the game, yet for some reason it even had its own dedicated model and dialogue script.

[To think he would actually shove me into this of all places......]

If I could not possess a body, then what kind of lunatic solution was it to make me possess a weapon instead?

Normally, would it not make more sense to put me into another person, or at the very least something vaguely human?

At this rate, I would not even be able to act on my own, much less complete any mission.

[He definitely said this was a temporary vessel.]

If Herman was to be believed, I would obtain a proper body before long.

Which meant I only had to endure life as a fairy for a little while......‘But why is it that I cannot possess a body like everyone else?’

Was there some difference between my character and the others?

To begin with, in all five years I had played, I had never once heard of a gimmick where a weapon turned into a human being, so I had no idea how I was supposed to regain a real body.

[......For now, I suppose meeting my owner comes first.]

No matter how much I agonized over it alone, all it would do was give me a headache, so I looked around first.

Centered around me, planted in the middle of the altar, were more weapons than I could count.

They were all starting weapons provided in the tutorial.

‘So the other ones have spirits inside them too.’

Every starting weapon came packaged with a spirit(?), and once the fairy met its owner and formed a contract, it gained a kind of ‘avatar.’

You know, the sort that suddenly popped into existence, said a few lines, then vanished again with another pop.

That part should be the same for me too, so at the very least, the frustration of being unable to move would probably not last long.

Clunk-

How much time had passed?

The heavy door at the entrance opened, and someone stepped inside.

It was a burly, muscular man in a suit. Snow had piled up on his shoulders and hair, so it must have been snowing outside.

“Hm......”

He took in the surroundings for a moment, and then some of the weapons embedded in place began to glow.

Only the weapons that glowed like that could be drawn as starting weapons, and the proportion of glowing weapons was directly tied to the owner’s talent.

[About twenty percent, I suppose? Average.]

The ratio was usually around twenty to thirty percent. If more than half glowed, one was considered gifted, and if more than eighty percent glowed, one was hailed as a genius.

Of course, for a player character, every weapon glowed, since they were an absurd genius of the highest order.

It was basically a kind of dramatic flourish to hype them up.

[......But what is the actual criterion?]

I did not have the sort of cheat vision that protagonists in possession stories always seemed to have, the kind that let them read stats, so even when I looked, I could not tell much. Was there supposed to be some sudden flash of insight or something?

While I was lost in thought, the man picked up a pair of knuckles nearby.

So he aspired to be a boxer.

“Oh......”

Then he stared blankly at the weapon he had drawn.

He was probably having his first conversation with the fairy inside that weapon.

“Brrr, it is so cold......”

“Why in the world was the altar built in a place like this?”

As time passed, more and more people entered the altar one by one.

Each time they did, the weapons responded by glowing, and the number of glowing weapons varied wildly from person to person.

“Thirty percent? Average.”

“Wow, it looks like half of them are glowing? Yes!”

“Does that person have sixty percent? I am pretty sure their name was......”

Most had thirty percent or less, but every now and then, someone would come in with more than half.

By the time dozens of people had entered, I had already started yawning from boredom, seeing no one worth noting.

Then a girl stepped into the altar.

Fwoosh─ “Wh-what? All of them?”

“The weapons are all glowing?”

The girl with curly scarlet hair made every weapon in the altar shine.

If eighty percent was the benchmark for genius, then this number surpassed that standard by a wide margin.

“All of them? Is that not unprecedented?”

“Wait, I know that face. I have seen her at a banquet held by one of the high families.”

“You are right. With that hair and those eyes, there is only one family it could be......”

Unfortunately, she was an NPC, not a player character.

She looked younger than I remembered, so I had not been certain at first, but judging by how famous she was, it seemed I had recognized her correctly.

‘Persica Ortanis.’

In Ethrana Exodus, there were three illustrious families collectively known as the ‘Trinity,’ and Persica was the youngest daughter of House Ortanis, one of those three.

Depending on how the story progressed, she could become either an ally or an enemy. Both routes gave useful items, but neither ended well, so I remembered feeling uneasy about her no matter what I chose.

‘If she is here, then the time period is roughly the right one.’

I had worried that the era might be different, but it seemed I did not need to.

The moment I let out a quiet sigh of relief, Persica’s eyes met mine.

[Hm?]

Her blue eyes were fixed on me.

Since I was the only weapon here that was not glowing, I must have stood out.

“......”

Her expression, already slightly prickly, twisted all at once into a scowl.

What are you supposed to be, then, not glowing?

That was the look on her face as she came over and grabbed my hilt.

“Eek......”

Contrary to my worry that she might somehow draw me, no matter how hard she strained, I did not budge in the slightest.

“Oh, honestly.”

In the end, after turning red in the face and still failing to pull me free, Persica kicked my blade with a bang, huffed in irritation, and stormed off.

Then she drew a rapier from nearby...... and her face was full of displeasure.

[What a nasty temper.]

I had known she had a bad personality, but seeing it in person was even worse than expected.

For a moment I had wondered whether I should let her draw me, but seeing that temper, I was glad I had not.

Even after waiting quite a while after that, no one better than Persica appeared.

Naturally, I did not choose anyone either.

[......Should I just pick whoever at this point?]

The entrance was beginning to close.

According to the setting, the tutorial called the ‘Selection Grounds’ was an event held only once a year, so if I was not chosen now, I would be stuck rotting here for a whole year.

Alone, unable to move, with no one to even talk to.

Brutal.

“Wow, I made it!!”

At that moment, someone entered the altar almost at the exact instant the door was about to close.

A girl appeared, smiling brightly and clapping her hands, and people turned to look at her.

“I am the last one! Ahaha, I made it in time~”

Hair black as velvet. Violet eyes that sparkled like stars.

The instant I saw her, my gaze was stolen in a single heartbeat.

[......]

That face. That voice.

Everything I took in through my eyes and ears was unbearably familiar to me.

With my mind gone blank, I could only stare at the girl.

“Hm? Wait, not a single weapon is glowing?”

“It is one thing when they all glow, but having none at all is rare too.”

“Tch....... Just how talentless can she be?”

Sighs and sneers flew in from every direction.

Normally, even the least talented person would make one or two glow, and as a ‘player character,’ she should have made every weapon glow.

Yet somehow, not a single weapon had chosen her.

“Good! I was not interested in any of you anyway!”

The girl, having declared herself victorious in spirit, started walking.

She did not look around or wander in confusion. She walked straight toward a single destination.

She stopped in front of me.

The moment she looked at me, her eyes gleamed strangely.

“I found...... cough, cough...... I found it.”

I found it.

Letting out a dry cough, she spoke as though she had been looking for me from the very beginning.

“Hey, you should stop. Even the one who made all the weapons glow could not pull that sword out. It does not respond at all.”

“Ha ha. Save yourself the embarrassment and go look for another weapon.”

Despite the mockery hurled at her, the girl did not waver.

Sparkling eyes. A smile full of confidence.

The appearance of my main character, the so-called ‘protagonist,’ who had never once changed through thousands of playthroughs.

Faced with her, I finally made my decision.

“!”

“Wha......!”

“It lit up? That sword even rejected the Ortanis girl!”

Cries of astonishment erupted all around at the fact that I, who had chosen no one, had finally made a choice.

The girl whom no weapon had chosen had been chosen by the one weapon that had chosen no one.

Even Persica, who had been watching from afar, widened her eyes.

The girl blinked in surprise for a moment, then broke into a bright smile, gripped my hilt, and pulled me out in one swift motion.

There was no resistance.

My blade slid smoothly from the earth into her hand.

Fwaaah─!

It felt as though our souls had connected.

A vivid spark ran through my mind, and with it, our existences were engraved into each other as a single contract.

“Hello!”

[......Hello.]

The sword chose its owner, and the owner chose her sword.

We exchanged a brief greeting.

Unfortunately, there was no time for reunion.

The moment I was drawn, a voice rang out announcing the start of the test.

Even the people who had been hesitating over whether to speak to the girl all shut their mouths tight, tension rising across their faces.

The ‘Selection Grounds’ had begun.

[We can talk later. For now, let us clear the test first.]

The Selection Grounds were commonly known here as ‘the test that selects heroes.’

Those who passed had their qualifications recognized and could become adventurers permitted to enter the ‘Dungeon,’ the game’s main stage.

To players, it might have been little more than a brief event you breezed past, but for the actual people living here, it was an extremely dangerous and difficult trial.

How dangerous?

The survival rate did not even reach fifty percent.

“The test has begun.”

“Ugh......”

Those taking the trial rose from their spots, their expressions transformed.

Among them, one man shouted.

“I shall prove that I, Draxon, am the greatest warrior here! I will surpass the Wall of One Day and set a new record!”

I had no idea what kind of record he meant, but from the sound of it, it was probably something like a speedrun.

That had not existed in the game, but it seemed that in reality, they kept records like this.

I supposed the current best record was around one day.

“Uahaha! A new record, you say! That shall belong to me, Copson!”

“No. This time, I, Sonian of Kashiria, will prove that I am the greatest challenger of all.”

Those prepared to prove themselves all burned with fighting spirit.

In the Golden Land, adventurers were revered as heroes, so it was understandable that their competitive fire ran high.

But while some were prepared, others clearly were not.

“I-I never wanted to do this!”

“Hiiik......! Let me out! Send me back!”

Some wept openly. Others lay flat on the floor, trembling.

Most of them were people who had been pushed into this by others or coerced by their families.

Since no trace remained even if someone died in the Selection Grounds, the place was sometimes used as a human disposal pit.

[I am going to help you clear this test as quickly as possible.]

I spoke to my partner.

[So you have to follow my instructions completely. I will─]

“Sure!”

What?

I had prepared at least fifty different lines to persuade her.

Yet she agreed to follow my directions with such startling ease that I was the one left speechless.

“We are partners, right? I just have to do whatever you tell me to?”

[......]

......Was it normal here to trust a fairy’s words without question?

Her response, that she would follow the words of some unknown sword without even a trace of doubt, was honestly a little bewildering.

Though, of course, it was not bad for me.

[Good. Then go straight to the wall on the right side of the altar.]

“Hm? But the exit is on the opposite side from the entrance.”

[Do as I say.]

Tilting her head in confusion, she still obeyed and walked over to the wall.

“I am here.”

[Ten steps to the left. No, eleven.]

“One, two...... Okay, I am here.”

[Take one step forward and raise the sword.]

“?”

At my instruction to face the wall and raise the sword, question marks practically popped over her head.

The test was about to begin, so of course it must have seemed as though I was suddenly telling her to do something insane, but there was a reason for it.

[Trust me.]

The first stage of the tutorial was a lesson in basic controls, where one had to make it through a fixed route without stopping.

The path was fairly complicated, and it was full of traps. Naturally, touching one meant instant death.

Which meant that to clear this trial, you had to race through all that chaos alongside more than a hundred other people, and even the fastest took at least a full day......

I had absolutely no intention of participating in that kind of dogfight.

“I have no idea what is going on, but okay!”

The girl raised the sword toward the wall.

“What is she doing?”

“She is holding a sword up at the wall?”

“The test is starting...... is something wrong with her?”

People began whispering, but there was no need to care.

Because this was the correct answer.

The method that, in that game overflowing with bugs, ‘probably’ only I knew.

[Now run forward with all your strength and bring the sword down.]

“But then I will crash into the wall.”

[It is fine. Just do it.]

I persuaded the girl, who kept tilting her head.

If my prediction was correct, there would be no collision.

‘He definitely said the bugs from the game were reproduced exactly as they were.’

If Herman had been telling the truth, this had to work.

This was a guaranteed ‘bug’ triggered only by standing in the exact right position, with the exact right character, and performing the exact right action.

Rumble......!

At that moment, as though announcing the beginning of the test, the exit opened.

“I do not know anymore! Here goes!”

The girl sprinted forward and swung the sword with all her might.

And then.

Bang!

Slip!

“?”

“?”

“?”

“?”

We passed straight through the wall and emerged on the other side.

<Time Required: 0 hours 0 minutes 1 second>

“......????”

The girl froze exactly as she was, still holding the finishing pose of her swing after coming through the wall.

There must have been hundreds of question marks floating over her head.

[That was easy.]

The first test had ended.

In one second.