People tend to have at least one strange side to them. There are people who can sense ghosts and spirits, and people who can easily draw beautiful works of art. There are beautiful people with terrible singing voices and skinny people who are voracious eaters. There are people who aren’t so good-looking but have no problem finding dates, and so on.
I, too, actually have one of these strange quirks myself. This was related to the fact that I was an average twenty-five-year-old salaryman, but, above all else, including the advancement of my career, my primary focus was on getting off work on time.
I undid my tie as soon as I got back to my room and began putting on my comfy pajama top. The way I hummed as I made my bed might very well have been a strange sight to behold. It may have not been as weird if I weren’t single, but, unfortunately, I’d never had a girlfriend before. This was my routine, or rather, the thing I lived for. After all, I’d been dreaming of living in a fantasy world ever since I was a child. I loved stories about fighting and defeating monsters with swords, shields, and magic the most. I remembered borrowing those books from the library and reading them over and over until they were all worn out.
Maybe it was because of my obsession, but I’d dreamed about this sort of thing practically every night. I would fight in a world of swords and magic, participate in intercontinental wars, and step foot into enormous labyrinths. Those dreams began when I was a child, and even as an adult, I still looked forward to seeing them at night.
The one unfortunate thing was that they could also get too real. It’d have been nice if they’d go easier on me every once in a while, but I’d actually been beaten by monsters time and time again, and it wasn’t uncommon for me to jump awake from them in the middle of the night. I was always extraordinarily weak, and I couldn’t remember how many times I’d gotten dissolved by slime-looking things. I’d been robbed by natives whose speech I couldn’t even understand countless times, too.
But, no matter how terrifying those foes may have been, they were just dreams. There was never any pain since they were just dreams, so I could get away with such recklessness as charging straight toward a towering dragon. Then, afterward, I’d be awakened by the morning sunlight and stretch my limbs, thinking about the fun dream I just had. There was simply no way to experience such things in modern Japan.
So, as usual, I prepared my bed for the night. I put a water bottle next to my pillow, along with a bento that would still taste good cold. This wasn’t some sort of ritual, but doing it meant that later... Actually, it would be quicker to just do it than to explain.
I looked at my watch, which told me it was 7 p.m. If things went as they usually did, I’d wake up at 7 a.m. I slept for longer periods than most people my age, but I worked hard and lived alone, so no one could really say anything about it. It was nice to only have to take care of yourself. Though, I wasn’t sure if I should think about it as a grown-up’s privilege or lament my trivial life. Of course, I thought of myself as the former, but most people would see me as the latter.
But that was fine. Life was to be enjoyed, and I had no intention of letting go of my life of sleeping.
“Well, good night.”
And so, I dove into my cozy blanket. A veteran sleeper by now, I let out a snore and stepped into that other world as usual.
＋ ＋ ＋ ＋ ＋ ＋ ＋ ＋ ＋ ＋
Chirp chirp, chirp chirp.
As soon as I lazily opened my eyes, I saw a little bird right in front of my face. The blue color of its small, round body gradually grew darker toward the end of his wings. This extremely curious little guy was named Nuzzle, and he wasn’t really afraid of humans. He was named after some nearby ruins called Nazul-Nazul. In the spring, he came out in search for food, but he seemed to spend most of his time in the ruins.
“Ahhh... I slept really well. Though, on the other side, I just fell asleep right now.”
And yet, I felt well-rested even when I woke up in Japan, too. Well, I guess that made sense, considering I was in a dream on this side.
I offered breadcrumbs from my chest pocket as usual. The bird chirped with gratitude, then picked them up in his beak and flew off.
I brushed off the remaining crumbs and stood up as I suppressed a yawn. Then, the sun, rising into the clear blue skies and gently sloping meadow, filled my view. There was a river flowing nearby, so it seemed I wouldn’t have trouble finding drinking water.
“Hm, guess it’s picking up where I left off last night. Ah, that’s right, I was sleeping under a tree...”
Night dew had collected on the cloak I used as a makeshift bed, and the droplets fell off in beads as I wiped them off. I had picked an area with some trees growing in it because I was being cautious of the rain, but judging by how the sky looked now, it seemed there was no need for worry.
I took a look at my surroundings: There was a leather shoulder bag and something glinting in the sunlight next to it.
“There it is. A water bottle’s good enough, but I gotta have my tea during meals.”
There was a plastic bottle that seemed out of place in the fantasy world, and a bento was wrapped in cloth next to it. I had prepared it before going to sleep, and, strangely, it filled my stomach when I ate it in my dreams. Or maybe it was weirder that I could even get hungry in my dreams...
“Food is hard to come by and tastes bad in my dreams, so this really helps.”
A while back, I would fish to keep myself from starving, but I switched to this method once I began working full-time. The reasoning was that I didn’t want to waste time trying to secure food when I could be enjoying my dream.
Now, I put it all into my bag and began walking toward the river. I needed to refill my water bottle, and my face could use a morning rinse.
I felt the chill of early spring as I splashed some water on my face. Rubbing my face with the cold water was very effective at waking me up from my dozy state. My face in the reflection of the wavering water was far different in age from my face in the real world. The smooth, youthful skin and sleepy-looking eyes... Oh, I’m awake now, but that was just how my eyes naturally looked. Judging by my height, I was probably on the older side of middle school. My black clothes clearly didn’t offer much in terms of protection, and I’d chosen something cheap, so I didn’t mind if they got damaged. I suppose the only equipment on me that would’ve been out of place in Japan was the sword hanging at my waist.
“I’ve gotten a bit older compared to before, but I age much slower in the dream world. Now, judging by how that bird was here, this must be near the Nazul-Nazul Ruins.”
If I just walked down along this river, it’d lead me to the underground city, but the question was whether I’d keep heading that way or find someplace else. I stroked my silver bracelet as I thought about it, and a bluish-white screen appeared before me. These were distributed to every country, and they were able to inform the wearer of their current status. It showed that I was level 72, indicating I was far too overpowered for this area.
“Man, my level has gotten pretty high from keeping at it all these years.”
I was hopelessly weak to begin with, but I’d grown so much from all the hard work I’d put in. Then again, I’d been playing for nearly twenty years, so it was hard to say whether my pace had been fast or slow. Though, there wasn’t some nemesis like a demon lord for me to defeat, so I’d just been taking it easy. If there were some grand enemy like that to get excited about, I probably would have been trying much harder instead of raising my fishing skill all this time.
“To be honest, I was only raising my level so I could go check out other areas... Hm?”
Just then, I felt someone’s eyes on me. I noticed it thanks to the Intuition skill I leveled up to avoid combat, but it seemed whoever was looking at me wasn’t looking for a fight.
A young girl with long ears appeared from behind a tree and approached me.
“Oh, good morning, Kazuhiho. I see you’re out here camping primitively as usual. If you ask me, you seem far more elf-like than I do.”
“Ah, yes. Good morning, Marie. I’m lucky the weather is nice again today. Sometimes I wake up during heavy rain, and that can be pretty mentally draining.”
Marie tilted her head as if she had no idea what I was talking about.
Her species was that of the elves, and her real name was Mariabelle. I called her by her nickname, Marie, and although she seemed to be about my age, she was over a hundred years old, which was partially why she was called a half-fairy. Her hair, glimmering in the sunlight, was pure white like the fluff of a dandelion. It went straight down to her waist, making her easily recognizable even from afar.