A huge plain, as far as the eye could see. Small clouds dotted the sky.
“What? Where am I?”
If I recall correctly, I jumped out of the window in my apartment, and became ground fodder for Megumi.
Why am I seeing a big field upon waking up? Not to mention, the weird dragon-wyvern creatures flying throughout the sky.
“Wait... Dragons? Wyverns?”
That’s when a thing that looked like a dialogue box floated up in front of me, making a whirring sound. This was written on it:
Welcome to the world of La Vita Online!
Now, let’s begin the tutorial.
I stared at the box in silence. The gears in my brain weren’t keeping up with the situation at hand.
No. No, no, no. No.
Wait. Wait! Just hang on for a sec.
I mean, I got it. Yeah, like... It’s not like I wouldn’t get it. This was the exact situation that had been trending in a certain subculture I was well-versed in. I’d even heard something that sounded like the “voice of God” before I’d passed out.
But there’s no way. It can’t be... Don’t tell me this is real?
First, take a deep breath. Let’s just calm down for now.
I pinched my cheeks with considerable strength. The pain was too real to deny.
I plucked a flower blooming near me and smelled it. Yeah, that sure smells like a flower, I thought. Which meant it was a real flower, not a fake.
I flailed my arms and legs around as I jumped up and down. No issues there.
“Thirteen times ten is one hundred and thirty. Eleven times thirteen is... One hundred and forty-three? I think?”
Looks like I can still do math. Now let’s check my memory...
My name is Shinobu Iijima. My parents are deceased, and my kindergarten was Himawari Kindergarten. I went to Miyako Municipal for elementary school, and my middle school had the same name. Then I moved on to Otenzaka High School, a public school.
Okay, it seems like my memories are intact. With this realization, the chances of this being a dream or illusion, or me being taken to a hospital and then put into an intoxicated state by anesthetics, were pretty much gone.
“You have got to be kidding me... Did I get reincarnated into another world, like the famous trope?”
No, this wouldn’t be another-world reincarnation. I was transported into a game. It was different. Although, I did die, so more specifically, I’d been reincarnated into a game.
Judging by the voice of God I’d heard before I died, something sent me here intentionally, and there seemed to be a lot of other people who were transported into this game as well.
Then... What happened to Megumi? Looking around, I didn’t see her, nor anyone else for that matter.
Actually, wait. There’s a chance she didn’t even die. There’s no point in speculating when I don’t know anything to begin with.
“I’ve got a lot of questions, but the first thing I’m wondering is what exactly the goal was for reincarnating so many people into this game?” Upon whispering that, the voice of God resounded in my head once again.
—La Vita Online is a game in which you can live freely in a new world. You can become a blacksmith, an adventurer, or even a king. Please enjoy your second life in this land to the fullest.
“I got that part. But why did you send us here in the first place?”
—La Vita Online is a game in which you can live freely in a new world. You can become a blacksmith, an adventurer, or even a king. Please enjoy your second life in this land to the fullest.
“Just gonna say the same thing over and over, huh?”
The voice chimed in my head yet again.
—Your player name has not been set yet. It will be officially registered once the tutorial ends, so please set it before then.
—If you do not set one by the end of the tutorial, your data will be deemed foreign and subsequently deleted. In other words, you will die.
—Incidentally, after you have been officially registered within the game, dying will result in your data being deleted as a penalty.
“My data will be deleted? And I’ll die?”
This has to be a joke.
—Let’s begin the tutorial. Follow the path along the plain that leads north.
“You can’t just throw me into it like that...”
It just told me that if I died in game, I’d die for real. I’d like to avoid that at all costs, especially considering this was a world where monsters were constantly lurking around.
After finding no imminent danger upon scanning the area, I put my hand to my heart and let out a sigh of relief.
I looked down at my body. There’s no mirror around here so I can’t see everything, but I’m wearing light armor, typical of an adventurer. As for a weapon, I have a short sword on my back.
That’s when it hit me. Show menu window, I thought.
Sure enough, a rectangular, translucent board appeared in front of my eyes with the same whirring sound. I’d say it looked roughly forty centimeters on all sides.
“There it is... Yeah, I’ve definitely been reincarnated. Show my stats.”
Name: N/A / Race: Human / Class: Summoner / Level: 1
HP: 225/225 / MP: 350/350
Power: 5 / Strength: 5 / Speed: 10 / Magic: 15
Acquired Magic: Grade 1 (Magic Class Initial Bonus)
Seeing these stats, I knew my account really had been reset after all. Which meant that everyone else probably had their stats carry over too. If only that bastard hadn’t erased all my data.
“I guess I’ll just go ahead and clear the tutorial, then. Nothing I can do about this.” I heaved another deep sigh. Where should I go from here?
I knew I had to follow the directions and progress through the tutorial, but it was all so much to take in that my head was spinning.
Let’s take a break and get everything in order. I sat down on a conveniently placed boulder.
Well... Thinking rationally, the highest possibility is that this is a dream.
I gazed absently at the scenery before me as I thought that. That’s when the whirring noise brought a skeleton in front of me.
“An Undead Knight?”
Just as its name implied, an Undead Knight was a skeleton that wore beat-up armor and wielded a spear.
A text box appeared over its head.
Undead Knight / Recommended Level: 7
...It’s written in red. If this was just like the game, that meant that I wasn’t able to take this thing on yet.
Which meant I should turn tail and run. But why would an Undead Knight show up here?
“Ah, wait. The answer’s obvious. This is what I get for trying to rest.”
A voice resounded in my ears.
—You are being penalized for not following instructions. A monster has been sent after you. You have encountered an enemy.