Chapter 1
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 1
Chapter Title: The Worn-Out Rabbit
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A space thick with the scent of iron.
Clanging sounds echoed from all directions, and cheers from the crowd leaked in from somewhere.
Abel stood in the midst of that chaotic inferno.
"Hmm."
Even with the tremendous noise, Abel paid it no mind and focused on what was before him.
There stood a steel giant. A Midget-grade Gigant, 3.8 meters tall.
Something didn't sit right with him, and Abel muttered with a sullen expression.
"Maintenance is perfect... but its condition is just too rough."
As Abel said, the Gigant was well-maintained, but deep scars from battles remained all over it.
"Tch."
It wasn't exactly to his liking.
But there was no replacement Gigant available right now, nor the means to swap out parts on the spot.
'No helping it.'
Abel shook his head, calming his regrets.
If he had more time, he could have gotten it into better shape, but there was no need to go that far.
'It's ending today anyway.'
This would be the last time fighting with this hunk of scrap.
Abel thought with eyes burning hot.
'I'll seize the opportunity no matter what.'
If he could just grab this chance, he could enter the 'Academy' he'd longed for.
Yet even amid that burning passion, a trace of reluctance and regret lingered in Abel's gaze.
It was only natural, in a way.
The Gigant before him was the first one he'd acquired after falling into this unfamiliar world and enduring all sorts of hardships.
The moment he first obtained his own Gigant, he'd been so excited that he even named it 'Rabbit.'
Because the parts sticking up on either side of its head looked just like rabbit ears.
"Hoo."
But Abel knew full well.
You had to let go of what needed to be sent off.
This world was too harsh to lavish more affection than necessary on a Gigant that didn't even house a soul.
Abel suppressed his rising hot emotions and climbed the ladder, applying magically refined oil to Rabbit's joints.
In the meantime, old memories floated up in a corner of his mind like fluffy clouds.
Memories of the moment he first arrived in this place, Avelatium.
* * *
The first time he opened his eyes.
He knew instinctively.
Something was wrong.
Anyone would have felt the same.
He'd stayed up late playing games as usual, lain down in bed to sleep, and when he opened his eyes, he was on a hard stone floor.
His clothes were torn to rags, and his body was covered in soot-like stains everywhere.
The people passing by looked at him like he was trash or filth.
'What the hell?'
Nothing about it was familiar to Oh Han-seong, the 24-year-old young man.
If it was a dream, he wished it would end now.
But that night.
Clutching his starving stomach and lying on the cold stone floor, he realized it was reality.
A horrific reality.
'No way.'
At first, he denied it.
There was no evidence. He just wanted to reject his situation.
But denial changed nothing. If anything, it only made him realize the even more despairing truth.
While wandering the streets solely for survival.
He learned one fact.
This wasn't Earth.
There were races other than humans here, and mysterious powers existed that didn't on Earth.
Above all, 'Gigants' existed here.
That was a crucial clue.
The game he'd been playing right up until he fell into this unfamiliar world had Gigants as its core element.
A game based on a fantasy world where those who piloted Gigants were the protagonists.
Once he realized that, he explored the city more actively than before, and soon he was certain.
This was the world inside the game.
After grasping that uncomfortable truth, Oh Han-seong discarded his name.
Nearly two years had passed since then, and in that time, he'd acquired a bottom-tier Midget-grade Gigant.
For a street rat starting from absolute rock bottom, even if it was near junk, owning such an expensive Gigant was astonishing.
That story alone could fill a whole novel, but instead of dwelling on the past, he looked to the future.
Abel.
That was Han-seong's new name, for advancing toward the future.
"It's done."
Abel wiped the sweat from his forehead and muttered.
He'd oiled every joint. He'd broken a light sweat in the process, but it wouldn't affect the match.
If anything, this was ideal for competing. No need for a separate warm-up.
Abel placed his hand on Rabbit's waist armor and said.
"Hang in there just this once."
Of course, no reply came.
Abel chuckled wryly, climbed down the ladder, and opened the bag on the floor.
He pulled out a combat suit.
Rabbit was a bottom-tier Midget-grade Gigant, but its height averaged 4 meters, hardly different from the next grade up, Tito.
At most 30 cm.
Considering the gap to the grade after Tito was nearly 2 meters, it was a tiny difference.
But that 30 cm made a huge difference. Namely, in rider safety considerations for the armor.
In simple terms, Midgets had almost no armor designed with the rider's safety in mind.
Some even called Midgets "walking metal tubes."
So, no matter what else, when riding a Midget, you absolutely needed a proper combat suit enchanted with protective magic.
"Ugh."
Abel spread the combat suit and crammed his body inside.
This suit was bought from the black market; its functions worked fine, but the size was the problem.
It was ridiculously small.
Combat suits used special materials and processing methods, so you couldn't just resize them freely.
That's why he'd been able to buy it cheap in the first place.
Abel hadn't finished growing yet and hadn't gotten proper nutrition, so his frame was very small. He could force it on.
"Ughhh... Got it!"
After much struggle, with the final clasp secured, Abel wiped the sweat from his forehead with the fabric.
Putting it on was a ordeal, but once it was on, it didn't hinder movement much.
He wondered how that was possible, but apparently, that was the wonder of a rare combat suit.
Abel did some simple stretches in place, then positioned the ladder in front of Rabbit's cockpit.
He climbed up, lifted the cockpit cover, and with a series of clicks, the interior revealed itself.
"Good."
Abel smiled and slipped inside.
Unlike the ill-fitting combat suit, the cockpit interior fit him perfectly.
Once settled firmly, Abel placed his hand on Rabbit's core.
Woooong-!
Soon, with a strange sensation, Rabbit awoke.
The cover lowered automatically, lights came on inside the cockpit.
At the same time, Abel felt an omnipotent surge through his body.
It was an intense pleasure that never got old, no matter how many times he repeated it.
With gleaming eyes, Abel said.
"Rabbit. Let's go."
No reply came this time either, but at his words, Rabbit's arm moved.
It lifted the heavy ladder like paper and set it aside.
Then took a massive step forward.
Thud, thud-!
The surroundings were chaotic and noisy.
But as the huge Gigant began to move, all eyes converged.
If it were an ordinary Gigant, the attention would have scattered quickly. But this was Abel walking.
The rising star of this cesspool underground arena. The radiant saint.
Abel.
"Kid! Win again today!"
"Fight hard!"
Cheers. Encouragement.
"Tch. Skinny little brat."
"Lucky, that's all. Just lucky."
Jealousy and envy.
"Wow...."
And admiration.
A jumble of emotions pierced through the cockpit and poked at his body.
But far from feeling pressured, Abel grinned broadly.
'This is just the first step.'
The game's main story hadn't even started yet. So he wasn't behind.
If he seized this chance...
'I'll definitely enter the main stream.'
He could enroll in the Academy.
Enter the game's main story.
Instead of calming the heat rising from deep in his chest, Abel used it as fuel to keep walking.
After exiting the chaotic maintenance room and passing a few doors, a room of decent size appeared.
The fighters' waiting room.
Standing in the waiting room, Abel built up his tension and thought.
'The chance is only once.'
His goal wasn't just a plain victory, but to clearly show himself.
His talent and skill.
Because today, a special guest was scheduled to be in the audience.
Failing to show it would make victory meaningless.
Abel steeled his resolve and gazed into empty air. More precisely, at the message window floating there.
[Quest: Frog in the Well (5)]
[Receive the 'Selection' from Flame Spear Scarlett]
The finale of the long chain quest.
The clear for this quest that had tormented him for over six months was right before him.
At that moment.
Waaaaah-!
Cheers erupted from beyond the waiting room.
'The match has ended.'
No sooner had he thought it than a balding middle-aged man in a suit entered the waiting room.
"Two minutes."
-Understood.
His voice, amplified through his Gigant, filled the room.
The balding man grimaced, nodded, and stood by the wall at the front of the waiting room.
Abel glared at that wall like it was an enemy, clearing stray thoughts from his mind.
Distractions in a match were poison.
"One minute."
The middle-aged man spoke again.
Abel gripped the core tighter.
Wiiiing-!
About a minute later, a vibration buzzed from the man's side, followed by his voice.
"Win and come back."
No time to reply.
The wall blocking the front began sliding open to both sides.
Without hesitation, Abel stepped through.
Just two steps in, and the air changed completely.
Glamorous lights.
Hundreds of staring eyes.
"Waaaaah-!"
"Rabbit! Rabbit! Rabbit!"
"Giant Slayer! Smash 'em all!"
A beat later, even fiercer cheers rang out than before.
Giant Slayer. His and Rabbit's nickname.
Abel was shorter than average, and Rabbit was on the smaller side even for its height class.
Normally, such a height difference put the smaller one at a disadvantage.
Normally.
But Abel and Rabbit had earned the giant killer moniker by smashing foes bigger than themselves.
"Waaaaah-!"
Safety seemed nonexistent; the audience seats and arena were dangerously close.
Even inside Rabbit, it felt like his ears might bleed.
Abel waved lightly as he entered the central arena, then heard the crowd chanting for the other fighter.
"Lumberjack! Lumberjack!"
"Land one proper axe swing! You bastard!"
"I bet my whole fortune! Lose and I'll bury an axe in your skull!"
Lumberjack.
Meaning woodsman, and also his opponent's nickname.
It came from chopping enemies to bits with an axe like felling trees.
There was Lumberjack ahead.
Same Midget grade as Rabbit.
But a clear height difference. Roughly 4.3 meters, nearing Tito grade.
And in one hand, a massive axe—not small by any means.
Compared to that, the mass-produced sword in Rabbit's hand looked pathetic.
Anyone could see Rabbit was at a disadvantage.
[Alright! This match features our arena's two aces! Lumberjack vs. Rabbit! Rabbit the Giant Slayer vs. Psycho Lumberjack!]
"Wooooaaah!"
As the announcer hyped the crowd further, Abel subtly rolled his eyes.
Distractions before a match were taboo, but this was necessary.
Scanning the audience seats busily, Abel's gaze suddenly fixed on one spot.
Flaming red hair and eyes. Sharp features. A bird-shaped brooch on her collar.
'She's here.'
Flame Spear. One of the Empire's Three Saints.
Scarlett.
The Gigant rider who would lead Abel to the 'Academy.'
The Academy where all the main story unfolded.
'I can't do anything without getting into the Academy.'
This place.
More precisely, the game set here progressed strictly around the protagonist and key figures.
To intervene in the main scenario, enrollment in the Academy was mandatory.
If this world's future followed the game's 'happy ending,' there'd be no issue.
But if not? If it was headed for a bad end?
This world would perish.
"Ooooooh!"
"Yeah! That's it! Kill him!"
Abel raised his head at the crowd's even more heated cheers.
There was Lumberjack swinging his axe wildly in the air.
Noticing Rabbit's gaze, Lumberjack got even more excited and mimed slitting his throat with the axe.
In response, Abel kindly flipped him the middle finger.
The meaning was the same here.
An immediate furious reaction came back.
"Alright!"
Satisfied the atmosphere was sufficiently heated, the announcer shouted loudly.
[Feels like the heat's peaked! Any longer and someone might draw a blade, so let's start!]
Abel instantly pictured the image in his mind.
Rabbit clenched both fists tight.
The waiting magicians at the arena's edge extended their hands, and a blue barrier enveloped the field seamlessly.
With the venue's excitement at its zenith, the announcer grinned and yelled.
[Match... start!]
Boom-!
At the same instant, Rabbit kicked off the ground.