Arcana Online
I left the village behind and walked across the open plains.
A cool breeze was blowing, and the view was so beautiful that I couldn’t help feeling good, too.
If only this were the real world.
If I could live in a world like this, I’d have nothing to worry about.
Reality was a sewer, but not here.
Because romance and adventure were waiting for me.
“For now, let’s hunt first.”
I’d almost wasted time spacing out again.
That reminded me of the guards who had come hurrying after me, earnestly telling me to come back before sunset because the monsters got stronger at night.
Are they not NPCs, but actual people?
Following the road marked on the map, I soon spotted a crowd of rabbits in the distance.
🏛 Type: Monster
⚔ Difficulty: Level 1
📍 Floor: N/A
💀 Boss: Unknown
It was the weakest monster in Arcana Online.
And yet it was absurdly cute.
Rabbits wouldn’t attack unless the player attacked first.
They were known as the easiest monsters in the game to hunt.
When I moved closer, the rabbits spotted me and suddenly charged!?
W-wait, weren’t they supposed to be non-aggressive monsters!?
Panicking, I squeezed my eyes shut and was just about to swing my staff when—
“Kkyuu!”
“Kkyuu?”
I opened my eyes and looked ahead to find the rabbits fawning over me.
No, fawning wasn’t the word. They were looking after me?
All the rabbits were handing me carrots they’d somehow gone and fetched from somewhere?
Carrot-Carrot
Rich in nutrients. Good for young children.
“Uh, thanks?”
“Kkyuu kkyuu!”
After I stuffed the pile of carrots into my inventory, the rabbits beamed and waved at me.
No, then I couldn’t hunt them, could I?
I had a conscience. How was I supposed to hunt rabbits that were taking care of me?
With no other choice, I passed them by and moved on to the next hunting ground.
🏛 Type: Monster
⚔ Difficulty: Level 5
📍 Floor: N/A
💀 Boss: Unknown
Fortunately, slimes had squishy bodies and no intelligence.
On top of that, they were aggressive monsters.
The moment I brought my staff down on one that was slinking toward me to attack, it died instantly.
Along with the level-up chime, I gained a level for the first time.
But a Level 5 slime in one hit?
Had it been made weak on purpose?
Well, I supposed so.
By the time I finished hunting slimes, I’d reached level 7.
“I guess I’ll call it a day.”
I stretched and looked up at the sky. The sun was already setting.
They said monsters get stronger when it gets late, so I should head back to the village soon.
I still needed to check my system and read the guidebook once I got back.
More than that, I was a summoner. When would I finally be able to call a summon?
I didn’t want to be alone.
I was lonely.
I felt empty.
I was scared.
Before my head could fill up with any more bad thoughts, I shook myself hard and headed back to the village.
As I approached the village gate, I noticed the guards looking unusually anxious.
They spotted me, visibly relaxed, and waved me over, telling me to come in.
I waved back and said I was home, and they looked at me with a proud expression before handing me a pouch?
“We scraped it together from our soldiers. Take it.”
“Wha—? It’s okay! You already gave me so much earlier!”
“Nonsense! When an adult gives you something, the polite thing is to say thank you and accept it.”
“Th-thank you.”
I thanked them and took the pouch they’d practically forced into my hands, and only then did they smile in satisfaction and wave me off with a cheerful goodbye.
Was this game always this full of warmth?
More importantly, where had they said the lodging was again?
The inn recommended by Captain Charles.
Following the signposts to Moonlight Inn, I walked along the road until an inn came into view in the distance.
Judging by the huge moon painted on it, this had to be the place.
When I opened the door and stepped inside, I was greeted by the lively bustle of many people eating their dinner.
The atmosphere was unfamiliar, but not unpleasant.
It made me feel like I belonged to a party, somehow.
When I approached the counter, there was a pretty older sister there.
Blonde hair, clear eyes, and a generous chest.
“Oh my, what’s a little miss like you doing here?”
“I was sent by Uncle Charles. I’d like to stay for a few days.”
“A little miss like you...”
She suddenly broke into tears, and just as I was getting flustered, she told me to follow her.
Following her up to the second floor, she unlocked the door to the room at the very end of the hall and led me inside.
“This room has the best view, and it’s the cleanest one, too. And here’s the key. Always lock the door when you leave, all right? And if anything happens, see this bell here? Just ring it hard.”
“Thank you.”
“Have you had dinner?”
“Not yet.”
“Then let’s go back down together.”
Following her back down to the first floor, I sat at the table beside the counter, and before I knew it, food had been brought out.
But there was a lot of it?
“That’s too much.”
“It’s fine! You can eat it all!”
“That’s impossible!”
The pretty older sister told me to eat as much as I could and leave the rest, then went to take orders at another table.
Come to think of it, I never even asked her name.
I scooped up a spoonful of the steaming soup and tasted it. It was soft and delicious.
I tore off a bit of the bread beside it and dipped it into the soup, and it practically melted in my mouth!
“It’s good.”
Before I knew it, I’d been eating like a ravenous beast, and though I’d said there was too much, it turned out there wasn’t.
After I finished every last dish on the table and patted my bloated stomach, I heard a laugh.
“See? I told you. You could eat it all.”
“Y-yes, I guess so.”
My face hot, I nodded, and she patted my head while calling me adorable.
When was the last time I’d felt the warmth of another person like this?
“Come to think of it, I never introduced myself. My name’s Belle. Nice to meet you.”
“My name is Yuna. Nice to meet you too, Belle noona.”
“Noona?”
Ah, mistake.
I’d only been a man until not long ago. Of course I wouldn’t have said “older sister.”
“I-I mean, that is...”
“So that’s how it is...”
With tears suddenly welling in her eyes, Belle smiled as if understanding everything and wiped them away with a handkerchief.
Then, telling me that if I ever had a hard time I should speak to her anytime, she waved as I headed back upstairs.
What was this? I hadn’t said anything, and yet since coming to this world, people kept understanding me on their own.
It was convenient, but there was something unsettling about it, too.
I didn’t know.
I opened my room door, went inside, shut it again, locked it, and flung myself onto the bed.
The mattress felt soft, but somehow real.
Still, it was about time I went back.
“Log out.”
*
*
*
A new customer had entered the bustling inn.
It was Charles, the captain who kept our village safe.
“Welcome.”
“S-so, has the little miss I told you about arrived?”
“Yes, she has. She’s sleeping upstairs right now.”
“That’s a relief.”
After preparing the beer and snacks Charles always drank, Belle set them on the table, and Charles thanked her before taking a sip.
“Still, she seems like a child with a lot of baggage. Where did she come from?”
“She looked like a traveler.”
“So young, and already...”
Travelers.
Beings known to wander across countless worlds.
They were like outsiders who hadn’t been born in this world, but had come from another one instead.
In the past, many travelers had caused trouble, but that hadn’t been the case much lately.
If it did happen, every village would issue a kill-on-sight order, and they’d no longer be able to remain in this world.
“I’ve met a lot of travelers so far, but she’s different somehow. And I feel like she’s someone I want to protect. She seems to have plenty of baggage, too. She even called me noona, you know?”
“I-isn’t it possible... she’s been through something awful and is trying to hide her sex?”
In other words, trying to conceal her gender.
“I don’t think that’s it. Is there any way we can help her?”
“I’ll think about it. But if she’s a traveler, it won’t be easy. Someday she’ll leave this village and go traveling to a much wider world, after all.”
Travelers almost never settled down in one place.
Even if they did, they lived in major cities, not in backwater villages like this.
“Why would anyone choose such a hard life? It’d be better if she just lived in this village instead.”
“Can’t be helped. That’s the fate of a traveler.”
Charles, drinking beer and munching on snacks, sat at the table opposite Belle, and together they had a drink.
“Aren’t you supposed to be working?”
“What of it? One drink isn’t going to get me drunk.”
“Still, isn’t a former archmage a little too modest? Running an inn and all that.”
Captain Charles stared at me as I drank beer and ate my snacks.
“And aren’t you a former knight commander? Seems a shame to keep you in a frontier village like this.”
“Let’s just raise a glass to each other.”
We clinked glasses, and the moment I finished my beer in one go, a good idea flashed through my mind.
“Judging by the energy I’m sensing, you’re a summoner, aren’t you? I just thought of a good method.”
“Then I’ll cooperate.”
The rest of that night was spent drinking too late into the night, which was why I suffered from a hangover the next day.
---