Episode 1
Episode 1
Nine years had already passed since I crossed over to this other world.
I had possessed the world of Bluna 2 that the director had sent me.
Probably.
Possessing the game I had dedicated my life to.
Though I was a bit anxious since I had imagined this situation at least once before, I didn't entirely dislike it.
The problem was that even now, after nine years, I had no definitive proof that I had truly possessed the game. I could only make predictions by listening to the adults' stories.
At least it was a relief that the region and character names from Bluna appeared.
Besides, I was too busy adapting after being born as a newborn baby to worry about such things.
Now I could speak well and had finished adapting to life here.
"Huaaam..."
I woke up early in the morning as usual.
Pale light streamed through the partially open wooden window along with a cool breeze.
I immediately sat up in bed.
Here, girls learn household chores from their mothers from a young age.
You could call it a kind of bride training.
Passing by my sleeping brothers, I came out to the kitchen where my mother was busy preparing breakfast.
"Mom, is there anything I can help with?"
Though I occasionally acted like a child because of my reduced age, I basically behaved maturely.
It wasn't easy to act like a baby when I had my actual mental age.
Fortunately, since it was a medieval fantasy, children in the countryside were seen as labor, so helping with work was considered natural.
So helping my parents was good for both them and me.
"Oh my, Mia. You woke up early again today."
My mother, who was busily cooking in the kitchen, turned around and handed me a basket containing vegetables.
It contained potatoes, cabbage, turnips, and more.
I carried the large basket by hugging it to my chest, using my whole body to support its size.
"Then could you go to the village well instead of the stream and wash these? Just shake off the dirt cleanly and wash them."
"Yes, I'll be back then."
"Don't run and be careful on your way."
"Okay."
Carefully carrying the large basket, I went outside.
The chilly dawn air enveloped my body, making me shiver and waking my drowsy mind.
I waddled my steps to shake off the cold.
Though it's a small village, there is one well in the center. If this were a game, it would probably be a save point or recovery spot.
While walking diligently with my short legs, I saw Delit Ajusshi in the distance.
"Ajusshi! Are you on patrol already this early?"
Delit Ajusshi is a former mercenary and our village guard.
In exchange for patrolling and protecting the village, all his living expenses are provided by the village.
They say he was a famous mercenary in the past.
Since he's not a character that appeared in Bluna 1, I don't know exactly.
Now he's just a kind ajusshi missing one leg.
The ajusshi scratched his head and replied.
"Getting called ajusshi at just 26 years old... that hurts my heart. Are you helping your mother with work?"
"Yes, it's too busy for Mom to do everything alone. So I have to help her."
He's originally a blunt person, but since I talk to him every day and use the advantage of being a girl, we became close quickly.
It's not for nothing that dad's girls exist.
"That's kind. Then be careful, and your oppa is going back to work."
"Thank you for always protecting the village! Ajusshi!"
"That really..."
Letting out a deep sigh, Delit Ajusshi disappeared.
"There's an age difference, but calling him oppa is a bit..."
Actually, I'm not trying to get close without any meaning.
It's to learn the skills needed to survive in the worldview called Black Nightmare.
'Well, given the game genre is what it is...'
Basically, since the name translates to Black Nightmare, the background is dark fantasy.
It just seemed bright because it was a subculture game.
If you examine the story in detail, all kinds of cruel elements like rape, cannibalism, human sacrifice, massacre, etc., appear indirectly in the story.
"Ah, I'm here. I need to quickly draw water from the well."
I pulled the rope hanging by the well.
With a clattering sound, the bucket went down.
Now I roughly know how far to lower it to scoop water, so I lowered it and pulled it up.
"This is also work every time. If I were in science instead of humanities, would I have installed water and sewage systems..."
After tying the rope next to the well, the basket was secured.
Pulling the secured bucket onto the top of the well and untying the rope, the bucket came down to the ground.
"By the way, did they really do it this way in the medieval era?"
Since it's not the actual medieval era but a worldview created by a game company, it was a bit lacking to call it the real medieval era.
For example, food is always abundant, or nobles use detergent.
I heard there are even refrigerators made from Magic Stones in cities.
If they're going to do that, they should make everything.
Having vain thoughts, I washed the vegetables, returned the basket to its original place, and stood up.
"Ugh, it's cold. I should go back quickly."
Struggling to hug the basket, I returned home and saw an unfamiliar carriage.
It looked similar to the carriages from the Western era often seen in movies. There was a driver seat in front where the coachman led the horses, and a cargo space in the back.
Judging by the structure, it was a cargo carriage.
The carriage stopped at the empty house next to ours, and a woman and a young girl got out from the cargo area.
The man who was driving the horses also got off the carriage and headed toward the cargo area.
'Are they moving in? It's my first time seeing someone come to this rural area.'
As I was watching curiously to see what was happening, my mother came out of the house.
Wearing an apron and holding a ladle in one hand, she approached me and took the basket of vegetables.
"Oh my, Mia. Are you back? By the way, it seems someone moved in next door."
"Moving? People move here?"
Obviously, there's no moving company, and each village has different atmospheres and rules, so people usually don't leave the village they were born in.
Moving itself is a rare occurrence.
"Of course. If a village lacks people and disappears, or if it's impossible to restore after a Magical Beast attack, they have to move, right?"
"That makes sense."
As I was adding another piece of otherworld common sense, the woman and young girl from the carriage approached.
The woman looked ordinary, but the child was unique.
Snow-white hair that I was seeing for the first time in this world.
Golden eyes that matched it perfectly.
Her skin was so white and clean that even I, who received the Transformed Bishoujo buff, felt threatened by her beauty for the first time.
Ah, of course, I could claim victory in judgment.
'After all, I'm an ability user who knows the future.'
I'm a woman with both looks and abilities.
While having that meaningless competition, the approaching woman greeted first.
"Hello. I'm Amelia, who just moved here. This is my daughter Ivy."
"Hello. I'm Menisa living in this house. This is also my daughter Mia. Mia, you should greet them."
My mother responded normally to that, but I froze.
Ivy? She definitely said Ivy, right?
The name was so important that the moment I heard it, I looked at the girl in front of me.
Ivy.
That's the name of the character who appears as the Hero in Bluna.
'Then is she the Hero?'
In Bluna, the player appears as Ivy's childhood friend.
If you play as a male character, you can enjoy romance, and even as a female character, you can see pretty characters flirting, so you could choose according to your preference.
Moreover, the player is not just the Hero's simple friend but their emotional support.
One of the few people who survived together in the ruined village and saw them as a person rather than just the Hero.
That's why the Hero blindly loves and devotes themselves to them.
That is the player.
'Then does this village also get destroyed by Magical Beast attacks someday?'
The game begins when the player and the Hero start their journey.
When starting the journey, Ivy tells the player this.
That it took 10 years after the village disappeared to be able to get revenge.
Though the exact age isn't given, user speculation puts it at early 20s. So we can assume the village disappeared roughly 10 years ago.
As I stood frozen with a stiff expression, my mother tightly held my hand.
"Mia? Your friend is greeting you. It might be awkward with a new friend, but you should accept the greeting, right?"
Startled by the soft voice, I looked at my mother.
Seeing my flustered expression, my mother smiled softly and nodded.
"Ah, well..."
My gaze returns forward.
The character I always saw on the game screen was standing in front of me.
Her pretty appearance was a given, but seeing the childhood version of the character I always watched gave me mixed feelings.
"I'm Mia... nice to meet you..."
Whether it was a child's instinct or my true feelings from meeting my favorite character, I hid behind my mother's skirt, embarrassed at the same time as greeting.
Ivy smiled brightly at the greeting.
The young Ivy that I hadn't even seen in the game was indeed cute.
I wanted to hug her immediately and pet her vigorously, but it seemed like something I shouldn't do, so I held back.
"Then, Mia. Do you want to play for a bit before breakfast? You should become friends with your new friend too."
Gently pushing my back, my mother spoke.
Like a child, I got along well with the other girls in the village too.
It would be weird to act too mature.
Usually, we showed each other our knitting or brought cooked food to have small picnics. So I was familiar with playing with girls.
"...Okay. Then I'll play for a bit and come back."
Pretending to be reluctantly persuaded, I stepped forward one step at a time.
Seeing my mother watching me fondly made me even more embarrassed.
"Mia! Show me around the village!"
Ivy took a step toward me who was feeling embarrassed.
She tightly held both my hands and looked at me.
Her sparkling eyes and bright expression were so like her. Moreover, unlike me, Ivy seemed very extroverted and sociable.
'It's because of what will happen later that such a child changes like that.'
In the game, Ivy is a character with deep psychological wounds.
Her family dies, her village disappears, comrades die during the journey, and people sacrifice themselves for her as the Hero.
All of those things weighed heavily on Ivy.
The player is the one who lightens her burden a little.
'Then this time, I should properly play that role.'
Looking at Ivy who was brightly smiling and pulling me along, I made a resolution.
This time, I would create a world where Ivy could smile.