Chapter 63
Chapter 63
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 63
Chapter Title: The Summons
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The next morning.
I opened my eyes to a familiar ceiling.
"Agh, crap, my head..."
I'm pretty sure I only had one beer yesterday, so why do I have a hangover?
I'm never drinking again.
I don't get why people drink that bitter, awful stuff.
My head hurt, so I thought about going back to sleep. As I tossed and turned to pull the covers over me, I felt something soft on both sides.
I turned my head and saw Luna on my left.
Then I turned the other way and saw Yui on my right.
A King Slime on my left.
A Small Slime on my right.
'Woohoo! This other world is the best!'
My head was killing me, but I felt fantastic.
***
After another deep, satisfying sleep.
"My head hurts..."
Why does my head hurt this much?
I feel worse now than I did before I fell asleep.
Is this what a hangover is?
I even feel nauseous.
What a lightweight body this is.
I never even touched alcohol in my past life, but I'm sure I could have handled it better than this.
Come to think of it, didn't I get a skill called Status Effect Resistance?
'Status.'
[ Information ]
Name: Luke
Gender: Male
Age: 20
Mana: 0 / 0
Level: 90
[ Skills ]
Inventory (F)
Superhuman Strength (B)
All-Attribute Resistance (A)
Status Effect Resistance (B+)
[ Stats ]
Strength: 72(+36)
Agility: 10
Intelligence: 0
Stamina: 10
Stat Points: 18
I have 18 stat points remaining.
When was the last time I even opened my status window?
I can't even remember.
It's been a while, so I had a lot saved up.
-You've got a lot saved up.
For a moment, a weird meme came to mind, but the thought alone was so disgusting I almost threw up, so I quickly erased it from my head.
Naturally, I put all the stat points into Strength.
'System. Description.'
As I thought that, a blue window appeared.
◈ Skill Information
Name: Status Effect Resistance
Rank: B+
Description: Resists all kinds of status effects, including poison, paralysis, curses, and slows.
The description was short and to the point.
Still, that short sentence contained the entire explanation, so I had no trouble understanding it.
'Yeah, but... it says it resists all kinds of status effects.'
Isn't a hangover a status effect?
Get rid of it already!
I went back to sleep because my head hurt, but I guess just sleeping it off doesn't work.
"Ugh..."
"Are you all right, Luke?"
"Who are you?"
"...It's Luna."
"I know."
Luna looked down at me with a blank expression, as if she was used to this by now.
"Seeing you act strange as usual, I suppose you're fine."
"Luna. I'm currently suffering from Qi Deviation. Could you help me out?"
"...You're just hungover."
"A mere hangover is no match for a real man like me."
This is definitely Qi Deviation!
There's no other way I could be in this much pain!
"If you keep talking nonsense, I'm going to shout in your ear."
"Stop!!"
Your skill at threatening your master is quite something, Luna.
I wanted you to become smarter, but not this smart.
"Where's Yui?"
"She went down to buy some honey water."
-Creeak.
The sound of the door opening.
Speak of the devil. It seemed she was back just in time.
"Luke, are you okay?"
"No. I'm not okay."
"Uh... um... what can I do to help?"
"Feed it to me with your mouth."
Isn't water fed to you by a beauty the real honey water?
"Uh, uhh..."
"Yui. He's joking, you don't have to do it."
"Oh."
I wasn't joking.
What a shame.
"Here, Luke, drink this honey water. I bought it for you."
"Thanks."
I took the honey water from Yui and drank it.
It wouldn't make me feel better instantly, but I figured I'd be okay after a little while.
"Alright. Time to head to work."
"Are you sure you don't need to rest more?"
"Anyone would think I drank dozens of bottles yesterday. It was just one glass."
"And who was it that passed out from that 'just one glass'......"
"Ahem."
It was my first time drinking yesterday, wasn't it?
They say you build a tolerance if you drink a lot!
Or so the internet said.
"If you guys aren't going, I can just go by myself!"
"I never said I wasn't going......"
I sprang up from the bed in one motion.
Then, I changed my clothes at lightning speed in under ten seconds.
It was a simple task, as all men possess a high-speed undressing skill by default.
After leaving the inn, we headed straight for the Adventurer's Guild.
It felt like my daily routine lately was just waking up, going to the guild, finishing a request, eating, and sleeping.
But since my job is an adventurer, it's an unavoidable cycle.
-Murmur, murmur.
For some reason, the inside of the guild was noisy.
'This damn guild is like this every so often.'
Maybe they have a monthly event or something.
I wanted to just ignore it, but whenever this happened, I always got tangled up in it, so I went to find Adela as usual.
"Adela."
"Oh, Luke. Welcome."
"Why is it so noisy again today?"
"An A-rank monster was discovered near the sea. I think it's because they're recruiting adventurers to participate in a raid right now."
But the buzzing crowd was making my head spin, and the nausea I'd been feeling was threatening to come up.
"Ah... I see."
"Um, are you feeling unwell, Luke? You don't look so good..."
"I don't?"
In that case, I need to cure this hangover right now.
"Excuse me, but may I be excused for a moment?"
"...What?"
"Huuuurk! Hwwwuuuaaaaaargh!!"
"Aaaah!!"
A helpful tip for vomiting.
If you shake your head up and down while you puke, you can spray it around skillfully, just like a Metal Slug zombie.
During speedruns, you'd deliberately become a zombie to spray the boss room like this.
***
After a hearty vomit, my body, mind, and spirit felt a whole lot lighter.
I still had a slight headache, but it would probably disappear within a few minutes.
"Phew... that's refreshing."
"...I'm so happy for you."
Adela glared at me as if she wanted to kill me.
I threw up, and I cleaned it all up myself. Was there any need to glare at me like that?
"Pardon the intrusion. I had a drink last night."
"Since when did 'excuse me' become a declaration of intent to cause trouble instead of a request for understanding?"
"People can feel unwell sometimes. At least I showed up for work instead of calling in sick, right?"
"...Adventurers don't have sick leave. You can just rest if you want to."
That is one of the perks of being an adventurer.
"Anyway, Luke. The Guild Master summoned you today. Would you mind heading to his office?"
"Me?"
"Yes."
"Really, me?"
"...Yes."
"Why? I haven't done anything wrong this time."
"...Please get rid of the idea that being summoned means you've done something wrong."
Someone who had never called for me before was suddenly calling for me. Of course, I'd be suspicious.
Everyone has probably experienced something like this at least once in their life.
When your mom calls you even though you've done nothing wrong, you feel like you're in trouble. When a police car drives by, you can't help but flinch.
"So, should I go to the Guild Master's office now?"
"Yes."
So she said.
I turned right from the reception desk and headed for the Guild Master's office.
It wasn't my first time, so finding the way wasn't difficult.
The path from the first floor to the stairs.
The people in front of me parted to the left and right, clearing a path.
"Is this what they call the miracle of Moses?"
"Aren't they just avoiding you...?"
"What did I do to be avoided?"
"They don't know when you might throw up again."
"Once was enough. How many more times could I do it?"
For fun, I pretended to gag, and everyone scattered.
I repeated this to clear all the people blocking my way and arrived at the Guild Master's office.
-Knock, knock.
I knocked but didn't wait for an answer before entering.
"...I haven't given you permission to enter yet."
"Should I go back out and knock again?"
"Sigh... you're already in, so just sit."
We sat down side-by-side on the large sofa placed to one side of the office.
Argo sat on the one opposite us.
"Why did you call for us?"
"You lot. Ever thought about trying a raid?"
Was it the thing Adela mentioned earlier?
The cause of the commotion in the guild.
If the raids I knew were anything to go by, it was usually a bunch of people ganging up on a single monster.
It's probably the same here, right?
"So, what kind of raid is it?"
"Don't you even need to discuss it with your party members...?"
"It doesn't matter. If they don't want to go, I'll just go by myself."
If they don't want to go, I don't have to take them. I'm fine with that.
But I want to go, so if they say no, I'll go alone.
"It's an A-rank monster, a Sea Serpent."
A name I'd heard somewhere before popped up.
Should I call it a sea snake?
I remember playing a game once where a sea serpent appeared and sank my ship while I was bored during a voyage and watching YouTube.
"It appeared out of nowhere and is blocking a trade route, so we're recruiting urgently."
"But we're C-rank."
"Weren't you here to take the B-rank promotion test today anyway? If you participate in this raid and perform reasonably well, I'll consider your promotion test passed."
"Well, that's fine by me, but can a C-rank normally tag along on an A-rank raid?"
"It's obvious you would have passed the B-rank test even if you took it separately. I'm just letting you participate as if you were already B-rank."
His way of handling things is pretty lax.
Which is why I like it!
When people are too by-the-book, it's no fun and just tiring.
"Is there any other information?"
"The adventurers of B-rank and above are currently gathered at the port closest to the sea where the monster appeared. An A-rank adventurer, the commander, will be there. Show him this letter of recommendation I'm giving you, and he'll give you a detailed explanation."
As he said that, Argo placed a neatly rolled-up letter on the table.
"When do we have to go?"
Don't tell me it's right now again.
"The raid starts in a week. Whether you prepare here or prepare there is up to you."
He has some conscience this time, at least.
It's a relief he's not telling me to go right this instant.
"The reward is generous, right?"
"That will depend on how you perform."
"What do I have to do to get a big reward?"
"The base subjugation reward is three gold coins per person. Everything else is based on contribution. An additional reward will be given based on how much you contribute to the raid, and the A-rank adventurer on site will testify to that."
In other words, I just have to kiss the A-rank adventurer's ass.
Three gold coins per person. The reward is incredible, probably because it's an A-rank raid.
That's nine gold coins in total. I could probably live for a year just playing around and eating, right?
"Okay. See you in a week, then. I'll go handle things, clean and simple."
With those words, I picked up the letter and left the Guild Master's office.