Chapter 1 - Status Open
When I noticed, I was standing in the forest.
A dark forest lined with large, dense trees, with no end in sight.
It was dark and there was no underbrush, so I could see pretty far into the forest. Before where I was standing, a huge, straight, coniferous tree had fallen with its roots exposed, leaving a gaping hole in the forest.
Trees, especially conifers, fall surprisingly easily. It is the leverage principle that the straighter and longer they are, the easier they fall.
What happens when a tree falls and makes a hole in the forest? When I look up, I see the sky, and only from that patch can I see sunlight shining through.
So, what is this situation?
I try to refresh my memory - I can remember my name, my age, and the address of where I lived.
I was an old man who was enjoying my slow life, owning a small business that drew illustrations on the Internet using the fiber-optic cable that was finally available in the countryside, and also enjoying a vegetable garden.
Was I involved in an accident when I went to a nearby mountain to pick wild vegetables? If so, there was nothing wrong with my body and I seemed to be in good health.
「What the hell… 」 I mumbled.
Muttering to myself, of course, does not solve anything.
What should I do? If you don’t know where you are, you're literally lost.
There is nothing I can do if I stay here. I started treading around without any direction.
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After walking around in the forest for a while, I started to sweat, but I could not roll up my long-sleeved shirt. There are many bugs and leeches in the forest.
I don’t know what this situation is, but I'm glad I wore a long-sleeved shirt.
Underneath, I wore the same cheap work pants I always wear and sneakers I bought at a discount store.
Because I was in the forest, it would have been perfect if I had worn boots, but... it cannot be helped.
I wanted to wrap a towel around my neck as well. If my neck is exposed, ticks can get in and bite my back.
I have been in the hospital many times for tick bites from picking wild vegetables.
I lived in the countryside, so the nearest hospital was in a small town several dozen kilometers away. If I got stung by a bee and went into anaphylactic shock, I would be dead by the time I reached the hospital. That is what the countryside is all about.
As I walked through the forest, I noted that this must not be a mountain, because it was flat and undulating. I am sure there was no place like this in my neighborhood.
The flat areas had been cultivated into fields, and the forest was on a mountain.
「Fuuu~ 」
I took a breath and looked around - there was nothing.
It’s good that there's nothing around, but if I see a bear, I am done. But I have no water, no food, and I can see that my life will eventually end anyhow.
I was thirsty and hungry, but there was nothing at all to eat. I fumbled in my pockets, however, they were empty...
Mushrooms are growing all around me. Sadly, I don’t know what kind they are, I've never seen them before, and - mushrooms have no nutrition whatsoever.
「This is bad. I have to get through this forest somehow and get out to find something like a village. 」
I searched around again. Then, I thought I saw something white glowing.
At any rate, I decided to go there.
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「Oh... what the hell is this? 」
I arrived at the place of the glowing light. There, lying at the base of a large tree, was silver armor accompanied with some rust on it.
It was the kind of iron armor that medieval knights wore, called plate armor. The armor has been ransacked by wild animals and is in a bit of disarray.
You can find a lot of different types of armor in the marketplace.
「Oh shit, I found a dead guy. 」
When I looked around in fear, I found that the sword had also fallen. A straight, double-edged sword - probably a fine, two-handed one...
The blade was rusty and damaged. It seemed a little difficult to use even if I sharpened it. I think it would be better to just reforge it.
I feel kind of sorry for the dead guy, but since I’m in a state of emergency, I'm going to have to scavenge the corpse. I didn’t find too much, but I did acquire a ring and a knife.
The knife had a sheath with a string attached to it, so I decided to fasten it to my belt.
I think this is fine for a weapon, but the problem is food.
But what is this plate armor anyway? I don’t know of anyone in my rural area who's this crazy.
The construction is not half bad either. It is not a replica, it is the real thing. Along with it were some scratches, hinting that it has been used and repaired before.
It would not have aged as well as this if it was used as a plaything for a hobby.
Besides, even this well-worn sword should be covered by the Firearms Act. Of course, it’s made of real steel and not an alloy like the imitation sword.
What exactly is the situation I’m in?
Is this a trap? Is someone trying to trick me?
But what is the point of tricking a non-famous country old man like me? I don’t have any money, right?
Besides, everything is too large-scale.
I have never even seen this place before. Even this armor and sword cannot be free.
Is this some kind of joke or is it real?
「So, if I say something like "Status Open!" will it really show up!?」
In response to my words, a shiny, white, board appeared in front of me.
「It really appeared.」
【Name】 Kenichi Hamada
【Age】 38
☆ Shangri-la
☆ Item Box
☆ Trash Can
「What? This is it? What about HP and MP? What about skills and magic? 」
Besides, what the heck is Shangri-La? The first thing that comes to mind is the shopping site I used to use all the time. I have no idea what that means.
Anyway, I try to say "Shangri-La", but there is no response. I reach out to touch it.
The screen changed. What appeared was the screen of the shopping site I was thinking about - Shangri-La.
Shangri-La is a general online shopping company, and they really do sell everything. They sell everything from books and fresh food to clothing, toys, new and used cars, motorcycles, trucks, and heavy machinery.
If you pay 1,000 yen a month, you can watch all the e-books and videos you want. The only things they don’t sell are airplanes and firearms.
I thought so, but when I searched, I was surprised to find that they even sell business jets.
「Seriously? How is this possible? What kind of cheat is this? 」
Next, I tapped the item box and the trash box, and only a white window appeared.
「It's called an item box, so does it store things? 」
As a test, I brought the sword that was lying on the side of the armor closer to the screen - and it got sucked inside.
「Woaaah! 」
On the screen was,
【Rusty Sword】×1
Then the display changed. When I touched the 【Rusty Sword】 item on that screen, another window appeared.
【Do you want to take it out？】【Trash can】
There were two choices. I pressed the button to take it out, and the sword appeared in front of me again.
「Oh! That's convenient! 」
When you select the trash, it seems to be moved to the trash window. And below the Trash window, there is a whirlpool button.
「This is ...? 」
Pressing the whirlpool button brought up another window.
【Do you want to empty the trash can? 】
Haha, you mean this has the same specification as the PC OS? If you don’t empty the trash, it will be retained for a certain amount of time. It’s also possible to take them out of the trash again.
It’s not clear at this point how much can be stored in both the item box and the trash...
At any rate, I’ve got the specs somewhat figured out. But can I use this as is?
Isn’t it kind of creepy to be able to use something so useful for free? What is the price I have to pay?
Isn't it a scam to ask you to pay for something after you’ve used it a lot?
Or is it just a story where the devil comes out at the end and says, "Give me your soul as payment."?
But...
Even though I don’t know what I am doing, I’m going to have to rely on it for now or I'll run out of energy and starve to death in a few days.
I will end up like the knight in shining armor lying here.
Having made up my mind to use this ability, I turned my attention to Shangri-La.
I check the screen and see that it is the same site I've always used and I decided to give it a try.
There is a search window at the top of the screen, and when you tap on it, a screen keyboard is activated.
I first tried typing 【Bread】
When I do, the search results appear as usual. Hmmm, that is convenient. It’s the same as the one I've always used.
【Limited Offer】Assortment of delicious bread
I chose a set of about 10 loaves of bread and put them into my basket. The rest were drinks. "Oishii Milk" is sold in packs of three for about 1,000 yen. I will take this one.
Checking the contents of the basket, it is about 2,500 yen in total. I press "Buy" on ...
【Your balance is insufficient. 】
...A sad string of text was displayed.
「 What? Money? Well, sure, you would need money, but I don't have any, do I? What am I supposed to do? 」
As I struggled, I noticed that there was an item called 【Recharge】 under 【Your balance is insufficient.】. I pressed 【Recharge】.
A new window popped up.
「So, this wants me to put money in here, but what if I don't have any money? 」
The window did not respond to any of my mumblings. In desperation, I plunged the sword I had put into the item box earlier.
「Take that! You thief! 」
However, the sword was sucked into the window.
【Rusty Sword】×1
And underneath it...
【Do you want to appraise it and sell it? 】
Eh? You can sell it? Is it the iron? Regardless, I press the button.
【Appraisal results】【Rusty sword, purchase price 100,000 yen】
「One... Hundred... 100,000 yen? It’s that expensive? 」
There is another line under the purchase valuation.
【Show details】
It can tell me what kind of valuation the item holds? This is very convenient.
【Rusty sword (ingot) appraised at 5,000 yen】
【Ruby, appraisal value 95,000 yen】
What? Ruby? Was there a ruby anywhere on it? It might have been rusty and dirt,y or it might have been fitted in an out-of-sight place.
But I need the money right away. I decided to sell it.
「Click. 」
The payment was made immediately, and 100,000 yen was charged.
「Yes! But if this is true, I won't have to worry about food for now... 」
But 100,000 yen would only last about a month if I used it every day, right? I need to find a village or something to earn money.
Or, if there is a mine that produces precious metals and gems, I can charge in it, but how do you even find such a place? ...It would be impossible.
It’s no use worrying about it now, let's just eat.
I don’t know if this is a lie, the truth, or a joke, but I display the basket with the goods in it and press the [Buy] button.
A bag of bread and three packets of milk fell from the empty space.
How about a little falling? If it were a precision machine, it would break, right?
Well, it’s better to silence the stomach growling than to worry about it... but I'm worried about the skeleton wearing the armor in front of me.
「Hmmm...」
I thought about it for a while, but then I took off the armor from the corpse and bought a shovel from Shangri-La - 2,000 yen.
This is used to dig up the ground, I call it a scoop (スコップ / Scoop) in my local area, but it seems to be called a shovel (シャベル / Shovel) in JIS (Japanese Industrial Standards) standards, so that term might be more accurate.
It seems the name differs from region to region.
I got the new shovel, so I dug a hole. The soil is soft because of the humus, so a depth of about 50 cm should be fine.
After the hole is dug, I put in the white bones, and fill it back in.
「May you rest with Buddha. 」
I put the shovel in the item box and put my hands together. I don’t actually think there is a Buddha in this world. Not even God.
However, I did my best to be polite. I am grateful for what I have gotten.
I put the plate armor that I had removed from the corpse into the sell window and got an appraisal right away.
【Appraisal results】【Plate armor (used), purchase price 50,000 yen】
Hmm, 50,000 yen, that’s a pretty good price. I’m not sure if it’s a good or a bad idea. I don’t understand.
I was about to eat a loaf of bread when I finished burying the body, but then I thought of something I'd like to try since I can use mail order.
I bought a cassette gas stove at Shangri-La - 2,000 yen. Also, buy cassette gas, 300 yen for three cassettes, 100 yen each.
I bought a small pot with a lid for 1,000 yen. Then, water - six 2-liter bottles of natural water from Nantoka for 1,200 yen. Lastly, 12 big curry cup noodles for 2,500 yen.
「 【Purchase】~」
Dong! Dong! The items fell to the floor.
Immediately, I set the cassette gas on the gas stove, put the pot on it, and filled it with water to boil the water. Once the water is boiling, I put in the cup noodles and wait for three minutes.
Oh yeah, I need to buy some disposable chopsticks. I like bamboo chopsticks, and they cost 500 yen for 100 pairs. With this much, I can use them for a while even if they are disposable.
「Hahahahaha! It’s been done! This is the taste of civilization! 」
I slurp up a big bowl of curry cup noodles and eat some bread.
「Delicious 」
This would be very handy if I took it camping with me. You could even climb Mount Everest with it.
I don’t know if I'm really in another world, but for now, at least my stomach is full.