Chapter 1: Life in the Mountains is Tough

From the day after I had that dream where I relived my life, my body started feeling strangely better.

It felt as if a little bit of strength had returned to my malnourished body. However, I couldn’t afford to be satisfied with just that. Even if my condition had slightly improved, the fact remained that I had practically no food. There was no prospect of getting any, either.

What I needed to do hadn’t changed.

I don’t even know how many days passed since then, but to stave off my daily hunger, I randomly stuffed whatever weeds were growing nearby into my mouth, or ate carrion without knowing what it originally was, only to violently throw it up and suffer for hours or even days on end.

Before long, whether my body started accepting it or just got used to it, the frequency of my vomiting decreased, and I became fine eating anything around the cave I was using as my base.

The human body is a mysterious thing… or rather, I’m completely turning into a wild child…

Will I ever be able to return to human society…?

Lately, I’ve been screaming in agony, but I haven’t had an actual conversation. I’m worried whether I’ll be able to speak properly if I ever meet another person. Maybe I should practice talking… I certainly have plenty of time…

While thinking about such things and barely managing to survive each day, I suddenly realized that my body had become entirely emaciated. Along with my declining stamina, it seemed my muscle strength had also dropped.

Come to think of it, I left my Guild Card in my pocket.

Thinking I should check my current condition, I pricked my fingertip on a nearby rock and let a single drop of blood fall onto the Guild Card. The Guild Card has a function that displays the registered user’s current status when their blood is applied to it.

I received the card when I registered with the Adventurer’s Guild and was told various things about the job of an adventurer, but I didn’t remember much of it. Adventurers also have a rank system where S is the highest and F is the lowest. I only wanted the card to track how much I had grown and strengthened through my training. Since I hadn’t been very active as an adventurer, my rank was, of course, still “F”.

I didn’t particularly intend to become a full-time adventurer anyway, so that wasn’t an issue.

However, what if they tell me something like, “Since you haven’t taken a request for a long time, there’s a penalty fee for breach of contract”…? That would be a problem. I practically have no money on me right now… Well, I’ll figure it out if it comes to that.

Right now, I need to check my status. I just hope I haven’t contracted some weird status ailment…

Thinking that, I looked at the Guild Card displaying my status. There are eight categories displayed on the Guild Card’s status screen.

• • HP (Health) / MP (Magic Power)

• • STR (Attack Power) / VIT (Defense)

• • INT (Magical Attack) / MND (Magical Defense)

• • AGI (Agility) / DEX (Dexterity)

In addition to these eight, the registered user’s name, race, age, and individual unique or acquired skills are displayed. Based on what I heard at the guild, the average values for a standard knight or the most common C-rank adventurer are:

When I checked a few days before leaving the Royal Capital, I possessed strength close to these average values. But right now, the current status displayed on my Guild Card read as follows:

Name: Wazu | Race: Human (100% Purity) | Age: 15

…It was.

—Huh? Why is it displayed in text?

No, no, no, where did the numbers go?

I alternately looked at the front and back of the card to check, but there was nothing weird about it. It was a completely normal Guild Card.

…Why did this happen? Did it break somewhere while I was carrying it around?

I looked at the status again to double-check. This time, all the way to the end. The first half hadn’t changed from earlier. I continued reading and checked the Skills section as well.

Skills

• • Swordsmanship Lv: 2: Has acquired general sword usage. A level past that of a beginner.

• • Foul Eater (Unique): Can eat anything without being picky. However, avoid things that are bad for digestion. Eating high-ranking items or entities stronger than oneself provides a minor status increase correction.

• • Near-Immunity to Status Ailments: Gains near-immunity to most status ailments. It’s only “near,” so don’t be too overconfident. You’re just enduring it anyway.

• • Goddess’s Pity (Unique): In your dreams, I learned what happened to you and why you are in such a place. To cry and cry like that… and end up in a place like this… It’s okay! Good things are bound to happen! So please cheer up! This is about all I can do for now, but I will bestow my divine protection upon you. I will help you with all my might, so let’s do our best to survive! by Goddess

…That’s what was displayed. Okay, let’s calm down for a second…

I’m driven by the urge to interject about so many things, but first, I need to calm down. Panicking is no good. I looked up at the sky, took a deep breath, and… screamed.

“What on earth is going on~~~?!”

Perhaps thanks to shouting at the top of my lungs, my mind settled down a bit. If I recall correctly, I should be able to check the details of the skill entries. Maybe the reason it ended up like this is displayed there too. Seeking an answer, I had checked the skills.

…What is this… What the hell actually happened? More importantly, huh? What’s a Goddess? Like, an actual literal Goddess? No, no, no, why would a Goddess be in a place like this? And when did she even…

Wait a minute… the Goddess’s text mentions “In your dreams.” Does that mean it was when I had that dream reliving my life? Eh? Why would that happen from that? No, wait… I think I also saw a glowing orb right before having that dream…

Could it be that the orb was the Goddess?

She had already vanished when I opened my eyes, but… does that mean she’s inside me… or rather, inside the Guild Card? What is that about? What does that even mean?

I don’t understand this at all. She’s called a Goddess, and since her very existence is divine, does that mean anything goes?

…Wait a sec. by Goddess… At first, I thought that only applied to the skills, but could it possibly apply to everything displayed on the Guild Card…? So that’s why all the status values have turned into text… If that’s the case, I have some specific complaints for this Goddess.

The first thing I want to say is:

—WRITE IT IN NUMBERS~~~~~~~!

Overall, I can tell that I’m completely useless with magic, but I have absolutely no idea what my physical strength is. Well, I guess I know it’s incredibly weak. I look completely emaciated, after all. But still, I just don’t get it! This actually makes it harder to understand!

…Hah… hah… Let’s calm down.

So many things happened all at once that I’m panicking a little. Well, it’s only happening inside the Guild Card, though. …Alright… let’s go through it one by one… If I look closely, I’ll surely understand…

First, the name and age aren’t wrong. I’d be shocked if they had changed. But the race is weird. Human isn’t wrong. It isn’t wrong, but… What does “100% Purity” mean? What’s that about? Why is that even displayed? It’s unnecessary, right? Normally, you don’t need that, right? Having that shown just fills me with anxiety…

Does she want to make me anxious…?

…Hah… No point overthinking it. Let’s move on…

I understand having no MP. I’ve never been able to use magic once in my entire life. So I kind of knew I didn’t have any MP… but even so, what’s with my HP being “Weakened”? I mean, I get what it’s trying to say, okay? I haven’t had a decent meal, I’m skin and bones, and my current state is definitely weakened. There’s no mistaking that, but wasn’t there another way to phrase it?

As for STR, “Do your best”…? Do my best at what? What am I supposed to try hard at? I don’t feel encouraged by that at all.

VIT is “Paper Armor,” huh… In other words, you want to say I’m as fragile as paper. Well, I am skin and bones.

INT, well, whatever… I can’t use magic anyway.

MND is “Don’t get hit.” What happens if I get hit? Do I die? Is that why I shouldn’t get hit?

As for AGI, what is “Normal”? Normal by what standard? Are you trying to say I’m neither fast nor slow?

And DEX is “Hoping for the future”, is it? So you mean it’s hopeless right now. I’m not dexterous anyway!

Overall, I get that I’m “Weak” or “Weakened”. That’s all I figured out. That’s the only thing I figured out. If I’m going to try to survive here from now on, I’d better train properly again. If what is written on the Guild Card is true, taking a single clumsy hit will kill me… Actually, that’s been true ever since I got here.

…Hah… Well, I guess it’s fine since I at least learned I’m weak…

I should double-check the skills while I’m at it. I don’t care about “Swordsmanship”. It was like that back in the Royal Capital. The issue is the never-before-seen “Foul Eater” and “Near-Immunity to Status Ailments”.

As for “Foul Eater,” my first thought was why do I have something like this? but when I think about it, I’ve been eating whatever I could find since I arrived here. Is it because of that? I did stuff whatever I could find into my mouth…

“Near-Immunity to Status Ailments” is undeniably because of that same random eating. I’ve vomited up things I ate, gone numb, collapsed… all sorts of things happened… They are bad memories now. The fact that nothing happens when I put things in my mouth lately means I’ve built up a resistance.

Well, I suppose acquiring these skills makes sense. I have been living that kind of lifestyle, after all… But the real problem is still “Goddess’s Pity”.

Seriously, what is this? Am I really being pitied by a Goddess? Seeing this actually makes it more painful! It’s hard to keep living… Are good things really going to happen from now on…? Hah…

As I stared at the “Goddess’s Pity” section, the text morphed as if twisting into something else.

Goddess’s Cheer (Unique)

Fight on! I’m with you, so you will absolutely find happiness from now on! Rest assured! Just surrender yourself completely to my divine protection!

I’m being encouraged~~~! Or rather, wait!

What is this? Could it be that she’s reading my thoughts? I didn’t say that out loud, right? Does that mean I’m being one-sidedly read? While I was holding my head over this realization, the text changed once again.

The Goddess is a Woman Who Waits (Unique)

If you ever feel lonely, feel free to talk to me anytime. I’ll always be here waiting for you… yes, forever…

That’s terrifying! The end of that sentence is terrifying!

I slammed the Guild Card onto the ground as hard as I could. Even though I was panting heavily, my mind, conversely, began to cool down.

Thinking carefully, obtaining a Goddess’s divine protection… means that, ultimately, it’s a net positive. If I only consider that fact, I have nothing but gratitude for the Goddess, but… When I factor in how she turned my status into sentences instead of numbers… it zeroes out.

I let out a heavy sigh, picked up the Guild Card I had slammed onto the ground, and shoved it into my pocket, making sure not to look at the display.

Because I had revealed my emotions for the first time in a while, I felt a little tired. I just lay down and rested for a bit. Checking my status was certainly a disaster, but I did catch a glimpse of faint hope.

“Foul Eater” had the effect of a minor status increase correction. If that’s the case, if I raise my status using the effects of this skill, maybe I’ll be able to defeat the monsters in the forest… or at least, it might become possible.