Chapter 1:
There Is No Way I Can Beat Him! Unless I'm As Strong As Him.
Standing before Rin was a man who—according to Rin’s own words—felt like staring directly into the sun.
Dressed in a pristine white suit and cloak adorned with golden trim, his white hair shimmered under the church’s stained-glass light. The resemblance to the goddess was uncanny—though at least this time, the radiance was slightly less blinding.
“Welcome traveler!” The guy exclaimed his arms wide open striking a pose like some kind of villain. “I will be you’re tutorial guide to this new world! And… uh… Are you okay…?”
Rin was on his knees on the floor covering his eyes as if he actually stared into the sun for too long.
“First the woman, then the blinding light that brought me here, and now you.” Rin said still holding his eyes shut. “It is as if everyone is purposefully trying to make me blind.”
“You must have met the goddess. Isn’t she pretty? I am so inspired by her.”
That explains his appearance.
“Sure, she is pretty.” Rin muttered. “Just too much white.”
The guy laughs. “Have you never been to a wedding? You’re overreacting. Or maybe it’s reincarnation nausea.”
“So, who are you exactly?” Rin said finally opening his eyes to take a look at the guy.
“Alice Sung! Priest, guide, and your personal isekai concierge!”
“Did you just say isekai?”
“Yes.”
“You’re from earth?”
“Yep.”
“From Tokyo, Japan?”
“How did you guess?”
This conversation is starting to get absurd. This guy’s a walking anime trope. An overenthusiastic, goddess-obsessed, self-proclaimed priest who probably spent his past life binge-watching seasonal isekai.
“By the way…” Alice stepped closer, suddenly turning serious. “You are emitting a lot of aura. Do you know that?”
“Is that an issue?” Rin tensed up.
Alice walks up to Rin and placed his palm right in front of Rin’s forehead.
“Check skills.” He commanded.
In a split second, Rin blitzes to the door of the church summoning a sword out of thin air. He looked at Rin with anger and fear. He was ready to fight.
Rin takes a step back feeling threatened by Alice. But then, Alice puts his sword away and recomposes himself.
“I must apologize for my sudden action.” He said bowing a little. “But I believe that the time has finally come.”
“What are you talking about?” Rin asks, still in a defensive position.
“You must be the one that will save us from the corrupted hero.” Alice answered.
“The corrupted hero?” Rin repeats. “The goddess talked about him. She said that he has all kinds of supernatural abilities.”
“And so do you.” Alice replied, smiling. “You have 999 abilities.”
“999?! That is absurd!"
“Don’t believe me. Check it out for yourself.” Alice gestured. "Hand to your chest, say ‘Open Inventory’, mentally or aloud, doesn’t matter."
Rin follows Alice’s instructions, and a translucent menu opens up in front of Rin. His eyes widened, surprised at the menu. There are 3 reasons:
Reason 1: This looks exactly like a video game menu.
Reason 2: There really are 999 abilities in his possession.
Reason 3: Despite being unable to read this new fantasy language, he understood it in the blink of a second.
Rin holds his head feeling heavy as a lot of information is flowing in all at once. It gives him a headache.
“I’m going to summon a goblin,” Alice said. “Use a basic fireball or something. I want to gauge your basic damage output.”
“O-Okay…” Rin stutters still trying to recollect himself.
Suddenly, a portal appears on the floor and a goblin appears from the floor.
“Go ahead, kill it.”
Rin raises his hand and shouts: “Fireball!” A blazing red-orange sphere of flame appears on the palm of Rin’s hand and shoots out to the goblin. The goblin didn’t get a chance to react as the fireball reached him and incinerated him.
Two messages then popped up in front of Rin:
|You have reached Level 1!|
|You have gained 20 points!|
“What can I do with points?” Rin asks. But he didn’t get a direct answer. He looked over at Alice. He had a confused look on his face.
Alice remained silent, staring at the charred floor where the goblin died. He then clears his throat and looks over at Rin. “You can use the points to upgrade your abilities.” What was going on in Alice’s mind was a different story.
He has one-shot the goblin!? No newbie should be able to do that!
“Rin, you are pretty strong.”
“I can see that.” Rin says. “I wouldn’t imagine that killing a goblin would be that easy. “I’m investing 10 points to level up my fireball skill.”
A message popped up:
|Your skill “Fireball” has reached level 2!|
“I assume that there will be a village outside this church.” Rin then said, satisfied with his new ability. “I am going to take a walk and figure some things out.”
“Sure, go ahead.” Alice said dismissing him thinking about a few things. But then, something crossed his mind. “Rin, wait-!” Alice shouted out to stop Rin from walking out, but it was too late.
Rin opens the door and takes a good look at the village. It was lively, people were happy, smiling, having fun. But the moment Rin’s feet exited the church, the entire atmosphere changed.
Everyone’s eyes widen. They stared at Rin. Some were scared. Some started to run. A few guards came and unleashed their swords ready to fight him.
What was going on?
This reminded Rin of the day he died. When the shooter pulled out his gun, this was a similar experience.
Did I do something bad? Am I a villain without knowing?
“Go away monster!” A guard screamed at him. His eyes were filled with fear. He couldn’t fight. But he had a duty to protect this village.
“W-What’s going on?” Rin steps back, bewildered.
“Don’t play dumb! You’re here to destroy this village aren’t you? We are not going to allow you!”
“I’m not planning such thing.” Rin said trying to defend himself still not knowing what was going on.
Alice rushed forward arms raised. “Expand barrier!” Alice then shouted. The barrier keeps any strong amounts on mana inside it. The guards then fell to the ground feeling a little relaxed. “He is not an enemy! He has just come from another world, and he will be the one to save us!”
“We can’t trust him!” A guard then stood up and shouted.
“He might be our only hope in saving this world!” Alice tried to defend Rin.
“Didn’t that hero also say that when faced with the demon king?” The guard attacked. “Look where he is now, corrupted by power taking over the world! What will him defeating that monster do? Make an even more troublesome enemy?! We need to kill him before he gets too strong!”
“I will not allow that!” Alice defends.
“So, that is what this is all about…” Rin muttered sighing. “I swear, I am not evil!”
“You say that now, but after you-”
“No!” Rin interrupted the guard. “How do you guys think I died in my previous world?” Rin then asks the guards.
“You got hit by a truck!” Another guard shouts.
“You watch too much anime!” Rin shouts back. He then sighs and looks up at everyone with determination. “I died trying to be a hero. There was a shooter in my class, instead of cowering away or running, I tried to save everyone. My teachers, my classmates… I can’t be for sure if I could save everyone, maybe I got more people to try and be a hero, maybe I got the police to arrive on time, maybe my attempt was futile, but I tried.”
Everyone looked at Rin in silence. Nobody dared to speak a word.
“If you still don’t believe me and continue to target me like a villain, then I’ll have no choice to make everyone here my enemy. Then I’ll target that monster by myself. Do you all understand?”
The guards lowered their swords, the villagers look at Rin like a normal human being. He then took a step out of the expanded barrier of Alice. And this time, nothing happens. Rin continued to walk into the village and Alice followed him. After all, Alice is Rin’s tutorial guide.
“You are such an aura farmer.” Alice said grinning, catching up to Rin’s walking pace.
“Not now.” Rin said back. I thought I was going to die.”
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