First Quest

After 15 minutes of running, we arrived at the outskirts of the capital. We paused in an empty area of gravel and dry, dusty ground.

“This is the spot,” Amada explained.

The girls and I took the time to catch our breaths. Unfortunately, we couldn’t get a break from the constant running, and we had the crowd to blame for that.

I looked at the crowd with my eyebrows arched inwards, irritated. To my surprise, everyone else was catching their breath. That’s some insane dedication to follow me. Just how popular was Mr. Satori?!

The green forest was scattered in front of us. Its large green trees with thick bushes intimidated me with the unknown. The transition from the green forest soil to the dry soil showed the kind of destruction civilization could create.

I curiously pointed out, panting. “I thought… the warthogs… were in the capital?”

“They were… but after they attack, they return to the forest as this is their home,” replied Hinabe.

…Those sneaky little bastards. They made me run across the capital. I’ve got some built-up frustration from everything, so I need to take it out on something.

Before we encountered the warthogs, we needed to recover. As I used my legs as support to catch my breath, the bystanders gossiped among each other.

“Why is Mr. Satori teaming up with those people?”

“Are they blackmailing him?”

Blackmailing? In a way, that’s the reason why I am here in the first place. But… it was an accident, so I can’t be that upset. But blackmail was a little much. I forgot that Amada said that she and Hinabe couldn’t find any more people to join. I wonder why?

I mean, Amada did cast the teleportation spell. Plus, we had Hinabe, a literal elf. When I played some RPG games before, a lot of times, the elves were a hated race. Were elves feared by everyone here, too?

I quickly scouted the crowd and noticed some grown elves cheering for me. No one was paying attention to them or caring that they were around them, so I guess they aren’t hated in this world.

I hastily shook my head to clear my thoughts. There’s no point in thinking about it. There were three of us against some animal. How bad could it really be?

I realized that I arrived there with no weapons at all. I quickly scouted the crowd and saw a scrawny boy with a dull sword. I ran to the boy to borrow the sword. The interaction was too quick for the boy to respond. However, he wasn’t mad, only caught off guard.

I ran back to my position and shouted towards the forest, “C’mon you little bastards!”

The crowd backed me up and cheered at my command.

…

The forest responded as its leaves rigorously swayed. A flock of black crows flew out of the forest in unison. With each step in the forest, I felt the rumbling of the ground growing stronger as it approached me. Something was approaching us… Something big.

After a moment of silence in the forest, three large warthogs roared out of the forest. They were about four times my height, about the size of an elephant. I was told that they are big, but not monstrous! I did not sign up for that!

All of my confidence was immediately depleted. What was that dull sword going to do?! This was it.

With the crowd cheering for me, it boosted what little confidence I had. “Umm. guys. I don’t think I got this.” I slowly turned my head left and looked over to Amada and Hinabe. Hopefully, they can help me out.

Each warthog targeted each of us to split us up. One of the warthogs stomped towards me. It lowered its head as it charged towards me. The brown warthog with scars around its face stood proud and glared at me with murderous intent. The air thickened, almost suffocating me. As it exhaled through its nose, the gust of wind nearly knocked me over.

Fear spread throughout, paralyzing my lower body. I was so scared I could cry. I nervously twitched my head to the left and called my team. “Umm, guys?!”

My faith in my team instantly faded away when I looked at Amada. She stood the furthest from me. She gazed at the warthogs with hearts in her eyes. She slowly walked towards one of the warthogs, reaching out her hand while speaking in a cute, high-pitched voice. “Aww, you adorable little pig… come here, you!”

The warthog stopped moving, puzzled by Amada’s weird behavior. As she approached it, I couldn’t believe my eyes.

Amada suddenly began petting the large warthog’s leg. “You’re so cute! Now, why did you attack the capital, silly?”

The warthog grew irritated by Amada’s touching its leg. It replied to Amada by lowering its head. It silently hooked her onto one of its horns and launched her into the air. Amada flew a few meters away from Hinabe and landed on the ground, carving a large hole into the ground.

The warthog turned its attention to her and chased after her. This was getting bad. Amada landed farther away from me. She needed help. Hinabe was between the two of us. She was the closest one to Amada. I turned my attention to her.

“Hey Hinabe, Amada needs some help-.”

Hinabe ignored my command. Instead, she lay on the floor. At first, I thought she was attacked and injured. However, I looked closer at her face and saw her drooling on the ground.

Unbelievable! How could she sleep in this kind of situation? She was sleeping earlier. How much sleep does she need?

One of the other warthogs ran towards her. It was furthest away from us and had a while until it approached her. As they were helpless against these beasts, the crowd began watching in disappointment. The conversations grew louder in my ear.

“There she goes again, Hinabe the sleeper. She’s always sleeping during missions. That’s why no one wants to be in a team with her. She’s unreliable.”

Oh, brother. I’ve got an idiot and a sleeper as teammates. I could understand why no one wanted to join them. The gossiping around us grew louder.

“And Amada is very nice, but she doesn’t take the missions seriously. She’s a liability.”

Amada overheard the mean insults aimed at her and Hinabe. She lay there smacking her lips with a smug expression. The impact damaged her, so she was unable to move.

With no one able to fight against these warthogs, I had to do something. I smacked the dull sword at the warthog on its leg with all my might. However, I might as well tickle the monster because he did not react.

I chuckled at my lousy attempt to fight back. The warthog slowly charged up its horns and tossed me high in the air. I froze in the air for a moment until gravity caught up.

…

I faceplanted on the ground, carving a smaller hole than Amada into the ground. with my whole body aching. My bones felt like they were broken.

The crowd gasped in awe, amazed at how easily I was being manhandled by these monsters.

“C’mon, Mr. Satori. Fight back!”

Their cheering for me began to irritate me. “Stop…Stop cheering for me,” I mumbled to myself in the dirt. “I am not the man you think I am.”

The crowd continued their positive cheering but mixed in some strays at Hinabe and Amada. “Mr. Satori, you don’t need them in your squad.”

“Someone like you shouldn’t be with them. They’re useless to you-”

“-Shut up!” My patience broke, and I erupted in anger. The crowd turned mute as I shouted at them to stop.

I tried to catch my breath for a moment. Afterwards, I pleaded to the crowd, “Please, stop!”

I slowly emerged from the ground and struggled to get up. I panted, “I… am not this Mr. Satori guy. I’m… just his look-alike.”

The crowd turned to each other in confusion. My clothing did throw them off at first. However, as they watched me struggle, doubt spread in the crowd. Some began to doubt if I was Mr. Satori. They chose to stop cheering and simply watch.

Their cheers were annoying, but calling out my teammates was uncalled for.

I gradually lifted my head and glanced at my teammates. “These people are definitely idiots, maybe even useless.”

Amada listened to my speech. When I mentioned her uselessness, her eyes saddened.

“But… they’re still human.”

Don’t get me wrong, they do suck. However, I kind of feel sorry for them. They remind me of myself back in the other world. I rarely had any friends. Those online friends only played with me to help them with the game.

I spoke up again, clearing my voice with confidence. “I don’t know Amada or Hinabe well, but I don’t think they’re horrible people. Because of that, I believe they shouldn’t be hated like that.”

The crowd remained silent. Some looked at each other, feeling guilty for their insults. Amada's face brightened in shock. She never imagined I would defend her.

After I finished my speech, I focused my attention on the problem at hand. Luckily, I landed near Hinabe. I found small rocks around me. I quickly picked some up and tossed them at Hinabe, calling her name. “Hinabe, wake up!”

The rocks struck her backside, waking her up. “Ow, that hurts.” She slowly looked around, forgetting where she was.

I asked her, “Hinabe, how many spells do you know?”

“Umm, we elves know every spell.”

Her soft-spoken voice sounded genuine with confidence. With that in mind, I quickly thought of a plan to defeat these monsters. “Alright, Hinabe. I’ve got a plan.”

…