7. Ishida in wonderland

WELCOME TO KOROVA!

Thank you so much for choosing to become a part of something greater. Through this initiation, we hope that you can fall in love with this world—just like we have.

Korova used to be a land of lush forests where magical creatures lived in harmony. However, a mysterious plague known as MP (Mysterious Plague) has begun corrupting this land; those who come into contact with it rapidly wither and die. Because of this, Korovans have begun to rely on outlanders for help—and that’s where you, dearest candidate, come into play! This is because, as creatures from another realm, we’re immune to the MP.

Once an outlander is recruited, a preliminary trial is conducted in order to awaken their abilities. After all, we outlanders had no magic back in our world, did we? This is to establish a link between this world’s magic field* (1) and us. Once that’s done, you’ve passed! You’re officially a Korovan citizen, and you have magic. You’ll then be transported by our lovely Igasu* (3) workers to one of our branch offices* (2), where you’re currently resting.

Here, you will go through a second round of tests. While you already know what your affiliation and power might be, you ought to find a specialization! This is where our experts can begin to craft a personalized training plan. Furthermore, this is where you’ll become a Korovan inhabitant.

Prior to the first outlander, Korova was a land without humans. Because of this, to properly gain access to magic, you’re assigned a local species. No, you do not transform into that species (though some participants might acquire a few traits); this is for documentation purposes only. Said species will see you as outlanders regardless, so please proceed with caution and decor.

Once you choose a role and get assigned a species, you’ll earn your equipment by participating in your very first Quest* (4)!

Now, what does this quest involve? Depending on how well you’ve mastered your magic skills over our short training period, you can choose to go on a recon mission, explore a dungeon, cull Prions* (5), or more!

Now, while we recommend to maintain the party you arrived with—after all, they’re likelier than not to be close to you—you’re always free to swap companions depending on your needs. After all, us outlanders are a tight-knit community where everyone knows and gets along with each other. We’re here to save the world, but we’re also here to have fun!

* Do NOT call the magic field ‘mana’. Locals consider it offensive.

* Do NOT call these ‘starter towns’. Locals consider it offensive.

* ‘Rabbits’ is now considered a slur.

* Is it now legal to punch outlanders who ask about adventurer’s guilds. Proceed with caution.

* You can call them monsters.

RULES:

Do not attempt to sabotage your outlander peers.

Do not commit crimes against locals.

Do not ask about the castle.

Do not stray from the intended path during Quests.

Do not repeatedly mention that other world. You don’t belong there anymore. You never did.

Do not abuse the respawn system, especially as a “joke” among “peers”. Repeated violations are considered a punishable offense.

Do not keep dungeon artifacts without reporting them first. You’ll be closely monitored before and after Quests.

Do not attempt to kidnap Igasu to keep them as pets.

Do not use Igasu to play ball games with their shells while they’re hiding.

Do not use Igasu as dungeon bait.

Do not interact with therianthropes without permission. They vehemently stand against outlanders and will not hesitate to kill us.

Do report all violations to the Outlanders Association.

Do report deaths, yours or otherwise.

Do attempt to blend in with the culture. There have been several complaints of outlanders who refuse to interact with locals.

Do consider handing in your phone. We’ll register your name, then let you know once we can establish a connection to our world.

Do ask if you have any questions! We have a vast collection of resources, pamphlets and information for any doubts you might have.

Do have fun!

:—<> —:

In some ways, this reminded me of a school trip. After the boring ass seminar, we were escorted to a huge dining room where we were torturously made to, eherm, incentivized to interact with other outlanders. The silver lining was that most groups just kind of kept to themselves.

Dinner, presumably to ease us into this world, looked shockingly familiar, which was to say that it was omurice. Yeah, omurice. They’d even written our names with ketchup. It was blue, though.

While I looked for a way to flee back to the room, one of the kids went from party to party asking what kind of magic everyone had. Apparently she could summon a sword of darkness, and apparently that was the rarest ability. If I’d been able to communicate, I would’ve told her that some other guy in our safe zone forest thing could do something very similar, and he’d ended up as a dragon snack.

I sat next to Aoko, who sat next to Hisui, who sat next to Yukimura. We could theoretically choose where to sit, but of course, corners were the first places to vanish. We sat in the middle of nowhere and everywhere, swallowed by and swallowing people.

The door was far—too far. Too far. It’d take at least a minute to cross this sea of teenagers. Not that it’d stop me, but now I had to brace myself for the incoming wave of nausea. It was suffocating. Too loud. Everything and everyone blurred together.

I did this thing where I’d narrow the entire world into a dot—just the table and the four of us. Yukimura and Hisui seemed to have grown close in record time. They’d extorted paper and pencils from some Igasu nearby to write… what was it? Attack names? Personas? Anyway, they were having fun.

Aoko picked on her omurice, periodically glancing at them. I didn’t realize I was staring until she looked back at me. I lost the staring contest, of course, but even stuffing my mouth with omurice did not deter her; desperate for someone to talk to again, Aoko said, “It tastes just like the ones back home, huh?”

I liked Aoko. She was pretty nice. She kept finding stray animals and trying to force people to adopt them. Accepting a kitten had led to Cronenberg’s (the goldfish) death, so I’d declined ever since. (I’d named the cat Tarantino, too, which seemed almost prophetic…). All of this to say that I had nothing against her. I forced myself to swallow. “Yeah.”

“The thing is, I’m a vegetarian…”

I nodded since I knew that already.

“But I’m also hungry…”

Wait, where did the eggs for these things come from?

“We don’t even know when we’ll eat again, though. Or even where this food comes from, you know? It looks like rice, but what if it’s not? What if this is made of tiny fried maggots? What if dragons lay these eggs?” Aoko’s mind was a dark, disturbing place. “I dunno. I wish I was like you guys. I just hope we get to pick our class. Wait, no, species.”

Which reminded me: Tissu’s brother. If he’d been a volunteer, why had he entered the inn through a window instead of the door?

Anyway. My turn. I had to talk. I couldn’t even breathe, though. I just wanted to—needed to hide somewhere. Too many people. Too bright. Too loud. “Me. Me too.” I swallowed.

“I heard Tissu is at the hospital right now,” Aoko said. “That’s what they called it. Hospital. If everything goes well, she’ll be able to talk again soon, which is great…”

What wasn’t great was her topic of choice. I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t breathe.

“...Ishida… to be honest, I wanted to talk about this sooner or later. It’s nothing bad, just a heads up. I know that this whole thing might have been stressful so far, especially with the dragon fights and everything, but maybe don’t be so violent? People might—”

“Shut up,” I said before I could help it.

Yukimura invited himself into the conversation. “She’s giving you advice, asshole.”

I had to stop. “I didn’t ask her to,” I said instead.

“What is wrong with you? She was just being nice.”

“I didn’t ask her to be nice.”

Hisui stood up. “Everyone, please! Let’s calm down. Yukimura, you interrupted their bonding moment. Kawakami, you did nothing wrong. Ishida, you’re kind of being—”

She actually jumped when I stood up. A few people were looking our way now. “Being what?” I asked her.

Hisui looked around as though someone would help.

“No, go on. Being what?”

“Uh… um… nothing.”

I left after that. To others, it might’ve looked like I’d broodily stormed off, which was orders of magnitude better than the truth: that I was a coward.

By the time I walked through the door, I was practically gasping; it was cold enough that my breath was visible, embarrassing and erratic, as I sat on the stairs to calm down. The world outside the dining was dark, yet peppy and curated. It looked, for all intents and purposes, like a starter town.

“Cold,” I whispered, since I was still using that stupid damp uniform. With my luck, I’d get pneumonia and respawn.

I stayed there until it physically hurt, and I only remembered the world existed because some asshole showed up. “Good evening!”

Said someone was Tissu’s brother again. As I turned to leave, he blocked the way with his body, once, twice, until I finally asked, “What do you want?”

“Revenge,” he replied, then snorted. “No need to look so eager. You must really like breaking faces, huh?”

Not really. Next to him, I was a pipsqueak. He’d probably flatten me in a fight. It’d just be a nice way to let off… whatever this horrid feeling was.

He actually raised his fists for a moment, but then he chickened out. “Sorry, I’m a bit busy. I’ll get back to you on this later. I just saw you there, all alone… I’m pretty sure I know the answer to this already, but I’ll ask you anyway: would you like to join us?”

“No.”

“Do you even know who I’m talking about?”

“No. Don’t care.”

“Of course you don’t.” He shrugged theatrically. “You guys always say no, then end up joining us anyway. But that’s fine. I can wait. Before you leave, I’ll tell you something interesting at least. It might cheer you up.”

I was already walking past him again, but that made me stop. He was, after all, the first thing I’d heard upon arriving to this place.

“You’re making them panic. You see, the organization chose that safe zone because no one can actually get hurt in it… with magic. They thought they’d removed all blunt object to incentivize outlanders to awaken, and then you went and did that. Thanks to you, they’re considering removing restorms altogether.”

How was that supposed to cheer me up?

“I just thought it was funny,” he said. “I’m Sen, by the way. Can I have your name?”

I would’ve said ‘no’, but that was kind of predictable, and I didn’t want to give him that satisfaction in case he guessed it right, so I said, “Ishida,” at the same time he said, “No,” then blinked, because he’d guessed wrong. Take that, gecko.

He grinned. “See ya, Ishida?”

I headed to the dorm, him the opposite way, but I stopped.

I could’ve asked him about the god and beetle shtick. What it meant. If he volunteered as a mole to whatever shady organization he was involved with. Because that was the way these things went, right?

As he walked, a dozen or so people joined him, all wearing uniforms, and all from the seminar, I presumed.

‘Good ones’.