Chapter 1

Before I knew it, I was standing in a dungeon, sword and shield in hand.

“...Huh?”

I couldn’t help but take a second look at the sword in my hand. It was a typical two-handed Western sword, often seen in games, with a polished blade that gleamed like a mirror and a lion’s head decoration on the pommel, making it look incredibly cool.

Incredibly cool... but this wasn’t the time for that.

“Eh? What is this? Eh?”

I’m just an ordinary office worker, and as far as I can remember, I’ve never had anything to do with dangerous things like swords and shields.

Moreover, the place where I was standing... It looked like a cave with naturally carved rock walls, but there were suspicious murals at key points, and the mysterious light source provided just enough illumination for exploration. Well, up to that point, it could have been argued that it was just some hidden ruin, but what was truly decisive was the huge treasure chest with its lid open, visible at the end of the passage.

“This is completely a game dungeon, isn’t it!”

My shout echoed meaninglessly in the cave.

I didn’t understand.

I really, truly didn’t understand.

(Hold on! Hold on! I was sure that yesterday...)

It was just an ordinary day.

I did my routine work, left the office as usual, and then...

That’s right.

I got caught at a traffic light on the way to the station, and while killing time on my smartphone, I found an interesting article.

“---A Thorough Analysis of the Forgotten Masterpiece RPG <Brave & Blade>---”

The RPG “Brave & Blade,” or “BraBra” for short, which I was obsessed with during my student days. Despite being a big title that the company had staked its future on, it ended up being a tragic failure due to various factors. Drawn by nostalgia, I clicked the link without hesitation.

“Five Ways to Fully Enjoy ‘BraBra’”

“Time-Transcending Reevaluation of the Deep Multi-Scenario, Multi-Ending”

“Spin Your Own History with the History Junction System!”

“Real-Time Sword Combat Where Instinct and Strategy Clash!”

“How to Save Your Favorite Character with a Fatal Event?”

“Addiction Hell!? Rich Additional Elements and Changes”

The web page opened up on my screen, and the dancing text. The nostalgic phrases in the headlines alone made my heart race.

Below that, I saw an illustration of the popular characters from the game, “Prince of Light Aine” and “Lone Adventurer Rex,” bumping fists, and I couldn’t help but smile. But then, out of the corner of my eye, I noticed a girl in a sailor uniform starting to move, and I hurriedly put away my smartphone...

--- A car’s headlights, glowing white.

--- A girl in a school uniform, frozen on the crosswalk.

--- Someone’s cry of “Danger!”

“...That’s right.”

Why did I forget?

Was it because I was so excited by the nostalgia?

I, uncharacteristically, ran out onto the road to save the girl...

--- And there, I was run over by a car and died.

The moment I shielded the girl, my vision went blank.

Before I knew what was happening, my body was lying on the ground.

It was dark.

I wondered if the girl was safe.

I wished I had played BraBra one more time.

I thought about all these things that I couldn’t do anything about.

And then...

In the pitch-black world, a light, a flame, appeared...

---

《---Your wish has been granted.》

A voice came from a distant, distant place...

“---Gya Gya!!”

I snapped back to reality at the sound of a real voice from behind.

“What, what is it! This time...”

I hesitantly turned around, and the moment I realized what it was, I froze.

A small creature with green skin, clearly not human, had emerged from the depths of the cave.

“...Goblin”

My legs turned to jelly.

Goblins are usually the weakest monsters in most games, mere prey for players. I had never found them scary; in fact, I often went out of my way to kill them for experience points.

But...

This creature, which I had only ever seen in anime and games, was baring its dirty teeth, holding a crude club in one hand, and looking at me with a lecherous light in its murky yellow eyes. Faced with its overwhelming presence, I was completely paralyzed with fear.

“U, ah...”

My breath caught in my throat from the tension.

The sword and shield in my hands suddenly felt unbearably heavy.

I thought I should run, but my feet wouldn’t move.

“Gii”

The goblin laughed mockingly at me.

Then, with a “Boon,” it swung its club and lunged at me with a speed that belied its small body.

“U, uaaaaaaah!”

The goblin’s ugly face loomed close, and with a confident victory, it raised its weapon high.

I really thought I was going to die.

But...

What actually happened was the complete opposite.

“Gya...?”

The moment I thought the goblin was within range of my sword, my body moved on its own.

Not backward, but forward.

As if I had been trained for years, I moved with perfect precision.

I stepped forward, dodging the club, and with my right hand, I swung the sword, cleaving the goblin’s head in two.

“---Eh?”

The goblin’s body, now lifeless, fell to the ground with a thud.

The club, now without an owner, bounced and rolled on the ground.

I couldn’t comprehend what had just happened.

I just stood there, dazed.

“Did I... do that?”

Of course, I had no knowledge of swordsmanship.

I couldn’t believe I was capable of such a thing...

But the strange occurrences didn’t end there.

The goblin’s body began to glow, and then it disintegrated into fine particles,

“Wha!?”

These particles floated in the air and were absorbed into my left hand.

A few seconds later, the dungeon returned to silence, as if the goblin had never been there.

“What the hell is this? It’s like a game...”

I said it out loud and suddenly realized.

“A game...? Brave & Blade...?”

In that game, I remembered that “the magic power of defeated monsters is absorbed into the left hand of the character who defeated them and converted into experience points.”

I couldn’t believe it.

But thinking about it, the appearance of the goblin and the design of the sword I wielded felt familiar.

If I considered that I had seen them in the game “Brave & Blade”...

I hurriedly raised the sword in my right hand to check it, and when I looked into the polished blade like a mirror, I was shocked to see the face that was reflected there.

“No way, man”

Because the face that should have been mine was not mine at all.

It was the face of the “Lone Adventurer” I had seen in the illustration just before my death.

--- The character “Rex Toren” from “Brave & Blade.”

I will update the next three chapters every hour.