Chapter 2

Ridd, born in a small village, lay on his back at the bottom of a cliff.

Blood wouldn't stop flowing from his head, which had been split by the impact of the fall.

The ground was quickly turning red.

In front of Ridd, at the top of the cliff, stood a group of three adults from the same village.

Clement, Robert, and Tack.

"Good for you, Ridd. You can finally be with your parents, right?"

"Hel...p..."

"Who would help a cursed child! Just die there!"

The three men, who had been looking down at Ridd from the top of the cliff, left with a sneer.

Ridd could no longer muster the strength in his body. Even if he tried to stand up, he couldn't.

Blood was gushing from the back of his head, making it impossible to move. Even if he could move, he was at the bottom of a cliff.

The cliff was very high. There was no way Ridd could climb it.

"If this is what it comes to, I should have... killed them."

"Killed the ones who murdered my parents."

But Ridd couldn't avenge his parents.

He lacked the mere courage to do so.

As a result, Ridd was pushed off the cliff and suffered fatal injuries.

"..."

Tears streamed down Ridd's face.

"Damn... Damn!!"

With tears streaming down his face, Ridd closed the curtain on his 16-year life.

○

Regaining consciousness, Tō opened his eyes.

The surroundings had changed from a blank white to the appearance of a cave.

"Ouch..."

His body ached from lying on the hard ground. Tō sat up and rubbed the back of his head.

"Hmm?"

Something sticky adhered to his palm. He cautiously held his hand in front of him, and it was dyed red.

"Ah!"

Tō hurriedly touched the back of his head, but there were no wounds.

"I knew it was 'fresh,' but I didn't expect to see blood right away. Still, this body died from injuries, right? Are the injuries healed?"

It seemed that the injuries he had sustained were repaired when Tō's soul transferred over.

Otherwise, his second life would have ended in just a few seconds. It would have been a waste.

"Am I really in another world?"

Tō sat up and looked around. It appeared to be an ordinary cave.

Tō, who had expected to see a fantastical landscape, was slightly disappointed.

It looked no different from a cave in Japan, and he couldn't really feel like he was in another world.

However, Tō noticed that the surroundings were unusually bright and looked up.

There,

"What's that?"

The tips of the stalactites covering the ceiling glowed faintly.

Each one emitted a light similar to a firefly, but with countless sources, the entire cave was illuminated.

"Wow. The stalactites are glowing naturally."

Excited by the first glimpse of the other world, Tō stood up. However, his body didn't move as he wished.

"Hey, what's this?"

He almost fell and stumbled.

The reason his body didn't move as he wished wasn't because it was difficult to move.

It was because his body moved too much.

His height was about the same, but his skin was exceptionally smooth.

The back of his hand was completely wrinkle-free and shiny.

"Did I get younger?"

He lightly rotated his arm. The shoulder, which had felt like a rusty gear, now moved smoothly without any resistance.

Tō tried jumping on the spot, and his body floated up like a feather.

His 32-year-old body was nothing like this.

Lifting his shirt, he saw a six-pack.

Feeling his body with his hands, he could clearly feel the bulging muscles.

"My, what a well-toned body..."

It was almost a waste for him.

A mix of envy, jealousy, and guilt made him sigh.

"I wonder how old the owner of this body was?"

As he wondered, the number 16 appeared in his mind.

It was the memory of the body's owner before Tō's soul transferred. If he trusted this, Tō was now 16 years old.

"..."

Tō sighed again.

Thinking about the child who had just lost his life, he felt a deep sadness.

"I will use this body and this life with great care."

Tō offered a prayer of gratitude to the soul that was no longer there.

After finishing his prayer, Tō immediately checked the power given to him by the self-proclaimed god.

"But how do I use it?"

He tried focusing, but nothing happened.

He extended his hands and tried to concentrate.

"Ugh!"

But nothing came out.

"Maybe it's because I wasn't serious enough...!?"

Cold sweat appeared on Tō's forehead.

He panicked and desperately tried to think, forcing out a voice.

"Skill Board!"

Suddenly, a transparent board appeared silently in the empty space.

It seemed the Skill Board was activated by voice commands.

"Phew. It worked..."

Tō was relieved that he wasn't deemed unserious by the god.

Regaining his composure, Tō checked the Skill Board.

○ Status

Tōru Minasaki

Level: 1

Race: Human Job: Hunter

Rank: I Skill Points: 1000

"So, that's why this body was so well-toned."

Tō muttered, looking at the job field.

In Japan, Tō was a salaryman. He was certainly not a hunter. He had neither the skills nor the knowledge.

It seemed that the job field was calculated based on the physical data rather than memory.

Next, Tō looked at the Skill Points.

He imagined that Skill Points were used to enhance abilities.

This was a common system in games, so he wasn't confused.

What puzzled him more was the Rank.

"What does this Rank mean?"

It was marked as I, so there were probably II, III, and so on. But that was all he knew.

He couldn't even tell if I was the highest or the lowest.

"No explanation when I tap it..."

Tapping the Rank didn't bring up any explanation.

In games, tapping or clicking usually brought up an explanation, but this Skill Board wasn't that user-friendly.

"I'll ask the god when I see him again..."

The self-proclaimed god had said there was a chance to meet him again.

He didn't know the conditions, but he decided to ask if he ever met him.

Tō moved on to the next item.

Below the Rank and Skill Points, there were trees for Basics and Techniques. He tapped to unlock them.

○ Basics

【Enhancement】【Physical Enhancement】【Magic Enhancement】【Natural Recovery】【Resistance】【STA Increase】【MAG Increase】【STR Increase】【DEX Increase】【AGI Increase】【INT Increase】【LUK Increase】【Limit Break】

○ Techniques

＜Swordsmanship＞＜Spear Mastery＞＜Staff Mastery＞＜Fist Fighting＞＜Magic＞＜Taming＞＜Divination＞＜Perception＞＜Stealth＞＜Intimidation＞＜Provocation＞＜Thinking＞＜Language＞＜Expression＞＜Persuasion＞＜Incitement＞＜Judgment＞＜Concealment＞＜Farming＞＜Tilling＞＜Sewing＞＜Tailoring＞＜Jewelry Making＞＜Alchemy＞＜Metallurgy＞＜Smithing＞＜Dimensional Storage＞＜Casting Without Incantation＞...

"Wow... There are so many."

The unlocked trees were filled with Basic and Technical Skills. The Basics fit on the screen, but the Techniques seemed endless, no matter how much he scrolled.

The Technical Tree seemed to include every skill known to man, from practical ones like ＜Tilling＞ and ＜Digging＞ to seemingly useless ones like ＜Naked Weightlifting＞ and ＜Seed Throwing＞.

"Can I delete the ones I don't need?"

He tapped ＜Naked Weightlifting＞ to test it. A popup appeared with options to allocate points and a "Store" option.

Tō tapped it, and ＜Naked Weightlifting＞ disappeared from the list.

The disappeared ＜Naked Weightlifting＞ was stored in a new "Store" section at the bottom of the tree.

"It worked, but it's going to be a hassle to organize all of these..."

There were probably thousands of skills. He would have to tap each one to store it. He could do it more quickly if he did it carelessly, but he might end up storing necessary skills.

"Well, I'll take my time with it later."

Giving up on immediately storing unnecessary skills, Tō started identifying the necessary ones.

First, the Basic Skills. He allocated points to all of them.

The Basic Skills required different points depending on the type.

For example, 【Enhancement】【Physical Enhancement】【Magic Enhancement】. All three seemed to enhance Tō.

However, while 【Enhancement】 required 100 points to increase by one level, 【Physical Enhancement】 and 【Magic Enhancement】 required only 10 points.

"Hmm, what's the difference?"