Chapter 23

To begin with.

Can you forcibly transfer an item to someone who isn't even a friend, someone you've never even sent a message to?

The answer is "impossible." In this game, item transfers are only valid with mutual consent, except in cases where they are enforced by a contract.

This isn't a complicated concept; it means that the transfer only goes through after a process like, "Do you want to receive the item □□ from ○○?" with a "YES or NO" response.

So, in principle, you can't be forced to accept an item in such a way. However, there is a loophole that allows for the physical transfer of an item like this weight.

This involves abandoning ownership of the item.

The player named Haruru simply picked up the item after it was no longer owned by anyone.

In other words, this weight is now treated the same as a random pebble on the ground.

Indeed, right now, I'm seeing a system announcement asking, "Do you want to store the small weight in your inventory?"

Ultimately, unless I take the action to accept it, this will remain an unowned item and will either disappear due to durability loss or be picked up by someone else if left alone.

Feeling it would be a waste, after some hesitation, I pressed YES, and the weight in my pocket moved to my inventory.

This proved that the weight was indeed a completely unowned item.

"What was that all about..."

"Laughing at being overpowered by a little girl"

"Is that a weight?"

"↑ That's a pot"

"Considering the little girl's body, it might not be wrong"

"It's a weight..."

"Well, might as well try using what I got. My body is starting to ache, so let's head to the field."

Most of it was due to my own curiosity, but I ended up spending more time than expected looking at the open-air market.

With a wry smile at the comments in the chat, I hurried through the north gate.

☆

In the starting city, the southern gate led to the most challenging field, but in this city with no dead ends, the northern area is the most difficult.

The dungeon leading to the third city, the Demon Forest, and the grassland that serves as its prelude, turned out to be a far more treacherous path than I imagined.

First, there are tall grasses like pampas grass scattered around, and hidden trenches or pits dug into the ground.

You might trip over a hidden pit while watching out for monsters in the grass, or you might not notice a hidden monster while being careful of your footing.

There are also large rocks scattered around.

In essence, it's a field where monsters always have a stealth bonus, making it quite a tricky area.

"Yaaah!"

"Hmm, the enemies are a bit weak because of the rough terrain."

I smashed the skull of a goblin that tried to ambush me from behind with a metal rod, and it disappeared as its HP ran out.

While leisurely progressing through the rough terrain, I was getting used to my new class.

Goblins, which aren't even a higher species, are no longer a threat.

They were just mobs from the previous dungeon, and I can handle them easily regardless of the terrain or my condition.

Compared to the fast and agile wolves, goblins are only average in terms of agility and toughness.

Except for the fact that they often carry weapons and are humanoid, they are actually easier to deal with than wolves.

Being humanoid makes it easier for me to identify their vital points, but some people can't bring themselves to attack humanoid monsters, which can be a problem.

In a world where insects, reptiles, and cute animals are all monsters, it's a bit late to be concerned about attacking humanoids.

Incidentally, the rare drops from goblins, the "Rusty ○○" series of weapons, can be repaired at an NPC shop to become beginner equipment.

Would collectors be happy to get beginner equipment in a place like this?

By the way, they sell for 500 Iri. That's a decent price.

Ah, a Goblin Archer is aiming from behind a distant rock.

"Uryah!"

I threw the weight I just received with a fairly serious motion.

It looks like a regular weight for a scale, but for some reason, it's quite heavy despite being about the size of a tennis ball. It probably weighs around 2 kilograms.

The weight, thrown in a simple pitching style, flew along the trajectory I imagined and broke the goblin's neck.

"Nice shot!"

Seeing the target about 30 meters away shatter and disappear, I clenched my fist with a sense of satisfaction.

Goblin Archers aim from a considerable distance but have low durability and attack power.

If it had been a Hobgoblin, I probably wouldn't have taken it down with that one hit.

"Yie!"

"What did you kill?"

"Don't snipe like you're throwing a can into a trash can."

"I don't throw cans that seriously."

These days, you don't see them much, but there used to be strange metal baskets in parks for throwing away cans.

As I reminisced about these past memories, a mountain of comments from the audience flew in, saying, "No, that's not it."

Why?

"Still, this weight is easier to throw than a knife, which is nice."

Obviously, it's easier to throw a ball-shaped object than a stick-shaped one.

Especially with throwing knives, you can't expect much damage unless you throw them straight.

On the other hand, a weight, which is just heavy and hard, can deal decent damage just by throwing it with force.

The motion is simple, and because it's heavy, it flies more stably than a rock, making it easier to throw than a knife.

The downside is that I can't attach it to the belt I'm wearing.

Maybe I could get such equipment from that little girl, Haruru, or something?

I spent some time testing the weight and slaughtering goblins and rabbits.

"Oh, this must be the Demon Forest, right?"

I finally arrived at the entrance of the dungeon, which is more like a sunlit forest.

It seems you can enter from anywhere, but there's a slightly more organized entrance, with a small hut.

"Are you going into the dungeon?"

"Hut!"

"Skuna, is this the dungeon that's definitely deadly?"

"↑ Hmm..."

"Ah, if you check the compatibility..."

"It doesn't seem to hit unless it follows you."

"I've only seen magic up close from Rin, so I can't really say. Let's just peek into the hut and come back. I have to log out by 12."

Feeling the trust of the audience, I headed towards the hut where a few players were gathering.

When I got closer, it turned out to be a larger building than I expected.

It was more like a teahouse, a typical resting point.

"Excuse me, what is this place for?"

"Hmm? Oh, it's basically a save point... Hey, weren't you here yesterday?"

To save time, I asked a young man with a one-handed sword about this place, and he seemed to recognize me.

After a 5-second memory search, I remembered his face.

Yes, he was the one-handed swordsman who told me the location of the job registration office.

"Ah! The big brother who showed me the way. Thank you so much yesterday. Are you alone?"

"No, I have a friend. He's probably shopping right now... Sorry, I'm Shuya."

"My name is Skuna. Ah, is it okay that I'm streaming?"

"Yeah, I have a lot of friends who stream, so it's fine. ...Wait, Skuna? Your name is Skuna?"

"Yes, it is..."

The young man with the one-handed sword, now known as Shuya, seemed to know my name beforehand.

However, his reaction didn't seem to be from watching my stream directly, nor did it seem like he had heard about it from someone else.

He had a look that suggested he had figured something out.

"Wait a moment, I'll go get my friend."

"Ah, okay."

Shuya went to call his friend, who was apparently on the second floor of the teahouse.

"I wonder what's going on..."

"This is from a viewer."

"Viewer Kana."

"Kana."

"Kana?"

"Hammer."

"Hammer?"

Even though my name became known from the stream of the battle with Aria, it's a strange feeling to be recognized by someone I don't know.

While thinking about this and feeling a bit idle, I decided to pass the time by interacting with the comments until he returned.