Ossan Saikyō Chapter 1 — Transference and Then Becoming an Adventurer | | Part 01
When I opened my eyes, I was lying on grass.
Above me stretched a clear, endless blue sky, with sparse tree branches visible here and there.
“Ow… Ugh…!”
As I pushed myself up, a sharp pain ran through my entire body for just a moment.
In my last memory, I should have been on my way home from work.
Dragging my exhausted body, I was about to go down the stairs… and then, I’m pretty sure a sharp pain suddenly struck my heart, and in a half-conscious state I missed a step…
Thinking about that, I should be lying on a hospital bed, but why am I outside?
I’m still wearing the same clothes as when I left work. A shirt, slacks, and a tie.
Ah… my shoulder bag that I always carry is gone. There’s nothing in my pockets either. Actually, isn’t it bad that I don’t have my smartphone?
(E/N: We have bigger fish to fry, Ossan 😂!)
Thinking about that, I stand up. Other than that earlier pain, my body moves just fine.
It’s strange that the pain in my stiff shoulder has completely disappeared
“Where is this?”
What stood before me was a plain I had never seen in my entire life.
A grassy plain, with grass up to my ankles, stretched far into the distance.
There were scattered trees around, but farther in, it seemed to turn into a full forest.
On the opposite side of the forest, a little ways away, I could see a dirt road.
Following it with my eyes, at the end of it was a town? No, maybe a village… something like a settlement. Even from afar, the buildings looked nothing like anything I’d seen in modern Japan.
“This doesn’t seem like a dream. For now… guess I’ll go check it out.”
Staying here won’t get me anywhere. I started walking toward the settlement.
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As I walked, I noticed something.
My body felt unusually good.
Not just my shoulder… my knees and lower back, which had been worn out for a long time, now felt light as I stepped along the dirt road.
Speaking of the road, there were other people walking on it too.
At a glance, they were clearly not Japanese, but at the same time, they didn’t seem like people from any country I knew either.
They looked closer to Westerners, but their facial features weren’t that deep, making them somewhat familiar to a Japanese perspective.
But their clothing was anything but familiar.
Their clothes looked clearly from an older era, and even those who seemed like ordinary people had things like short swords hanging at their waists, unmistakably weapons.
Some of them stared at me, but from their perspective, someone unarmed and wearing unfamiliar clothes like me would stand out even more.
More importantly, where exactly is this place?
When I listened to the conversations of people walking nearby, I heard a language I’d never heard before.
“…In Mainen, the Knight Order… the dungeon’s been sealed…”
“Really? …Rumor has it that dungeon… adventurers… even targeting neighboring countries…”
And yet, strangely, I could understand what they were saying. As if it were my native language, I understood it effortlessly.
But “Knight Order”? “Dungeon”? “Adventurers”?
Some of the words they spoke felt completely unreal.
No, to put it plainly, they reminded me of the world of video games I got hooked on to escape the various stresses of my life… things like my divorce, work, and workplace relationships.
Could it be that my exhausted brain is showing me this illusion as an escape from stress?
…No. No matter how much I try to think that, the scenery before me, the sound of the wind, the smell of the earth, the sensation under my feet… it’s all far too real.
Being transported to another world sounds far more convincing.
While thinking that, I reached the entrance of the settlement… though it was nothing more than two wooden posts standing there.
◇◆◇
The settlement was like a small town, with two-story houses lined up on both sides of a road that wound inward from the entrance.
There were houses beyond just the sides of the main road, and from what I could see, there were probably around fifty buildings. In Japan, it felt similar to a residential complex area.
But its appearance clearly felt old-fashioned. The road was made of uneven cobblestones, and the houses were built from wood and plaster-like walls. Honestly, it looked exactly like a rural fantasy town from a game.
The people walking along the street and those running stalls looked just like the people I saw outside.
“What is that…?”
As I looked around, my eyes caught a group of four men and women dressed in flashy outfits.
Or, rather than flashy, it would be more accurate to say they were armed.
A man wearing armor and holding a large polearm (something like a halberd from game knowledge), another man carrying a shield nearly as tall as himself, a woman with a pointed wide-brimmed hat, cloak, and staff, and another woman carrying a bow…
They looked exactly like an RPG adventurer party!
But everything they wore looked well-used, and they themselves had an aura different from ordinary people. Even to someone like me, it was clear they were people who fight.
“…Did I really come to a fantasy world like in games or movies?”
I know that sounds ridiculous, but looking at what’s in front of me, that’s the only conclusion that makes sense.
I observed my surroundings while walking up and down the town’s main street.
The street functioned like a shopping district, with shops selling food, clothing, and daily goods scattered among the houses.
What caught my attention the most were the weapon and armor shops. The sight of dangerous-looking weapons, something you’d never see in modern Japan, made me painfully aware of how strange my situation was.
On the other hand, the overall atmosphere of the people was relatively calm. Though it was only then that I noticed… quite a few people had horns or animal ears on their heads.
In games, they’d be considered different races, but seeing them in real life was honestly shocking.
I also occasionally saw people like that adventurer party from earlier. Their outfits varied, but they all shared an unapproachable aura.
After walking the street once, I returned to the gate.
“…This really is reality.”
The words slipped out, but after seeing all this, I had no choice but to accept it.
It seems I fell down the company stairs and ended up in this world. Since my heart was acting up right before, maybe I died in my original world and came here.
“If that’s the case, what do I do…? First, I need to figure out how to survive…”
If I’m going to live in this world, that’s the first problem.
Right now, I have no money. I don’t even have a place to stay, let alone food.
Even if I try to get by with day labor, it’s doubtful such work exists in a small town like this. And even if it does, there’s no guarantee they’d hire me.
Getting thrown into a strange world only to be stuck from the start? That can’t be right…
“Perhaps, you are looking for the Adventurer’s Guild, young man?”
Just as I was about to fall into despair, someone called out to me from a short distance away. He was an elderly man who looked like a resident of this town.
“Huh…? No… Ah, um, what exactly is this ‘Adventurer’s Guild’?”
“Oh? Could it be you’ve only just Awakened?”
“‘Awakened’…?”
Confused by the sudden unfamiliar term, I stared blankly as the old man continued.
“Hm, it seems you don’t quite understand that either. Most likely, you were driven out of some village without knowing anything, weren’t you?”
“Well… Yeah, something like that…”
I don’t really understand, but I go along with it to get more information.
“In that case, all the more reason you must go to the Adventurer’s Guild. Come along.”
“Uh, alright.”
I hesitated for a moment, but the old man seemed knowledgeable and didn’t feel malicious, so I decided to follow him.
Well, I can roughly imagine what an “Adventurer’s Guild” is, so it’s probably not somewhere dangerous.
“But to awaken at your age… I’ve never heard of such a thing. It will be difficult for you, but do your best.”
“Uh… Thank you.”
Being comforted by the old man, I walked along the street. He brought me to the front of a three-story building I had passed by earlier.
“This is the Adventurer’s Guild of this town. Speak to the young lady at the reception here, and you should learn what to do next. Well then, take care not to tire yourself.”
After I thanked him, the old man left, muttering, “He looks like a serious man, but what a troublesome fate…”.
I still don’t fully understand what’s going on, but it seems I can get some clues on how to survive in this world by speaking at the Adventurer’s Guild.
I stepped through the large open entrance and entered the Adventurer’s Guild.
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E/N:
New WN picked! Another Ossan story! Since, as I edit this, the previous translator has 50 chapters translated, I'll catch up and then keep uploading a new chapter everyday or every other day!
Stay tuned!
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