-With that said, let’s start with self-introduction.
My name’s Zalmen.
Well, if you think with current Japanese standards, my name is in that suspicious type.
To be honest, I didn’t like it much, but I’ve been using it for more than ten years in this world so I’m used to it. My close friends call me Zaryu so that’s better.
My job is adventurer. The same thing you see in video games.
It’s a dangerous job but the payoff isn’t bad.
There’s a handful of jobs available for orphans from the slums.
Well, in case you’re wondering, thanks to my half-baked knowledge and memories from previous lives, I had more options.
I’ve been making money since I was a kid by writing and reading for others, taking advantage of my logical thinking and the importance of reading and writing, and the fact that I can do some math to negotiate on equal terms with adults.
The slums is just a city where people who don’t have the citizenship to live within the safety of the walled city have settled outside the city itself and formed a town. When I was born, the slums were neither good nor bad because the security was okay.
Although, after a large number of refugees arrived in the country seven years ago, it went downhill.
The ethnic and cultural conflicts are quite serious because of the wars fought here and there.
A weak kid making a decent amount of money on a slum that has an overly nasty atmosphere is a sitting duck. That’s why I took a leap of faith and became an adventurer.
When I first became an adventurer, it was hard work, but also fun.
I spent more than a decade in the slims so a few thrills don’t even spice up my daily life. Being an adventurer has it’s dangers, but for my numbed senses, it’s the right stimulus. I deliberately avoided getting slashed and killed but now I’m finally able to avoid being intimidated by life-threatening exchanges.
Part of it was because I enjoyed being an adventurer, as if I’m a protagonist of a game or a novel, pulling my memories from my previous life.
When I discovered level up, I was excited.
Those who repeatedly gone through the line of death in their adventures gained a strong mind and body.
Becoming stronger by fighting demons is truly the best part of RPGs Levelling up is not a matter of idealism or rule of thumb, but there’s a system to measure it numerically. The guild uses magic tools to measure the adventurer level if certain conditions are met.
The guild knows how long and how many requests you need to mature to reach a higher level. So, when adventurers meet certain conditions, they use magic tools to measure their level.
The higher your level, the more difficult requests are assigned to you, but also, the higher the money you make and your social status become. A good adventurer is a good asset. It’s a dream job where even people from the slums can get rich and turn things around.
On the other hand, it’s also a highly competitive profession.
The world is wide. It’s always open. You don’t need any qualifications to become an adventurer and there’s no screening process, but instead, you’re always in danger of death. It’s a harsh environment where most newcomers don’t even survive for six months.
That’s why you’re accepted by the people around you if you can do it for more than six months, and if you survive for a year, nobody will complain about you. In three years, you’re already considered a veteran.
It’s been five years since I became an adventurer.
I’ve achieved more than a hundred things in my career, you can even call me the most experienced veteran here.
But, reality’s different.
Usually, if you’re an adventurer for five years, your level should be double digits already but I’ve been on the default level until yesterday.
There were times where they suspected that it’s just a malfunction or compatibility issues with the magic tools, so they investigated to see if there were problems but in the end, they can’t find anything that seemed to be the cause.
In the end, I became a laughingstock as a failed adventurer who can’t grow beyond the first level.
It was frustrating. Painful. I felt like my heart was going to burst out of my chest from helplessness.
Sure, my level hasn’t risen up at all, but as long as I receive the right requests, I was able to do my job without problems, but they denied me everything as an adventurer just because my level hasn’t gone up. It was more painful because it reminded me of my previous life, where I wasn’t an upstanding member of the society.
One by one, my friends and colleagues who had been initially been protective of me had disappeared. Even so, I gritted my teeth and persevered, hoping that someday it might sprout, but I’ve clearly realized from my previous life’s experience that my heart’s been worn down to the limit.
That’s why I made up my mind to give up on the adventurer job.
Eventually, I’ll flourish on a higher stage as an adventurer in a bigger city…I released all my money I saved for such a dream and healed myself for one night. All I have to do is live a new life.
I thought that if I gave up my virginity, which had been dragging me down since the previous life, then I’d have more confidence for the rest of my life. I’m going to have sex with a woman I’ll never embrace again. I’m going to do that and break the bonds I had my whole life.
「And yet, I leveled up for some reason」
I might’ve been hallucinating
But strangely enough, I’m convinced that phenomenon was true.
Perhaps it’s because I remember, even if it’s just a fragment, the super mystical experience of having a previous life, and the interactions I had during my reincarnation.
It’s a familiar sensation to that place at that time.
「Even if I levelled up, would I still be able to continue being an adventurer?」
I haven’t gotten rid of my used equipment yet.
It’s just a matter of motivation to continue or not.
My purse has become quite cold so I need to move quickly if I want to continue.
The inn is a little pricey because it is for adventurers. I was going to quit and get out tomorrow but I have to do something about that too.
「Aah, nothing will happen if I keep worrying!」
I packed up quickly and headed to the guild.
I guess the best thing about me since reincarnation is that I can act before I think.
Call it recklessness, but I can’t come to any conclusions from thinking about it.
Even if I stare at the ceiling of the inn distressed and pondered with all I have, I just remember the dreamlike night last night and it brings me more agony.
「I wonder if I did impregnate her?」
That’s what I’ve been thinking about.
The eromanga-like development had too much impact on this former virgin.