Kokugensou wo Item Cheat de Ikinuku (LN) v1 prologue

Prologue
“Uwaaa! I’m dying! I’m gonna be killed!”
Really, what the heck was that!
When I came to, I was sleeping on a gra.s.s plain, and I was immediately attacked by a pack of wild dogs.
Isn’t this too much of a development?
Furthermore, they weren’t normal wild dogs, they were aggressive savage dogs. Their ears were standing straight, and they had a sharp glint in their eyes, were they dobermans?
They had long brown fur, and were unbelievably big, supersized big dogs that had an overall length of over one meter. The bulging muscles on their shoulders were overwhelmingly wild. Their teeth weren’t normal either, they resembled those of a man-eating wolf.
They were almost like, monsters.
It wasn’t just one either, it was a pack, so there was no helping it.
While I was running, I found a tree branch that happened to be there; I grabbed it and swung it like a wooden sword, not that a weapon like this would help anyway.
After fumbling around, I was finally surrounded by over 10 dogs.
“s.h.i.+t!”
I resolved myself, and rather than letting out a brave shout, I shrieked and swung at the dog within my reach. Unexpectedly, as I continued to swing my long tree branch, the dogs backed away and opened up a path.
Good, I thought, and dashed out of there like a startled bunny.
Alas, that was a trap by the pack of dogs. After being chased for a while and running out of stamina, I was bitten, with a chomp, from behind.
“Aaagh!”
From the weight that was tugging at my leg, I understood that I was bitten around the ankle. Even though the sharp teeth stuck deep into my leg, somehow I didn’t feel any pain.
Even though my heart was beating like crazy, I was extremely calm and acknowledged the situation. The wound on my leg felt incredibly hot, but thanks to the thick jeans, the teeth didn’t reach bone.
Rather than the wound, the problem was that its teeth were plugged into my leg, and I couldn’t pull my leg out even if I tried.
Together with the running momentum, it made me tumble and roll forward.
I rolled once and slammed into the ground.
I lay sprawled on my back, looking at the blue sky. I felt that time was flowing extremely slow. Only the beating of my heart, echoing in the silent world, could be heard.
I thought to myself that it was true that when you were about to die, everything would be in slow motion. Next, I would see my life flas.h.i.+ng before my eyes, maybe. As I was carefreely thinking so, I felt the weight of a big dog slamming onto my chest.
Even though I didn’t feel any pain when I was bitten on the ankle, the weight of the dog that jumped onto my chest was heavy and painful, almost to the point of losing consciousness. s.h.i.+t, don’t joke with me, a bunch of ribs were probably broken. However, the dog didn’t jump on me to joke around.
It didn’t jump on me to break my bones - my whole body will now be masticated, and I’ll be killed. That is very scary, I don’t want that.
The dog mercilessly opened its big jaw as it prepared to eat my face.
‘Aaagh’, my pathetic scream leaked out.
The slow motion became even slower. From looking at the red mouth of the dog, my sharpened intuition told me that there was nothing else I could do.
A lot of sharp, white teeth, ah, it has a decayed tooth beyond saving.
‘Haha, The last thing I see before I die is a dog’s decayed tooth’, I thought to myself and laughed.
Even though I was going to be shredded by the dog, I laughed at such a thing, maybe I had lost it already.
Aaah, I don’t wanna to see myself getting eaten. I wished this was just a nightmare, gave up, and closed my eyes.
─Thud
Something dropped with a thud, and the weight of the dog on my body was gone.
Aaah, I guess I died.
I thought I didn’t want to feel pain, but I guess dying wasn’t all that painful. At least that was nice.
Nevertheless, it was strange that I didn’t feel anything at all. As I thought, ‘don’t tell me it was all just a dream’, I tried to open my eyes, and I saw the overgrown gra.s.s and the wide blue sky.
The sky was a deep blue color, like it had been painted. I’ve never seen a blue sky this beautiful. There were some thin white clouds, and the almost see-through moon was beautiful. I was still alive.
Now that I think about it, where is this? Even if I asked, there was no answer.
My half asleep consciousness was brought back to reality by the intense pain.
“It hurts, more like, IT HUUURTS!”
I trembled at the pain from my bitten ankle. When I couldn’t bear it any longer and tried to get up, I saw a sea of blood.
I forgot to scream, and also forgot to cover up the wound on my ankle. I was stupefied and just stared at the terrible spectacle.
There was too much going on, so my brain short-circuited.
Lying around were a bunch of corpses of the big dogs, covered in blood due to being chopped up by some kind of edged tool. Rather than corpses, they were already just chunks of meat.
I snapped out of it, looked at my own hand, and saw that it was dyed with dark red blood. My blood…… not, it was the blood of the dead dog beside me.
It was the dog that had been on top of my body, it had a knife stuck in its head, which had been split open, and its pink brain matter was leaking out. Of course, it had completely stopped breathing already.
Then, a little further away, I found the last living dog lying on its back, showing its belly to show complete submission, and a female warrior, who stabbed it with a somewhat large sabre.
‘Kyuiin’, the dog shrieked softly as it died instantly.
The pack of dogs that was about to kill me until just now had all been killed by the female warrior?
“Are you okay?”
“Haa, well......somehow.”
The female warrior was wearing lightweight equipment comprised of just a thick leather jacket and black fustian (something like thick cheap jean) pants. To a warrior, lightweight and easy to move equipment were important. Just a look at the way she casually handled the roughly designed, dull-looking sabre was enough for me to understand that she was just simply strong.
Wait…...I accepted that fact like normal, but what, female warrior?
Was it Western RPG cosplay? No, as if it was something that stupid. I saw her kill the pack of dogs with the sabre.
The leather armor, sabre, and the knife too, they were all real. If that was so, then…...
“What’s wrong? Is my face that strange?”
“No, that was…...”
Red hair that was brighter than fresh blood reached down to her shoulders, casually tied up in a high ponytail that was swaying a little. Her build was larger than the average woman’s. She was slender, but her lean muscles looked sharp, like a drawn sword. It was a very nice figure.
Her finely chiseled features, characteristic of a Westerner, looked very beautiful to the j.a.panese me. Her age, was probably around the mid-twenties.
image00233.jpeg
She was an incredibly beautiful oneesan. If it was the normal me, maybe I would be breathing roughly already. Maybe I would have even flattered her with something like ‘You are very beautiful’.
If only she wasn’t holding her naked, specialized sword, and didn’t have any blood on her despite ma.s.sacring a pack of dogs.
Even though I felt bad, since she had rescued me, the gruesome scene dyed with fresh blood was scarier than the dogs that attacked me.
“Can you stand?”
“I’m okay….nngh.”
This is bad, the ankle where the dog bit me hurts so much.
ジーパンの分厚い布がビリビリに破れて、血がズボンの上にジワーと広がってきてる。
The thick cloth of my jeans were badly ripped and blood was spreading out over my pants.
かなり傷が深く血が止まらないようだ。裂けた肉を見ただけで、気分が悪くなってきた。
The wounds were rather deep and blood wouldn't stop flowing. Just seeing the torn flesh made me feel ill.
「私でも手当ぐらいならできるが、この傷はもう回復ポーションを使ったほうがいいか」
"I can give medical treatment, but wouldn't it be better to use a recovery potion for this kind of wound?"
「回復ポーション？」
"Recovery potion?"
ビックリする俺に、何を驚いているんだと笑って、戦闘前に投げ捨てたらしいリュックサックを拾ってくる。戦士のお姉さんは、その袋の中から青い色の薬瓶を取り出すと、俺に渡してくれた。
I was surprised and she smiled saying, "What's so surprising?" as she picked up the backpack she had thrown away before the fight. The warrior nee-san took out a vial of blue potion from the bag and gave it to me.
回復ポーションって初めて見たよ。ファンタジーだよ。からかわれているわけじゃないよね。
I've never seen a recovery potion before, you know. It's fantasy, you know. She's not making fun of me, is she?
「どうした、遠慮せずに飲め、元気になるぞ。その足じゃお前は動けないだろうし、ここから街までは結構あるからな」
"What's wrong? Don't worry, just drink it. It'll make you feel better. You can't move with that foot after all, and it's quite a distance to town from here."
「ありがとうございます」
"Thank you very much."
それだけ言うとお姉さんは、ナイフを取り出して黙々と転がっている犬の死体を解体する作業にかかりだした。
After saying all that, the onee-san took out a knife and began to work on dismantling the dead bodies of the dogs that were laying around.
俺は、少しためらいつつも、もらった青い液体を飲み干す。
I hesitated for a bit, but downed all of the blue liquid she gave me.
少しほろ苦い味がして、身体に薬効が広がる。
The liquid had a slightly bitter taste and it spread out inside my body.
破れたジーパンの裾は戻らないが、深い傷口はほとんど塞がっていた。命は助かったし、ホッと一息もつけたけど。
My ripped up pants didn't go back to how they were, but the deep wounds closed almost completely. Since my life was saved, I let out a sigh of relief.
次々に殺した犬の腹を切り裂いては、ホカホカと湯気を立てている内臓を取り出しているお姉さんを見て、俺はだんだんと絶望的な気持ちになっていた。
As I watched the oneesan cut up the dead dogs’ stomachs one after another and take out the steaming entrails, I felt more and more hopeless.
もうここが日本のどっかの田舎だなんて勘違いはしない。
I can no longer think that I'm somewhere in rural j.a.pan anymore.
地球上では見たことない、凶暴なデカイ犬の化物[モンスター]。それを鮮やかに殺して見せた女戦士。そして、傷を治す回復ポーション。
Seeing fiendishly large dogs never seen before on Earth, and a female warrior skillfully kill them all, as well as a recovery potion that heals wound—
これは、本格的にファンタジー世界だぞ。しかも、よりにもよってとびきり残酷でリアルなやつだ。
This was an honest-to-goodness fantasy world, and of all things, an incredibly harsh and realistic one at that, too.
●
日本で平凡な大学生をやっていたはずの俺が、気がついたら異世界ファンタジー世界に飛ばされていた。
I, who should have been a normal college student in j.a.pan, had been tossed into a fantasy world before I knew it.
俗に言う、異世界トリップ。とりあえず、この世界を酷幻想[リアルファンタジー]と名づけてみる。
It's the thing they call an Otherworld Trip. For now, I'm calling this world a Real Fantasy world.
隠れオタクである俺は、幻想物語[ファンタジー]にはちょっと詳しい。
As a closet otaku, I was a little knowledgeable about fantasy stories.
この手の古典については、指輪をめぐる戦争から始まって、呪われた島の戦記までしっかり読み込んでいる。近年の異世界ファンタジーも、召喚、転生、転移の別け隔てなくきちんと予習済み。
I had thoroughly read the cla.s.sics of these sorts of stories, from the one about the war regarding a ring to the annals of a cursed island. As for recent otherworld fantasies, I was also well versed in summoning, reincarnation, and transfer stories, without favoring any over the other.
使い魔として召喚されたり、ゲーム世界に飛ばされたり、変わったところでは、ＶＲＭＭＯに閉じ込められて仮想世界から出られなくなった近未来ＳＦファンタジーなんてのもある。そこら辺は数え上げると切りがないが、ラノベ読みとしての知識を駆使して、現状を断定する。
There were also recent SF fantasy stories where they were summoned as familiars, tossed into game worlds, and the unusual ones where they got locked in VRMMOs and were unable to leave the virtual world. These ones were too numerous to count, but by using the knowledge from reading light novels, I could deduce my current situation.
これはゲーム世界でも、お手軽ファンタジーでもなく、古典的なハイファンタジーの世界だと！
This is not a game world, nor is it an easy fantasy, but a cla.s.sic, high fantasy world!
これがゲームの世界なら、お姉さんに斬り殺された犬型モンスターは、一瞬で『野犬の肉』とか、『野犬の皮』とか、ドロップアイテムに変わっていたはずだ。
If this were a game world, the moment the oneesan killed the dog monsters, they would have immediately transform into drop items like [wild dog meat] or [wild dog pelt].
そうだったら、どれほど良かったことか。
I would have been really glad if that were the case.
しかし、眼の前には真っ赤な血の海が広がり、戦士のお姉さんに内臓を取り出されて皮を剥がれている犬の死体は、吐き気を催すほどリアルでグロテスクな有様を晒している。
However, a deep red sea of blood spread before my eyes, and the dog corpses that the warrior oneesan had gutted and skinned were nauseatingly real and grotesque.
つまりこれは、分かりやすいレベル制とか、便利な魔法とか、ご都合主義なプレイヤーチートとか、お手軽ファンタジーに有りがちな救済は期待できないってことを意味する。
This meant that I couldn’t expect anything like an easily understood level system, convenient player cheats, or any help like you would find in an easy fantasy.
むしろ、油断すると一瞬で死ぬ。
On the contrary, I could die from a moment of negligence.
厳しい世界なのだ。
It's a harsh world.
しかも、死ぬときは絶対めちゃくちゃ痛い。
Furthermore, it will definitely hurt a lot when I die.
さっきのデカイ犬に噛まれた傷の恐ろしい痛みを思い出すと、二度と嫌だった。
After remembering the terrible pain of when the huge dog bit me earlier, it’s something I never want to experience again.
もうお腹痛くなってきた、早くおうちに帰りたい……どうやったら帰れるんだこれ。
My stomach's starting to hurt, I want to go home so bad…… I can’t even get home, can I?
「暇なら、薪に使う枝を集めてきてくれないか」
“If you’ve got nothing to do, could you go gather some firewood?”
動物の解体などとても手伝えない俺に、お姉さんが気を使ってくれたのか、そう提案してくれた。
The lady proposed this to me, probably taking into consideration that I couldn’t help with the dismantling.
グロい解体シーンを手持ち無沙汰に眺めているより、薪を拾い集めたほうがよっぽど気が楽だった。
I felt much more at ease gathering firewood than having nothing to do other than looking at the grotesque butcher scene.
「あー、マジでどうしよう」
“Aaaah, seriously, what should I do…”
俺はブツブツと呟きながら、枯れ木を握りしめた手で頭をかかえる。
I continue grumbling under my breath while holding my head with my hands, which were still holding the dry woods.
犬に襲われて死にかけたことでわかるが、現代っ子の俺にはこの酷幻想[リアルファンタジー]を生き抜く力がない。
I know because I almost died after being attacked by dogs, but a modern kid like me doesn’t have enough strength to survive in this Real Fantasy world.
こういう異世界トリップ物って普通は、主人公が異世界に召喚された勇者だとかなんとかで、不思議な力に目覚めて雑魚モンスターとか、バシバシぶっ殺してレベル上げできるもんだろ。
Normally in these parallel dimension trips, the main character is summoned as some kind of hero, obtains a mysterious power and levels up while bas.h.i.+ng up small fry monsters.
しかし、モンスターを殺すどころか、その死体を肉と皮に変える知識と経験すらないという情けない現実に直面してしまうと、そんなノンキなことは言っていられない。
However, leaving killing the monsters aside, when I face the shameful reality of not even having the knowledge or experience to change those corpses into meat and skin, I can’t be saying thoughtless things like that.
「いやー、犬の内臓グロすぎ。無理だわ」
“Uuugh, dog intestines are so grotesque. It’s impossible.”
ファンタジー小説には、そんな描写一切なかった。
There were no such descriptions in fantasy novels at all.
確かにマニアックなゲームでは、動物の解体スキルなんてのもあった。ご丁寧に生きてる間に血抜きするだの、筋に沿ってナイフを通すだの、解剖図まで載せて。
Certainly, there were skills for butchering animals in games for enthusiasts. They even carefully depicted how to drain the blood while they were alive, how to move the knife along the tendons, and such.
理論的には簡単なんだよな。解剖学の知識通りにナイフを入れて、はらわたを取り出すだけだ。
Theoretically, it was simple. You just needed to insert your knife according to your knowledge of their anatomy and remove the intestines.
素人の俺だって、何度かやって習熟すれば、女戦士のお姉さんのような真似ができるかもしれない。
Even for an amateur like me, if I were to do several times and master it, I could probably imitate the female warrior oneesan.
しかし、『物理的に』解体できることと、『気持ち的に』解体できることは全然違う。
However, being able to do it “physically” and “mentally” were completely different things.
現代っ子の俺にとって、肉は加工済みでスーパーに並んでるものだ。
For a modern kid like me, meat was something that was arranged in the supermarket after already being processed.
生き残るためにあんな血みどろサバイバルが必要なら、冒険者とか狩人とか、俺は絶対やりたくない。
If you need those gory survival skills to stay alive, I definitely do not want to become an adventurer or a hunter.
そんな俺の気持ちを知ってか知らずか、女戦士のお姉さんは俺の拾ってきた薪に火をつけると、嬉しそうに犬の内臓をフライパンで焼き始めた。
The warrior oneesan, whether or not she was aware of my feelings, lit the firewood I had gathered and happily started frying the dog intestines in a frying pan.
「クレイジードッグの肉は後からでも食えるし、干し肉にもできるんだけど、肝はすぐ傷んじゃうから、狩った時にしか食えないんだよ。ウメエぞ」
“You can eat the Crazy Dog meat afterwards and even turn them into jerky, but the innards go bad pretty quickly, so you can only eat them right after hunting them. They’re really good, you know.”
「はぁ……」
“Haaa…… ”
犬の内臓を食えと勧められた。
I was encouraged to eat the dog intestines.
確かにお腹は減っている、ジュージューと焼ける音は食欲をそそるし、美味しそうな脂の焦げた香りも漂ってきた。
Well, I certainly was hungry, the sizzling frying sound was whetting my appet.i.te, and the delicious smell of burnt fat was wafting towards me.
木の皿に盛られた湯気の立つモツを、俺は思い切って食ってみた。
Pus.h.i.+ng away my thoughts, I tried eating the steaming entrails that were piled up on a wooden plate.
“Delicious……”
“I know right! There’s still plenty, so keep eating.”
This was a surprise, I had imagined intestines being bitter, but that wasn’t the case at all.
On the contrary, I tasted sweetness. The sweetness was delicious.
The fresh crazy dog entrails had a soft, yet moderate texture when chewed, and it also had a rich, fatty flavor yet it easily glided down my throat, so I could have eaten it forever.
When I tried a little of the meat, which was going to be dried and sold, it had a light flavor and was very delicious.
Once I had calmed down, although it was late, I gave my thanks for not only saving me, but also for providing a meal.
As we ate together while next to the campfire, our conversation naturally got lively and we grew closer to each other.
Her name was Louise Carlson.
The name Louise reminded me of some hideously long-named princess of a ducal house, and I spontaneously asked whether she was some kind of ojousama too, to which she smiled and said "no way."
TL Note : Guess who. - rei_hunter
It seemed like both Louis and Louise were common names around these parts.
Something like Hanako in j.a.pan, I suppose. n.o.body was named Hanako these days, but it seemed like a medieval fantasy world, so of course it would be old-fas.h.i.+oned.
It seemed like Louise was in the Adventuring business, and it looked like farmer families requested her to go around exterminating the monsters that were multiplying around the village. After hearing that, I felt once again that this was really a fantasy world.
It was unfortunate that I was suddenly attacked by monsters, but it was a small mercy that the strong and virtuous Louise happened to pa.s.s by.
Louise, a warrior, was using a sabre just now, but it seemed that she could use any weapon, and could even fight on horseback. By the way, she was 24.
I was 21, so she was three years older than me.
“This could definitely be……”
“What could be?”
I said it without thinking. Louise had a confused look and tilted her head. As we quietly ate together, I felt that Louise’s red hair, illuminated by the campfire, and her madder red eyes were gorgeous. At first, I had pulled myself back because of her ferociousness, but once I looked carefully, she was an older sister type that met my taste perfectly, and this definitely “could be” for me. Well, even if it “could be” for me, it probably “couldn’t be” for her.
Besides, right now was no situation to be admiring a woman.
“By the way, young man. Could you tell me your name now?”
Speaking of which, I hadn’t introduced myself yet.
“My name’s Sawatari Takeru. I’m 21 years old, and I’m a university student.”
My major was engineering. I was in a reasonably good university, but I guess that held no meaning in this Real Fantasy world.
“That Yuneeversitee stoodent, what kind of job is that?”
“Ummm, I wonder what……”
The t.i.tle of being a student, I guess I couldn’t use that in this western parallel world.
In that case, I guess I didn’t have an occupation. A jobless neet. Well, I had a slight communication disorder and had trouble finding employment, so I had been taking that danger into consideration, but to think that I would be demoted from student to jobless in one go.
Since it seemed impossible for me to get the “Job: Parallel Universe Hero” as I had wished for, it meant that I needed to look for a proper job.
Louise seemed to actually be a nice person, despite her unsociable appearance, and upon asking her what kind of job would suit me, she immediately told me to not become an adventurer like her.
So the tasty development of a beautiful female warrior inviting me to be her travelling companion was out of the picture.
“You’re weak. If you can’t even beat Crazy Dogs by yourself, you’ll die before gaining experience.”
“Yeah……”
It is indeed just as Louise-sama has said. She really gave me a reality check, huh? Gosh dangit. Is this really a fantasy world, what’s with this cruel treatment. Not only is it cold-blooded, the fact that it was covered in blood from the very beginning gives me an even worse feeling.
“If you don’t have a job, ummm. I could ask this farmer family I know if they need helpers.”
“Yes, please, that would be great!!”
To think that I would have to get a part-time job at a farm after coming all the way to a parallel universe, but desperate times called for desperate measures.
Thinking back to when I was almost killed just now, it would definitely be impossible for me to become an adventurer. Just remembering it made me shake in fear.
It was really amazing that Louise was able to defeat that pack of monsters all by herself.
Well, Louise was strong so she should be alright venturing out on her own.
In comparison, I was weak.
I could not live on my own in this cruel world where civilization was still developing and, on top of the inadequate public order, there were ferocious monsters.
Despite my looks, I was a closet otaku, so in preparation for being transferred to a parallel universe (well, not really) I had read books on ancient sword techniques and Miyamoto Musas.h.i.+-san’s “The Book of Five Rings”, and had also jogged and tried swinging a wooden sword before, but it had not helped at all in actual combat when I was attacked.
Aaah, it’s starting to get dark again.
Well, whatever, even if it’s dog intestines, I’ll fill my belly for now.
After helping her carry the skin and meat to a village, I plan on getting Louise to arrange a job that even I could do, even if I need to beg on my knees.
So, this was my first day after suddenly being transported here.
As I was about to be killed by dogs, I was saved by a beautiful female warrior.
The mad dogs that had tried to kill me were killed by the even stronger Louise, and had been turned into delicious meat and provisions.
I needed to live strongly in this cruel world where only the fittest survived. After suddenly facing death, I strongly resolved myself to survive, no matter the cost.
To survive in this Real Fantasy world. You could say that this was the number one goal I was aiming for right now. I might be weak now, but I wanted to at least become strong enough to survive.
Hmm, what else, I feel like I’m forgetting something.
In the first place, how did I even arrive in a parallel universe? I could still remember the world where I used to live, but I felt like “something important” was missing from my memory.
Even though that could possibly be the reason why I was transported into this parallel universe.
I was thinking about it while peering into the crackling, flickering, orange campfire, but I couldn’t remember at all.
Well, leaving that aside, since my stomach was full, I just laid down like that. Louise was also doing this, so I copied her and laid down on the ground and, maybe because I was tired, I felt that sleeping in the open wasn’t that bad.
In my dreams, a small girl was crying. That girl’s existence was something so important to me that I would give up my life in order to help her.
I tried reaching out to her with all my might, but my hand just couldn’t reach her. That was because she was in a place I could never reach. That’s why I……
When I woke up, just the sad feeling of not being able to help was left, as if it had sunk deep into my belly.
I wonder if there’s any meaning for me to have come to this Real Fantasy world.
Translators
Yuus.h.i.+n
Cookie
Larvyde
TLc/Editors/Proofreaders
Yuus.h.i.+n
Ishman
Cyn
rei_hunter
TRANSALTORS’ CORNER!
Hi guys! Rei here, considering we have a ton of series already, yuus.h.i.+ng, current main TL of gun-ota was entranced with the Item Cheat WN’s premise. Really, too similar to gun-ota cept for all the well endowed ladies. We tried to offer our help to the current WN translations since we found it MTL… and we have not gotten any responses for it. Yuus.h.i.+n being yuus.h.i.+n, he found the EPUB for vol 1 of the LN, and here we are, the Light Novel translation of Item Cheat. Well enjoy - rei_hunter
Oh right. Side note. CH01 is 90 pages long. ;-;