Sword of the Philosopher

For the past whole month I’ve been earnestly going straight home to play a certain game.

A console game of an RPG maker that I am very fond released this game called “Elder’s Sword”. The game plays out with a Royal-Road¹ setting and in itself a high-profile game.

This game with a free-forming scenario featuring multiple protagonists is one that would require dozens of hours for a single play-through. A 3D action game adopting a system for close combat, moreover the strongest weapons are attainable and can even be upgraded outdoing their original stats. Strong items were also craftable through complex combinations and the blacksmith system. I took advantage of what it allowed me to continuously compound different items that would eventually allow me to create anything.

The game was released around two years ago but the long awaited sequel was about to come out. I then decided that I should have a re-run of the game and the result was that I became hooked once again. With the influence of my previous ten runs, I was able to gain new insights and grow again after going around for another five times. Since I was progressing through the game with considerable a.n.a.lysis, I was able to have fun and discover new things.

And today also; after secluding and positioning myself in front of the TV at my room, I booted up the game and readied myself to play it for the 16th time.

The maker’s logo flashed into the screen, what followed after was the t.i.tle screen. Without a hint of hesitation I pressed the “New Game” Option, adjusted the lap bonuses, adjusted the game options and afterwards started to play.

The scenario starts off on a village with scene where the protagonist visits the tavern. Some of the shopkeepers will then converse with you to win you over making you receive a quest; afterwards you may recruit any of the characters present as adventures and go out.

The beginning is something similar to a tutorial; the placed lap bonus will, to a certain extent, provide a boost in your character’s potential to provide room for victory. I loitered around the tavern and joined the newly recruited comrades; afterwards a voice from one of the NPCs rang out.

“Yoo~, you the one headin’ to the ruins? From the looks of it you’re no good so it’s better if you don’t go”

Such lines were muttered by the NPC… I on the other hand laughed at it instead. In this game, story characters are even positioned in places that would easily be found.

“If you still want to go despite my warnings then let me at least give you a piece of advice. Inside the ruins reside creatures called “Gray Rabbits”. These guys drop fine medicinal herbs so why not try aiming at them if you’re lacking items.”

The name of this character is Luong Madin. A person wearing a light brown Overcoat with, brownish hair color, and an aura that gives off a bad feel. Why is this type of guy a joke character and what type of connection should we even have, right?

In the opening tutorial service, there was indeed an enemy that drops recovery items with certainty, but the creature this guy is pertaining to is the “Gray Rabbit”. Although it indeed drops fine medicinal herbs, the rate of which it drops it falls into the lowest categories. After pondering for some time, I may have forgotten to change some settings in the game to have had encountered this scene… that is, a player’s guess. Thanks to what this guy is saying or if followed, we would have a hard time and the difficulty would thus rise. Moreover he’s going to become quite the troublesome character.

It won’t be long but… this village will more or less become a sea of flames after an event is triggered where demons will attack and by that time this guy here will die. Furthermore it would occur as a serious scene where he gets mauled and screams “UGYAAA!!”, thanks to that the protagonists of the story would have more reason to hate the demon race and swear to find a way to defeat them. It’s that kind of setting. However thanks to this guy, some players were really laughing from that scene.

Surely it must be that, despite being a joke character, you can still in fact make him into your comrade. By setting him as a help character in the beginning of the game and seeing that his stats are fairly high he would be of great help. Although you can also say that after going through 2 runs, this character’s misfortune raises the experience values of the other characters for the better.

Now then, I’ve pretty much been immersed and familiarized myself with the functions of the game so I’m having it easy. Since I’ve already gone through the game 15 times, I have memorized perfectly the movements of the body and continued with the game. However, a “GAN GAN” sound continued to rang out in my room.

It seems that I was being called out as it was already time for dinner but, a few hours had only pa.s.sed since I started the game. My parents were of course calling and complaining to me to come out but, I decided to ignore them altogether and continue gaming. My grades fell so it’s already a given that this would be confiscated so I ignored their scolding mid-way and continued to play like crazy.

The following day is a holiday so I continued what I was doing till it was late into the night… I then felt a little crust in my eyes and decided to look around then noticed the time. Looking at the clock I saw it was already two o’clock in the morning.

To think that I haven’t even gone out to take a bath, I then decided to confirm the outside of my room. Corridors were already dark and a single light was the only one illuminating the stairway. May parents seemed fast asleep too.

And then all of a sudden my stomach began to grumble. Deciding that I should go to a Konbini² I went back to my room, grabbed my wallet and the key to the house and finally went out. The season had already entered summer some time ago so the temperature should be fine even if I was dressed lightly.

I then took my bike and rode unto the direction of the nearest Konbini. It’s late into the night so the streets are awfully quiet, however from time to time you can hear the sounds of cars pa.s.sing through them. The nearest one should be around five minutes away so I continued to pedal forward while thinking of the things I should buy with the money I’ve saved.

Before long I have already reached the intersection and again moved forward. Humming a song and thoughtlessly while pedaling my way through the street. And then in that short instance… a light entered my line of sight coming from the left. Turning my head out of reflex what I saw was, a single car.

In that very moment I knew what would happen and yet, when the light had already illuminated my whole body I thought to myself…

‘This thing, well… isn’t this really bad?’
The thought of dying finally entered into my heart afterwards. The car was still advancing towards me and had occupied my whole line of sight so it was already impossible to avoid it.

All of a sudden, my vision faded into the darkness. I was sure that the car had already hit me is what I had thought but I was feeling no pain whatsoever and began to wonder why.

And so I realized something. Light was entering through my eyes and when I opened them, I saw an unfamiliar woman.

Golden blonde hair, her features definitely is from a foreigner… afterwards I, being reincarnated into another world breathed deeply, and raised my very first cry.

first cry.