Volume 1 - CH 6

Act 1-6: The Beginning of the Ordeal

I went up the stairs leading to the entrance of the temple.

Everything inside the temple, be it the floor, the ceiling, or the walls, was made of an almost-transparent blue stone. Mysterious round, shining crystals had been installed at fixed intervals along the wall. In the center of the room was a huge cylindrical pedestal. Engraved on it was a magic circle with an object resembling a black slate beside it.

「Woow!」

Honestly, it’s too beautiful for a ruin made by humans. Rather, it doesn’t seem to have been created by humans at all.

When I got closer to the structures, I started investigating the slate and the pedestal in the center of the room.

A few minutes later, I found a handprint-like form engraved on the surface of the black pedestal. Does that mean I have to place my right hand on it?

I gulped. Even though I had no idea what would happen to me, I still placed my right hand on that form. Suddenly—

『Confirming access of the owner of the gift beyond Divine rank. Registering Kai Heinemann as a player… Complete!

Welcome to the 【Gods’ Ordeal】. We Wish for Your Success, Player-sama.』

A transparent board appeared before me. However, it immediately vanished when I let go of my right hand from the hand-print due to the surprise.

What the hell was that? I think I saw letters written on that, but… Let’s try it again.

I silently placed my right hand on top of the hand-print again.

「What is this?」

A little pole-like sign appeared in the corner of my right eye. I tried to tap on it, then a transparent board suddenly appeared in front of me. Sequence-like letters were written on that transparent board. [TL: It might be the “!” sign.]

―Rule No. 1: The player can’t leave this game unless they beat it.

―Rule No. 2: The registered player won’t age in this place, and the time in the outside world is suspended until he is here.

―Rule No. 3: Player is given the 【Item Box】 and 【Special Appraisal】’s skill. He is also given 【Escape Shoes】 and 【Unbreakable Stick】.

―Rule No. 4: The Elixir that can be carried in the item box is equivalent to 20 cups.

The ruin turned out to be a 『Game』.

What does it mean that I can’t leave unless I beat this ruin? Wait a minute! Even top-class hunters have to form teams with other top-class hunters if they want to beat a ruin. And yet, I was told to beat it by myself? Moreover, the flow of time outside is suspended. Doesn’t that mean I’m bound to run into those beasts again once I beat this ruin?

「The heck, for what reason did I run into this cave then!!」

No, calm down! Let’s think about what I can do for now! Let’s sort out all of the information I got since I entered this cave first.

First, I couldn’t come out of this ruin unless I cleared this 『Game』. Second, the time outside was suspended until I left this ruin, which meant that my time here was literally unlimited. Lastly, I had been given five things upon becoming a player.

The first was 【Item Box(Infinite Storage Box)】. It was one of the things I had wished for since I wanted to become a hunter. I was quite familiar with this skill. Item box was a skill granted to 【Merchant】’s gift holder. It was an ability to store a fixed amount of things.

The second was 【Special Appraisal】 from 【Appraisal】 skill. It was the ability to read the nature of various things and was a skill usually acquired by the 【Appraiser】’s gift holder.

The third was 【Escape Shoes】, an item for escaping. The fourth one was 【Unbreakable Stick】. Just like its name, it was an extremely tough stick.

The fifth and the last one, Elixir, was said to be an all-purpose miracle drug that could instantly heal any wound. This was a legendary item that should only exist in fairy tales.

The skills that I got were supposed to be only given to a specific gift holder. And since my gift was 【The Most Incompetent in this World】, I shouldn’t have gotten those skills. Since I didn’t understand anything, I decided to try them anyway.

「Item box― UWAAAAA!?」 」

The moment I muttered those words, a big header named 『LIST』 suddenly appeared on the transparent board before me.

When I tried to press that header, the words 【Escape Shoes】 and 【Unbreakable Stick】 appeared on the transparent board.

「Is this really the item box?」

My forefinger trembled as I tried to tap on 【Escape Shoes】. At the next moment, a pair of black boots appeared right in front of me. I suppressed my feelings of elation as I touched the shoes, then put the item back.

「I-It’s gone.」

When I pressed the “LIST” entry again, the item 【Escape Shoes】 appeared in front of me once more.

「Amazing! This is so amazing!!」

Item box was supposed to be an extremely valuable skill. It wasn’t supposed to be owned by a non-merchant gift’s holder. Since I really got ‘item box,’ does that mean I got ‘special appraisal’ too?

I took out 【Escape Shoes】 again. When I touched it this time…

「APPRAISAL!」

I shouted that word, and the surface of the transparent board changed.

―――――――――――――――――――――

★【Escape Shoes】: If the user chooses to escape from their enemy, these shoes would make it far easier for the user. However, if the user is the one who initiated the battle, the shoes would lose their effect.

・Item Rank: Superlative

―――――――――――――――――――――

「Woow…」

I unconsciously clenched my fists. I had been wondering about what kind of shoes they were that they allowed their wearer to escape from an enemy; it turned out to be a national-class treasure. As long as I had the 【Escape Shoes】, I wouldn’t have any worries about escaping from the beasts after clearing this 【Game】.

When I tried to appraise 【Unbreakable Stick】, this item also turned out to be a superlative-class item, the same rank as 【Escape Shoes】. The stick’s description said that it was 『A stick that will never break or deteriorate』. These two items were definitely not something humans could make.

Anyhow, as long as I had 【Appraisal】 and 【Item Box】, even someone with a trash gift like me wouldn’t have any problem working as a hunter. It was like a dream come true.

Now, my future after I cleared this game looked better. All that was left was for me to clear this game.

Come to think of it, this appraisal might work on me too.

When I pointed at myself while muttering 【Appraisal】, a new transparent board appeared before me.

―――――――――――――――――――――

★STATUS

【Name】 Kai Heineman

【Age】 15 Years Old(Aging Suspended During The Game)

【Gift】 The Most Incompetent in this World(God Rank)

【HP】     5

【MP】     3

【Strength】   0.1

【Stamina】     0.1

【Agility】         0.1

【Magical Power】   0.1

【Magic Resistance】   0.1

【Luck】        0.1

★Skills in Possession:【Infinite Storage Box】, 【Special Appraisal】

―――――――――――――――――――――

Yeah! The 【Appraiser】’s appraisal can really be used on a person. This status thing, is this the one those guys in the hunter guild use all the time? 

Well, I had heard from my mother before that the hunter guild was developing a magic tool to measure one’s individual ability by cooperating with the people who could use appraisal skill on a person. And they had succeeded.

Even though I had no idea about the average value of a normal person who had just registered to the hunter guild, mine was 0.1. Even I knew that this was a tiny number. It might be the effect of my gift too.

I saw that 『The Most Incompetent in This World』 was flashing on the transparent board, so I tried to touch it.

―――――――――――――――――――――

・Gift Name: The Most Incompetent in This World

・ Explanation: A gift for someone with the lowest talent in this world. Even though the holder’s relative strength, abilities, and growth rate will be the lowest amongst the intelligent beings of this world, due to their incompetence, the holder had no limits.

・Gift Rank: God Rank

―――――――――――――――――――――

There were no limits. I had no idea what this meant since it was way too vague. However, according to my assumptions after reading the explanation, it seemed that my effort was going to be rewarded. Since that was the case, was my gift actually an incredible one? Or not? I mean, after they learned about my gift, almost everyone had started to hate me for no reason. I thought it was better that I don’t have any strange expectations toward my gift. Well, the truth was going to be revealed sooner or later anyway.

And finally, I came to the elixir.

Elixir was supposed to be the name of a miraculous restorative drug in myths or fairy tales. It could restore any kind of wound in just a moment. To be honest, it was too good to be true, but the incompetent me had acquired “item box” and “appraisal” after I came to this place. Just in case, I had to appraise “elixir” too.

「No way…」

The result that came out when I appraised the fountain near the shade of trees left me speechless.

―――――――――――――――――――――

・Elixir’s Fountain:A fountain where the miracle panacea, elixir, endlessly gushes out.

―――――――――――――――――――――

I mean, it was a fountain where elixir endlessly gushed out!

To test that, I tried to make a shallow cut on my index finger with the dismantling knife I had brought along with me. Then, I put my finger into the fountain.

「It got healed…」

When I saw such an unrealistic phenomenon, my eyes were wide open, and my mouth was flapping non-stop like a fish out of water. Soon, I screamed at the top of my lungs until my throat felt sore.

That was correct. I was elated right now.

I mean, I, who was branded as the most incompetent in the world, had gained “item box” and “appraisal,” two rare skills. As if that wasn’t enough, I even made the greatest discovery in this era, namely elixir’s fountain. Not even a first-class hunter could achieve such a feat. I would receive favorable treatment if I reported my findings to the hunter guild.

With this, I could become a first-class hunter like my mother. However, I, who was innocently smiling at that time, had forgotten a simple fact. There was no such thing as free lunch in this world. Success is built atop countless failures. Unfathomable hardship always comes along with a miracle!!
RECENTLY UPDATES