Chapter 2: I'm antisocial, okay?
The Legend of the Sword of Salvation
That was the name of the FLS (Fantasy Life Simulation) genre game I once played to completion, solely because of my inability to leave something alone once I start it.
This Japanese game was the classic cliché of an ordinary boy (this one was outrageously handsome apparently) who awakened the power of the heroes; a basic requirement to collect the sacred sword, and began his journey to save the world along with his companions under the guidance of the Guide, aka player.
There was nothing wrong with this kind of story….
It was just that the game was heartbreakingly difficult.
As you progress through the story, the number of times the hero you're tasked with guiding dies can be far greater than the amount of money you could win in the damn lottery. The way the heroines could die in quite creative ways if you made a single mistake would astound you.
I mean it, it's absurd.
Even at the beginning, you had to help the hero face off against a bunch of bandits invading the village where the hero lived, determined to defend his loved ones. It was just that the hero was a child with no swordsmanship and no particularly useful magic available, so it was easy for him to die in a direct confrontation.
You literally had to guide him to attack with cunning just to win, and it took hours to pave the way to success. But that wasn't the end.
It was obvious, but since fighting with cunning alone wouldn't awaken the hero's power, an event had to happen that would force him to awaken, even if you managed to help him defeat the bandits with all the dirty tricks you could think of.
A critical situation that in desperation leads you to feel the inner power that is latent within your being….
That is, of course...that the life of a loved one was in danger.
What better time to make you feel even more desperate than usual, than when you think you're free from one calamity only to end up in a worse one, like a random Orc emerging with a vengeance?
And even better, that the loved one you worked so hard to save is kidnapped to be raped by that thing?
If you don't awaken your power after all that, you're useless.
“First of all, they're so sadistic as to set up such a scenario, but then ruin the despair scenario by having us play a minigame that helps the hero wake up? Absurd…”
“¿Maru?“
“Ah, it’s nothing”
“You’re acting strange…”
I just gave a slightly crooked smile in response.
Currently, the little hero-to-be and I are sitting together on a giant rock near the outskirts of the small town we used to live in.
He invited me, and I, who was quite antisocial but couldn't ignore my mission, followed him according to his wishes, in order to be a "good friend"…not that I'm sure it would work that way.
Shit, couldn't they have brought in a social butterfly for this task?
I'm antisocial, okay?
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