1. On Earth

《1 On Earth》

Today’s weather resembles the recent state of my heart, overcast and cloudy.

As I walked to the convenience store along a tree lined boulevard lit by street lamps, I saw a familiar figure about 50 metres ahead.

I walked a little faster to get a closer look. I, Kashiwagi Rui, spotted my childhood friend, Tendo Ayaka, walking while looking up at the sky.

「What’s up with that girl? It is dangerous to walk at night, alone」

I muttered to myself.

She was a childhood friend, we got along well as children, but recently we have become estranged.

Even though I said to myself, it was me who started taking a distance from her, and not the other way around……

Tendo Ayaka has no idea why. It just got that way before I was aware.

Around first grade in elementary school, I started going to a neighborhood Karate Dojo.

I did not know until I started going, but Ayaka was my karate sensei’s daughter.

However, due to a certain event at high school, I no longer attend the karate dojo.

The bullying started in class after entering high school, I helped my classmates who were being bullied, I appealed to the other classmates to stop the bullying, and consulted the teacher……

The guy who initiated the bullying had a veneer of being a good guy and was good at curry favouring with people.

My classmates were all influenced by him one after the other, my persuasions were ineffectual.

Contrary to my persuasions, I started getting bullied.

What astonished me, in addition to that, the classmates that I was protecting fell prey to his flattery and started bullying me instead.

Following that, I come to dislike unjust behaviour and betrayal in particular.

Because I did Karate when I was younger, only when I am first attacked, only then do I reciprocate with [BokoBoko]. After that, the ignoring and backbiting, and more insidious harassment began.

Before long, word of my fights got to the ears of my karate sensei and I was driven out of the dojo.

Ayaka said, 『There is a absolutely good reason for that』to my karate sensei… but it all fell on deaf ears.

My parents were summoned to the school and, at that time, even my parents heaped the blame on me for the incident.

Even the school teachers were siding with the bully from the beginning.

Since then, I’ve lost all trust in adults.

There maybe trustworthy adults out there but I’ve yet to see or meet any of them.

Likewise, I’ve lost all faith in my classmates, so it is not only the adults that I lack trust in.

Since Ayaka is a different class, I do not know if she is aware of the bullying or harassment. If she was with the current me, there is a risk of harassment spreading over to her, so I decided to take some distance. So, that is how I started to take some distance from her.

Ayaka is the most popular girl in the school year, she is cute enough to compete for first or second place…
but I’ve known her for such a long time.

From a bullied person’s standpoint, I lack the courage to spend time with a popular person.

When my attention reverted from my distraction, I spotted Ayaka again. She began to cross the crosswalk whilst the signals were still flashing.

Suddenly when I glanced to the right, a car that was clearly going to run the red light and was not slowing down.

I started running in haste. When I was about to catch up to Ayaka, I yelled out with everything I had.

「Hey! Ayaka! There is a car coming !!」

Ayaka looked back and smiled as she noticed me. However, she then noticed the car.

Her cute face instantly turned pale. At that moment, the worst case scenario came to my mind.

「Damn! Make it in time!」

I increased my running speed further, reached the side of Ayaka, and pushed her back.

Although Ayaka raises a small scream with a 「Kya!」, she managed to get out of the way of the car’s path.

In that moment of relief, I bounced off the car and was dancing in the sky…

「Nooo, Ahhhhh!!! Ruiiiiii!!!」――

I thought I heard my childhood friend screaming at the end but my consciousness faded there――

《2 Reincarnation》

―― Suddenly, I was struck by the feeling of waking up from a long sleep.

Then I heard a voice that I’ve never heard before somewhere.

I tried moving my body but it felt somewhat strange and I couldn’t move well at all.

Do I have any injuries? In the meantime I’m going to check out my current situation first and opened my eyes.

I then saw a face that I don’t recognize looking at me.

Nn? Who is this person?

When I look closely, it is a woman with a dazzling smile looking at me full of affection.

Her face has silver hair with drooping eyes and was very well-balanced.

She is extraordinarily beautiful. She has a beauty that rivals Ayaka. Actually, Ayaka would be considered more cute than beautiful.

I hear an audible voice, but I do not understand what is being said.

What is this situation! What?

I decided to try and recall the situation before I woke up anyway.

Surely, I ran to help Ayaka, pushed her away ――
and was I hit by the car?

By that – is this a hospital? Although it does not look like a hospital as far as I can see.

Have I been saved from that state? I must be pretty lucky.

If so……
first of all, should I confirm my level of injury?

The woman with the silver hair gazed upon me whilst I tried to figure out my injuries ――
what I found astonished me.

Eeeeh! What? What … this is … I’ve become a baby …

No, I don’t understand it, seriously, but maybe it is reincarnation or something like that?

Furthermore, looking over the room ――
There was an atmosphere of furniture all around and I seemed to be lying on something like a crib.

I heard a 『Kon-kon』 knock coming from the door. It looks like someone has just come through the door. When I looked towards the door, it appears that the person is a girl of about 10 years old.

The girl speaks to the woman in front of her.

After her errands were done, she left the room.

The woman with silver hair smiled whilst speaking in a language I did not understand.

I do not understand the words but because I’m in a state of not understanding anything, I was desperately listening to every word and trying to decipher them somehow ――
suddenly in my brain, an inorganic mechanical voice sounded out.

【Do you want to acquire the skill 〈All Language Comprehension〉?】

Replying to the voice in my brain, I prayed to acquire it.

【The skill 〈All Language Comprehension〉 has been acquired.】

【All Language Comprehension】
You will be able to understand any language. (Reading and writing is now possible). There is no skill level.

I heard the mechanical voice in my head again, simultaneously my consciousness faded to black ――

《3 Appraisal》

―― I regained consciousness in a daze, thinking that I heard the chirping of birds.

Suddenly, when I looked inside the room, I noticed the woman with silver hair from yesterday, sitting in a rocking chair while napping with a blanket over her.

When I looked away from the woman with silver hair and looked at myself, I’m still a baby after all ……

Yesterday I definitely heard a voice in my brain ―― at the same time, I lost my consciousness.

What should I do now?

Although I’m not sure of my current situation, I finally conclude that it is impossible to do anything about this situation no matter how I think about it.

As I was still drowsy, I felt that something was going on. I moved my line of sight towards the source of the sound. The woman with silver hair spoke while approaching me.

「Louis woke up, good morning –」

Eeehhh?! — I understood what she said?! ……

Aaaa, is it the 〈All Language Comprehension〉 skill the mechanical voice bestowed upon me yesterday?

The silver-haired woman’s hand reached forward and caressed me.

And, as it is, the silver-haired woman smiled as she cuddled me.

Perhaps, I am now able to speak? However, if I was to speak all of a sudden it would be, to say the least, troublesome…

After a little deliberation, I opened my mouth and uttered 「Ah, uu」 as I try to open my mouth.

「Ah, uu, ah」

Huh? My mouth or rather my tongue does not move as I’d like it to.

What’s this? — I don’t understand why I can’t speak as of yet, I guess it is necessary for me to practice.

Apart from that, I noticed that I was very hungry.

Though it is embarrassing ….. can I do anything but cry?

I made my mind up and cried「Ogyaa, ogyaa」.

Then the silver-haired woman opened her mouth to speak.

「Are you hungry?」

―― As she said that she exposed her breasts.

Th.. this is embarrassing, really embarrassing! However, I put up with it and drank her milk.

I wasn’t able to drink properly at first, but I think I gradually got to the point of drinking effortlessly.

When I started feeling full, I ceased drinking and the silver-haired lady put her clothes back on.

The silver-haired woman rapped my back with a ton, ton and I let out a burp, I attempted to express my thanks to the silver-haired woman with a smile.

The silver-haired woman returned my smile and moved back to the rocking chair while cuddling me.

The woman spoke to me quite a bit until I drifted off to sleep. As the silver-haired woman talked a fair bit to me yesterday, I can now understand what is being said, more words for information gathering! With conscious determination, I will never miss a single word from the silver-haired woman.

「Louis, will you grow up healthy drinking your mother’s breast milk? What kind of skills and what status will Louis acquire? I would like to appraise Louis as soon as possible, but I can only get you appraised after you become a 1-year-old.」

Will you know your skills after appraisal?

Why do I have to wait till I’m 1? I’d like to know why.

「Ah, uu」
「Hmm? What’s wrong Louis?」
「Ah, ah, uu」

I attempt to speak out because I want to know the reason somehow but it seems that my intention doesn’t seem to be transmitted at all.

「Fu Fu, you are full of energy aren’t you?」

I gave up trying to communicate my intention and stopped talking.

「I wish I had the 〈Appraisal〉 skill. Then I’d be able to see Louis’ status and skills.」

She looked away from me and started to murmur aloud.

Though the woman with silver hair was talking to herself, there was a wealth of information to be gleaned from it.

In this world, it is said that God gives everyone a skill from the moment of birth to the age of one, at latest.

In other words, to prevent the hassle of being constantly appraised, the appraisal is done at the church after the age of 1.

Other than that, she was talking to herself and to me and just constantly moving her mouth.

So as we spend time together, the two of us, the sound 『Kon-kon』 was heard as someone knocked on the door.

A 10 year old girl quietly opens the door.

I can see that child is wearing the uniform of a house maid. I wasn’t quite aware of this before, was she wearing the same clothes the last time? Nnn, I can’t quite remember.

「Sarah-sama, good morning, your meal is almost ready.」
「Thank you, Airi. All right, I’ll be there soon.」
「I will watch Louis-sama, so please take your time and enjoy your meal.」

As I was laid down in the cot, the woman with the silver hair named Sarah left the room.

As for the 10-year-old girl named Airi, while looking at me with a friendly grin, she spoke to me with baby talk.

The child named Airi has blue hair and a well-balanced face that would indicate that she would be beautiful in future.

While I was listening to Airi, I remembered the important points the woman Sarah was talking about.

Though the skill of 〈All Language Comprehension〉 was acquired yesterday, to begin with, the skill acquisition made it very evident that this was not Earth.

You have to accept the reality that this is a different world, I had to force myself to accept it.

However, a parallel world, huh. Well, I died on Earth, I think I managed to protect Ayaka ……

So I will start here again from the beginning with my consciousness intact? Is it OK for me to start over?

For the moment, let me leave Earth in the back of my mind ……

Yesterday I got the skill 〈All Language Comprehension〉, it was said that I will gain an understanding of skills and statuses after 〈Appraisal〉, I need to figure out the thing called status.

First of all, unlike yesterday’s acquired skill, somehow or another I doubt I can get 〈Appraisal〉,

【Do you wish to acquire 〈Appraisal〉?】

――And the same voice from yesterday resonated in my brain, I was inwardly very pleased and excited.

【Skill 〈Appraisal〉 has been acquired】

【Appraisal】
Gives the power to obtain detailed information about people and objects.

YES! 〈Appraisal〉 get!

And my consciousness went dark, again. ――

《4 Status Verification》

When I acquired 【Appraisal】, I lost my consciousness, but it slowly came back to.

How much time has passed?

When I looked out the window, I could vaguely see that it was bright outside.

Based on how hungry I am and considering it was bright outside, did I lose my consciousness for a whole day? If so, I must have slept for quite awhile.

Since my consciousness has cleared up, I decided to survey my surroundings.

Someone was in the room as I heard a voice. It seems Sarah and a strange man were having a conversation.

Since I was able to acquire【Appraisal】 skill before my consciousness faded, while I am conscious I should use 【Appraisal】 on myself, a translucent plate appeared before my eyes.

As I look at the words floating above.

Name : Louis
Gender : Male Race : Human Age : 0
Level : 1 Title: None
HP: 50/50 MP : 650/650
Strength : 9 Resistance: 10 Agility : 8 Dexterity :12 Magic: 120 Spirit: 130
Skills
Creation Lv1・Appraisal Lv1・All Language Comprehension

Magic and Spirit are very high, do you want to examine each item?

HP : Displays vitality or life force. You die when it drops to 0.
MP : It is required to use magic. If it drops to 0 you will faint. Moreover, when your MP residual quantity decreases, fatigue becomes severe.
Strength : Represents physical attack power.
Resistance: Represents physical defence power. It has an influence on maximum HP.
Agility: It represents the speed at which your body moves.
Dexterity: Represents the ability to move the body accurately and skilfully.
Magic: Shows your magical attack strength.
Spirit : Shows your magical defence strength. It has an influence on maximum MP as well as recovery.

Would you like to know more about your skills?

【Creation】
By strongly imagining the skills that you want to create, you can create new skills and acquire them.
You can also improve acquired skills.
The consumption of MP varies depending on the skill being created.
The higher the skill level of 〈Creation〉, the lower the consumption of MP when creating skills.
It is only possible to use this skill once a day.
You can’t create this skill itself.

I noticed something when I looked at the explanation. Due to me consuming MP when creating skills and consumption being so intense, I fainted.

For the time being, I understand my status and skills to a certain extent, so I pointed my consciousness towards the stranger and the woman named Sarah.

Name : Dan
Gender: Male Race : Human Age : 23
Level : 45 Title: A ranked adventurer
HP : 2250/2250 MP : 1540/1540
Strength : 572 Resistance: 450 Agility : 572 Dexterity :396 Magic: 308 Spirit : 308
Skills
Swordsmanship Lv7・Shield Art Lv6・Axe Art Lv5・Martial Arts Lv5・Body Strengthening Lv6・Life Magic

Name : Sarah
Gender : Female Race : Human Age : 22
Level : 42 Title : A ranked adventurer
HP : 1640/1640 MP : 3280/3280
Strength: 164 Resistance: 328 Agility: 165 Dexterity: 492 Magic: 652 Spirit : 656
Skills
Fire Magic Lv7・Water Magic Lv6・Earth Magic Lv5・Light Magic Lv7・Magic Absorption Lv5・Cane Art Lv6・Body Strengthening Lv3・Life Magic

【Magic Absorption】
The magic and the MP are temporarily absorbed from the subject such as the demon and the person, and it is added to one’s ability.
The amount that can be absorbed is skill level ×1000. The absorbed amount returns to the original level after 1x hour.
When the amount beyond what can be absorbed is absorbed, magic would explode in the body.

Both of them are pretty strong in comparison to me……

Be that as it may, Adventurers, huh. Isn’t it an occupation that was in mangas and light novels that I borrowed from friends in the old days?

If you look at the quality of the house and furnishings, it appears to be of really high quality, so it seems like you can make quite a bit of money if you are ranked A? I think perhaps, rank A is pretty high.