A New Quest

Fortunately, I left the main building without being caught by anyone.

My appearance, with the robe pulled over my head like a cheap Halloween costume, must have been quite a sight.
But they didn’t pay much attention to me, perhaps thinking I was a shy female, or perhaps because they were happy at the thought of eating lunch.

The entrance to the outside of Bahalgras is guarded by escorting Sura.
But I wasn’t going to go through the main gate.

I was planning to take the safe route, even if it meant giving up some of my human dignity.
Because if I got caught even once, it was over.

I approached the large, old tree beyond the window behind the main building.
The tree, which had grown leaning crookedly against the rocky mountain, had a stooped trunk that was perfect for climbing.

“Berserk – Complete Beast Transformation.”

[Awakener ‘Shinbi’ casts the <Stigma Theory: Berserk> skill.]

Poof!
I clamped my mouth shut as I was used to, and was met with a cherry blossom firework.
As I shook my head, the ears on top of it flapped.

‘Ugh, these damn cherry blossom petals every time!’

I grumbled softly, but in reality, only a whimpering sound came out of my mouth instead of human words.

[You have transformed into the maximum stage of <Stigma Theory: Berserk>, ‘Complete Beast Transformation.’ You will not take fall damage, and your mobility will be greatly increased. (※ In your current state, you cannot use any skills other than basic attacks.)]

That was right.
I had transformed into a complete wolf form.

The beast-kin exclusive skill <Berserk> has several stages.
However, it is usually used only in the first stage, which is close to the human form in appearance and receives the skill passive.

There is no reason to transform to the maximum stage unless you are roleplaying.
Because in the ‘Complete Beast Transformation’ state, you can’t use skills or weapons, and you can’t even open your inventory.

But right now, I needed it.
Since I couldn’t use skills if I didn’t want to get caught anyway, this four-legged beast form was perfect for climbing that rugged rocky mountain.

I looked down at my hands, no, my front paws.
The fluffy, heavy, light pink fur felt like I was wearing a mascot costume from an amusement park.
It was a bit of a shame that there was no mirror.
‘A pink wolf.’
‘It would be quite a sight.’

I rolled around in the snow a few times to cover my whole body with snow.
It was so that my pink fur wouldn’t be noticeable from a distance while climbing the rocky mountain.

I flipped my front paws one by one to examine the soft pink jellies, and then spun around in place.
The feeling of crawling on all fours was very strange, but I thought of it as being very drunk and diligently learned the sense of quadrupedal locomotion.

‘Now I am a dog. A wolf. A beast.’

Entrusting my body to instinct, I lifted my hands, no.
My two front paws, and placed them on the cold rocky mountain.

The feeling of the stones touching my paw jellies was not bad.
As I pressed my paws firmly against the uneven wall, my claws, which were curved like rakes, popped out.

Groan, grunt.
I made a strange metallic sound without realizing it, and after slipping and rolling on a snowy spot, I finally got the hang of it.

I hung precariously by my claws and struggled to climb up, and there were times when I missed my footing and it was dizzying, but I finally reached the top of the rocky mountain.

Pant, pant.
I panted with my tongue hanging out, catching my breath, and looked down at the Varg’s territory, which was visible at a glance.

[Hidden Field: The Secluded City of Bahalgras]

After looking down at the city, which was like an ink wash painting, I turned around and started running like crazy.

Crunch, crunch, crunch.

I ran through the snowdrifts that reached my thighs, but I didn’t feel cold at all.

My four legs became two, and my large paw prints, which looked like I was wearing bear slippers, soon turned into small, bare feet.

Pant, pant, pant.
The panting of a beast gradually turned into a human-like breath.

I ran happily, forgetting that my feet were cold.

Yippee!
Freedom!

[…Body temperature is rapidly decreasing.]

I ran for a long time in the snow, forgetting that I was barefoot.

[If you do not wear your armor properly, the <Freeze> status abnormality will manifest after 240 seconds.]

If the status window hadn’t warned me, I probably would have kept running like that.
I sat on a rock for a moment, and after hesitating, I summoned my equipment window.

“…Equipment window.”

[Opening the equipment window.]

Wary of my surroundings, I sorted my clothes in order of high freeze resistance and changed, and held the Leviathan in my hand.

Until then, the surroundings were quiet.

‘…Nothing. Nothing. Nothing.’

The Observer didn’t appear!

The Observer, who would rush out like a beekeeper protecting his hive even if I just took out a potion to drink, didn’t appear.

‘No way, no way.’
With a pounding heart, I cautiously tried using a skill as a test.

“Warm Heater.”

[Awakener ‘Shinbi’ has cast <Warm Heater>.]
[Warm Heater: Emits a warm wind around the target. Delays the <Freeze> status abnormality.]

A reddish light shone on me as if an invisible heater had been turned on, but the surroundings were still quiet.

I finally shouted in emotion.

“…Freedom!”

I rolled around in the snow like a madman, then crashed into a pine tree and was buried under a pile of snow that had accumulated on its branches.
But I didn’t feel the cold or the pain.

Without the Observer, the world was just beautiful.

‘The broken tree branch is so cool.’
‘My footprints in the snow are so pretty.’
‘The squirrel running away from me is also cute.’
‘The NPC peeking at me from over there is also so stylish… huh?’

As I was staring blankly, I rubbed my eyes.
I even shook my head, thinking I had seen something, but he was still standing there.

Beyond the snow-covered bushes.
There was one person watching my show for free, right in front of me.

As our eyes met, he asked, as if he found it strange.

“…Aren’t you cold?”

I froze on the spot.

Not because of the ‘Freeze’ status abnormality, but because of that man who was looking straight at me and talking to me.

I barely managed to close my gaping mouth, and after blinking a few times, I quickly looked around.

“…Me?”

No matter where I looked, there were only me and that man.
But I had no choice but to utter that cliché line again.

“Are you talking to me?”

“I don’t have a hobby of talking to pine trees.”

“Ah, yes. That’s right. That’s true.”

As I answered blankly, the man started to laugh loudly.
He was bent over, holding his knees, and wiping the tears from the corners of his eyes, with a look that said I never failed to meet his expectations.

“Haa, you really are interesting. I’ve been watching you for a while…”

“…Since when, have you been watching?”

“From when you were rolling down the hill shouting ‘Freedom!’ and then crashed into a pine tree and started laughing.”

‘Then you saw everything from the beginning!’

I stood up with a bright red face.
The snow that had accumulated on my body fell off.

“You must like snow.”

“Uh, yes.”

“It snows every day in this snowy mountain, you must have just arrived from another region. If it’s not rude, may I ask where you’re from?”

“It’s been a while since I’ve been outside. Ah, haha, well then.”

“W-wait a minute!”

As I was trying to sneak away from the barrage of questions, the man who had approached in a hurry held out his gloved hand.

“My name is ‘Ilai.’ I’m from the Fox tribe.”

[Fox Tribe: A white-furred fox beast-kin race. They are quick-witted but weak, so they rely on other races to live.]

I looked at the man’s slender, slanted eyes, his orange hair tied up in a ponytail, and the white fur only on the tips of his long, erect ears.
As the description said he was weak, he certainly seemed less threatening for a beast-kin.

“My name is Shinbi. I’m…”

“I know. You’re an Awakener, a hero, right?”

I froze for the second time at the man’s words.

‘Awakener, hero.’

There was a time when such titles were natural for me.
As in any game, the user, the ‘player,’ is the absolute being and the protagonist of the world.

Great warrior, hero, savior.
I was revered with all sorts of praises and accolades.

“Hey, can’t you hear me?”
“Please. Just answer me.”

But after being trapped in this world, my treatment changed.
Outsider, troublemaker, monster, that was if I was lucky.

I was an untouchable to the NPCs outside of Midvalen.
An invisible person, or a prey.
Nothing more, nothing less.

“Kill her! Take her loot!”
“Shh, shh, she’s a deserter. Don’t even look at her.”
“Pretend you didn’t see her. Or the grim reaper will get you.”

I was always either denied my very existence or they would try to kill me without asking any questions.
But this man was calling me an ‘Awakener.’

“It’s my first time talking to an Awakener!”

The man, Ilai, had a moved expression.
I probably had the same expression.

‘Awakener.’
‘How long has it been since I’ve heard that word outside of the neutral city of Midvalen.’

“To think that a representative of the gods has descended to such a remote place…!”

A gaze of awe and respect.

That expression of unconditional favor.
My heart pounded at the familiar reaction, as if seeing a ‘player.’

“If you’re not busy, could you perhaps stop by our village for a moment? I know it’s rude to ask on our first meeting…”

[Spontaneous Quest: A request for help from the Fox tribe ‘Ilai’]

And on top of that, his quest window that was shyly popping up.

“…Yes, of course.”

As if possessed, I had no choice but to follow Ilai.