Five minutes later…
Looking at the surrounding devastation—within a 20-kilometer radius, not a single intact rock remained—Saiki Kusuo finally relaxed.
"Phew—"
Saiki took a deep breath, steadied his mindset, teleported back in an instant, returned to the room, and picked up the controller.
[It's fine. When you play games, you should play with a smile, play with a smile…]
Saiki put on a smile and unconsciously activated his other superpower, "Gentle Spring Breeze," letting it drift around casually, though it had no effect on the game.
Saiki controlled the game again, breezed through the earlier troublesome parts, and reached the moment where the village chief handed over the map.
Old village chief: "Remember, this world is full of dangers everywhere."
The moment the old village chief pulled out the knife, Saiki controlled the character to take a step back and dodge it.
[Heh heh, old bastard, still trying to get me this time? Come on, come hit me if you can.]
Saiki controlled the character to keep distance from the village chief, swaying left and right until he couldn't pull any farther away. Only then did Saiki stop.
(This time I can finally get the map properly!)
Just as Saiki was full of joy and anticipation—
"Ha!!"
At some point, the old village chief had shouldered a rocket launcher and aimed it at Saiki.
Saiki's smile vanished instantly. He hurriedly controlled the character to dodge, but the missile had already flown over and exploded on Saiki.
Smoke cleared. Saiki lay on the ground, his HP bar instantly emptied.
The old village chief shouldered the rocket again and laughed like an elder instructing a junior: "You still weren't careful enough. Remember, this world is full of dangers everywhere, hahahahahaha…"
[Character death. Victory and defeat are common in war. Great hero, please try again.]
[Are you kidding me? You're just trying to kill me off, aren't you!]
Saiki's expression grew grave as he reopened the game. This time he had made up his mind: the moment he got in, he would strike first and stab this old man to death. If he failed again, he would go blow up the game developer's company.
After quickly replaying through the earlier plot, he reached the part where the village chief flipped through the map again.
Old village chief: "Remember, this world is full of dangers everywhere…"
Saiki struck first and clicked the attack skill.
"I'll remember your head! Die already! Old bastard!"
This time it didn't disappoint him. One hammer swing, and the old man collapsed to the ground, unable to stand for a long time.
The old village chief looked at Saiki with satisfaction and spoke with difficulty: "I knew… long ago… that you would kill me."
[This plot is designed really well. I actually want to jump into the game and slaughter you myself.]
"My last wish is for you to deliver this final letter to my daughter who lives in the forest."
With his last strength, the old village chief pulled a letter from his chest and handed it to Saiki, then died.
Saiki's controlled doll walked over to the old village chief's side and picked up the dropped fragments.
[Ding! Congratulations—you obtained the village chief's sword, obtained the last will, obtained old man's underwear…]
[What the hell is old man's underwear? Where's my rocket launcher? You shady merchant!]
[Congratulations—you unlocked the Scum Achievement: Killing an innocent old man. You scum!]
[What kind of achievement is this? It's just straight-up insulting, okay? And that old bastard wasn't innocent at all, I'm telling you!!]
Saiki controlled the character to leave the beginner village and head toward the arrow pointing to the forest.
[Finally out of this damn beginner village. Once I reach a save point later, I need to save quickly first.]
"Oooh… aaah… uuu…"
A massive gorilla with thick, lush fur walked out.
[Finally, another monster!]
Saiki controlled the character to stop, raise the hammer, and attack forward.
But the next second, the gorilla extended two fingers and pinched the Sumeru Hammer.
[Opponent used Bare-Handed Blade Catch. You have lost the Sumeru Hammer.]
[What level of monster is this? How does it have Bare-Handed Blade Catch? This is a hammer!]
"Ah~ You… who are you!"
At that moment, the gorilla spoke in a dialect with a bashful expression.
[High-level monsters really are different. It can even talk.]
But this was a gorilla, still bashfully approaching Saiki as it spoke: "You must be the brave hero. I've heard about you. I'm the village chief's daughter. Hello!"
[What! This village chief is already ugly enough—what kind of creature did he mate with to produce this kind of monster!]
Saiki opened the game box and flipped through. Indeed, there was a village chief's daughter, but it didn't match the picture at all. Moreover, it didn't mention any Bare-Handed Blade Catch skill. It only described her as a bashful, kind girl whose words should be listened to seriously, just like the old village chief's.
"Do you have business with me, brave hero gege…"
Saiki looked at the gorilla on screen bashfully pressing close to him and instantly understood why it was the village chief's daughter.
Saiki handed over the letter and typed in the dialogue box: "Your father was brutally killed by the Demon King's subordinates. This is his last will to you!"
After the village chief's daughter took the letter, she rolled on the ground and wailed loudly: "Wuu wuu wuu~ wuu wuu haa oh oh oh oh ying ying ying…"
[Ding! Congratulations—you unlocked the Scum Achievement: You broke a beautiful girl's heart. Ptooey, you scum.]
[Hey, if you've got the guts, come out and see if I won't chop you. Have you ever seen a beautiful girl gorilla rolling on the ground making ying ying aaa noises? Your sense of beauty is broken.]
After crying for a while, the village chief's daughter looked up at the screen and said: "Wuu~ My father told me that from now on I can only follow you. Even though you don't look that great, you're barely worthy of me. Let's set off together!"
[Are you kidding? I'm not taking a gorilla along. Even if my model is ugly, it's not as ugly as this gorilla.]
Saiki saw the system give three options.
Option 1: Accept the beautiful girl's kindness.
Option 2: Hesitate for a moment, then accept the beautiful girl's kindness.
Option 3: Argue for a moment, then accept the beautiful girl's kindness.
[What's the difference between these options? No matter which one I pick, it's hell.]
Saiki decisively typed: "No thanks. You should just live here properly. I still have to go defeat the Great Demon King. Goodbye."
Saiki's character turned to leave, but the gorilla suddenly rushed up and hugged him.
"Darling, don't go."
The hug itself wasn't the issue—one hug and it instantly cleared Saiki's HP bar.
[Character has died. Victory and defeat are common in war. Great hero, please try again.]
[Are you kidding me? Is this even letting people play the game anymore!!!]
Rage flared in Saiki's eyes. Looking at the reloaded screen, he decisively chose Easy mode.
[What kind of bullshit Hard mode is this? I never want to touch it again in this lifetime.]
After selecting Easy mode, it went straight to the gate at the beginning. It slowly opened, golden light poured out, and he was teleported in front of the beginner village again.
[Easy mode has prepared equipment for you. Please begin your adventure!]
Saiki looked at the character's equipment—which was no different from what he had just suffered through—and fell into deep thought.
[So Easy mode just means you don't have to prepare your own equipment.]
Saiki thought back to yesterday—three hours wasted because of the power outage, no progress, no proper sleep—and today another three hours of torment just to get the equipment, only for the difference to be Easy mode versus Hard mode.
(ꐦ ಠ 皿 ಠ) …