I woke up to the groans of the wounded, staring up at the ceiling of the tent.
This was the second time I’ve woken up under an unfamiliar ceiling today, though the first was beneath an unfamiliar sky. So, is this the first time I’ve opened my eyes under an unfamiliar ceiling?
Waking up, I let out a quiet groan feeling pain in my left wrist. My gaze naturally turned there, and I saw my wrist braced with a splint.
A bluish bruise extended beyond the splint, indicating that it was probably broken.
This was strange.
In my memory, the battle with the marauders should’ve been over easily, leaving no time for me to suffer such injuries.
Exactly when and how did my bones break? As that question lingered, an idea crossed my mind.
“Did I break it when I fell?”
Level 30, 40 monsters weren’t able to scratch me, but falling onto the street could supposedly break my bones?
[Strength: 1]
[Stamina: 1]
The distorted statistics of my character that were all poured into magic power flashed in front of my eyes.
“I should’ve distributed the stats more carefully.” Such meaningless regrets popped into my head and disappeared instantly.
…Honestly, who would create a character considering the possibility of actually being pulled into a game world?
If someone did that, they’d end up in a mental ward faster than becoming a game-world wizard.
“Haa, what the hell is going on here?”
When I first woke up in this world, it was pure panic.
Piles of corpses, the rotting stench spreading everywhere, rats and sewage flooding the streets.
…
I lay in the lumpy bed of the tent, slowly organizing the events so far inside my head.
1. I’m inside the game world.
2. And I’m in an extreme state where all stats except magic are at 1.
3. The only skill I can use is the once-per-day restricted [Blossom].
4. And due to my hipster instinct to “try something others haven’t,” I ended up using the Blossom skill recklessly.
“Hmm…”
The words cursed themselves, yet despite everything, my mind remained calm. Thanks to the [Calmness] trait I gained for starting as a vagrant.
Approaching Commander Hans smoothly to extract information, or even standing in the wave of dead bodies and unleashing the ‘Blossom’ force without changing my expression—everything was due to this [Calmness] trait.
Even from beyond the monitor, I thought this trait was truly overpowered, but using it myself makes it feel even more godlike.
“Status Window?”
Having calmly assessed my situation, I tried calling the name I shouted out in despair right after being thrown into this world.
As expected, no letters appeared in front of my eyes.
A level 1 character took out hundreds of level 10 mutants and a single marauder at level 15.
Even roughly calculating the experience points from the monsters I eliminated, I should at least be around level 13 by now.
Yet, there’s no change in my body whatsoever.
There’s no sense of growing stronger as my levels increase; all I’m feeling now is faint fatigue and the excruciating pain of a broken bone.
“Hmm…”
It’s probably better to think that there’s no experience point—level upgrade system in this world. Since there’s no body change or status window showing up even after battling high-level monsters.
‘This is a big issue…’
No experience points—or level upgrade systems. That means this world isn’t much different from reality.
Unlike games where killing more enemies simply strengthens your character, here, to become stronger as a human in reality, you’d have to practice hard and train yourself.
To become an excellent warrior, you’d need to invest time in exercise and swordplay, and to enhance your magic, you’d need to practice consistently at a magic tower.
‘When people fall into the game world, usually a goddess helps them, or the status window guides them… and they kill monsters to become rich, level up, and become the strongest in the worldview, right?’
If only functions like those came with being sucked into the game world…
“…Enough. There’s no point in longing for something I can’t have.”
Unfortunately, I didn’t have time to dwell on my misfortune.
I’ve ended up in a world on the brink of destruction where crazy marauders and monsters greet you in every alley.
My immediate top priority is to become strong enough to survive in this bizarre world.
Why exactly I was pulled into this world and why I have to go through this trial… thinking too deeply about those reasons probably isn’t a good idea.
Thinking about such things wouldn’t allow me to do anything for the moment. It would only deepen my despair and anxiety; this world demands productive thoughts alone to survive its harsh difficulties.
“Hmm…”
To find a way to strengthen myself, gathering information about my surroundings is essential. Even I, who’ve poured thousands of hours into this game, don’t know much about ‘Straderous,’ the starting village for vagrants.
That’s because by the time players properly control their characters, this city has already perished due to the marauders.
So even I, who’ve played this game for 4000 hours, have virtually no knowledge of this city.
I got up from the bed and stepped out of the tent. Ideally, I would meet Hans again and ask a few questions, similar to last time….
“The mage has woken up.”
The adjutant, who was standing in front of the tent where the wounded rested, staring blankly at the sky, immediately woke Hans who was leaning against the city wall.
Hans, after regaining his senses, stood up with a creak of his heavy armor, hastily removed his gauntlet, and extended a hand to me in greeting.
“…I didn’t have the time to properly thank you before. Thank you again, Mage.”
…
In this worldview, mages are treated as nobles—or even higher.
In a time when neighbors die every day and friends disappear, mages who stake their lives in battlefields hold a higher social status than idle nobles who talk nonsense—it’s only natural.
After all, the king can’t save your life, but a mage’s spell can save you and burn the marauders.
“If you need or want anything, don’t hesitate to ask. It would be shameful not to properly thank someone who saved the city.”
Hans spoke more formally compared to when we first met.
It was a bit uncomfortable, but I didn’t point it out unnecessarily.
Even though I can use only one magic at the moment, I’m still a mage after all… and I’ve indeed saved their lives.
“Sorry, but if you could provide clean clothes, shoes, and water to bathe, that would be appreciated.”
“Fortunately, there are still some uncontaminated wells in the city. I’ll have water brought right away. I’ll arrange for the clothes and shoes too.”
“Thank you.”
I threw off the tattered clothes and washed the dirt and grime off my skin with clean water.
After finishing the shower, I stood in front of a cracked mirror and carefully examined what I looked like.
Pale white skin with a prominent nose, and eyes that look like spots of sapphire pigment falling on a pristine canvas, along with hair somewhere between silver and white—objectively and subjectively, there’s no shortage of the nickname “handsome.”
The only flaws might be my thin limbs and heavy dark circles caused by the bizarre collaboration of being a vagrant and having abysmally low stamina and strength.
I didn’t put much effort into customization when creating the character, so this is something I had to accept.
…If I’d known this, I probably should’ve spent more time on character design.
“By the way, when are the reinforcements expected to arrive?”
With my wet hair drying under the sunlight filtering through the black clouds, I asked Hans.
“In two days from now.”
“Are there any wizards in that reinforcements?”
“Yes, our alliance mentioned they’d send wizards of 4th Tier or higher.”
“I see.”
I quietly leaned my chin and sorted out my thoughts.
The most dangerous and tight phase of the one-shot wizard cultivation route is generally after the first tutorial level.
The human vagrant’s serious gameplay starts when they escape the city of Straderous and set out toward the capital.
Like most games, the early areas are filled with level 1 monsters.
They endlessly provoke the player, inviting them to “hunt us for experience points and items, and get familiar with combat!” Most players follow this path.
However, the problem is that in this world, there’s no experience point or level-up system.
No matter how many monsters I kill, I don’t get stronger. While it might help to hone my battle sense, it would be far more efficient to focus on proper cultivation at a formal magic tower.
“When they confirm the situation here is resolved, will the reinforcements immediately return to the capital?”
“…Hmm? Yes, they will, won’t they?”
Hans hesitated a moment, unsure of the intention behind the question, before responding.
“Then, may I stay here for the next two days? I also need to go to the capital, so traveling with them would be beneficial.”
On top of that, I’m not an ordinary wizard.
Given my situation as a wizard who can only use magic once a day, and loses consciousness afterward, venturing out alone on a road infested with mobs is extremely risky.
Just imagine lying unconscious on the ground after the effects of Blossom end, and then some passing wild dogs decide to tear into your neck—what sort of disaster would that bring?
“I’ll make sure to communicate with them. Isn’t saving the city worth that small favor?”
Hans smiled widely while watching me dry my hair in the sunlight.
Hmm…
It seems I’ve just stumbled upon a brilliant route to skip the most perilous phase of the one-shot wizard cultivation.
*
Three uneventful days passed.
The residents and guards, who narrowly escaped the threat of the marauders, gradually began to rebuild the walls of the city.
The city, soaked in despair and verging on madness, wasn’t entirely restored, but at least a faint glimmer of hope shone in people’s eyes.
The lunatics who were shouting madly had quieted, and the corpses strewn carelessly on the streets had vanished.
Just before the sunlight disappeared into the dark clouds, the horizon revealed the approaching reinforcements.
“I am Rex, the son of Belzark.”
The leader of the reinforcements was Rex Belzark, an orc-origin barbarian hero, a named character in the alliance’s capable formation that emerges in the game’s mid-section.
“This is the Straderous-bound support? Incredible.”
I gazed in awe at the giant orc, standing at three meters tall, his body entirely covered in muscles.
In terms of sheer imposing presence, this was incomparable to what I’d experienced in the game’s on-screen representation.
“Having heard that there was haste needed, we have come quickly yet this battlefield seems eerily calm.”
“Actually…”
Captain Hans began briefly explaining the recent events to the colossal orc who could probably crush a human head like a cake with a single hand.
“If that’s true, this boy must be an unheard-of genius wizard.”
The wizard clad in bright red robes, standing beside Hero Orc Rex, glanced at me with a slightly skeptical look after listening to Hans’ story.
“Even if his explanation is true, the boy must be a high-tier wizard of at least the 7th Circle, given the sheer number of marauders and mutants destroyed in one attack. If someone so young has already reached that level, word of his talent would’ve certainly spread throughout the academic world by now…”
“And what do you think?”
Rex spoke, though he was looking at the empty spot next to Hans.
“None of it. Pulse and heartbeat are all normal. There is no evidence that he’s lying.”
A cold and winding snake-like voice, seeming like it originated from nowhere, echoed from where no one stood next to Hans.
Startled, Hans stepped back, revealing a dark-clad thief who had just deactivated his stealth skill.
Draped in a black hood covering his entire body, the man turned back to the carriage as if his job was done.
“…An unprecedented prodigy has appeared. Even a Talker born with demonic talent only reached the 6th Circle at the age of twenty-one…”
The red-robed wizard stared at me, wide-eyed in disbelief.
“Someone with such talent can’t be wasted here. We should immediately take him to the Storm School Tower and provide formal training!”
During their lengthy exchange, I… did nothing. Not a single thing.
Given the tone of conversation, it seemed the story was progressing in my favor, and I didn’t need to lift a finger.
From countless dialogues, choices, and endings I’d experienced, I’ve developed an ability to gauge if the situation favors or hampers me, simply by observing the people around.
This ability, had it existed in real life, might’ve been helpful—but now… this is my reality, so no point overthinking it.
There was no need to go against the flow, as it would lead me straight to my destination.
Though it was somewhat discomforting to be considered some grand title like “an unprecedented genius destined for greatness,” I saw no need to dispel their misconception. Once I reach the capital and officially enroll in the magic tower, there won’t likely be any further interaction between us.
“…Then, we will head back to the capital. It seems Straderous is safe.”
Despite the fact that I, the primary subject of discussion, hadn’t said a single word, the decisions were made swiftly.
Rex, the unnamed thief, and the bright red wizard turned the carriages, deciding to immediately return to the capital. Since the marauders were already defeated, there was no remaining purpose for them to stay in Straderous.
I struggled to climb into the carriage specially designed for unique classes like wizards.
Was it because my strength was 1 that it felt so challenging? Even a slightly elevated carriage seems impossible for me to board given my lack of strength.
“What is your name? I’m Herion! Nice to meet you!”
Just as I was starting to feel both pitiful and ridiculous at my own strength, a delicate hand reached out towards me.
I grabbed it.
Herion effortlessly pulled me into the carriage, as if I were a heavy sack.
She seemed a little surprised that I was easier to pull than she’d expected.
“…Hey, how about sharing some snacks? Care to sit next to me?”
Herion then pulled out bite-sized chocolates from her robes and handed them to me, further inviting me to join her. She also suggested heading directly to her magic tower upon arriving in the capital.
She offered to use her connections since her tower head was friends with the prominent leaders of the storm school towers.
…It’s not a bad offer, but knowing she’ll eventually discover the truth about me makes me hesitant to say, “Then, I’d appreciate it.”
Herion views me as a generational genius—perhaps the greatest talent in history—but I’m not that kind of person.
“Haha.”
The only response I could give Herion was a laugh that made me sound like an 80-year-old grandfather.
“Until now, you studied alone? Where did you get the magic books from? Is there any wizard you admire or any magic you long to learn?”
“Haha, no, not really…”
As Herion and I exchanged this fruitless conversation, the hooded thief, whose face was fully covered, had already disappeared.
Rex, constrained by his enormous size, rode a Komodo—a special mount exclusive to orcs—and led the procession at the front of the reinforcements.
‘Everything is miraculously going smoothly.’
They do say that good deeds come back to you, right?
Thinking that this was all due to my act of heroism for fighting the marauders and defending the tutorial city instead of abandoning it made me feel strangely warm inside.
…And that warm feeling didn’t last even for half a day before turning cold, drenched in the smell of blood and mounds of flesh.
