Chapter 1: Landing on the Underground Sewers

When I opened my eyes, I found myself in a dimly lit corridor. Or should I say…

“Ugh, what’s that smell!?”

The stench was so overwhelming that I couldn’t help but exclaim. It seemed like a relatively narrow passage as my voice echoed through it.

Putting that aside for now, where am I? Could this be the city’s sewers?!… I checked my map. It appears to be the underground sewers of Firth City. Is this some kind of prank? It must be a prank, right!?

“I don’t recall doing anything rude, though…”

Did I unknowingly offend the goddess? If this is the result, I guess I’ll have to reluctantly accept it.

In the realm of pseudo-alternate world virtual reality games, even someone like me, with limited gaming experience, knew that encountering absurd and unfair situations based on the mood of NPCs (non-player characters) was possible. However, it came as quite a shock to be disliked by an NPC who perfectly matched my preferences.

“There’s no point in hesitating here. Should I move forward…?”

Wait, hold on. What did lady Yifa say when we parted ways? Was it some kind of spell or passphrase? It’s making me curious.

“Was it, ‘Watch…!?”

Whoa! Something just bumped into my back!

“It’s you…!”

As I turned around to face the source, there stood a rat… yes, a rat standing on two legs. However, it wasn’t cute or cartoonish, like the mice in a fantasy world. It had a grotesque appearance, as if someone had replaced the head of a scrawny little man with that of a gigantic sewer rat. On its head, there was a black icon representing that it was a monster, a health bar, and some other information.

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Race: Lesser Ratman Lv5

Job: None

Skills:

• [???]
• [???] 

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Oh? A Lesser Ratman, you say? And as for [???]… Ah, I see. It must be because my [Appraisal] level is not up to standard yet.

While I was inferior in terms of race level, I possessed an overwhelming number of skills, and it seemed my opponent had no available jobs to speak of. I liked to think that our overall strength was on par. 

“Zzzt!”

It appeared that my opponent had no intention of leisurely confirming the difference in power. The Lesser Ratman leaped at me like a wild beast, ready to sink its sharp incisors into me. It was faster than I had anticipated! 

“Whoa!”

“Dzuzu?! 

Realizing that dodging was impossible, I resigned myself to taking a gamble and swung the staff, I had in hand as a starting piece of equipment, to counterattack. The Lesser Ratman must not have anticipated a counter, as it took a hefty blow to the face from my staff that currently resembled a swinging baseball bat. 

Upon impact, I noticed two small stars circling in an arc above the black icon, accompanied by an effect. Curiously, I used [Appraisal] on the effect, and it displayed “Status Ailment: Stun (8)”… Huh? The number is decreasing? So that must be the remaining duration of the stun. I need to act fast!

“Hmph! Take this! Hyah!”

“Dzzu, Dzu, Dzzi…”

――――――――――

You have won the battle.

Race level increased.  Gained 1 SP.

Job level increased.  Gained 1 SP.

The level of【Staff Mastery】 skill has increased.

The level of【Appraisal】 skill has increased.

――――――――――

“I won, but…”

As I listened to the flowing battle log, I slumped down my shoulders in a heavy sigh. Why wasn’t I happy, even though I had defeated a stronger opponent, gained a level, and obtained SP that can help me acquire new abilities? The reason should be evident if you look at the battle log, don’t you think?

That’s right! I didn’t use any magic! I just relentlessly struck the unconscious Lesser Ratman’s head with my staff to maintain its stunned state and defeat it. Sigh, a mage who can’t use magic is like a miso soup without miso…

“There’s no point in complaining. Alright, let’s loot.”

Having reached a state of partial resignation, I plunged the skinning knife, one of my starting equipment, into the corpse of the Lesser Ratman. Instantly, the body turned into white particles, and two items were added to my storage.

――――――――――

Rat Skin – Quality: Inferior, Rarity: C

Rat Front Teeth – Quality: Inferior, Rarity: C

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Merely relying on that alone did not provide me with a clear understanding of the item’s true value. To gain a more accurate assessment, let us consult the official information at our disposal. According to the official records, the quality ranking follows a specific hierarchy: “God > Superior > Good > Fair > Inferior > Scrap.” Similarly, the rarity ranking comprises six distinct levels: “G (God) Class > L (Legendary) Class > T (Treasure) Class > S (Special) Class > R (Rare) Class > C (Common) Class.” 

Oh, this is terrible…! It’s practically useless and worthless trash! It’s not worth the effort at all, is it?

No, calm down, me. First, , let me first employ the keyword bestowed by Lady Yifa. If it yields any useful information, it signifies that I was in her favor. Conversely, if it proves fruitless, It means I was likely deceived. And if I happen upon any perilous revelations, I should consider it a sign of being disfavored. Alright!

“Watch your step!”

With a prayerful feeling, I chanted the keyword entrusted to me by the goddess. Now, let’s see if something extraordinary or unexpected happens!

Rumble…

Oh? Oh, wow! It’s amazing! Just as I discerned the sound of stones grating against each other, the walls of the sewer shifted, unveiling a hidden door! Despite my age, I couldn’t contain my excitement at this secret hideout like mechanism!

I had no idea what lay beyond this point. In real life, if I encountered such an overtly suspicious door, I would probably pretend not to see it and make my escape. However, this was the world of a game. It would be too much of a pity not to embark on such an adventure.

“Now, let us proceed! No risk, no reward!”

Encouraging myself, I firmly gripped the doorknob. Suddenly, a resonant “pong” reverberated in my mind This signal usually happens when you’ve just leveled up or when your receive some kind of notification.

――――――――――

Isam has discovered the hidden area known as the “Heretical Mage’s Laboratory.”

100 SP is allocated as a reward for this discovery.

The level of【Archeology】 skill has increased.

――――――――――

So, I stumbled upon a hidden area, and it’s none other than the “Heretical Mage’s Laboratory”. And to top it off, the skill “Archaeology” has also leveled up. And I got 100 SP to top it off? It’s more than enough, even if I were to acquire all the available skills. This is convenient. Remarkably convenient.

However, isn’t it a little too convenient? With such meticulous preparations, I, being somewhat cynical, couldn’t perceive this as pure goodwill. Moreover, these SP seemed to hold some significance. It’s hard to think that Lady Yifa had anything other than some purpose in mind.

“…I suppose I’ll take advantage of it.”

I didn’t know what was going on, but if it benefited my desired role-play, then so be it. It wasn’t a bad idea to have the upper hand at this stage. In fact, I danced flamboyantly enough to leave Lady Yifa bewildered. 

With renewed determination, I opened the door. And there, indeed, was a place that could be rightfully called the lair of a suspicious mage. Shelves, embedded through the exposed earthen walls, were crammed with what appeared to be research reports. In one corner of the room, a large cauldron and neatly arranged flasks, likely for alchemy and experiments, stood in perfect order. 

From the dust that had accumulated on the laboratory equipment and bookshelves, it seemed that no one had set foot here for quite some time. The exact duration was unknown.

What caught my attention even more was the fact that there was another door, separate from the one leading to the sewer. I wondered what could possibly be beyond it. There was only one way to find out—I had to go and see.

Knock, knock, knock.

As a precaution, I decided to knock on the door. I should have done it before entering the laboratory, but I had forgotten.

A minute had passed since I knocked, but there was no response. It seemed likely that there was no one there. I opened the door.

“This is… a private room.”

It appeared to be the previous owner’s personal space. Judging by the amount of dust that had accumulated, it seemed to have been neglected for a similar period as the laboratory. I wonder what kind of person has occupied this room.

Lost in thought, I touched the desk and chair in the private room. Yeah, they seemed to be in good enough condition. Ideally, I would like to make this place my base. The bed was rigid, but with this bony body, it didn’t matter… 

――――――――――

Would you like to set the hidden area, “Heretical Mage’s Laboratory,” as your respawn point?

YES/NO

―――――――――― 

Oh, it seemed that touching this bed was a condition for registering it as the respawn point. Without hesitation, my answer was YES.

Now that I have a base established, the next step is to decide what to do… Apart from entirely absorbing the research of the previous owner, there didn’t seem to be any other options. I was certain that there were magical techniques that my envisioned avatar, the dreadful Skeleon mage, could use.

With that matter settled, it was time to begin searching the hideout. Like the heroes in old RPGs, I embarked on examining everything within the place to see what I could find!

◆◇◆◇◆◇

――――――――――

The level of【Appraisal】 skill has increased.

The level of【Linguistics】 skill has increased.

The level of【Archeology】 skill has increased.

――――――――――

Let me start with the conclusion! It was impossible for me to claim the crystallization of this wisdom as my own in my current state. Well, to be honest, since reading has always been my hobby, it wasn’t really a pain. In fact, I found it quite amusing to struggle and battle through the early experimental results, which were filled with failures.

However, there seemed to be a complete absence of foundational books. All the books on the bookshelf were either suspicious research reports or specialized texts, making it impossible for me, at my current level, to even attempt the experiments or identify the points of failure. Furthermore, there were far more books than I anticipated, filled with devilish complexities and archaic language that skyrocketed the levels of 【Linguistics】 and 【Archeology】 to an extreme degree. To make matters worse, some of the books were completely unreadable, despite having 【Linguistics】 as a requirement to read. It was truly frustrating!

“Well, let’s change the scenery,” 

I moved from the laboratory to my personal room. I lay down on the bed and rolled around. Then, I realized that I hadn’t yet examined the drawers of my room’s desk.

Seizing the moment, I promptly opened the drawer. Inside, I found a small pouch filled with money and a single book. Since I had no immediate use for the money, I left it untouched. However, the real issue lay with the book. Was this another research report?

“This… could it be a diary.” 

Contrary to my expectations, it turned out that this was indeed the diary of the previous owner. If it were me, I would never want someone else to read my diary, but there was no mercy here. I was curious and eager to read it.

“…Huh? What’s this?”

The contents of the diary mainly revolved around the owner’s research. There were no embarrassing poems or wild fantasies; instead, it focused on his every day’s experiments , whether they went well or failed without apparent reasons, and plans for the following day. Amongst all that, I discovered a particular section that caught my attention.

――――――――――

◯Month×Date

Today, I went out to do some shopping and ventured aboveground after a long time. On my way back, I took a different route than usual and noticed something interesting. It seemed that if I climbed a ladder located two blocks south and three blocks west from my research laboratory, it would lead to a certain library in the town. Out of curiosity, I decided to give it a try. The security was lax, and it was late at night, so I easily managed to trespass. Well, I highly doubted that this remote library would have any books to satisfy my need. So I probably wouldn’t use it again.

――――――――――

From the author’s perspective, it might be trivial information. However, for me, it was fantastic news. I couldn’t help but want to infiltrate the place.

“Let’s see, it’s currently… around six o’clock in the evening. If I log out now and come back, it’ll be a perfect break.”

In recent VR devices, the thought acceleration feature has been commonly incorporated. In this game, time progressed four times faster than in reality. Essentially, one hour in the real world equated to four hours in this virtual world.

I decided to take a break for an hour and a half, hydrate myself, and use the restroom before returning. After all, tomorrow was a day off. I could thoroughly enjoy myself and take my time.

――――――――――

Name: Isam

Race: Skeleton Lv1 up!

Job: Apprentice mage Lv1 up!

Remaining SP (skill points): 102

Skills:

• [Staff mastery]  Lv1 up!
• [Dark Magic] (Lv0)
• [Archaeology]  Lv5 up!
• [Linguistics]  Lv3 up!
• [Alchemy] (Lv0)
• [Appraisal]  Lv3 up!
• [Night Vision] (Lv-)
• [Status Resistance] (Lv-)
• [Light Weakness] (Lv10)
• [Physical Attack Weakness] (Lv10)

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