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Life of an Adventurer in a Harsh World – Part 06

When Hikaru opened his eyes, the sun was just starting to climb. Faint light was spilling in through the shoddy window.

A dream…

He woke up in a corner of the inn’s large room. This wasn’t Japan. It was a different world.

He let out one, long breath. He hadn’t had a dream ever since coming to this world. And when he finally did, it wasn’t about his parents or the high school he went to. It was a dream about his senior whom he had not seen for two years.

Hikaru didn’t care about his parents. That’s why his guild card didn’t show his family name. And he just accepted it without question. His only comment on the fact his card didn’t have his family name was a short grunt.

Why’d I have that dream?

Hikaru was indeed arrogant. Despite only studying during his spare time, he was among the top five students in his grade. He didn’t mean to mock those around him as a result, but it was true that he didn’t want to deal with idiots. That part of him might’ve revealed itself.

Someday, somewhere, you might just die suddenly, huh…

In an ironic twist of fate, Hikaru died just like how Hazuki described it. It was only sheer chance that he came back to life. Just extremely lucky.

There’s no guarantee something like that won’t happen in this world. All right, I think I got it.

Hikaru summoned the Soul Board and unlocked Detection.

【Detection】
【Life Detection】0
【Mana Detection】0

【Life Detection】Detect life in the vicinity. Max: 5.

【Mana Detection】Detect beings in the vicinity through mana. Max: 5.

Hikaru allocated one point to each, leaving him with zero points.

【Soul Board】Hikaru
Age: 15 | Rank: 4 | 0

【Vitality】

【Magical Power】

【Strength】

【Agility】
【Stealth】
【Life Cloaking】1
【Mana Cloaking】1
【Imperceptibility】5
【Assassination】3 (MAX)

【Instinct】
【Detection】
【Life Detection】1
【Mana Detection】1

There wasn’t any explanation as to how to activate his Detection Skills. But he felt a new sense in his body—similar to his hearing, sense of smell, and touch.

Oh…

By focusing on it, he felt the effect of the detection all around him. He could sense the life coming from the young adventurers sleeping in the center of the room. It was like a soft, orange light.

He switched to Mana Detection—the switch was intuitive—and he sensed soft, blue light instead.

The energy he felt from the warrior-looking man when he was using his Life Detection was gone when he switched to Mana Detection.

So he doesn’t have much magical power? Wait a second. I don’t detect “life force” but “life”.

Then it hit him. With Life Detection, size didn’t matter. As long as it had mass, he could sense even a small insect if he really focused.

The only downside was that it functioned just like the human eye. That is to say, he could see large living things, but he couldn’t see those that were too tiny, like microbes.

On the other hand, Mana Detection was affected by the amount of mana one had. He could feel even the smallest bug if it had plenty of magical power.

Both of these Detection Skills could sense a person in the dark or behind a wall, but were pointless in broad daylight.

What would happen if I added more points to them? Maybe the range increases… or I can pierce through more powerful Cloaking Skills?

The max range of his detection was currently ten meters.

Now this is efficient… Well, not really. But I have to prioritize not dying.

After getting ready, Hikaru left the room. A random thought crossed his mind.

Does Hazuki-senpai know I died?

---

For breakfast, Hikaru went to the same hotdog stand as yesterday. It wasn’t as if he liked the food, but the owner kept staring at him. That, and a different aroma from yesterday was wafting in the air.

On a side note, he had dinner at the fried noodles place last night. Freshly-cooked noodles was even more delicious. The man remembered Hikaru, so he gave him extra. He almost didn’t finish it all.

“Hmm?”

The hotdog sauce was different from yesterday. This time it was brown.

“…”

What’s this? It’s not sweet like yesterday. It smells… fishy.

“Honestly, it tastes horrible,” Hikaru blurted.

The vendor ground his teeth.

“Did you taste it? What did you put on this thing?” Hikaru asked.

“It’s special-made sauce with fish sauce as base.”

“Fish sauce?! You gotta have ketchup and mustard for hotdogs. That’s textbook stuff!”

The man had no idea what ketchup and mustard were, so Hikaru told him. He knew how ketchup was made, but not mustard. He could only tell him what it looked like, the color, and how it tasted.

Annoyed at the fishy taste in his mouth, Hikaru entered the Adventurers’ Guild. As soon as he stepped inside, he felt numerous gazes on him.

“Hey, it’s that kid…”

“The brat who gets special treatment not only from Freya but also from Gloria.”

Hikaru had no time to deal with them. As to why…

“Hikaru! Are you okay?!”

Freya came running to him from behind the counter.

“Wh-What’s up?”

She grabbed his hands. “Come with me. I need to talk to you.”

Her soft and warm hand drove Hikaru crazy. She was too close that he could smell a delightful fragrance drifting from her.

The adventurers whined as they watched Freya pull him by the hand. Hikaru felt the same as well.

What’s going on?!

When it came to women, the only one Hikaru actually talked to back in Japan was Hazuki. Freya dragged the confused Hikaru into the booth, the same place that Gloria led him to yesterday.

“I was shocked to find out this morning that you had taken a commission. It was Gloria, wasn’t it?”

“It was more like she recommended it to me and I accepted. I wasn’t expecting to deliver a letter to a big shot from the Thieves’ Guild.”

Freya heaved a deep sigh. “You completed the commission, right? How did you do it?”

“It was just a simple delivery.”

“Gloria wouldn’t give you a simple commission. There had to be a catch. Seeing as it went well, you must be extremely lucky.”

Hikaru’s Stealth Skill was being chalked up to pure luck—which was good for him.

“I think… you should stay away from Gloria,” Freya said.

“What?”

“It’s hard to tell what goes on in her mind sometimes.”

Hikaru was surprised. He didn’t know Freya could be so direct. And she wasn’t talking about just anyone—it was her colleague.

She looks slow and timid, but maybe she’s actually strong-willed.

He was genuinely happy that she cared so much for him.

“Okay, then. I’ll follow your advice,” he said.

“Thank you. Let me show you the perfect commissions for you!”

“Perfect for me?”

Freya took out a bunch of commission forms.

Cleaning Commission, Shopping for the Church, Roof Repair, Coal Replenishment for a Blacksmith, Chat with the Elderly.

Hikaru turned them all down. “No, thanks.”

“What?! These are important commissions that benefit the town!”

“I want to make money efficiently.”

Freya hung her head down like a scolded puppy.

“Please don’t give me that look,” Hikaru said. “It’s not fair.”

“I didn’t think you were the type to want to become rich.”

“Not really… I just don’t have any fixed source of income.”

“R-Right. Sorry. There’s actually a lucrative commission that you can take.”

“Really?”

Freya showed a different form.

【Monster Hunter】【Permanent】
【Red-Horned Rabbit】It doesn’t matter how many. Just supply them.
【Reward】Base Reward: 0 gilans. 10,000 gilans for each rabbit.

“Permanent quests are always ongoing so you can take them anytime,” she said. “Red-Horned Rabbits are fast, but they’re not scary. You can kill them with only a knife.”

“This much reward for something that easy?”

“Yes. That’s how difficult it is to catch a Red-Horned Rabbit. You can look up the details in the library, but it’s best if you assume that you can’t catch any. You’re lucky if you catch one in ten days. In fact, it’s not uncommon to not catch anything in thirty days. You should check some of the permanent commissions and see if you can complete any of them.”

“I see. Thank you.”

“Don’t mention it. Oh, the line’s getting long. I’d better get back. Be careful out there. Nothing wrong with being terrified. In fact, a dose of fear should be good for you. Under no circumstances should you camp outside of town. The gates close at dusk, so make sure you return early. Got it?”

“Yeah.”

“Listen to your big sister, okay?” Freya said, then went back to the counter.

“Big sister, huh?”

Hikaru laughed dryly. She was the same age as Hazuki. Acting like a big sister actually made her seem younger.

“Hmm?”

Hikaru noticed the gazes on him.