Volume 2Prologue

My name is Soshi Okuno.

An ordinary office worker around forty, the kind you can find anywhere in Japan. That should have been me. Instead I’m living in another world, one I’ve never seen before, working as an ‘adventurer.’

I’ll admit even I still think it sometimes: what kind of nonsense is this? But when I piece together what I remember from before and after, only one story fits. I collapsed with a heart attack on the way home from work, didn’t make it, and was transported to this world. Of course I was confused at first. Then again, I’m a middle-aged man who resigns himself fast, and by now I’ve switched over to thinking of myself as half a local.

As for this ‘adventurer’ business, you strap on weapons and armor, go down into mazes called ‘dungeons,’ fight ‘monsters,’ and make your living selling what they drop. It’s exactly like being a character in a video game. Normally there’s no way a plain middle-aged man from peaceful Japan could live like that. So how am I pulling it off?

The answer: I’d turned into something called an ‘Awakener’ without even noticing.

An ‘Awakener’ is a person with superhuman power, and one turns up every so often. It’s hard to believe, but they say some people here simply become ‘Awakeners’ out of nowhere, somewhere between the ages of fifteen and twenty-five. And apparently I became one when I was transported here.

On top of that, in this world, or at least in the countries on this continent, every ‘Awakener’ has to take up adventuring at least once. That’s why I’m earning my keep as one now.

I started a second life in a way I never saw coming, but luckily, as ‘Awakeners’ go, I seem to be a talented one. My arm strength beats most people’s, and thanks to that I haven’t had much trouble as an adventurer so far.

I’ve even managed to bring two girls into my party. One is Freinil, a ladylike girl with golden hair and blue eyes. The other is Rani, a lively purple-haired girl of the wolf beastfolk. With my age in the way, I’d assumed forming a party would be hard, so getting those two was a real piece of luck.

Freinil, though, bothers me a little. She clearly has the air of a young lady from a good family, and I get a strong feeling there’s a story behind that. And then there’s the skill. While working alongside me she picked up a rare one called ‘Divine Attribute Magic,’ which isn’t even in the Guild guide. Nothing has happened so far, but sooner or later, in one form or another, I’ll probably run up against whatever makes her situation so unusual.

For now, I’ve only decided one thing: as the party’s leader, I’ll accept whatever her story turns out to be.