Chapter 2:
Bear Meets Girl
I OPENED MY EYES.
I wasn’t at my in-game home, where I was supposed to spawn on login, but in an unfamiliar forest. More importantly, I was wearing the bear gear—both gloves, both shoes, and the onesie. I hadn’t expected it to equip without warning, but now that I had it on, it was pretty comfy. The bear gloves looked like hand puppets—I flapped their mouths open and shut by flexing my fingers, and the effect was cuter than I’d anticipated.
I looked around, seeing no one else. Well, I’d start by changing out of this embarrassing getup before anyone saw me. I couldn’t switch my gear unless I was home, so I tried to pull up a transporter item from my inventory.
My inventory wouldn’t open. A bug? Though it’d be a pain in the butt, I supposed I could just log out and log back in again.
Wait, what?
The logout screen wouldn’t appear. Oh well. I tried contacting someone on my short friend list, but that screen wouldn’t show up, either, so I tried opening my map, hoping to at least scope out my whereabouts.
Huh?
My map screen wasn’t responding, either. What’s going on here?
I activated my status screen. That opened up fine.
Name: Yuna
Age: 15 years old
Level: 1
Skills: Fantasy World Language, Fantasy World Literacy
EQUIPMENT
Right Hand: Black Bear Glove (Nontransferable)
Left Hand: White Bear Glove (Nontransferable)
Right Foot: Black Bear Shoe (Nontransferable)
Left Foot: White Bear Shoe (Nontransferable)
Clothing: Black and White Bear Clothes (Nontransferable)
Had something gone wrong with the update? The character I spent a whole year developing was reset to level one! I needed to log a complaint at once.
As I was trying to somehow get through to the admins, I heard the tinkle of an incoming message notification. Assuming it was an apology message from them, I tried to bring up the screen, but it wouldn’t open. How am I supposed to read it, then?
And just as I thought that, a message screen opened up right in front of my eyes.
Sender: God
Congratulations, Yuna! You were selected based on the results of the questionnaire.
Clap clap clap clap (applause).
The place you’re in right now is no longer the game world, but a fantasy world that I control. In other words, you’ve been transported to another world. Starting now, this is where you’ll be living.
Of course, I couldn’t just leave you with nothing to your name, so I gave you a bear outfit as a present. There are other presents around, so do your best to find them!
Was this some kind of new event? For the time being, I decided to try to find some other players. Fantasy games like this mostly rehashed the same tropes as light novels, anyway. There was no way something like being transported to another world could happen for real. What kind of harebrained idiot had come up with this?
The issue at present was that I didn’t know where I was. I was just level one, so if a monster attacked me, I’d be toast.
I wondered—if I died, would I just respawn at my in-game home?
I needed to leave the woods. But before that, I needed a weapon, and all I had were bear gloves with flappy mouths. I kept an eye out as I walked through the woods, and I found a fallen stick that was just the right length. It was better than being empty-handed, so I decided to pick it up. I felt like a hero equipped with a cypress stick.
Just as I was getting used to my suit and stick, a wolf emerged from the underbrush.
I knew this type of wolf—it was one of the basic mobs from the starting area. I tried to check its level, but its status screen wouldn’t show up. It’d be fine if it was weak, but I wasn’t convinced I could beat it with a tree branch.
At least it was alone.
I readied the tree branch like a sword. The wolf broke into a run and leapt straight at me. I darted to the side, like I always did in the game, and the tree branch hit the wolf in the side. If I’d been holding my usual sword, I would have cut it right in two.
The wolf whimpered and stopped moving. Who could have guessed—I’d beat it in one hit. Maybe this really was the hero’s cypress stick? I raised the branch high in the air.
Well, I thought, I guess this isn’t the time for jokes. Huh?
I watched the wolf’s beaten body for a while, but it didn’t turn into an item. Monsters were supposed to disappear and drop items when they died. A wolf would leave meat and a pelt or something, or, if you were lucky, a mana gem, but this one didn’t disappear. I tried poking it with the tree branch, but it didn’t move. It should definitely have been dead. The message from earlier started to feel more real. Was this really another world?
Anyway, I’d get away from here for now. The smell of the wolf’s body might attract other monsters. Of course, I didn’t have the skill to butcher a wolf even in the real world. I couldn’t do stuff like in the games or the novels.
I resumed exploring, but the woods were seemingly endless. I couldn’t open my inventory, so I couldn’t pull out food. I supposed that if I really wasn’t in the game, it was highly likely there wouldn’t be any food in it, anyway. I felt like if I didn’t find other people soon, I’d die from starvation even before a monster could get me.
I’d been walking quite a while, but I didn’t feel all that tired. Maybe it was because of these bear shoes? They were embarrassing, but pretty nifty.
“Someone, help…”
I heard someone’s voice. I figured it could be dangerous to get involved, but it was my first time hearing another person here. Knowing the risks, I chased after the sound and
