Wood dolls. It was a simple name for a simple video game monster. They were a collection of branches held together in a small, vaguely humanoid shape. I faintly recalled they were being moved by spirits or something. I never really looked too deep into the lore, but I probably should now.

Anyway, wood dolls were the most common enemy in Trevor’s Hillside. They were fairly harmless and were excellent practice dummies.

“Hmm…”

Another wood doll crumbled into a pile of sticks as it met my dagger.

Since controlling or even aiming magic was apparently impossible for me, I’d opted to try out my dagger skills. I had no problem wrecking these little buggers with finesse I could only dream of in my original form. All my movements felt natural even though all my prior training consisted of just playing the game. Although rather than being experienced, it was more like I suddenly had a great talent for using bladed weapons.

In the end, this form was very similar to the true form of my avatar, not just in appearance, but in abilities as well.

Well… I couldn’t be too surprised. The dream had shown exactly that.

But being bad at magic didn’t mean I couldn’t use any magical tools at all. Items with enchantments, such as the ruby seed, had specific built-in functions, meaning they were automatic, so there was no problem with using those.

The main problem seemed to come from using items with runes. With those, I actually needed to control them myself. And my control… was awful.

Luckily, there were a couple of item runes that should still be possible for me to use even if I lacked the magical talent – or whatever I lacked – for them. One such spell rune was actually inside my staff as well. I hadn’t tried it before because I’d never even used it all that much in the first place.

“And… there!”

The last of the wood dolls lay in shambles as I sheathed my dagger and picked up the staff again.

“Soo… it should work like this, right?”

I raised the staff and then slammed the ground with its blunt side, imagining the spell to go off.

The ground below erupted and tossed all dust and dirt in all directions away from me. And also in a few directions toward me. My robes got sprayed with dirt.

“Wah! Ugh, come on…”

It was a universal spell used to ward off enemies, but somehow I’d messed up even this simple idiot-proof spell. It was almost as if my talent for magic dropped to the negatives when transformed. That was just so embarrassing…

Well, good thing most teleportation items used enchanted items rather than runes at least.

Anyway, while me using magic might be a terrible idea for everyone, according to the dream, Casey, at least, should be able to properly use magic, right? The dream had shown her blasting the boss without any problems. Well, unless she wasn’t the girl with bunny ears in the back, but who else would it be?

A pang of anxiety hit me, thinking about how I was going to explain everything to my friends tomorrow.

I shook my head to clear it. No point making myself even more anxious thinking about it.

With that, my testing session was over. Sure, I had a bunch of other magic items I could test, but I felt it was prudent not to accidentally burn down the forest with the inferno wand, or drown myself with the book of oceans. I just had to stick to melee weapons. Unfortunately, the staff was way too big to fit into my bag, so I still had to carry it around, cosplaying as a competent magic user.

Next up, I still wanted to leave that message for the devs, meaning I had to head back to the city. I’d already spent a lot of time out here, so if I didn’t head back now, I might not make it before Mom returned from work.

I packed up, grabbed the staff, pulled down my hood again, and headed back to the forest’s edge. Luckily, no players appeared during my clown magician performance, but if I got closer to the town, I was bound to run into someone. And even though I didn’t like hiding from people like this, I still didn’t want someone randomly examining me and freaking out over my status. Also, I just liked being in nature rather than out on the flat road.

With that said, I followed the forest’s edge again in the opposite direction and several minutes later arrived at Redaghoul’s south gate. There were a few players coming and going, but surprisingly, less than before. I could probably risk it.

I left the forest and approached the gate, noticing the guards. In the game, these were really only a decoration. There was no need for any ID or anything. They just freely let you through. If this really was a game, I would say the devs opted for player convenience over realism. But since this was a real world, this just seemed reckless on the guards’ part, no matter how peaceful this general area was.

I approached the gate with this in mind.

“Halt!” The two armored men raised their spears and made an X with them. “Who are you? I don’t recognize you,” the guy on the left said.

Oh, what?! They weren’t going to let me through? Had I jinxed myself?!

“I… Um, I’m a-an adventurer. I got a bit… lost,” I stammered out.

“Lost?” The left guy frowned. “I saw you coming out of that forest. How did you get there? Where are you from?”

“I-I… I was… teleported there,” I babbled out before realizing what I’d just said. “I… I just found myself in the middle of that forest… somehow.”

The two exchanged a glance.

“Someone teleported you? A magical artifact? A trap in a dungeon?” the right guard asked.

“No… well, uh, there was this portal that led into the forest.”

“So, there’s a portal somewhere in there, then?” the right guy asked.

“Oh, uh… the portal closed after I was through.” I’d closed it.

“Hrmm…” the right guard rubbed the bottom of his helmet. “Strange, but I’ve seen stranger things.” The two relaxed. “You’re an adventurer, you say? Do you have something to identify yourself?”

Ah, dammit.

“Uh, I am… Well, actually, I haven’t registered yet. And, uh… I don’t have any other way to identify myself…”

“Suspicious,” the left guy muttered whilst tightening his grip on his spear.

No, come on!

“Hey, calm down. You’re scaring her,” the right-side guard told his colleague.

The left guard relaxed again but kept frowning at me through his helmet.

“Look, you don’t strike me as a bad person, but we really can’t let an unknown stranger into the city.”

“R-right… Then I guess, I’ll…”

“But it’s not like I’m heartless. I can see you are quite troubled here. So how about you wait at our station, I’ll call someone from the guild and you can do the registration here.”

“Oh… That would be great, actually.”

Finally, a way in!

The guard smiled at me and nodded. “Once we confirm everything is in order, we’ll let you inside the city, alright?”

“Yeah, yeah. Thank–”

“Oh shit, it’s her!” A voice interrupted us, prompting everyone to turn their heads.

There stood a guy with a scar on his face, a guy in orange robes, and a man with deer-like antlers.

It was those three again! Why now?! This was the worst timing!

“Krieg504? Do you perhaps know this suspicious woman?” the guard on the left asked, actually saying all these numbers.

“Hmm? Uh…” the scar-faced guy, Krieg504, scratched the back of his head and looked at his teammates.

Dammit! Now even the other guard was looking at me suspiciously!

What should I do? Run? Teleport out? Or maybe--

“Yes, yes! We definitely know her, sir guards!” The robed guy pushed Krieg out of the way and took a few steps toward us.

He then slightly turned to me with a grin and gave me an obvious, exaggerated wink.

???

“Sure, she might be a biiit suspicious, but don’t worry! She’s totally trustworthy!” he insisted, giving them a thumbs up.

Why the hell was he vouching for me all of a sudden?! What was going on?!

“I… see… Well, if TheGreatestPeachmelon says so then…”

I squeezed my eyes shut and almost let out a loud pfft as the guard said his name.

Almost.

“Sorry about the holdup, ma’am. Welcome to Redaghoul. Make sure to register yourself at the guild for the next time, though,” the left guard said whilst stepping out of the way.

And just like that, I was let into the city without even having to prove my identity.