A/N: Good god. I ended up writing maybe close to 7000 words in a single day. Both for this chapter and the previous one. I will definitely not keep up this pace.

Aside from that, I was going to respond to any reviews, but since I got this out so soon, I'll instead talk briefly about my inspirations. I think the one I should talk about first is the one that told me "Hey, you know not all Human in Gamindustri stories are total trainwrecks, right?"

Namely, Shattersoul's HyperDementia Neptunia: Welcome to our Dimension

I thought it was good enough for a shoutout anyway. It takes the general plot of Mk2/RB2 and darkens it while keeping it entertaining. oh and there's an OC in there somewhere i think.

There's also The Edge Chronicles: In a New World, which I just like tonally. It also shout outs HyperDementia, but I guess that's inspiration for you. (I may have also accidentally taken the plot point of waking up in Lowee with no idea what the fuck I'm doing, oops. Oh well, we went about it differently enough. I hope.)

With that, enjoy the next part of this trainwreck!

-Hclegend

Awkwardly stumbling back into the Guild after realizing that I had no Quests on me, I went straight to the automated Quest Board.

Yes, a Quest Board. This was covered in the pamphlet, it's just a way for people to take Quests without taking up the time of the clerks there. It's mostly for automatic daily quests that generally don't pay well, as they're all paid for by the guild themselves.

How does the Guild earn the money? Government, I guess. Probably takes a cut of the more specialized quests too. For now though, I took a look at what was available.

Shock of shocks, it was mostly low level generic quests. Kill X, get X Bear Asses, kill X and get their Bear Asses, etc. I took one or two of the easier quests from a nearby area and headed off, trying to ignore the clerk from before stifling a giggle at my awkward stumbling in.

Exiting the guild again, I breathed in with a sigh. I actually got some quests. Now to the questing area, which was just outside this town. As it turns out, I spawned in to the "South" of this town, so now I head northwards to an area called Weurld 1-1. I think it's meant to be a specialized training area, but still has monsters in.

The trip there was uneventful. People did give me a few weird looks before seeing my sheathed sword and moving on. Seems adventurers are just a common thing, despite my scruffy appearance. Again, t-shirt and tracksuit bottoms isn't exactly something you want to be wearing in public.

Maybe I should buy some clothes after this. Oh, right, the quest. Weurld 1-1 was as you expect, a walled off training area. It literally was walled off. With walls. Of brown bricks.

That inspired confidence as I strolled in and noted what enemies needed to be murdered for my quests. Mushrooms on legs, weird green pipes with yellow zigzag stripes on them, there was a large turtle with a tree on its back...

Deja vu, have I been in this place before? Whatever, I took out Serenity and prepared to engage one of the mushroom things.

It didn't really seem like it was one to be stabbed by me, as it launched spores at me, Some got in my mouth, which was gross, but didn't affect my ability to fight.

Still, I responded by slamming my sword into the top of its head with Serenity, dealing some damage, but surprisingly not slicing it in half. It did get pushed back.

Now it was angry and charged at me full force with its little mushroom top pointed straight at me. With a handy sidestep I dodged the foe, sending it crashing into a nearby brick wall.

I say that like it's impressive, but it was going at mildly past ambling speed. Turns out stubby little legs do not make for effective charge moves. While it was stunned, I simply walked close to it and gave a single right-handed slash, causing it to explode into data.

"Woopee." I deadpanned to nobody, as I examined the remains. A mushroom top and some small coins with a C embedded in. I believe these were the currency of the world, Credits?

Anyway, I picked some up and placed them into my pocket. As it turns out, once you get a Guild membership you automatically store whatever you collect into a big ol' cloud server. There was a picture of a cloud on the pamphlet. The joke was not lost on me.

I decided to go after another mushroom shaped creature, but I ended up attracting the attention of one of those familiar pipes… Somehow.

Seriously, these things have no visible body parts, how do they even see you, let alone attack?

Gripping Serenity once again, I attempted to cast a spell. Of course, being the nerd I am, I decided to go with a fairly basic spell from a game I used to play.

"Frostbolt!" I yelled, as I pointed my right hand, equipped with Serenity towards the mushroom thing. I wasn't expecting it to work, but I needed to work on my magic as a spellblade.

To my surprise, it worked. What I didn't expect was a literal bolt striking the mushroom and freezing it solid, before shattering. I expected some form of ice ball. Weird.

No time to contemplate as the pipe suddenly bent over and smacked me. Despite it bending, it felt like solid stone or metal. It hurt, dammit!

I swung Serenity at the pipe, knocking it back before attempting another spell. "Frostball!?"

This is the result I wanted from Frostbolt, as a small ball of ice launched out of the tip of the blade towards the pipe, striking it again and causing it to explode into data.

Still, I had the mushroom to take care of yet. Readying Serenity for another swing, I was interrupted by the mushroom leaping into the air and dive bombing towards me, once again the top of its head being the main weapon.

This was far faster than the casual amble from before and I barely had time to raise Serenity to defend before taking a high power hit that pushed me back a few meters. Even with Serenity taking the bulk of the hit, the impact still hurt quite a bit.

I thought this was a training area, why the hell are these guys so aggressive?

Regardless, the mushroom was preparing for another head bonk-type attack, judging from it bracing its stumpy legs. Waiting for it to launch itself into the air again, I pointed Serenity at it and did nothing.

"Prepare to be kebab, mushroom thing!" I yelled triumphantly to it before it impaled itself onto Serenity, causing it to explode into data.

I breathed a sigh of relief, as I took a moment to rest while gathering the spoils. With the adrenaline of killing that first mushroom, I forgot that I was still weaker than others of this level. I really had to be more careful before I ended up with a game over.

And I don't think I have any continues.

With strengthened resolve, I stood back up and looked around. Strange, weren't there more creatures here? And more sunlight?

A very loud ROAAAAAR emanating from exactly behind me unfortunately answered both of those questions. I took a look at the creature and it was one of those turtle things from before. Did I mention that it had a tree on its back? Well those trees were pretty beefy, so it had to have a large body to compensate.

And boy, was it large. The shell alone easily was taller than my relatively average self, and the turtle's mouth could have easily eaten me in two or three bites. At the very least, it could decapitate me in a single bite if it's beak-like mouth had anything to say about it.

I don't think it's much of a talker, though. A shame, I wanted to negotiate keeping my head, maybe?

Stepping back several times to keep myself away from the gaping maw, I noticed that the turtle itself was remarkably slow. At the very least, I could outpace it with some basic walking. As long as I kept an eye on it, I should be fi- Why is it rearing up?

The turtle slammed pretty hard into the ground, creating a small quake that knocked me off balance for a moment. Once I regained my composure I realized that speed wasn't really going to be a factor, as it could easily stun me for a moment if I wasn't careful.

God I hate stun mechanics. Regardless, I had to persevere. I think this was one of the quests I had to do. I hope it wasn't, but it might give out more rewards. Either way it looked tougher than anything else in Weurld 1-1.

Gripping Serenity, I went for an attack from the right, dual handing Serenity as I went for a full force attack.

Tink

Serenity bounced off its shell. Right, it's a turtle. They're known for hard shells. Duh.

The turtle seemed to take exception to my attempted attack, as it span around, hitting me with its tail and knocking me over again. This time, Serenity flew out of my hands and into the tree located on its back, blade first as to be jammed in for good measure. The turtle seemed to wince when Serenity jammed itself in there, but aside from that I was unarmed.

Well then, this is not good. Standing up, it had already faced me again and was trudging towards me.

I don't think going around it would even be viable, as it span around pretty fast if it caught me off guard with its tail.

So if I can't go around, I can only go...

I took a moment to prepare myself mentally, as I kept an eye on the turtle. It crept ever closer, its mouth drooling at the prospect of a fresh meal. I didn't think turtles were anything but vegetarian, but something has to keep that tree up.

It was about a meter away, ready to bite when I suddenly sprinted just to the side of its neck. It's a turtle, duh. They can't turn that far!

This gave me time to climb onto the shell proper. It was a bit rough, but I had some points to grab onto so I managed to get up to the flat part.

All the while the turtle looked… Confused? It was hard to tell from this angle. Maybe it couldn't feel my weight on its shell. I reached up to grab Serenity, which elicited a pained groan from the turtle.

That's a weird weak spot, but whatever. Pointing the blade at the dead center of the tree, I decided to try a different element.

"Let's turn up the heat! Fireball!" To nobody's surprise, a ball of fire launched itself from Serenity, smacking the tree slap bang in the middle and setting it on fire.

The turtle writhed in pain as I was violently thrown off of it. I took a moment to confirm I was on solid ground and had Serenity again before checking on my foe.

Wow, it was in serious pain. The tree more resembled a towering inferno at this point and the turtle was ambling around, trying to put it out. Eventually the fire faded into as and the turtle flopped over, before turning into data.

This was weird to say the least. Also needlessly cruel, but I didn't know if that was going to work or not and I doubt an ice attack would have done as much.

Sauntering over to the loot, I noticed a lot more credits had dropped than either the pipe or the mushrooms. I also a refreshing feeling overtaking my otherwise exhausted body. I suddenly felt fully healed.

Did I just level up? This was covered in the pamphlet, but it was still advised to bring your own healing items.

Still though, with that, I left Weurld 1-1.I couldn't be doing with any more near death by large turtles today. That and once I left I noticed some important looking people running into the area.

Probably because I accidentally made a several meter high inferno and wanted to make sure whatever it was didn't burn the whole complex down. Whatever, I was done.

Heading back to the guild was surprise surprise, uneventful. Once I came back in though, the place was slightly abuzz for some reason.

"Hey, didn't you hear about that fire in Weurld 1-1?" I heard one guy ask.

"Oh yeah, apparently someone burned the tree off of the super-tough Turtle there." another guy replied. I didn't catch their faces because I didn't want to be caught eavesdropping.

"Jeez, must have been mad at it. Most people just chop it down and don't risk the fire hazard."

"I would have done that myself honestly. That thing is a pain."

Weird. Trees are flammable. You burn trees if you want them gone.

Then again, not everyone starts with a spellbade. That still leaves the question of why people were talking about this. I was merely doing quests.

Speaking of, I opened up the Quest Board and turned in what Quests I had. Killed two mushrooms, got a pipe drop from the well, pipe.

Still though, there was one quest I skimmed over. Mostly because it suggested a higher level than I was comfortable with.

Objective: Obtain Turtle Shell

Reward: 2500 Credits, 3x Healing Potion

Pretty good rewards, honestly. Wait a second. Didn't I get a Turtle Shell?

Checking my inventory, I was shocked to find that I did. Along with a Burned Tree Trunk. Yikes, that's a downer.

Regardless I opened then completed the Quest, earning a cool 2500 Credits and some items for basically nothing.

Before I went I decided to check my level. The Guild Board has a lot of neat features like that. (The inventory thing just comes with a Guild membership. Though I haven't figured out how to open the "menu" outside of the Guild Board yet.)

Taking a quick look at my profile, I was shocked.

Name: Koei Tech

Occupation: Newbie Adventurer

Class: Spellblade (Novice)

Level: 5

I was level 5 already? Was that turtle meant for stronger adventurers and I just found a cheap tactic for an easy kill?

No wonder people are talking about this. I guess most people just don't try and fight it on their first trip.

Closing the Guild Board, I headed out before arousing any suspicion. Last thing I need is people thinking I'm some prodigy for a basic tactic.

Once I was outside, I noticed that the sky was significantly more orange. Was it that late already? Then again, I did zone out a few times while travelling, it's probably been a fair bit longer than I think it has.

For now I decided to head to the all purpose Store located near the Guild. Pretty efficient building if you ask me.

Walking in, it was similar to the Guild. A fair bit smaller, with only one staff member and some form of machine, but it still looks quite a bit like the Guild. Walking to the cashier (I presume), I do need to ask one urgent question.

"Excuse me miss," I gave my best "I'm lost" impression (Not a bad one, considering I basically am.) "but do you know where the nearest inn or other place where I can pay to rent a room is? It's getting dark and I need a place to rest."

"Of course!" She replied in a chipper manner. "Just head out and turn right, you shouldn't miss it!"

"Thank you. One more thing, though. Where do I buy clothes?"

She gave me a confused look. "Right here of course! This is Lowee's one stop-shop for all things, whether for adventuring or relaxing!"

"Convenient. Thank you." I stated simply before heading to what I presumed was the machine for purchasing things.

Opening it up revealed well, an online storefront.

Welcome Koei! You have: 3500 Credits in your account!

Wow, that Turtle really is paying dividends. Still, this allowed me to splash out a bit. But first, food.

Surprisingly this place was a one-stop shop for all things adventuring or not. Basic groceries, adventuring gear, non-adventuring gear, even weapons were sold here. As in physical, actual weapons!

Taking a browse, I found some basic supplies. A bulk pack of ramen noodle pots (Because I don't really know how much I need for the inn yet.), a new jacket (Strangely all in white and or blue. I picked the darkest one I could and that was still cyan, with the snowflake emblem with an L on it like on Serenity's scabbard.) and some cheap beer. (Because wow, this world has beer, I can still continue my decline into alcoholism!)

I also bought an armor bracelet. For some weapon when buying equipment it showed your stats before and after and this bracelet would nearly double my "Vitality" and "Mentality", whatever that meant. Probably just fancy ways of saying Defence and Magic Defence.

Oh and a backpack. Nothing fancy, just a regular backpack. As long I can't access my inventory outside of the Guild or the Store, I might as well carry some essentials on me.

All in all that cost… 2500 credits? Son of a bitch, I wanted to save some!

Sighing in defeat and purchasing the items, they all went into my newly acquired backpack, aside from the jacket and bracelet, which went straight onto me. I felt less like I could break from being breathed on, but that could just be a placebo.

By the time I was done and had thanked the clerk, it was dark out. She said to head right, right?

I turned 90 degrees and lo and behold, a lit up sign saying "Lowee Hostel: No Vacancy" greeted me. Thankfully the No wasn't lit up like the rest of the sign.

Walking in, I expected some dingy old hellhole, but it was actually rather homely. Hell, they even had a fake log fire to the left of the entrance, with wooden furniture surrounding it. They really wanted to push the old time cabin theme with modern enhancements, didn't they?

Going to the front desk, yet another generic clerk greeted me. It's like this is a theme or something.

"Evening, you got any rooms?" I asked curtly, yet bluntly. I was quite tired, even with the earlier level up restoring my energy.

"Well, you can rent out an entire room for yourself for… 5000 Credits. Or you can just rent a bed for 1000."

Oh right, this is a hostel. Means that they cram more beds into a single room. "I'll take the bed." I reply. Not that I had the cash to drop on a whole room to myself anyway.

"One thousand Credits, please.", she asked as I curtly handed over the last of my hard earned cash. Back to square one on that front.

"Here's your key. Have a good evening sir."

"Thank you." I finished, before heading the actual rooms.

The room number was on a plastic tab attached to the key. It simply read "115." It was a surprisingly simple job of navigating to that room, even with the hostel somehow not having a logical numbering system.

I arrived into the relatively sparse room. The beds once again had the L with a snowflake that I had quickly come to realize was the coat of arms of this place. Also the fact it was called Lowee, maybe.

Still though, I got lucky because despite being a room with 6 beds (Two bunk beds and one double bed for couples, I guess.) the room was devoid of life. Just the way I like it.

Sitting down on the bottom of one of the bunks, I checked out the facilities while resting my legs. Surprisingly, the staff left a kettle and various tea and coffee making supplies on the desk, all ready to be used. That was the ramen sorted, at least.

Putting the kettle on to boil the water needed for the ramen, I contemplated what I knew so far.

I was in a place called Lowee, which seemed like a typical RPG realm, yet had modern technology and some even further beyond what I'd seen. There are both monsters and adventurers who work for a Guild, and generally there seems to be no overlying motivator to explore yet.

So based on my genre savvyness… Either this place gets burned to the ground, some dark lord rises and I'm a destined hero who is meant to stop them, or I just live here peacefully as a non-descript spellblade.

Honestly that last one seems alright to me.

Sadly this thought process was interrupted by some walking into the room. Thankfully all I was doing was leaning on a wall, so I could easily pretend not to care.

"Evening." I state cooly. Internally I'm panicking slightly. I've never spent a night before with solely strangers before, so I hoped it was room service so I could go back to being alone.

To my surprise, it was IF, that girl from the guild way earlier. I put myself at ease slightly as the kettle bubbled in the background.

"Oh, you're that girl that got my spellbrade approve, aren't you?"I ask, more relaxed than before.

"I don't believe we formally met at the guild earlier. I'm Guildmaster IF." she extended one of her hands for me to shake, which seems to not have a katar on it. I shook it firmly.

"Koei Tech, but I think you knew that already." I say with a small laugh. She seems nonplussed. "So uh, you staying the night here?"

"No, I have other arrangements." I breathe a sigh of relief before she continued "But I do want to talk to you about something."

She sat down on the bed opposite to where I put my stuff. "So I've heard a few rumors about a large fire at Weurld 1-1 today. You wouldn't happen to have been there, would you?"

Ohhh no. "Yeah, I was. Look, I did it in self defense, I didn't know the whole tree would have gone up in flames!"

IF raised an eyebrow at me. I just accidentally confessed to causing the fire trying to justify my actions. Shit. Shit. Shit.

Her nonplussed look relaxed a little. "Don't worry about it. I had a suspicion it was you, but wanted to confirm it before wrapping up the investigation. I'll tell the relevant authorities it was a freak blaze and not caused by anyone in particular."

I stared back. "Then if you're not just here to arrest me, why are you here? You said you had other arrangements, right?"

IF's stare hardened a little. "I wanted to see if my faith in you was misplaced. As I said, I had a feeling it was you and didn't know whether you did it out of fear or out of malice." her look softened again before she continued. "The fact that you so readily wanted to defend yourself even before I asked if you did do it shows that you were concerned about your well-being after that incident at least. Or at least enough not to lie to me. Or not to brag about doing it. Or-"

I held my hand up to stop her. "I get it. Look, I just meant to try and hit it with an element it was weak against and it was the first time using that sort of thing. Honestly felt like I was thrown into the deep end there." I confessed, a tinge of bitterness in the last sentence.

IF shrugged. "That's a spellblade for you. Still though, buying some armor helps out in the long run. As is just generally trying not to burn things that could chain react into a disaster. These things don't often happen around here, that's probably what the commotion is about." She got up, clearly intending to leave. "Goodnight, Koei."

"Wait, since I helped you, can you help me with something?" I said, meeting eye to eye with her before she could take a step. "Look, I think you may have noticed I wasn't from around here, so could you tell me where the hell I am?"

IF blinked. "You're in Toadstool Town, a small town located in Lowee, one of the four Nations of this land, Gameindustri. Ruled by Lady White Heart. Anything else?"

Wait, there's other Nations? There's a ruler named Lady White Heart? Gamindustri? "A few."

I think it took about 10 minutes of meticulous detail for me to fully grasp the basic concept of this world. I'll give you a brief rundown.

This world is called Gamindustri, ruled by 4 divine beings known as the CPUs. Each one governs a nation and fights for Shares in what's known as the Console Wars. Despite the fact that it's a war, generally people aren't bothered about it and just go about worshipping the Goddess they like the most. Hell, there's even international travel with no strings attached, according to IF.

As for my current location, Toadstool Town? It's a small beginner town for newbie adventurers to get to grips with things, as well as being a stone's throw away from several questing areas, all while being nowhere near as packed as the town located near the Basilicom in the center of Lowee, where the CPU supposedly lives.

I'm still kind of confused, but whatever. I'm sure the general concept of this world will sink in eventually. For now though, I believe I have some ramen to consume. And cheap beer to consume too.

Tomorrow's a new day, full of opportunity. And not burning Turtles to death, hopefully.