Upon opening her eyes, lying on her back inside a dense forest. A girl about fourteen years old, with reddish brown hair in a low ponytail, deep blue eyes, breathed her first breaths in the New World.

'So, the transfer is complete.'

After making a plea with an unknown god on the verge of death, a man with no name of any significance prayed to be reincarnated so he can live a comfortable and not-boring life as a Player. The result: A Doppelganger with a priest/ranger main build, with some arcane job classes completing the min/max build. Player name: Ariel Sanguine.

Ariel got up quickly and tested her body. She felt strong and light, makes sense as a level 100 Player. "Being a ranger also enhances my senses, it seems. I can sort of 'feel' all living creatures and the terrain in the nearby vicinity like it's a sixth sense."

It is early morning, with few rays of sunlight peeking through the thick forest. "First, to get my bearings. [Fly], [Perfect Invisibility]."

Ariel shot up above the tree line and looked around. She can see the forest's edge toward the east and south, and a big lake to the north. "This must be the Forest of Tob. Then there is only one thing to do." She used her Ranger's Sight and spotted a village beyond the forest toward the southeast. She flew in that direction while paying attention to all her passive detection abilities. "I know this god person agreed that I would be the only Player in this world, but it's never wrong to be cautious. Plus, I can map the terrain in more detail with little effort."

As she got closer, she noticed several trails of smoke in the horizon. Too big to be caused by cooking fire, and too concentrated to be forest fire. "Don't tell me, the Sunlight Scripture has already started their rampage? I need to make a plan fast if I want to have the appropriate first contact."

She descended to the ground and used her ranger senses to spot some herbs that could be valuable. They had different types of healing properties. Some had rich pigments indicating they can be used to create dyes.

"[Create Item]."

Ariel made a simple looking rucksack made of canvas, and quickly collected bunches of different herbs into it. She then used her "Doppelganger" racial ability to modify her gear to look more normal.

As she ascended and resumed flying under the cover of [Perfect Invisibility], she noticed dust plumes trailing shiny dots in the distance approaching the village. It is now late morning.

"Well, I hope this is the village of Carne that I'm approaching. I need to test my Doppelganger ability to read surface thoughts on people I'm familiar with as a control group." Back in Yggdrasil, the ability to read surface thoughts helped a Player to tell if an enemy is aware of them, if they are alert, angry, tired, or something else. It is a Doppelganger passive that is almost useless against other Players and is mostly there for role-playing.

Ariel stopped at the edge of the forest and perched on a treetop, dispelled [Fly] and [Perfect Invisibility]. Both spells drained mana constantly, and she can remain undetectable to most means while not flying anyway because of her ranger build. Not that she is concerned about spending mana on such spells. She focused more on mana regeneration. A lot of magic type Players focused on having a giant mana pool, so they could chain one spell after another in PvP. Ariel mainly played PvE, and hid from other Players by disguising as a random NPC. If she only cast one of those two spells, she would still have a net positive of mana regen because of how efficient it is.

"I will see what happens from here. If the knights start slaughtering the villagers and a young woman runs out with a little girl, that would be a certain indicator that this is Carne."

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Enri ran with all her might while keeping stable enough to guild Nemu. She is physically fit enough as is typical for a farm girl. But her fitness is from long days of constant labor, not sudden bursts of exertion like some soldier charging at their enemy. If every villager moved like this, they would spend most of their time and resources fixing and making shoes.

"We are almost there, Nemu! Just a little bit. Keep focused on the ground, don't look back…AHH!" Nemu tripped and the two knights caught up with them instantly. Enri shielded Nemu in her arms without thinking and felt the sword slash through her back.

"Hey, peasant, don't resist unless you want us to hurt the girl. Now show us how much you love her by showing us a good time. Take it as punishment for having us chase you this far. If you are good, we wouldn't have to move on to yer sister."

The knight holding the bloody sword leered at Enri's exposed back. It's been a while since they found a delicacy in this backwater place. Most village women they captured are either too old, too ugly, or too loose from having had too many children. It is rare to find a decent-looking wench of marriageable age without a big belly. She must either have an over-protective father or all the men in this village are idiots.

"Ok, ok, don't hurt my sister. Whatever you want, you can do to me."

The knights stepped closer and pushed the wailing red-haired girl away, and started tearing the older girl's clothes. They pushed her head into the dirt and made her push up her rear end. Nemu doesn't know what's happening, but she knows the two bad men are hurting her sister somehow, plus ruining her dress is just mean. She ran forward and started hitting one of the knights with her tiny fists. "Leave Enri nee-san alone!"

"GET AWAY!"

Enri raised up her face toward Nemu with difficulty and yelled at her with the amount of malice Nemu has never seen before. She looked deranged, with tears trailing down, mixing with the dirt on her face.

A knight punched Enri in the head. "Shut up you harlot! You are ruining the mood."

Nemu backed away quickly in fear. She doesn't know what to thing anymore. She wanted to get away, to hide. When she thought she moved far enough, she got up and turned around to run, only to bump into someone.

"OOF!"

The stranger reached out and held Nemu steady before she could fall on her butt. The knights turned their heads. Enri moved her dazed head slightly, through teary eyes, saw the blurry image of a girl, with a cloak covering most of her body.

"Now what do we have here? Another wanting to participate in our knightly activity?" The knights rose from the unmoving but shaking Enri and walked toward the newcomer, waving their swords in a lewd manner. "To have found two young'ns in the same place. Truly this must be the blessing of the Gods!"

'No, what you doing? Run!" Enri thought. She turned her eyes to the knights getting further from her, and closer to her sister, who hid behind the strange girl. 'Come back, you bastards. I'm the one you want!' She tried calling out the knights, to taunt them, but the exhaustion and blood loss have caught up to her. Her mouth felt too dry to make words. She is too weak to craw.

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Ariel picked up a small rock and threw it at the knights using minimal force, mindful to not actually take one out with her superior strength. It worked. The knights charged and tried to hit her with the broad side of their swords, hoping to subdue her. She dodged clumsily like a girl should, but successfully nonetheless. Nemu was ignored completely, as danger got away from her meter by meter. Ariel dodged some more, guiding the knights to the directions she wanted, until finally,

"[Lightning]"

The knights shook on their feet, arms flailing unnaturally, as they were both struck by the spell.

It was done on purpose. Ariel dared to show resistance by throwing a rock, so the knights would focus on her. She dodged around to lead the knights away from Nemu, and to test her natural reflexes and perception. She got the knights in an angle so that her lightning spell would not hit an innocent bystander. She could use a different spell, but she doesn't want to reveal her power too soon. A lightning spell seems reasonable for a talented magic caster in this world.

"Enri! Enri!"

After the knights fell, Nemu ran to her sister. Ariel made a cursory glance at the dead knights, then made her way to the half-dead girl. Nemu nudged her over on her side and was cradling her head.

"Hold on a moment, let me check her."

Nemu looked at the mysterious savior, as she checked her pulse on her neck. There was no need, but Ariel has to put up a show.

"This will take a moment. [Heal]."