Leading the group into town, Jin felt better and better until the dizzy spell seemed like it might have been a figment of his imagination. Using the time, he carefully questioned his frenemies, paying close attention to them rather than their surroundings. Seeing that Shin was the group leader, he let him do most of the talking, while Seiichiro, his second-in-command, took over as the official denier. Jin increasingly felt like stabbing Seiichiro just to see what would happen, though luckily for him, Jin had come into the world without a weapon.
Upon entering Manchin, Jin switched his focus to observing the NPCs. With their odd attire, they should have been the target of gossip, and someone should have called the town guard. Yet, occasionally, they were nodded at as if accepted. This led him to speculate that, to the NPCs, they all appeared as their in-game characters. Walking with purpose, he found himself truly playing the nanny, as the reality of being inside the game began sinking in for the others.
The market stalls of fruits, vegetables, gear, meats, blacksmiths, and herbalists had the group touching things like disobedient children. For a brief moment, Jin considered slipping something into Seiichiro’s pocket to see what would happen, but he reminded himself that he had to maintain the appearance of a godly savior if he wanted any chance to test his theories.
Calmly straightening his spine, he forced a sickly sweet smile and adopted a tone he’d once used on his younger brother when trying to avoid tears.
“If you break it or damage it, we have no coins to pay for it, and you’ll end up in jail where we can’t bail you out because we have no money. This game has hung thieves in the past. How do we prove we’re not actual thieves with no money, food, or weapons?”
The five little idiots stared at him for a moment before realizing he might be right—they couldn’t prove they weren’t thieves. There was no way a bunch of NPCs would believe they had been sucked in from another world. Speaking loud enough to catch the vendors’ attention, Jin reminded himself that while he might be a godly savior, that didn’t mean he had to be a just one. Why couldn’t there be demonic saviors too? Demons had their own cults and gods, and a little fear never did them wrong… unless it was for a bloodletting ritual or a sacrificial offering. But that was beside the point.
Seeing how pathetic they were, Jin led them to the town’s Guild Headquarters—or at least that’s what the signs claimed. In reality, all the Guild Headquarters locations were pubs: pubs with a single, unattackable NPC behind the bar and half a dozen token NPCs scattered about to give the illusion of a crowd.
To Jin, these sorts of places had no smells—he’d never stopped to consider it before—but now, inside the pub, the aroma of roasting pig, beer, and smoke enveloped him. The cozy atmosphere made it feel like they’d been there many times before. It was too much. The stupid game system had done him dirty again. The only reason he’d chosen the Guild Headquarters was because it was warm, and above all, free. At least here they wouldn’t be thrown out onto the streets, where they’d most likely die once the night mobs began to move.
Selecting a table near the fire, Jin sat down, intending to people-watch. In some headquarters, there were gamblers—gamblers who had money. If they could bluff their way into a game, they might win enough coins to buy some water to quench their thirst. Walking around in the game was no different than walking in real life. The dry, dusty road and hot sun had parched his throat. Though they’d passed a well earlier, Jin wasn’t eager to risk illness from potentially contaminated water before testing whether their characters truly needed to eat and drink.
The five little idiots settled at the table next to his, with Seiichiro bemoaning,
“I’m so tired. Can we get food? It’s a Guild Headquarters, right? We can access our guild here, can’t we?”
Jin wanted to laugh. No. Not only because the place was labeled “HQ,” but because there was no vault access for guild items here. If there had been, he’d have already used it. A few copper coins from his millions were nothing to him, but the idiots would have elevated him with their words while plotting to spend it all behind his back.
Scanning the room, Jin waved his hand dismissively.
“Just be quiet and let me think.”
“What are you thinking about? How are we going to get dinner? It smells so good in here my stomach’s rumbling. Aren’t you hungry? We’re all starving, and you’re just sitting there thinking!”
“Maybe we can tell them we were robbed by bandits? Then they’ll have to give us free food,” Yuto suggested.
Jin scowled before quickly masking his irritation. Seeing Yuto cower back, he shook his head and explained,
“If we report bandits, they’ll tell us to speak to the town guards. I was planning on saving that excuse to get us a ride out of here. This place doesn’t seem to have gamblers, so there’s no chance of winning coins that way. We don’t know if the system will register any of our clothes as sellable since they’re not originally from this game. It’ll take about six hours of walking to get from Manchin to Silverledge City at the speed we set today. I was planning to find a merchant and ask for a ride.”
Shin immediately disagreed.
“No. I think Yuto is right. If we tell the guards, they might give us free stuff.”
Jin counted off his counterpoints on his fingers.
“And how are you going to explain everything? How many bandits were there? Where were we attacked? Why didn’t we report it as soon as we arrived? Where did we come from, and where were we going? What was the purpose of our travel? What items were stolen? How were they stolen? Where are our wounds? Do we have past criminal records? What kind of people are our families? And more importantly, do any of you even remember your character names and classes? We can’t claim stolen items that don’t match our characters.”
Shin snorted dismissively, smugly crossing his arms.
“Like our characters? What characters? We’re humans, dummy. This all has to be some sort of dream.”
It was on the tip of Jin’s tongue to point out they’d obviously died or something. But that would cause a scene, and the five little idiots were already enough of a headache. He couldn’t fix stupid, and stupid wouldn’t listen.
“We must look human enough to the NPCs, or they’d have captured us as monsters. Looks like we’ll have to do this the old-fashioned way and ask for work.”
Shyly, Haruto raised his hand.
“I’m a human rogue. I could try pickpocketing.”
Jin clicked his tongue.
“We don’t have any of our gear or skills. Unless, Seiichiro, you’ve got a cleric skill you haven’t told us about?”
Shin gasped, grabbing his second-in-command by the shoulder and shaking him.
“That’s right! Quick, try a skill!”
“Quit it, man. Let me try!”
The group fell silent as Seiichiro gradually turned red in the face. With an almighty exhale, he slumped back.
“It won’t work! Why won’t it work?! What did you do to me, you bastard?!”
Knowing he was the one being called “bastard,” Jin coldly shot back. They were the ones ruining his perfect afterlife, not the other way around.
“I didn’t do anything. We all got isekai’d into the same game at the same time. We’ve got no skills. Unless you want to go outside right now and find some herbs to manually collect and sell, hard work is the only way we’re going to make money to eat tonight. You lot stay here while I go talk to the barkeeper… unless, of course, you don’t mind going hungry and sleeping outside, where anyone or anything could kill you off.”
Leaving the five little idiots behind, Jin walked over to the barkeeper. The man was a huge brute with ruddy red cheeks and an unkempt beard. Normally, green text showing his name would appear above him, but the stingy system had struck again. Watching the man sling half a dozen tankards around as if they were nothing, Jin felt a thrill of excitement. Between his bullied past life and this, he’d gladly take living it up—despite not being in for a good night of work.
“Excuse me, sir. Would you happen to have any work?”
The barkeeper turned towards him, setting down the wooden tankards.
“Aye, we’ve got work for hard workers. Tell me, traveler, what kind of work are you looking for?”
Blinking, Jin sighed internally. Right. All the barkeepers couldn’t be more stereotypical if they tried.
“My friends and I lost our coins along the way. We were hoping we could work in exchange for water and something to eat. We’re traveling to Silverledge to find work, and we’re fortunate enough to be not too far from Manchin.”
“Oh, aye. Silverledge has work for those willing to work. What are your skills?”
Cooking seemed pointless with the smell of suckling pig in the air… and Jin did want to see the five little idiots suffer. Putting on his most “sincere” personality, he smiled.
“We can do the washing up. All we ask is a humble meal and a drink. We’re not looking for any trouble.”
“We’re always in need of a hand. One meal each, provided after the kitchen is cleaned.”
“And a cup of water each before we begin.”
The barkeeper stared him down, Jin meeting his gaze without flinching. Finally, the man laughed and held out a massive hand to shake Jin’s normal-sized one.
“All right, Idletrash, you’ve got a deal.”
Jin’s mind lit up. A key piece of information had just been unlocked: NPCs could see their character names!
Leading the five little idiots to the kitchen, Jin had expected to be scammed—and he was right. Normally, players couldn’t even enter the kitchen in pubs. It was just a flat door set into the wall, forever closed. Players couldn’t bug their way in, and the developers had always been quick to patch exploits.
Inside, the kitchen was a disaster. Huge pots were stacked haphazardly. The fireplace was thick with black soot, with a blackened pot hanging from a bar over the flames. Oil splatters painted nearly every surface, and the windows were caked with enough dust to rival an influencer’s makeup.
“We have to clean all of this?! This is slave labor! I’m not doing this!”
“Right, man. Let’s go. It’s not worth it!”
“What’s in it for me? Can’t we eat and run?”
“I don’t even do the dishes at home! That’s my mother’s job!”
“Where’s the dishwasher?”
Ignoring them, Jin walked over to the pump handle near the sink. Searching for a clean cup, he found an empty bucket and ladle. At this point, he didn’t care if he caught something like E. coli—his throat was dry. Working the pump handle was oddly novel. Water splashed into the bucket, and after half a dozen pumps, he’d collected enough to dip the ladle in.
Sipping from it, the water tasted sweet and clean. Both the bucket and ladle must have been reserved for drinking, as they lacked any hint of oil or dust. Downing a ladleful, he regretted only asking for “a drink” before starting. He didn’t want to enrage the barkeeper, though, so playing it safe was the way to go. Turning to the little idiots, he stated clearly:
“We get one ladle each before we start. I’ll clear the sink; it’ll need cleaning before we fetch water from the fire.”
“Dude, this is women’s work. Why do we have to do this?”
If he could have reached through time, Jin would have slapped Shin’s mother. What kind of backward thinking was that? His own mother would never have let it fly.
“We don’t eat if we don’t clean. Unless you want to go hungry and thirsty, we have to complete this quest.”
“It’s not a quest, it’s slave labor! You signed us up without asking. You clean the kitchen; we’ll wait.”
Like hell he was cleaning this pigsty on his own. He was mad enough at the negligent system and furious that Acshellis hadn’t come to save him yet.
“We all have to complete the task, or none of us gets fed. Have you guys never logged into a game before? We’re not in a party—there’s no shared experience. If anything, we’re all in the same instance.”
Yuto hesitated.
“Same instance? Like a dungeon? Is this place a dungeon?”
The other four glared at him, but Jin only grew more irritated.
“No. It’s like when a dozen people go to the same NPC to accept a quest. That NPC leads each group. There’s still only one NPC, but it’s running multiple instances. The barkeeper is the NPC. He gave the quest to all of us, but since we’re not in a party, we all have to complete the task individually. We need somewhere safe, with food, drink, and coin. Until we figure out what to do next, this is all we’ve got.”
Yuto nodded.
“That makes sense.”
Jin felt godly for not smacking Yuto. Of course it made sense. Did they think he was talking nonsense? He wasn’t a casual player—he was the most experienced out of the six, with the most geared character. He’d painstakingly paid attention to every quest he’d done. These fools were lucky he was kind-hearted enough to lead them.
“If you understand, then have some water. One ladle each, then we start. We can’t leave until the task is complete.”
Shin scoffed.
“Don’t listen to him. Of course we can leave. They can’t keep us locked in here. That guy’s only an NPC—what can he do?”
To prove his point, Shin puffed his chest out and marched to the door. He twisted the knob, pushed, pulled, and even braced his foot against the wall for leverage, but the door stayed shut. Jin’s theory had been confirmed without him needing to test it himself.
Red-faced, Shin turned, foot still against the wall.
“What is this?! Why won’t it open?”
Even the Great All-Forgiving Buddha would have lost patience by now. Jin held back his smugness as he repeated:
“We can’t leave until the task is done. I’ve explained enough. We all have to clean this kitchen before 6 a.m.”
Haruto interjected.
“Why 6 a.m.?”
Jin started rolling up his sleeves.
“That’s when instances reset. You don’t want to spend all night cleaning only to get caught in the reset, do you?”
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