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“I didn’t even dream of such a result. I thought it was gonna be a draw at worst.” (Guy)

Guy muttered with a wry smile and got up. 

Guy did think he might lose, but he didn’t even imagine that he would lose without being able to do anything. 

He knew that there was a difference of 10 levels after all. 

He went as far as to use the Lie Detection Scroll to confirm the strength of his opponent. 

Lanpeach wasn’t trying to skirt around it with wordplay, so it is certain that Guy should have been the stronger one. 

It is actually because the game system of Lanpeach was different, but there’s no way at all he would think it is because he was fighting an opponent with a skill system, so his magic didn’t work properly. 

And so, he misunderstood Lanpeach as a master martial artist in their world, misunderstood that he must definitely have decades of training, and felt fear towards such a person that has such base power. 

(The job of summoner that was hidden in the game. It probably is a magic job that can easily overturn a difference of 10 levels against a heavy armor knight that is a tank. He would definitely be a main character in a novel.) (Guy)

Lanpeach was unscathed. 

He saw the sly grin on his face as if he were scheming something and reconsiders a bit. 

(Well…he looks like a minor villain though. But he is strong in this world. His battle sense is monstrous. It is possible for him to reach level cap. No, it is fine even if it is just 70. If he does, he will be strong enough that no one will be able to do anything to him. I can just drink the sweet nectar that overflows.) (Guy)

Guy smiled internally and lowered his head respectfully towards Lanpeach. His specialty is to act unrefined to invite carelessness. 

“I will be yer subordinate from here on as promised. Pleasure working with ya.” (Guy)

“Same. Then, please tell me about the transmigrator you know of.” (Lanpeach)

But Lanpeach had already seen through that act a long time ago, so his unrefined act didn’t work. 

Lanpeach thought he was making a gentle smile as he wrapped his arm around the shoulder of Guy and asked in a friendly manner. 

He only looked like a bad guy trying to extort money from a naive man, but it would be better to just ignore that. 

“…Sorry, but I can’t tell ya. I do owe them after all. They would only instigate things if present anyway.” (Guy)

Guy showed the bare minimum morals. Only the bare minimum though. 

“Hmm, so you at least have honor. I think they are a student of the magic academy though.” (Lanpeach)

He did say something about the training method at the magic academy, so he could easily guess it is one of the protagonists that attends the academy. 

“No comment. Well, I would want at least one or two cards in mah bosom.” (Guy)

He was at least impressed by the serious face of Guy who shook his head. 

It seems like he had the bare minimum honor, but he is a man that can’t be trusted. 

“Well, I was thinking about cutting ties with them. I don’t wanna get a game over while clearing dungeons. It was beginning to feel like he was gonna give me reckless orders like clearing an intermediate dungeon after all.” (Guy)

“…Aah, someone who is scared of dungeons and can’t dive themself, huh. You mentioned something about getting injured and scared. So they holed themself? They can’t get experience unless they defeat stronger enemies, so leveling up is tough after all.” (Lanpeach)

“Yer way too perceptive.” (Guy)

“That’s why you were muttering phrases that would draw the attention of transmigrators, huh. You wanted to find a new transmigrator and join hands with them, right?” (Lanpeach)

“That’s right. The only ones who can climb in this world are the strong. But there’s a limit to being solo.” (Guy)

Guy raised both hands in defeat at the sharp guesses of Lanpeach. 

He judged there was no point in making bad lies, so he decided to speak honestly. 

“Monsters level 50 and upwards are dangerous, ya know? The troublesome monsters act in groups in real life, and spam AoE magic and status ailments. I don’t wanna go to a place like that.” (Guy)

“Just gather comrades. You should be able to clear them if you were to form a party with reliable comrades, right?” (Lanpeach)

Your own life is at risk here. You can get heavily injured, and your body can be melted with acid and poison, so that’s also not a pretty thing. 

That’s why he needed new comrades. 

“Ya think a random guy can pull out a high ranking person that has polished their skills in a party until now? Also, you can count the strong explorers with yer fingers.” (Guy)

“Ah, right. Then just give up. You should be able to earn a decent amount with your skills, right?” (Lanpeach)

Lanpeach thought it is fine to just give up on becoming strong and live a safe life. He is not like a certain pitiful man that’s living a life filled with death flags after all. 

“Can’t do that. Ya know my ending?” (Guy)

“…Aah, if I remember correctly, you rise fast, become rich, manage plantations, and live happily ever after?” (Lanpeach)

Lanpeach gulped and nervously said this. 

He thought that maybe the ending of the beta version is different, but Guy simply nodded without doubting. 

“Yeh. And, I was originally a farmer maself. That’s why I wanna get the plantation ending and live happily ever after. Moreover, it is not yer regular plantation, it is the big plantation of a rich guy. Monsters roam around in this world, so safe land is more expensive than 1st class land in Ginza.” (Guy)

Guy scratched his cheek and began to talk about his background with a gloomy face. 

“I love farm work, but the living was really painful and I didn’t like it… Do ya know how expensive a tractor or any heavy machinery is? Paying the loan for the heavy equipment every month, expenses for the family, costs for the agrochemicals and seeds… I was a specialized farmer of all things, so I was always troubled with money. I was even doing tough manual labor in the off-seasons. The atmosphere with the family was the worst during the bad harvest years… Also, there were no wife candidates at all.” (Guy)

It would have been fine if he was a rich specialized farmer. But only a handful of those strike big, and the others mostly run a farm as a second business. 

He was living in poverty, and his debts piled up to a degree where it was a number that one would be able to live for life alone. 

“That’s why I wanna redo mah life in this world. No debt, no worries with money; I wanna manage a plantation with leeway while living a fancy life. But there’s an even higher need for cash and connections in this world compared to our previous one to obtain land. And in order to obtain that, you need…power. Ya can get anything and everything in this world if ya have power.” (Guy)

“I see… So your current strength is not enough in order to obtain a massive plantation. But you know you can obtain that if you become strong, and if you know you yourself have that strength, you would aim for that.” (Lanpeach)

“I would also get a wife. Did ya know? If ya take in a prostitute, they will apparently be really grateful and become devoted wives. They rarely betray ya.” (Guy)

Guy is a man that wasn’t popular in his previous life. 

That said, they would need to pay a high price to buy a prostitute. You could say being loyal to them in exchange is a win-win for both parties. 

The prostitutes think that they would be abandoned if they don’t play the part of a gallant and loyal wife, which in turn would reduce the number of people that would take them in, and there’s the chance they would be hated by the other prostitutes as a result.

“I see… Can’t really say it is a pure objective… That said, I don’t know…” (Lanpeach)

“Ha, ya have such an Artificial Spirit with nice proportions and the cutting board Dry, both of which ya can Element Fusion with at night, so ya won’t understand the feelings of an unpopular guy. In mah previous world, they would simply suck mah money dry even if they were to accompany me but, in this world, ya can take them in and make them wives! I turned the gears in mah brain as if mah life depended on it!” (Guy)

Guy got all heated up as he scattered saliva. 

A pitiful man that you could get a peek of his sad lifestyle. 

Wasn’t he poor? Let’s ignore the fact that he is talking about having such company. 

“I will make you suffer if you spread such a rumor. I am serious.” (Lanpeach)

And so, the kind Lanpeach gifted him an iron claw to the face in pity. 

Guy nodded profusely and Lanpeach let go of his iron claw for now. 

“Got it. Then, I am weak as well right now, so act together with your current partner for now. If they order you to clear dangerous dungeons, just brush it off somehow… Well, I doubt you will have such leeway for a while though.” (Lanpeach)

Lanpeach went up the hill that the Excatirano used as a nest, searched around for something, and grinned. 

“You wanted this, right?” (Lanpeach)

Lanpeach stuck his hand into the mountain of scrap and pulled out a Spirit Armor. 

It is all worn out and rusty, but it is Spirit Armor. 

“T-That’s right. But don’t ya need it, Lanpeach-don? Didn’t ya come here because ya wanted that?” (Guy)

It is a Rusty Spirit Armor. You can barely feel any power from it and it feels as if it would break with a poke. 

A [Rusted] item. Basically, a famous category in games for items that change into items with hidden powers after doing certain events. 

It later became a category of items famous for playing with the hearts of gamers. 

They are often played as joke weapons in a variety of games. If you get rid of the rust, it could become an incredible item. It could be called rusted something, but stay weak with no events accompanying it. 

But in a lot of games, even when it is written in guides as a trash item that won’t power up, Lanpeach would keep it like a dog unwilling to let go of their toy for the faintest possibility that it might power up. Lanpeach doesn’t like giving up. 

The theory of Lanpeach is that the developers clearly had malicious intent. 

But this game has items that power up like in the past. There’s still malice though. 

“That was my original intention, but the plan has changed. I will give you this, so give it to your partner. Check their actions for a while with that. You need a large amount of spirit crystals to repair this Rusted Spirit Armor. They will get absorbed in gathering spirit crystals and will lose their leeway to give you orders.” (Lanpeach)

The Rusted Spirit Armor is a rare Spirit Armor that grows. The more spirit crystals you give it, the stronger it gets, but it is costly. 

It needs a large amount of funds just like how you need to swipe the credit card a lot for the character you want in a mobile game. 

It has the fearsomeness of a mobile game where you need to pour money into gacha until pity for several years or you won’t reach cap. 

And seeing Guy, who doesn’t even have a Spirit Armor, it doesn’t seem like his partner is that affluent. 

“Stockpile a whole ton of tasty info in that period. I will clear them.” (Lanpeach)

“Yer such a bad guy… Well, I can follow that plan.” (Guy)

“Then, let’s return at different intervals. It would be bad to be thought of as conspiring together after all. Let’s meet again in spring. Let’s train until then.” (Lanpeach)

“Got it. Imma leave now then.” (Guy)

He received the rusted armor and left obediently. 

His eyes showed he was somewhat baffled, but Lanpeach waved his hand with a smile as he saw him off.

[Was that okay, Soldier? Didn’t you come to get that armor?] (Libra)

“No, that’s useless armor. It is weak despite eating a stupid amount of spirit crystals. If you have the cash to gather enough spirit crystals to make it strong, you would be better off buying Spirit Armor normally. It is basically an equipment of hopes and dreams.” (Lanpeach)

Libra looked disappointed because they went through that much effort to get it, but that armor is a faulty product. 

It is true that it can become a strong armor in the early game, but the ones sold in the store are stronger in mid game. 

It is armor that doesn’t match the effort. 

You could say that’s a classic in games.

It is technically as if you go through a lot of work to create a bio tank, but the other tanks are stronger. Moreover, you can’t power it up unless you feed it rare items. 

[Eh?! Then what did you come here to do?!] (Libra)

“That’s a dummy treasure. The real treasure is deeper in. Also, I can’t really trust that guy. He was acting as if he was an unpopular guy, right? He tried to give me the impression of being an unsophisticated man. That’s why I gave him bait.” (Lanpeach)

(Guy is sharper than what he lets on. He probably thought it would make us lower our guards if he is a pathetic man.) (Lanpeach)

[I see. It is true that it looked a bit deliberate. He won’t publicize that you are a transmigrator as long as we are providing him benefits.] (Libra)

“That’s how it is. Also, I managed to confirm that there are hidden events Guy didn’t know about and didn’t happen in the beta.” (Lanpeach)

Lanpeach showed a devilish smile while going ‘ukeke’ on the hill of scraps. 

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