FAR - 2

Can't this damn system answer me?

I had been screaming my lungs out like a madman for a while. Right then, the yellow system window flashed and turned red. Startled, I took a step back.

...Of course, stepping back didn't do much, since the status window just followed me anyway.

[Error.]

[Error.]

[The Rank 1 Druid was supposed to possess this body, but you have possessed it instead. This is an error.]

"An error?"

I couldn't hide my disbelief. So my transmigration was a mistake? Someone else was supposed to be transmigrated instead of me?

I get that a farmer who grows crops and a druid who handles nature spirits are somewhat similar. But a farmer is just a producer, and a druid is a combatant. They are fundamentally different!

It felt like I was talking to a poorly programmed AI. I crossed my arms and decided to hear out what the red system had to say.

"Does it make any sense to mistake the target and transmigrate the completely wrong person?"

[We will proceed with memory erasure and return you to your original world immediately.]

"No! You can't just give something and take it back!"

That couldn't happen. I reached out to the status window and yelled, though, of course, my hand just phased right through it.

I finally got a place of my own, and you're going to take it away? Besides, an even bigger problem was waiting for me if I returned to my original world.

'I got stabbed by a robber. If I go back like this, there's a high chance I'll just die.'

In conclusion, I could never go back. It wasn't simply a matter of which life was better; it was a matter of my actual survival. If so, there was only one way for me to live. I didn't know if a conversation was possible, but I had to try negotiating with this system.

"I've already transmigrated, so what can you do? Don't do this, just let me go. I promise I'll just quietly farm and live here."

[Impossible.]

[Impossible.]

[That goes against the game system.]

[If you wish to remain in this place, your only option is to participate in the 'Tower Challenger Selection Match.']

This was driving me crazy. My dazed mind instantly snapped back to reality. I chewed on my lip, feeling the urge to tear my hair out.

I have absolutely zero talent for fighting. I didn't want to squeeze in among the combat classes. I cautiously asked a question.

"What happens if I fail to clear the tower?"

In a game, you'd just get a 'Game Over' screen, but you wouldn't actually die. So maybe...?

[You will be returned to your original world.]

My hopes were shattered into pieces.

Fail to clear it, and I return to my original world. It was a brutally simple principle. Slowly, I accepted this reality that felt more like a game than an actual game.

In the end, I had no choices left. Just like the days when I dragged myself to work to save up my salary... I had no choice but to participate in the 'Tower Challenger Selection Match' to defend my little hut. Because if I went back to my original world, I would really die.

Even though I could only weed the fields with farming tools while the high-flyers of this game world pulled off flashy combat maneuvers, I had to try to defeat them all and clear the tower.

"No, this is seriously ridiculous."

A sense of unfairness suddenly flared up inside me. Phew... I let out another sigh to calm myself down and mentally grabbed onto the status window, which had turned back to yellow at some point.

The yellow status window no longer conversed directly with me like before. Instead, it displayed the rules for the transmigrator.

[The Transmigrator can win by either becoming the Emperor (Tower Conqueror) themselves or by making their chosen character the Emperor.]

Making a chosen character the Emperor?

This was a concept that didn't exist in the original game. I widened my eyes and carefully read the following lines.

[You can enter the tower once you become the Rank 1 Hunter on the continent. You must defeat all competitors and become 1st place to seize the qualification to challenge the tower. This is termed the 'Tower Challenger Selection Match.']

Up to this point, it was exactly like the game's scenario. But there was one thing that had changed.

[The tower challenger can be either you or your chosen character. If the chosen character becomes the tower challenger, the Transmigrator will challenge the tower together as a companion.]

[Even if the chosen character successfully clears the tower, the victor will receive the same rewards.]

This was a method that hadn't existed before. Raising someone else to become the Emperor instead of yourself...

Wait, I think I know why this rule was created.

[You must choose your character from one of the 9 Origin Characters that existed in the previous version of the game.]

Right. This was why. To understand who the Origin Characters were, you needed to know the history of this game.

This game started out as a single-player game. Although it was currently an MMORPG where users customized their own characters, it originally began as a game played with nine specific playable characters. I was someone who had started playing the renewed version, but I had grown interested in the older version and personally looked up its lore.

'Mercenary, Royal Knight, Doctor, Priest, Magic Tower Master, Princess, Assassin, Singer, Secretary.'

I was familiar enough with all their stories and scenarios to immediately recall all nine of them in my head. Since I knew a fair amount of information about the future... with this, wouldn't I be able to manage somehow, even with the status of a farmer?

Just as I finished organizing my thoughts, a message arrived on the yellow status window.

[Please select the character who will be your partner.]

So it begins for real. I finally stopped my hands, which had been mindlessly pulling weeds.

Actually, no, I didn't stop. I kept my hands moving while glaring at the character selection window.

[Singer / Princess / Magic Tower Master / Secretary / Priest / Assassin / Royal Knight / Mercenary / Doctor]

I had to choose one out of these nine.

Because returning to my original world meant facing imminent death from a stab wound, I had to choose someone who could absolutely ensure I remained in this world. I knew exactly how much weight hung on my choice right now.

"..."

Eventually, I stopped pulling weeds and clenched my hands tightly.

I felt like taking deep breaths would become a habit. I let out a heavy sigh, the kind I could never freely let out when I was walking on eggshells back at my company, as if the ground were caving in. I regrouped my thoughts.

'Alright. Let's think about this.'

The traits of the nine characters were worlds apart, but to put it simply, they could be categorized like this:

The first type was 'High Risk, High Return.' Characters who were weak in the early stages but had outstanding growth potential. One wrong move and it could be Game Over right then and there, but if you survived the early game, they would return with massive stats in the late game. A so-called 'late-game carry' character.

The opposite type had 'Strong Early Stats.' Characters who used their advantageous early conditions and base stats to achieve smooth growth all the way to the late game. Characters who were strong from the very beginning, typically those with excellent backgrounds like the Royal Knight or the Magic Tower Master, fell into this category.

'Between these two...'

Naturally, one would think I should secure a character who was strong and outstanding from the start.

'But think about my level.'

My physical abilities are absolute zero. If we get into a fight with another character, my partner and I will definitely lose.

'So I desperately need a character who can fight one-on-one by themselves.'

A character who can grow on their own, even without someone supporting them from behind. A strategy of choosing a weak character and raising them in hopes of late-game potential was impossible for me from the start. Not when I possessed such disadvantageous conditions.

While I was pondering, the weeds I had pulled piled up next to me like a small mountain. Finally, I made my decision.

'...Taking all these premises into consideration.'

I'm going to choose the ultimate High Risk, High Return character.

[You have selected the 'Mercenary'.]

Mercenary. Name: Belsus.

When you look at the character selection window, an image of the character pops up. One was a knight clad in gleaming silver armor; another was a bespectacled, ponytail-wearing secretary in a neat vest; and another was a princess adorned with jewels...

Among them, there was some beggar bastard with a mop of shaggy hair, wearing rags with a swarm of flies buzzing around him.

That guy was Belsus. In the previous version of the game, his clear difficulty was 'Hard.'

'Of course, clearing it is technically possible.'

However, that was strictly when Belsus was just a game character. If it were a game, you could just retry after a Game Over. But this is reality. I only have one life.

Thinking this far makes it easy to realize just how dangerous it is to pick a character with low early-game stats. We could just die right at the start and never be able to do anything in the late game.

And yet, I still chose the Mercenary. Despite being a mere farmer who could only pull up weeds.

The biggest gamble of my life... It wasn't anything romantic like that. I don't dabble in stocks or investments. It doesn't suit my aptitude.

'It's because this character is the absolute best option for me.'

This is reality.

A character strong from the start. A character with plenty of possessions and a rich network of connections. Since this is reality, of course, those things are important. But.

'As long as it's a two-person team, "Can I actually win over this character?" becomes a major deciding factor.'

Let's say that because I'm dead weight, I pick a high-spec character to cover for me. Would that character then say, "Oh, I will serve and protect you," and actually help me?

Not a chance. I'd be lucky not to get brutally murdered by them.

Imagine a farmer like me choosing the Royal Knight or Magic Tower Master with their high early firepower. They'd just scoff, "What's up with this commoner?" and immediately kick me to death.

Power to fight? None. Brains? I'm an idiot. It's not like I'm particularly confident in my acting skills, either.

I didn't have many options. I had to choose 'someone who needs me.' Not someone I need.

That was why I chose the Mercenary, Belsus.

The only thing I own is a single farm. But Belsus is a homeless guy who doesn't even have that much.

'To a guy without a home, I become his home. Well, it's a very simple logic, but still.'

And there was one more thing. The real reason I ranked Belsus as my number one choice:

'He is the biggest pushover in gaming history.'

Since Belsus is universally acknowledged as the ultimate naive idiot, he'll probably gladly tag along even after seeing the miserable state of my farm.​