"Are you alright?"
Yukino Yukinoshita quickly moved to Natsuo's side, leaning over to check on his condition.
They were in this together now. If Natsuo hadn't voluntarily tested the Slime, she might have been the one to suffer.
In that situation, Yukino Yukinoshita thought that if it had been her, she might have been killed outright.
"I'm fine... I was careless..." Natsuo struggled to reply, gritting his teeth.
"You don't look fine... Didn't you say the Slime was supposed to be very weak?"
"I was really careless..." Natsuo took a deep breath, braced his hands on the ground, and slowly sat up, leaning against the stone wall.
"Maybe I should deal with it..." Yukino Yukinoshita glanced at Natsuo's pale face, made up her mind, and stared seriously at the Slime.
"No... you get winded just by running a few steps. If that Slime hit you like that, you'd definitely be ruined."
"How do you know my physical stamina is poor?" Yukino Yukinoshita looked at him with confusion.
"You're so thin; who can't tell?" Natsuo forced a smile at Yukino Yukinoshita, used the wall for support, and slowly stood up.
He leaned against the wall, breathing heavily, keeping a watchful eye on the Slime.
The Slime hadn't moved toward them, and Natsuo wasn't sure why.
Does it only attack when provoked?
"Are you really okay?" Yukino Yukinoshita looked at Natsuo disbelievingly.
He had been thrown so far; how could he be fine?
"I'm fine. I won't be careless this time."
Natsuo checked his body. It seemed he hadn't broken any bones and could move now.
He wondered if this was due to the nature of the "dream world."
But he didn't think this was a dream. He was wearing his pajamas, in the same state he was in before bed, as if he had been pulled into this place while sleeping.
It happened silently, without any time for preparation.
For the sake of meeting Yukino Yukinoshita, I'll tentatively forgive the "World."
"Stand back."
Natsuo told Yukino Yukinoshita to hide and walked toward the Slime again.
The Slime had managed to hit him earlier only because he was unprepared. He recalled the moment and realized he could have dodged the Slime's speed.
The damage was significant, but only because he was an ordinary person, not some Isekai protagonist.
It was, after all, the weakest monster.
Natsuo slowly approached the Slime, circling it to observe, and picking up the stone he had dropped earlier.
The Slime was also watching Natsuo, its small body turning to follow him.
At one point, it suddenly moved, charging at Natsuo again, but its speed was... slow.
Natsuo simply sidestepped, easily avoiding the Slime's attack.
He immediately gave chase with the stone clenched in his hand. The moment the Slime landed, Natsuo's rock followed, smashing through its jelly-like body and hitting its core.
The core shattered, and the Slime's body dissolved into a puddle of water on the ground.
Natsuo had successfully eliminated the Slime.
[Successfully eliminated the intruder. Reward: Writing Ability.]
Huh?
The notification in his mind made Natsuo pause.
There are rewards?
If that was the case, how could he continue to blame the "World"?
But why Writing Ability?
Does it want me to write a novel?
Given his current financial crisis, writing a novel could indeed solve the problem.
However, it wasn't easy to become famous writing novels.
"Is it... resolved?" Yukino Yukinoshita walked toward Natsuo and asked softly.
"I'm not sure. I don't know if any more Slimes will appear..." Natsuo looked into the dark depths. After a moment, there was no movement.
"How long do we have to stay here?"
"That's a good question... By the way, did you hear a sound just now?"
"What sound? Nothing at all," Yukino Yukinoshita shook her head.
"Is that so..."
"What sound did you hear? What was it?"
"It was..."
"Wait, what's happening to your body?" Yukino Yukinoshita suddenly interrupted Natsuo.
"Hmm?" Natsuo looked down and realized his legs were starting to become transparent.
"It's... happening to you too," Natsuo noticed that Yukino Yukinoshita's slender legs, clad in blue pajamas, were also beginning to dematerialize.
"What is going on?" Yukino Yukinoshita's brow furrowed. She completely failed to understand the situation.
"I think we're leaving," Natsuo said, reassuring her with a smile.
"Leaving?"
"Yes. It seems our mission is complete."
"Mission, huh... It seems you really do know quite a bit," Yukino Yukinoshita stared intently at Natsuo.
"This is the first time I've experienced anything like this, too."
"If I remember this later, I will definitely question you thoroughly," Yukino Yukinoshita looked at him deeply.
"What do you mean?"
Natsuo asked, but Yukino Yukinoshita didn't answer. Her body had completely faded, and she vanished.
Then, the world turned white before Natsuo's eyes. His consciousness blurred, and he lost all sensation.
The New Reality of a Literalist
Natsuo opened his eyes and saw an unfamiliar ceiling.
It was his room.
The window was bright. The morning light was warm and pleasant.
It was morning.
Natsuo got up, reached for the phone on the bedside table, and checked the time.
Saturday, 7:00 AM.
The time was correct.
He got out of bed and stretched briefly. He felt light and had no lingering injuries.
Last night truly felt like a dream.
But it wasn't a dream. Natsuo couldn't see the status panel in his mind, but his brain was now filled with comprehensive knowledge about writing.
This was his reward from last night.
Does it really want me to earn money by writing a novel?
It was indeed a simple and convenient way to earn money, but it still required time and opportunity.
Speaking of which, this world was special. There were some novels he could potentially plagiarize (or adapt) from his old world.
With this thought, Natsuo opened his computer and checked the local light novel publishing platforms.
After getting a sense of the situation, Natsuo realized that there was definitely potential.
This world had three major light novel platforms: FJ Bunko, JC Bunko, and DJ Bunko. These three dominated the light novel market, each with its own style and genre specialty.
Because this was a different world, many of the light novels Natsuo knew did not exist here.
There's real potential.
Natsuo spent the entire morning, without even stopping for a meal, reading famous titles from the three platforms to understand the market.
Isekai (another world) novels seemed promising.
Humorous, comedic novels also had a market.
He already had a novel in mind he could adapt.
Although he had read it from beginning to end, he wasn't sure if he could write it out, so this was the perfect opportunity to test his newly acquired Writing Ability.
He didn't even eat lunch, immersed in the joy of literary plagiarism (adaptation).
After writing for a while, he realized how formidable his Writing Ability was. His prose was excellent. Following the familiar plot, even if it wasn't exactly the same, it was very close.
It was as if he was optimizing the original work, making the writing more literary while keeping the core tone intact.
There was hope for earning money by writing a novel.
Natsuo was highly motivated. He spent the entire afternoon recreating and optimizing the novel, aiming to finish the first volume for submission soon.
Who would go out and do manual labor when they could earn money from home?
He wrote until evening, only stopping because his stomach was rumbling.
If he didn't eat something soon, he would run out of energy.
He had no choice but to interrupt his creative frenzy. He washed up, changed into his going-out clothes, and headed to the supermarket to buy a cheap bento to fill his stomach.
I need to keep saving money.
He left the apartment and walked toward the elevator. Just as he passed his neighbor's door, it happened to open.
A flash of gold caught his eye.
Natsuo turned his head to look, and his pupils contracted.
The Angel had appeared!