An endless sea of grass stretched to the horizon.
Standing right in the middle of it, Ren Kuroda wore a completely blank expression.He had already been wandering this grassland for an entire day—yet along the way, he hadn't seen a single building. Not even the faintest trace of human habitation.
That's right.
Ren had transmigrated again.
And this time, it had already been a full day since he'd been dumped into this vast plain.
Because this wasn't a "standard" transmigration, there had been no briefing, no explanation, and no helpful narration telling him what kind of world he'd arrived in.All Ren knew was that after leaving the Nurarihyon world, the moment he opened his eyes, everything before him had been nothing but endless green.
At first, Ren chose a direction at random and began walking straight ahead, planning to find any sign of civilization first and then slowly gather information.
What he hadn't expected was that after an entire day of walking, there was still nothing—no towns, no villages, not even ruins.
Monsters, on the other hand, showed up in abundance.
There were all kinds—strong ones, weak ones—but to Ren in his current state, they were all utterly insignificant. Not a single one posed a real threat.
Based on these encounters, Ren quickly reached a conclusion.
This world was most likely another classic fantasy setting—one crawling with monsters—something along the lines of a "slime-filled isekai RPG world."
Thinking about it, that made perfect sense.
If the System's goal was to keep pushing Ren to grow stronger, there was no way it would send him to some laid-back harem slice-of-life world for a vacation.Especially not this time.
After all, this transmigration was the price he had to pay for successfully separating Hagoromo-gitsune's soul.
Yes—back in the Nurarihyon world, Hagoromo-gitsune had ultimately chosen to leave together with Ren.
As for how?
They followed the System's method and forcibly separated Hagoromo-gitsune's soul from Yamabuki Otome's body.
Separating two souls that had already begun to fuse was an absurdly difficult task—one that even Abe no Seimei himself likely couldn't accomplish.
But for the System…
Something that seemed utterly impossible to humans—or even to onmyoji—was nothing more than a trivial operation.
Once Hagoromo-gitsune's soul was extracted, Yamabuki Otome naturally returned to her original state.
As for Hagoromo-gitsune's now-disembodied soul, she was left with only two options.
One option was to use her own abilities to seek out a newborn infant and reincarnate once more.
The other was to find a suitable vessel and attach herself to it.
According to the System's recommendation, Ren currently possessed three items suitable for soul possession.
The first was an SS-rank artifact: the Endless Sake Gourd.The second was the Nichirin Blade—Divine Favor.And the third… was something Ren had never even considered.
The Sesshōseki.
All three items were capable of housing a soul.
However, Divine Favor already possessed a blade spirit of its own—and it absolutely would not tolerate an outsider invading its "home." That option was eliminated immediately.
When Ren placed the remaining two items—the Endless Sake Gourd and the Sesshōseki—before Hagoromo-gitsune and allowed her to choose…
She hesitated for only a moment.
Then she chose the Sesshōseki.
Logically speaking, the SS-rank Endless Sake Gourd far surpassed the mere S-rank Sesshōseki fragment in both potential and raw power.
And yet, Hagoromo-gitsune chose the Sesshōseki without the slightest hesitation.
Her reasoning was simple.
Although the Endless Sake Gourd was stronger on paper, the Sesshōseki felt more suitable to her—its compatibility was far higher.
Hagoromo-gitsune could clearly sense that the Sesshōseki fragment contained power originating from the same source as her own. By using it as her vessel, she could not only accompany Ren through future worlds, but also gradually recover her strength through the fragment's power.
Given enough time, she wouldn't even need reincarnation to obtain a new body.
She could condense one herself.
Though Hagoromo-gitsune never stated it outright, Ren understood.
That power came from one of the Three Great Yokai—
Tamamo-no-Mae.
Whether Hagoromo-gitsune and Tamamo-no-Mae were the same kind of yokai was unclear—but that they were both fox spirits was beyond doubt.
The Sesshōseki had long since shattered. While traces of Tamamo-no-Mae's soul still lingered within, the chance of her ever awakening was slim.
Hagoromo-gitsune, however, possessed the unique ability to attach herself to compatible beings or objects—and as a reincarnating yokai, she would gradually fuse with the lingering soul.
Which raised an unsettling possibility.
Would the Hagoromo-gitsune now residing in the Sesshōseki eventually fuse with Tamamo-no-Mae's soul fragments… creating something similar to her former coexistence with Yamabuki Otome?
A new Hagoromo-gitsune?
A reborn Tamamo-no-Mae?
Or perhaps something entirely different.
Whatever the outcome, one thing was certain.
Once she fully absorbed the Sesshōseki's power, Hagoromo-gitsune would become terrifyingly strong.
This time, she wasn't fusing with an ordinary human—
But with one of the Three Great Yokai.
Hagoromo-gitsune had once ruled the Nurarihyon world during her peak. Combine that with Tamamo-no-Mae's legendary power, and Ren didn't even dare imagine how strong she would become after her rebirth.
But the stronger she became, the happier Ren felt.
After all, they had signed a Demon King Contract.
That contract could only form if Hagoromo-gitsune had sincerely pledged her loyalty.
Meanwhile, the situation in the main world was growing increasingly chaotic.
A-rank and even S-rank yokai—once incredibly rare—were now appearing one after another.
Ren had long felt that his home's defensive strength was lacking.
The Spider Princess had already reached A+ rank, yet remained unable to break through to S-rank.The Snow Woman wasn't weak either—but she was still slightly behind, also hovering at A+.
As for Tōbei, the Red Ogre, and the others—they could bully rookies just fine, but against real threats, they wouldn't even qualify as cannon fodder.
The yokai recruited from Tokyo were another problem. Ren couldn't expose his dual identity, so they couldn't openly protect Ruki and Ayame.
Hagoromo-gitsune's arrival solved everything.
Didn't she want to meet Ren's mother and exchange childcare advice?
Perfect.
Let her protect Ren's mother and sister instead.
With her power, their safety would be guaranteed.
And so, to pay the price for separating Hagoromo-gitsune's soul, Ren had been forced into a second world trial instead of returning home.
Which brought him to this world.
A world where he'd already wandered a grassland for an entire day—so much so that he began to question whether humans even existed here.
Fortunately…
Even at Ren's pace, after running nonstop across the plains for a full day and night, he finally emerged from the grassland.
And there it was.
A small town.
Its name was Akuseru.
This town had a special profession known as Adventurers.
Adventurers, as the name implied, were exactly what one would expect from anime and RPGs—people who completed commissions for money, bought equipment, hunted monsters to raise skill proficiency, and steadily grew stronger.
In short, this world functioned almost exactly like an RPG.
And Akuseru was the so-called beginner town.
Most of the people wandering its streets were adventurers.
After receiving some "helpful information" from several very friendly bandits—and accepting their generous financial support—Ren made his way straight to the town's only Adventurer Guild.
With no world mission triggered yet and limited information available, Ren still couldn't determine exactly what kind of world this was.
But after some thought, he decided—
If Adventurer was the most popular profession here, then he might as well register.
Money was essential in any world.
Relying on friendly bandits forever clearly wasn't sustainable.
Besides, becoming an adventurer would let him gather information much faster.
Click—
As Ren pushed open the guild doors, a wave of noise flooded out.
This being Akuseru's only guild, it was packed with adventurers.
But what he saw inside… was nothing like he'd imagined.
At first glance, Ren honestly wondered if he'd walked into a tavern by mistake.
In the RPGs he'd played, adventurers were supposed to be well-equipped, gathered in small groups, seriously discussing quests.
Instead—
People were chugging alcohol.Bragging loudly.Some were even performing talents.
"Yo! New face! First time in Akuseru, huh? You here to register as an adventurer?""Today's your lucky day! This big brother likes your face. Give me ten thousand Erisu, and once you register, I'll teach you a few killer skills—how about it?"
Because of Ren's striking appearance and refined aura, several veteran guild loiterers immediately noticed him.
From experience, they were confident—
This was a rookie.
And judging by his clothes, probably a noble's son here to "experience life."
Which meant—
Money.
After brushing off one warrior trying to sell him skills, a mage soon approached instead.
Just as Ren was starting to feel irritated, an annoyed female voice rang out from the counter.
"Everyone, you're interfering with my work. Please stop.""And please stop deceiving newcomers who don't understand the system yet. If you want Erisu, complete proper commissions."
Under the sharp tongue of the blonde beauty, the adventurers scattered, grumbling.
After chasing them off, she turned toward Ren.
"Hello. I'm Runa, receptionist of the Adventurer Guild. I handle registrations and commissions.""Are you here to accept a quest, sir? Or to register as an adventurer?"
Runa was indeed the guild's receptionist—
And the oldest among them.
While her colleagues in other cities had long since married, she remained single—accumulating quite a bit of pent-up resentment.
Ask her about marriage, and she'd happily assign you the most impossible quest available.
Those adventurers had just crossed a line.
Looking at the beautiful, well-endowed receptionist before him, Ren couldn't understand—
How was someone like her still single?
But sensing her irritation, he wisely didn't ask.
"I'd like to register as an adventurer. What's the procedure?"
Runa nodded and guided him through the process.
Soon, Ren stood before a crystal sphere.
Placing his registration card beneath it, he rested his hand on the sphere.
Instantly—
A blinding radiance erupted, stealing the vision of everyone nearby.
As the light condensed, the crystal rapidly engraved Ren's stats onto the card.
When the glow finally faded, Runa snatched the card—
And froze.
"This… this is impossible…"
Gasps erupted around them.
"Hey, say something already!""I've never seen the crystal shine like that!"
Runa swallowed, then handed the card back.
"Ren Kuroda… Your attributes are unbelievable.""Except for Luck—which is slightly below average—every stat is nearly maxed.""In all my years here, I've never seen anything like this.""These numbers… they rival a goddess."
Looking at the card, Ren couldn't read the language—
But the nearly full bars told him everything.
Only one was short.
Luck.
And somehow… that felt about right.