♠ ♠ ♠ ♠

All of a sudden, I was in a fantasy world of swords and magic straight out of medieval Europe. (1)

My name is Mukoda Lucy, and I am a 28-year-old food content creator on YouTube. After two failed engagements, I lived alone in a small apartment in Los Angeles, near the Little Tokyo district. However, it never truly felt like home, which was why I visited my mother in Setagaya, Tokyo.

Never did I expect to find myself caught up in a 'Hero Summoning' ritual. The internet world is filled with these light novels that I was familiar with the trope, and how much suffering the main character was forced to endure.

However, I wasn't the main character. I was just fucking collateral damage. Basically, a cannon-fodder.

Meanwhile, the true heroes were currently being celebrated and surrounded by important-looking people dressed in robes. There was even a beautiful princess greeting the three individuals who looked to be high school students, still wearing their uniforms. It took them a while to realize that they also summoned me by accident. They started to fret about, but honestly, why the hell were they the ones freaking out? Shouldn't it have been us? The people that were whisked away into another world?

The princess was frantically begging us to save the Kingdom of Reijseger and calling us heroes.

Bullshit.

Look. Any other crazy person would have been stoked at the idea of becoming another hero in another world, like some video game, but I wasn't. Despite my failed engagements with past partners, my life was so much better as a food content creator, living with her cat. I was fine! I was only in Japan visiting my mother! How the hell was my life turned upside down so quickly?

It didn't help with the fact that my title was apparently: "Victim from Another World." Like...what the fuck was up with that title? That's just sad. Not only that, but the stats of the three high school students that were summoned had numbers of HP and MP ranging between 700 and 800, while mine were less than 100.

That's insane. How was I supposed to survive in this world?

And on top of that, as these officials kept appraising me, I had two normal-looking skills and one extremely unique.

1. Appraisal

2. Item Box

3. Super Global Marketplace

...Super Global Marketplace?

Everyone blinked owlishly at my unique skill, and the students sniggered. I mean, I get why they were laughing. After all, they had skills like "Holy Sword Skill", "Holy Spear Skill," and even "Sacred Magic." They even had the skills for elemental magic, like fire, water, earth, wind, lightning, and ice.

Again. I was screwed. I was so...so screwed.

Right away, we were brought to the king to have an audience with him as he began to tell his sad story of his country being attacked by demons. Due to the attacks, the people of Reijseger were suffering. Without much choice, they turned to the ancient ritual of Hero Summoning. The magic was irreversible except that, maybe, the demon king might have a way to bring us back to our world. Defeat him and the world will be saved.

Achoo!

Oh shit. I forgot I was allergic to bullshit.

Seriously? Did they expect me to buy into this bullcrap? The king is extremely obese, probably weighing 300 pounds. The Queen and the Princess wore gaudy jewelry, and those dresses looked brand new. I would know. I worked at a dress store before. The boldness of color would always differentiate!

They're not in any trouble at all. This whole hero-summoning ritual had to be a sham, and I wasn't planning on sticking around to find out what the King of Reijseger was up to.

"Um excuse me?" I called out, raising my hand, as everyone turned their attention to me, the victim from another world. "Since I'm not considered a hero, and I'm sure I might get in everyone's way, I would like some compensation--notes or coins--for the next five months to survive on, at least until I could learn to live on my own."

Enough said, they tossed a bag of 50 gold coins at me and threw me out of the castle with little regard for my mental and emotional state.

...Well, then.

Walking through the streets of Reijseger made me feel like I was in the historical parts of Edinburgh, Scotland again, but more authentic--not that these people were Scottish. It just felt similar and more surreal to be waltzing through history. However, at the forefront of my mind, I was worrying if 50 gold was going to be enough for me to survive for a couple of months while I sorted my situation.

The author's content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

First things first. I need to learn more about this world, especially if I want to survive. Learning about this world's currency was the priority, including leaving this kingdom as soon as possible. Something about the King of Reijseger felt off, and it was definitely in my best interests to flee.

But first, a change of clothes. I had noticed many stares directed at me, and it didn't take rocket science to figure out that a pair of jeans and a crop top didn't convey the medieval feel. Thankfully, finding a clothing store was easy enough. The shop owner allowed me to exchange my clothes for something more common here and even a pair of shoes, because the red sneakers stood out too much. I kept my backpack though and it was full of grocery goods that I was bringing for my mom so we could cook together.

For a moment, my heart wretched as I thought about my mother. Was she still waiting for me? Was she going to start calling the police to find me?

Taking a deep breath, I tried not to pull out my cell phone. It was useless after all. I knew enough that being in another world meant that the internet would never exist. For now, I shoved away those worries, stuffing my phone into my backpack, as I focused on getting out of this kingdom.

Oh. And currency.

I came across two little kids wearing tattered clothing, but the shoes fit them. Plus, they were playing so they must have parents. I approached them, smiling and trying not to seem like a creep as I introduced myself.

"Hi, I'm Rushi---I mean, Lucy. I'm new to this nation, and I have some questions, but if you answer them, I'll buy you some skewers over there," I told them as I pointed to the stall.

"Two skewers!" The boy demanded and I couldn't help but laugh at his bargaining.

"Of course, two!"

I couldn't help it. Children were cute to me, though I was extremely against bearing children. My dream was to buy home property and start my little foster care for all troubled children.

We all got in line and I bought them two skewers each. Each skewer was worth 5 iron coins, so I paid about 20 iron coins, leaving me with 49 gold coins, 9 silver coins, 7 copper coins, and 10 iron coins. Once the kids had their skewers, I started asking them about the coinage, and from their explanation, I came to the following conclusions.

imageimage [https://i.ibb.co/6wX8wPV/Screenshot-2024-07-20-113705.png]

The currency is definitely like those table-top, roleplaying games. Easily straightforward, and I was sure that in time I would get used to it.

The more I talked with the children, the more I learned about the world around me, like how there were an Adventurer's and a Merchant's guilds. Both organizations were 'global' entities that had no loyalties tied to any specific nation. They came with employee benefits that would allow them to use a form of identification to skip paying taxes at any gate entering into countries, or cities within. I asked the children more about the so-called 'crisis' that the king tried to convey to me, but in the end, my guts were right.

This nation was greedy and surely was trying to start a war. I had half a mind to go back and warn the other teens who were dragged into this mess like me and convince them to flee.

However, I was reminded of the fact that I was nothing like those teens. I was weak compared to them, and I was sure they would be the protagonists of this story. Their stats were also leagues beyond my own. If anything were to happen to them, I was sure they'd be fine.

"Wow, you two sure know a lot," I noted.

"I'm Isaac. And this is Lily." The boy introduced himself as he finished eating his last skewer. "We do a lot of work around town, so we hear a lot of the adults talking about it all the time."

"We need money to pay for food," Lily added.

I smiled. "Oh, how kind of you all to be helping your parents."

Then Isaac shook his head. "Nah, ma'am. We're orphans."

Oh. Never mind, they're orphans? My heartstrings were pulled as I wanted to take them with me.

"Is that so..." I pursed my lips as I couldn't ignore the conflict in my heart, but I knew I was in a situation where I couldn't actually afford to take anyone with me. And yet, I couldn't resist. "... Then, would you like to come with me? I plan to leave the kingdom--"

"Uh no, sorry, ma'am, you don't seem like a stable adult." The kid outright rejected me.

Thanking them one last time, I asked them to recommend an inn nearby and they pointed to the one just two blocks down with a wooden sign of an owl in its nest. When I arrived, I purchased a nighty's stay with meals for 4 silver coins. Once I had dinner, I returned to my room, and there were things that I needed to go over.

First things first...

"Status open."

Name | Tsuyoshi Rushi, "Lucy"

Age | 28

Job | Victim from Another World

Level | 1

HP | 100

MP | 100

Attack | 65

Defense | 55

Agility | 81

Unique Skill | Super Global Marketplace

Skills | Appraisal, Item Box

I blinked in disbelief, seeing the translucent screen hovering in front of me like I was in some virtual video game, like...holy shit.

And wow. There it is. Super Global Marketplace.

I glanced over the rest of the stats, feeling somewhat dissatisfied as I concluded that I was weak. Of course, I had nothing to compare it with, but it felt like I was weak. For now, I experimented with the skills of appraisal and item box. I had gotten my grocery goods from my backpack and easily placed them inside the item box. It was strange because I felt nothing, but I could tell it was there. In a single thought, I could open or close at will, add or remove anything I wanted so long as it was there. I'll need to get an itemized notebook so I can keep track of my things. As for appraisal, it was pretty straightforward. Again, with a simple thought, I was able to see the details of any item in the room. Nothing too extreme.

So now came the problem child, the unique skill, 'Super Global Marketplace'

"Super Global Marketplace," I chanted, but nothing happened.

Hmm...what if I touch it?

I reached in and pressed it once as a second and much larger window screen appeared before me, and it looked like I was looking through a computer screen.

"Oh my god...why does it look like Amazon?" I asked myself, gaping at the website as it seemed like the massive online retailer from modern Earth, and yet, it wasn't. The Super Global Marketplace, or SGM, was an entirely different entity of its own, showcasing a variety of goods from different vast departments.

This...this was insane.

♠ ♠ ♠ ♠

(1) Eguchi, Ren. Campfire Cooking in Another World with My Absurd Skill: Volume 1 (p. 5). J-Novel Club. Kindle Edition.