I spent the next few days levelling and making the old mansion liveable, since I would be spending quite a lot of time here. With the help of various aspects of Conjuration, it was easier than I expected. I chose one of the rooms on the second floor as my bedroom and shifted my mattress there. I didn't particularly need a bed, so I just put the mattress in a corner of the room beside a window. The mansion had five guest rooms and a master bedroom, and all of them had attached bathrooms with running water, surprisingly. There were no heaters or lights since there was no electricity, but each room had what looked like a small stove where one could burn wood to warm the place.

Having lived in a modern city with a tropical climate all my life, I didn't have much experience using firewood. Fortunately, I had Eins, which hewed through the logs in the woodshed like they were scraps of paper. I was able to whittle them to small enough sizes to carry up to my room, where I attempted to start a fire in the heating stove. I did know the theory behind starting fires from past camping experiences, so I gathered dry leaves for tinder and created a box of matches to start the fire. It took several attempts and several boxes of matches before I managed to get a fire going though.

It soon became part of my daily routine to start the fire before settling down for the night. I managed to survive on granola bars and bowls of instant noodles that I brought over from the other side and then multiplied here. A kettle was one of the first things I created, and thankfully I managed to figure out how to use the stove in the kitchen to at least boil water. I didn't dare to eat any fruits or berries I found in Shyi'eld, so I supplemented my diet with the odd fruit or vegetable I sneaked out from the kitchen. Thanks to Multiplication and Void, I never ran out and in fact even increased my stock after a while.

I was a little worried that my Void would run out of space, but apparently I could fit in more than I expected. My expandable sack soon somehow evolved into a multipurpose tool bag with vacuum-sealed pockets to keep my fruits and vegetables fresh. It was convenient, to say the least, and I only wished I could bring it over to my world too. I did develop a slightly weird habit of stretching out my hand when I wanted to take something out, but my parents only gave me strange looks whenever I did that.

Levelling-wise, my experience was starting to hit a plateau after Level 20. The usual low-levelled monsters were barely a drop in the bucket and I was beginning to consider going further to level. However, I was hesitant to do that, since it would mean leaving my safe and comfortable base. I hadn't tried camping out or even fighting monsters at night so far. What if the monster spawns were more than I could handle? What if the monsters attacked while I was sleeping? Maybe if I had an ally to watch my back or if there was some sort of safe camping spot, then I could venture forth. However, in all my forays I had never seen another person, let alone another adventurer. I was in fact starting to wonder if I was the only person here, let alone the only "player".

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

Some of my questions were answered when I finally met another player. I was having a bit of trouble with two large hobgoblins when he leapt into the fray to assist me, swinging a katana with his right hand and a long, european-style sword with the other. He was tall, black-haired and looked Asian too. His clearly modern clothing was what made me recognise him as another player. He was wearing what looked like a long-sleeved army uniform and trousers with a camouflage pattern plus heavy black boots and black fingerless gloves. He even had one of those standard-issue army backpacks. All he lacked was an army cap with a camouflage pattern and a shaved head to complete the look.

As the two hobgoblins dissolved into black smoke, we turned to look warily at each other. Or rather, I was the one regarding him warily. He merely flung the dirt off his swords and sheathed them before looking up and giving me an awkward smile. "Sorry for stealing your kill," he spoke in Japanese. "I just needed one more kill to level up and you did look like you were in trouble, so..."

My jaw was open in shock, partly due to the fact I could understand him and partly because he was one of the most good-looking guys I had met. If this wasn't another world I might have thought this was all an elaborate prank. Well, Feyril had been relatively handsome too, but the Japanese young man standing in front of me was totally my type! Wait, this was no time to fangirl! He was waiting for an answer. "H-hello, no problem, thanks for help," I replied in somewhat broken Japanese.

He looked a little startled and switched languages, speaking English more smoothly than I had heard any native Japanese do so before, and with a slight English accent. "Sorry again, I assumed you were also Japanese from your Asian features."

Slightly relieved, I replied in English as well. "It's fine, I'm told I look Japanese quite often," I said with a nervous laugh. "You're the first player I've met over here. If it's not too forward of me, would it be all right for me to Inspect your status?"

Right after I said that, I wanted to slap myself. My nervousness must have tossed all my good sense out of the nonexistent window. Why not just ask him to strip naked while you're at it, fool! I berated myself. My question had probably breached some sort of gamer etiquette and I wanted to dig a hole and bury myself in it rather than die of embarrassment right here and now.

He must have noticed my face burning up, but he simply shrugged and said, "Sure, but in exchange I'll inspect yours too, all right?"

I couldn't nod fast enough in reply.