God is watching… Kami-mi-te?

Honestly, I don't know the proper way to swing a glaive. In middle school, I was in the kendo club, but there was also a naginata club at that time, and I only saw it briefly. I did borrow someone's equipment once for practice matches, but I got completely beaten. If you think about rotating a long weapon and striking, wouldn't it be faster to just swing a bamboo sword normally? While I was confused by the different range, I was hit by a single strike with centrifugal force, and my bamboo sword flew out of my hand. How fast, how fast.

After high school, I didn't join any clubs and just played games all the time. If I had continued with some kind of sport back then, I wouldn't have this big belly...

"Wasn't it supposed to be a half-moon stance?"

I'll try imagining the midline, swinging over, and cutting. I tried stopping the tip at chest height, but it ended up going all the way down to my waist. Honestly, as someone who's only done desk work, my muscle strength is overwhelmingly insufficient. I didn't realize a blade about 30 cm long could be so heavy.

I thought that without improving my physical strength and muscle power first, there was nothing I could do, so I continued practicing the swing while imagining the character for "rice." (米) Maybe due to the skill's influence, I gradually started to understand how to grip and handle it. Although my stomach kept getting in the way.

After about 30 minutes of swinging, my arms started shaking. My grip strength was almost non-existent. I'm clearly out of shape. Back in school, even after three hours of practice, I didn't get tired. Obesity is frustrating.

Checking with "Recognize," it showed that my "Spear Technique" had increased to 0.18. Maybe because I could swing a bit more now.

I was drenched in sweat, so I borrowed some hot water and cleaned myself up with a towel before getting into bed. I'll just sleep today. Please excuse me tomorrow; I need to work hard again.

The next morning, I woke up at dawn as usual. It's nice not needing an alarm. My arms were slightly sore, but my grip strength had returned. But this is a trap. As you get older, muscle pain comes the day after.

Breakfast was the same as last night's menu. While talking with everyone about today's plans, I suddenly thought of grandfather. Since he was a part-time farmer and hunter, he was very religious. Every time he hunted wild boars or deer, he offered sakaki (Cleyera japonica) branches and sacred sake. Now that I have some income, maybe I should visit the shrine once since gods seem to exist here.

When I asked about this world's religious views, it turned out to be a relaxed polytheism rather than monotheism. Gods who appeared in the past exist according to their powers. Apparently, they've been appearing repeatedly for over 1000 years in recorded history. Basically kind-hearted but each god has taboos, and touching those taboos brings divine punishment. The currency counterfeiting incident is a good example. Churches and similar religious facilities are not meant for proselytizing but for thanking and serving the existing gods. They also serve as elementary education places, teaching basic reading, writing, and arithmetic.

At least, I want to express gratitude for being able to survive and report that I've come to this world.

After seeing Ast off with Rizatia, borrowing lunch from Teisha, I headed to the church.

The only building in the village surrounded by stone walls. Passing through the gate, there was a front yard, and a stone-built single-story house. It must be about the size of a small gymnasium. Thinking it might also serve as an emergency shelter, I opened the door.

Inside, there were no statues; it looked like a lecture hall.

An elderly woman in a cassock greeted me.

"Hello. Welcome to the church. What is your business today?"

She asked with a calm expression and tone.

"I came to offer prayers of gratitude to the gods. Since this is my first time, could you teach me the proper etiquette?"

After I answered, she taught me how to worship. Go up to the altar, place your weapon in front of you, raise both hands, kneel, close your eyes, and pray. Thinking it was similar to a full kneeling bow, I went up to the altar. Placing the makeshift glaive and knife in front of me, I raised both hands and knelt down. Closing my eyes, just as I was about to express gratitude...

<Notice. A serious error has occurred. An unknown system has connected. Counter>

"Sage" sensei told me in a panic, thinking it was different from usual. At the same time, there was a "Batsu" sound (TL note: "you're wrong" honk noise) and then silence.

"Hahaha, interesting, interesting, interesting, interesting."

A white-haired boy wearing a tailcoat and silk hat appeared in mid-air before me.

"Greetings, greetings, visitor-kun. Welcome to this world. My name is Shell-E. I am the ruler of enjoyment."

The boy spoke with genuine joy.

"Ruler? God?"

I was so surprised that I didn't know what to say.

"Yes, yes, yes. All of this world, all of it, calls us gods."

"What do you mean by visitor?"

"Hmm. Hmm. It's not easy to answer, but since I have introduced myself, my name is... the god. What is your name?"

I felt a bit rude for not introducing myself.

"Excuse me. My name is Akihiro Maekawa."

"Maekawa, Akihiro. Akihiro. It represents water patterns. Beautiful. Alright, it's appropriate to tell you now. Akihiro-kun."

As the god of enjoyment, he was quite excited.

"You were a visitor, right? Hmm. You are the first visitor from outside this world since its creation. The first customer?"

"First? Customer?"

"Yes, yes. There are many worlds, each ruled by their own gods, and each world is independent."

Nodding and tilting my head.

"Aa... Concept sharing is a bit troublesome. Let me borrow some knowledge."

When Shell-E placed his palm over my head, I felt something like static electricity.

"Hmm. Hmm. The world and universe you think of are servers connected to a closed network. We gods are the holders of management rights for each server application. You are individual terminals connected to those servers. Interesting, isn't it?"

If crossing a closed network, there's probably no way except physically connecting.

"Is there any log from that time?"

"Hahaha. Good. It connects. Regarding logs, interestingly, they've been tampered with."

"Who? Why? Does such an authority even exist?"

"The construction of servers is quite laborious. At the stage when the original environment was built, it was imaged. Each server has its corresponding environment injected."

I had a bad feeling.

"For individual servers to have diversity, their application configurations differ. Who configures them?"

"Administrator?"

"Excellent. Excellent. Yes, the administrators who are higher concepts than us gods."

"Why did that administrator connect me to this environment?"

"Hmm. Hmm. Interesting that we don't know. We contacted them at the stage of tampering, but there was no response."

Bad customer service support line?

"To change the environment, you could start a new application, and if you wanted to make someone do something, it's easier to manipulate the terminal. Therefore, therefore. After 100,000 years of progression in this environment, a visitor like you appeared. Interesting."

I felt like someone who was kidnapped without knowing the purpose.

"Then there are your skills. Skills that don't exist in this environment's skill applications."

"'Sage', 'Recognition', 'Acquisition'?"

"Yes. Yes. That's right. Let me explain roughly for now."

He held up one finger.

"'Sage' is a voice chat system connected to a support system operated with administrator privileges."

I couldn't imagine who I had been talking to until now.

"However, there are significant restrictions during the setup phase. It should actually be mainly recognizing and presenting all phenomena in your world's terms."

He held up two fingers.

"'Recognition' is a browser and text-to-speech software that visualizes information that 'Sage' can display with its privileges."

He held up three fingers.

"'Acquisition' is an administration privilege specialized for obtaining skills within this environment's skill applications."

I had been given something incredible in just 10 minutes of interaction.

"That explains your skills. Any questions?"

"From what I hear, are you saying I'm like someone using unauthorized software that the management side doesn't recognize? Isn't it a problem for such a terminal to exist in the network?"

"It's fine. It's fine. The skills themselves are just software on the terminal side and don't severely affect the server side. Plus, we gods already recognize them. We gods love this wonderful box garden. Managing the environment is like stage props. The fact that it can continue for a long time is due to our selfless love. You, as the first visitor to this beloved garden, are welcomed by us gods."

It seemed I was genuinely welcomed. That part was a huge relief.

"Although we don't know the administrators' intentions, we gods wish for you to live in this environment. Of course, if you want to return, we can negotiate with the management side."

It's good news that returning is possible. But,

"Is it possible to move while bringing other terminals back?"

Even though it was a short time, I felt responsible towards someone who had treated me kindly, even if it was a misunderstanding leading to a proposal.

"Hmm. Umm... That depends on the administrator. From our standpoint, we love all inhabitants of this beloved garden."

The gods were saying no.

"In the future, we will watch over you as a new resident. It must be tough starting from scratch. I have some presents for you."

Shell-E placed his palm over my head again. This time, I felt something warm on my head.

"Currently, to bypass 'Sage's protection, you are directly connected to the server. Once I leave, it will naturally return."

Looking around, everything seemed motionless.

"My power is enjoyment. When I descend, the impact is huge. Enjoyment is about savoring those splendid moments. Eternal enjoyment is tasteless."

I'll go back to my original prayer pose for now.

"Lucky, lucky, lucky. New resident. I look forward to our next meeting. Farewell."

Shell-E disappeared. At that moment, a "Batsu" sound rang in my head again.

<Notice. Reconnection confirmed. The serious error has been restored. Checking the connection logs of the unknown system... ... Check complete. No unknown systems are connected. Normal operation has been confirmed.>

"Sage" sensei was back.

<Skill 'Acquisition' reports. Conditions for skill 'Acquisition' have been fulfilled. 'Prayer' 1.00, 'Spell Control' 1.00, 'Attribute Control (Wind)' 1.00. Integrated the skills.>

This must be the present. The wording from "Acquisition" sensei was a bit different.

For now, I'll stand up and put my weapons back on my back. There's too much information; my stomach feels full. I'll take a break while chewing it over.

I called out to the woman in the cassock and left the church.

"Stay or return... Returning is still uncertain."

For now, add it to the TODO list.

[ ] Confirm 'Prayer', 'Spell Control', 'Attribute Control (Wind)'

Alright, time for a rest.