Death March to the Parallel World Rhapsody

This is Satou. Recently, many RPGs have a system where you can craft all sorts of items.

Usually, if you fail, the materials just disappear.

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That night, the "guest" I anticipated came relatively close, so I got up from my bed and went to where Mia and Tama were on night watch.

“Switch shifts?”

“Too early~?”

“The switch is a bit later.”

I asked Tama how to perform enemy detection.

“Nyuu~?”

The way they frowned, folding their short arms in thought, was cute. I wanted to poke the wrinkles forming between their brows.

“There are lots of sounds, different sounds.”

“The same scenery, different colors.”

“Good smells, normal smells, bad smells.”

“Lots of sameness, lots of differences.”

“So, you can tell?”

I listened intently to their earnest attempt to explain.

Basically, it’s about detecting differences among lots of information. Like “Don’t think, feel,” maybe?

“I’m going into the woods to try it out a bit. If anything happens, I’ll call out. If you hear me, wake Liza and come help.”

I told the two of them and headed into the forest.

I thought they might want to follow, but they seemed too sleepy for that.

Since I planned to acquire strong strike skills when encountering an enemy, I borrowed Liza’s spear. Of course, I got permission to borrow it before going to sleep.

I said “just a little” to Tama, but in reality, it was about three kilometers away. The enemy’s location was a few hundred meters ahead.

Based on my appraisal experience, I turned off various in-game menu displays.

Then, I relaxed my body, replayed Tama’s words in my mind, and sharpened my senses.

I half-closed my eyes and expanded my focus.

In the moonlit shadows between sparse trees. Vines and bushes. Silhouettes of birds sleeping on branches. Tiny creatures’ glowing eyes. A glimpse of a black shadow between distant trees.

I listened carefully.

So many sounds. The rustling of trees swayed by the wind. Grass rustled by small creatures. The chirping of insects. The sound of claws hitting hard ground.

I imagined becoming one with nature down to my very bones.

The scent of grass and trees. The smell of earth. A faint hint of water. Like paint spilled into a river, the scents of other creatures mixed in.

My senses quietly cleared—

Rustle.

Thud.

Whoosh.

Matching the change in air flow I felt on my body, I dodged an attack that came from a blind spot.

After evading, I focused on the attacker and saw a black panther that had landed a short distance away. It elegantly turned to look up at me, as if the failed surprise attack was no big deal.

I brought up the log display.

＞“Enemy detection skill acquired”

＞“Crisis awareness skill acquired”

＞“Spatial awareness skill acquired”

＞“Mind’s eye skill acquired”

I activated these generous skills.

Meanwhile, the panther launched several attacks, but since it was in my line of sight, dodging wasn’t too difficult, so no problem.

Thanks to the enemy detection skill, I noticed another one in the trees.

Are they waiting for me to get tired?

Using the spear in dense woods is tricky, but spatial awareness skill showed me safe angles to swing, allowing me to move it as I wished.

From the strong strike stance I practiced in the evening, I struck the first panther with a combo of strong strike and thrust. The quiet blow pierced its head without resistance.

＞“Thrust skill acquired”

＞“Strong strike skill acquired”

＞“Piercing skill acquired”

As if sensing my timing perfectly, the spotted leopard in the trees attacked, but I dodged smoothly without worry.

I quickly activated those three skills and struck the second leopard as it landed.

Liza seemed to consume magic power when she made a strong strike, so I tried infusing magic power into the spear when I attacked.

When I infused magic power, a faint red glow appeared on the spear.

It was quite beautiful.

The spear pierced the leopard, drawing a red trail.

A split second later, the red light spiraled in the opposite direction of my wrist twist, converging toward the spearhead and was absorbed by the leopard, blowing its upper body and the trees behind it into pieces.