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nChapter 4

nEpisode 4 ~ Playing with Chains

n「Skill Status」

nA list of skills is displayed .

nAmong them I try to touch to check it .

n※Chain Factor※

n→？？？Skill

nTouching Chain Factor, I try to see the details .

n※Chain Factor※

nChain Factor’s effect evolves in conjunction with personal growth and other skills .

nThis may cause a mutation in the nature of

nMutation in the nature, How? While thinking of this question, I repeatedly touched the displayed character 1 with my finger, Though there was no further description .

nOh well, I have no choice but to comprehend it myself little by little .

n? ? ? Appeared with the skill, Do I have to learn it?

nIf that’s the case, Is it similar to the skill system in a game?

nIt’s very puzzling, But let’s try it .

nI nodded, Staring at the chain mark engraved on my left wrist .

n「Try!」

nThe Status screen is turned off .

nI held out my left hand– and the which I prayed for shot out!

nI heard a shooting sound, And the really shot out from the chain mark on my left wrist,

nThe , Which extended out, Pierced the ground about two meters ahead .

nThis “Chain” seems to be sturdy .

nIt really appeared from the mark engraved on my skin .

n–Strange .

nIt feels like it’s made of several iron threads twined around into steel . 2

nWhile looking at the extended chain I developed such an impression…

nEven while pulling on the chain that came from my left hand, The tip that’s stuck in the ground won’t return

n「Oi, Oii . 」

nThe chain disappears instantly with a thought of “Disappear” .

n「Fuu」

nIt’s good it disappeared, Being stuck in the ground like that, I wouldn’t have been able to get away…

nHow ironic .

nStill, The chain is usable .

nCan it be shot according to image?

nI imagine a short distance… And the chain soaring .

nThe distance, Measuring by eye is about ten meters? It stopped .

n(10 meter = 29-ish feet)

n「It’s like this in the beginning?」

nI thought it would have flew further…

nBecause of the short distance I’m a little disappointed .

nHowever, While repeatedly shooting and retracting the chain I spontaneously smile .

nGood — The initial velocity of the chain .

nThe initial velocity is disgustingly fast, This is good .

nI keep producing the chain while turning my hand all around .

nLittle by little, The range seems to be extending slowly . Though it seems to only have the specifications to fly straight .

nHm? Did the mark of “Chain Factor” change? It might be my imagination…

n「Oh, The range increased and the speed rose, When using it the limit grows」

nWith the physical ability of this chain I could fight with that monster from a while ago .

nAfter I confirmed the effectiveness of my new weapon my energy grew excited .

nI took the torch from the wall and started walking step by step into the darkness .

nEven with a torch the eerie open cave doesn’t change . The moss and mushroom that was still shining slightly on the ceiling of the cave was visible .

nEh?

nWhile walking, I confirmed the ceiling had become lower . The light is close, But does the cave have the same atmosphere as a while ago? There’s no wind, But the gloomy, Humid air drifts .

nThe damp air fills my lungs . It gave me a feeling sort of like “Gloomy” .

nThe gloomy damp cave leads to a slanting bottom . The dark world spread out, And the mouth of the abyss seemed gapingly open .

nQuite the entrance to the underworld . It feels as if it’s inviting me .

n「I have no choice but to advance first…」

nI muttered with a small voice .

nI continued using the “Chain” to wipe the uneasiness from my heart .

nThe chain pierces the horizontal wall and ceiling each time .

nChain, Chain, Chain, Chain, Chain, Chain, Chain, Chain — Chain .

n(TN: Grinding like a boss)

nEvery time I advance the chain is being increased .

n「Haha」

nI laughed for the first time in this different world .

nAt any rate, It’s fun with this .

nI think I became too anxious, That’s not to say that I was going insane . Because of the power of the chain for my first strange ability, It’s slightly fun

nFuhahaha, Mr . Chain, You’re usable aren’t you!

n「This is great Haha」

nIs this state of mind because of the circumstances or insanity, I wonder?

nNevertheless, I get distracted from these feelings and, Oh the .

nI pull the chain and dangle while it’s sticking into the low ceiling, And use the chain like a swing .

nI returned to having a child-like mind and I was enjoying myself .

nWhile doing such a thing intently, I walked through the cave with stone debris and intense irregularities scattered underfoot .

nI aim at the ceiling again and extend the chain .

n…Hey .

nThe chain only shoots through space and doesn’t stick, Is there no ceiling?

nIt appears the ceiling turned into a large space somehow . The shining mushrooms have also quietly disappeared from the area .

nMy feet suddenly feel heavy and I stop walking .

nI use the torch to cast light on my surroundings .

nI do it quickly and anxiously . I think it’s a very large place that my chain runs out of length, Stopping me from being able to play with it .

nIn such a situation, Distracting myself with even trivial things is a good thing .

nOutside the ring of light illuminating my step…

nThe dark space seems to stretch endlessly in all directions .

nI walk with grave steps .

nIn front, The dark cave spreads out… Eerie quietness and darkness haunted the place . My heartbeat and the sound of the torch burning echo slightly .

nHaa, This kind of place…

nYou could say the degree of difficulty was raised too high suddenly .

nStaring at the eerie cave, I slightly regret for a short while .

nSo frustrating, I have the power of a new race .

nI gather my courage and push forward with grave steps . But the thin mask of courage fades away immediately .

nThe vast space of darkness is dominated by an eerie silence . The freezing darkness assaults me and wraps everything entirely .

nIn this dark space, It feels like my entire body is being swallowed .

nI fall into such a ridiculous illusion . Just in the presence of darkness, I feel an intimidating air, As if from a powerful monster .

nThe pleasantness from earlier seems to have disappeared completely . Phew… To be honest I’m afraid, I hope there is nothing .

nI also turn on the light from my watch, It made it brighter… Damn, Since I can’t see the sun, I can’t charge it and I have no idea when I’ll be able to get out of this cave, I’ll try not to use the light from my watch as much as possible .

nI’ll endure with the torch .

nI think I have a miserable and frightened expression on my face right now .

nI’m alone in such darkness . Furthermore I’m in a strange looking different world .

nIt’s exceedingly scary . I have no idea where a monster might come from and it’s terrifying!

nIn the solitude of my heart, I shouted for help .

nIs this the feeling of my SAN value decreasing?

n(TN: Sanity level)

nAlso the torch’s shaking and flickering contributes to anxiety, Because of the solitude I seem to be going through intense emotional ups and downs .

nNevertheless my walking pace isn’t reduce, I walk earnestly . The large space seemed to have become smaller gradually, I can see the rock surface on both sides .

nI advance straight through there . The rock surface seems to have disappeared and a few diverging caves seems to appear .

n「Which cave do I continue into…」

nThere was a big cave to the right and left, But I decided to walk straight without entering them .

nI advance through the wide space .

nThen – – From where I just passed I heard a strange noise . Rustling like *Juroro*

nI get an unpleasant feeling–

nTurning around I see the forms of weird monsters . Monsters springing out from holes to the right and left .

nMy spine freezes unconsciously .

n「Haa, What on earth is this」

nHolding up the torch carefully, I see two long tubes in the shape of a V .

n「Eh? That’s not a tube?」

nWhat seemed to be a tube was a group of eyes .

nThe group of eyes is actually a compound eye, Like a fly or dragonfly’s eyeballs .

n(TN: Don’t ask me how he got a tube from that)

nUgh, Gross .

nThe “Eyeballs” densely packed together form something like an extended vertical V-shaped tube, It was moving here and there with a *Giyoro* *Giyoro*

n(TN:

_(0_0)_

/ )

nThere’s certainly a lot of eyeballs packed together, And they move .

nThe collection of creepy eyeballs stares at me at one point…

nUnder the V-shaped eyeball tube, It has a trunk like body similar to a slug and a caterpillar, And it made a *Nyururu* . And it had many legs like a centipede connected under the body .

nThere’s the trunk like body, And legs .

nSeems like a slug and a centipede were combined .

nThe centipede made a *Kasakasa Juroro* … Weird noise while it sprang out of the hole .

nIt seemed to have seen me as food and came near .

nUhee, I hate it . Though it’s movement is slow . It’s appearance is weird, And the Centipede’s movement speed is slow .

nPhew, I’m a little relieved . I might be able to defeat this .

nI put the torch down, Taking the stone in my pocket, I aim and throw .

nThe stone hits the centipede in the eye . With a *Bushi*, The strange sound of an eyeball being destroyed is echoed .

nGood, This feels good .

nI continue throwing successively . When several eyeballs were crushed by the stone-throwing, One side of the V-shaped tube of the eyeballs collapsed and it stopped moving .

nIs it dead?

nBut such centipedes appear one after another . The weird *Jurororo* sound kept increasing .

nAll together, I’ll kill them . Fortunately, There’s countless stones and rocks which collapsed here .

n「Hyah!」

n(TN: Sound of him exhaling while throwing)

nThere’s a strange tension, But I pay no attention to it . I pick up a rolling stone at my feet and send it hurling . 4

nI pick up and throw, I pick up and throw, Because everything is going fine I maintain the strange atmosphere and keep throwing .

n*Bushi Bushi Bushi*, The strange sound of collapsing echoed through the area . Midway I remember I can use . Making the chain extend, I pierce through to kill the centipede . A hole appeared on the centipede, And white bodily fluids started to spread around where it was crushed . Lots of corpses start piling up .

nThey stopped coming out of the holes on the left and right already?

nThen, Feeling a little relieved– .

n※Pikon※※ Skill Acquired※

nDid that sound come from my mind?

nThe sound echoed inside my mind in a high-pitched tone and The red characters ※ Skill Acquired※ were displayed .

nIt was a strangely pleasant sound . The strange sound I heard in my head… Was the sound of a skill acquisition .

nIt really feels like a game, But it’s real . In my previous world, It would certainly be counted as an illusion and an auditory hallucination .

nBut here it’s different .

nThe feeling of my actions earlier comes back, And is sharpened .

nOh, This feeling…

nI feel like I’ve always known the “Skill”, And I know the movements . If that’s a way to put it…

n「It’s a strange feeling」

nAs for the skill for throwing stones, Is it because I killed a considerable amount of centipedes?

nI have lingering thoughts about it .

n「Gururu」 「Garuugau」 「Shuu」

nThis time it’s the sound of an animal from the front and back .

nAnimal? The sound of an animal howling echoes from the front . The corpses of the dead centipede seemed to have attracted animals to come and eat the dead flesh .

nThe animals voice from behind seems to have been aimed at me .

nI pick up an extra stone and stuff it into my pocket .

nI made up my mind and turned around toward the back .

nOne eye appeared in the darkness, And another eye appeared a little later . The pair of eyes shined .

n「Gururuu」 「Shuaa」

nThe animal voices and shining eyes kept increasing .

n…The light of the torch illuminated the animal’s form .

nThe figure was of a wolf or a dog, Like a small dog in stature . However it’s mouth stretched sideways strangely . Like the length of a ruler could enter, And it revealed countless saw-like teeth in it’s strange mouth .

n(TN: Imagine a dog with an alligator mouth… or a crocodog…)

nSaliva drips from it’s teeth . Dangerous, I wanna escape…

nHowever, Even if I run away, It’s movement seems fast because it’s a small dog, And there’s three of them . I hear the centipedes corpse being chewed on behind me .

nI have no choice but to take the initiative with a stone here . — Ugh, Phew, I throw it like a javelin . However, because of the effects of the skill, There was no wasted movements in the snap throw .

n(TN: I don’t know much about baseball, But I believe this is a throw they use in baseball?)

nLeaving my hand smoothly, It flies . The stone hit the first dog with the torn mouth directly in the head .

nOne and two .

nUnlike the time the first slug was knocked down, It feels like I’ve become a professional dart player and it seems like I’ve become a professional baseball player . Of course, It’s not because I’m a professional player, Though it feels that way because of the exquisite control in the flexible wrist snap .

n(TN: Slug = Centipede)

nContinuing, It hit the body of the dog next to it .

nHow did that happen? It was to the extent where it was able to penetrate .

nUnconsciously, I took the natural posture . (TN: For throwing)

nBecause of the effects of the skill .

nThe dog with the torn mouth which was hit on the head collapsed to the ground immediately . And the dog with the torn mouth which was hit on the body trembled and groaned while falling down .

nI succeeded in defeating two monsters . There is only one remaining . I had a short moment of joy .

nThe dog with the torn mouth arrived right beside me immediately .

nOpening the torn mouth widely to bite me, It showed it’s blade-like saw teeth which piled up from the roof of it’s mouth to it’s snout .

nThat’s dangerous!

nI quickly swing my arm .

nI moved my right arm to prevent the saw teeth in it’s torn mouth, And to shake the dog off .

nThe rough saw teeth directly hit my right arm intensely which I shook . It deeply cut from my right arm’s wrist to my elbow .

nBlood sprayed .

nPainfullll!

nHowever, The dog with the torn mouth which hit my arm was blown off to the side and crashed into the wall, Falling to the ground . Leaving the small body twitching .

nThe dog with the torn mouth stopped moving, As it died .

n「Shit! Too much pain!」

nMy cut arm throbbed . After letting out a pain-filled voice I picked up the torch and ran away to the depths . It’s unrelated that I avoided the dead mouth dog .

n「Painfulll!」

nI let out a weird cry while running . I clenched my teeth to endure the pain .

nWhat, I’m a vampire… That was scary and painful, Great .

nI was prepared to some degree, But pain is still pain . Oh, Whatever, It was painful… But it’s not painful anymore?

nThe wound was already gone by the time I looked at the arm I felt pain in . Swinging my arm- .

n「It’s not painful…」

nBlood is still there .

n「Wow…」

nTaking back what I just said, This Undying ability is great .

nThinking carefully, Earlier, Although I only swung my arm the dog was blown off and died .

nAnd I’m not short of breath or out of stamina, Even after running all this way . The Vampire lineage is too awesome .

nHyuhoo

nNevertheless, I suffered a few wounds, And my mental state… Is that of an unemployed soft-hearted Japanese .

nJust in case, I’ll take a stone .

n「…Hey, Its…」

nAfter thinking in that way, Two dogs with torn mouths, Just like a little while ago appeared and blocked the way .

n「Garuruu!」 「GuuuGau!」

nIn a hurry I stop running and promptly throw the torch I had at the dog with a torn mouth .

nSimultaneously, The dog with the torn mouth sprang forward .

n「Yaba!」

nAt the moment when I was going to try to escape to the rear and run– .

n※Extra Skill※Cerebral Demon Spine Revolution derivative skill condition was satisfied※

n※Pikon※ Acquired Skill Invoked※

nWhen the words sounded in my mind– .

n Is displayed in red in the top left corner of my vision .

nJumping back almost instantly, I feel the throbbing pain in my mind while simultaneously understanding the skill .

nOn the one hand, The dog with the torn mouth which attacked, Crashed head first into the ground, Fracturing it’s teeth and causing it’s head to twitch while it swayed .

n「My head hurts, But–, I was able to avoid it . Is my abnormal speed due to a skill?」

nI under sand the skill, But I haven’t become accustomed to it yet .

nThe unsteady dog slightly moves .

nI have no time to feel the headache, Now is a chance . Because there’s a time limit to the speed provided by this skill, I must hurry .

nI direct my left hand towards the dog with the torn mouth and take aim .

n「Ikeeeee」

nAt the same time as my shout, The simultaneously shot from the chain mark on my left wrist .

nThe body of dog with the torn mouth trembled repeatedly, Bearing it’s broken fangs, Opening it’s mouth wide .

nIn the mouth, My was drawn in .

nThe chain pierced the roof of the dog’s mouth . Penetrating the brain and continuing straight . Shaking and rotating the dog’s body .

nThe brain matter scattered all over the surroundings, While the head tore off mid-air and flew somewhere .

n–Still not finished . I run

nIn the state where the chain is extended straight, I began running towards the other dog with the torn mouth .

nI was able to understand the effect of the skill, But also, Was able to actually experience it .

nThe skill which I acquired a short while ago is able to raise my speed abnormally .

nApproaching the dog with a torn mouth in an instant, I used the momentum of running . Kicking the dog with a torn mouth in the belly like a soccer ball .

nDue to the force of the kick, The body of the dog caved into the shape of the character ‘He’ (の) .

n(TN: I believe that’s it…)

nThe body of the dog with the torn mouth floated in the air for a little while, While letting out a voice that sounded like a small scream . At the same time, My right arm clutched the stone from above, With all my strength, I released it from my hand vertically .

nThe fist sized stone sank into the head of the dog with the torn mouth . And the head of the dog collapsed completely . Thereupon released automatically .

n「That skill, Incredible…」

nAn effect still remained, The thoughts in my mind became strangely clear…

nWhile having clear thoughts, I felt heat coming from inside my head . The heat gradually became more intense . As I discovered that it’s being spread to the back of my neck and body . It rapidly spread to my spine from my head, It felt like the bone was charged with heat .

nUnpleasant… Rather the bone…

n「More, Inside… It’s hotter inside…」

nIt’s a strange feeling…

nThe image of the bloodstream where the blood vessel was, Boiling hot energetically until it affected the sensitive nerve that connected the brain and the spine appeared in my head .

nAt first I had a terrible headache, But now my body aches . Anew, My body is being changed…

nWhile digesting such a strange feeling, I stare at both hands and think deeply about the changes happening to my body .

n1 I’ve been using the word ‘Character’ in place of letter, Seeing as it’s referring to Kanji, Comparable to a word in English, Not a letter . Just wanted to let you guys know .

n2 Like how rope is several fibers twined around to make it sturdy and flexible, Several smaller pieces of iron (wires) twined is much stronger and flexible than a single large piece .

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