“Interesting. What an interesting man you are; a very courageous and honest individual who will relentlessly protect the person you love or have the most. I admire you, Arata. You never cease to surprise me. That’s why I took you under my wing,” Captain Israel spoke, still with the sabre poking my neck.“Judging from what you’ve witnessed from me, you’re afraid to know whether to keep me beside you or throw me off the plank. And the best possible outcome was to test me. And what do we know? A storm hit our ship, and two pirates who couldn’t swim nearly drowned. You could’ve done something, but you let it happen, Captain Israel. Now, I ask you. What do you want from me? Why are you gauging my strength?” I questioned. “Why did you try sacrificing your two comrades for the sake of witnessing my abilities?”“It’s because I know you can save them. And I am checking if you have what it takes to stand on this ship without killing my comrades. I could’ve killed your sister if I wanted to. But

The map I had encoded revealed the layouts of the world, Kepler. It was a massive place where even the puny scroll had to be enlarged so we could easily view the islands. The distance was already computed, so there was no point in us to estimate with our minds. Most importantly, my system combined the two scrolls. Although it consumed the scrolls, we had an idea of exactly where we were supposed to go.Kepler was this habitable world mimicking Earth. But compared to the planet I had lived on, mythical creatures and whatnot resided in this place. And my claim was supported by the existence of a megalodon shark, which should have been extinct by the time humans had already developed. If I had to assume, more mythical beasts would appear. But that was a problem my future self would solve once we crossed our bridge.As I observed the map, five major islands and their names appeared before us, including the treasures where they were marked. Starting from the top left of the map was the grea

I told Kirameki all about the Captain, the crew, and the ship. When my sister heard we were transported into another world, her eyes widened in surprise, much like her mouth curling upwards. But Kirameki also cited that she already knew what was happening, considering the change of setting and people in our surroundings.Moreover, I told Kirameki everything, including the map of this world and magic. When I mentioned arcane was real in Kepler, Kirameki couldn’t believe her ears. There was no way for me to show tangible evidence about magic in front of her, thanks to my special abilities, and my system claimed that Kirameki was not a player, so she was exempted from viewing my powers. But amidst the conversation, my sister leaned on me. She bobbed her head and attentively listened to every detail I spoke about, including the treasures. Kirameki never doubted me.“Someday, I will show you the world…” I affirmed, and embraced her fragile arms.Kirameki flashed me a beam and answered, “Yo

………………….A few years ago.Every night, musical notes from the violin’s strings strummed a heavenly tune. Although it woke me up, I still admired the angelic voice of someone familiar paired with a piece out of this world. Although the tone leaned more on the traditional side - as if I was in another world - the melody seemed refreshing and jittery. Then again, I had no idea what I was saying. All I knew was that I fell in love with the music and wanted to hear it more.The person using the fiddle’s bow didn’t come from our neighbours. It was from Kirameki, my sister. As I walked outside our house, she stood in the back and dim alley, with nobody there but a pair of cats as her audience. It was midnight. This was my sister’s prime every time she wanted to practice playing her violin. Fortunately, no man or woman assaulted her. And the notes her instrument sang didn’t wake our fellow residents. Moreover, my sister had an illness. And it prevented her from moving elsewhere. Nonetheless,

After excreting another exhale, I turned towards the five clueless pirates and uttered, "For starters, what are the ingredients you have here?"All of them shrugged their shoulders. If these pirates could only shower me with question marks, I would've already drowned from it. I massaged my furrowed eyebrows and muttered, "Okay. At least I already expected this to happen. Anyway, bring me whatever you can find that I could use. And by the way, how many people do we need to feed?"Three pirates hurriedly went to the cabinets to grab some food, while Sally, who appeared to be the leader of the deranged pack, and Rudy, her right hand, walked up to me and answered my queries."There are approximately seventy pirates boarding this ship, with Captain Israel included," replied Sally. "Ten older pirates accompanied Captain Israel and Francoise before. But thanks to their expedition, they found us.""Us? What do you mean? And ten people?" I answered. I didn't know how many people should operat