Chapter 15: The Bear Takes a Rainy Day Off Part One

Chapter 15:
The Bear Takes a Rainy Day Off
Part One

 

IT STARTED RAINING the next morning and didn’t stop, so I holed up in my inn room and read my bestiary to pass the time. Most of the creatures in it were the standard fantasy fare you’d expect to find in RPGs, light novels, and manga. Maybe I could travel the world trying to find as many of them as I could.

After reading a while, my stomach told me it was time for food, so I went downstairs to get lunch. Despite the rain, there were tons of customers in the dining room. When I asked Elena about it, she said, “Oh, it’s because the rain apparently did away with all the street vendors. The customers gather at places where they’re protected from the downpour.”

I looked around the dining hall and couldn’t seem to find a place to sit. I didn’t really want to share a table, so I was about to leave.

“Ms. Yuna, sorry, but it seems we don’t have seating, so would you be able to eat in your room?”

“Yeah, that’s fine. Please bring me the special for today.”

“Understood. I’ll bring it to your room right away.”

About five minutes after I got back to my room, there was a knock at the door. That was faster than I expected, I thought.

“Ms. Yuna, could you open the door?”

When I opened it, Elena was carrying a steaming meal. Because lunch fees weren’t included in the cost of rent, I put the meal on the table and paid Ms. Elena.

“Thank you.”

“Break a leg out there, Elena.”

“Yes, this is the time for making money,” she answered me lightheartedly before going back to work.

I gratefully ate the meal on the table. It was a veggie stir fry with meat in it, and warm soup with freshly baked bread. I nibbled at the bread, though I was starting to yearn for rice. I wanted to have ramen, too, but I didn’t know whether they would have it in this world. Next time, I’d try asking Elena.

I finished my meal and started thinking about what to do with my afternoon. I pulled up my status screen.

 

Name: Yuna

Age: 15 years old

Level: 18

Skills: Fantasy World Language, Fantasy World Literacy, Bear Extradimensional Storage, Bear Identification, Bear Detection, Bear Map

Magic: Bear Light, Bear Physical Enhancement, Bear Fire Magic, Bear Water Magic, Bear Wind Magic, Bear Earth Magic

 

EQUIPMENT

Right Hand: Black Bear Glove (Nontransferable)

Left Hand: White Bear Glove (Nontransferable)

Right Foot: Black Bear Shoe (Nontransferable)

Left Foot: White Bear Shoe (Nontransferable)

Clothing: Black and White Bear Clothes (Nontransferable)

Underwear: Bear Underwear (Nontransferable)

 

I’d gained a new skill. Bear Map? Seriously, you can’t just tag “bear” onto everything.

 

Bear Map

Any area seen through the bear’s eyes can be made into a map.

 

Bear Map invoked a map with me at the center and indicators of the town’s surroundings, the eastern woods, and the area around the village where the goblins had appeared. All the other areas were pitch-black and showed nothing. It felt like a feature ported right over from WFO. It was useful, but I could only see places I’d already been to. I supposed it would have taken the sense of discovery out of things if a map of the whole world had suddenly unfolded before me.

Something came to mind after I saw the goblin king’s cave marked on my map, and I pulled the sword the king had been carrying out of my bear storage. It didn’t seem as sinister in my hands as it had in his. It had turned into an elegant sword with a silver glint to it.

I used Bear Identification on it.

 

Goblin King’s Sword

Skills: Boost Physical Strength, Supplement Magic

Boost Physical Strength: Increases the strength of the user.

Supplement Magic: The sword can be supplemented with magic.

 

The sword’s previous ominous vibe was probably a direct expression of the goblin king’s power. When I sent mana through it, it glittered a pretty silver. Maybe I’d try it out when the rain was gone.

But it didn’t seem like the rain would be stopping anytime today, so I went over my to-do list. I was used to being alone at home, but I always had something to play, or read, or watch. Minus all of that, I ended up super bored. The only other thing I could do was sleep, but if I slept in the afternoon, I wouldn’t be able to sleep at night. All the things I’d spend a sleepless night doing back in Japan were things I couldn’t do here. I needed to get creative.

It bugged me a little to see myself holding the goblin king’s sword with my flabby jelly arms, so I decided to try working out. It might have been because of the bears, but no matter how many times I did push-ups—whether it was ten or a hundred times—I didn’t get tired. I’d never be able to bulk up my arms like this.

With that thought in mind, I took off the bear equipment and stripped to my underwear. Well, I was wearing a shirt on top, but the only bottoms I had on were the bear underwear. The underwear I’d bought the other day felt so scratchy that I didn’t wear them. Maybe I’d go to the high-end store next time.

I tried doing a pushup. I couldn’t even do ten. Nothing had changed since when I was in Japan. I gave up on my jelly arms and obediently decided to wear the bear. Scary as it was, I was starting to become more and more at home in the peculiar outfit.