Hyperdimension Neptunia: Tale of the wandering swordsman

[Mini Magi]

The world of Gamindustri. A world most would find only in fairy tales. 4 gigantic continents floating high in the sky, and nothing but endless blue and white below. On the lands themselves, civilization bloomed for many years by now, and it long since entered the age of information. However. No 2 landmasses were the same. For once, each chose their own style. And second, they were all ruled by one CPU each. A console patron unit that devoted their live to the safety and development of their citizens. Granted, not all was done by them. Mayors still ruled the cities, and for those who preffered this lifestyle could also always turn to "The Guild". An organization present in all countries, focusing on helping the people with tasks the guards had no time or resources for.

And that was the main explanation why Tori found herself running through the caves. "Just a little further." The monster on her bounty list had to be around here. A nasty one too, having eaten almost a week's worth of crops from a nearby farm. What kind of monster it was? The one right before her when she stopped. A slime. A big one at that. But nothing she couldn't handle. Lowering her sleeves, a set of katars dropped, and a fight ensued. Slimes couldn't simply be cut of course. But she wasn't blindly cross cutting into it on first contact. She was aiming for the core. "Is it too deep in?" It was after her first few attempts that she noticed. It was too big. Roughly as large as a horse and round as a ball, her blades lacked range. "Oh crap!" How was it able to jump so easily and fast? She could see it happen slowly. It was about to either crush or absorb her... "Ah!" Something hit her side all of the sudden. It was quite big too.

"Ow. What the hell...?" Tori was pushed away quite hard. Not that she would complain. It was still better than getting covered in slime. Said slime seemed to have lost track of her for a moment. Sucks to not have eyes and ears huh? Taking a look around, she noticed someone nearby. Did he tackle her? ...Well whatever the case. "Hey, you okay?" After a short response, she got up, katars drawn again, and in her battle stance. "Let's take care of this one first. It's core is just slightly above its center. I distract it, you go for the kill. Ready?" And before he could answer, she dashed ahead, jumping above it, cutting its top and landing behind it. If that didn't buy him an opening, few things would.

Spoiler

Name: Tori
Occupation: Guild agent
Weapons: Katars
An adventurer with focus on monster slaying, and instructing those who wish to follow both her footsteps, and those who came before her. Can be a little rough, but behind the attitude is someone who wants those around her to be at their best.

 

[Moon Hound Hati]

As a teenager, Akira Yatsumoto had been quite the fan of an up-and-coming genre that mainly revolved around the protagonist being transported or reborn in another world. Christened “isekai,” which meant “different world” or “otherworld,” he’d spent a lot of evening hours reading manga and watching anime that belonged to the genre. It was quite the rage and he often fantasized about being an isekai protagonist himself during boring classes or times he had nothing else to do or think about. Oh, how he would come to regret that… mostly.

One day, when he was fifteen and on his way to school, a swirling purple portal appeared before him, sucking him in before he could do anything about it. The next thing he knew, he landed in another world and was tasked with saving it from a demon lord that threatened to conquer and twist its lands into inhospitable hellscapes. An impossible task put upon the shoulders of some random kid from another world who knew nothing of fighting and survival, he had to grow up fast or face death. But, against all odds, he managed to do the impossible. It was a victory that hadn’t come easily, but Akira became the hero who defeated the demon lord.

But you might be wondering why he then requested to be sent back home to his own world afterward. Well… That’s a tale for another day, especially considering the fact that he didn’t even end up back in his own world!

Launched from the dimensional portal, ass first for some reason, he crashed into something or someone mid-flight. Still disorientated, he ended up face down and ass up on the cold, stone floor of the cave. With a hefty groan, the white-haired hero dressed in samurai-like garb softly cursed under his breath. “Damnit, Ezikeal… I’ll kill you if I ever see your smug face again…”

Hearing a feminine voice call out to him, he lazily turned his head to peer over to its source, nothing a petite girl with brown hair and a long, blue coat. She informed him that she was going to distract “it,” with it apparently being… “A slime…?”

Rolling onto his feet, he shook the cobwebs from his mind and watched the girl jump over the slime while delivering a swipe to its top with her katars. While it didn’t appear to inflict any real damage, it did its job in distracting it for a moment.

“I don’t know where I am, but let’s hope my level didn’t reset,” Akira muttered to himself as he dashed forward, drawing his katana from its sheathe. As he ran forward, circling around somewhat to approach from a different angle, he called out his move, causing his blade to glow with focused energy.

“Wandering Swordsman Style! First Form: Lightning That Strikes The Lone Tree!”

With blade gripped with both hands, he raised it above his head just as he accelerated to superhuman speeds, become a white blur as if turned into actual lightning. A single moment later he appeared on the other side of the slime, his blade now pointing down towards the ground at an angle, the strike delivered as the slime was cut in half right down the middle, core included. This caused it to die and dissolve.

At least that much was the same in this world, he thought as he swung his blade sideways, causing excess slime to be discarded from the blade and onto the ground. Sheathing the blade, he turned to the girl, looking at her curiously. While she used a melee weapon, she was not at all dressed like anyone he’d ever encountered in Eternum; everything there was more akin to fantasized medieval Japanese and European cultures. This girl, on the other hand, was dressed in a more modern-day fashion. That said, though, her fashion sense would still be quite excentric by the standards of his home dimension.

“Sorry about that!” he apologized with a sheepish grin, scratching the back of his head. “Didn’t mean to knock into you like that! Happened by accident, I swear.”

Spoiler

 

 

[Mini Magi]

So he was as capable as she assumed. Nice. hiding her weapons in her sleeves again, she went to him after picking up something from the spot where the slime vanished. "Hey, it's okay. If I had to choose between getting tackled or getting covered in slime, I'd say there is a clear winner." He seemed friendly enough too, and was smart enough to listen. This could clearly be a lot worse. So instead of an anger filled girl, he instead would see her extend a hand to him. "I'm Tori. Nice to meet you. Are you with the guild?" What followed was something straight out of a fairytale... or most of the anime's currently floating around. While it wasn't easy to believe, it wasn't completely impossible. Who was she to judge what was and wasn't real after all?

"...So basically, you have no idea where you are or what to do, right?" Quick to adapt, she got to the most important problem right away. Whenever he had a purpose here or not, he would need to make an income first, get a roof over his head, and get familiar with an entire world. She could help with that~ "It would be a bit much to discuss in a cave, but if you don't mind, I wanna take you back to Leanbox and introduce you to the guild. Think of it as a citizen organization that offers all kinds of work." He helped her, so she would help him. If he wanted that of course.

[Moon Hound Hati]

There was a sense of relief to be found in the fact that the girl was taking his crude entrance in stride. It wouldn’t bode too well if he’d ticked off the first person he encountered in this world. Taking the offered hand, he gave it a shake, noting just how small it, and the girl it belonged to, was. When she asked if he was with the guild, he uttered a small, nervous laugh and smiled sheepishly again. “Nice to meet you, Tori. I'm Akira. And... well… would you believe me if I told you I came from another world?”

And from there he spun a somewhat abridged version of his tale, how he was summoned from his own world and life of normalcy and peace to become the hero of another. Coming to this world was almost like transferring your save data from a game into a sequel set in a different place. He still had all the power and abilities he’d gained but was basically reset in terms of story progression. At least he didn’t have to start over completely, he thought.

“That’s right.” Nodding his head, he confirmed that he had no idea where he was and what he should do now. He’d have to get his bearings first before trying to figure out how to proceed next and find a way home. Luckily, little Tori was there to help him.

“The guild, huh? That would help a lot, thanks!” Akira told her with a thankful smile. “Would be great to get my feet planted firmly on the ground.” God knows he’d learned that fast enough the first time around. He had just the clothes on his back and the sword at his side, so generating some income and getting a roof over his head would be great. Hopefully, the guild was like those in RPGs he used to play and offer a bunch of basic quests that didn’t require any particular skills outside his current set. Maybe some easy kill or fetch quests to start with? He couldn’t really be too picky right off the bat.

“So, which way to… Leanbox, was it, Tori?” Looking around, he couldn’t really tell which way would lead them out of the cave, so it was probably good that he’d bumped into Tori. Who knows how long he might have wandered around aimlessly through this cave otherwise?

[Mini Magi]

Calm and skilled. She liked this one already~ He would be an excellent addition to the guild with those qualities alone. "It's not far from here. Just follow me for a while." The way outside of the cave was uneventful, giving Akira a hint that monsters were not that widely spread. Either that or they were lucky, but those tidbits of information were for another time. Once outside of the cave, Tori took him to the main city of this nation.

Leanbox was probably quite familiar to him. Both inside and outside of the city trees and potted plants decorated the streets. The roads themselves were properly plastered, and it all felt a bit like Europe a few years back. The only thing that stood out however were people using smartphones, and even using them to pay at booths and shops alike. Wasting no time, Tori took him to the guild office first and foremost. "Just a bit further." The guild office in this region looked pretty much like a tavern. One long bar with cupboards and barrels behind it, multiple tables and benches, and a quest board with multiple papers pinned to it. Oddly enough, each had a QR code. "By the way. This is technically yours." She handed him one half or an orb. It's outside was blue, but the inside had red crystals growing out of it. It looked quite similar to a geode, but was perfectly round. "That's the core of the slime you took down. Usually you can't sell this to merchants unless they really want it, but the guild always accepts such items if you can get a hold of them."

While he examined the item, Tori went ahead and explained the situation to the receptionist. A mature lady in a blouse and black vest, who had not been told that Akira was from another world. Tori figured that just telling that he was a new adventurer was easier. After that, Tori took a step to the side while the receptionist took over. "Greetings. Would you fill this out first?" She handed him a form to fill out, and it luckily was in his language. Once he went through that, she presented him with a tablet. The modern kind, touchscreen and all. "Each member of the guild is given one free communication device. Feel free to browse which one you would prefer." The display allowed him not only to choose which type of device he wanted, but also in which color, even which patterns he would like. All in all, he was free to give it his own personal touch.