Chapter 2: The gate that connects two worlds?!

***

"So... I'm in another world...?" Kazuki asked incredulously.

[... Yes.] The Great System responded.

"What's your name...?" Kazuki inquired.

[You can call me The Great System.] The System replied.

"Do you have any other nonsense to say...?" Kazuki asked, slightly annoyed.

[... No.] The System answered.

"Then, can you explain my current situation?" Kazuki requested.

[... No.] The System replied once again.

Kazuki, now slightly recovered from the shock, started to explore the palace he found himself in. The thought that he was in a completely different world was still sinking in. He couldn't believe his eyes and ears, especially with a voice in his head that responded to his every thought.

"This is ridiculous, talking to myself like this." Kazuki muttered to himself. "System... How stupid..."

[You stupid one.] The System retorted.

"Up to you..." Kazuki replied, realizing that he wasn't going to get anywhere arguing with the voice in his head.

Kazuki explored the palace for a long time, and realized that it was too big for him to thoroughly explore. The palace was massive, towering over twenty stories high, and the area was probably equivalent to half of his grandfather's land area. He couldn't help but be amazed by the grandeur of the palace, which had an aura that felt very similar to European style.

As he explored, Kazuki stumbled upon a room full of shiny and luxurious weapons. He was impressed, but didn't have time to examine them further. He couldn't spend too much time touring the palace, as he had other things to do.

In summary, Kazuki understood the most important thing about the palace. "It seems to be uninhabited, but it still maintains its structure very well. Surprisingly, there isn't a single speck of dust when I touched one of the tables here."

Eventually, Kazuki realized that he needed to get out of the palace to check the state of this new world. After running for some time, he finally arrived at the main exit.

"How do I open it?" Kazuki asked the System.

[... Withdrawn.] The System responded.

"Okay!" Kazuki replied, following the command from the System. With his left hand still injured, he pulled open the door with his right hand.

Kreaakk...

At this moment, Kazuki was stunned by the sight before him.

He took a deep breath and exclaimed, "What?! This is a palace in the middle of a forest?!"

As he attempted to explore the area, he came across a monster with a lumpy body that was extremely large.

"J-Jelly walking?!!!" Kazuki was once again shocked by something he had never seen before.

Suddenly, the jelly monster sprayed a huge volume of liquid at him.

Swosh... Burned...!!!!!!!!

"Shit! What kind of creature is this?!" Kazuki exclaimed in panic, and in that moment, a statistic about the creature was displayed right before his eyes.

[Slime King!]

Rank: S-

Levels: 300

Strength: 2,000

Agility: 1,000

Stamina: 3,000

Intelligence: 7,000

Vitality: 1,000

"System, what is this?" asked Kazuki as a transparent screen kept appearing in front of him repeatedly.

Upon seeing the display showing something different, he immediately queried the system for more information.

[... Information about monsters.]

"Monsters?!" Kazuki exclaimed in shock. Without thinking much, he rushed towards the palace door in a state of panic.

Before entering the palace, he turned back to glance at the monster, only to realize that an invisible barrier was blocking its entry into the forecourt.

"Wasn't this barrier absent before...?" asked Kazuki, confused by the sudden appearance of the barrier.

[... It's a barrier that blocks anything the owner of the Palace doesn't want from entering his courtyard.]

"So..." Kazuki breathed a sigh of relief as the system provided an explanation for the barrier's appearance. He no longer felt afraid to look at the monster.

After pondering for a moment, he remembered that he had previously entered an armory that was full of weapons.

"...I should try my luck there," he thought to himself.

With renewed confidence, Kazuki sprinted to the warehouse and asked the system, "Which is the strongest weapon here?"

[... All the main weapons are kept in the master cupboard.]

"Okay!" Kazuki exclaimed, determined to find a weapon that could help him. He then proceeded to select a spear from the cupboard, hoping that it would aid him in his impending battle.

[Spear Gods!]

Type: Weapon

The strongest spear that belonged to the Ancient Emperor, nothing in this world could destroy it, with its destructive power, this weapon was ready to kill everything.

Can return to the user after being thrown.

"This is really crazy!" Kazuki was amazed by the weapon's description.

The shape was very cool, with a pitch-black coating that made Kazuki fall in love with it.

Run!

Kazuki immediately ran as fast as possible while carrying the spear in his right hand.

Seeing that the monster was still in the same place, Kazuki then asked the system, "How do I use it?"

[... Up to you.]

"Okay!" Kazuki replied.

Without much thought, he felt close enough to the monster and threw the spear with all his might.

Throw...

Swoshhhhhhhh!!!!!

The spear shot out at an extremely fast speed that made no sense, even for Kazuki's weak throw.

Finally, the spear hit the monster's body.

Jleb!

Scroshhhh!!!!

"Euuuukkkkk!!!!!" The monster let out a terrible cry.

The spear pierced through the monster's body in a single throw, instantly crushing it.

[Congratulations! You've leveled up!]

“Hahh… Hahh… Hahh…” Kazuki panted heavily, his body becoming very limp after throwing the spear with all his might.

"... How could it be?" Kazuki was slightly surprised by the result. He thought he would need several weapons to kill that monster.

"But only once...?" Kazuki asked the system, "Hey System, what does 'Leveling Up' mean?"

Without answering him, the system immediately paid attention to a statistic.

[System Statistics]

Name: Kazuki Igarashi

Levels: 100

Title: The first person to come from another world. Palace Lord of the Secret Palace of the Ancient Emperor (Show/Hidden)

Strength: 1,500

Agility: 1,500

Stamina: 1,000

Intelligence: 1,000

Vitality: 1,000

Luck: 2,000

Ability: None

Skills: Appraisal, Spear Throw

“Woahhh... These stats...” Kazuki was dumbfounded by what was displayed and he wanted to make sure.

[...Those are your stats.]

"Excellent!" shouted Kazuki while raising both his hands.

[...Stats will increase according to your affinity and fighting style.]

"Okay! Then for titles... Better hide it, it doesn't really matter!" After enjoying the sweetness of victory for a long time, he also felt astonished by something.

"System... Why don't I feel stronger or something?"

[...What do you think?]

Hearing that answer, Kazuki could only shake off his thoughts and replied, "Nothing."

In this world, it was still morning, while on Earth, it was already night.

'Isn't this the best?' he thought. Well... forget it!

Looking in the direction where the monster was killed, Kazuki saw that its corpse had melted and there were some items left behind. Out of curiosity, Kazuki approached them and saw a ball and a... "Necklace?"