Looking at one of the slain goblins, Shoot remembered something: after defeating monsters, you loot their materials.

He took a knife from his backpack and began dissecting the goblin corpse.

“It’s not like in games where they turn into materials or drop items when you kill them. I have to do it myself… Ugh! This blood really stinks!”

After struggling for fifteen minutes dissecting and looting the goblin, he obtained some materials—a goblin horn. He also collected small red stones from each goblin.

“Are these magic stones? These could be valuable items.”

He put everything into his backpack. He then gained a new skill.

“Um… skill ‘Dismemberment’. I guess that’ll make looting easier next time.”

Each time he acquired a skill, Shoot felt that this world was really like a game.

As night was falling, Shoot faced a problem.

“…How do I get back…?”

He had nowhere to stay overnight. He could sell the monster materials, but the value of goblin materials would be minimal. He expected he’d struggle to find even a cheap place to stay.

In reality, the materials from five goblins were enough for three nights, but Shoot, newly arrived in this world, had no way of knowing that.

Since he had nowhere to stay, Shoot wanted to go home, but he didn't know how.

“And I’m lost in the forest…”

Surrounded by trees, and with the darkness of night, visibility was poor. He was truly lost. He tried to retrace his steps, but having run haphazardly from the goblins and fought them repeatedly, he had completely lost his bearings. He regretted not bringing a compass.

While searching for an exit from the forest, eating emergency rations and drinking water, he acquired a new skill.

“‘Spatial Transfer’…?”

This was a different grade of skill from the previous ones. He analyzed its function: “Spatial Transfer” could move oneself or an object to another space, and instantly teleport to any location one had previously been.

“A warp function. Another game-like element… Also, this skill feels like something I’ve always had but forgot…”

It felt as if he’d always possessed it, unsettling him. He decided to use this new skill to solve his predicament.

“To teleport to a place I’ve been, I have to imagine something that characterizes that location… In this case, I should just think about the black vortex.”

Understanding how to use it, he imagined the black vortex in his mind and activated “Spatial Transfer.”

———

The world flashed black and white for a moment. When his vision cleared, he was no longer in the forest but back in the familiar alley where he had first arrived. The black vortex was humming in front of him.

“I warped…”

Relieved to have escaped the forest, Shoot was exhausted from the string of unbelievable events. He wanted to go home and without hesitation, stepped into the vortex.

“I wonder if I can come back here again…”

After carefully observing the city, he turned towards the vortex and moved forward.

“Will I be able to return to my original place? Can I travel back home like I did from my house?”

Shoot worried about ending up in another unknown place, but his fear proved unfounded. Within seconds of entering the vortex, he was back somewhere familiar.

“I’m back… at my house.”

He had emerged in his basement. He confirmed it was his home, recognizing his father's collection of documents.

“It… wasn’t a dream.”

He looked back; the mysterious black vortex was still in the basement. He wondered if entering it would send him back to the other world, but he decided to stop for the day.

“I’m soaked in sweat… I need a shower. What time is it? Are my parents back?”

If they were home, his father would be especially angry that he’d entered the basement without permission, Shoot groaned, heading upstairs to check. His parents weren't home, and it was still night.

“I spent from midday to nighttime in that world, so I figured it would be morning here…”

Wondering about this, he looked at the radio clock in his room and gasped.

“Time… hardly passed at all… !?”

The time was just past 10 pm—the same time he had first entered the black vortex in the basement. Later, Shoot would understand that time in the other world barely affected the real world.

He would later realize that whether he spent a second, an hour, a day, or a year in the other world, the time passed in the real world was only a few seconds.

After showering and cleaning himself, Shoot reached for his backpack to check his loot from the other world, but…

“Eh? What? The goblin horns and magic stones… are gone… !?”

He couldn’t find any of his battle spoils, no matter how hard he searched. He wondered if he had dropped them during the warp, but he immediately dismissed the idea. He remembered putting everything at the bottom of his backpack, so he couldn't have lost it.

“Maybe the items disappear when I come back…?”

His guess was right. Anything obtained in the other world vanished upon returning to the real world. Shoot felt disappointed that his hard work had been for nothing.

“…I guess I’ll have dinner. Or rather, a late-night snack.”

Although only an hour had passed since dinner in this world, Shoot had actually only eaten a few energy bars over almost half a day. He was understandably hungry. So he took his wallet and went out to buy something at a convenience store.

Grumbling about his dwindling allowance, he spotted a convenience store, but near the entrance, he saw a group of students hanging around. They appeared to be male high school students judging by their height, their dyed hair, multiple piercings, and flamboyant shirts – clearly delinquents. They were, in fact, a gang.

Although they were still about fifty meters away, Shoot could hear their loud voices. It was undeniably disruptive, especially at night and right in front of the store, yet no one tried to reprimand them. Even the convenience store clerk pretended not to notice, obviously avoiding trouble.

“…Tch, social scum.”

Muttering under his breath so the delinquents couldn't hear, Shoot hurried to buy what he needed and leave, but that wasn't going to happen.

“Hey, you! How much money do you have? Give us some, will you?”

One of the delinquents approached Shoot.