I realized I had been reincarnated about a few days after I first became aware. When I thought my body wasn’t moving properly, I somehow realized, “Oh, right, I’m a baby.”

From there, it took several months for me to understand what kind of human I was. Although it was only information from inside the cradle, it seemed like the civilization level here was about medieval, as in my previous life. Furthermore, the concept of magic seemed to exist, and a white light, similar to electric lighting, always hovered above my cradle.

And my family was wealthy, apparently living in a mansion. I thought it was truly ideal… but that was only for a short while.

My parents’ conversations were in an unfamiliar language, but as I learned it, I noticed that only very familiar place names kept coming up. Moreover, I grasped my own name… and realized that this was the world of “Elder’s Sword,” which I had been so engrossed in, and I was surprised to learn that my name was Ruon Madin.

Why I was reincarnated into the game world… I’ll concede that much, but why of all people did I have to be reincarnated as a joke character…? Couldn’t it have been the protagonist, for crying out loud?

If things continue like this, will I eventually be doomed to die with a strange scream…? While pondering how to avoid that, I pulled Ruon’s profile from my mind.

Since he was just a side character, not much was said about him, but this Ruon character originally came from a noble family. Then, with the Demon King’s invasion of the continent, his family fell into ruin, and he was forced to endure a life of hardship… something like that.

How this relates to the story is… actually, after Ruon dies, a key is dropped at that location. That key is for a hideout where Ruon was collecting funds to eventually restore his family, and inside, you’ll find valuable items and such.

So, Ruon died and became money, which makes me think he’s no different from a monster. However, Ruon seemed to have tried his best, which might be why his stats were higher compared to the Protagonist… but he died with a pathetic and strange scream.

Just as I was thinking that even my happy parents would eventually face misfortune, I remembered the story of this game.

Even this game, which allows for any progression in a Free Scenario, has a purpose. This world, or rather, the setting of the game, is a place called the Shelzia Continent. At the start of the game, the Demon King, who has already overrun another continent, is extending his influence here. His trusted Five Great Demons are ravaging the continent with monsters, and the main objective is to stop them.

The Protagonist that Ruon encounters is just an adventurer. After a village raid, he decides to defeat the Demon Race… So, if he’s destined to defeat the Demon King, I might have to die… which I don’t want.

Well, I don’t even know if this world, which has become reality, will follow the Game Scenario… Ruon himself was an adventurer. If I just avoid that and don’t get involved, everything should be fine… but I hesitated even at that choice.

If I leave things alone and they follow the game, that’s fine, but if they don’t, this continent will be conquered by the Demon King and it’ll be game over… No, it’s not a game anymore, so it would be the worst possible outcome. I definitely want to avoid that.

Since I know how the story unfolds, if there’s any problem, I could try to do various things… I think about that, but I wonder if it will work. After all, I’m not a Protagonist or anything, just a Joke Character. If I had some cheat-like ability to go with my reincarnation, it might be a different story, but there doesn’t seem to be any such thing.

But well… for now, I’ll try to do what I can. With that thought, I decided to live the happy days before me for now.

***

Eventually, the Demon King invaded the continent—and with that, the activities of the Demon Race began, and political strife also occurred. My parents, caught up in it, fell from grace.

By this time, I was five years old. Naturally, there was nothing I, as a child, could do, so we were driven out of the mansion and began to live as commoners.

Even so, my parents worked desperately to raise me. Seeing them, I resolved in my heart to repay them and, for now, decided to begin training so I wouldn’t die.

There’s only so much a five-year-old can do… but I read books on magic in the library to acquire knowledge. I also went to a place where I could learn swordsmanship and began preparations to become an adventurer.

Even though it was a game world, it was now reality for me, and of course, there were no stats. So, I was anxious about whether I was actually getting stronger… but I was able to learn magic through self-study, and I felt myself growing little by little every time I swung my sword, so I thought there might be some concept of leveling up.

I continued that life for about five years… My parents got used to living as commoners, and people began to fear the possibility of being overrun by the Demon Race, living in dread every day.

At that time, monsters also became active, perhaps influenced by the Demon Race. They didn’t come to the town where we lived, but monsters started inhabiting nearby caves and ancient ruins that used to be children’s playgrounds, causing even more anxiety among the residents.

At that point, even as a child, I was selected for the Monster Subjugation Squad… As a human who had studied swordsmanship in town, my abilities were highly rated even at the age of ten. My parents seemed worried, but I thought it would be good to gain experience, so I decided to participate.

The first place we visited was the Ancient Ruins. Gripping a sword that fit my height, I, along with soldiers and mercenaries, entered the Ancient Ruins where the monsters were. The enemies that appeared there were, in game terms, only weak monsters from the first dungeon.

“Hmph!”

I cut down a Blue Wolf, the weakest enemy—as its name suggests, with blue fur—with a single stroke. Nearby, a mercenary was defeating a Gray Rabbit.

“Oh, you’re good!”

A mercenary hired for the subjugation praised me. Perhaps because I was a child, such praises were often heard when I performed well.

There, I looked around at the fighting group. The monsters were all like those that appeared at the beginning of the game—speaking of which, there was a setting that stated monsters were weaker in places less affected by the Demon Race… Perhaps this area also has monsters, but the strong influence hasn’t reached here yet.

Anyway, it was a level I could handle by myself with my skills. The magic I learned through self-study was also quite useful, so I thought I was rather active.

Naturally, we couldn’t clear all the monsters in the Ancient Ruins in one day, and we had to fight for several days… During that time, I noticed one thing. Although I was treated as a Joke Character in the game, perhaps to allow for some kind of leveling up, I gradually grew stronger the more I fought.

I somehow understood that others were also gaining experience and getting stronger… but to put it simply, I seemed to grow a bit faster than others. I wonder if this was because I was a player character in the game… or if Ruon himself had some talent… However, I don’t think this advantage will be enough to avoid my destined death. Further diligence will be necessary.

And so, after several days, the monster subjugation in the Ancient Ruins was complete. I was confident that I could fight alone, so I thought that from now on, I should not only practice swordsmanship but also fight in real combat.