PRSR | Chapter 1.4

“What does it say?” I asked.

“It’s the same stuff that guy in the black suit said earlier, plus some extra explanations-jji.”

Jjikjjiki wagged his tail enthusiastically, looking up at me as if waiting for praise. When I scratched his head gently, his ears twitched in delight.

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“What kind of extra explanations?”

“The tutorial field is a world modeled after the Higher Dimension that plans to invade Earth-jji.”

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I figured as much. There was no way the Higher Dimension would just be fields of grass and white spaces. It seemed likely that we’d move to a different area after receiving rewards here. That’s where the real challenge would begin.

“And it says that in the tutorial field, you can level up through quests and hunting. But if you die and return to Earth, your abilities won’t improve-jji.”

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So the longer you survived and worked in the tutorial field, the stronger you’d be to fight the invasion. But that didn’t mean just surviving aimlessly was the answer.

‘They mentioned rewards for being the first to clear the tutorial quest. The faster you progress, the better the rewards must be.’

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Of course, that wasn’t relevant to me. My goal wasn’t to turn Jjikjjiki into the strongest [Awakened] to save Earth. It was simply to survive. To escape this place alive.

“Does it say what the rewards are?”

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“It says there’s no extra reward because I didn’t participate in any hunting, only the basic reward-jji.”

Jjikjjiki shouted, “Inventory-jji!” The reward seemed to be automatically stored in his inventory. Moving his little hands in the air, he pulled out two small pieces of cloth.

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“What’s this-jji?”

“…Clothes?”

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They were stiff, plain clothes—like the kind you’d get when creating a new character in an online game. Judging by the size, which was barely as big as my palm, they seemed to be for Jjikjjiki.

“Wanna try them on?”

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“Even if I hate it… if Soul wants it… squeak.”
Jjikjjiki squeezed its eyes shut and trembled. It must despise this idea to its core. I tucked the beginner’s outfit into my chest pocket and stroked Jjikjjiki gently.

“Let’s wait to wear better clothes later.”

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Though, honestly, I wasn’t sure if there would ever be “better” clothes suited for a mouse.

“Do you see any instructions on what we’re supposed to do now?”

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“It says we need to use a teleportation scroll. What’s a teleportation scroll, squeak?”

Confused by something unfamiliar, Jjikjjiki spun in circles in the palm of my hand. I patted its head to calm it down.

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“Check the inventory. Is there anything in there?”

“Let me look, squeak.”

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For quite some time, Jjikjjiki rustled around noisily, searching for the scroll. As much as I wanted to help, I couldn’t see anything, so there wasn’t much I could do.

“I found it, squeak!”

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The teleportation scroll was a stiff sheet of paper about the size of an A4, with strange drawings on it. The bottom of the paper explained that tearing the scroll would transport us to a designated location.

Jjikjjiki grabbed one corner of the scroll in its mouth, stomped on it firmly with its tiny feet, and tore it.

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White light shimmered around us, and in an instant, the scenery before my eyes changed.

“Wow…”

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“Squeak.”

The new setting was a small village—a picturesque place that would pop into your mind if someone said “village in a fantasy world.” Judging by the look of it, this must be the Beginner Village.

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Whether this design was intentionally made to feel like a game, or if every Higher Dimension resembled a Beginner Village, I wasn’t sure.

‘This is where the real start begins…’

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The scenery was so immersive that I felt like I had truly entered a game.

Spotting players—or rather, Awakened individuals—among the crowd wasn’t difficult. Everyone was dressed in the same beginner’s outfit that Jjikjjiki had received. Still clad in my blue pajamas since I hadn’t claimed a beginner’s outfit, I stuck to the shadows in an alley to avoid standing out.

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“What should we do now?”

Jjikjjiki shook its head vigorously as if to say it didn’t know.

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“Didn’t a Quest Window or something pop up? Like an instruction telling us what to do next?”

“Nothing popped up, squeak.”

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When my face fell, Jjikjjiki started fidgeting nervously. I placed the mouse on my left palm and gently rubbed its belly with my other hand. What started as an attempt to comfort Jjikjjiki ended up calming my own nerves too.

“Squeak.”

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Relaxing under my touch, Jjikjjiki let its tiny body go limp.

“It seems like we need to perform a certain action or visit a specific location to trigger a quest. If anything shows up, let me know right away, okay?”

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“Of course, squeak!”

What a cute little guy.

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“Hey, Jjikjjiki.”

“Squeak?”

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How strong are you?

I wanted to ask but couldn’t bring myself to say it aloud. Jjikjjiki was my one and only lifeline, and I didn’t want to be disappointed if the answer wasn’t reassuring. Besides, Jjikjjiki’s idea of “strong” might differ from mine—its greatest enemy as a mouse being a cat, after all.

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“Let’s go find a Beastman.”

“A Beastman, squeak?”

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Jjikjjiki tilted its head before suddenly springing up to grab my wrist.

“Soul, am I not enough? I don’t want you to bring in another animal, squeak.”

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Despite Jjikjjiki’s self-proclaimed awakening, its grip felt weak, almost fragile. Watching its pink hands trembling while it clung to me so desperately stirred a pang of guilt.

“Jjikjjiki…”

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It struck me that Jjikjjiki must be just as anxious about this strange place as I was. Despite its small size and fragility, it had nowhere else to rely on but me, just as I had no one but it.

‘Jjikjjiki’s situation is just like mine.’

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With that realization, the tiny seed of wariness I had toward Jjikjjiki, born from our odd master-servant dynamic, vanished completely.

Jjikjjiki needed me.

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“Jjikjjiki, look at me.”

Trying to pry its grip off my wrist gently, I gave it a little push. Jjikjjiki, who had been holding on with all its might, tumbled weakly onto my palm.

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“Squeak!”

I quickly rubbed its belly again to soothe it.

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“I’m not planning to replace you with another animal.”

“Really, squeak?”

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“Really. Remember what they said earlier? That Beastmen need to learn how to transform into humans from another Beastman. We’re just going to find someone to teach you.”

“Me, a human, squeak?”

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“Do you not want that?”

“What about you, Soul? Do you dislike it, squeak?”

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“Not at all.”

If anything, it was a relief—it would make completing quests and fighting monsters so much easier.

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“Then I’m fine with it, squeak.”

Jjikjjiki’s cheerful grin returned.

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“But Jjikjjiki, where are you from?”

“Soul’s house, squeak.”

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“I mean before we met. Where were you living before?”

“Squeak?”

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“Is there a neighborhood on Earth where Beastmen live?”

“…Squeak?”

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Jjikjjiki tilted its head, completely clueless.

“If you don’t know, that’s fine.”

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According to the Manager, all the Awakened, aside from Jjikjjiki, were ordinary humans. Asking them about Beastmen wouldn’t get me anywhere.

But I wasn’t ready to give up just yet.

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‘The Tutorial Field is a miniature version of another dimension, isn’t it?’

If this world had monsters, it likely had Beastmen too. Whether they could teach an Earth-born Beastman like Jjikjjiki how to become human was uncertain, but it was worth a try. The problem was figuring out how to find them.

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“For now, let’s gather information.”

I tucked Jjikjjiki back into my chest pocket and slipped out of the alley. In the town square, groups of Awakened individuals in their beginner outfits were gathering. I quietly approached from behind to observe.

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“Stay calm, everyone. It’s more important than ever to work together.”

“We’ve figured out how to get quests!”

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A group of rather unsavory-looking individuals was enthusiastically rallying people.

“Looks like they’re planning to organize everyone for a group quest.”

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“Squeak.”

When I whispered, Jjikjjiki peeked out of my pocket.

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“Everyone, gather in the square! Unity is key in times like this!”

“Where are the people who went ahead to hunt monsters earlier? The ones leading the charge.”

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“They probably received better rewards… Maybe they already accepted their quests and left.”

“Anyone with combat skills, please come this way!”

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“Let’s go talk to those people. They claim to know how to get quests.”

The Awakened gathered in the square were only about half the number I’d seen earlier in the field. Those who had fought monsters and reaped rewards had already left the Beginner Village. Meanwhile, those struggling to adapt seemed to have either hidden away or chosen to quit entirely.

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“So how do we get a quest?”

“Just tell us already!”

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“Alright, alright. Please wait a moment. Hey, you over there! Change into your beginner outfit. It might look shabby, but it has a defense stat of 3, so it’s better than being defenseless!”

The Awakened who had been rallying people pointed in my direction. It was hard not to stand out when everyone else was wearing cream-colored outfits, and I was the only one still in blue pajamas. Avoiding the unwanted attention, I subtly slipped toward the back of the crowd.

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“Jjikjjiki, can you tell me what functions that outfit we saw earlier has?”

“Squeak.”

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Jjikjjiki rummaged around the pocket where the beginner outfit was tucked.

“…Squeak?”

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But even after a long while, it simply tilted its head in confusion, failing to answer my question. I tapped its head lightly to signal that it was okay to stop.

Looking sullen, Jjikjjiki poked its head out of the pocket and mumbled.

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“I don’t know, squeak…”

“It’s fine. You don’t have to know everything.”

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I scratched its chin gently, and Jjikjjiki brightened up immediately, squeaking happily.

A simple, adorable little thing.

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Apparently, not all Awakened could identify item stats or functions. Judging that I wouldn’t get any useful information here, I began moving cautiously toward an inner alley, keeping an eye on the other Awakened.

Luckily, the rallying group didn’t pay much attention to me after their suggestion about the clothes. It wasn’t like their advice had come from genuine concern anyway. More likely, it was a ploy to flaunt their supposed access to information and willingness to share it.

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Where they’d gotten the defense stat of 3 for the beginner outfit, I had no idea. Perhaps someone in their group could actually identify item stats—or they might have just made it up.

One thing was clear: they weren’t genuinely interested in sharing information. They had likely brought up the outfit’s defense stats as a distraction when the crowd grew restless about their lack of transparency.

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“Join our party, and we’ll share this kind of information freely. Unfortunately, this system doesn’t support parties, so we’ll have to use contracts. These are legally binding, even when we return to Earth! This gentleman here is a lawyer!”

See? The nonsense had already started. A lawyer? Contracts? For what? There was no guarantee we could even bring items back to Earth, so what use was a piece of paper?

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Of course, they weren’t expecting the contracts to hold any real legal power. The real goal was likely to create a sense of obligation among the signers, making them feel like they were truly part of a party. Some would undoubtedly exploit the information and leave, but others, swayed by words like “legal” and “lawyer,” might stick around.

‘If I didn’t have Jjikjjiki, I might’ve fallen for something like this.’

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When your mind is unsettled, having no one to rely on can severely cloud your judgment. Feeling grateful, I reached down to stroke Jjikjjiki.

“Squeak.”

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Jjikjjiki nuzzled the tip of its nose against my finger in response.