God’s Guide for Teasing Heroes

Narrator POV 

  

  

  

  

Sometime after the battle with the undead in Altus. 

  

. 

. 

. 

  

Because of the decision of one particular person, something changed. 

In an alternate reality, by this time Ota Rio should be following the trails of Kazue as she traveled to Riles. 

But in this timeline, Ota Rio had been traveling by herself in this foreign world. 

  

  

This world is a timeline where Rio never followed Kazue and went on her own. 

In this timeline, Tamashiro Naofumi did not invite Ota Rio to follow Kazue to the country of Riles. 

Tamashiro Naofumi decided to do things differently this time around. 

And as a butterfly effect of this action, the three will never form a party anymore. 

The time the three should have spent together in the future is now lost into oblivion. 

In this timeline, Ota Rio shall seclude herself and survive on her own. 

  

  

Rio traveled southeast of Altus. 

She pretended that this whole “Alternate World Summoning” was just a game. 

In the former world Ota Rio lived, she was quite fond of playing computer games and indulged herself deeply in those kinds of stuff. 

  

  

Rio could not stand being in other’s presence. 

As a result, she became lonely existence. 

The only person she could call a friend was a girl named Mizusawa Kazue. 

She felt a connection with that girl as that person was an individual who had problems dealing with other people just like her. 

That person shares the same love for the things she enjoys doing. 

  

  

The relationship between these two girls was not particularly normal in the eyes of others. 

Unlike other girls who enjoy bonding by going out and spending time roaming around the city to have fun and chill. 

Rio and Kazue prefer bonding online and exploring the world of online games together. 

This is while they stay inside their rooms. 

  

  

Comparing Kazue and Rio to the other girls their age, they do things quite differently. 

When other girls would prefer to contact each other with their phones to make plans to go out... 

Mizusawa Kazue and Ota Rio prefer to contact each other online using their headset and microphones. 

When other girls love to talk about watching movies, spend time in some food chains to chat about girlish things such as cosmetic products, compliment desserts, and fan over good-looking boys. 

Rio and Kazue love to talk about plans on what game to play, how to beat it, and what strategies would they execute, talk about items in the game and boast about their effectiveness in-game. 

This kind of talk is quite normal for boys but for girls, it is not. 

  

  

It would be a lie if Rio says that she did not want to party with Kazue in this game-like reality. 

But it’s not as if she would die just because she could not play a game with a friend. 

She can just meet up later and play the game on her own time. 

She knows that Kazue was also doing the same. 

So, to ease this loneliness she decided to do her best instead. 

Next time she meets Kazue, she will be strong enough to fight alongside her. 

After all, Rio thinks that when fighting side by side she needs to be as strong as Kazue. 

Right now, Kazue was stronger and more skilled than her. 

As a gamer, Rio is naturally competitive. 

In a way, she also treats Kazue as a Rival. 

Rio finds competing with Kazue to be very fun too. 

Next time they meet, Rio will show Kazue her abilities and try to best Kazue. 

  

  

It had been 2 months since the battle in Altus. 

Rio has learned how much she lacks after fighting alongside Kazue during that battle. 

Ever since then she had been aiming to become stronger. 

Rio had been working hard to increase her level, skills, and battle sense to be able to catch up to her. 

Thus, she dedicated her time to improving herself. 

  

  

********** 

As of the moment, Rio is hiding her presence with the help of (Stealth) and other skills. 

She’s using this skill to stalk her target. 

She melds into the surroundings and was carefully watching her prey from the shadows. 

  

  

-snort- -snort- 

The monster made a sound as if it was clueless that someone was actually after its life. 

The monster is about 2 meters tall, it is a humanoid monster with a seemingly fatty composition, and it has ahead of a pig. 

This monster is a D-rank monster called orc. 

  

  

Despite the monster being 1 rank higher than what is required for Rio who is an E-rank adventurer. 

Rio did not hesitate to take on the challenge and took the quest to exterminate these monsters. 

[Alright… it’s time] 

Rio encouraged herself and decided to attack the monster. 

  

  

Rio moved forward... 

She was barely making a sound with each of her steps, she sneaked close toward the Orc from behind. 

Rio is activating 2 of her skills at the same time. 

(Stealth) and (Silent Steps). 

With the combination of these two skills, the orc couldn't detect her approaching. 

At the same time, Rio was quick on her feet; she was even trying her best to lighten her steps which only made it impossible to detect. 

Rio moved faster and faster as she approached the monster from behind. 

Then she simultaneously activated several skills as she close in. 

(Swift), (Accelerate) 

While activating these skills Rio suddenly moved exponentially faster than before. 

In a blink of an eye, she was a few steps away from the orc. 

  

  

Rio was planning to attack the monster at the back of its head. 

Since the monster was 2 meters high as soon as she was close enough, she jumped into the air. 

In a blink of an eye, she was already activated multiple skills to attack. 

To be able to cast all of these skills simultaneously took practical skills that can only be attained through repeated practice. 

This is the result of Rio’s hard work for the past 2 months. 

  

  

Rio activated (Critical), a skill that boosts the damage of a single blow. 

She activated (Lethal Strike), to further increase the effectiveness of an attack when attacking a vulnerable point. 

She activated (Dagger Skill: Back Stab), to increase the effectiveness of an attack when attacking the target from the rear. 

With all those skills activated all at the same time just to deliver a single devastating blow, Rio swung her dagger. 

  

  

When her attack reaches the backside of the orc’s neck. 

The dagger smoothly sliced through the thick skin of the orc. 

The entirety of those succeeding actions Rio performed was silent, efficient, devastating and at the same time graceful. 

The head of the orc separated from its body and flew while spinning rapidly in the air. 

The monster that even the most skilled D-rank adventurer has a hard time defeating because of the monster’s sturdiness had died with only 1 strike. 

This only shows how effective Rio’s attack was. 

  

  

The orc’s body fell while spurting blood. 

“Ha... that's the last one...” <Rio> 

Earlier, Rio had already defeated 3 other Orcs in the same manner. 

This was the last orc to subjugate to complete the quest she took from a village. 

With this, she's done for the day. 

  

  

After completing this quest, she returned to the village to inform the village chief that she had completed her quest of subjugating these monsters. 

During her travels, Rio had developed the habit of moving sneakily. 

By doing this she managed to increase the level of her skill, (Stealth) to 4 and (Silent Steps) to level 3 in the span of 2 months. 

She safely got back to the village without getting detected by any monsters on the way. 

  

  

“I’ve finished the quest.” <Rio> 

“WHOA! OH! Oh… it’s miss adventurer… whew… you surprised me. I did not notice you approaching.” <Man> 

Rio spoke toward the son of the village chief who requested the quest. 

It was a man who is in his late 30s. 

“Sorry about that… anyway… I manage to kill all of the 4 orcs.” <Rio> 

“What? Already? You only went out for about 3 hours and you’re already done?” <Man> 

“… That’s how it is.” <Rio> 

  

  

[Whoa? This girl really managed to defeat those orcs? I am certain that she’s only E-ranked. How did she manage to defeat them in a short time? Did she lie about her rank? I didn’t check her adventurer card after all. But why would she lie about her rank?] <Man> 

The man thought. 

“…” <Rio> 

Rio only looked the man in the eyes while giving him the quest request to have it confirmed. 

[This adventurer is really weird. She looks so creepy, what’s up with her hair covering her eyes like that?] <Man> 

He thought and said... 

“Is there a problem adventurer?” <Man> 

  

  

  

“… Nothing.” <Rio> 

[What the heck? She keeps on staring at me. Does she like me?... If that’s the case… maybe I could ask her to stay in my room tonight… leaving aside her weird personality... her body is quite nice… How would it feel to---] <Man> 

“Tsk…” <Rio> 

Rio clicked her tongue and glared at the man. 

Rio knew that the set of equipment she was wearing is quite revealing to some extent. 

Despite this, she could not stomach the fact that the man was looking at her with such eyes. 

“Huh? Adventurer, did I do something wrong?” <Man> 

The man reached out his arm toward Rio as if it was natural. 

He acted as if he was concerned about Rio, but Rio could see the perverted intention behind this action. 

  

  

[While at it, why won’t I try touching her on the shoulder… I wonder how soft her body would feel.] <Man> 

The man extends his hands toward Rio. 

Rio in response stepped back to prevent the hands from reaching her. 

“Just... confirm the completion of that quest. You don’t have to concern yourself with me.” <Rio> 

With such a straightforward refusal, the man could not do anything. 

He could not push further or else his true intentions would be exposed. 

  

  

“Oh… ok…” <Man> 

The man said while pulling her hands back. 

[What? I thought she liked me…]<Man> 

-hmpf- 

Rio scoffs. 

“As if I would…”<Rio> 

Rio whispered replying to the man's exposed thoughts. 

“Eh? Did you say something, miss adventurer?” <Man> 

Rio turned around and leaned on the opposite wall of the village chief’s house. 

  

  

Rio possesses the skill [Eyes of the Mind Reader]. 

It is a skill that allows her to see, hear and read other people’s minds when she looks at them in the eyes. 

The interaction revealed the things on that person’s mind to Rio. 

As a result, Rio was able to see how the man imagined touching her body. 

This only made Rio feel disgusted with the man. 

She was even holding back her fist to punch the man in the face. 

All she could do now was glare at the man who went and confirmed the completion of the quest she just finished. 

When the man entered the house Rio could not help to voice out her thoughts. 

“Why is it that most of the men in this world only think of perverted stuff? How barbaric.” <Rio> 

She could only curse the dirty minds of the men she encountered having these kinds of thoughts. 

“What? Are they some kind of animal or something… So annoying...” <Rio> 

She continued to curse while waiting for the man. 

  

  

Finally, the man came out of the house holding the request paper. 

“Here is the request paper…” <Man> 

[Alright this time, I’ll have her grab my arm as I give her the requested paper. Then I’ll invite her to stay for the night…] <Man> 

The man could not give up and continued to lure Rio into his arms. 

When the man was reaching out for the paper, Rio quickly snatched it out of the man’s hands. 

She quickly avoids the man and turned around and walked away without turning around. 

The man was completely caught off guard and just stared back. 

  

  

“Adventurer, where are you going?” <Man> 

The man yelled at back Rio who was walking away toward the road. 

Rio did not answer, no she did not want to answer and only walked forward following the road. 

She did not want to spend any more time in the village after knowing what was on the mind of the man 

She was disgusted. 

“Why would I stay the night here? Not in a million years.” <Rio> 

Rio said in the air while walking away as fast as she could. 

  

  

Rio left the village and ventured toward the next stop. 

Rio knew that when she follows the road, she would eventually reach the next City. 

She was thinking about submitting the quest she completed from her journey. 

Her food stock is also running low, she will have to restock her supply at her next stop. 

Rio followed the road for 2 days. 

She encountered some monsters on the way, encountering goblins and some wild monsters who came across the roadside. 

She finally reaches the city. 

  

  

The city’s name is Baciras. 

After entering the city, she immediately noticed something. 

The number of beastmen in the city was enough for Rio to notice how many they are in a human city. 

In the city, the number of beastmen roaming around the city is quite a lot. 

She could only wonder why. 

She put this thought aside and looked for the adventurer’s guild. 

  

  

Rio quickly found the adventurer’s guild as it was always located near every city’s plaza. 

With her experiences in this world, she was able to see the pattern. 

Adventurers’ guilds, Shops, and Inns are often located near the plaza of a city. 

When she arrived at the plaza, a clear view of the city population can be seen. 

There was about a 1:10 ratio of beastmen to humans in the city. 

This only made her wonder more. 

  

  

Rio entered the adventurer’s guild with this in mind. 

In the adventurer’s guild, more beastmen are present. 

Most of them wear some kind of protective armor and weapons for battle. 

From the looks of it, those beastmen are most likely adventurers just like herself. 

“… there’s a lot of beastmen in this city…” <Rio> 

She muttered to herself. 

  

  

She walked toward the receptionist's table and pulled out numerous completed quest forms from her dimensional bag. 

“Welcome adventurer, how can I help you???” <Receptionist> 

“…” <Rio> 

Rio did not state her purpose but rather place the request form over the receptionist's table. 

“… Ah, do you want to collect the reward for these completed quests, miss?” <Rio> 

Rio nods. 

Rio handed the receptionist her Guild Card next. 

She then looked at the receptionist who has a business smile on her face. 

[Hmnn, this adventurer is not much of a talker huh… no matter...] <Receptionist> 

  

  

Rio waits for the receptionist to finish confirming and calculating the reward of the completed quest. 

The receptionist returned to the receptionist table with all the rewards for all of the quests Rio finished. 

When she received the rewards, she did not even bother to count or ask how much she earned as she doesn't have any problem with money matters. 

[Hmnn, from the looks of it this adventurer is only E or D ranked as most of the quests she completed are mostly E and D ranked… I’m getting hungry… I wonder how long it is before my break time.] 

After reading the mind of the receptionist, Rio thought that this receptionist is very perceptive and at the same time quirky. 

The receptionist doesn’t seem to be a bad person.

 

So, Rio decided to ask the receptionist some questions to gain some information about the town and so she could plan how to move forward. 

  

  

“Uhmm… can I ask something, Receptionist-san?” <Rio> 

“Sure, no problem. Also just call me Ella.” <Receptionist/Ella> 

“I was wondering why is there a lot of beastmen in the city…”<Rio> 

“Oh… miss don’t you have any idea where this city is?” <Ella> 

“… well… it’s something like that.” <Ella> 

[She doesn’t know?... Hmm…. Anyway, this adventurer has a very cute voice… I wish she could talk more…] 

The receptionist thought to herself. 

  

  

“The reason why there’s a lot of beastmen in this city… Hmnn, Actually, Baciras is quite near the border of Triana and Artesia. Naturally, as a city closest to the beastmen's nation, the number of beastmen who visit our city is quite a lot. Naturally, we receive many beastmen as visitors.” <Ella> 

“I see.” <Rio> 

“But you see, recently more and more beastmen are actually coming to Artesia.” <Ella> 

“Why is that?” <Rio> 

The receptionist acted innocent. 

But from her tone alone, Rio knew that there was an underlying reason why she would hint something like that to her. 

“To be honest I don’t know as well.” <Ella> 

[Well… of course, they would come here… After all the troubles happening in Riles rumors about a war breaking out between the 5 great nation alliance and Ecclesia are spreading. Those beast people must be looking for a place to go before the war starts.] 

The receptionist just smiled as if everything was alright and she doesn’t mean anything. 

  

  

“I see.” <Rio> 

Rio said. 

The receptionist might have thought that Rio let this matter off and decided not to ask any further. 

In actuality with Rio’s ability to read minds, she had a grasp of the current situation. 

The receptionist was unable to notice how Rio's eye widens after knowing about a war breaking out in the south. 

“Anyway.. can I have some food? What’s on the menu?” <Rio> 

“If it’s the menu, here….” <Ella> 

[War huh…] <Rio> 

  

  

. 

. 

. 

  

  

Rio sat at one of the empty seats of the guild’s cafeteria. 

She was waiting for the food she ordered to be served. 

Rio decided to listen to the random chatters from the adventurers around her. 

She learned from her experiences, one of the best ways to get info around the area was to listen to the random chatters of the adventurers in the guild tavern. 

When you listen closely to the conversation of the adventurers eating and drinking in the cafeteria you can learn a lot. 

Even without the use of her skill to read minds, so much information can be obtained just by sitting there. 

For example, just by listening, you can learn what kind of monsters can be found near the area since adventurers would tell stories about their encounters near the city. 

You can even learn about where to find a good item shop as adventurers boast about the equipment they bought at a low price. 

You can learn where the materials could be found as adventurer talks about where they found such item in one another 

There is a lot of random gossip amongst adventurers that would turn out to be useful later on. 

  

  

There is a lot to hear about in this busy tavern.  

Rio was shifting her attention toward the conversation of the adventurers from all directions. 

She would ignore the conversation that would not interest her. 

On contrary, she would listen attentively to the conversations that pique her interest. 

Then she came upon a unique story from one of the adventurers talking somewhere. 

“It was frustrating. I did not expect that they were stalling time.” <Adventurer A> 

“That is mean…” <Adventurer B> 

“Right? The girl who left us did not even warn us about the sempai’s plot and ran alone in the dungeon.” <Adventurer A> 

“Haha, come on dude, if I was in the same situation and realized that fact, I will do the same. If we are because you were not even close with that female adventurer, there was no reason for her to warn you about such things. If I were in her place, I would avoid warning you! Think of it this way, if she did end up warning you about the trick, she would end up sharing the remaining rewards with you. I would rather keep all of the leftovers to myself.” <Adventurer B> 

“Aaaa… this is why there’s a lot of bad adventurers... all you think about is money.” <Adventurer A> 

“Hey? What’s wrong with thinking about money? Not all adventurers are well off like you are.” <Adventurer B> 

“Don’t you have some honor?” <Adventurer A> 

“Honor? Is that delicious? Hah, don’t make me laugh, Honor is for the Soldiers and Knights. We adventurers can do anything we like as long as we survive.” <Adventurer B> 

  

  

“Hmpf how stupid… If I were in that situation I would also leave you.” <Rio> 

Rio said in chorus toward the conversation. 

Of course, nobody heard her say those words. 

“Well, that being said… I learned later on that that girl was only an E-ranked adventurer. I thought that she was a D… no a C-rank adventurer with how strong she was. Her familiars that looked like Blue-eyed wolves were unique too. One of them could use magic!” <Adventurer A> 

“Huh? Blue-eyed wolf? Aren’t those monsters impossible to tame?” <Adventurer B> 

“Right?! But it’s true, well the other two wolves did not look “Small” though. Hahaha, those things can no longer be called small. If you---” <Adventurer A> 

  

  

Rio remembers something. 

She remembered that Kazue was talking about some wolf she left in the imperial capital. 

“No… way...” <Rio> 

The possibility entered her mind. 

“Could it be…” <Rio> 

While thinking of the possibility she continued to listen to the adventurers. 

  

  

“That girl was no joke either. It was my first time seeing someone using a Katana skillfully. Her fighting ability rivals that of a C-ranked adventurer. She took on a C-rank adventurer heads-on and was not pushed back, rather if it was not for the fact that her familiars were defeated, she might have won over that C-ranked adventurer too. I can't believe that she was only an E-rank.” <Adventurer A> 

“Hoo~ Katana, what an odd sword to use. She must be talented.” <Adventurer B> 

“must be…” <Adventurer A> 

As the two were talking. 

Rio walked toward them and asked about the girl she suspects to be the one on her mind. 

  

  

“Hey, can you tell me more about that story?” <Rio> 

“Uh… sure?” <Adventurer A> 

Rio used her ability to see what is on the other person’s mind. 

She saw the figure of a familiar girl. 

This time she was certain. 

The female adventurer the man was talking about is her most precious friend Mizusawa Kazue. 

  

  

[As expected of Kazue-san… she is amazing.] 

Rio thought, but at the same time, she felt down. 

After all, she was trying her best to catch up to Kazue. 

From the sound of it, it seems that Kazue had even become stronger than she was during the battle in Altus. 

A pained smile appeared on her face. 

She tightens her fist; she was quite frustrated but proud at the same time. 

She would not expect anything less from her friend. 

  

  

While listening to the man’s story she learned that Kazue was heading south. 

It seems that these adventurers saw her leaving the city in the darkness of the night and heading south. 

Hearing this Rio decides to also head south. 

She was not expecting much but she is wishing that if she heads south, she might meet Kazue on the way. 

She wanted to show off her current self to her. 

She wanted to gauge how much does she need to work to catch up to her. 

With this, her destination is set. 

Rio was heading south. 

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

Author Note: 

I was trying to add an art here but em getting busy with other things once again. 

All I could do was sketch the new characters from the last 4 chapters. 

Albeit, it's just a simple sketchy artwork as I was doodling and imagining how would they look like... 

I did add some lazy coloring with it XD 

Here are some char, art for these new characters 

Alicia, Coco, Nikko, Yuma, and Masahi