I Woke Up In Another World As A Slave

"What?" Nakamura yelled. "What do you mean 'you're not going'?"

Stick had never seen Nakamura this bewildered before. His outburst caught the attention of PP, who jogged over from the remnants of their camp.

"I don't want to," Stick said simply. "Going west isn't the best course of action."

"But you have to find Alastair," PP interjected, frowning.

"We haven't even confirmed that he's not in the east at this point."

Nakamura threw his hands up in frustration. "What is wrong with you? Did the cold freeze your brain?"

Stick wanted to snap back at his sass, but he tried his best to stay serious. He was too exhausted to deal with the banter.

Instead, he asked, "What even is west anyway?"

Nakamura took a step back, processing the stupidity of the question. "Are you… dumb?"

Stick opened his mouth to explain, but he found it difficult to put his reasoning into words. PP gave him a weird look, and Nakamura's patience was clearly running thin.

"West is where Carnifex isn't. That's where we should be right now."

Finally, Stick latched onto the thread of his own argument. "We go west, and then what?"

Nakamura hesitated. "Well… we'd be safe."

Stick wasn't satisfied with that answer. "You said you wanted to fix Carnifex. I want to free my friends. How will we do that from outside the country?"

Nakamura folded his arms. "We ask the Heavenly Union for help."

"And what good will they do? They've been at war with Carnifex for years and haven't accomplished anything by the looks of it."

Nakamura fell silent, brooding over that point.

"Screw safety!" Stick declared. "Who is the Heavenly Union anyway?"

Nakamura turned sharply. "Don't underestimate them! They're powerful enough to keep the General from attacking."

"Why won't she attack? I thought Carnifex waged war."

"War isn't just about throwing troops into a meat grinder. That would be disastrous."

Stick frowned, still not fully grasping it.

"It's kinda like the Cold War," Nakamura attempted to explain.

Blank stares met him.

"Oh, right…" he muttered. "Well, I wasn't there, but my father told me about it. The two biggest forces in the world fought indirectly, constantly trying to one-up each other in an arms race. Their weapons were so powerful that if they actually went to war, it would mean mutual destruction. Basically, both sides didn't engage in battle in fear that it would wipe them all out. Since the war between the Heavenly Union and Carnifex started, only about twenty Players have died. But before the war? Hundreds—maybe thousands—died when the Playerbase tried to kill the Raid Bosses. There are still skirmishes where people get hurt, but compared to what came before, this is preferable."

"Preferable to who?" Stick countered. "Thousands are suffering in insane conditions."

"Yeah, but those are just..." Nakamura trailed off, catching himself before finishing the thought.

PP shot him a mean look.

Stick got back on track. "Still, what makes you think that the Heavenly Union will help us? It sounds like they've got their hands full."

"War is also about resources and information." Nakamura placed a hand on Stick's shoulder. "I was a Praetorian. There's a lot they'd like to hear from me."

"So… high treason then," Stick mused. "Reassuring to know that you're not loyal."

Nakamura scoffed. "I declined Claudius' offer, remember? Face the facts, Stick. We're out of options."

"No, we're not. We can still fight!"

"Have you learned nothing?" Nakamura snapped. "You'd be dead in a second."

"Not now, you idiot," Stick shot back. "I have to become stronger."

PP raised an eyebrow. "And how will you do that?"

Stick manifested his [Bronze Sword] from his Inventory. "I start playing the game."

Nakamura's jaw dropped. "That must be the stupidest thing you've said today."

"I'm tired of placing my fate in the hands of others. It's time to take matters into my own hands. And that starts with leveling up."

"You don't understand how stupid that idea is."

Stick's bravado faltered. "What? Why?"

"We're in the northeastern Goblin Steppes. This is a first-leveling zone, but where we are standing, there's nothing you can do. The goblins here would kill you outright. Normally, at LVL 1, you'd start in Cavon, the capital, on some starting quests to get to LVL 3 and then get to fight your first goblins outside of the city. That's the only place on the whole continent with such low LVL monsters—"

"So I just have to fight those goblins, right?" Stick interrupted.

"Good luck doing that without the beginner quests first," Nakamura shot him down. "From there, you'd normally move from the southwest of Cavon clockwise through the Goblin Steppes, hitting milestones until you reach LVL 10. Right now, from where we stand, we're too deep in. If we'd go south, we'd land straight at the Goblin King and behind that the entrance to the Whispering Woods at LVL 11. But you won't ever reach close to that LVL if we don't go west first. Half the Leveling Zone is behind the border!"

"Then, I just have to go to Cavon first." Stick nodded, extrapolating.

"The quest givers are all dead! The city is abandoned." Nakamura pinched the bridge of his nose. "Do you know how long it takes to LVL up just by killing mobs if you're able to kill them at all at LVL 1?"

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"But if I kill those goblins I have a chance of leveling up and getting stronger?"

Nakamura refused to answer, fearing what reaction his response would bring. PP, however, chuckled.

"That's a yes for Cavon!" Stick grinned.

"Are you not listening?" Nakamura exasperated. "The game isn't functioning properly anymore. The people of Cavon, the merchants, the guides, the quest-givers—they're all gone."

"And whose fault is that?" Stick shot back.

Nakamura scowled.

"Forget it! I'm leaving." Nakamura turned, grabbing his bag. "I'm not wasting my time on a suicide mission just to get caught again."

"Come on now!" Stick called after him. "It's just a small detour through the center of the zone. We'd cross the border anyway."

"You'd have to re-enter the East from the North Strip to continue leveling. That means crossing the border twice! That's asking to get caught!" Nakamura quickened his pace, heading toward the edge of the camp.

Stick's voice rang out behind him. "You'd really let a Player die like that, Praetorian? I don't even know which direction Cavon is. I thought you were a Carnifex member with principles."

Nakamura stopped dead in his tracks. He stood with his back toward them, caught in an uncertain moment of hesitation, letting out a deep breath somewhere between anger and wounded pride. Ultimately, it was the latter.

"Pack your stuff," he said without turning. "We're going to Cavon."

"Alright!" Stick whooped, hastily putting his sword back into his [Inventory].

PP, already packed, just crossed his arms and laughed.

Together, they set out for the ruins of the NPCs' former capital—Cavon.

The wind howled through the Goblin Steppes, sweeping over the rolling plains where Stick, PP, and Nakamura trudged forward. The farther they traveled, the more signs of the old world fell away—what few remnants of civilization remained were buried under the December snow and the ever-growing goblin population.

Stick, feeling the need to break the silence, decided to address something that had been bugging him since they left the grave behind.

"Nakamura."

Nakamura visibly flinched. "What is it now?"

"What's your name? Nakamura is your surname, isn't it?" Stick asked. "I figured I should start calling you by your first name."

Nakamura's expression darkened as he kicked a loose stone out of his path. "You're an idiot."

Stick flinched. "What? Why?"

Nakamura sighed. "Just read my Status."

Stick's cheeks flushed red. I am an idiot.

"Yes, of course," he muttered, trying to come up with a believable explanation for forgetting something so obvious. "It's just that I feel like breaching your privacy if I don't ask you first. Also, PP should know too, you know."

Hey, that sounded halfway smart!

Nakamura exhaled through his nose and rubbed his temple. "I guess you have a point. Fine, you can read it."

"Thank you!" Stick exclaimed.

He checked Nakamura's Status.

Nakamura was [LVL 25], a [Weapons Master] in the [Duelist] class, affiliated with Carnifex. Stick got distracted by the rather evenly distributed stats:

Strength: 29

Intelligence: 19

Regeneration: 23

Armor: 25

Resistance: 26

Constitution: 29

Then Stick's eyes wandered to the top of the white window, where he finally read the full name. He couldn't believe his eyes.

"Hirohiro Nakamura?" he asked, scandalized. "That name exists?"

"Yes. What about it?" Nakamura replied.

"No, no, no. That can't be," Stick said.

"There was a misprint on my birth certificate. It's supposed to be Hirohiko," Nakamura explained.

"That's not it." Stick mumbled. "It's just… if I knew that such a first name existed, then it would have been perfect for me."

"I see…" Nakamura said with a sly grin. "What if you called me Hiro?"

Stick felt his heart pound. "No, no, no. We will not do that. If anyone's a 'hero' in this group, then it's me, understand?"

"Of course." Nakamura smiled—the first time since they left the capital. "But since I'm not really with Carnifex anymore, and we're on a first-name basis now, there's no point in calling me by my surname, right? Hirohiro works for me."

PP chuckled. "Hirohiro is a nice name."

Nakamura gave PP an appreciative nod. "Thank you."

Stick ran to the front of the group and flailed his arms. "No, that's not gonna happen! It's unfair!"

"My name is unfair?" Nakamura mused.

Stick crossed his arms, refusing to dignify that with an answer.

"Relax, I'm just messing with you," Nakamura said. "What kind of name is Stick, anyway?"

Stick felt warm in his cheeks again. "It's, uh… symbolic."

"Symbolic," Nakamura repeated, tilting his head. "And Arslan?"

Stick averted his eyes. "Because of the Great Hero, you know?"

"You want to be called a hero that bad, huh?" Nakamura scoffed.

Before Stick could answer, PP cleared his throat. The boys turned to look at him.

"Speaking of names," he started, "what about mine?"

"Well, what about it?" Nakamura asked.

"The Baron gave it to me when he was a little boy. It's childish. It's callous. It was meant to degrade me." His voice was calm, but there was weight behind the words. "I don't want it."

Stick bit the inside of his cheek. And here I am complaining…

"I'd be fine with whatever as long as it's something else," PP said. "But I need your help. I don't have any ideas."

"Of course not. You're an NPC," Nakamura said.

Instinctively, Stick punched Nakamura in the arm.

"What the hell?"

"Stop calling him that!" Stick demanded.

Nakamura groaned. "Fine. Whatever."

Stick understood Nakamura's point. PP couldn't just change his name in the system. From what Stick had gathered so far about the game, names could only be given once. It's not like NPCs were able to change their names at will. That was something players did. It's something the players do to them.

But that didn't mean PP had no right to choose his own name.

"So, what should we call you?"

PP scratched his chin, making his shackles jingle. "I don't know."

"Figures," Nakamura muttered.

Stick elbowed him. Nakamura grunted.

"Any specific name you've heard that you liked?" Stick asked.

PP shook his head. "Not really."

Stick scanned him from head to toe. If PP didn't have any preferences, then maybe they could go with something based on his appearance. His unusual mix of blond hair and dark skin stood out—but Stick struggled to make that into something meaningful.

"Then how about Big Man for the time being?" Stick proposed. "Since you're the biggest man I know. I mean, you're enormous."

PP looked at him with wide eyes. "So you're the Stick Man, and I'm the Big Man?"

"Are you for real?" Nakamura asked.

"Er, well…"

Okay, I clearly didn't think this through.

But PP didn't seem to mind. His mouth curled into a smile—then laughter. He laughed so hard he gasped for air at one point. Stick shifted uncomfortably in the snow, unsure if this was a good sign or not. Finally, PP wiped a tear from his eye, his laughter subsiding.

"Yes. Big Man. This could work." He nodded, then continued forward. "For now."

Nakamura sighed. "If he's happy with it…"

"I think so," Stick said, watching Big Man widen the distance between them.

He checked Big Man's Status. He was still listed as [Prized Possession]. It doesn't look like something we can change at will either…

Big Man chuckled as they continued their march, moving deeper into the steppes where goblins began to appear more frequently. At first, Stick was eager to fight, gripping the hilt of his Bronze Sword tightly—but a quick glance at the status windows floating above the goblins' heads made it clear that was a terrible idea.

[Goblin Shaman - LVL 6]

[Goblin Commander - LVL 9]

[Goblin Heavy Bruiser - LVL 8]

One by one, Stick was denied the chance to test himself as Nakamura shook his head at every encounter.

"Not yet. They'll kill you."

It wasn't until they neared the outskirts of Cavon that the goblin LVLs started to drop. The towns were eerily empty, their buildings in various states of decay. Stick tried to imagine what this place must have looked like before everything fell apart, but the feeling of being constantly watched unsettled his thoughts. Then, at last, they spotted one on the road between what could have been a shop and a residential house. [Goblin Grunt - LVL 1].

The goblin stood barely three feet tall, its wiry frame wrapped in tattered rags and bits of stolen leather. Its sickly green skin stretched tight over bony limbs, and its oversized, pointed ears twitched at every sound. Beady yellow eyes flickered with mischievous malice, its jagged-toothed grin splitting a face smeared with dirt and dried blood. In its gnarled hands, the goblin clutched a crude club—a splintered branch, blackened with age and stained with something best not questioned. Tied to its belt with a strip of sinew hung a rusty, chipped dagger. A wooden shield, barely more than a plank with a handle, dangled from its other arm, etched with crude glyphs only another goblin might understand. The little brute shifted on calloused feet, sniffing the air like a rat in search of scraps. LVL 1. It's just LVL 1.

Stick clenched his grip on the hilt of his sword, exhaling slowly. His palms felt damp. It was just a goblin, nothing more—but it was his first real fight.

Nakamura nodded. "Alright. Time for you to actually do something."

Stick swallowed, then unsheathed his Bronze Sword, feeling its weight in his grip. "Let's do this."