Novel: All My Alter Egos Are Tycoons

First Contact

A silent attack from a beast falling from above.

Thanks to noticing it just in time, I barely managed to react.

Card-deduk—!

“Ugh… What the hell is this all of a sudden?!”

I tumbled to the ground, shoving a metal rod I picked up for self-defense into the beast’s mouth, trying to block it.

Even with my enhanced body, I couldn’t shake off the weight of the beast pressing down on me.

Grrr…

Drool dripped from its mouth as it chewed on the metal rod.

It must only see me as a meal.

‘Ah… this is disgusting.’

My armor and arm guards were already tattered from the beast’s claws, and I had wounds all over my body, but I remained calm and began to think of a response.

I was startled by the sudden gust of wind, but for someone who had dulled fears and pain, it felt just like an intense game.

That was why I could respond right away without making mistakes from tension.

I twisted my hands gripping the metal rod to create a small opening, then quickly grabbed a knife from my waist.

Whew—

Grrraaah—

Without hesitation, I plunged the knife into the beast’s neck.

Using my ‘Mana Affinity’ to channel all my meager mana into the knife, the blade pierced deeply into its thick hide.

With one hand pushing the metal rod to muzzle it, I continued to stab its neck with the knife in the other.

Fortunately, because I hit a vital spot, the beast’s strength began to wane, allowing me to hold on somehow.

How long had I been struggling like this?

I could feel the life slowly draining from the beast’s body.

Huff… huff… Finally, it’s over.

I confirmed that it was truly dead with a final stab and stood up.

The beast was a black leopard.

In the dark of night, it was hard to spot, realizing how lucky I was to have noticed it ahead of time.

I shifted my gaze away from the leopard and checked my condition.

My clothes and equipment were ragged, and I could see blood oozing from the wounds on my body.

I was a complete mess.

Fortunately, the wounds were healing in real-time.

Though my protective gear was damaged, I hadn’t sustained any severe injuries.

‘Staying here any longer probably isn’t a good idea.’

After causing a ruckus by fighting the leopard, blood was undoubtedly spreading, making it wise to leave quickly.

I rinsed the blood from my body with water and hurriedly left the scene.

I knew it wouldn’t all wash off, but it would be better than leaving things as they were.

Just as I was hastening my steps—

Was luck still on my side?

A light appeared beyond the trees ahead.

Cautiously approaching to take a look, it resembled a small clearing with a village.

‘I had been thinking it was just night all this time in the forest, but it seems it’s not quite bedtime yet. People moving around suggests that.’

My first encounter with the locals of this world.

Despite my disheveled state, I straightened myself as best as I could and headed towards the entrance of the wooden fence surrounding the village.

With it being late, the gate was closed, and there was no one on guard.

As I pondered what to do, a man’s head peeked over the fence.

“Who goes there?”

Relieved that there was someone, I cleared my throat and replied.

“Greetings. I got lost while wandering through the forest and ended up here. Could I perhaps stay the night?”

“Now wait a minute… You passed through the forest at this hour all alone? The one teeming with beasts?”

Eh… I only ran into a black leopard. Was the forest really that dangerous?

I breathed a sigh of relief, realizing I had been lucky.

“Ah… yes. I managed to get through after quite the struggle. Though I ended up in this mess. Hahaha.”

I responded hurriedly with an awkward laugh, and the middle-aged man scanned my tattered appearance and told me to wait a moment before disappearing beyond the fence.

‘He seems pretty wary. But in a forest village like this, I can’t blame him.’

It felt only natural that I appeared suspicious.

Even in my disheveled state, my clothing must have looked entirely out of place.

As I waited, the man returned with an elderly man who looked like the village chief.

“I see… I’ve heard the story, young man. You got lost while traveling and ended up here?”

“Yes, that’s right, sir.”

I answered politely, putting on my most harmless expression as the elder smiled kindly and spoke.

“We must help one another in hard times like this. Rest easy, young traveler.”

Creeeak—

The elder’s escort promptly opened the gate.

I thanked him in gratitude as I entered and returned the gesture.

“Thank you once again for your kindness.”

“Oh, no need for thanks. It’s late, so go on in and rest. I have a few empty rooms in my home; you can stay there.”

The elder welcomed me with a warm smile, but the middle-aged man showed no reaction.

‘What a prickly fellow he is.’

Following the elder, we chatted a bit about various topics.

As expected, the elder was the village chief.

And I realized that the forest I passed through was more dangerous than I had thought.

It was fortunate I only encountered that one black leopard and that the village was close enough to reach quickly.

“My name is Malcolm. And what might yours be?”

“Ah! My name is Hans.”

By the time we finished talking, we had arrived at the chief’s house.

The village was small, so it didn’t take long.

“You can rest in this room. You’ve had a tough day; make yourself comfortable.”

“Thank you very much. How can I repay this kindness…?”

“Well, if you’re grateful, you could chop some firewood for me tomorrow.”

“Yes! I’m very confident in my stamina. Just leave it to me!”

Finally, the chief left, and I was alone in the room.

Being an empty room, it was a bit dusty, but compared to sleeping in the forest, it was like heaven.

Hoo…

Finally able to fully relax, I set down the backpack I had been carrying and took off my worn clothes.

The upper part was completely unsalvageable, and the gear damaged by the beast was the same.

I wouldn’t throw them away, as that would be worse than keeping worn items.

‘Having heard about it, but experiencing it firsthand is something else. I unconsciously understood and used their language.’

As I was pondering this, I wet a towel and wiped my body, noticing that all my wounds had healed completely without a trace.

Super Recovery really was a helpful ability in many ways.

Mana Affinity was also quite useful.

After tidying up, I unrolled my sleeping bag on the old bed and climbed in.

How little time had passed since I fought that beast and engaged in conversation with the villagers.

‘I’m doing well. My dialogue wasn’t odd, and the village chief’s reaction was good.’

Staring at the ceiling, I lifted the corners of my mouth in a gentle smile.

I wasn’t sure whether the Mind Hub would help here, but I was able to smile quite naturally.

After smiling at the ceiling for a while, I eventually brought my smile down and closed my eyes.

Truthfully, I hadn’t been able to sleep well since coming to this world, but it was time to force a rest to adjust to the time difference.

I slowly began to drift off to sleep.

*

I opened the packaging and took a bite of the chicken.

“Ah, chicken truly is divine.”

I had ordered chicken the moment my avatar was sent to this world, but it hadn’t arrived until after navigating through all sorts of adventures and finally entering the village.

Well, it had only been about 20 minutes on Earth, so I couldn’t really complain.

‘Anyway, this is great. I get to shower with warm water and dig into chicken while comfortably traveling in another world.’

My other avatar, Heinz, had entered extreme training mode following Hans into this world.

I needed to prepare him since I didn’t know when he would be deployed.

As I gobbled down the chicken and cleaned up, I felt the morning had come in the other world where my avatar had been resting.

“Hmmm… Maybe I should gather some information on how the world operates.”

Leisurely walking to the computer, I sat down and began browsing various websites.

Traveling this world could still be enjoyed even while surfing the internet.

*

Though my eyes were closed and I remained in a resting state, I wasn’t completely cut off from all senses.

As the outside grew bright and I felt the stirrings of people moving, I opened my eyes and got up.

Of course, my avatar needed real deep sleep to rest his brain, but that night was just for adjusting to the time difference, so this was more than enough.

“Did you sleep well, chief?”

“Yes, Hans. Did you rest well too?”

“Thanks to you, I had a comfortable night.”

I exchanged greetings with the chief, who was just coming out of his room, and went to the backyard to wash up quickly.

“I wasn’t able to prepare much, but please eat plenty.”

“You’re even giving me food; I really appreciate it.”

“Hehehe, we help one another in hard times. Just help out around the village a bit later.”

Although it was just potatoes, hard bread, and soup, I ate satisfactorily, thinking it was my first meal in this world.

It didn’t seem like they had cooked it themselves, so I asked the chief about it.

“The old man lives alone, but the villagers help out with meals every now and then. It’s a blessing.”

The villagers seemed to have a stronger sense of community than I expected.

Or perhaps the chief received special treatment in various ways.

As we chatted, the conversation naturally turned to me.

“By the way, your clothing and equipment look like nothing I’ve seen before. Where do you come from?”

“Hahaha, I just like unusual items, so I’ve been traveling around, collecting them bit by bit.”

“Oh… Traveling alone sounds tough, doesn’t it?”

I covered for myself with a prepared wandering adventurer persona, claiming I lost my way during my aimless journey.

I then naturally inquired whether there were any nearby cities.

“Hmmm… This old man lives in the mountains, so I may not know much. But I’ve heard there’s a small city to the east.”

Regrettably, the answer I got back was uncertain, but I decided to aim for the east.

That was better than wandering about without a destination.

I decided to leave the village the next day and spend that day helping out with various tasks around the village.

Before moving on, I ought to gather at least minimal information to ensure safe progress.

It was a perfect opportunity for me, still unfamiliar with this world, to get closer to the locals and glean information.

I filled the water jars in the backyard, chopped firewood, and even lent a hand in repairing the village fences.

“Hans, could you pass the rope over here?”

“You’ve got quite the stamina. What kind of work did you do before?”

Working alongside the other men of the village, I conversed naturally and managed to have multiple exchanges.

“I see then. So, hunters manage all external exchanges, right? Are there safe routes or anything like that?”

With my ample stamina, I didn’t struggle at all, and instead treated this chance as additional training, working tirelessly.

“Great job today. If you plan to leave early tomorrow, you’d better get some good rest first. Come, have one last drink with me.”

Having finished my labor collecting information for the day, I washed up and returned indoors where the chief brought out dinner with a bottle of liquor.

While it was fairly strong, it didn’t threaten my recovering liver, and surprisingly it tasted quite good.

Engaging in the enjoyment of drinking in this world, before I knew it, quite some time had passed.

It was getting late, and unless I wanted it to affect my rising time, I had to reluctantly tidy up and head back to my room.

Unlike the night before, this time, having adjusted to the time difference along with proper labor and drink, I truly fell into a deep slumber.

*

Then I stopped the game I was playing and closed my eyes to concentrate.

Heinz, who had been squatting at the gym, also halted in place with closed eyes.

…The connection with the avatar in this world, Hans, was severed.

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