The Stagnant Witch’s Survival Method

I remember my brief life as a sacrifice.
Killing for being noisy, for being afraid, for whining was commonplace.
What they threw us to eat so we wouldn’t die of starvation was human flesh.
They gave us the bones and flesh stripped from other sacrifices killed beside us.

Witches.
Demons in human form.
That’s the innate nature of the evil faction.

Thinking this, I looked at Elender.
The gaze that once looked at toys when I was a sacrifice had changed to affection and care.
Even looking again, it gives me goosebumps.
Moreover, the witch called Elender is estimated to be of quite a high rank.

At least 7th rank.
In the game, it’s a level you can reach quickly with just a few clicks, but now that I’ve entered the game world, it’s not comparable.
There are two insurmountable walls blocking me who has just entered the ranks.

The fortunate thing is that this is the Witch Society.
The Witch Society wasn’t a completely isolated realm from the outside.
It was in a somewhat unstable state, connected to the outside world.
I don’t know much about it since it doesn’t play a major role in the story and is just swept away by high-ranking clergy later, but it was better than witch factions that lived completely confined in a sealed environment.

In such places, there’s no way to escape unless you kill the true master of the realm.

“Are you alright?”
“Yes.”

As I stood still without saying anything, Elender asked with a worried look.
I need to think after getting away from that witch first.
I can’t make future plans in front of such a monster.

Elender tapped the front of her broomstick.

“Then, get on this, let’s go.”
“Where?”
“To the place where you’ll stay and learn from now on.”

Is she talking about education?
Even if powers are imprinted in your mind as you enter the faction, practice and training are necessary.
I needed it too.
No matter how familiar I was with it in the game, it’s a completely different story when it becomes reality.

I was a bit reluctant to ride a broomstick in front of that witch, but I also didn’t have the confidence to fly on a broomstick myself.
Someone might say I’m too scared for a person who was thinking of summoning a demon to cause chaos and escape on a broomstick earlier, but it’s different when your life is in danger versus when it’s not.

So, I obediently sat on her broomstick.
Although there were things I disliked or found repulsive, I could lower my guard a little under her extremely friendly gaze.

As I sat in front of Elender, she buried her nose in my hair and giggled, muttering:

“You smell nice, like sweet flowers, I’d say.”
“…!!”

Goosebumps covered my entire body.
Creepy, really creepy.
I wanted to throw down the broomstick and get off right away, but the problem was we had already departed.

-Whoosh

My feet lifted off the ground, and a strong gust of wind covered my face.
My long hair fluttered behind me, and the sky of this world fully revealed itself.

Only then could I accept the fact that this was a completely different world, a parallel universe.
There were no stuffy modern concrete buildings or vehicles rushing between wide-open roads.
Buildings barely piled up with stone or wood, citizens going back and forth on the streets carrying various loads on their shoulders.
Without streetlights, it was growing dark under the gradually setting sun.

And at the far end was a huge wall.
A barrier that seemed impossible to cross had been erected, and beyond it, strange forms were gathering.
I narrowed my eyes and thought.

While it was certainly connected to the outside, to leave this place I would need to build up enough skill to defeat those monsters.
But how far?
7th rank? No, maybe barely 8th rank might be possible.
Since witches are a strong faction in the early stages, it would be enough.

While I was clearly taking in the scenery of this place, Elender twisted the direction of the broomstick.

Led by her, we arrived at a secluded place.

As if she had put some thought into it, an antique-looking building came into view.
As soon as we got off the broomstick, Elender grabbed my hand and pulled me forward.

There was no way to refuse. Higher ranks had a difference in basic strength.
With that slender woman’s appearance, she could easily lift those huge stones over there.

“Now, this is the lodging where you’ll stay from now on.”
“…”

It looked better to live in than I expected.
The bed looked high-quality, the room was spacious, and there was a bathroom inside.
Decorations that seemed to suit the tastes of girls who had just become witches were placed around.
Not that it was to my taste, but.

Elender smiled and patted my shoulder.

“Go in, you must be very tired from the ritual.”
“…”

Elender waved goodbye.
Fortunately, it seems she won’t follow me in here.
After she left, I examined the room.
It had everything you’d expect – bed, wardrobe, desk, bookshelf, mirror, etc.

After looking around briefly, I sat down on the bed.
There’s a lot to think about.

“So why am I in this state?”

I spread out my two hands.
Tiny hands incomparable to before.
It’s not that I didn’t expect this at all.
I had imagined the crazy case where the demon might turn me into a female body saying ‘only women can become witches’.

“To do that much would require a much higher rank.”

I wasn’t too worried because it was physically impossible.
It’s not a miracle that a mere demon can perform.
But I didn’t expect to possess the body of the dead ritual performer.
Now that things have turned out this way, I decided to think a bit positively.
If not for this, I would have had to stage an escape by summoning a demon at the risk of my life, and the survival rate would have been less than a penny’s worth.

But I couldn’t just quietly die as a sacrifice either.

I’ll have to find a way to return later.
If I reach a high rank, I’ll become like a god, so it’s not completely impossible.

Then I look at the back of my hand.
The pattern of the demon I contracted with.
The fact that it looked distinct and irregular and bizarre seemed to vividly show the demon’s state.
Looking at it now, I made a bad contract too.

It’s like I brought in a gangster as a tenant to cause trouble, but then there was no need for that, and now the gangster is just left in my house.
It will periodically cause nuisances.
It’s not that there’s no use for it at all, but it will be really tricky to use.

“Tsk.”

I took out a piece of paper and recorded my current status again.

▶ Faction: 9th Rank “Witch”
▶ Basic Powers: , ,
▶ Special Powers: None.
▶ Perks: [Relaxed Ascension Conditions], [Mental-related Perk], Others I don’t remember.

The notable thing among these is ‘Special Powers’
It was completely empty now.
There’s only one way to gain Special Powers.

“Hidden Piece.”

A powerful source of power that exists in the game.
Powers granted the moment you acquire it.
You need to obtain Hidden Pieces to fill in Special Powers.

As I thought while folding my fingers, I recalled about three.
The Hidden Pieces closest to the Witch Society.
Others are so far from the Witch Society that it’s difficult to go get them.
Though I absolutely need to go for the important ones.

Just collecting these Hidden Pieces will be a great driving force.
If I add the perks to that…

I might be able to surpass the limits of a witch.

Thud-

After finishing this brief but important contemplation, I lay down on the bed.
I need to find Hidden Pieces and also ascend to 8th rank in the near future.
Neither will be an easy task.

As I let my body sink into the bed, fatigue covering my entire body made my eyes close.
Yeah, let’s sleep on it and think again.

As soon as I closed my eyes, I fell into sleep.

**

How long had I been asleep?
When I opened my drowsy eyes, the sun was already high in the sky.
Still in a dazed state of mind as I woke up, I saw an unfamiliar room instead of my home.
When I spread out my hands, white and slender skin.
And on the back of my hand, an incomprehensible bizarre pattern was engraved.

“So this isn’t a dream.”

The process of becoming a witch’s sacrifice, jumping into the ritual, becoming a witch, and coming here played out like a panorama.
I shook my head to shake off the drowsiness.

Once awake, I need to act.
I got up and recalled the powers I needed to master.
No matter what education I receive, I need to train myself.
, ,
Among these, demon summoning is difficult to master, so I plan to focus on magic and flight.

“In the game, I really trained without rest.”

Game characters had no rest.
I repeated endless training until that character surpassed a certain wall.
Even then, I couldn’t clear the game.

Now I have to do that myself.
I’m afraid of how hard it will be, but I didn’t hesitate either.

This must be thanks to the mental fortitude perk too.
I’m not originally a person with such good initiative.
I’m the type who lies down when sitting, and sleeps when lying down.

When I opened the wardrobe, there was a large conical hat and a black robe hanging.
Seeing this made me really feel that I had become a witch.
As I put them on one by one, the soft fabric brushed against my skin.

Finally, after putting on the conical hat and changing all my clothes, my reflection appeared in the mirror.
White hair, two blue eyes, and a witch’s outfit.
Rather than feeling like that was my appearance, it felt like I was watching a young girl cosplay as a witch.

It was somehow too surreal.
Creak-

When I opened the door and went out, I saw a wide corridor.
It seemed that across from me were lodgings where other witches like me stayed.
I wasn’t particularly interested, so as I was walking, I saw a girl who looked a year or two older than this body approaching from the end of the corridor.

That girl smiled and giggled at me.

“Are you the child who newly became a witch? Nice to meet you, you’re cute.”
“…?”

It seems she’s a girl who became a witch before me, should I consider her a kind of senior?
I didn’t know how to react so I stayed still, but she didn’t seem to mind and just passed behind me.
Her light footsteps suggested she was in a good mood.

And I held my nose at the smell she gave off.

“…”

What I sensed was a distinct smell of blood.
Such a fishy scent flowed from her.
The fresh smell of blood meaning she had just killed someone.
I felt nauseous.
Quietly covering my mouth, I hurried my steps to get out, to escape this space.

“It’s not strange at all.”

Witches basically gain power based on sacrifices offered to demons.
Magic power, authority, wishes, curses.
Such various powers.
And the best sacrifice a witch can offer is human sacrifice.

That’s why they’re called monsters in human form.
This wasn’t a place to stay for long.

It’s a place to stay briefly and escape from.