"I'm a detective."
Everything before me was pitch-black. A slightly hoarse voice sounded beside me. His enunciation was somewhat unusual, carrying a hint of a rural accent—or perhaps he was not speaking English from this era.
"Three days ago, I set out from Higeltek. After two and a half days of travel, I arrived at this small village called Farainess. In the nearby town, people call this place the 'Great Snow-Covered Lighthouse.'"
"Wanderers have appeared in Farainess. I came here to investigate, but now I'm about to die."
A beam of light suddenly flared before him. Schiller immediately felt a sharp pain in his eyes. The abrupt change in brightness left him unable to see anything; everything was only a blurry outline.
After a while, he roughly figured out his current situation.
He was in a dilapidated Wooden House.
The beams, floorboards, and pillars were all pine. This place was very likely located in a temperate or subarctic region. The carpet was woven from goat wool, the oil lamp hanging from the pillar used primitive animal fat, and scraps of animal hide hung on the wall nearby.
A small subarctic village that survived on hunting and animal husbandry—that was Schiller's tentative conclusion.
When Schiller turned his head, he saw an endless expanse of snow beyond the battered window frame.
"Hello, Player. I am the auxiliary guide for this game. Next, I will introduce the rules of this special Battle World Instance."
"Hello, Beyonder." Schiller called him by name.
"Don't expose me just yet. Can you treat me like an ordinary AI? I promise I won't bother you for more than half a minute."
"Fine."
"In short, this is a role-playing Dungeon."
"Role-playing?"
"Yes. Right now, you are not yourself. You are a clergyman from Higeltek named Lodov."
"I see. This