Well, it was strange from the very beginning.

Whether it's a game, a novel, a comic, or a movie, stories in those mediums are usually complete in themselves. External interference is impossible. It’s simply a finished work that ends with that story. If something from the outside interrupts, then, at that point, the original work loses its meaning. What exists now is just a different piece altogether, no longer the original.@@novelbin@@

But still, I felt that this world was ‘inside a story.’

To be more precise, I felt both ‘inside a story’ and ‘in reality’ at the same time. In terms of common sense, this world was undoubtedly ‘reality.’

In the game, there are no time limits. Although divided into morning and afternoon, within the ‘event’ itself, no matter how many times I go to certain areas or how far I travel, as long as I don’t intentionally trigger specific events to let time pass, I can do everything I want within the morning.

I could stop by shops to adjust my character’s equipment, sell unnecessary items, talk to other characters, search for hidden events, or complete side quests.

But reality is different from a game. To do all of those things within ‘the morning’ obviously requires more time. Leona Claire solved it by getting up early and handling everything from dawn… but if something else had happened to those two, those events probably wouldn’t have occurred at all.

This was the reason I couldn’t think of this world as a ‘simple game world.’

In a game, you can sell items at a shop. It’s a game mechanic that prevents players from being too strapped for money, as too little currency would make the game unnecessarily difficult. Of course, in this world, I can’t just walk into any shop and sell the things I carry. Unless the shopkeeper happens to be an eccentric person who would accept them.

Things like embedding Maramaros into equipment or ordering out-of-stock items and waiting for them were all far too troublesome for a game.

Yet, even in such situations, there were plenty of aspects that made me feel this world was ‘within a game.’

The terrain and landmarks resembled the game world too closely. Places that could be called ‘dungeons’ looked exactly like the ones I remembered. The types of magic were the same. Even the names of basic purchasable items were identical.

There were even parts that felt oddly out of place for a ‘real world.’ Healing devices placed boldly right in front of rooms where enemies were surely waiting. Precious items left untouched for an extraordinarily long time, their origin a mystery.

In the game, those things were simply there for the players’ convenience and enjoyment, but in this world, they existed with full confidence.

…Who created all of these ‘illogical’ things? With what purpose? Was there a reason for them to be so similar to what I remember from the game?

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