Hellmode ~A Hardcore Gamer Becomes Peerless in Another World with Retro Game Settings~

It was June; about five months had passed since the beginning of the year. It was the time of year when the season changes from spring to summer, and Allen was sitting on top of a large wooden barrel. Under his feet was his family’s laundry.

(Oh! I finally got Summon to level up.)

It took him more than a year to raise his Summon to Level 4.

On the cover of the Grimoire, there are words written in delightful yellow.

The cover of the Grimoire shows delightful yellow words: “The skill Experience of Strengthening is now 100000/100000. Strengthening is now Level 4. Summon is now Level 4. Grimoire Expansion is now Level 3. Inventory skill has been gained.”

(There’s a lot of information. For now I’ll just check the status.)

    [Name] Allen

[Age] 7

[Talent] Summoner

[Level] 6

[Strength] 115 (165) +50

[Mana] 154 (220) +100

[Attack Power] 56 (80) +50

[Endurance] 56 (80)

[Agility] 108 (155)

[Intelligence] 161 (230)

[Luck] 108 (155) +100

Skills

 Summon〈4〉, Create〈4〉, Synthesis〈4〉, Strengthening〈4〉, Grimoire Expansion〈3〉,  Inventory, Delete, Swordsmanship〈3〉, Throwing〈3〉

[Experience] 0 / 6,000

Skill Level

[Summon] 4

[Create] 4

[Synthesis] 4

[Strengthening] 4

Skill experience

[Create] 256 / 1,000,000

[Synthesis] 120/1,000,000

[Strengthening] 0 / 1,000,000

Summoned beasts that can be obtained

[Insect] EFGH

[Beast] EFGH

[Birds] EFG

[Grass] EF

[-] E

Holder

[Insects]　

[Beast] F10

[Birds]

    [Grass] F20

    [-]　

(There’s a new skill added. Hmm? What is it? There’s no level for the Inventory skill. Does that mean the ability is fixed? It’s not even in the skill experience column.)

The first thing I notice is the newly acquired Inventory skill. It appears to be a skill that has no skill level.

As I hung the laundry out to dry in the backyard, I continued my analysis.

(I’ll check the function of the Inventory skill later. For now the Summon skill level has been raised and E-ranked Summons has been released. It also has a [-]. I guess I’ll have to Create it to find out.)

I guess the process of finding summons through synthesis will begin again. This time, I have a lot more mana than I did with the last F-rank summon, so I should be able to find it quickly.

(But then again, this is HellMode, after all. When was the last time I leveled up?)

I remember the time when I reached Summon level 3. It has been about one year and ten months. Every time my rank goes up, it gets harder and harder to raise my Summon level. That’s HellMode for you, all right.

-1 year old, acquired Grimoire, Summon level 1, can summon H-ranks

-1 year and 10 months old, Summon level 2, acquired Synthesis skill

-3 years old, summoned G-rank (after having enough mana) 

-5 years and 11 months old, Summon level 3, acquired Strengthening skill, can summon F-ranks

-7 years, 09 months, Summon level 4, Inventory skill acquired, can summon E-ranks

I add a note to Grimoire that I have reached Summon Level 4.

(Oh! Grimoire Expansion is now Level 3)

I also check the holder capacity.

(Yes, now I can hold 40 cards!)

The Summoner’s blessings are directly proportional to the number of cards. This means that the number of cards has increased from 30 to 40, an increase of 10 cards’ worth of blessings.

If you have E-ranked Summons, you can expect to receive even more protection. If you have 40 of these E-ranked Summons on your card, you can also expect a significant increase in status.

(Now I think I can win an arm wrestling match against my father! It’s just in time for the boar hunt.) 

When should I challenge him? Maybe I’ll surprise him the day before the hunt.

I’m thinking of October for my arm-wrestling challenge against Rodan.

 (Now all that’s left is to test the function of the Inventory and E-ranked summons. Which one should I test first? Should I test the newly acquired Inventory skill first?)

After all the laundry is already hung out to dry, I’m going to check the Inventory skill.

(Inventory!)

I don’t know how to use this skill, so I just say the name of the skill to myself. The Grimoire is pretty much linked to my thoughts, so it basically responds when I think of the name of the skill.

The Grimoire opens. It’s a page that doesn’t usually open.

(Hmm? There’s a hole in it. What is it?)

In the center of the Grimoire is a hole of 30 centimeters in length and width. What Allen finds strange is the depth of the hole. It’s obviously more than the thickness of the Grimoire, but he can’t see the other side of the hole.

(I see. Do I have to put something in here? Does this work like a black hole?)

I think about what to put inside the hole. At first, I tried to put a branch of the tree that had fallen to the ground. I put it in with some hesitation. It might actually be a different space that swallows everything sort of like a black hole in the space.

The branch goes in without any difficulty.

(Ho, ho, ho)

I pulled it out. The whole part which went inside comes out as it is.

And then I put inside a rock about the size of a baseball for stone throwing. It goes in easily as it is. It fits completely inside the Inventory.

(I’m a little scared, but I try putting my hand inside the Inventory.)

Even though I was scared I put my hand inside the hole and grabbed the stone.

(Oh! It’s an image. This gives me an idea of what’s in there.)

As he puts his hand in, an image comes into Allen’s mind, both visually and in an order. It’s the image of things that has been put inside.

List-like images

 – One stone.

Then, he checked how much he could put in, and whether there was any problem with putting things of different lengths.

List-like Images

-10 pebbles.

-More than 1 meter of wood (F-rank Grass)

-Firewood for 20 days (300kg)

-Water

(What the hell is this? Isn’t it supposed to be infinite?)

The results of the test were outrageous. It seems that not everything can fit in the 30cm hole. If it’s overfilled then something that was there before disappears.

I was astonished as I put back the wood that I had overfilled for the test.

“Allen! Lunch!”

It seems that I was too absorbed in the test. It’s already noon. It’s already lunchtime, and I hear a voice from Theresia who is inside the kitchen.

“Yes, Mother!”

(It’s strange, or rather, this is unnatural. Why now?)

I feel unsatisfied with the result of the test. I don’t get it.

 Allen had played a lot of games when he was Kenichi. That’s more than 20 years of his previous life. The amount of items you can have is one of the most important requirements for playing a game and making it interesting.

For example, some games have a fixed number of items, say 10 or 20.

In some games, the weight of each item is set, and you can only carry a certain amount of weight.

In some games, you are given a huge bag at the beginning of the game that can hold an infinite number of items.

Allen’s question was why he was getting such skill in the game. He was unsure of his new skills as he wasn’t excited for it.

I guess I was too enthusiastic, but Theresia called me again. I had to help her make lunch, so I hurried back to the kitchen. My thoughts accelerate as I cook lunch.

In other games, important items were available when you needed them like Keys, flying carpets, ships, etc because without them, you couldn’t advance. You get what you need and when you need it. That’s because the creators guide you to play that way.

(There must be a reason for this too.)

Allen was convinced that there was a reason for that, because the creator of this skill was the God of this world.