Translator's Note
This is a fan translation of Mushoku Tensei: Sword, Magic, and the Romance System.
All rights belong to the original author 意外火灾.
Chapter 1 — Opening: On the Way to Buena Village!
Dragon Calendar, Year 412.
The year Rudeus Greyrat advanced to Saint-class Water Magic, and the second year since Roxy Migurdia arrived in Buena Village to serve as his tutor.
Southern foothills of the Red Dragon Mountains, north of the Fittoa Region.
Under the night sky, the deep forest flickered faintly beneath the moonlight. A mountain wind swept down from the dark ridges of the Red Dragon Mountains, slipping through gaps between the branches and drifting into the orange glow of a campfire, brushing across a young boy's face.
The firelight reflected in his dark gray eyes, flickering unsteadily.
A burning stick suddenly snapped with a sharp crack.
The owner of those eyes blinked, lowering his head to look at the map of the Asura Kingdom in his hands.
Near the northern edge of the Fittoa Region, a spot had been circled in red ink.
Inside the circle was a location:
Buena Village.
The owner of the map rested his chin on his hand. Though he looked young, his expression was steady and composed. A pair of sharp, slightly raised brows gave his face a hint of firmness.
"…Another day of walking," he murmured.
"Then I should finally reach Rudeus."
His name was Allen.
A transmigrator.
Before dying and arriving in this other world, he had been working overtime, conducting real-world road tests for the autonomous driving system of an internet-based automobile company. Since he had participated in multiple stages of the system's development and testing, Allen had great confidence in its safety.
So during the test run, he took out his phone and continued slacking off by reading Mushoku Tensei — Redundancy Chapter.
Perhaps sensing the deep frown on his face and his clear love for reincarnation stories, the driving system showed unusual consideration for the overworked employee.
The speedometer needle suddenly shot upward.
Within three seconds, the car broke past 100 kilometers per hour.
Then—
A graceful drift into a corner.
And a direct crash into a heavy cargo truck waiting by the roadside.
By the time people discovered him, Allen's phone had embedded itself squarely in the center of his forehead. His eyes were wide open.
He looked horrified.
Age at death: 25.
He was reincarnated into the world of Mushoku Tensei as a baby.
Nine years had passed since then.
Coincidentally, his name in this world was the same as in his previous life.
Of course, it wasn't English, but the pronunciation in the Human Language of the Mushoku Tensei world. Fortunately, its sentence structure resembled English grammar, so Allen picked it up quickly without much difficulty.
He rubbed his temples, looking somewhat helpless.
"Too bad… When Rudeus was born I was only four. There was no way for me to travel all the way to Buena Village to witness the first 'major event' of the main storyline."
As soon as he finished speaking, lines of smoky text suddenly appeared in the air before him, gradually solidifying.
After repeated testing, Allen confirmed that the text wasn't projected onto his retina. Instead, it was more like a hallucination observed directly by his soul. To anyone else, nothing was visible.
[Mushoku Tensei Transmigration Guide]
[The host must participate in the "major events" of the Mushoku Tensei world, leaving your mark upon the tide of this era and in the eyes of its protagonists and supporting characters.]
[Based on Rudeus Greyrat's growth stages in the main storyline (Childhood — Tutor Period — Adolescence — Adulthood), each stage will be evaluated with a participation score out of 100.]
[A score of 60 or higher is required to pass.]
[Failure to meet the requirement by the deadline will result in the loss of host qualification for the Transmigration Guide.]
[Consequences unknown, but there is a high probability of being rejected by spacetime and erased from existence.]
Allen twitched slightly at the sight of the system panel.
When he first realized he had transmigrated and been reborn as a baby, he had been thrilled. Sure, his death in his previous life had been rather miserable, but being able to restart life was already a great blessing.
After all—
Wasn't having a mother again something nice?
More importantly, being reborn in another world meant he no longer had to wake up early every morning with dark circles under his eyes just to clock in for work.
And yet, before his eyesight had fully developed—before he could even clearly see his own mother's face—his soul had already "seen" the new wild mother of this life:
The System.
On the panel, the word "ERASURE" was even written in bold, underlined red font.
Very heartwarming.
Allen shook the thought away and continued reading.
[Current Stage: Childhood]
[Accumulated Participation Score: 2 points]
[Available Growth Paths]
Magician Path (Abandoned)
Obtain the Demon God Laplace Magic Factor.
Increases mana capacity and mana affinity. Doubles magical comprehension.
Blessing: Possess beautiful green hair.
Cost: The body cannot wrap itself in Touki.
Swordsman Path (Chosen)
Obtain Dragon God Orsted's Dragon Saint Touki Seed.
Reduces mana consumption when converting Touki, increases Touki affinity, and doubles swordsmanship comprehension.
Blessing: Possess a strong and sturdy body.
Cost: Mana recovery speed equal to Orsted.
Current Sword Style Levels
(Based on the average sword skill level within each rank in the Mushoku world. If the host's swordsmanship reaches within 10% of the next rank's average, the system will automatically update.)
Sword God Style — Intermediate
Water God Style — Advanced
North God Style — Intermediate
Even after reading this panel thousands of times over the past nine years, whenever Allen saw the phrases "beautiful green hair" and "strong and sturdy body," a certain image always appeared in his mind.
A river goddess known as the Transmigration Guide rising from muddy water.
In her left hand she held a green-haired pretty boy.
In her right hand she held a muscular dark-skinned man.
Smiling gently, she asked:
"Which one did you drop?"
Allen could only feel helpless.
As for why he chose the Swordsman Path and abandoned the Laplace factor instead of following Rudeus's route—
First, in the Mushoku worldview, swordsmen were generally stronger. And in Japanese light novels, "sword" is often a general term for both single-edged blades and double-edged swords. From a personal standpoint, Allen preferred learning swordsmanship where every strike cut deep.
Second, the Dragon Boss's Dragon Saint Touki was simply too tempting. That man was the ceiling of combat power in the original story. Choosing Laplace's factor instead would make no sense.
It definitely wasn't because of the phrase "beautiful green hair."
"In the original story, Roxy leaves Buena Village this year… I've already been delayed a few months. Hopefully I can still meet her."
Back in the winter of 411, Allen had already decided to travel to Buena Village. Since he had missed the major event of Rudeus's birth, he absolutely had to catch the meeting between Rudeus and Roxy. Even though he was still young, he had made thorough preparations to leave his original environment and participate in the key events of Mushoku Tensei.
Unfortunately, unexpected circumstances forced him to wander around the lower reaches of the Red Dragon Mountains for several months. It wasn't until late spring of 412 that he finally arrived near Buena Village.
"If I miss this again, my childhood participation score will probably have to rely on Sylphy, Rudeus, and his family. Risky… Roxy is far too important in the story."
Allen waved his hand, dispersing the smoky text.
He brushed aside the tangled hair near his forehead.
Then he stood up, resting a hand on the sword at his side.
The campfire illuminated his figure. Though only nine years old, he already stood about 1.6 meters tall. His well-proportioned body stretched the worn swordsman's clothing neatly across his frame.
But he had no interest in admiring the system's so-called blessing.
Instead, he narrowed his eyes and turned his head slightly.
Beyond the reach of the campfire's light, thick darkness shifted with the wind.
Four figures emerged from the shadows.
And stepped into the firelight.