This isn’t my World and it Pisses Me Off

Chapter 18

Ikari skidded to a stop in the middle of a forest. It was about a mile away from where Iron had painted his masterpiece and it took him about a minute to get there. He looked around at the massive trees and the verdant green leaves.

It reminded him of where he lived before Japan, which only served to make him more pissed off towards Ato. The fact he wasn’t able to go home. The fact he had lost his family. His friends. The fact that the only person in this world who was kind to him didn’t want to associate with him now that he was the Demon King.

“Why the Hell did I even think that was a good idea.” He brought a hand to his forehead in annoyance. “I just wanted to spite Otto and it was the first thing that came to mind.” He pinched the bridge of his nose and went to continue walking forward.

His foot seemed to hit something, and he looked down seeing a series of vines trying to encircle his legs. He lifted his leg up and stepped out of it. The vines shrunk back down immediately and another set tried to capture him.

Ikari kept stepping out of them with ease, mildly amusing himself and letting them almost encircle before jumping out. He wondered if these were actually moving at amazingly fast speeds and he only interpreted them as slow due to his Reaction Speed Enchantment.

“WOULD YOU CUT THAT OUT!?” A voice exclaimed, Ikari’s head turning to where the voice came from.

Before him was what appeared to be a woman with limbs covered in bark, leaves for hair and scarce few leaves covering her extremities. “So, you are the one who tried to destroy my forest.” Her emerald eyes closed as she crossed her arms in anger.

“Yes. I did not realise it was protected. I am sorry.” Ikari responded.

“That is no excu-” The Dryad opened her eyes to stare down whoever dared attack her precious trees, before she stopped in confusion. “Why are you looking at the sky?”

True to her words, Ikari’s neck was at a ninety degree angle staring to the leaves fluttering above. “Because your state of dress can’t really be called a dress.” The words caused the Dryad’s face to turn red.

“I need to have this much skin exposed to get food!” She exclaimed.

“That’s no excuse to be dressing like a damn stripper when you look like a child!” Ikari yelled back, still aiming towards the sky. “You could cover your body with leaves and it would have the same effect! That’s how photosynthesis works!”

There was silence for a moment. “What the bark is photosynthesis?” The Dryad asked. Ikari’s head snapped down in disbelief, that a creature literally made from leaves didn’t know about how plants survived.

His head shot back up when he remembered how she looked. “Look, how about you just, cover yourself up a bit more and I’ll explain everything.” He suggested.

The new Demon King heard a fair amount of grumbling in response. “Fine.” Ikari looked down and saw, not something that would probably get him arrested, but instead a bush with a pouting head atop of it.

“Thank you.” He approached and pointed to a leaf on the bush. “How do you think these get bigger?”

“Magic.” She responded immediately. At her words, the leaf did grow as the Dryad concentrated on it.

“Ok, I’ll give you that one.” Ikari nodded, but then pointed to a random leaf on a tree. “But that one. One you don’t put magic into. How does that grow?” The Dryad blinked slowly, thinking about it.

“Magic. But, from the ground.” She said, a little less certainly. “The World has its own kind of magic, it’s own system.”

“Yeah, I know all about the ‘System’.” Ikari said in an annoyed tone. That wasn’t true, he barely knew anything about how it worked. He just knew how to make potions and enchant stuff. “Oh, I’ve probably gotten some new perk options now that I think about it.”

“But no, it grows from the Sun.” He explained. He found it amusing, how he had gone from being threatened for hurting her forest, to giving a basic lesson on biology.

He picked up a twig from the ground and drew a square in the ground. “Do you know what cells are?” He asked.

“They’re where you put bad guys.” She responded, squatting down next to Ikari to look at the drawing. Ikari paused in his drawing.

“You’re not wrong.” He gave her. “There’s another kind. The cells that make us, and every living thing up.” He had finished his drawing. One was a circle, with a smaller circle in it. The other was vaguely square shaped with an inner line, with another circle and a few odd shapes.

“This is an animal cell. This is a plant cell.” He put a 動物 and a 植物 respectively. He paused after drawing the kanji for the cells. “Can you read that?” He asked the Dryad.

“No.” She responded, reaching out and sticking her own bark covered finger into the dirt. The words ‘Tier’ and ‘Pflanze’ appeared briefly in the dirt, before a beige screen overtook them and translated the words for him.

“Oh, you are a Hero.” The Dryad realised upon seeing the translated screens. Ikari was surprised she knew. “All Heroes have an automatic translation skill. I have met your kind before. This forest is usually the last area of safe haven for Heroes, before facing the Demon King.”

Her face fell at the mention of the previous ruler. “How many Heroes have you seen go against Beezlebub?” Ikari asked, the twig in his hand shaking violently.

“I have been alive for as long as this forest has existed.” She said softly. “I have seen too many to count.” Her head was held low, before looking up as the twig in Ikari’s ebony gauntlets snapped in half. “You have to face him too. I beg you, please reconsider.”

The words caused Ikari’s expression to lighten, as he let out a small chuckle. “Too late for that.” He reached up and took the crown from his head, spinning it round in one finger. It was a ghastly design, suited for a Demon King, but not quite matching Ikari’s aesthetic.

The Dryad’s eyes widened. “Y-You beat him?” She fell onto her haunches in shock, backing away slightly. “How?”

“I punched him.” Ikari responded simply. “I mean, after making myself broken.” He waved off, going back to writing in the dirt. “Wait, if you can’t read my language how do you understand me?” He asked.

“I hear you speaking my tongue.” She answered, slowly sitting back down in her previous position.

“But, I hear you speaking mine.” Ikari responded, somewhat confused, before throwing his hands up and saying. “You know what, doesn’t matter. Magic. There’s the answer.” He shook his head, before pointing to the cell with half a stick.

“Chlorophyll lets plants grow and survive with sunlight. It’s also green. Which is why all of you are green.” He gently fluttered a few of the bushes leaves. What followed was a brief biology lesson, given to a creature of mythology on a different world.

Ikari would have laughed at it in any other situation. Instead he just enjoyed the brief respite he had acquired away from the mounting stress that came with being stuck in another world and now being in charge of what is basically a country.

“Oh fuck I’m in charge of a country.” Ikari paused in his explanation of basic biology, bringing his hands to his head. The Dryad noticed this, and looked at him quizzically.

“Are you alright?” She asked. Ikari shook his head in response, a building anger bubbling up in response to his current situation. He began breathing heavily, before feeling a cool calming sensation wash over him.

It felt as though he had been dunked in a cool stream of spring water. Ikari looked to the Dryad, seeing her palm glowing a faint green colour. “What was that?” He asked, blinking rapidly.

“That was my skill, Kind Touch. It calms down the recipient and heals them. Though, you didn’t need any physical healing.” The name sounded familiar to Ikari, as he tried to recall where he had seen it before.

“Is it magic?” He asked, running through his memories to figure out where he had heard it. The Dryad nodded in confirmation.

“Yes, it is a Skill that can only be used by those with high Kindness. There are quite a few abilities I have acquired thanks to that Virtue.” She smiled, showing surprisingly white teeth. The word ‘Virtue’ struck something with Ikari, as he recalled Beezlebub mentioning it before he was unceremoniously punched to death.

“Show Virtues.” He tried.

The screen surprised him, as he had never even known this thing existed. “Oh, your Kindness is quite high as well.” The Dryad said, looking at the screen before her. “Very humble, very pure. Not very patient, or restrained.” She hummed lightly, as if laughing at an inside joke.

“This, this is me?” Ikari asked. “These are, my virtues? What’s good about me?” He asked the Dryad. “By the way, what’s your name, I feel rude for not asking.”

“You may call me Emerald.” She told him, waiting expectantly.

“I am Ikari Yasashi.” It had been a while since he’s had to introduce himself. And even longer since he gave his family name.

“Nice to meet you. And yes, this is what defines you. It does not surprise me, all Heroes that come to this world always have a very high Kindness.” Emerald explained. “I’m surprised you do not know this. It is very basic knowledge of this world.”

“Yeah well,” Ikari laughed awkwardly, scratching the back of his head. “Didn’t really have time to learn. Just got right into figuring out how to beat the Demon King.” He thought about what she said, about many Heroes having high Kindness.

It would make sense. You couldn’t bring a Hero to help save the world if they weren’t a good person. But then, how did he slip through the cracks? Ikari blinked and realised what he had just thought.

“I’m, I’m a good person.” He muttered to himself.

“You are, it says so right here.” Emerald pointed to the graph, showing Kindness was actually his highest Virtue. Something about his Virtues being measured and put on display rubbed Ikari the wrong way. But if Virtues had a screen for it…

“Show, Sins.”

“By Natur.” The Dryad stumbled back, slipping onto the ground as she seemed to recede into her bush. “Y-Your Wrath. It’s, it’s broken the scale. How? How is that possible?!”

Ikari looked at the scale, the bright red arrow damning him to a life of anger and hatred. “Because of something in my world.” He closed the screen, not feeling able to look at it without his stomach turning.

“I have something called I.E.D. It’s a ment-” Ikari’s words fell flat, as a new screen popped up in front of him.

The screen before him left Ikari speechless. His mouth opened and closed uselessly, before it snapped shut and he grit his teeth as he jumped to his feet.

“YOU TURNED MY MENTAL DISABILITY INTO A FUCKING GAME SKILL!?!?!?! WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU!?!?” He yelled, cursing Ato to the very ends of this world. That was what happened in the castle, after he realised he couldn’t go home.

This, Skill, activated by himself because Ikari couldn’t contain his anger. He was in a world without psychiatric care, without the proper medication to keep his outbursts down. He was a timebomb, ready to explode.

Instead of exploding, he felt a calming sensation rush over him. Emerald was holding out both her hands, an intense green light coming from it, much different than the soft glow before.

“Force Calm.” Emerald spoke, her hands glowing brightly as Ikari’s breathing slowed. Eventually, Ikari managed to reign himself in with his own methods.

“Thank you.” He finally whispered out, swallowing a lump in his throat. Emerald looked surprised, backing away in fear or reprisal.

“You, you’re not angry?” She asked, glancing to where his Sin Scale was hovering not a moment ago. Ikari sighed, shaking his head.

“No. This is something I’ve been fighting all my life. And I’m determined not to let my anger control me.” He told her. Though, sometimes that was easier said than done. Ikari also wondered if there were stereotypes based on what Virtue or Sin was the highest in this world.

Like how people with high Lust would be sex crazed maniacs or something. “Heh. Like every other Hero probably sent here.” It was along that train of thought that he realised something.

Lust was a Sin. He was the Demon King. Lust and Demons go well together. “If there ends up being a harem of fucking succubi I’m going to break something.” He sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose.

Emerald simply looked at Ikari warily. The Demon King finally remembered why he had come here. “I apologise for all that has happened. I didn’t mean to scare you, or to hurt your trees.” He turned to face Emerald straight on, and bowed low.

Living in Japan, he was used to bowing for nearly everything. That didn’t mean he was comfortable with it the other way around. Emerald jaw dropped, becoming hidden within her bushel of leaves. With that, Ikari turned on his heel and began to walk back to the lands he now ruled over.

He actually walked, as he needed some time to clear up his head, and wouldn’t be able to get that running at Mach Infinity. “Wait!” Ikari turned his head round, surprised to see Emerald jogging after him.

Seeing a running bush was somewhat amusing, but Ikari held back his laughter. “Yes?” He asked the Dryad.

Emerald took a breath, and spoke. “I do not want you to cut down any of my trees for a wall.” She told him. Ikari nodded, somewhat confused as that was the whole reason he was leaving. “But…” She continued.

“I have no issue making them into a wall.” Her bark covered hands poked through the bush, showing Ikari a few seeds held in its grasp. It took a moment for Ikari to realise what she meant, before an idea sparked in his head.

“Show Enchantments.” He spoke aloud, wanting to see all the Enchantments he knew. The screen popped up, surprising Emerald as she sideled around to stand next to Ikari while he flicked through the menu.

“Games and Worlds like this always have elemental magic.” He murmured to himself, noting Emeralds nod and planning to look into it later. “Is there Nature magic? Magic that lets you speed up the growth of trees and stuff?”

Once again, Emerald nodded. Ikari smiled, as his finger landed on the Enchantment he was looking for. “Ok, one more question.” He said with a smirk.

“How do you feel about jewelry?”