When Shichen came back to his senses, he found himself standing in front of a ruined vilge. He was dressed in nothing but a coarse linen shirt and shorts.

  All around him, the colpsed houses y in rubble, with bodies trapped underneath. He couldn't see their faces clearly, but he could make out pointed ears and red blood everywhere. The stench of blood hung thick in the air.

  They seemed quite dead.

  Right now, though, Shichen wasn't really focused on those bodies. His mind was stuck on what that mechanical voice had just said:

  [Travel to the world of Frieren: Beyond Journey's End?]

  "Is that for real?"

  He was expecting to hop around random fantasy worlds, not end up in an actual anime universe. But Frieren: Beyond Journey's End was definitely an anime, and a popur one at that—anime fans, and even people who didn't watch anime, would recognize it.

  He hadn't heard of any other show or movie by the same name, so it probably wasn't just a coincidence. If he was really going to explore a "2D" world, that sounded kind of cool. He wasn't that hung up on this whole "becoming a god" thing; he just liked doing quests. Gamers are sensitive to the word "quest," after all.

  He wasn't sure if it was only the Frieren world or if there'd be others too, but that didn't really matter. Worst case, he could just stick around here.

  With that goal clear, Shichen wondered what he should do next. But as soon as he turned around, he realized he might not need to do any searching at all—his target was right there.

  Up ahead, in a clearing, sat a small girl wearing a simple, rough-spun dress. She had long silver-white hair flowing down her back and pointed ears just like an elf in any fantasy story.

  From his vantage point, Shichen could only see her in profile, but it was enough to notice just how delicate her features were.

  "Frieren…" he murmured, staring at her.

  He was certain it was her. He couldn't possibly be mistaken about that face.

  As if she'd heard him, Frieren slowly turned her head and looked at him. Her gaze was calm, her face expressionless.

  Their eyes met, and he noticed a hint of sadness in hers.

  Looking around, Shichen took in the scene—besides the bodies of elves, there were also many demon corpses. Some were cd in bck armor, others had horns like cattle growing from their heads. Those were definitely demons.

  Shichen realized exactly when this must be taking pce. This was before Frieren had even taken on a master. He hadn't expected to arrive at such an early point in her story.

  Right then, the mechanical voice spoke up in his mind:

  [Target found hosting a Fragment of Divinity!]

  [Target: Frieren.]

  [Quest: Spend one month with her and earn her trust. You can then collect the Divine Fragment.]

  [Once you complete the quest, you can travel to other worlds to continue gathering fragments.]

  [Quest Perks: Shared nguage, immunity to all magic damage, enhanced five senses, extraordinary physical abilities, and basic life skills (limited to one month).]

  [Once the Divine Fragment is collected, these perks become permanent.]

  As the voice faded, Shichen didn't pay it much attention. Frieren—the character he knew from a screen—was right here in front of him. How could he focus on anything else?

  Frieren, however, barely gnced at him. She lowered her head, pcing both hands in her p, looking as though she'd withdrawn into herself.

  This was the elves' vilge, which had just been invaded by demons before Shichen arrived. Frieren was the only survivor; everyone else was dead.

  She had also killed all the demons.

  Having lived with her fellow elves for so many years, and now losing them all at once—there was no way she wouldn't feel something.

  Shichen wasn't sure whether he should approach her. He wasn't a demon, so it's not like Frieren would attack him on sight. After all, in this world, the demons have always been the enemies of every other race. But she didn't know him at all; it'd look suspicious if a complete stranger just came up to comfort her out of nowhere, ciming pure kindness.

  Fortunately, at that moment, the sound of footsteps cut through the silence, and a mature-looking woman walked calmly over to Shichen.

  He looked at her and recognized her instantly.

  She was very beautiful, with long orange hair tied in a braid down her back, wearing a simple white dress. There was a faint, almost unreadable smile on her face, and she seemed completely unfazed by the carnage around her.

  She was Fmé—the woman who was about to become Frieren's master.

  "What a tragedy," she murmured, gncing around. "So this was an elven vilge?"

  She didn't seem to be talking to either Shichen or Frieren in particur. She passed by Shichen, carefully surveying the area, then walked up to a demon's corpse still cd in armor.

  "Basalt of the Demon King's Army—one of the Demon King's generals, huh? So he's the one who led the demons to destroy this vilge?"

  Then she turned to Shichen. "Did you do this?"

  "Um?" Shichen blurted, pointing at himself. "You mean me?"

  "Who else?" Fmé asked with a light ugh. "I can't sense any magic power in you, but you're not exactly normal."

  "Not normal?" he thought, remembering he had a "Divine Body."

  He waved a hand in denial. "It wasn't me. It was Frieren over there who did it. I just got here."

  "Oh, I see." Fmé finally shifted her gaze to Frieren. "That half-dead elf is pretty impressive, to have such insane magic power."

  "Right? She's amazing, isn't she?" Shichen chimed in, a little proud, though he had nothing to do with it.

  Fmé ignored him, still watching Frieren. Suddenly, she snorted. "So, you fought the demons head-on? What a waste. How stupid can you be?"

  Her voice dripped with sarcasm; she had no respect for someone who would fight demons face-to-face.

  Demons didn't deserve to be treated like normal living beings.

  Frieren kept her head down, not reacting.

  Undeterred, Fmé continued, "Why did you fight them directly? You could've run, hidden, ambushed them—plenty of options. Beats me why such powerful magic users do what they do."

  She shook her head, disappointed, and turned to leave.

  "…You do understand," Frieren suddenly spoke.

  "Huh?" Fmé stopped in her tracks, looking back at her.

  Frieren was still bowing her head. "You should understand what I was thinking. Because as a magic user, you're far stronger than I am."

  "And why's that?" Fmé asked.

  Magic users can sense each other's magic power. The amount of magic power essentially measures one's strength.

  Frieren's magic power was enormous, but Fmé's magic seemed only to lightly envelope her entire body.

  The difference between them was immense.

  "I can just…feel it," Frieren said quietly.

  "That so?" Fmé ughed, then gnced at Shichen.

  "Wanna come with me?"

  "Uh, come with you? Where?" Shichen asked, startled.

  "Obviously away from here," Fmé said.

  "Sure," Shichen agreed immediately.

  He'd been worried that Fmé might only take Frieren and leave him behind, but it looked like that concern was unnecessary.

  "Can you carry her?" Fmé asked.

  "No problem." Shichen walked over to Frieren, turned around, and crouched down in front of her.

  Frieren didn't hesitate. She climbed onto his back and put her arms around his neck.

  Shichen stood up, noticing how light she felt—like wearing a small backpack.

  "Let's go," Fmé said, taking the lead.

  With Frieren on his back, Shichen hurried after her. He didn't know this pce at all, and his objective was literally clinging to his back. As long as he stuck with Fmé, he'd be fine.

  After a few steps, Fmé asked, "What happened to this vilge?"

  "I'm not really sure," Shichen answered, shaking his head.

  Frieren spoke softly from behind him, "Everyone's dead. The demons didn't spare women or children… I couldn't protect them, even though I was supposed to be the strongest in our vilge."

  "What a fool," Fmé said, shaking her head. "If it were me, I'd have run without a second thought."

  "…Put me down. I don't want to be with you," Frieren said quietly, but she didn't have the strength to struggle.

  "Don't let go," Fmé ordered Shichen. "This kid has so much potential. I pn to make her my disciple."

  Shichen had no intention of letting Frieren down anyway. "What about me?" he asked.

  "What about you?"

  "Could you also take me as your disciple?"

  "Oh?" Fmé gave him a smile. "Why?"

  "I don't know any magic, and I want to learn!"

  "You seriously can't do magic?"

  "I swear!" Shichen raised four fingers solemnly, as if taking an oath.

  "Well, you don't look like you're lying, so fine. I believe you."

  "Thank you, Master! By the way, I'd like to be your first disciple. Frieren can be second."

  "I don't want to be her disciple," Frieren said.

  "Tough," Fmé replied ftly. "Not only did you fail to protect your vilge, you almost died yourself. If I hadn't shown up…"

  She stopped walking and gnced behind them. "You'd be dead right now."

  Shichen stopped, too, and looked back.

  At some point, three figures in strange garb had appeared behind them.

  They wore armor and cloaks, with horned helmets. It was obvious who they were.

  Demons.