Chapter 4: The Ability of My Domain

Hello, it’s me.

I arrived in another world and managed to secure a base in less than a day, so doesn’t that make me quite elite?

Well, it would—if it weren’t a prison!

Even so, this prison cell isn’t actually that terrible.

It feels more like a standard business hotel room.

The only problem is that half the room is blocked off by iron bars, so escaping doesn’t seem possible.

Hmm, those are some pretty solid bars!

Well, it is a prison…

After that, I was restrained by soldiers and taken through the airship along some confusing route before being thrown into this cell.

When they captured me, they were pretty rough, but once they realized I wasn’t resisting, they just tied my hands and escorted me more carefully.

Though they were rough when capturing me!

Seriously!

They twisted one of my arms, forced me face-down onto the ground, and then pinned the back of my neck with their knee so I couldn’t move!

Those guys!

It hurt, and they pressed me down with ridiculous strength, so I didn’t even feel like resisting!

By the way, about this flying Tokyo Dome—this airship—it seems to belong to that pig noble personally.

While being escorted, people I passed by kept staring at me like curious onlookers, but they all looked like they were working.

They’re probably employed by the pig noble.

If that’s the case, then the chances of him actually being a noble are pretty high.

Though since I don’t know much about this world, he could also be a wealthy merchant.

Either way, he definitely has power.

And that pig noble…

“ーー。ーーー。ーーーー……。”

He’s saying something to me from the other side of the iron bars.

Of course, I don’t understand a single word.

He’s no longer as murderous as before, but he doesn’t seem pleased either.

“Hello there, Mr. Pig Noble. From this angle, it really feels like a slave trader and a pitiful beautiful slave girl, doesn’t it?”

“ーー。ーーーー。”

Hmm… no signs of anger…

Yeah, we definitely can’t understand each other.

He’s probably asking something like, “Who are you?”

To show I mean no harm, I give him a bright smile.

Ah, no good.

He twisted his face in irritation.

“ーーー。ーー。”

“ーー……。……ーーー。”

Standing next to the pig noble is a refined, white-haired older man who occasionally responds to him.

The pig noble is sitting in a chair, while the other man stands rigidly beside him, so he might be his butler.

Though, for a butler, he’s quite well-built.

His chest is thick, and his posture is impeccable.

He looks more like a retired soldier.

Unlike the expressive pig noble, he doesn’t smile at all, his narrowed eyes quietly watching me without letting his guard down.

That just makes him seem even more like a soldier.

Maybe he’s more of a bodyguard.

Let’s call him the military butler.

After a while, the two of them left the cell.

Well, since we can’t communicate, there’s no way to interrogate me.

After lying around on the bed for a bit, I was given food.

That was unexpected.

My treatment is surprisingly good.

Though the menu is basically like elementary school lunch.

Hmm…

I was bracing myself since this is supposedly a fantasy world, but even while imprisoned, it seems like they’ll guarantee at least a minimum standard of living.

Honestly, surprisingly, this world might be more civilized than I thought.

No, no, I shouldn’t be optimistic.

I don’t know this world’s common sense.

They might suddenly say, “You’ll be executed tomorrow.”

I need to do something.

Alright, here’s my plan going forward.

“I’ll prepare a way to escape anytime, and gather information while waiting for the right moment.”

What?

You’re wondering how I can escape when I’m in a prison?

Come on now, leave it to me.

Let’s try it out.

“My domain!”

The world shifts with me at the center.

A completely empty white space about the size of a one-room apartment.

Since this is a conceptual world, time doesn’t pass in reality while I’m here.

“Hmm, pretty plain. Well, whatever.”

The key to this space is playing games.

That’s the only thing decided so far.

So now I’ll set the detailed rules.

“Hmm, something like this should work…”

Here are the rough rules I decided.

● I can stay in this domain for up to 24 hours, and after leaving, I need a 24-hour interval in the real world before entering again.

You’re probably wondering why I’d add such a restrictive limitation right away.

It’s not like I’m saying “only one hour of games per day” like a parent.

This is actually unavoidable.

My ability is to use game powers from the domain in the outside world.

I can tell intuitively, but… yeah, I don’t have enough output.

That’s because my transcendent ability is still weak.

To solve that, I add restrictions.

If I could just stay in the domain forever playing games, I’d eventually become invincible.

But unfortunately, my output is so low that I’d only be able to use trash-level abilities.

So I limited the time I can stay in the domain.

By doing that, I boosted the power I can use in the real world.

In fact, most of these rules are limitations to increase output.

● By setting games I’ve played in the domain, I can use their abilities, but I can only set up to three games at a time.

In other words, I can use abilities from three games simultaneously.

And I can only change the set games inside the domain.

That means I can’t freely swap abilities in the real world.

Well, that’s obvious.

Otherwise, the limitations would be meaningless.

So I’ll be stuck with the same abilities for at least 24 hours.

● The more I play a game, the higher the limit of abilities I can draw from it, and which parts of the game I convert into abilities depends on my interpretation.

This is more of a characteristic than a limitation.

Since it depends on interpretation, I can’t convert things completely unrelated to the game into abilities.

But on the flip side, if I interpret something as related, then it works.

● Converting abilities into combat power drastically reduces output.

This is the final detail I decided.

Even if I grind a game like crazy and create the strongest character, setting that power won’t make me very strong.

In other words, my combat ability will be trash.

Why would I add such a fatal restriction?

Of course, it’s partly to increase output.

But the real reason was when the soldiers restrained me.

Honestly, I had zero chance of winning.

I could tell instantly—it was impossible.

Not only am I a child now and physically weaker, but the people of this world are probably stronger than those in my original world.

The guy who restrained me literally disappeared right in front of me.

Even if I got a bit stronger, it wouldn’t matter.

So instead of focusing on combat, it’s smarter to abandon it entirely and make it a limitation.

Besides, maybe it’s just my nature, but converting abilities into combat seems inefficient anyway.

Well, that’s about it.

Now, I should decide what game to play.

My goal is to gain an ability that lets me escape anytime.