Chapter 3

After getting home, the first thing I do—

Given that it’s summer vacation, the answer comes naturally.

To deal with this sweltering, humid living room, I turn on the air conditioner at full power.

A house that feels a bit too luxurious for someone spending their time alone.

My mother is away on a long business trip in Florida, and my father is also away on a long business trip in China.

…Wait? Was it Indonesia? I’m pretty sure he said he was going to both.

“Haah… I’m coming back to life.”

I stood directly in front of the AC vent, stretching my arms out to the heavens as if receiving divine revelation, letting the cold air wash over me.

As the heat drained from my body, my mind also began to cool and regain clarity.

“So… what the heck is this ‘Transfer Bonus’ thing?”

I understood what [Replication Lv1] was. But the real problem lay here.

At the very least, it’s confirmed that no one except me can see it. I had Akitsu-senpai and the other upperclassmen check too, but none of them were able to recognize anything called “Transfer Bonus.”

So is this some kind of special skill only I can see?

“The window doesn’t give me any skill explanations either. Even if I touch it and the cursor moves, no extra info pops up…”

I was complaining about the useless cursor and the complete lack of information—something that would instantly qualify this as a trash game UI—when it happened.

The moment the cursor aligned with 【Inheritance Bonus】, the window reacted.

A new page—an entirely new category—opened.

“!? What… what is this…?”

I didn’t know about this category. It wasn’t in the original explanation of the window.

But there it was—an unmistakably new option.

[Please select one transfer element.]

‘Memory + Experience’ ←
‘Acquired Skills + Blessings’
‘Level + Status’
‘Owned Items’
‘Advisor’

“O-oh…!? What is this… it’s like the settings you pick at the start of a second playthrough in a game.”

The displayed items were completely game-like. And the message told me to choose one.

So is this like… if I had done something in the first playthrough, more options would appear?

…But what exactly am I transferring from? My previous life?

Or is this a skill that lets me inherit something from someone who died in a dungeon?

“I’ve never heard of anything like this… am I really supposed to get something from this?”

Honestly, I have no idea what any of this means. But assuming these options are real… and I get to pick one of them… then I should think seriously about what to choose.

What is “Memory + Experience”? According to my hypothesis, it could mean inheriting the memories and experiences of someone who died in a dungeon. And that honestly scares me. Gaining another person’s memories is already eerie, and if they died in a dungeon, then the trauma and experiences of that death would also get stuffed into my head.

Then how about “Acquired Skills + Blessings”?

If I inherit someone’s abilities from when they were alive, then at the very least, I’m guaranteed to receive something.

After all, everyone receives exactly one blessing or skill the first time they enter a dungeon.

And there are other ways to gain skills besides the initial “dungeon gacha.”

There exist things called “Skill Scrolls”—rare items that apparently allow you to essentially “roll the gacha again.”

There are types and ranks of scrolls, but I don’t know much about that yet.

So… if the person I inherit from had a ton of skills, then “Acquired Skills + Blessings” might be the safest option.

Next is “Level + Status,” and this is tricky.

What if the person wasn’t very developed when they died?

Or rather, if they died, it’s highly likely they died because they lacked the strength to survive.

If they were someone who challenged a top-tier dungeon like the “Central Dungeon”—the kind only fewer than 100 people in the world have ever reached—and died, inheriting their stats would be insane.

But if someone of that level died, it would be major news.

And I haven’t heard anything like that. So choosing this feels wasteful.

And similarly, “Owned Items” is probably off the table.

If the person I inherit from had a completely different combat style than me, I might not be able to use their items.

And who knows what era they lived in?

Weapons and armor evolve year by year.

Only weapons with minimal mechanical components can be brought into dungeons.

So ranged weapons are limited to bows and crossbows, while the rest are strictly blunt or bladed weapons.

And even those weapons are constantly evolving—materials, efficiency, new designs. So items from an older era would likely offer little benefit.

“Hmm… I’d love something like a prototype gun from back when people were desperately trying to bring firearms into dungeons.”

But apparently, the elemental structure in dungeons differs from Earth.

Due to the presence of “mana particles,” scientific weapons malfunction, misfire, or break.

Electronic devices also don’t work inside dungeons because of these mana particles.

The window, though, uses some kind of magic mechanism, so it works fine.

If only this mysterious magical science could be applied to other fields…

“…And finally, ‘Advisor.’ What on earth is that? Something that gives me battle advice?”

This last inheritance bonus… I have no clue what it could be.

Since I can’t predict anything, this is the one I’m least likely to choose.

If it’s some familiar or spirit that assists in combat, then maybe it’s worth considering…

“Hmmm… but I can only choose one… just one…”

‘Memory + Experience’ ←
‘Acquired Skills + Blessings’
‘Level + Status’
‘Owned Items’
‘Advisor’

I stared at the items displayed in the window, continuing to agonize over my choice.

Which one should I pick? When I eventually become an “Explorer,” which option will give me the greatest advantage?

Personally, “Acquired Skills + Blessings” feels like the most appealing.

Because honestly, I can’t think of many ways my [Replication Lv1] is useful in combat.

It can only duplicate things with very little mass—but if the level goes up and I eventually reach [Replication Lv5], maybe I could duplicate heavier things?

But even then, the duplicated object apparently isn’t permanent…

“Aah… if only it could duplicate this instead…”

I let out a wry smile at the stupid idea that suddenly popped into my head.

But in the next moment—

‘Memory + Experience’ ←
‘Acquired Skills + Blessings’ ←
‘Level + Status’ ←
‘Owned Items’ ←
‘Advisor’ ←

“…Huh? Wait—can it duplicate the cursor too…? No, but even if it duplicated it, the display just increased…”

Inside the window, there were now multiple cursors.

All of them were aligned with different items, as if waiting for me to confirm the selection.

No way… could it be… that I can choose everything?

I mean—if I can choose everything, I obviously want to choose everything, but…

“N-no way… I have to try this. There’s no choice but to try.”

Maybe only the originally selected “Memory + Experience” will count in the end.

But the cursors were completely stuck. I couldn’t move them anymore.

All I could do now was confirm.

Then… I might as well go for it. An irregular phenomenon like this—honestly, it’s like hitting the jackpot. Encountering unknown mechanics like this is the stuff of dreams.

Even though the living room was already nice and cool, sweat dripped down my forehead—probably from nervous tension.

I was alone. No one to ask.
And for some reason, I didn’t want to tell anyone about this phenomenon—this thing that was presumably happening only to me.

Then, with all the items selected by overlapping cursors, I tapped.

‘Memory + Experience’
‘Acquired Skills + Blessings’
‘Level + Status’
‘Owned Items’
‘Advisor’

‘The above five options have been selected. They will now be applied.’

At that moment, a violent headache and nausea struck me.

I staggered toward the kitchen, grabbing the counter as I rounded it, and shoved my head over the sink just in time to vomit.

The convulsions from throwing up only worsened the pain in my skull.
My legs gave out, and I collapsed onto the kitchen floor.

My head hurt. It felt like it was splitting apart.
Unknown images, unknown knowledge, unknown emotions—everything was being forcibly crammed into my brain.

I groaned to try to release the pain, but even the sound echoed painfully inside my skull. It was a vicious cycle.

Stop, stop, stop. What is this agony?

Desperate to escape the pain, I let my body fall sideways, surrendering to the fading sensations.

Slowly, my vision darkened.

And with it, my consciousness sank——into darkness.

In that darkness, memories I should never have known began to resurface.