Chapter 0123: You Looking for Trouble?
First night in another world.
Sky Castle, Eleventh Floor, Throne Room.
Hayashi sat on the central throne, with Erina by his side. Hisako was seated below Erina, while Heathcliff occupied the lower seat beneath Hayashi—the four of them formed a semi-circle as they observed the fourteen guardians gathered before them.
After briefly acknowledging the guardians he had already met, Hayashi turned his attention to the unfamiliar faces.
First were the third-floor guardians, Xayah and Rakan—lore-wise, they were deeply in love, capable of gazing at each other all day without growing bored unless summoned by the Supreme One.
Next were the fifth-floor guardians, the Sun and Moon Goddesses Leona and Diana. Their construction costs ranked among the highest even among guardians—back in the day, their materials alone could've bought a luxury car.
Then there was Gwen, who appeared human but was fundamentally a tsukumogami. Technically classified as undead, she was immune to all crowd control and debuffs.
Beside Gwen stood the towering dragonkin Shyvana, whose legs alone stretched over a meter. Though not a pureblooded dragon, being a hybrid only made her stronger—no objections, right?
Surveying the fourteen guardians before him, Hayashi smiled and said, "It brings me joy to see everyone gathered here like this."
"Whoosh—"
The fourteen guardians simultaneously knelt on one knee and bowed their heads in unison—this "assembly of vassals paying homage" scene stirred even a slacker like Hayashi's chest with excitement.
'Damn, no wonder so many people want to be the boss. Who wouldn't get pumped seeing this?'
Hayashi shook his head and said helplessly, "Alright, alright, everyone rise! I've gathered all the guardians here today because there's an important matter requiring your collective effort."
"Supreme One, any task you command, we shall fulfill without fail!" Kayle thumped her chest with a fist, speaking earnestly. "We guardians will accomplish any mission assigned by the Supreme One!"
"Exactly so!" Leona nodded solemnly, her voice grave. "To be at the Supreme One's service is our greatest honor as guardians!"
"That's right, that's right!" Neeko raised both hands high, confidently patting her chest. "Whatever the Supreme One orders, just say the word!"
"It's not exactly a mission, just... well..." Hayashi rubbed the bridge of his nose. "For prudence's sake, I want to ask—if one day I tell you we need to leave this world, would you choose to follow us or remain here?"
The question was clearly rhetorical—the moment Hayashi posed it, the guardians' faces lit up with fervor. Like abandoned puppies fearing desertion, they clamored in chaotic unison, vowing their unwavering determination to follow the Supreme One.
"Stop, stop! I fully understand your sentiments, completely!"
Hayashi raised his hands with a wry smile, then shot an exasperated glance at Erina giggling beside him. "The task I'm about to assign is precisely to prepare for taking you all with us in the future. Understood?"
"Understood!"
This time the response was not only resolute but thunderously loud—such transparently earnest souls.
...
...
Hayashi summoned his Interdimensional Gate. Placing his hand upon it first, as expected, the "Template Selection" clause from the Konosuba world materialized before him once more.
Option One: Retain the Overlord world template. Skills consume only MP, allow unlimited use of premium items, and grant access to convenient features like "Telepathy," "Inventory," and "Revival Items."
Option Two: Select Standard Template. Some skills convert to innate traits. Abilities like "Telepathy" and "Inventory" are removed, with strict limitations imposed on "Revival Items."
Though Option One's "unrestricted revival items" privilege was tempting, Hayashi decisively chose the Standard Template—because selecting the Overlord template would permanently lock their level cap at 100, eliminating any potential for further growth.
"Now everyone touch this gate and select the Standard Template," Hayashi instructed the guardians behind him. "Remember—you must choose Standard Template, not Game Template. Once chosen, there's no going back."
"Understood!" x14
After Erina, Hisako, and Heathcliff touched the Interdimensional Gate one after another, the fourteen Guardians sequentially set their templates to the standard version. The moment they made their choices, the power known as "the game" that had been swirling around their bodies abruptly dissipated.
"Thud—"
The next instant, eighteen enormous golden treasure chests materialized beside the group before crashing heavily onto the ground, startling Yunyun into letting out a startled "Wah!"
"W-w-what is this!?" Clinging to Shyvana's towering draconian form with all four limbs, Yunyun widened her eyes at the golden chests on the floor. "Chests? Why did chests appear?"
"These should be our former inventory items," Hisako analyzed. "After choosing the standard template, convenient 'game functions' like inventory and telepathy can no longer be used."
Hayashi opened a chest and used his Aura Sense to examine the contents before nodding. "Correct. These are all the items I previously stored in my inventory."
Including mountains of potions, premium items, and various rare materials—though after leaving this world, only the low-level potions and heaps of materials would likely remain usable.
"Alright, that settles it for now." Hayashi kicked the chest into a corner of the room before turning to the Guardians, who were curiously examining their "new bodies." "Everyone, you must have already noticed the differences—with your new templates, you can now grow stronger through training again, no longer constrained by conditions called 'levels'!"
Hearing this, the Guardians' faces lit up with joy. In their understanding, they were created by the Supreme One for the sole purpose of fighting on their behalf. To fulfill this purpose, becoming stronger was naturally ideal.
Any problem with that?
Absolutely none!
"Right, let's find a spacious area to test our current strength," Hayashi said, rolling his neck. "I want to see exactly how much power we've retained."
Full inheritance was unrealistic. In the game YGGDRASIL, equipment and passive skills comprised a significant portion of one's combat strength. Aside from a few passives that could be inherited through physical constitution (such as elemental or poison resistance), the vast majority would not carry over.
"Me too!" Yunyun unexpectedly raised her hand, speaking with rare eagerness. "I want to test the magic skills from YGGDRASIL—oh my, I never imagined I'd one day master so many spells!"
Especially those Super-Tier magics. Were it not for the unsuitable location, Yunyun would have loved to open with a Super-Tier spell just for courtesy's sake.
"Test, test everything!" Hayashi waved grandly. "Guardians, you should all familiarize yourselves with your current strength too. See how much combat capability remains after losing those passives."
"Yes—" x14
...
...
In the training grounds of the Sky City, Hayashi and his companions were scattered about, warming up—what about the Guardians? They had their own floors and had returned to their respective areas to test their abilities.
"Haa—"
Hayashi clenched his right fist at his waist, closed his eyes, and regulated his breathing using the breathing techniques taught by Master Kōetsuji.
"Three... two... one..."
The moment the countdown ended, every joint and muscle in Hayashi's body sprang into action. He lunged forward abruptly, channeling power from his feet through his legs, then to his waist, and finally twisting his torso to deliver the force to his back and shoulders...
"Boom—"
A visible shockwave erupted in front of Hayashi as he held his punching stance, watching the faint wisps of smoke rising from the overheated air caused by friction. He muttered, "At this point, I could probably punch a sobbing troll through the screen without much trouble, right?"
Hisako clapped excitedly beside him, exclaiming, "Amazing! Young Master, your physical strength is practically superhuman now, isn't it?"
"The impact force of that punch just now exceeded a hundred tons," Heathcliff remarked as he approached, raising an eyebrow at Hayashi. "Try punching me?"
Hayashi hesitated for two seconds before saying, "You have to promise me first that you won't deliberately fall to the ground and cling to my leg, crying something like—'Officer, this is the guy who hit me!'—or anything like that."
It wasn't that Hayashi was overly suspicious, but once when he was bringing takeout home, he saw an old man doing horse stance in the park on a scorching day. Out of curiosity, he asked, "Aren't you hot, old man?" And thus began his fateful encounter with a martial arts master—incidentally, that encounter ended three minutes later when the old man said, "This hard-style training, ha, words don't do it justice. Feel it for yourself—go on, punch me in the stomach."
Also worth mentioning: Hayashi was fine because before he could even throw a punch, the old man was chased off by a neighborhood committee auntie wielding a rolling pin.
"###"
A visible vein throbbed on Heathcliff's temple as he enunciated each word, "I just want to test my current defensive capabilities! Rest assured, I'm not some park scammer!"
"I never said you were a scammer!" Hayashi muttered. "Could've been an auntie, for all I know."
Heathcliff: Are you looking for a fight?