The New Gate

Book 20: Chapter 1 (6)

“Huh? Are you complaining about what I call her?” Wilhelm asked.

“No, adventurers often called each other names; I thought you would call her Raizar or something.”

The background behind a support character’s name – the part such as Raizar, Tolmeya Etraku, etc. – corresponded to the family name in this world.

In this world, where it was not uncommon for ordinary people to have only a first name, unless they were nobles, the basic rule was to call them by their first names. However, famous people like Schnee were often called by their family name, if they had one.

Shin didn’t know because Wilhem didn’t have a chance to call Schnee the last time they went out together, so Shin had assumed that Wilhem would just refer to her by family name.

“I’m told that calling her on a first-name basis is only allowed if it’s you or other ‘sapot kyaraters*’, right? Most adventurers with whom I knew usually call her Ms. Schnee. Other than that, well, it depends on the person. Still, there aren’t many people who call her family names like that. Not the Raizar part.” (TLN: Wilhelm can’t pronounce ‘support characters’ words correctly in the raw)

According to Wilhelm, adventurers who get carried away sometimes get beaten up for being too friendly. There was a deep-rooted belief in adventurers that strength equated to greatness, and it was said that some Chosen Ones did not listen to the instructions and advice of their predecessors for this reason. 

“Anyway, I don’t care about that. It’s about what happened earlier. Don’t mention that bloody item,” continued Wilhelm.

“Is it really that bad?”

It was one of those items that one could take for granted in a certain sense in the game. Of course, there was no doubt that it would be a big problem if it existed. However, it was no exaggeration to say that this world had been completely influenced by the game THE NEW GATE. So it should have been possible for it to exist. 

“It’s more than magic that affects the mind. If people know you have it, it wouldn’t be strange for someone to try to kill you… no, they definitely will.”

Apparently, Revival Potion existed in this world as well. It was an item that any player who seemed to have reincarnated from the game would have. Shin thought that if the effect was real, it would be traded at a tremendous price, but from Wilhelm’s tone, it didn’t seem to be that simple.

“It can be obtained in dungeons, but if even the slightest bit of information is leaked, the owner will turn into a corpse the next day. There are even stories that say that. It’s like a fairy tale to us, but not to you. Damn, why haven’t you talked about this?”

“You know what? Believe it or not, players back in the day were immortal. The potion was also considered a common medicine to revive the player from an incapacitated state. I think that’s why I don’t talk about it since it’s a common item.”

Even though they had known each other for a short time, Shin knew Wilhelm’s personality. That’s why he talked about it, including speculation.

Except for special cases such as intentional character deletion or account deletion by management, the player – more precisely, the avatar – never died. Although it was recorded as death on the system, it was simply a state of being unable to fight, which was different from death in this world.

At the beginning of the game, Shin was basically only dealing with monsters that he could defeat, and halfway through, he no longer died due to his overwhelming status. That’s not to say he wouldn’t have died at all, but Shin was a cautious fighter, so he wouldn’t have died in a situation where he would have taken Schnee and the others with him.

Furthermore, in the game era, players never really died; they were resurrected even when defeated by monsters. For Schnee, Shin’s disappearance would literally mean that he would be teleported from this world, or disappear in some way, and he would not be expected to die.

Shin would not want anyone in his party to be revived, if possible.

“Immortality, you say…? Does that mean you too?”

Wilhelm asked with an expression as if to say, “You’re kidding, right?” Shin, however, kept a serious expression on his face.

From the perspective of humans in this world, this may seem far-fetched, but Wilhelm knew that Shin was a High Human.

This was a serious statement from a being who lived in the past. Wilhelm was not so hard-headed as to deny it out of hand.

“No, it’s probably not anymore. There was something called the ‘Dusk of Majesty’, I think that’s when our immortality disappeared.”

Although he has never actually died in this world, something intuitive convinced Shin that he could not return after death.

“Though, if you ask me, it’s a funny thing. It’s not hard to come up with some sort of reason why Schnee didn’t tell me about that potion. But it’s kind of weird that I never thought of it.”

It was true that they were not in a situation where they would need to use it.

However, there was no doubt that the Revival Potion was an item that one must test to see how it worked and whether it was effective. Anyone would agree to this if asked.

Raising the dead, something that has been considered and concluded to be impossible in the real world, was something that can only be done in fantasy. But in this world, it may be a feasible concept.

“…Maybe it’s the shackles of the old generation.”

Wilhelm, who had remained silent for some time, said something. The sound of the words stirred up a negative image.

“What is it?”

“People today don’t question it, and people who have been around for a long time don’t think about it. That’s what it meant. You should do this, you should check this. Don’t do that, don’t think about it. Like you did this time.” (TLN: Basically a boomer)

Wilhelm continued that it was not a physical issue, but rather a difference in thinking between the new generation and the old generation.

“Not all of them are like that,” Wilhelm said, “but those who are known as ‘sapot kyaraters’ tend to be more so. The guy who taught me this said that the more people know about the ‘gemu’ era, the more likely they are to be like that.”

Among Shin and the others, Tiera was the only one of the new generation. Perhaps Tiera did not think that reviving elixir or reviving magic actually exist, or perhaps she didn’t know the words themselves. Because she doesn’t think it exists, she didn’t ask Shin and the others.

And because of the shackles of the old generation, Shin and his friends don’t even think about it even though they have the goods and the means. That’s why they came this far without anyone noticing. Wilhelm said that’s probably the case.

“How did you know that potion really exists, Wilhelm?”

“I had a lot of trouble with that in the past. I knew about it, but I didn’t know much more than that. And it doesn’t matter if I knew it or not. Some people have thought about raising the dead. I’m no different. As adventurers, death surrounds us.” 

I want to bring the dead back to life; The more people who have lost loved ones to illness, accidents, or attacks, the more they think about it.

They want to get back their loved ones, their family, their friends, someone they lost. They want to see them again, to talk to them again.

Sometimes, the death of someone close to one’s heart is so painful and agonizing that it can even cause mental illness.

Therefore, even if it is just a dream, it is something to think about. They wonder if there is a way to bring the dead back to life.

“It’s like I want it to work, but I also don’t want it to work.”

It’s more of a problem in the current situation, but if the potion really works, it will serve as insurance against emergencies.

Shin took out a Revival Potion in card form from his item box. 

The all-purpose healing potion, Elixir, which restores HP and abnormalities, was golden in color. On the other hand, the Revival Potion that brings back life was silver in color. The substance itself was liquid, which itself emits a slight luminescence.

When drunk or poured over the player, the Revival Potion would take effect, reviving the player with 10% of his or her HP.

“Hey, no way, it can’t be that.”

“You wouldn’t know if it was a card, right?”

“Put it away!”

Shin obediently obeyed Wilhelm, who said he didn’t know where the information would leak. It was certainly thoughtless action, Shin reflected.

“You’re from the old generation after all. Nothing to be scared of.”

“Sorry…”

Knowledge of the game has helped Shin so far. However, it is up to him to handle it well.

“By the way, has anyone really been revived? If it’s a long-lived species that has been alive since before the ‘Dusk of Majesty’, then it seems like they’ll have something to do with it.”

“Well, I’ve heard that it works, but I haven’t seen it in person or on the job.”

It seemed like he never met someone who was definitely dead. Although it wouldn’t be strange for any player to have one.

While talking with Wilhelm, Shin sent messages to Hibineko and other former player acquaintances, as well as support characters such as Berett.

Then he communicated with Milt via Mind Chat.

“(Revival Potion? Come to think of it, I’ve never used it.)”

She had not encountered any situation where she had to save a dying person since she came to this world, and she replied that she does not know the effect of the potion.

Milt basically acted alone, so there was no chance to use it on her companions. Even when it came to people, she didn’t think about trying to revive them after seriously killing each other. Therefore, she didn’t know its effect.

“(What’s wrong with Revival Potion?)”

“(It seems that in this world, just having it in your possession is enough to be a fatal threat. I was warned not to carelessly mention its name.)”

“(Isn’t it something a former player in production job could make?)”

“(They want to kill you just for having it, you know? Even if you could, you couldn’t tell them.)”

Or maybe one could, but they haven’t thought about it.

“(I’ll talk about the details later.)”

“(Sure.)”

He hung up the chat with Milt and returned to his conversation with Wilhelm.

“If items don’t work, how about magic? Some divine magic has the same effect.”

“That has been completely lost, and there are no people who can use it anymore. Well, most valuable skills are like that. I’m sure some people are hiding them.”

You guys definitely know that. Wilhelm continued.

Divine magic skill 【Revive】 – The names of resurrection magic and items vary depending on the game, but in THE NEW GATE, they were called by this name. Since it has a longer cast time, it was more effective than items, and one would be revived with up to 20% of their HP recovered. 

Shin tried to bring the skill back to its pre-activation state, being careful not to activate it. Since he had learned Chantless, it would only take a moment to get there.

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