Pioneer’s Seven Tools

「Hm…?」

The sunlight piercing my eyelids dispelled my drowsiness, and I realized my lower body was cold.

It was cold simply because I was soaked in seawater.

About half of my body was submerged in the seawater on the beach.

I don’t get hypothermia because this is a game, I guess.

For now, I’ll get up and assess the situation.

Name: Kizuna†Exceed
Race: Spirit
Energy: 61,630
Mana: 14,070
Serin: 68,780

Skills:
Energy Production XII
Mana Production IX
Fishing Mastery VIII
Hate & Lure II
Angling I
Dismantling Mastery V
Cleaver V
Slicing II
Rapid Dismantling IV
Naval Combat V
Element Conversion I

My energy has increased, so it seems there was no decrease from drowning.

But where is this place?

Looking around, it’s a beach…looking up, there seems to be a South Pacific-like forest spreading out.

With the condition of an unfamiliar beach and forest, there’s something that comes to mind, but I’ll display the chat window from the cursor menu first.

From the party window there, I’ll call up Shouko…

「Huh?」

The party slot is blank.

In other words, I’m not in a party, I’m alone.

You can leave a party anytime, except for certain conditions.

But I don’t remember leaving, and I can’t imagine all those members leaving at once.

Most of all, Shouko and Tsumugi are there.

Shouko isn’t the type to leave without saying anything, and Tsumugi is my blood-related sister.

I can’t imagine the others leaving randomly either.

Anyway, let me try sending a chat.

This time, I’ll display the friend list and send a chat to Shouko.

――Your power is currently off or the signal is not available.

My power? What am I, a cell phone?

…No point arguing with the system announcement.

With no other choice, I sent messages to everyone registered as my friend.

Of course, not just Shouko and the others, but also Romina and other acquaintances.

For all of them, I just got that inexplicable system announcement.

From the circumstances, it’s reasonable to assume that something happened that’s preventing contact.

Not just me fell from the ghost ship.

There may be others who washed up on this beach like me.

I looked around, but there was no one else in sight.

I displayed the map from the cursor menu.

My current location is on the southern beach of a relatively large island.

The map name is…Kalmira Island.

I’ve heard that name before.

It’s definitely the island we got as a reward for defeating the Soul Eater.

I’m not certain, but there’s a high possibility it’s the island Count Havenburgh was trying to protect.

It could simply be taken as a reward from the Limited Dimension Wave too.

Anyway, I should look for the others.

I start walking aimlessly along the beach.

To summarize the results, I couldn’t find any trace of anyone else washing up on the beach.

I’ve been periodically sending chats, but the situation hasn’t improved, I just keep getting that weird announcement like it’s broken.

I may have to face the reality of the situation.

I’ve probably…drifted here alone.

I haven’t explored inside the island yet, so I’ll hold off on conclusions, but Kalmira Island may be uninhabited.

There’s a possibility that me being alone here is due to some event.

For example, I was the only one who went through that book and soul event on the ghost ship.

If I fit some condition like that, then what am I being asked to do on this uninhabited island?

These kinds of games rarely have pointless flags or conditions.

Considering that, there must be a reason I alone drifted to Kalmira Island.

…Wasn’t there a game like this before?

The elementary school protagonist falls off a ship and has to survive alone on a deserted island while trying to get rescued.

It’s a cliche for stranded stories, but I never thought I’d actually experience it…

Fortunately, unlike that kind of protagonist, I’m well-equipped.

For example, my items.

As for food, I have an excessive amount of squid for a while.

More importantly, I have the equipment needed for my cooking skills.

With the ocean, fishing more could be good too.

What’s important is how long I’ll be stuck here.

Oh!

While looking through my item inventory, I found a Tome of Return. I got too caught up in the situation, but this is a game – I should just use the return item.

I used the Tome of Return.

……….

The sound of waves. The cries of seagulls. A white sandy beach.

After the warp effect, I was back on the beach of Kalmira Island where I first washed up.

A forced save point, huh…

「Dammit, let me out!」

I yelled at the ocean.

Only the cries of seagulls answered…

…Looks like I’ll be living here for a while.

In that case, I need to consider what to do after rejoining with Shouko and the others.

Knowing them, we could probably get by with some energy issues if we regrouped, but having too much of an energy gap would be tough for me personally.

In the worst case, I may need to consider escaping using that wooden ship in my inventory.

For now, let’s start by exploring the island.

If I can be of some use when we reunite, that’d be great.

With that decided, I headed into the island interior.

In my right hand was the Cerberus Slaughterer.

I didn’t have an Energy Blade since I had given it to Shouko.

Well, I wouldn’t use an Energy Blade except against bosses anyway.

At a glance, Kalmira Island appears tropical in nature.

Considering the high production cost, there are insect calls and tropical birds flying around, if I let my guard down, I might forget this is a game.

But still, an island, huh…I wonder what kind of fish I can catch.

Wait, what am I thinking in this situation?

Right now, I need to assess the current conditions.

It’s been a while since I’ve been alone, even on the ghost ship.

Especially being in a place with sunlight like the First City reminds me of the early days.

Those days were fun in their own way.

Not that adventuring with a party isn’t incredibly fun.

As I was thinking that, the sight of an abandoned village came into view.

…Or rather, ruins?

A collapsing barn. Overgrown grass and flowers. An uninhabited atmosphere.

It looked like a place that had traces of being inhabited decades ago.

「What is that…?」

In the center of the village was an unnaturally conspicuous object.

It was a large box decorated with gems, it looked completely out of place.

Personally, the idea of it being a trap monster like a mimic crossed my mind.

Should I open it or ignore it?

If it was a monster, could I defeat it alone?

This is when being alone is troublesome.

If I had companions, we’d probably just open it no matter what.

But alone, I can’t be reckless, and it makes me uneasy.

Alright, I’ll open it.

I approached the treasure chest and checked for any abnormalities before opening it.

Of course, I jumped back the moment I opened it.

Traps like arrows or poison gas are given with treasure chests.

…Nothing happened.

I peered inside the open treasure chest, and there was an item inside.

A small box.

A box within a box, like a matryoshka doll variant.

Fortunately, there wasn’t another box inside the small box.

The item name was Pioneer’s Seven Tools.

…I have a really bad feeling about this.

It’s like, being here alone, I’m affected by some kind of systematic effect. that kind of vibe.

Ugh, I tried to discard it but it got automatically stored in my item inventory.

A cursed item, huh?

――Well, I do like these kinds of situations, but…

Right now, I don’t have the luxury to leisurely do pioneer life since I have companions.

By the way, if this was before I formed a party, I’d be thrilled.

More importantly…alone?

Why were my party members excluded?

Even for a pioneering event, shouldn’t the whole party or all players be involved?

…I have some thoughts, but I’ll endure.

For now, I’ll try using these so-called Pioneer’s Seven Tools.

When I did, options for transforming the item appeared.

Hoe
Sickle
Axe
Hammer
Drill
Rope
Fishing Rod

「Drill!」

Just one stood out!

What is this? A pickaxe wasn’t an option?

「Drill!」

Damn, I’m getting really excited.

This is a look I can’t show to Shouko.

Well…Tsumugi sees it every day in reality too, I guess.

Why hide it? I’m a guy who spent over 1,000 in-game years on a kingdom life sim, where Nee-san and Tsumugi got tired of it after 5 years in-game.

The family tree progressed meaninglessly to where I couldn’t even see the original character’s bloodline anymore, but who cares if I was treated like a weirdo? Besides, for the same reason, I also achieved over 200 years in a pioneer life after entering Unlimited Space.

…I got a bit too excited.

「Drill!」

Let me try holding the drill first.

The tip was in a spiral shape, like a hand drill.

When I pulled the handle, it made the expected ‘vrrrrr’ motor sound as it spun.

「Drill!」

Yeah, guys just love drills, huh?

You don’t really see drills used in super robots these days, but still.

Anyway, let me try out this drill right away.

Forgetting all about Shouko and the others, I indulged in the momentary pleasure and ran off with the drill in hand.

…It’s probably an unnecessary detail, but it took me over ten minutes to regain my senses.