Living in this World with Cut & Paste Chapter 1

Hello~~ JiN here, presenting our first translation project,Living in this World with Cut & Paste/カット＆ペーストでこの世界を生きていく/Cut & Paste no Sekai wo Ikiteiku.

So, this is the first chapter that Izzy and I have been working on a for a couple of days. Even though I think I did a good job(as an Editor; Izzy was translating along with a friend, NurHikari) I’m sure there are some flaws. So criticism and advice are always welcomed. Well then, enjoy~~

Chapter 1 Skill Bestowal

My name is Myne. Today I'm 15 years old hence coming of age, and so I joined the ranks of adults.

The children who are facing their coming of age will have to go to the temple and be bestowed a maximum of three abilities called Skills by God.

Skills are used for war and to help our livelihood; it isn’t entirely clear how to use it but there are a lot.

Thus, due to the bestowal of a combination of skills, there are times when an outrageous ability is formed.

The people known as heroes of the past, due to a combination of these Skills, many if not all achieved great success.

For example, the King was bestowed with two Skills.

It's a combination of【One-handed Blade・Holy】and 【Physical Strength Enhancement・Large】.

The One-handed Blade is an example of a combat type Skill which has different grades of strength.

At present, I know that it is divided into four levels: 【One-handed Blade】→ 【One-handed Blade・Extreme】→ 【One-handed Blade・Holy】→ 【One-handed Blade・God】.

In other words, the King obtained the second strongest One-handed Blade ability.

He also has one more Skill: 【Physical Strength Enhancement】.

As the name suggests, it is a Skill which strengthens one’s physical strength. It is extremely compatible with the previous 【One-handed Blade】.

Physical Strength Enhancement also has different strength levels. In the King’s case, it is once again the second strongest Skill.

With this combination, the King obtained unparalleled strength.

After the King obtained the unparalled strength, he left numerous achievements, and became the king.

The stronger the effect of a Skill, the lower the chances of the bestowal; is how the temple sees it.

That is why it is rare to be bestowed the ideal combination of Skills with powerful effects.

Anyhow, there is an infinite number of Skills …… maybe not infinite, but there is an enormous number.

Within that number, there aren’t that many Skills with powerful effects.

For this reason, the two Skills combination the King obtained is prominent. (TLC: だからこそ、国王様が得た二つのスキル、そしてその組み合わせは際立っていたわけだ。 )

The children facing their coming of age, and their families made their way to the temple, bearing huge hopes in their chests.

Yes, they dream of obtaining the “right” Skills like the King.

By the way both my parents have passed away.

They passed away in an epidemic when I was ten.

My father was a skillful hunter.

Using an imitation of a trap my father left at home, I somehow managed to use it to catch small animals such as wild rabbits.

In addition, I was able to sustain my daily life by harvesting herbs.

Anyhow, as a minor who hasn’t obtained any Skills, I only had hunting as an ability to keep on living. (TLC: 得物=ability?)

Since my parents had a good disposition, the neighbourhood butcher and the owner of the gold refinery increased their purchases from me.

I had barely been scraping by, but I had lived on alone until today.

However, such an agonizing life ends today …… I hope.

As long as the Skill isn’t too bad, I think I will live a comfortable life from now on.

If I get a combination of Skills, I might be able to rise to the top in one go.

I am also the same as the others, harbouring hopes and dreams in my chest, as I made my way to the temple.

Arriving at the temple, together with a mysterious uplifting feeling mixed with expectation and uneasiness, I waited for 40 minutes.

In that time, whenever I see the complicated facial expressions of those adults who obtained their skills, I imagined them saying 『Seems like I didn’t get a good Skill.』, and thus the uneasiness grew.

『Now then, it’s your turn.』

And so, it was finally my turn.

「Enter that circle, and pray to God with gratitude for becoming an adult.」

Being told that, I entered the circle and offered prayers to God.

I was filled with gratitude for being able to live until this day, despite losing both my parents.

As I did that, my body shined faintly for a few seconds, and two Skills came to mind.

「Hmm, it seems like you safely received your Skills. Please place your hands on this orb.」(JiN: Ok, that was easy)

As he held out a transparent orb, I placed my hands on it.

As I did that, the two Skills which previously came to my mind were displayed inside the orb.

Namely, 【Appraisal・Complete】and 【Cut & Paste】.

The Skill named Appraisal can examine the details of everything. It is quite the rare Skill.

The ones that are frequently heard are 【Appraisal・Age】,【Appraisal・Identity】,【Appraisal・Animal】,【Appraisal・Gender】…… etc., it is a rare skill but there is a catch.

You can examine the attribute at the end of “Appraisal”.

Even without especially appraising gender, you can usually know. You can say that it’s a failure even though it is also Appraisal.

Within that, the Appraisal I was bestowed with had a “Complete” at the back.

This is probably the top attribute even within Appraisal.

If we take it literally then it can examine without limits.

I still haven’t thought of how to use it, but I think it’s a bullseye.

There is also Cut & Paste, but frankly, it’s complicated.

I’ve never heard of a Skill 【Cut & Paste】 but I have heard of the Skills【Cut】and 【Paste】.

【Cut】is a Skill to “cut down” visible things.

For example, if you used it when you are pulling out weeds, then the weeds within your sight is all cut up immediately.

When disposing weeds, it is surely the best outcome.

With such an example, I think it is a wonderful Skill.

However, this Skill is best used on fundamentally still objects. Living things are poor targets.

If it was effective on even living things, it would be the perfect and extremely advantageous Skill to bring to a battle against monsters.

Naturally, after the monsters, it would be plenty convenient when dismantling, or so I’ve heard.

Dismantling takes a lot of work, inevitably, it will take some time.

If it takes some time, there is a possibility the blood and stench of the monster during dismantling will attract other monsters.

You can say that adventurers extremely welcome the skill because it can substantially reduce the dismantling time.

【Paste】 is a Skill which “sticks” anything visible to any place.

It can be used like glue, so to say.

However it differs from glue. Once you stick something, the thing that is stuck can never be torn apart.

It is the end if you made a mistake when pasting.

It became a terrible thing.

If you used the aforementioned 【Cut】, you can kind of tear it off (It isn’t exactly tearing it off, rather, cutting it off), but for example, if a person is bestowed with both Cut and Paste at the same time, which is rare, you can say that it is basically an extremely inconvenient Skill.

Although among producers, called craftsmen, the skill is unparalleled in its utilisation, and since I’ve heard that they can produce unbelievably sturdy tools and furniture, among other things, depending on your proficiency level, it can be a beneficial skill.

It is that if you are aware of the Skills, except for what I said earlier, you will say that having the two skills will be quite convenient, right?

In my case, since it is 【Cut & Paste】, the faults of Paste is reduced, and it should be convenient to use compared to those who are bestowed with only one of them.

「Hmm, it seems like you are bestowed with a wonderful skill, 【Appraisal・Complete】. 【Cut & Paste】also seems useful depending on how you use it.」

The priest who is peering into the transparent orb addresses me.

「That’s it for today. May you be blessed in your life from now on.」

Expressing my gratitude to the priest, I set off for home.

Chapter end