Chapter 1

Belinda’s first mistake was not researching her options. The world she chose to Isekai to was more than met the eye, if only she had looked more closely.

Her second mistake was choosing to spawn near the Wildlands. Other, easier zones held no appeal for her, as she had done their kind before in other worlds and found them lacking. She wanted to grind levels as quickly as possible before moving on.

Her third one was to rely too much on her skills, when the world emphasized the importance of levels and stats. Skills were all well and good, and her unique ones as a serial re-incarnator, gave her a distinct edge over almost anything in her path.

Almost anything.

Her fourth mistake was leaving the only relatively safe haven behind without asking around for information, trusting her previous adventures to give her the lay of the land.

Her fifth. Well, her fifth was fate. With the noon sun breaking through the oddly, wide-spaced trees and sending dancing shadows through the trees swaying in the wind, she forgot to properly cover her trail. Again, trusting her strength to cover for her.

Which was how the minotaur found her.

Her skills, normally overpowering and providing excellent cover, proved of little use against the towering creature, bouncing of it’s short fur and crude armor.

It’s counter-attack was nowhere near as ineffectual as her own, sending her HP to 0 in a blink of her eye. Blonde hair falling around her, she slumped forward, all the strength leaving her body. At this point, she expected the mocking Isekai Failed screen to fill her vision, followed by another utterly boring stay in the World Lounge before being allowed to travel again.

That has her sixth.

What followed was it slinging her over its shoulder and marching off with her as she blacked out.

Belinda awoke inside a surprisingly non-dark, non-damp, non-rocky lair. She sat upright on a crude bed, noting that her armor was gone. And she was wearing some sort of slim collar. Her underclothes had been left on, at least.

Further examination showed she was in a very large room, with one exit. It looked like an entire house, minus the walls. Well, a minotaur sized house. The way everything was bigger and more widely spaced gave it away. It was also presently empty, which was fortunate for her.

With no shackles to tie her down, she leapt up, and quickly made her way to the far wall. She could instinctively sense her gear, along with her weapons and Reset Stone, inside a grey chest next to some sort of quassi-fireplace, which emitted light instead of heat, and was set at head height.

Making sure the beast wasn’t just outside, she attempted to open the stone chest, but found it rather impervious to her efforts, even as her muscled arms strained to open the lockless slab. Her Skills were likewise useless.

Gritting her teeth she decided to cut her losses and leave. She didn’t know what the collar did, but removing it was top priority. She could come back later for her stuff.

Turns out the collar did one thing.

Prevent her from leaving.

She collided with an invisible wall as she tried to cross the threshold, being shoved back not ungently. She tried again. And again.

Until she gave up and tried looking for another way.

Which was promptly interrupted by the door opening and her captor stepping inside. Brushing some dust off of his short black fur, the creature turned to Belinda, noting her attempt to pry open the fireplace.

“You are awake.” It rumbled. “Good. We shall start.”

Jumping back, she glared at it.

“Start what?” She demanded.

“Your repayment.” It stated simply.

“For what?”

It blinked in confusion.

“You attacked me. You are a criminal. By rules of world, you belong to me until debt is repaid.”

Belinda very suddenly acquired a sinking feeling in the depths of her stomach. A quick check of her menu while the minotaur went to do something in the far end of it’s home revealed something she really should have read before choosing this world.

It’s Rules and Codes.

To summarize it, she was now a criminal. And as such, property of whomever she committed a crime against until she paid off her debt, at which point she was free to go.

The thing around her neck was a debt collar, responsible for tracking her debt. A very thorough points system showed how much debt she owned, and which tasks increased and decreased that.

Attempted murder, attempted thievery, and attempted debt escape all added up to a sum that made her eyes water.

With a trembling finger, she clicked each notification, showing her ‘crimes’.

Attacking the civilized minotaur hunter had given her Attempted Murder, which started the sentence. Trying to steal from the chest, as the possessions within became his after her first crime, gave her Attempted theft. And finally, trying to cross the threshold and messing with the fireplace gave her Attempted Escape.

Right about now, she was really, really wishing she had bothered to read those Rules beforehand, not just assume this was yet another fantasy world. The price she was about to pay was long and hard. She couldn’t level up, couldn’t use Skills, couldn’t leave, couldn’t anything until she paid in full. If the minotaur died, her debt would be passed on to whoever killed him, or to someone he had chosen. In short, she was fucked.

Her debt was thousands of points deep, and the only options that would get her out in less than years were the ones she didn’t want to think about.

Which was exactly what the minotaur was thinking about. Walking up behind her, it hefted her into the air as she struggled, then carried her over to the bed area. Didn’t take a genius to see where this was going.