The protagonist, a salaryman dissatisfied with his job and his incompetent, nepotistically promoted boss, finds solace in the full-dive MMORPG "Smart World Gate" (SWG). His avatar is a golden-haired elf, a magic archer with alchemy as a sub-job. One day, after logging in, he finds himself in an unfamiliar location: a large gymnasium filled with hundreds of bewildered people. A blonde woman with eccentric attire appears, introducing herself as the administrator of a world they will be transported to. This new world is technologically similar to Earth's medieval period but possesses a system of levels and skills. Participants are granted the ability to change their race, stats, and skills, with the possibility of returning to Earth for only ten out of the thousand individuals gathered, under specific conditions.
The protagonist is then presented with a system to customize his avatar. He has 2,500 points to spend on appearance, age, and gender. He chooses to remain human, twenty years old, and male, modifying his physique to be lean and muscular, adjusting his facial features, and increasing his height, consuming 35 points. He then allocates points to his stats, prioritizing Dexterity and Luck, and increasing his MP. He also selects skills, including Appraisal (S-rank), Disguise (B-rank), Magic Tool Creation (E-rank), Space-Time Magic (E-rank) for storage and buffs, and the unique skill Mail Order (E-rank), which connects to Earth's online shopping.
Upon arriving in the new world, a vast grassland called Alpha Prairie, he meets a blonde navigator who explains the tutorial. He adopts the name Groce Hendler and learns about his status screen, skills, and the world's currency. He is given basic supplies and instructed to head to Hajime Town. During the journey, he has his first combat experience against a weak monster, a Horn Rat, which proves surprisingly challenging due to his non-combat oriented skills.
In Hajime Town, Groce registers as a merchant at the Merchant Guild, opting for the fourth registration type which allows wholesale but prohibits direct sales to consumers. He immediately begins trading by selling white sugar purchased from Earth via Mail Order, realizing a significant profit. He also purchases a spacious house with a kitchen, bathroom, and garden, and hires a group of adventurers as guards and a slave named Alicia, an Ogre with impressive combat potential, to protect him. Alicia's unique skill, "Bond," allows her to transfer a portion of her stats to Groce.
Groce continues to leverage his Mail Order skill, importing various goods from Earth like wine, wine glasses, and spices, which are highly valued in this world. He also acquires a Magic Pouch, similar to his storage skill, and equips Alicia with powerful black iron armor and weapons. He learns that Alicia's race, Ogre, has a reverence for a "Dark God," which may have influenced her decision to serve him. He also discovers that his Navigator, who was meant to disappear after the tutorial, has been integrated into him as a unique skill, allowing for mental communication.
As Groce expands his business, he encounters various individuals and situations, including a run-in with the "Dawn's Thunderclap" adventurer party, who had previously been rejected as guards due to their mistreatment of slaves. He also learns about the world's economy and social structures, including the existence of slavery and the importance of guilds. He continues to develop his skills and those of his companions, aiming to build a stable life and potentially uncover the conditions for returning to Earth.
