Kagami Koji lives a simple life: He beats up monsters and collects the rewards. Apparently he’s trying to save up 5,000 gold for something, but he’s got a long way to go. In the interim, his town is visited by the Hero, who is trying to build a harem party in order to defeat the demon king. First, however, the Hero wants to visit a nearby cavern and recover a precious and powerful sword belonging to the royal family; in the right hands, it could even slay the Demon King. But when they reach the cave, they find a young girl and Koji—and the sword is gone. It turns out that some time before, Koji was slaughtering monsters and happened to stumble upon the sword, which he sold to make a quick buck. The Hero’s party tries to get him to join them—especially when they see he’s level 999, while many strong people barely crack 100—but he turns them down and heads home, trailed by the girl. It turns out she’s a demon who has been looking for (among other things) humans who are open to cooperation rather than extermination. After some haranguing, she gets Koji to agree to accompany her back to the Demon King and help save his life. But before they can set out, the Demon King’s army suddenly attacks Koji’s city!

The Villager of Level 999 is the kind of show that, if you like this sort of thing, you will like as well; and if not, you won’t. There’s little more here than your typical fantasy setting and, as far as I can tell, story. The world-building is intriguing: Apparently this isn’t just some random fantasy world, but Japan in the future, and I’m curious whether this will play an important role down the line. The author also appears to have given some thought to how Japanese names might evolve between our time and the setting of Villager. There are some political shenanigans going down, and some personalities that could be fun to watch. But there are also a handful of distasteful jokes (including one possibly mocking trans people?), so be forewarned. You’re missing nothing if you skip this one.

The Villager of Level 999 (episodes 1 & 2) is streaming on Crunchyroll.