章 1: Chapter 1
My name is Duke Harold. I was born on October 5th, 2001.
I lived a decent life and went to a decent school. However, saying "fuck college," I wasted no time signing up for the military. Sadly, I scored a 60 on my ASVAB and, being too lazy to retake it, I found I wasn't qualified for some of the jobs I really wanted. So, I became an MP, also known as military police.
The job was okay.
Well, it kind of sucked. I did get body-slammed through a table, which permanently messed up my back. This allowed me to leave the military early at the tender age of 21. Now, two years later, I'm busy bleeding out in my house because some dumbass middle schooler didn't know bullets have to go somewhere.
How do they even get guns at such an age?
Dumb thoughts to be having while I'm dying, I know, but what else can I do?
Glad I hugged parents earlier.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _
"You're fired!"A rotund man yelled, saliva flying from his mouth as veins bulged on his neck.
"Cool." That's all I said in response as I exited the man's office, previously my boss, into a room that once hosted dozens of heavy-duty servers, now just scrap.
"Why did it have to be so fucking destructive," I whispered under my breath. Realizing my mistake, I took a deep breath as I made my way through the destroyed room to my office, which had a small sign that read 'Security.'
'Gotta control my language,' I thought, entering the decently stocked security office. It had a large desk with multiple monitors, a printer, a comfortable office chair, and even a mini fridge that I wasted no time opening to grab a Pepsi.
GULP
A handful of sips emptied the can and satisfied my thirst.
'Well, time to grab my stuff and bounce.' With that idea in mind, I slowly placed my hand on top of the mini fridge, which vibrated softly as I touched it. Whoosh. As if it had never been there, the mini fridge disappeared, leaving anyone who saw it completely shocked.
'Glad to see it worked,' I thought as I quickly did the same to the chair, which I had bought two years ago with my first paycheck, along with the two monitors on the far left side of the desk.
"Alright, time to get home. Hopefully, that guy isn't there." Wasting no time, I navigated my way out of the building and onto the bustling streets, filled with people of many shapes and sizes.
"Yo!" Calling for a passing cab, I wasted no time getting in and directing it to take me home, which took about 20 minutes longer than usual due to late afternoon traffic.
'Sigh, home sweet home.' Finally entering my apartment, I felt a bit better after the events that led to the destroyed server room.
"Now come out!" Yelling this in a low breath, I sat on my bed just in time for a small ball of light to wink into existence to my right as a voice emerged from it.
"Can you be a bit nicer, bro? I said I was sorry." The ball of light's voice was young as it zoomed across the room, which annoyed me a bit. I reached out and caught the ball of light, revealing it to be a fairy like creature.
Long golden blonde hair, white glowing pupil-less eyes, sharp knife-like ears, and a toga that enhanced the small creatures, muscular physique.
"You got me fired because your stupid ass chose to awaken while I was in the middle of my patrols!" My voice was livid, but I made sure not to crush the tiny creature in my grasp.
"Wow, bro, relax. It's my bad, but look on the bright side—your system is here. Also, didn't you say you're going to watch your language this year? Might want to get to that," the fairy said, raising his hands in a gesture to calm me down.
"Sigh... what took you so long anyway? It's been two years since I came to this world, yet I didn't see even a sign of you showing up," I asked, releasing the fairy and allowing him to float back into the air as I fell back on my bed, my long thick dreads spreading out all over it.
"Well, I kinda... got lost." Those words almost sent me over the edge, but with one deep breath, I calmed down quickly.
"I will not ask how you got lost. So, get to telling me your functions before I get a migraine," I said, causing the fairy—or should I say, my system—to perk up. He quickly began a swift explanation by opening a black screen with gold letters in my vision.
[Welcome to the Guild Master system]
"How nice," I said, getting a smile from the system, who wasted no time bringing up another screen—my status.
- - - - -
[Name: Duke Harold]
[Level: 1]
[Class: Guild Master]
-Skills-
[None]
- - - - -
"Kind of bare, don't you think? Where are the stats? What about my skills? Why is it so empty?" My words only elicited a nod from the fairy, who dismissed the screen and began his explanation.
"I only display information considered important. Stats grow steadily with each level to fit your class. As for skills, you'll have to wait until the end of my presentation." With a simple nod, I allowed the system to continue its explanation.
"The next section is called the Guild Building. It's quite shabby now with no upgrades or improvements. Currently, you only have the [Dormitory Lv1] and [Mission Board Lv1]. The Dormitory dictates how many adventurers you can have at any one time, while the Mission Board allows you to take missions for you and your heroes to earn money and level up." The fairy's explanation was straightforward, so I quickly understood, but I soon noticed a problem while looking at the Guild screen.
"Hey system, how do I get heroes?" I noticed the explanation was missing the way to get heroes, but I wasn't too worried until the fairy's next words left me quite confused.
"You need to complete missions to earn Hero contracts." My face visibly scrunched, but not wanting to assume wrongly, I spoke again.
"But how can I complete missions with no heroes?" My question seemed to cause realization to dawn on the fairy's face. After making a bit of distance, he explained something that nearly caused me to burst out in a fit of cursing.
"Your level and class are not for decoration. You need to do missions too." My face dropped as realization struck that I would need to complete my first few missions myself.
"How do you expect me to complete missions when I have never fought a day in my life? Don't tell me my guild does freelance work like construction?" My words seemed to leave the fairy unfazed, who quickly brought up another screen labeled inventory. It contained everything I stored from my job, but the fairy directed me towards a weird wooden crate-like item in my inventory. Clicking on it revealed its name and description.
[Basic Starter Package]
[Tier: N/A]
[Description: 2x [Skill token], [Basic Weapon Token], [1000 Gold Coins]]
"Open it quickly and, based on what you get, you can check the mission boards," the fairy directed. With a simple nod, I wasted no time opening the Starter pack, happy I was given at least this much.
[Opening Starter Package please standby]
[You have gained 2x [Skill token]
[You have gained [Basic Weapon Token]
[You have gained [1000 Gold Coins]
After seeing the items enter my inventory, I wasted no time using the tokens, causing another series of notifications to stream across my vision.
[You have learned the passive skill [Novice Axemanship (0%)] ]
[You have learned the active skill [Battle Oath (0%)] ]
[You have gained [Bloodied Fire Axe (Uncommon)] ]
'Heavy.' That was the only thought I had as I held the [Bloodied Fire Axe], which weighed about 15 to 20 pounds. I didn't mind that too much as I admired the blood-red blade and void-black handle, which seemed like a formidable weapon on its own.
"Most of the weight seems to be on the axe head, so you should be able to get good momentum with it. Good catch," the fairy complimented as I stood up and gave the axe a few practice swings, noting that I would only be able to swing it a handful of times before getting tired.
"Two things: is there a way to look at an item's or skill's description? And do you have a name?" I asked, looking up at the fairy, who had taken a spot on my bed while answering my questions.
"My name is Apollo. I manage your system, as you know, and yes, there is a way to look at skill and item descriptions. When anything is in a system menu, you can bring up a description by double-tapping it. Try putting your weapon in your inventory," Apollo explained. With that, I first brought up my skill descriptions, which were overall pretty generic. However, [Battle Oath (0%)] was interesting as it gives me a stat improvement if I pledge something before combat.
For example, if I pledged not to flee, I would receive a 30% stat boost for that battle. However, if I pledged to land a hit, I wouldn't even receive a 5% stat boost since it would normally be easy to land a hit.
The axe had two interesting affixes. One was a 10% life steal, and the other was a level 1 passive called terror, which causes anyone nearby a creature I killed to be struck by fear and run away. Though I highly doubt it works on every creature, it's still pretty good.
"If you're ready, you can bring up the mission board by clicking on the mission board in the guild menu," Apollo prompted. I quickly brought up the guild menu, which showed me the insides of what most would call a guild building. Without further ado, I clicked the mission board over in the far right corner of the guild hall, which immediately brought up the available missions.
[Goblin Hunt]
[Description: Hunt all Goblins within the forest]
[Target: 0/10]
[Reward: 2x Basic Potion Token, Basic Armor Token, 100 gold]
[Duel Hobgoblin]
[Description: A young hot-blooded Hobgoblin is looking for a good fight. Can you give him one?]
[Target: Fight the Hobgoblin until he's satisfied]
[Reward: 2x Basic Hero Summoning]
[Mapping Wind Peak]
[Description: Explore Wind Peak as much as possible in the given time frame.]
[Target: Rewards will be given based on exploration amount starting at 40% explored] [Reward: Basic Hero Summoning, Basic Weapon Token, 250 gold] + [for every 20% afterwards, will receive 1-2 more tokens or gold rewards]
"I would recommend you take the exploration mission." While I was contemplating which mission to take, Apollo spoke up, cutting off any idea I had in mind. I turned to him, prompting him to explain.
"You would have probably come to this conclusion, but I will tell you this now: these are no fantasy goblins. These are goblin slaver goblins, so I would advise against fighting even one of them, let alone ten. The Hobgoblin is a no-go as well. You don't even have enough skill to fight a goblin properly, let alone an evolved version that probably has years of experience. Even if the rewards are good, they just don't compare to the exploration mission, which, though it only has one hero summoning, will give you plenty of rewards." Saying all this in one breath seemed to leave Apollo a bit breathless, but overall, I understood. After quickly going to my fridge to grab a couple of water bottles and food items to throw in my inventory, I wasted no time accepting the mission, ready for any challenges I might face, axe in hand.
[Beginning transfer, please standby]
週次パワーステータス
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