章 1: Unacceptable
Primary School. Secondary School. Corporate Job.
Life was pretty simply laid out before me. All I had to do was do well in school, graduate, then go to college. After getting a degree, I would get a stable job and work hard to climb the corporate ladder.
However, even when I did those things, I never received the recognition I had so desperately craved for since I was a child.
The reason wasn't even one I could justify morally.
I had a younger brother.
He was not a bad kid, in fact he was a perfect brother, and that was the problem.
My brother was a genius, in ever sense of the word, he excelled at everything he touched.
I remembered being interested in soccer, so I asked my parents to let me join the little league team, and they let me. I made the starting string, and around that time my brother had watched a few of my games. He also begged my parents to let him try out soccer, and they agreed seeing as how it had helped me stay active.
We both played in different age brackets, but we were both on our way to the regional finals. Where my team met a heartbreaking defeat with a score of 15 to 16, ending our run for the regional finals, and a chance at nationals.
My brother, on the other hand, started to show incredible skill. He almost single handedly led his team to end up winning nationals, making my parents so proud of him.
I celebrated with him, as I was happy for him even though I had lost, but at the time I didn't think of it as a comparison between us two. We just happened to have different results.
But that sentiment didn't last.
I took up piano, and he did as well.
A piano prodigy who played at enormous concerts.
I worked hard in school to get good grades.
My brother was a straight A student throughout his entire education, representing his school in multiple academic competitions, and eventually being put into a private school by my parents to allow him to excel further.
It was in my 10th year in primary school, when I realized that no matter what I did, I would be overshadowed by my brother's monstrous gift.
Yet I had no one to hate, other than myself for my inability to do the same.
My parents' neglect, paired with a lack of self fulfillment, led to me becoming a recluse.
I shut the world out, since I felt it would never see me anyways, and I simply stopped trying to stand out. I did my schoolwork diligently, and when I came home I would confine myself to my room. I would browse the internet, or play games.
Eventually I had managed to get to a high ranking in a MMORPG. People began to notice me...
However that was short lived, when one day I was defeated in the PVP arena, where I had lost all the prestige I had built over years of hard work.
Some unknown player, who was a lower level than me, had completely stomped me in a duel. It was seen by thousands of people, only to be made worse by people posting it online.
I was devastated, and I angrily logged off.
I thought it was just the reality of life, that someone out there would be able to defeat me. As the saying goes, there is always someone bigger out there.
However that respite also came to an end. My brother knocked on my door, and when I answered he greeted me with a smile.
"Ethan! That was a nice duel earlier!"
I looked at my brother with a gentle gaze.
"I appreciate you trying to cheer me up, but to be honest that guy was just so much better than me. It sucks, but that's just the reality of life."
His answer was the last thing I wanted to hear.
"Oh, no Ethan, that was me playing! I knew you recently got into that game, so I made an account! I wanted to play with you, but you only play PvP so I had to duel you to play with you. I didn't expect to beat you, but I must have gotten lucky!"
My eyes went wide in horror, as I realized once again everything was stolen from me. When I thought I had finally found a little place in the world, I lost it almost immediately.
Worse yet. I couldn't even hate him. He was simply a child who wanted to spend time with his older brother.
I was not even able to express my grievances, and this led to me becoming numb. Suppressing my own emotions, positive and negative ones.
I quietly graduated high school, went to college, and got a job at the company my younger brother established. He hired me on as his CFO, and I diligently did my work. One day as I was working late, my brother came out of his office and greeted me in mine.
"Ethan, thank you for working so hard. Even working overtime and late into the night. Let's get some dinner together."
He smiled brightly at me, but I had an impassive expression.
"Okay. Let me finish this expense report for our planned expansion this month. It won't take more than a few minutes."
"Sure thing."
With a pat on my shoulder, he took a seat in the chair across from me, and looked through his phone.
As I finished the report, I sent it to the relevant people in our company, and I shut off my computer. I got up, grabbed my coat, and headed out of the office with my brother. Locking the door behind us, I walked with my brother to the elevator, and we both entered.
While we were going down, my brother suddenly asked me something.
"Ethan... Let's say there was a woman in your life you liked, how would you go about approaching her?"
I was a little shocked, but I didn't show it. I simply thought for a moment, before giving a simple answer. Neither of us had any experience with women, me because I couldn't express myself, and my brother because he was simply unable to connect with others intimately.
"You should simply express your desire to pursue her. Asking to go out to dinner or coffee, but let her know its because you like her. Not a dinner as just friends. Otherwise you might find yourself seen as just a friend."
My brother nodded, and smiled.
"Thanks Ethan. I'll do that."
He put his arm around my shoulder, but I just kept looking forward. Soon the doors opened, and we found ourselves in the parking garage. We made our way towards his car, but right as we got to his car, a man came out from behind the car next to his.
Immediately I saw him, and I pulled my brother back out of the way. It was a little too late, but I noticed now that the man had a knife. I tried to block his arm holding the knife, but I wasn't able to stop him.
Immediately I felt a hot searing pain in my stomach, and I looked down in shock as the man pulled the knife out.
I knew he was after my brother, but I still grabbed onto his sleeves.
"GET OFF ME, I'M NOT AFTER YOU!"
"N-No!"
I gripped him so tightly, he was unable to move past me, and the attacker instead opted to stab me again to force me to let go. However, even with the pain of him repeatedly stabbing me, I didn't let go.
I turned to my brother, and looked him in his horrified eyes.
"R-run... Get help, I'll... I'll hold him here."
I saw tears welling up in my brother's eyes, and I knew this would be the one moment I could finally be free of my past. So I smiled at my brother and said my farewells in my heart.
"I'm your big brother. I can handle this much... Now go."
With tears, and an understanding that I wouldn't make it even if he were to try and help, he turned away and ran out of the parking garage.
Frustrated at the target of his attack running, the man desperately fought to get me off of him.
"LET GO YOU BASTARD!"
However I looked him in the eye and smiled.
"Fuck you."
Those were my last words as my consciousness faded.
****
My consciousness returned to me, and I immediately clutched my stomach as the searing pain was still there. I opened my eyes, but I found myself in an unfamiliar room.
Thinking perhaps I had somehow gotten to the hospital in time, I didn't think too heavily about where I was. Instead I was worried about the pain in my stomach, however when I looked down I noticed that I was not bleeding from my stomach.
I coughed into my hand, and noticed there was clumped dark blood in my hand. The pain in my stomach started to subside, but it was soon replaced by a sharp pain in my head.
My mind felt as though it was being ripped in half, and unfamiliar memories began to flood my mind.
Memories of someone named Artemis Kiltec. A 15 year old who had no known relatives in this world, and someone who had died in an assassination attempt. He died to a painful poison, and at the moment of his death I was suddenly thrust into this body.
The poison was neutralized mysteriously, but the last soul had already moved on. Now I was stuck.
With someone unknown targeting my life, and I was in a world where I had nothing going for me.
I only had the memories of the city of Grindle, and that I was currently the city of Anthroll. Anthroll was where the Academy of Heroes resided.
The academy was the most famous one in the Empire of Runecraven, which is the empire I was in now, and was well known for producing heroes.
Heroes was a very broad term, but it referred to anyone who was able to defeat various monsters that threatened everyday life.
These monsters came from the Dark Continent, which was a mostly unexplored continent that was the place where monsters came from. The monsters being alive were not typically an issue, however because they reproduced so much, they inevitably encroached on human lands.
The Dark Continent was to the East of the Empire. To the North was the Tundra Lands, home to Dwarves and Trolls. The West was the Great Plains. There was the home of the elves there, along with the Goblins, and wandering druids. The South was the Desolate Sands, home to Orcs and the Nomadic Sand People.
There was another unexplored half of the world, but that was inaccessible due to waters that were not traversable along with sea monsters that were too powerful to defeat.
With this information, I knew that my only option for living in this world was to make it at the academy.
As I was thinking about how the past Artemis showed promise as a mage, I realized that I was unable to use the same magic from the memories I inherited.
Artemis was gifted in Wind magic, but when I tried using a simple spell it didn't activate. This meant I didn't have an affinity with that magic type.
This was worrying, as this meant I had nothing to offer at the academy, which would result in my expulsion immediately.
As I was mildly worrying about that, as if on cue, my golden finger presented itself.
[System of Pride has bound to host.]
[Live your life with pride, or die in shame.]
[Quest: Make an impression on your first day of school.]
[Reward: 10-100g depending on how big of an impression you leave.]
[Penalty: You may not do anything that tarnishes your reputation.]
Having gone through a shut in phase when I was in high school, I had read novels with a plot similar to this, so I wasn't completely lost when I saw the panel in front of me.
Wiping the blood off the corners of my mouth, I stood up from the floor.
"I guess the first thing I need to do is find my way to the academy... Maybe I'll be able to live a better life in this world."
With newfound determination, I began to organize my things before I headed out to the city.
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