I stared at the rabbit that was before me. Its fur was a pure white, and it's big eyes a bright red. It looked like any other innocent rabbit, if not on the especially cute side. The rabbit and I were currently engaged in a staring contest, with neither one of us letting down our guards as killing intent warred with killing intent.

Why was I currently in the middle of a fierce showdown with this rabbit you ask? I'll have to go back a few hours in time to explain....

-----

I blinked open my eyes, dizziness assaulting my head. Where was I? Glancing around, I saw that my current location was roughly near the edge of a small village with wooden houses, surrounded by trees on all sides. Was I in the woods somewhere? The village itself didn't look like something you would find in modern times though...

I was quite confused. After all, wasn't I just... huh? What had I just been doing? I shook my head, trying to regain my senses. Now that I think about it... What was my name again? I remember that... I was at home playing games I think? But where was home? S-san Francisco? Was that it?

Suddenly a genderless voice spoke inside my head, startling me.

"Welcome to the world of Arkon! To see your status, one can will it to being, or simply use the verbal command, 'Status'. Any other questions pertaining to the system will be answered automatically during your stay in the Beginner's Village, or one can turn their attention to status's help function. Until then, please enjoy your new lives!"

I furrowed my brow. Arkon? For some reason, I felt this situation was a bit similar to some light novels I had read before... but I don't remember their titles and the details seemed to continue to escape me. I willed my status to open, and found that it worked just like the person (or was it a person?) had said it would.

A window appeared in front of me, looking something like a status window. At least, what I think a status window should look like. My memories weren't all that intact though, so I couldn't really put total trust in them.

*Author's Note: Sorry I'm too lazy to put in tables... >.>

Status Window

Name: Luna Silverwing

Class: None

Race: Human

Level: 1

Alignment: Neutral

Titles:

Otherworlder - The world will appear in an RPG format to aid you.

Health: 500/500

Mana: 500/500

Strength: 10

Agility: 10

Vitality: 10

Intelligence: 10

Wisdom: 10

Luck: 5

Equipped:

Beginner's Dagger

Beginner's Leather Armor

So Luna Silverwing is my name? My mouth deepened into a frown as I pondered on it. I couldn't remember my actual name, but I felt that "Luna Silverwing" wasn't it. For one thing, the name sounded unfamiliar, and foreign, as if it wasn't my own name. Well, it's not like I could remember my actual name no matter how hard I tried, so it was whatever. I shrugged and put the thoughts of the matter aside.

*Tting*

Suddenly a bluish window appeared in front of me. I stared at it... and tried poking it. My finger touched the window, and it felt a bit similar to smooth rock. I then proceeded to read the message.

«Luna Silverwing has gained the title "Passive"»

«Title Passive - Effects of passive skills are increased by +5%. Events Beyond your control are +5% more likely to yield beneficial rewards»

Did the system read my mind?! I wanted to insert some form of tsukkomi here at this moment. This is an invasion of privacy! Or something. It was embarrassing, but I couldn't really deny that I was a "Passive" type of person. Well, the effects were pretty good too, so I let it slide.

«Passive has leveled up!»

«Passive Lv.2 - Effects of passive skills are increased by +6%. Events beyond your control are +6% More likely to yield beneficial rewards»

What?! Should it really be that easy to level the title up?! Wait, could it be, that I've suddenly kind have gotten a bit overpowered now? Just kidding. I didn't actually have any skills to speak of, let alone passive ones... plus I was still at level one.

Anyways, I let out an inner sigh before turning my mind towards other matters. From the description of the "Otherworlder" title, I can guess that this world was "real". The world just manipulated itself to make it appear like an RPG or something along those lines.

Which meant that dying is no good. I mean, perhaps we would resurrect, with a penalty maybe, but I sure as hell won't be trying it. What if I actually die permanently? Then it would be a Game Over, with no second chances.

Death was a big concern, but that didn't mean I would be a coward. I had to make a living in this world now since I didn't know when I can return to my old world, if at all. Even though I said that... What should I do?

Since the format is like an RPG, would that mean there are quests?

"Confirmation. Quests can be given out by the system and other people, including both Otherworlders and Arkon residents. The difficulty of quests will automatically increase in correspondence to ones level and ability."

Ohhh, it really did answer my question. How interesting.

Then... I thought about classes. Since there was something like that in my status, I wondered how I would get one.

"Classes may be obtained through special quests. Other ways to obtain classes are to complete an apprenticeship or test at an instructor center, which can be found in any large city. Classes are not required, but recommended due to class-specific skills and buffs. Upon reaching a certain level, one can also proceed with a 'class advancement'."

I nodded. I should probably place some careful thought into choosing my class, but for now I just tucked away the knowledge into the back of my mind. Money, food, and lodging were what was important for now!

Since the help function is only available during my time in this village, I guessed that I wouldn't be staying here forever. It was probably a sort of tutorial kind of thing... probably. There might be a certain requirement I would have to meet before being able to leave, or I might be able to leave at any time. I asked the question to myself, or more accurately, to the world.

"Confirmation. Once certain requirements have been met, one may automatically leave and be teleported to a random city. Said requirements are hidden and should be discovered by oneself."

For what reason the requirements were hidden I didn't know, but in my experience it probably had something to do with level, or maybe I would have to complete a specific quest.

Questing and levels go hand in hand, so I guess it was about time to talk to people.

I walked further inside the village, and somewhere at its center was a stone fountain, with a large house behind it. It was probably something like the village elder's, or leader's, house. Water was good though. It looked relatively clean, and the liquid was clear, with nothing suspicious floating in it.

My reflection was unfamiliar. Long ice silver hair, and sharp misty lilac eyes. My skin was fair like porcelain, and my figure slender, with not much meat. Not even in that area, if you know what I mean. I had pretty delicate looking features, and if I should say, I was more on the pretty side, rather than otherwise. Calling myself pretty is awkward but since I didn't even recognize this face, it should be fine right?

I stopped staring at my reflection, my thoughts going to other subjects.

... Should I just drink it with my hands...? Oh wait, at times like these, wouldn't one have something in their inventory? I said "Inventory" in my head, and sure enough, the inventory window appeared. There were roughly 20 slots, with only a few taken up.

I had, inside, several pieces of bread (what a classic), a water skin, and some bandages. I took out the water skin, filled it up, and took a sip. The water was refreshing, but had an earthy tang to it, although it wasn't that bad of a thing.

With my thirst quenched, I looked around. There were a few children playing with sticks and mud a whiles away, and village women chattering with each other as they worked. There was a merchant's stall to my far right, and what appeared like a smithy across from that.

I glanced back to my inventory as I put the water skin away. I had 10 copper. It didn't sound impressive... but you never know! I went up to the merchant, who was a middle aged man with a healthy suntan and a bit of stubble on his chin. He appeared like an honest enough person, but merchants weren't exactly the most trustworthy of types, at least in my opinion.

On the table before the man were some potions (I think that's what the were), as well as various things that I found pretty unrecognizable.

"Good sir, may I ask how much this costs?" I asked as I pointed to the small glass vial of blood red liquid. Manners make a man, or so they say. Although in this case, it would be a woman.

"The health potion? That'd be five copper, but just fer you, I'll sell it at four." He said with a saucy wink. His flirting didn't leave a bad taste in my mouth, but rather lightened my heart. I would say he wasn't a bad guy at all from my first impression of the man.

"Alright, then I will take one please." I traded my copper for the vial, storing the pot into my inventory. It seems that although ten copper wasn't a lot, it was not a bad amount either.

I then proceeded to my other matter. "I am quite new to this place, being an outsider, so I was wondering if you knew anyone in need of some help? I would be much grateful for work." Was this how to ask for quests? Or at least the location of one? I didn't know, but I went with it.

"Hoho, no wonder I didn't recognize a pretty lass like yerself. If I recall, the village elder had been need of some help. Around this time he should be in the fields. Try the west one, if not that then maybe he be up north."

I thanked him before going on my way. The west field was relatively small, with the crops planted rather haphazardly. Near the edges of the plot was an old man,who I guessed was the village elder. I went up to him, on my best behavior. First impressions make for a world of difference and this was important, seeing as my livelihood may be determined at this moment. Okay I'm exaggerating, but yeah whether or not the village elder liked me could make a big difference.

"Esteemed elder! I am sorry to bother you, but I have recently arrived here. When I told the good merchant that I was in need of work, he had pointed me in your direction. Perhaps there might be a job you could spare me?"

All these fancy words have begun to tire me out.

The elder looked up, his eyes partially hidden beneath his thick brows. "You seem like quite the fragile and delicate young chick. But yes, Torua is right, I have been in need of workers. Would you go to the north fields and take care of the rabbits there? They have recently been eating away at all our crops. Of course, I will reward you justly."

I accepted the quest, and a little message popped up. It basically had the details of the request, with things like how many rabbits I needed to kill, what rewards there were, or if there was an additional objective. At this point, the additional objective was just to kill more rabbits.

I leisurely strolled to the north fields, not in a hurry since the quest had no time limit. The north was just the same as the west, with maybe some different plants. Aside from that, the distinguishing features were the bunnies. A lot of bunnies.

I had to kill ten of them, receiving 500 exp and 20 copper for it. I would get two more copper for each extra rabbit I killed.

Which brings me to the present. I was staring down the cute and fluffy rabbit, with a rusted dagger in my hand. It wasn't gonna go down without a fight, that much I could see.

Neither one of us had yet to attack, waiting for the other to make a move.

One minute ticked by. Then another. Beads of sweat dripped down my chin as the noon sun beat down on us. Who would make the first move? I did. Impatience won out, and I stabbed at the rabbit.

It dodged, leaping to my right with a kick of it's back feet. The moment it hit the ground, it kicked another time, launching itself toward me and headbutting my stomach when I was unable to react in time. I went from full health to 485/500 HP. Cursed rabbit!!

I swung my puny blade at the thing, scratching it slightly. I saw the health bar over the rabbit's head go down a bit, by maybe a tenth. So I would have to hit it nine more times before it died.

I slashed again at the damn thing, who then gave me another headbutt in its rage. We exchanged blows, but in the end, I was victorious. I mean come on, it would be too embarrassing for me to lose to a rabbit of all things.

Since I had 432/500 HP at this point, I decided to first check out the bandages, and then the health potion.

Item: Bandages

Restores 10HP/sec for 10 seconds.

Item: Crude Health Potion

Restores 25HP/sec for 10 seconds.

For my current amount of health, this was pretty good. Bandages restored a fifth of my health, and potions, half of my health. For now, I didn't want to waste them, so I put it away for later, before going off to slay more bunnies.

Nine bunnies later, I finished the quest's primary objective. I had yet to die. Although now that I think about it, with the matter of death, I could always have just asked the system about it?

... I coughed inwardly. System, do I revive after death?

"Confirmation. Otherworlders will automatically revive three hours after death in the nearest city, with a penalty. One may also resurrect through resurrection scrolls, resurrection spells, or special skills pertaining to resurrection. If one's death has been witnessed by more than one Arkon resident, one will have the option of having their name and appearance changed, gaining a new identity. Penalties can include loss of levels, experience, skills, or items."

Hey, hey, like this, aren't otherworlders kind of way to powerful? We can't even die, that's damn unrealistic.

But this was a good thing actually. Although the penalties were enough for me to consciously avoid dying, it wasn't like I actually had to worry about death now. Scary~ I feel like I've suddenly become a scary type of person. Can I still even be considered human at this point?

After getting the reward from the village elder, I was level 3. I had leveled up once when I was killing bunnies, and then another time with the quest's EXP reward. Since the elder had no other quests for me (just one? Why you skimping out on me elder-san!), I decided to grind in the forest. I was able to repair my dagger at the smithy as well, so now it looked a bit sharper and shinier than before.

Like that, I continued to defeat monsters valiantly. Even though I say monsters, they were pretty much just your ordinary beasts. I went from rabbits to foxes, to wolves, slowly leveling up along the way.

The animals themselves had varying attack patterns, so it was pretty fun. I was surprised when some of the rabbits would kick me instead of doing their usual headbutts, or when they did this ultimate move that was so fast I could only see them as a blur.

All in all, I felt like I had adapted rather quickly. I think my memory loss has a part in that. Since I can barely remember the things and people I was attached to before I came here, I had less of a desire to return. In the first place, can I even return?

"Currently, returning to your previous world is impossible."

I see. Since it's "currently" though, does that mean it might be possible later on?

"Confirmation. Indeed, with the influence of otherworlders, Arkon's technology may advance to the point where interdimensional travel is possible."

Interesting. Otherworlders bring with them new knowledge, and that can bring about the evolution of technology... or something.

Well, I'll put aside those thoughts for now. Though meeting other people like me would be nice.

By the time I exited the forest, I was level 5. A pretty decent achievement in my opinion, but I'm still unsure how many more levels I needed until I could leave the village. Or actually, I wasn't even sure if the requirement to leave the village was a certain amount of levels in the first place.

I bought a couple of potions from the merchant, Torua, who then started to talk it up with me.

It seems that the village elder had another task for me. Maybe if I complete this one I could finally get out of this place.

Turning around, I spotted a man by the fountain. He had short cut black hair, and fox shaped blue eyes. To be honest, he was really good looking, but that wasn't what caught my attention. It was what was floating above his head that made me look twice.

Above all people's heads I was able to see their name, level, class, and titles.

Yun Hua

Lv. 2

| Otherworlder |

I immediately felt a kinship of sorts with the man, and went ahead and approached him.

"Hey!" I called, but he didn't react. "Hello~ Yun-san? The man with the scary eyes there? The hot guy? The bastard ignoring the beautiful girl?"

He finally turned around, a menacing glare in his eyes that totally contrasted with the bright smile on my face.

His brows relaxed in a moment though, probably once he saw the title "Otherworlder" that I possessed.

"You too?" He asked, rubbing the back of his neck some. I'm guessing he was embarrassed from glaring at me... but that was just my opinion. I can't read minds so you never know.

"Yeah. But since I'm a higher level than you, I would be your Senpai right." I said, flashing him a semi-triumphant smile.

"..." He was silent, his eyes pretty dead. This guy doesn't take jokes very well does he?

"I was joking. Anyways, since we're fellow otherworlders, we should get along you know." I said, staring at home with wide innocent eyes. Don't look at me like that~ all you see here is a beautiful and innocent young girl~~

"Right... Can you remember what you were doing before you came here?" He suddenly asked me, appearing deep in thought.

"Hm? Well, I think I might have been playing a game or something? My memories aren't exactly all there though so I wouldn't be so sure?"

"... The same as me...?" He mumbled to himself, just barely audible.

So the amnesia didn't just apply to myself, but to him as well. From there I could properly infer that, in general, all otherworlders suffered from memory loss.

"So... friends?" I asked, raising my eyebrow at him.

"Huh? Oh, yeah, sure."

*Tting*

«Yun Hua has been registered as your friend.»

"Well. Do you need any help?" Our conversation was getting kinda awkward. Yun didn't seem to be much of a talker.

"No, I'm fine by myself." He turned abruptly, leaving me standing there.

How cool~ Wait, no, that wasn't what I should be saying. What a jerk! To reject a beautiful lady like myself, how rude! Not that I cared that much. Actually, I guess I cared some, mostly because he was hot though. Let us start fangirling.

Clearing my throat, I also went on my way. Drooling over beautiful people can wait for later, right now I should go to see the village elder. First I tried the west fields, where he had been before, but there was no sign of the old man.

I then went to the north fields, but those were no good either. South or east, the guy was nowhere to be seen. I then went to the merchant, almost about to give up.

"Torua old man, I haven't been able to find the village elder at all!" I said, and the merchant furrowed his brow in thought.

"You already tried all the fields?"

"Yeah."

"Well, this is odd. How about the manor? If he's not there, we might have to search the woods for him."

*Tting*

New quest!

Find Me

The village elder has gone missing! He hasn't been seen since half an hour ago and is not in any of the fields.

Objective: Locate the village elder

Additional objectives: Bring back the village elder unharmed

Rewards:

2000 EXP

10 copper

Additional Rewards:

Unknown

That additional objective is freaking suspicious. It surprisingly reveals a lot about the situation. With that thought in mind, I went ahead to the manor, searching it from head to toe. There was no elderly man anywhere.

There was, though, a rather suspicious looking basement, with rather suspicious bloodstains, and a rather suspicious hidden door. Lots of suspicious things right there.

*Tting*

«Luna Silverwing has gained the title "Sherlock"»

«Title Sherlock - Clues within eyesight are made obvious. +5% Increase in speed and accuracy of deductive reasoning.»

?!?!?!?!! It knows Sherlock?!! I stared at the window, my jaw down to the ground. Eh, why am I even surprised at this point. No, actually, in the first place, what is Sherlock? I wanted to tsukkomi myself. I didn't even remember what Sherlock was, yet I was still surprised.

... Whatever!

*Tting*

«Passive has leveled up!»

«Passive Lv.3 -- Effects of passive skills are increased by +7%. Events Beyond your control are +7% More likely to yield beneficial rewards»

I have no more energy left to retort. Instead, I opened up the hidden door, which was basically a stone slab, to reveal a dark tunnel beyond. The wind howled eerily, making me shiver slightly.

I grabbed a torch that was hanging on the wall nearby, before proceeding inside the tunnel. It was creepy and seemed to never end. I couldn't tell how much time has passed, but I finally exited what seemed like a million years later.

From what I could tell, I was somewhere in the forest, with the sun having already set. It had been roughly evening when I had entered the manor, so I would say about two hours had passed, at least. That is a lot of walking I did right there, I better be rewarded nicely after this.

*Snap*

I immediately snuffed out the flame and hid. I didn't know why I did that, but instinct told me that I should be cautious. I strained my ears as I waited for my eyes to adjust to the darkness, with only the pale moon lighting up the night.

Beyond the line of trees, I saw a clearing, able to barely make out a number of hazy figures. I counted roughly three or four of them.

"Have you got the old man?" A gruff voice said.

"Yeah. Who would have thought that he'd be hanging in a backwater village like this." Another voice answered; this one was young and feminine.

"Haha, just wait and we'll be rich in no time." Another young voice spoke, but it was on the deeper side. Probably a man in his early twenties I would say.

From what I got from the conversation, I guessed that the village elder was some sort of big shot, and that would somehow get these people a lot of money. I squinted at the people from my hiding place.

There was a... Level 3, level 3, level 2, and a level 4 who was hiding somewhere in the bushes. Too bad your stealth doesn't work on me, muahahaha. I coughed inwardly, embarrassed that I had actually done the evil laugh, in my head or not.

I was level five, but there were four of them, and one of me. At the same time, I got the feeling that otherworlders were naturally more powerful than Arkon residents. Should I take them on?

I decided to wait it out and see what would happen next. I needed them to let down their guards or show a weakness first. That would be far better than just charging in there, swinging around my tiny dagger like a madman.

Waiting. Waiting. Some more waiting. Zzz- hah! What? Did something happen? I looked around, still half asleep from when I had dozed off slightly. I let out a sigh of relief when I saw the people were still there.

There were two people asleep and two on watch. The level four and one of the level threes were sleeping, while the other level three and two were beginning to nod off... the perfect opportunity!

I slipped through the bushes as quietly as I could, sneaking through the shadows cast by the flickering embers of the dying fire. Carefully now, slowly now...

My hand wrapped around the mouth of the level three woman as I hit her head hard with the hilt of my dagger. Even if I had killed animals before, it didn't mean that I could all of a sudden be able to kill humans. So I stuck with just knocking them unconscious.

The level two young man didn't notice anything as I crept up to him. If I had planned out the watch, I would have put the level four and two together, but that's just me.

He suddenly glanced around, noticing that his partner had mysteriously disappeared, having been dragged into the shadows of the nearby bushes by yours truly.

"Esther? Are you there?" He asked, whispering rather loudly. He peered in my direction. "Is that you?"

I guess our builds were rather similar, causing the man to confuse me with his comrade in this darkness.

I answered with my dagger, knocking him out before he could say another word. The other two were asleep, so tying and gagging them was pretty easy. The level four guy almost woke up, but a solid hit to the back of his neck solved that. Once I had taken care of all of them, I searched for the village elder.

It didn't take me long, as only an idiot wouldn't be able to spot the lumpy body bag that was within arms length of the fire.

I opened it up, and sure enough, a peacefully sleeping elder could be made out in the faint light.

Itar Soltis

Diplomat Lv.7

| Village Elder | Duke of the Fallen Kingdom | Peacemaker | Masked One | Sage of a Thousand Stars |

Hmm, before I could only see the village elder title, and his name, with the rest hidden by question marks, but now there were various things that had revealed themselves. This guy really wasn't as he seemed huh.

Or actually, what's a level seven doing getting beaten by level threes?!

I shook the old man awake and he blinked his eyes open, even having the gall to yawn loudly.

"Oh? Aren't you that outsider from earlier today?" He asked as he glanced around, not even batting an eyelash at the collapsed figures of his kidnappers.

"Yes. Torua-san sent me to search for you." I said, nodding as I confirmed the elder's words.

"I see. Well, thank you for your hard work." He stood up and lifted the level four and three guys with ease. Like I thought, he was hiding his power! How the heck did he end up being captured by these guys if he's that strong?

He smiled mysteriously in reply to my probing gaze as I gathered up the other two bodies. Although I was only level five, the bodies were already light to me, seemingly weighing not even ten pounds, rather than that of the mass of two grown adults.

We brought the four back to the village, the long walk done in silence. The village elder woke up Torua, who followed us to the manor without a word. The maid questioned nothing as she let the three of us (plus four unconscious kidnappers) inside the house.

We were guided to a living room like place, where the elder unceremoniously dumped the bodies onto the ground, and I followed suit. Torua sat onto one of the couches, letting out a sigh as he stared at the kidnappers.

I didn't sit yet, instead looking to the mysterious Itar, whose eyes were also on the kidnappers.

"Thank you for the hard work, lass. You done a good job, bringin' back the elder." Torua finally said, interrupting the heavy silence.

*Tting*

«You have completed the quest "Find Me"»

«You have leveled up!»

«Please wait before receiving any additional rewards»

"Fumu, I've been getting rusty, to let a bunch of lads who are still wet behind the ears to get me like that." The elder said, shaking his head.

I agree. I mean, that strength that shouldn't be able to come out from thin elderly arms like yours is pretty scary. Is this what they call gap moe? Just kidding.

"You must be curious why an old man like me was kidnapped, huh?"

Not really.

"I'll tell you my story since you insist."

No, no, I haven't insisted or anything though.

"Once upon a time..."

... Really?

"In a kingdom far, far away..."

You've definitely plagiarized that.

"I was once a duke."

Wait, that doesn't match up at all. Your storytelling skills suck! In the first place, I already knew that!

"The kingdom I served was known as the Kingdom of Seven Stars. It was named as such because it was ruled not by one king, but by seven clan heads, who formed a ruling council. I was one of those clan heads. We were all known as dukes."

A kind of democratic setup, I see. Or is it republican? Or maybe none of the above? I don't really get politics, but considering this world seems pretty historically set, it's rather impressive that the kingdom wasn't a monarchy.

"We were a peaceful country, although only five generations old. But that peace was soon ruined. The other council members all wanted more power. They became greedy, and fought with each other over the smallest of things."

Hm, humans will be humans. Greedy bastards, the lot of 'em. Well, it's not like I can say anything since I'm also human. Me is greedy. Want more monnies.

"Soon we broke out into a civil war. Neighboring countries took advantage of our internal conflict to attack, and the kingdom fell, breaking up into several separate territories that were then annexed by other kingdoms."

I listened, calming my inner retorts. I could feel that we were nearing the end of the story.

"Most of the dukes were killed. Of the seven, only I and the Duke of Dunwall were able to escape. Along with the kingdom's treasures... or so rumors say. Till this day, I am still pursued by thieves wanting to get a hold of relics and gold."

Relics... and gold, you say? My imagination began to run wild. I gasped, reigning it in. That was a close call there, almost falling prey to my desires.

"I-I see. Well, it's good that nothing too major happened." I said after clearing my throat in embarrassment.

"Indeed. I am quite grateful for your help, Luna-san." The old man said, stroking his short beard.

"No, no, it's what anyone would have done." I replied, shaking my head.

"Even so, it would take some amount of courage to do what you has just done. Let me reward you, I insist."

"W-well, if you absolutely insist then I guess it can't be helped." I was blushing, knowing that I was probably quite see through right now. My desire for treasure wasn't small after all.

"Please take this." The old man said, nodding to Torua, who then took out a book, handing it to me.

«Would you like to switch classes to "Polymath"?»

«Polymath - A polymath is one skilled in all subjects. A master of all, and jack of none. Will receive a +5% increase in all skills, and a +3% increase in all stats. Skills will be +7% easier to obtain. The Polymath class comes with five random skills.»

Woah, isn't this like, a really good class? A master of all? Yes please!

I pressed the yes button and checked my status. Sure enough, the class section had gone from "None" to "Polymath". I then checked my skills. I had already had the dagger mastery and first aid skills, but now there were another five on top of that.

Active skill:

Self Heal

Beginner's Lv.1

Heals yourself 500 HP

Passive skill:

Archery

Beginner's Lv.1

Archery skills have +3% accuracy and power

Passive Skill:

Dance

Beginner's Lv.1

Dancing is +5% more likely to charm enemies and boost morale of allies

Passive Skill:

Mana Sight

Beginner's Lv.1

Mana appears as colored mist in the air around you

Passive Skill:

Lion's Courage

Beginner's Lv.1

+5% increase in Fighting Spirit

+5% increase in stats when facing an opponent stronger than you

I almost couldn't stop myself from laughing. I guess this is what they call a jackpot? I don't know how I compared to other people, but I was pretty damn sure that given enough time, I could become quite the force to be reckoned with.

"Of course, it would do you good if you kept silent about this whole matter..." The sentence ended on a lightly threatening tone, which I answered with a bright smile.

"For an esteemed elder such as yourself, I would never think about going against your wishes!" I said.

"Fumu, I am glad to hear that. Do you have a place to stay tonight? If not, I can lend you a room here."

I gladly accepted and was guided to a small room on the third floor. It had only been a day, yet it felt like so much had happened. I still hadn't left the beginner's village either... drifting off, my last thoughts were of my distant and hazy memories, that always seemed to escape my grasp...

-----

"Who are you?" I asked the faceless woman. From what I could make out of her, she had black hair and was wearing a white one piece. Anything else seemed to go in and out of focus, making me unable to make out any details.

"No. Who are you?" She replied, her voice soft and had a tinge of sadness to it.

"I-I don't know." I answered.

Her appearance shattered like a broken mirror, the pieces of the white world surrounding me falling away. Then everything went dark.

-----

"Hey, what do you think of that new game, '------'?" A boy asked me. I couldn't see what he looked like, a thin mist surrounding him.

"Hah, do you even need to ask? The world's first virtual reality game that has achieved 95% realism. It lives up to its name." I said. I had spoken, but at the same time, it wasn't me.

"Haha, you have to lend me your capsule sometime. Unlike someone, I'm too poor to afford it." He said as he pushed the wheelchair. My wheelchair. I was sitting in it, my legs covered by a blanket.

"What? The Mr. Harvard graduate is poorer than me? I'd never thought I'd see the day." I said with a gasp.

"I'm still in school, or have you finally fried your brain?" He scoffed, shaking his head.

"Hehe, you'll become a great doctor. But seriously you ain't got the time for playing games so don't even ask me!"

The scene was nostalgic. It broke my heart.

-----

I woke up, my cheeks wet. Had I been crying? I don't know why. I felt it had to do with my dream, but I couldn't remember any of it. I shook my head, getting up.

Today was my second day in Arkon, and I was determined for it to be my last one in the Beginner's Village. I wanted to see the big cities! Go out and explore the world! I don't know why, but that one desire burned like a fire in me.

And so I grinded. There weren't any quests for me, so I headed out by myself, with a bow and arrows slung over my shoulder, to kill some animals. Hopefully gaining levels and grinding up my Archery skill in the process.

I was like a real sniper as I took down my prey from afar. With my fairy-like looks, I felt pretty cool shooting the arrows. Even though I missed two out of three shots in the beginning. No! Don't despair! I can do this!

By continuously believing in myself, I improved to where I would say I had roughly an 80% shot accuracy. I had also learned three new skills.

Active Skill:

Eagle's Eye

Beginner's Lv.2

Able to lock onto targets from far away

Can see everything in a 100m radius in a bird's eye view

Passive Skill:

Bow Mastery

Beginner's Lv.2

+5% increase in agility and dexterity when using a bow

+3% to effects of passive skill "Archery"

Passive Skill:

Sniper

Beginner's Lv.3

+10% increase in critical chance

Accuracy of archery skills increases by +7% when target is more than 50m away

I leveled up once, and finally, finally! Received the message I had been waiting for.

«Would you like to leave the Beginner's Village?»

Hell yes!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Author's Note

So. Greetings to any readers I may have~ well this first chapter ended up a lot longer than I intended it to be. It took me roughly two to three days, with me skimping out big time on my work. So I'm planning on doing maybe one or two chapters per week, although the word count may vary. I'm considering opting for shorter chapters in exchange for faster releases, but since I usually just go with it according to the flow, I'm not sure if that will happen. Meh, I'll see. If anyone has any opinion on that, comment down below~ On another note, I feel like Luna's personality ended up all over the place, so I'll have to fix that. As a result, she might end up slowly changing personalities over the course of the next few chapters hahaha.

Anyways, hope you guys enjoy and please give me any friendly advice or critiques. I don't mind if you're harsh about it as long as you stay respectful, after all, there's no need to be rude. I spent effort in writing this, and I hope you guys will appreciate that at the very least... ;w;