Gururururu.

My stomach protested loudly as I roamed through the streets, helplessly exposed to the heat of the unrelenting sun.

Once in a while, someone would glance over at me pitifully, probably because I was wearing clothes riddled with tears and holes.

Although my body had fully recovered from the previous encounter with the dragon, my t-shirt and jeans were left in tatters.

For me, however, these holes were a blessing because they offered ventilation and relief from the sweltering heat.

‘I would kill for some Korean BBQ and ice-cold coke right now.’

Drool began to form at the ends of my mouth as I imagined the sizzle of pork belly and slices of garlic over a charcoal grill.

Wrapped in a fresh lettuce leaf and flavoured with a bit of hot pepper paste, it was the ultimate product of thousands of years of Korean cooking.

Washed down with a can of ice-cold coke, it would truly be a tear-inducing taste of unification between historic and modern foods.

Of course, I was curious as to what kinds of food there were in the new world I was in, but there was one huge problem.

Money!

I shuddered as I recalled begging for a free meal a few minutes ago.

...

“Please, ma’am. I haven’t eaten in over a day. Anything will do!”

I bowed 90 degrees at the waist to demonstrate my sincerity to the restaurant owner, a fierce-looking blonde woman wearing a beige blouse.

The restaurant had an old, tavern vibe to it, with wooden tables and chairs strewn about the dining area.

Countless floating particles of dust were illuminated in the air by streaks of sunlight that squeezed through the murky windows.

“Sorry kid, there’s no such thing as a free meal. I would hire you as a temporary waiter, but it's probably not a good idea…”

The owner looked anxiously behind her at some of her older female customers, who seemed to be whispering to each other while staring at me like hungry predators.

“Look that pale skin under those ragged clothes!”

“I bet he would look so cute in my son’s old garments! They’ve been just sitting in my basement for years after all…”

“Maybe if I fed him some food I could take him home?”

A cold sweat ran down my spine as I caught a few of the women’s whispers.

‘Are there morals in this world?’

“I-I see, thank you for the offer, but I’m fine! Sorry for the bother!”

I hastily retreated from the restaurant.

* * *

‘Arggggg! So hungry!’

In frustration, I kicked a stray pebble as hard as I could down the street.

As someone who had been forcefully transported to a new world by a goddess after saving her, it was completely unfair.

‘If this was a light novel or manga, I’d probably start off the basic equipment for an adventurer and a few pieces of gold at least!’

I cursed my own bad luck and continued to trudge along, wondering what to do.

The only important thing I had figured out during my wandering was that I was in the capital city of Sharia, one of the nine kingdoms in the continent.

At the city's centre was a lavishly constructed marble castle where the King resided, and one could see hundreds of armed soldiers patrolling the royal grounds.

The castle courtyard by itself easily spanned the size of a large residential block.

Moreover, fenced in by stone walls and a tall white gate spanning 10 meters in height and width, the castle had an aura of authority and grandeur!

Upon leaving the castle gates, there was a main road that stretched all the way to the city's northern gate.

This road also served as the city’s biggest market strip!

A prosperous commercial area where every item or equipment could be found!

Merchants from all over the continent travelled to this spot to trade with the local residents and adventurers.

However, after the dragon's attack, there were signs of heavy reconstruction all around as labourers worked tirelessly to rebuild stalls, replace burnt walls, and lug debris away.

There was significant damage as far as the eye could see.

‘I wonder if I should ask to be hired as a labourer.’

Even though my current body wouldn't be able to do any heavy lifting, I could easily help out with repainting or assisting the workers.

While pondering this possibility, I glimpsed a congregation of people gathered around a wooden sign with hundreds of sheets of paper pinned on top of one another.

Curious, I maneuvered my way through the crowd and managed to emerge in front of the sign.

The title of the sign said 'Questing Board'.

My heart leapt with joy.

Quests!

They were the centrepiece of fantasy-like games that led adventurers on a journey towards becoming heroes or kings!

A wide range of tasks were posted on the board that varied from demon subjugation to washing dishes, and each quest was listed under a level of difficulty of F to C.

However, most of the attention in the crowd seemed to be directed towards one particular quest.

Ting!

---------------------------------------------

Goblin Subjugation [Rank E, Emergency Kingdom Quest].

As a result of the black dragon’s fierce attack on the kingdom, goblins have taken advantage of the chaos to raid merchant carts leaving and entering the city! We welcome adventurers of all classes and levels to help eliminate the goblins who have taken residence in the forest. Since the situation needs to be handled immediately, new adventurers will be given basic equipment and all meals during the quest’s duration will be provided.

Restrictions: None.

Rewards: 100 EXP, rusty sword, adventurer’s tunic, 10 gold.

Would you like to accept this quest? Y / N

----------------------------------------------

‘Ohhhh. This is my chance!’

Not only was it a fantastic opportunity to get my hands on equipment, but it also provided me with free meals and money to boot.

Without hesitation, I accepted the quest on the HUD.

----------------------------------------------

You have accepted the quest.

Please proceed to the ‘West City Gates’ for further instructions.

Time until quest begins: 00:04:48.

----------------------------------------------

“Keuk—“

I had less than 5 minutes remaining, and I didn’t even know where west was.

To my relief, a red arrow labelled ‘West City Gates’ appeared in my vision to my left.

With whatever energy I had left in my body, I squeezed through the crowd and sprinted in the direction of the arrow.

* * *

I arrived at the gates sweating and panting profusely just as the mini HUD in the top right corner of my eye hit 00:00:00.

About 40 people were gathered there for the quest, but save for a few soldiers clad in armor, none of them looked impressive or confident.

Some were wearing tattered clothes like me, and others glanced hesitantly at one another with worried and slightly fearful looks.

The average age of the crowd was probably around 20.

One of the soldiers, presumably the commander, climbed atop a wooden crate to address the crowd.

“Welcome, everyone. As you know, the goblins in these parts have been quite troublesome for our city’s trade recently. We need you to dispatch them as quickly as possible. Naturally, we of the Royal Army will be your commanding officers. After distributing supplies and equipment, we will head out immediately.”

The solders began to hand out a sack and a sword to each person.

“If you are injured during the battle, retreat to camp and our medical team will assist you in your recovery. Also, please understand that as this is a quest of the Sharia Kingdom, all loot and drops obtained during the quest are property of the Kingdom. Anyone who disobeys will be persecuted accordingly.”

A few murmurs of dissent were heard among the crowd, but quickly dissipated upon hearing the threat of law.

A burly soldier handed me a sword and supplies while giving me a look of amusement.

I didn’t pay it any mind, because there were much more important matters at hand.

‘FOOD!’

My sack contained a loose tunic decorated with an emblem of a red lion sewn onto the chest pocket, two loaves of bread and a small gourd of water.

Tearing into the first loaf, happiness filled my heart despite how stale and tasteless it was.

I washed the first few bites down with water and laughed joyfully inside as it trickled down my parched throat.

Within seconds, I had devoured the first loaf.

‘Ah, this is what it means to be alive.’

Just as I was about to consume the second, I felt a small tug on the back of my shirt.

Turning around, there was a boy who looked younger than 5 years old looking at the loaf of bread hungrily.

His clothes were in no better shape than mine, but I could see numerous bruises and cuts through the tears in his shirt.

An internal struggle erupted in my mind between the knights of hunger and the angels of empathy.

‘We have suffered humiliation and starvation for far too long. To avoid the dishonor of begging for food ever again, we will fight for this loaf of bread!’

‘Dear knights, we understand your pain and we express our deepest condolences. However, please have heart for this poor boy! He has suffered just as much as you have, if not worse!’

‘B-but—‘

‘Will your fear of dishonor overpower your sense of justice?’

‘Uuuuuuu… Okay! Take it!’

Tears streamed through the eye slits of the knights’ helmets as they gave in.

“Fwa… Okay, here you go.”

I begrudgingly gave up the bread.

The boy's eyes immediately lit up and he flashed a wide, toothy grin.

Without a word, he ran towards a group of raggedly dressed children who stared at him with awe.

“Tch, I hope we get more food later.”

I murmured under my breath but felt warm and fuzzy inside.

Void of physical sustenance, sure, but at least it felt nice.

As I tossed my t-shirt aside and slipped on the tunic provided in the sack, the commander took a spot on the wooden crate again.

“Everyone, please gather your belongings and follow me. We will now be heading for the goblin camp. It will be approximately six hours until we arrive.”

The crowd of adventurers hastily picked up their swords and followed the Royal Army soldiers out of the city.

* * *

“Identify!”

Following suit with the other adventurers, I held up my sword and yelled “Identify!”

Ting!

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Rusty Sword ©

- 3-5 damage per swing

Durability: 2/5

Equipment Requirements: None

A beginner’s sword that’s been kept in storage for way too long.

----------------------------------------------

My first thought was that it was a crappy sword.

My second thought was hope that it might be a decent sword for a beginner.

“This is the shittiest sword I’ve ever seen. What, am I supposed to f*** the goblins with this?”

This comment came from the black haired teenager next to me.

His build was lean and he was wearing the same adventurer’s tunic I was.

He was balancing the sword on his nose by the flat side of the blade as he walked, lazily looking forward as if he was bored.

The brawny man in front of us, also wearing the tunic, turned his head and eyed the teenager amusingly.

“Bwahahahaha! Just be glad they’re even paying us 10 gold at the end of this. Last time, they didn’t even give 5, the stingy bastards!”

“Ehhhh, seriously? Adventuring sure is a pain. Wish I could just spend every day sleeping instead of having to drag my ass out here.”

“You’re in the springtime of your youth! Bwahahahahaha! Don’t you have any aspirations like becoming Pirate King and finding Two Piece?”

“Tch.”

With a look of displeasure, the black haired youth didn’t comment.

“How about you, lad?”

The man shifted his attention to me.

“E-eh, I don’t have any big aspirations or anything like that. I just want to help others… I guess?”

‘I mean, I’ve never really thought about it seriously after I got to this world…’

“Fueee, I guess we know who’s going to die first today.”

The teenager glanced my way with a bored look before looking up, where the sun was still blazing high in the sky.

“Aye, that’s a dangerous attitude, lad. Take this uncle’s advice and fend for yourself, you hear? Bwahahahaha!”

No longer looking at me, the man faced forward where the outline of a forest started to appear beyond the hills in the distance.

Embarrassed by my own words, I chose to stay quiet for the remainder of the hike.

* * *

It was approaching sunset by the time we reached the edge of the forest.

The commander raised his hand to signal the halt, and turned to face the group of weary adventurers.

“We’ll be resting here until the sun completely sets. The goblin camp is 30 minutes away, but their range of detection is limited. However, please do not step foot into the forest no matter the circumstance.”

Almost everybody dropped to the ground in exhaustion at the commander’s statement, and started to complain amongst themselves.

“Man, that was some serious heat.”

“You’ve got that right. I never knew carrying a sword was so tiring!”

I, too, dropped like a stone once I heard we were taking a rest.

While the others were complaining, I saw the black haired teen and brawny uncle sitting a little bit aways from everyone else.

Groaning about my poor legs, I got up and hobbled towards them.

“…What do you think is the best way to take down goblins?”

“Bwahaha! It’s easy if you bash their heads in first. They’re slippery bastards when it comes to a knife fight, but their heads are nicely wide and soft. Bwahahahaha!”

The uncle’s hearty laughs began to grow on me.

“Is it okay if I join you guys?”

I asked timidly, wondering if I was intruding on their discussion.

“No problem! Bwahahahaha!”

The uncle beamed while the youth looked bored.

'Knife fight... was it?'

As I took a seat on the ground, it started to dawn on me that I might have severely underestimated the task ahead of me, and I began to feel quite nervous.

“To be honest… this is the first time I’ve gone adventuring. I... have no idea what I’m doing.”

I hung my head while admitting this.

“Bwahahaha! We all have a first time, lad. Some of us do this for the glory, others do it because they have to. All you need is the strength to swing your sword and know when to run away.”

My spirits sank even further.

The closest thing to sword-fighting that I’d done was swinging a badminton racket during high-school.

It seemed so simple in games.

Swing a few times and get experience points.

But it couldn’t possibly be that simple, especially after the discussion I had just heard.

There was a very real possibility that I could die, and despite this I had thoughtlessly accepted an E-rank quest because it seemed so convenient at the time.

Ba-dump.

I also recalled the words I said during our hike.

'Help... others...'

Each word was painfully naive.

Ba-dump.

‘Help others my ass. I can’t do anything except run away.’

It was like this back in my original world, too.

I had boldly decided that I’d get into a good university and secure a well-paying job, despite having failed the National College Entrance Exam once already and not having set a definitive plan to make my decision a reality.

Instead, I convinced myself that I was studying as hard as I could, while continuing to fully indulge in my hobbies and games for hours at a time every day.

‘I haven’t changed at all. I was just deluding myself.’

Ba-dump.

I closed my eyes as shame and sorrow enveloped my mind.

Ba-dump.

“Tch. Grab your sword.”

“Eh?”

I looked up blankly at the youth.

He shot me a look of annoyance as he stood up.

“I’m going to teach you the basics, since you look like you don’t know how to fight. I don’t know where you came from nor why you decided to come on this kind of quest, but you said you were going to help people, right? This is how you’re going to do that. Grab your sword.”

“T-that was stupid of me to say. There’s no way—“

“Yeah, you’re stupid. But weren’t you the idiot who gave a child your bread even though you were starving yourself? If there’s any idiot who can help people, there’s no better idiot than you. The only way you can move forward is to learn and improve, isn't it? Train every day, until you sweat blood and tears. Now, grab your sword!”

“Bwahahaha! This is a great idea!”

‘I can… change?’

A sliver of hope entered my thoughts.

'Yes... even though I had deluded myself in the past, wasn't there always an opportunity to change and become the person I wanted to be? This new world is my chance, isn't it? To prove to myself that I'm not weak? I'm not going to waste my life again!'

I shuffled to my feet and gripped my sword with newfound heart.

“Yes, teacher! Thank you, teacher!”

“…It’s Ray.”

“Huh?”

“My name, it’s Ray.”

“Bwahahahaha! And I’m Bricks! Let me join in on the fun!”

“Let’s begin!”

“...Yes! Ray-nim!”