Well, here is Chapter 8. I think it turned out pretty well compared to what i had planned out beforehand.

I was wondering on how i should differentiate the text of [Telepathy Call] and the [Obscure Voice] as well as other things but seeing as i finally found out (I was not paying attention to the buttons okay?) i will use different colors of texts for these things since it is easier and much more reader friendly (I think) as it helps reading (Maybe...)

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***Sometime After the Monster Invasion***

***Duuga, Shinzan Town, Aura***

“It appears that the monsters have fled the town…” a soft yet passionate voice commented as the owner looked up towards the slightly reddish morning sky. Her black hair cascading down her shoulders as she looked up.

Duuga simply stared at the female leaning against a wall with her arms crossed. The person had saved him and the children and stayed to protect them even after there were no monsters in the immediate vicinity. It was good he supposed. It was better than having to create shields just to stop a single attack. He barely had enough mana currently to create shields.

Though his race did not exactly look like they are capable of doing any damage, they are actually combat-oriented monsters. He just happened to be more mage-like in terms of skillset and regeneration. There were others in the forests that were more damage oriented but they would not approach the humans that slaughter them for no reason.

“It’s rare to see a [Hokkori] in the middle of the city…” Duuga looked towards the black haired female that saved him. “Could it be that you have been tamed?” Duuga did not know how to answer or if he should answer at all. He was taught by [Argoris]’ death that: he should not simply trust people. But then again he did trust Hayato but he was different.

“You don’t have to answer me if you want. I am here merely to search for someone…” The female forego the leaning posture and began to walk away. “If you ever see your master again, tell him I said ‘Hi’ ”

Duuga really did not understand people but one thing was for sure: that woman had other motives. He did not know what she wanted but it was best he stayed as far away from that person as possible.

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***Few Days after monster Invasion***

***Hayato***

Hayato breathed heavily as he sat wearily against the trunk of a dead tree. He had never felt this tired ever since he finished his training during his “Repent sentence”. He did not know how far he had ran or how long for that matter. The sky changed from day to night several times but he had no choice but to continue running lest he got devoured. The obscure voice also made sure he did not catch a glimpse of rest.

Hayato looked up towards the sky. It was probably dawn so that meant he would be fine unless the monsters he ran from were actually still following him. “Wait…” Hayato looked around him. “…How did I manage to run from monsters four times higher leveled than I am?” Hayato brought up his [Character Status] screen to find nothing out of order other than the amount of status points and levels he had accumulated.

Just as he was about to minimize the small hovering screen, it began to flicker. “What…?” His vision turned black with rows of smiling teeth before reverting back to his [Character status] screen. Now he was really disturbed. Why you ask?

[table]Player InfoName:HayatoAlignment:MoonLevel:1First job:AcolyteRace:Demi-Human, FoxlingSecond job:N/AGender:maleThird job:N/A[table]combat windowSTR:40MEN:40AGI:40END:40INT:40LCK:40VIT:40DEX:40[table]Miscellaneous windowHP2400MP240baseATK60-62baseDEF:20currency:9999999G 15S 12CbaseSPD4All of his stats were reverted back to level 1 but it was actually better than his level 1 stats. He then brought up the [Skill Status] screen to see if his skills were reverted but was cut off when a string of [Information Windows] popped up in his vision.

Congratulations for achieving max starting status for AGI! You have been awarded with the semi-passive skill: Wind Walk

Congratulations for achieving max starting status for END! You have been awarded with the passive skill: Fighting spirit!

Congratulations for achieving max starting status for DEX! You have been awarded with the passive skill: Dexterous hands

Congratulations for achieving max starting status for LCK! You have been awarded with the passive skill: Lucky bastard!

Congratulations for achieving max starting status for STR! You have been awarded with the passive skill: Martial Prowess

Congratulations for achieving max starting status for INT! You have been awarded with the passive skill: Mental Prowess

Congratulations for achieving max starting status for VIT! You have been awarded with the passive skill: Stone Skin

Congratulations for achieving max starting status for PERSEVERENCE! You have been awarded with the passive skill: Mental Fortitude

Hayato stared at the window and was about to check what the skills gave him but was interrupted by a small beeping noise coming from the [Telepathic Call] system. Seeing that it was his 2 year younger student calling him, he accepted without much hesitation but almost regretted it as his mental eardrums almost shattered by the sheer volume his student was using.

“HAYATO, TELL ME WHAT IS HAPPENING! MY STATS AS WELL AS MY LEVEL AND JOBS HAVE BEEN RESET AND ALL MY ITEMS HAVE BEEN DELETED FROM MY INVENTORY-”

Hayato had to actually cut off the call and reply by using the [Text Message] feature of the “game” to prevent his already throbbing brain to get worse. Another beeping noise alerted him of another call from the same person: Yuka. He actually pondered for thirty seconds whether or not to accept.

“Sorry about that instructor… I was just surprised…” Hayato sighed. At least the girl was actually listening to his suggestions and calmed down. “..But you would be surprised too if that happened to you… oh did it happened to you too by the way?” Now that she mentioned it, he had not checked his inventory yet.

“Hold on… I am going to check.” Hayato brought up his [inventory screen] to see it was empty. He brought up the [Infinity cube] [inventory screen] to see that all the items and equipment still present. “Everything but my money and what I have on are gone.” Hayato replied after checking his currently equipped armors.

“I see… could this be a bug? Wait… this isn’t a game anymore… could the [World] or something powerful like the [God] of this realm reset the stats and items of everyone?” Yuka suggested after correcting herself.

Hayato stayed quiet. True that the possibility was not nil and the fact that it did not only happen to him but probably everyone else might actually be proof of another being similar to a [Game master] which acted as somewhat of a [God] inside games. Did someone angered a person like that or was this because the world was still connected to the “Game” in his world.

“Instructor…?” Yuka called out to him from the [telepathic call].

Hayato snapped out of his thoughts and shook his head. He would not get answers by pondering the possibilities because if it WAS a [God] who did this then it was beyond his ways of thinking but if it was a [Game Master] from his world who did this then it would be problematic.

“For now get back whatever levels you lost and if possible refrain from allowing anyone in your current party to

die. It might be dangerous and if something were to happen, I would not know what will happen.” Hayato could feel that his student nod before saying her thanks and ending the call.

“If the [Game master] from my “old world” still have his privileges here then it would be really problematic… what will happen to those who are stuck here if they get [Banned]?” Hayato shuddered at the thought. If dying in this world allowed them to revive then what about those that did not die but got banned? Will they be stuck somewhere or will they really die in the real world?

Hayato shook his head. He had no clues to go on and no real evidence this was the work of a [Game master] or a possibly deranged/bored [God]. Seeing as there were now more questions that needed to be answered, he brought up the [Community Screen] and looked into the [Forum] section. There was a new thread vulgarly named as: WTF?

Hayato took his chances and began to read through the posts and try to gather as much information as possible. If there was anywhere worth reading when on forums, it was where large amounts of people were gathering and posting at the same time.

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***Yuka, Capital City Sofia***

“-so far that’s the only thing he told me. The instructor must be trying to find more information on the matter…” Yuka explained to the equally distressed players in front of her. Since they opted to call each other by their in-game names, they were Ame and Cairne.

“So Instructor was affected too… and this happened right after [Shinzan Town] was attacked…” Ame quietly mumbled as she took a small bite from the meal she had ordered which contained of plain toast and sunny-side up. They were all gathered in a restaurant of the inn they were staying in.

“I guess even if he is a… not someone I like, he can be good at gathering information…” The only male of the group, Cairne, chimed in after taking a bite of his meal. It was actually his idea to call the person he hated the most. The reason behind his hatred will be told in another story.

Yuka quietly nodded her head. Even if her instructor was somewhat aloof with them, it was thanks to him they could deal with most of the monsters that attacked them. Not because of his passive abilities but because of his teachings. Had he not drilled the lessons of the Ichiharu Style into their bones, they might not be able to handle most of the higher leveled monsters.

Speaking of said instructor, where was he? He also sounded way too out of breath even though he almost concealed it. Was he being attacked? Or was he training? She did not know but she guesses he could take care of himself.

“The best thing to do would be to regain our lost levels back by fighting the monsters around the capital. At least that’s what the instructor said…” Yuka finished her small breakfast quietly and offered a small prayer of thanks. “Seeing as the monsters around large [Towns] or [Cities] are weak like the [Raccoons], we can go gain at least a few levels before attempting to fight the higher leveled monsters…”

Cairne nodded his head. “Good idea. Let’s go and buy some equipment first. The things we are currently equipped in will only slow us down due to the level restrictions…”

Yuka nodded. Even though this was another world by logic, it still had the same rules as the game of their world.

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***Hayato, Sleeping Forest, Aura***

After a few hours of snooping around in the forums, Hayato had deemed he found enough information to go about the forest. Though all of his stats and items were reset, the [Status Points] he had not invested were still intact. Other than the items he had equipped and money, everything was reset. So he still had his new set; currently it slowing him down since it was of a higher level; he still had his former currency and everything inside the [infinity] cube survived.

But one thing irked him. It was the fact that ALL of his skill masteries were reset to [Novice rank]. He had to go through possibly thousands of items in order to get it back to where he got it and that would take a lot of time and currently: He did not know if he had time or not.

“Troublesome…” Hayato sighed and began to walk around the forest that he found himself in. Even though it was now morning and the sun was high in the sky, the light barely manages to pass through the thick canopy of the sea of trees. “I am glad these ears are not for decoration…”

Even without the enhancement the [Foxling Race] gave him, he still had better hearing than most humans. Using his heightened hearing, he was able to evade most of the high-leveled monsters he found in the forest.

“Speaking of monsters…” Hayato climbed up the tree swiftly and sat on a thick tree branch. He brought up the [Archive] section of his [Player Info]. “I guess this has its advantages…” Hayato sighed when he saw the almost empty [Archive]. It was empty. All of his collected data on monsters, plants, items, equipment and other things were gone.

Closing the screen, Hayato rolled his shoulders before beginning to use his [Advanced Appraisal] on everything he could see. He used it on all the fauna and flora he could see and seeing as he was at it, he began to tap into the trees by using an item he had bought during his stay in [Shinzan Town] to see if he could get water or some other material.

Of course, the trees only gave out some sap but seeing as it was a C-B rank material: he collected some inside the empty potion containers. If he could re-identify the plants he had identified before, he might be able to begin [Whitesmithing] or [Potion-making]. Heck, even [Cooking] could be raised with the sweet sap.

“I should probably stop collecting now…” Hayato stopped his harvestings. Even though he could raise his masteries this way, there might be a [Deity] that governed over these forests so he did not wish to anger it by desecrating its home. “Last thing I need is another voice that wishes others to devour me…”

Hayato put the collected items into the [Infinity Cube] instead of his [Inventory]. “If the “Reset” happens again and affects something else I would at least be able to sell the items…” One cannot live without a little bit of paranoia as his father once said.

“What a resourceful slayer~”

Hayato ignored the voice. He does not know if he should be glad that he was now accustomed to the voice making random comments or not because it was certainly not normal. Though he did realize that the voice was now more… clear than before. Now it was a perfect sentence without any pause or broken sounds.

“I wonder… what is he thinking about?”

He was really grateful it was incapable of reading his mind. Giving a small thank you to the god Hayato served, he began his trek through the forests again. His [Map] was empty except for the place he had went through but then again it was like a string on a piece of paper. He wondered if it was an [Open Dungeon] with bosses and restrictions.

“I need to get out of here…” Hayato climbed atop a tree as soon as he heard some rustling noises. Just in time too as a pack of large humanoid monsters came from the direction he was walking to.

Using [Advanced appraisal] on one of them he only got the name [Hunter Hobgoblin]. It was probably due to his low level and low rank with [Advanced appraisal] because he got only the name and not the level or HP of the monsters.

If he was going to get out of the forest, he needed to stay away from the more Humanoid monsters seeing as they usually have high INT than the other monsters. He was going to need to be stealthy to survive the forest. He did not know how good the monster’s reflexes were so he cannot be hasty to kill it.

You could say having [Ghost strike] and being merged with his in-game avatar allowed him to kill monsters as long as they get struck with fatal blows like a stab to the heart or decapitation; Though the same rule applied to him as well.

“Why are they standing still…?”

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***Yuka, Capital Plains, Aura***

The distinct sound of sharp metal object cutting meat was heard.

“Uwa… Yuka-nee is so strong~” the voice of a little girl complimented the owner of the bloody sword. “On the other hand…”

“Hey! Your brother does not fight with swords, he fights with magic!” Accompanied with the agitated voice of a male were the sound of an explosion and a splattering sound. “Uwa… it’s so messy…”

Yuka sighed. They were only fighting [wolves] but the sheer amount that was sprouting out of nowhere was impeccable. Their group consists of a magic user that specializes in fire and ice, a rogue-type fighter with speed and her: A hard hitting swordsman that can take hits. A pretty decent party: for low-level monsters.

“Ah Yuka-neechan… if you and brother can stop turning the monsters into a big mess that would be a great help~ I can’t get the pelt if you keep dismembering them like this~” Yuka shuddered. For an innocent looking little girl, she said the most disturbing things. For some reason, Ame had begun to skin the [Wolves] that they fight. Though at first it took quite some time, now she can do it quickly. “Especially big brother Cairne... Try to shoot off crystal spikes instead of fireballs”

In no time, she was actually the one commanding them from the backlines as she skins the [wolves] while giving small suppressing fires with her limited amount of arrows.

“I am guessing you talked to the instructor on how to get money in this world?” Yuka could not help but inquire to which the little girl called Ame nodded to.

“Yeah, he said that the [Wolves] in this world have good pelts and are often high quality even though they are usually E to D rank materials.” Ame explained as she began to dress the carcass of the [Wolves] still intact. “Comparing them to the U and F rank materials, they are more valuable and can make better armor as well as improve our existing leather based armors…” She added.

Yuka could not help but be impressed. This information was not circulated during her time playing the game. She thought that the materials were just for to be sold but she never thought it could improve most leather based armors.

“Though you need a very skilled [Tailor] to improve the armor, the fact that the pelts could be sold in the capital for [20 Copper] per pelt is a good way to make money. Add to the fact that the wolves here terrorize the outside walls of the capital a lot and are usually the number one cause of [Kismetian] deaths, they are usually hunted down as seen in most extermination quests…” Ame began to drone on and on about the practical uses of the leather, reasons for their prices and other things that Yuka would have never even bothered to look up. For Ame to remember all of this was amazing.

“Well… that’s my little sister…” Cairne’s comment sparked her interest. “If you could remember all of that just from reading his mails, why don’t you do better in school?”

“I didn’t want to be alienated…” Ame made a pouting face as she stopped her work. “And brother: weren’t you the one trained by the military to survive by using the forest resources? Why are you not helping?” Ame looked at her older brother with a deadpan face.

Yuka shook her head. For a sweet and innocent girl, she has a sharp tongue. There was never a dull moment with these siblings. She wondered: how would Hayato interact with his siblings?

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***Hayato***

“Damn…” Hayato cursed quietly. Why did he have to sneeze right when a group of [Ogres] and [Hobgoblins] were patrolling the area? Did he catch a cold? Or was he allergic to something in the forest?

Now, the monsters were circling his hiding spot on a rather large tree with thick amounts off leaves. He did not even know if there were other monsters hiding with him in the leaves. If he were to be attacked now by such a large amount of monsters, he will surely die.

He could hear the monsters grunting and making noises as they communicated with each other. There were things they said he could understand like: “Noise” “Check” and “No, you” were they perhaps afraid of something in the forest?

Hayato dared not to move and stayed still the entire time they were arguing on who would check the large tree. None of them wanted to get close to the tree for some reason and possibly for a good reason. Just then he felt something touch the skin of his neck which caused him to shudder.

There was something behind him. It was hissing and it was scaly as it was long. Hayato barely managed to get out of the way by ducking when the monster behind him lunged at almost point blank rage to bite his neck but instead got a [Hobgoblin] in the face as it injected a foul smelling substance which caused the unlucky creature to get burned from the inside with powerful venom.

Taking the chance to both get away, Hayato used the monsters’ surprise and ran away but not before appraising the snake-like monster. The snake-like monster was called a [Acidic Snake]. He was glad it used its tail to touch his neck instead of its acid covered tongue.

Now all he needed to do was run from the forest, which he found out was called the [Sleeping Forest] due to the numerous adventurers that got put to eternal sleep in it. Well…at least that is what he read on the [Map Screen].

He needed to find the exit fast but the problem was that the map was wide… very wide to the point that his trails looked like a piece of string on a piece of A4 paper.

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*Yuka, Capital Plains, Aura*

“Cairne, your [Mana] pool is pathetic…” Yuka couldn’t help but comment as soon as she finished slashing apart the large wolf that had been spawning non-stop since they entered the [Field]. “But I guess you are not at fault as these monsters keep respawning rapidly since the [Reset]…”

True to what she had said: ever since the [Reset], the monsters have been respawning quicker than when they first came into the world of [Kismet]. It may be a good thing since it helped them gather [materials] and [EXP] quickly but at the rate they were going, even a full [Party] of 5 high leveled players would be tired after a full hour of fighting.

“If I had my other skills from the [Mage] and [Enchanter] class, then I could spam spells like no tomorrow but…” Cairne, who was now sitting next to an out of breath Ame, scratched the back of his head. “Even though this is no longer a game, the [Game Rules] still apply here…”

Then there were the odd rules of the game affecting their situations. Even if you were of the required level for the skill, if you don’t have the prerequisite [Class] then you cannot use the skill. Cairne used to be a level 98 player and was actually seen as one of the better players who used magic but after the reset: Everyone had been reverted to level 1 and their [Jobs] removed. Naturally, this caused the former [Mage] some troubles during their fights.

“Well… there’s no use moping about it. We can only regain our lost levels this way…” Yuka sighed and took a seat next to the two siblings after securing her weapon by stabbing it on the ground. “If the wolves are already like this… I don’t think we should try the dungeon just yet. Or at least we should get two more people to join, possibly healers.” Yuka stretched her arms.

“Nee-chan…” Yuka turned her head towards the little girl. The battle against the wolves was quite tiring even for her, who had pride in her stamina. “I think we should go back to town for now. We need to get better equipment and we need to think about lodgings…”

Yuka closed her eyes. What Ame had said was true. They needed better equipment since her sword was already chipped. Well, seeing as the sword’s durability was quite low to begin with: it was not a surprise but she did not expect that it would be reduced to such a state by [Wolves].

“But this is strange…” Cairne’s mumblings caught her attention. “Usually we would be at least level 15 by now but we’re barely increasing our [EXP bars] since we reached level 10…” Cairne began moving his hands in the air, probably operating the [Player Menu], and stared into where the [Player Information Screen] should be.

Now that she thought about it, before she got her [Job]; it was fairly easy to get to level 15 before needing to get a change in [Equipment] and a [Job] but now even Ame, who never had a [Job] before the reset, was having trouble gaining levels even if she were to last hit the monsters. What was happening and why was it happening?

“Nee-chan… I’ve been meaning to ask but…” Ame’s quiet voice startled her out of her thoughts. She looked towards the younger girl and urged her to continue. “Well… I’ve been getting some golden framed [Equipment] with question marks on them. Are they useful?”

Yuka blinked. ‘Did she just say… golden framed?’ Yuka peered in her [Inventory Screen] but she could not find any golden framed [Items]. ‘Could it be… is this world still connected to the old world?’

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*Duuga, Shinzan Town, Aura*

“I wonder what happened to Hayato…” Duuga couldn’t help but mutter as he hopped around the now less bustling streets of [Shinzan Town]. He had been hopping around town for a few days playing with the children but he had not seen nor heard from Hayato whom he saw as a friend/master. He could not enter the [Familiar world] as well. Heck, he wasn’t even in a contract yet which was odd as he remembered that he had ‘accidentally’ formed a contract with the nine-tailed [Foxling].

“Did something happen to him? And what’s with the atmosphere of these [Adventurers]? They’ve been quite down lately…” Duuga muttered as he passed by a gloomy looking [Adventurer]. “Did something happen to them?” Of course he did not have any way to get an answer.

Duuga was about to sigh when he suddenly felt a solid object crash into his face, well actually it was the other way around, causing him to stop and look up. “Oh… it’s the odd girl from before…” Duuga nonchalantly mumbled and was about to hop away when the girl suddenly picked him up. “Hey! Let me go!”

Duuga tried to get the girl’s grip off of him but to no avail. “What do you want now?” Duuga gave up seeing that the girl was not going to let go any time soon and asked, not that she would understand, with an irritated look.

This girl had been around town for quite a while now even after [Monster Raid], as the guardsmen called it, occurred. From time to time, Duuga would run into the girl but she usually keep quiet and walk away but…

“I need your help…” the girl pleaded at him with teary eyes. This caused Duuga to put away his irritated look. “Please…”

‘Come to think of it… where are her swords and claws?’ Duuga realized that the girl was now wearing a standard looking [Leather Chest plate] over normal clothing. ‘Did she not have those strong weapons from before?’

-End of Chapter-

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As always: Constructive Criticism is always welcomed and even simple praise of you are too lazy to type are accepted as long as you don't type "FIRST" only. At least tell me on what i should improve if you liked it enough to comment