Humans had assumed their lives were set. They believed the worst had already come, and all that was left was to adapt to their new lives. Only, they were then informed; that there was more.

"The main storyline will soon begin."

"Select roles, including the God of Thunder, God of Knowledge, The Sin of Greed, and The Pirate King, will be employed for the storyline's first phase."

Like babies whose pacifiers were ripped from their lips, the attending hunters expressed their muddled and indistinct complaints. Even without the full context of the so-called storyline, they could decipher that no good could come of it.

Artie had given the matter of roles little thought. But now that it was brought up, he understood their meaning. Unlike video games that had bots play the part of villains and companions, reality had nothing of the sort.

"Go to hell."

"I'd rather die than be used as a story piece."

"The storyline requires the participation of all roles," announced the Ai.

"Fuck you and your roles," said Artie, sticking his middle finger up toward the sky.

"So be it."

"Broadcasting to all players now."

 

Stillness held the room for some time. The hunters seemed less interested in Artie's predicament and more worried about the update itself. The main concern was regarding the buff to dungeons. Naturally, for a town that couldn't get past the second chamber, they didn't want the others to become more indomitable.

The Ai explained that the patches were determined by most players that utilized the content. So, if only ten hunters in the world made it to the lowest levels of a dungeon, they were the only ones entitled to an opinion.

The fact that hunters were already so powerful worried Artie. He knew they would have no problem killing him if they were interested in his vague, unexplained role.

Since Artie had already battled the town's low-level hunters, he didn't fret over their chances to pursue them. Furthermore, he'd soon begin to travel, so his current location would become obsolete.

Curious if anything about the patch was true, Artie inspected the coin pouch with the money they finessed from the hunters. It'd flattened significantly, and when he peeked inside, he saw two distinct, clear tokens. Both were perfectly round coins. The first looked like a flat, gold marble, and the other was silver.

The Ai had also arbitrarily decided the value. Quickly doing the math, Artie's 130 stone coins turned into 2 gold pieces and 30 silver. So, one gold piece equated to 50 of the original.

Artie thought that if one part of the patch was confirmed, the rest also had to have occurred. He and the other hunters were left in bafflement.

"What the hell was that?!" Erupted Skull, hurling the wooden chair he'd picked up for protection.

"More importantly, how is an Ai that was designed to create a rock able to do all this," added his lieutenant, Steel.

"You didn't mention you had a role," confronted Wana, who approached Artie.

"I excluded a lot of things," he replied, swinging the coin pouch over his shoulder.

It seemed like very soon; the fault would be shifted onto himself. So, Artie left and returned to his guild house to discuss what'd transpired. Every researcher there had heard the broadcast and had plenty to question about the Ai's appearance at the guild hall.

After a briefing on what'd transpired, an experiment was held. Artie bitterly issued an order to the Ai, commanding it to construct a domain around the town. The voice surfaced but only to deny his instruction.

"Unable to process the request, there are hostile entities within the range of your desired domain."

"Of course there are. Majority of the town would be considered hostile toward me."

Upon reconsideration, Artie ordered the Ai to create the domain solely around their guild house.

It, whatever it was, worked. A thin, transparent layer of yellow light formed a dome around the guild house and a few yards in either direction. It was hardly visible but noticeable enough to draw the attention of those near.

Within the domain, Artie felt his chest compress. An overwhelming sensation arose within him, an intense, teeming strength. He felt like a toy car that was being supercharged by the battery of a full-sized pickup truck.

He flexed his hand while peering at his claw. Then he felt his pointed horns. Even though he hadn't been producing electricity, it felt like his inhuman parts were constantly igniting. Before, he could barely summon his ability, but now he worried about losing control and decimating everything.

The Ai was shooed away, and Artie's group sought to comprehend the new phenomenon.

The theory that Rachel and the researcher Oscar developed was referenced again. If humans were recreated to be malleable, the Ai could expedite or lower growth on demand. Or, by Artie's understanding, it had admin mode enabled and could do whatever it wanted.

Upon further investigation, more about the domain was exposed. Artie could feel the intangible shape of the field with his right hand. He could make it solid, like a barrier, or mold it into different shapes. Also, the color and internal temperature could be adjusted via thought alone.

After guidance from another researcher, he attempted to destroy objects within the space, but to no avail. Humans were fixed in place, but the weight of inanimate objects could be adjusted and controlled through assertive intent. With this, things would retain their sturdiness but could easily be lifted manually or psychically.

After walking to and lifting the then featherweight couch, Artie scoffed.

"I could probably raise the entire building with one hand."

Everything about the newly granted ability was beneficial, though Artie hated to admit it. To him, it was just another foreign power passed on by something he despised.

While he explored the mystery of the domain, the other researchers uncovered and tested the legitimacy of the update. One, the moonstone did display a level when held by workers. Rachel was the first to grasp and caress the stone like a genie in a bottle.

Seconds later, her class, level, and even a quarter-filled experience bar were displayed. Because of how small the text was, she held it to her eye for a better view. The stone tapped her specs, and to her surprise, the oval rock functioned as a magnifying glass and zoomed in.

 

 

She squealed and commemorated her status; meanwhile, the other researcher's jaws dropped, and they began testing their own rating. Laria was a level 18 Zoologist, and the rest. Well, the less notorious workers ranged from 7 to 11. When the question of Rachel's baffling level was raised, it could only be concluded that she exercised more interactive work than others—physically examining three different races, excluding Artie, a mutated human. On the other hand, Laria could only observe wildlife from afar due to the severe risk.

Artie believed Mayumi and Sebastian's class fit them to a Tee. A Level 20 Fighter and Level 16 Trickster. Aside from the two, he pondered what the names of the other classes might be.

"It's unfortunate the update happened after our travels. I would have liked to see the other's status," he said, taking a seat on the normalized couch.

His companions silenced and presented him with a look of audacity. Then Laria began tapping the floor with her bare foot.

"Artie."

"Don't you think it's time?"

Sebastian nudged Mayumi and motioned toward Artie, who'd sat on the middle of the couch while eying them warily. A moment later, the two hunters relocated to his left and right. Sitting so tightly, their shoulders mashed against his own.

"Just hold it for a second," insisted Sebastian, tightly securing his right arm."

With a wicked, scheming grin sliding across her face, Rachel held out the smooth pebble-like object and wormed toward Artie.

After a brief glance at Mayumi, then Sebastian, Artie tilted his head back and sucked his teeth. He still somewhat rued what he'd told Sebastian, so he conceded, voluntarily taking the stone from Rachel.

Closeby heads hovered above the stone, honing in on the soon-to-be-revealed information.

 

 

Both of Rachel's petite hands grabbed onto his and yanked the glowing, blue stone closer. Her eyes did not deceive her. As a result of the domain, Artie, a level 14, had their stats tripled.

Hands shook him, and people exclaimed and expressed their wonder. It was too much, so Artie gripped the couch they'd sat on, secured himself, then raised it off the floor. Those sitting with him bobbed, then fell off when he inclined the seat forward. Since Artie tightly gripped the cushion, he sustained, and after being isolated, the chair balanced out.

There was a stir below, so he continued to float several feet off the ground, wanting to interpret the status for himself.

"It's nice, but not practical..." He thought, crossing his arms and shutting his eyes.

"Since the dome is fixed around the building, it's back to my original level soon as I leave."

"Even if I was desperate enough to have the domain created elsewhere. It can't be built around enemies, so unless a monster willingly ran into it, there'd be no use."

After a bitter sigh, he let the thought fall off, then opened his eyes. He could see most of the base floor from his position, and something peculiar caught his eye.

"Hey," Artie called down.

"Did someone put those requests on the quest board?"

No one seemed to know, so Artie floated over and investigated. He discovered firm, cardboard-thin, transparent rectangles. They were colored like moonstones and had nothing written down. At least at first, but when picked up, the blank sheets displayed writing in their language.

 

 

There it was, the first occurrence of the newly installed quest feature. The empty quest board was covered in the sheets, and as all the members picked one up, it disclosed a personalized errand.

Quest type was either hunter or worker, and the difficulty for everyone else was easy or normal. Task ranged from discovery to the slaying of monsters, which were manageable and seemingly designed around the subject's level. Consequently, Artie's quest catered to his current heightened status, not his actual power.

It was a nuisance, but he didn't stress over it since there was still the method of leveling up from slaying wild monsters.

After peeking at everyone's quest, Artie decided to assist his members with theirs instead of pursuing his own unreasonable objective. That meant helping the researchers discover and analyze new creatures, plants, locations, and whatever else their quest called for.

Mayumi and Sebastian's quest required them to slay 10 monsters level 13 or higher. They'd need to travel a few miles to accomplish their objective, so they decided to help their old companions instead.

The domain granted to Artie was something he would abuse as much as he could. Even to ensure his members could quickly accomplish their quest without the threat of perishing.

"I'm supposed to have full control over the domain. So, in theory, I should be able to move it anywhere without enemies."

Artie asked all the workers to clear out of the established territory. Then he stood outside and tested an idea he had.

Just as he did the couch, he raised the building several feet at a time. The scale was much larger, yet, it hovered on command without so much as wavering.

"This changes everything," he muttered, looking down from his elevated placement.

With the method of travel ascertained, the group prepared to depart. Mayumi left to join her guild, The Scorching Sun's, and Sebastian lent a hand to his past associates, "Black Blades."