【 Chapter 1 】
🅀🅄🄴🅂🅃🄼🄾🅁🄴
Guster's day was going well; he used to play video games after returning home from university, but one day his life turned upside down.
That day, he returned home as usual and turned on his computer to play video games. But that day was a special day for Guster because that day he installed a brand new released game on his computer. He was totally overwhelmed with interest and excitement to check out the game.
He sat in front of the computer with his favorite iced Americano. In front of him floated the name of the video game very fashionably - [Questmore].
He was so excited that in his haste, he spilled his iced Americano on the computer.
The air exploded with an electrical shock.
Smoke, was that?
His attention was drawn to a shadowy, burning image hovering over his monitor.
He tried to wave the smoke away, but the black hole-or whatever it was-grabbed his arm.
There was no time to resist and no opportunity to anchor himself by reaching for his desk or bed.
He was drawn into the hole, which then enclosed him.
As he dropped through the abyss, stars and vivid rainbows lit up before his eyes. A fantastical image of space and time, it was something lovely and ethereal.
And then, the world went black.
**********
He awoke with a shock and a stinging headache that threatened to knock him out, his tongue as parched as an empty well, gasping at the intensity of the blazing sun overhead. He wiped the tears from his eyes, let out a loud sigh, and then slouched up in the muck and filth, rubbing his mud-covered cheek.
He observed the ornately dressed people meander through the downtown streets of Wanborne while tilting his head forward and gazing up at the blazing sun, casting him disgusted looks as they crossed him in the alleyway. His being here and the absence of the town guard to apprehend him for lingering in the streets like that left their clean faces doubtless wondering why in the world he was here, but he didn't care much for what they thought. At that point, it wasn’t his main concern.
Guster hauled himself back up onto his feet, oblivious to their twisted brows and snorts of disdain, and glared menacingly at the closest man, who was half-retching back in shock. Guster grinned with pleasure at his response and, before continuing down the street, ran a hand over the back of his head to feel the lump once more. Time to depart.
Guster saw a large gate in front of him, with the inscription "Welcome to Questmore". Waiting inside the gate was an imposing and elegant high-rise edifice, which looked like a magnificent Arabian palace.
As he entered the palace, he saw a counter where a senior representative was sitting.
He is fat, bald, and has black eyes and rough, squared-off skin. He also has a little scar on his face and an edgy, striking visage.
"Hello, I am Sadon Boulderdown. How can I help you?"
Guster got there and, after some questioning, realized that it was a video game world made into reality in some surreal way, and what he realized was that Questmore was an organization that finds quests for mercenary guilds and licenses people to become mercenaries. However, the person applying for the license had to go through a special selection process.
The most special part of this selection process was the tournament.
The permits for participating in a group mission of any guild will only be awarded to the top ten finishers in this competition.
To participate in this contest 80 coins are required as participation and form fee.
The participant who becomes No. 1 will be recruited to a Crystals-level team. Crystal-level teams can take on up to A-rank quests.
Second- and third-place finishers will be recruited by the gold-level teams.
Gold-level teams can take up to B-rank quests.
Fourth- to sixth-place finishers will be recruited by silver-level teams.
Silver-level teams can take up to C-rank quests.
7th to 10th place holders will be recruited by Ruby level teams.
Ruby-level teams can take up to F-, E- or D-rank quests.
However, there was another level that was above those ranks; it was the Platinum level. Platinum-level teams could take up to S-rank quests.
The tournament was only two weeks away. In addition to being unprepared, Guster lacked adequate money.
"Hahahaha! Yes! This is something I have always wanted! Now I no longer have to repay my loans."
Guster burst out laughing like a lunatic. After about a minute, he stopped.
To check his own status, he thought that since he was in a video game world, it meant that there must be a status window. He commanded the status window to open and immediately a notification flashed before his eyes.
[Welcome, Player!]
Status :
Money: 200 coins.
Skills: Oracle's vision
Inventory :
1 Wooden shield. Price 10 coins.
--1 Rusted sword. (Price: 5 coins.)
--1 Family inherited Azure butterfly pill. It restores all stats back to maximum. Includes regeneration. (Price: 170 coins.)
--One primeval stone. (Price: 500 coins.)
Guster became curious and checked out the description of the primeval stone.
[commonly used in Ki cultivation as a means to replenish the dantian during or after a fight, or as a means to directly supply Ki essence during Ki refinement. The amount of primeval stones correlates with the speed of Ki cultivation.]
Stats: Level 1
Health - 1000
Mana- 0
Ki- 0
Agility - 40
Attack power - 20
Defense- 10
There was an option dubbed as "The shop".
The description of this option mentioned: ["Here you can buy and sell any item."]
Items available :
[Potion : ]
-9 heart Potion. [Boosts health by 400] ( 70 coins.)
-Spirit potion : [Boosts Ki by 100.] (80 coins)
-Blue lotus potion : [Boosts Mana by 100. ] (80 coins.)
[Pills:]
- Morning Glory pill. [Instant Regeneration.] (120 coins.)
-Dragon pill: [Buffs all stats 3 times for 3 minutes.] (120 coins).
[Artifacts available] :
Honey badger defense suit :
Porcupine quills seldom pierce Honey badger's extremely thick, protective skin, which is also claimed to be able to withstand blows from machetes. A lion's bite is unable to penetrate the skin, which cannot cause them any particular harm.
The Honey Badger's skin is exceptionally robust, thick, and rather loose, giving it a lot of room to move around inside the skin. There is almost never a secure place to hold a Honey Badger without it being able to attack its attacker. This is extremely effective when it is being attacked by larger predators and finds itself in the predator's clutches.
[Provides 400 defense points when wearing. ] 300 coins.
Tiger gloves : [Boosts attack power by 80 points. ] 120 coins.
Cheetah boots: [Boosts agility by 150.] 120 coins.
-Semi automated Multi barreled slingshot gun. (40 coins.)
-Divine boomerang. (50 coins.)
-Tortoise shield : (30 coins.)
[Scrolls]:
-Haste spell. (Buffs agility by ten times for one minute) 50 coins.
-Heavenly demon Star 10 move formation scroll. [The Heavenly Demon himself employs this combat method from the Heavenly Demon Cult.] (50 coins.)
-Wind paradise sword technique scroll. (300 coins.)
-Holy barrier scroll. (80 coins.)
-Forcefield shield. (100 coins.)
-Bean shooter summoning scroll: [Mystic art for summoning a plant monster that shoots massive beans like a turret.] (100 coins.)
-Ice shooter summoning scroll:
[Mystic art for summoning an ice monster that shoots massive ice balls that slows the enemy down .] (100 coins.)
Guster looked for the option of selling in the shop. In the sales section, note:
"Are you interested in selling something? There is an opportunity to sell it at a fair price. If you are interested in knowing the price of something, you can know it by mentioning the name of the product here."
Guster sold the primeval stone (500 coins) and the wooden shield (10 coins).
[500+10=510 coins received.]
[Status Window]
Money: 710.
Guster bought the Honey Badger Defense Suit.
( Cost: 400- coins.)
Money: 310 coins remains.
Guster bought Cheetah boots. (Cost: 120- coins)
Money: 190 coins remains.
Tortoise shield : 30-
160 remains.
Tiger gloves. 120-
40 remains.
Semi automated Multi barreled slingshot gun. 40 coins-
He realized that he would not be able to prepare for this particular competition in two weeks. First of all, it was important to ensure that he had a fixed habitat and source of food. Only then could he start training.
He quit the competition and began looking for a part-time or full-time employment.
