Chapter 1: A (Clearer) Perspective
Gale's POV
While walking back to where his friend lay, Gale recalled what had happened to him.
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He was waiting for Leo, as usual, when he was struck by the blinding light and loud buzz. And when he opened his eyes, he was in a room of pure white. Standing in the center of said room, was a dazzling blonde beauty, dressed in a white toga while carrying a stack of files, and staring at Gale as though appraising him.
"You don't seem too surprised? Usually people would demand an explanation for suddenly being called here."
"Well, you seemed to be waiting for me, so I assumed you'd start explaining things. Me shooting off my mouth would probably be a hindrance to that. And if anything, my ability to keep calm is the most critical part of my job after all."
"Good good, then this'll make things so much simpler. Here I was, thinking it was going to be such a pain."
Saying those words, she snapped her fingers, and two chairs appeared.
"Sit down, it's going to take a while to explain, probably all the time that I have with you will be spent on the explanation."
Taking a seat, Gale gestured her to continue.
"Well, so you've probably read stories in your world about people being summoned into other worlds to become heroes and defend humanity right? Your situation is somewhat similar to that. I'm Elize, the Goddess of Light in the other world that you're being summoned to. Well, to be honest, it's not you who's being summoned, but your buddy Leo. See, how the system works is, every time a hero is summoned, my sister Asha and I take turns picking the people to be summoned. It just so happens to be her turn now, and she insisted on picking your friend no matter what.
But knowing her, she's bound to get too caught up with your friend and skip all the explanations. So, even though it was a huge pain, I dragged you along with Leo to be summoned together."
"Wait! That's too irresponsible?! Couldn't you have just explained it to Leo?!"
"That's a pain too. I mean, if I did that, I'd have to leave this room. No way in hell is that worth the trouble."
"Are you really a Goddess?!"
"I am you know, even if I never leave this room, I still properly do my work you know." Pointing to the stack of files that she was holding, Elize continued, "I mean, look at these! These are my next 300 choices of people to be summoned! I went through all the trouble of picking them out (at random), so I don't have any work for the next 600 summons."
"IS THAT OKAY?! YOU DIDN'T EVEN READ THROUGH THESE PROFILES AND JUST DRAGGED THEM OUT AT RANDOM?!" Gale retorted, slapping his forehead. "WHAT IF THEY TURN OUT TO BE CRIMINALS?! Wait, judging by your personality, you wouldn't go out of your way to do any extra work, so why did you summon me together with Leo?"
"Ahhhhhh. Erm. Hmmm. That's..... That's because the previous person I summoned kinda, sorta turned into the Demon Lord, so our boss is mad at us, and if we fail this time, I have to be sent to the world to personally fix everything you know?"
Elize stuck her tongue out.
This woman might be really cute, but her personality is the worst. Gale thought. "And so, what are we supposed to accomplish in that world? Eliminate the demon lord?"
"Yup! You got the gist of it! That's great! Looks like I don't need to explain anything anymore. Okay~ Let me send you down now~"
"Wai------" Gale couldn't even finish his sentence before being assaulted by the buzz and blinding light.
"Oh right, I'll just give you some cheat abilities. But it's a chore to ask you for what you want, so I'll decide for you okay~? You can check everything once you're down there by saying
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Gale woke up in an unknown forest. That fucking Goddess. I hope Leo at least got a better explanation than me. Gale checked to see if his body was fine, and discovered that his clothes had been replaced with a pair of white pants, a white shirt and a white jacket. Why is everything white?! He wanted to retort.
Looking around, he saw the unconscious body of his friend. Leo was lying about 20 meters away from him, wearing nothing but a pair of leather pants. Gale looked at him and sighed. Leo's left chest and shoulder was covered by tattoos. Crowns, crosses, anchors.... A seemingly random assortment of objects, but Gale knew better. Each object signified a different thing. They were there as a reminder of all the people he'd been unable to save, all the people that he'd been forced to kill, and most importantly, all the people that had died in his place.
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Honestly, when Gale heard that Leo was summoned to this world, he was happy that his friend finally had a chance to leave the previous world which was so unkind to him behind. Looking at the scars that covered the rest of Leo's body, Gale compared it with his. Even though we both had the same job.....
The number of scars on Gale's body was considerably lesser. He gingerly touched the scar on his right shoulder, Deciding that he at least needed more information, Gale decided to check the cheats that the Goddess had given him,
"Status!"
Before his eyes, a screen appeared.
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Name : Gale Reilly
Age : 22
Gender: Male
Strength : 2000
Intelligence : 1800
Dexterity : 1500
Vitality : 2200
Luck : 1000
Skills:
Appraisal
Photokinesis
Healing
Elemental Mastery
Light Boost
Improved Recovery
Speedcasting
Improved Magical Recovery
Goddess of Light's Blessing
Goddess of Light's Protection
Peak Physical Conditioning
Equipment:
Goddess of Light's Jacket
Goddess of Light's Shirt
Goddess of Light's Pants
Goddess of Light's Boots
Goddess of Light's Gauntlets
Items:
Holy Sword of Light
Titles:
Hero of the Light
Pain in the Ass
The Man Who Understands
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Gale groaned. What kind of half-assed status is this?! It doesn't even explain anything! AND WHAT IS WRONG WITH MY TITLES?! And why does everything have to do with light? IT'S TOO FLASHY
Looking at Leo, he saw Leo's body being covered by a dark light. If I'm light, then I guess he'd be darkness? Ah whatever, let's just wait for him to wake up.
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An hour later, Leo still hadn't woken up. The dark light covering Leo's body had changed into jet-black clothes. Occasionally, the clothes would shine, as though something had happened, and Leo would stir. But he still didn't wake.
As much as I'm worried, it looks like it'll be dark soon. The first priority would be food. Then shelter.
Thinking that, Gale headed into the forest.
Wandering around for half an hour, he found an animal laying down under a giant tree.
"
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Snow Boar LV 6
A magical beast that is rarely found. It's meat is said to be delicious. But due to its highly aggressive nature, not many people are able to hunt it.
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Gale took a deep breath, and prepared himself to hunt and kill the Snow Boar. I have no idea how to use any of my skills, so the only option would be to kill it with the holy sword?
Thinking that, he wondered how on earth was he going to equip the sword, when, in a brilliant flash of light, it appeared in his hand. So it appears just by me thinking about it? Alright, let's get used to the feeling of swinging the sword before engaging.
Gale gingerly lifted the sword, and lightly swung it towards the Snow Boar, to loosen up his body and to visualize how he would engage the beast.
What happened next, was something he could never have imagined. As he lightly swung the sword, a ray of light extended from the tip of the sword, and cut everything in its path. Everything in the 50 meters between him and the Snow Boar was cut. Boulders, trees, grass, everything. When he had finished the swing, the head of the Snow Boar was flying through air, leaving a bloodied and headless corpse where it laid.
What the fuck kind of cheat is this? If I had swung this in the middle of a town, I think there'd be nothing left of it! DAMN YOU ELIZE, HOW CAN YOU SO NONCHALANTLY GIVE SOMETHING LIKE THIS AWAY? Cursing the Goddess in his mind, Gale began walking towards the corpse to drag it back to where his friend still lay unconscious.
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"FUCKKKKK"
Gale heard Leo's voice. Fearing the worse, he dragged the corpse and broke into a run. Leo had woken up, and he lay in the same spot, murmuring something about a hallucination. Irritated, Gale picked up a rock and threw it splendidly at his friend's head, before walking out into the open.
Leo stared at him dumbfounded, before letting out an exclamation.
"Gale?!"