Chapter 3-The 100 Day Quest
You have died. Commencing the next procedure...
A mysterious stone appeared in front of me. Every time my hand came closer, my head started ringing uncontrollably. I decided not to touch it for now.
Procedure complete!
Congratulations! You have earned several achievements for your attempt at survival!
Achievement List:
1. Longest Survival Time - Richard Petrov
2. Most Enemies Killed - ????
3. First Raid Boss Kill - Richard Petrov
4. Highest Level Achieved - Richard Petrov
5. Enter The System With The Highest Overall Stats - ???
6. Picking A Class Before You Die - ???
7. Saving The Largest Amount Of People Before Death - ????
8. Largest Gathered Loot - ????
9. Obtaining First Pet - ????
10. Unlocking Magic - ????
“Hmm, I guess those question marks are all different people aside from me. I guess I did pretty good trying to survive, considering how I have three of the ten achievements compromised for myself.” I went on to the next notification.
Please choose your rewards for taking 1st place in 3/10 achievements.
Available Awards:
A long list of titles, abilities, and achievements presented themselves to me. I perused through them for a minute. Ultimately, most were useless. A long list of titles, abilities, and achievements presented themselves to me. I perused through them for a minute. Ultimately, most were useless. Useless to me, that is; I could see other people needing them, but I didn’t desire to be a mage nor a barbarian since most bonuses were accounted for those types of people. I put aside the list of awards I could take and decided to look at my achievements.
You have leveled up the following skills:
Blunt Weapons Lv. 5 - Blunt Weapons Lv. 8 (+150 XP)
Running Lv. 3 - Running Lv 5 (+100 XP)
Leaping Lv. 1 - Leaping Lv. 2 (+50 XP)
Inspect Lv. 3 - Inspect Lv. 6 (+150 XP)
(+300 XP)
You have learned the Unarmed Combat skill
Current Level: 5
(+250 XP)
You have learned the Dodge skill
Current Level: 5
(+250 XP)
You have learned the Blind Combat skill
Current Level: 4
(+200 XP)
(+1000 XP)
Seeing my skills progress further was pleasant. My hard work would definitely bear fruit.
“Hahaha, now, It’s time I look at my loot.” I rubbed my hands together in delight. I couldn’t wait to see it.
But then, I paused. “Oh yeah, I shouldn’t stay here. What’s happened to me anyway?” My body was nonexistent. It was like I was floating in outer space, except without a physical body.
I looked up into the air. I couldn’t tell which direction was up, so I simply yelled into nothingness. “Hey system or whatever you are, please come out, I want to talk to you!”
Moments passed. Everything was still and quiet. And then…
I’m listening.
I stared blankly at the notification. “Uh, can you show yourself. It’s a bit creepy.”
In front of me, a white dot assembled. It stood out like a pile of gold amongst garbage. Expanding, it eventually encompassed my view.
I found myself seated on a chair. Beside me was a table laden with food. Everything I could see was exquisite delicacies from other countries or things that I didn't even know existed. Who knew there was a bird with the head of an octopus that was fried on a grill, and then placed on a plate with an apple in its mouth?
“You wanted to meet me?” A voice in front of me beckoned for my attention. “You don't mind if I take some food, right?” Surprisingly, those were my first words to this obviously powerful being. He smiled. “Sure, go ahead. It’ll be a gift from me for letting me spectate your battle. I do have to say, You have a unique fighting style. I have never seen any other like it.”
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By the time he had finished his sentence, I was already munching the octo-bird. He, or she, waited for me to finish. The food tasted superb. I cleaned my mouth with a handkerchief that appeared on my lap.
“Oh, I don't really remember how I fought. It mostly came from pure instinct and training that I went through in my police training. Can I see how I fought?”
Instead of an answer, a square notification box appeared in front of me. I mentally enlarged it and watched the scenes play out. By the time I was done, I had a hard time believing that the man in the video was me. I looked like an absolute beast, a barbarian. I twisted at impossible angles to avoid attacks and pummeled my opponents so hard they exploded in two.
“Your jaw’s hanging open, Richard.” I closed it and dismissed the video. I turned back to the boy, a bit baffled.
“By the way, what’s your name?” The boy paused. “I, uh, don’t have a name.” He answered. It made me pause and think of a name for him. If he’s all-powerful, then he needs a name of some sort of famous powerful man… Hmm… Alesha?
Alesha was a Russian name for one of the most famous bogatyrs.
“Alright, it’s decided! Your name will be Alesha!” The boy smiled. I had chosen that name for a reason. The boy showed clear signs of growing into a healthy, young adult. He looked to be around 14 but already had giant muscles. Not only that but his hair was blond as well. He had blue eyes, much like most Russians.
“The boy seemed to twirl the name on his tongue, and smiled. “I like it, thank you.” I smiled as well.
I looked back at the food table and found a dessert section. I immediately grabbed a plate with some giant, creamy cake. “I have a request.” Alesha sat upright. “What can I help you with?”
The spoon I was holding stopped inches away from my open mouth. As much as I wanted to eat it, it was time for serious business.
“The place that you destroyed, Lensk, was my workplace. I earned money and sent it to my family. Do you know what state my family is in right now?”
The boy paused for a moment. A grim expression crossed his face. “I-I’m sorry about that. I couldn’t choose another location to create the first zone. This area was a good fit. It’s surrounded by forests, it has a large population, and it has a large river flowing on its edge. If I had chosen someplace larger, people would hesitate to come and enter these new zones.”
We both sat there for a moment. “I see. Can I ask, what happened to all those that perished in this incident?” His face returned to being cheerful and happy. “Why of course, they received a prompt asking whether they wanted to stay in this zone or be teleported to anywhere else in the world. They would be, ‘respawned’ so to say at the place that they chose. People who suffered trauma from the incident have received a permanent buff that calmed them whenever they think about that incident.”
I nodded. “Alright. My request is this: if I had to relocate, I would need to find a job to be able to support my family.”
“Yes, I know, your mother and father have caught a virus that has spread all around the world recently. Even if they are cured, they would not be able to work and support themselves. You also need to pay for their hospital bills, your brother’s and sister's private school tuition cost, taxes for the house, and much more. You have several jobs and only get to sleep about 5-6 hours a day. Is that right?”
I nodded. It was correct. Life was painful and boring. If I could get this creature to pay up, maybe it could become a bit easier.
“How about this? You can use one of your achievement rewards to heal your whole family and give them an immunity to that virus, along with any other of its mutations. Sound fair?”
My heart clenched after hearing that. After so long, after two long years of treacherous work… I might finally get a break.
“That’s not enough. I’d need to find a new workplace, pay for a new apartment, build new contacts so that I can spend the minimum amount of money on myself, and give it all to my family. I need more. Can you… can you do something?”
Somehow, my interrogation turned to a plea for help. I still remember how my one and only love, my girlfriend, had left me. All of my money was turned towards helping my family. She knew that and yet she couldn’t bear it any longer. I didn’t have time to spend with her. She gently, knowing that I was a very gentle person, told me that we should break up. That she had already stopped liking me a long time ago and that she had found a new man. I had let go of her… but it still pained me to remember. I could work like this for the rest of my life. My brother and sister were only 13. They have yet to attend college or even go on a few vacations for that matter.
Alesha stood up and patted me on the head. A few tears slid down my eyes after thinking of everything I had and would have to endure. “I have a solution to this problem, but I can’t simply give it away for free. There are rules that even I have to follow. How about this?”
He walked back to his chair and waited for me to finish crying. “I’ll make this a win-win situation. You do my quest, get the reward. And I get to have fun watching you struggle!”
I sat upright, ready to debate the offer. “I’ll give you a quest. A one hundred day quest. Each day, your misfortune will grow. By day 100, your misfortune will be so high that you won’t be able to take a single step without encountering an enemy. Almost every attack from the enemy will result in a critical hit, and almost all the loot you will find will be complete garbage. Your family will receive an increasing amount of money proportionate to the number of days that you survive. During the time of the quest, you cannot leave this zone. The quest will be considered a failure and restart when you die. Does that sound fair?”
I couldn’t believe my ears. Is money proportionate to the time I survive? Didn’t I just receive three award choices from completing three achievements? If I found something that would let me help survive, then maybe I could actually complete this quest…
“Wait, what do you mean by ‘if you die this quest will result in a failure and restart.’ Do you mean that I will be reborn?”
The black, smooth rock that I had seen before now teleported onto my lap. “This is a Rebirth Stone. Wherever you hide it, you will respawn next to it. However, if something destroys this stone, you only have one life left. You could die. All players will have these stones. So, do you agree?”
I paused for a moment, trying to think this over. “In addition, I’ll bond that big snake you fought with as your Familiar. How about that?”
I looked over at him, confused. “What's Familiar?” “A Familiar is a beast or entity that creates a magical contract with another human. The Familiar then can help with magical tasks and many other things. Essentially it’s like attaching two souls together with an unbreakable bond.”
“Oh, that’s what you mean. Those types of familiars, that used to assist witches with magic and stuff?” I asked. “Yeah, witches were one of the last ones to use magic before they were murdered.”
The risks were great. But before I could accept, I had to ask about the reward. “So, how much money are we talking about per day here?” Alesha grinned. “A thousand on the first day. The number will rise proportionally. Potentially after day 50, your family can even receive billions. Don’t worry, nobody will suspect a thing. After all, I turned 90% of all animals in this city into monsters. All I’ll have to do is add a few zeroes to your bank accounts. That would take less effort than to level you up once with my help.”
I smiled. The money that I could potentially earn from this quest was greater than what I would get with all of my previous jobs combined. “In that case, I agree.”
The rock floated upwards as a pale string exited my chest. A second later, Sekke’s Soul Stone also floated out. His body slowly materialized and took form. A string from both of us connected to each other and the stone. The strings resembled a triangle as we stood there, staring at each other. Slowly Sekke’s name tag appeared above his head.
Sekke, Richard’s Familiar Lv. 5 - Wandering Raid Boss
“Hello again, Richard.” He hissed. He looked over to Alesha and bowed his head. “Hello, great one.” Alesha nodded back. As the light that exited our bodies receded, so did our vision. “Have a fun time together, okay?”
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Hello there, and welcome. I cincerely thank all the viewers who came to each and every one of my chapters. To be honest, I kind of gave up on this project because I got bored of posting my chapters here. But... It's all changed! I've posted my book on Amazon Books. You can find it there with this same exact title and a much flashier cover, as well as a different description. Once again, I thank all of the peopl who read each of my 12 chapters I had put up as the preview version of this book. I've deleted all other chapters and only left the first three as a preview. If you're new, come and read the first three chapters as a demo to what my book'll be like. It's filled with battles around every conrer, and each battle intensifies as the characted get sucked into a deeper pit of misfortune, and his enemies grow strong to such an extent that no one else aside the protagonist and his party of comrades can face the challanges.
Have a great time reading, my friends. Peace!
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