Waking up to the old alarm of the clock seemed to bring Ronne old memories, times when he felt happier. He smacked the clock out of his desk, slowly getting up. Where most would open the curtains and refresh themselves to the rays of sun Ronne preferred to be in the dark, not necessarily because he hated the sun, but it because it felt comfortable. Sometimes it just felt too comfortable to be away from civilization in his own little room, where nothing could hurt him, where only not even he could hurt himself...

He finally brought himself up and walked over his shelf where he kept all his books, mostly fantasy ones, some from school, from the old times. He was now home schooled after all. Picking up the title Puppet Master he sat down back in bed reading page after page in a incredibly fast pace, losing track of time.

- Ronne, honey! Please come get some food in your belly, don't want you starving yourself in your room.

Jannet, his mother, called out.

"I definitely need some food right now", he thought getting up and going downstairs 

Getting down to the kitchen Ronne look at his mom, who showed a big smile on her face.

- Finally, if you took longer the food would get cold.

Sighing to his mom's comment, he sat down and was ready to eat the dumplings she prepared for breakfast.

Ding Dong

- He must be here!

His mom said enthusiastically as she walked to the door

- Don't tell me is him again, we are not going through this one more time! - Ronne complained face slapping at the thought of the one visiting them

Steve, Ronne's cousin, entered the house with a bright smile on his face.

- I know you couldn't wait to see me.

Ronne dead stared him in the eyes and he sat and started with the already boring, yet usual, conversation.

- You can't be laying around all day Ronne! You got to get out there and complete quests, how will you ever have a future if all you do is read and play those weird video-games of yours.

- Steve, differently from you, my quest isn't as easy as helping a stranger cross the street, I didn't get any rewards from the system up to this point, not all of us get lucky! And I'm comfortable enough the way I am, I don't seek any outstanding accomplishments, if anything I just want to work as an accountant.

At the mention of how lucky Steve was he could see a spark of anger, even a bit o hatred cover his pristine face, but that was for a second, after that he kept the big smile he had when he first entered 

- I won't know your quest if you don't ever disclose it. It shouldn't be that hard, is your first quest, come on! Let's just go to a green rift, the easiest one, my team will walk you through, you will probably complete the quest and guarantee a future for yourself. I'm trying to help you here, don't you see?

Ronne actually liked Steve, but what he didn't like was his attitude, they saw the world through different eyes, while he embodied the feeling of hero, Ronne just wanted to be just like any other normal person, he didn't see fun in accomplishing great things or being the beacon of humanity, he felt good the way he was.

- No, I don't want to have this conversation anymore, could you leave?

- Alright. - Steve sighted leaving the house at once.

As the door closed, his mom turned to him with a disappointed look in her face. 

- You should really consider it Ronne, I won't pressure you because I know it is hard, specially after losing your father-

- Don't talk about him - he said shushing her from continuing the sentence 

- I'm sorry sweetie, but you see, I think it would be good if you spent more time with your cousin he is such a good influence, and who knows maybe you will like to be a hero!

Ronne stood up gathering his plate and silverware, ignoring his mom. 

- Do you need anything? I will be going for a walk.

Looking down at his reaction she gave him a list of grocery and just enough money to buy them all.

As Ronne left the house he went for a walk downtown, where the tons of people would cover his presence, living in a urban city he felt part in a wave of people moving up and down the square. Suddenly he noticed movement stopped and people kept looking up. Staring at the same direction as them he saw the huge screen one of the buildings downtown, it was the news channel. 

- New rifts are appearing all across the world. - The anchor said with an indifferent expression

- Instead of the usual green, yellow, orange and red rifts; these seem to have a translucent color. 

- Heroes all over are planning to explore them tomorrow. - He finalized.

It was definitely something new, but it didn't interest Ronne a bit. He just wanted to be done for the day as he finally went to the grocery store and bought all the items his mom needed. Going back home and finally playing Smash Bros before getting back on his bed, not a long, nor a productive day, but a day, one more for the count. Before he went to sleep he checked his status, knowing there wouldn't be any changes.

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- Status!

And a blue status screen appeared.

Name: Ronne Soul

Race: Human 

Alignment: Hero

Rewards: None 

Titles: None 

Current main quest: Save someone from death

Side-quest(s): None

He could focus on each of these different terms, but he knew no new information would be displayed, specially from his quest. It was just as simple as that. He needed to save someone from eminent death, however, there wouldn't be any rewards or consequences if he chose not to do so. Closing it back up again he finally went to sleep.

Waking up to his alarm as usual, Ronne sat up and took a deep breath as he thought about everything that has happened to him to this day. It just sometimes occur to people to want to forget when going through something traumatic, for him it was different, remembering made him feel accountable for everything that happened. His father was a hunter just like Steve, he wished to explore the different rifts and maybe even come out glorious, he had a joyful team full of his friend. Ronne looked up to him, and even thought about working with him when he grew older. One day, however, he went into a rift and didn't come back. No information was disclosed to his family, only that he was the only member to return dead from the expedition, his friends didn't even come to Ronne's family to disclose any further information.

He was tired. He felt tired and not only for what happened to his father, but specially for all the bullying he suffered in school. He managed to endure it throughout all these years because it just felt right to not complain, he had a perfect family, his mom and dad fully healthy, and an amazing household. But when receiving the news from his fathers' death he immediately asked to be home schooled, there wasn't any bigger meaning into it, he just felt like if one more day passed and he had to endure both his father's death and the pressure from the kids from his school he wouldn't be able to take it anymore...

- Honey!

He snapped back when hearing him mom call for him.

- I know mom, food, I'm coming downstairs in a second.

- No, it's not that sweetie, Steve is here again.

"Damn, two times in a row, let me take a break for God's sake!"

Getting down stairs with the grumpiest face he has ever had, he said good morning to his mother and slammed the door open.

- What now?! 

- Ronne, listen, ok?

- I don't care about your expeditions, could you please leave me alone.

- Ok, Ronne. This is the last time, I promise. If you don't join after listening to me, I will leave and never come back with this proposal.

Ronne just looked at him, shook after hearing his words. "Why go through the trouble, he knows my answer."

- I am sure you have heard in the news about the new translucent rifts.

Nodding knowingly Ronne kept staring at him

- See, one of the many teams here in our area checked one out, and apparently, surprising as it may be they seem harmless for the most part, maybe even easier than a green portal.

He breaths in and continues, an almost hopeful look in his face when he sees Ronne frown. - Not totally harmless though. We have discovered one more thing, they seem to help the hunters inside complete their main quest, whatever it might be. Apparently, a part of the system notifies the hunters inside their quest will be activated within the rift and this sets the difficult level. From my team we don't have any particularly hard quests to complete, more like finding unusual mobs or materials, I also believes your quest will be truly easy for someone who didn't even complete their first one. So what I am offering here is an opportunity to go, and for once complete your quest, gather nice resources, and even earn a little from the committee. What do you think? - Rushing though his words he finally gets to ask his question 

Ronne found funny the effort he put in his little discourse, so he closed his eyes and made it seem like it he was thinking hard about it.

- Hmm - He said with closed eyes to Steven

- Yes? - Steve beamed in return, thinking he would finally be able to convince Ronne

- How about you go fuc-

Before Ronne could continue he heard a ping, and a notification in his quest system appeared.

- Wait a minute.

Completely ignoring Steve he opened his system panel.

New side-quest

Side-quest(s): Go into the rift with Steve and his team 

Reward: None

Consequence: Immediate death

Time limit: 24 hours

- What the actual FUCK?! - Ronne finally screamed