The sun peeked between countless skyscrapers which reached into the clouds. Long shadows darkened the street level of the downtown metropolis. Neon signs illuminated the entrances of otherwise dimly lit storefronts but also accented the thin layer of smog at ground level. Crowds of people bustled along the sidewalks. Some were returning home to towering apartment complexes while others headed to late-night workplaces. Hologram overlays generated by cranial implants hovered in front of the faces of many.

Among the crowd, Owen Watts followed the flow of people. He yawned while recalling his long day of work as the manager of the largest martial arts facility in the city. Despite how stressful the clients acted today due to a malfunction in the punching bag used for calculating punch and kick force, he had left behind his worries there. Now, with the appeal of his soft bed only a few minutes away, the stress was no more than water off his back.

Once he reached the astonishingly tall apartment building which contained his humble flat, he beelined for the elevator and pressed the ‘14’ button on the holographic display. Just as the doors began closing, a young couple called out to hold the doors. He caught the door, but his bum shoulder felt uncomfortable due to the abnormally quick rotation of the joints. Despite the dull throbbing, he smiled and nodded politely toward the couple.

“Thank you,” the man said, nodding in return. He had a sharp face and looked to be of Asain descent. The blond Caucasian woman by his side also nodded without saying anything.

“Which floor?” Owen asked.

“Fourteen.”

“Eh? We’re on the same floor. What a surprise.”

Both the man and woman raised their brows at the same time. Owen inwardly sighed at the sight of a couple living on the same wavelength. Luckily, as the elevator lurched upward, the man halted Owen’s self-aggrandizing speculation by asking, “That’s quite a coincidence. Did you move in recently?”

“It’s been about two years now. Surprised we’ve never met.”

“Wow. We’ve lived here for three years.”

“Name’s Owen. You?”

“Sora. This is my wife, Irene.”

The woman, who had a rather cute face for someone in their twenties, waved and greeted Owen with a curt, “Hello.”

Sora reached out for a handshake while bowing slightly. Owen obliged. Unfortunately, a strong static current caused him to recoil slightly.

“Ah, sorry, did I shock you?” Sora asked.

Owen coughed embarrassedly and, pretending it never happened, shook Sora's hand while saying, “Glad to make your acquaintance.”

A beep sounded out, and a gender-neutral electronic voice informed them that they had reached the fourteenth floor, although it was technically the thirteenth since buildings in this area skipped the ‘13’ due to long-held superstitions. Sora and Irene then parted ways with Owen since their apartment was apparently located at the opposite end of the long hallway.

For a moment, Owen watched the couple with scrupulous eyes, but quickly pushed their naive happiness out of his mind. Then, he purchased a honey and ginseng flavored green tea from the vending machine near the elevator before heading down the hall toward his own apartment. He spun the can in his hand while walking to the door. Two steps before reaching the door, he clicked open the lid, took a sip, and then stared into the eye-scanner to unlock the door. It was the same exact pacing as every other day after work.

As soon as he stepped onto the tile beyond the door, he slipped off his shoes and set them on the wooden shoe rack built into the wall. He quickly locked the door behind him. He didn’t even have to look to perform the actions after doing the same exact thing five days a week for two years.

From there, he wandered over to his bedroom. While sipping his tea, he glanced over at the pile of dirty clothes in the corner and made a mental note to do the laundry on his next day off. He then shoved that thought into the back of his mind and plopped down at his desk in order to catch up on all the videos his favorite creators posted while he was at work. One video covered the topic of primitive technology, one was a mediocre comedy sketch which reminded him of some of his friends from his school days, and the rest were all closed beta livestreams of the technical miracle and smash-hit VRMMORPG, Pathwalkers. The game earned a quick and massive following after its announcement a year ago by an entertainment company which appeared almost out of nowhere. The company, called Cloudgate, set the release date to a week from today, but many famous streamers received codes to test out the closed beta. Although Owen couldn’t afford the Cloudgate capsule required for the jump into the virtual world that the game delivered, he could vicariously live the experience through these streamers’ eyes.

These evenings were the only part of the day where he could truly open up and smile to his heart’s content. Unfortunately, it never lasted long enough, and the clock quickly struck midnight. With a sigh, he shut down his PC and tossed the empty tea can into the trash bucket by the door. He stripped down into his boxer briefs and prepared to jump into bed, only for his eyes to land on the picture frames atop the bookshelf. Normally, he paid no attention to them. Why would they catch his eye now of all times?

Despite the lump in his throat, he pulled down one of the frames, dusted it off, and looked at the people in the picture. He caressed the wooden frame while staring blankly at the smiling faces of the young people in their graduation gowns. Thomas, the mellow musician; Dale, the offbeat engineer; Kara, the crazy art enthusiast; Aimee and Alyssa the playful genius twins; Brad, the strategist behind all their hijinks; and finally, himself. For several minutes, he stood there with the photo in his hand. It had been taken only a few weeks before his scheduled wedding with Aimee. Those days felt like no more than a wishful dream now, though he would never go back even if he had the chance. It wasn’t worth reliving all of the events that took place only a few weeks after the photo was taken. Losing both Aimee, the woman who once stole his heart, and Brad, the close friend who seduced her and took her from him, to reckless airship flying only a few days before the wedding was but a distant memory now.

After what felt like hours, he returned the photo to its home atop the dusty bookshelf with a forlorn sigh. He breathed deeply in order to keep the distant memories in the past rather than bog down his mind with them in the present. With that, he closed his eyes and leaned backward onto the bed.

“...”

For some reason, pain coursed through his back as soon as he landed on a hard surface. Wasn’t the bed harder than normal? And what were these thin and smooth tendrils poking the bare skin of his back, legs, and arms?

He opened his eyes. Then, he immediately closed his eyes. Those bright white dots which coated his ceiling looked like the starry skies he had seen in the past before moving to a big city filled with smog, pollution, and artificial lighting. That couldn’t be right, though. It must have been a dream. Then again, thinking that this was a dream convinced him that he wasn’t dreaming. Once again, he opened his eyes, and the starry sky greeted him again.

“Stars… and… this is grass?”

Owen sat up and looked around. Trees similar to oaks and willows with leaves which glowed light blue in the night surrounded him in every direction. Lush grass tickled his skin. An owl cooed with an eerie spine-tingling voice nearby, yet it remained out of sight. Everything looked eerily familiar.

“Isn’t this what the forest near Raylea looks like?”

Right. It looked exactly like the Barkstone Forest located outside the starting city Raylea from the popular game, Pathwalkers, yet the graphics went beyond anything he could have imagined after watching streams on a simple monitor. In fact, this went beyond graphics. It looked more real than reality.

“So, am I in Legauria? No way, right? Haha... ha..."

Owen frowned as he tried to process his situation. He could only assume that some burglar broke into his house to throw him into a dive capsule, or that he somehow ended up in the actual world of Pathwalkers. His full lucidity caused him to cast away any thought that he could be dreaming. Perhaps this truly was the world within Pathwalkers...

Then, he glanced at his bare legs and pursed his lips. The only thing on his person was the boxer briefs he had been wearing.

“Is this some sort of joke? Or a prank by an angry deity?” Owen asked while lifting an emotionless gaze to the sky. “If there’s some sort of god or something that sent me here, couldn’t you at least have given me some clothes? Or something to defend myself with?”

Silence was his answer. In response, he sighed and lowered his gaze to the moist forest soil beneath his bare feet. Lush blades of grass tickled his toes. It was an unfamiliar sensation after living in a dense metropolis for so long. A vision of angel hair passed through his mind as he wiggled his toes through the grass.

Sighing, he whispered to himself, “I wonder if Grandpa is okay…”

The statement caused him to think about all the things left unfinished back home. If he had known this would happen, then he would have tried to make things right with the friends and family he had grown apart from, especially his grandpa. The old man sacrificed so much to finish raising him after the accident... With that, his memory arrived at the graves of his parents and siblings. Deep sorrow and guilt seized his heart at the vivid image. His face scrunched up and his fists clenched tight. He could still see his mother’s bloodsoaked face smiling at him as though to say it wasn’t his fault, not that it ever convinced him. Like any other time the bad memories came back to haunt him, he breathed in deeply through his nose before releasing a long sigh. The memories slowly faded into the back of his mind as he refocused on his surroundings.

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Scratching his chin, he gave up worrying about how he ended up here and instead decided to search for somewhere safe to sleep. After all, he was still exhausted. On top of that, he didn’t know which section of the Barkstone Forest he was in, if it was even the Barkstone Forest at all. Encountering wild monsters in his current state would likely be a death sentence, considering the power system of the game, and he didn’t have any interest in dying today. Even if the revive system somehow applied to him, testing it didn’t sound like a good idea at all.

While worrying about the situation, something slammed into the dirt inches away from him. Dirt exploded in a small radius around the point of impact. He immediately jumped away and lifted his fists to defend himself. Normally, the sudden movement would have sent pain through his shoulder, but it felt fine. Instead of focusing on his old injury, though, he stared at the cloud of dust and waited for it to settle. When it cleared, he saw a sheathed shortsword embedded in the dirt. It was about the length of his forearm and vaguely reminded him of an ancient Japanese sword. A small crater had spread around it as though it had fallen from the sky like a meteorite. Steam rose from the nondescript black sheath as if to prove such a theory. Curiosity drove him to gaze toward the stars. Then his brows furrowed since the stars directly above him were blotted out. Something else was falling.

A minute later, a dark blue blanket plopped on the grass next to the blade. Owen couldn’t help raising a brow. Why did a blanket and sword fall from the sky?

Don’t tell me it’s because of what I said a couple minutes ago...

Since the items would at least aid in his current situation, Owen carefully approached them. He gently poked both to make sure neither posed any danger. Unfortunately, no other way of checking for danger crossed his tired mind. As it turned out, both were perfectly safe, though the sword was warm to the touch due to its rapid descent through the atmosphere. Without further ado, he picked up both items.

{You have obtained Mirage Blanket!}

{You have obtained Owen’s Wakizashi!}

Owen’s brows wrinkled in confusion. “Uh… What? Screens? I really am in the game?”

Although he was already stunned by the strange translucent screens, he suddenly received even bigger surprises.

{An enchantment on the Mirage Blanket has been transferred to your boxer briefs.}

And...

🔷Hidden Quest🔷

Description: Congratulations! You have been selected as a Pathfinder Candidate! Pursue the great honor of becoming a Pathfinder, a being who locates and guards the paths between worlds as well as prepares worlds for inevitable invasion. Since you will face harsh trials, you will receive as many stat points as a person with a Legendary Class for leveling up. As an addition, your body has been forcefully reverted to its best physical state. Living as a Pathfinder requires strength! Obtain the strength you require through adversity! There is no time limit on this quest. This quest is mandatory.

Difficulty: SSS+

Clear Conditions: Reach Level 100 without dying; Clear all trials

Clear Reward: Mythic Sub-Class: Pathfinder

Fail Conditions: Death; Following the evil path

Fail Penalty: N/A upon death; Death sentence from the Pathfinder Council if following the evil path

{This quest cannot be rejected or canceled. The quest has been accepted.}

Even before falling into this world, he had been struggling to keep his eyes open due to exhaustion, but now, he was blinking to make sure he had read the screen correctly. His eyes were not playing tricks on him. It really said ‘Pathfinder’. Although he knew little about the deep lore of the game, he absolutely knew about the Pathfinders. In the trailers for the game, they had been mentioned as the ones who opened the way for the Pathwalkers, which were the players, to travel to a distant world through the lens of an avatar and aid the people against countless evils. In other words, he had been sent here in order to become one of those mysterious beings who opened the paths? Wasn’t this unbelievable? On top of that, his body was forcefully reverted? What did that imply?

Unfortunately, the windows suddenly faded away. His brows wrinkled since he didn’t get around to reading the success and failure requirements.

“Um… shouldn’t there be a log or something?” he mumbled to himself. Puffs of warm air floated from his mouth as he spoke but quickly evaporated. However, he didn’t notice the nippy night air since he was looking around for the transparent HUD which always showed up for streamers, albeit to no avail. After thinking about it, he spoke the voice command players could use as an alternative, “Open Quest Log.”

A rectangular screen with the word ‘Quest’ written at the top in fancy bold print popped into view. All he could do was stare at the single quest in the list in the hopes that it would open somehow. Apparently, just staring was enough. Once again, the quest details popped into view, but this time, he studied them properly. He forgot about the weight of the blanket and sword clenched firmly in his grasp upon realizing the severity of the quest details. At the very least, this quest would transpire over the course of several years, if not decades.

Dismissing the window with the voice command, “Exit”, Owen pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. A contradictory mixture of anxiousness and excitement bubbled within him. On one hand, he worried about everything left behind on Earth, while on the other, he anticipated crazy adventures here like the ones in the streams he always watched. The only worrying aspect of the hidden quest itself was the requirement to not die before reaching Level 100. Such a high requirement cooled his heated heart.

Or maybe shivering under the influence of the chilly nighttime air allowed reality to set in. Focusing on finding a safe place to sleep became his number one priority. The new blanket would at least stave off some of the midnight chill, too. Pursing his lips, he stared at the soft blanket which looked like it had been pulled straight off the shelf of a modern department store. As he stared at the blanket, another window startled him by popping into view unexpectedly.

Mirage Blanket

Grade: Unique

Description: A fuzzy blanket mercifully gifted to Owen Watts by the Pathfinder who chose him as a Pathfinder Candidate. It was crafted by the greatest Tailor among the Pathfinders and enchanted by the greatest Enchanter among the Pathfinders.

Enchantments: Spotless - Will never become dirtied no matter the circumstances; Indestructible - Will never tear, wear out, or lose durability. Although indestructible, it cannot prevent direct damage to the wearer's body.

Attributes: Defense +1; Enter the Inconspicuous state when fully wrapped around your person. (The Inconspicuous state is a passive stealth state which can cause living creatures to overlook you when not explicitly searching for you. It can also cause any being that notices you to quickly lose interest in you. Effectiveness decreases proportional to movement. )

Durability: ∞

Restrictions: None

Owen’s hands shook as he read the blanket’s description. “Wow… Isn’t this a really good item? It completely solves the issue of sleeping safely. Then… the sword?”

Since he didn’t know exactly how to activate the item description screen, he simply stared at the sheathed blade in the hopes that a screen would pop up. After a few seconds, one did.

Owen’s Wakizashi

Grade: Common (Growth)

Description: Owen's Wakizashi was a blade granted to him as a pity gift by the Pathfinder who chose him as a Pathfinder Candidate. It was crafted by the greatest Blacksmith among the Pathfinders and inscribed with a growth-type inscription by the greatest Runemaster among the Pathfinders. It will grow along with the wielder. There is a hidden function, but you do not have the ability to see what it is. It may take on a name of its own if it is allowed to grow.

Attributes: Attack +7; Self-Repair (Low)

Durability: 70/70

Restrictions: Owen Watts

Owen’s hands shook even more. Although the weapon in its current state was nothing to write home about, or even a staff which he was most familiar with, growth-type items in games usually paid off in the long run. Some were worth more than his yearly income in some of the games he used to play. Even if the description mentioned that the items were given out of pity, he felt thankful that he had received anything at all. Perhaps the Pathfinders cared about his safety… at least a little.

“Ah, didn’t my briefs get something too?”

Without further ado, he stared at his crotch until another window appeared.

Blessed Briefs

Grade: Unique

Description: Boxer briefs which Owen Watts was wearing when chosen as a Pathfinder Candidate. It was mass produced in a factory on Earth but the greatest Enchanter among the Pathfinders enchanted it out of pity since Owen owned no other clothes after being selected as a Pathfinder Candidate on short notice.

Enchantments: Spotless - Will never become dirtied no matter the circumstances; Indestructible - Will never tear, wear out, or lose durability. Although indestructible, it cannot prevent direct damage to the wearer's body.

Attributes: Defense +1

Somehow, Owen did not receive as much shock from the description. Of course, the number of confirmed Unique grade items on the Pathwalkers forums a few hours earlier was only seven, so owning two of them plus a growth-type item was unheard of. Apparently, all of that would revert to zero upon official launch, so his would be the only one at that point unless there were others like himself.

Item grades started with Common, which were as easy to find as a blade of grass in a forest, then Uncommon, Rare, Epic, Unique, and finally, Legendary, of which not even traces had been found yet. In the end, though, items were just that: items. They were tools. Tools did not guarantee success. They only made success more realistic. Owen knew that all too well.

A sudden yawn came over him, and he mumbled to himself, “I guess I’ll find somewhere to curl up in this snazzy blanket, then.”