PROLOGUE
It was a usual day, but suddenly...
Congratulations! You were chosen as a hero of your planet; complete the task given by the Goddess of the otherworld.
Location: Steel Mountain Prison
Constant regeneration of body and body resources available
This is what the screen that appeared before Ethan's eyes said.
"What does it mean? What's happening?" Ethan thought.
In horror, Ethan started looking around. It was a circular, closed space made of dark blue stones with a metallic shine. There was a light up above his head, but it was so far away, like a star in the night sky.
Ding
The screen appeared again.
To see the status panel, think of the word status in your mind. To see your characteristics, think of the word characteristics. To …
Basically, a tutorial on how to use this screen. Ethan's game-plagued mind was already aware of all this, but he still decided to thoroughly go through it. From what he could understand, this 'game' was a proficiency-based experience; the more you do an action, the better you get. Quality and thoughtfulness of the actions are crucial, too. There were levels that grow only when absorbing souls. He was scared—if he were to be killed, would he also be material to be consumed? What would happen to his soul? Would that be complete death? Ethan decided not to think about it for now. Next were perks and abilities; those would need a master to teach or a eureka moment to be taught and created. And of course, beloved stat points—typical MMORPG ones, how lame. Though there wasn't a correlation between levels and stat points, which Ethan found a bit more weird.
"Status" thought Ethan, and the status panel appeared again:
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Status
Name: Ethan Walker
Level: 0
Race: Homunculus
Affinity: N/A
Vocation: Otherworldly Hero
Condition: Healthy
Health: 210
Stamina: 150
Mana: 10
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Power Points:
- Strength: 4
- Endurance: 11
- Intelligence: 8
- Wisdom: 7
- Vitality: 10
- Perception: 3
- Dexterity: 4
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Abilities:
- N/A
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Race Perks:
- Enhanced Physical Resilience: As a created being, a homunculus has natural toughness, making them harder to injure or break compared to humans.
- Adaptive Body: The homunculus's body can adjust or evolve slightly based on their experiences, making them more adaptable to different challenges.
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Proficiencies:
- Athleticism: 2
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- Pain Endurance: 5
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Ethan gave a sad chuckle. Higher vitality, endurance, and even pain endurance proficiency were probably telling enough about his life on Earth. Dark thoughts started creeping into his mind—the ones he couldn't escape from.
"Would I know this will happen, I'd hit the gym more, goddammit. And what the hell does homunculus race mean!? I'm not a human?" Ethan said, wanting to distract himself.
Now that he noticed, he was naked; only underwear was left. At least it wasn't cold.
"Now, what should I do?" Ethan asked.
Ethan approached the wall, running his hand over the rough, cool stones. He was in a narrow, cylindrical pit, as if a colossal pillar had been driven deep into the earth and then pulled out, leaving behind a tight, vertical shaft. The chamber was barely 3 meters across, but its walls stretched upwards for kilometers. The surface of the walls wasn't smooth; it was as if a myriad of rocks were stacked onto each other and then somehow became one. If he wanted to, he could easily climb up with his hands with so many bumps the wall had.
Ethan started moving around, running in circles, slowly increasing his speed. He was running for 20 minutes as fast as he could already, yet he didn't feel tired at all.
"Hm, interesting. So I won't get tired. And I think I get what's going on; this is a tutorial area for the players to get used to status and the new environment, but what if I use it as a training ground."
A wide smirk could be seen on his face; his smarts and wits were unmatched! Optimistically, he started training his body. He began with running, and a thought passed through his mind: How are people on Earth? Surely it's not him alone in this situation, and hopefully there will be help, though he wasn't too sure. At least Ethan didn't have worries about close people because such people weren't present in his life. So he could train without too many bad thoughts; he still wanted to go back to Earth, though—who wants to be stranded in some other world? Ethan was running for hours already, so he decided to switch up and do bodyweight training instead. Push-ups, pull-ups on walls—the bumpy rocks allowed that—and other exercises. Ethan didn't know how, but he had the ability to focus on something and forget about his needs since childhood. Only after two days of constant training did he think to himself, Why isn't he hungry? Turns out, he didn't have to eat in this space, nor did he need to sleep; not even excreting was needed. So he could focus just on his training.
Another 4 days passed by fast, and he got some results out of it:
Athleticism: 2 -> 3
Strength: 4 -> 5
Endurance: 11 -> 12
Vitality: 10 -> 11
Dexterity: 4 -> 5
Athleticism
Description: Measures your ability to perform physical activities, improving strength, endurance, vitality, and dexterity.
Effects: Each level increases Strength, Endurance, Vitality, and Dexterity by +1.
"God, I love this, seeing numbers go up and being objectively sure that you're growing. I wish I had this on Earth. Also, I don't need any humane needs anymore; I hope it stays this way even when I leave."
Ethan was happy with this situation; finally, something fun started to happen in his life. With happy thoughts and humming a song playing in his mind, he got back to training. He was training his core this time; the plank was one good exercise because he was constantly in a failure state, yet he regenerated enough to hold on. He was in a plank for some time and heard a sound he was waiting for.
Ding
Attention, Hero. It is time to exit the chamber and commence your journey. Note that you are being observed by individuals from your homeworld. They may assist you based on their assessment of your worthiness. You may now review the list of champions from your planet.
Homeworld gifts received
"Huh?"
A plain cardboard box appeared near his legs. Ethan opened it and found military food packs, a pair of clothes, basic first-aid kits, and water purification tablets. Thinking a bit, Ethan understood that the government was involved, and probably many other people were in his situation for them to send a nobody like him these supplies. This relieved him of some stress.
"What a sick joke, now I'm some freaking streamer" - thought Ethan. "Who came up with this idea, oh my God". Well, what could he do?
"Do you hear me?" Ethan asked the air. "Argh, what am I expecting?"
He wanted to return to his training when a thought struck his mind—what if they send him training gear!?
"Send me some weights, barbells, dumbbells, weight vests, and training dummies!" said Ethan excitedly. He didn't know if people on the other side heard him, so he said it several times slowly so they could at least lip-read what he's saying.
Hero, commence your departure from the chamber and begin your quest.
"Ah, don't bother me; let me train in peace," said Ethan with an annoyed voice.
Ethan took a big breath and breathed out. Feeling vigorous. The training session shall start again!
"Let's do it."