As always, I sat in the back of the university classroom. Bored out of my mind. But I stayed put, because my grades were suffering enough as it was. However, as I sat there, there was suddenly a loud rumbling sound and the classroom lights went out.
“Everyone, stay calm and remain seated!” The professor told us. “I’m sure everything is fine and the lights will be coming back on any moment.”
But at that same moment, a translucent and holographic blue screen popped up in front of my face. And apparently, the same happened to everyone else as they started wondering what it was. Instead of panicking, I decided to just read what was on the screen.
[Congratulations! You have been selected to join the Game of the Gods!]
[You are now a Player, a being who has been awakened to the power of Mana!]
[All of humanity has become Players, in order to survive what’s coming!]
[Play the Game in order to live!]
[Complete Quests in order to grow stronger!]
[That’s it! Good Luck!]
[…You’re gonna need it…]
“This doesn’t necessarily seem good,” I commented to myself. “Seems like that dumb comic I read a while back. Maybe I should say ‘status’ and see if a screen pops up.”
And right after I finished saying that, a blue screen indeed popped up.
[Name: Dexter Davenport]
[Species: human]
[Gender: male]
[Height: 6’ 8”]
[Weight: 304 lbs]
[Age: 21 years]
[Hair Color: sandy blonde]
[Eye Color: icy blue]
[Skin Color: Caucasian]
[Level: 0]
[Stats: HP (4501.5), MP ((4.1)8.2-4.1), Str ((319.5)213+106.5), End ((280.5)187+93.5), Con ((366)244+122), Agi ((219)146+73), Dex (50), Int (47), Sen ((109.5)73+36.5), Arc (7), Attack Power ((6390)3195+3195), Attack Speed (1095), Magic Power ((7.4)14.8-7.4), Movement Speed (1095), Tolerance ((4207.5)2805+1402.5), Defense ((5490)3660+1830), Perception (766.5), and Luck (5)]
[Titles: none]
[Class: none]
[Traits: [Superhuman], [Davenport Bloodline]]
[Skills: [Body Enhancement]]
[Patron: none]
[Perks: none]
[Weapons: none]
[Armor: none]
[Accessories: none]
If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.
[Other Items: none]
“There’s…a lot of information here,” I mumbled. The guy sitting next to me was looking over his screen as well before leaning towards me.
“Hey. I’ll tell you my stats if you tell me yours,” he said.
“Why?”
“I’ve read lots of stuff like this! Stats are vitally important, and the higher they are, the better,” he explained.
“Oh. In most of these stories, what’s the average starting stats?”
“Usually fifteen or less.”
“Ah, I see. And what are yours?”
“If I tell you, will you tell me yours?”
“Sure, I guess.”
“Cool! Actually, let me see if there’s a sharing option, since that’ll be easier. Share stats!”
A list of stats different from my own popped up in front me.
[Stats: HP (39), MP (108), Str (8), End (4), Con (7), Agi (10), Dex (12), Int (53), Sen (7), Arc (11), Attack Power (24), Attack Speed (10), Magic Power (170), Movement Speed (10), Tolerance (12), Defense (21), Perception (35), and Luck (1.2)]
“Huh. That’s a very visible difference,” I noted.
“Alright, can I see your stats now?”
“I did say you could. Share stats.”
A screen popped up in front of him. I watched his eyes go wide as he read. He kept glancing up from the page to look at me. Eventually, he finished reading and loudly exhaled.
“I-I mean, I knew you were large and strong, since you’re 6’ 8” and jacked, but this…this is ridiculous.”
“Guess I’m even stronger than I thought.”
“Guess so. It’d…probably be best not to share your stats with anyone else.”
“Why?”
“Because they’re absolutely ridiculous! I mean, two of them are over 200! At Level 0! I’m sure that’s not supposed to happen.”
“That’s fair.”
Before we could continue discussing, another message appeared.
[Oh! Forgot to tell you all something important.]
[Your first Quest will be showing up soon.]
[Quest: Survive]
[Your university has been overrun by monsters. You must either escape the campus or hunt them all down]
[Rewards: differs depending on contribution and method of survival]
[Failure Penalty: death]
“Guess we know now what we need to do,” I muttered.
“Yeah, seems. Let’s escape, that seems much easier. Also, I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Johnathon Guinness.”
“Dexter Davenport. Now, I need to take care of something. I can hear something in the hallway, and I’m gonna check it out.”
Getting up, I walked over to the classroom door. Opening it, I saw a small humanoid creature with green skin, large ears, and a rather weak-looking body. However, it held a dagger or shortsword of some kind in its hand. It looked at me and let out a cackling laugh. The creature charged at me, swinging its weapon.
“Sorry, but that’s not gonna happen.”
I sidestepped its wild charge and kicked it. The monster’s tiny body burst like a water balloon, splattering the walls with blood and gore. Johnathon then stepped into the hallway and noticed the blood.
“W-was there a monster or something?”
“Yeah, a small green creature about the size of a child. It had big ears and held a dagger.”
“That sounds like a goblin. Those are typically your weak fodder monsters for people to learn how to fight against.”
“I see. That explains why it exploded after I kicked it once.”
“Y-you just kicked it and it exploded?”
“Yeah. I also go XP.”
“Get enough XP and you’ll level up. Which will make you even stronger.”
“Got it. Thanks for letting me know. By the way, I can hear a few more of those goblins nearby.”
Charging forward, I crushed two of them into the walls on either side of the hallway. They flattened into pancakes, dying instantly.
[Congratulations! You have leveled up x1]
[Str +7]
[Agi +3]
[Con +4]
[You have obtained Title [First Level Up]]
[First Level Up]
[Requirements: be the first person in your server to level up]
[Effects:
1. +25% XP gain]
“I just leveled up and received a Title.”
“Really? What’s the Title?”
“It says [First Level Up]. Apparently, the requirement is to be the first player to level up in my server. It also gives me +25% XP gain?”
“Wow! That’s amazing! That means you’ll level up faster!”
“Oh. That’s interesting. What should we do now?”
“Well, are you planning on beating the Quest by escaping or eliminating monsters?”
“With my strength and how weak the monsters seem to be, I’m pretty sure I can win by just killing monsters.”
“That’s fair. And since I know all about this sort of thing, could I hang around with you to give advice and help?”
“I don’t see why not. Just try to not be in the way.”
“Alright! I can do that.”
“Good. Let’s go then. We’re gonna hunt monsters.”