As the next morning arrived, he was met by Edith, who seemed to long since be awake as he sat up and yawned, stretching his arms.

“Mornin’ Did you sleep well?...What’s that?” He rubbed his eyes.

The silver-haired woman was holding a large sack that seemed stuffed full of heavy material, though his groggy mind hadn’t yet figured it out.

“Morning and yes, I slept well enough. I gathered all of the ‘failed’ weapons you summoned last night. If you’re not going to use them, you should sell them to the local blacksmith,” Edith suggested.

“Good thinking,” he nodded, getting up.

As they both left the room, Jett found himself immediately greeted by a burly figure that filled the width of the inn’s cozy corridor.

“Aaaaagh,” the man yawned like a bear.

“Morning, Gunter,” Jett said, looking up at the familiar man.

“Morning! Ga-ha-ha! I slept like a log,” Gunter said, now following behind them as he scratched his beard.

Surprisingly, there wasn’t a single point of evidence that suggested that the booze-lover was even hungover in the slightest; the man was simply an anomaly of mead.

Gunter looked down curiously, eyeing the sheathed, black-handled dagger attached to Jett’s belt, “Looks like you got some new gear.”

He looked back at the booze-drinking warrior pulling a bit on the heavy sack of weapons he had slung over his back with a smile, “You bet. I’ve got a lot of duds I need to sell. I wanted to check out the Guild first, but I don’t really wanna lug all of this around in the process…We should go to the blacksmith’s shop first.”

“I offered to carry it,” Edith slightly pouted, huffing under her words.

“I’ve got it, I’ve got it,” Jett assured her with a chuckle.

Gunter laughed boisterously with enough volume to surely wake up the entire inn, “Ya don’t get it, Edith! This is a man’s honor you’re treading on! Jett won’t let a woman carry his load!”

“Only fools abide by such principles,” Edith remarked, looking away.

“Say what–?!” Gunter responded in surprise.

“A woman can be every bit as strong, if not surpass a man. Case in point, I could easily take you down in a fight,” Edith told the booze-loving warrior.

“Is that so…?” Gunter smiled as a vein pressed against his forehead.

The silver-haired girl’s hand neared her sheathed sword while Gunter seemed ready to reach for the ax strapped to his back at a moment’s notice. It was frightening just how quickly the reputation of fighter’s got out of hand.

“Alright, enough of that,” Jett intercepted.

The air of tension immediately settled from his intervention; despite being half the size of Gunter and not nearly as skilled as Edith, the two combatants didn’t waste a moment to head his command.

“Apologies, Master,” Edith momentarily closed her eyes, nodding her head.

“Ga-ha-ha! I was just kiddin’ anyway! Don’t worry, Jett!” Gunter laughed.

While they arrived at the lobby of the inn, he checked out before a brawl of disaster occurred in the lovely establishment, quickly heading into town with his two familiars.

Out into the town, soft, orange rays of the morning sun cascaded down on the waking community. The buildings of stone-and-wood perfectly fit the aesthetic of a fantasy beginner town he had in his mind as an avid gamer, along with the townsfolk he saw either sitting outside of their homes or the adventurers who strolled by.

“Today is a big day–well, first things first, let’s see if the blacksmith will take this junk off of me,” he muttered.

Gunter proudly walked forward, ushering for the two to follow, “If Merdlum is the same as I ‘member it, the blacksmith’s shop should be down this road!”

–

As claimed by the booze-loving familiar that held knowledge of the town, he found the shop he was looking for, walking through the front door that had a small chime. It was like stepping into an armory; bins of singular pieces of protective gear were for sale, along with racks of swords, axes, and just about any conventional tool of killing.

“Welcome to Falmur’s! I’m Falmur, by the way!”

The owner there greeted the three openly, taking off his leather gloves that were clearly worn and pushing the protective goggles from his eyes. He had a gruff, but welcoming voice and a bald head etched with scars.

“Yo,” Jett returned the greeting, walking over to the wooden shopkeeper desk before hoisting the heavy sack of [Basic] rarity weapons on top of it.

A heavy “thud” resounded, bringing a curious look from the owner of the equipment shop, who raised an eyebrow at the sack.

“How much can I fetch for everything in there?” He asked.

“Well, let’s take a look,” Falmur said, opening the sack of weapons.

While the bald-headed man rummaged through the sack, Gunter and Edith scoped out the place, checking out the gear, though Jett made it clear with a look to both of them that he wasn’t exactly looking to pay for anything there.

Rubbing his chin, the blacksmith grumbled a bit before finally looking up from the sack, “Hmm, I can do seven copper.”

“Seven?! That’s it?!” Jett reacted in surprise.

“Listen, kid, seven is being generous. None of this can go on the racks,” Falmur told him, holding up one of the swords from the sack, which was rusty and chipped, “I’d have to spruce all of these up–you’re basically selling me materials here.”

‘It cost me twenty-four copper to summon that junk…! Talk about shitty resale value!’ He lamented.

Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.

There was no haggling that could be wiggled in; the price was stone, and though he sulked about it, Edith assured him it was a fair deal.

“Thanks for your patronage! Make sure to come back if you get your hands on anything else or if you see anything here you like!” Falmur waved them out with a smile.

“Yeah, yeah…” Jett walked out of the shop, muttering as he pocketed the seven copper he got in return.

An abrasive slap on his back arrived from the towering booze-drinker, followed by laughter that boomed out.

“Keep your chin up! We’re on our way to the Guild–a place where the dreams of those with a fire burning in their hearts are made! Honor, glory, wealth–! All of it!” Gunter told him.

“You don’t have to sell me on it, but yeah, sounds awesome,” Jett replaced his gloom with an excited smile.

Edith added in with a small smile, “It’s a great place to begin your journey, no doubt. Don’t worry–we’ll be by your side, Master.”

“Thanks,” he nodded with a smile.

While it was a small time, there was certainly no shortage of commuting merchants and passing-through adventurers, leading to the stone-and-dirt roads of Merdlum being busy in the rising morning.

Arriving at the doorstep to the Guild of Merdlum, he felt an air of adventure swirling around the establishment; it was tall, but not imposing, made of fortified stone and wooden logs.

“Here we go,” he said under his breath.

Entering the Guild with his two companions following behind, he immediately noticed the sight of plentiful adventurers sitting at the tables on the left side of the lobby; they were already drinking first thing in the morning and chatting up the place.

“...A bit packed this early, isn’t it?” He remarked.

“There are adventurers that choose to live in guilds. I believe it’s usually to have first ‘dibs’ on quests,” Edith told him.

Approaching the reception desk of the Guild Hall, he had to wait in line for a lengthy ten minutes, standing behind a rather tall man dressed in full, crimson armor with twin blades strapped to his back.

Finally, he reached the desk, greeted by a golden-haired receptionist wearing a black-and-white blouse with a bright smile that dazzled in tandem with her amethyst eyes:

“I haven’t seen your face around here before. With that being said…Welcome to the Merdlum Guild! I am Julia, what may I do for you?” She asked.

He confidently responded, “I’d like to become an adventurer.”

“Is that so? If that’s the case, I’d suggest acquiring armor,” Julia told him with a kind smile, though her words stung.

It was only then that Jett realized how perplexing he looked standing in the guild full of equipped adventurers while he was still wearing the outfit he got transported in from Earth.

“Ah…I’ll handle that later,” he assured with an awkward laugh.

Juliua nodded, “Well, you’ll just need to sign this application then I’ll get you your Adventurer Amulet right away!”

“Alright,” he agreed.

He was handed a paper before heading over to a sofa in the hall so that he could read it over and sign it; it required basic information like his name, age, family, birthplace, and some of his specialties.

‘It’s easy enough to sign, I guess. Is it really this easy to become an adventurer?’ He thought.

Looking at Gunter and Edith, who were standing from the couch like guard dogs, a thought came to his mind, “Do you two need to sign up?”

“That is not necessary,” Edith responded, “We’re your familiars; we don’t seek the fortune or trinkets from quests, but only to be at your side in your adventures.”

“What she said! As long as I’m getting warm booze in my belly, I couldn’t ask for anything else,” Gunter assured, slapping his own abdomen with a laugh.

Jett smiled before nodding, “I see. Thanks.”

Finishing the application, he returned it to the Guild receptionist, who overlooked it before slamming down a stamp of approval on it and sliding a necklace with a bronze-tinted amulet hanging from it.

“I’d like to formally welcome you as an adventurer, Jett Levine. Be it hunting dragons in the sky or exploring that which is unknown to us, please be safe in your journeys,” Julia welcomed him, “I pray that you may be the one to put an end to the Reverse King.”

“Thanks, I plan on it,” he smiled, taking his adventurer amulet before looking up again, “Wait, ‘Reverse King’? Who’s that?”

“You don’t know?” Julia blinked at him, surprised at his lack of knowledge on the subject.

“Not a clue,” he shook his head.

“The Reverse King is a plague on Fantasia…He’s said to be somebody that arrived from an entirely different world and wields his own special ability unlike any magic. Before him, there were centuries of peace, but he’s united demons, orcs, and even dragons under his ‘Reverse Kingdom’--It’s only inevitable he’ll soon wage war on the world…” Juliua sold him.

It was shocking to hear, and certainly unsettling information provided to him that opened his eyes to the greater picture.

‘From a different world?...Is he like me? A special ability…A system, too? This guy sounds like trouble either way–if he’s the ‘demon lord’ or whatever of this world, I’ll have to confront him at some point,’ he thought.

For the time being though, he chose to keep his suspicions to himself, choosing not to indulge his own identity as an otherworlder since it likely would come with prejudice and fear with the existence of the so-called Reverse King.

–

The time came at last to find his very first quest in the world of Fantasia, though undoubtedly he was starting from rock bottom.

“Bronze-rank, huh? I guess I have to start somewhere,” he said, looking at the necklace after slinging it around his neck.

“As long as you prove yourself, you’ll jump up the ranks in no time! Don’t sweat it,” Gunter assured him.

“Yeah, well…I can only prove myself with a bronze-level quest anyway,” he responded.

The quest board was full of available missions, surprisingly, though it was likely due to there not actually being too many bronze-rank adventurers showing up first thing in the morning. Most of the options weren’t exactly intriguing to his excitable heart.

‘Exterminating rats plaguing a local farm–pass…Finding a girl’s lost cat–super pass…Now hold on, this seems more my speed,’ he thought.

What caught his eye was one of the quest documents pinned to the board:

[“VANQUISH GOBLINS IN NORTHBORROW CAVE | 50 COPPER REWARD”]

While he didn’t exactly have the best first impression with handling a single goblin, in Jett’s mind, the past was the past, and the present was now–especially with the backup he had now and the new equipment at his disposal.

“Alright, how about this one?” He pulled the quest from the board, showing it to Edith and Gunter.

The scruffy-bearded warrior rubbed his chin for a moment, reading the paper before smirking, “Goblins? I’m always down to squash some green devils!”

Edith seemed open to it as well, “If that’s your choice, then I will follow.”

As always, the silver-haired girl was knight-like in her demeanor, always respectful and subservient, though Jett wished she would be more expressive–yet, that would definitely be a trick path to walk in discussing.

“Then it’s settled!”

–In the very next minute, he excitedly slammed the quest paper down on the receptionist’s desk, surprising the golden-haired woman at the quick decision from the man who had just received his bronze-amulet.

“Goblin extermination?...Alright, then. Please be safe, adventurer,” Julia said before approving it.

“I’ll be back in a jiff–don’t worry,” he assured confidently.

After getting the quest approved for his undertaking, the Northborrow Cave where the troublesome goblins were said to be lurking wasn’t too far outside of Merdlum; directions were given by a local for him to go west of Merdlum and pass through a dirt path up a hill.

It only took twenty minutes of hiking before he found the entrance to the cave, though shrouded in shadows.

“Creepy,” he mumbled.

“Nervous? Ga-ha-ha! Don’t worry, we’ve got your back!” Gunter slapped him on the back.

Jett winced, “You’re going to break my back one of these days…I’m not nervous, just excited.”

Though he was excited, it would be a lie to say he wasn’t at least somewhat nervous; the ferocity of goblins was imprinted on him from his very first encounter in the world of Fantasia. All that truly meant though was that he wasn’t blindly overconfident.

‘...Let’s do this. This is where the name of ‘Jett Levine’ will begin its legend!’ He decided.