===================
NOTIFICATION
===================
* Quest Completed: Piling Papers
--------------------------------
+ XP Gained: 60
+ Gold Earned: 4
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| Current XP: 100 / 100
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| Progress: █████████████
=========================
A few more translucent boxes appeared in front of me, but I dismissed them for now since this really wasn’t the time.
As I made my way to the door, I noticed the father and a guard deep in conversation. I nodded briefly, excused myself, and stepped outside. But before I could get far, the man grabbed my arm, stopping me in my tracks. He still hadn’t given up on the idea of owning my phone. His desperation was almost tangible.
“Sorry,” I said, keeping my tone casual. “I’ve changed my mind. I’m not selling it. Hope you can understand, sir.”
“What? But you were---”
“Yeah, I know. But I’m not.” I shrugged, starting to walk away. “See you.”
“But... wait! You said you were selling it just a minute ago? What changed?”
Shaking off his hold and leaving his question unanswered, I continued toward the Guild. With all four quests successfully completed, I was feeling pretty good about myself. Checking my phone, I saw that I’d only spent fifty-seven minutes running around. Considering how my very first quest went, this was not bad.
With the bonus I had gotten from the blacksmith, that brought my total money to eight gold and four silver, with the four gold being in my inventory. I’d need to invest in a proper coin pouch soon.
“Not bad,” I muttered, counting the coins before slipping them back into my pocket. “Might as well enjoy it while it lasts.”
With free meals and a bed at the Academy’s dorms, the gold wasn’t burning a hole in my pocket. For once, things were going smoothly. That was a rarity ever since I got dumped into this strange world.
As I walked, two guards hurried past, probably heading toward the stables where the news of a murder had spread.
“Did you hear?” I overheard a woman say to her friend. “Someone was killed near the well.”
“Elves, right?” the friend replied bitterly. “Monsters... I’m never going outside the walls again.”
“Curse them,” the first woman said, her voice laced with fear. “Devils!”
“Yeah, curse them! When are we going to get rid of them? Gods…”
Shaking my head at their conversation, I pushed open the Guild’s doors and approached the counter. This time, a different clerk sat there—a guy with oversized glasses, probably in his mid-thirties. He dropped the papers he was looking at as soon as he saw me approaching.
I placed the ring on the counter. Finally, happy that I could wrap this up.
“Name?” he asked, looking from me to the ring.
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“Axel Millo. I’ve completed four quests.”
“Four?” he repeated, surprised. “Are you in a hurry or something?”
“Something like that.”
He muttered ‘okay,’ under his breath, reaching under the counter to grab a hefty stack of papers. Sorting through them, he eventually separated the ones with my name on them, skimming through each one.
“Lost ring, two silver. Cleared the infestation, one silver. Found the blue-tailed rat, one silver. Got the sheep back into the pen, two silver. That’s six silver in total.”
“Sounds right.”
He counted out the six silver coins, but just as I reached for them, he closed his hand, holding them out of reach. His eyes narrowed as he studied me.
“You’re not pulling a fast one, are you?” he asked, suspicion clear in his tone. “These are really done, right? You’ve completed all of them?”
I didn’t flinch, meeting his gaze with a calm expression. “You can ask the quest-givers if you want.”
He grunted and slowly opened his hand. “I guess I’ll go and just do that.”
I took the coins and stepped back, keeping my eyes on him for a moment longer before turning away. I wasn’t angry. I understood why he was cautious—plenty of people probably tried to scam the Guild by claiming to have completed quests they hadn’t even started.
I sank into a chair and exhaled. With that, I now had four gold and ten silver. Everything was going well, and now that I was done with the quests, I could finally focus on the translucent notification thingy that had been waiting for me. Time to see what it had to offer.
===================
| You have reached Level 2!
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| New Skill: Fireball
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| HP, STA & MP Restored
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| Available Ability Points: 3
===================
Staring at the translucent box, I raised an eyebrow. I hadn’t expected to get ability points for levelling up, or for my mana to show even a chance of restoration. A small flicker of hope stirred in me; maybe I could eventually cast spells again.
Level 2: Axel
HP: [███████████] 10/100
Mana: [░░░░░░░░] -1/100
Stamina: [████████████] 100/100
Options: [Inv | Skills | Quests]
“Ah… still at minus one,” I muttered, the reality sinking back in.
This all felt like something straight out of a game. I could’ve used James’ endless gaming knowledge here—if only I’d actually listened when he went on about them, instead of just pretending to pay attention.
===================
| Ability Points |
| Available: 3 |
===================
| [+]Strength: (0)
| [+]Agility: (0)
| [+]Intelligence: (0)
| [+]Constitution: (0)
===================
| Confirm Allocation
| [Confirm] [Reset]
===================
A new box appeared with the [Confirm] option greyed out. If I remembered right, intelligence was tied to spellcasting. But with my mana still in the negatives, it seemed unnecessary to add a point there. Strength tempted me for a moment—but I wasn’t planning to get involved in fights with humans, elves, or anything else here. Staying out of trouble felt like the best strategy, so agility seemed the way to go.
“No need for strength if I’m avoiding fights,” I murmured, my fingers hovering over the options. “Hmm.”
I assigned two points to agility and one to constitution, then tapped confirm. As soon as I did, a strange sensation swept over me. My body felt lighter, and each breath seemed clearer, almost purer, as though my lungs had been scrubbed clean. It felt weird, yet refreshing.
===================
| Ability Points |
| Available: 0 |
===================
| Strength: (0)
| Agility: (2)
| Intelligence: (0)
| Constitution: (1)
===================
Level 2: Axel
HP: [██████████░] 100/110
Mana: [░░░░░░░░] -1/100
Stamina: [██████████░░] 100/120
Options: [Inv | Skills | Quests]
“Good,” I muttered, flexing my hands as I adjusted to the unfamiliar feeling. “Feels… different. But good.”
Nodding to myself, I got up and left the Guild. Now, all I had to do was wait for tomorrow, get my own dorm room at the Academy, and figure out what that giant eye thing was that I’d seen at school. I could feel it; I was getting close to escaping this place and returning to my own world.