CHAPTER ONE

Achievements... I guess?

~

Since before the age of written history began

This world has never moved according to a single plan

Goddesses and gods alike guide mortals on their way

Speaking to us through blue boxes, as they do today

Achievement: Birth

Congratulations on beginning your adventure here

You can’t understand this yet, but these screens must appear

You’ve been born in such a world where status screens are blue

Grow up wise and strong and we’ll do our best to help you

This shall be the song of one whose fate was quite unclear

One who stood to lose the very things he held most dear

Challenged by the gods to live a life wroght with mistakes

But will he overcome his curse, if time is all it takes?

~ Name: Twig ~

Title: Toddler

Class: N/A [lv0]

HP

[5]

MANA

[5]

ATK

[5]

INT

[5]

DEF

[5]

SPD

[5]

This kid doesn’t have a chance if he can’t even walk

And don’t most kids by that age already know how to talk

It’s a shame he still can’t read system messages yet

Honestly how slow and unlucky can one kid get

There was a boy who lived within a world of fantasy

Where status messages were hardly uncommon to see

Everything that you achieved was noted by a god

And great achievements made the entire pantheon applaud

This boy was just like any other, human as can be

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And he lived in peace inside a warm community

His name was Twig, so named for just how weak he was at birth

And because even a simple twig can be of worth

His parents had five daughters before they had their young son

By the time Twig came along, adventures had begun

His sisters all achieved great things while working in the house

His oldest sister was a Hunter for killing a mouse

All of them were always bragging of a new alert

“Look, I just got Poison Tolerance by eating dirt!”

The gods and goddesses were truly kind to everyone

Blessing every small achievement anyone had done

Heroes came and went with eras, always someone new

And your status screen would tell you everything to do

Anyone who’d ever held a sword had quickly seen

Their own little guide to heroics on a blue screen

Achievement: First Sword

For picking up this sword you’ve earned the title “Young Master”

Now you’ll find your strength increased and you can run faster

Practice as instructed everyday for more rewards

One day you may even unlock many magic swords

Such events were common in this world of status screen

Tripping while distracted by them was a common scene

Children often spent their free time searching for a quest

Playing outside while they put their own skills to the test

Achievement: Enjoying Life

Congratulations on enjoying such a happy day

You’ve impressed a god so here’s some blessings on the way

From now on, while skipping stones, they’ll skip at least ten times

Just don’t use your throwing skills to commit any crimes

Achievement: Having Fun

You’ve played so much today that it has touched an old god’s heart

After all, young children’s dreams are where adventures start

Take this blessing freely, it will open up your mind

Now when you are having fun, you’ll leave fatigue behind

Achievement: Friendship

A god as taken notice to the way you play with friends

He wishes for you to know friendship that never ends

With this blessing, you’ll make friends without much effort spent

As long as you have companions, you shall feel content

Such achievements made a person’s childhood interesting

They’d receive a blessing for doing most everything

Twig grew up surrounded by such news from those he knew

But Twig was quick to realize something odd as he grew

When he asked his friends and family about their screen

They told him of the friendly messages that they had seen

But the first that he remembered seeing as a boy

Were not quite the memory that any would enjoy

Achievement: Knowing Your Limits

Congratulations on your mediocre start at life

You’re about as sharp as your old mother’s butter knife

For a five year old you really should know more than this

I think you should give a life of adventure a miss

Achievement: Wasting Time

You have too much time and still you squander it on play

Time is wasted on the way you spend your every day

You should stay at home and try to be of use somehow

Get inside and help your mother clean the house, right now

At the time he’d only just learned how to read and write

So he couldn’t really understand that big blue sight

But he took it as a quirky compliment of sorts

And he spent his free time playing with his young cohorts

Twig had several friends who lived in the same town as him

Together they had learned to hunt, make fires, swing swords, and swim

Two nice boys named Leaf and Pebble and a girl named Sky

But Twig could never catch them all, no matter how he’d try

~