Note: This is one of those, "written in 5 minute intervals on my work breaks" so there won't be a fast release schedule. Then again I've got chapter's and chapter's of stuff using my normal method of writing that is just sitting in the editing que because I don't have the time or energy to do the editing. -Work Sucks-

The farmboy to hero is an extremely common trope. There is a clear and obvious reason for this. In any given cataclysm or inciting incident any random townsfolk could be affected. The Blacksmith's son or the seamstress's daughter is just as likely to become the main character of the story as any random farm kid, but the story would likely differ considerably. The blacksmith may make a good character, but he has a high demand skill set. He likely moves to the next town over and starts anew. The seamstress’s daughter also falls into a different story depending on the social structure of the world the story takes place in. All that said, the story is still more likely to feature the farm boy for one simple fact. For every Blacksmith’s son or Seamstress’s daughter, there are ten or more farmboys. This story is no exception to the trope. Doubly so even. The only twist to the inciting incident is that the sole survivor of the town of Haven, is female.

Farm Girl crawled her way out of the old root cellar and into the acrid air just outside the burning barn. The old cellar was too far away from the house to be useful. A new cellar had been built when Farm Girl's family reconstructed the farm after some other catastrophe. This alone was likely the reason she had not been found. During this month's hostile wave.

Farm Girl lacked the sentience to truly take in the horror of the scene around her. Her brother was laying half in, half out of the smoldering farmhouse. Her mother was laying in the yard, trails of blood and tattered clothing leading from the actual root cellar from where she had been dragged. There was no sign of Farm Girl’s father. If he was alive, he would be heading to the center of Haven for orders in the clean up. 

Farm Girl left her smoldering home and started heading down the dirt road to Haven. The scene around her repeated. Dead farmers and livestock littered the yards and fields. The crops had been set ablaze and were now nothing more than ash. The gates of Haven lay sundered. The walls, torn down or set aflame. The buildings within, left as piles of debris. Here the bodies were everywhere. Blood splattered the stone and the near vomit inducing stench of burnt hair and flesh wafted around the ruins. Farm Girl stood in the town square alone and waited.

[Town Name: Haven… Destroyed. Player Character Respawn disabled until new System Shrine is built]

[Searching for Mayor]

[Mayor not found]

[Scanning for survivors]

[Scanning…]

[Scanning…]

[Scan Complete. Survivors found: 1]

[Choosing Survivor to be converted to Mayor… Rolling 1d1]

[Result: 1]

[Entity: Farm Girl... Converting to Mayor]

[Error: Entity: Farm Girl Level is too low]

[Elevating Character Level for Entity: Farm Girl]

A box in Farm Girl's vision flared up.

“Congratulations! You are now Level 2. You have an unspent Perk Point.”

“Congratulations! You are now Level 3. You have unspent Perk Points.”

“Congratulations! You are now Level 4. You have unspent Perk Points.”

“Congratulations! You are now Level 5. You have unspent Perk Points.”

“Class: Fledgling Mayor, has been assigned to you.”

Farm Girl understood the words. Understood the meanings even, but the impact of what just happened was beyond her understanding.

[Generating Name for Entity: Farm Girl]

[Generating…]

[Entity: Farm Girl, is now Wren]

[Elevating Non Player Character: Wren, To Player Character]

“Congratulations! You have been elevated to a Player Character.” Said the semi-translucent text box occupying a small chunk of Wren's vision. It went ignored. Wren's eyes opened wide and she drew in a sharp breath as she fully took in the scene of horror around her. For a moment, she locked up. Part of her shuddering to find an appropriate expression of fear and/or grief. Part of her failing to decide on fight or flight. The system solved the problem for her.

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[Correcting panic response for Entity: Wren]

[Forcing reality of situation onto Entity: Wren]

Wren let out a long breath. It seemed odd that the carnage around her wasn't causing her to panic, but she supposed this was the inevitable conclusion to this month's horde. The blinking icon in the lower right corner of her vision let her know that she had unspent Perk Points. That was exciting, but a new prompt took all of her attention.

“Quest assigned: An office for the Mayor. The Mayor needs an office to begin the rebuilding of the town of Haven. Find or build an office. A proper Mayoral office has four walls, a roof, a door, and a desk.”

“Well okay.” Wren said to herself. That would be a great starting point and it gave her some direction in this messed up situation. Looking around the obliterated town square, she started toward the old Mayor’s office. It seemed like the best place to start. Another message caused her to falter.

“Powerful enemies continue to rise in the neighboring zones. You are at a severe disadvantage, Mayor. The System has determined that providing a military focused partner would increase the odds of survival. Would you like to summon one from the multiple worlds?”

The fact that powerful enemies were rising in neighboring zones was startling. Also startling was that there were multiple worlds. She answered the prompt in the best way she could. “Ahhh? Sure?”

[Choosing a world]

“I hope this isn't one of those damn Samurai hunting trip things.” Sen winned.

Yuji grunted his agreement. “At least it's not stupid hot out.”

“Or freezing.” Sen added. His foot sinking into the soft, half melted snow.

[Choosing a quadrant]

Yuji had had enough of Samurai and their arrogant stupidity. From last summer's boar hunt to the altercation with the outsider's a few months ago, Samurai just seemed to make everything more complicated. Now the Militia was walking in pairs of two from the outer road, through the forest toward Sharinzhen proper. No one seemed to know if this was some training exercise or if the new Lord was demanding some stupid task for his own amusement. Yuji kept moving forward, using the butt of his spear to test the wet snow for unexpected holes or puddles.

[Choosing a Region]

“Hope they let us off when we get to town.”

Yuji wholeheartedly agreed. “Yeah, I wouldn't mind a warm drink.”

“You going to visit Kaori?”

Yuji twisted his lips around for a moment. “No, I don't think so.”

“Not going well?” Sen asked.

“Not really.”

“Well, lots of other girls.”

[Mapping population centers]

It was true. There were plenty of options, but he and Kaori just seemed to fit together. The only negative was that she really wanted children and being Kitsune, she could only reproduce with other Kitsune.

[Choosing a population center]

“Might pick up something nice for Wei Lin while I'm in town.”

“Wei Lin? Really? I thought you weren't interested in her?”

“I'm not. I'm just now starting to understand…”

[Scanning for appropriate candidates]

[Scanning…]

[Scanning…]

[Scan Complete. Candidates found: 827]

[Rolling 1d827]

[Error: Interference by local Entity]

“Yuji? What's up?”

Yuji shifted in place, starting into the trees. He had thought he saw a strange looking Akumajin with a cheshire grin. “Sorry. I thought I saw someone.”

“Who?”

“Don't know. Are we still going the right way?”

Sen looked up into the grey sky and tried to pick out the sun. “Gods, I hope so.”

[Identifying local Entity…]

[Entity Identified: Tio the Bard. Entity type: Multi-World Overwatch]

[Querying Entity: Tio the Bard]

[Local Entity: Tio the Bard, requests rescan]

[Request is acceptable… Rescanning for appropriate candidates]

[Scanning…]

[Scan Complete. Candidates found: 1]

[Rolling 1d1]

[Result: 1]

[Identifying Entity]

[Entity Identified: Yuji Han]

[Querying Entity: Yuji Han]

Yuji jerked. Suddenly startled by a semi translucent box obscuring his vision. He took a few steps back while trying to get the shield off his back. The box seemed to follow his line of sight. While pointing his spear in the direction of his perceived attack, he called out for Sen. 

“Sen? Are you okay? Sen?”

Through the translucent blue, Yuji could just barely make out his comrade. Sen seemed frozen. His body unmoving. What kind of attack was this? Was there some rogue mage? Why did no one ever see fit to inform the Militia what they were supposed to be doing?

Yuji spun in a circle, checking his surroundings as best he could with his eyesight disabled, he listened and heard… Nothing. Not nothing, but certainly not what he should hear. There was a dull droning hum instead of bird calls and the wind through the leafless branches. Only when he was sure nothing was coming at him did he finally look at the text hovering in front of his face.

“Wren, level 5 Azradai Fledgling Mayor, needs help to protect the town of Haven. Will you accept her summons? Yes or No?”

“What the fuck?” Yuji said out loud before he could think. His attention returned to the still frozen Sen and the surrounding area. What kind of fucked up magic was this? Once he was sure he wasn't actively being attacked again he reread the message, twice. Yuji Han answered the System prompt with the only thing he could think of. “Uuaaahhh??? Sure???

Sen stumbled backward and fell into the wet snow while watching in abject horror as Yuji imploded into a single point of black void and disappeared.