CHAPTER 13

White.

I see white. I see several black lines. What are they? It looks like a face. Mom? Am I back? Was I dreaming? I was… in a fantasy world fighting… that’s not a place for me, isn’t it? That must be a dream. My place is baking bread with mom. If I live long enough, I’ll inherit the bakery. If I can continue my bloodline, I’ll have an heir to take over the bakery after me. I wonder what kind of flavor will be discovered in the future?

This white world is beautiful. It’s a bit empty though. What should I fill it with? Something square. Cold. Hard. Hurtful. Near my head.

Wait.

Wait a minute!

I was hit by a sledgehammer!

Wake up!

WAKE UP!

I’m falling off the cliff! I’m going to hit the ground! Dwarvel!

I stab my arms and legs into the cliff. Gravity and friction are fighting against me. Piece by piece, bit by bit, the metal on my arms and legs are scraped all over the vertical cliff.

Hold!

HOLD!

Finally! I stop moving. I take out my arms. They are shaking. I can begin to see my skin. I take out my legs. I fall down. My legs are too wobbly to stand. I can’t even crawl. I can’t even wipe the red part of my head from my left eye.

What’s his problem?! What did I ever do to him?! He appeared without any foreshadowing, then suddenly he smacked my face! Thank goodness that my head is hard! I don’t know what caused that but I’m really thankful for it.

Wait. The red part of my hair is changing? It is turning back into the original color of my hair. What’s going on? Floating words?

DETAIL CHECK
This is a passive ability of Ambrousian.
If you would receive a fatal damage,
you will be healed once per
day. You may track the availability of this
ability by looking at your red hair.

Is that my subclass?

DETAIL CHECK
Ambrousian is an available species for
Adventurers.

Ambrousian? Are you sure it’s not Ambrosia?

DETAIL CHECK
The correct spelling is Ambrousian.

Sounds like an accidental misspelling that stuck around.

I can feel my hands. I can move it. The metallic part of my arms are repaired. Good! I can’t wait to beat up that white-haired weirdo! I can stand. My legs are metallic again. Glad to see you again metal legs!

I climb the cliff again. This time, I wait just before I reach the top. I take a peak. He’s not around. Good! At least I can stand and take my stance before fighting. Last time I was distracted by the destruction of Contractuary. I won’t be distracted this time!

I climb up.

Ready!

There’s no one here.

Correction! There’s no one alive here besides me. I can see a horde of faceless men dead on the ground. Their black blood almost spilled over the cliff. The white-haired man must’ve killed them all. I don’t know what his motive is, but I am glad that he did something to hurt my stalker! I still won’t forgive him for hitting my face though.

If my guess is correct, the white-haired man hates Adventurer. Why? I don’t know. But he seems to be indiscriminate against me and my stalker. Something tragic must’ve happened to cause him to be that hateful.

I was hoping that I would see the corpse of my stalker, but no such luck. His corpse is not here. Maybe the white-haired man didn’t kill him.

Wait. Is he a boss? Floating words.

DETAIL CHECK
No.

You know something, right?

DETAIL CHECK
The man is called Nostrazeus.

You do know something! What else?

DETAIL CHECK
Nostrazeus is a native of World Number
39 that decided to test new Adventurers.

Test? You mean to beat them up?

DETAIL CHECK
Correct. Nostrazeus was tasked
to eliminate new Adventurers that
cannot use the ability of their class.

That’s a bit brutal if you ask me. That seems counterintuitive. But the more I think of it, that might be a good thing if Nostrazeus can filter who comes here. I can beat two bosses already. One thousand Adventurers would’ve caused apocalypse to this world.

Hmm, does every entrance have one Nostrazeus?

DETAIL CHECK
Check failed.

What counts as new Adventurers in this world?

DETAIL CHECK
An Adventurer with less than one year
of time spent in World Number 39.

Then, I still count.

This present a problem. On one hand, I want to beat him up for smacking my face! On the other hand, I want him to filter new Adventurers so that this world won’t be overpopulated. At the same time, he also stops other ‘new’ Adventurers from going after my Keyward Stone.

I’ll do it this way. I won’t engage with Nostrazeus. I won’t be looking for him. But if he’s stupid enough to go after me, then it’s open season! Don’t go looking for me.

Wait. If that’s the case, why wasn’t I and my stalker got attacked? When I came here, Nostrazeus could’ve hunted me down but he didn’t. He came when I’m fighting against my stalker. The only possible conclusion is that he was hunting down another Adventurer.

Wait. What will happen if an Adventurer die? Would there be an announcement from floating words? Maybe a loot? As morbid as it is, I want to see it. Since Nostrazeus killed them, there should be some corpses around here.

Focus! I have to find my Keyward Stone! I can’t be distracted! It should be...

There is a dead body. This one has an orb floating above it. Floating words. Is this a dead Adventurer?

DETAIL CHECK
Correct.

Then, what is the floating orbs?

DETAIL CHECK
Items that was once owned
by the subject when they were alive.

Loot then.

I should feel bad for taking it, but the body doesn’t need it anymore. If this is who Nostrazeus hunted when I came out, what kind of class gives magical items? Floating words, only list what you know.

DETAIL CHECK
Fighter. Cleric. Paladin.

At least two of them are known for fighting. I’m a bit iffy about Cleric. The odds that it can be useful seems high. Let’s see it.

I touch the orb. The orb shines bright on my hand. Slowly, the light dims itself. The object is a rectangle. It has no handle, so it’s not a hammer. No sharp edges, so it’s not a knife. What kind of weapon is this?

A harmonica.

It’s a harmonica. That means that this Adventurer was once a Bard. Floating words?

DETAIL CHECK
Check failed.

Okay then. I’m a Sorcerer that dipped into Bard. What’s next? Wizard?