Chapter 1
Noguchi Takeo was a reticent individual, who mostly spoke when spoken to.
Although he could hold a normal conversation, he preferred not to interact with people, if possible.
His aversion to interactions came from going from foster home to foster home, one more horrific than the other, until he was 16, when he was granted emancipation.
Takeo was born with a perfect memory, meaning that not a single input that entered his mind and body, would ever be forgotten.
Although that would seem great to most people, it took years of therapy for him to not see it as a curse, due to every living nightmare he went through, being forever seared in his mind.
He wasn’t a super genius, or anything like that, but was very intelligent, hard-working, inquisitive and ingenious.
At the age of 21 he had a master’s degree in Forensic Science, with a minor in Criminology, and was working as a consultant for the Police in Tokyo.
Aside from closing cases for the Police, he practiced martial arts, worked out, read books, played video games, and occasionally the violin.
He didn’t have any friends or family, and spent most of his spare time alone.
He wasn’t particularly tall -1.72m- or handsome, but had a nice slim face and a very fit body.
When he was 22, he was in his car, going home from work, when he felt what was like a disturbance in his surroundings.
For a split second, he felt like his very soul was being twisted, then passed out.
Upon waking up, he felt extremely weak.
He was inside an extremely fancy hospital room, still a bit dizzy, with his eyes adjusting to the morning light.
With much effort, he lifted his head, and gazed upon his body.
It looked thin, a shadow of its former self.
As panic started to set, a game-like translucent blue window appeared in front of him.
[[ A body damaged by the World System was detected, commencing repair. ]]
Suddenly, he felt an extreme amount of pain, enough to not be able to scream.
The pain was so intense, that he passed out.
After waking up, his body felt like his own once again, no pain nor tiredness.
This time, he got up with ease, with his body being back to what it was before he passed out inside his car.
What the hell is going on… Was that a dream? It sure didn’t feel like it. He thought.
He walked to the window, still dizzy, wearing just a hospital gown and a white high-tech tight wristband, and looked outside.
Fuck me…
Since he was in the fifth floor, he had a nice view of the surroundings.
Although it was modern Tokyo, there were people wearing robes and different types of armor, all medieval fantasy-like.
It didn’t look like cosplay, and their movement on the streets, didn’t hint at any special event going on.
He sat on the floor trembling, and started to do some breathing exercises that his therapist taught him.
Ten minutes or so passed, until he calmed down.
He then looked at the thin white wristband on his wrist.
Isn’t this the prototype that was shown last year? This hasn’t been approved yet, let alone be available to hospitals, unless… Damn it, how long was I out? At least three, maybe four years?
While he was pondering about his situation, the door opened, revealing a woman in a dark-blue Armored Robe, wielding a wooden staff with a fist-sized green stone at the top.
She was relatively pretty, and looked to be in her late twenties. Her calm and seasoned expression, became one of confusion upon looking at him.
Takeo didn’t move, just looked at her, with his anxiety rising.
She took a deep breath, closed the door behind her, looked the window, then at him, and spoke. ‘You must be very confused, since everything looks out of place to you. We’re in 2027, you’ve been in a coma for the past seven years. I’m Dr. Saito Hibiki, and I’ve been looking after you for the last four years.’
He furrowed his brows, and replied. ‘I figured that years might have passed sue to this monitoring wrist band. However, can you please explain why some people, including you, look like they came from a fantasy novel?’
‘On the same day you went into a coma, something happened to our world. A strange holographic window appeared in front of everyone, announcing the activation of the World System. How familiar are you with video games, specifically RPGs?’ She asked.
He stayed silent for a few seconds, thinking about the situation, before speaking. ‘Probably enough for the conversation we’re about to have.’
‘In essence, everyone became an RPG character, with our own stats. However, we didn’t gain anything for free, aside from the convenience of having an inventory. We all started Lv.0, with no class. The System also announced that three days later, Dungeon Portals would appear all over the world, and if we didn’t clear them, tragedy would strike.’ She said.
He looked at the floor, and thought about it for a minute or so, then sighed.
‘Let me guess, some people thought it was some mass hallucination, others thought the world was ending, chaos ensued, then tragedy struck.’ He said.
‘Yes. All the Dungeon Portals appeared with a timer, that varied from three to thirty days, and if the Dungeons were not cleared in that time, a Dungeon Break would occur. A Dungeon Break is a distortion that happens around the portal, and starts with a 100 to 500-meter radius. Within that distortion, stronger versions of monsters from the respective Dungeon spawn. However, they don’t give experience or loot. The monsters inside the dungeon also become stronger. If the boss is not killed, the radius of the distortion increases by the day. I’m pretty sure you can infer what happened.’ She said.
He got up, and looked outside.
‘A lot of people died. Is each country responsible for their own Portals?’ He asked.
‘Yes, there are government employees outside every portal. We have a total of twenty-seven portals in Tokyo alone. May I use a skill to assess your condition?’ She asked.
He turned to her, hesitated, but nodded.
She raised her staff, making the green stone glow.
‘Incredible, your body went back to perfect condition, and you also look younger.’ She said with a curious tone.
He pondered for a few seconds, if he should tell her what happened or not, and decided to just be honest.
‘When I woke up, I was as you were probably familiar with, but a window appeared saying that the System was going to repair my body. The pain was too intense, so I passed out, and when I woke up again, I felt like before I went into a coma.’ He said.
‘Fascinating. Well, you should get familiarized with the System, it works by thought commands. Just think “Tutorial” with conviction and you’ll be fine. I’ll give you some time to get accustomed to it, and tell a nurse to bring you some food, so take it easy.’ She said.
‘No need for the food, thank you.’ He said.
‘Okay…’ She said with a curious tone.
After she left, he sat on a couch chair in the corner of the room.
He did another round of breathing exercises, then started his research.
Tutorial.
A series of messages appeared, explaining all the functions.
Status would show your basic and in-depth stats.
Skills would display your Skill list, divided by passives and actives.
Inventory displayed both equipped and unequipped items, with several filters to sort them. It also displayed your money.
Social managed the Party, Raid, Guild, Faction and Friends functions.
Leaderboard showed a ranking for highest Level, and most dungeons completed.
Map had several functions, with the most important being the fact that it showed Dungeon locations, difficulty and Level.
Auction House was where people could post items for sale. The transaction was instant, and fraud-proof.
After going through the explanations, he started to check them out.
Status.
·Name: Noguchi Takeo
·Race: Human
·Class: None
·Level: 0
·Strength: 32
·Agility: 38
·Vitality: 35
·Dexterity: 40
·Awareness: 46
·Spirit: 43
·Magic: 0
·Buffs: None
·Debuffs: None
Skills.
He had no skills, which he assumed it was due to not having a class.
Inventory.
A classic RPG-like window showed that he had a hospital gown and a monitoring wristband equipped. The storage limit was by volume, and time didn’t pass inside, making it perfect for storing food and samples.
When he looked at the money, his brow furrowed in confusion.
The tutorial had explained that it would be divided in Copper, Silver and Gold Coins. What confused him, was the fact that he had 92C, 27S and 13G.
Interesting, I’ll ask her later, but banks as I knew them might be gone.
Social.
Parties worked within his expectations, up to 10 people, with shared experience. Raids were parties that went up to 40 people.
Guilds were also as expected, allowing thousands of people to join them. They also had their own Level, which was raised based on its members’ accomplishments.
A Faction was like a Guild, but its members were Guilds, instead of people.
The friends Function was like saving someone’s contact on a cellphone.
Leaderboard.
It was exactly as the tutorial said, a list ranking people by Level and Dungeon clears.
Interesting, the highest level in Japan and the world is 13, after seven years. Taking into account that this isn’t a video game, and people won’t be fervently grinding dungeons, each level is still probably a substantial power boost.
He then proceeded to look at all the names at the top of the lists. A couple of the names caught his attention, someone he saved from a kidnapping and his former therapist, making the corners of his mouth arch up slightly.
Map.
A comprehensive map of Tokyo appeared in front of him, with all the Dungeons, its Levels and difficulty from three to thirty days. The length of the timer was directly proportional to how hard they would be.
There is a Lv.0 one not far from here. According to the tutorial, I need to complete one to get my class.
Auction House.
As the window changed, several options appeared, and it looked like he was doing online shopping.
He could browse by category, do specific searches, and every item was identified in detail by the System.
He smiled when he saw that there was a food section, which solved one of his problems. He browsed the section and saw that there was food that gave you buffs, but there was also regular food.
After buying a bowl of Spaghetti a Bolognese, and a bottle of iced tea, he retrieved them from his inventory.
Just by thinking it, they appeared in his hands.
The tea was cold, and the pasta was hot, freshly made.
After being emancipated, never ate something that other people prepared for him, unless it was something he bought at a store, and was in a sealed package, which was why he rejected Dr. Saito’s offer.
However, he trusted the System. The reason was simple; if something that can change the entire world on a whim, would lie or try to harm him, what chance did he have?
To him, the World System was as close to the appearance of a deity as it could get.
He ate peacefully, then stored the bowl, silverware and bottle in his inventory.
After eating, he browsed the Auction House in a more deep and methodical way.
While he was focused, there was a knock on the door, before it opened.
It was Dr. Saito.
She entered and closed the door behind her.
‘I should tell you that all of your hospital bills were taken care of, so you don’t need to worry about that. Also, your apartment is still intact, and your car is in our parking lot.’ She said.
After a couple seconds of surprise, he realized who probably paid it, an acquaintance of his.
‘It was probably Kawahara Eiji-san, someone I helped in the past. Mind if I ask you a few questions?’ He asked.
‘That’s what I’m here for.’ She replied smiling.
‘Are banks just gone? I’m asking because I see no reason for them to exist if Gold is the new currency, since we have the Inventory, and Guilds have their Guild Storage. If so, I assume that Copper is worth ¥100, Silver is worth ten thousand, and Gold is worth a million.’ He asked.
She chuckled.
‘As expected of someone who was praised as the Japanese Sherlock Holmes, you are indeed correct. All the money in the world disappeared when the System activated. It was a bit more complex when it came to corporations, since they became Guilds, and governments, which became Factions.’ She said.
His expression soured slightly, because he disliked the nickname. Although he wasn’t media famous, which he went to great lengths to avoid, he was famous within the Police and the P.I. community. He just assumed she read his file.
‘Hardly, Sherlock Holmes is a fictional character with exacerbated capabilities, while I’m far from that. I assume that taxes are retrieved automatically, from the Dungeons. I can’t see another way, since the transactions in the Auction House are one to one, and anyone can sell almost anything there.’ He said.
‘You’re correct again.’ She said.
‘Second question; what is the average for a Lv.0 adult? Stats-wise, I mean.’ He asked.
‘Around 15, for regular adults.’ She said.
‘Third question; I saw a couple of people who I’m sure to be Police Officers, but they didn’t have guns. There’s also not a single gun in the Auction House, what is that about?’ He asked.
‘Oh, that. On the day that the System activated, every modern weapon disappeared from earth, even tasers. After that, every attempt to make such weaponry, magically failed.’ She replied.
Interesting…
‘Fourth question; do I need a special type of registration to enter the Dungeons?’ He asked.
‘No, since you’re in Japan, your deeds will be automatically tracked under the Japanese Faction.’ She said.
‘What an interesting way to maintain peace between countries. Last question; where can I get my belongings?’ He asked.
‘That was indeed a nice thing, and you can get your things at the reception. Are these really all your questions? You didn’t even ask about the internet, or television.’ She said surprised.
‘For now, yes. I need more data before I know what to ask, since it’s unlikely to get correct answers by asking the wrong questions. As for the internet and television, there were people using phones and tablets outside, so it wasn’t a stretch to assume that those were still functioning.’ He said.
She chuckled once again.
‘Are you going back to your old job?’ She asked.
‘Not anytime soon. That job needs a certain degree of understanding of the world, which is something that I don’t possess at the moment.’ He replied.
‘Just be careful out there.’ She said.
He nodded.
She left and closed the door behind her.
As the door closed, his expression changed to one of worry.
Takeo’s level of discomfort was very high at that moment, since the new world pretty much sent him back to square one, at least when it came to feeling safe.
I need to get stronger; I don’t want the panic attacks to come back. Breathe…
He started his breathing exercises once again.
Upon finishing them, he browsed the Auction House once again.
He bought casual clothing and another bottle of tea.
I can change clothes just by thinking, at least outside of combat, interesting.
Alright, let’s see what kind of equipment I can get.
After browsing for a while, he managed to find the best equipment within his budget. He bought an extremely well-made full suit of Leather Armor, including a Leather Helmet.
As weapons, he bought a 2.2m Spear, a Morningstar, a Longsword and a Small Wooden Shield.
All of the equipment had the tag [Superior] on them.
From what he understood by browsing, it went: Common < Superior < Extraordinary < Masterwork < Epic
The magical items didn’t grant flat stat bonuses, like +10 Strength, but percentage bonuses, and some also granted Skills or special effects.
His equipment however, was basic magical equipment, only granting him minor increases. The main reason he chose to spend more and buy them, was due to Durability.
Common equipment, was non-magical, and because of that, had a much lower Durability.
He also bought Basic Elemental Gemstones, which were basically Elemental impact explosives, Elemental Whetstones, Smoke Bombs, Caltrops, and a whole lot more of survival and sample collection equipment.
Also, a lot of food and drinks.
As he equipped the dark-red Leather Armor, he experienced a function of the inventory, which was resizing the armor to its user.
Although he had somewhat experienced that with his clothing, it was much more noticeable with a suit of armor.
He Adjusted the helmet in his head, and moved around for a few minutes.
After trying out his weapons, and practicing for a bit, he looked at his inventory, and the three slots for Weapon Sets. He chose Spear, Sword and Shield, and for the third set, Morningstar and Shield.
Unlike other equipment, he could change between sets during combat.
He then spent twenty minutes practicing changing sets in motion.
I should probably get going. Since only five instances of the same dungeon can exist at once, there will probably be a line.
He then left the room and went to the reception. The hospital had state-of-the-art facilities, and was clearly one of, if not the best one available.
At the reception, there was a woman in her late forties, and a man in his early thirties, both wearing red scrubs and typing on their computers.
‘Hello, I’m Noguchi Takeo, and I’d like to retrieve my belongings. Also, here is your wristband.’ He said.
The woman stopped typing and got up. ‘Ah, Noguchi-san, I’ll get them for you right away.’
She received the wristband from Takeo, then reached below the counter, pulling out a sealed plastic bag.
The bag contained his clothes, keys, phone and wallet. There was also another cellphone inside, one that looked current and brand new.
Upon inspection, it had only one number stored, Kawahara Eiji’s.
Oh, he changed his number.
‘Thank you.’ He said to the nurses.
‘You’re welcome.’ Said the nurse.
As he left, Takeo sent a text to his acquaintance. ‘Thank you for making sure I was taken care of, and that they didn’t make a fuss over me. I saw Mariko-chan’s name on the Leaderboard; I hope she’s okay.’
In less than a minute, a reply came. ‘No problem. If you need anything else, just contact me. I’m not even close to returning what I owe to you. Mariko is doing very well, mostly thanks to you.’
I guess some people really don’t change.
He sat down on a bench, in the garden that was part of the hospital’s entrance for visitors, then started researching about the Dungeon he was about to face, using his new phone.
He dissected every information he could find, about the layout and creatures.
It was a place called Underground Ruins, and was the lair of Giant Rats. They were the size of dogs, with the boss being twice the size.
That was a 30-day Lv.0 Dungeon. The benefit of doing a more difficult Dungeon as your first, was the access to better classes, and/or bonus Skills.
From his understanding, to complete a dungeon, you needed to touch a crystal, that only appeared after the Boss was killed.
Although he’d rather not take risks, this one was necessary for the long term.
Takeo did another set of breathing exercises and left.
After walking a few blocks, he saw what used to be a convenience store, with a few dozen people lined up in front of it.
As he passed by, he caught a glimpse of a yellow Portal.
He went to the back of the line, where four teenagers, three girls and a guy, waited alongside a man in his thirties.
By the looks of it, these four are all wearing fancy magical equipment, either Extraordinary or Masterwork. Probably rich children going on their first excursion.
The man in a suit of dark-blue Plate Armor looked at Takeo and frowned.
‘Kid, you’re not thinking of entering alone, are you? Why don’t you come with us?’ Asked the man.
‘Yes and no, thank you.’ Said Takeo.
The man just sighed and ignored Takeo.
The teenagers were too busy talking among themselves to even realize he was there.
While he waited, Takeo looked up things about the new world he was living in.
An hour later, his turn came.
Four groups had left the Dungeon, relatively unscathed.
There was a man in his forties, wearing social clothing, with a government lanyard around his neck. He sat behind a desk with a fancy-looking laptop and paperwork.
To his right, there was a round Portal, with a diameter of two meters.
The portal had a vibrant yellow color, and its surface seemed to oscillate.
‘To go in with less than five people, you need to sign a waiver.’ Said the man.
Takeo just filled the waiver and signed it.
He stood only a meter away from the portal, and already had goosebumps.
As he stepped in, he equipped a flashlight that attached to his helmet, and reality shifted in front of him.
Suddenly, he was inside a corridor made of cut stone, with the portal behind him.
He pulled out his spear, and took deep breaths to calm himself.
The place smelled of ages passed, with a hint of decay.
He toned down the brightness of the flashlight, adjusting it to his vision.
Takeo always had heightened senses, especially his eyesight, which allowed him to spot details that others couldn’t, so he could do with a bit less light than others.
With a repeating thought, he poised himself, and started to walk cautiously.
I can do this.
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Thank you very much for reading my novel, and have a great day.
