The Adventurer's Guild was, as always, packed with people. Laughter and the clinking of beer mugs in celebration were the most common sounds once night fell over the peaceful town of Axel, the city of beginner adventurers.
I, Kaizer Prester, was sitting at one of the tables in the back with the rest of my party. They were eating and drinking, chatting casually about the quest we had just completed.
We were adventurers, after all. We made our living by completing quests—usually the same old stuff: kill a specific monster, do heavy labor for some noble, retrieve a lost item, and so on.
The typical tasks you'd find in classic role-playing games.
This latest quest had taken us practically the entire day, so these moments of peace and relaxation were more than deserved.
However, unlike the rest of my companions, I wasn't really in the mood to celebrate anything.
It wasn't that I was unhappy with what we had achieved. I had nothing to reproach my party members for, either.
If I had to describe my relationship with the group, I'd say we got along well enough. We weren't exactly friends, but we understood each other, and most importantly:
We functioned as a team when it came to completing quests.
The problem was that every single quest took us way too much time.
And we weren't even talking about high-level missions. For example, this last one had just been about killing some giant toads that had been causing trouble on the outskirts of the city.
But our efficiency, in and of itself, was terrible.
That was exactly why it took us so long to finish anything.
While we didn't lack offensive power—our party consisted of a thief, an archer, a monk, and myself, who proudly belonged to the noble paladin class—we had no one capable of using offensive magic or healing spells. So every little hit we took was fatal for the team.
And as if that weren't enough, the monsters we usually fought almost always had resistance to physical attacks (like those giant toads), so we ended up having a really hard time.
A low-difficulty quest like the toad extermination, which a normal party would finish in two hours, took us half a day—half a day!—because we constantly had to return to town to heal or restock potions.
No matter how you looked at it, it was an absurd amount of time.
And for the money they paid per toad (around 20,000 eris), once we split it among the whole party, each of us was left with very little.
That didn't work for me.
I needed money.
I needed better equipment.
I needed to level up and become stronger.
One way or another.
Oh, and there's something I forgot to mention. As crazy as it sounds, I don't actually belong to this world.
That's because I died in mine and reincarnated here. A strange, bizarre world where most things worked like they do in an RPG.
People have classes, they level up, and they run out of mana if they use too much.
And the reason I'm in this situation today is because, according to the woman who claimed to be a goddess, my options after dying were: reincarnate as a baby, go to heaven (which, according to her, meant an extremely boring life), or come to this world and start from zero—but keeping all the memories of my previous life.
Since I had always loved RPGs, the self-proclaimed goddess's proposal sounded more than interesting to me.
And the best part was that I had been granted the right to bring any one thing I wanted to this new world. A "special item." It could be a weapon or an overpowered skill.
I won't deny that at first the idea of bringing this self-proclaimed goddess with me had crossed my mind.
Not only because having a goddess at my disposal would have made my life enormously easier, but also because—beyond her carefree and somewhat arrogant attitude when performing her duties as "The guide for the souls of the deceased"—I think, as stupid as it sounds, I would have genuinely enjoyed her company.
Besides, I have to admit it: she possessed a beauty that went beyond human comprehension. I still remember how her long blue hair swayed elegantly from side to side every time she moved her head while sitting in her chair, explaining the whole reincarnation process. Or whatever it was.
Her eyes were blue too, which only emphasized even more the delicate, fine features of her angelic face.
But well, I figured the laws of the Afterlife wouldn't allow it, so I didn't even mention it.
Bring a goddess with me to a fantasy world and use her for my own benefit? What an idiot I would have been!
Once I had chosen "my item," the goddess said:
"Well then, now that you've chosen your special item, brave warrior, all that remains is for me to wish you the best of luck on this dangerous mission."
"Huh? Sorry, did you just say dangerous?"
"Oh, brave warrior… Umm… Anyway, I'll pray that, among all the reincarnated, you will be the one who finally puts an end to the Demon King's evil plans and restores peace to the world! In return, you will be granted the privilege of asking for anything you desire as a reward."
The so-called goddess couldn't even remember my name. A name I had just told her, by the way.
Wait, there was clearly something more important here. Mission? Demon King? What the hell was this woman talking about?
"Hey, could you repeat the last part?"
I remember that at that moment Aqua's delicate lips opened to say something I couldn't hear, because right then a brilliant white light fell upon me, enveloping me completely.
Out of pure reflex, the only thing I managed to do was close my eyes. By the time I opened them again, I was already in this new world.
And from then on, I did what I could.
I registered as an adventurer at the guild. And although it was difficult at first, I managed to find companions to do quests with.
But like I was saying: our efficiency was garbage.
At that moment I was slumped in my seat, my food still untouched (the cheapest thing on the menu, since I couldn't afford anything else), when suddenly, overwhelmed by the situation, I stood up from my chair almost in a leap and spoke to my companions:
"We need to start taking high-level quests," I said, slamming my hand on the table.
They looked at each other with confused expressions, then at me, then at each other again, and finally back at me.
Until one of them—our archer—shrugged, shook her head as if saying "Oh please, the nonsense this guy comes up with," and replied:
"Kaizer, how many beers have you had?"
"None. Why do you ask?"
She let out a deep sigh and stayed silent.
The next to speak was the monk.
"Oh, Kaizer, Kaizer… You know perfectly well that with our current levels it would be practically impossible for us to complete a high-difficulty quest. It's best if we keep focusing on simple missions. Like the toad one. Sure, they might take us longer than usual and the pay isn't great, but at least we can cover our basic expenses and live a relaxed life, don't you think?"
Hearing that, I slammed the table again—this time with both fists. I'd already had a shit day, and my companions' carefree attitude only irritated me more.
"But that's exactly the fucking problem! If we don't take risks and do high-difficulty quests, we'll never get stronger!"
"And why do you want to get stronger?" asked the thief. "It's not like we need to overexert ourselves for better rewards. Having just enough to live on is fine. And if we ever run short… I can just steal whatever we need."
"To be honest, I still don't understand how I ended up in a group of losers like you."
My words were harsh, I won't deny it. But that was how I felt.
…
…
…
From that point on, things with my companions only got worse, and eventually they kicked me out of the party.
But that was fine. I didn't need them. In fact, I think it was the best thing that could have happened. Now all I had to do was find new companions and start over from scratch.
However, before that, I needed to accomplish some kind of achievement that would convince a high-level adventurer that it was actually worth teaming up with me. Because if I posted a recruitment notice with the bare minimum requirements, I'd most likely end up in another group of conformist losers again.
That was why I walked over to the huge board hanging on one of the guild's walls and started looking at the high-level quests, hoping that with a bit of luck I'd find one that wasn't too difficult and that I could complete alone.
"Let's see…"
QUEST: DEFEAT THE LICH KINGDIFFICULTY: VERY HARDREWARD: 10,000,000 ERIS
QUEST: DEFEAT THE ZOMBIE DRAGONDIFFICULTY: GOD LEVELREWARD: 5,000,000 ERIS
QUEST: EXORCISE A HAUNTED HOUSE AND, WHILE YOU'RE AT IT, DEFEAT THE LICH KING AND THE ZOMBIE DRAGON THAT ARE HANGING AROUNDDIFFICULTY: YOU'RE GONNA DIE LEVELREWARD: A PHOTO WITH THE GIRLS FROM THE GUILD STAFF
For a long while I stared at the board with a face that clearly said "What the hell is this?" Unable to understand the logic behind these quests.
It made no sense.
The God-level difficulty quest, supposedly the hardest, was to kill a zombie dragon. And for some reason the reward was significantly lower than the one for the Lich King, whose difficulty was only "Very Hard."
Meanwhile the last one, "You're Gonna Die" level, made no sense when you considered that you not only had to exorcise a house full of ghosts, but also come out victorious in a dangerous battle that involved defeating the two enemies from the previous quests.
On top of that, what the hell would I want a photo with the guild girls for?!
I mean, I'm not saying the one who usually attends us (I think her name is Luna) isn't pretty. But come on. It's not like I'm that desperate.
"AAAAAHHH! Is it possible for everything in this world to be so messed up?!"
Frustrated and on the verge of a nervous breakdown, my mind wavered between spending the rest of the night drinking until I couldn't even remember who I was, or taking the hardest quest I could find just so I'd get killed and maybe finally find some peace.
Those negative emotions and thoughts were swirling through my head when suddenly I felt a bump against my back. Not very strong, but enough to make me stagger forward.
Immediately afterward, I heard the unmistakable sound of a mug shattering against the floor. So I decided to turn around to see what had happened.
"NOOOOOOO! It can't be! My beer! My delicious,
frothy beer! Whyyyyyy???"
When I looked down, I confirmed that what had fallen to the floor was indeed a beer mug, now shattered into pieces. Its contents (beer, apparently) lay spilled in a huge splash across the guild floor.
"Hey, you!"
A shrill voice made me momentarily forget about the beer. When I looked up, I found myself face to face with a young girl with blue hair, who for some reason felt strangely familiar.
However, before I could even say anything, two hands were already grabbing me firmly by the collar, yanking me back and forth.
"Huh? W-What? What's going on?"
"Don't play dumb!" the girl said angrily. "How could you make me drop my beer?! What am I supposed to drink now?"
"What? I made you drop the beer? Okay, maybe you didn't notice, but you were the one who bumped into m—"
Wait a second.
That blue hair… those blue eyes… that shrill, unbearable voice…
"What? What's wrong with you? If you're going to say something, say it already! Anyway, let me tell you I'm not leaving until you reimburse me for the beer you made me spill."
Wow.
The speed with which she had escalated the whole "damn beer" issue was unbelievable.
Apparently I had stopped being the person responsible for causing the accident and had instantly become the one who had thrown it on the floor. Just like that.
If my night hadn't already been miserable, I probably would have laughed at how bizarre the situation was.
However, what left me speechless was something else.
It made no sense. It was impossible, I thought. I must have mistaken her for someone else.
But no. There she was, standing right in front of me.
"Well? I demand compensation right now! The cost of that mug of beer. Three thousand eris! No more, no less!"
Everyone knew that a mug of beer at the guild cost about 1,500 eris. But well, now wasn't the time to think about that.
"Lady Aqua…? Is that you?"
The goddess finally let go of my collar and opened her dazzling blue eyes wide.
"EEEEEH!"