Chapter 2 – Big Zero and Blue Ribbon
And so... I officially became a member of Hestia Familia.
First day in the Familia, and I was immediately led to the most sacred ritual for rookie adventurers: the falna bestowing ceremony.
The place? Goddess Hestia's bedroom. Which was... small. Very small.
A folding bed. Piles of pillows. And... Hestia sitting in the middle, preparing to—well—draw something on my back.
"Lie down," she said casually, sitting with a special pen and god's ink in hand.
I turned over. Okay, stay calm. Focus. This is just a sacred procedure, not fanservice.
"Take off your shirt."
I knew that was coming.
I slowly removed my shirt. In my heart, a sacred mantra was chanting: Hold on. Don't think weird thoughts. This is a serious ritual.
Hestia sat on my back, her weight barely noticeable because... well, she's small. Then I heard the sound of her whispering divine incantations, and a warm feeling like something flowing into my skin.
"Hmm..." she murmured, while scribbling.
This is it. The moment. There must be something special. Maybe a hidden skill. Or high stats because I'm a reincarnation.
"Strange..." she mumbled again.
What? Strange how?
"This is really all zeros..."
...Eh?
"Your stats are zero. All of them. No skills. No hidden powers. No weird blessing from another god."
...Wut?
I looked up slightly. "What do you mean?"
She looked at me. "Level: 1. Status: I. Strength, endurance, agility... all zero. You're... like an unhatched egg."
This is when I realized...
I am... an NPC from another world.
—
Hestia leaned back against the wall, her expression somewhere between concerned and confused.
"I thought at least you'd have one passive skill... or resistance... or something."
"Not everyone gets skills from the beginning, right?" I asked, still trying to stay positive.
Come on, bro. You've been waiting 16 years for this!
Hestia nodded. "Yes. But usually at least... they have one outstanding stat. You? All flat zeros."
Like a new character in an RPG game with no equipment.
"..."
Painful. But factual.
"Well, it's okay," she said, smiling. "It means you can develop from the bottom. From rock bottom."
That's not comforting.
She stood up, then pointed to her chest... or more precisely, her legendary blue ribbon. "But don't worry! Goddess Hestia will support you fully!"
If only that support included rent money, food, and free armor.
—
After the ritual was complete, I sat in the corner of the room staring at the status sheet I received on a small piece of paper from Hestia:
---
Name: Vrem
Level: 1
-
Strength: I 0
Endurance: I 0
Agility: I 0
Dexterity: I 0
Magic: I 0
-
Skill: None
-
Magic: None
---
I... really am a zero. Even Bell Cranel had Realis Phrase from the start.
Am I... just an extra character in someone else's story?
No. No.
I've lived in this world for 16 years. I know more than those born here. I know Bell's story, Orario, the dungeon. I have one advantage they don't have:
Knowledge.
My stats might be zero. But my knowledge... is my cheat code.
And this is just the beginning.
I smiled slightly, staring at the ceiling of Goddess Hestia's worn-out room, and said to myself:
Alright, world. Let's start from zero.
—
"So you want to go to the dungeon?" asked Hestia while hugging a pillow.
I—Vrem, a level 1 adventurer with the worst stats in Orario's history—nodded firmly.
"Have to start somewhere, right?"
Even if that place is the first floor of the dungeon where I'll probably get spat on by goblins.
"Fine. But be careful. Don't act tough. You don't even have a weapon yet, do you?"
I looked beside me. The only weapon I had was... a kitchen knife. A hand-me-down from Hestia that she said I could borrow for now.
A kitchen knife.
Against killer creatures.
It felt like boxing a bear with a teaspoon.
—
I descended into the dungeon with a group of other newbie adventurers. They all wore makeshift armor, but still better than my clothes—a used shirt and rolled-up cloth pants.
"The first floor is easy," said one of the other adventurers, trying to be encouraging.
Yeah, easy for people with normal stats and not all zeros like me.
I slipped away into an empty corridor by myself. My breathing grew heavier. My grip on the knife handle tightened.
Then I heard it.
"Grrgh..."
A goblin appeared from the shadows. Yellow eyes. Sharp teeth. Small stature, but its aura... intimidating. It carried a sharp metal shard in its hand.
Okay, Vrem. This is just a goblin. Bell Cranel killed one in the first chapter. You can too.
I charged first. Knife raised.
"HYAA!!"
Ting!
My knife... deflected.
The goblin knocked it away with a chicken bone.
A CHICKEN BONE?!
Before I could escape, the goblin charged at me.
"ARGH!!"
I fell, my back hitting the stone wall. The pain was real. Not video game pain. This was real-world pain.
The goblin chuckled, then leaped toward me.
I was going to die. I was going to die on the first floor. SLAUGHTERED BY A GOBLIN WITH A CHICKEN BONE.
Reflexively, I kicked the goblin's leg. It wobbled. I grabbed my knife back. This time, I stabbed it in the stomach.
CRACK!
It groaned, green blood spurting out, and finally collapsed. Its breath stopped. Dead.
I... won.
"Haa... haa..."
My hands trembled. Clothes torn. Goblin blood stuck to my face. I had just killed a living creature. And my stomach...
"Hungry..."
I forgot breakfast.
—
I returned to the surface with one magic stone in hand. Just one.
Its value?
100 valis.
Not even enough to pay for instant noodles.
But when Hestia saw me with sparkling eyes and a proud smile, she hugged me while saying:
"Welcome to the world of adventurers, Vrem."
And at that moment I knew...
Even though my start was pathetic, my stats were zero, and my weapon was just a kitchen knife, but...
This was the beginning of everything.