★ Strength: 12_____________________________________________________
◆ Fortitude: 6______________________________________________________
➶ Agility: 17_________________________________________________________
⟡ Willpower: 47_(Sub-clan of Faith — Blessed with 40+ Willpower)
⋄ Intelligence: 21___________________________________________________
♣ Luck: 30__________________________________________________________
"Wow, those are some nice stats you've got—" the girl behind the counter started to say, but Murd cut her off.
"Honestly, you're pretty average across the board, except for Luck and Willpower. Well, Agility and Intelligence are decent too, but 21 Intelligence isn't enough for anything above an E-rank, Tier 2 spell, maybe."
"Rude... well I think these stats are very good for some guy from a small village, and 47 Willpower is really rare—even enough for you to survive in the Depths Below," the girl said with an annoyed expression.
"Depths Below?" Nakate asked, confused.
"You'll get to know someday, but right now we've got other things to go over," the girl answered politely.
She pulled out a piece of paper with a blank space for Nakate to write his name. The only problem was—he didn't know how to write. He could barely understand what anything said after using the card, and even then, he still had no idea how to form the letters himself.
"Oh... do you even know how to write? Sorry for my prejudice, but it doesn't seem like you were from a very rich family with those ragged clothes."
"It's fine," Nakate answered, clearly embarrassed.
"Well, I'll just write it for you." Nakate inspected her writing carefully so that, in the future, he could write his name himself if needed.
"Well, just take this card—and now you're an adventurer. Try to have fun with whatever your journeys turn out to be," she said with a smile and a soft voice, though there was a subtle trace of fear beneath it.
"Yeah sure, thanks." Nakate went back to the table with Murd and Corie, and the first thing he was met with at the table was Corie starting to talk."Ok, fresh meat—or Nakate, as you call yourself—time to pay up!" she said with an angry expression.
"I don't have any money on me."
"I know! That's why you'll pay by joining our party!" she said with a smile on her face, like she never had the angry expression to begin with.
Murd continued, "Just go to sleep already, Corie. I'll handle this."
"Sure, you old bastard!" Corie yelled.
"How ironic—you're calling me old," Murd replied with a smug face.
"Shut up!" Corie snapped, walking up a staircase that had a sign indicating it led to the inn above the guildhall.
"So then, you'll join our party as payment for us helping you. Don't worry—we'll also teach you all the basics of adventuring and how the rank systems work."
"Oh, thanks, but... my card already says I'm in a party," Nakate said, confused.
"Yeah, I registered you at the counter before she made the card. But hey, it's not like you had a choice here," Murd shrugged.
"Well, alright then. I'll just go to sleep myself too. Do you happen to have more beds in your room?"
"Yeah, it's room 24. You can take the bed on the left."
"Thanks!"
***
'Whoa, I guess this really isn't a dream... or it's a really weird dream where I can sleep in a dream. Still, this feels way too real,' Nakate thought before saying out loud:
"I guess... I really just got isekai'd?!"
Nakate let out a quick laugh before getting up from his bed with a wide smile on his face.
'Well, if I'm isekai'd, wouldn't that mean I'm gonna have a cool superpower or ability for myself to use, like all those protagonists in shows, novels, and comics? I wonder what mine'll be,' he thought while brushing his teeth in the public bathroom of the inn above the guild.
He went downstairs to find Murd and Corie waiting for him.
"Finally, you're here," Corie said in a calm tone. It was weird seeing her act so normal—compared to how she was when she was drunk, she now seemed so calm and collected.
"Alright then, let's go to the dungeon. Corie and I have business there," Murd said.
"What kind of business are you talking about, Murd?" Nakate asked.
"Revenge."
They left the guild and started walking through the town, but to Nakate's surprise, whenever an adventurer party saw them, they looked at Murd and Corie with a kind of disgust on their faces.
"Hey, Murd?"
"Yeah, what is it, boy?"
"Why is everyone kinda staring at you two like that?"
"Well. We abandoned our old party leader—or at least, that's what they think happened. Don't worry, all we need you for is to check our back line so we don't get backstabbed in the dungeon."
"Oh... I guess you want revenge on whatever killed your leader then?"
"Yes."
After that, they just walked through the town in silence, keeping their heads low until they reached the dungeon.
"Well, get ready—Murd, and you too, Nakate. This dungeon raid will take at least the whole day. We should have all the food and water we need. Just stay alert—in a dungeon, you're never safe," Corie said.
"So I'll just carry the bags and watch you fight?" Nakate asked.
"Yes. And Murd will go first as our tank. Also, don't worry, Nakate—you can have this."
Corie took one of the daggers from her belt. It had a weird glow to it, like purple lightning moving inside it, and every once in a while, a spark slipped out from within the sheath.
"Release it and use it only if you get in danger—and do not lose it. It took us a whole week to gather the money for it."
Murd entered the dungeon first, with Corie about five meters behind him, her bow ready. Then Murd drew his axe as they began their descent down the dungeon stairway. Nakate followed closely behind Corie, his eyes scanning everything nervously.
The stairs were made of a strange, damp stone. The walls and steps glistened with moisture, and odd-looking plants sprouted from the cracks—twisting, pulsing slightly, almost as if alive.
"So, uuh... how much are we gonna descend for now? We've already gone past at least two doors," Nakate said nervously.
"Don't worry, boy. We're going to the third floor—that means the next door. Also, if we get attacked and we tell you to escape, don't hesitate. At that point, we know we're dead. And unlike you, we've lived plenty—well, at least the elf has," Murd replied.
"Wait, how old even are you two?"
"Well, that's a bit rude, isn't it, Nakate? Asking a woman's age," Corie said calmly, as if she wasn't offended at all.
"I'm 70 now, and she's around 200 to 300, I think. I'm not sure—just guessing," Murd said.
"I'm 230. How dare you think I've even reached the age of 300 yet!"
"To me, all you elves look the same after reaching 150," Murd shrugged.
***
As they finally reached the third floor, skeletons began to rise from the ground.
"Don't panic—they're just low-level undead," Murd exclaimed.
Corie nodded and took them down with ease using her bow.
"Stand ready for when higher-level ones start to show up. Right now, it's only E-rank, Tier 1s. But if they've got rotten skin, that means they're probably Tier 3 or 4," she said.
"Noted. Wait, how do the rank and tier stuff even work?" Nakate asked, curious.
"Well... I'm gonna simplify it as much as I can," Murd began. "The rank tells you what level an adventurer should be to handle a monster, spell, or weapon of that rank. Ranks go from F to A. Then there's S-rank—those are monsters and weapons strong enough to destroy towns with ease."
Corie cut in, "Tiers are a lot simpler—the higher the tier, the stronger the creature. Unlike ranks, not every monster of the same kind has the same tier. Take the undead: Tier 1s are just skeletons. Rotten skeletons with bits of skin are usually Tier 3 or 4. Ghouls with rotting flesh? Those are Tier 6 to 7. Still, all of them are Rank E monsters."
"Oh, so the type of monster tells the rank, and the tier tells how strong that specific one is?"
"Pretty much," Murd nodded. "But if you ever end up in the Depths Below, everyone is S-rank—and only the tier matters there."
Just as he finished, Corie shot a skeleton trying to sneak up behind Nakate.
"I still don't know what the Depths Below even is..."
"Well, we've explained plenty for today," Corie said. "Let's leave that for later. For now, just focus."
"Oh, yeah... sorry."
After a while all the undeads were killed. Or so they thought, until out of nowhere a ghoul started to rise from the ground.
"Well shit! It's a ghoul, and not just any ghoul but... it's him," Murd exclaimed.
"Wait, who do you mean by him?"
"Our leader," Corie answered Nakate's question while gathering energy to her arrow.
"Get ready. It might be an E-rank monster but also a Tier 9, because our leader was a whole Rank A when he got killed."
"So are you two really high ranked too then?"
"Nope."
"Not at all. I'm C-rank and he is D-rank."
"Wait, so why did we come to the dungeon then!" Nakate said with anxiety and fear.
"Well, I mean—we got 3 people: an F-rank you, C-rank Corie, and D-rank me," Murd said, while all were wearing a blank expression watching the undead warrior rise from the ground with his purple longsword, enchanted with the same kind of lightning Nakate's dagger had.
"So... are we gonna run for it?" Nakate said with a calm tone, trying to keep his panic only in his own mind.
"Uuh, the passage seems to be blocked," Corie said with a hint of panic in her voice.
"I guess we fight then!" Murd ran straight for the dead warrior, only to have his left hand cut off. Now with only one hand, he swung his axe, getting a nice hit on the warrior's leg—but it just regenerated the leg back to normal and sliced Murd's head off, with Murd's head rolling on the ground to Nakate's feet, his expression changed to pure horror.
"MURD!" Corie yelled, taking her other dagger. As it burst into flames, she stabbed the undead warrior— but the warrior bit her arm and stabbed her with its longsword, killing her. Now with flames bursting from the undead warrior's body, it started to approach Nakate.
Nakate was frozen at the sight and just sat on the ground, his face twisted in pure fear, horror—like a silent cry for help.Tears ran down his face as he screamed, "NO, I DON'T WANT TO DIE! NOT YET! PLEASE!"
The undead warrior's longsword pierced Nakate's neck, and pain surged through his entire body as it, too, began to engulf in flame.
...
...
...
He heard a voice.
[Willpower Threshold — Conditions Met]
Sub-clan of Faith — Blessed with 40+ Willpower
[Active ability]
"You who do not yield to fear...You who cry but do not flee... Drown."
[Soul Anchor Initiated]___________________________
Title Awakened: The One Who Lost His Chance]_________
[Condition Met: Drown to The Depths Below]____________
Nakate's body, still aflame, stopped trembling.
He felt his soul begin to descend—not fall, but drift, as if drawn by a gentle current pulling him away from his body...but just below the surface, he was met with drowning.
Something invisible, weightless, yet suffocating gripped him.
There was no air, only pressure. His thoughts blurred.
His will dimmed.
[New Trait Gained: Manic]
A fractured mind pushed beyond its threshold. Unpredictable bursts of clarity, rage, and euphoria. May resist fear. May ignore reason. Sanity shall fall quicker.
[New Trait Achieved: Remembered by the Song]
"You have been marked by a forgotten melody. One gains the possibility to form resonance."
__It was the voice of a drowned god.__
He felt like he was underwater.
There was no pressure. He didn't need to breathe. He was just there—laying on the ground, his eyes shut.
He couldn't tell if he was floating or resting on something solid.
Everything was weightless, distant...