Ash woke up in the middle of the night, having fallen asleep early after a long day at school and his part-time job. The café where he worked had been busier than usual since it was the weekend.
He got up, went to the bathroom, then looked for his mother. At this hour, she would normally be asleep, as she always woke up early to prepare catering for her clients.
Their life had been simple ever since Ash's father passed away shortly before he was born. His mother had named him Ashborn because she had held his father's ashes when she gave birth to him.
She worked tirelessly to support him, ensuring he received an education. She had managed to send him to school, and now he was in his second year of high school.
"I knew it, Mom must have fallen asleep on the couch again," he murmured.
Sure enough, his mother was asleep on the couch, one arm stretched toward the floor, her mobile phone lying nearby. She often played relaxing games to unwind after a long day.
Ash looked at his mother's tired face, then pulled the blanket from her legs and covered her up to her shoulders. A pang of sadness hit him as he watched her sleep, but at the same time, he felt immense gratitude for her sacrifices.
He picked up her phone to place it on the table.
Ting.
A notification popped up on the screen. He glanced at the message:
[EternalFate player successfully snatched the Mystic Pendant from FoodAddict player.]
'Hmm...'
FoodAddict was the name of his mother's catering business. He stared at the pop-up for a moment, then unlocked the screen. It seemed she had forgotten to close her favorite game.
'The graphics in this game are pretty good,' he thought.
Ash started exploring how the game worked. It was an object-finding game, but unlike most others, this one allowed players to take, steal, and even snatch objects from each other. Players could grow stronger and level up based on the objects they found.
He clicked on his mother's inventory to see what she had collected so far.
[Inventory:]
* Phoenix Feathers: 6
* Diamonds: 49
* Jade: 12
* Healing Potion: 9
* Willow Branches: 89
* Pinnacle Relic: 1
'Healing Potion? Why would healing potions be in an object-finding game? Is this also an MMORPG or RPG?' he wondered, noticing that she had nine healing potions.
Curious, he clicked on the Quest option from the System Bar.
[Game Quests:]
* Search for Magic Gloves in the Castle of Eldwein.
* Search for Wraith Curse in Elmire's Forest.
* Search for the Magic Key in Dragon's Valley.
'Hmm.'
He opened the map and quickly found all the locations mentioned in the Quest bar.
He directed his mother's avatar toward Dragon's Valley first, curious about how dragons appeared in this game. Searching for the Magic Key in the valley was surprisingly easy.
[You have obtained a Magic Key from Dragon's Valley.]
[35 points added to your stats.]
[Total points: 345.]
'That was easy,' he thought.
But just as he was about to place the Magic Key into his mother's inventory, a dragon suddenly emerged from one of the caves and attacked with Dragon Breath.
[You are dead!]
The notification made him furious.
"Arrgh..." he let out a stifled scream, quickly covering his mouth to avoid waking his mother. She only shifted slightly but remained asleep.
[Your Magic Key is now mixed with Dragon Breath and the Pinnacle Relic.]
[A hidden feature is now activated.]
He furrowed his brows in confusion. 'What hidden feature?'
[You will be transported into the game.]
[Countdown begins.]
'Huh? What does that mean?'
[Three.]
[Two.]
[One.]
Paatttt…
A dazzling light filled the entire room, forcing him to close his eyes reflexively.
When the light faded, he opened his eyes, only to find that he was no longer sitting on the carpet in front of his sleeping mother.
Instead, he was sitting on a cold stone floor inside a castle.
***
Ash stood up and looked around him. The room he found himself in was quite spacious, with medieval decorations adorning the castle walls.
Various weapons such as swords, spears, bows and arrows, maces, and others were scattered haphazardly near the castle walls. The castle had a damp, musty smell.
Not far from where he stood, there were several practice dummies. Some of the dummies were already damaged, as if they had been hit by sharp objects.
He looked up at the ceiling, noticing the high distance between the floor and the ceiling. Large wooden beams stretched from one side of the wall to the other.
The room was eerily silent, and no one else was around. He was totally unsure of where he was or how he had gotten there.
'Did I just fall asleep?' he wondered, then stood up and wandered inside the room, his footsteps echoing off the stone floor.
Ting.
The notification beep sounded again after he had taken five steps. He looked at his hand and realized his mother's cell phone was no longer there.
'Huh? Where did that notification sound come from?' he thought, frowning.
Suddenly, a screen appeared in front of him.
[Player: Ashborn Locke]
[Player Number: #23875]
[Level: #1]
[Stats:
⇒ Strength: 5
⇒ Endurance: 5
⇒ Agility: 5
⇒ Intelligence: 5
⇒ Magic: 5]
[Extra Point: 0]
[Profession:
⇒ Finder: 0
⇒ Hunter: 0
⇒ Robber: 0
⇒ Theft: 0]
[You can choose the Profession according to your preference.]
[Are you going to choose a Profession now?]
[Y/N]
'What is this?' Ash was even more astonished after reading the screen.
Ting.
There was another notification sound from nowhere. Another screen appeared in front of him.
[Game: Finding Objects]
[All players must find and obtain the objects on the Quest list.]
[All players must find and obtain objects for their needs according to the selected skills.]
[There are no rules governing how each player obtains their assigned objects, but it is recommended to use all the available skills.]
[There are no rules governing how long it takes each player to get objects.]
[Each player will level up if they have obtained every object in the quest.]
[Each player will level up if they get a Special Object and/or Rare Object, with the number of levels added depending on the type of Special and/or Rare Object obtained.]
[Good Luck!]