~Slap
"Hey small stuff wake up"
I felt a stinging sensation on my cheeks.
"WAKE UP"
~SLAP SLAP SLAP
"AAAAH WHAT ARE YOU DOING !?"
I woke up screaming to the sound and pain of a giant repeatedly slapping my now swollen and red face.
"Easy now, you were sleeping for quite a long time and I got bored"
"Sleeping?"
-I'm not dead?
As I started to recall my fight with the goblin I unstrapped the tight tool belt and turned my gaze to my chest.
No external wounds were visible and I didn't seem to have any difficulty in breathing.
-Could the crystal have healed me?
That seemed like the most reasonable explanation.
"HEY I am talking to you, check this out ", Julius draw my attention with his loud voice and proudly showed me the contents inside his "status viewer".
-Stats
Vitality: 2.7
Endurance: 2.2
Strength: 3.1
Agility: 1.2
Sense: 0.8
Magi: 1.8
???: 0
???: 0%
-Skills (1/5)
[Unyielding (Rank C)]
Depending on the body's adrenaline levels, boost self-healing capabilities, and increase physical strength.
Pain from injuries is reduced and instead produces small amounts of adrenaline.
-Rift authority: Wanderer
[Communication]
...
"Hold on, when did you get a skill?"
-And a very good one at that...
"After waking up I didn't see you nearby so I decided to search around the area for food "
"That's when I found a small red crystal in the tent of the big monster we killed "
After examining Julius's insane status, only more questions formed in my mind.
Growing curious about how my status looked like, I looked at my stats bearing a wishful expression.
[Instance event completed , rift authority increases]
-Stats
Vitality: 0.9
Endurance: 0.7
Strength:1.2
Agility : 2.2
Sense : 2.6
Magi: 2.4
???: 0
???: 0%
-Skills (1/5)
[Speech (Rank F)]
Your arguments sound more plausible and others are more likely to believe what you say, effect increased on weak-minded individuals.
Able to alter your voice at will.
-Rift authority: Wanderer
[Communication]
...
"What!?"
To my surprise, I also had acquired a skill, although a very bad one...
Even worse when considering the finite amount of skills one could hold.
Another point to note was the Rift authority section, where we both had what I assumed to be a title of some sort, but given that its effect and utilities were abstract, I chose to ignore it.
Considering Julius's description of the crystal he had found, I came to the conclusion that the purple crystal that healed me must have also contained a skill.
"But what do we do now?", I wondered, as there were no signs of another event occurring.
"Oh I forgot, a rift appeared after interacting the crystal"
"Another one?"
-Hm if my assumptions are correct it should lead us back to Earth .... or inside of a blazing volcano
"Let's go then"
....
As we were approaching the rift exit, I devised a plan in order to keep the big guy as my teammate.
Given that someone like him is strong enough to clear a horde of enemies by himself, I needed to find something I could do, other than my mediocre fighting abilities, which he would consider valuable enough to form a two-man squad with me.
"Hey so have you thought about what will you do when you go back to Earth?"
Although not a certainty it was the most probable outcome of entering the rift.
That and the fact that there is a high possibility more rifts are going to appear on Earth.
-Why would there be a dedicated system with ranks and titles if it was a one-time thing.
"Easy, I will go after stronger monsters"
He answered brimming with confidence while fondling his rich beard.
-You fell right into my trap
With a smile similar to that of a fisherman's when reeling in a huge catch, I began to lay the foundation for my future collaboration with Julius.
"Where do you think you will find those monsters?"
"You don't seriously expect rifts to appear in front of you like last time, do you?"
Julius stopped in his tracks and with a dumbfounded expression stared at me.
"Ehh I mean ..."
Taking advantage of his lack of ideas, I slightly altered my voice to sound more confident, and enlisting the maximum help of my skill, I continued with my plan.
{Speech}"How about you leave the task of finding a rift's location to me, and in exchange, we will clear the rift together"
{Speech}"What do you say? Sound like a fair deal to me"
After a brief moment of thinking, he answered me with a slightly curious expression.
"Sure, it's not like you are dead weight ... But how will you find a rift's location?"
"There is no need to concern yourself with such details"
...
Upon exiting the goblin habitat, I returned to the same spot I was before entering the rift.
I noticed that the artifact I had acquired from the dead goblin prince was still on my neck while a pebble I had picked up from the ground had vanished, confirming the validity of the message I saw before returning to Earth.
[Unless certain conditions are met, only artifacts can be brought when entering a rift ]
Well, I guess a handgun would have been extremely powerful against the goblins.
Exhausted and soaked in sweat I returned to my 12 square meters rooftop apartment.
After taking a long and unfortunately cold bath I lied down on my couch, which also served as my bed, and looked at the news on my low budget laptop.
[Gates to OTHER WORLDS named "Rifts" have appeared all over the world]
[World government has issued a global warning advising citizens to avoid coming in contact with the unknown existences]
"Those bastards probably want all the rewards for themselves"
As much as I searched I could not find any mention of artifacts and skills on the internet.
It is highly likely all articles related to them are being deleted.
As I scrolled down the headlines I saw an interesting header.
[Military squadron massacred inside a rift, only the captain survived]
Below was a photo of the sole survivor of the rift massacre.
A woman with long brown hair and chestnut brown eyes was wearing a tattered military uniform and brandished the unique crystal challengers had in their wrist.
Her skin was smooth and her facial expression was cold as ice, despite the annihilation of her squad.
But something was off.
"Although they couldn't use any firearms in the rift, it still is strange that a company of trained soldiers couldn't deal with a group of goblins"
Guerilla warfare which was the core of military tactics should have made clearing the rift a breeze.
"Could they have faced monsters stronger than the goblins?"
For the first time in my life, I felt grateful.
-I doubt I would have survived without using the goblins' weapons
I started to imagine the horrible monstrosities one may encounter inside a rift.
My head about to burst from constantly being on edge, I ceased all thoughts and went to rest.
...
Upon waking up, I wore a white formal shirt I had diligently ironed and a pair of grey pants.
Truly my appearance accurately resembled that of a white-collar worker.
Not far off the mark, considering I was heading to a job interview for a public official's post in the newest government structure, the Rift Management and Damage Control branch.
....