A whistling breeze brought with it a wet mist. He quivered inside the damp charcoal hoodie and trousers. The arms embraced his chest and neck painfully close to his armpits. His legs attempted to close towards him but slid off the branch.
After much struggle against the cold, he awoke. It took him a while for his vision to adjust to the darkness. He saw contours of the red bird snuggling by his groin. A finger started poking the peacefully slumbering bird until it was also awake.
Chirp! Chirp!
"I'm sorry for waking you but it's really cold. I can't sleep," he explained, rubbing his arms.
He gazed above, the stars and moon were partially hidden behind the heavy clouds. The limited light was blocked by the mild mist. He could barely see his hand.
"We need fire." He stated and felt the trunk of the tree with his palm. His hanging feet tried to climb the branch he was on. However, numbness disallowed the action and he slipped off the branch.
"Ahhhhhh!"
Thud!
"Uhhghhhh~ Mo…mmy~" he groaned weakly. The bird chirped landing on his head.
"I think I'm alright… somewhat." his muffled voice reassured. He staggeringly rose to his feet.
"System, what time is it?"
[It is half-past midnight.]
He nodded, eyes turning to the ground robbed of his vision he decided that help was needed in his venture to gather enough fuel to kindle a bonfire.
"Say, you can see in the dark, right?" He addressed the bird who chirped in acknowledgement.
"Then can you help me gather twigs and branches to start a fire?"
Chirp!
"Okay then, if you find a branch or twig call for me. I'll come to pick it up."
Flapping of wings was heard and a moment later, a chirp too. He trod cautiously in the direction of the noise. His squinted eyes could see something akin to a bird sitting on a twig. His hand carefully picked it. The bird once again flapped away. A chirp again sounded in a distance.
They worked together like that until Venus was hugging a large bundle of firewood. They returned to the previous tree. He slowly set up the bonfire then exhaled, "Finally done."
"Now to burn it." He was emptying every pocket on his person; there was an iPhone, earbuds, his wallet and a few pieces of chewing gums and a pack of cigerattes. But there was nothing that could start a fire.
"Shit! I lost my lighter." he clutched his head while grumbling, "How do I light a fire now?"
Chirp?
He looked at the bird replying to it, "We don't have anything to light a fire with so, I'm thinking of a solution."
Chirp!
"Leave it to you? What do yo—" His jaw dropped and eyes rolled to the ground when he witnessed the red bird doing something which he always dreamt of—— Raising its wings in the air and chirping twice, out of thin air it conjured a tennis ball-sized sphere of fire.
The fireball traversed quickly towards the base of the bonfire. There was a small blast of fire, not the kind where it would blow away the firewood.
The bird faced him, seeing his reaction it swell its chest and chirped proudly.
"You…" he jumped to his feet with eyes glittering, "You're fucking awesome!"
Chirp!
The warm light of the bonfire illuminated the pair, air was filled with his excited questions about the magical performance of his friend; the how's, why's, what's.
He learned that the red bird had an affinity to another element— Wind.
The little red bird showed its capabilities by casting a ball of wind in the distance which displaced the dirt, grass and pebbles.
Venus gazed at the bird with fervour. He held his fist with the other hand and bowed, "Please take me in as your disciple and teach me your great arts, Oh Great One."
The bird thought that its new friend was strange. However, it explained to its friend about the magic it could perform.
"So you don't how it happens but you instinctively know how it's done." Said he thoughtfully. That was a bummer. He wanted to learn magic. He was giggling in anticipation, he could imagine himself standing on a cliff looking down on allied forces then summoning a huge ass meteor on them.
And he knew who to contact to achieve that small dream of his. "System, are you awake?"
[I don't sleep.]
"Alright. How do I learn magic?"
[By changing Host's class to a Mage, Host can learn and perform magic.]
"Ooh ooh this is easy, then change my class to a Mage."
[Host does not have a Mage class to change into.]
"Eh? What? Then how do I get a Mage class?"
[Host has to complete a Class Change quest to acquire a class.]
"Quest?"
[Yes. To initiate a Class Change quest, the Host needs to purchase a Class Gacha ticket worth 10,000,000 System Points to get a Class Change quest.]
"Do I have any System Points?"
[No. To acquire system points you need to complete quests or convert Beast Cores into System Points.]
"W-Wouldn't I need a million Beast Cores to change my class!?" he stammered.
[Indeed. However, since this is the Host's first time using a Class Gacha it will be free and Host you might find a gacha ticket in the unclaimed gifts you have.]
"Why didn't you tell me sooner!? Open the damn gifts then open the gacha."
[Newbie Gift has been claimed.]
[Obtained 'Guidebook for Detya']
[Obtained a Steel Sword (Mid)]
[Obtained a Class Gacha ticket.]
[Obtained 1000 System Points.]
[Pity Gift has been claimed.]
[Obtained x10 Health Potions (High)]
[Obtained x10 Mana Potions (High)]
[Obtained 2000 System Points]
[Obtained a blindfold and a pack of cigarettes.]
[Obtained Mini Map feature.]
[All the items have been transferred to 'Inventory']
"Cooool~" Venus was grinning and giggling madly while rubbing his hands, "Come on, come on, open the gacha."
Suddenly, a gacha machine as big as his legs appeared. It was coloured blue and white with different pictures of staves, bows, swords and shields scattered over it.
A small screen was placed above a dial that read, "Turn the dial to play. (Free)" with a downward arrow sign.
"Ohohohoho~ so awesooome~" his eyes were wide and red. Too impatient to wait anymore, he quickly turned the dial and the machine came to life.
The machine made a high pitched noise. Soon the sound of something falling entered his ears, a white ball with red lining dropped from the hole near the dial.
The ball shone, followed by a prompt which said, [Congratulations! You have obtained the class 'Slave']
[Do you wish to change your class to 'Slave'?]
Venus' fingers were intertwined supporting his chin, expression cold, grimly he said, "No."
"What the fuck system!? Why did I get a Slave class!? Moreover, why is there a Slave class!?" he accused the system as if it was trying to mess with him.
[I am a system but I do not control the gacha. The gacha machine has been affected by the 'Hell' difficulty. As such, even the common classes like Farmer and Villager have a 1% chance of being drawn. The Slave class has the draw rates of 99% and any rare classes like Hero or Valkyrie has 0.00000000001% rates.]
"Say system, what would the rates be if I had chosen 'Easy' difficulty?"
[For Slave 0.00000000001% and common classes 10% and for rare classes 60%]
"Fucking hell!!!" he screamed. He held his phone and his arm was making a fast motion towards the ground…
But it slipped out of his grip before he could put it back into his pocket.
"Fuuuuuuuckkkk~" he screamed into the heavens. He dropped to his knees. Carefully, his hands picked up the phone while sobbing. "Dear… are you alive?"
He pressed the power button. There was no response. He pressed it again. Nothing.
"No… no… you can't leave me alone like this? How will I make teels if you leave me? How will I watch teels without? You can't leave me like this, I am only a level away from reaching Town Hall level 12… who will play music for me when I'm down? Miri, you can't leave me who will I talk to when I'm alone?" He cried quietly.
God had not forsaken him, his miracles reach far and wide. One such miracle happened when the phone's screen lit and a woman spoke, "How can I help you?"
"Oh my god, Miri! You're alive!!" Gone was the grief and came in its place the euphoria comparable to when one is finally getting married to his/her crush.
"I hope everything's okay," Miri said in its emotionless voice.
A little distance away from the rectangle device and the strange human who were making love, a small red bird watched all this happen. One did not need the ability
.....
Venus sat near the bonfire with the little bird sleeping in his hoodie's hood. He pulled out a cigarette from the box and lit it in the bonfire. He inhaled deeply through it then exhaled the smoke.
His eyes were closed in meditation. Five minutes later, he threw the cigarette butt and said, "System, use the gacha ticket and spin the gacha."
[Yes, Host.]
The noise from the machine entered his ears. His heart was beating fast, if he did not get any other class he might end up becoming Slave.
The clanking sound of a ball falling originated from the machine. The next moment, the ball dropped out and began shining.
[Congratulations! You have acquired the class Blacksmith.]
Venus' lips curled into a sneer. While he was nodding his head in appreciation, the system said, [How the fuck did that happen?! What sorcery is this?! According to my estimation, it should have been impossible to get any other class except Slave within 20 tries.]
Venus laughed at its reaction, "I did not know you had a personality system."
[I do have a personality, but I like to keep our conversation professional. However, how did you do it?]
"Hehehe, why do you think I smoke?" he asked mysteriously, "Whenever I spin gacha in games I smoke a cigarette because of this I have never received items below Rare. At the cost of my lungs, I get a boost in my luck. Hahaha..."
[But this is illogical. Your abysmal luck and gacha rates should have made it impossible for you to get an Uncommon class like Blacksmith on your second try.]
"Says the one whose whole existence is illogical." He grinned in joy. He loved the reaction from the system, who would have thought that his system was capable of showing such emotion.
[My existence has logic. But your luck boosting technique does not. Anyways, you can equip this class without completing a class change quest since this is your first time equipping a class and, congratulations for not becoming a slave and showing me something strange.]
"Hehe, thanks." His hand rubbed his nape in embarrassment.
He cracked his neck and said, "Well then, let's see what this class has to offer."