The white light continued to glow brighter and brighter until it cover all the trees in the vicinity with light. In the center of the light, stood a man who was completely blinded.
"Hey, whoever you are, couldn't you have warned me about this?"
[[Sorry, I forgot.]]
"Bruh..."
Michael still had his eyes closed and only slightly opened them after counting to 60. What greeted him was pure white light. He immediately shut his eyes and sighed.
"When will this end again?"
[[30 more seconds.]]
"Alright."
30 seconds later, Michael once again opened his eyes and was strangely relieved to see no light burning his retinas to oblivion.
[[As stated before, do your best to not waste the protection. It is a one-time use item and it's very hard to get another one, even for me. Well, I think I can provide you with some info about the quartersta-bbtz. He-lo? C-- -ou he-r m-? A- - c---in- o-t?]]
"Hello? You are cutting out? Is something going on?!" Michael's sense of joy was slowly being replaced by panic when he heard the static. He was worried his one source of help was disappearing.
[[It ap--a-s t-at -y t-m- -ith --o i- o--r...- w-sh -u- g--d lu-k --d -o-d bye...btzzz---]]
Michael was left standing there in shock as the panic started to turn into dread. His fear had come true, his one source of help really did disappear.
"No. No, this can't be happening...this is impossible...How could you just leave me like that...I still need help..." Michael collapsed to his knees. With his mind fogged up with dread and fear, he slammed the ground as hard as he could and screamed.
"FUUUUUUUUCKKKK! YOU BASTARD, COME BACK! YOU STILL HAVEN'T TOLD ME ABOUT MY SITUATION! YOU STILL HAVEN'T TOLD ME ABOUT THE CUBE! WHAT THE HELL EVEN IS A QUARTERSTAFF!?"
Michael screamed and screamed even more. Not only was he suddenly taken from what he thought was his home and bombarded with information that he understood little of. The one being that could help him make sense of the situation just lost connection and left.
"HEY, COME BACK, PLEASE!!! I STILL NEED YOUR HELP! THERE MUST BE SOMETHING I COULD DO." Michael knew deep down that his screams were no use, but he didn't care.
Before long, he sat still, not knowing what to do. He felt awful, as the weight of the situation caused him to burst into tears.
An hour of crying went by as Michael gradually came to accept his situation. He wasn't fully over it, but his mind had cleared enough for him to think of a plan to survive.
'There is no way I can survive, I don't even know how to use a quarterstaff, much less my skills. If I knew how to set a respawn point, the weight on my shoulders would be lifted somewhat, but I don't. I need to figure out how to set a respawn point before anything else...'
Michael started to walk around contemplating his next move. He was split between figuring out how to use a quarterstaff proficiently, learning how to set a respawn point or just straight up heading towards the city. He was so lost in his train of thought that he didn't notice that there was someone behind him.
"Hello there! Are you lost?"
Startled, Michael immediately looked behind him and saw a man walking towards him.
=-=
The Kim Yeong of the future woke up two years ago in the body of his past self, with most of his memories intact. He immediately began to follow the plan his guild devised after hearing it would be possible to send one person to the past. However, he didn't expect the voice of the young System Admin named Star who his guild members died protecting would return to the past with him. After being stunned for a few minutes and talking to Star to make sure she really came back with him, he gave up thinking about it and continued with the plan.
3 months after arriving in the past, he completely wreaked the stock market and began his hunt for the 3 items deemed essential for humanity's and the universe's survival.
While all 10 council members argued about what they should do, they all agreed on one thing, they must find all 3 items before the start of 'The Invasion'. The only info they had was that the items were all on Earth.
As for why these 3 items didn't save the universe previously, it was simple.
By the time their synergy was discovered, the end of the universe had already drawn near. It would take too much time to raise someone to be stronger than even them.
The first item completely reset the body, turning it into a blank slate. Kim Yeong found it in an auction in China.
The second item fused with two organs, the brain, and the heart, which greatly improved the mind and the heart's ability to pump blood across the body. He found this one in a museum and replaced the real one with a replica.
And the third item was the simplest of the three. It was a pure stat boost. However, the stat boost would only work if the requirements were met, which the previous two items help reach. He had just found this one in the remote lake in the U.S.
So when Kim Yeong was finally able to find the third item, he was very surprised when he saw someone his age there as well. He hid behind a tree while looking at the guy who was walking back and forth, apparently deep in thought.
The person in front of him looked 19-20ish, with black hair and blue eyes. He was wearing a grey t-shirt and a pair of black shorts. Through more observations, he could tell that this guy was lost.
Now that he was sure that the guy was just lost, he wasn't worried that he was here to take the object. Still, just to make sure, he used his skill 'Eye of Truth' on the guy.
-[☆]-
[The Weakling's Status]
[Name: Michael Cress
Age: 19(Birthday Unknown)
Class: Weakling (Growth Tree Not Discovered)
Status: LOST
Power Level: Z-Level: 0
Strenght: 1
Agility: 2
Magic Power: 1
Mana: 4
Luck: 3
Skills:
[???] ???: ???
[???] ???: ???
Overview: This guy is weak. His stats are below those of a normal human. His class, albeit an unknown one, is a very weak one. The only thing going for him is the 2 skills that can not be identified. With all that being said, I strongly recommend you to befriend him. Even though both I and the skill are low leveled, there is a high chance that this guy still has some things about him that I can't scan. He might even have a hidden stat.
-[☆]-
Kim Yeong was surprised once again. The guy already had a class, and he had not 1, but two skills his skill couldn't identify. The possibility of a hidden stat was nothing to scoff at either. Sure, his stats were at the level of a newborn, but that was something Kim Yeong could overcome.
'Hmm, with those stats, this guy must have died during the start of 'The Invasion'...Star are you sure he has hidden stats?'
[Once we get the last item and combine the 3, I should be high enough level to see hidden stats. But even if he doesn't have hidden stats, if I'm unable to see those skills even after I level up, the tier of those skills might just be unique or above.]
'That is a pretty good investment...I should probably make up a story of why I'm here before helping him out of the forest.'
[Should we have him sign a contract? Even if he is far weaker than us, those skills might pose a problem if he even betrays us.]
'You can scan personality traits after you level up, right? Let's just wait till then and see what his personality is. If it's something that could bite us in the back, I'll make him sign one.'
[Alright then.]
Kim Yeong made a few last-minute decisions before coming out of his hiding spot and walking towards the guy.
"Hello there! Are you lost?"