Rat Calendar (Year 2026) - The Inner City of Nova Asta
On the 7th of March, at 14th Street in the Inner Sector of Nova Asta, Accel woke up from his sleep. Thanks to his younger siblings, who helped him after he fainted during yesterday's event due to a system lockout, he managed to get a good night's rest, and his system had returned to normal. Accel then headed to the transportation hub to go to the Adventure Outpost, where he would begin taking Full-Fledged Adventure Quests.
One of the Main Branches of the Adventure Outpost
Accel arrived at the Adventure Outpost but noticed that many scouters were inviting to a newly promoted adventurers who had recently passed the Adventure Promotion Test. As he looked for quests, Accel headed to the Bulletin Board, only to find that there were no solo quests available—only team quests. With no other options, he decided to search for groups of adventurers in need of extra members.
This time, he chose to leave behind his dual swords, the Aetherium and the Voidbringer, as bringing such weapons might not be advisable when joining a group. As Accel moved through the Adventure Outpost lobby, he encountered several groups looking for help or missing members to complete their teams. Finally, he found one group and introduced himself, saying, "I am Accel Winchester, an Archivist System who specializes in using Runes as my primary support."
For some reason, the person asking for members appeared dissatisfied, likely because of the Archivist System. However, when the Archivist decided to use Runes as his primary support, he reluctantly accepted the situation and began to team up with the other party members. The party consisted of two heavy swordsmen, an alchemist, a healer, a shieldwoman, an archer, a mage, and an Archivist. It was evenly divided, with five men and five women in the group.
An unexpected turn of events occurred when Accel met one of the members—his old college friend, Lila Merritt. Lila was a Gardener System user, but she claimed that it was also a variation of the Alchemist System. Accel and Lila began discussing last year's nightmare incident. According to Accel, Lila has been haunted by this nightmare last year for two months straight from November to December, making it difficult for her to eat, relax, or even attend college, which she ultimately dropped out of.
Despite the supportive efforts of her family to help her feel better, Lila decided to venture outside the City of Nova Asta in hopes of overcoming the trauma of her unforgettable nightmare. During their conversations, Lila increasingly opened up about her experiences while she was apart from Accel. She also mentioned that the other two, Ewan Forge and Hannah Ashford, have not met with them again since they all separated after the incident.
Inner Zone of Verdant Hollow
Upon arriving at the Inner Zone, the party sensed the approach of monsters and beasts. Given that the Inner Zone was populated by aggressive and hostile entities, it was immediately clear that they had entered a dangerous territory and were now targets. A party member inquired about the quest objectives, and the leader explained that they needed to destroy or purify a cemetery overrun with skeletons, skeleton archers, skeleton knights, and a powerful skeleton mage boss.
On their way to the cemetery, the party encounters and defeats several monsters and beasts as the surroundings grow darker. Upon arriving at the cemetery, they take a moment to rest. Lyra the Healer heals everyone and temporarily increases their maximum health points. Meanwhile, Lila the Alchemist prepares various potions, including health potions, energy potions, and temporary stat boosts that last for a limited time.
Accel the Archivist, who specializes in runes, creates Enchantment Runes for all his party members' equipment, enhancing their stats by 10%. He also crafts a Rune of Light, which increases damage against dark-type monsters and beasts by 10% while providing light visibility for 1.5 to 2 meters.
The shieldwoman possesses a Neural Command Skill known as "Shield Barrier," which boosts her DEF by 1000 and increases her allies' DEF by 500. Additionally, she utilizes an ability called "Taunt Shielder," which raises the likelihood of monsters or beasts attacking her, effectively diverting their attention away from her allies. Once she has successfully drawn all the monsters' or beasts' attention, she temporarily increases her maximum health points by 10,000.
The two heavy swordsmen utilize their Neural Command Skill known as "Dual Enhancement." This ability only activates when both swordsmen possess the same skill and are synchronized in their attacks against either single or multiple enemies. Dual Enhancement doubles their speed and attack power, but if their synchronized attacks do not align perfectly, the skill will be immediately canceled and enter a cooldown period. Once everyone is prepared, they march to the center of the cemetery, where they anticipate that most of the skeletons and the boss will appear.
As the party headed towards the cemetery and behind some ruined buildings, they spotted skeletons using bones as weapons, skeleton archers in the buildings, and skeleton knights guarding a fortified building. The party leader planned for the two heavy swordsmen to attack the knights first, while the Alchemist, Archivist, and Archer provided support. Accel confirmed he had protective runes ready.
The battle began with the shieldwoman bashing into the enemies, destroying 20-25 skeletons with her shield. She activated Taunt Shielder, diverting enemy attacks, and then used Shield Barrier to increase her and her allies' defense. The two heavy swordsmen then attacked the skeleton knights with their synchronized Dual Enhancement skill. The party's quest had begun.