Ash woke up in the middle of the night from his sleep. He had fallen asleep early because he was tired after a long day of school and part-time work. There were more customers at the cafe where he worked today than usual because of the weekend.
He got up and went to the toilet, then looked for his mom. At this hour, Mom is usually asleep and will get up early in the morning to prepare catering for her customers.
Their life was mediocre after their father died shortly before he was born. Mom had to struggle to make a living and send him to school until he was now a sophomore in high school. And he was named Ashborn by his mother because she held his father's ashes when she gave birth to him.
"I knew it, mom will definitely sleep on the couch again," he murmured. His mother fell asleep on the sofa on her side with one arm outstretched to the floor, with her phone lying near her hand. His mother often played relaxing games to make herself relax.
Ash looked at his mother's face who was fast asleep, then pulled the blanket from his mother's legs and covered his mother's body up to her shoulders. He picked up his mother's cell phone which was lying on the ground.
Ting.
Suddenly there was a notification sound and pop up from the cell-phone. Ash glanced at the pop-up.
[EternalFate player successfully snatched the Mystic Pendant from FoodAddict player]
Food Addict is the name of the caterer that his mother runs.
'Hmm...' Ash watched the pop-up for a while, then opened the screen lock. It turned out that his mother had not turned off her favorite game.
'The graphics of this game are pretty good.' he thought.
Ash then observed how the game worked. It was a game about finding objects. Unlike other object-finding games, the game had other players who could take, steal, and even snatch objects from other players. And what's more, the game could make players stronger or level up the objects they found.
He clicked on her mom's inventory.
[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 quest game? Is this game also an MMORPG or RPG?'
Curiously, he tried clicking Quest 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.'
Ash opened the map and he easily found all the places mentioned in the Quest bar.
Then he directed his avatar towards Dragon's Valley first because he also wanted to know what dragons looked like in this game.
He searched for the Magic Key and easily obtained it.
[You obtain Magic Key from Dragon's Valley.]
[35 points added to your stats points.]
[Total points: 345.]
Ash was about to put the Magic Key in his mother's inventory, when suddenly a dragon appeared from one of the caves in the valley and shot him with Dragon Breath.
[You are dead!]
The notification from the game made him furious.
"Arrkgh..." he croaked softly, not wanting to wake his mother. Her mother only shifted slightly and remained asleep.
[Your Magic Key is now mixed with Dragon Breath and the Pinaccle Relic.]
[A hidden feature is now activated.]
Ash furrowed his brows. 'What is this hidden feature?'
[You will be transported into the game.]
[Countdown begins.]
'Huh? What does that mean?' Ash was astonished.
[Three.]
[Two.]
[One.]
Paatttt…
Dazzling light suddenly filled the entire room. Ash closed his eyes reflexively.
After a while, the light disappeared. Ash opened his eyes, but he was surprised that he was not sitting on the carpet, in front of his sleeping mother on the sofa. He was now sitting on the floor of a cold castle.
***
Ash stood up and looked around him. The room he was in was quite spacious, with some medieval decorations on the castle walls. Various weapons such as swords, spears, bows and arrows, maces, and others were arranged rather haphazardly near every inch of the castle walls.
Not far from where he stood, there were several dummies. Some of the dummies were already damaged as if they had been beaten or hit by sharp objects.
He looked up at the ceiling, the distance between the floor and the ceiling was very high, and several large wooden beams were stretching from one side of the wall to the other.
No one was there.
'Did I just fall asleep?' he wondered. He stood up and wandered inside the room.
Ting.
The notification beep sounded again after he took five steps. Ash looked at his hand and found no more cell phone in his hand.
'Huh? Where did that notification sound come from?'
He frowned and 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]
[Skills:
⇒ Finder: 0
⇒ Hunter: 0
⇒ Robber: 0
⇒ Theft: 0
You can choose the Skill according to your preference].
[Are you going to choose a Skill now?]
[Y/N]
'What is this?' Ash was even more astonished after reading the writings on the screen.
Ting.
There was another notification sound that came from nowhere.
Another screen appeared in front of Ash.
[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!]