You, known only as HERO, find yourself thrust into the midst of this conflict. You were just a lazy adventurer, living from month to month killing slimes. But as the world got closer and closer to ending, you realized you needed to step up your game.
This book offers two paths. One may take a hardcore approach—where death is unforgiving and death itself is the price for a single wrong choice. In this version, a single misstep will send you back to the beginning, forced to start anew, as the world changes and your journey resets. It is a challenge that few will brave.
The other path is casual, where you may continue your journey simply be remaking your decisions instantly. Here, death remains a small obstacle, but the path to success is perhaps less rewarding.
To aid you in your journey, you must choose carefully. Twelve traits are available to you as the hero. You didn't spend your last twenty years in vain. Each one will influence the challenges you face, as well as the decisions you can make. At the start of your journey, you may select two traits, which will serve as the foundation of your character. As your story unfolds, you may learn up to four more, allowing you to adapt to the changing world and its challenges.
Choose wisely.
List of Traits:
You are better at fighting.
Increases your effectiveness in combat situations.
Expert at unlocking doors that are meant to stay shut.
A valuable skill for bypassing obstacles or securing loot.
[Potential New Death Routes]
Skilled in the art of lies and manipulation.
You can easily deceive others, but pushing too far could cost you dearly.
Naturally persuasive, able to sway others to your side.
Your presence puts people at ease and makes them more inclined to help you.
Calm in the face of death, with immense mental fortitude.
You’re able to handle stressful or dangerous situations without flinching, sometimes even unnerving others.
Able to understand undead.
You can decipher and understand the language of the undead... mostly.
[Potential Mistranslation]
You can make choices others wouldn’t even fathom.
Your insanity comes and goes, making you unpredictable. Sometimes, this leads to disastrous outcomes.
Learned healing from a shady doctor.
You know just enough about medicine to save a life or, sometimes, make things worse.
You’ve prayed to many Gods throughout your life.
You may receive divine intervention, but be wary of the price.
[Chastity Debuff]
You see things before others do.
Your awareness of your surroundings can often make the difference between life and death.
You can destroy magic seals.
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A rare talent that allows you to bypass magical protections and barriers.
You are naturally immune to poison and curses.
Poison, venom, and curses simply can’t touch you, no matter how potent.
Golden hair and an undeservedly cocky smile-. That was all they knew you for.
You are twenty years old — you were an F-rank adventurer, content to scrape by on petty quests in the sleepy town of Heartdale.
At fifteen, after a bitter argument with your parents over your freedom, you left home and never returned.
Since then, you’ve done just enough to survive — hunting slimes, escorting merchants, chasing off wild dogs.
Ambition never suited you. Becoming a hero was a task far harder than you'd seem to have anticipated.
Then the undead came.
They spread across the world of Ixal like wildfire, carving dungeons into the earth and leaving entire kingdoms in ruin.
For a while, Heartdale stayed untouched — and you stayed the same, pretending the world’s problems weren’t yours.
Until the day news reached you: your parents were dead.
Something inside you shifted. The gruesome idea that your parents were now part of the skeleton horde destroying the world... You knew they would've hated it. You hadn't even forgiven them yet, and they were dead. They were doing what was best for you, trying to stop you from becoming an adventurer. They were right, it wasn't the dream that you once thought it was.
And now they were dead.
For the first time in your life, you realized you had a reason to fight.
A reason to become the hero you never thought you'd need to be.
Your journey started where it always should've.
At Heartdale's Adventurer's Guild.
You walked in slowly, aware that you were only an F rank adventurer, meaning nobody respected you or even tried to party with you. The building was almost empty, other than a few morning drunks and a clerk with heavy lines under her eyes.
The quest board at Heartdale’s tavern was nearly stripped bare. Just one scrap of paper hung crookedly from a rusty nail, fluttering in the breeze.
You squinted at it.
Quest Notice:
"Hooligan performing illicit magic behind the Cooper's house. Disturbing the peace. Possibly dangerous.
Reward: 12 copper."
Not exactly the glorious calling of a hero. But twelve copper was twelve copper, and a meal wasn’t going to buy itself. You had to start somewhere.
You tore the notice down and waved it at the bored clerk by the tavern’s door. She didn’t even look up from her knitting.
"Got it," she muttered. "Good luck, Adventurer."
Adventurer. That was what they called you. You dreamed of the day they would call you HERO, but you always woke up.
You sighed, adjusted the cheap iron sword at your belt, and set off down the cracked cobblestone streets.
In the reflection of shop mirrors you glanced at yourself briefly. Most importantly, your equipment. You had tight leather trousers and a hazel-brown linen shirt. Some second-hand leather armor rested over your chest, you'd had it for years, ever since you'd arrived here in Heartdale. Over it all, you had a dark brown cloak, frayed at the edges. Well, you definately looked like an adventurer, albeit a novice one at that.
The Cooper’s house sat at the very edge of Heartdale, slouched against the woods like it wanted to sneak away when no one was looking. The walls were covered with twisting vines that curled into themselves.
You smelled the problem before you saw it — a sharp, metallic sting in the air, the scent of unstable magic mixing with the sickly-sweet burn of cheap magical powder.
There, slouched against the Cooper’s rickety fence, was your target: a wiry young man in a ragged cloak, puffing from a crystal pipe that glowed an eerie purple. His eyes were erratic, bulging and most importantly... Glowing white?
He didn't notice you yet.
You rested your hand casually on your sword’s hilt, weighing your options.
Twelve copper wasn't enough to die over.
But a job was a job.
You took a slow step forward, ready to confront him. Because if you walked away here, you felt you would never pick up the courage to start your journey again.
REMINDER: When picking options, consider the strength of your traits. E.g if you pick Force of War, you will want to pick fighting options. After you pick an option, head to the chapter in the [Square brackets.]
Reccomended traits are below since it's the first chapter but in the future they will be rarer.
OPTIONS:
Fight him [Ch.2 Force of War reccomended]
Insult him. [Ch.3 Deciever, Fearless reccomended]
Compromise with him. [Ch.4 Deciever, Charmer reccomended]
Flirt with him. [Charmer reccomended. Ch.5]
Pray for the Gods to solve this problem. [Faithful reccomended. Ch.6]