A year ago

A/N: This Earth is only the same in name as our Earth. This Earth is about 2 times bigger than our Earth. There will also be a huge difference in culture and people on this Earth. Think of it as another planet altogether, instead of Earth. There will be a few similarities, but that's all.

And the super-continent of Terra is 5.6 times larger than Asia, with a total population of 29 billion (including humans, elves, dwarves, and orcs). This is not some random number; I have done the math.

Okay, that's it.

***

Cain's POV:

Andree Obolonsky.

My father.

He is a baron.

And he is rich. And powerful.

And by rich, I mean 'filthy' rich.

He was both reasonable and unreasonable in my eyes.

Unreasonable for disowning his own firstborn — me, just because I was not an awakened human.

Although I have high doubts that Shyia, my step-mom, did some kind of black magic or manipulation to make him behave this way towards me.

And reasonable because he gave a small share of his inheritance-- a property, to me, even though I was disowned.

I was allowed the ownership of a small private-sector military defense industry, which was obligated under the Empire of Terra.

This private-sector military industry was previously under the Obolonsky family.

Now it's known as Cain Industries, worth 40 million dollars.

This is only 1% of his property which he gave me.

I was originally supposed to get a little more than this, but my beautiful stepmother, Shyia, said that a whore's son like me does not deserve anything from the Obolonsky family.

But, to uphold his reputation and appease his grandiose pride, Andree Obolonsky begrudgingly decided to bestow upon me a minuscule fraction of his inheritance.

Naturally, Shyia, my stunningly devious stepmother, along with my tyrannical stepbrother and my beautiful yet envious stepsisters, were far from pleased by this turn of events.

In their eyes, I had allegedly claimed something that was rightfully theirs.

So to appease his beautiful wife, Shyia, whose name I should probably keep out of my fucking mouth, he ended up giving me a smaller share of the original inheritance.

As a result, I ended up receiving only a meager portion of what was originally intended for me.

Shaking my head, I woke up from my bed.

I was currently in my home. Other than a few maids and some butlers, there was nobody else in this house but me.

Most of the time, I stay inside my room doing nothing, surfing through the internet and watching videos.

But because I own an industrial factory, I occasionally go there to check on the work, but other than that, my manager takes care of everything.

In a way, my life is easy: do nothing, earn money, eat, and sleep.

I don't have a girlfriend or a talent, and there's nothing exceptional about me that could make me special.

And I am pretty f*cking ugly.

I am not even an awakened human.

But I think, for the most part, my life is okay?

At least I am not starving or anything...

Thinking all this bs, I started brushing my teeth while looking at the bathroom mirror.

Suddenly, something popped up in the mirror, causing me to frown.

"Umgnh? Isch theye some kind of smath gadget installed intfo the mirror?" I asked, puzzled, to the thin air.

(Umm? Is there some kind of smart gadget installed into the mirror?)

Then I realized that the message was hovering in the air, not on the mirror.

"Thu!"—I spat the toothpaste foam.

Spalsh —Splash! —I cleaned myself up and looked again at the hovering message in the air.

[You have acquired the rights to become a Player. Will you accept?]

Acquired rights? Accept what, exactly?

And what the f*ck is a player?

"Wait... Could this be how people become awakened?" I asked, suddenly getting excited.

'Awakeners' or awakened humans are those people specially gifted with an aptitude for magic.

Only 0.125% of our entire human population is awakened, which amounts to 100 million out of 8 billion.

And that's why Awakeners are treated specially since they are rare.

But the main reason is because there is a Red gate towards each of the four cardinal sides of the supercontinent of Terra.

Humans take care of the northern part of Terra where there is a Red gate. Dwarves take care of the southern side, Elves the east, and Orcs the west.

I looked at the floating message again. "But I have never heard of a player before?" I thought, as I tried to press on the holographic display in front of me.

Surprisingly it clicked.

Click!

[Congratulations on becoming a player!] the floating message wrote.

[Updating system... Registering new host]

"What is it doing? Host?" I asked, feeling confused.

[Update complete!] the floating message showed.

[The daily quest is now available. Would you like to check the contents of the daily quest?]

"Daily quest? This looks like some fantasy game," I said.

"Sure, why not? What could go wrong?"

I pressed on the holographic display.

Click!

----------------------------

[Daily Quest: Stay Fit]

Push-ups: 500 times (Incomplete: 0/500)

Sit-ups: 100 times (Incomplete: 0/100)

Squats: 500 times (Incomplete: 0/500)

Running: 10 km (Incomplete: 0/10)

※Warning: Failure to complete Daily Quests will result in appropriate punishment.

_________________________

***

After playing around with the floating messages for some time, I discovered three things.

First, this strange thing was called a system.

Second, it displayed my stats and other information.

Third, it can generate quests.

And so, here I was, trying to complete the Daily Quest.

But after 20 push-ups, I realized I was too tired to complete the first quest.

So, after a few minutes, I did it again when my muscles were recharged.

And again.

And again.

It took me about 5 hours to complete the first quest.

"Umm... This is harder than I thought," I let out.

I checked the quest window again.

Immediately, a fit of curses left my mouth.

"F*ck, this is bullsh*t. How can a normal human do all this?"

"I am not doing it. Maybe I will do it a bit later. There doesn't seem to be any time limit anyway."

And I don't even know what this weird system thing is.

Thinking so, I surfed through the internet for the rest of the day.

Ate what I liked. Played games, and

I even did 80 squats in between, but I got bored and tired, so I just played some more games.

***

11:30 PM

Yawn~ "I tried searching a little on the net, but there were no articles regarding players or the system, other than some games. And none of it was related to hunters." I muttered.

"And it doesn't seem like I can find the mystery behind this system so easily either."

Thinking so and yawning a few more times, I went to bed.

"I will have to discuss with someone what this thing is," I said, while yawning.

And what was that penalty thing? Well, whatever.

I can finish the quest at a later time since there seems to be no time limit.

And just like that, after my productive yet somewhat special day, I found myself living like an unproductive person and went to sleep.

***

Third person's POV:

Cain lay sound asleep in his bed, snoring softly.

But, the relentless passage of time did not yield to his slumber. The clock on the wall continued its rhythmic ticking, without caring about Cain.

Soon the hands of the clock reached 11:55 PM.

The ticking persisted, resounding through the room.

Tik! —Tok! —Tik! —Tok!

11:59:57 PM.

Tick.

Tock.

Tick.

Tock.

Suddenly, the clock abruptly ceased its ticking, freezing at the exact stroke of midnight.

12:00 AM

Click! A message appeared:

[Host has failed to complete the Daily Quest.]

[Appropriate penalty will be applied to the host.]

[Sending the host to the penalty zone for a designated period of time.]

...

—𝗥 𝗨 𝗠 𝗕 𝗟 𝗘!!