Meeting Shin

I heard another strange term, so I said in confusion:

"What do you mean by a class?"

"Tell me, your civilization used a form of power, right? What was it?"

"I'm from the Treen Kingdom. We use magic there."

"Good. While using magic powers, you have occupations, right?"

"Yes, we have many, like fire magicians, wind magicians, and so on."

"You can consider classes to be like your magical occupations but on a wider scale. With our technology, we have different types of classes. We have common classes like warriors, magicians, healers, defenders, and thieves.

We have many secret classes as well. You must have great luck in order to find a secret class though. Each of the secret classes have one specific condition that must be met. The secret class is like an advanced version of a common class.

So, you need to have that certain class for you to be able to upgrade to the particular secret class. Now, out of the five basic classes, what class will you choose? I recommend that you choose the magician class as you are already very familiar with magic power."

She was right about all that she had said, but as I was from a magically powered kingdom, I knew the drawbacks of this profession. What caused our kingdom to suffer so much was that it depended solely on magical power.

Magicians could be lethal weapons only if they attacked from long distances and time was given to them. That was not a logical way of fighting wars. Our enemies would never give us the chance to attack them whole-heartedly.

That was why I didn't want to use magic again. I wanted to have a taste of real face-to-face fighting. Maybe a swordsman or a spearman would be good for me. I said after contemplating:

"I don't want to be a magician. I've had enough with this profession or what you may call a class."

"Then what class do you want to be in?"

"I want to fight from the frontlines and kill my enemies with my blade. I want the profession of swordsman or a spearman."

"You want to choose a warrior class then. Try to use the word "class" rather than the word "profession". It will get easier the more you use our terms."

"Thank you. Then, the warrior class has both classes?"

"Yes. Warrior class has many subclasses like swordsman, spearman, archer, and hammer warrior. So, what class would you like to choose?"

I wanted to fight in the frontlines, but when I was about to choose swordsman, I felt pain in my soul. It seemed that my previous profession was deeply set in my bones. Ok, I won't choose an extremely close-range class.

Then what about being a spearman? It seemed nice to me. I would still fight in the front lines. I also wouldn't be in too close a range to my target as I was using a long spear. I decided to choose this class then.

"I choose the spearman class."

"Good choice, adventurer Agatha. Now I will move you to your starting point in this game. You will appear at a novice village. It is a village of beginners like yourself. You can learn gradually there.

About your Guild Master rank, it will appear in your Inventory as a Guild establishing stone. You can use it at any time. You don't need to be afraid, it won't drop when you die."

I didn't understand what she was saying! But I felt that looking stupid in front of a stranger wasn't a pleasant sensation, so I didn't ask any more and decided to try everything out for myself and try to find things out on my own.

"Ok. Send me to the Nobrisco village." 

"It's called a novice village. Listen, if you find yourself in need of me, just say my name loudly and I will appear. Now, Bon Voyage, adventurer Agatha."

I didn't have a chance to say anything else as I was overwhelmed by a bright light. When I opened my eyes again, I found myself standing in a different wide-open space. I looked around myself to find that I was in some sort of a town square.

What was remarkable about the square was a small statue of a swordsman placed prominently in the center. When I saw the sculpture, I felt regret. Why didn't I choose this profession? That swordsman looked awesome! I should have chosen that job! I felt a stabbing pain in my heart. Damn!

I tried to ignore this remarkable life-like sculpture and look around me. I wasn't the only person here since I noticed a large number of people.

Every other second, a flash of light shone, and a new wave of people appeared. I knew that they were all in the same situation as me. They had finished the test and so they had been made to join this game.

What was the game's name again? I forgot the game's name! I am a useless person!

"Hey there, are you new here?"

I looked for who spoke to me. He was a young player. He looked to be around 17 years old. Most importantly, he was a swordsman. Damn! That profession was so cool!

"Why are you looking at me with eyes like that? C'mon, I'm just trying to be friendly."

This swordsman was crazy cool! I said at once, trying to look angry:

"What do you mean? I was just looking at your sword!"

"This sword? It's a trash grade sword. You're a newbie? I think you must be from a kingdom outside our Empire."

I was surprised by his comment and asked:

"Is it that obvious?"

"Yes, pretty obvious. Everyone in Frod knows about the weapon grading and equipment grades. This is nothing but a novice trash grade sword. What would you do if you saw a fine gold grade sword right now?"

"Fine gold grade? What is that? Is it real gold?"

"Oh my god! Do you like gold that much? You must be from a new kingdom. Tell me, what's your name and kingdom? "

I was about to answer him automatically, but I stopped myself. If the test results were announced in public, then my real name along with my kingdom's name would be known. If no one found my in-game name in the public listings, then they would suspect me of changing it.

They would then search for my kingdom. That was logical. I needed to name a different kingdom. It's better to be from a nearby kingdom in order to drive out any suspicion. I needed time to think so I countered him while faking arrogance:

"You should know that it's impolite to ask a lady about her name!"

"Why? I didn't ask about your age though!"

This swordsman was too cool! He made me really angry, so I rebuked him:

"You idiot. You haven't told me your name first!"

"Ah, sorry! I'm Shin. Now your turn. Tell me your name."

"My name is Agatha."

"Agatha? What a strange name. Ok Agatha, tell me, where do you come from?"

"I come from the Kronig kingdom."

"Kronig kingdom? Are you sure?"

I felt a sense of unease. I had forgotten that nearby kingdoms would have a lot of info about the Frod system. While I was thinking hard so as to fix the situation and blaming myself for my stupidity, he said:

"Don't worry, everyone has their secrets. Ok Agatha from Kronig, tell me what your class is?"

I felt grateful to him. He'd discovered that I was lying but he didn't question me any further. I appreciated the gesture from him. It seemed this swordsman was both cool and nice!

"Thanks, Shin of Frod. I'm a spearman."

"Hahaha, you should be called a spear woman!"

"Don't tease me, Shin. Yes, I guess you can say I'm a speargirl."

"Isn't it spearwoman?"

"No, I like being a girl instead."

"Girl, you'll grow up one day."

"Shin stop bothering me!" I said angrily. "Now tell me, what should I do first?"

"Simple. You should go kill some rabbits."

"Wow, but I love rabbits. Why should I kill them?"

"You're hopeless! How will you get XP then?"

"What is XP?"

"Oh, sorry, I forgot you are from "Kronig". By the way, Kronig is one of the closest kingdoms to the Frod Empire. They know a lot about us, so please don't ask these silly questions if you're in front of anyone else."

He was right again! This damn cool swordsman!