The burly man puts his hand behind his head, his muscle rippling in the process. “Name’s Matt. Born, and raised in ‘Merica, before… well, before I came here. I worked in the navy, but died… in the field of work.”
Despite the lax attitude, I notice a slight fog of gloominess hanging over Matt. He shifts position, before extending out his left hand—with many scars overlapping the skin on his forearm—for a handshake. I respond, and he grasps my hand with a firm grip.
He releases, before sitting back down, arms crossed. He gazes around the room, his bushy eyebrows snapped together.
“Huh? We’re already starting to introduce ourselves? Err… well, okay!” comments the boy in a strange voice similar to a falsetto.
And even worse, I… don’t get the reference. Perhaps the seamlessly immeasurable time I spent in that white room had diminished some of my culture. I chuckle. When was the last time I even had a thought similar to the one that had trailed into my conscious mind?
“So… names first, right? Hello, I’m Raphael. Nice to meet you, [Hero] Ray!” he gives a polite (yet rough and clearly unpracticed) bow, before continuing. “Although, you can just call me Raph. Actually, please call me Raph. I prefer it a lot compared to Raphael or Ralph. Uh…” Raph stares into space for a moment, as if trying to remember something. For a snap second, the room becomes unearthly quiet. That is, until the young boy—Raph—breaks the silence. “—Oh, right! So I grew up in Spain, but moved to Australia before I also… arrived… here…” His voice suddenly loses its previous zest, and his ending sentence is composed of only illegible muttering.
For some reason, the life seems to drain out of Raph, and his face turns a deathly pale, his expression one of a dead man. One of solitude, grief and regret. For I, too, was once like that.
Raph quickly shakes his head in an agitated and feverish manner.
“You know what, how about we just don’t talk about it?” he declares, falling into an awkward chuckle.
Sitting next to Matt, the two are juxtaposed almost perfectly. Raph’s pale skin contrasts with Matt’s darker, tanned tone. Matt’s huge frame towers over Raph’s smaller one, and Raph’s slightly permed, bushy brown hair opposes Matt’s light, blonde, short and neatly trimmed hair. However, the differences do not just end there.
While Matt is covered head-to-toe in armour and chainmail, Raph wears virtually no gear. Except for a large bow that slings across his back and a pouch filled with arrows tied to his waist, he has no other equipment. Matt? He wears matching pairs of bronze knuckles—although they clearly aren’t made of bronze, but some other material—and a long broadsword made out of the same foreign material sits snugly in a sheath that he carries on his back like a backpack.
However, amidst the observing of my fellow [Heroes], I notice that all heads have unconsciously turned towards the purple haired, ear-covering woman. What a bizarre description…
“““... … …”””
The three of us soundlessly wait for the woman to begin talking.
However, instead of speaking up, the woman just lets our stares roll right off her.
“Er, hello? Melony, you’re not sleeping, are you?” questions Raph as he tilts his head and zooms in towards the silent woman, noses almost touching. So her name is ‘Melony’, I presume? “I mean, sure, secretly catching Z’s in nice, but this meeting is still serious, isn’t it? Ray hasn’t met any of us yet, I’m pretty sure. In fact, I barely know you! You also came recently. I only met you once, but that was a week ago and it wasn’t anything formal and—”
Suddenly, the woman seems to erupt, and sends a finger flying at Raph, poking him in the forehead. Raph lets out an exaggerated yelp, and falls back. “I would prefer if did not stand so close to me, loquacious boy. I will not talk about my past.” she utters in a calm yet obnoxious tone, without even bothering to lift her head up. “What I will say is that my name is Melony. I come from Korea.”
“Yeesh Melony, way to ruin the mood…” counters Raph while pouting weakly.
…
Honestly, the woman—Melony—has not given me a good impression. Yet, I have no power or skill in judging others. If the system found her worthy to be a [Hero], then I will keep quiet. However, from her brief (and evidently ambiguous) speech, I have figured something out; it is likely that all of us have checkered pasts.
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Matt likely has a traumatic life experience, working in the navy and all.
Raph, as much as he tries to hide it, is awfully emotionally expressive, and from just the short interaction, I can also guess that he would prefer not to talk about his past.
Melony… too, likely has her own forsaken ordeals.
“So…” I begin, attempting to ease the once-again formed tension in the room, “what classes did you all select?”
Seeing this as an opportunity to cut the tension, Raph suddenly pipes up. “What class I picked? Well, I chose the [Marksman] class. Basically, it’s a better version [Archer]—it improves my aim, hand-to-eye coordination, focus and other archery related stuff. Oh, right, I also got [Reduce Distractions] as an Extra Skill. Although, don’t you think—” Raph continues, but flails his hands at the bow slung across his back “—that the bow and arrows give my class away? I wish Travia had handguns or something!”
“An upper tier version of [Archer], you say?” I question inquisitively.
“Yeah, [Archer] only applies to bows and such, but with [Marksman], I can apply that aim and concentration anytime, as long as it involves me shooting or throwing something. But higher tier classes are rarer than the more mundane ones.”
“Interesting…”
Seeing that the conversation had died down, Matt takes initiative and tells us about his class. “I elected the [Brawler] class. S’ a combination of most of the melee classes, and increases my damage and health, as well as giving me [Melee] as an Extra Skill.” Matt explains, his armour rattling as he makes hand signs.
I nod along, listening intently.
However, all I get is a brief, one-worded response from Melony. “[MagiMage]” she mutters.
Closing my eyes, I take a moment to clear my mind and think properly, before addressing my problem to my fellow [Heroes]. I press on the amulet, and no less than a second later, a voice devoid of emotion yet so human sounds in my head.
Name: Ray Tanaka
Level: 1 Rank: A Class: None
Health: 3,000
Mana: 3,000
Damage: 3,000
Defence: 3,000
Speed: 3,000
Titles: [Hero: Humility]
Skills: None
Extra Skills: [Auto Translation], [Second Wind], [Worthiness], [Inspect—Item derived]>
“I am classless, and I’m not sure which class to choose. There are one too many—”
Raph shoots his hand forwards towards my mouth and quickly interjects. “You choose, Ray. I mean, you’ve only been here for how long? Two weeks?”
“A week”
“Yeah, exactly! It took me a whole three weeks of thinking to decide on what class to choose, since once you select a class, you can’t revert back. I don’t regret it, though!”
“Raph’s got it right, I betcha! Best not to rush a choice like this, Ray. A decision like this takes time—most people spend their entire childhoods deciding what class to pursue, and ye’ only got a week's worth of contemplation.”
I nod my head along to Matt’s explanation. He is right, after all. Choices like this are best not to be rushed. Raph actually turns out to be surprisingly considerate, and seemed unexpectedly mature just then.
Already, I can make out each person’s personality. Raph, the youngest, and by far most laid-back looks thirteen, maybe fourteen at best. Having someone like him here certainly brings good company and cuts the tension.
Mat, the oldest, and by far the most serious, has a straightforward and sincere personality. Compassionate yet tough, maybe? A good and reliable man in times of crisis.
To be honest, I cannot derive much from Melony's demeanour. All I can tell is that either she is a woman of few words, is stuck-up, or has something to hide. I narrow my eyes as I take a closer look at Melony—no, not in a perverted way.
And she catches my glance.
“What?” asks Melony in a voice somehow between a bark and a hiss.
Flustered, I quickly avert my gaze before responding. “No… nothing…”
“Jeez, have some people skills, Melony! So… Ray, what did you get from your [Hero] pack?” Raph inquisitively puts a finger on his chin, and mentions at Matt’s weapons before continuing. “I mean, I got a bow and arrows, Melony got a… staff, I think? And Matt got a bunch of weapons! Apart from the I’onit knuckles and the broadsword, he’s also got a chain and sickle stored in his inventory! In fact, why do we all get different items?”
Matt cuts in, voicing his idea. “Perhaps our items vary to suit the user? ‘Ah know we got our items before choosing a class—” he gives me a quick glance “—but don’t you think our classes were pre-determined for us? I mean, each of us only got one rare class variant. Almost as if we were being guided down that class route.”
Raph opens his mouth, lets his jaw slack down for a moment, and then promptly closes his mouth. “Yeah, I can’t argue against that. But maybe this means that our gear also have different stat values?”
“Well, that hypothesis should be easy enough to test.” I say, “without any gear equipped, all my stats are at 1,000—and I’m still level 1. With gear, all my stats get boosted at an average of 3,500 stat points for each attribute, leaving me at an average of 4,500 on each attribute.”
I half expected Raph to mutter something about becoming a myth-buster, and I also half expected Matt to take the initiative to go next.
What I did not expect: Raph staring at me dumbfounded, Matt sweating profusely but trying to act cool by whistling in admiration (with his voice being an octave higher than usual), and Melony—Melony—going wide-eyed.
I nervously chuckle. “Um, what?”