The Acknowledgment - Volume One

Sneaking Suspicions

                 Within an old building, deep within a crowded city. A man was working at his desk job, writing and typing things. River is a handsome young man with slick orange hair, having only a single strand poking out, and black eyes. "Mr. River," says another man, walking up to him with paperwork in his hands. "Yes?" River asks, glancing over at the man. "I believe you need to see this, sir," he explained, handing the papers to River. "And this is?" River asks, flipping through the paperwork. "This is a report from a recent dungeon raid. 8 people died in a C-rank dungeon recently," The man began, "The only survivor was an E-rank," explained the businessman, "They must have been doing a lot of the heavy lifting, and others got themselves killed. It can happen quite often," River explained, unsurprised. "No, the E-rank wouldn't be able to kill the dungeon boss alone," the man explained. River looked over at the man, interested in these strange circumstances.

                "The boss was part of the giant arachnid species, which means it wouldn't have been a huge threat to a party made up of skilled hunters. It's a bit strange that eight of them died," the man explained, going through his thought process. "Stop beating around the bush and get to the point," River replied, resting his elbows on his desk, and clasping his hands together, "You wouldn't have come to me if you'd found something suspicious. You would've taken care of it yourself. What's going on?" River asks, "Well, the only survivor was Winter Jr. Throndsen. From the school, and possibly the resting station incidents," the man explained, "Winter Throndsen?" River asks. "There's something certainly fishy about all of this, but no need to worry. The evaluations we made were heavily in surveillance, and we used the highest quality of technology to determine his strength and weaknesses," River explained, to the man. "Besides, it's not as if evolvers are a common occurrence. We've already looked into this once. That should be enough," he added, looking at the man. "I want to think of it as a coincidence as well, but I just can't overlook this," the man replied to River, "Because one of the hunters who happened to die was Bobby," he explained with deep concern. "Bobby? Are you talking about Billy's older brother?" River asks, "Now that's something we should look into," he explained, bringing his clasped hands up to his face with deep concern and thought on his face.

                Winter's home was as barren as ever, but Winter sat down, in casual clothing and begin to eat a burger and drink beer. "I want to get drunk, but I can't," He thought, drinking away at his first can.

~>System<{" Harmful Substances Have Been Detected in Your Body. [Buff: Detoxification] Has Been Activated. You Are Now Being Healed. You Have Been Successfully Detoxified,"}>it rang, with a notice tab in Winter's face<~

                "The special ability given to me by the System is purifying the alcohol," Winter thought with disappointment, "As soon as I got out of that school incident, the System gave me this as a reward. I've made a lot of progress since then, so I just brushed it off," Winter thought while watching the news and taking a bite from the fried chicken. "I never imagined I'd get a reward like this," he added, looking at the tabs that floated around him.

~>System<{" [Secret Quest: "Courage of The Weak"] The Great Spell caster Kandiaru's Blessing: The Great Spell Caster Kaindiaru Has Gifted The [Player] a Special Enchantment. As Long as The [Player] Has Kadiaru's Blessing, You Will Always Be Healthy And Strong. "}>It Displayed<~
~>System<{" [Quest Rewards]: 1. Temporary Effect: [The Will To Recover] — Any Damage to The Body Will be Recovered. 2. Permanent Effect: [Longevity] — The [Player] is Immune to All Diseases, Poisonous Substances, And All Abnormalities in Your Status. Regeneration will Exponentially Increase While Asleep,"}>it displayed just to the side of the first tab<~

                "It's all thanks to this quest reward that I could fight Tyler like I did," Winter thought, Then something hit him. "Wait, if I'm immune to all poisonous substances, that means," he summoned the "Kasaka's Venom Gland" he obtained from his first C-rank boss. "If I'm able to automatically recover from being poisoned, then this item wouldn't affect me, right?" He thought aloud, "Oh well, no need to overthink it," Winter drank the venom.

~>System<{" Harmful Substances Have Been Detected in The [Player]'s Body. [Buff: Detoxification] Has Been Activated. You Are Now Being Healed. You Have Been Successfully Detoxified,"}>it rang, with a notice tab in Winter's face<~
~>System<{" The [Muscle Damage] Effect From [Item: Kasaka's Venom Gland] Has Disappeared,"}>it rang<~
~>System<{" Physical Damage Reduction: 20%. [Processing],"}>it displayed on his Main Status<~

                "Just as I thought! It worked!" Winter smirked to himself. He returned to dinner but continued to eat in silence. No TV, no music, just him and his thoughts. Ideas of making money began to flood his mind, and with that came his ability to obtain Instant Dungeon keys reliably. "Dungeons are dangerous, but there are mounds of treasure all over the place. Essence Stones and Mana Crystals are just the tip of the iceberg. Even the corpses of the magical beasts can be used for materials, so there's nothing that goes to waste. It makes sense that some corporations have gotten into dungeon raiding, influencing the government to get into it as well. With licensing rights, contracts, and creating laws to make it more civil," Winter thought, liking the direction of this thought process. "If I can obtain enough Instant Dungeon keys consistently, I should be able to make huge amounts of money from the dungeons and keep leveling up. I'm the boss of my own company after all, so why shouldn't I be a part of the raids?" Winter thought, smiling smugly, pleased by his new business plan.