Evil

Oh Great Hero!

Huh? What happened?

One moment, there was a disappointed voice telling me that I had failed my tutorial and the next, I found myself in a brightly lit chamber, several cloaked individuals surrounding me.

"I-It worked! The great summoning process has worked! Ohhhh praise the ancestors! Praise the lords!" A girl, around my age of twenty-three, was bawling her eyes out.

"What is this place?" What the hell was going on?

All I remember was bright lights blinding me on my daily commute to work when—I was suddenly in a mass grave!

I had been granted two abilities, one was Keen Friendship where I would grow stronger for every friendly connection I made with a person or animal. The other was Commanding Spirit where every friendly connection would allow me to assert myself and rule over people easier.

There was an old man whom I saved from being stuck under the piles of bodies. I was nauseous just thinking about it. I was in the midst of a panic attack before the old man calmed me down.

We managed to escape the grave but we encountered a tiger by the stream who subsequently fought with a bear. The old man was killed by the tiger, saving me in the process which let me run.

But then, I ran into a cockatrice-like beast. In my panic, I threw a rock at it and ran, nearly killing myself in the process and hid for a day or so before a cold voice spoke in my head, saying,"I am disappointed. Truly. What a loss of potential."

After that, I was teleported here. I gulped as I stared at the girl. It was a lie if I said I wasn't attracted to her. As a white-collar worker sitting in my own cubicle, there were rarely opportunities even converse with others, let alone date.

Her hair was pinkish, reminding me of the cherry blossoms back home in Tokyo, Japan. Her delicate, jade-like skin exuded health,"Oh great hero, you must save us!"

"S-Save? I-I am just a white-collar worker miss, I have no power!"

"You have not been awakened yet, great hero! Worry not, under our guidance, you will grow rapidly, allowing you to take on the great evil!" An old man with a head of lengthy white hair spoke, his wrinkled face peering at me.

"The great evil?" I asked, confused.

"Yes, our oracles have predicted a great evil. We, the Union of Righteousness cannot rest easy until the evil has been eradicated! This evil is very powerful and growing stronger by the second! If we do not stop it, the righteous faction will collapse, leaving the commoners, helpless people, at the mercy of those frightening demonic magisters! This is a future I daren't imagine!"

"..." I didn't know how to respond.

"Come, great hero! You must be exhausted! Please rest well before we continue talking! Worry not, you will be safe here."

———

"So, how's the other guy going?" I called out as I munched on an apple, looking out the window indifferently. We would be reaching Juniper City in a matter of hours. Furthermore, my sleep for the past two nights had been uninterrupted. Unfortunately, we were delayed by a thunderstorm and had to stop for a day to repair the damages and throw away destroyed cargo.

Unexpectedly, the mysterious entity or whatever you called it, responded, its androgynous, cold voice responding.

A most disappointing performance it was, dear Artemis. If it hadn't been for me saving him, you would have won the game already. Unfortunately, we can't let the main characters die in the mere tutorial now, can we?

I grinned savagely,"Indeed, Bob. We cannot. To let such a juicy prey die without putting up a good fight...It would be akin to missing out on the thrill of the hunt. What was that saying? Ah, yes. It is the journey that matters, not the end." Unfortunately, the voice ignored my words and focused on only one in particular.

Why did you call me Bob?

"Well, Bob," I replied in a sickly sweet tone,"You never bothered to introduce yourself so I decided to give you a name. And you sounded like a Bob so I decided to call you Bob."

Wha—How do I sound like a Bob?

"You figure it out Bob, you're the one that sounds like Bob, not me." I shrugged indifferently a smug smile of satisfaction growing on my face.

...In other news, you might be glad to know that he has been granted a little bit of a penalty.

My brows raised,"Now that's music to my ears, Tom."

Tom? Why have I suddenly become a Tom?

"Because you sound like a Tom now. It's a good thing, don't worry. Unlike Bob, I actually like the name Tom."

...What you do once you reach the city, I am curious to find out.

"If all goes to plan, I'll spoil myself rotten before deciding on my next step. If all doesn't go to plan, conflicts can be solved with a little bit of murder," I answered casually, discarding the apple core into the trashcan. The core had already turned brown,"I wonder what the city will look like? Will there be cottages and mobile shops? High rise buildings? Farmland, perhaps?"

That is for you to discover. I shall be watching in eager anticipation, Artemis. Don't disappoint me like Arakan.

My brows raised,"Ah. So the man is called Arakan. A Japanese, is it?"

I have said far too much. Farewell.

"What a prude." I grumbled. His leaving had dashed all hopes of me asking for more information about the man,"Didn't even tell me his name either. Tch."

A mercenary on horseback neared my window,"Lady Blythe, we will be arriving in an hour or so. Lord Smoak wishes to know if you would like to be dropped off at the entrance or join him at the Golden Heavens Trading Company's Juniper city branch."

"Just drop me off. Tell him I'll drop by when I have the time." I took out the spare coins I looted from the soldiers. The man's eyes shone, knowingly,"Ask away Lady Blythe."

"Are there any notable rules or common rules I should be aware of? This is my first time travelling to Juniper."

He thought for a moment before answering,"Juniper city is a safe haven for demonic magisters. The city is open and regulated by the Barshiek Clan under the righteous faction. Here, violence is allowed but killing is only prohibited in the Abyss Arena. Please take note that harming the Barshiek clan members can result in exile from the city at best or immediate death at worst. As for..." He gave me a basic run down of what I had to know before I sent him on his merry way, ten silvers richer. Win-win.

I nodded thoughtfully,"Juniper city...Sounds a little interesting."