3rd Person View | Solution's (10%) PoV
Solution couldn't believe what he was seeing.
The school sat somewhat on a hill, so from his vantage point on the rooftop, he could see for miles around.
And yet…everything looked normal.
No darkened skies. No pillars of smoke marring the horizon. No colossal beasts rampaging through the city streets.
He let out a long sigh. "Well, that's anticlimactic. Usually in stories, when a world undergoes a transition like this, it's instant chaos. But as far as I can see and hear, the only unusual thing is the sirens—and even that's not really unusual. This is California, after all…"
He leaned against the rooftop's edge, thinking. "Maybe the system's just taking things slow. We fought goblins—tricky for beginners, sure—but nothing the cops couldn't handle with a few rounds from their pistols.
…Assuming, of course, guns work on these things. Fiction usually says they don't."
He then began to ponder why bows, arrows, and swords would be effective against creatures, but modern weaponry isn't. If he had to guess, it was probably because the stories would end by the first day, the creatures having been gunned down by the military.
He shook his head; he was losing focus on what mattered.
His gaze drifted back to the city. "I wonder how the government's going to react to this. Mobilizing the army already? Setting up blockades?" He sighed. "No time to worry about that now."
Speaking aloud seemed to help him focus. He opened his system window, muttering as he fiddled with the settings. "Let's dial the Immersion back to zero."
Immediately, a dullness crept into his mind. "Ugh, I feel slower already," he grumbled. "But that side-effect's no joke. Better to save full Immersion for when I really need it. Can't risk losing my original personality."
He navigated to his general status window, scanning the information quickly.
"Yes!" he pumped a fist. "All my items and equipment made the transfer. Skills are intact too. If that's the case, I should be starting at level forty…"
He read over his window, to find that he was back at level one.
His eyes scanned the details. Then they stopped.
"Wait… what?"
He blinked. His mouth opened, then closed. Finally, a shout erupted from him, startling a flock of birds off the rooftop. "HUH!? Back at level one!? That's impossible!"
He stared, disbelief settling in. "If I'm level one, all my ability scores should've been reset. But they're still at forty."
He gulped, a new thought creeping in. "Does this mean… I can keep getting stronger? Even stronger than I already am?"
His mind raced, trying to piece it together. In the official Sablethorn servers, level twenty is the cap.At that point, you're basically a demi-god.
"But Lucy…" he muttered, biting his thumb. "Lucy set the cap at forty for us, since we played on a private server. At that level, we're gods."
His heart pounded as sweat beaded on his forehead. "If I can hit level forty again, that's eighty levels in total…"
Forty is godlike. But eighty? His eyes widened. What kind of power even is that?
His lips curled into a nervous smile, his breath hitching slightly. "Well, there's only one way to find out if I can keep getting stronger." The faint click of the system echoed in his ears as he navigated to the Details tab of his status window.
There it was—50 experience points gained for killing the goblin caster.
"That's it! My leveling isn't hindered!" His voice trembled with excitement. "I can keep fighting, keep killing, until I hit level forty all over again." Anticipation coursed through him.
The wind picked up, tugging gently at his hair, carrying with it the faint hum of distant city sirens and the occasional blare of car horns.
"All my life, I've wanted something like this." His voice dropped to a murmur, his eyes scanning the horizon.
"It didn't have to be an Isekai or anything fantastical where I'm whisked away and suddenly unbeatable. I didn't need riches, fame, status, or women."
He paused to look up at the orange sky, the wind biting a little harder against his skin. "Starting from scratch, clawing my way up, trial by trial—that would've been enough. Just the chance to grow stronger."
He exhaled slowly, a thin cloud of breath dissipating into the crisp air. "But now…here I am. The possibility of reaching the power of a primordial being…" His fingers flexed unconsciously, the thought gripping him. "No…maybe even beyond that."
The rooftop was eerily still, save for the low rustling of leaves from nearby trees and the faint hum of city life below.
Then, a sudden sound caught his attention. The hurried, echoing clatter of footsteps ascending the rooftop access stairs. His eyes sharpened, his senses immediately on high alert.
He drew his revolver, the cold steel steady in his grip as he aimed at the rooftop access door. Every muscle in his body tensed, ready to eliminate whatever threat emerged.
What he didn't expect was a human girl stumbling through the door, panting heavily, her hands braced on her knees. "Huff… finally… I found you…" she managed between breaths.
Looking up, she saw a revolver pointed directly at her head. "Ack! H-hey, hey it's just me!" She nervously chuckled. "I don't mean to bother you, but I really want to talk to you, so can you put that away…please?"
Solution's finger relaxed on the trigger as he silently adjusted his Immersion to 5%, sharpening his senses and bringing a flood of clarity. "Oh, it's that Ranger girl from earlier," he thought, holstering his revolver.
She straightened, pushing a strand of hair from her face. "Whew," she exhaled, her breath visible in the chilly air. "You didn't even give me a chance to talk to you in private. You really just dipped after doing your job, huh?"
Solution shrugged. "I did what I was asked to do. Say, you're that girl from earlier, right? What was it again…'The Best Ranger in all of Sablethorn'?" He chuckled.
Her face flushed. "Uh, y-yeah, that's me," she said with a sheepish grin. "But, uh, that's not my real name. You can call me Scout. Nice to meet'cha!"
"Scout, huh? I'm Solution." He crossed his arms. "So, how'd you manage to track me down?"
Scout hesitated, her fingers nervously fiddling with the hem of her cloak. "W-well…" She glanced up, her eyes darting away just as quickly. "I'm a Ranger, you know? I've got this cantrip, Detect Magical Trace. When you teleported, it left a magical residue. I followed it and figured you'd head somewhere high up to scout things out, so… rooftop seemed like a good bet."
"Clever," Solution acknowledged, nodding slightly. "You're quite resourceful. So, what's the urgent business?"
Scout shivered as a brisk autumn breeze swept across the rooftop, pulling her cloak tighter around her shoulders. "Can we go inside first? It's freezing out here."
"No need." Solution smiled faintly, reaching into his inventory with a quick gesture. He pulled out a thick jacket with a fur hood, the material dense and warm. Closing the distance between them, he draped it over her shoulders. "This should help."
As the warmth enveloped her, Scout felt her heart thumping. Standing so close, she couldn't help but notice his sharp features, his composed demeanor, and the calm authority in his gaze.
Her cheeks grew warmer. "I didn't really get a good look at him before, but… he's kinda…" her mind wandered despite herself.
"T-thank you," she stammered, gripping the jacket around her shoulders. "I won't take up any more of your time—just answer one question." She hesitated.
Solution waited, his gaze steady and expectant. With a resolute lift of her chin, she asked, "May I please become your student?"
Solution's eyes widened in surprise; of all the questions she could have asked, this was the last thing he'd expected. A smile softened his features as a breeze tousled his hair. "Sure."
Scout blinked, taken aback. "I knew you'd say no, sir!" she blurted out. "But if you'd just let me make my case, I'm sure I could—" Her voice cut off as his answer finally registered. "Err… did you… did you say yes? Just like that?"
He nodded, amused. "I've had offers from people much more skilled than you, but their egos were as big as their skill sets."
He rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "You, though—you showed real potential. You learned to use Hunter's Mark quickly, took down a goblin, and did it all while playing what most people would consider the worst class in Sablethorn.
On top of that, you sized me up accurately enough to realize I was capable of training you—and you had the humility to ask. That's exactly what I look for in a student."
Solution's words were sincere, but he had another reason for accepting her. The fact that she'd been able to track him down despite his passive skills was impressive. He hadn't taken any steps to hide his movements, but his skills should've masked his trace. "How interesting," he mused inwardly.
He chuckled. "Besides," he added, "I think I've taken a liking to you. Something tells me our personalities will work well together."
Solution kept his expression calm, but his internal dialogue was anything but. "What the hell am I doing? I told myself I'd go lone-wolf, and here I am recruiting some random girl!"
"At least she has the ability to hold her own," he reasoned, "and she doesn't seem the type to betray me. Besides, those lone-wolf types never stay solo for long, right? Half of the stories I read turn into girl-collecting harem stories anyway," he sighed.
"Despite that, I might as well bring in someone with potential while I can…but keeping up this act is already exhausting."
Then, there was another layer that gnawed at him. "I'll have to keep her from finding out I'm from Earth, not Sablethorn. And there's still the mystery of why I've dropped to level one, or why we're even using the Sablethorn interface to begin with. Nothing about this setup makes sense. This is going to be a headache..."
Before his thoughts could spiral, he was pulled back by Scout's delighted gasp. "I can't believe this jacket is an Epic Journeyman!"
She traced her fingers over the material, marveling at its weave and design. "The boost to Dexterity and Constitution is amazing—five points each—and it even gives me immunity to natural cold! Oh, and resistance to cold-based attacks too!" She looked up with pleading eyes. "Can I keep it, sir?"
A small sigh escaped him. "Consider it a gift from your teacher. I have plenty of gear to spare."
Her grin spreads as she laughs. "You don't even see stuff like this unless you're practically raiding with Mythic-tier loot. Did you just have this lying around?"
Solution shrugs. "Something like that."
She looks up at him in awe. "You're seriously walking around handing out gear that's, what, three steps below Ascendant?"
She hugs the jacket closer, practically glowing. "You realize I could sell this and buy an entire house, right?"
Solution doesn't answer right away. She's exaggerating, of course, but she was not entirely wrong — Journeyman sits high on the quality ladder, far beyond anything a new Player should touch.
Certain Journeyman items could be sold for big bucks on the official Sablethorn player market as well. A jacket that provided excellent protection against the cold would be highly sought after, especially by players who ran missions in such conditions. "Seeing her that happy, though… maybe it's worth it," he thought.
"I didn't think I'd ever see something like this until I was at least level ten!" she gushed. "You must be seriously loaded to have an Epic Journeyman piece just lying around."
A grin crept onto her face, daring him to answer her next question. "You don't have to tell me, but…what level are you? I just want to rub it in to others that my teacher's completely overpowered."
Solution gave her a sidelong look before answering. "If you're that curious, let's just say I've reached the limit."
Scout's eyes grew wide as the implications sank in. "You mean… you're at max level?" She took a step back, visibly awestruck. "Sir, you're practically divine… I had no idea my teacher was someone so powerful," she whispered.
Before he could interject, she bowed, placing one hand over her chest with reverent awe. "Thank you for choosing me, Master Solution! I will serve with unwavering loyalty—"
Solution's eyes widened in alarm, but he forced his outward appearance to remain composed, clearing his throat.
"Ack! Why the hell is she doing that!?" Solution panicked internally. "It's not like we're in Korea or Japan, so why the hell is she bowing? And why call me master? Consider that trope number four—God, real life can be just as wacky as fiction sometimes."
"That's really not necessary," he said briskly, reaching down to gently lift her from the bow. "Just... Solution is fine. Let's not make a habit of this, yeah? We don't need all the formalities. If you start bowing every time I walk into a room, we'll never get anything done."
Scout flushed, straightening herself. "Oh, um—yes, sir! I mean… yes, Solution!" She gave an awkward laugh while saluting, her cheeks pink with embarrassment. "Sorry, it's just… I never thought I'd be learning from someone with a status as high as yours."
[Personality shift.]
My eyes blinked, and my pulse quickened. What just happened? From when I got up to the rooftop, Up until just now, it felt like I wasn't in my own body.
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◆ System Tip: [Player Interface]
Access your Status Window via mental command or manual gesture. To modify HUD elements, concentrate on the desired panel for three seconds. Emotional stabilization is recommended during calibration.
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