Kingdom of Fiore, Magnolia Town.
The early spring breeze carried the earthy scent of rain as it gently swept through, sunlight filtering through the leaves and dappling the park bench below.
Roland sat on that bench, staring up at the rain-washed sky, his expression complicated as he let out a deep sigh.
Just minutes ago, he'd been lying in his dorm room scrolling through his phone. The next thing he knew, he'd opened his eyes to find himself in this unfamiliar park.
He'd also noticed something off about his height—no, more accurately, his age had changed. He looked about fourteen or fifteen now.
But considering he'd just experienced something as absurd as dimensional travel, the changes to his body weren't exactly the hardest pill to swallow.
Looking on the bright side, at least he'd get to live a few extra years.
"Alright, first things first—figure out where the hell I am."
Roland steadied himself and began observing his surroundings more carefully.
The afternoon park was fairly busy: couples walking hand-in-hand, children playing, elderly folks out for a stroll. On the surface, it didn't look much different from the parks he knew.
But the distinctly unusual clothing styles, the unnaturally vibrant hair colors that somehow didn't look out of place—all of it confirmed what he already suspected.
He'd definitely been transported to another world.
Distant conversations drifted to his ears, but he couldn't understand a word of them. That made Roland feel even more lost.
Come to think of it, didn't all those protagonists in web novels and anime get some kind of automatic translation ability and a system? Why didn't he get one?
[Daily Quest System loaded successfully!]
Just as Roland was spacing out, staring at the medieval-style stone and timber buildings across the river, a voice suddenly echoed in his mind.
Before he could even process it, the voice continued.
[This system will refresh daily quests at 6:00 AM. Completing them will grant unique rewards and character templates from various worlds.]
[Quest 1: Welcome Package!]
[Quest Description: Welcome to this brand new world! To ensure the host can survive and complete future quests, please claim your starter gift.]
[Quest Reward: Welcome Gift (randomly receive 3 abilities/items)]
Seeing the semi-transparent interface appear before his eyes, Roland's expression brightened considerably.
The next moment, a deep red gift box tied with a pink ribbon materialized in his hands out of thin air.
The box wasn't particularly large, and since he was sitting in a secluded corner of the park, nobody seemed to notice.
[Open gift box?]
A translucent prompt appeared above the box. Roland didn't hesitate—he mentally confirmed.
Instantly, the pink ribbon untied itself and three lights of different colors flashed briefly. At the same time, the system's voice rang out again.
[Ability obtained: Love Spot (from the Fate/Zero world)]
[Ability Description: A beauty mark granted to Diarmuid Ua Duibhne by the god of love. Charms the opposite sex. Any woman who looks directly at its bearer will develop intense romantic feelings.]
"If I remember correctly, this ability was... pretty much what caused Diarmuid's whole tragedy, wasn't it?"
Looking at the first ability he'd received, Roland's expression turned somewhat complicated.
It wasn't that it was useless—quite the opposite. It was too effective.
In a way, it wasn't much different from being a succubus.
[Item obtained: Translation Konjac (from the Doraemon world)]
[Item Description: Resembles a block of mochi. Once consumed, allows the user to communicate seamlessly with speakers of other languages. Also works on written text.]
[Character Template obtained: Sin of Pride—Escanor (from the Seven Deadly Sins world)]
[Template Description: Blessed by the sun, your power and personality will grow stronger and more arrogant as the sun rises, reaching their peak at high noon. Conversely, as the sun sets, your strength will diminish accordingly.]
[Note: Character templates are automatically adjusted to suit the host's physical condition!]
Roland, who had just been pleasantly surprised by the Translation Konjac, completely froze when he saw the character template.
The cheerful noise of the park crowd became nothing but white noise. His breathing stopped. Only his rapidly accelerating heartbeat remained audible.
Roland took a deep breath. After a long moment, he finally recovered, his eyes growing brighter and brighter.
This was basically an instant win at the starting line.
Sure, the template had drawbacks—it only worked during the day, his personality would become arrogant, and at night he'd become self-deprecating instead.
But compared to power strong enough to be called invincible, those side effects were practically negligible.
As the system's voice faded, a black beauty mark appeared beneath Roland's left eye. The red gift box in his hands dissolved into particles of light, replaced by a gray piece of konjac.
The most dramatic change was in his body itself. Beneath his black shirt, sharply defined muscles formed like carved sculpture. Inside him, scorching magical power surged, threatening to burst forth—along with strength powerful enough to destroy anything.
"So this is... the power of the sun?" Roland murmured softly, feeling the rampaging magic within him.
It was almost evening, yet his power was still this overwhelming.
He couldn't even imagine how much stronger he'd become at high noon.
"Wait, why hasn't my body gotten bigger?"
Sensing the changes throughout his body, Roland frowned in confusion.
He remembered this ability was supposed to affect physical size—growing more muscular starting at dawn, reaching an absurd height of nearly ten feet at noon, and only returning to normal at night.
Right now, with the sun setting, both his personality and physique should be changing significantly. Yet he felt nothing.
[This character template has been optimized for compatibility. Physical size will not change, and personality shifts will vary by individual.]
"I see. That's pretty thoughtful, actually."
After taking a moment to adjust to this overwhelming power, he finally remembered he still had the Translation Konjac to eat.
Looking at the jelly-like konjac in his hand, Roland was about to pop it in his mouth when small raindrops began falling onto it.
He instinctively looked up. The clear blue sky had been replaced by thick clouds, and needle-thin rain poured down, splashing against the ground.
What started as a light drizzle quickly intensified. Even the scenery in the distance became blurred.
However, any raindrops that came near Roland instantly evaporated into steam from the magical power radiating off him.
He wasn't getting wet, but the weather still made him frown.
The sun hadn't completely set yet, so he could use his magic to keep the rain off for now.
But what about after sunset?
Was he really going to have to sleep under a bridge...?
Just when he'd solved the language and power problems, now he was stuck worrying about where to sleep tonight.
At that thought, Roland couldn't help but sigh.
"Um... are you okay? In weather like this, you should really head home, you know?"
A girl's voice suddenly spoke from beside him.
Clear and pleasant, with a note of genuine concern in her tentative tone.
Roland paused for a moment, then turned to see a blue-haired girl standing next to him, holding an umbrella in one hand and books in the other.
The girl was petite with an adorable face. Her sky-blue bob was tied with a dark green headband, and her light yellow off-shoulder sundress gave her a cheerful, energetic vibe.
"Trust me, I'd love to go home if I could."
Roland first responded with a helpless complaint, then smiled at the girl. "But thanks for your concern."
"Oh, no... it's nothing."
When the blue-haired girl saw the boy's delicate features and the beauty mark near his eye, her eyes unconsciously widened slightly and her heartbeat quickened.
"Um, is there something wrong? Are you in some kind of trouble?"
The girl, who had been about to head back to the guild dormitory, hesitated before asking despite herself.
Seeing the gradual blush spreading across the girl's cheeks, Roland immediately understood what was happening.
He felt a little guilty about deceiving a kind-hearted girl who was just trying to help, but compared to sleeping under a bridge tonight—
"What?! Someone scammed you out of all your money during your travels... How could anyone be so horrible!?"
After hearing Roland's tale of woe, the blue-haired girl immediately puffed up her cheeks indignantly.
"I know, right? So now I don't even know where I'm sleeping tonight. In this weather, I'll probably have to find a bridge somewhere."
"Um..." The blue-haired girl glanced at the curtain of rain in the distance and found herself saying, "If you're really stuck, you could... stay at my place for the night?"
Wait—what am I saying!?
The moment the words left her mouth, the blue-haired girl realized something was very wrong. Embarrassment flooded through her, and her face turned completely red as she used her books to hide her face.
"Are you sure that's okay? I mean, I am a guy..."
"It's fine! You don't look much older than me anyway..." The blue-haired girl peeked at him briefly before adding in a small voice, "Besides, at your age you're more of a boy than a man, right?"
"Well then, I really appreciate it!"
Roland ignored her quiet muttering and extended his hand with a smile. "I'm Roland—a traveler from very far away. It's nice to meet you."
"Y-yes, I'm Levy... Levy McGarden."