The evening glow spread across the sky, staining the entire world a deep, burning red.
After school, the classroom gradually emptied out. Only two or three students remained, heads lowered in intense concentration as they reviewed for the looming college entrance examinations.
Kurose Akira packed his schoolbag and was just about to head home when he unexpectedly noticed an envelope tucked between his textbooks. A heart had been carefully drawn on its surface.
He didn't think much of it. Slipping the envelope back together with his books, he slung his bag over his shoulder and left the classroom.
It might have been a love letter—but at this stage of his life, Akira had no desire to be tied down by unnecessary emotions.
Because he was a transmigrator.
His name and appearance were exactly the same as before his transmigration, but his circumstances had undergone a complete upheaval. In his previous life, his family had been warm and complete, and he even had a beautiful older sister. Now, he was an orphan.
The rented room Akira lived in was only a few hundred meters from his school, thanks to state assistance policies. Of course, once he reached the legal age, the residence would be reclaimed.
Because of that, he needed to earn enough money for university tuition before graduation—and prepare for future rent as well. The school dormitories had limited space and simply couldn't accommodate all of his personal belongings.
As for how to make money, Akira already had a rough plan in mind.
While searching online for ways to earn cash, he had stumbled upon a mysterious game.
The game was still in its non–wipe closed beta phase, yet it had already drawn the attention of tens of millions of players. By sheer luck, Akira had secured one of the only one hundred thousand beta access slots available worldwide.
There were still three months until the official launch. If he could reach at least a mid-tier level in those three months, his money problems would practically solve themselves.
If his luck exploded and he recruited a rare character, he might even leap straight into a comfortably well-off life.
After all, a single beta access code could already be sold on the forums for ten thousand yuan without much effort.
There were even rumors that high-rarity characters had sold for millions.
One could only imagine just how insanely popular this game was.
When Akira returned to his apartment, he immediately noticed a package sitting outside his room.
"So heavy!"
He dragged the box inside.
The weight exceeded his expectations—it had to be over thirty kilograms.
He quickly tore it open, and a VR device came into view.
In addition to the VR helmet, the box contained a heavy main console.
Akira plugged the console into the power supply, pressed the startup button, then put on the VR helmet and lay back on his bed, quietly waiting for the game to load.
As his vision shifted, a dazzling, surreal scene began to assemble itself within his consciousness.
Ethereal, drifting sounds echoed in his ears.
[Loading. Please wait…]
[Welcome to the Magic Continent!]
[You will take on the role of a Guildmaster of an Adventurers' Guild. Recruit legendary adventurers, complete commissions, repel monster invasions, and ultimately conquer the Demon King's Castle, establishing the greatest guild in the history of the Magic Continent!]
[At the beginning, you are granted one free adventurer recruitment opportunity. The higher the rarity of the recruited adventurer, the stronger their attributes and skills. They will become your most reliable companions on your journey.]
[Now!]
[The game begins!]
[Good luck!]
As the voice faded, Akira slowly opened his eyes and realized he was standing inside an unfamiliar room.
He looked around.
The décor was simple—there was only a bar counter and a few neatly arranged tables and chairs. Everything was orderly, making the space feel surprisingly open and comfortable.
Several empty wine bottles sat atop the wooden counter. Sunlight streamed through the window, refracting across the glass and causing them to glimmer faintly.
"What an incredibly realistic game world…"
Akira stared at his hands in mild astonishment. The sense of realism was so overwhelming that for a moment, he almost believed he had transmigrated again.
Sight, sound, touch—even smell—were perfectly replicated.
It was enough to make him marvel at the sheer technical achievement.
Could a game really reach this level?
Or had he actually transmigrated again?
Buzz—buzz—buzz.
Just as Akira was lost in amazement at the realism, a white sheet of paper drifted silently down from above and entered his field of vision.
"Hm?"
Curious, Akira picked up the white paper that had landed on the bar counter.
[Adventurer Recruitment Scroll (White)]
[You may use this item to randomly recruit an adventurer from another world!]
"A white recruitment scroll…"
After reading the text in parentheses, Akira flipped the scroll over.
On the back were recorded the adventurer recruitment qualities and their corresponding probabilities. From lowest to highest, the qualities were: Common, Rare, Elite, Epic, Legendary, and Mythic.
A white scroll had only a one-in-ten-thousand chance to recruit an Elite-quality adventurer, a three-percent chance to recruit a Rare-quality adventurer, and all remaining results would be Common.
The absurdly low odds made Akira frown.
The quality of the initial adventurer would clearly affect the pace of the guild's development. If he were lucky enough to recruit an Elite adventurer, the road ahead would be smooth sailing. But if he pulled a Common one…
Akira shook his head, tossing those stray thoughts aside.
So what if it was Common? This wasn't his only recruitment opportunity. If he were going to give up just because of a bad initial roll, he might as well sell the beta access right now.
"Haa…"
He took a deep breath, gripping the recruitment scroll tightly in his hand as he prayed:
"I'm willing to stay single for ten years in exchange for an Elite adventurer! Gacha—roll!"
The moment the words left his mouth—
He hurled the recruitment scroll into the air.
In an instant!
Countless white particles of light rained down like meteors streaking across the night sky, converging upon the scroll. It erupted in dazzling brilliance, like a blazing sun hanging overhead, forcing Akira to squint from the glare.
With effects this flashy, he thought, there's no way it's just a Common, right?
But the thought had barely formed when a system prompt sounded in his ears.
[Congratulations! You have recruited a Common-quality adventurer—Church Apprentice Nun!]
[Would you like her to join your guild?]
"..."
Akira's expression stiffened slightly.
As expected, he wasn't part of that one-in-ten-thousand miracle.
Nor had he made it into the lucky three percent.
What a shame.
He extended a finger, preparing to tap "Confirm" and welcome his first adventurer into the guild.
But at that moment, the scene before his eyes shifted, and a line of small text appeared out of nowhere.
[Abnormal data detected. Recruitment information is being restructured…]
"Abnormal data? Recruitment restructuring?"
Akira froze when he saw the new message.
He had no idea what was happening—but as the game visuals began to flicker subtly, he realized that something in his game… seemed to have changed.
Before he could react, countless tags burst into his vision.
[Nun][Arrogant][Married Woman][Skeleton][Giant Troll][Traitor][Bard][Memory Loss]
[Please select any three of the above tags to combine into the adventurer you wish to recruit!]
[Warning: Do not create bizarre or illogical combinations, or you may cause the game world to collapse!]
[Current number of free tag refreshes: 10(Completing quests will grant additional refreshes!)]