A starry night. Along with echoing sounds of cicadas buzzing in the surroundings. Nature is seemingly in its most tranquil state. Currently, a man was staring fervently toward the moonless skies.
At first glance, he seemed to be a guy around his late twenties with average looks and a decent physique.
Lucas was sitting on one of the wooden benches of a public park with a depressed look on his face.
"Haa… I was really foolish back then. Thinking that everything would change after I came here. In the end, it's all the same no matter where I go."
While he was lamenting over something, a holy light surrounded his whole body like a cocoon and he abruptly stood from his seat.
"What the hell is this now? Am I hallucinating because I got too tired from today's work?
As he was shaking his head in disbelief, the man disappeared from the park without a single trace.
'Bzzzt’
A moment of silence passed.
He opened his eyes and looked around. A completely closed massive white space and countless other humans of different races filled his vision. Most of them were confused while the rest were panicking as they fidgeted around the whole area.
<Huh...?>
<Where am I?>
<Why are there a lot of people here?>
The humans blabbered around as the sound of countless different languages came out of their mouths.
Suddenly, cracking noises were heard from above the ceiling and all of the commotions stopped.
A being came out of a medium-sized slit hole. As everyone was currently looking at this otherworldly existence, Lucas described its appearance in his head.
'Is that thing a human?'
'No, this guy is too transcendental to be considered as one. Even celebrities pale in comparison to his beauty. And is that halo above his head?'
While he was thinking about such thoughts, the angel-like being opened his mouth.
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"Ȁ̵̱̙͕̀͠9̴̡̥̯̝̳̖̪̍̈́́̾̄͂͗M̷̙͓̈́͆̀̍͜@̸̒̽̈́ͅD̸̝̹̝̜̬̗̀͝2̶̻̙͂́̈́͠L̸̛͕̓̈́̒̈́#̶͉̗͈̙͓͗̈̐͐̓̃͜P̸̹̙̈́̆̈́̃̒́1̴̲̳̣̭͐͌̇̈́͐Q̷͍̝̔̂̈́̚%̵̩͐͊̈̑Y̷̨̙̒͗̏́$̴̞͉̺̫̠̉̽̀̚Ř̷̦̆͐̕ͅ0̵͚̃̓͛̂̕C̵̰͍͈̈́͒̌+̷̮̍̒̃̂J̶̦̮̼̜̘̯̓̌̇̌̿̕*̵͚͚̬͆͜Ṡ̶͈̇͑̅͝I?̶̣̃̾́̽"
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Everyone tilted their heads as they couldn't comprehend the words of this mysterious existence.
The entity seemed to realize that something was wrong, so he pointed his finger toward the masses as a violet aura glowed from his hand.
Several thin beams of light spread around his fingertip and rushed to the foreheads of each person.
Everyone held their heads in pain while others were forced to the ground, but it miraculously disappeared in the next second with shock filling their expressions.
All of them felt dizzy from the sudden influx of information.
'These are complete knowledge of a language? It's so profoundly constructed to the point of being magical.'
The humans looked at the being responsible for this mysterious phenomenon.
An ethereal voice flowed out from the mystical being's mouth.
"Well then, humans, can you understand me now? What I gave you all just now was the full assimilation of the divine language commonly used in our Cosmos. Consider it as a gift."
With a glamorous smile on his face, the otherworldly creature examined the crowd.
Lucas raised his arm and asked a question with words that were unknown to any human just a moment ago.
"Excuse me, but what exactly is happening?"
He was already using the knowledge given to him just a while ago.
"Exactly. Why are we here? Can you give us an explanation?" a middle-aged Chinese man who has also adapted fast voiced out while a kid was clenching his hands.
<Dad. I'm scared… where's mommy?>
<It's okay, my dear. Mommy will come here later.>
Then, a caucasian woman who seemed to be in her late twenties suddenly yelled against the angelic creature.
"Hey! How can I get out of here?! I have an interview tomorrow. You better let me out or else I'll call the cops!"
'Oh fuck! I can't believe someone can be this stupid.' Lucas facepalmed as he sighed in his mind.
All of a sudden, an invisible air of authority bloomed from the existence above with the woman quickly shutting her mouth as silence pervaded the surroundings.
It felt like death itself was right beside them and if they make a wrong move, they would meet their ancestors right away.
'What just happened?' Lucas was confused as he was trembling from the force like the other humans in the white expansive room.
"I am Al'Zaroth, the guide of the planetary system N1D74L or what you beings refer to as 'Earth'. Starting from the cosmic calendar 13T:999B:000M, all of the sentient intelligent beings of our universe will be given a chance to participate in challenges held out by the cycle."
"Without further ado, I shall now proceed with the process."
A familiar blinding light surrounded the humans once more as all of them were teleported to places unknown.
Lucas opened his eyes as he looked around along with the previous people.
'A fountain? What a massive space and we seem to be in a forest. Also, there's something out there.'
He gazed far toward the trees and there seemed to be an ominous presence in that direction.
While he was thinking such thoughts, the guide appeared once more above the fountain.
"This is where your group will take the first challenge."
Then he made a grasping motion in the air.
Without prior notice, a green creature with a horn above its forehead came out of nowhere as it was currently getting strangled by his hand.
"Kyaaa!"
"What is that thing?"
The humans panicked once again.
"This is a 'Greenhorn'. An existence native around these lands. It will never hesitate to kill other living beings due to its aggressive nature. And if you kill it."
The angel-like being crushed the throat of the abomination as it finally stopped thrashing about then something rose above its dead body.
There was now a small-sized violet ring the size of a person's wrist floating around its abdomen.
"A 'Loop' will appear. Oh, how lucky. A Loop of Mana came out."
"Loops can enhance a person's ability like strength, dexterity, or constitution depending on each type. While this type can grant an individual the capability to sense mana as well as a small amount of it. Anyways, who wants it?"
"..."
Most were confused as they didn't understand what the man was talking about, but Lucas had a general idea about it.
While the others were hesitating, he raised his hand.
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"Human, you again? Very well. Your determination will be rewarded. Take this and bring it up to your wrist while thinking to absorb it."
The small circular thing flew towards Lucas as he took it and brought it against his wrist.
'Absorb' he thought in his mind.
Then, the 'Loop' magically disappeared as it got absorbed inside him. A colourless loop was now on his wrist like a bracelet.
Lucas blinked his eyes multiple times as he felt completely different from before.
He saw several small violet particles floating all around the air.
"Now that you have absorbed it, touch the 'Loop' on your arm and think in your head 'Status'."
Lucas followed the being's words and he focused.
'Status'
An ancient paper appeared right before him with words from the divine language written on it.
[Lucas Miller]
[Status]
Strength: 13
Dexterity: 11
Mana: 10
[Skills]
(0/9)
[Trait]
Cyclic Adventurer:
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M̴̮͙̝̼̹͂̔̌͛&̷̡̤̖͇́̓̚͜͝#̴̟̪̗̞͂̑͛̐̊P̷͍̥̽́Q̶̡͉̻͍̺͋̈́͐͜9̷̱͗̀̊́̀͘$̵̛̛͍̎͂̇͝?̶̹͍̠̰̟̇͑L̴̛͉̪͒̈́͝Ẃ̶̡̢͎͇̠̽̋͘/̶͉̙̰̌̈̑͑1̷̬̫̍͑̐͑̕3̷͕̱̩̂̋Ż̴̛̥̭̯͉͓̏A̷̪̝̟̒̌̾͝%̵̡̺̓
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"..."
'My status looks pretty normal, but what is that thing?'
He decided to ask the guide about it.
"Uhm... is it normal for my trait to be like this?"
The man then caught the paper and inspected it.
"There is nothing wrong with your trait. Everyone normally starts with nothing except 'Strength' and 'Dexterity' for humans."
Lucas nodded his head as the paper flew back to him.
'Weird. Does he not see that thing?'
"Wait, what about us?! Do we get nothing? That's unfair!" a Korean guy shouted at the guide as he pointed toward the others.
"Yeah! Shouldn't we get something too?!" the woman from before voiced out as well.
Suddenly, a dangerous aura spread out from Al'Zaroth and he held out his palm while Lucas saw droves of violet particles gathering around it.
'Oh shit. They're fucked' he inwardly thought.
Two beams of light flew out in a line while they went in the direction of the two humans.
They couldn't even react as their heads exploded like a balloon popping with blood splattering all over the ground.
"..."
"Kyaaa!"
"What the hell!"
The humans were filled with terror.
<Daddy, what just happened?>
<Nothing happened, dear. Close your eyes and mommy will be here soon.>
The Chinese man covered his daughter's eyes.
Lucas was throwing up from the grotesque scene he just witnessed while others were doing the same.
"Tsk. This is why I don't like mortals with haughty attitudes. Anyways, your mission for the first challenge is to survive for one day and come back to this fountain. Does anyone have any questions?"
An Indian person raised his hand.
"Where are the other humans? Also, what about our home? Can we go back?"
He gulped, still scared of the disaster a moment ago.
"..."
The others fell into silence as everyone thought about their life on Earth.
"My clones would be holding the same process for the other humans of the planetary system N1D74L. As for your home, you will learn later if you survive."
"Remember, survive for 24 hours and come to this fountain. If anyone is still alive that didn't get here, they would be disqualified."
A black guy asked a question and stared at the guide.
"What happens if we're disqualified?"
Al'Zaroth smiled at the man as he simply said.
"You will find out when you become one."
"Good luck and see you all in the next 24 hours."
With those words, a sacred light surrounded the body of the guide and then he vanished without a trace.
Around this time, Lucas finally barely recovered from the previous traumatic scene.
He looked around the forest as he recalled the words of the otherworldly being.
'A chance to participate in the challenges, huh?'