Chapter 1
"Alex, buddy, we don't think you suit our group anymore." It was a burly young man named James who said this while looking at Alex with eyes full of superiority.
"What do you mean? Didn't you say last night that you needed me for another dungeon raid?" Alex, who was confused at this sudden revealation, asked. Being part of this group had come with many disadvantages, such as earning less money and a smaller share of the loot; however, at the same time, this was the only group willing to take someone like him.
"That's right, I did say that, but Aleena found another healer yesterday, and he happens to be D-rank, unlike you." James said, flashing a mocking smile.
Alex, having been part of this group for the last three years, had been stuck at the same rank of F-rank healer while everyone else grew stronger. This made him acutely aware of his own future. However, he felt slightly confident since the group he was currently part of was filled with his friends, so he didn't think he would be thrown out.
But looking at the current situation, Alex realized that he was quite wrong about human behavior. He should have realized that these guys were just pretending to be his friends until he was no longer useful to them.
'I still have to try. Without being part of any adventurer group, I will have to return to the village.' Alex hated one thing above all: returning to the village, where lonesome memories awaited to engulf him. So he looked at James and said, "Come on, James, you don't have to joke like that. I know I'm an F-rank healer, but I am still useful to the group, and my loot share is quite small. Isn't that beneficial for all of you?"
Since Alex always took the smallest share, the rest of them had a little extra loot remaining to distribute among themselves.
"Well, that's true to a certain extent." James nodded, not bothering to hide his cunningness, and added, "But the dungeon we're trying to raid this time is a D-rank dungeon, and with your capabilities, we fear casualties. With your meager amount of mana, you can only heal one or two people before needing ten or so minutes to cast another heal."
"But... I can accept an even smaller share..." Alex was ready to accept even smaller share of the loot, as long as he was allowed to be part of the group. But James raised his hand, stopping him midway, and said, "That won't happen, man. Moreover, have some self-respect. Since I'm asking you to leave the group politely, you should just go. Why are you making this hard for me?"
Seeing James burst out, Alex looked down. Though he still wanted to try and reason with him, in the end, he just nodded his head and got up from his seat to walk out of the room. Since the guy was talking about self-respect, there was nothing left to say; he would only make a fool of himself if he continued to beg to stay in the group.
---
Walking out of the tavern, Alex didn't know what to do anymore. With his F-rank stats, he couldn't even raid the F-rank dungeon alone, which was known to be the easiest dungeon for mankind.
'Why? Why is my luck so terrible while everyone else has it easy?' Alex couldn't help but curse as he looked at the sky. His former group members were all strong and enjoying lavish lives, and here he was, walking down the road like a poor bum who had lost everything in a stupid bet.
Ding...
[Congratulations to the host for awakening the daily sign-in system.]
'Huh? What was that noise?' Alex looked around, confused. As he couldn't find anyone or anything, he felt like he was hearing things, especially now that he had to return to the village and his lonesome life.
But just as he was thinking that, all of a sudden, a translucent screen appeared in front of him.
[Host, say "Sign-in" to receive your daily reward.]
"What's this? Sign-in? Am I hallucinating now?" Alex rubbed his eyelids, trying to confirm whether he was seeing things or if something real had appeared before him.
[Ding... Congratulations, host! You have received 100,000 coins as your daily reward. Please check system storage to confirm the reward.]
Another notification buzzed, and the words on the translucent screen changed without warning.
"One hundred thousand coins? Is this for real?" Alex, reading the number of coins, felt like he was losing consciousness. This amount of money wasn't something he could earn even if he worked hard for decades. Yet now, this strange thing was saying he had received that astronomical sum and could check it in something called "System Storage."
Looking at everything happening all of a sudden, Alex didn't know whether it was wise to believe it or not. But at the same time, since it was all about money—which he didn't have much of—he decided to find a safe place to check this out.
---
Sitting under the shade of a tree and leaning against the thick trunk, Alex followed the instructions given by the translucent screen and murmured, "Status."
Name: Alex Bluestar
Age: 19
Adventurer Rank: F
Class: Healer
"This? All of this is correct, but how did this thing know all of this?" Alex was bewildered. Somewhere in his heart, he still felt that all of this was just a hallucination. But seeing how this thing was displaying his information accurately, he thought that maybe even a small part of it was true. If that was the case, his life could really turn around, and moreover, he wouldn't have to return to the village.
"Anyway, where's that system storage?" Alex studied the translucent screen for a moment to locate the system storage. Just a few moments later, he found an icon that resembled a bag. Without wasting any time, Alex hurriedly clicked on it.