As sunlight poured down, Gabriel's eyelids twitched. He felt a slight heaviness in his eyelids as though they had been closed for ages.
However, the intensity of the sun—which felt like punishment from a divine existence upon sinners—forced him to slowly open his eyes.
When he did, he found the scene perplexing.
What greeted him was a giant metropolis with towering buildings and automobiles, mostly taxis, moving to and fro, with loud horns constantly blaring.
Gabriel's eyes flickered with confusion. Then he became even more confused when he caught sight of something crucial.
Something he had not noticed before.
The clothes... Gabriel's eyes glinted.
A major chunk of the mundane people here were all dressed in well-crafted armor and carried weapons, as if expecting a fight to occur at any moment.
Then he looked at himself.
His clothes were awful! They were torn all over—even his sleek sneakers looked like something that had been picked from a trash can.
...which wasn't really wrong.
But most importantly—
"I reek of cat piss." Gabriel's nose wrinkled in displeasure. His expression returned to neutral, however, as he pondered the strange circumstances.
"Why can't I remember anythin—"
Before he could finish the line of thought, a sharp pain assaulted Gabriel as a rush of information flooded his mind.
It was devastating, and Gabriel felt like a cruel hammer was repeatedly smashing into his head.
His expression, however, never faltered.
One thing Gabriel was used to was pain!
When the pain eventually subsided, Gabriel stood up from the thick blanket he had been laying on, his sharp red eyes scanning his surroundings once again.
"So… she actually did it?" he mumbled to himself, his voice carrying a hint of happiness and disbelief.
A part of him—despite the interaction with the giantess feeling realistic—thought it had merely been his wishful imagination.
He even subconsciously scolded himself countless times in his head for being so hopeful.
It took a while for Gabriel to rein in his emotions. He didn't know what trick that giantess had used, but he swore to make everything right this time around.
"But instead of sending me back to Earth, she decided to send me into the game before it launched," Gabriel noted, his eyes narrowing as he added in an amused voice,
"And as a beggar."
He understood this too well.
"It seems she wants me to start from the very bottom."
Gabriel didn't complain. Being sent back here was already a great favor. In fact, this was actually good—it would allow him to prepare himself before the invasion of the players. Now, all he needed to do was figure out where he was.
From the modern appearance of the city, Gabriel deduced that he had spawned in the human Kingdom of Valeria, in the Royal Capital—Stellar City.
To be specific, he was currently in the Ares District, which was where the Adventurer Guild was located. There were ten districts in the Royal Capital, all named after the zodiac signs.
Unlike other games, Realm of Ascension had a sleek modern design with a blend of advanced and medivial technology. This was one of its selling points, as most players were tired of constantly riding horses and living in houses with no proper bathrooms or electricity.
"That said, I need to clean myself up."
Gabriel reeked so badly that he wondered how strong-willed—and lonely—the flies were to even perch on him.
With measured steps, he approached a water fountain with a giant bear standing in an imposing manner, claws outstretched, in the middle. He stared at his reflection in the crystal-clear water.
What stared back at him was a 6'3" tall crimson-haired youth with natural black undertones, unkempt beard, and a pair of striking, deep-set electric blue hunter eyes that were mesmerizing—yet terrifying at the same time.
This... this was his exact appearance in his past life!
However, this version of himself was haggard in comparison, but Gabriel knew it was because of his unkempt exterior and skinny build.
Working out would help too, but the best way to improve his appearance right now was to level up.
Speaking of leveling—
Gabriel called out: "Status."
[STATUS WINDOW]
Name: Gabriel Reyes
Level: 0
Class: Classless
Title: None
HP: 100/100
MP: 50
Exp: 1.00%
BM: 90%
Talent: God-Tier Extraction Talent!
[STATS]
Strength: 5
Agility: 10
Perception: 10
Intelligence: 5
[SKILLS]
(None)
[INVENTORY]
(None)
...
After staring at his pitiful self for a full minute, Gabriel sighed and mumbled to himself, "Clean up first… then I should find a hotel."
He dipped his hand into his pocket but didn't find a single dollar bill.
"Talk about the true definition of starting from scratch." He smiled bitterly. But then his eyes darted to the side, where he had been laying before, and found a couple of dollar bills inside a bowl.
Gabriel's eyes lit up like stars, and he hurried back to the bowl, picking up the money. However, while retrieving what he assumed to be his earnings from begging, he caught sight of a little girl looking at him from the side.
She seemed to be six or seven years old, shivering. A dirty blanket was all she had to cover herself.
Gabriel sighed when he saw this. If it were his past life, he would have ignored the girl. However, after learning that every one of these people was real—just like him—he now viewed them differently.
Gabriel proceeded to place two dollar bills into the little girl's bowl. Then, with a subtle pat on her head, he left without saying anything.
The little girl watched him go with wide eyes. Her mouth opened and closed as if trying to find the right words to say, but nothing came out. In the end, two lines of tears rolled down her cheeks.
"Hmm, to get a hotel to clean up, I'll probably need ten dollars… but I only have ten dollars with me."
Gabriel quickly did the math in his head and realized that registering at the Adventurer Guild would cost five dollars. Even the cheapest hotel room—though it was only for an hour—cost about ten dollars and up.
Which left him with one choice: go to a hotel to clean up, then beg for money or do menial work before registering at the Adventurer Guild.
Or… he could just go straight to the Adventurer Guild, even though he reeked so badly.
Gabriel barely took five seconds to weigh both options before going with the latter.
"My bloodlust meter is full right now—who knows when it'll plummet?"
Some time later, Gabriel arrived at the Adventurer Guild.
However, just as he was about to enter through the doors, something happened.