Hidden title and summoning
'Emperial ID 17701XXXXXX, Log in'
The cold and comfortable feeling that Gilbert could feel from being inside the special cabin suddenly goes away as he felt his consciousness arrive in a foreign space.
He was floating on what seemed an endless space.
Looking around, it was like seeing the azure sky in every direction.
As he was doing so, words then appeared in front of Gilbert, as he heard an androgynous voice greeting him.
[Greetings Otherworlder!]
[Please decide your in-game name...]
A panel with a blank space then appeared, asking for his in-game name.
No need to dwell on it too much, he just wants a name to immerse himself with the game.
As a few buttons appeared in front of Gilbert, he had then started to enter the name he had decided letter by letter.
"Gilbert Cross"
'Confirm'
[Welcome! Gilbert Cross!]
After being welcomed, bright flash then appeared as Gilbert was then brought into another space.
A wide luxurious golden hallway.
Gilbert could even see paintings depicting a beautiful woman with golden hair in different ways giving the place a sacred feeling.
[Quest "Summoning a partner" have been initiated]
[Arrive and kneel in front of the painting at the end of the hallway]
"Partner?"
Gilbert shifted his eyes at the end of the hallway and could see a large naked painting of the same woman from the paintings.
That must be the painting the quest is talking about.
Gilbert stepped into the red carpet, as he started walking into the naked painting's direction.
There was no need to rush.
As Gilbert walks, he was admiring the paintings on the sides.
The woman in the painting had a universal beauty that anyone would find beautiful.
Graceful, holy, and motherly.
Just like a Goddess.
Who is this woman?
She must be an important part of the game's plot, Gilbert thought.
Gilbert took note of her every detail, committing it to his memory.
Admiring the paintings, he finds a painting that was a little bit off in position.
It was very subtle and he wouldn't have noticed it if weren't to the fact that he was examining every painting's detail.
If it were in real life, then such mistakes would be common, but this is a game.
There could be a hidden reason for it.
Thinking so, Gilbert then moves towards the painting and then adjusted its position.
However, there were no changes.
It wasn't hiding anything special.
Still, it was too early to arrive at a conclusion.
Gilbert looked at the remaining paintings in front.
There could be other off-positioned paintings that needed to be adjusted.
Thinking so, Gilbert's movements slow down.
As he continued to examine each painting's position while admiring the woman's beauty, he found out that he was right.
He found 3 more paintings needed to be adjusted.
After adjusting their positions, Gilbert finally arrived at the end of the hallway.
He was looking at the painting on the right side.
The painting in front of him should be the last one.
It was a painting of the beautiful woman wearing a black dress as she danced under the moonlight.
With a slight movement, he had then adjusted its position.
[Congratulations! Hidden Title received!]
["Admirer" Title]
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Passive Effect:
+ 10 Luck
+ 10% Luck
+ 10 Charm
+ 10% Charm
Active Effect:
Daily Grace: Received a random food type item in the inventory.
(Limit: Once per Day)
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It was a jackpot.
A hidden title.
Gilbert didn't have anything to compare it to so he didn't really know how valuable it is but the percentage bonus in a stat is always a good thing.
He was only betting on it but it seems that he was right on the money this time.
Thinking about hidden titles, there might be other titles that could be achieved in this place too.
For example, what if he removed all the paintings and throw them everywhere?
He could be rewarded a title.
Though chances are, he might anger the woman on the painting and received a punishment.
And the last thing he wanted is receiving a permanent debuff.
Gilbert examined the active effect of the title.
While reading the game manual, he had read about the hunger system.
It wasn't like the common hunger system found on other hardcore games where your HP is slowly going down due to hunger.
The hunger system on this game works just like real life.
You get hungry when you get hungry.
And you would suffer the same as you would in real life.
Because of the Daily Grace from the title, it seems that it would be less of a problem to him.
He would receive a random food in the inventory.
Give it enough time, and he would probably even receive rare types in the inventory.
Now, thinking about inventory.
It seems that it wasn't activated yet.
If it was, Gilbert thought that some people would probably try to put these paintings in the inventory.
Gilbert shifted his sight on the large painting in front.
It was the naked painting of the woman.
Gilbert committed every detail of her body in his memory.
From the size of her chest and the shape of her hips up to the whiteness of her skin.
He could also see a tiny star birthmark in between her breasts.
Gilbert then knelt on one knee as he thought of his quest.
[Close your eyes...]
Gilbert could hear a woman's gentle voice speaking on his mind.
Closing his eyes, he heard the voice again.
[Call forth from the depths of your soul...]
[And recite the words...]
["Summon"]
"...Summon..."
Whoosh!!!
A blast of wind then exploded in front of Gilbert as he could feel something arrive in front of him.
[Summoning Successful!]
["Summoning a Partner" Quest Completed!]
[Quest Reward: "Newbie" Title]
[Congratulations! Title received!]
["Newbie" Title]
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Passive Effect:
Strength + 1:
Agility + 1:
Vitality + 1:
Mana + 1:
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Gilbert had completed the quest and received a title, but his mind wasn't on it.
There is something more important.
He could feel someone's presence in front.
He opened his eyes to take a look.
And then, he saw.
In front of him was a floating woman.
Long black hair, and a long black dress wriggling like smoke.
Otherworldly white skin, and dark red eyes that seem to look into the depths of his soul.
A beautiful woman that looked like an evil villain.
The ones who always got their asses kicked by the female heroines.
"..."
It could be his imagination, but for a second, Gilbert thought that he saw her temples twitch for a second.
Now, how should he greet her?
Gilbert thought of himself and realized that he was still kneeling, and talking to someone while doing so seemed impolite. So, he had then stood up and met the sight of the woman again.
Now, it should be okay to start a conversation.
"What are you?" Gilbert asked directly.
From the details of the quest, she would have to be the partner he had summoned but this woman is somewhat giving him a strange vibe.
He thought he would receive something similar to a pet in games, but it was like he was facing a real person.
"..."
"..."
After a bit of silence, the woman then opened her mouth and spoke in a somewhat dignified tone.
"I, am your partner, a soul weapon..."
partner, soul weapon. What is a soul weapon?
Gilbert had read the term soul weapon in the game manual but it wasn't explained there in detail.
It was just written there that in order to break the level limits, you must rank up your soul weapon first.
"Soul weapons are the weapons born from the depths of someone's soul..."
Souls... born from someone's soul...
Hearing such words, Gilbert then commented.
"So that means, I am your father?"
"..."
"..."