Chapter 4: Blockade 2

"Ruben Kang."

Yoshino Aruven corrected. He may be using a fake name. But he needs to embrace the name and treat it as his own.

This was the only way for other people to believe this identity. He then explained,

"If you are not used to calling names with surnames first, you can just use the conventional way. Plus Ruben Kang sounded better."

"Can I ask what your class is then, Inspector?"

The older officer asked. He sounded as if he was sure of something. There was even a hint of mischieviousness in his eyes.

The class being asked here refers to the Main Classes available to players of [Roku Shiki Online].

The game centered on the development of six character parameters. And each one of these parameters corresponds to a Main Class which focuses on that certain aspect.

For example, a character that focused on the Strength parameter will be classed as Warrior. While a character that focused on the Agility parameter will be classed as Scout.

Of course as the development goes further, each Main Class can specialize on additional aspects.

The parameters they could develop in combination with their main focus would result into different kinds of game play.

This led to every player having character builds that was unique to their particular preference.

For example, a Warrior could add more Agility to his build. This could then lead to a Warrior that was both quick and strong.

Or the Warrior could rather go all-out and solely focus in Strength. Resulting to a build that could destroy any target in one punch.

The Warrior could also chose to mix other parameters instead. Whichever he may decide on, all builds were valid as long as properly developed.

And this mechanic carried over when the world transmigrated.

People had then began to realize that in order to survive they needed to fully immerse on this game mechanic.

Hence they discovered that the use of 'politically correct' terms gained the consent of the conservative masses the best.

Hence, the Agility-based character was renamed 'Scout'. Rather than the morbid sounding 'Assassin' along with other censoring terms.

Would it not be cooler to call oneself an Assassin?

Sure, the avid gamers and edgelords would love to call themselves as such. But how about the common folk and the laborers?

Would they be thrilled to call themselves as killers for hire every time they walked out of their houses?

Apparently not.

If the setting was purely about gaming then perhaps all would agree. However everyone had to live with this game mechanic every single day.

No one wanted to class themselves as Assassins for the rest of their lives.

This resulted to people favoring some classes over the other. And this was bad, because the new governing body needed a balanced distribution of classes in order to survive.

And thus, political correctness triumphed once again.

Nowadays asking for one's class was as casual as asking for one's name, age, gender, and blood type.

Yoshino pondered for while. In the end, he decided to tell the truth this time. He answered,

"I am a Mage."

The Mage class focuses on the Magic parameter. Magic in this sense is the politically correct equivalent of the term 'Intelligence'.

Because everyone seemed to be irked with the idea of having builds which were of pure Intelligence.

Investing on solely on Intelligence and yet one can still be susceptible to doing stupid things.

The older officer sneered. He seemed to have caught a fish by the mouth. He asked in a sarcastic tone,

"Oh? A Mage? Then please do tell. Why is a Basic Mage been deployed as an Inspector?"

"So what? If you have any problems ask my superiors."

Yoshino answered sternly. He did not let the mockery affect him at all. In fact, he was expecting it.

There was no need to come up with any excuse for being the one assigned. Or rather any excuse that could be said would only sound suspicious.

A real employee of the bureaucracy would never have access to such reasons. Sad to say, they just do what they were told and hope that it was already time to clock out.

Thankfully, the younger officer intervened.

"Sir, I'm also a Basic Mage and yet I'm also here guarding a blockade."

"That may be so. But you're already close to having a breakthrough."

The older officer looked at the younger one apologetically. But his gaze then turned sharp when he looked at the 'inspector'. He continued,

"This guy on the other hand is a poor excuse for a Basic-Tier."

His eyes were now full of disdain. The older officer then spat out,

"I can overlook him trying to look like a college student or what not. But he was not even able to resist my prying eyes!"

Yoshino panicked when he heard this. But he tried his best not to let it show on his face.

The accusations of the older officer were spot on though.

The 'inspector' had indeed made a mistake this time.

The Basic-tier here refers to the cultivation realm of an individual.

[Roku Shiki Online] had a cultivation system. As a player hone his skills and improve his parameters that player will be able to reach higher realms of development.

A breakthrough pertains to this act of ascending through the boundaries of each Tier.

The Basic-tier was actually the second lowest realm of development.

Only the Upstart-tier was lower. And this was only because the said Tier was assigned to juveniles who were yet to achieve their first breakthrough.

Or to people who had somehow failed to overcome the 'easiest' hurdle in the game.

In other words, a young man with Basic-tier cultivation was not someone who should be assigned for high positions in any office.

However what made this worse was the fact that someone else figured out Yoshino's current cultivation realm with ease.

This was where the minimal amount of preparation comes into play once again.

If arranged properly, the six skills equipped would create a synergy effect. This could then help that person resist the prying eyes of other existences.

This might not sound a big deal if other humans could identify your cultivation realm or not. You could get scorned or laughed at best.

However if the creatures inside a dungeon noticed this, then you are already marked for death.

Well there were also humans who might prey on other humans with lower cultivation. But let us talk about that some other time.

Anyway, how could someone who can be regarded as a 'weak' person be assigned as an inspector?

Yoshino Aruven gritted his teeth. Any excuse he might think of would just increase the suspicion instead.

He would rather place his bet on a certain possibility. And thus he challenged the older officer,

"Call my superiors."

"You bet I will."

"Now."

Yoshino demanded. The older might have answered readily. But the latter was not moving at all.

"…"

"…"

"…"

Yoshino and the older officer stared off at each other. Neither side was willing to back down.

If the officer did call the so-called superiors written on the document though, then it will be game over.

And then,

"Go ahead. If we do find any problems on your documents, we'll just hunt you down."

The older officer called the bluff.

Yoshino felt relieved. But he managed to not say anything. He simply walked forward.

He got over the blockade as quickly as possible. He never even tried to look back.

He was actually afraid that the officers might change their minds.

***

After walking for a couple of meters and a few turns in the alley, Yoshino arrived at his target destination.

At last, he had reached the entrance of the dungeon he was aiming for.

"Let's go!"

Yoshino clenched his fist and stepped inside.

At that time, no one would know, what this single step would mean to the world.