NOVEL WEB Chapter 1 – False Hope?
This is a very cruel world we live in. People are defined more by the talent they were born with than by their hard work.
At the age of 10, everyone is granted a blessing, or a so-called ‘System’ which defines the rest of their lives.
These systems give everyone their roles in lives / class, which they must follow in order to survive and achieve what they are destined to. Skills are granted by their systems after completing their destined tasks / quests.
The system basically decides if the person is going to be a hero who saves the world, an adventurer who kills monsters to get stronger, or a member of the working class, such as a tailor or baker. Sure, someone can just ignore the system and go about their daily lives, but the skills rewarded by the system are way too tempting to be ignored. Imagine having a skill that allows you to learn a particular task without putting the time and effort into learning it.
These systems were granted upon humankind after facing defeat against the angels in a war that took place 300 years ago.
Upon defeating humans, the angels made it so that the natural order of power would remain stable by forcing people to not stray from their destiny via the use of systems.
This way, humans can’t gain too much power, as the system will start balancing by reducing the overall power level.
Tomorrow, I am going to be 10 years old. I was alone in this world for as long as I remember. My mother passed away very early on, leaving me to fend for myself. Even after becoming a homeless orphan and scraping dumpsters for food, I didn’t give up. I kept going in hopes of getting a good class and living a good life after gaining my system.
It wasn’t unheard of for people to rise from rags to riches after getting a good system. So I lived on, kept dreaming of the day when I would finally turn 10 and get out of this hellhole.
And tomorrow was the day. I was feeling a number of emotions as I chomped down the piece of bread that Amelia gave me. I tried to sleep through my (possibly) last night living in the dumpster.
I opened my eyes to an expected blue colored screen. I sat up as I tried to make sense of what was written on the blue screen. Even though I am a homeless child, I was taught to read by another homeless person who pitied me. The screen said,
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Name – Letica
Level – 1 (0/10 EXP)
Sex – Female
Age – 10
Class – Pleasure Slave
Talent – A
HP – 10/10
MP – 10/10
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Stats –
STR – 7
AGL – 9
INT – 8
DEX – 11
CHA – 10
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Skills –
Choose a Master
-You can select the master you want to serve.
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Uhm…WHAT!? What does being a pleasure slave even mean? I had no idea what my class was, but the talent was ‘A’ rated. It meant that I could be considered among the elites in my profession, so that must be a good thing, right?
I made my way out to the bakery and called out to Amelia. She works at the bakery and often gives me bread pieces to eat. She thought I was hungry, so she took out a piece of bread and passed it to me.
“Here girl, you must be hungry. Like I always say, don’t tell anyone, especially the manager, or he will cut my pay, got it?”
“I wasn’t here for the bread, but I will take it. Can I ask you something?”
“Sure, ask away”
“What does a slave mean?”
“A slave ,huh. It's a person who serves someone else. You know how a week ago, a person was trailing behind that nobleman?”
“Yes, I remember. He was carrying all the luggage alone while the nobleman just walked in peace”
“That’s a slave, he does everything that his master commands him to do. You must remember to not commit any crimes like stealing or killing, as you may be punished by being marked as a slave. Once a person is marked as a slave, they must follow every order of their master, or they will feel excruciating pain in their abdomen, where the mark generally is, but why are you asking all of a sudden?”
I was sweating behind my ears. No way, right? This can’t be happening. I am destined to be a slave!! Oh dear God, have you really forsaken me? As I was questioning my existence, I forgot about the person in front of me.
“oh... about that... nothing really. I just heard someone say slave, so I was curious”
“Is that so? Anyway, I gotta get back to my work, so see you later, kid”
“Yes, see you later. And thanks for the food”
I left the bakery, and went back to the dumpster.
‘Is this it? I just don’t deserve happiness, do I?’
‘Sigh, besides, what does pleasure mean? Does that mean I will be a slave, but it will be pleasurable?’
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Yes possibly
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‘What? The system talks? I’ve never heard of this before’
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Yes host, I can talk. This is a perk of ‘S’ grade talent.
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‘Wait, what is ‘S’ grade? My talent was ‘A’ grade, as far as I remembered’
I checked my status again and sure enough, it was ‘A’.
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As you know, host, ‘A’ is the highest grade that the system shows. But due to your high affinity towards your class and an unknown reason, you were deemed to be ‘S’ grade. So while on the surface you are ‘A’ grade, you are actually ‘S’ grade. Moreover, your class is unorthodox, so ‘Appraisal’ will not reveal your class.
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‘Is this a good thing?’
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Yes host!
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‘Call me Letica, host sounds weird’
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Noted
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I guess I could make this work. Still being a slave feels so weird, let’s see what the future holds.