The bustle inside the Adventurer's Guild was exactly as Theodore had imagined it, but with a sensory intensity that no screen could ever convey. The air was heavy with the scent of cheap ale, sweat, metal, and spiced food. Groups of men and women in dented armor laughed boisterously, while others, with more somber faces, reviewed the massive wooden notice board that dominated one of the side walls.
Theo took a second to take it all in. His brown eyes scanned the dark wooden beams and the long tables of the integrated tavern before fixing on his target: the reception desk.
As he approached, he encountered a woman he recognized immediately. It was Luna, the head receptionist. She wore her wavy blonde hair pulled back in a professional bun, highlighting her golden eyes and that expression of patient kindness that only someone who deals with reckless adventurers can develop. Her off-the-shoulder white blouse and the red ribbon at her neck accentuated a figure that, Theo had to admit, the anime failed to portray with total justice. In person, her beauty was more mature and tangible, possessing a presence that commanded respect despite her sweet demeanor.
"Hello! Welcome to the Adventurer's Guild" - Luna said, giving him a radiant smile that seemed to light up the wooden counter. - "I'm Luna. How can I help you today?"
Theo, activating his "sociable-for-convenience" mode, returned a calm smile.
"Pleasure to meet you, Luna. I'm Theodore Strange. I'd like to register as an adventurer."
Luna nodded enthusiastically, as if it were the news she had been waiting for all day.
"Excellent!" - she exclaimed, pulling out a form and preparing to give the routine explanation. - "You see, Theodore, being an adventurer in this world means working under contract with the guild. To start, everyone receives an adventurer card. This card is magical and records your stats, your level, and your skills. Every time you defeat a monster, you'll earn experience points; by accumulating enough, you'll level up and gain skill points that you can redeem to learn new techniques. However, you must be careful: if you lose your card, you lose your registration, and processing a new one costs money!"
Theo listened intently, analyzing every word. Although he remembered bits of the explanation from the anime, he listened closely; the seriousness with which Luna spoke of "skill points" reminded him that this was no longer fiction; it was his mechanical reality.
"Understood" - he said. - "What should I do now?"
Luna pointed to a strange machine with a blue orb and golden metal situated at one side of the counter. It had a slot for a card and a smooth surface to place a hand on.
"Just put your hand here. The machine will analyze your natural aptitudes and record your starting status on this blank card." -
Luna activated the mechanism, and immediately, small particles of blue light began to dance around Theo's hand. A thin, white beam of light started tracing words and numbers with surgical precision onto the surface of the card. Theo felt a slight tingling, but nothing painful. He was nervous. He knew his body wasn't that of an athlete, but he hoped the dimensional system had made some "complimentary" changes.
When the light faded, Luna took the card elegantly and examined it. For a brief second, her eyebrows rose and a shadow of disappointment crossed her golden eyes, though it vanished so quickly that Theo barely noticed it. As a professional, she had seen thousands of cards, many of them mediocre, but this young man's was... peculiarly unbalanced.
"Well, Theodore... let's see" - Luna began, reading aloud so he could hear. - "Your physical stats are a bit above average, nothing out of the ordinary. Your intelligence is quite high, which is very good for scholarly professions... but what is truly amazing is your Luck. It's extremely high!"
Theo let out a mental sigh. 'Almost an exact copy of Kazuma,' he thought. He wasn't surprised; he wasn't athletic in his previous life and, as the goddess mentioned, his luck was his only truly outstanding trait.
Around the reception, the silence had become noticeable. Several veteran adventurers nearby had been listening with blatant curiosity. Upon hearing the results, some murmurs and muffled laughs broke out.
"High Luck? What a waste" - muttered a warrior with a mug of ale in hand. - "That won't help you cut off a giant toad's head."
There were several similar comments among the adventurers, but Theo ignored them, though internally he promised himself that a day would come when they would all have to eat their words.
"Given your stats" - Luna continued with a maternal tone. - "I would suggest you consider becoming a merchant. Luck is vital in business, but for an adventurer... well, it doesn't usually directly affect combat or the use of magic. You could earn a lot of money safely."
Theo shook his head gently. He knew she was saying it for his own good, but he had goals that a shop counter could never fulfill.
"I appreciate the advice, Luna, but I think luck is an underrated factor" - Theo explained calmly. - "A lucky adventurer finds the best treasures, avoids traps, and sometimes survives lethal blows just because the enemy missed at the right moment. In a world where one mistake means death, I'd rather have fortune on my side."
Luna blinked, surprised by the young man's logic. After a few seconds, she gave him a much more genuine smile.
"That's an interesting way of looking at it. In that case, I wish you the best of luck on your travels, Theodore! Since you don't meet the strength requirements for a Warrior or the intelligence for a Mage, your starting class will simply be 'Adventurer.' It's the weakest class, but it allows you to learn any skill from other classes, albeit at a higher point cost."
Theo took his card. The official journey had begun.
[Two weeks later]
The afternoon sun fell over a spacious clearing on the outskirts of the city of Axel. Theo was drenched in sweat, his breathing ragged and his muscles burning. In front of him, his basic iron sword rested driven into the ground after the last set of lunges.
During these two weeks, Theo had not been idle. He knew his survival depended on a minimum physical ability, so he dedicated himself to training obsessively. Every morning, after a quick breakfast in his apartment, he went out to this secluded spot to practice.
"Attack, defend, dodge. Again" - he repeated to himself constantly.
He had noticed something curious: despite the intensity of his training, his muscles recovered with unusual speed. It wasn't instant magical healing, but what would take a normal human two days to recover from took him just a few hours of rest. He assumed it was a passive benefit of now having a "Class" and a flow of mana, though he still didn't know how to use the latter.
He had spent part of his 100,000 Eris on basic supplies (food, goods, etc.), but he realized that if he wanted to maintain his lifestyle and prepare for the system's missions, he needed to take a real quest at the guild before the third week ended.
As Theo sat on a rock to drink some water, enjoying the green landscape and the sound of the wind through the trees, a sensation of being watched put him on alert.
He turned slowly, his hand near the hilt of his sword. A few meters from him, under the shade of a large oak tree, stood a girl.
She was young, with short silver hair and a rebellious lock falling over her forehead. She had a small scar on her right cheek that, instead of marring her, gave her an air of experience and mischief. Her purple eyes sparkled with a sharp and playful intelligence. She was dressed lightly and practically, with a short green cloak and leather boots that screamed "agility."
Theo recognized her instantly, though seeing her in the flesh was striking. Her appearance was much more defined and attractive than he remembered from the anime; she emitted a vibrant energy, as if she were ready to jump into action at any moment.
The girl said nothing. She simply stood there, looking at him with curiosity, and upon noticing that he had spotted her, her lips curled into an enigmatic and friendly smile.
'Chris...' Theo thought, feeling a chill run down his spine. 'Or rather... Eris. What would the goddess of this world want with someone as ordinary as me?'
======
I'm using AI to translate this; if you find any errors in the translation, I would appreciate it if you could let me know so I can fix them.