On the continent of Arcana, two great nations exist.

First, the Avalon Empire, which boasts ten master-level knights and formidable military power.

Second, Arcadia, home to three magic towers that have produced seven archmages, and often called the homeland of all magicians.

These two nations maintain peace through cooperation, and many guilds operate out of their respective bases in various cities.

Among these guilds, one of the top 10 is the Frey Guild, headquartered in the commercial city of Talasa, located at the center of the continent.

This guild, composed of elite members, is small but each one maintains the status of a high-ranker, including the guild master.

However, today, the usually quiet atmosphere of the guild master’s office was disrupted by loud noises.

The source of the commotion? The high-ranking fighter, Sasha, pestering the guild master of Frey, Catlea, as she worked through some paperwork.

“Leader! We’ve got to recruit this one! She’s got potential!”
“Oh really? In what way?”
“A rabbit gave her a carrot!”
“And?”
“That’s it!”

Sasha replied cheerfully, brushing her flowing golden hair aside with a bright smile.

“Get out.”
“No, I’m serious! Look at this!”

A blue window appeared, and a video started playing.

In the video, a young girl with golden hair and blue eyes was surrounded by rabbits, who appeared to be doting on her.

And on top of that, they had gifted her a carrot.

Not just any carrot—one with an incredibly low drop rate, something you might only get after hunting 10,000 monsters.

A crucial ingredient for making potions used in boss raids.

But something felt odd.

Just looking at the girl made Catlea’s heart tighten with a sense of protectiveness, as if this girl was someone who needed to be sheltered.

Was it because of her young appearance?

Regardless, it seemed necessary to investigate.

“As the guild leader, I’ll give you a direct order. Investigate this girl thoroughly and report back. We’ll decide about recruiting her afterward.”
“You can count on me!”

With a loud crash, Sasha broke the door as she left, causing yet another headache for Catlea.

This month alone, they had repaired the door five times already.

That costs money—why does she always have to break it?

At that moment, space shimmered, and someone appeared.

It was the high-ranking mage, Hecate, who wore a large hat and a robe.

“Honestly, Leader, aren’t you too soft on Sasha?”
“There’s no helping it. The guild members are all family, right? Anyway, did you complete the quest?”
“Of course! I completed an S-rank quest and earned 10,000 reputation points!”

10,000 points? That’s equivalent to 10 potions.

That would increase intelligence by 10 points.

Given how difficult it is to level up due to the extreme difficulty, they’ve been raising their stats through reputation quests.

“I almost died from exhaustion! That S-rank quest was insane—monsters were piling up like mountains, and the rankers with me were ground to dust.”

After venting her frustrations for a while, Hecate left the office, saying she was off to get a drink.

Finally, peace returned.

The chatter was fine, but Catlea much preferred the usual quiet atmosphere.

Still, something was nagging at her.

Could this be a unique trait…? No, there’s no such trait in this world.

There was no point in worrying right now, so she cleared the image of the young girl from her mind and returned to the mountain of paperwork.

Most of the documents were invoices for repairs caused by guild members destroying various facilities.

Holding a shimmering orb in his hand, I—Yuna—shouted in delight.

“Jackpot!!”

This was definitely a big win, wasn’t it!?

Should I eat it right away!? Or save it for later!?

At that moment, the door to my room was suddenly smashed open, and Bell noona barged in.

“What’s going on!?”

Startled by the sudden intrusion, I couldn’t even speak. I just stared at her with wide eyes, and when she saw the orb I was holding, her eyes widened too.

“Is that... an orb!? Where did you get it!?”

Would she believe me if I said I got it from a random pull?

“I just found it by chance.”
“You weren’t planning on eating it, were you?”
“Huh? Should I not eat it?”

Though Bell noona didn’t say it, I could hear her thoughts.

‘How could you even think of eating that?’

Wait, isn’t it meant to be eaten…?

“The orb isn’t for humans to consume. It’s for your summon.”

“What would’ve happened if I’d eaten it?”

“It would’ve been like taking a really strong tonic.”

I decided I would save the orb for my summon once it hatched. For now, we went back to our unfinished conversation from yesterday.

Following Bell noona downstairs, I noticed that the inn was unusually quiet, without the usual bustling crowd.

After asking me to wait a moment, she went to the kitchen and returned with a simple breakfast.

As I ate, she continued the conversation.

“Well, if you don’t want to become a disciple, there is another way.”
“Another way?”
“But it comes with a condition.”

She handed me a ring.

[Ring of Sealing]
This ring prevents the use of mana but nullifies all magic.

Bell noona explained that the seal was ultimately a form of magic.

“If you wear this ring, it will nullify the mark placed on you by the Dragon King Ernia. However, you won’t be able to use magic, and as soon as you remove the ring, the mark will reactivate.”

She looked at me with sad eyes, but was there really a problem?

I don’t have any skills anyway.

Oh, wait, I do have that magic book! I’ll try it later.

“It’s fine. It can’t be helped.”
“I’m sorry… I’m really sorry…”

Suddenly, tears welled up in Bell noona’s eyes, and she grabbed my hand tightly.

She apologized for not being able to do more for me, her tears falling steadily.

Is Bell noona really an NPC…?

After comforting her for a while, I was eventually sent outside to “go have fun.”

As I walked outside, I decided to head to the hunting grounds to level up.

Just as I took out the magic book from my inventory and opened it, it vanished in a flash of light.

[You have used the Goblin’s Magic Book.]
Passive Skill: Empathy acquired.

[Empathy]
Deep empathy with your summoned creature enhances combat abilities.

It was my first skill, and it turned out to be something pretty interesting.

Can I even use this?

“Empathy!”

I shouted loudly, but nothing seemed to change.

Slightly embarrassed, I quickened my pace towards the hunting grounds.

I greeted some rabbits along the way, and even came across a slime, but they just glanced at me and kept going.

Weren’t these supposed to be aggressive monsters?

Passing by the slime, I continued walking until I saw a group of goblins in the distance.

I waved, and the goblins waved back.

But if I can’t hunt rabbits, slimes, or goblins, where am I supposed to hunt?

As I kept walking along the path, further away from the village, something caught my eye.

A monster with the head of a pig, the body of a man, and a large sword in one hand.

[Orc]

Normally, I would have leveled up by hunting goblins before challenging an orc, but I had no other choice.

As I approached the orc, it looked at me.

Not wanting to repeat my previous mistakes, I decided to talk to it.

“Do you have a family?”

“Young human! How dare you mention my family on our first meeting! I won’t forgive you!”

With that, the orc raised its massive sword and charged at me.

In a panic, I tried to block it with my staff, but my hands went weak, and I dropped it.

Just as I braced myself for the pain, I heard the clang of metal, followed by the sound of the sword being deflected.

When I opened my eyes, another orc had blocked the attack.

“You disgrace our orc tribe by raising your sword against a young human!”
“No! This young human insulted my family first!”

The orc who saved me looked into my terrified eyes and clenched its teeth.

“Lying to save your skin? Die for the honor of our tribe.”

With a swing of its sword, the orc split the other in two with a blue flash of light.

As the body vanished into light, only the orc and I remained, staring at each other.

“Young human, my name is Bada! What is yours?”
“M-my name is Yuna.”
“A fine name. Now return to the village. It’s dangerous beyond this point.”
“Thank you, Bada.”

Saved by an orc from being killed by another orc, I made my way back to the village.

But I couldn’t help but worry.

The orc I had just encountered was much stronger than me.

How am I supposed to level up now?

Then it hit me—my class is summoner.

I just have to wait for my summon to hatch.

To say I wasn’t excited would be a lie.

What kind of summon would I get?

As I made my way back to the village, I remembered something I had forgotten.

There was a task I needed to complete, despite my reluctance.

I still had to do some shopping and pay the bills.

If only this world were reality.

With that thought, the once light steps now felt like they weighed a ton.