Finding Objects

Ash woke up in the middle of the night. He had fallen asleep early after a long day of school and part-time work. The café where he worked was busier than usual today because of the weekend.

He got up, went to the toilet, and looked for his mom. At this time of night, his mom would be asleep. She got up early in the morning to prepare the catering for her clients.

Their life was simple after their father died shortly before Ash was born. His mom worked hard to support him and make sure he got a education. She sent him to school until he was in his second year of high school.

He was named Ashborn by his mother because she held his father's ashes when she gave birth to him.

"I knew it, mom will definitely sleep on the couch again," he murmured. His mother was asleep on the couch, with one arm outstretched to the floor and her mobile phone lying on the floor. His mother often played relaxing games to help unwind.

Ash looked at his mother's tired face, then pulled the blanket from her legs and covered her up to her shoulders. He felt a pang of sadness seeing her this way but also immense gratitude for her sacrifices.

He picked up her cell phone to place it on the table.

Ting.

Suddenly there was a notification sound and pop up on the cell phone. Ash glanced at the pop-up.

[EternalFate player successfully snatched the Mystic Pendant from FoodAddict player]

Food Addict was the name of his mother's catering business.

'Hmm...' Ash watched the pop-up for a while, then opened the screen lock. It turned out that his mother had not turned off her favorite game.

'The graphics of this game are pretty good,' he thought.

Ash observed how the game worked. It was a game about finding objects. Unlike other object-finding games, this one had other players who could take, steal, and even snatch objects from other players. The game could make players stronger or level up by the objects they found.

He clicked on her mom's inventory.

[Inventory:

* Phoenix Feathers: 6

* Diamonds: 49

* Jade: 12

* Healing Potion: 9

* Willow Branches: 89

* Pinnacle Relic: 1]

'Healing Potion? Why would healing potions be in an object quest game? Is this game also an MMORPG or RPG?'

Curiously, he tried clicking Quest from the System Bar. 

[Game Quests]

* Search for Magic Gloves in the Castle of Eldwein.

* Search for Wraith Curse in Elmire's Forest.

* Search for the Magic Key in Dragon's Valley.

'Hmm.'

Ash opened the map and easily found all the places mentioned in the Quest bar.

Then he directed his avatar towards Dragon's Valley first. He wanted to know what dragons looked like in this game.

He searched for the Magic Key and easily obtained it.

[You obtain a Magic Key from Dragon's Valley.]

[35 points added to your stats points.]

[Total points: 345.]

Ash was about to put the Magic Key in his mother's inventory when suddenly a dragon appeared from one of the caves in the valley and shot him with Dragon Breath.

[You are dead!]

The notification from the game made him furious.

"Arrkgh..." he croaked softly, not wanting to wake his mother. She only shifted slightly and remained asleep.

[Your Magic Key is now mixed with Dragon Breath and the Pinaccle Relic.]

[A hidden feature is now activated.]

Ash furrowed his brows. 'What is this hidden feature?'

[You will be transported into the game.]

[Countdown begins.]

'Huh? What does that mean?' Ash was astonished.

[Three.]

[Two.]

[One.]

Paatttt… 

Dazzling light suddenly filled the entire room. Ash closed his eyes reflexively.

After a while, the light disappeared. Ash opened his eyes and was surprised to find he was no longer sitting on the carpet in front of his sleeping mother.

He was sitting on a cold, stone floor in a castle.

***

Ash stood up and looked around him. The room he was in was quite spacious, with medieval decorations on the castle walls. Various weapons such as swords, spears, bows and arrows, maces, and others were arranged haphazardly near the castle walls. The castle smelled damp and musty.

Not far from where he stood, there were several dummies. Some of the dummies were already damaged as if they had been beaten or hit by sharp objects.

He looked up at the ceiling. The distance between the floor and the ceiling was very high. Large wooden beams stretch from one side of the wall to the other. He was unsure of where he was or how he had gotten there.

No one was there. The room was eerily silent.

'Did I just fall asleep?' he wondered. He stood up and wandered inside the room, his footsteps echoing off the stone floor.

Ting.

The notification beep sounded again after he took five steps. Ash looked at his hand and found no more cell phone.

'Huh? Where did that notification sound come from?' 

He frowned and suddenly, a screen appeared in front of him.

[Player: Ashborn Locke]

[Player Number: #23875]

[Level: #1]

[Stats:

⇒ Strength: 5

⇒ Endurance: 5

⇒ Agility: 5

⇒ Intelligence: 5

⇒ Magic: 5]

[Extra Point: 0]

[Skills:

⇒ Finder: 0

⇒ Hunter: 0

⇒ Robber: 0

⇒ Theft: 0

You can choose the Skill according to your preference].

[Are you going to choose a Skill now?]

[Y/N]

'What is this?' Ash was even more astonished after reading the screen.

Ting.

There was another notification sound from nowhere.

Another screen appeared in front of Ash.

[Game: Finding Objects]

[All players must find and obtain the objects on the Quest list.]

[All players must find and obtain objects for their needs according to the selected skills.]

[There are no rules governing how each player obtains their assigned objects. But it is recommended to use all the available skills.]

[There are no rules governing how long it takes each player to get objects.]

[Each player will level up if they have obtained every object in the quest].

[Each player will level up if they get a Special Object and/or Rare Object, with the number of levels added depending on the type of Special and/or Rare Object obtained.]

[Good Luck!]