Three days.
I have been walking for three days since I left the dirt paths of my village behind. My goal is the Great Kingdom City, the heart of the capital where the King resides. For a nobleman on a horse or a merchant in a carriage, the journey is a week of comfortable travel. For me—traveling on foot with nothing but a burlap sack and my mother's prayers—it will take a month.
I spent those first few days gathering. My eyes were constantly scanning the fields, picking up strange woods, resins, and fibers. Every scrap was a potential material for my craft. By night, I took shelter under the heavy canopy of the forests that lined the road.
Most travelers avoid these woods. They fear the shadows, the monsters, and the lack of a clear path. But I have no money for a carriage, and horses are a luxury for heroes. So, I walked. I relied on the books I had devoured back in the village—studying plants and poisons until I could instantly tell what was edible and what would kill me.
On the fifth night, I was huddled in the corner of a thicket, trying to jot down mask designs in my sketchbook. Suddenly, my body shivered. My skin crawled. A presence was watching me.
I looked left, then right, peering into the dark. Suddenly, something small bounced out from the brush. It was fast, a translucent blur that slammed into a nearby tree with a wet thud.
A Slime.
In this world, monsters are tangible threats with cores inside their bodies. When defeated, those cores drop—valuable items that can be sold or used to craft powerful weapons. To a Knight, an F-Rank Slime is a nuisance. To me, a man with zero fighting experience in two lifetimes, it was a death sentence.
The creature didn't dissolve. Instead, it lunged for my bag, beginning to melt and consume my precious carving materials. "Hey! Get away from that!" I yelled, panic rising.
I turned to run, but the thing kept jumping, closing the gap with terrifying speed. My heart hammered against my ribs. As it leaped at my face, my hand brushed against a heavy fallen branch. I didn't think. I just closed my eyes and swung with everything I had.
CRACK.
The stick connected, sending the Slime flying into a trunk. It wobbled, trying to reform. I didn't give it the chance. I scrambled over and smashed the stick down again and again until the jelly-like mass finally went still and dissipated.
"Thank God," I wheezed, collapsing to my knees. "I survived."
Suddenly, a cold, clear voice echoed in my mind.
[Level Up: You have reached Level 1.]
I jumped, looking around wildly. "Who said that?"
In front of my eyes, a tiny, glowing window manifested in the air.
[Reward Acquired: 1x Mask Plate (Hollow Shell)]
[Skill Available: Invoke]
A physical object appeared in my lap—a "Mask Plate." It was a hollow, undecorated shell, lifeless and blank. I stared at the "Invoke" command in the window. Curious, I touched it.
A waterfall of information flooded my vision. Thousands of skills appeared—Mage spells, weapon techniques, legendary abilities—but all of them were grayed out and locked. All except one.
[Skill: Eyesight (Rank F) — Unlocked]
[Description: Enhanced vision and distance perception.]
Would you like to infuse the Mask Plate with 'Eyesight'?
"Invoke," I whispered.
The hollow shell rose into the air, swirling with a faint blue light. The "Eyesight" icon in my skill window vanished, consumed by the mask.
[Acquisition Successful: You have created the 'Mask of the Far-Eye'.]
I held the finished piece in my hands. It was simpler than I expected, but it felt... right. I pulled it over my face. "Skill Activate: Eyesight."
The forest didn't just get clearer—it expanded. I saw a monster prowling a half-mile away as if it were standing right in front of me. I gasped and ripped the mask off. Everything went back to normal—just trees and shadows. I put it back on. The distant monster returned.
"So this is it," I muttered, a grin spreading across my face. "My true ability."
I pulled up my status window one last time. In this world, you gain a Rank only after a "Goddess Trial"—usually a feat of strength like defeating a beast. My desperate struggle with the slime had been my trial.
Ranks usually go from F to S. A Swordman with an A-Rank is a legend. I looked at the bottom of my screen and felt my blood turn to ice.
[Name: Yugi]
[Class: Mask Maker]
[Rank: SSS]
SSS. A rank that had never been spoken of in the history of the five nations. The Kingdom wanted heroes and mages to fight their wars, but they had discarded something far more dangerous.
I stood up, adjusting my new mask. The road to the capital was still long, but for the first time, I wasn't just walking. I was hunting.