When tomorrow arrived, Del was anxious. The fear of the unknown was engulfing him. He had the odds of being banished, but it wasn’t that big in his mind. He still had some faith in his friends even after all that had happened to him.

They were taking votes in the throne room. Most of his friends didn’t have that much reaction to Del’s banishment from the group. After all, Del wasn’t exactly useful inside of that group. He would be a dead weight and everyone knew it. It was just a matter of time until someone had the idea to banish him.

“Your majesty, may I inquire something. Why would Del need to be banished?” Eric asked.

“I’m not banishing Del. Del doesn’t have a place inside of the heroes party. Del will be dead before he entered the front line. Let me tell you something, war is not a game young boy,” the king said.

“What do you mean?”

“Elbanian Kingdom will take good care of Del while you all defeat the demonic lord. We are not banishing him anywhere. We will put him out of the heroes party and we will give him a more comfortable place,” the king said.

“In that case, I also agree with you, your majesty. Del will be better off outside of the heroes party,” Eric said.

There was a larger murmur among the others student. Some agreed with the banishment since they knew that Del was below the average person of that world while the others didn’t want one of their friends to be separated from them.

“Damn, why Del should be out of the party? He should stay, right?”

“He will get himself killed, what do you think?”

“C’mon, it will be better for Del.”

Del couldn’t speak up. He knew the king was lying. If he were to be banished, he would be really thrown out of the palace and the heroes’ party. There was simply no way out of that situation. Del felt very angry. He wanted to punch the king and Eric right now, but he couldn’t.

If he punched the king, he would get killed. If he punched Eric, the others would surely vote to banish him. There was no way to run. Del couldn’t do anything. He was helpless. If he spoke up, Eric would cancel it out by saying that his voice meant nothing.

“Guys, listen, the king will keep Del’s safe while we fight the demonic lord to return to our world. I trust the king, why wouldn’t you guys?” Eric used his diplomatic ability.

Anna walked forward, “Eric, we are a team, we can’t do anything without Del.”

Eric smirked and sighed, “Look, Anna, I don’t care if he is your brother. But please, be realistic, in this current state, Del should get out of our party.”

“But…”

“Please, Anna, be realistic. You want your brother to be alive, right?” Eric pressured Anna.

“Yes, but this is not the way, Eric,” Anna said.

“Anna, please, trust the king…” Eric further pressured Anna.

“Fine…”

After that, the vote commenced. After some dispute between the students, the result of the vote was clear. More than half of the students voted for Del’s banishment. Anna looked dissatisfied, but there was nothing she could do.

Del felt betrayed that day. He swore that he would get back to Eric and give him a lesson.

‘Eric, I swear I’ll give you a lesson you’ll never forget.’

***

“Oh, I see. Well, I always forget that kind of story, you know? Anyway, If you can help me with the inn tomorrow, I’d give you free rent for three nights, what do you say?” Rina asked drunk Del.

Del wasn’t conscious any longer. He had passed out from the overconsumption of alcohol. Rina looked concerned, but it wasn’t like it was the first time Del passing out because of alcohol. Rina used to be an adventurer. She knew one of the spells to cure alcohol poisoning.

“[Detoxification]!” Rina cast a spell.

It wasn’t the first time Rina cast that spell on Del. Ever since Del became an adventurer and an inn worker, Rina always took care of Del no matter what happened. Rina was an old woman with one daughter.

Her daughter usually took care of the inn during the daytime. Del rarely interacted with her daughter. He always went to the adventurer guild during the daytime to get money to buy some food from Rina.

Meanwhile, Del was floating inside of empty space called his dream. He looked around and it was only darkness. He had been through the dark space more than once. The nothingness was rather calming and soothing for him although Del knew that Rina had cast a detoxification spell on him.

Suddenly, there was a screen in front of him.

[Establishing Connection With User…]

[Connection Established]

[Loading…]

[Modern Weapon Summoning System Calibrated]

“Oh, what the hell is this?” Del asked himself.

[I’m your personal information and data management assistant. Just call me PIDMA. I’m part of the Modern Weapon Summoning System.]

“Oh, you must be a part of my imagination, aren’t you?” Del asked the mysterious screen that appeared in front of him.

[Perhaps?]

“Anyway, who are you and what are you doing in my mind?” Del asked PIDMA.

[I’m here to guide you in your journey on this world. My purpose is to serve you in your journey.]

“What journey? Can you give me money or something?” Del asked.

[Money? I don’t think I can give you any currency that can be used in this world. However, I can give you guns or anything according to your level.]

“Level?” Del asked.

[Yes. My ability is based on your level. Displaying user’s status]

▬▬▬▬▬▬

[Del Moore] [Level: 2]

Strength: 7

Agility: 10

Vitality: 18

Aptitude: 12

Perception: 8

Skills: Language Comprehension | Marksmanship LVL.1 |

Magical Energy: 96/96

Health Point: 200/360

▬▬▬▬▬▬

“Well, what can you give for me now? Can you give me an M4 Carbine or something?” Del asked.

[Error. User’s Tech Level Is Not Adequate For ITEM: M4 CARBINE]

“Tech level? How does it work?” Del asked.

[Your tech level will raise depending on your level. Right now, your tech level is one. Tech level increases every time you level up ten times. For example, to advance to the next tech level, you need to become level ten.]

“Cool, what’s available on this tech level then?” Del asked.

▬▬▬▬▬▬

[Please select the menu below]

[Tech Level: 1][System Upgrade Unavailable]

[Vehicle] [Weapons] [Ammo] [Amenities] [Building] [Gear & Items]

▬▬▬▬▬▬

“Well, can you make me a kit?” Del asked.

[A kit? A kit for you? Well, you have to finish a quest for me first.]

“Quest? What kind of quest? I hope this is not some odd job or something,” Del commented.

He still felt suspicious about the system that appeared right when he blacked out because of alcohol. However, it was nice to have someone to talk to in the dark empty space of imagination. He didn’t trust the system, but he certainly liked PIDMA.

[Haha, Nah. This is just a job for improving yourself. You need to become fit. If you aren’t fit, you can’t combat those who prefer you to disappear. Anyway, let me get the quest for you, it should be easy.]

▬▬▬▬▬▬

[Basic Training 101]

Alright, since you are not even fit to become a soldier, you need to exercise a bit. This exercise is certainly not heavy for you who have tried Head Captain Lyner’s training. Anyway, good luck with the exercise.

Task:

[Do Push-Up] [20x]

[Do Sit-up] [20x]

[Run] [10 Miles]

Reward: [1x 1911 Pistol] [24x .45 ACP LVL.1] [3x 8-rounds magazine] [2x Sterile Gauze] [Strength +3] [Agility +3] [3x Medium Crackers Pack]

▬▬▬▬▬▬

“Is this just the way my brain told me to exercise? I think I need to lose some weight,” Del said to himself. He still doubted the system.

[I’m as real as you can think of. Just do the quest and I’ll give you the reward later]

“Still, PIDMA, what is your objective in helping me? Are you just a random part of my imagination that comes out of nowhere?” Del asked.

[Modern Weapon Summoning System activates when user levels up for the first time. Simply put, this is your special ability. Sadly, the king isn’t wise enough to wait until you level up for once]

“What is your end goal? I don’t think you want me to defeat the demon lord, do you?” Del asked PIDMA.

[My end goal? I have no end goal. My goal is to make sure that you stay alive. Maybe if you become a demon lord, it would be a bonus]

“C’mon, Pidma, stop joking,” Del said.

[Do you want me to give you a long-term quest to become the demon lord?]

“Hell no.”

[Very well then. I’ll see you tomorrow then. Hopefully, you’ll be prepared for tomorrow’s assignment.. Rina is a good woman, you should help her.]