"Later, Griffin…"See you, Fritz."I walk out of Fritz's house and onto the street.
Some people look at me funny.
Though that's pretty reasonable after I caused a fuss in the middle of the street.
What am I supposed to do now?
Should I just go fight some monsters…?
No… I still haven't recovered.
But…
It wouldn't be that bad…
Out of nowhere, I hear a man calling out to the crowd.
"Any hunter who wants to join our guild, sign here!"
The man points to a large scroll hung up on the wall of the building behind him.
A guild?
I've heard of those before from my… family…
Guilds are made up of hunters who go on missions into dungeons together and share the treasure they find.
Usually, they are pretty docile towards civilians.
But some guilds… are made up of rogue hunters.
And I've already seen one of those.
But maybe this guild will help me level up and get stronger.
"I'd like to join."
The man looks at me with a smile.
"Great! If you could sign the papers over—"
The man's polite expression changed into one of amusement.
"You're level three?"
My cheeks flush in embarrassment.
"Uh… yeah…"
The man bursts out into laughter.
"You're level three, and you think you can join our guild? You can't even call yourself a hunter! Not even a weak civilian! Hahahahahaha!"
The crowd whispers and snickers.
I look around and see two girls my age giggling at me.
This really sucks.
I run out of the crowd down the street.
I hold back tears of humiliation.
I'm such a baby.
Don't cry.
I can't cry.
I'm 21!
I open the door to my house and close it behind me, running up the stairs and curling up in a ball in the corner.
I'm so dramatic.
What am I doing?
I'm hiding in the corner like a little girl!
I can't.
It's all been too much.
I wish I were back in bed.
Dillon was wrong.
I'm not going to change anything.
I'm a useless, weak piece of trash that can't do anything.
I almost died trying to defend myself from a level two monster.
How am I going to get through this?
How does anyone level up so fast?
Is it their parents helping them as kids?
Is it money?
Time?
Health?
Education?
Because I don't have any of those.
This world is kind only to people who are born with an advantage…
but…
No…
That's not true.
I don't know anything about the world.
My knowledge of the reality I live in is constantly changing.
I just want ground to stand on.
I want a foundation.
Core beliefs.
I want to know who I am.
What is my purpose?
How can I trust Dillon?
All he did was be nice to me…
So I'm back at square one.
I'm back at the first question I ever had….
What is my purpose?