Elsewhere.
In a pitch-black void, devoid of stars or moons.
"Mortal, I am Kafuni, the deity and supervisor of this world."
A man with short golden hair sat languidly on a stone chair, resting his chin on one hand as he looked down at Linda.
"Young man, become the Brave, defeat the Demon King, and purify all the evil shrouding this continent!"
"What?"
Linda had been quite excited at first, thinking his "cheat code" had finally arrived. But the moment he heard the words "Demon King," his expression collapsed.
It was common knowledge. *Secret Realm Continent* was a high-difficulty fantasy adventure game. The player's main quest was to clear the World Tree Secret Realm, obtain the Sword of the Brave, and defeat the final Demon King.
In the game, it was manageable. A Level 100 Demon King was nothing special. Grind for a few months, drop twenty thousand yuan on microtransactions, and beating him wasn't much of a problem. A professional player like Linda could even beat the game without spending a dime.
But in reality?
Level 100?
In White Dove City, the massive magical metropolis where Linda lived, with a population of over a million, you couldn't even find a single Level 40 inhabitant. Leia’s Snow Goose Adventurer Party, with an average level of 20, was already a famous squad in White Dove City. Currently, the strongest adventurer in humanity was not even Level 70.
Therefore, defeating a Level 100 Demon King was completely impossible!
Linda looked at the golden-haired man with earnest sincerity. "Defeating the Demon King—wouldn't that be better left to someone more capable? Someone like me, an ordinary person, just wants to buy a house and get married in peace. How about you just give me a large sum of gold and let me go?"
The golden-haired deity named Kafuni crossed his arms and shook his head with an arrogant air. "That won't do. According to the rules of the divine realm, anyone who enters must become the Brave; otherwise, you have to stay here forever."
"Isn't that just forcing people to become the Brave? If I become the Brave and don't do any real work, won't that make things difficult for you, too?" Linda asked, stunned.
"Do you think I want this? These rules were set by the big shots upstairs. Why else would I pick a man like you? Wouldn't it be much nicer to have a beautiful girl as the Brave?"
Kafuni stood up from the stone chair, his dignified and respectable aura vanishing instantly as he grew annoyed. "You ant-like mortal, don't you dare look down on a god! Becoming the Brave is non-negotiable! If I didn't have to meet my quota for saving the world to avoid punishment, why would I be wasting my breath on a mortal like you?"
"So... do you understand? Unless you are willing to crusade against the Demon King, I cannot let you leave!"
Linda felt a headache coming on. He had finally managed to get away from Leia and enjoy a life of freedom, only to be forced to become the Brave, crusade against a Demon King, and save the world?
He couldn't spend money to level up, and he couldn't use hacks. It would be one thing if he had a busty goddess to assist him, but instead, he was stuck with this guy who had the personality of a petty, ugly villain from a novel.
What kind of mess was this?
Linda thought for a long time, then sighed helplessly. "Fine, I'll be the Brave. What benefits can you give me?"
"Ahem, let me see..." Kafuni pulled a small booklet from his robes and read aloud: "According to the seventh edition of the *Gods' Salvation Student Handbook*, I can provide the Brave with three forms of assistance. First, grant the 'Chosen Healing Brave' class, reinforce the all-around template, and increase growth potential."
"Second, a high-quality Legend-grade skill stone. But you'll have to wait; divine express shipping takes at least a day to arrive."
"Third, the Brave can wish for a custom skill, and I will do my best to forge it for you."
"That is all the help I can provide." Kafuni added, "Your class change was already completed when you entered. You can check it yourself."
Kafuni arched an eyebrow, waiting for Linda’s praise.
Linda opened his panel with skepticism. After changing to the Brave, he didn't feel any increase in power; in fact, he felt slightly weaker. In this world, no one could hold two classes at once. Linda’s original class had been a Level 15 Healer. If he changed to Brave, his Healer level would be overwritten. In other words, he had dropped from Level 15 to Level 0.
This was not good. If Leia found out, she would laugh herself to death. But then, a second thought occurred to him—something felt off. Even after dropping to Level 0, he only felt slightly weaker than a Level 15 Healer; there wasn't a massive drop in capability.
It was true that a Healer was a pathetic combat class, but surely he shouldn't be comparable to a Level 0 Brave?
Linda muttered to himself, "Summon Panel."
A light screen appeared, looking remarkably similar to the interface from his previous life's game. Most conspicuous was a line of text shining like the sun next to his class field:
Class: [Chosen Healing Brave]
"This is...?"
After reading the attributes on the panel, Linda was shocked. As a Level 15 Healer, none of his stats had exceeded 10; his weak points, Strength and Defense, were a pitiful 5, and his only starting skill had been Healing Magic.
Now, every value on the panel had reached double digits, and the list of starting skills was so long it couldn't fit on one page.
Linda scanned the entire panel:
Name: Linda
Class: Chosen Healing Brave
Level: 0
HP: 200
Mana: 13
Strength: 13
Defense: 12
Magic Defense: 17
Agility: 11
Resistance: None
Experience: 0/10 (10 points needed to reach the next level)
Inherent Skills—
Libra Conservation (Legend): Your Strength is always equal to your Mana value.
Poison in the Heart (Legend): You will master Poison-based Healing Magic.
Eye of Truth (Legend): You can see the damage values caused by yourself and others.
Hidden Skills—
Devour All Things (Dream): You gain Mystery Points after killing Monsters.
Equivalent Exchange (Dream): Mystery Points can be exchanged for experience, talent improvement, skill proficiency, etc.
...
A Healing Brave—so it was a well-rounded "bucket" class? A starting Magic Defense of 17 was even higher than a magic-tank.
Linda couldn't help but feel excited. As a former professional player, he knew the importance of starting stats perfectly well. Starting stats represented growth potential; their levels directly determined if an account was viable or if it could be a primary character.
At Level 0, if the five base stats summed up to 50, it was considered exceptionally excellent. In this reality of the Secret Realm Continent, that was the equivalent of a genius. Linda’s previous Healer template had a combined total of only 37.
The Chosen Healing Brave’s five base stats totaled 66. His starting HP was 200, double that of a Healer.
Linda pinched his thigh hard, terrified he might be dreaming. The positioning of the Healing Brave was that of a tank-healer with massive HP and Magic Defense who could self-heal. He didn't need a frontline to protect him—he *was* the frontline!