The Achievement Junkie

"That was the right question."

When Jack heard Daruun's words he sighed in relief. Immediately he stood as well, glad to finally understand a few things.

"Like you may have guessed, before I explain the Achievement System I'll have to fill you on other things in order for you to fully understand. If you need me to explain anything more in-depth pertaining to your request, let me know. Now, let's have a change of scenery to make things easier to explain."

Just then Daruun snapped and the world around them was overpowered by bright white light, forcing Jack to close his eyes. A second later Jack sensed that the light was no longer there and he opened his eyes to a brand new scene.

Jack was floating in the air alongside Daruun as if he were standing on the wind itself. Below them was a city filled to the brim with people going about their day.

"I'm sure you can recognize this place," stated Daruun.

"Gilga…" Jack easily recognized the busy marketplace within Trodar's capital.

"Right you are. More specifically, this is Gilga soon after you accepted the special quest and before the godly war broke out."

Dumbfounded, Jack's jaw went slack as he stared at the calm, casual Daruun. He was couldn't help but be surprised when he heard that he had traveled back in time.

"Yes and no," said Daruun, catching Jack off guard. "Yes we traveled back in time to Ancient Kartonia, but we also haven't. We have no way to influence or interact with the scene before us, no matter what we try. Go ahead, I know you wanted to try and speak with someone."

Not wasting time, Jack yelled at the top of his lungs, "Hey! It's me, Jack_J from the Trodan Council!"

As if Jack's words were nonexistent, the rest of the world kept going without ever any intrusion from Jack's statement or presence.

"See, there's no way for either of us," stated Daruun. Jack was about to ask something but Daruun was already answering his question before it left his mouth. "My ability as a diviner allows me to see and hear anything and everything, past, present, and future. However, I'm only able to interact with the world when someone in the world initiates the interaction."

"Basically you need us to contact you before you can do anything?"

"Yes and no. Before I can interact with anyone or anything I do need that person to contact me first, but I can't directly alter or influence anything personally, no matter the era. I can only give guidance," explained Daruun.

Jack nodded silently. He had read in "A Hero's Tale" that Daruun the Great Diviner was omniscient and knew all things. According to legend, in order to gain such an ability to know and understand fate, Daruun had to revoke all authority to instigate contact with the world to avoid tampering with history.

At first, Jack just thought it was some nice flavor text. Never would he have guessed that it was 100% true.

"The reason I brought you here was to get you in the right mindset," continued Daruun. "During this time heroes came by the thousands and roamed all of Kartonia, like you did. They all chose to align themselves with one of the many gods. The final event of the game "A Hero's Tale" was the godly war that we've already mentioned. After that event, all characters in "A Hero's Tale" lost the ability to respawn and eventually not a single hero was left."

"Why's that?" asked Jack.

"That answer will be for a different question," said Daruun. "Each hero that passed after the godly war entombed, but not many people kept playing after they lost the ability to respawn. I'm sure you can understand why that was."

Nodding, Jack agreed with Daruun. If you weren't able to respawn, then how could you go out and be fully confident against boss monsters and other players? You'd have to lose countless hours of game time with a single death. No one would want that to happen.

Suddenly, Jack had a thought and asked, "What about my old character, Jack_J? Is there a tomb for him?"

Again, that's an answer to a different question. I'm bound by the laws of fate to not reveal information unless granted correctly, such as answering any of your authorized questions. I can then reveal any information that might be linked to such a question, but nothing that is too unrelated," explained Daruun.

"Anyway, now that you understand that, I will explain what it means to be a summoned hero in what you know as Modern Kartonia. Summoned heroes are brought through time from Ancient Kartonia, retaining all previous strength and items on their person at the time."

"What!?" yelled Jack. "I got ripped off! I lost everything and started back at lv. 1! That's not fair at all."

"Let me finish," interrupted Daruun. "Typically, the hero who was summoned would be based on the items and resources used to summon them. So, if a kingdom wishes to summon a hero of a higher caliber, that kingdom would need to use resources to match. For that reason, most summoned heroes range from lv. 20 - lv. 39. You were summoned by the lowest quality summoning, which has a higher success rate but most people look over it entirely because no one who needs a hero would want one under lv. 10."

"But why would King Leodoro do that then? Would that be pointless?" asked Jack.

"Not entirely, given time to level up. A summoned hero has more potential than the average adventurer, so there's a higher chance for a hero to reach higher levels. And know that he had his reasons for doing so and acting the way he did," answered Daruun. "Also, just so you know, all summoned heroes are derived from the characters that gave up the game and never logged back in. Unlike you, no player has traversed to our world, only the character's physical body and in-game memories continue. So, yes, they know about Ancient Kartonia as well, but no, they know nothing about every being used as a character in what you call a computer game."

"So… I'm the only "player" that was ever summoned?"

"Correct."

"Does that have anything to do with the Achievement System?"

"Of course," answered Daruun. "The Achievement System was created for the use of a single person. That person would need to prove themselves in every way possible as worthy to use such a gift and change all of Kartonia."

"Is that why I was only able to get it after completing that ridiculous achievement list?" asked Jack. "Don't you think such crazy achievements were a little too much?"

"No, I don't. That's why I chose them personally," stated Daruun.

Jack froze for a second as his brain took a moment to process the weight of Daruun's simple statement. "Wait… You chose those?"

"Yes."

"Then, you're also the one who transported me here?"

"Yes."

"And you're also the creator of the Achievement System?"

"Yes," said Daruun with a sly smile. "As I said before, I have no ability to interact with the timeline. I never said I wasn't able to help someone else do it for me."

"HUH!?" Jack stiffened up and groaned, shocked by Daruun's casual admittance of the truth. Suddenly, he felt an overwhelming weight of responsibility begin to weigh down on him.

"You are the only person with the hero class because you yourself are not from here and earned a divine boon to enter this world. You could even go so far as to say you are the only true hero in all Kartonia," explained Daruun. "Each of the three major gods during the time of the war had their means of seeking a champion, someone who could turn the tide in their favor. Though I may have been on the sidelines, I still sought out a champion, who is you."

"But why? I thought you would be against the war?" asked Jack.

"I am." Again, Daruun raised his hand and snapped without warning Jack.

Once Jack blinked and let the bright lights pass he was again in the air with Daruun, except the scene below was the exact opposite. It was the same place, yet it was in ruins with corpses scattered everywhere and rubble from all sorts of destroyed buildings.

"This is why I'm against it," said Daruun, letting the scene speak for himself.

"This… I can't believe this happened."

"Believe it. It happened," stated Daruun. His face was emotionless and his voice was colder. "Though it was especially gruesome in Gilga and Trodar, this happened in almost every capital city in Kartonia. Some were invaded by Skaryn's troops, others by Halmut's."

Jack stared at the world below, trying his best to calm his boiling blood. "Who invaded Trodar?"

"Which time?" answered Daruun, stunning Jack yet again. "Trodar was a neutral country. Most nations at the time had more support for Halmut or Skaryn, but Trodar was the only one that leaned towards we neutral gods, thanks to your Leisure Guild's influence."

Jack was speechless, unable to fully accept the reality in front of his eyes.