The Achievement Junkie

"Others would call me the Achievement Junkie."

Jack smiled, curious to see how Sterfen and the others would react.

Sterfen tilted his head. "The Achievement Junkie, huh? I've never heard of you."

"Hmph! Hmph!" Jack choked on his pride, meeting much lower about himself. He looked around at his friends and saw that they were just as confused.

"However, if you really were the cofounder of the Leisure Guild and founder of the Trodan Council, then you must've been Jack J.," reasoned Sterfen, easily figuring that much out.

"Jack J.!" Rydel shouted. He was already sitting back down, but his head was spinning now.

Jack had already told him that he was an ancient hero from Trodar, but he was unwilling to tell him his old titles in the past. When Jack had mentioned his title as the Achievement Junkie, it only confused him more.

But when Sterfen said that Jack was Jack J., the Legend of Trodar, that was way more than he was expecting to learn.

"Right, so you do know me!" said Jack.

"Of course I'd know of Jack J.! I've never heard of this title called "Achievement Junkie," but it must be real since that's your current subclass. Do you not know how the people of Kartonia remember you?" asked Sterfen with a smile.

"Um… To be honest, I don't."

With a laugh, Sterfen shook his head. "Jack J. is known as the hero with too many titles to remember, so it's only fitting that he himself would forget. Though he disappeared for unknown reasons, it's impossible to now remember one of Ancient Kartonia's most legendary and successful heroes. Eventually, the world cam to know you as Jack J., the Legend of Trodar."

Thinking back, Jack remembered his conversation with Argyle. He remembered that Argyle was at a loss for words and thought Jack was a pinnacle hero. However, Jack didn't think Argyle would've known Jack by a name that Jack had never known. He assumed that Argyle was guessing his Achievement Junkie title, which led to him looking like a fool now in front of Sterfen.

"Jack… is Jack J., the Legend of Trodar…" Eliza was mumbling to herself, now aware of the reason her father forced their marriage and offered Jack the full support of the Fat Goose Guild.

Keela was in awe, reveling in the fact that the man she was chasing was one of the most prominent heroes of all time. And now, he was back to make a new name for himself, a new legend.

Maura said nothing. She knew that Jack was special and that he was always more knowledgable about the world than anyone she had ever met. But knowing that he was the Legend of Trodar…

Even though she was from Polt originally, every child would learn about the legendary heroes of old. The one with the most stories, both amazing and strange, is Jack J. It was a hero she loved to hear more about, especially how free and passionate he was to travel and try new things. And now, Maura discovered her husband to be that very hero she had heard so much about as a child.

"Ya are Jack J…" Maynard thought back to his first conversation with Jack when he decided to form a pact with the young hero. Jack had made a strange comment about battling nude, and now he understood why. As Jack J., he really had done the most outrageous things imaginable as a hero.

"So that's who the old man chose, Jack J… Not a bad choice at all," Sterfen was thinking out loud, letting others agree with his open statements. "I'm no longer surprised that you found me here or that you were crazy enough to try and sneak past my wife."

Laughing weakly, Jack asked, "Oh, did she tell you about that?"

"Of course, she also mentioned that you've gotten yourself a Hell-flame Fox, a kind of beast only a guy like Jack J. would dare to tame."

"Everyone, I've brought you all some hot tea to warm you up," Lunara walked in, announcing her entrance.

"Honey, you'll never believe who has come to visit us!" Sterfen stood up, helping his wife pass out the cups.

"What do you mean, I was the one who brought them here."

"Okay, then tell me his name." Sterfen pointed at Jack, making a game out of his identity.

"That's Jack, Daruun's champion."

"Yes, that's who he is now, but do you know who he was in the past?" With a smile, he waited for his wife to frown and give up. "Of course you know him, we've heard all about him. He's even stolen from me in the past."

Hearing that comment, everyone looked to Jack who laughed shyly and looked away, admitting his guilt in silence.

"Stolen from you? But who was capable of that? The only one I can think of would be… Jack J.!" As if struck by lightning, Lunara looked back at Jack with newfound respect in her eyes. "You're Jack J.!"

"Why is it that I'm meeting with gods, yet they're more excited to meet me than I am to meet them?" Jack asked, trying to avoid the overwhelming attention. He knew he might have been famous in the past, but apparently he was more famous than he had given himself credit.

"Well, that explains how you recognized me so easily," laughed Lunara.

"Am I really that famous? Wasn't it over five hundred years ago?"

"Actually, by my count, you vanished from Kartonia well over one thousand years ago," stated Sterfen. "If you were still around and managing the Leisure Guild, Trodar may not have suffered so much during the Holy War which started roughly one thousand years ago."

"That long… and you still know me?!" It was easy for Jack to see the admiration welling up in the eyes of all his party members.

"Jack, you may not know this, but almost all Kartonia knows who Jack J. is. You were in all of my favorite children's stories… Did you really fight with an ancient chimera with no weapon or armor?!" Maura spoke up, unable to contain some of the excitement.

"Well, yeah, but I had my reasons," argued Jack, not wanting to elaborate and possibly explain all the insane achievements he had done in-game.

Sterfen looked at Jack with his devilish smile. "Jack, you're arguably just as famous as my wife, even more so actually. They still know your name, even if it's through kid's fairy tales and stories."

"But this should at least make it easier to believe that I'm Daruun's champion, right?" stated Jack, changing the subject. "I showed up in Modern Kartonia as a lv. 1, but I won't be happy until I'm back at the peak."

"I've already met who I presume is Halmut's champion, and I'm guessing Skaryn's champion is the one at the top of the Chaos Syndicate. I won't rest until I can hold my own amongst the other champions, and for that, I need to level up."

"So, Jack, do you already know about the level cap?" asked Sterfen, attracting everyone's attention.

"We can go beyond lv. 85 now, right?"

"Right, but do you understand what that implies?"

"No, I was hoping to ask you about that."

Giving Jack a meaningful look, Sterfen sipped his tea. "Jack, do you know what it is that makes us gods?"

Baffled by the strange question, Jack shook his head.

"Let me explain. One of the biggest differences between us gods and you mortals is our level. Every god is at least lv. 90, but you can imagine how hard it would be for us to level up anymore, right?"

Jack's eyes went wide. "So that's what the Holy War was about…"

"Right you are." Sterfen nodded. "Luckily, we neutral gods avoided it thanks to Daruun's help, but my wife almost lost her life in that war. Also, we lost something too precious to replace."

"The three major gods all chose a champion to confide in as a chance to rebuild the structure of the gods in their favor."

"Wait?! You mean that I--"

"That you're expected to cleanse the gods?" Sterfen finished Jack's statement for him, nodding as he spoke. "I'm not sure how you'll pull that off, but that's what expected of the champions. That's also the reason that my wife almost killed you before."

Lunara bowed her head to Jack and the others. "I'm sorry that I doubted your intentions earlier. I thought you were sent by that despicable Halmut to kill me and my husband. Please, forgive me."

Something Lunara said stuck out to Jack. "Lunara, if you were a holy god before, why do you hate him so much now? Was it because he forced you to join the Holy War?"

"It's not so much that he forced me to join it, it was how he forced me that neither I nor my husband can ever forgive!" shouted Lunara, not hiding her animosity in the least.

Sterfen grabbed his wife's hand, a broken, forlorn look in his eyes. "Honey, please calm down! It's been so long, there's no telling what's happened to her by now."