When Zera put on the helmet, a question began to float in front of him: "Do you wish to access?" The helmet's visor was transparent, so he could still see Diamante's house behind the letters. That changed the moment he thought about accessing the simulation. Everything disappeared, swallowed by darkness. And not just his sight, smells and sounds that had been in the background without him noticing were replaced by an indescribable void. He stopped feeling like he had a body with four limbs; he even stopped feeling his own breath. And the most illogical part was that he kept thinking logically, without panicking.
From the blackness, little by little, some numbers, colors, and letters began to take shape. Within seconds it became clear that he was looking at some kind of video game interface. He could read a list of dungeons. The first said "Level 1 Dungeon," the second "Level 5 Dungeon," "Level 10 Dungeon," and so on. On the right, he also saw a small backpack, with a label that said exactly "backpack". Another label said "party" and had several little people drawn on it. And he couldn't observe any further, because a new sign appeared in the center of his vision: "Diamante is inviting you to her party. Do you wish to join?" The moment he thought "accept," everything went black again.
Some time later, the world began to take shape around him, and with it, his senses returned. He was standing on a hill, next to Diamante. They both held wooden staffs in one hand. At the bottom of the hill, about fifty meters away, there was a group of what he decided to call goblins. They were simply standing there, watching them. There were three of them, about the size of small children, but with green skin and faces distorted by hateful grimaces. They were making obscene gestures with their fingers and screaming in their direction with the shrillest voices Zera had ever heard.
Zera swung his staff and confirmed that it weighed about as much as a baseball bat. Everywhere he looked there was only grass and a blue sky, with a single cloud conveniently covering the sun.
"What do we do now?"
"Attack them, right?"
"We just walk up and bash them with the sticks?"
"Exactly."
Zera started walking toward the goblins, but Diamante grabbed his arm.
"Zera, those are the weakest monsters possible, but if they hurt you, you're going to feel pain. You won't die, but you'll feel the pain."
"Wow, I didn't expect that…"
"Still want to go?"
"Of course."
"Let me go first, attack them once I've drawn their attention."
"What about you?"
"Don't worry about me."
"Are you a high level?"
"No, but I have a trick. You'll see."
Zera decided to trust his NPC guard. Most likely, she could take out those monsters just by sneezing on them. They approached the goblins slowly, without the creatures making any move to attack. Apparently, the system had restricted them to that area. When they were about five meters away, Zera started to smell them… and they honestly smelled awful. Like when his dog used to bathe in the rain and then explore the trash cans…
Diamante was a few steps ahead, and when she got within two meters of the goblins, they suddenly jumped on her. Zera couldn't help flinching, but Diamante… she did nothing. Zera's heart skipped a beat when he saw the three goblins attacking her chest and face with their claws. But what happened next left him speechless: Diamante didn't move an inch after their attack, and the monsters began screaming in pain, as if they had slammed into a concrete wall instead of a woman.
Without further hesitation, Zera grabbed the staff with both hands, took a few steps forward, and struck the nearest goblin on the head with all his might. He felt the goblin's head crunch, along with his own left elbow. Though the recoil was stronger than expected, he managed not to drop the staff. Luckily, because another goblin lunged at him, aiming to bite his face. Zera braced his legs and blocked the goblin with the staff. The goblin's claws, already badly damaged thanks to Diamante, got stuck between the staff and its hideous face. Zera took the chance to kick it in the chest. As the monster stumbled, Zera stepped forward and delivered a vertical swing straight to its nose, which it couldn't dodge in time.
The goblin dropped to its knees, screaming and holding its face, and Zera finished it off with a solid blow to the head. Only then did he remember there was still one left. He turned to Diamante and saw the monster at her feet, in a pool of its own blood. Apparently, it had hurt itself trying to hurt her. In fact, it was still trying to bite her leg, even as blood poured from its mouth. Zera approached, gripped his staff as tightly as he could, and delivered a blow to its head.
He looked around and confirmed that none of the three goblins were moving. Only then did he let himself drop to the ground. The fight had lasted only a few seconds, but his heart was pounding, and his hands and face were dripping with sweat. Diamante sat in front of him and asked:
"Are you okay?"
"What the hell was that, Diamante?! Are you made of iron or something?"
"Diamond, actually."
"What?"
"That's the SR skill I told you about. When I'm attacked, my body turns into diamond. These weak monsters can't hurt me."
"Wow… How come that's not a gold skill?"
"Because stronger monsters can break diamond."
While they were talking, a new group of goblins had already appeared, half a block ahead. This time there were only two, looking identical to the previous ones.
"How many of these do we need to kill to level up?"
"You haven't leveled up yet?"
"I haven't noticed anything."
"Did you check your status?"
Zera thought the word system, and his status appeared in front of him. He was now level 3, with 3 more strength points, 1 more agility, 2 more perception, and another 4 unassigned points.
"Why didn't it tell me?"
"The system? Why would it tell you if you can see it for yourself?"
Zera held back from explaining that it was always like this. In the novels, every time someone killed a monster or leveled up, a notification popped up...
"Diamante, I'm sorry to inform you, but you're not a writer, you're a tank."
"I know."
"Writing is so boring, Diamante, believe me. The most boring thing in the world. It doesn't compare to killing goblins."
"And what's so fun about killing goblins? Besides getting covered in blood and other gross stuff, I mean…"
"I guess you'll find out for yourself. Should we do the same with the next group?"
"Alright…"