The Rift was an infinite world.
Every human who entered the portal was teleported to a random zone based on their level and maximum mana amount.
Roman was level 1 with negative maximum mana, so he entered an area where he would encounter low-level monsters.
Due to this characteristic, the Rift was also called the Tutorial World.
After a second, Roman opened his eyes.
Before him, a marvelous world, illuminated by blue sunlight rays, unfolded in front of his eyes.
"Wow! It really looks like Blue Meteorite, but with a lot more blue…"
He looked around, admiring the vast natural space.
But before he could further admire the flat, blue-soil-filled place, a small group of monsters appeared, screaming and growling.
Roman turned, only to discover that, about ten meters from him, there were three goblins with… a strange appearance?
The tips of their fingers, both hands and feet, were dark in color. It vaguely resembled blue…
Above them glowed a screen.
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Blue Night Goblin
Lv1
Mana: 100/100
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"So you too are victims of this blue stuff…" he murmured while calmly analyzing them.
From what he knew, Goblins had only one Skill.
"Powerful Strike"
They could literally deliver a stronger blow with their club using mana.
A smile lit up his face.
"I will not let you get close to me!"
"Fireball!"
Roman did not feel the typical draining sensation due to mana being consumed.
Not at all.
It was the exact opposite!
A small amount of mana entered his body, flowing through him entirely and giving him a pleasant sensation.
A small, weak fireball shot from his hand and headed toward the nearest goblin.
Boom-
A slight explosion accompanied by a cloud of smoke formed where the monster had been.
Rawr!
Brandishing its club, the goblin emerged from the cloud, staggering and falling to the ground.
Its eyes never left Roman's while it waved its club, threatening to tear him apart.
But it was paralyzed. Part of its right leg had become a mess of blood and flesh.
Before he could even enjoy the scene, the other two goblins approached him.
"I said I will not let you get close!"
He launched another fireball, hitting one of the two monsters in the head, making it explode.
At that moment, a notification flashed before him, distracting him for a moment.
Taking advantage of the distraction, the other goblin swung its club vertically, straight at Roman's head.
"Damn!" noticing the attack out of the corner of his eye, Roman dodged at the last second, but the mana-charged club still grazed his shoulder, causing excruciating pain.
Barely holding back a scream, the boy used the rotation from the blow to retaliate and throw a powerful punch at the monster's face.
Without hesitating a second longer, he stepped back, murmuring.
"Fireball!"
The explosion hit the goblin square on, its blood splattering everywhere, staining Roman's clothes too.
"Tsk, damned bastard…" he hissed, holding his aching shoulder with his hand.
Another notification crossed his eyes, but this time he did not let himself get distracted.
A few meters away, the first goblin hit by the skill was groaning in pain. Despite losing the use of one leg, it continued crawling toward the human.
It wanted to kill him.
"Yes, great tenacity, Mr. Goblin," he said, slowly approaching with clenched fists.
"Nothing personal," a sharp blow echoed in the air, making the goblin scream. "It is just that I have very little mana, let us say, I cannot finish you in one shot like I did with your companions!"
After a few blows, the screams stopped, and the goblin's corpse vanished into blue light particles.
Another notification about the monster's kill crossed his vision, but he ignored it, focusing on something else.
A small dark blue crystal appeared in place of the Goblin's body.
"Here is my first gain!"
Roman smiled, bending down to grab the crystal.
---
Mana Crystal
Mana: 1/1
---
It was the main currency of this world. Another currency was credits, used to buy common things without mana.
"Well, I could not expect anything else from a level 1 monster…" he murmured, shaking his head, before storing the crystal in the system inventory.
---
Mana Storage: 1/infinite
---
The Mana Storage, like the Item Storage, were two infinite spaces.
In the first, mana crystals were stored; in the second, items obtained in the Rift, like equipment, Skill Books, and other things.
"Now, one thing I had not thought about before…"
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Fireball (Common)
Launches a fireball of varying size and power.
Minimum 10 Mana
Maximum 500 Mana
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"All skills have a variable cost… in the end, everything depends on my mana."
Shaking his head, Roman thought back to the fact that his mana corresponded to that of the girl, Xixi.
"Could the world not have directly granted me her mana? If a human can reach crazy values like 4.6 x 10^19, then the world should have infinite mana. Then I would have been powerful."
The tips of his fingers trembled as he thought about all this.
But then, the sight of his panel brought him back to normal.
---
Name: Roman Red
Title:The Chosen One Among the Chosen Ones
Level: 1
Mana: -30/-50
Affinity: Fire
Skill(s): Fireball
World Talent: you cannot level up
World Talent: doubles maximum mana every 24 hours
---
"It is true that I am limited by Xixi, but the mana I can borrow from her also depends on the amount of maximum mana I possess. Today I can borrow a maximum of 50 mana. But tomorrow it will be 100, and the day after tomorrow 200…"
Roman left the area, his shoulder still slightly aching.
The Goblin had grazed him, but the pain was real.
The time limit inside the Rift was one hour, and once you entered, you had to stay until the end.
The only way to exit early was to die.
Roman explored the Rift with a surprised face. Everything was new to him, coming from a world without magic and such things.
Sure, he had the memories of the body's previous owner, but seeing things with his own eyes was different.
After killing another group of goblins, Roman's mana was depleted, but at the same time, the available time in the Rift had also ended.
The feeling of emptiness and nausea hit him again as he returned to his world.
"That was really fun, huh?" he murmured, before stopping, astonished.
"My shoulder is healed? So even the injuries in the Rift are fake, just like death…"
His clothes were impeccable, as they were before he entered.
His hoodie was not stained with blood, his pants were not wrinkled.
"Well, I would say the only thing left to do is wait until tomorrow, right?"
Taking the escalators, Roman returned to the main hall before heading out to explore this new world.