[Host had been selected, preparing to merge with the new host. Merging, beginning the count of three. 1... 2... 3]
"Wait! Stop! What do you mean by merge?" Rudra panicked as he wasn't sure what the word meant, but he couldn't help but feel a little uncomfortable. Despite his cries, the countdown didn't stop. As soon as the countdown ended, Rudra clutched his head; even his expression changed to that of agony.
"UGHHHH Fuc... no stop..." Rudra cried in pain, but there was no stopping as the pain in his body intensified. The time continued to pass, and he didn't even know how long it had been since the process started. Rudra wasn't even able to make any clear thoughts because of the pain he was suddenly experiencing; he just curled up into a ball as he waited for it all to be over.
[Merging is finished successfully. Initiating search on memories of the host.]
[Search complete. New Data found. Registering data. Registration done.]
[Using the new data, the system is being updated. Update done. According to the memories, the host loved something called 'GAME'. Calculation results suggest that, to help the host grow stronger and faster, change is required. Changing previous setting to suit the new host.]
[New game begins. Successfully updated to function like a game system.]
While all of these changes occurred, Rudra was unaware of any of this happening as he was unconscious. Unable to bear the pain after a certain period of time, Rudra suddenly fell unconscious. Even though he was unconscious right now, it was really commendable for how long he was able to last.
...
Only after a few hours had passed was Rudra able to regain his consciousness. Although the pain as gone, mentally he still felt as if his head was still aching.
"What happened? Is it over now? Can we leave?" asked Rudra impaitently, as well as with a certain level of hostility, as he was still very dissatisfied. If he knew that it would hurt like this, he would have never accepted touching the book in the first place. However, he was still relieved by the fact that he wasn't dead.
[The process of merging is over. However, another mission has popped up.] Unlike the other times, a voice echoed inside Rudra's head. Rather than projecting words in a blue box, the book is not able to talk directly inside Rudra's head.
"HUH! What do you mean by mission? What is it, no?" Rudra questioned angrily.
[The tribulation is about to start, as it seems the host is ready to ascend.]
"What? Is this a joke? What do you mean by tribulation? That is something that only happens when a person tries to ascend to a higher realm. I never even reached the Apprentice Magus stage. You want me to believe that because of you, I somehow reached the Novice Magus stage? What now, are you gonna tell me that you were the reason that I was able to skip a stage?" Rudra ridiculed the book mercilessly, as according to him, the tribulation happening to him was impossible. According to what little knowledge he had, the mages were separated by ranks; each rank signified a huge boost in strength and authority.
The first stage of Magus was called Apprentice Magus, usually students who have just recently unlocked their circles. If the Apprentice wanted to advance the rank and become a Novice magus, he or she would have to create a total of 9 circles in their heart just to be able to advance. The tribulation that the book is talking about seemed impossible because Rudra had never created a single circle, let alone 9 of them, because only when someone advances do they face tribulation.
[Yes, it was caused because of...] the voice of the book wanted to continue, but it was suddenly interrupted.
"HAHAHAH, do you really think you can fool me? What's next? Are you going to claim to be a god as well?" Rudra suddenly started to burst out in laughter as he could no longer bear to hear any more words from the book.
[Host does not have time to listen carefully; the tribulation occurred because you are in possession of me. You will have to face these kinds of tribulations many times, you will have to be careful, as I wouldn't be able to function when you are in tribulation.]
[This tribulation is occurring because the host is trying to create his first circle. To answer your question, I am not a god, I am a program made to guide and help the host grow stronger.]
Rudra us suddenly dumbfounded; what the book just told him was impossible. From what he knew, no one had ever faced Tribulation when creating their first circle. He was about to ask more questions regarding the subject; however, just when he was about to open his mouth, a crack in space suddenly appeared. This was the unmistakable sign of the tribulation beginning. As he saw the entrance opening slowly, he could only think of one question in his mind 'Just what book are type of book are you?'.
"I freaking knew I shouldn't have trusted you in the first place..." Yelped Rudra as he was suddenly sucked inside the space crack in space.
....
"Where is this place? Am I finally out of that place?" Rudra asked himself as he started looking around to see where exactly he was. He wanted to believe that he wasn't, in fact, going through a tribulation. He was in the middle of the jungle when he woke up, so he thought he might have returned to the backwater after all.
The jungle was filled to the brim with huge trees and bushes, which made looking through them impossible for Rudra. Thinking that he might be able to get a nice view of the surroundings, he started climbing a tree. Fortunately, when he was almost halfway climbing, he finally saw someone. The person was holding a torch. Although he couldn't see who that person was, Rudra wanted to call out to that person. After a bit of thinking, he decided not to call that person out as he wanted to be very cautious.
'I was lucky I didn't shout earlier, or else I might have died. Phew, Rudra breathed a sigh of relief as he finally saw who or what was holding the torch. It turned out that the thing that was holding the torch was a Goblin. This was the first time Rudra had seen any goblin; however, he knew their behaviour very well.
When he was in the orphanage library, he used to love reading about the monsters that inhabited this world. According to the book, goblins were one of the monsters; they looked somewhat like humans, they walked on their two legs, but had no intelligence to speak of. According to the books, they were worse than animals.
Some of the facts about the goblins that Rudra knew were, when goblins hunted their prey, they loved to play with their corpses before eating them. They would keep playing with their prey until the corpse started rotting; that's when they finally ate it. In terms of fighting, most of the low-level goblins only knew how to use clubs. They did not know any technique; they just swung their weapons to kill their enemy. The goblin's weakness was its intelligence, strength lastly its senses.