Here is the full translation into global English, without em dashes:
The following day.
I slept soundly in the narrow bed.
A moment later my phone rang quite loudly, again and again.
Hirogaru yami no naka kawashiatta kakumei no chigiri / Darenimo jama saseru wake ni wa ikanai kara~ (Death Note opening song lyrics)
"Just a moment... Mother, it's Sunday~ hmmm." And at that very instant, I woke up.
"Wait, I'm supposed to be on the run?!"
I frantically grabbed my phone, and when I looked at it:
I was already 20 minutes late for the appointment, and a flood of messages from the recruiter had come in.
I called her back right then and there.
"I'm so sorry, Miss Nicolle. I fell asleep."
Nicolle answered.
"It's alright. Besides, you're the only one who applied to our little party."
"Sorry, Sis Nicolle. I'll head there right now." I said while getting ready in a rush.
Sis Nicolle ended the call at that.
A short while later I arrived at where Sis Nicolle was waiting.
I saw her waiting on a bench in the city park, enjoying the sandwich she had brought, while waiting for me.
"Goodness, she's so beautiful." That was what I thought to myself.
She had bright brown eyes that gave the impression of amber stones, brownish-blonde wavy hair, and many flower ornaments as decoration.
I approached her calmly.
"Sorry, Sis, earlier I..."
Before I could finish my sentence, Sis Nicolle quickly covered my mouth.
"SSSHHH."
"You're already accepted." She smiled at me.
"Really?!" I asked with great enthusiasm.
Sis Nicolle then pointed behind me.
I turned around.
"You can see for yourself. There are no other applicants besides you."
I went quiet for a moment.
"Y-You're right."
After that, Sis Nicolle introduced herself again.
"Allow me to introduce myself once more. My name is Nicolle, my class is healer, the god who has made a contract with me is Apollo (Apollo is the god of music, light, healing, and prophecy in Greek and Roman mythology), and I am the one who founded this party. Our party's name is Sunflower, and we even have our own headquarters, modest as it may be for a party."
She extended her hand to me.
"Follow me, alright? I'll take you to our headquarters."
She glanced at me with a bright smile.
Sis Nicolle then raised her index finger.
"Oh right, at the headquarters we'll be training for a few weeks before we actually head into the rifts. Just think of it as an internship."
She then moved closer to me.
"How does that sound? You understand, don't you?"
I answered with a nod, since I was far too nervous to speak.
It had been a long time since I had spoken to any woman other than my mother and my teachers!
"By the way, your class is a Murderer (one who brings death), isn't it?" Nicolle asked.
Once again I nodded in response.
"So can you finish off your opponents with your scythe, just like whoosh whoosh?" Nicolle demonstrated with great enthusiasm.
Though I only stared at her with a bewildered expression.
"I guess you're not quite like that, huh." Nicolle was slightly disappointed.
I feel like my weeb image of it isn't quite that dramatic.
After some time, we arrived at the party headquarters. The base was on the outskirts of the city, a fairly old wooden building with a forest behind it.
It's quite refreshing, but... isn't it a bit too far from the city?
"Rock, I'm back." She called out to someone.
The person Nicolle called came outside.
He had dark brown hair, black pupils, a stocky build, and a thin beard on his chin. And his height...
He was very tall. The difference in height between us was 155 cm compared to 210 cm. I felt like a mouse standing in front of a utility pole.
I was genuinely trembling looking at him.
"Um, hello. Are you a trespasser?" The man greeted me with what I could only describe as a very intimidating face.
"Rock! Stop scaring the new member!" Nicolle firmly addressed her friend, then turned her gaze toward me.
"Allow me to introduce my friend here. His name is Rock. He is the shielder in our party, and this is Nox, the DPS who just joined." Nicolle introduced us.
"Nice to meet you, Nox. I'm sorry, I thought you were a trespasser trying to force us to sell this land. My name is Rock, and my system is the Aegis Shield (the shield carried by the god Zeus)." Rock tried to explain.
"It's perfectly fine, that's a reasonable assumption. My name is Nox, and my god is Anubis (the god of death in ancient Egyptian legend)." For some reason the atmosphere around us suddenly grew tense.
Sis Nicolle then pulled me inside the headquarters. (I nearly tripped over her at that point.)
Inside were two girls: one with blonde hair fading into sky blue at the ends, and a tomboyish girl with magenta hair wearing a spider-patterned outfit.
"Oh wow, look, a new member!" Said the tomboyish girl as she ran toward me.
They seemed very happy about my arrival.
Nicolle then calmed them down as they were getting a little too excited.
"Ahem, ahem. Those who want to introduce themselves, please line up. The new member is a bit shy, so don't frighten her, alright."
Both girls quickly obeyed Nicolle like soldiers saluting their general.
"My name is Riel, class buffer, my god is Zelos (Zelos in Greek mythology is the god who embodies enthusiasm, competition, and envy)." Said the girl with blonde hair fading into blue at the tips.
"My name is Areta, class debuffer, my goddess is Arachne (Arachne was a woman exceptionally skilled in weaving)." Said the tomboyish girl with the spider pattern.
I smiled and introduced myself.
"Hello, I'm Nox, class Murderer, my god is Anubis."
They immediately became a little aggressive again. I felt as though I was being pushed from all sides.
"A MURDERER?! CAN YOU STRIKE A POSE ON TOP OF A CLOCK TOWER IN FRONT OF A GLOWING MOON LIKE IN THE MOVIES?! DO YOU GUIDE LOST SOULS DRIFTING ALONG THE RIVER NYX?! HOW BIG IS YOUR SCYTHE?! CAN YOU DISAPPEAR LIKE AN ASSASSIN?!"
They asked a barrage of unnecessary questions, until Nicolle calmed them down while simultaneously explaining my situation.
"RIEL! ARETA! Good grief, she only registered as a contractor yesterday, so she doesn't have any of that yet."
Nicolle pulled me along to follow her after scolding Riel and Areta.
"Let me show you where you'll be sleeping if you want to stay here overnight. This used to be the room of our old DPS, but she ended up dropping us, and so this place became a rundown old house. So anyway... since your training to build your stamina starts tomorrow, I can already see that your muscles are far too weak for a DPS."
"Then who will be training me?" Balance asked.
"Rock will be training you. He's the fittest among all of us. So, will you be going home or sleeping in this room tonight?"
My answer was only one.
"I'll stay here. Better than being late again, isn't it?"
"A wise choice, Nox. You can rest now. Getting to know people can be exhausting for an introvert, can't it?"
Nicolle then went down to the first floor of the headquarters to cook and prepare the target report for what was ahead.
Meanwhile I went to the room that once belonged to their former member, which had been lent to me. I looked around for clues about who she was. I spotted a photo where Nicolle and The Mystic Hunter, also known as Hero, were still dating at a playground. Judging by how worn the photo was, it had been taken somewhere between 7 and 9 years ago. I never would have imagined they were connected in the past.
"Could it be that the DPS they once had was Hero?"
Ah, that's incredibly rude of me. For now, it's better not to think about it.
I lay down on the bed and closed my eyes to rest for a moment.
Darkness began to wrap itself around me, swallowing the light from my vision...
*************************************************************************************
Hello! I'm Nicolle, the current leader of Sunflower party!
Today I met Noxy! Honestly I feel like she's faking a lot of things, but we are truly in a critical financial situation right now, huhu.
So I accepted her and brought her to the headquarters.
After she introduced herself to the members, I let her rest on the second floor.
And now, on the first floor of the headquarters, they were all looking at me from around the living room table.
Rock looked at Nicolle.
"Nicolle, can she really be trusted?"
"She does seem very trustworthy, but aren't young people nowadays very good at lying, Nicolle?" Areta pressed.
"Nicolle, I just don't want you to be taken advantage of again like before. Our party isn't as strong or as famous as it was in its heyday. At worst, she could destroy us from within." Said Riel with deep concern.
I struggled to find the right words to answer them... hmm...
Ah, I have an idea.
I lowered my gaze.
"I apologize to all of you for making you worry. But I am quite certain and I trust her, even though I know there are many things she is keeping secret. I also believe she is not a bad person." I tried to reassure them.
"And besides, our financial situation is critical right now." I put on a sorrowful expression.
Every party member at the table looked visibly gloomy because of what I had said.
Then Rock let out a sigh.
"Alright, if that is your decision, leader."
I then clapped both palms together with a loud slap to break the tension.
"Now, how about we think about what to have for dinner this evening?" I asked with a big joyful smile.
Riel then raised her hand with an idea.
"How about meat, as a celebration for our sweet new member."
"That's a great idea, Riel!!" Said Areta with enthusiasm.
I then glanced over at Rock as if to say: "What do you think?"
"Whatever you all decide." Rock answered in a mildly annoyed tone, then turned his face away.
I took the party funds from the drawer and checked them.
"Thank goodness there's still enough. So now it's time to divide up the tasks, everyone!" We split up the responsibilities among ourselves.
Rock prepared the training equipment that had been collecting dust in the backyard of the headquarters for a long time.
Riel prepared the ingredients in the kitchen along with buff potions.
Areta prepared several poisons and came along with me to buy the best cuts of meat.
"Nox is definitely going to love this!"
*************************************************************************
Once the fatigue left my body, I woke from my sleep.
I heard the sound of activity on the floor below, so I went down the stairs to see what was happening.
Right at the first step of the lower floor, I saw Rock standing there as though waiting for me.
"So you're up, it seems. Nicolle and Areta are out buying ingredients. Go wash your face and we'll do a quick initial training session in the backyard while we wait for them to prepare the food." Said Rock as he pointed toward the back door.
I headed to the sink to wash my face.
Standing in front of the sink mirror, something came to mind, my serious expression reflected back at me.
Should I be honest about my body? Even though I am a damage dealer who is supposed to be strong, I have very low stats in HP, ATK, and DEF. On the other hand, my mana is enormous. This has been the case since I was born. According to the imperial doctor, the fact that I am alive to this day is a miracle in itself. The doctor didn't even know what was truly happening. But Father was too afraid to tell Mother, so when Mother brought me to the headquarters she immediately put me through heavy training, because in her mind, I should have inherited her strength.
I am so sorry, Mother. I have disappointed you.
I clenched both my fists, then gave a faint smile to my own reflection.
"Whatever happens, I have to become stronger!"
I opened the back door and announced that I was ready to begin training.
Rock told me to follow him to the backyard.
There were many wooden weapons, shields, and old straw dummies laid out.
"These weapons and dummies have been here for a long time, but they're more than sufficient for a beginner to train with." Rock said, driving one of the wooden swords into the dry ground.
Rock then began to take a stance in an attempt to provoke me.
He stomped one foot forward and thrust one hand out toward me.
"Come on, attack me! Young one."
I was slightly taken aback. I stood still in front of the door, holding a spear I had picked up from the weapon basket.
The scene was dramatized by a gust of wind that swept through sharply.
To Be Continued
Please note that this story is purely fictional. The setting takes place on a planet other than Earth, governed by gods and goddesses. The era resembles the modern day with tall buildings, but wrapped in a mythological fantasy with something entirely new. This is an original story with illustrations also hand-drawn by the author. To see more of the author's artwork, you can visit the author's Instagram.
Instagram = @Nexusvenus (Nexus Venus)
Webtoon name = Nexus Venus