Surviving The Fourth Calamity - Chapter 22 - The First Day of Dealing with Players Part 1

Warning This fiction contains:

Graphic Violence Profanity Sensitive Content

Summary – Level 1:

Delve is an isekai litrpg that follows an average guy who just happened to wake up in a forest one day. He wasn’t summoned to defeat the demon lord or to save the world or anything like that, at least as far as he can tell. The only creature there to greet him was a regular old squirrel.

Soon enough, he meets other people, only to discover that he can’t speak the language, and that not everybody immediately trusts random pajama-wearing strangers they met in the middle of the wilderness. Things generally go downhill from there, at least until the blue boxes start appearing.

Delve is a story about finding your way in a new, strange, and dangerous world. It’s about avoiding death, figuring out what the heck is going on, and trying to make some friends along the way. It’s not about getting home, so much as finding a new one.

Did I mention that there will be math?

Summary – Level 2:

Okay, but what are you in for, really?

Well, this story is supposed to be realistic, or at least, as realistic as a fantasy litrpg can be. The main character doesn’t instantly become an all-powerful god and murder-hobo his way across the universe. Delve is, at its heart, a progression fantasy, but that progression is meant to feel earned. The numbers in this story actually mean something. Everything is calculated, and if you find a rounding error, I expect you to tell me about it. That said, if math isn’t your cup of tea, there is plenty more that the story has to offer. Characters are meant to feel real, and progression isn’t only about personal power; it’s also about allies, connections, and above all, knowledge. Figuring out how the system works is a significant theme.

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What, you want more details? Okay, fine, but this is going to get a bit spoiler-y. Are you sure?

Yes!

Really sure? I mean, this summary is practically half as long as the first chap–

Now!

Okay, okay!

The main character becomes a magic user, but he takes a route that is not very popular in adventurer culture, namely that of a support. There is a full magic system with various spells, skills, and abilities, but our MC decides that aura magic is the way to go, and that the only stat worth investing in is mana regeneration. Most people at the Adventurer’s Guild think that this makes him a bit of a dumbass, but he’s playing the long game. We’ll see how that works out for him, won’t we?

Because of his build, the MC levels up fast, at least compared to normal people. There are no cheats, though, and he is limited in other ways. There are some clear and pretty obvious downsides to his build. That’s what makes it fun, no?

Morals? Our MC has them. Again, we’ll see how that works out for him. Realism, remember? Would you be okay with killing someone and looting their body? I sure hope not.

POV? The focus is on the main character, but there will be occasional varying perspectives from people around him, or involved in the events related to the main plot. It isn’t going to jump all over the place.

Tech is standard medieval stasis. No smartphones, but the MC does have a technical background. Computers and their programming might be involved. There might even be a bit of uplifting down the road, who knows? Anyway, it isn’t the focus. He isn’t going to invent the gun in chapter 1 and change the face of warfare.

Romance is not a major focus. Friendships are more the name of the game, though there will be some characters in romantic relationships.

There is exploration, though not as much of the geographical nature as you might expect. It is more about exploration of the system and the culture.

The pace is slow and detailed, sometimes verging on slice-of-life. The action is meant to be realistic and grounded in the numbers, and it is intended to have meaning beyond simply punching things until they stop moving.

The general tone of the story is grey, and some parts can get quite dark. People die. Sometimes, people with names, but not anywhere near GoT level. There is plenty of light, too, though, to balance the darkness. The world is dangerous, but overcoming that danger is why we’re all here, isn’t it?

Anyway, if you’ve made it this far through the summary, you clearly like words. I hope you enjoy the story!

The well-off little salted fish transmigrated to a poor era, where her grandparents valued boys over girls, leading to a miserable life for their granddaughters.Fortunately, her dad, though lazy, slippery, and illogical, shamelessly relying on his parents and taking advantage of his siblings, was protective of his daughters.Her drama queen mother, who was lazy but liked to eat, often tried to coax food off of her, yet she always left a portion for her.There was also the Scholar Tyrant System that pressured her every day to strive for progress, capable of using high-tech to hunt and allowing her to eat meat!!It wasn't until her cousin from her second uncle's family changed drastically after nearly drowning that Jiang Mianmian realized she was in a reborn female protagonist novel of that era, and her family of three was destined to meet a tragic end as reprehensible relatives.However, Jiang Mianmian, who knew the plot well, was fully capable of avoiding the tragic deaths of her parents and was not afraid of the seemingly strong but actually hollow protagonist. Her only worry was the powerful ally backing the protagonist.Then she discovered that the protagonist’s powerful ally was none other than the beautiful young man her father had rescued from the icy river last month!So Jiang Mianmian was completely reassured. With this life-saving favor, the young man would definitely not side with the protagonist against her family in the future.Moreover, Dashan took the initiative and said, “Little Lamb, I’d like to court you with the intent of getting a marriage license, is that okay?”As someone obsessed with good looks, Jiang Mianmian struggled and then reluctantly refused, “No, I plan to have a son-in-law who will marry into the family.”The powerful ally didn’t hesitate, “Then I’ll be the son-in-law who marries into the family, and the children will take the Jiang surname!”Jiang Mianmian: “Let’s go, get the marriage license!”

In the mobile game Arcane Seoul.The day after I pulled the SSR Heavenly Demon for the first time…I ended up becoming the N-rank character, Warrior Kim.[2023 Grand Prize at the World’s Largest Web Novel Contest]

superhuman powers awakened and the world changed, yet Jade remained as he was—the ever so heedless, unbothered, emotionless, and weird guy manning the cash register.But some people deemed him lucky because he seemed to be unaffected by all those happenings. But would they still believe that when Jade came home one day from his night shift, tired and hungry, to find a dungeon gate right inside his house?The worst thing that could ever happen to him was get sucked in that gate, however, instead of the gate, strange Seekers are sucking up to him instead.Jade: Why is this happening?!Seeker 1: Help me go back to my world and I can give you everything you wish for.Seeker 2: I don’t care about going back to that damned world, so can you just let me stay here with you?Seeker 3: Jade, honey, you’re the best Minder! I need you, so come with me to my world.And so on… these Seekers are all lunatics forcing him to help them go back to their respective worlds! But how can Jade do that, when all of them were just mere characters from books?!Now, what will Jade do?