Becoming a Celebrity on the First Day

"Ha... hahaha..." I couldn't believe what had just happened. I knew Carbuncles were extremely hard to come by and even harder to tame, since they only choose people they deem worthy. But jumping 25 levels because I "tamed" one? That was too much even for me.

I immediately sat down and began patting the little thing. Felix did become my lucky charm, just a lot earlier than I expected. "You're such a cute thing, good boy!"

It took me a while to calm down from my sudden high. Checking my stats more clearly, I had recovered quite a lot of Health too, which I pinned on Felix. After all, in FF XV it appeared only to heal the party. The only thing that I found weird was its gem being blue, since Carbuncles are supposed to always have a red one. <Well, it doesn't really matter. He's just that unique.>

Once I played with Felix for a while, making sure I had pampered him a lot, I decided to spend my SP. After my fight with the Hobgoblin I understood that my mentality was right. Even a single point would make a difference in those situations.

[Name: Noah Hasegawa Level: 60

Job: None Fatigue: 10

Title: The Summoned Rookie (24 hs.)

HP: 400/750->750/1250

MP: 0

Strength: 75->125 Vitality: 75->125

Agility: 145->200 Intelligence: 35->50

Sense: 85->155

Status Points: 250->0

Growth Speed Increase: 100% x 24 hs.

Skills: Kenbunshoku Haki (lvl. 2)]

This time I could tell how drastically stronger I was. The difference between now and during the fight was simply abysmal. Finding Felix in and of itself already made me happy. It meant that, even if after leaving this place I had no family, I would at least have a friend to worry about me. But the side-effect of finding him was just as incredibly fulfilling.

"Well, what do you think Felix? Is there anything else worth our time here?" he looked at me for a second before jumping from my arms and walking towards a pile of gold and jewelery "Not that, something magical!"

Felix furrowed his brows, which I swear was adorable, and then pointed towards the pile with its nose. This time I furrowed my brows. Apparently there was something of importance there and, if the little guy told me to check, I would do so. Why wouldn't I trust my lucky charm, after all.

After going through the pile of gold and jewelry I found a set of clothing that did look magical. Maybe it was because of how it was weaved or the kind of fabric it was made of. Or it might've been because I just felt like I had to put it on, considering my clothes were soaked in blood. It didn't take me long to put it in the inventory. I wasn't planning on wearing them yet. Not while I was bathed in blood myself, at least.

"Anything else around here, Felix?" I asked the little guy, who was still walking around the place and smelling everything he saw. In answer to my question, he hurried to the other end of the room, pointing to another pile of gold and jewelry.

This time he didn't wait for me to go there, but began digging into it. A few seconds later, he grabbed something with his mouth and began dragging it towards me. My first reaction was to be surprised by his strength. I mean, he was carrying a weapon that looked quite heavy. At first I thought it was a guandao, but when paying attention to detail I realized it was more of a glaive.

The weapon in question had a dangerous aura to it. The shaft, black with a teal cord decorating it, was sturdy and smooth to the touch. It had a blade at both ends, one being the main blade at the top, and a spike at the bottom, both decorated by more teal cord. The last touch were the pieces of fabric hanging from the main blade and the shaft, the former having a fang tied to it. Overall, I loved the design.

"Now that looks cool. Still, you're my favourite" I said as I picked the weapon with one hand and petted Felix with the other. The moment I picked the weapon up, another System message appeared.

[Lament, Reaper of Lost Souls: A Glaive crafted in the Forge of Hell by the Apostle of Persephone. This weapon only allows someone it has deigned worthy to wield it, as it has a pride of its own. Its power grows together with the wielder, as it creates a symbiotic relationship between the two. Contrary to what most believe, the origin of it's powers is not dark, but pure and holy. After all, granting eternal peace to the souls of the deceased is a noble work.

Special Skill: Soul Guidance - As the Reaper of Lost Souls, Lament can absorb the souls of deceased enemies, guiding them to the afterlife. The more souls it absorbs, the more energy it channels, creating a stronger effect. The energy can be released in any way the wielder wishes.]

"Why is this place so full of amazing rewards? It was only a hundred and some Goblins and that..." that was when it actually dawned on me. No rookie would be able to survive this gate. The only reason I had survived was because of my increased growth as "The Summoned Rookie". It gave me double the SP and EXP, allowing me to fight against the Hobgoblin on equal grounds. "I'm actually quite the lucky bastard huh?"

It didn't take us long to finish examining the room. Besides the set of "noble" clothes and Lament, there was nothing of actual value. I decided to keep most of the jewelry and gold in my inventory to sell it later, after all, who would say no to "free" money?

"Guess this is it..." I said as I stared at the gate that was at the end of the room. I was sure it was the way out, as my instincts kept telling me so. Picking Felix up in my arms, I opened the gate and went through it.

*

The first thing I heard before my sight recovered was the typical voice of a female reporter. "We have news for the first time in twenty four hours on the Rookie Killer here in Tokyo, the Gate is giving activity and... Oh my God! Someone came out of the Gate!"

When my sight finally recovered, I could see the city around me. It was definitely Japan, seeing all the neon signs full of Kanjis, but it looked completely different from the Tokyo I knew. That pretty much confirmed I was in a different world. Not like I had doubts previously. The other thing I confirmed was the fact that I was definitely in a "Solo Leveling" kind of world, seeing as I came out of a Gate. Apparently, it was big news.

"Hello? Are you... allright?" someone asked me "Hello?"

Looking at the person, it was a beautiful blonde girl, probably not much older than myself. The surprising thing was her appearance. <No matter how I look at her... isn't this Jean from Genshin Impact?>

"Ah... hello. I'm still a bit dizzy from just getting out of there" I spat the first excuse I could think of to avoid much suspicion, and luckily it seemed to work, seeing her reaction. "Ah, yes. I'm Jean Gunnhildr, leader of the Favonius Guild. Could we... um... could we ask you a couple of questions?"

"It's not like you can't, but... wouldn't it be better to answer everyone's doubts in one go?" while saying that, I walked towards the news station crew that was also walking in our direction. Jean followed behind me in a hurry. I could guess she wasn't used to being treated like that. Besides her being beautiful, she was a Guild Leader and, by the looks of it, hers was one of the top guilds.

"I am glad to see someone finally coming out of one of these damned Rookie Killers. I know you must still be dazed by the current situation, but could we get at least a short statement from you?" the reporter asked with a professional voice, but her voice betrayed her happiness. Apparently, humans actually worked together to solve the "Gate situation". I quickly gave her a short answer. "I will do my best to answer all question regarding this "Rookie Killer", as you call it. But I'll do it on a press conference later, since I first have to at least shower, though I'd rather take a long bath"

My answer seemed to please her, as she soon faced the camera and continued doing her work. I turned to Jean and asked her the most important question I had ever asked someone in my life. "Do you have an idea of where I can borrow a bath?"

I really wanted to get rid of the blood.

*

Jean was a very nice person, if I ignored the aura of danger she exuded constantly. I was sure that if there were ranks to people in this world, she would be S-Rank. The funny thing was that I didn't feel threatened at all. In fact, I felt like I was her equal in terms of strength alone.

Anyways, she was nice enough to lend me a room in her Guild's quarters, where I was finally able to bath myself and Felix, who had some blood stains on his fur from being in my arms. I noticed a few clothes prepared for me in the room, but I didn't really feel like wearing them, since they weren't exactly "fashionable". As such, I decided to check the ones I had gotten in the Dungeon Gate.

The outfit was composed of black trousers, a black shirt and a long black coat, with the inner side of it a dark teal. The coat had metal shoulderpads and was tide by a teal cord. Overall, it was a mix of black with teal accents and a few details in a gold-ish metal.

[Garments of the Guide: Clothes worn by the guide who delivers souls to the Afterlife. As something gifted by the Gods of Death themselves, it is nigh indestructible by any non-divine power. It is weak against the powers of Nature. Its power grows together with the wielder, as it creates a symbiotic relationship between the two. Contrary to what most believe, the origin of it's powers is not dark, but pure and holy. After all, granting eternal peace to the souls of the deceased is a noble work.

Special Skill: Mantle of Souls - Calls forth the power of those guided to eternal rest by whoever wears it and creates a barrier of holy power that may block a certain amount of attacks, depending on the amoung of energy gathered.]

"... I somehow feel numb already" was all I could say before wearing the clothes. Apparently, that place was nothing but a test to select the next Apostle of Persephone and Guide of Souls, considering the fact that all of the rewards I had gotten from that place were related to that particular "theme". "Well, doesn't matter. I have a press conference to give"

Garments of the Guide donned, Lament strapped on my back and Felix in my arms. Going over everything twice to make sure I didn't forget anything, I left the room. Waiting for me was a member of the Favonius Guild, who was assigned to act as my guide.

"A car is waiting for you downstairs" he said while looking surprised at my getup and overall appearance. That was to be expected, though. My previous appearance was that of a hobo bathed in blood. "It will take you to the place where the press conference is being held"

Looking at the relatively good looking woman, that appeared to be in herearly thirties, I smiled. "Thank you. I'll be going then"

I saw her blush before I hurried down the stair and onto the streets. It didn't take long for me to notice which car she was referring to, since there was a person with my name on it. Apparently, they had already done their research on me. "Mr. Hasegawa, I was waiting for you. If you wish to hold the press conference now, then you just need to tell me"

They were treating me with utmost respect, something I first felt conflicted about but quickly pinned on two different things. Jean probably felt my strength and I am the first one to survive one of these stupidly hard Gates.

"Well then, lead the way. Let's get this over with"