Chapter 1 - An Unfortunate Starting Roll

An unfamiliar sky greeted me the moment I opened my eyes. Feeling a bit hazy, my mind tried to make sense of the green orb floating in the middle of the clear, blue sky. The green object looked like the moon, but I didn’t recall it ever emitted such a color. Suddenly, my eyes flickered to the side as I noticed light around me starting to dim. There were already too many questions in my mind as to what was going on. My head slowly tilted sideways, a quirk of mine when I got confused.

Engravings on the ground? What for? Why? Wasn't I just out looking for a bite to eat? I couldn’t recall anything in my memory that clued me into what had happened up to this point. The situation started feeling more like a dream, the more I thought about it. However, the echoes of hunger suddenly resounding in my stomach hinted that wasn’t the case.

"I see that some part of you is awake," An unfamiliar voice called out.

Realizing that I was sprawled on the ground, I slowly rolled over and looked towards that voice. What greeted me was a teenage girl with white, shoulder-length hair, dressed in what looked like light armor. A look of expectation plastered on her face as she seemingly waited for me to respond.

"I...errr...Hi?" Was all I could muster. The sight of her clothing was unlike anything I saw in real life, outside of cosplay.

With a faint smile, she began examining me.

"I'm sure you must be confused. To begin with, I am Eryn. Eryn Faulkner of the Kingdom of Sistina. I have summoned you here."

"Su-Summoned?...What for?" My mind was still racing to keep up, as I looked around. It had just dawned on me that I was in the middle of a magic circle. Being a well-rounded otaku, the surroundings were consistent with a certain scene of an anime I watched.

"Every magic knight summons a partner when they come of age...that being said, I never thought I'd hit upon one of the Electi."

"Ele..what?" I started standing up checking my body for anything strange, caution growing with every moment.

"Electi, as in a 'chosen one'. Usually, us magicians gain a partner in the form of a creature or magical being, but for a human to be summoned, it can be none other than an Electi."

Still doubting the words coming from Eryn, I pinched myself to see if it was all a dream. Nope, that hurt. For now, it looks like I'd have to go with the flow. I couldn’t do anything until I learned more about this place.

"So if I may humbly request, what is your name?" Eryn said with a bow.

Maybe due to the shock of the situation, I froze at my lack of etiquette. However, it seemed strangely comforting that a nice girl had been there to greet me. I probably would’ve freaked out more if I had been alone.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I'm...Claude Evers. I don't know what to say as it seems strange for me to be called something like a 'chosen one'."

Truly, I didn’t think any of my qualities could be called stellar in any aspect. Athletics...average. Smarts...average. Social relationships...average. While I wouldn't say that I lacked motivation, I usually did just enough to get through whatever hurdle was right in front of me. Though the spirit of competition could drive me to try a little harder, once that was gone, there was little incentive for me to do any better. I was the type of person that played a video game using a walkthrough to complete as much of the game as efficiently as possible.

However, my outlook on this situation started improving. If I had somehow been summoned as a chosen one, then that meant an exciting adventure waited for me. Rather than the dull, boring life that I had before, I would rather jump into the role of the hero from some stereotypical isekai series. I eagerly envisioned myself fighting off strong enemies and having my wishes fulfilled.

"I see. But a look at your stats tells me otherwise."

"Stats? I have stats?" I must've looked like an idiot as I looked all around me for some indication of the stats she was referring to. Finally, I spotted what looked like a floating icon that said 'Stats' hovering in the upper left of my vision. Focusing on that icon for a moment, a bunch of text popped up.

What would my build be like? It would be great if I had lots of attack so I can end a fight quickly. Maybe I would have proficiency in magic, then I can hang back and cast spells without too much moving around. But as my eyes traced the rows corresponding to the typical stats you would find in any RPG, my heart sank at what I saw. This was far from anything that I had hoped for.

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Atk...................1

Mag.................1

Def.................15

MgDef..........15

Spd................15

Dex................15

Lck.................15

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What the hell was this?! While my other stats seemed to be balanced, my attack and magic stats were as low as they could be!

"What am I supposed to do with this kind of build!? How does this show that I'm an Electi or whatever you call it," I blurted out without realizing.

My dreams of glory and excitement were extinguished by how unfair reality seemed to be.

"I admit that it's not the most favorable of abilities, but you have at least one thing going for you…," Eryn said in a slightly panicked voice as she tried to calm me down.

Huh? As I looked back at my stats again, I noticed that I missed a row.

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Crit............999

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What?