"May I ask—would you like to become an adventurer?"
Ron raised his head and looked at the exquisitely delicate girl seated upright across from him. From the anticipation in her eyes, he could feel the sincerity of the invitation at this very moment.
Based on the information he had obtained earlier, this place was the weapons shop office of the Hephaestus Familia…
The time when Hestia came to Orario should have been before the start of the plot, and in the original work, the protagonist had not yet joined a familia at this point.
The familia was currently in the difficult stage of starting from nothing, which meant that during the newcomer adventurer phase, one could only rely on oneself!
However, ordinary novice adventurers basically had no possibility of joining powerful familias.
After all, familias had developed in Orario for such a long time that derivative industries similar to those in Ron's previous life in the esports industry had already emerged—youth training.
Selecting outstanding children for cultivation was reliable no matter how one looked at it, far more so than relying on random adventurers.
And compared to familias like the Soma Familia, which did not even appear in the original work, the Hestia in front of him was undoubtedly the best choice for him at the present stage.
"Of course."
"If coming to Orario and being unable to become an adventurer, then life would be completely meaningless!"
This was not a lie.
Embracing a transcendent world where magic existed—this was something that Ron, as a transmigrator, had to seriously consider as possibly a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
After receiving Ron's clear answer, Hestia lifted her head and looked at the spirited young man before her. She could feel the weight within his words. "I've recently been planning to establish a familia."
"At present, there are no adventurers who have joined."
"So I wanted to ask—oh, right, how should I address you?"
"Ron."
"Mr. Ron, I wonder if you would be interested in joining the Hestia Familia?" When she extended the invitation, the girl only felt her heart filled with nervousness.
At this moment, her nervousness was completely different from how she had felt when recruiting adventurers at the Adventurers' Guild before.
Hestia was very worried about whether her makeshift group could shoulder the weight of this dream. "Of course, if you have a better option."
"Maybe I can help you get in touch with the gods of other familias."
"I think Lady Hestia's familia is quite good." First was the baby-faced, big-breasted beautiful girl; second was interacting as family.
Ron had no reason to refuse at all.
After hearing the response, Hestia, the person concerned, initially thought it was a polite rejection. It was only when she saw the firm look in the young man's eyes that she realized what he meant.
"Really?"
"I haven't been in Orario for very long. The conditions of the familia may be harsher than you imagine, and I may not even be able to provide much help."
"Even so—do you still want to join my familia?"
"That's right."
Ron did not change his mind.
Choosing to join the newly founded Hestia Familia meant that dungeon exploration would be more difficult, but the advantage was that the god could frequently help update ability values.
Seen from another angle, wasn't he essentially joining the protagonist's group in advance?
With a calm expression, he looked at the young goddess whose face was filled with disbelief. "Lady Hestia, what should we do next?"
"Wait a moment!"
"I'll go prepare the items to bestow the 'Blessing' right now."
The unconscious boy she had picked up was willing to join the newly created familia after waking up.
To Hestia, wasn't that also a kind of fate? But before bestowing the blessing upon him, she had to ask Hephaestus about the specific procedure.
Mainly because she truly had no experience in this area.
Most importantly, the first adventurer joining the familia symbolized her brand-new beginning in Orario!
...
After transmigrating to the "DanMachi" world, whether it was anticipation for the transcendent system, wanting to establish a firm foothold in the chaotic Orario, or facing the Black Dragon crisis arriving two years later, Ron had reasons why he had to become an adventurer!
Fortunately, the development of events did not exceed the target expectations. After joining the Hestia Familia, what awaited him was an adventurer's life he had never experienced before.
After standing up from the sofa, he surveyed Hephaestus's office.
Ron's gaze stopped on the glass-made mirror not far away. When he saw the face reflected in the mirror, he felt a brief moment of daze.
The self in the mirror still had the same familiar face as before.
And compared to a previous life that had been battered by society, the fifteen- or sixteen-year-old youth before him had facial features whose contours were still full of immaturity.
Good news:
His body had returned to a stage of abundant vitality and peak attractiveness—the teenage years!
"Don't even say it—"
"Since I've been reborn, no matter what, I have to live this life to the fullest!"
Just as Ron was filled with anticipation toward the unknown Orario, the office door was quietly pushed open. Immediately afterward, Hestia entered, carrying a parchment.
The girl was very beautiful.
Her face, slightly youthful yet like a miracle crafted by the Creator, combined with her current cheerful mood, caused the corners of her lips to lift slightly, revealing sweet dimples.
"Oh."
"Mr. Ron, next you'll need to take off your shirt and then lie face down on the sofa." Hestia placed the parchment on the tabletop and explained seriously.
Bestowing a blessing meant dripping divine blood onto the back of a familia member, granting them the authority to obtain power and continuously grow stronger.
And the "vessel" possessed by adventurers represented the potential of the familia member.
Before receiving a blessing, not even a god could know what talents a familia member possessed!
There were even a very small number of gods who, upon learning that a child of their familia was ordinary, would lose interest, treat them as a marginal figure within the familia, and gradually forget them.
She would definitely not do that!
From the moment she formed the idea of establishing a familia, Hestia had felt that it should be a warm "family."
But when truly facing the important occasion of bestowing a blessing, toward Ron—the new family member—and the talents he possessed, it was hard not to feel full of anticipation.
The girl sat at the edge of the sofa. After pricking her finger with a silver needle, she let the crimson divine blood drip onto Ron's back.
In an instant...
A gentle light, accompanied by obscure and difficult-to-understand divine-era characters, gradually emerged from his back.
When the divine-era characters gradually condensed into an attribute panel, Hestia picked up the parchment beside her and made rubbings of the various initial ability values.
She did not forget to explain, "Mr. Ron, all adventurers' initial ability values are zero."
"To raise your ability values, you have to go to the Dungeon, fight the monsters there, and then improve them through status updates."
"Lady Hestia, how about you just call me by my name instead?"
Ron naturally knew these basic settings. Compared to that, what he wanted more was to correct the form of address.
After all, the gods of the DanMachi world were, in terms of age, beings who easily started at hundreds of millions of years. Being overly polite—was the key—would only make people feel distant.
Now that he had already become a familia member, continuing to maintain that distance was really unnecessary.
"No problem!"
Hestia was of course aware that such a form of address created a strong sense of distance. The main reason was that she was afraid that being too enthusiastic might scare away this familia member she had finally managed to recruit.
She lowered her gaze slightly and focused her attention on the parchment used to imprint the status values.
...
Ron
Level: Lv1
Strength: I0
Endurance: I0
Dexterity: I0
Agility: I0
Magic: I0
...
Normal initial ability values.
But what left Hestia full of confusion were Ron's skills—
...
Skills:
[Despicable Outsider]
This effect is only triggered while inside the Dungeon.
Hated by the Dungeon.
The Dungeon environment may change at any time, and special monsters may be encountered.
[Revival]
Upon being killed, can revive.
Revival is limited to once; after it is consumed, it can be replenished by killing monsters to accumulate soul fragments.
The number of uses refreshes at midnight each day.
[Character Save Slot]
Soul fragments can be consumed to draw character cards and obtain different abilities.
Only one character card can be used at a time.
The number and strength of character cards increase as the individual's level rises.
Current character card: None.
...
"Seriously—"
After finishing reviewing these skills of the novice adventurer Ron, the young goddess—who had already slid down from the edge of the sofa to the floor—could not help but murmur: "Even from a god's perspective, in Orario's long history, something like this probably counts as a miracle that has never appeared before, right?"