"Wake up, Mimay! Wake up!"
Astar kept shaking Mimay's shoulder while she was still on the ground. Her breasts were moving up and down in a way that was impossible not to notice.
Erwin had his hand on his chin, staring at the stat screen beside me. "That is rather unusual, I have to admit."
"Is it so hard to get to level 99?" Julian asked.
"The highest I have seen so far was level 67."
Erwin kept teaching Julian the basics of navigating menu screens while Kai and Astar tried to wake Mimay up.
"You just have to imagine your stat screen and it should appear. It's a level 1 skill, everyone has it right from the start."
"Alright," Julian said, "I'll give it a try."
After a few seconds of closed eyes and some unnecessary teeth gritting, a translucent blue screen popped up before him. The stats matched exactly what the scan spell had shown.
"This is your stats screen. You may also check your bestiary over here."
Julian touched the bestiary button on the screen and another window was shown.
"Funny, there's only three entries," said Julian.
Bestiary:
001 - Rat (57,953 kills)
002 - Giant Rat (362 kills)
.
.
.
479 - Definitely Not a Rat (1 kill)
"You have killed thousands of rats," said Erwin, "that explains your high level."
"I'm curious about this one…" Julian touched the entry id 479.
Name: Definitely Not a Rat
Description: Moves like a rat, looks like a rat, but it's not a rat.
Additional Notes: Target was eliminated during a regular job. The client insisted it was a rat. Exp was awarded regardless.
They both blinked.
"Let's check your inventory."
The inventory window appeared.
Inventory:
Rat Tail x99
Spinel x18
Warning: Max stack reached. Exceeding items will be immediately transformed into gold.
Gold: 173,859 gp
"Just as I expected," Erwin said.
"I guess my kills from my former world were transferred to this one when I was summoned."
"That is accurate. The experience and drops too."
Mimay had finally come back to life when they finished checking Julian's stats and inventory.
Kai didn't waste any time. "Have you seen his title? It says Rat Killer. Now look at this."
He showed the summoning crystal used before to try and summon the dungeon boss. "This cristal doesn't say Killer Rat, it says Rat Killer!"
"You might have read it upside down, Mimay," said Astar.
Mimay burst into tears. "I'm sorry! I screwed it all up! We should have killed the boss and gotten its loot, and now we're here and we have no moneeeey!"
"Hey, hey." Julian tried to calm her down. "Don't worry, I got plenty of money in case you need some. I hope the IRS doesn't take notice of this."
"Leader, I would like to recommend the immediate recruitment of Sir Julian to our party!" Said Erwin.
"That might actually be a good idea," said Astar, crossing her arms.
Kai's mega inflated ego would never accept that so easily. Not without a fight first.
He drew his sword. "Well then, first you have to prove your potential! Spar me and show me what you got!"
Julian stared at him. Again he was acting as a school boy trying to prove his worth.
"Alright, if you wish."
"Then get ready, you rat catcher! I will smash you into–"
A single supersonic wrench slash sent the boy flying. He only stopped when his body met a tree. The fight was over before it had even started.
"He is fast," said Erwin. (I lost count how many anime characters say this line)
"I had no idea I was so strong," said Julian, "level 99 is no joke."
Kai got up and held onto his sword, but on a second look, there was just half of it in his hands. The rest of the blade had been completely shattered due to the impact of the Iron Grip.
"You're lucky you're not a rat, Kai, or else he would've killed you." Astar joked.
The young boy grinned admitting defeat. "Fine, you won. You wanna join us?"
Julian walked to him and offered a handshake. Kai looked at him, puzzled.
"Just shake my hand. It's a way to greet a friend and make a deal."
Kai smiled and shook his hand. "From now on you're a member of our party!"
The flames flickered at the camp.
"Guys, I hate to be that person," said Mimay, "but it's getting late."
"You're right. Let's hit the sack, guys. Tomorrow we're having a long day!"
***
The sound of chatter and the smell of baked bread were getting more and more vivid as they approached the city walls. It was the first sign of civilization the rat catcher had seen since he got summoned from Earth.
"That's Minerva City," said Mimay, "It is a huge commercial center. I can't wait to go shopping!"
The little halfling girl couldn't hold her excitement, but Astar had to bring her back to reality, as much as that was painful. "I hate to be that person, but we are broke."
"Hey, that's my line!" Then, Mimay lowered her voice. "But you're right…"
Julian smiled. "Well, I owe Kai a new sword, so maybe we can all go shopping together. How about that?"
"Really?" Mimay had stars in her eyes.
"Oh, no." Astar took her hand to her forehead. "You just don't know what you're doing."
Julian was drawing eyes from the city gates to the roads. Everyone was looking and whispering to their friends. A funny looking dude with even funnier clothes. That was the type of attention they didn't want to draw.
Erwin noticed that and handed Julian a cape. "Here, rat catcher. This… garment of yours is not really blending in."
"Thanks, I guess." said Julian, putting on the black cape and adjusting it.
"Try not to draw too much attention. If people know about your level, that can be problematic."
"Don't worry, I can do that. I have plenty of experience being socially invisible."
The city was bustling with people. There were tents everywhere selling all sorts of food, clothes and jewelry; even some pieces of equipment for adventurers.
Mimay pointed to a necklace. "How much is this?"
The merchant rubbed his hands together. "For you only one thousand gold pieces."
"One thousand!" Julian's eyeballs almost popped out of his face.
The little girl looked at him with a plea in her eyes, her cheeks blushing and hands together. "Pretty please!?"
Julian took a deep breath and gave up. He couldn't stand such cuteness.
Kai was given a brand new blade too: a gorgeous sword with red glowing runewards. With a voice command, flames erupted from the blade. You wouldn't find one of those every day.
"We're square now, rat catcher." A handshake sealed the deal.
There was enough time before the evening to register Julian in the guild. The building was quite impressive looking, two statues of warriors in full plate holding the hilt of their swords decorated the main entrance.
Some steps and a red carpet led to the main hall. The Adventurer's Guild was full of the most varied races and classes. Mages and warriors, rangers and paladins, elves, dwarves, humans and… beastfolk?
Now that is a good surprise.
"I'd like to register as an adventurer," Julian said to the receptionist at the counter.
"Please, fill this form so we can move on with the registration process, sir. The information will automatically be filled on the paper when I cast it."
Julian fought the distraction of the receptionist's fully round breasts and managed to write his name on the piece of paper.
As he handed it to the girl, her face was like a tomato. "Um… The next step is… We have to cast scan on you, sir."
"Is that really necessary?"
"Yes. That's the only way we can assign you a tier, sir."
He knew what was about to happen. Casting scan on him in a room full of other adventurers would be a terrible situation. Julian looked around and saw Astar, Mimay and Kai on a table. Erwin was right beside him at the counter.
"Erwin," Julian said, "you have to create a distraction." He signaled with his eyes to the receptionist's much visible attributes.
"Understood."
The receptionist raised her hand and started chanting the spell. The blue magic circle started forming around Julian.
"Scan!"
"Now, Erwin!"
The elf swiftly used his dagger to cut some of the fabric of the receptionist's blouse, thus revealing her frilled pink bra. All the adventurers were so hypnotized by it they couldn't even notice the status screen that had popped up above Julian's head.
When she had finally had the time to cover her chest with her arms, it was already too late. The screen had already been gone, before anyone had time to look at it.
*Slap!*
Erwin had to take the slap for him.
Well, at least the info was on the paper and Julian was assigned a tier: a five star adventurer, officially.
No one has seen his stats on the screen, except for a shady figure in the corner of the room. He stood up and left without anyone taking notice, a sly grin on its face.