Several minutes before Jay Kim kicked off the festivities by marching towards the goblins, the hundred or so people summoned in the 11^th Tutorial Area – also known as Brino – were in a bit of a pickle.

The good news was that the goblins weren’t particularly large.

The bad news was that they were outnumbered by the goblin scouting party, 5 to 1.

As the Awakeners were getting ready for this defense, questions were being asked by those who either needed more information or more affirmation to join the fight.

“This is just a scouting party. Five hundred or more to a scouting party?”

“I don’t know about you, but 500 seems to be way above our pay grade.”

“But they are very small – about the size of elementary school students. “

“You think we could defeat them all... ? “

The questions being asked as the minutes passed by before the attack revealed something about these new Awakeners: For some reason or another, the urge to fight and to kill was almost second nature to them.

It was perhaps a way of preventing Awakeners from picking up all they could carry and running away.

And it was why they didn’t panic that much even if there was a battle against goblins about to take place right at their doorstep within the next few minutes.

That was when someone shouted out something.

“Everyone!” One of the group leaders said, his voice easily carrying towards the Awakeners. “Say ‘Inventory’, and you will be able to see the things you have on you, like a video game! Yes, this world is like a game! “

“Inventory?”

“So that’s why you’re holding a sword!”

“Yes, there is a basic weapon there. It contains a basic weapon for each class,” the leader said, explaining to the throng why he was already outfitted.

Inventory: a space for storing items.

When one or two people noticed its existence, one by one, Awakeners began to bring out their equipment.

One of the Awakeners spoke up. “I’m armed with a long sword.”

“So, I’ve got myself a spear, huh?”

“Wait, why do I have a cane – oh, nice, there’s a sword in here!”

More and more Awakeners readied themselves, bringing out weapons, putting them on and looking like they stepped out of a video game or a cosplay convention.

And while Jay was at the gates, he couldn’t help but overhear the activity, and decided to give that a try, too.

Inventory!

Curious about what kind of weapon a Shopping Addict would have, Jay checked his inventory with some anticipation and worry, and then…

His face fell.

“Wait.”

“WHAT.”

Thankfully, no one noticed Jay’s poleaxed expression as he saw a completely empty inventory screen.

Nothing.

Nil, zip, nada.

He couldn’t believe the absurdity of the situation he was in.

All the Awakeners here are already equipped with something, and my inventory is a freaking blank? Jay thought. Is it my class or something? Unbelievable.

Maybe Shopping Addicts have no weapon classes added in for them in this game yet? Jay asked himself. Heck, even skills to use weapons don’t exist for me right now.

“Fuck’s sake, at least give me a laptop or something to buy with!” he yelled at the air, being very put out by the fact that nearly everyone else had some decent starting gear while all he had were the clothes on his back and...

Jay sighed.

I’ve got no choice. If they ask me to kill, then I have to kill.

He had gained somewhat of a reputation for never saying die, getting projects with little to no support and seeing them through to completion.

It was something that – before he discovered the wonders of Internet shopping – called ‘hard work and guts’.

Sure, Jay was still a hard worker, and he was still gutsy enough to take any and every challenge that came to him, but this time, he had an underlying motive for most of it: he could endure any form of hardship and adversity if there was a light at the end of the tunnel that led to his favorite Internet shopping site.

This was one similar moment. Kind of like the time he dove into the job market, feet first, no internships, no headhunters, just him, his skill set, and a whole lot of enthusiasm.

He’d taken his fair share of failure and rejection in stride, and when he got his first job, he held onto it for dear life, doing whatever he could through sheer will and action.

The first job didn’t last, but the lessons he learned did.

He focused on what he was good at – being a man of action – and got the job he wanted not too long after.

“With hard work, guts, and an eye for a good sale, nothing is impossible!”

That was then.

This is now.

What made this so different than back then?

“Let's do this. Nobody ever said getting paid was easy.”

And away he went.

“Now, the goblins are approaching close. Let's go.”

With the main gate already open and the Awakeners out in formation, the goblin scouting party edged closer to begin the battle…

…except someone who was looking out of the corner of their eye for anything they could use as a weapon against these critters.

“Rock, rock, give me a rock!” he yelled in desperation.

“Alright people, let’s go!”

A random shout broke the spell while Jay was looking for his weapon from the ground, and the Awakeners drew their weapons and made a collective rush towards the mass of goblins, a collective war cry brought forth to quell their own fears.

“Everyone, let's win this!”

“Fight’s on!”