Arthfael: The Grinding Hero

The sound of clicking between the mouse and keyboard filled the entire room of a 25 year old man who had given up on finding a job. To fill his free time while waiting for some interview calls to come, the man with black hair and brown eyes was busy playing games on his computer to alleviate his boredom towards reality.

"AL-VIIIIIN! Turn off your computer right! Now! It's already 3 am, and you haven't slept?!" shouted a woman's voice from outside his room that pierced through the silence of the night.

Like a teenager addicted to playing video games, Alvin ended his game on his computer and turned it off.

"Okay, I'm going to sleep now!" replied Alvin loudly as he got up from his chair, then turned off the light in his room and lay down on his bed.

Actually, the feeling of sleepiness no longer dominated him after he had finished two cups of coffee that he made a few hours ago. However, because his mother had shouted and must have heard the sound of his keyboard and mouse clashing, Alvin was forced to end his game now.

"I'll continue tomorrow. It's a shame, I was almost at the end of the challenge," muttered Alvin as he searched for a comfortable position and began to close his eyes.

His darkened eye bags seemed to make it clear that he lacked sleep only because he played games every night. He worked on various types of games, just to fulfill his desire to overcome the boredom that always haunted him every time he felt like giving up on finding a job.

In fact, Alvin was one of the best students at his university before. He often received compliments from people who were envious of him, as if Alvin's future would be as bright as the morning sun. But the reality was different, Alvin actually lost in the competition to get a job. His intelligence was worthless compared to those who were accepted through insider connections.

"Ugh!" groaned Alvin as he rolled his body to the other side and began to be carried away by the drowsiness that overtook him.

The drowsiness that dominated him took him towards the realm of dreams. A place where Alvin wouldn't feel burdened by the harsh realities of life that always choked him.

Behind his previously darkened eyelids, a light slowly emerged like a wormhole that took him to another place. The sound of a crowd began to fill the silence of the night and became more and more real.

Alvin still had his eyes closed, waiting for what would happen next until suddenly the sound of people cheering loudly disturbed him.

"Be quiet, I'm sleeping and want to rest!" complained Alvin with his eyes still closed amidst the uproar of everyone.

The sound of a trumpet that seemed to come from nowhere echoed throughout and made Alvin instantly cover his ears due to the incredible noise. With reluctance, Alvin opened his eyes and was greeted by hundreds of thousands of people occupying the surrounding stadium while cheering towards him.

"Finish this quickly! Beat that monster!" shouted one of the men on his left while demonstrating a motion to hit something.

Alvin turned his gaze to his right and saw people who seemed angry at him.

"Are you sure you can fight it? Don't act tough! Just go home if you're only going to cry about this match!" yelled the man at Alvin with a mocking tone.

Alvin still didn't understand why they asked him to hit something. Until finally, a door across from him opened wide, and a 9 foot tall monster appeared, screaming so loudly that it made Alvin cover his ears.

“Hoaaarrggghhh!” roared the red colored monster with its faceless appearance revealing its skull of the same color.

Its two legs were even bigger than its body and could crush Alvin anytime as it pleased. Its loud roar got the audience excited as they waited for the match to unfold in front of their eyes.

“Shit!” exclaimed Alvin upon seeing the monster in front of him, realizing that he was the one who had to fight the monster.

Now Alvin understood why people were cheering for him and asking him to hit quickly to end the match. Above the monster's head, Alvin could read a text that seemed to explain the monster.

“Dreadspawn? Level A?” Alvin muttered as he read the inscription above the monster's head.

He laughed and smiled, feeling his dream was so incredibly cool, "What kind of dream is this? Why is it so awesome? I don't even remember seeing this monster in the video games I've played." he said, proud of himself.

Dreadspawn, satisfied with its show of power, now targeted Alvin as its prey.

Amidst Alvin's self congratulations, the monster Dreadspawn ran towards him and suddenly... Boom!

The muscular monster's sharp black nails punched Alvin, causing his body to be thrown 300 meters from where he stood.

"Ouch!" Alvin groaned as he felt pain all over his body.

Alvin struggled to get up from his position, his eyes fixed on the Dreadspawn that hit his chest and was about to attack him again.

"W- wait! Wait a minute! Wait a minute!!! WAIIITTT!" Alvin shouted as he tried to get up, but he was too slow compared to the lightning-fast Dreadspawn that ran towards him.

Bugh!

Dreadspawn's kick successfully knocked Alvin's body in another direction, causing him to spit out blood that filled his mouth. Several of his teeth fell out, causing him to feel pain in his mouth area.

The monster in front of him screamed again to praise itself, and people started cheering for Alvin, who was still busy spitting out the contents of his mouth.

"If you can't fight, just leave, you coward!" shouted one of the spectators as he threw a banana peel at him.

"Right! Just leave! You're boring us!" exclaimed another spectator, and now the audience started to get restless, feeling that the battle between the monster and a man who just surrendered without any resistance was a waste of time.

Alvin moved from his position, then looked at his right hand and noticed a thick black line that resembled a bracelet.

"What is this?" Alvin asked, then began to raise his hand in front of his eyes and instantly, an information screen appeared before him.

On the screen, information about himself was displayed clearly.

“Arthfael? Level 40?" exclaimed Alvin as he read the information, and his eyes were drawn to a piece of information just below his own.

‘Every successful hit on the opponent will double your strength.’

“Did my name now become Arthfael?” murmured Alvin, who now knew his identity in that place as Arthfael.

Arthfael's eyes then focused on the monster still screaming in front of him. Arthfael put on a sly smile and jumped to take a fighting stance against the monster in front of him.

“Alright! Let's do this!” said Arthfael, positioning himself and preparing his muscles to fight the Dreadspawn monster.

The audience began to cheer loudly and give Arthfael encouragement to defeat the monster. Especially now that Arthfael had a little willingness to fight, even though his body was now battered due to the blows inflicted by Dreadspawn earlier.