As time goes, it becomes increasingly unpleasant to sit on the hard, rough ground. No matter how much I love nature, being used to a relatively leisurely life in the city gives this situation a bad undertone.
To pass the time and distract myself from the mild annoyances, I talk with the System. Just now having asked it a question about if it's possible to level my Runecrafter class.
[Yes - making rune programs grants EXP, the amount varies based on the complexity of the program and rarity of the material it was written on. If you were to make a basic magic missile program on the previously mentioned red diamond, your level would jump to about 40.]
So if I put some runes on all of the rocks in my inventory right now that should give some good EXP right?
[Nope, it's been nerfed. If you make more than 5 rune programs per day there will be no more EXP, of course that doesn't stop the later runes from working, just that there won't be EXP.]
That's unfortunate, it's gonna take a long time to level my main class then, At least I'll kill /some/ time by carving those three rune programs.
Anything else you'd like to tell me about this? It may prove dangerous to be unaware of possible weaknesses...
[You'll need to figure it out on your own, I'm willing to answer direct questions only. It would be annoying if you became too dependant on me.]
Laying my back on the grass, I sigh. These last two days have been chaotic. Insanely so. First getting transported to a random forest, finding a medieval city, grabbing an unnecessarily large amount of rocks, fighting in my first dungeon, and just after that getting caught in a battle... I truly hope it would get more peaceful as time goes on, to let me properly prepare for what's to come in two hundered years.
Should I simply live in the forest for now? Avoiding any magical or mundane monsters should be pretty easy if I settled near the city, which the more powerful, bizzare creatures most likely don't go near. And with that, there wouldn't be a need to deal with the trickery and mind games which humans so commonly use. No worrying about catching the attention of random nobles, mages, secret organizations and getting into many other possible problematic situations that go in pair with human establishments.
Should I stay in the city long enough, all the while gathering power, it'd no doubt attract the attention of previously mentioned parties. I'll admit it, even though I may be good with programming, my mind is definitely not one capable of grasping such multi-layered plans. Before I knew it, my body could be sold to some king, realizing it only after entering their chambers...
A nope from me.
Living in the woods may have its own challenges, like wolves, bears or random magical creatures, but at least I know how to handle those, as the power System grants me can be used to defeat physical foes. They won't scheme against me behind my back, won't trick me into agreeing to scandalous contracts, and they can be trained, unlike humans.
Now, even though Gamer's Body may grant me an impressive level of self-sustainability, it can't clean me. For this sole reason it would be good to get a house, or even a small hut, maybe also so it could function as a base of operations, and to have somewhere to go, not wander the forest like a dryad...
Although, do I really want to get one?
Would I still count as a human? There is no real need to sleep, eat and do all that other stuff. No need to get a house, except for cleaning myself... I could wander the woods for an eternity for all I care, and that's not exactly human behaviour. We, they, they distance themselves from Mother Nature, they try to barricade themselves from her, they... Could they have defied the code of life? My old life proved that their ways were not even remotely as ideal as Hers. They tried to be divine, but could've they succeeded?
It's either live in harmony with all life, and stop existing once the Sun begins its giant phase, or try to break the Code, abandon the arms of our Mother Nature, for a very slight chance of success, of setting out to the stars, maybe even escaping the death of the universe...
That didn't work in my old world. It was a doomed Earth, in two to three hundered years... The end was nigh.
As the people of old Earth were driven by endless greed, their pride, and as they cracked the code, they abandoned the principle of life. Abandoned Nature for their resources, money and power.
Thinking of it, my situation is not that different. A great battle in two centuries, the choice to either get stronger and stronger by any means, risking abandoning my old self to have a small chance at surviving, becoming the Ruler of the Omniverse, or accept my fate, live a normal life.
Should I leave the fate of the omniverse to a random Gamer, one of the thousand, someone possibly evil? If there's a chance to save it, have an innumerable amount of worlds prosper, then I think it'd be worth at least trying to fight in the Battle.
Of course, there is the danger of me becoming the evil I swore to destroy, just as humanity in its drive to move foward destroyed the very planet it originated from, dooming itself in the process. However, the danger is worth it. Even if I may lose myself, become evil with all the power at my fingertips, there is a small chance of staying the way I am now, there is the chance, even though miniscule, to save the omniverse.
Do I really want to save it?
This may be the Sin of Greed that's making me think I want to 'save' all of existence, and deep down it's because I want it for myself, to rule literally everything there is. Though, wouldn't that still be better than the tyranny of someone with Wrath or Gluttony? Or a person with more than one sin?
So I do want to save it, not because of the most noble reasons, but still not only for my own gain, right?
Gazing at the wondrous night's sky, at the galaxy and countless stars, I've never seen such things before on the Doomed Earth...
All of this, those burning suns and planets that orbit them, the life within, cosmic dust, even stray asteroids, it's all one galaxy, of trillions in this universe, which is one of possible quadrillions in a singular multiverse. And those, I have no idea how many multiverses are in an omniverse, octillions? Quattuordecillions? Maybe even infinite?
No, Game said every gamer had their own multiverse, so there's only a thousand of them most likely.
That's still an unimaginable number of universes though.
...
How long have I been here? On this hill? Must be a few hours at the very least, with how long I've been pondering and talking with Game.
[Since you entered this clearing, 47 minutes have passed.]
Staring at the number in slight disbelief, I groan in annoyance. That's what happens when one's waiting for something, their perception of time slows down.
Well, this is definitely not going to be a short night.
-x-
After what felt like eternity, the flashy attack on the city stopped, but it was somehow still dark.
Such a long time to think of important and unimportant things, it was more than enough to decide if it would be better to get or not get a base of operations. Even though I don't have almost all of the needs a place to stay sates, it would still be good to have somewhere to go, a bunker to hide in from any possible future dangers.
However, to do that I need money. The land around the city is most likely owned by local nobles, getting the resources to acquire even a small part of it may prove problematic.
And how to get money? Maybe quests?
Game, do you have any quests I could take that have a monetary reward?
[No.]
Well, I tried. When the city opens again I'll look for work, there should be some shops willing to hire me. If not that, then /maybe/ I would get lucky and become the apprentice of some mage- betting capable magic users are in high demand, no matter what kind of fantasy world this is. Besides magic may give me the ability to build my own house, not have to rely on this world's system.
...
I wish I could sleep, skip the seemingly unending night.
-x-
There was a barely visible change in color of the sky near the horizon, dawn is coming. A light mist started forming above the forest, giving out a mysterious aura. Some of the first waking birds made themselves known, chirping once in a while, but still hidden in their nests, likely until the sun rises. The thing that made the most noise however, was crickets.
In the past hours I have done some things to pass the time, among them was trying many ways to activate my magic. Experimented with different methods anime and movies presented, none of that worked.
If this keeps up, I'm gonna have to defeat that boss with rocks, definitely not something I want to do.
The surroundings are getting more visible as the mist thickens. The first signs of sunrise, little slivers of reddish orange can be seen just above the horizon, the city should be opening soonish.
Getting up proved to be a bit difficult with how slippery the wet, tall grass is, and how long I've been sitting here doing nothing. Turns out Gamer's Body doesn't solve numbness.
After stretching my legs, I leave the hill, beginning a walk down the hill directly to the main gate.
-x-
Standing before the city once more, it turns out it's still closed, even though it's almost day. The Sun didn't rise yet, they might be opening then. I can tell however that in a short time it will, as the clouds above gained a fiery orange color, creating a striking contrast between the still dark earth and colorful sky.
And then the sunrise started, the world was bathed in light, a few birds flying in the distance. It all looked like it belonged in a painting, as most sceneries in this unpolluted world do.
I then heard a deep creaking noise behind me, turning around, the gate was being opened, letting the sun's brightness fill out the almost empty main street. There were very few people out, it was still pretty early. With the attack of that random mage army, this night being undoubtedly loud, stress inducing, the city has not yet woken up completely.
Though, the soilders that fought off the attack, it's impressive they managed to do that, with how powerful the enemy seemed to be.
I was walking on the wide road once more, on a lookout for anything that may be a store. Although some places are still closed, the city's huge, maybe even comparable to the smaller metropolis of Doomed Earth, so it may take me hours to check out even only the larger streets. Magic likely helped in its construction, that might be the reason why it got so much larger than regular medieval cities.
I entered a wide two-story brick building, which had two hammers embedded above the door, most likely signifying a blacksmith shop / workroom.
Inside, it was a large room, there on the walls were many armors, swords, bows, crossbows and a few other weapons completely alien to me. The floor was made of stone, the high ceiling was however wooden, a thick pole was standing in the center, keeping it all from collapsing.
A short bald man with a beard covering his whole front upper body was sitting in the darkest corner on a rectangular stone, behind him a ladder leading to the second floor, I noticed him counting something in his hands, mumbling to himself. He's wearing a thick fur coat, along with even thicker, woollen pants.
He seemed not to notice me at first. When I walked up to him, he jumped, startled. Golden coins flew everywhere, clinking around the shop. As soon as he calmed down, he started frantically gathering the money. I tried helping, but he did something quite unnatural, growled, when my hand got close to one of the coins.
"Uhh, sorry" I said, scratching the back of my head, bewildered at his behaviour.
"Get out."
His tone of voice was almost indistinguishable from the mumbling, and yet sharper than the blades he keeps in this shop. I was out of there quickly, wouldn't work for him even if given the chance- much too bizzare.
-x-
It's been around two hours since I started searching, minutes ago overheard that a bookstore was hiring helpers, bit unusual for a medieval world to have bookstores, but once again, this is fantasy. After that, I asked a few passerbys for directions, I should be nearing the place now. That's if what they told me is the truth, which it probably is, there's no reason to lie about the directions to some store.
Got to watch the city come to life, people coming out of the many houses, opening their shops, chatting with neighbours as the sun rises higher and higher into the clear deep blue sky. It was an unusual experience to say the least, as in the old world I used to sleep till noon most of the time. Really missing being able to skip the night, laze around in my comfy bed as I wake...
Although, it's not all that bad, without the need for sleep I'll be much more productive, getting twice the amount of things done per day.
I take a deep breath in the fresh morning air, something I've done multiple times today. I got used to the different atmosphere sometime at night, but it's still fairly pleasurable to not be completely submerged under many decade-old toxic fumes, a heavy, choking smog.
Going across an expansive town square, it slightly reminds me of the pictures I've seen of ancient Greece, with two large fountains and many people scattered across. Instead of pillared sandstone saunas and temples, the buildings were made of brick and wood, with the former being much more common, latter used mostly for the highest floors. There were pigeons as well, gathered in flocks on roofs, some eating scraps on the ground.
It was all similar to the way early 19th ceuntry cities looked like as well. This civilization is advanced in its own way, they may not have internet, electricity, cars, trains, or even gunpowder, but they do have these angelic summons the attackers used, the magic force shields which were brought to protect the city, having seen lots of smaller oddities such as a hovering yellow flame being used to heat up a kettle, although that was in a store entirely focused on the arcane. Regardless, most of the things done with ease using magic are immensly difficult, if not outright impossible to achieve with the tech Doomed Earth has to offer. I wouldn't be suprised if there existed a moon base protected from all the radiation, falling asteroids, and other cosmic stuff by humongous magic shields, called the 'Lunar Kingdom'.
Well, magic in it's own right is some cheaty stuff, granting the way to godhood to anyone working hard enough, elevating medieval civilizations to spacefaring levels, Imperium of Man esque.
Noticing a wooden sign with the image of a book carved on it, hanging from two thin matte, light brown chains connected to the underside of a jetted second story. Walking up to it, I noted that the whole building from ground to roof, three floors, is made of a dark kind of wood. This is the bookstore I was told about, description matches perfectly. Old, gives off an aura of knowledge, and almost fully wooden.
As I enter it, there's a quiet 'Ding'.
On the musty inside, the right side of the room housed five bookcases, only describable as worn down. They were filled to the brim with many yellowed books of varying sizes and design, more of them stacked in the corners, dark places. A counter was on the other side.
Even though the place's obviously seen better times, it looks like it's being maintained well- I haven't spotted any dust or spider webs, the only thing that's missing is good sorting, which would, I would guess be why the person who owns the bookstore is currently looking for assistants.
Speaking of, a brown haired girl roughly my age, in a cotton shirt and pants, was looking at me, curiousness mixed with some pain in her eyes, standing near the furthest bookshelf away from me.
"Good morning" I started, "I came here regarding a rumored job offer, to work as an assistant."
"Uhh, hey?" She sounded troubled, like she didn't know what I was doing here, but it seems why I was in her shop got to her after a few seconds, and she composed herself.
"Would it be alright to... maybe show you around the place before you make the... decision?"
I nodded, a polite smile on my face.
"Then, this room we're in is... um, the shop part of the house..?" She half asked.
"Are you asking me? Aren't you the owner of this bookstore?"
"I am, although this is my very first day here." Her expression sorrowed at that.
So it's like that huh? It seems she really does need an assistant.
The store is obviously very old, and for a sad young woman to be most likely the only one working, it's probably been inherited from a recently deceased family member. At least that's my guess to what's happening.
Clapping my hands once, I say "Well, let's forget that conversation for now and move on with it. For starters, what's behind that door?" I point to my left, where the counter and a dark, wooden door are.
"Oh, it leads to where the more valuable books are kept ...should we go there to begin the tour?"
I nod again, gesturing her to lead me.
We cross the door leading to a long, but thin room. Really, I thought it was a passageway for a second there, and it probably did function as one in the past considering its shape, though currently there's no doors at the sides or the other end. It's filled with books, tomes upon tomes stacked on the floor, covering it almost perfectly. There's only a few small spots between the piles, barely enough for me to maybe manage to get to the other side. There were a few small dirty windows giving the room some light, too difficult to clean with all the books in the way
"...If you can't find a registered book in the main area, then it's probably here." She said, using a somewhat more certain tone of voice.
She continued showing me around, next we went up a staircase hidden behind a regal. There was a short hallway with five doors on the second floor.
"These are the bedrooms... family used to live here, but now that they're not here, there's nothing stopping you from taking one of them as a temporary stay ...except that one to your right, it's mine." She pointed to the room she meant.
"Can I take a look inside one of them?" I asked, getting a nod in response. Originally wanted to live in the forest, but I'm definitely not going to miss an opportunity like sleeping at my place of work, plus the dangerous people aren't gonna prey on me yet, I'm not known enough. Still planning on leaving the city behind, but for now the world knowledge that can be found in this place one-sidedly outweighs the possible dangers.
Opening the leftmost door leads me to a small room with a simple bed, and a night table, a few books were placed on it, one of which caught my attention, it looked normal, mundane in almost every way, except the title... 'Unlocking your magic as an adult', I'm definitely gonna start reading that once I get the job.
[...]
Huh? Game? You wanted to say something?
...
No response?
Getting on with the tour, we leave for the stairs, the third floor. This time there were no doors, only a large, windowless, thus dark, room. It took up the whole floor, four thick supporting wood beams could be seen. There were many crates, barrels, and a small iron box.
"This is where most things belonging to the previous owners are kept... I didn't get the chance to look through them, but it's probably just more books."
Seeing as there wasn't much more to say here, we went up one last level, to the attic.
The angled walls made it much slimmer, almost resembling the book storage hallway in shape, but instead of books, there was an armchair near a large triangular window on the other end.
"The attic is dedicated to reading. I know that might sound strange, but understand that the activity is ...valued very much within my family." The girl said.
Walking up to the chair, I see a book laying on it, but pay it no mind as I gaze out the remarkably clean window.
The building was higher than most around it, so the window showed a beautiful view of many roofs, the dark greem forest and much further snow-peaked mountains, a few clouds rolling across the sky. Yeah, this place is perfect for sitting down and enjoying a good book, it has a kind of atmosphere which makes people want to do that.
Reluctantly leaving the magical corner, I, along with the owner went back to the main bookstore area.
"Hey, I believe we haven't introduced to each other yet." I say on the way there, looking at the back of her head. She stopped and turned around, responding after a second.
"Umm, yeah..."
"My name's Suisei, Suisei Kyoryokou." I smile.
"I'm Naela."
Getting back to where we started the tour, the first floor, I ask her some questions.
"So, how much do I get for working here?"
Naela gained a thoughtful expression,
"...About five gold per month, minus two for the cost of living in the building." she said after a few seconds. That sounds reasonable, it should take care of most the problems that I still have despite Gamer's Body.
"..."
"Then, anything I need to do as of now? Was thinking of sorting the books here, but there might be something else you planned on tasking me...?" I ask.
"No... If you would sort it all up, then that should be enough work for today..." After responding, Naela departed for the stairs.
"Wait!-" And there she goes, but I guess she does need the rest, if not from physical reasons, then mental.
Turning my eyes from the stairs, I look up at the bookshelves, then the book piles in the corners, and I sigh. This isn't that bad though, besides the money, it's also a temporary base, and a place containing tons of books that could grant me a lot of knowledge about this world, and the one tome in my future room may be the key I need to advance as a mage.
Beginning sorting, I get all books off the shelves, which takes me half an hour. The higher placed ones can be tricky to reach, and there were a lot of delicate, old tomes. But, I eventually get it done.
After that, there was a huge mess on the floor, only lessening when I started putting the books back where they belong, now in alphabetical order. Naela came back down when I was half way through, saying that even though customers rarely come in here, it still is a store. She didn't stutter, or pause midway through, guessing she did something to ease the mental pain.
A few hours later, it's all sorted. Except the piles in the corners that is. No more books fit on the shelves, so I'm forced to improvise, deciding on simply making them look prettier; instead of piles there would be blocks of books. I know that doesn't make them easier to go through, but a pile isn't any better.
I look at my work with a bit of pride, not bad for the first day.
"Feel free to read anything in the store, you're done now." Naela said, I think I can see the hint of a smile on her lips.
Going up to the second floor, to my room. I immediately grab the book about unlocking magic, and throw myself on the bed, opening the tome.
I'm greeted with a game window, unnecessarily large, as if to block my view of the book, there was only one word written on it.
[Wait!]
Huh? What do you want, Game? After waiting some time, I tried closing the window, but nothing happened. Tried moving it, didn't budge. Why are you doing this?
[Don't read that.]
A message written in a different font appeared, it never happened before, so I got a bit confused.
{Read it, read it, it's alright.}
[Ving? Don't tell me...]
{I planted this book here, if she's too scared to go kill the boss as you intended, maybe this would get her to advance. Most other Gamers have already started power-leveling, I simply want her to have a fair fight.}
[Ughhh... Just this once, but please don't do this again, you know how hard it is to edit the mechanics to accept outside influence, and I also have to earse that dungeon reward.]
{Sure sure, just got a bit impatient.}
[...]
After watching the conversation unfold in slight amusement, I close all the windows, this time nothing stopping me from doing it.
Ving? Wasn't that Vingnish, the game's Admin?
This supposed all-powerful god seems suprisingly human, not something I'd expect from an entity of his margin.
But well, making a thousand of what amounts to isekai protagonists fight to the death is something a human would do if given the power, I won't deny it.
I glance back at the book, opening it again. Getting comfortable on the bed, I start reading.
-x-
After just a few minutes of laying there, I realized this was gonna be more difficult than I originally thought, the process of unlocking magic involves many rituals and hours of meditation.
Should I've just went to the dungeon and killed the zombie boss? No. I can't imagine myself winning against that four meter tall undead monster using simple /rocks/, no matter what Game says.
Speaking of dungeons, just realized I haven't done one today yet, maybe later.
-x-
After a while of reading the magic-unlocking tutorial book, which was unsuprisingly boring, I decide to go do the Dungeon.
I hope it resets every night, would be a setback if I had to defeat the boss to get more zombies to kill.
When once again inside the ruined city, I immediately spot an undead. So it does reset, that's a relief.
Halfway through the killing I leveled up, which was a welcome suprise, got 10 stat points.
Name - Suisei Kyoryokou
Title - The Gamer
Level - 2
Class - Runecrafter - LVL 1 [0%]
Race - Human
Rank - Mortal
Allignment - Neutral Good (Path to Evil)
HP - 120/100 [1.2 per minute]
MP - 140/100 [2.4 per minute]
SP - 100/100 [1.2 per minute]
STR - 10
END - 13
DEX - 11
INT - 13
WIS - 12
CHA - 10
LUK - 11
This is how I allocated them, three to INT, as it dictates how much mana I have, same to END for defence, two to WIS for better magic regen, one to DEX as for the same reason as END, and one to LUK, as it's always good to be more lucky.
Near the end of the dungeon I got a message,
[Through a repeated action, you have acquired the following skill.]
[Throwing] - LVL 1
+1% Damage inflicted by throwables
+1% Projectile speed
+1% Maximum weight you can throw
+1% Accuracy of object thrown
Asking Game why didn't I get it sooner, it replied that for a skill to appear, I need to level it up from LVL 0, and that it applies to everything, even mundane things such as washing the dishes, running, or even breathing. The more I do it, the more EXP it needs to level up, the reason why I don't have a Breathing skill.
As the only thing alive was again the boss, I left the ID.
Reappearing back in my room, I stretch, throwing rocks for hours is suprisingly tiring, the number of zombies has increased as well- maybe the dungeon responded to the fact I had the new skill?
Going down to the first floor, I start browsing through the books, having knowledge of the world is something very important.
I read on many different kingdoms, the political state of things, the current affairs, possible powerful individuals to watch out for, and the city I'm currently residing in- which now I know the name of, E-Rantel, a fortress city under the domain of the Re-Estize kingdom.
That one-night attack was a bold move from something called the Slane Theocracy, religious freaks down south.
There are seven tiers of magic. From tier one, in which there's the basic magic missile, to tier seven with 'mythical' spells capable of destroying large buildings. The shockingly low power cap of this world is relieving, in a month or two I'd surpass the strongest it has to offer, unless there are some hidden over-powered gods.
-x-
Putting the books back where they belong, I go out for a walk through the city. The sun just above the buildings, still sometimes peeking out between the rooftops. It's getting a bit cloudy, but that just adds to the atmosphere, besides it was pretty hot earlier.
Wandering through the winding streets, I find that it's pretty relaxing, in the old world there was no longer a concept of simply walking for pleasure, at least in the more urbanized areas.
-x-
I came back to the bookstore as it was getting dark, which I now know was named 'Intellegis hoc Epigramma', or the Inhocepi bookstore for short.
After asking Naela if there's anything more to do, and her replying that nothing at the moment, I go to my room, to the bed.
This civilization more and more reminds me of ancient Rome, Greece, the stuff with that kind of feeling.
Am I implying that it's going to fall? Possible, but not as much as with the Old Earth empires- There's magic here, and they've achieved such advancements with it, which were not even thought possible on O-E using mundane technology.
Imagine what the New World humanity would do once given access to O-E tech.
I must not let that happen, it would be a catastrophe if such an immature species got that much power- on O-E there was once a disagreement whether the Atom Bomb would literally make Earth's atmosphere burn, ending all life on the planet. They still tested it. Now add magic to the mix- it could spell doom to this entire universe, think how many paradoxes, impossibilites and other infinite destrustion chain reactions may it cause once in the wrong hands. Humans went from swords to city wiping superweapons as the industrial revolution happened, what would be if such an event commenced here, where they already have some things more advanced than modern tech, due to magic existing?
I must keep this world in the medieval peroid. I wouldn't try to earse humanity, but knowing their potential for destruction, keeping them primitive would be for the absolute best.
Another sleepless night awaits me, would be great to have any kind of light, be it magical or mundane, to be able to read- pass the time entangled in a book. I can't do that in the dark yet, so from now on, nights will be dedicated to dungeons and training, reading joining in once I get a Light spell or some good candles. That'd give me something to do, and be productive at the same time.
At least I have a relatively comfortable bed this time.
[A/N:]
two things:
1. I will no longer be responding to reviews in the A/N's in future chapters (PM), but constructive criticism is still very much appreciated.
2. Quattuordecillion is a number, google it if you're interested.
XieTian -
don't worry, she's only 'good' at the beginning, and even then she dismissed the idea in the second chapter.
Mr Beaver Buttington -
Changed the thing I think you meant...?
Strife666 -
I've been writing every day for the past 6 months, even if just a little, never skipped a day, also the few last days are used to look for errors etc.
If you want updates every week go to some professional that's been writing for decades, but I can assure you that the updates to this story will be consistent, even if it takes two years, I'll get there.
Thank you very much for the encouragement, I will prove you wrong.
IDunnom8 -
More possibly calculating, but no manipulation- she's not a rampaging demon but neither is she a politician. But, she'll be neutral for some more time, possibly until mid-fic. I have things planned.
adam110902 -
Thanks :)
VASH581 -
Thanks for the review :)
She was sure that if she willed it, the rune would work, just like when she willed things to go into or out of her inventory.
I'll probably have someone join her when she's still neutral, but once her allignment changes to evil...
Guest -
As I stated in one of the previous A/N's, I plan on moving the story to a crossover section in the future, once the MC jumps worlds. Now however, I'm not decided which world to choose and it's still gonna happen mid/late in the story.
Guest -
Most stories with a plot have 'good vs evil', don't they?
Also, the MC is not gonna be neutral forever, she'll change.
If you think people can only write as evil as they themselves are, check out Shiro's fics, he's a cool guy and yet his characters are /pretty evil/.
Guest -
It's not that nerfed.
Too stupid to sit down and ask questions?
She thought she knew everything there is to the game, as she's read dozens of Gamer fanfics in her old life.
She's sure of herself.
I guess you could call that stupidity, but would you read the manual on how to use a bike if you got one?
And I wouldn't call the System just a 'Power', it's the Gamer System.
bigbrownpanda -
Maybe in later chapers, but most probably not.
The M rating is mostly for possible gore, and for safety.