To those who enjoyed Chapter 1, I hope you are ready for chapter 2. Once again, I own nothing
Chapter 2: System Online
"Hey kid, are you okay? You look like you've seen a ghost." A man said
"Huh?" Said Subaru
Subaru then looked around and realized he was back at the appa stand. Before anything else, he got a pop up message from a mysterious task window only he could see
You have now respawned. Save point currently is at the appa stand, around after you asked that woman where you were.
Subaru then thought for a second, and then realized that with that information, he had died, but had respawned before he met Satella. Meaning there was still time to prevent whatever happened at that loot house. He then decided to ask the appa stand owner about the task window in front of him. "Hey mister, can you see this blue window in front of me?" The appa stand owner looked at him like he was insane and said "Huh? What the hell are you talking about kid? I don't see anything like that in front of you. Are you gonna buy and appa or not?" Subaru then said "Sorry, I'm broke beyond compare." The appa stand owner became annoyed, then said "Then get out of…" "But," Subaru said, giving him a smile, as he remembered the man was a father in the last loop, and that he and Satella had brought his child back to him. "If I ever have the money, I promise to buy some appas, as an apology for wasting your time, and because you deserve it." The appa stand owner was shocked for a second, before he looked at the kid and said "I'll hold you to that then. But if you're gonna make a promise like that, you gotta give me your name."
Subaru then said "My name is Natsuki Subaru." The appa stand owner then reached his hand out for Subaru to shake it, which Subaru obliged, and said "My name is Kadoman. You better fulfill that promise. Now, leave." And Subaru left
Subaru would find himself sitting on the stairs of a building near another vendor, as he was trying to figure out what he was given. He then was able to figure out how to use the messages function, and two messages appeared that said the following:
[Congratulations, you have now become a player] (unread)
[Daily Quest: Getting ready to become Powerful] (unread)
(I hate the other translation "Getting Ready to Become a Formidable Combatant" so much)
"This is exactly like a video game." Subaru said to himself quietly. "I wonder what the daily quest is?" Subaru then opened the Daily Quest message, and text pooped out that contained the following message:
Daily Quest: Getting ready to become Powerful
Goals:
Pushups: 0/100
Sit ups: 0/100
Squats: 0/100
Run: 0/10km
Failure to Complete Daily Quest will result in a penalty for The Player
'I really don't want to know what that penalty entails, so I'll do the daily quest now. I'm pretty used to working out, so this should be easy for me.' Subaru thought to himself. 'But first, I need to figure out if I have stats like other video game characters do in RPGs.' After a couple minutes of trial and error, Subaru discovered he did have stats, and they read the following:
Name: Subaru Natsuki
Job: None
Title: None
Level: 1
Fatigue: 0
HP: 100
MP: 10
Strength: 10
Agility: 10
Sense: 10
Intelligence: 10
Vitality: 10
Available Stat Points: 0
'Not the most impressive stats, but I can probably increase them over time.' Subaru thought to himself. 'I think I should try to work on Strength and Agility first, since if those stats are high, it could give me an advantage against weaker enemies. Then I can work on the other stats later. Specifically intelligence, since that usually is linked to mana in the games I've played, and as I grow stronger, having low mana might not cut it.' Subaru then was able to discover he had skills as well. They were:
Passive Skills:
(Unknown Skill)
(Unnamed Skill)
Tenacity
Active Skills:
Speed Lv. 1
Observe Lv. 1
Muscle Lv. 1
'What do these skills do?' Subaru asked himself. He tried to see if there was an information button or something for the skills, and there was. He read the info for "speed", and was intrigued by speed, since it could increase his speed by 30%, for the cost of 1 mana per minute. He knew this skill was really useful to have. The next skill was "observe", which allowed him to see how strong his opponents were. The skill indicated their name would be on top of their heads, and how powerful they were depended on the color of the name. White meant that the opponents were weaker than him. Orange Indicated the opponents were equal to him, and Red Indicated his opponents were significantly stronger than him. Then there was "Muscle", which increased his strength by 30%, at the same cost as speed. Then there was Tenacity, which stated if his health fell below 30%, his stats grew by 50%. He couldn't access the unknown skill, so the only thing left was…
'The unnamed skill. What does this do?' Subaru thought to himself. He tapped the skill, and the following text popped up in front of him:
Allows Player to respawn at a save point in the event the Player dies. The save point changes based on circumstances the system does not fully compute, but theroises it is based on the situation. If the player tries to reveal they have died or specific memories to a person they had from a previous loop, there will be a penalty. Note: This skill was not provided by the system, but from an outside source. It has been provided to the Player before he received the system.
'An outside source? Who?' Subaru thought to himself shocked. 'This skill does allow me to never die, but the restrictions and cost are a bit too much. Not being able to speak with people about my deaths isn't great, and on top of that…' Subaru trembled a bit. 'I don't want to die again. I never want to experience that ever again. However, this skill probably helped save me, and without it, Satella would probably still be dead. So I should at least give it a name.' Subaru then said to himself "Let's see, I'll call it Return by Death." All of a sudden, for a moment, a dark, eerie feeling was felt by Subaru, and then all of a sudden, a message popped up:
Emergency Warning: If the Player reveals the name "Return by Death" to anyone, there will be a penalty.
'What?! Well fuck, I was better off not giving it a name. Now it has more restrictions.' Subaru felt like pulling his hair out in frustration. After looking through his skills, Subaru then discovered he had an inventory, and discovered 'Is that the switchblade that I kept on me from those 3 thugs?!' Subaru thought to himself shocked. 'Is it possible that even if I die, I'll be able to keep the stuff I get in my inventory from a previous loop?' (Spoiler alert: Yes and no). The knife itself didn't have much info besides being a D rank item. 'It's not the best, but it will have to do for now in case I have to use it.' He also found an equipment section to equip clothes for himself. 'Could be useful later.' The last thing he found was a shop, but he was locked out due to not having a high enough level.
"Now, I have a decision to make: Do I try to save Satella and the people in the loot house, or do I sell anything on me that might be valuable, like my phone, and use my knowledge of the modern world to live in luxury and forget this all happened?" Subaru said to himself. "On one hand, I wouldn't have to worry about dying again, and I could live a really good life for myself. Satella probably does not even remember me too, so I don't have to fulfill my promise to her. It's the most sensible option. However…" He remembers the time he shared with Satella, up until the moment of her death, and says 'There is no way I can abandon her to die like that. There's also that giant man who was mutilated like that. And it's also possible Felt was killed too.' Subaru then has a flashback to his one interaction with the girl, and to the condition of the slums.
'She may have been a thief, but she's just a child, and may have had no choice, considering the condition of the slums. I can't leave a child to die like that. Plus, I now have the power to change their fate. I never had the power to change my mom's condition, and I may not have the opportunity to ever see her again. I refuse to fail this time and be nothing but a bystander.' Subaru, with determination in his eyes, then said to himself, "I'll save Satella, I'll save Felt, and I'll save that old man!" Subaru then remembered the daily quest. "After I do the daily quest. I really do not want to deal with that penalty." Subaru then looked to the sky and then thought 'Dad. Mom. If you can hear me, just know, your son is okay, and that he is gonna become a hero that you can be proud of. That is the path I have chosen, and I will achieve it. Just watch!'
Subaru would then do the daily quest. He would be able to do the 100 sit ups, pushups, and squats relatively quickly, before he moved on to the 10km run. As he was running, he ended up in the same alley as last time, and he was face to face with those same three thugs. 'Not this again' Subaru thought to himself, knowing he had to deal with these three again. "Hand over whatever you've got if you don't want to get hurt!" The tall thug said.
'Last time, I had done pretty well against the thugs last time, but they were about to come at me at the same time and I don't think I could have handled them all at the same time even with the knife. Plus, my fatigue is a bit high from all the workouts, so that's another disadvantage for me.' His fatigue was at 57, though it was starting to drop since he was no longer running. Subaru then decided to try out his "observe" skill and discovered that the Tall and Fat Thug had an orange label above their name, which was "Backalley Thug", while the small thug had a white label. 'Damn, even the system can't bother to name these guys. Come on Subaru, think, there has to be another way to deal with these guys without… wait.' Subaru's eyes widened as he realized something 'That's it!' Subaru then yelled "Guards! Guards!" "What the hell? Damn it you Bastard!" The smaller thug said. 'I knew it. Like in other isekai, there's some type of police force. In this case, guards/knights. Let me kick it up a notch then.' Subaru then grinned and then yelled "SOMEONE HELP ME! I NEED A MAN!" in his best woman voice.
"Damn it, Shut Up!" The tall thug said, clearly rattled at the prospect of a guard arriving. "No, don't touch me you brute! Help! Someone help!" Subaru said, still using his woman voice. "Guards! Hel… huh?" Subaru stopped using his woman voice and saw no guards arrive. "Don't scare me like that. You freaked me out a little bit." The tall thug said. The other two thugs followed that up with saying they were freaked out as well, but only "A little bit". The tall thug then pulled out his Switchblade knife, and then the fat thug pulled out a Meat Cleaver. 'A MEAT CLEAVER?!' Subaru thought, internally screaming. 'Damn it! I could probbaly deal with the knife, but I can't deal with a fucking meat cleaver. Why didn't he pull that out last time?!' The thugs then were about to charge at him. 'I guess I'll have to fight.' Subaru was about to reach into his inventory to pull out his own knife, when suddenly
"That's enough." A voice said. The voice belonged to a man with red hair, probably around 18-19 years old. He had a sword at his side, and had a white and purple uniform. Everything about this man screamed "Powerful."
"It can't be! Reinhard… the Sword Saint?! What's he doing here?!" The fat thug said, terrified. 'Sword Saint?' Subaru thought to himself. "Seems I don't need to introduce myself." Reinhard said smiling. "Though to be honest, that title is a bit too much for me. I don't know how much my modest strength can be of use to him, but if you wish to resort to extreme measures, let me warn you: As a knight, I will have to fight back." Reinhard's words terrified the three thugs. As he reached the handle of his sword for emphasis…
"S-Screw this! It's not worth it" The fat thug said, and ran, with the other thugs running right behind him. Reinhard turned to Subaru, smiling and said "I'm glad we came out of that unscathed. Lucky break, huh?" Subaru looked at the man in awe. He then smiled back and said "Thank you for saving my life, Reinhard-san" Reinhard then said "No need for such formality. Once it was two against 3, those thugs lost their advantage. Things would have been different had I been acting alone." (Cap! Major Cap!)
'This guy's nice guy index is off the charts.' Subaru thought to himself. 'They called him the Sword Saint, so I wonder how strong he is?' Subaru then used his "Observe" skill, and his jaw dropped in shock. 'Black? His name's label color is Black?!' Subaru thought to himself in shock. "Is everything alright sir?" Subaru then said "Uh, yes." with a bit of sweating sliding down his face. A message then popped up in front of him, saying:
You have discovered the black label color. Those with this label color are overwhelmingly stronger than you, and are people you should avoid fighting at all costs.
Subaru looked at this man again and thought 'So this man could basically break me in half with ease if he wanted too huh? Good to know.' "Sir, are you sure you're okay?" Subaru then looked at Reinhard, calmed himself down, and said "Yeah. Sorry, I space out from time to time." "Ah I see. It's probably best to avoid that habit. You don't want people to worry about you." Subaur then said "Yeah I know." Subaru then changed the subject "Again, thank you for helping me. You were the only guard who answered my call. Talk about pathetic." "For most people, it's too risky to face off against people like them. As far as I'm concerned, it was the right call for you to call the guards."
"Are you a guard Reinhard?" Subaru asked "You don't look like one" Reinhard said "I happen to be off duty today, so I'm out of uniform. And I don't look that particularly intimidating." "Maybe, but they seemed to be intimidated as soon as you showed up. They called you the Sword Saint, correct?" Subaru inquired. "My family is unique. Every day, I feel like I will get crushed and fail to live up to their expectations." Reinhard said, looking down at the ground. 'Wait, he's like me, before I talked out my fears with my dad. What do I say in response to that?' Subaru thought to himself, before saying "Then don't. You don't have to live up to their expectations, or live up to their legacies. Just live up to your own expectations and find your own path. That's what my dad told me." Reinhard was shocked to hear this, before smiling and saying "Thank you for your words. What's your name?"
"My name is Natsuki Subaru. Nice to meet your Reinhard." Subaru said, and both Reinhard and Subaru shook hands. Reinhard then said "You seem to have unusual hair, apparel, and name. What nation do you hail from?" Subaru thought for a moment, trying to figure out the best answer for this question, before Reinhard said "Lugunica is a bit more on edge than in peacetime. If you're having any problems, I would be glad to help." Subaru, knowing how strong Reinhard is, decides to ask him for help "Actually, there is something. There's this loot house in the Slums. I have reason to believe a thief named Felt lives in that place, and I saw her steal something from this girl. The girl is probably going after her, and I want to help her" Subaru explained. "What was stolen?" Reinhard asked "It was an insignia. It's small enough to fit in a pocket and has a jewel in the center." Reinhard was deep in thought for a moment, wondering if this insignia was the same as the insignia held by royal candidates, before saying "Why would you go out of your way to help a stranger? Is there more to this that you are not telling me" Subaru then said "Let's just say she's a friend of mine, and I think it's only right to help a friend in need." Reinhard smiled, and said "Alright. I'll help you." Subaru smiled and thanked Reinhard, before saying "Oh, and on the way, I'll be trying to complete the rest of my 10 km run. I hope you can keep up with me." Reinhard smiled, and said "Sounds like a challenge. How many more KMs do you need to run?" Subaru grinned "3." Reinhard, still smiling, said "I'll gladly join you. A knight always needs to train to keep up his strength after all." Both men smiled, and ran, as a new friendship had been formed.
Subaru had finished the last 3 km, thereby finishing the daily quest, and was given 3 rewards. The first was a status recovery, which restored his stamina completely, dropping his fatigue back down to 0. The second was 3 stat points to add to his current stats. Subaru decided to put those points into strength, making it rise from 10-13. The last was a choice between a Blessed Random Box and a Cursed Random Box. The Blessed Random Box gave him something he wanted, while the Cursed Random Box gave him something he needed. He decided to go with the Cursed Random Box, but all it gave him was a first aid kit. He put that away in his inventory, and hoped that not every cursed random box gave him junk like that.
As the sun was starting to set, Reinhard and Subaru made it to the loot house. Reinhard knocked, and a voice called out saying "For a rat." "This is Reinhard, a knight of the royal guard." Reinhard called out. If you listened closely, you could hear bricks being shat in the loot house. The door opened, and Subaru's eyes widened, looking at the man as if he had seen a ghost. This was the man who had been mutilated by whoever had killed him in the loot house. "What the hell is the Sword Saint doing here in the slums?" Reinhard motioned Subaru, and Subaru stepped forward "Do you know anything about a girl named Felt?" he asked. The old man said "Felt? What business do you have with her?" Subaru said "She stole something from a friend of mine, and I would like to give it back to her." The old man sighed, knowing he was not gonna be able to do shit against the Sword Saint, and decided to let them into the loot house. "You guys can stay here until she comes back."
A little bit later, a knock on the door was heard, and the old man said "That must be her." And then said:
"For a Rat."
"Poison"
"For the White Whale."
"A Harpoon."
"To the Noble Dragon Lord, we are…"
"Shitbags."
Subaru chuckled a bit at the last one. The door opened, and it revealed Felt, the girl he had briefly encountered in the last loop. He didn't want to imagine what happened to her if the state of the old man in the last loop had been anything to go by. "Rom, what's going on?" Felt asked. Rom said "Apparently, your latest thieving has gotten the Sword Saint involved." Felt looked to Reinhard, and realized she was not in a good spot at the moment. All she stole was some stupid badge. Why in the hell was the Sword Saint involved? Subaru then decided to step forward "My name is Natsuki Subaru. You stole something from a girl earlier. An insignia with a jewel in the center that can fit in someone's pocket. I would like you to give it back so I can return it to her."
The girl looked at him confused, and looked at him with an annoyed look "Return it to the owner? Ridiculous! If you're gonna lie, at least make it more believable. No one is that noble." "You're right. I'm really just returning it to a friend. Because that's what friends do for each other." Subaru said, smiling fondly as he remembered some of the friends he had made in his old world. Felt took a step back, and then looked at Subaru, with a bit of shock, before you're saying "I guess you're right. You'd be a shitty friend otherwise. You should have said that before." Subaru then asked "Do you pride yourself on sticky fingers, or is there another reason for it?" Felt, annoyed again, said "Why do you want to know?" Subaru said "Seeing as how terrible the slums are, I can't imagine you're doing this sorta thing for fun." Felt calmed down a bit, and said, "As a matter of fact, I do have a reason. It's how I stay alive. If I couldn't do this, I'd have no choice but to sell my body." Reinhard's eyes widened. The idea of this young girl selling herself just to survive was not something he wanted to imagine. He knew, no matter how much he loved his kingdom, that the condition of the slums, which he had seen while walking with Subaru, and this revelation were Lugunica's fault. Rom looked down at the ground, while Subaru had a sad smile.
"I don't need your pity. It's just the way I've lived my whole life." Felt said looking at Subaru, but then was shocked when Subaru patted her head. Subaru then turned to Reinhard "Hey, Reinhard? What's the usual sentence for stealing?" Reinhard looked at Subaru a bit perplexed, before smiling, as he used one of his many divine protections to figure out where Subaru was going with this. "In this case, it would depend on the value of the stolen item. If the item fetches a high price, Felt would be put in jail." Felt cursed, and Rom was about to rage in protest, when Subaru said "Do you think you could overlook this incident if Felt gives back the item." Rom and Felt's eyes widened, and Reinhard, still smiling, said "As a knight, I cannot overlook this. However, today, I am off duty." Subaru smiled, and Felt was still in shock, as she realized this man saved her from jail time, when all of a sudden, there was another knock on the door.
"I'll get it." Felt said, wanting to do something to get over what just happened. She opened the door, and it revealed the same silvered hair, amethyst eyed, half elf girl. Subaru was about to call her name when Reinhard beat him to it. "Emilia-sama!" Reinhard exclaimed. Subaru looked back at the girl and thought 'Emilia?' "What are you doing here?" Reinhard continued. Emilia said "I'm here to take back my insignia." Felt said "You're so damn persistent! You're lucky I was about to return the insignia because of that Big Bro." Emilia looked confused, and Felt pointed to Subaru. Subaru then asked "Your name is Emilia, correct?" Emilia nodded. Subaru then wanted to get to the bottom of this name situation. He then said "I overheard some people calling you Satella. What does that name mean?" It wasn't a complete lie, since Emilia told him her name was Satella in a previous loop. Emilia's eyes widened, before Reinhard decided to explain who Satella was to Subaru "She is known as the Witch of Envy. She helped cause a great calamity 400 years ago that destroyed half of our world, until she was subsequently sealed."
Subaru's eyes widened, and Emilia added "She had silver hair, purple eyes, and was a half elf, just like me. When people look at me, they see the Witch of Envy.", her eyes looking incredibly sad. Subaru was both really sad at hearing this information and internally thanking Reinhard for saving his ass. This left Subaru with the question of why she had given him that name in the last loop. However, before he could ponder that question, a blade was speeding towards Emilia from behind. This caused Subaru's eyes to widen, and then he shouted "Puck! Shield Her!" Puck would do so, thanking Subaru for calling out to him when he did, and then, a shadow would speed to a corner of the loot house. "My, My. That's a spirit, yes?" She then starts laughing, before saying "How fascinating. I've never cut open the stomach of a spirit before." "You're not cutting open anything, Bowel Hunter." Reinhard said, looking at Elsa intently.
'Where have I heard this voice before?' Subaru thought to himself. "My, my. Reinhard, a man who comes from a line of powerful swordsmen. It is fortunate I have come across such an enjoyable opponent." "Who is she, Reinahrd?" Subaru asked "Elsa Granheirt, the bowel hunter. She was given that nickname for the unique way she kills her opponents. Her name is known in the capital as a dangerous individual. From what I hear, she is more of a mercenary." Reinhard said. Elsa just smiled evilly, a terrifying glint gracing her eyes. Subaru's eyes widened in shock and horror, as he now realized why he remembered that voice 'She's the one who killed me. She cut open my stomach and Emilia's as well. Not to mention her mutilation of Rom and whatever she did to Felt.' Before Subaru could continue those thoughts, Elsa dashed towards Reinhard, and their fight began.
"Get back! Get out of harm's way!" Reinhard called out before clashing Elsa with his blade. Everyone had found different places around the loot house, all of them separated from each other. As the battle between Elsa and Reinhard started, Subaru received a message
[Emergency Quest: Defeat/Survive Elsa]
Elsa intends to destroy the Player. Defeat or survive Elsa to ensure your safety. If you Fail to complete the quest, your heart will stop beating
'Defeat or survive? That means all I have to do is let Reinhard drive her away, and I'll get the reward.' Subaru thought to himself. He had no shot at beating her, as she also had a black name label above her head. "My, my. You're as strong as the rumors say you are, maybe better." "I hope I can continue to meet your expectations." Reinhard said, as their clash continued. Elsa then saw Felt, sitting over there in an area near the bar, back to the wall. "I may lose this, but I want to see the colors of someone's guts tonight." Reinhard was then caught off guard, as he was all of a sudden pushed back, as Elsa dashed towards Felt. Felt, terrified, brought out her dagger ready to defend herself, but she didn't have to. A table was kicked towards Elsa, who had no choice but to slash at the table, and then she had to reset, before seeing her target on the other side of the loot house, held by Subaru, with him sitting at the wall, rubbing his head.
Felt, along with everyone else, was shocked at what just happened. "Someone got in the way of my prey." Elsa said in her usual tone, but deep down, she was annoyed. Subaru stopped rubbing his head, and just grinned. "Nice job Subaru." Reinhard called out. Subaru looked at his mana reserves, only having 1 mana point left. And he definitely cut that close. He had to use both Muscle and Speed to save her, and if he had been off by a second, he or Felt might have died. He had even almost hesitated, until he had a quick flash to what happened in the loot house, and his hesitation disappeared. Subaru then asked Felt "Are you alright." Felt, snapping herself out of her shock, said "Yes, I'm okay." "Good, I'm not quite used to speed like that. I thought I was doing well, until I hit my head on this wall. I hope that doesn't happen often, otherwise I might get brain damage." Subaru then started laughing, and then Felt, stared a bit, before smiling.
"I underestimated you Bowel Hunter, and that nearly cost the life of a young girl. I will not make that mistake again." Reinhard said, as mana surrounded him. "Oh, what are you going to show me?" Elsa asked, a bit giddy. "The swordplay of the Astrea family." Reinhard said, and Elsa just smiled in excitement. "Elsa "The Bowel Hunter" Granhiert." Elsa said, introducing herself as she licked her lips in anticipation. "Reinhard van Astrea, from the line of master swordsmen." Reinhard then bright his sword down, causing a blue light to blind everyone, the space split in two, as the blue light enveloped the area. Subaru shielded Felt, while Emilia and Rom were trying to shield themselves from this attack. When it was all over, the loot house was completely thrashed.
"HOLY SHIT!" Subaru exclaimed, as he looked at the damage from that attack. Subaru then thought inwardly 'I wonder… if I can get to that level of power with the system.' (Oh you have no idea how strong you're gonna be my man). Reinhard looked at the sword in his hand, and apologized to it for pushing it too hard. The group then gathered, as Subaru once again thanked Reinhard. He then turned to Felt, and said "I think you still have something to do." Subaru said to her. Felt rolled her eyes, and then said "Yeah, yeah. I'll return it, Big Bro." However, all of a sudden, the rubble began to move, and then, Elsa emerged from the rubble, her eyes this time set on Emilia. Subaru acted quickly, his mana restored to 7, and used speed once again. He grabbed Emilia, and sped away from Elsa. As she sliced, she was unable to cut Emilia, but she was able to cut Subaru in the side. This caused Subaru to lose his grip on Emilia, as he rolled over to the ground, eventually stopping, and clutched his side in pain. Emilia was sent skidding, on the floor, before landing on her back, a bit hurt, but relatively unharmed.
"He got in the way again." Elsa said, as she bit her tongue in annoyance. "That's enough Elsa!" Reinhard called out, angry that she hurt his friend. "One day, I'll disembowel everyone in this room. Until that moment comes, take care of yourselves." Elsa then left.
"Subaru!/Big Bro!" Reinhard and Felt hurried to their friend, worry clear on their faces. "Are you alright?" Reinhard asked. "I've been worse." Subaru answered. "Get back!" Emilia called out, before turning Subaru on his back, and then she started healing his side. "You saved my life. Thank you." Subaru grinned and said "It's nothing. I'm sure anyone else would have saved someone as beautiful as you." "You dunderhead! Now is not the time for jokes!" Emilia said, though she had a bit of a blush on her face. Subaru then got a message saying the following:
You have completed the emergency quest: Defeat/Survive Elsa
Choose your reward?: Yes/No
'Yes' Subaru thought.
Select a Reward:
Status Recovery
+10 Stat Points
Unique Skill: Blade Arts
Do you accept all your rewards?: Yes/No
Subaru held off accepting all his rewards at once, and decided to go through them one by one. First was status recovery, which would restore not only his fatigue, but also heal his injured side completely. However, that would mean leaving his current position.
Do you wish to use Status Recovery?: Yes/No
'No.' Subaru thought
He then moved on to the +10 stat points, and he split the points between Strength and Agility, boosting his strength to 18, and his agility to 15. The last one reward was the Unique Skill: Blade Arts. He accepted that, and decided to look into the skill later. With one last look at Emilia who was still healing him, Subaru decided to close his eyes, and fall asleep. His journey to become a hero in another world had finally begun.
Name: Subaru Natsuki
Job: None
Title: None
Level: 1
Fatigue: 0
HP: 100
MP: 10
Strength: 18
Agility: 15
Sense: 10
Intelligence: 10
Vitality: 10
Available Stat Points: 0
Welp, I hope you enjoyed that chapter. Subaru still saved the life of Felt and Emilia, and he didn't have to go through the hell he went through last time to achieve it. I had initially planned for Subaru to stay awake in order for him to say goodbye to Felt and have her be briefed on her being a royal candidate. However, that would require him using status recovery and leaving his current position. Not happening. Anyways, I'm gonna answer some questions some of you may have about this chapter
Q: Why did you create Active 2 skills that Sung Jin Woo did not originally have in Solo Leveling? A: 1. I did say this system was different from the system Sung Jin Woo had. 2. I wanted to balance the Passive and Active Skills Subaru had. 3. Both served an overall narrative purpose. Muscle was able to help me justify Subaru being able to kick a table at high speeds in the air towards Elsa, while Observe is meant to show Subaru how strong everyone is in this world compared to him. And both fit as well, so why not. Also, part of the observe name label thing came from Uzufer's "Exploring Other Worlds" Fanfic (Which I hope gets updated one day), but I just turned it into a skill that allows Subaru to see how strong other people are, not just monsters, since Jin Woo couldn't do that. This skill, along with the other active skills, will evolve overtime
Q: What is Blade Arts? A: Blade Arts is a unique skill, a skill that acts as both a passive and active skill. It also helps me justify Subaru being able to be good with a blade quickly, since unlike Jin Woo, there is no way he has wielded a dagger/sword in a Hunter-less world. Any more explanations will be saved for next chapter
Q: How will Rem react to Subaru in Arc 2? A: Look up Cha Hae-In. Actually better yet, read Solo Leveling, and then read up to the chapters where Cha Hae-In was introduced. As you can probably tell, I'm a big Solo Leveling fan. But anyways, if you have that information, you probably know what I'm going to do.
This part is just me explaining something about Subaru. Subaru is still shaken by his death, and at the same time, still has the pain of his mother being in a coma for nearly a decade. It's something that still hurts him, and somewhere deep down, he feels it is his fault. Which is, unfortunately, not entirely wrong. This is what fuels him, and his mentality is again vastly different compared to canon. Which is good for him
Q: Why did the system let Subaru know where he had respawned? A: The system wants Subaru to be powerful both mentally and physically, and in a world that can break you pretty easily, knowing where and when you respawned is pretty helpful.
I would like to add I was between attribute, stat, and ability points for this chapter, but stat points just rolls off the tongue better.
Finally, Q: Subaru is actually gonna fight with the system in this fanfic, right? A: YES! He just got the system though, so you can't expect him to go off right away. However, Arc 2 is where he is really gonna start kicking some ass.
Chapter 3 will be dropped by NEXT Saturday. Thank you for the positive responses, and I eagerly await your reviews. If you have any other questions, PM me or leave it in your review. Have a good day.