Firey Takeover Chapter 04 - Stuck with a Main Quest, an avatar: last airbender fanfic

Chapter 04 - Stuck with a Main Quest

Thank you for everyone who had commented on my story, I appreciate all the feedback you guys had given me.

Here are some responses to the comments I had to the story (You can skip this part if you want to go straight to the story):

Too much gamer window jargon: I am trying to at least reduce the status screens to the end of the chapter, as Xin Wo is still early in his journey, I believe that checking his stats more often is something his must do to ensure his survival until he gets stronger.

Problem with formatting: I am assuming you refer to the greater than, less than and plus signs. There'snot much I can do other than changing it to conform to FFN standards. To read the story with its original format, you can visit AO3 to read that version of the story there. It is also one chapter ahead of FFN release.

Problem with the sarcastic system: Sadly my writing skills aren't that great, so to inject character, I usually resort to using sarcasm, as that'something that I also like to do myself, making it easier for me to write

Shop or Gacha using stat points: The usage of stat points is a balancing decision, MC will use something else for Gacha eventually, you just have to wait for the MC to unlock the upgrades or the items to make his life easier.

All done with replying to the comments, back to the story.

(Less than sign)(Greater than sign) Is used by the [System] talking telepathically at Xin Wo

"" Is used when People are talking out loud

Empty space simply meant Xin Wo was thinking or communicating via his thoughts

ooOoo

"Good sir, I meant you no harm! I am Xin Wo, a stranded merchant who merely wanted to sell his wares so that he could get some other supplies!" I responded with my arms up, away from my body, attempting to calm the man down as I tried my best to look non-threatening.

I used [Observe] on the man when he made eye contact with me.

(Less than sign)Using [Observe] (Plus sign) [Analysis-] skill:

Status:

Bato

Level – 15 (E-)(Greater than sign)

"Really? Then where are your products?" Bato approached me some more, not believing in what I was claiming.

(Less than sign)No shit, your CHA is still 1, you should invest the rest of your Unallocated Stats to CHA if you want to try convincing somebody suspicious of you.(Greater than sign)

Immediately, I mentally dumped the remaining 6 Unallocated Stats to CHA before I continued to convince Bato of my innocence.

"Sir, I have 2 tents, 2 leather armors made from tiger seals, and some meat from tiger seals that are for sale in my bag, do you think you or your settlement might be interested in it?" I reached my hands down to the bag, awaiting Bato's approval before I took them out.

"Stop! Keep your hands behind you! I will restrain your hands and take your bag away for safekeeping. I will bring you to the village and discuss the matter with the others. So don't resist or try anything stupid, otherwise you won't know what's coming." Bato came over behind me, took my [Storage Space Bag] from my shoulder, pulled my arms behind my back then tied me up with a rope. I didn't dare to oppose him as his level not only is higher than me, but his combat experience is definitely going to wipe the floor with me (I nearly fought off 3 tiger seals yesterday, and now you want me to engage in a fight with a veteran warrior, at least not yet). Plus there was no reason for me to resist, as I am trying to make them trust me.

Nudging me behind my back as he held on to my shoulder with one hand, and a feeling of sharp metal touching my back, we slowly approached the tall white walls, until two other Southern Water Tribe guards were spotted, and I was handed to one of the two guards, Sui, who was level 15 (E-), as Bato explained the situation with the other of the two guards, Shui, who was level 16 (E-), while all three men keeping an eye on me. Once Bato was done saying his part, I was led into the inside of the settlement, with the Sui.

I tried to look around at my surroundings and was able to use the [Observe] skill some more before I got shoved forward for walking too slowly.

Finally, the 4 of us went into an igloo, and Bato untied my hands, he then tossed the bag back to me before ordering me to take out the goods. I slowly put my hand inside my [Storage Space Bag, then took out the two folded [Leather Armor (Tiger Seal Pelt)] and two folded [Tent (Tiger Seal Pelt)] out of my [Storage Space Bag] while putting 4 pieces of [Raw Meat (Tiger Seal)] from my [Inventory-] inside my bag.

Bato without a word, took one of each item from my hands and inspected it. After he finished picking apart the items heavily, he simply said, "40."

"Sorry? But what do you mean..." I tried to ask, confused by his statement.

"40 coins for the armor and tents, take it or leave it." Bato responded, then immediately added, "I know that the quality of your goods looks great and that it definitely is worth more than 40 coins. But we honestly aren't doing great, and I believe that you need to offload your goods anyway for some new clothes."

Looking down at myself, I immediately realized that my clothes might as well be some bloody rags. When I was by myself, I was fine with my clothes, as they were doing their job of covering my privates and no one was out there judging me. Plus, with me using my firebending to keep myself warm, I didn't really mind if my clothes were a bit scuffed. But I guess my fight with the tiger seals really did a number on my clothes.

"Between you and me, did you not believe that I was a merchant because of my clothes?" I looked back up, asking my question in slight embarrassment.

"I mean the merchants I met before were usually well dressed, even if you were somehow stranded, I would've assumed that you try to look more presentable." Bato replied as he looked at me awaiting my verdict.

I thought that the Southern Water Tribe didn't use any currency for any monetary trade with how little the village had looked like in the first episode of the show. But I guess I got lucky in finding such a big settlement.

After handing over the items and receiving a handful of coins, I asked Bato where I could get some new clothes and sell some meat. To which he replied by going to a jerky shop who was owned by a lady called Ashuna. I can sell my meat to her, and get a new set of clothes close by to her shop. As I was about to leave, Bato warned me not to pose a danger to the village in any way, otherwise, he would show me why I should never mess with the Southern Water Tribe.

Once I arrived at Ashuna's jerky shop, I showed her all of my [Raw Meat (Tiger Seal), which also included all of the bones, pelt, and meat poorly butchered from Tiger Seal 3 which was done before I had the [Journalist Difficulty] skill. While she had told me some of my butchering "needed some improvement", and that the meat seemed a bit stale (it's a day old), she said the meat can still be used for making jerky, and that tiger seal meat isn't that common around here. So I dropped off all my 66 pieces of [Raw Meat (Tiger Seal), in return for 50 coins because of my poor packaging (no bag or tying them up in bundles in any way) and below-average quality meat. She was kind enough to let me leave her the materials from Tiger Seal 3 (for free of course, I wasn't going to ask for money for my bad work). But she did say that "beggars can be choosers, after all, I get to get some uncommon meats and sell them to the people for a higher price, and you get to unload the excessive amount of meat that's about to go bad." After thanking her, I finally realized not only does the [Inventory-] skill not have compartment slots to store things, but it also doesn't keep things fresh, or stop things from deteriorating from the inside.

(Less than sign)Yeah, no idea why you applied your preconceived biases to your skills, if you want the quality of life feature, you have to pay up.(Greater than sign)

Just as I was about to head over to the clothing store and retort back to the [System] that "I can't because the market is still updating", a bewitching lady in a thick fur coat showed up.

While her thick coat had covered her curves and her hood was up, obscuring her facial features, her captivating voice was what caught my attention. Her soothing voice warmed my heart in this cold weather, as she invited me to her home to pick up some old clothes that she had at her house, claiming that those old clothes were still in good condition as she maintained them and would fit my body size and style perfectly. She had also invited me to stay for dinner, insisting on treating me to Wolf Cove's limited hospitality and local delicacies. Even though I tried to deny her offer, the lady insisted that I go with her, as she pulled on my arms, looking at me fiercely with her jewel blue eyes that were buried under her hood. Seeing that she wouldn't be leaving me alone until she treated me, I followed along to her request.

The intriguing lady, after checking it with the [Observe] skill, revealed that her name was Kya, Level 8 (F(Plus sign)), and had gestured for me to enter her igloo house. She told me to help myself with the clothes in her bedroom. She told me the clothes wouldn't be missed because her husband had long grown out of the clothes, and wanted her to throw them away. Even though she thought he looked dashing in them, he wanted to burn them for fuel. Because he disliked the intricate designs and preferred more simple designs, although she had made it for him as a birthday gift. Plus, her husband was busy with his work, telling her there was an "urgent situation" that needed his immediate attention, making him skip his dinner at home tonight. However, Kya had hinted that this "urgent situation" had been ongoing for a while and she didn't seem happy to hear about it.

Once I went to change into sleek, artistically blue clothes with white markings of a wolf on the left sleeve and polar bear dog on its sleeves, Kya told me that I looked handsome. She then brought up the offer of letting me stay the night if I needed to, as she knew that the settlement had no housing for visitors as they weren't expecting any tourists. Just when I was about to decline the kind gesture, a small blue blur came running into the igloo, flipping the blue curtain by the igloo's entrance to the side, hugging Kya while asking "What will we be having for dinner today?" As Kya stumbled a step back, giggling at the little girl, her laughter sounded lovely like wind chimes. Her hood slipped off her head from the momentum, finally spotting her gorgeous brown hair, large dazzling blue eyes, and a familiar blue choker necklace.

Wait a minute... She kinda looks familiar...

"Katara! What did I say about running in the house? And you aren't little anymore, I almost fell over when you crashed into me. Wait till your dad hears about this." Kya scolded her with a stern but kind tone at the little girl, Katara, who looked like she should be studying at a primary school.

"You know dad won't be mad about this, if anything he would be proud that I am growing to become a stronger warrior every day." Katara laughed at the older woman, unperturbed by her admonishment.

"But dad won't be back for dinner tonight, young lady, so my words are in fact the laws of this house." Kya jokingly frowned at Katara, while huffing her chest and pouted cutely at her.

"Awww... dad's not coming back home again, it's been weeks since I saw him at night. I miss having dinner with dad." Katara puffed up her cheeks looking at her mother.

A face of genuine remorse popped up on Kya's face for a moment before she struggled to smile endearingly, trying to convince Katara that his dad was busy with work because the Southern Raiders were an ongoing danger to the Southern Water Tribesmen, and needed all the best warriors to be on for a lookout and plan for future defenses.

The two continued their playful banter for a little longer and Katara got cheered up again by her mother playing along to her whims, before I awkwardly coughed, reminding them that I was still there.

Kya blushed, as she turned her head towards me, embarrassed that she forgot I was here. "Katara, we have a guest here... Uhh, sorry sir I forgot to ask about your name earlier, my name is Kya, and you are?"

"Hello, Ms. Kya, Katara, my name is Xin Wo, and I must thank Ms. Kya for your utmost sincerity and warm hospitality. If you don't mind me asking, is Katara your only child?" I introduced myself, while I worriedly asked a question, as a bubbling sense of dread began to fill me and I do wish the name Katara just happened to be a common enough name used by multiple different girls here at the Water Tribe.

"Oh no, Mr. Xin, I also have an older son by the name of Sokka." Kya smiled innocently as she answered my question.

Oh shit...

(Less than sign)Hahahaha! You idiot, you walked right into it, you didn't even see the [System] pop-up because you decided to turn them off during your fight.(Greater than sign)

Damn it! I opened the [System] screen to see what I had missed during this whole journey.

(Less than sign)[Unlucky Beginnings] was triggered.

The [Quest] skill has been added to the system.

The [Quest (Main): [It's Never Too Soon to Start the Story] had been forcibly added to the [Quest] menu.

The [Quest (Main)] cannot be removed from the [Quest] menu, unlike [Quest (Side)] which can be removed.

The [Quest (Main)] cannot be avoided if involved, only delayed.

Rolling a D7 to see how many days the [Quest (Main): [It's Never Too Soon to Start the Story] can be delayed.

Your LCK stat had been bypassed by [Permission not granted, so there will be no bonuses for this roll.

You had rolled 1.

Congratulations! The quest will begin in one or less days.(Greater than sign)

In my defense, even if I used the [Observe] skill, I wouldn't have known she was Katara and Sokka's mom unless I saw Katara and Sokka be with her.

"Shit!" I cried in frustration.

[System, turn the [System] pop-ups back on, I seriously need to remember to do so once I turn them off.

"Mr. Xin, please watch your language, my daughter is here with us. Also, what's wrong? Is there any way that I can help with this?" Kya widened her sapphire eyes at my usage of harsh language in front of her daughter. With her hands on her hips, she looked at me with her attentive eyes, trying to figure out any way to help out a stranger she had just met not too long ago.

"Ms. Kya..." I tried to respectfully apologize for cursing out of the blue.

"Please just call me Kya, no need to be so formal." Kya said that resolutely, as she already had her attention on me, intent on listening to and helping out with my request.

"Okay, Kya. Sorry for my bad language. This might sound crazy, but you need to..." I continued while trying to ignore how cute her actions were to me right now.

"Mom, can I go play with Sokka now? I will be back for dinner with Sokka, I promise." Katara, suddenly cut in, pulling both Kya and I out of our bubble.

"Okay young lady, make sure you and your brother come back in time. I want to see both of you here by the time I get the dinner all setup." Kya ordered Katara, as she looked at Katara who was running out of the house, ignoring what Kya had just scolded on not too long ago.

My eyes also followed the young Katara running out, crying out, "Got it, byeee!" before Kya snapped me back to our conversation with her serious motherly tone, saying, "Mr. Xin, as I was asking..."

"Kya, please just call me Xin Wo, if you are fine with the informal tone, so am I." I replied, as I quickly eyed the [Quest] window for more details about the quest.

(Less than sign)Opening [Quest:

Main Quest:

[It's Never Too Soon to Start the Story] – It's currently 5 years before Aang emerges from the iceberg. And it is your choice to choose how you would like the events to play out.

Success Conditions:

Route 01 (True End):

Keep the timeline pretty much the same, Kya will die and Katara and Sokka will grow up without their parents, living with Kanna.

Route 02 (Happy End):

Win the battle, let Katara and Sokka's lives remain happy as they live with their parents.

Route 05 (Secret End):

The secret outcome requires more information to uncover the hidden truths.

Failure Condition:

Route 03 (Bad End):

Surrender and join the Fire Nation navy as a rescued citizen.

Route 04 (Bad End):

Fight with the Southern Water Tribe in a full defensive battle, escalating the situation and leading to the destruction of Wolf Cove, death of Katara and Sokka.

Success Rewards:

Route 01 02 will lead to (Plus sign)20 to all stats, [Fast Track Ticket] x3, and a [CP coupon (500 CP)] that is worth 500 CP.

Route 05 will lead to previous rewards (Plus sign) hidden rewards.

Failure Penalties:

Locking faction alignment to Fire Nation until future decisions. The Avatar world ends with Aang enslaved or dead. The user ends with early death.(Greater than sign)

Shitty [System, I thought you said you "value users' freedom of choice." So, not only are you locking me into a quest, you are telling me to either run away or join the stronger side like a bitch because I am weak right now. Or I can try to die like a bitch by fighting a powerful enemy that I can't win currently. It's really crap timing seeing how both my [Gacha] and [Market] skills are updating, and I won't be gaining access to any of them until the battle is over.

(Less than sign)First, it's your fault for triggering the quest. Also, correct assumption Xin Wo, while I don't know the exact time of when your [Market] and [Gacha] skills will come back online. I can tell you that the [Market] skill will be done updating before the [Gacha] skill, even though you started updating the [Gacha] skill first. Because comparing the 7 quality-of-life updates for the [Gacha] skill you have to the 2 quality-of-life updates for the [Market] skill, the [Market] skill will come back online sooner. However, just because that is the case doesn't mean you should expect it to come back during your fight. But you don't need to worry about any of this as long as you win, if you succeed, you can use the [Fast Track Ticket] to bypass the long upgrade time.(Greater than sign)

Is there anything that I can do, besides training last minute for the upcoming big fight?

(Less than sign)Nice to see you aren't thinking about how you will escape first Xin Wo. But there is the one that you got yesterday that you had yet to use.(Greater than sign)

Do you mean the [Territorial Claim] skill? Did the skill not activate after I planted the flag on the ice sheet island with the tiger seals?

(Less than sign)The skill can actually be activated even without planting down a flag. But the downside is that without the flag, you won't receive a morale buff for allies, in worse cases, it might even drain the morale of your allies. To activate the skill, all you need to do is declare the area you are standing on is your territory, and then a [System] menu will pop up to confirm your decision.(Greater than sign)

That means I can use the [Territorial Claim] skill in any fight as long as I declare the area I am standing on is my territory, so I can hide the fact that I am a firebender or show my flag.

(Less than sign Exactly, and using the skill will make the group battles that are common during the Hundred Year War a lot more manageable when you lead the battle. However, the size of up to 10000m2 as your territory is about the size of a city block, you can't really activate your skill in the back lines. And not knowing where the enemies are coming from, you have to activate your skill in the middle of the battlefield where you can guarantee that your skill covers the affected area.(Greater than sign)

Can I change the shape of the area to something like the shape of the enemy's vessel, or bring the area of effect with me instead of staying in one spot?

(Less than sign)The first option is a quality-of-life upgrade, and the second option is a different skill. So no, with no access to the [Market] skill or the [Gacha] skill, you can't access those quality-of-life upgrades anyway. If anything, what you need is good old fashion training and level up, so that you can utilize your skills properly. You already have more than enough skills, especially with [Cold Weapon Mastery] in a time where firearms are nowhere to be seen, and [Basic Survival Skills] which gives you a rough sixth sense to ensure your survival. So just stop wasting time, and start suffering for success until you are suffering from success.(Greater than sign)

Good for you to give out some useful tips, [System].

(Less than sign)Well, I don't want to see you wasting a week's worth of my time stranded in the ocean, almost getting killed by seals, only to die by some side character randos before you start suffering for success.(Greater than sign)

Got it.

"Kya, I am really sorry about cursing in front of Katara earlier, but I suddenly got an urge to train, can I come back for dinner later? Also, do you know a place where I can train?" Feeling invigorated, I decided to start training to hope the beautiful woman would not die an early death.

Only to see Kya looking at me with a perplexed look as to why I just stood still quietly for the last minute.

"Sure Xin Wo, I can save some food for you. You can try to see if you want to train in the tribal defense camp, or you can go train outside the wall of the city, where there are bound to be places where you can train alone. Or at least that's what I had heard from my husband." Kya, nonetheless, responded to me with her motherly kindness, also dropping my cursing from earlier seeing that I do feel guilty not holding my speech better.

"See you later tonight, Kya." I said as I held her hands together tightly, looking into her eyes, hoping that a kind and gentle person like her would stay safe.

"Uhh sure, but Xin Wo, you shouldn't flirt with such an old woman, you are still so young." Kya said half-jokingly, hoping to deflect my advances.

"You look radiant yourself, I wish you could come with me, if not for the fact that you already were married and have children." I tried to dissuade the Kya by looking deep into her stunning eyes. It sucked to see that Kya was looking forward to the family time she wanted, only to not be able to spend time with her husband because of his "busy work".

"Stop, didn't you have something you need to do? Go, I hope to see you at dinner tonight." Kya turned her head left to avoid my eyes while pulling her hands away from my grasp.

To show Kya I meant my sentiment, I gave Kya a firm hug, showing her that her kind gestures and lovely personality hadn't gone unnoticed by me, especially towards a stranger that she met today on the street. The hug left her startled, so I backed off and left the igloo. From the corner of my eye, Kya seemed to be blushing with a bright smile on her face, while she stood frozen unsure of what to do.

I backtracked to the entrance gate where I came in with the help of the [Mapping] skill, as I greeted the two guards, Sui and Shui, who were still guarding the entrance.

"You done with your trading already? Are you heading off to another tribe right now? Maybe you should stay for the night, the wildlife around here can be very dangerous if you aren't familiar with them." Shui suggested.

"Thank you for the advice, I will manage. I actually wanted to train for a bit, is there anywhere that allowed me to train at all?" I asked the guards, hoping that they weren't too suspicious of me.

"Just find a random ice cave nearby, there were some caves previously lived by polar bear dogs, but when we were short on food a while ago after a Southern Raider's raid destroyed a lot of our food from storage, our commander, Hakoda, had led the warriors and hunted the nearby undomesticated polar bear dogs and later out own domesticated ones to help feed the starving elderly who were giving away their food, fasting themselves, to help feed the younger generation." Sui replied to me, as my initial look of skepticism died down after getting an understanding of why I was recommended to the caves that might be potentially housing dangerous wildlife.

Thanking them, I went into the third cave that smelled more bearable than the first two, with the first two smelling like blood and piss I presumed were left behind by the polar bear dogs or wildlife that were living there.

Then, I began clumsily swinging my heavy [Metal Spear, while covering it with firebending, as I tried to use the moves I had learned with the [Cold Weapon Mastery]. While repeatedly dodging, rolling, and stabbing an imaginary enemy formed by the shadows of my own body and swooshes from me swinging my weapon, I suddenly don't feel the [Metal Spear] was heavy in my hands anymore.

Just as I was beginning to feel my legs giving out on me from both seeing my [Metal Spear] and using up all my MP from firebending, a rush of energy courses through me, replenishing my HP, MP, and SP. Rekindling my confidence and seeing the subtle changes and growth happening to my being, I took out my [Metal Knife (50-centimeter)] with my left hand, while holding on to my [Metal Spear] with my right hand, and started to do some dual welding practice, as I think it will be better to utilize all the equipment I have, plus I thought if it's possible to even dual wield or I will just fumble myself to the floor. I believe that I deserve a break after making my body forcefully level up my STR until it can accommodate the requirements needed for welding it properly. And what better to do than to try imagining if I can coolly use both weapons at the same time, instead of switching between them when certain situations call for it.

To my surprise, upon my first swing of the [Metal Knife (50-centimeter), my brain suddenly gave me the insight into how to uniquely wield both weapons of different weight and length effectively by protecting my body and countering with my [Metal Knife (50-centimeter), while using my [Metal Spear] to keep the enemy at bay and attack from a longer distance, making sure that the enemy can't approach me. Just as I was about to use my newfound knowledge, I fell to my butt from swinging my [Metal Spear]. It seems that all requirements are accounted for in combination, meaning I will have to train more to break through the sum of the requirements.

(Less than sign)Yes, and if you want to only account for the highest requirement for the equipment instead of a combined sum like in the games you had played before, that will be another quality-of-life upgrade, and later you can even get a quality-of-life upgrade that can lower the requirements needed for equipment by half. But of course, all of these can only be earned if you obtain it through the [Market] Or [Gacha] skill.(Greater than sign)

Yeah thanks for breaking the silence, it sure helps to deal with the muscle pains from swinging these weapons in a dark cave all by myself.

Hearing the sound of a zipper being zipped up, I know that the [System] will at least shut up for another few hours until it's time for dinner at Kya's igloo home. I miss her already, can't believe her husband can ignore her every night for as long as she can remember.

After feeling the rush of energy coursing through me another 5 times ever since I started my training in the cave. I decided to go wash up a bit first before I headed back to Kya's igloo home. The last thing anyone wanted was a tired man uninterested in a motherly woman's meal after she had carefully planned and prepared every last detail of the meal to help better her family's well-being.

Regulating my breath first, I put my weapons back into the [Inventory-, before I checked my training progress over the day.

(Less than sign)Status:

Wo, Xin

Alignment – Fire Bender (Gamer Type)

Level – 10 (0%)

HP – 20/11-(Greater than sign) 20 (F-)

MP – 33/15-(Greater than sign) 33 (F-)

SP – 30/12-(Greater than sign) 30 (F-)

STR – 4-(Greater than sign) 14 (F- -(Greater than sign) E-)

PER – 4-(Greater than sign) 10 (F- -(Greater than sign) E-)

END – 3-(Greater than sign) 13 (F- -(Greater than sign) E-)

AGI – 7-(Greater than sign) 19 (F -(Greater than sign) E)

DEX – 1-(Greater than sign) 9 (F- -(Greater than sign) F(Plus sign))

INT – 7-(Greater than sign) 9 (F -(Greater than sign) F(Plus sign))

CHA – 1-(Greater than sign) 9 (F- -(Greater than sign) F(Plus sign))

LCK – 33 (D-)

(F-(Greater than sign) E-(Greater than sign) D-(Greater than sign) C-(Greater than sign) B-(Greater than sign) A-(Greater than sign) S-(Greater than sign) SS-(Greater than sign) SSS-(Greater than sign) EX) ("(Plus sign)" and "-" can be added to denote slight changes to the level of the stats)

Unallocated Stats: 12

Skills:

[Mapping]

[Basic Survival Skills]

[Cold Weapon Mastery]

[Market]

[Territorial Claim]

[Gacha]

[Observe]

[Analysis-]

[Inventory-]

[Screenshot-]

[Firebender Novice]

[Journalist Difficulty]

[Quest] – Requires Gamer Type Lifeform as a prerequisite. A menu in the [System] interface where you can access the [Quest] log of the [Quest]s you are on. It can display certain ways of how the [Quest] can play out. You can also earn rewards or receive penalties from the [Quest]. There are different types of [Quest] available as well.

Perks:

[Gamer Body Type]

[Navigation]

[The World is a Numbers Game]

[Permission not granted]

[Unlucky Beginnings]

Background: [Pioneer](Greater than sign)

Leaving my training cave behind and putting away my weapons. I was happy how one day of training could bring me the great outcome of level ups that I didn't experience just because I was too busy trying to survive in this new world with barely any supplies with me. The [The World is a Numbers Game] perk once again carries its weight and showed me how crazy useful the perk truly is, it really made me reconsider that maybe I should do things properly when I have the chance to learn and practice them instead of relying on the [Journalist Difficulty] skill.

While it is amazing to have the [Journalist Difficulty] skill to assist me in doing things perfectly, the potential to earn production-related skills and earn level ups from practicing by myself can really help me better utilize my time to grow. Of course, practicing and earning production-related skills aren't currently the priority, but it can be a plan for the future when I decide to diversify my skill set. Maybe I can learn potion making to make a potion of youth or create my own enchanted gear from forging the gear to enhancing it.

As I thought about my future plans, I hunched over a nearby pond and decided to at least wash my face before going back to meet Kya. I lapped some water over my face to wash it a bit, then drank the first sip of water for the day, finally feeling the chilly water flow down to my body.

"Hwank hwank!" A honking sound sounded next to me, I immediately jumped to the side, preparing for a battle. Only to see an otter penguin honking at me so I would move out of the pond, as it replaced my previously held spot, drinking some water.

Seeing that it wasn't hostile and posed no danger to me, I calmed down, and jokingly said to it, "Why you little penguin? Some people might think you are cute, but who do you think you are to just come over and take up my spot when there's the rest of this space for you to drink water? Take this!"

My hand was cupping some water from the pond, then squirted a thin stream of water at the otter penguin. Once my hands were out of the water, I splashed water from the pond, underhand style over to the penguin. The otter penguin finally getting annoyed by being hot with water from me had swam away from the spot.

(Less than sign)Achievement Unlocked: [Waterbending for the First Time (Fake)] – Requires bender to move large amounts of water towards an enemy for the first time. Granted [Waterbender (Fake)] skill.

Skill Unlocked: [Waterbender (Fake)] – Requires the [Waterbending for the First Time (Fake)] achievement. Your fake waterbending can only be used to deal damage, however, you must have direct physical contact with the water element in some way to create the illusion that you are water bending to others. Doesn't apply to other types of water bending other than the liquid state of water.

Equipment Granted: [Super Soaker] – A cheap toy you can find in any toy store that makes your summer a lot more fun. Stores 300 milliliters of water with the included water tank. It now comes with an eco-friendly water tank that can easily be recycled, it also comes with a 2-meter-long tube attachment that can suck water up for continuous firing instead of using the included water tank.(Greater than sign)

[System, what the hell is this [Waterbending (Fake)]? I thought you said I couldn't be the avatar, so how come I can now bend two different unrelated elements?

xxXxx

Thank you for reading the version of the fourth chapter.

You can find the same story updated in Ao3, as they have rich text format that won't get rid of my system brackets. So I am trying this new way to fix things as it is easier on my end to fix than bolding the text. Tell me if you guys are okay with this method in the comments.

I also post the story faster in Ao3 (Title and author under the same name), with it up to chapter 6. Go over there to check it out if interested.

If you enjoy what I write, and want to read ahead, come visit my Pa-page. I don't intend to paywall my stuff, but any support I get can help keep me writing instead of dealing with whatever life throws at me.

p.a.t.e.r.o.n.c.o.m/ Justtry123

The following is Xin Wo's current status.

(Less than sign)Status:

Wo, Xin

Alignment – Fire Bender (Gamer Type)

Level – 10 (0%)

[Journalist Difficulty]

[Quest]

[Waterbending (Fake)] – Requires Gamer Type Lifeform as a prerequisite. The user can form illusions that displayed waterbending abilities that you otherwise have no natural affinity to. While it does no damage, it can serve as a shocking distraction to people who believed you couldn't waterbend.

MP – 33/33 (F-)

SP – 30/30 (F-)

STR – 14 (E-)

PER – 10 (E-)

AGI – 19 (E)

DEX – 9 (F(Plus sign))

INT – 9 (F(Plus sign))

CHA – 9 (F(Plus sign))

LCK – 33 (D-)

Unallocated Stats: 12

Skills:

[Mapping]

[Basic Survival Skills]

[Cold Weapon Mastery]

[Market]

[Territorial Claim]

[Gacha]

[Observe]

[Analysis-]

[Inventory-]

[Screenshot-]

[Firebender Novice]

[Journalist Difficulty]

[Quest]

Perks:

[Gamer Body Type]

[Navigation]

[The World is a Numbers Game]

[Journalist Difficulty]

[Quest]

[Unlucky Beginnings]

Background: [Pioneer](Greater than sign)