Epoch of Desolation

Plexus? Oh, come on. What is it this time?

Rain was tired of all the words and terms that kept springing up on him one after the other. Sure, their appearances gave him an opportunity to take his mind off the direness of his situation, but they also exhausted him—mentally.

It seemed like he hated being exhausted mentally. That was another characteristic unlocked.

Still, he was not going to say no to the question he had been asked. He did not know how the Skill and Division he had selected would change the course of his life yet, but now he was completely sure that every single word appearing before his eyes was as important as the other. And since that was the case, he should treat them like what they were.

[Proceed to Plexus Interface?]...

Rain read the blue and purple hue words before his view again then answered internally, yes. And as the words warped in an attempt to produce different ones, he felt his pulse hasten, he instinctively anticipated what he would see next.

Shortly after, his eyes widened into golf balls.

What… What is all this?

[Plexus Interface]

Player: Rain Leclair.

Role: Side Character.

Class: Lightweight.

Division: Saint.

Active Skill: Blade Saint (Low Level).

Passive Skill: Aura. Photographic Memory.

Benefactor: None.

Privilege: None.

Golden Points: 00

[Entertainment Level] [Attributes]

There was a sharp pang in Rain’s head as his toes curled. The sight of the words before his eyes had made him recall his tiredness, hunger, and thirst.

In response, he subconsciously turned around, searching for something to relieve his thirst in the darkness, and at the same time not, because he knew he wouldn’t find anything of such.

Sighing dejectedly as his features blanked, Rain put a stop to his fruitless searches and went ahead to glance through the ‘Plexus Interface’. And as soon as he did something in his head sparked into life.

The image had been fleeting, but strangely Rain seemed to be very good at catching shards of his memories and never letting go of them.

For a brief moment he wondered if that was the same for everyone who had amnesia, but he quickly shoved that aside and focused on what was at hand. He was yet to see anyone besides him, thinking about others at the present would just be a waste of time.

The memory shard Rain had gotten hold of replayed in his mind over and over again until he got accustomed to it, and then…

A system? He found a word—no, it was not just a word, he found the existence of something extremely similar to the Plexus Interface. I see. This is like a system.

Rain scrutinized the Plexus with a slight tilt of his head and a ponderous expression.

Was I like a big game nerd or something? Mmm… I doubt that. For some reason I feel like I wasn’t. Well, it’s not like I have to be a game nerd to know game terms or the like, right?

That was true, but he couldn’t just push aside that possibility seeing as he knew exactly nothing whatsoever of himself. Therefore he kept it somewhere in the back of his mind that he could have been a teenager who preferred gaming to socializing. And when he took into consideration his characteristic of not enjoying reading, it almost aligned perfectly.

Rain huffed impatiently.

If my whole situation is actually like a game, then isn’t this kinda bad? Death in games are normal occurrences, right? The hairs on his body stood erect. Ah, shit! Why am I the only one in this hospital?

What Rain wanted was obvious. It was just someone to share his thoughts with. That would undoubtedly remove a lot of burdens from his shoulders and ease his stress.

That’s wishful thinking, isn’t it?

Rain retired his current thoughts, giving his attention back to the Plexus Interface in his line of sight as he took in a deep breath and an exhale, then he went ahead with the usual.

His studying was directed to the ‘Passive Skill’ section first. After all, he was already familiar with everything else up to the ‘Active Skill’. Well, not exactly ‘familiar’ in truth, but he knew a bit of what they meant or represented.

He also had a bit of an idea on what an ‘Active Skill’ indicated. He believed it to be a Skill that required an action from him for its effect to be triggered. And that thought went in line with what his ‘Blade Saint Skill’ was about.

Then a Passive Skill is one inherent to me, I guess? Rain questioned, recalling how he had not been bombarded with options to select any of the Passive Skills he had been given, unlike his Active Skill. Probably, he answered himself and moved on.

Erm… Let’s see. Aura and photographic memory…

His body posture perked up slightly at the sight of those words, and his buttocks impulsively shifted on the dusty floor of marble he was on, going from a spot that was already layered with warmth to one untouched by it. Rain shivered in response. He remembered he was naked then.

Tsk.

A momentary feeling of displeasure came upon him, but it only lasted a few seconds, after which he breathed out a sigh as his mind flew back to the moment he’d encountered his current nemesis.

Aura, huh? If this is what I think it is then I pretty much don’t have a high level in it, seeing as I couldn’t even scare off a Jaguar.

He had resolved to using the word 'level' to categorize his strength in various aspects because of two things. One, he had settled on the high possibility that whatever was happening was similar to a game in all its forms; and two, his Active Skill had been categorized as ‘Low Level’.

Now that he was on that point of reasoning, he further went ahead to worsen his mood himself.

Something having a low level meant it was significantly weak compared to other things with higher levels; in fact, it might even be weak when set side by side with its own peers.

Rain’s Active Skill, the greatest thing in his arsenal, was in this category; his Aura Skill seemed to be even notably worse. In other words: he was exponentially weak.

That conclusion made him chuckle in a suppressed but dramatic manner; although it was not a new realization, it was still hurtful.

And then there’s my Side Character Role; a person who is easily disposable in plots. Whatever was left of Rain’s muscles strained. I’ve been set up for failure, haven’t I?

It was pointless thinking about it though, so he just went ahead to focus his attention on the second of his Passive Skills. And a few seconds later, he stumbled upon an awareness that uplifted his mood slightly.

Hold on. This photographic memory, is it the reason I’m able to recall things quickly? The edge of his brows almost touched each other. Holy… With this I might just be able to get back my memories in no time. That and the fact that whatever he learned from now on wouldn’t be easily forgotten. I must have been one smart kid before I lost my memories.

He based that notion on what he believed Passive Skills were: inherent skills to a particular individual. In other words, he had always been a person with photographic memory. In other other words, he was amazing.

Rain smiled softly for the first time since he’d escaped his hospital room.

He was just about to continue on to the next section of words hovering before him when he suddenly heard a crash.

Instantly, lightheadedness overtook him, and as the hair on the nape of his neck stiffened so did the Plexus revert back to the small pulsing light it always was, hiding in his peripheral vision.

What was that?

At first he had thought it was the Jaguar he had imprisoned, but the sound which had stormed his ears wasn’t that of glass or a door, it had been something else. If Rain was to settle on a particular thing, he’d say a table—a large table. Furthermore, it had not come from the direction he had escaped from, it had come from the opposite one—the one currently to his right.

Another Jaguar?

He anxiously anticipated the Plexus notifying him of whatever was close by, but he got nothing. And since he couldn’t just hide in hopes that whatever storm brewing would pass, it was then that another trait of his came back to him. A trait which involved him taking a step to confront what was unknown to him in order to determine his stand.

In some ways that would be termed recklessness, in others bravery, but for him it was simply curiosity.

Damn it!