NOVEL WEB Chapter 7: System
"Am I really going crazy?" Ryoshu still couldn't believe everything that had just happened before his eyes.
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[Status Bar]
-Name: Amemura Ryoshu
-Race: Human
-Rank: 12.5125 (F-)
-Stats
+[Mana]: 0 (Null)
+[Main Stats]
Strength: 12.25 (F-)
Endurance: 11 (F-)
Agility: 11.5 (F-)
Perception: 15.3 (F)
+[Secondary Stats]
Charm: 10 (Unranked)
Regeneration: 10.15 (F-)
Intelligence: 18.8 (F+)
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"So from now on, I won't need my wristwatch anymore. Not to mention, it's invisible to others, so I can use it anytime I want. Oh, but I still need it to check the time... and school notifications... and social media." Ryoshu thought carefully again, realizing it wouldn't hurt to keep it. Those functions would soon become useful once he entered the Spiral Academy.
"Well, I'll just wear this watch for a little longer... but later, I'll buy a better one."
Looking back at his stats, Ryoshu couldn't help but sigh at how miserable his character was.
"I'm ranked F- after all."
Aside from the average Intuition and Intelligence stats, the other stats were almost on par with those of an ordinary adult.
"These stats are even worse than the character I made at the start of the game."
But Ryoshu was surprised by his Charm stat, which was quite high compared to a normal person. This stat represented beauty, and it was one of the highest in the era before the war against the monsters behind the Temple. For someone like him, who had not awakened yet, this was the highest it could go.
However, compared to Ryoshu's favorite character, Katia, his stats were far behind. Katia had a Charm stat of 60, which was B+ rank, and she was only a first-year student. By comparison, Ryoshu seemed like a background character, while Katia was a goddess.
The reason for such a gap was Mana.
Now that Mana surrounded the entire Earth, humans could use it to make themselves stronger. Mana also changed their physical structure, making them more handsome or beautiful.
An easy rule to remember for how stats work is: except for 0, which is Null and that only applies to the Mana stat, all other stats range from 0 up to 100, with 100 being the highest.
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From 0 to 10: Unranked
From 10 to 20: F rank
From 20 to 30: E rank
...
From 80 to 90: SS rank
From 90 to 100: SSS rank
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However, players don't need to remember all of this. They can always check using their wristwatch or go to the nearest Adventurers' Guild to use a diagnostic device.
The diagnostic tool provides even more information than just their rank. It will also show plus (+), minus (-), or simply nothing. These symbols are used to determine which stage the Awakened is at in their rank.
"So, the virtual reality version doesn't change much after all. If it's below 3, it's a downgrade, above 7 is an upgrade, and anything in between is... intermediate."
Taking his own stats, Ryoshu saw that his Endurance stat was 10.15, which was F-, and his Intelligence was 18.8, which would show up as F+.
But getting stronger and more handsome quickly was simple. It had to do with leveling up. Ryoshu had planned to fulfill a condition to level up as soon as he got home: to make a Mana Core.
He pushed aside the issue of his stats for now, as what he was most curious about was the skills of this pathetic character.
"Skill Chart."
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[Skills]
-Art
-Traits
-Potential
Swordsmanship (F-): Stab (Level I)
-Talent
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He looked at the large "Swordsmanship" label on the screen. Ryoshu was secretly glad that he wouldn't need to go to the Adventurers' Guild tomorrow, but he didn't feel very happy either.
"So, this character of mine is indeed a swordsman, but the Swordsmanship rank is so low that it only unlocked the Stab skill... Trash is still trash," Ryoshu thought instinctively as he clicked on the Swordsmanship label, opening a sub-menu.
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[Swordsmanship] (F-)
Description: This is the first time you've touched a sword. But everything has to start from zero!
-Stab (Level I)
When activated, the first strike will consume "Stamina" and increase the "Critical Rate" by 5%.
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Stab was a very basic skill for beginners learning swordsmanship... But the 5% increase in Critical Hit Rate was still useful for increasing damage early in the game, as Critical Hits could deal 1.5 times the damage. However, 5% was still quite low for stable use, especially since it consumed a lot of the Stamina that Ryoshu was lacking.
"Alright, let's see what I got from that old man. Let's start with the mask... since I bought it first, even though I didn't exactly buy it from that grumpy blacksmith."
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[Hidden Mask] (D)
Description: This is a mask hastily crafted by a legendary blacksmith! It's hard to believe someone would steal such a half-finished, magnificent masterpiece!
-Gorgeous
Increases the "Charm" stat by 5 points when equipped.
-Hidden
When Mana is infused into the mask, the wearer's existence is partially erased.
-?
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'Feels like this System is constantly mocking me, huh? But just as Mr. Atsuta said, the mask in my hands can help me hide when Mana is infused… But I don't have Mana, so this function is temporarily useless.'
However, Ryoshu noticed a feature that could make him more handsome, along with an invisibility function.
'Maybe it will be useful at some point… but what is this invisibility function?'
"Appraisal."
[Authority "System" Level is too low to appraise this function!]
'The System can't not analyze it? Wait a minute, when did I get Authority?! Ah… I think it was mentioned earlier...'
But Ryoshu's curiosity led him to open the status screen to check. Authority is extremely rare; if talent is hard to achieve, Authority is something nearly impossible for a human to possess.
"System, what is my Authority?"
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[System] (Level I)
Description: ▯▮▮▮▯▯ granted to Amemura Ryoshu for his curiosity.
-Status Bar (Level I)
▮▯▮▯▮▯▯▮
-Appraisal (Level I)
▮▯▯▮▯▮▮▮
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"An Appraisal skill that can't even analyze itself!? Is this the definition of irony?"
Ryoshu laughed at his own joke. If anyone saw him now, they'd probably think he was crazy. Thankfully, he was in a remote forest, so no one was around.
'Can the System be considered an Authority? Maybe because I'm an NPC? The more I look into it, the more questions arise rather than answers.'
But will this skill change much? Of course not. It might help with some minor tasks… at most saving a bit of time and money. Besides, the Appraisal skill will surely be useful in the future, like when camping in the Temple.
However, it doesn't directly make him insanely powerful like the main characters in the game. Next, he checked the Formless Bow in his space ring.
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[Formless Bow] (E-)
Description: A finely crafted bow without a specific shape, made by the skilled hands of the only close friend of the legendary blacksmith. This weapon is a memento from that blacksmith.
-Transform
Can be compressed by infusing Mana into the bow.
-Armor Break
The highly flexible bowstring increases "Attack Power" by 5% and "Critical Rate" by 10%.
If it's a "Critical Hit," it reduces the target's "Defense" by 50% for 2 minutes.
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Although Ryoshu couldn't transform the bow because he had no Mana, at least he could use the second function, Armor Break.
So, in case something bad happens, he still had a way to fight, even if limited—at least it wasn't as hopeless as before.
"Reducing half of the defense for two minutes... that's not too bad. But for bosses around the middle of the game, this function wouldn't affect them much..."
Ryoshu remembered how even after reducing all their defense, he couldn't deal much more damage.
But he kept calm because the middle of the game was still a long way off. He still had plenty of time to find a new weapon.
Additionally, Ryoshu had, of course, bought some arrows for his bow. He took out exactly twelve arrows from the ring.
"A dozen arrows cost me 75 RC… Well, it should be enough… asking for too much would be greedy."
Next, he examined the two items upgraded through the game bug. The two orbs, which had previously seemed blurry, were now surrounded by a glowing aura.
'It looks even more luxurious than the cheap clothes I'm wearing...' - Ryoshu thought to himself when comparing the two things. Then he quickly examined the orb in his dominant hand.
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[Memory Orb]: [Good Memory] (F-) → [Super Memory] (C-)
Description: When absorbed, it will unlock the Potential "Good Memory" → Talent "Super Memory".
-Nearly Cannot Forget (New!)
Able to remember almost everything ever seen.
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'The skill description seems quite... game-breaking... Indeed, it's a skill that couldn't be obtained without using a game exploit...'
But when Ryoshu examined the remaining skill, he couldn't believe it even more because there were two accompanying skills. He was eager to absorb both but tried to restrain himself because they could still be upgraded further.
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[Memory Orb]: [Fast Reflexes] (F-) → [Godspeed Reflexes] (D+)
Description: When absorbed, it will unlock the Potential "Fast Reflexes" → Talent "Godspeed Reflexes".
-Enhanced Senses (New!)
All 5 senses exceed the scope of normal humans many times over.
-Death Sense(New!)
Able to sense sudden death before it happens, increasing the "Perception" stat by 20 units for 1.5 seconds.
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'As expected, using this exploit for the first time will yield the most upgrades.'
Since Ryoshu is currently in an A+ Hidden Temple, the energy escaping from the gate is very concentrated and powerful. This exploit would help upgrade skill items by absorbing the powerful Mana flow from the gate. Now he would use this exploit repeatedly until both skills reached A+ rank.
But strangely enough, Ryoshu had been rubbing the two orbs against the gate for over 5 minutes, and they showed no signs of upgrading at all.
'Wait a minute. Could it be!? Is it saying that the exploit has been fixed?' - Ryoshu recalled the urgent red notification lines from earlier. He thought they were referring to something else... but more accurately, Ryoshu was trying to be as optimistic as possible and stubbornly trying again despite knowing it wouldn't work.
"Damn it!"
'So... from now on, all bugs can only be used once?!'
Initially, he planned to use game exploits to become powerful as quickly as possible. And even most end-game bosses would be nothing if he could use one exploit continuously. But the System could fix bugs immediately, and this would ruin Ryoshu's entire strategy.
'If I had known this earlier, I would have gone to an SSS+ temple from the start...'
Regret was clearly visible on Ryoshu's sad face. He had just wasted one of the most valuable exploits in the game, so his regret was completely understandable.
"What's done is done. Anyway, I can't redo it." - He said this, but he still couldn't stop feeling regretful.
Those two skills would accelerate his training process very quickly, and the Godspeed Reflexes talent would be very useful in any battle. Especially the Death Sense skill would increase his chances of survival.
Additionally, Ryoshu could upgrade all abilities in this game in many ways, and there were still many other unexploited bugs. So, even if he could only use each once, at least he could still use them, so his chance of success wasn't zero.
'I'll make sure to save some of the most important exploits and make the most of them in the future.'
Ryoshu held the two Memory Orbs up to his face.
'God, I hope they don't taste like anything.'
Gulp.
Ryoshu swallowed the two orbs because he had no intention of tasting them at all.
[Acquired new Talents "Super Memory" (C-) and "Godspeed Reflexes" (D+)]
Suddenly, all his senses operated at maximum capacity, and he felt each of his nerves expanding at a tremendous rate. The world became a bit slower. It felt like he had just used doping. At first, he felt quite energetic, but gradually it turned into excruciating pain.