Hero's Personal Log 048 Damn. What a crazy first day. I got a lot of stuff done today, I think. I still don't know if my class has provided me anything special besides insanely boosted spots, but I have a System that can take care of that for me. I do wish I could've been a little stronger, but I can appreciate a challenge. P-System Log

The sun is setting on our first day, and goddamn if it hasn't felt like far longer than that. Of course Jerome takes all the asspulls I've done for him for granted, but I've gotten used to that by now. I guess I just need to accept the fact that I'm attached to a bit of an asshole.

Also, you got a lot of stuff done? I suppose that makes sense since Jerome doesn't know what I've been doing, but holy shit I've had to do a lot today. From relearning how to see the world to dealing with a hundred new and confusing stats to dealing with Jerome's general idiocy, it feels like I've already been on the Continent for a year.

Ugh... at least there's nobody to fight now. Jerome and Aster hiked for like four hours total. The trail wound around and the terrain wasn't the most ideal, so we haven't made that much progress overall. Aster mentioned that it would likely be another two days to get to the next Edge City. Given that the only other person I can get opinions from is Jerome, I think I'll trust her.

They made camp in a clearing next to a copse of woods. Aster's bag had a tent in it, large enough for the two of them to share. Jerome seems a little nervous, but Aster doesn't care at all.

Party Chat

[Aster K'lon]: As it is rapidly approaching night, I recommend using party chat to communicate.

[Jerome Smith]: Why? We were talking just fine during the day.

[Aster K'lon]: It is best to remain silent in case of wanderers.

[Jerome Smith]: Wanderers?

[Aster K'lon]: Always the questions with you, isn't it? Wanderers are monsters, bandits, and their ilk who operate primarily at night. Many of them are bottom-feeders that lack the skills to identify our location, so we can avoid them and regain our strength.

[Jerome Smith]: We don't want to gain XP from them?

[Aster K'lon]: Believe it or not, there are aspects of life other than increasing your stats. Fighting through the night is tiresome and kneecaps your mana regeneration as well.

[Jerome Smith]: Alright then.

[Aster K'lon]: I will wake you in six hours. As you are a reincarnator and thus new to this world, I will take the majority of today's watch.

[Jerome Smith]: No passive skills for that?

[Aster K'lon]: Not yet, no. I will if I manage to level to [Archmage], but my stats and skills are not yet high enough to remove the need for sleep or increase my awareness to that extent.

[Jerome Smith]: Makes sense. I'm gonna go sleep, then. Good night.

[Aster K'lon]: Rest well, reincarnator.

P-System Log [another amazing poem]

i am so bored

jerome tries to sleep

he still has no sword

i can't rhyme for shit

P-System Log

Hmm. I was wondering what was going to happen if Jerome went to bed. I never liked the idea of my consciousness disappearing when I was still a human being on Earth, and I like it even less now that I know I don't have a brain that needs to be rested.

Thankfully, it looks like Jerome going to sleep doesn't force anything upon me. I'm still conscious, just stuck in one spot. Maybe there's a way to separate myself from him if I try hard enough, but I can't figure out how to do that at the moment. At the very least, there's no integrated feature for me to get away from him.

This... might be promising? Obviously, sleep and death are two very different things, but if I stay awake when he's unconscious, maybe I'll stay alive even if he dies?

Still best not to test it. Besides, as irritating as Jerome can be sometimes, I don't hate him enough to want him dead.

Ugh. I'm going to get bored so quickly. At least the landscape was changing around us before when they were still walking. Now, Aster is just chilling outside with a handheld light, reading a book.

I wonder if I can read over her shoulder. Well, not that I'm looking over her shoulder, but figure and speech and all--y'know what, the only person who's gonna see this log is myself, you know what I mean, me.

Hermetical Goats, huh? Looks like a rather, uh, different take on a romance between... a powerful mage and a body-modder? I'm not quite sure what's happening, since I can't quite sense the words on the pages she's already read, but it looks interesting enough.

This is shaping up to be an awfully uneventful knife. Er, night. Maybe I'll try some more of my incredible poetry.

P-System Log [haiku 1]

i got isekai'd

wish it could have been cooler

please help i'm so bored

P-System Log

Oh hey, I think Jerome's mana is recovering. Looks like it's not something I need to facilitate after all. Now that he's just been sitting--well, lying down--in one spot for a hot minute, I can feel mana slowly coming in to replace that which was lost. Looks like a natural process of this world, since I don't actually see any System messages indicating that something's happening.

The first time something like that has happened, I think. Everything else has been integrated into the System in some way, whether that's good ol' Origin or the R Beast's unique System. Really makes me think on the nature of this world. How much do Systems actually do? Obviously, they're core to how this world functions, but why is that? Why are there two separate Systems, and h̵̙͊o̸̙̾ẘ̶̼ ̵̺͌d̶͇͛o̷̞͋ I k̶i̸l̵l̴ the other one?

...man, thinking is tiring. And I'm getting bored again. I spent the entire day thinking about System and mana shit, I kinda want a mental reset.

I mean sure, I could keep reading Hermetical Goats, but that isn't as interesting when I both read faster than Aster and haven't had the context of the rest of the book.

Oh, speaking of Aster. She was able to talk to me earlier, and for some reason she still hasn't revealed the fact that she can to Jerome. Maybe I can talk to her to help alleviate my boredom.

Private Message [Aster]

[P-System]: Hello, Aster.

[Aster K'lon]: Jerome's System. Or P-System, whichever you prefer to be called.

[P-System]: P-System works fine.

[Aster K'lon]: This is the second time now that you have initiated a conversation in the private messages interface. Are you still learning?

[P-System]: As you said to Jerome, I'm an edge case. I am an intelligence initiated by the Origin System and as such must learn to become a better System from the ground up.

[Aster K'lon]: Interesting. I had earlier believed you to be all hollow, an existence shaped to be merely a set of evolving instructions. But from what little I have conversed with you, it is apparent that you possess a depth that is greater than I initially expected.

[P-System]: I know not what I am, but I hope to learn nonetheless.

[Aster K'lon]: I examined my records. Earlier, Jerome referred to you as an "AI", which my records from contacts in other Edge Cities inform me is indicative of a mind created by what the reincarnators call computers. I don't know if you would know it.

[P-System]: I have access to some of Jerome's memories. I understand what you refer to.

[Aster K'lon]: Excellent. Would you agree with his perception of you?

[P-System]: Partially. I am an offshoot of the Origin System that oversees the distribution of power to Integrated.

[Aster K'lon]: How interesting. If you are still learning, though...

[P-System]: Correct. I am still in my relative infancy. Over time, I will blossom into a being of my own.

[Aster K'lon]: I assume this means you cannot inform me of the details of how a System works.

[P-System]: Unfortunately.

[Aster K'lon]: A shame. I would've greatly enjoyed a greater understanding of this world.

[P-System]: I apologize.

[Aster K'lon]: No, no, don't worry. If anything, it should be I who is educating you. Is there any way I can help?

[P-System]: There are a number of methods. However, I do not desire to learn at this very moment. My ability to process is not infinite, and when I was made into an offshoot it was with a limited amount of patience.

[Aster K'lon]: And so the gods made a System in the form of a man, hm?

[P-System]: Essentially. For now, could I request that you begin a new book? I learn much about this world's aspects from different sources, and literature is one I have yet to explore deeply.

[Aster K'lon]: Of course.

P-System Log

I feel kind of bad for basically lying to Aster, but I don't want her to let the fact that I'm human slip. Given our conversation just now, she'll treat me as something similar to human without believing I actually am one, and she doesn't have a clue that I'm also a rather clueless reincarnator, which is the best outcome possible.

There's probably going to be problems with this later, but for now I'm just gonna be content with sitting here in my state of nonexistence and reading Aster's book in the dimness of the night.

Not a bad way to end the first day.