[Your party has entered combat!]

The meta-pumko laughed.

“Damned humans, do you make light of me?”

[Enemy has activated Guiding Radiance!]

An outline of white aura surrounded it. And it stared intently at Kitome. The magical girl shuddered.

“Stop staring at me, you perv!”

“Oh please, don’t get full of yourself,” the pumko said. “You have no goods I care for.”

“You piece of—”

Kitome unleashed a scattered shot of heart bombs at the taunting monster.

[Enemy HP has dropped to 175%]

Clyde blinked. Enemies can have health over one hundred percent? How was this fair?

Harumi was the next to attack, discharging balls of electricity. The meta-pumko laughed.

“Is that all you got?”

[Enemy resists electric attack.]

Clyde and Toru rushed him simultaneously. The monster dodged Clyde’s attack and then bashed Toru to the ground with a single swipe of heavy claws.

[Enemy activates Wavebound.]

A glowing blue circle appeared around the monster then expanded faster than Clyde’s eyes could see. It struck the party hard enough to send them all flying backward at least a yard. The white that was around the enemy faded.

[Your HP has dropped to 50% ]

Clyde sucked in a breath, enduring the pain as much as he could. Harumi stepped forward, held up a hand, and like a fountain of joy, healing light bounded from her, joining the party in an embrace.

[Your HP has been restored to 70% and is slowly healing over time.]

Everyone stood, focusing. Clyde took aim then fired an energy ball. The monster...dodged it.

“You suck,” it said.

[Your MP has dropped to 60%]

[Enemy has activated Will-o-wisps!]

Clyde barely dodged the assault of purple fireballs. He rushed the monster again, dodged its swipe then managed to get in a strong Precise slash. His sword bit deep into the enemy. When he pulled back, it roared.

[Critical! Enemy HP has dropped to 140% Enemy is stunned. ATTACK ONCE MORE!]

Clyde took heed of the prompt and activated Scatter shot. Concentrating, he directed all five energy balls to hit the stunned monster.

[Enemy HP has dropped to 105%]

[Your MP has dropped to 20%]

Clyde backed off, while Toru lurched into the fray, unleashing a series of martial art combos that connected to various points of the monster.

[Enemy HP has dropped to 80%]

“You know, you’re kind of pissing me off, you pesky humans,” the pumko said. “You’re like mosquitos. You don’t quit. Let me show you something.”

“Fuck, get him before he does something crazy,” Clyde said, catching his breath. The loss of that much MP started to take its toll on him. He could feel a headache form.

“Too late! HA! Eat this!”

[Enemy has activated Raid ender.]

“Shit,” Clyde said as the monster unleashed a lot of light. He was way too under-leveled for this. This thing was too strong for him. The semi-sphere of intense white light expanded from the enemy and engulfed the entire party in a mass of pain, shock, and agony. To Clyde, they were all one and the same.

[Your HP has dropped to 1%]

[Passive skill Secret sword and martial arts combination’s defense boost has allowed you to endure this attack.]

[Danger! You are critically low on health.]

Clyde felt intense pain everywhere. Even in his eyeballs. He noticed his party, struggling to stand, most of them inflicted with stun and shocked status alignments. Harumi couldn’t even move to heal him.

“Well, it’s been fun,” the pumko said. “Well, not really. Say goodbye.”

It started toward Clyde, step by step, chuckling and there wasn’t a thing the young man could do. One hit and it was over. Earth…gone. Just like this. He didn’t want this. He couldn’t let it end. Not like this. This was just stupid. A party wipe by a mini-boss? Why didn’t he prepare for this?

[Your talent Main Character Stuff has activated.]

[Extremely rare random ability activated: Deus Ex Machina.]

No…way, Clyde thought. Ah shit, just let me die. He chuckled to himself. Of all clichés…damn, he really was a main character. The Stone.

[Ability activated. LIMIT BREAK!]

Clyde felt strength like never before surge through his veins like raging rivers. This felt like the high of a Red Bull on steroids. He felt his capacity expand, meld with the universe and he just knew.

He took a deep breath, standing straight, light radiating around him as if he was a star on a dark night.

“Limit break,” he said then aimed one hand at the shocked monster.

[Activated Limit Break Skill: Almighty von seki]

A large beam of blue and black magic blasted from Clyde’s hand and disintegrated the mini-boss. Ashes rained almost everywhere. The air smelled of burned cloth and metal and vegetation. His party remained in their places, mouths agape.

A brown chest appeared in the monster’s place, bringing a wide grin to the young man’s face. Finally. An enemy drop. Loot! He thought he’d never live to see it in this world. That or his luck stat gave him nothing.

[Battle completed. Victory! Reward: 9000 EXP and $300.]

[Congratulations, you have reached levels 9, 10, 11, 12, and 13. This is because the enemy you defeated was of the demon’s lords social clutch. Stats increased! You’ve earned 3 free points! You’ve unlocked the skill Deep Slash! Precise Slash has increased to level 2. Hostile detection has increased to level 3! More information about an enemy will be revealed.]

[Your HP has slowly healed to 10% and still slowly increases due to ally’s effect.]

Clyde didn’t care about any of that. He opened the chest and smiled. He wasn’t the greedy type, but after what he just did, first claim should be no problem to the others. He grabbed a glowing book.

“First dibs. I claim this.”

“Why…did a chest appear?” Toru said softly then walked over to peek inside. Harumi’s healing wave of warmth and relief spread to the party as they awed at the piled of cash and trinkets inside the chest.

Clyde stashed the book and the secret wad of cash he swiped, into his inventory. He’d check out the magic book later—an amazing find! He found something else and added to his inventory. Someone would appreciate it greatly.

“Clyde, what was that power?” Harumi said, placing a hand on his arm. “I’ve never seen anything like it.”

He shrugged. “No idea. Long story and I’m tired. Let’s call it a night.”

“But—”

“I’ll explain in due time,” he interrupted the pink-haired anime girl.

“You’ve got to,” Kitome said as she left the chest. “Or else, I’ll have to make you in the name of love and justice.”

“Love and justice these n—” he paused. “Yeah, yeah. Let’s just—”

“Here, take this,” Kitome loudly blabbed. “Found it in that weird chest. Suits you.”

She handed him over a silver necklace with a crystal-like charm.

[Your relationship with Kitome has changed from neutral to friendly.]

[Your relationship with Toru has changed for neutral to friendly—slight respect.]

[You received Necklace of Strength. Item rarity: uncommon.]

“Thanks for saving our lives,” Kitome said. “Can’t believe we ran into something so nasty.”

“The demon lord’s lackeys are more impressive than I thought. We’d better remember that,” Toru said.

Clyde put on the necklace, feeling the tiny trickle of strength enter him. He nodded in approval.

“Thank you, Kitome,” he said.

The blue-haired girl smiled.

“Is it the nicest thing someone has done for you?” her eyes twinkled with mischief.

He sighed.

“The second.”

Kitome gave him a blank stare.

“Then what’s the first?”

“Harumi’s hospitality when I moved to this city,” he said, seeming to catch everyone off guard with the declaration. “Now let’s get home. I’m beat.”

“I’ll get cabs for everyone,” Toru said then added. “Just this once.”

[Toru and Kitome have left the party.]

[Quest completed. Reward: $50 and 150 EXP.]

“Need a healing sleep?” Harumi teased as she unlocked her door.

Clyde pulled out the item that he snatched from the chest. Sure, Kitome would probably love to do her stupid magical girl cosplay with it, but Clyde needed a better party. And since Harumi was his companion, the choice stood.

“And a hot shower,” he answered her question then presented her with a pink wand, embedded with glowing gems and gold flowerily designs.

[You have presented Harumi with the Wand of Roses. Item class: Rare. This is ideal for a healer]

Harumi’s eyes widened.

“This should help with any ranged healing,” Clyde said. “It probably has other abilities, but that’s for you to figure out. Take it. It’s a gift from a friend.”

He winked and gave her a bright white smile.

[Your relationship with Harumi has increased from friend to friend-closer level 1. Warning, advancing further will mean effort, but could also, trigger jealousy while other women are around.]

Clyde shrugged that off. It was just level one. He figured something like level fifteen or twenty would actually be worrisome, not that he knew the max levels with relationships yet. What if it was something like five. Another thought for later.

After Harumi briefly inspected the magnificent wand, she threw her arms around Clyde in a warm hug. Except …everything hurt. He groaned.

“Sorry,” she said, pulling away. “This is amazing. I’m really looking forward to seeing what else you could make happen.”

Clyde shrugged.

“Who knows? Anyway, eh, good night Harumi. To the shower, I go.”

He thought he heard her mutter an innuendo as he unlocked his door. Soon after his shower, he cooked himself a burger. Nothing like a simple dinner after fighting for his life against deadly monsters.

That night, he smiled at his stat increases. And best of all, he could finally buy the damn magical printer. That would enable him to check out new areas without getting utterly lost.

His thoughts fell back to that mysterious candy-eating girl…who was she? She was too cute to be a lackey of the demon lord. Clyde knew better. It’s anime. That girl felt no threat from his group whatsoever. If that Meta-pumko housed immense strength, there was no telling how much the girl had. Ah well. Another bridge to cross when he arrived. He could…try befriending her. Maybe without telling the others.

[Quest: guess what?]

“Oh fuck, please don’t, you evil system. You can’t do this to me.”

[This quest is mandatory and cannot be refused,]

Name: Clyde.

Level: 13

Type: Main character/ Stone.

HP: 100%

MP: 100%

Attack: 28 (+6)

Defense: 26 (+1)

Speed: 30

Luck: 25

Will: 28

Intellect: 31

Form: 0

Special: ???

Special Abilities: none.

Hidden stats revealed:

Special Defense: 21

Paranoia:

Charisma: 19

Composure: 16

Evasion: 11

Free points: 6.

Skills:

- Athlete: 10% bonus to speed and Will. [Passive].

-Hostile Detection 3: detects hostiles within a certain range of you. Detects enemy information. [Passive].

-Heart Protection 2: you’re 28% less affected by unwanted mental magic or skills from enemies. You gain a 13% bonus to your ability to convince others to do anything that would protect their hearts. [Passive]. 5% chance to break from any magic or charismatic hold.

- Secret sword and martial arts combination. Random unknown increases to speed, defense, and will during battle. Chance to critical increases by 2%. [Passive].

- Crafting 1: enables you to craft items using everyday objects. [Passive].

Unarmed attacks:

-Roundhouse kick. [Attack] – does physical damage. Change of knockdown at 5%.

Sword attacks:

-Precise Slash 2. [Attack] – does physical damage. Chance of critical at 5%

-Deep Slash 1. [Attack]- does physical damage. Chance to cause bleeding at 6%. Chance to stun at 2%.

Combat level:

basic. Combat style: basic.

Magic:

-Energy Ball. Type: spiritual. Class: mysterious.

-Scatter Shot. Type: spiritual. Class: mysterious. Description: Shoot a flurry of energy balls at multiple enemies. 1% chance to stun an enemy.

Talent:

Main character stuff.

Bonus:

10% boost to relationship stats with Harumi and her friends.

+5% damage for a physical attack.

Inventory:

$ 783

-Map of Lot City, Satovia.

-Smartphone.

-Key.

-Reminder for practice- note.

- Mysterious book.

Equipment:

-Beginner’s sword- +5 to attack.

-School uniform or casual clothes.

-School shoes or casual shoes.

-Necklace of strength. (Uncommon)- +1 attack +1 defense.

-no rings.

Classes: (year1).

-Satovia History 1.

-Romance Literature 1.

-Sciences 1.

-Crafting 1.

Phone numbers:

-Chika.

-Harumi.

-Naomi

Quest log:

-Find a printer. Optional step: raise money(completed).