"..."

HP [4/5] MP [0] XP [1] STR [0] DEX [1] INT [1] LUK [0] Stamina [93] Hunger [95] Thirst [95] -Healthy- Trial [14]

"...Okay."

I decided to hold off the self-admonishment for now and looked more carefully on the screen. Just a bunch of letters and single digit numbers, but for me who'd experience in games with levelling systems. Or rather, too much experience, this was just like one of those! It turns out that the ｢Status Window｣ required audible prompting of keywords in order to reveal more information benefial to the 'player'.

Still, my stats were unbearably low. It was hard to look at... Honestly, it was by some chance or miracle that I was still living right now, and none of these things here were the results of my effort. I was a freeloader, those stats seemed to remind me of that.

What about my level...? It's probably at 1 huh.

"Level. LV. LVL. Rank. Class. Job. Title. Occupation. Skills. Abilities. Items. Effects. Aura. Unique Skills."

Level 1

Pop. Just the level had been unlocked on the blue screen. It was displayed on the most left of the ｢Status Window｣.

It was rather disappointing. But maybe I had missed some of them?

I spent a few more minutes writing down keywords that I'd said before and those that did not work using the piece of paper on the cabinet table. Then I tried and tested almost every single word possible that popped up in my head at the moment.

Still, there was no luck.

I guess this is the limit...

Amidst the discovery of new information displayed, I noticed that "Trial" had gone from 12 to 14. Did something change? Did my actions in altering the ｢Status Window｣ affect this value? I still had no clue if it was a good or bad thing, so I left it alone again as I could not come up with a conclusion.

For now. That was it. I had unbearably low parameters, to the extent of my STR, or strength to be 0. While MP or mana (probably) was 0 as well, I could assume that the number does not necessarily reflect the individual's current aptitude for things. Maybe it did, but I felt like it was more of a system that granted 'additional status' on top of your own physique and talent. Thinking so made a lot of sense, it wasn't as if I had literally no strength at all; While it wasn't fit enough to lift a boulder, I was still fairly confident of throwing or or two punches before my arms gave way.

...Cough.

My XP, or experience points (probably), started at 1. Or had I done something deserving of that 1 point? I could not remember killing any monsters ever since coming here. No wait, I did kill a fair bit of ｢Mutated Mana Worm｣ and ｢Mutated Lilac｣. While they were all small insects which even a baby could reliably kill (probably) if in small numbers, they were still monsters. I had assumed that nothing was granted to me when a level up did not come to me, but it seems like the system was registering 'effort' properly.

It was still too little, but I began to appreciate the fact that the Goddess was watching. Maybe.

Alright. I prepped myself as I got back up again. Lifting my shirt to check my injuries made from mostly the Lilacs, the timer had only a few minutes remaining. I wanted to see if anything new came up when the remaining duration hit 0, so while waiting, I walked over to the sofa beside the ｢Mana Sink｣ with the dishes and hovered a ｢Blue Pill｣ over it. The sink absorbed the pill entirely and entered a small hole on its left.

The dishes were cleaned at an incredible speed, and they dried them automatically too. Thinking that mana was far too convenient again, I returned the bowls to the stack near the sink. I could see where the pill was located that it only used 1/4 of itself to supply mana for the sink. Seems like that was its consumption rate.

I got another drink from the jug and slumped onto the sofa, continuing to monitor the timer.

Recovery possible in 0:00:01 Recovery Complete. +1 HP

An additional window layered over the timer window for 3 seconds, and disappeared again.

Sure enough, my HP which was 4/5, had returned to 5. There was no visible feeling of rejuvenation, but it seemed that I had completely recovered.

It was quite a bit of work for someone like me who wasn't used to 'hard work' anymore, but I still had to at least ration the resources properly in case... in case the hunter no longer showed up around here.

It wasn't an excuse to hoard everything on my own, but a precaution, I reminded myself conscientiously. This world did not take too kindly to otherworlders, and even the man who had a decent stock from surviving for this long had no guarantee that his life wouldn't be forfeit at the very next day. But of course I knew that the hunter was used to danger, so I wasn't too worried that he would turn out like me easily.

On another page which I had sectioned properly, I made a checklist of the food, drinks, medical assistance items, and miscellaneous stuff that couldn't be classified as the other three. Additionally, I made a few other columns that might seem useful in the future in case I chanced upon them and was able to bring it back down here. It wasn't going to be easy... I sighed.

When I had finished writing, I looked up at the ceiling deep in thought. Just in the worst case scenario that the hunter would not come back here, this hideout would become my base of operations for the time being. The air vent above seemed to circulate air to a certain extent, but it had limitations from being underground like this.

Underground huh...

I still did not know many things about this world, but it was clear that I would rot away in this place if I did not leave to find help or more resources to sustain my livelihood. But I was scared. I was too afraid of what lurked outside of this safe zone. What if I was swarmed by monsters again, what if I drank the wrong thing again? It was a traumatic experience, my hands began to shiver as the memories of that day began to leave my supervision and wander about, further fanning the ferocity of this world into my mind. It was going to etch into the deepest parts of my head to stop me from doing anything else. Yeah, I shouldn't do anything else... as long as I was here. It might not be as good of a place like before, but I could see it as my 'apartment' if I really compromised.

...It's... fine... right...?

Silently without thinking, I raised up the ruby-glassed shard tied as a necklace around my neck and stared at it wistfully.

I was being strange... this world was merely out there to kill me. Everything out there was hostile without a doubt, and they gave no room for reasoning. Then why was I not welcoming death? Why had I become stubborn all of a sudden? Was it simply the fact that I had become more coward from seeing those aberrations in the night? Was my true nature purely a coward? ...I wasn't sure, but I guess I was rather frustrated. Angry, that the Goddess who put me here without a second thought. Nothing was explained to me, and she expected me to... expected me to... ... ...huh?

What did she expect me to do in this place? It was nothing but me pointing fingers at my own misfortune, but what did the Goddess expect out of me really? Was it really just for nothing? Even if I wasn't the 'hero', I had still came here with my previous memories intact. A reincarnation usually held them back in your past life, but this wasn't a case. I was transferred here, and maybe she expected something out of this body.

I had died on Earth, and came to this place in exchange... Technically still a return after a death, in other words, the afterlife. To survive? To repent? Sure, I wasn't exactly clean of everything while I lived my carefree days in my apartment, but what sin had I exactly committed to warrant such a treatment?

...Was I being too self-centered. I had no clue. I had no skills, no powers. And I had gotten to this point by sheer luck. Was this world made to test the transfers to such a degree...? In that case, the one who made this world had no thought for difficulty adjustments. This was a shitty game. Haha... if this was a game, then I'd be ten feet under right now.

...A game huh... If it is a game....

Like a game which had revealed some of its mechanics to me, my mind twisted its logic conveniently for me to accept it. I knew he had come out again, but I didn't feel disturbed by its presence sharing a portion of my mind right now. I needed a clear direction from now onwards. A clear direction, like one in a quest. A storyline. A game.

If it is a game... if it's a game, then... if it's a game then that means... it's beatable.

My lips curved into a smile. I was pretty good at games. Games were my territory as I honed my skills in perception rather than mechanics. Players who frequented my playthroughs of various games, would call me "The Rabbit". Not because I was the first at clearing a powerful dungeon, nor because I was the first to obtain powerful equipment, nor was I the first to reach the highest level.

I was just good at gathering information to reach the true end-games. To discover easter eggs which most would not have noticed. I was a highly-skilled information dealer.

And if I say that this world is beatable, then it must have been made up of information. It was there, I could see it. Strings of numbers and code, forming the concepts of levels, mana and monsters.

"Huhu... huhu... huhuhuhahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha....

HAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAH!!!!!!!!!!"

As if possessed, I continued to laugh coldly. My unfocused eyes staring at the ceiling, flickering in between insanity and understanding.

What's wrong with me, I wonder. I felt as if someone had just cracked open the restraints inside of me. Someone wanting to pry out my darker emotions on purpose.

It took a long while for me to lose my breath, and then my head dropped back down to look at the cold hard floor. The memories of having killed a man resurfaced. The memories of witnessing the death of an 'innocent' returned, but it no longer haunted me. No one was 'innocent' in this world. They were merely sinners, or a lump of code. They were objects required to clear the game. The game, yes the game. What a nice-sounding word. What a beautiful word which encapsulates the concept of victory and defeat. A law that the powerful must obey the weak, such is the charm this word gives.

A game.

"That is... indeed a game. A game that we must definitely beat. Yes, life is just a shitty game. You and I both know that."

Talking to no one in particular, I gripped the necklace around me even more tightly until my palm bled. Something was pushing me to do this... something was trying to pull the other me out into the open, as if they were sick of me being the one in control of this body. I felt nauseous, but I felt great too. I felt liberated, like a thousand needles leaving itheir punctured areas all at once.

My shackles were being destroyed one by one.

"Our body isn't compatible with fear. Throw those away."

Fear of the unknown, fear of the powerful. So that irrationality would be erased.

Instantly, something inside my heart was lost. My mind turned extremely cold, as I began to understand what was happening to me.

That certain someone was rewriting my mind to keep himself in control. My other personality brought forth by the hallucinogenics. Someone which had a detestable moral code, yet he had always brought forth results. ...Does that mean I was ready to accept that? ...Fine. To shoulder my own emotions in place of the weak me, I knew I had to change. And if I would no longer hesitate in the future to live, then he would do it. I would relinquish control to beat the game.

"You said you wanted to live here? Are you an idiot, are you a parasitic scum of a person who can only live off the efforts of others? Just like your parents who'd left you with all that money, you want to live that kind of life again? Even when you know inside that this isn't a second chance? This is hell, and you want to live comfortably?! What a joke. Your resolve is lacking. Watch your own incompetence disappear, and thank me."

Continuing on a one-man act, my hands clutched the sides of my head... resulting in a very painful migraine. It felt as if all blood was going to be drained out of my ears. My brain was going to burst, scattering pieces of guts all over this place. My fingernails felt as if they were torn off, and scalded by lava. My eyes contorted as if an army of fire ants was crawling underneath my eyeballs.

This was a change which was going to thoroughly remap my way of living.

"Our body isn't compatible with compassion. Throw those away as well."

What had my parents taught me all this time...? Those values were less than dirt in this forsaken world. It had no meaning. And to live, my decision could not be clouded. They must not be held back by people who wanted me to save them. I simply did not have room for such complacency.

"Our body isn't compatible with love. Discard them. Feed them to the dogs. People who group together and convince themselves that they need each other, are just weak."

The ruby shard shattered and the string was forcibly torn off my neck. Without love, so our mind can think clearly from now on without someone to depend on. It would only hurt afterwards if I lost them like my parents.

...Parents. ...Who are they?

...I was born in the darkness? I see. I've been living alone from the very beginning. I was already a strong boy at a young age. I conquered a mountain of games, and I should continue treating everything like game from now on.

...Ah, a game.

"...That's... right, Whi...te... You... you are... you are now... perfect..."

Once those words left my mouth, my body dropped down to the floor as if resembling a puppet whose strings had been cut. Maybe I had been too tired from the change. Maybe it was strange to exhaust myself so much from having my sense of 'self' erased. My throat was so dry it hurts. A set of heavy wheezing, I allowed myself to catch a moment of breath in the midst of a painful feeling of suffocation lingering in my chest. Sweat trickled down from my forehead as I laid down on the ground with my eyes half opened.

But at least, I was still able to see it. As if rewarding me for my new mental outlook, or maybe, out of malice. I did not know, and I was not prepared for it.

A notification alert.

Piiin~

Conditions [Survival's Resolve Type A9899508] have been met

You have cleared the trial for the skill [Blackheart]

Do you accept? Accepting prevents other new skills to be obtained.

[Yes] [No]

[Blackheart] The user receives the calling of the demon Diabolos, and gains Taunt against non-humans. Attacking them directly cancels the effect.

[Taunt - Draw an enemy into a state of aggression towards the user for an indefinite period of time]

"...Hooohhh..."

The goddesses had convened a regular meeting for the condition of the "Corrupted World". As they watched the final participant achieve the 'qualifications' to attend the trial, whispers, murmurs could be heard. [Survival's Resolve Type A9899508] belonged to the A class, and it had been a while since a human had reached that point. The numbers were a result of quantifying human emotions and thoughts, and the higher the alphabet from A to Z, the stronger a person's 'core' was. Even if their alignment belonged to one of evil, the system had finally judged the human to have been rehabilitated into a "lawful" existence.

This individual in particular... had a pair of charming eyes. They were eyes that seemed to see through the existence of this world. No way, right? The goddesses were not omniscient, and thus a seed of doubt was sowed. Even the goddess who was in charge of his transfer process was rather surprised. The purpose of this world was supposed to be confidential to its residents. That mortal was not supposed to know.

...But alas, the goddesses could only watch without interference. They would see how far he would go through the future trials he will be put through in the Corrupted World.

This young man. White Shigaraki.

He was already rehabilitated, but the goddesses decided to monitor him closely for the time being.

While his 'given ability' wasn't combat-oriented, it still was considered a 'Crowd-Control' effect.

[Blackheart]

They felt that it was a pity. White had probably drawn the short straw amongst the powerful abilities within A ranking.

The goddesses didn't have much expectations of his given skill and focused more on his character. Blackheart had a weaker form called Provoke, with it being time-restricted and had a weaker 'taunt' effect. Still, no one who used it did well during the trials, thus Blackheart would probably be the same regardless of its minor upgrade. The goddesses might have been a little too rash in their observations, but that could not be helped. They came into existence before the skills were created, thus they only had knowledge of those that were used in the worlds that they governed.

The ability Blackheart was left unnoticed, along with the sudden notice of another skill the youth had, and the meeting ended shortly after.

Tr~ing.

You have obtained the skill [Blackheart]. [????? ????-??? --????????]

Tr~ing.

You have obtained the skill [Dreamwalk].