"Haha. Hahaha," Asaru dropped to his knees, his voice a mix of relief and exhilaration as the adrenaline began to fade and exhaustion finally overwhelmed him. "Finally, it's over."
[Congratulations. You have cleared the Tutorial Dungeon. You have received 15000 Achievement Points.]
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[Name: Asaru Takayoshi]
[Age: 16]
[HP: 16700/16700]
[AP: 40000]
[Stats]
[STR: 395]
[AGI: 360]
[STA: 325]
[PER: 315]
[INT: 430]
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[Calculating rewards…]
[Notice: You have exceeded the required conditions threshold for quest completion]
"Wait? What?" Asaru said in rapid succession, him and Emilia questioning what was going on.
[More than 50% HP remaining when defeating the boss.
[Condition: Cleared.]
[30000 AP or more AP remaining after quest completion.]
[Condition: Cleared.]
[Overall average of 300 stat points after quest completion.]
[Condition: Cleared.]
[You have met all the requirements for a Status Update.]
"What the hell? Status Update? What's going on now?" he asked as he, who always thought that after clearing the dungeon the game would end, was confronted with the reality that it was far from over.
"DAMN IT! AT LEAST GIVE ME FREAKING AN EXPLANATION!" he raged at the window in front of him, Emilia starting to question something specific.
'Is this it? Is this where it all began…' she gulped as a name and silhouette appeared in her mind. '…Ace?'
[Calculation of rewards complete. Distribution of rewards initiated.]
"Haha," Asaru sarcastically laughed.
"Using rewards to change the topic huh? Quite the shrewd system we have here," he said, exasperated. "Fine. Let's see what kind of rewards I'll get from this death game I went through."
[You have acquired Skill: Blade Battle Arts]
[You have acquired Skill: Overdrive]
[You have acquired Skill Rune: Shadow Arcane]
"Skills and an item, huh?"
[All rewards have been distributed. Beginning Status Update…]
"So now that I've received my rewards, this Status Update or whatever it is… Guess I'm about to find out what's it all about."
At that moment, he felt drowsy. His legs became weak, and he fell on one knee, holding his head with a discomforted and painful expression.
Emilia simply watching silently, already having come to terms that she can only wait and see what happens. But one thing was certain, and it was evident from his reaction that the effects of this update were taking an enormous toll on both his body and mind, especially if we considered all the hardships he went through up to this point within the Tutorial Dungeon.
A few moments later, his condition improved as a new system window popped up.
[Status Update complete.]
"Damn. Now that was one hell of a horrible experience. I've never felt this bad in my entire life," Asaru grumbled as he rose back on his feet, reflecting on his words. "Actually, screw that. Compared to what I went through in this place, this is nothing."
"Now, let's check out what change this update brought."
A new window popped up, surprising Asaru as to the content it displayed, making Emilia also surprised as she read it.
[No matter the difficulties, you are one who faces challenges and finds solutions using your wits and insight.]
"What the-?"
[You have overcome all obstacles and continued to push forward even within the deepest depths of despair.]
[With your sword reflecting your indomitable will and resilience, you cut down all that stands in your way.]
[Your soul polished and as deadly as your blade, burns with the desire of strength for your own survival.]
[You have acquired a Class. Your new class is Spellblade.]
[You have acquired the Unique Trait: Spriggan.]
"A class and a unique trait? As always, I can never know if this place and everything that happens within it is a dream or reality," Asaru pondered deeply, before his attention was directed towards a new pop-up window.
'BEEP! BEEP!'
"Hmm?" both Asaru and Emilia looked at the Status Window in front of them.
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[Name: Asaru Takayoshi]
[Age: 16]
[Class: Spellblade]
[Unique Trait: Spriggan]
[HP: 1500/1500]
[Skills]
[Skill: Blade Battle Arts]
[Skill: Overdrive]
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"A new status window, huh? But what happened to all my stats? Where did all my AP go? Seriously, what's happening here?"
Asaru questioned, scratching his head as he didn't know what kind of development his current predicament was and what it entailed.
"Oh well, let's just see what all these updates do."
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[Class: Spellblade]
A class unique to swordsmen which allows them to exert more power using a sword. It focuses any power possessed by the user and releases it by a single point of the blade.
Notice: Chances of getting this class depends on amount of Achievement Points accumulated by the user.
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"A sword-oriented class, huh? Guess that's explains what happened to my AP," Asaru thought observing the info on his new stats.
"Next, my trait."
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[Unique Trait: Spriggan]
Your body and soul have evolved further than initial status.
Effects:
-Strengthening of all senses.
-Strengthening of all physical abilities.
-Resistance to all status ailments.
-Rapid recovery.
-Energy Transmutation.
Notice: Chances of getting this trait depends on stats possessed by the user.
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"So, my stats meshed into my trait, huh? This keeps getting weirder and weirder," Asaru exasperated as this new system structure kept getting further and further away from the systems he knew.
With a sigh, "Now what about my new skills?"
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[Skill: Blade Battle Arts]
Active Effect: Strengthens the user's main sword techniques with significant attack power.
Notice: Strength of techniques vary depending on the proficiency of the user.
Passive Effect: Enhances the user's swordsmanship and dexterity, allowing higher mastery and performance.
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'At the very least this one seems useful, but… why do I keep getting a bad feeling from this?' internally expressed Asaru with concern as the only thing he hoped for was for this nightmare he had experienced to simply end.
"Next…" Asaru started.
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[Skill: Overdrive]
Allows the user to exert more power than they originally have and surpass their limits.
Notice: Activates only under certain conditions.
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"…Overdrive. Activates only under certain conditions. What the heck?!" expressed Asaru with a confused expression. "That's way too vague!"
"Geez~" he rubbed his temple. "Just what kind of weird game system is this. Just let me outta here already."
"In any case, my last reward…"
A new window popped up.
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[Skill Rune: Shadow Arcane]
Grants the Skill: Shadow Arcane, which allows the user to control and manipulate shadows at will, allowing diversity in uses and effects.
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"So, this thing will give me a new skill, huh?" he said holding a stone with a purple glowing rune on it after it had appeared the same way as the sword.
"Now that I think about it, the Shadow could also materialize things out of thin air. Maybe it was because of this skill?"
After breaking it, another new window popped up.
[You have acquired Skill: Shadow Arcane.]
"So now that I've gotten my rewards, is it finally over?" he asked, unsure of what would follow after this.
It wasn't long before a new system window appeared but with a message even more cryptic.
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[Please choose an alias.]
[______________]
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"What? An alias? What for?" Asaru retorted, his frustration evident, but for Emilia, what would follow would be the answer to the countless doubts that had arisen in her heart.
"Fine. Whatever," he groaned.
"An alias, right?" he pondered for an instant.
"There was a nickname I used to use when I played RPGs," he muttered before giving a name.
"Ace."
[Ace]
For Emilia, whose eyes widened for an instant from silent realization, this moment was when most of the pieces of the puzzle that had been forming in her mind got solved, the only thing remaining being the last piece for everything.
But afterwards her and Asaru didn't have to wait long before something else happened.
[An alias has been chosen.]
[Creating memory backup from Subject: Asaru Takayoshi]
[…]
[Memory Backup created.]
[All memories of Subject will now be erased.]
"What?" Emilia's eyes widened in surprise as Asaru's voice also shouted out.
"Wait, wha―?!" but before he could finish, Asaru was interrupted as he felt another feeling of drowsiness stronger than his previous one, making him fall completely unconscious. "Fuck… it… all…"
Emilia stood there dumbfounded as Asaru's body dispersed into digital cubes, disappearing from sight.
"What's going on?" Emilia didn't have to wait longer for an answer as a system window popped up in front of her.
[Initiating System Reset]
[…]
"What is this?"