(12:30 a.m.)
The decision had been made.
Both brothers left the hotel, slipping through the door and into the abandoned streets of Enoshima. The air felt strangely peaceful—calm, silent, carrying only the faint smell of rust and seawater. Suprisingly despite the situation, barring a few, the street lights seemed to work just fine."
Ethan: "Elin told me a list of places where the goblins could be, so as long as we avoid those areas we should be fine. But we should be alert just in case if things go south."
Dylan silently nodded and adjusted the strap of his backpack.
Ethan: (It's a good thing Elin was nice enough to give some supplies.)
They walked through the peaceful roads. It almost felt like everything that had happened was just a bad dream.
(20 mins later)
They reached the edge of the forest—the same path they had used to enter the city. Surprisingly, they hadn't run into any goblins.
Ethan sat on a rock, drinking some water.
It seems to have quenched his thirst.
He closed the bottle and put it back in his bag.
Ethan: "I totally expected to run into some goblins."
Dylan: "Same."
Ethan: (It feels like I am forgetting something.... Oh ya. The system.)
Ethan: "Open."
[ Name: Ethan
Class: Mage
Race: Human
Level: 6
Exp: 13/600
Hp : 96/100
Strength : 7
Defence : 7
Intelligence : 15
Mana : 11/11
Speed : 9
Bonus points : 5
Skills: Mana blast
Race Skills: Stat distribution ]
Ethan's face twisted into disappointment.
Ethan: "Seriously, that's it?!"
Dylan: "What happened?"
Ethan: "This fucking system only gives one bonus point."
Dylan: "Do you expect me to understand what you're saying."
Ethan: "Basically. Once you kill a monsters you get a resource called exp, and when the exp reaches the limit you level up and gain a bonus point. You use that bonus point to increase one of your stats. Get it?"
Dylan: "I get the exp part but what do you mean by stats?
Ethan: "You see the numbers below your exp."
Dylan: "Open. Ya."
Ethan: "Those are your stats, they basically represent your physical or mental capabilities in numbers."
Dylan stood there, trying to process the information.
Dylan: "Wait, so what you're telling me is, if I use my bonus point on strength, I'll get stronger, and if I use it on speed I'll get faster. Is that right?"
Ethan: "Pretty much, ya."
Dylan: "Oh... That sucks."
Ethan: "Now you get it."
Dylan: "I am not complaining about the system giving one bonus point but that it gives a bonus point on level up."
Ethan: "What?"
Dylan: "This feels like a cheat. I spent years training to get this body, and you are telling me a random rich guy can match me in just a couple of days."
Ethan: "But they need to risk their lives fighting monsters to level up."
Dylan: "You know as well as I do that some person is gonna find some or the other loophole to exploit the system without consequences."
Ethan: "Now that you said that out loud, it does kind of suck and here I was complaining because the system didn't give three bonus points like in the anime... Regardless we should still use it."
Dylan: "Sure. I guess."
Ethan: "What level are you?"
Dylan: "Four."
Ethan: (So three stat points.)
Ethan: "You should invest two points into speed and—"
Ethan paused, thinking.
Ethan: (In the last fight the goblin was easily able to grab Dylan. A speed increase should help him in keeping up. An increase in strength is not necessary since I am the dealing damage. The rest of the stats don't seem too useful.)
Ethan: "That's it."
Dylan: "What about the last bonus point?"
Ethan: "It's best if leave some bonus points, just in case."
Dylan: "So.. How am I supposed to do this?"
Ethan: "Try saying the skill's name."
Dylan: "Stat distribution."
Both of them braced for something… anything??
Nothing happened.
Dylan: "Not this again."
Ethan: "Did something change in your status?"
Dylan: "My what?"
Ethan: "The system."
Dylan looked again and noticed a small plus icon next to his stats.
Dylan: "Ya. There is a plus icon next to all my stats except hp."
Ethan: (I guess hp can only be increased by items or skills.)
Ethan: "Try clicking it."
Dylan reached out and tapped twice on the plus icon next to Speed.
His speed stat increased.
Ethan: "Do you feel anything different?"
Dylan: "Not really."
Ethan: "Why don't you try moving your body."
Dylan crouched slightly and sprinted toward a nearby wall.
His sudden burst of speed caught him off guard. He was moving too fast—far faster than he anticipated. Just before crashing into the wall, he grabbed onto a nearby pole and forced himself to stop, tumbling onto the sidewalk.
He stood up, slightly battered but surprisingly not bruised, and dusted off his clothes.
Embarrassed, he walked back.
Ethan: "What happened there?"
Dylan: "I didn't expect, I would be this fast."
Ethan: "You increased your speed and didn't expect to become faster?"
Dylan: "It's not like I didn't expect it, but that the speed increase would affect this much. Plus just because I know my speed had increased doesn't apply to my muscle memory. Another thing, it kinda feels like you're talking in slow motion. Just a bit."
Ethan: "Come on it can't be that bad, it's only two stat points. Here I'll also invest in speed."
Dylan: "Yo—nevermind go ahead."