Six days had passed since I was thrown into the harsh, unforgiving tutorial phase of the game. No breaks, no mercy, just a relentless cycle of scrounging for food and pushing my body to its limits. The days fused into a grueling routine of survival, each one a test of my will and adaptability. And that’s not all, by the way. One particular annoyance plagued me persistently: a little menace I had fittingly named Pokey.

Now, Pokey wasn’t just any ordinary brambler. Oh no, this little devil had made it his life’s mission to target my rear end with his quills every chance he got. It was like he had a personal animosity towards me, deriving some perverse pleasure from turning my life into a constant, stinging ordeal. Just when I thought I’d found a moment of peace, there he was, quills at the ready, as if the idea of being a sadistic harbinger of my suffering amused him. Each prickly encounter only powered up my growing determination to put an end to his torment once and for all. I decided enough was enough. I needed a plan to settle the score once and for all.

On the seventh day, I stood on a well-trodden trail. On cue, Pokey appeared, his eyes carrying an intimidating glint, fixed on me. His tiny form bristled with quills, each one burnished dangerously in the sunlight, mocking me. With no referee to start our battle, the chase was on. You don’t seriously believe I was going to do a head-on battle with this bugger, do you? Oh no, I had a plan to tip the scales in my favor.

I headed through the thick foliage with Pokey hot on my heels. He was quick and agile, his quills whistling through the air as he closed in. I navigated the forest, leading him in a wild pursuit. Every twist and turn was intended, bringing us closer to the trap I had conscientiously prepared the day before.

Hours spent digging a pit and carefully disguising it with leaves and branches to blend with the forest floor were about to pay off. Finally, as if guided by fate or some bitter sense of justice, Pokey stumbled into the pit. His shocked cries pierced the quiet forest, a series of sharp, panicked squeals. I skidded to a stop, breathing hard, and peered over the edge of the pit.

There he was, frantically scrambling at the bottom, his quills rattling as he tried in vain to climb out. The walls were too steep, the earth too loose for his tiny claws to grip. A grin born of hard-earned victory spread across my face, sweet satisfaction filling me at the thought of outwitting my obstinate tormentor. For once, Pokey wasn’t the one with the upper hand.

I knelt at the edge, looking down at the creature who had caused me so much grief. I felt a strange mix of success and pity within me. But there was no room for mercy. Oh no, not after the week I’d endured.

I picked up a boulder, feeling its heaviness settle in my hands. With a deep breath, I raised the boulder high, ready to end our feud once and for all. For a moment, Pokey’s demeanor softened, his eyes pleading for mercy. “Nice try, Pokey! HA! HA! HA! COUGH! COUGH! COUGH!” I cleared my throat. “Where was I? Oh! You reap what you sow, Pokey!” I exclaimed and brought the boulder crashing down, sealing Pokey’s fate.

I returned to my cave, a victorious smile on my face as I carried my prize proudly. Initially, I had entertained the thought of cooking Pokey, eager to taste his rumored delicious meat. However, my recent experiences had taught me much about the online store’s functionalities beyond mere commerce.

Turns out, besides buying stuff from the store, I could also sell products. And get this, I could create my own inventions and sell them online for the inhabitants of this world to purchase. Even better, I could make a product and request the store to produce it solely for me. But there was one catch. The system had a strict no-cheating policy. If players were caught selling goods acquired from the Midoris or commissioning the Midoris to create products, the penalty was game over, permanently. But hey, I’m Akira Sakamoto, the master of craftsmanship. Give me the right materials and tools, and I can make anything.

Hmm… I wondered if Mai’s birthday figurine would be a hit in the store. But that could wait. Right now, there was one product I really wanted to mass-produce. And that was bullets.

Based on my encounters with the insane creatures in this even crazier world, I needed a special type of gun. Knowing the system, when firearms finally became available for the Gunner class, they’d probably throw me a curveball with a toy water gun or something equally useless. But I already had a couple of models in mind, thanks to all those educational documentaries I watched.

For the bullets, I planned to create a few prototypes. Once I perfected the designs, I’d request the online store to mass-produce them and sell them back to me. It was a foolproof plan. Well, almost foolproof, considering how the system loved to mess with me.

With my feud with Pokey settled, I returned to my cave with a lighter heart. I promptly sold Pokey to the online store and received… five hundred gold! I couldn’t believe brambler meat was so highly sought after. I wondered what price the store would resell it for. Probably double what I got, since the store was run by the system. One thing I know for certain, the system loved screwing me over.

By nightfall, I was resting in my cave after finishing my dinner of rabbit stew and several slices of delicious Faerie Apple. I had learned that if I wanted to know which plants, herbs, or fruits were safe to eat, I just placed them in the Tool/Items inventory, and the system would tell me their descriptions and whether they were poisonous or edible.

Satisfied and full, I brought up my Player Status to check the latest updates on my stats.

***

Akira Sakamoto (Aoi Player)

Level: 5

Class: Marksman

Subclass: Gunner

Title: Lover of Peach

Health Points (HP): 100 — 100%

Mana Points (MP): 300 — 100%

Strength (STR): 5

Dexterity (DEX): 4+1

Wisdom (WIS): 3

Charisma (CHA): 1

Intelligence (INT): 30

Luck (LUK): 2

Free Stats Points: 10

Overall Prestige (P): +120% (Max 1000%)

***

I smiled widely, taking in my level and stats. Thanks to my exercise routine over the past couple of days, I had boosted my base STR and DEX. I also noticed that after skirmishes with creatures, my health percentage had dropped, and I could restore it to full with ample rest or by consuming health potions. The store stocked these potions in low, mid, and high-tier varieties, each differing in the percentage of health points they could restore. I purchased a low-tier potion for emergencies. It cost me a hundred gold, but I considered it a worthwhile investment.

Besides STR and DEX, I also increased my WIS by one point, probably because I created favorable situations before battling creatures, like the trap I used for Pokey. As for LUK, the one point I gained was likely because I always ended up with a stroke of luck in my battles. However, there was one stat I couldn’t raise, and that was intelligence (INT).

As the thought crossed my mind, I imagined crafting an item to boost my INT base stat. That’s when a handcrafted Mai figurine came to mind, whittled from wood using a simple knife. The idea was tempting enough for me to picture the delicate curves of her form taking shape in my mind’s eye, each detail rendered with the exactness of a master artisan. But the vision wavered, and I quickly dismissed it. No, I wanted my creations to be masterpieces, not mere shadows of my true potential. The crude tools at my disposal couldn’t do justice to the complicated designs I envisioned. I needed proper tools, fine materials. Only then could I bring my visions to life with the care and craftsmanship they deserved.

Nightfall settled around me. The chirps of crickets, the hoot of an owl, and the swirling of leaves in the breeze all merged together. I lay down on my makeshift bed of leaves and stared at the rough, uneven ceiling of the cave above. Tomorrow would likely bring more exercise and hunting Kiiroi creatures. The tedium of these tasks crept into my thoughts, the repetition dulling the edges of my enthusiasm. Still, despite the boredom, my mind kept circling back to one thing, Mai.

Not Rei, not my parents, just Mai. Her image seemed to have stubbornly lodged itself in my mind. I found this strange as I closed my eyes in search of rest. Why was it her face, her voice, her presence that clung so insistently to my thoughts? Perhaps it was because she was the person I saw most often, in and outside of school, since our houses were right next to each other. Or maybe because I miss her…

The soft sound of my snoring echoed softly through the cave, abruptly breaking my train of thought.