Haru quickly inspected his surroundings. White walls with some posters, a white ceiling with a square-shaped lamp, a lacquered wooden floor. A single bed, a wardrobe with a mirror attached to the door, a shelf with several framed pictures and books, a swivel, and last but not least, a study table with more books, a study lamp, a laptop, as well as a digital alarm clock.
The clock displayed '4.01 AM: April 12th, 2016.'
'Huh? The date was far back. I guess I really got reincarnated or transmigrated. Well, whatever.'
After he thought that, Haru left his bed and approached the mirror to check his appearance in the mirror.
"I got a unique hair color in this new life. I also look better than in my past life," Haru muttered under his breath.
The reflection displayed a handsome young man with an average height, silvery-white hair with two antennae, and a pair of gray eyes. It was Haru's new appearance.
"Now, what? The owner of this body should have a family. There's no way I can impersonate whoever owned this body without obtaining his memory first. I hope I will get the memories that belonged to this body's original owner. That would be sucked if I am going blind," Haru mumbled.
Out of the blue, something surfaced in Haru's mind. He felt an intense headache from the mental strain, yet he gritted his teeth to endure that pain. He supported himself by leaning on the wardrobe.
Haru wanted to scream, but his fear of gathering unneeded attention had stopped him from doing so. His breath had become short and rough; sweats covered his forehead and cheeks.
It was a painful experience. Haru never felt like this in his past life. Yet, he preserved until the pain subsided, to which he unconsciously released a loud sigh out of relief.
"I-I see," Haru muttered faintly, "So, I replaced someone called Haruka Kasugano."
Haru paused for a moment. He felt that his new name was somewhat familiar. He then checked his old and new memories.
"Ah, so it's like that," Haru remarked after some time, "No wonder the name sounds familiar. I really did replace the protagonist of Yosuga no Sora."
Haru knew about a character called Haruka Kasugano because he had watched the anime adaptation of 'Yosuga no Sora.' He never played the visual novel, though. Other than the lack of time, he wasn't into eroge.
"However, this world doesn't seem to be the world of 'Yosuga no Sora.' In fact, this world seems like a world of many slice-of-life, rom-com, and school-life series mixed together."
In the first place, Haruka Kasugano supposed to have one sister, his fraternal twin, Sora Kasugano. However, Haru found that he had a stepsister one year younger than him. Suzuka was the name of his stepsister.
"Purple hair and eyes, I bet she's this world's version of Suzuka Nagami from 'My Sister, My Writer!'," Haru hypothesized.
"An alternate world that I will surely enjoy, huh?"
Haru unconsciously made a wry smile as he remembered the message that he received before his awakening. He felt happy to have a new life in this kind of world, but he was also angry at the god that turned him into a test subject and killed him without his consent. In the end, Haru dismissed the matter and focused on a more relevant topic.
"That god said that I would get a system, right? How can I be sure if I really get a system? There's nothing like a boot-up screen appearing in my field of vision, well, other than that message screen. Did he lie?"
After thinking for a short time, Haru tried something according to novels and fanfiction that he'd read in his past life.
"Let's see, Status?"
Thankfully, something did appear right after Haru said the magic keyword. A rectangular green holographic screen popped up in his field of vision.
"It's really here!" Haru exclaimed in excitement before covering his mouth. He had raised his voice and remembered that he could accidentally rouse the attention of the other residents of this place.
Haru wasn't ready to meet them. He needed time to gather his courage and resolve.
Putting other matters aside, Haru began inspecting his Status Board.
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[Status Board]
Haruka Kasugano — Human — Male — 16 (February 5th)
Job: Protagonist — Level: 1/10 — EXP: 10/0
Stats — STR: 0.7 — VIT: 0.8 — DEX: 0.9 — INT: 1.2 — MAG: (Locked)
Stats Points: 5
Status Effect: Not Available
Job's Abilities: Not Available
Notable Abilities: Enhanced Memory — Mysterious Lottery — Item Box — Appraisal
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"This is," Haru was at a loss for words when he saw the content of his Status Board.
"Is there a help function or something that can give me an explanation about everything?" Haru wondered while holding some expectations.
In fantasy novels and fanfiction that he'd read, such systems would often explain their mechanism after the initial activation. Such was what Haru waited for.
After waiting for a while, nothing occurred. Haru felt disappointed because his expectation was betrayed. He then pondered how he could understand the system's mechanism and recalled something from 'System'-themed novels and fanfiction that he'd read in his past life.
Following his meta knowledge, Haru 'Appraised' his Status Board.
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[Status Board]
A conceptual divine artifact that merged with the possessor's existence, which displays the quantified value of the possessor's specs and other notable stuff.
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"So, I really can use it to check out my Status Board. If I appraise the attributes, then I will get the explanation, right?"
Haru pondered for a little before doing just what he'd thought.
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[General Attribute]
One of the attributes of the Status Board, which contains the System's Holder's name, race, gender, age, as well as the date of birth.
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"It really happened! Then, let's inspect the rest."
Haru became excited and 'Appraised' the rest.
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[Job & Level Attribute]
Contains the System's Holder's Job, Job's Level, and EXP.
Job is an attribute that will affect the development of the System's Holder as they raise their Level. Job's Abilities will get unlocked after the Job reached a specific level.
The Equipped Job is 'Protagonist,' which is a special and unique Job. Anyone with 'Protagonist' Job is favored by Lady Fate, loved by Lady Destiny, and spoiled by Lady Luck.
Level is an attribute that shows the development value of a specific concept; in this case, it is Job.
EXP, which is the abbreviation of Experience Points, is an attribute that gauges how far is the System's Holder from reaching the next stage of development. System's Holder will receive EXP after completing tasks, passing trials, or defeating other units.
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[Stats]
An abbreviation of Statistics. Contains the five statistics of the System's Holder.
STR, which is the abbreviation of 'Strength,' governs over the physical power and durability.
VIT, which is the abbreviation of 'Vitality,' governs over the total stamina, the speed of stamina recovery, the rate of natural healing, and the natural lifespan.
DEX, which is the abbreviation of 'Dexterity,' governs over the hand-eye coordination, control over motor function, and reflex.
INT, which is the abbreviation of 'Intelligence,' governs over the capacity and capability of the mind, and other related specs related.
MAG, which is the abbreviation of 'Magic,' governs over the potential, capacity, reserve, and quality of the magic. The System's Holder needs equal or higher INT stats to have excellent control over the magic power. This stat is unavailable until a specific Job is equipped.
Additional Note: The value of 1 stat point is equal with the capacity and capability of an ordinary male human in his twenties.
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[Stats Points]
Displays the free Stat Points, which can be used to increase Stats attributes.
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[Status Effect]
Displays the active buff or debuff.
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[Job's Abilities]
Displays the Job's Abilities owned by the System's Holder.
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[Notable Abilities]
Displays notable abilities owned by the System's Holder.
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"Well, it's disappointing that my MAG attribute is still unavailable," Haru commented.
Haru then turned his attention to Notable Abilities. He already had four abilities listed on there. Other than 'Enhanced Memory,' he was curious about the rest.
'I have some ideas regarding Item Box. It is the staple skills in Fantasy stories with system and RPG elements, though I don't know its limits. Then, this Mysterious Lottery, honestly, it sounds like a Gacha feature…'
Gacha or Lottery usually designated as one of the system's features. But, the Status Board displayed it as an Ability, and it piqued Haru's interest.
As Haru 'Appraised' his first ability, a new screen popped up, displaying the detail of Enhanced Memory.
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[Enhanced Memory]
It allows Ability's Holder to remember and recall experiences and events without problems.
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Haru always knew that he had a rather good memory in his past life. It's not wrong to say that he had a photographic/eidetic memory. However, he always kept it a secret.
Haru didn't want to appear standing out, which would get him bullied by jealous orphans before he moved out of the orphanage. Even after leaving the orphanage, he kept it under a wrap out of habit.
Everyone in his past life only knew that he had a good memory, no more than that.
Haru had a harsh childhood, but he had a better life after becoming a part-timer worker in an internet cafe and moving out to his apartment.
Putting Haru's past life aside, Haru dismissed the screen and then 'Appraised' his other Abilities one by one.
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[Item Box]
Gives the Ability's Holder access to an exclusive alternate dimension with limitless space. There is no weight limit. Time inside Item Box stops. Ability's Holder can even keep animate objects there in stasis.
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[Mysterious Lottery]
Gives the Ability's Holder a random thing; from useless garbage to divine artifacts, from trash abilities to overpowered skills, and even unique, alien animate objects. It's up to the luck of the Ability's Holder. The cool-down period is 100 hours/4 days and 4 hours.
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[Appraisal]
Gives information about the target. It can even analyze the target's feelings and surface thoughts.
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'Well, those are good starting abilities to have.' Haru paused for a moment and began pondering his next action.
A moment later, Haru focused his attention on the Mysterious Lottery written on his Status Board.
'Perhaps, I can try this out?'