"Why do you keep playing that game? Can't we just hang out normally? I'm here and all you do is play that game!"
"We're always together. Aren't you getting sick of seeing this guy's face?"
I pointed at my face, letting out a small chuckle at him before tucking away the phone I was playing with.
"Oh shut up. You know that we're two misfits. I don't get how we even became at all, you bastard."
This Yankee-looking guy was my only friend in Kyoto, a troublesome delinquent who had been always sent to detention for punching students out of annoyance.
I know not because his actions were spread by rumors but...
"Oh, I remember clearly how."
...I was one of those he had sent to the clinic.
"H-Hey! Don't bring that up. You looked like that one guy in Class C that I got blinded by anger. I already said sorry, didn't I?"
He'd only pull me in under his arm and rub his knuckle unto my head, bullying me rather physically as he laughed but I didn't mind.
This was how he genuinely treated his friends.
Not that he has anyone other than me.
"Hey. Don't look at me with that kind of face. I'll hit you once if you don't stop."
I was looking at him with a face riddled with pity directed at him, it was fun teasing him and all but not everything lasts forever.
"Chihiro. You know how I talked about going to Tokyo to study college there."
"What?! I thought that was just a joke!"
He reacted rather violently, shaking me back and forth. Seeing him like this just puts me at ease even if I get punched right now.
"I'm going to go there tomorrow, Chihiro. I'll study and find her."
I looked at the setting sun in the distance. We were both looking at it as it fell to the horizon.
The reason why I wanted to go to Tokyo wasn't just because of college. It was because of my sister.
"Since when she was missing?"
"Two years..."
It was two years since she left Kyoto to chase her dreams of being a game developer. She was promised a job there if she moved but after a few months, we lost all form of contact with her.
We never knew if she was still alive or just hiding away but she had no reason to.
She just mysteriously vanished, and even after reporting it to the police, they had no leads.
They called it a cold case as she was one of many people that vanished in Tokyo, but after almost two years, there was no evidence or mysterious disappearance that had been added to such a case.
"I know that you still believe that she's alive, but just normally finding her won't work. If the police couldn't even find her then how can you eve—"
"They just haven't tried hard enough! Their faces just show me that they had careless and believes that she only ran away! That doesn't make any sense!"
"..."
"She's not someone who'll run away just because of the hardship she had with my parents. That's not... possible. She just can't leave us."
I let my mouth get ahead of me, letting it run wild as my emotions pour out.
"Ichiro. If that's what you believe then it's fine. You can go, you don't have to tell me anything."
"——?"
"But just promise me one thing. We'll still be in touch, yeah?"
Despite everything, this delinquent is just someone who is misunderstood. He's quite a good friend, and even if he was my only friend, I won't easily replace him.
"Of course. We kind of swore some kind of brotherhood, right?"
"Damn right, we did."
We slammed her hands together, shaking them as we both strengthen our resolve. It was a farewell to be done, and I for one will always remember to keep in touch.
"...Hahaha!"
We both trail off of our high horses, laughing away the worries we had.
It was then I didn't expect things to go south.
Oh, how I wonder how much time had passed there.
△▼△▼△▼△▼△▼
"..."
"—hiro!"
I heard a voice calling out to me. A faint choir called out in unison.
"...!"
They were calling for me. Beyond that light that I can see.
Did I already forget? The purpose why I should keep standing back up?
"Ichiro!"
"—Uwah!"
Suddenly, I woke up to the splash of water that had drowned me for a split second. I had some of them stuck in my nose.
"Uwagh! Agh!"
I coughed them all out as he sat up from my laid-out position, rubbing the water out of my face as I looked up.
"And here I thought you won't get up. You're making Nara worry needlessly—Get up."
Ron was holding a bucket, seemingly he was the one who poured water on the unconscious me to wake me up from that deep slumber.
Just how is he able to stomach torturing me like this?
"I'm sorry about that, Ichiro. It's just how he trains everyone..."
Nara helped me stand back up on my own two feet.
"...But he should know that other people have their limits."
She turned to glare at Ron who just raised an eyebrow, chuckling as if teasing us
"Alright. I guess he was able to reach his quota for today so, feel free to take him away."
Gesturing away both of his hands, Ron was deliberately teasing Nara as he laughs loudly before being smacked by the arm.
I guess seeing interactions like this are somehow soothing to the mind, unlike back on Earth where... everyone was distant.
Only I and a friend were able to be so close.
Oh, I wish I could tell him what is happening to me right now. He'll freak out with his brains out.
"You alright?"
Nara asked me after she saw me chuckle lightly. I don't get how she just asked me if I was alright.
"Did you hit your head or something?"
Oh, that's why.
"No. I just remembered my friend back in my world. I... I somehow just miss him."
I had my head turned down at the ground. Having that dream had made me realize the people I had left behind. The gap in time doesn't even matter if I'm stuck here forever.
"I see. I believe you'll be able to see him again."
Nara raised my chin and faced me, assuring me of a future that I didn't believe in.
"But for you to do so, you must be strong and prepare for the worse."
She added before tapping my shoulders left and right. It was like a pep talk but I was already done with my training.
"Yeah. Of course."
I could only agree to do so. It was the best that I can do. Even if I have to go through this hellish training for more weeks, then I'll persist.
For now, I need to get stronger to survive.
"Ah. One more thing, let me check your status."
Ron stepped back in between us, asking for me to open my status as he wanted to check the results if I had an increase in my stats.
"Ah. Sure. [Status]"
[Ichiro Mushibami: Lvl 1.]
Status Chart
Intelligence: 40
Strength: 15(*2)
Constitution: 20
Agility: 77
Attack Speed: 60
Luck: 51%
Mana: 10/10
[Skills]
Healing Factor Lv. 1, Luck Lv. 2, Curiosity Lv. 1, Inspect Lv. 2, Wisdom Lv. 1, Cooking Lv. 3, Household Lv. 3, Insight Lv. 2
[Unique Skills]
Traveler Lv. X, Evolution Lv. 1, Blink Lv. 1
[Class]
Commoner/■■■■
Sponsor: N/A
"Huh. There's a weird symbol on your strength."
"——?!"
As we all look at my status, there was a symbol and a number beside my strength. At first, it was confusing but it was not just that which had been changed.
Adaptation was gone and replaced by Evolution. I wasn't informed about this! Did this happen when I was knocked out?
"Evolution? That's weird. That's a skill players only get after when they reach a certain level."
Nara elaborates it as if she knew about it, but for me who had just seen this skill that was not in the game, I had to listen closely.
"Wait, is that some kind of overpowered skill? I'm still level 1, aren't I?!"
"Yes, but... that skill is only supposedly used when you have to break through a level cap."
In Tentetsuki, the troops, or mainly, the characters have level caps that prevent them from leveling up further.
But, for them to break through that limit and gain another set of levels to unlock, they need to meet certain requirements and materials to do so.
Ascension breaks the level cap so that your character would still increase their stat points but not gain any more skills.
However, in that game, it was called Ascension, not Evolution.
"What does that mean?!"
Even if I had played that game for a long time already, the gap is too much for me to fill in.
"Receiving that skill at level one means... your current level cap is... 1."
"What?!"
Just when I thought things had finally started to change. I was hit by a major roadblock.