Chapter 7 - Next Up

"Now, how about a word for the audience, maybe even explain the reasons for your actions hm?"

His words were in the air a little longer than needed before I gave in and sighed. "There wasn't anything special behind my actions, I'm simply not accustomed to pain, and my pain tolerance is pretty ass. I've never even broken a bone before so crashing out after breaking every bone in my body and having most of my organs turned to mush is pretty valid I'd think."

"Then not only that, but the next second I was forced to feel myself pretty much burning alive as my bones snapped back into place and I regrew limbs. I won't lie and say that wasn't my fault since I had a warning and still smashed into her at 90 miles an hour, but then she cut my legs off later after I had just regained them. You'd be pretty angry too."

Loki seemed to be quite amused at my rant, chuckling to himself a few times. "I was beginning to think you were just a woman abuser."

His words were annoying... but not enough to actually annoy me, just enough to drain my energy to continue the conversation, "Just pull up the notifications so I can get to the next world."

"Okie Dokie."

'Lemon Smokie.'

[Congratulations on completing the World!]

[Assessment: C]

[Note: Pretty good I'd say]

"C Grade really?" I looked away from the notification and towards Loki.

"What?" His obnoxious grin never left, but his voice sounded genuinely confused, of course, I never would believe he was confused. "All you did was kill two demons, compared to worlds you'll go through later, that was a basic feat."

'Fucks sake.'

[What skill or ability would you like to keep?]

[Minor Health Regen 2]

[Minor Stamina Regen 1]

[Freight Train]

[Pain Tolerance 3]

"World Gifts can't be kept?" Loki nodded in response. 'Not like I'd keep it anyways, I'd rather die if I'm turned to mush, or at least faint from intense pain.'

'I'll just keep this then.'

[Skill Kept: Pain Tolerance 3]

'Maybe it could even become pain immunity sometime.'

Loki chimed in once I finished picking, "Would you like to check what you can buy from the vault?" I simply gave him a look before opening the C Rank in the vault. "How rude."

[C Rank 🔓]

[Achievement Points: 411]

'This looks better.'

• [Item]Sharp Sword

Cost: 30 Achievement Points

Note: Pretty sharp sword, can even cut a boulder, not completely but it can

• [Skill]Prey Sense

Cost: 60 Achievement Points

Note: You're not searching for prey, you are the prey. This will allow you to sense predators, not the priest-kind

• [Buff]Talent Enhancement

Cost: 100 Achievement Points

Note: Upgrades your talent for the next world, can only be bought once

• [Buff]Skill Enhancement

Cost: 200 Achievement Points

Note: Upgrades a chosen skill to the next level, can only be bought once ever

• [Skill]Exploit

Cost: 80 Achievement Points

Note: Find faults and exploit them

• [Skill]Scholar

Cost: 200 Achievement Points

Note: Your ability to comprehend and retain information has been enhanced, though you should probably stick to the books and not the streets

There were many more but there was no need to write all of that - Loki

'What world will I be going to?' I looked over at Loki who just smiled back in response. 'Oh. I didn't say that out loud, fuckin' idiot. fuck you too.' My intrusive thoughts immediately berated me for the mistake.

'You ain't wanna talk out of turn this entire time and now you want to show up?' If I was talking out loud I'd seem like a crazy person. 'There was nothing to talk about anyways, shit you were doing my job for me, even lost a part of your brain in the process, not that I noticed a difference anyways.' 

'Kill yourself.'

'I've tried.'

"Ahem, Loki. Before I start spending my points, care to tell me what my next world is?"

"Of course not." Loki denied in an upbeat tone.

I deadpanned "That was a rhetorical question." 

"I know I know, I was just joking, joking you see." Loki waved his hands around laughing at his own joke. "Your next world is the anime movie/manga, A Silent Voice."

'That's considerably more tame than the previous worlds I'd been put in.'

"Guess I'll be saving today... but I still wanna get something," I spoke to myself, aloud this time.

[Bought the Skill: Scholar]

[-200 Achievement Points]

"Nothing else I want to get, you can send me on my way now."

Loki nodded without a word as he snapped his fingers.

⋅•⋅⊰∙∘༓∘∙⊱⋅•⋅

Once again, I was thrown into that trippy tunnel seeing sounds and tasting colors in a spiritual sense. You won't understand what the hell that means cuz(just an accent) I don't either, I forget feeling immediately the moment I'm put into a body. Which is right now.

My soul adjusted to the new body almost immediately, maybe because of the experience. Shoya seemed to have just opened a door into a class of sorts.

"Hello there Shoko." I turned in response to the voice of a woman.

"Shoko?" The first thing I spotted was a pretty brown-haired girl walking past me, at least I believe it was brown from just basic observation, she was dressed in a normal navy blue Japanese uniform sweater with a blue checkered skirt. 'Hm.. Seems my timeline is Shoya's and Shoko's first meeting after like 3 years, guess "I've" already bullied her.'

Shoko never reacted to my voice, cuz of her being deaf and all that jazz. 'That was insensitive, I apologize.' However, I didn't really feel like reaching out. 'I can't be bothered.'

However, I had no choice in the matter. Not because I was forced to for some type of plot reason, but because of embarrassment, one of the women who had bid goodbye to Shoko, noticed me when I first called out her name unconsciously and decided to impart some knowledge.

"Ah, young man, you can't just call for Shoko-chan like that, she's deaf. You must at least tap on her first." The woman explained to me warmly with a smile on her face.

Now if I were to just listen to this and still not do anything, I'd just feel awkward and maybe kill myself later, so I had no choice, "Thank you, ma'am." I bowed in response, taking on a respectful tone, I'm a naturally respectful person when it comes to adults, and if I'm in Japan I should at least try and incorporate as much Japanese culture into my actions as I can remember.

"Oho ho ho, no need to be so formal young man, you should get going though, Shoko-chan is leaving." The woman covered her mouth slightly chuckling at my manners before shooing me off with a smile as Shoko was rounding the corner.

"Thank you, ma'am, have a great rest of your day!" I waved goodbye as I ran after Shoko, not too fast though. It didn't take long to catch up to Shoko since the hallway was not particularly long and Shoko wasn't in a hurry with her walking speed.

Hesitantly I tapped her on her shoulder, I'm not really used to touching girls without permission especially when they don't know I'm there. Although it seemed that Shoko was quite used to it since she didn't jump in fright or anything, instead she just turned around calmly, although with a slightly shy and restrained look, one that was changed to shock and worry when she was me. Or at least that was her reaction to the body I was using.

"Umm... hey?" I had no idea what to say to her, I wasn't Shoya Ishida, so I had no guilt over her bullying, and neither did I even really want to introduce myself to her, I had no plan for this conversation. 

I never liked talking to those I didn't know, I normally stayed in my own little corner and avoided eye contact. The people from the previous two worlds were an exception simply because my life was in danger, however now I'm mellow and forced to talk to someone other than my family and friends, or some random interaction with an adult that will last no more than 10 seconds, and it's a girl no less.

Luckily it seemed we were both just as awkward as each other, we both avoided eye contact and looked at each other a few times while scanning the surroundings as if they were interesting. Shoko looked as if she wanted to say something, contemplating her words in her head over and over again before scrapping them for a new approach to a conversation, at times she even seemed angry.

Before long she seemed to have given up on talking altogether as she turned to escape... only to fall, specifically, she fell down a flight of steps because I had stopped her in front of them and I guess my appearance made her forget that entirely.

'Fucks sake.' I did say she fell, but it was more like she almost fell since I caught her by the back of her shirt and pulled her back like she was a kitten.

When she was fully stable and on her feet, I made sure she was looking at me before speaking. "Are you okay?" Which garnered me a nod in response but also a shocked look as Shoko frantically fumbled with her hands.

*You know sign language?* Was what she said.

'Wait... how did I know that?' Her shock stemmed from the fact that I had unconsciously asked "Are you okay" in sign language at the same time as I said it out loud. 'For a quick second, I checked my status.'

[World Gift: Sign Language 3]

Looking away from my status, I brought my gaze back to her.

*Yeah... I decided to learn it, is it cool?*

Shoko stared at me for a second, it seemed her mood had improved greatly as she gave me an enthusiastic thumbs up before putting it away just as quickly in her embarrassment. 

Trying to find a new subject I looked down at my hands, seeing the book Shoya had been holding. It was crumpled and dirty as if it had been thrown around and stepped on repeatedly. 

"Here, I wanted to give this to you." I mirrored my words with sign language before handing Shoko the book.

Shoko stared at it for a few seconds before hesitantly taking it from my hands to stare at it from up close this time. It was quite cute if I'm being honest, the way she stared at it like it was some sort of treasure.

I didn't understand her love for it though. Why love something that's filled with so many memories of you being bullied?

'The answer to that isn't something I need to know though.' 

In my thoughts, I didn't notice she was now looking back up at me, hiding everything but her eyes with the book.

I tilted my head because of her staring. "Yes?" I didn't even sign this time, but she seemed to understand the gesture.

*I-It's nothing... d-d-don't worry about it* She managed to stutter while using sign language, at least it seemed so because of her shaking hands.

'Is she crying.' I could hear her sniffling, and it seemed like her eyes were growing wet.

'For fucks sake.'