"Laplace," Satori said with a hint of uncertainty, "Have I already told you about my abnormal stats?"
"Hm?" Laplace raised an eyebrow curiously, "What kind of abnormal? Is it your ATK and DEF staying on single digit?"
Satori let out a sigh, "Haahh, As expected..." She trailed off, unable to find the right words to express his frustration. "Fufu~" Laplace chuckled lightly, "You don't need to worry about that stat," she reassured her, "The important thing is that you can fight."
"That's true," Satori admitted, "but whenever I use a dragon blaster I ended up getting exhausted..." She couldn't hide the disappointment in her voice. "Then all you have to do is increase your stamina," Laplace said confidently, trying to cheer him up.
"By the way, Aren't we gonna duel today? I managed to level up to 30 today," he said, his voice full of excitement. He had been looking forward to this moment for weeks, and he wasn't going to back down this time.
"Ahh, Let's do it." Laplace eagerly accepted his challenge, inviting him to the duel system. "Ohh~ So you are level 30, I expect better things from you today~" she teased playfully.
Satori felt a surge of confidence as he prepared to battle Laplace. "Right," he said with determination, "Can we start now?"
"Sure~" Laplace replied, her tone equally determined. The anticipation was palpable as they waited for the duel to begin. When the system screen said "GO!", the battle finally started.
Satori immediately used his telekinesis to force Laplace down as he aimed his dragon blaster at her. The dragon blaster shot a beam, but Laplace was unharmed after getting hit by two of them. "Oh? Did you change your playstyle?" Laplace asked, impressed. "Did you use your barrier?" Satori put his left hand in his pocket, feeling confident in his abilities.
"Who knows~" Laplace then drew her katana and swiftly attacked Satori, but she couldn't land a hit despite attacking many times. "Did you perhaps lie about getting exhausted after using the blasters?" Laplace said as she kept attacking Satori, trying to get a reaction out of him.
"Who knows~" Satori replied coolly, easily dodging Laplace's attacks. He used his telekinesis to make her fall to the ground, and she was startled as she noticed the knives waiting for her. "What a dirty play!" Laplace exclaimed as she swung her katana, the blade glinting brightly as it sliced through the air and shattered the knives. She landed gracefully on the ground, ready for whatever Satori had in store for her.
"Wow~ You survived that! Well, the battle is just getting started," Satori exclaimed excitedly as he aimed his palm and made knives appear from the air towards Laplace. She swiftly cut the knives one by one and dashed towards Satori with her katana in hand.
Laplace swung her katana, creating a wind slice towards Satori, who dodged and stepped back with his agility. "Hmm, how do I catch her off guard?" he thought to himself as he used his telekinesis to force Laplace down to the ground. "Your telekinesis is starting to get annoying," Laplace retorted as she struggled to break free.
"Was it? We haven't even gotten to the best part yet," Satori said with a mischievous grin. He raised his hand, and blue knives materialized from the ground, thrusting toward Laplace's body. "Can't move..." she muttered, immobilized by the knives.
As Satori made the blue knives emerge from the ground, two blasters appeared above him. "Well, that's game, I guess," he said, and the blasters fired, hitting Laplace.
"Haahhh... It seems that I no longer need to tell you about critical chance, huh?"Satori nodded, a satisfied smile on his face. "Yeah, I found some items that can give me critical chance. Though it took me weeks to grind the items I needed, here I am."
"Fufu~ That's good to know," Laplace chuckled. She slowly got up from the ground, swiping the air to open the duel system and clicking the surrender button. "I give up."
"Now then, you have to tell me your grinding exp spot, Laplace~" he smirked at her. "Ahahaha~ Alright, since you won the duel, I'll let you know my grinding exp spot."
"Nice!" A sound of a phone call came from Satori's pocket. He grabbed his phone and checked who was calling. "Hm? Lyka? Why would my little sister call me?" He answered the call and put it to his ear.
"What is it?" Satori asked, "Brother! I became a player!" She said, her voice filled with excitement.
"Oh, congrats! Where are you right now?"
"Uhm, I'm currently at a dungeon..."
"Huh?! Why?! What dungeon?!"
"...D-Rank boss raid."
Satori's face became filled with worry. "Shit, I gotta go Laplace! Text me on the system!" He immediately left the room and headed straight to the D-class gates. "Who are you with right now, Lyka?!"
"M-my friends who were also awakened as players."
"Why did you guys get into the gate without grinding! You guys are still at level 1! You guys could die!" Satori's voice was filled with frustration and concern.
"B-Brother, it's okay! There's also a player who came to help us, but I don't think he can do it all by himself!"
"Argh, I'm coming! Wait for me!" Satori then snapped his fingers, and a skull-shaped head appeared from the air. He jumped on top of it and used it to quickly make his way to the dungeon.
After making his way to the gate, Satori immediately used the dragon blaster to blast away the monsters that were surrounding them. "Brother! It's you!" Lyka looked at her brother with joy.
"That's your brother?!" Lyka's friend exclaimed.
"He looks cool!" another friend of Lyka's said.
"That player, it's the one-ATK player. Pfft! Ahahaha!" a random player said.
"Hey! What do you mean by one-ATK player?!" Lyka demanded.
"Oh? You didn't know? Your brother only does 1 damage to monsters. I was surprised that he is still alive at this point."
A group of monsters then appeared from the darkness. "Shit, it's the Catastrophe Gates!" the random players exclaimed.
Satori sighed as he flicked his fingers, making more blasters appear beside him. "Wha- That's a lot of them..." Lyka's friend remarked.
"I haven't used this kind of blaster before, but let's call it my 'Special Attack.' I'd hate to make myself even edgier anyway." The dragon blaster's eyes started to glow blue. "Now be gone from my sight." The blasters aimed at the Catastrophe Gate, killing any monsters that were coming through. "H-He's a monster!" the random player exclaimed, shaking.
"Look! The monsters that were trying to get in keep dying from those blasters!" Lyka's friend exclaimed.
"He doesn't have the mana for it... I don't think your brother can handle it," another friend replied, sounding worried.
Satori could hear their concern through the chaos of the battle. "I'm fine! I can handle this!" he reassured them, his voice firm and resolute. He continued to use his blasters to fend off the horde of monsters, his movements fluid and practiced. Despite the overwhelming number of enemies, he remained focused and determined, his willpower unwavering. Finally, the last of the monsters fell, defeated by Satori's sheer strength and tenacity.
"I did it!" he said triumphantly, a grin spreading across his face. "I... did... it." He suddenly collapsed from the skull-shaped head as it slowly lowered him down to the ground. Lyka rushed to him, shaking him to wake up. "Brother! Wake up!"
"Let's get out of here before the monster gates open," said the random player as he carried Satori and led the group outside the gate. They were all panting and exhausted.
"Three of you, go to the AP Holder building and register yourselves as players. You won't count as players if you don't register," the random player instructed.
"But my brother..." Lyka protested.
"He's fine with me. I'll take him to the hospital," the player assured them.
"Okay," Lyla and her friends exchanged looks and nodded as they headed to the AP Holder.
"And you... I didn't know you could do such a thing with just 1 damage... or are you perhaps lying about your stats," the man said with a sigh as he headed to the hospital, eventually letting Satori rest there again.
A few days later, Satori slowly opens his eyes, and his vision comes into focus. He sees a sterile hospital room with the scent of disinfectant wafting in the air. "Back in the hospital again," he murmurs to himself.
Laplace, a young girl who had been watching over him, responded, "Yes, you used up all your mana to save those players."
Suddenly, Satori remembered something and exclaimed, "Wait! What about Lyka?"
"Relax, she's fine. She's currently registering at the AP Holder," Laplace reassured him.
Satori let out a relieved sigh. "I see."
Laplace advised him to rest, but Satori couldn't help but worry about losing his skills. "What if I get rusty?"
"Then you know where to go," Laplace replied cryptically.
Satori checked his stats and noticed they had increased significantly. "My stats went up a lot. It seems grinding on catastrophe gates is much more efficient."
Laplace raised a concerned eyebrow. "Are you making a death wish?"
Satori chuckled. "Ehehehe, I'm just kidding."
"You're lucky that S+ monsters didn't come out from those gates, or else you wouldn't have survived."
Satori nodded solemnly. "I know..."
In the end, Satori stayed in the hospital for a week and later goes back to grinding, back to the present.