Chereads / Animos in Another World / Chapter 24 - The Complexity of the System

Chapter 24 - The Complexity of the System

Looking at the bracelet in his hand, which was clearly a dog collar, Lucas called the system.

— System... Are you trying to deceive me or something?

[No.]

— Then why didn't you inform me that the bracelet was with me!?

[Owner did not ask.]

— Haa... Seriously, I hope there are no more hidden tricks in you.

After the brief conversation, the young man returned to the front of the bathroom and saw the little girl looking in his direction, with great expectation in her eyes.

— Here, is this what you were looking for? — Lucas asked, tossing the bracelet in the girl's direction.

— Ah.

Lara carefully took the bracelet and placed it on her wrist. It was evident how much she cherished and cared for the collar, as her gestures showed.

— ...Hm... Thank you. — she said, with a slight smile.

However, when she looked in the young man's direction, she realized that Lucas was already leaving, without even looking at her. Lucas was lost in thought after discovering such a flaw in one of the system's abilities.

— Hey, let me thank you! — exclaimed Lara, grabbing the young man's wrist and stopping him by force.

— ...What do you want? — asked Lucas, interrupting his thoughts.

— Since you found my bracelet, I would like to thank you!

— Then give me all the money you have.

— ...Eh?

Upon hearing Lucas's response, the girl was a bit startled, not expecting him to ask for money in that way. It seemed like he was shamelessly extorting her.

— Um... Well... I don't have much... — mumbled Lara, not sure exactly what to do. — Here.

Seeing the girl hand over all the money she had in her pocket, Lucas hesitated a bit before taking it. Even though it seemed dubious, he still desperately needed money.

— This won't cause me problems in the future... Right? — the young man wondered, somewhat uncertain.

But he soon sighed when he saw the amount of money he had received. In his hand, there were only 10 money, which would probably be enough to buy two snacks.

— With this, don't bother me anymore. — said Lucas, turning to leave.

He felt that he should distance himself as quickly as possible from the characters, and after everything calmed down, try to contact them again.

— Goodbye! See you tomorrow! — exclaimed Lara, before going in another direction. — ...Hm? Isn't he going to the exit? — she thought.

After reaching in the moment when the gate was being closed, the little girl looked back and realized that Lucas wasn't coming.

— He's not going to stay at school, right? — she asked herself but soon continued walking. — Let's go home.

While returning to her kitchenett, Lara thought about the different day she had. She spent the day looking for the bracelet with her friends and, at the end of the day, found the young man they said could find her bracelet.

— Alexandre's ability was right...

Even after being friends for some time, Lara still had doubts about his ability, but today she had proven that it was real.

— Compared to his ability, mine is... — the girl murmured before reaching the small apartment complex where she lived.

Going up to her kitchenett and entering it, Lara saw her room, with a bathroom in the back and the kitchen integrated into the room. The apartment was small, but since the girl didn't have many things, it was enough for her to live in.

Upon arrival, she heard her phone ring and saw messages from her friends, asking if she had returned.

— Everyone is so worried... — the girl murmured, looking a bit sad. — ...Better reply.

Meanwhile, Lucas, who had returned to his usual spot, the bleachers, was having a serious conversation with the system.

— System, show me everything again.

[Information]

[Name: Lucas]

[Age: 20 years]

[Gender: Male]

[Race: Human]

[Level: 1]

[Attributes]

[Strength: 1]

[Agility: 2]

[Endurance: 1]

[Intelligence: 3]

[Charisma: 1]

[Abilities]

[System]

[Cheese snack is good]

— ...Hm? Did my charisma go up? Why?

[Owner became more known.]

— So that's how charisma increases? Ah, so it's possible to increase the other attributes too! But before that... System, explain each attribute to me.

Lucas realized that he had forgotten to ask for explanations about the attributes, thinking they worked like in a common RPG game. However, as his doubts about the system increased, he became less convinced that they were similar to a common game.

[Attributes]

[Strength: Brute physical capacity.]

[Agility: Speed of movement and reflexes.]

[Endurance: Resist capacity.]

[Intelligence: Knowledge capacity.]

[Charisma: Ability to influence.]

— ...Really? Isn't there a better explanation? — Lucas muttered, expressing his dissatisfaction with the attribute descriptions.

[No.]

— So it's all a matter of interpretation...

Looking closely, Lucas tried to decipher the meaning of each attribute.

— Right... First, we have strength. It's my brute physical capacity... So it strengthens my muscles or something like that? It must be that. — he reflected on the attribute definition. — Now comes agility... Speed of movement and reflexes... Nothing out of the ordinary for an RPG.

With that, Lucas could now see the attributes that caused him the most doubt, as it's all a matter of interpretation.

— Endurance... Resist capacity what? Damage? Or fatigue? Maybe poison? External stimuli? There's so much to resist... I guess it would be good to improve it anyway.

Of all the attributes that were being shown, Lucas believed that Endurance was the most important, as there are many ways for someone to die.

— And then we have Intelligence... Knowledge capacity? Like, how much can I learn? Does this have anything to do with my memory? Well, I thought it was a bit bad... Or could it be my ability to understand skills or magic? There's that possibility too... But then where is quick thinking? Agility? Does the speed of movement affect brain movements? This is too confusing...

The more Lucas thought about the attributes, the more confused he became. Each attribute seemed to be something simple, but if you thought deeply, they seemed to interact with each other in a way that the young man couldn't understand what each one did anymore.

— And, finally... Charisma... Ability to influence... Influence what? Humans? Other beings? Maybe plants? Or the weather?

Getting more and more lost in the attributes, Lucas decided to leave it aside for now, as he couldn't even increase the attributes in the first place.

— There are also system settings, but most of it is blocked... And nothing seems very appealing.

Tired of all this, Lucas began to consider what to do in the next few days.

— Tomorrow is the fourth day I'm in this world, but I can't stand it anymore... I just want to leave this place soon! — exclaimed the young man, alone at school.

[To be continued...]

??? — As expected of the System, never helping and always making things worse.

[Thank you for the compliment.]

S — That wasn't a compliment!

??? — I never thought it would be so difficult to analyze attributes...

S — If this continues, wouldn't it become impossible to understand anything about the system?

??? — ...Let's just accept it and move on.