Typing....Typing...
"Hm...What happens next...?"
I was at my desk, typing on my newly bought laptop as i wrote important plot points of the story of "Systems interest" since I didn't want to risk forgetting anything and risking my life.
I had a habit or forgetting things if they aren't in front of me so I was sure that it would be much better to write everything down now than never.
"S.....What are you writing?"
"Yeah, S, what are you writing?"
I sighed as I heard both Sora and Soraya speak to me.
"Just...things i need to remember."
I said, clearly not wanting to go into the details as i didn't want to be the cause for someones existential crisis.
I kept typing a few other world before saving it on as many platforms as I could.
'I dont want to lose this.'
I glanced at todays date.
"...It's Friday, 11th of August 2476..I don't want to go to school...."
And i sure as hell didn't want to think that 15 year old kids are hot or good looking.
I was 20 at the time of writing this, why did I think something like that was normal?
Why was i so weird as a 20 year old woman who barely started college?
I started to get a mild headache just from thinking about my past life.
I was slightly glad i could literally start a new life since I made many mistakes in the past that i regretted.
Maybe, just maybe I could make the fight between the main characters and the demon king slightly easier than in my novel.
...But if i change the plot, i might actually make things worse..
Or maybe even my very presence could drastically change the plot.
I hated this feeling, this feeling of the unknown.
It was the main reason i wasnt that scared in the beginning when I first woke up, since it was my novel then i atleast could know what happens next and who to avoid.
But the more i think about it, this was something i couldn't stop.
If my very presence is the cause for a huge change in the plot, then I shouldn't worry about something i have no true control over.
All i needed to do was work around it instead of complaining.
But it's also possible for the plot not to change at all if I act like a true NPC or background character.
Although it was annoying to go back to acting like my shy and quiet self, i had to do it if i want to see the plot progress as it was supposed to.
Although i was secretly an attention seeker, i didn't want to attract too much attention to myself just yet. I knew that i shouldn't be too popular from the first place.
..But that'll be pretty hard seeing as i'm the only one with 2 different colored eyes.
I wonder if its a unique ability or something.
"...I'm bored-"
"S, you haven't left the house for days. Obviously you're going to be bored."
'I'm bored because none of my favorite content creators exist here and the other content creators in this world aren't good enough for me'
"Ugh.....What if you trained some of my skills and swordarts then? You haven't tested them out and from the looks of it you dont know anything about this place so I might as well teach you how to use my skills."
Soraya kept speaking about how to use a swordart and how to absorb mana.
Mana, a new element in the world who's origins are unknown but we know that it helps the human body get stronger.
Mana is also the reason why skills work so well. The more Mana in the air, the easier it is to absorb Mana and thus the easier and faster it is to use skills.
The higher the grade, the more Mana will be used up.
Since i used a lot of Mana back when I was trying to get back home after getting "Weapon Transformer", i currently had a low amount of Mana inside of me.
Its also the reason why grades and ranks are two separate things, ranks only dictate someones overall stats and grades signify the stronger and more Mana consuming the skill or swordart is.
It's the main reason why it's very weird for a low rank to use a high grade swordart as that as that swordart consumes a high amount of mana.
Also, a side effect of having low mana is feeling extremely exhausted to the point of barely being able to move a muscle.
Thankfully, I only used a grade 7 skill without doing anything much with it so my mana isn't extremely low.
Its just enough so I could practice for a bit and be able to use my skills in battle.
"...Where do i train though?"
That was pretty important as i didn't want to not know what i'm doing.
Especially since my swordart was a mainly distract based swordart.
I needed someone else to test my swordart on.
"....So uh....You know how i told you earlier that i used to be a millionaire? We have a functioning training room in the basement. Don't worry you dont have to clean anything as I barely touched that place, it gives me the creeps.."
"...But it does include a hologram that acts almost like 90% of normal opponents based on the rank you give it"
I looked at her in disbelief.
She had a training room and didn't even bother telling me even when i took 3 days to clean the whole house for her??
How bad is her memory?
"Fine...You said it was clean so i guess i'll use it.....What weapon do you main anyways? A sword?"
"....Wow S you are actually smart for once!"
I glared at Sora in annoyance before rolling my eyes.
"Haha funny, now where's the training room?"
I stood up from my desk as i glanced at Sora.
Soraya was staying quiet, as she always did.
"Follow me!! It's this house's pride and joy!!"
I ignored her as I followed her downstairs, to the basement.
I made sure to memorize the exact layout of the house so i could quickly head back inside the training room if needed.
The stairs seemed oddly..long for a basement.
I kept walking down the stairs towards the basement, following Sora quietly.
The smell was a bit awful but i couldn't complain that much.
Finally, we arrived and the first thing I noticed was that the entire house was spotless.
I soon noticed a small artifact close to the exit, next to the stairs.
"...Is that artifact there to keep the entire basement clean?"
"Yes it is!! It's expensive but it's worth it! It feeds off the amount of dust and destruction in the room."
"...Destruction? What do you mean? Isn't this just a cleaning artifact?"
Sora shaked her head as if hiding something.
"You didn't think a cleaning artifact would be that expensive, right? This artifact was specially designed to absorb any amount of damage dealt to this specific room, though it can only sustain damage until S+ Rank."
I quickly understood and nodded.
It basically meant i could make as many powerful moves as I wanted without caring about whether the room would break or not.
It was quite the useful artefact!
Walking towards a certain machine on the ground, a window opened infront of me.
,-----‐----‐----------------------‐-‐---,
Would you like to commence training?
-> Yes
-> No
If YES then please specify what rank.
`-----‐----‐----------------------‐-‐---'
Hah...
'This was so cool.'
"Uh....Yes, i would like E+ Rank."
I just chose an opponent the same Rank as me since i knew I wasn't that strong.
I took a step back as a hologram that sort of looked like me appeared infront of me.
'Wow....This is actually so cool what the fuck.'
Those were the only thoughts in my head as the hologram looked exactly how I currently looked like.
But before I could do anything, the hologram suddenly took out a sword and started attacking me non stop.
I didnt even have any time to prepare myself as I flew towards the wall.
I bit my lips to stop myself from groaning in pain.
'....What type of training is this? I never practiced a sword before Can't i get a head start or something?'
I stood up, feeling pain all over my body as i took out a wooden sword and got into position as I tried to feel the mana around me.
'How can isekai protagonists get used to using Mana that easily?? How do i even absorb Mana??'
It had to be noted that everyone had a certain amount of Mana naturally in their bodies so all they had to do is think or say the skill name to activate the skill.
That was why it was so easy for me to practice "Time Stop" à few days ago since i just used the natural mana in my body.
But i just realized how hard actually absorbing mana is.
I closed my eyes.
"...Time Stop.."
Suddenly, everything around me stopped except for the two finger sized semi-transparent souls watching me.
"...Mana Detection..."
I decided to use these two skills at once so i could better learn how to absorb mana.
I noticed small minuscule particles all around me, and i noticed a lot of white particles around me.
I breathed in, concentrating on the white particles of mana around me when i suddenly felt a wave of freshness wash over me.
The light mana all around me entered my body, almost as if my body was absorbing the mana like a black hole.
As I deactivated both Time Stop and Mana Detection, i took advantage of the situation to test out my swordart..
A few words suddenly left my mouth.
"...Shining Starlight..."
Sword art "Shining Starlight":
First move: Light of Sunshine.
My entire body suddenly glowed extremely brightly, almost as bright as the sun itself.
As I opened my eyes and looked up at the holographic version of me, I noticed how surprised she looked as if she couldn't see a thing.
I quickly used "Weapon Transformer" to transform my wooden sword into a butcher knife and running towards the holographic version of me at full speed.
Since i recently deactivated Time Stop, i had a 5x speed boost, allowing me too cut off the holograms head clean off.
,-----‐----‐----------------------‐-‐---,
Training dummy successfully dead!
Congratulations!
`-----‐----‐----------------------‐-‐---'
As soon as I deactivated "Shining Starlight", i suddenly felt extremely dizzy.
"Uh...S? Are you okay? You looked pretty terrifying if I had to be honest..."
"I-i agree with Sora...You looked like a beast!"
"Ngh.....My head hurts...Is this normal or something?"
Sora nodded as I flew closer to me.
"You seemed to have overused mana, well you did use 3 skills and a swordart so it's not exactly shocking."
She shrugged as she sat on my shoulder.
"Go sit down and absorb the mana around, you wasted all of your mana anyways so you better rest!...and also...Why did you use a butcher knife instead of a different type of sword?"
I quickly sat down, crossing my legs.
"Eh...I guess i'm just used to using short ranged weapons?"
As I spoke, i noticed how oddly comfortable i was around these two compared to other people.
Was it because they were technically a part of me? I didn't know and didn't care that much.
It was nice having someone to practice conversation with.
"Hmm....Is there an easier way to absorb mana?"
"...Are you serious? You just...concentrate on the mana and it absorbs automatically, I dont know how to explain this in easier terms for your stupid brain??"
I sighed.
"But like....I just used a skill to see the mana to absorb it...I don't know anything else-"
"Just....do what you did earlier but without the skill. Shouldn't be that hard anyways?"
She looked at my like i was stupid.
And i was.
I really was stupid.
I closed my eyes but before doing anything, Sora spoke up again.
"You do know you aren't forced to close your eyes right? Do you not know how to concentrate with your eyes open?"
"Well...N-n-"
"WELL DO IT THEN? Gosh, i might be weak but i'm not as stupid as you..."
She quickly left my shoulder and flew back to where Soraya was awkwardly flying.
I sighed and decided to try concentrating on the mana around me without closing my eyes.
Since i knew how they looked like approximately, I could more or less imagine them entering my body.
"By the way Mana Over-absorbtion is a real thing so don't over-do it!"
I only absorbed half of the mana in the air before hearing her.
"..Hah? What?"
Annoyance, thats what I felt towards 20 year old me.
Why did I add that?? And how did i forget that simple piece of inf-
Oh yeah I mentionnes it in the beginning then forgot about it.
What a good author i was back then, I was totally not a terrible author.
...Totally.
I decided to keep absorbing mana until i felt any reaction.
30 seconds later and i suddenly felt my lungs hurt.
It felt like I just got stabbed with 2 knives at once, one in my left lung and the other in my right lung.
I quickly stopped concentrating on the mana around as i took a few deep breaths.
There was a horrified and painful look on my face.
I felt like I couldn't breath at all for a split second.
"Holy shit- what the fuck was that pain?"
I put my hands under my hair to see clearer.
My bangs were covering my right blue eye so i couldnt see very clearly, and also i felt a bit dirty.
"Geez....What type of jumpscare was that?"
I took a few deep breaths to calm down before standing up, feeling refreshed now that I was filled with mana again.
Glancing at Sora and Soraya, i noticed how confused they were at my reaction.
'....i'm guessing that they cant feel the pain from my body, and only share my sight, nothing else.'
That was the only conclusion i could make since they only commented on how terrifying i looked back when I was using Shining Starlight instead of commenting on how strong i felt.
Shining Starlight didnt actually make you strong or anything, it just makes you so bright that it burns the opponents eyes for a temporary moment.
But i doubt that they knew that as I could tell from Sora's facial and body language that she never used this skill before.
"So uh...Could i try out my other swordart?"
I glanced at their reactions, I was filled with mana anyways so it didn't feel that bad.