2 – Mostly the same, a little different

The four heroes were given a large guest room to share. Each of us had a luxurious bed with silk tapestries and regal sheets, but none of us was tired. Instead, we went over our weapon descriptions while sitting on our beds.

The sun had set, and it was night time, with the faintest of light coming from the moon.

Even so, no one seemed to notice.

I glanced at the help screen in front of me and summarized the information… or rather lack there of.

The minimum amount about the weapon not requiring maintenance was there, as well as being unable to remove it, but other than that, it was blank.

That didn’t seem right. It should at least mention something about powering up with levels and changing forms with different materials… but it didn’t. Was it because I wasn’t Naofumi? It was possible that the weapons had a strengthening system unique to individual beliefs.

Then for me…

I thought about it for a while and then realized it.

Glancing around, I noticed the others were deeply concentrated. Since they were, I muttered two words.

“Parallel System.”

The window glitched out and distorted. Almost at once, the UI in my field of vision distorted, flickering in and out of existence.

A moment later, it stabilized, but there was something else there as well. An overlay on top of it, like a transparent screen.

Spoiler

[collapse]

At once, the blank help screen was fleshed out with a black screen and white words.

===

The legendary weapon system has become subservient to the ‘parallel world system’. The higher authority has become the primary process.

Levels and stats are free to be adjusted at the user’s discretion. An API with the necessary function calls will be exposed upon completion of the tutorial.

Functions may be created at the user’s discretion by adding classes to the ‘hero’ directory. This is restricted by the player’s ‘capacity’ granted by the world’s system. ‘Capacity’ may be increased by leveling up. The amount gained is 10*level up

Current capacity: 10.

===

Interesting… so my programming background influenced the results. No, it was more than that. ‘Parallel world system’, was it? Maybe it came from the fact that I was a developer. Memorizing some of those game leveling systems came in handy, it looked like. They must have been subconsciously inscribed upon my soul.

I closed the window and then an IDE appeared before me, along with a series of icons on the right.

There was one with a person, one with a shield, a book, and a bag. Tapping on each revealed them to be my status, my available shields, my skills, and my inventory.

It was useful, but my priority here was to survive.

Since I wasn’t Naofumi, I wouldn’t get the plot devices he had. While I borrowed his name, we were different people.

Well then, it was time to make preparations.

I opened up the IDE again. Maybe it was because I was used to the one made by that major software company, it had the look of V.S.

In the corner of the screen, my available capacity was shown as 10/10.

At the same time, a holographic keyboard appeared in my lap. Tapping on it a few times showed it gave physical feedback.

Good. If it was like this, then I could cobble something together.

First of all was extending the ‘Legendary Shield’ class to new types. Then it was extending the ‘Hero’ class with new attributes…

Tinkering around for a bit I realized a few more things.

One, I could min-max without affecting my capacity. Most likely due to the fact that it was just shifting numbers around. So long as the ‘sum’ didn’t increase, the system didn’t care. Also important was the fact that I could change my stats to whatever value below that sum.

Two, making shields was… complicated. The easy way would be to absorb stuff like Naofumi originally did, but it was possible to create shields from just logic and descriptions as well. It took up a large capacity to do so though, probably because I had to add stuff that didn’t exist. Maybe a portion of my soul was being used as a placeholder?

Three, magic was simple. Unlike the others, I could save spells as a quick run and use them without limit under the parallel world system. I guessed it was probably due to its properties of hi-jacking the system…

I could use magic spells properly as well and decrease my MP, but it was more convenient to create and use them with my parallel system. Granted, it took up capacity to do so, 1 per spell, and also required me to write out a chain of logic for how the phenomenon worked, but considering the lack of MP use and how it freed that stat up for adjustments, I was fine with it.

In the end, I made the following changes:

Lightning: Utilizing mana as a catalyst, create a path of least resistance between the user and the target and send a current of electrons. 1 capacity.

Restore: Memorizing the previous state on an atomic level, use ambient energy to revert to previous form. 2 capacity.

Homeostasis Shield: Maintain the body of the wielder at optimum levels, rejecting any and all negative status ailments. Grants passive regeneration of 10% per minute. Prevents lethal blows when health is above 50%. 7 capacity.

Capacity: 0/10

I also reduced my MP to 0 and added it to my defense, agility, and HP.

Like that, I was set for at least the opening stage. Now all I had to do was get past the ‘betrayal’ flag and then I could focus on training and increasing my capacity to do more preparation.

Even so… “This is really like a game, isn’t it?” I muttered.

I didn’t realize I said it out loud and was surprised when Motoyasu answered.

“Seriously dude? Isn’t this an actual game? I’ve known a lot that are exactly like this.”

“Hm?”

Motoyasu scoffed. “You’re telling me you don’t even know about this famous online game?”

Itsuki chimed in. “Wait. Isn’t this a console game?”

“A console game? Yeah right, man,” Ren said. “This is a VRMMO.”

Motoyasu tilted his head.

The others looked confused as well.

For the record, I was already expecting this.

“Well then…” Itsuki raised his hand. “Why doesn’t everyone name a game that resembles this one the most?”

“Brave Star Online,” Ren said.

“Emerald Online,” Motoyasu said.

As for me, “None. This world is actually more like a story I read once.”

Itsuki nodded and said, “As for me, this world is like a console game called Dimension Wave.”

The other heroes looked even more confused.

Motoyasu pressed a hand on his forehead and said, “Hold on. Let’s organize our information.” He turned towards Ren and said, “Hey. Tell me what you know about the situation with VRMMO, will you?”

“It’s common where I live,” Ren said.

“Itsuki, Naofumi. What about you guys?”

“If I recall correctly,” Itsuki said. “It only exists in Sci-fi.”

I shrugged. “It’s on the verge of development for me. I was actually doing research into it before being summoned to this world.”

Motoyasu stared at me with impressed eyes. “Hoh? You’re pretty amazing huh, Naofumi? But I see… then back to you, Ren. What’s this Brave Star Online? Is it a VRMMO?”

The sword hero nodded. “That’s right. VRMMOs are ones like Brave Star Online. It has a world system very similar to this world’s setup.” He frowned. “Reviewing what I know about gaming history, console games and net games existed at one point, but I don’t recognize those famous titles…”

“Hm,” Motoyasu said. “Then let’s try asking a common question. What’s the name of the current Prime Minister?”

Ren and Itsuki nodded. But before anyone could say anything, I raised my hand.

Motoyasu noticed and said, “What is it, Naofumi?”

“Well, I’m from America, not Japan, so I don’t know the Prime Minister.”

The others frowned.

“I see,” Ren said. “That would be a problem…”

“Is it?” Itsuki said. “America’s president is well-known, isn’t he?”

Motoyasu nodded. “That’s right. Even I know who he is.” He turned to me and said, “What’s the name of the American President then?”

“It’s Mr. Trump.”

“Trump?” Ren frowned. “Isn’t that the business guy?”

“Business guy?” Itsuki tilted his head. “Isn’t he the actor?”

“No, he’s a comedian, isn’t he?” Motoyasu said.

The three stared at each other, confused.

I shrugged. “Well, what about Japan’s prime minister?”

Motoyasu nodded. “That’s right. Maybe we’re just remembering wrong… but something like that we won’t forget.” He turned towards the others and said, “Then on three.”

After three, they all said different names.

Confused again, they started talking about famous internet slang, net pages, and other games.

I joined in as best as I could… and was shocked when they didn’t have any of the big social media platforms. In fact, Motoyasu’s world didn’t even have social media, with everyone still running their own private web pages.

“…It seems like we’re all from different worlds,” Motoyasu said.

“Looks that way,” Ren said. “You guys definitely aren’t from the same Japan as me.”

Itsuki nodded. “There’s a high chance each of them are in a separate era too since none of them match. And then there’s Naofumi.”

The three turned to stare at me.

Motoyasu spoke first. “An American, huh?”

Ren nodded. “It’s weird. How’d you get pulled into this?”

I shrugged. “Everyone seems to have a different reason for being here, so why don’t we clear that up first?”

Ren scratched his nose and nodded. “I’m not good at idle conversation, but I guess it’s necessary.”

“Right,” Motoyasu said.

After waiting a bit for someone to start, Ren said, “I was walking back home from school when I unfortunately ran across a murder incident.” He winced and rubbed his side. “I tried helping my childhood friend who was with me and somehow managed to capture the killer, but that’s as far as I remember. The next thing I realized, I was already in this world.”

…Totally a Kirito knock-off. Still, I gave him a thumbs up. “Very noble of you, man.”

Motoyasu spoke up. “Then I’ll go next. For me, it was because I had too many girlfriends.”

Ren scoffed. “Yeah, that’s totally the case. Did you get stabbed for two-timing or three-timing?”

Motoyasu blinked in surprise before he gave a small nod and said, “Man… girls are really scary, aren’t they?”

So… a harem protag who went down the bad end. Got it.

Itsuki placed a hand on his chest and said, “I guess it’s my turn now. When I was crossing the street on my way home from cram school, a dump truck took a sharp corner turn. And afterwards…”

The other heroes were silent.

As for me, I resisted the urge to sigh. Truck-kun struck again, huh?

Still, it looked like all those guys went down bad ends…

I realized that they were staring at me. It looked like it was my turn.

“…Do I have to really tell you guys?”

Motoyasu rolled his eyes. “Well duh. We already told you ours.”

I thought for a moment, feigning hesitation. After a bit, I came up with a believable story and sighed. “Fine. I got a heart attack after staying up too many days programming and died at my computer screen, alright?”

The three were silent.

Itsuki spoke up first. “Naofumi… how disciplined.”

Ren nodded. “That’s… admirable.”

Motoyasu just stared at me. “…Seriously, dude? You died of overwork?”

I shrugged. “It wasn’t that bad. I only felt a slight pain in my chest before blacking out. Maybe it helped that I was so sleep deprived…”

The three of them immediately darkened and turned to whisper to themselves.

Eventually, Motoyasu turned towards me and said, “Since you had such a pitiable death, Naofumi-“

“Hey!”

“-Let me tell you straight up. As the shield hero… you’re pretty much screwed.”

Ren nodded. “You have high defense, but if you keep taking damage you’ll still die.”

Itsuki grimaced. “…Even in my game, it was hard to level as a shield.”

The three looked concerned.

I smiled. They were nice… a shame that bitch would get to them soon enough. “It’ll be fine. I might not have played the same games as you guys, but I’ve built more than a few in my career. Trust me, the shield is stronger than you guys think.”

The three looked dubious, but simply nodded.

“Right. Naofumi is an otaku, but he was also a working man,” Motoyasu said. “Well… how about we go over our hunting strategies next?”

After that, we talked about the geography and the monster locations. We also talked about where to hunt and timing so that we wouldn’t clash with each other.

Next was dinner and then sleep.

Back in the room, the others immediately knocked out. But I didn’t.

Homeostasis kept me free of fatigue and my body always at top shape. That meant I didn’t need to sleep. Still, it wouldn’t be good to show that.

I closed my eyes, but opened my status screen within my mind. Since I had all this time, I might as well use it getting things ready…

If you find any errors (non-standard content, ads redirect, broken links, etc..), Please let us know so we can fix it as soon as possible.