New... Friends?

[Error]

[World 1 Level -1: Unknown Zone]

[Analyzing...]

Li Shi Ming was once again teleported to another unknown location. His prone form was surrounded by many trees of identical height lined up uniformly, towering over him.

[Tutorial completion reward: Obtained 1x Starter Pack]

[Repairing...]

He screamed as his body was once again wracked by suffering. It felt like his missing arm and leg were being impaled by millions of needles.

[Repair complete]

Gasping, Li Shi Ming was stunned to see that his missing limbs returned to normal. As he moved them, the player began to cry again in happy relief knowing that he wouldn't be crippled.

A faint but familiar trickling sound eventually reached his ears.

Following the source with his eyes, Li Shi Ming lunged towards the tiny stream and gulped in deep mouthfuls of the cool water, not caring if it was dangerous or not.

While drinking, he did his best to wash his face and blood away. Surprisingly, no scars remained, although the bloodstains on his tattered gear wouldn't come off.

Feeling refreshed and his thirst satiated, the young man looked around his surroundings. Aside from the trees and the small stream, there was nothing else nearby. Only Dim sunlight pierced slightly into the eerie forest, but Li Shi Ming didn't feel any danger.

He wiped away his tears and finally calmed down. Li Shi Ming noticed some new but welcoming changes when he decided to check his character screen again.

[Username: Shi Ming]

Level: 4

[Stats:]

HP: 6/16 -> 13/23

ATK: 1

DEF: 15 -> 28

CRT: 1%

CRT DMG: 0

ACC: 3

AGI: 1

MAG: 1

STA: 1

[System]: Protagonist

"[Protagonist System]..." Li Shi Ming thought it was a weird name. He wasn't sure what this was supposed to mean. "I'm the main character?"

[I do not have an answer to that question] A sudden robotic voice in his mind startled him.

"Who are you?" Li Shi Ming looked around to try and find the voice, but there was nothing.

[I am simply named the Protagonist System. I am assigned to the host]

"Okay..." Li Shi Ming didn't know what to say to that. "Are you inside me or something?"

[Correct]

"What are your functions?"

[Aside from providing advice, I am also capable of increasing the host's battle capabilities]

A table appeared in Li Shi Ming's vision. He quickly scanned over the contents.

[Protagonist System]

Abilities:

Passive - Plot Armor. Bonus stat points in DEF are doubled, and DEF buff values are also doubled. DEF stat will not have a maximum cap, but stat point consumption will increase exponentially after 99.

Skills: Locked

[Next unlock is at level 10]

"Maximum cap?" Li Shi Ming questioned.

[The maximum increase to every stat is capped at 99] The system replied.

"But I assume that with the [Plot Armor] passive, I don't have a stat cap on my DEF right?" He deduced.

[Correct]

"The higher level I become, the more abilities and skills I should get?"

[Correct]

"I see." Li Shi Ming sunk back into his thoughts.

The first ability was a passive and already this powerful. He wondered what else would he receive from the system once he continued levelling.

"Are you an advanced AI?"

[Correct]

"Can you stop saying correct?" Li Shi Ming rubbed his forehead.

[Understood]

This "system" that he received was weird, but seemed to only want to help him. The [Protagonist System] had repaired his limbs after all, and gave him a large boost to his stats that would hard scale as he kept spamming points into DEF.

"Do you know where you came from?" Li Shi Ming asked.

[No, but the commands in my program are to be assigned to you]

The young man nodded at hearing the answer. Whatever, the system was a good thing for him regardless of its strange behaviour. "What should I do right now?"

[Analyzing...]

[Advising the host to restore health and use Starter Pack]

"Starter Pack?" Li Shi Ming opened his inventory and saw a package in one of the slots.

[Choose one of the following items]

- Stat points x20

- Platinum Token x 500

- Wish Ticket x10

"System, what are these items aside from the stat points?" He asked in his mind.

[Advising the host to read first]

Li Shi Ming blinked with a blank stare. "I'm only asking for a recommendation."

[Advising the host to read first]

"...Alright." He gave up on asking and focused his vision on the items. The descriptions immediately popped up, and Li Shi Ming began to read.

Apparently, stat points were also obtainable in other ways within the game, aside from levelling up. Doing quests or completing dungeons could also award bonus stat points.

However, 20 points at once in the [Starter Pack] was a huge powerspike early into the game.

[Platinum Tokens] were the premium currency in Last Reality Online. Then there was the regular currency in the form of gold coins that can be used to purchase items in towns.

Li Shi Ming found the premium shop which had rotating stocks every week, which can be accessed anytime and anywhere.

He didn't know what these items on sale were used for, but generally, MMORPG games with shops like this are usually for later stages of the game. Li Shi Ming decided to skip it.

Finally, the [Wish Tickets]. They were used to draw in a gatcha system that contained bountiful awards. Li Shi Ming immediately felt an itch within when his gambling addiction triggered again.

[First 10 wishes guarantee a rare drop] A large notice was on his screen.

The rarest rewards were "units", which were NPCs with sentient AI. Other rewards included various resources, items, and much more. There was also a star system to rank the rarity of the rewards, with 1 star being the lowest and 5 stars the highest.

Licking his lips, Li Shi Ming couldn't help but select the [Wish Tickets] instinctively.

[...]

The Protagonist System went silent as Li Shi Ming opened up the giant gatcha interface, shaped like a huge spinning wheel. Spamming the 10x Wish button, the [Wish Tickets] he just received all disappeared from his inventory.

Items began to materialize from the wheel. Li Shi Ming was surprised to see that his first item was a packaged bundle of instant noodles that fell in his hand.

The other rewards were all dumped out on the ground, but Li Shi Ming ignored them. He waited in anticipation for the last reward to appear.

"...Eh?" Li Shi Ming was stunned when a humanoid shape flew out into his arms. He instinctively dropped the instant noodles and caught onto a petite girl.

She was wearing a schoolgirl's uniform with a black skirt, complete with sneakers and a necktie in the same colour. On her back was a children's puffed up canvas bag, along with a small guitar that was strapped to her shoulder.

The petite girl blinked a few times with a blank look in her dark eyes, before looking up at Li Shi Ming. "Can you put me down, master?"

"Oh. Sorry." Li Shi Ming gently set the small girl down on to the ground, still in shock.

Her light brown hair was tied back in long twintails that reached her shoulders. The girl's petite size looked like she attended grade school, but her voice had a mature tone to it that made her feel much older.

"Hello, master. Cheytac M200 Intervention at your command." Observing her surroundings, the little girl then stood at attention with a small salute. "Please just call me Intervention for short."

"Intervention?" Li Shi Ming recognized the name of one of his favourite sniper rifles in shooter games.

Suddenly, Intervention's tummy rumbled with a growling sound, surprising Li Shi Ming.

She blushed red and poked her tiny fingers together, looking down in embarrassment. Intervention bit softly at her small lips. "My apologies, master. I'm a bit hungry."

"It's fine. I'm hungry too, but just give me a moment." Seeing how adorable the little girl was, Li Shi Ming's heart softened and he looked back to the rest of the rewards.

There were the instant noodles, and even some steel flasks that he could use to fill with water. However, aside from Intervention, something else within the items caught his eye.

[Enchanted Flintlock Pistol]

Uncommon Magic Weapon

1-4 damage. Range of 6 units.

Passive: Low automatic reload speed. Suffers from falloff damage. Increases CRT by 20% when firing within a range of 3 units.

Active: None

It had a polished wood body and a long barrel, with the hilt and body decorated with some metal pieces.

Li Shi Ming noticed that he also got some ammunition with the weapon, in the shape of iron spheres. He recognized flintlocks to be one of the most primitive ignition mechanisms in history.

[Host has been extremely lucky with the Wish Tickets]

"Really?" Li Shi Ming asked in his mind.

[Cheytac M200 Intervention is a 5 star rarity unit. The Enchanted Flintlock Pistol is also very beneficial to the host]

Information began pouring into Li Shi Ming's mind. There was a special mechanism on the [Enchanted Flintlock Pistol], where he just needs to wait 5 seconds before the weapon automatically loads itself. He can reduce this time to 3 seconds if he manually performs the reload action.

The falloff damage was in regards to its limited range. The farther the target was, the less damage the weapon dealt with a shot. Li Shi Ming realized that he had to perform the aiming like in shooter games.

The final tidbit was the [General Ammunition] requirement. He needed to consume 1x per shot, and currently had 30x of the resource that came with the weapon.

He will need to find ways to get more soon. Still, it was great news that he could now ditch the bow and arrows.

Then, he received an electronic file on Intervention. The girl was a unit that belonged to the "sentient weapons" category. Her combat ability was poor in human form, but she could run logistics or perform other given tasks.

Li Shi Ming observed her to see her status.

[Sentient Weapon NPC]: Cheytac M200 Intervention

Level: 1

HP: 10/10

ATK: 1

DEF: 1

All other stats are at the value of 1

Affection: 0/100

Skills:

- Auto Command

- Guitar

Abilities:

- Transform

Li Shi Ming learned that the [Auto Command] skill meant Intervention could act without needing orders. He was also slightly amused at seeing that the little girl could actually play the guitar.

Finally, the [Transform] ability was that Intervention could transform into the actual sniper rifle. However, the ammunition cost was extremely high to use.

Her power in her transformed state was what defined her rarity, but Li Shi Ming paled at seeing the 50x [General Ammunition] cost to fire off a single shot.

[Sentient units have affection levels, which is a hidden stat that increases their combat capabilities] The Protagonist System suddenly commented, breaking Li Shi Ming out of his thoughts.

[They will feel pain just as the host does, and also require food and nutrients. If they die it will be very hard to repair, even though they are NPCs]

"So they aren't actually human, but behave like humans?" He asked.

[Yes. Advising host to treat Cheytac M200 Intervention well]

Li Shi Ming looked downwards at the little loli again, who looked back up at him expectantly. A small pink tongue snaked out as she wetted her lips.

"How do I make a fire now..." Li Shi Ming mused. "I also need a pot and bowls."

[Advising host to check all of the received rewards]

"Oh!" Li Shi Ming noticed an item titled as x1 [Fire Survival Kit]. Opening one up, various items appeared in front of him, including a portable stove and a small pot.

With a turn of a knob, the portable stove easily ignited from a small gas tank at the bottom. Feeling the temperature increase, Li Shi Ming filled up the pot with water from the stream and began to cook up 2 packets of the instant noodle.

Remembering the [Raw Giant Rat Meat], Li Shi Ming decided to cook it separately from the noodles.

As he tasked Intervention with looking after the noodles, Li Shi Ming broke off a branch from a tree which instantly regrew while giving him a 1x [Wood]. He repeated this process a few more times until he felt that he had enough for a fire.

Li Shi Ming then built a small bonfire beside the portable stove, borrowing its flames. He used 2 bronze arrows to skewer the [Raw Giant Rat Meat] together, letting them slowly broil while he enjoyed the comforting warmth from the fire.

Finally, everything was ready to eat.

There were also some plastic utensils. Li Shi Ming controlled himself to not ravenously attack the food from not having eaten in awhile, compared to Intervention who slurped up the noodles happily while biting into the meat.

"I don't mind." Intervention told him when Li Shi Ming warned her that it was rat meat.

It was a picturesque scene. A young man and a small girl sharing food beside the small bonfire. Only the dim light from their camp lit up the now dark forest.

"Thanks, master." Intervention rubbed her tummy happily after they were done eating. Her tiny mouth was shiny from the grease and she began to softly play her guitar.

"Don't worry about it."Seeing how cute she was, Li Shi Ming couldn't help but reach over and pat her head softly, causing Intervention to flush red. "Also, just calling me Shi Ming is fine."

"Understood, mast-" Intervention paused herself mid-speech, hugging her guitar. "Shi Ming."

"It's getting late, let's get some rest soon."Li Shi Ming nodded with a small smile. "We can plan our next course of action tomorrow."

Atleast now, he had some new friends.