Chapter 2 - Puppeteer

It had been 7 years since Murata was reincarnated into this world. Specifically, the world of Solace. It all still felt surreal for him, like he was having a vivid fever dream. Because Murata's family lived outside the capital, they were called Commoners. In this world of royalty, there were about 5 ranks. Commoner, Resident, Noble, Priest, and Royalty.

Despite being shown as a rank higher than Noble, Priest is just about the same in power and authority, as they "give" the magical gifts to what would supposedly be normal people.

"Murata-sama!" Someone shouted his name from behind.

Murata quickly turned around, seeing his little brother run towards him. To be specific, it was his little brother, Audren. Seeing as Audren was unable to slow down, Murata swiftly caught him within his arms.

"Audren!" Murata smiled brightly.

Audren looked up at him, "Aniki! Father's back!"

"Ah, really?"

Murata looked in the distance, seeing his father, Garrison, who seemed to be carrying the corpse of a big animal. At a closer look, it was a boar. It was a little bigger than half the size of a human.

'Male boars can grow up to nearly 1.5 times the size of an average adult ... So I'm assuming this is a female or a juvenile.'

His father was apart of a hunting group, as commoners, this was only one of the few jobs they could get. There was a sudden abundance of boars that was reported a couple of months ago. Since they were invasive, there was an official statement to hunt any boars found. It was also beneficial for them, as they could sell the boar's skin and meat. Though, that doesn't come without its risks. Murata could clearly discern the injuries not just from his dad, but also from everyone else who had returned from the hunt.

"It may only be a couple of minor cuts and shallow injuries, but I'm surprised he still has this many injuries even with his [Berserker] skill..."

Murata's father was blessed with the skill, [Berserker], which was in actuality a class. They classified it as E-Rank but Murata knew that classes didn't actually have any ranks and that it was most likely just their opinion. His brother, Audren on the other hand, was classless. Murata was aware of the fact that the Priest's Blessing wasn't absolute and could be wrong a lot of the times, but he knew that Audren was infact classless thanks to his status window.

(A/N: An average adult's status is usually around 3 ((without magic)), just for comparison)

[[Audren]]

[[ <Class: 0>]]

[[Level: 1]]

[[Strength: 0.2

Speed: 0.3

Stamina: 0.7

Durability: 0.4

Endurance: 0.3

Intelligence: 0.35

Wisdom: 0.1 ]]

[[Skills: 0]]

A kind of hidden effect of the status window, is that it allowed him to view others' stats. However, it only works on people he's fond with, which he found out after trying to use it on random animals. Before Murata reincarnated into this world, he woke up in this black void, laying down in a shallow pond of colors.

'Where... am I....?'

He slowly stood up from the pond and looked around at his surroundings. Nothing but the empty void. Murata looked down at his hands, able to faintly remember being struck by which looked lightning before he lost consciousness. Then suddenly, a black screen would suddenly appear just a couple inches away from his face. On the screen, said three words.

[[Choose your class.]]

"What's this...? It looks just like that panel from that game I was playing..."

And that leads to the current Murata. The class he picked through the endless ocean of classes, was a unique one. He had picked the class, Puppeteer.

'Status.'

[[Murata]]

[[ <Class: Puppeteer>]]

[[Level: 1]]

[[Strength: 0.68

Speed: 0.8

Stamina: 0.95

Durability: 0.7

Endurance: 0.44

Intelligence: 0.86

Wisdom: 0.3 ]]

[[Skills: Stringing(F), Translator(EX), Puppeteering(F)]]

"I've been training hard for these past 5 years and I still haven't been able to get at least one of my stats to 1." Murata shook his head and sighed.

Despite being the typical rpg game, the mechanics are much more different. There are no health or mana bars. Both in the PC version and when Murata was reincarnated into this world. You'd just have to rely on your tuition to know if you're running low on mana or HP. Fortunately enough, since Murata's actually in the world, its a lot easier to feel and know when those are low. Additionally, there are no class/job changes. The class you pick is permanent and thats it. Murata unfortunately found this out the hard way.

Each class has their own exclusive skills that the player start with, and the only way to gain any more skills is through specific classes or quests. Speaking of quests, they weren't administered frequently. Quests are really rare and can slow down the progression of the game as they were the only way to gain skills.

"Murata!" Garrison called for him.

Murata quickly looked up in slight surprise before running over to him.

"Father! You're back!"

Garrison chuckled, setting the deceased boar onto the ground before turning back towards Murata.

"That's right! How's your mother doing?"

"She's doing fine."

Murata's mother was currently pregnant with her third child, who was expected to be a girl. As Garrison began speaking to the other members, Murata tugged at his shirt to try and get his attention.

"Father, when will I be able to hunt with you?"

Garrison turned towards him and smiled, "When you're older!"

Murata frowned. How would he be able to gain some real exp if he couldn't go out and hunt monsters? It was annoying how slow he was progressing currently.

I could just always go hunting in secret... Murata rubbed his hands with a smirk on his face.

Murata waited until night, until everyone was asleep, so that he could sneak out with ease. He swiftly hurried out, making sure not to make too much noise. He climbed onto a tree branch, exhaling a sigh of relief.

"Hooh... I can finally began practicing my skills."

He checked his stats again.

My stats are most likely just barely enough to try and kill a bird, even then, that's an overestimation on me...

Murata jumped down from the tree branch and walked further into the forest, making sure to keep an eye out for any predators. Eventually, after searching for a while, he would eventually spot a bird. He was able to almost immediately recognize it. The Chekov Bird, A small familiar bird that had long skinny legs and had a large coat of brown thick feathers that surrounded its neck in contrast to the white tiny feathers that surrounded the rest of its body, excluding its legs. Thanks to that, it was practically considered a mythical beast, especially since there are only about an handful of them.

Unfortunately, that title is about the only thing that's going for them.

[Stringing]

"Gotcha!"

Murata thrusted his arm forward, green strings shooting out from his fingertips at lightning speed before wrapping around the Chekov Bird. The bird squeaked but couldn't escape no matter how hard it flapped. Murata wrapped the strings around his finger, bringing the bird to his face.

"Nice! Never thought I would catch a mythical beast!"

[Puppeteering]

The strings would tighten around the bird with ease, not being fazed by the bird's desperate flapping. Then, the strings would suddenly disappear along with the bird, digitizing into green squares that faded away.

[You caught a Chekov Bird. You gained 520 experience points.]

[Your level has risen.]

"This is new! You can also gain experience points for capturing beasts?"

[[Murata]]

[[ <Class: Puppeteer>]]

[[Level: 2]]

[[Strength: 1.68

Speed: 1.8

Stamina: 1.95

Durability: 1.7

Endurance: 1.44

Intelligence: 1.86

Wisdom: 1.3 ]]

[[Skills: Stringing(F), Translator(EX), Puppeteering(F)]]

[[Status Points (SP): 5]]

"All my points have gone up by 1, that's good."

Murata was reading his stats when he noticed another panel on the side.

"What's this?"

[[Puppets: Chekov Bird]]

"Oooh, this panel shows me what puppets I currently have."

Murata tapped on the image of the Chekov Bird.

{{The Chekov

------------------------

Average Height: 24 inches / 61 cm

Average Lifespan: 20 years

Maturity: 1 year

Breeding age: 4 year

No. of young: 5 every year

Population: Nearly Extinct

Temperament: Oblivious

Diet: Seeds, and Vegetation

----------------------------------

- They communicate by tapping and thudding the ground.

- They can spit a thick, foul smelling acid to deter enemies and harm them, though not fatally.

- They are highly inquisitive and their curiosity often leads to serious injury or death.}}

"Its showing me information about them... But why can't I see their stats? Is it because I'm not fond with them yet?"

Murata just shrugged.

"Oh well. But at least I can spend some of my status points!"

He swiftly began allocating his points, and with no hesitation, he put all of the points into strength!

[[Strength: 1.68 ------> 6.68]]

He could already feel the effects of his increased strength, flexing his muscles. What a cheat code systems were!