Re-Evaluation

Turning the corner, I saw the large sign reading "INN", along with various people gathered around the building conversing.

Walking towards the place, I went through the door and saw that the whole ground floor was filled with players, and a few NPCs too.

The ground floor could be called a tavern, with NPCs serving players food and drink while the players were, to be frank, quite depressed. Some were talking about losing friends and relatives.

I wonder, how many players have died, overconfident and adventurous?

The people who probably read those stories of gamers going to another world and becoming the strongest with a rare "system" and guessed they were like these other "chosen ones" in fiction.

Extremely unrealistic expectations. Especially in 'Sword Art Online,' where it's 101% unrealistic because I'm here. Though, it'd be a safe assumption to say that those players have been brought back to reality. Death does that to people.

Sucks to suck.

It may sound insensitive, but I think that death is the best Ivy League university. And I congratulate those people on their admission and education. I am always good-natured, see?

No one noticed my entrance, they were apparently too invested in depression and liquor for it.

It's natural though, the Japanese were never good at dealing with failure and huge amounts of death. That is why they produce so much degenerate, escapist anime, manga, and light novel fluff, to cope with the harsh reality that they are an inferior people and their existence is an abomination.

Hiroshima was like the wrath of the gods coming to punish the sinners.

Walking across the wooden floors while looking for whoever the owner is, I eventually found an NPC washing a cup over and over again, even though it was already clean.

"Yes, young man? Would you like to rent a room for the night?"

Scrutinizing him further, I saw gray hair and wrinkles - a sign of old age, along with a tunic and leather boots, much like the ones I was wearing.

His blue eyes shined with absolutely nothing, since it appears he's just another mindless AI.

"Old man, how much does it cost to stay a night?"

Of course, I already know the answer courtesy of the guardsman I had killed, but I think I need to trigger his predetermined lines.

"Fifty Cor per night."

Dropping the correct amount on the counter in between us, I told him, "I will rent a room," and he proceeded to tell me where my room was.

Walking up the stairs, noticing how there were other players staying here as well, I thanked my luck considering this place hasn't already been filled up.

Walking into the barren room and closing the door behind me, I sat on the bed and decided to actually examine the UI.

To open it, rather than the stupid "swipe your finger down" that was in use when I first entered the game which was incredibly impractical in battle, it appeared in front of me as soon as I willed it to.

There were four circles in a vertical line, with inventory being at the top, friends/guild right below that, communications below that, quests at the bottom.

Starting with inventory, clicking on that brought up four sub-menus, being skills, items, equipment and stats respectively.

Seeing a red mark on the stats, I just decided to check it later.

Moving onto friends/guild, clicking on this one also brings up three sub-menus, being party, friend and guild.

In other words, probably the most important section to most players, whether they realize it or not. They are too weak to ever survive without being propped up.

Moving onto communication, this section has four sub-menus, being befriend, trade, duel, and… marriage.

Marriage? In a game?

What did I ever expect from these animals?

There will definitely be imbeciles who end up using this function and settling down rather than doing important things like surviving.

Also, does it count as e-dating now that the game is a kind of reality?

People are that horny nowadays, I will admit. There'll be plenty of people chasing after virtual pussy.

Moving on from that disgusting display screen, there was quest, with only one sub-menu.

If I remember correctly, there was a bottom screen of settings, but the log-out function and contacting Gamemasters aren't needed or useful in the current state of things.

Finishing my examination, I revisited the stats page and saw two numbers, both currently saying "one". One of the numbers had the symbol AGI above it and the other had STR above it; strength and agility stats?

It's the correct abbreviation, so I will assume that.

This system only has two stats?

"Maybe these two stats include all the effects you'd need in battle?"

It seemed that the names were misleading. The Agility stat mostly increased running speed, not overall Agility. However, the Strength stat increased damage during a fight.

Looking the whole thing over again, I noticed that while the two stat numbers were at the bottom of the display screen, at the top there was a box with the number "thirty" in it.

Analyzing it further, I saw a small message below the box which said, "allocate your free stat points."

I beat that monster earlier today without even allocating any stat points?

It's impossible that I'm currently at my former body's strength. I felt noticeably stronger after I killed the guardsman and his horse and after I leveled up from that reward.

So I receive a base increase in strength from just leveling up, and these stat points are just like bonuses?

Will I be some kind of monster after I allocate these points?

I doubt the other players are even close to my level.

And while they're still weak, I can train my spear technique and steal all their EXP by hoarding all the monsters as well. Doing so would also stunt their growth, keeping them at the same level while I continue rising to the top.

Well, I shouldn't get ahead of myself. I need to see what kind of effect these stat points have on me.

But should I go for a power build or a speed build?

With a power build, you can end the match quickly, dealing enough damage to cripple your opponent in fewer hits than the opponent. However, without speed, it'll be like trying to stab a bird with a sword; while one hit would kill the thing, that becomes irrelevant when you can't hit the target in the first place.

With a speed build however, you won't be hit and will be able to escape any battles you need to, plus you can explore the world more quickly which is important at the start of the game. However, that also becomes irrelevant when you can't deal enough damage to end your opponent, stunting your growth as well because you can't kill any monsters that are worth killing.

So it comes down to fighting style and the specific person in the end.

As a spearman, speed is important, but so is strength, so a balanced build would be best for me personally. However, I will increase speed slightly more early on, so that I can explore the world more easily and find good opportunities for EXP and loot. But eventually strength will be higher, since it's more directly important in battle and will allow me to equip more powerful weapons.

Plus, imagine if my stats reached inhuman numbers while being relatively balanced.

I'd be the ultimate fighter.

Also, did I get these stat points from leveling up?

I leveled up ten times today, through the murder and my reward from whatever the "Cardinal System" is, so if I got thirty stat points that would mean I got three stat points per level.

Or maybe it's some other messed up algorithm, but I'll find out later.

Allocating fifteen points to STR and fifteen to AGI, I felt my muscles tighten and grow stronger, my bones became more dense, my reaction speed felt better, my vision felt clearer and more focused, however, I felt no pain.

Isn't this supposed to be like the cultivation novels I read where every increase in strength brings unimaginable pain?

Not what I expected, but I won't complain.

Now what?

Realizing that the sky was now fully dark, should I sleep?

"If the game is now real life, like how that 'Fallen God' schizo claimed it to be, I would need to sleep. If the game is just virtual and this is all a lie, I'd need to rest my mind. While I hate the idea of leaving myself so open in someone else's territory, I do, biologically, need to sleep."

What a dilemma.

I've pulled all-nighters before, it certainly isn't impossible.

Tomorrow, I just won't sleep, caution above all. Unless there's something to be gained or fun to be had, in that case, caution can take the backseat.

Though I can go without sleeping for a little while, I do need to rest.

As much as I want to explore the town and have some fun, I am tired and don't want to become like a dead man walking while trying to level up. I was not expecting to be trapped inside this game when I entered.

Sitting down on the hard bed, I leaned my back against the wall and simply waited for the next day.

POV Switch - 3rd

The Cardinal System is the system that governs and patches any problems in the new reality.

Naturally, there are representatives for it, and they report to their creator and boss: The Fallen God.

And one of those meetings was currently going on.

"So then," said the Fallen God, dressed in his red robes. "How has the first day in the new world gone?"

As the Administrators, the representatives and manifestations of the Cardinal System, the group gathered in front of this being were ready to respond.

"A hundred thousand or so deaths as of today, it's nothing to worry about so far," said a woman dressed in blue. "We'll only start having issues within the next few weeks to months, since the players will be weak and inexperienced. After that, the death counts should stabilize as they grow stronger."

"Good enough. Any fixes made so far?"

A small Japanese girl with black hair and bright black eyes announced herself. "Konnichiwa. There are a couple of fixes I had to make - but only one was important enough to tell you about. A player found out about how, in marketplaces, stealing is not counted as stealing until whatever they haven't paid for leaves the market. We put that in place because we thought people would appreciate doing stuff like taking products around the market to compare quality and price. We didn't think about how it could be exploited!"

"How was it exploited?"

"...He put all of the products in the marketplace into his inventory, and when he tried to leave the guard was too far away to catch up to him… actually, the guard did catch up, but he lucked into another player who got in the way of the guard and his horse, tripping them and indirectly killing the other player. I think he was happy that the player died! After that, he impaled the horse, and then the guardsman as well with poison that he stole from the dead player. An embarrassingly shameless man!"

Some murmuring was heard among the administrators, curious about this player.

"Wow wow wow!" said one of the men in the room, dressed in red and yellow. "I didn't think we'd get such a ruthless participant, especially one so ready to do such a thing on the first day!"

"So then? What did you do to him?" said another man in the room, dressed in green.

"...As much as I didn't want to, I had to follow procedure and give him a reward along with a letter. I don't like him, don't think I do! But there was no other option."

"Make sure you show no bias against this man," said the God in red. "He showed us yet another thing to perfect in my world, so there is no problem. No matter how morally wrong his actions were, he helped us fix this world on the first day."

"...I guess I can try not to. But, why is he even in my region? He's not Japanese and… well, I don't want to watch more brutality in my own land. Japan has always been a peaceful nation!"

"Oh? That clears things up, I was confused on how a modern Japanese player did such a thing," said the man in red and yellow. "Naturally, the Japanese can no longer do what it takes to win. So if he's not Japanese, what is he?"

"It is not the time for this. How did you fix the issue, Yui?"

"Thank you for asking! I set the NPCs to warn players when they start walking away with their items without paying. I am hoping that will be enough, and then this player will settle down and behave. Maybe he was just a compulsive thief, and just needed me to set him on the right path."

"Any other reports or fixes?"

"Nothing happened per se, but I realized something," said the woman in blue again. "Having the Non-Player-Characters respawn every time they die seems too… game-like. This is meant to be a world, not a video game. My region has no players in it as of yet, so I'm left to think about other things and watch over the fixes to the world. I saw Yui's altering of the system, and after observing the town where the maniac player is, I noticed how… strange it was when the guardsman just came back to life when he died, considering this is supposed to be a real world."

"Hmm, true. We could use the NPCs to create the illusion of realism. If your point is to remove the respawning mechanic from the NPCs, I agree. So what would we replace it with?"

"Since some Non-Player-Characters are vastly important to the world, we can't just let them die. What if we had a family member or friend replace whatever Non-Player-Character dies, essentially keeping everything the same while making it realistic?"

"Good, put that in place. Make sure you all get rid of any NPCs that have already died and resurrected and replace them with someone else like the new system will do. Since I have heard no other reports or concerns, I will assume that is all. Return to your posts."

As each Administrator suddenly disappeared, only Yui and the man dressed in red and yellow stayed.

"Why are you two still here?"

"I am so happy with how well the players are getting along! Except for one. What should I do about the thieving non-Japanese player I have in my region?" asked Yui.

"If you really don't want him then I can take him off your hands. No matter where he's from, China would be a much better fit for him than Japan," said the man with a mocking smile. "Such a man is too vicious for your tender players."

"Do nothing for now. If his actions escalate to a point where you can't bear them, then you can hand him over to Xing to supervise."

"I hope he starts committing genocide soon. It's only fair, considering what happened to Nanjing," said Xing before disappearing as well.

Yui was not so enthusiastic. "...Alright. So, why is there a non-Japanese player in Japan?"

"Luck. Pure luck and chance. And I think some weebs were excited to get the game straight from Japan."

This genuinely confused the girl. "Weeb? What does that mean?"

"It doesn't matter for now. Return to your region. As an old sage once said, 'The world laughs at Japan behind its back, but the Japanese will never understand why.'"

But the girl walked away wondering if maybe this new player could be reformed, and had come to Japan because he admired it. Maybe he just wanted to settle into this peaceful, traditional society, and learn from it, to be at peace. She was flattered at the thought that her culture could help to fix this rough gentleman.

As the final Admin disappeared, the room was empty, and only the Fallen God was left.