I jumped into the tiny shower stall, cranking the cold water as high as it would go. I scrubbed my skin with a cheap bar of soap, watching the soap flow straight down the drain. When I finally stepped out, I grabbed my old clothes.
My baggy sweatpants barely stayed on my new, narrow waist, forcing me to tie the drawstring as tight as it could physically go. My oversized t-shirt, which used to stretch tight across my massive stomach, now hung off my broad shoulders like a loose cape.
"I really need a new wardrobe," I muttered, shaking my head. "Add it to the list."
I walked back into my bedroom, stepping over the splintered wood of the closet door, and crossed the threshold back into the sub-dimensional world.
The pristine, cedar-scented air of the Sage's Cabin washed over me, instantly cleansing the foul stench of my apartment from my lungs. The green bracer on my wrist hummed, welcoming me back.
My stomach let out a low, echoing rumble. Whatever happened last night had drained alot of my energy. I was starving all over again.
I walked straight out the front door and plucked three Tomatoes of Super Strength and two Potatoes of Divine Speed from the garden. Back inside the cabin, I found a beautifully forged iron skillet hanging near the hearth. I didn't even need oil. I sliced the vegetables with one of the smaller knives on the kitchen bench and tossed them into the pan.
Within minutes, the rich, mouth-watering aroma of roasted divine crops filled the room. I ate straight out of the skillet with a wooden fork. The flavor was explosive, immediately filling my empty stomach with a dense, warm core of pure energy. I could practically feel the nutrients sticking to my newly made muscles.
"Alright," I said, tossing the fork into the sink. I cracked my knuckles, relishing the sharp, satisfying pops. "Time to see what this body can actually do."
I walked over to the weapon barrel. I pulled out the Omnisword, its flawless silver blade gleaming, and grabbed the Absolute Spear with my other hand.
Stepping out onto the front porch, I remained safely inside the glowing emerald-hex barrier. I set the spear against the railing and gripped the Omnisword with both hands.
"Swordsmanship," I whispered.
The moment I focused on the skill, my body moved on its own. As if someone had instantly downloaded twenty years of muscle memory directly into my nervous system. I swung the blade horizontally.
SWOOSH!
The air literally cracked, a sharp shockwave rippling outward from the edge of the blade, blowing the grass flat ten feet away.
I pivoted smoothly, my footwork utterly flawless, and brought the blade down in a brutal, perfect vertical arc. My balance was on point. I moved with a fluid, explosive grace that felt entirely natural.
I dropped the sword and grabbed the Absolute Spear.
I twirled the heavy shaft effortlessly around my fingers, slipping into a low, predatory stance. I locked my eyes on a thick, dead tree stump sitting just outside the barrier's edge.
I pulled my arm back and hurled the spear.
It vanished from my hand. A sonic boom echoed in the clearing as the spear shattered the sound barrier, embedding itself so deeply into the tree stump that the wood violently exploded into splinters.
"Return," I commanded.
The spear dissolved into golden light and instantly rematerialized perfectly in the palm of my hand.
"This is insane," I laughed, spinning the spear before resting it on my shoulder. "I'm a master! I'm an absolute master!"
A thought suddenly struck me. My physical stats were at 1000. But so was my Magic stat.
I dropped the spear, stepping to the center of the yard. I planted my feet firmly, took a deep breath, and held my right hand out toward the forest, my palm open. I visualized a massive inferno. I thought about the sheer heat of the Fallen Angel's spear.
"FIREBALL!" I roared.
Silence. A gentle breeze rustled the leaves of the World Tree above the cabin.
I frowned, squeezing my eyes shut and straining my hand forward. "WATER DRAGON! LIGHTNING BOLT! DARK MATTER!"
Absolutely nothing happened.
I dropped my arm, a heavy sigh escaping my lips. I felt like an absolute idiot. A chuunibyou screaming at the trees.
"Right. Obviously," I grumbled, rubbing the back of my neck. "Having a massive mana pool doesn't mean anything if I don't know the formulas or the incantations to actually cast a spell. It's like having a supercar with no steering wheel. I need a magic book or a teacher."
Since magic was off the table, I picked the Omnisword back up. If I couldn't shoot fire, I would just have to cut things until they stopped moving.
And I didn't have to wait long to test it out.
A few hours passed. The golden light of the afternoon sun was beginning to filter through the canopy of the magical forest.
I stood on the porch, my chest heaving slightly, a thin layer of sweat glistening on my bare torso. I had abandoned my baggy shirt completely, fighting in just my loose sweatpants.
Lying just outside the glowing green hex-barrier were three massive, dissolving corpses.
The first had been a towering, bladed mantis that had tried to slice through the shield. I had stepped half an inch out of the barrier, cleaved its head off with the Omnisword, and stepped back inside.
The second was a mutated, heavily armored boar the size of a dump truck. It had charged the barrier, stunning itself on the magical grid. I had simply thrown the Absolute Spear straight through its eye socket.
The third, and most annoying, was a massive, bubbling mass of toxic black slime. Physical strikes with the sword barely phased it, but the Absolute Spear had sought out its hidden core and shattered it in a single strike.
PING!
[Skill Leveled Up: Spearmanship (Lv. 6)]
[Skill Leveled Up: Swordsmanship (Lv. 7)]
I wiped the sweat from my forehead, staring at the glowing blue text. My breathing leveled out almost instantly, my insane stamina regenerating the lost energy in seconds.
"Hey, System," I called out, leaning against the wooden railing. "Why are my skills leveling up so fast? I've been swinging a sword for three hours and killed exactly three enemies. I shouldn't be jumping six levels in a day."
The holographic screen shifted, processing my question.
[Notice:] Skill progression and experience yield are directly tied to the Level Disparity between the host and the defeated entity.
The host possesses base Level 1 skills. The entities defeated were Level 280 [Scythe Mantis], Level 310 [Ironhide Boar], and Level 350 [Abyssal Slime].
Defeating high-tier adversaries grants an extreme, exponential multiplier to all experience gained. The host is currently engaging in extreme power-leveling.
"Extreme power-leveling," I chuckled, sheathing the Omnisword. "So because I'm cheesing endgame bosses from inside a safe zone, the system is force-feeding me XP. God, I love this cheat."
I sat down heavily on the edge of the porch, letting my legs dangle over the side.
I opened my main status screen. Staring back at me, under the Level 100 tag, was the glowing number: Unallocated BP: 10,000.
"I've been holding onto these all day," I muttered. "No point in hoarding them. If I'm going to survive out there, I need every advantage I can get. Spend all Bonus Points."
A slider appeared on the screen, allowing me to distribute the massive pool of points across my six stats.
I thought about min-maxing, dumping everything into Attack and Agility. But this wasn't a video game; this was my actual body. If I had immense attack but low defense, one lucky strike could kill me. If I had high speed but low intelligence, my brain wouldn't be able to process the visual information fast enough, and I'd crash into a wall at Mach 2.
"Keep it balanced," I decided.
I manually inputted the numbers. I dropped 1,666 points into Magic, Attack, Defense, Agility, Intelligence, and Luck. The remaining 4 points I carelessly tossed into Luck, bringing the grand total to zero unallocated points.
"Confirm."
PING!
[Stats Updated.]
[Magic:] 2666
[Attack:] 2666
[Defense:] 2666
[Agility:] 2666
[Intelligence:] 2666
[Luck:] 2670
The moment I hit confirm, a violent, electrifying shockwave ripped through my nervous system. My vision blurred for a split second as my brain physically expanded its processing power. My muscles seized, hardening and compressing even further, packing an incomprehensible amount of kinetic force into my frame. I gripped the wooden railing of the porch, and the thick cedar splintered into dust under my fingertips without me even trying.
I let out a long, shaky breath, carefully unclenching my hands.
GROOOOWL.
The massive expenditure of energy instantly triggered my stomach. I was hungry again.
I stood up and walked back into the cabin. I quickly threw together another meal of divine vegetables, inhaling it straight from the pan. It filled me up, but a strange craving hit me.
I opened my [Item Box]. Floating in the dark void of my inventory, among the weapons and monster parts, was a strange, dark brown cube I had looted from the Abyssal Slime.
"Appraisal."
[Coffee Slime Jelly]
[Description: The purified, edible remains of an Abyssal Slime. It is completely non-toxic and possesses a rich, incredibly deep coffee flavor. Highly sought after as a luxury dessert.]
I materialized the cube into my hand. It was perfectly square, jiggling slightly, and cool to the touch. It smelled faintly of dark roasted espresso beans.
I stared at it, deeply hesitant. "I am about to eat a monster. An actual, literal monster. This is how the zombie apocalypse starts."
But the sweet, roasted aroma was overpowering. I closed my eyes, took a deep breath, and took a small bite.
The jelly melted on my tongue instantly.
"Ohhh..."
A literal, unashamed moan of delight escaped my lips. My knees actually buckled slightly. It was the most incredible thing I had ever tasted. It was a perfect, harmonious blend of bitter espresso, rich cream, and an impossible sweetness that danced across my tastebuds. It was smooth, refreshing, and absurdly delicious.
I shoved the rest of the massive cube into my mouth, chewing happily. "I will hunt that slime species to extinction. I will commit genocide for this jelly."
With my stomach full and my mood soaring, I sat back down at the indestructible Sage's Table. I opened the System menu, tabbing over to my [Item Box] .
The three monsters I had killed today had dropped quite a few items. The Ironhide Boar dropped a set of heavy, spiked leather armor and an iron mace. The Mantis dropped twin scythe-blades.
I pulled them out, letting them clatter onto the table.
"Appraisal."
They were all C-Rank and B-Rank items. Strong, but absolutely pathetic compared to the A+ Rank Bloody Hound armor I already possessed. I didn't need them. I couldn't wear them.
I looked at the glowing blue tab at the top of the System interface.
[Asset Conversion]
"Let's see if this actually works," I muttered, my heart picking up a nervous rhythm.
I reached out and tapped the pile of inferior weapons and armor. A holographic prompt appeared over them.
[Convert 5 Items into Local Currency? Y / N]
I pressed Y.
DING!
The weapons and armor vanished in a flash of bright golden light.
A heavy, solid weight suddenly materialized in my lap.
I looked down. Sitting perfectly stacked on my thighs were five thick, banded bricks of paper money.
My breath caught in my throat. My hands trembled violently as I reached down, my fingers brushing against the crisp, perfectly printed paper. They were ten-thousand yen notes. Hundreds of them. Thousands of them.
"Five... five million yen," I choked out, my voice cracking entirely.
Tears immediately pricked the corners of my eyes. Five million yen. Sitting right in my lap. Just from selling garbage drops from three monsters I killed without even breaking a sweat.
The crippling, suffocating weight of debt that had been crushing my chest for two years—the loan sharks, the failing diner, the constant terror of eviction—evaporated in a single, golden flash.
I pulled a stack to my chest, burying my face in the money, letting out a wet, choked laugh.
"I'm free," I sobbed, the emotional release hitting me harder than any physical blow. "I'm actually free."
I sat there for several minutes, clutching the money until my tears dried. I safely deposited the cash directly into the [Item Box], staring at the empty space on the table.
I had money. I had power. I had a safe zone.
I could easily just stay in here forever. I could lure monsters to the barrier, poke them through the shield, sell their drops, and live the rest of my life as a filthy rich coward. No Fallen Angels. No demons. Just me, my cheat cabin, and a mountain of cash.
I looked out the window, staring into the dark, imposing trees of the alien forest.
The thought was tempting. God, it was so tempting.
But I looked down at my hands. I felt the thrumming, explosive power of my stats. I remembered the sheer terror I felt when I found out which animes were part of this world, and the weak, pathetic image I had of myself for all these years.
If I hid in here forever, I would never truly be strong. I would just be a hamster in a very nice, very rich cage. The world out there—both this alien forest and the DxD universe waiting for me back home—was unforgiving. If I wanted to survive, if I wanted to stand at the top and never be looked down on again, I had to earn it.
I stood up, my expression hardening into absolute resolve.
I opened my inventory.
"Equip," I commanded.
In a flash of dark light, the Bloody Hound armor materialized onto my body. The dark, flame-imbued Savage Scale wrapped securely around my right shoulder and gauntlet. The Beast Mid fastened tightly around my waist, projecting a faint, invisible warding field. The Bloody Hinds locked around my legs, the dark metal incredibly light and flexible. Finally, the ragged, dark Beast Scarf wrapped itself around my neck, the magical fabric instantly sharpening my senses and passively amplifying my swordsmanship.
The armor fit my new, muscular physique flawlessly. I looked like an elite, dark knight. A hero from a fantasy novel.
I reached out and grabbed the Omnisword from my item box, the silver blade resting casually in my armored grip.
I walked out the front door, stepping down off the porch. I walked straight past the garden, past the pile of shattered wood from the spear, and marched right up to the glowing green hex-barrier.
Beyond the magical shield, the dense, magical forest was dark, ancient, and terrifying. I could hear the distant, guttural roars of monsters that made the Bloody Hound sound like a puppy.
My heart hammered against my ribs, the primal human fear of the unknown screaming at me to turn back.
I gripped the hilt of the sword tighter.
"Shut up," I whispered to my own fear.
I took a deep breath, steeling my nerves. I squared my shoulders, staring into the dark abyss of the woods.
I lifted my boot, and I stepped straight through the barrier.