My new voice, soft yet holding an undercurrent of something sharp and cold, echoed in the oppressive silence of the storeroom.
"Status."
The blue screen in front of me shimmered, the text within rearranging itself instantly. It was clean, efficient, and terrifyingly real.
------------------------------------
STATUS
Name: Kalyth von Eldoria
Level: 1
Class: N/A
Race: Human
Age: 7
Title: The Forsaken Child, Goddess's Chosen (+50% EXP gain, +10 bonus stat points)
HP: 15/30
MP: 25/25
--ATTRIBUTES--
STR (Strength): 2
VIT (Vitality): 3
AGI (Agility): 4
INT (Intelligence): 5
WIS (Wisdom): 5
LCK (Luck): ??
Unallocated Stat Points: 10
--UNIQUE SKILLS--
[Saiyan Potential] (Passive, Lvl MAX): Your potential for growth is limitless. Strength and combat abilities increase exponentially through training and near-death experiences.
[Technique Weaver] (Active, Lvl 1): Analyze, deconstruct, and combine skills and techniques.
[Akira's Library] (Active): Access a mental library containing all media from your previous world.
[Chamber of Ascendance] (Active): Enter a personal dimension for accelerated training.
------------------------------------
'This… this is my status?'
My mind reeled. The numbers were laughably, pitifully low. A Strength of 2? I'd be lucky to win a fight against a slightly aggressive housecat. My HP was at half, a stark reminder of the week I'd spent starving in this damned room. Kalyth's body was a fragile, brittle thing.
But then my eyes caught the Title. Goddess's Chosen.
'A fifty percent experience boost? That's a classic cheat skill! And ten bonus points right off the bat… Megami-sama, you're too kind!'
And the Unique Skills… they were all there. My five wishes, perfectly translated into a game-like system. [Saiyan Potential] was the foundation, the core of my future power. The rest were the tools to build my legend upon.
Hope, fierce and bright, began to burn away the edges of my despair. This was doable. I could work with this. I could take this broken, fragile body and forge it into something powerful. Something to be feared.
Just as a grim, determined smile began to form on my lips, a new window popped into existence with an insistent, sharp PING!
It was blood-red.
------------------------------------
! URGENT QUEST !
Title: A Mother's Tears
Description: Your mother, Anastarka von Eldoria, has been falsely implicated alongside you. For the crime of "improperly raising a malicious child," she was publicly whipped and thrown into the estate's dungeons. Her wounds are severe, and she is being denied food and water. Her life force is fading.
Time Limit: 72:00:00
Objectives:
1. Attain sufficient strength to escape the storeroom and survive the estate guards.
2. Infiltrate the Eldoria dungeons.
3. Free Anastarka von Eldoria.
Rewards:
+10,000 EXP
+5 Unallocated Stat Points
+1 Unique Skill Book (Random)
+ Title: Child of Retribution
Failure Penalty:
Permanent loss of Anastarka von Eldoria.
Acquisition of Title: The Kinless.
Permanent mental debuff: [Grief].
------------------------------------
The world tilted.
The cold fury from before, which had been a simmering coal, erupted into a white-hot inferno. The memories—Kalyth's memories—of her mother slammed into me with the force of a physical blow.
Anastarka. A gentle woman with kind eyes and a smile that could chase away any shadow. A woman who loved her daughter fiercely in a house full of vipers. A woman who would read to Kalyth for hours, her voice a soft melody. A woman who was now bleeding, starving, and dying in a dark hole because of a spoiled brat's lie and a cold bastard's cruelty.
Seventy-two hours. Three days.
The air in my lungs turned to ice. The numbers on my status screen weren't just low anymore; they were a death sentence. For my mother.
My knuckles, small and delicate, turned white as I clenched my fists. The phantom pain of the whip marks on my mother's back felt like they were searing into my own skin.
'No. I won't let her die.'
The Miku who loved anime and complained about work was gone. The frightened, helpless seven-year-old Kalyth was gone. In their place was something new. Something forged in the crucible of two lives' worth of pain and one soul's worth of burning, righteous anger.
'I will save her. And then… then I will make them all pay. The Duke. Liana. Every single person who smiled while my mother screamed.'
My gaze, hard as diamond, snapped back to the system interface. Panic and rage were useless. I needed a plan. I needed to understand my weapons.
"Akira," I said, my voice dangerously calm. "Menu."
[Acknowledged, Master.]
The red quest window slid to the side, replaced by a larger, more comprehensive menu. It was organized into neat, glowing tabs.
[STATUS]
[INVENTORY]
[SKILLS]
[QUEST LOG]
[SHOP]
--UNIQUE--
[AKIRA'S LIBRARY]
[TECHNIQUE WEAVER]
[CHAMBER OF ASCENDANCE]
'Explain every function. Start from the top,' I commanded mentally, my thoughts sharp and precise.
[Of course, Master,] Akira's synthesized voice replied in my head. [The **STATUS** tab displays your current condition, attributes, and skills, as you have already seen. It is the core summary of your existence.]
[The **INVENTORY** is a standard subspace storage. It currently has 100 slots. You can store non-living items within it for instant access. It is organized by tabs for equipment, consumables, and materials for your convenience.]
'Useful. No more carrying around loot like a pack mule.'
[The **SKILLS** tab provides detailed descriptions of all your acquired skills, both active and passive. You can view cooldowns, mana costs, and potential evolutionary paths for each skill here. It is also where you will manage the abilities created via Technique Weaver.]
[The **QUEST LOG** tracks all accepted missions. It displays objectives, time limits, and rewards. You have one active Urgent Quest.]
'I'm painfully aware of that, thank you.'
[The **SHOP** is a system function that allows you to purchase a variety of items using System Points (SP). SP is earned primarily through completing quests and special achievements. Available items will expand as your level and influence in this world grow.]
The standard functions were solid, a perfect RPG setup. But my eyes were drawn to the three tabs at the bottom, labeled 'Unique.' They were the key.
'Now explain the unique functions. In detail.'
[Understood. The **LIBRARY** is the mental sanctuary you wished for. By activating it, you can enter a tranquil mindscape replica of a modern Japanese library. Within, you can browse and experience any manga, anime, or light novel from your previous world. It is intended for mental recuperation and strategic inspiration. Time within the library is subjective and does not pass in the real world.]
A flicker of Miku's soul felt a deep sense of relief at that. A safe harbor. A connection to home. But there was no time for that now.
[The **TECHNIQUE WEAVER** is your unique combat skill. At its most basic level, it allows you to combine two or more compatible skills to create a new, synergistic ability. However, its true potential lies in analysis. By focusing on a technique used by another being, you can deconstruct it, understanding its principles, energy flow, and physical mechanics. With sufficient understanding, you can replicate it, modify it, or develop a perfect counter.]
My breath hitched. That was more powerful than I had imagined. It wasn't just about making my own moves; it was about stealing my enemies'. I could become a walking encyclopedia of martial arts and magic, a perfect mimic with the ability to innovate.
'And the last one, Akira. The Chamber. My mother's life depends on it.'
[The **CHAMBER OF ASCENDANCE** is your personal training dimension,] Akira's voice explained, a hint of something that felt like pride in its tone. [Upon activation, it transports your consciousness and physical body into a pocket dimension of infinite space. The flow of time within the Chamber is drastically accelerated. The standard ratio is calibrated so that **one full year inside is equal to one single day on the outside.**]
A year. In one day.
The crushing weight on my chest lifted, replaced by a dizzying, manic surge of possibility. Three days on the outside was three years of training time. It was more than a chance. It was a guarantee.
[Within the Chamber, you have full control over the environment. You can adjust gravitational forces from zero-G to one thousand times standard gravity, allowing you to push your body to its absolute limits, perfectly synergizing with your [Saiyan Potential] skill.]
'Gravity training… just like in the anime.' My lips curled into a predatory grin.
[Furthermore, the Chamber is not merely an empty space. You can summon training constructs, from simple wooden dummies to fully autonomous ethereal opponents modeled after creatures you have encountered or data I possess. You can set their level, combat style, and aggression.]
Akira paused, as if for dramatic effect.
[This function allows the Chamber to serve as a private, infinitely customizable dungeon. You can battle these constructs to gain experience points and level up in a controlled, safe environment. Any damage sustained within the Chamber, up to and including death, is fully restored upon exiting. It is the ultimate tool for rapid growth.]
The puzzle pieces clicked into place. The path forward was no longer a desperate scramble in the dark. It was a brightly lit, blood-soaked road.
I would spend the first 'year' in the Chamber, pushing this frail body to its breaking point. I would allocate my stat points, level up, and use [Technique Weaver] to forge a fighting style from scratch. I would walk out of this room not as a helpless child, but as a miniature monster.
My mother's life, my revenge, my new future—it all started here. It all started now.
The blue screens glowed softly in the dark room, illuminating the fierce, golden fire in my eyes.
Akira's voice echoed in the quiet theater of my mind, calm and precise, yet the words it spoke held the weight of my entire world.
[The Chamber of Ascendance is ready for its first activation. The temporal ratio is set. All systems are nominal.]
[Would you like to enter now, Master?]