Chapter 3: The Mysterious Lottery's Prize
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Would you like to use Mysterious Lottery?
[Warning: the ability will enter 100 hours cooldown period after being used!]
Yes ←
No
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The notification popped up in Haru's visual field right after he thought about using his Mysterious Lottery ability.
Haru carefully weighed his options a little before choosing the "Yes" option. Then, another notification popped up in his field of vision.
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You used Mysterious Lottery!
You obtained A Random Prize!
A Random Prize got stored in the Item Box!
Mysterious Lottery entered a cooldown period: 100 hours until the cooldown ends!
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'I wonder what I get from it,' Haru wondered and then turned his attention to his Item Box.
It was when Haru realized that he didn't know how to access the Item Box. Thankfully, the system sent the information into his brain. However, the information transfer was an unpleasant experience.
'Gugh! Damn!'
Haru gritted his teeth as he endured a painful headache. After the headache subsided, Haru closed his eyes and accessed his Item Box. At first, vast darkness filled his field of vision, but ever-shifting colors soon replaced the pitch darkness. He understood that he'd successfully accessed the interior of his Item Box.
Haru turned his attention to the only item floating in the vast interior of his Item Box and discovered that it was a glass vial, which contained unknown glowing white liquid. He activated his Appraisal ability to check out the item's detail. Right after that, new information appeared in his mind. Another unpleasant sensation assaulted his mind, but he endured it without problems; it seemed like he had adapted to the inconvenience of a sudden rush of information.
'Large-sized Liquid EXP, huh? It grants one hundred points of EXP. How many level-ups can I get with one hundred units?'
Haru felt curious and then summoned the vial of liquified EXP into the real world. The item disappeared from the Item Box, and he immediately felt that something got dropped on his laps. When he opened his eyes, he found the vial of "Liquid EXP (L)" on his lap. He grabbed the flask with one hand and then raised it in front of his eyes.
'I hope that it doesn't have a bad taste,' Haru prayed in his head before uncorking the vial stopper.
Haru smelled the liquid and found that the smell reminded him of regular milk. He kept his wary gaze on the glowing white liquid for some time before resolving himself, after which he drank the content of the vial in one gulp.
"Huh? It tastes like normal milk," Haru muttered under his breath, pleasantly surprised by the taste. He felt stupid for feeling wary.
Then, several notifications popped up in Haru's visual field.
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Level Up! You're now Level 2! You obtained 5 Stat Points!
Level Up! You're now Level 3! You obtained 5 Stat Points!
Level Up! You're now Level 4! You obtained 5 Stat Points!
Level Up! You're now Level 5! You obtained 5 Stat Points!
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You unlocked A Job's Ability!
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Haru became dumbfounded by the rapid level-ups and the notice about the new ability. He snapped out of his dumbfounded state and accessed his Status Board in a hurry.
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[Status Board]
Haruka Kasugano — Human — Male — 16 years old (February 5th)
Job: Protagonist — Level: 5/10 — EXP: 50/0
Status Effect: Not Available
Stats — STR: 0.7 — VIT: 0.8 — DEX: 0.9 — INT: 1.2 — MAG: (Locked)
Stats Points: 25
Status Effect: Not Available
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Haru's attention lingered on his Level and EXP attributes; he felt curious about the increase of EXP per level-up and then did quick math to find the answer. After doing math for some time, Haru found that the required EXP at Level 2 were 20 points, 30 points at Level 3, and it kept increasing by ten with each level-up. At Level 5, he needed 50 points of EXP.
It fits!
Haru predicted that he would need 60 EXP at Level 6, 70 EXP at Level 7, and so on.
Then, Haru dropped the matter concerning his Level and EXP and then turned his attention on the next thing.
'Next, my new ability.'
Haru lowered his visual field to see his Job's Abilities.
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Job's Abilities: Plot Armor [NEW!]
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'Plot Armor, huh?'
Haru involuntarily made a wry smile when he saw the name of his new ability. He felt like the god who killed him and gave him this system was making fun of him.
After regaining his composure, Haru appraised his new ability.
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[Plot Armor]
Protagonists are creatures who have an extraordinary destiny; they always have something called Plot Armor. This ability affects the reality to sharply increase the good luck, survival chance in a life-and-death situation, and the probability of the fated encounters.
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After appraising his new ability, Haru's impression of Plot Armor drastically changed. Although it had such a stupid sounding name, it actually was a powerful ability.
'No, it is already at the realm of overpowered, is it not?' Haru corrected himself; he was in a good mood from obtaining such an OP ability.
'Well... whatever. It is a good skill to have, in spite of its stupid name. Who doesn't want good luck? I certainly need it since I am in a pinch now. Without luck at my side, I can't live together with Sora and Suzuka because of many things to consider! Mostly, it is money! Of course, it is always money! Whether it is my previous world or this new world, you need money to live! Goddamnit!'
Haru's mood instantly soured when he remembered his new family's situation.
Haru didn't only assimilate Haruka Kasugano's memory; he had also absorbed Haruka's experiences and feelings. Due to that, Haru also experienced his predecessor's grief and sadness because of Mr. and Ms. Kasugano's death. In fact, their funeral happened only a few days ago. The memory was still fresh in Haru's mind.
Haru was an orphan in his past life. He lived alone and had no family to support him. The staff of the orphanages only fulfilled the most minimum of their responsibility and obligation; they cared more about their wages. It made Haru grow up into an extremely independent boy.
Now, Haru had new memories where he experienced the warmth and happiness of being in a family, but he was unable to experience it by himself. It was unfair!
In addition, Haru inherited Haruka's feelings for his sisters; it's not a familial nor platonic feeling but a romantic feeling!
It complicated things!
"Haaah~" Haru sighed in a mix of frustration and resignation, "Nothing will change even if I complain. What's important is how I should tackle the problem in front of me."
Haru really had it hard. Right after starting his new life, he had to deal with such troublesome matters.
"Let's use my free time to find a way to support my family. So, the problem is money. We only have our inheritance and money from insurance. However, it won't be enough. I need money to pay our living expenses and my sisters' tuition fee."
Haru recalled that the monthly rent of his family apartment was ¥450,000, heat, water, cable, Wi-Fi, gas, and electric bills included. However, it might go up.
Then, there was Suzuka's school tuition fee. Haru discovered that she attended a prestigious all-girls school called Hakuo Academy, which was the same school that Suzuka Nagami attended in Imo-Imo.
In fact, Sora had attended this school before her parents' death, but she dropped out of school. Sora was supposedly in 10th grade, while Suzuka was still in 9th grade. As expected of a prestigious academy, its tuition fee was expensive.
Meanwhile, Haru once attended a public high school nearby, but he also dropped out of school now.
"Sora and I have dropped out of our schools, and it helped us ease our financial burden. However, although it's only Suzuka's tuition fee, it's still expensive."
Haru felt that it was such a shame that Sora had dropped out; he preferred she just transferred to a different school.
"Suzuka also wanted to transfer to a cheaper institution, but after I strongly opposed to her idea, we fought a bit before she agreed to continue attending Hakuo Academy."
Haru had to agree with his predecessor that it was such a shame if Suzuka transferred to another junior high school. After all, Suzuka was in her last year, and she would face the national exam soon; the stress from moving into a new environment could affect the results of her National Exam.
"Although Sora and I dropped out of school, I still need to find a source of income to support our lives, huh? What kind of job I can do, I wonder," Haru mused loudly while looking around his room.
Suddenly, Haru stopped his at his study table; on there was his laptop. He got an idea when he recalled his hobby and interest in his past life.
"Perhaps, I can become a Novelist?" Haru contemplated carefully.
Haru was aware that famous light novel writers were quite wealthy from the royalty of their works. If Haru could write a good story that attracted many loyal readers and fans, he could get enough money to support his family.
"But, first, I need to survey the ACG industry of this world. After all, this world is an alternate version of my previous world. Maybe, I will discover something interesting," Haru mused as he walked to his desk.
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
I_Am_Not_Siscon
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