Before I could even participate in the conversation, a small halo materialized above my head. It was bright, annoyingly so as it seemed to linger and overstay its welcome a bit too much. Looking at my bars, the tooltip I saw earlier flashed faintly in time with the halo. So it was related then?
Seeing as I couldn't just hover my mouse over the damn thing and read the tooltip, I went for the next best thing, "Guidance? What's happening to me?"
*Y-you leveled up?* she responded confusedly. "That's the level-up status."
I raised an eyebrow. Level up, huh...
[Moriya: Level 2]
[HP: 105/105]
[MP: 105/105]
[2 STAT POINTS AVAILABLE FOR ALLOCATION]
True to her word, what was once a humble [Level 1] sitting beside my bars has somehow turned into a [Level 2]. My bars actually moved by about five as my [HP] and [MP] now both registered at [105/105]. And I also recovered health when I leveled up? Well, that was fairly convenient to my previous problem... Wait...
"Why do you sound surprised?"
The dev audibly choked on something as she coughed, *W-well... T-that monster... wasn't supposed to die to anything...* Guidance coughed a bit more before her tone stabilized again, *I didn't really code in any [EXP] values on it.*
Huh... "So it's a fluke?"
Shrugging at her explanation as I studied the halo floating above my head. It reinforced the usual stereotype of a haloed angel. In fact, it was honestly reminiscent of an old MMO that I used to play where an angel appeared on top of the player character when they leveled up. I guess this was a reference?
*Uhh... Yes?*
I sighed as I returned my gaze back to the city below, "I see..."
I've been noticing things for a while now. And while the beauty of the world and the novelty of the situation almost made me forget about my earlier observations, this fight and the subsequent result of it all just reinforced a theory of mine that I had all the way back in the character creation area. This whole game reeked of being something that was rushed or incomplete. With some areas outright not working, poor game design choice, and just Guidance's overall insecurities and constant apologizing, there was a nagging feeling inside me that this game was a broken mess.
But was it really? It wasn't like this game was built to operate as an isekai world. Anyone with half a brain could probably tell that this thing was made with a mouse and keyboard in mind, not to be manually manipulated with their own hands or mind. I couldn't really fault Guidance for some of the more egregious stuff, right? Maybe they were just minor errors that she missed due to being a solo dev.
With a smile, I stared at the massive floating orb of land in front of me. This truly was a new world. With a gaming system I could possibly exploit, there was no way that I'd die or fail at anything if I played things correctly. And with Guidance with me, I'd be unstoppable against whatever big bad she actually designed for her game! It's so damn perfect!
Hello, Brave New World! I'm gonna have fun exploring and finishing your quest lines!
But first...
"Say, how do I level up my stuff?"
⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛
This was so exciting! The act of leveling up was such a vague notion in real life that just saying the term unironically was making a part of me cringe and wither away out of shame. But this wasn't something vague anymore. I actually had a HUD in my vision with actual bars and numbers everywhere I looked. It wasn't just on a computer or phone screen anymore...
This was real life!
I sat down at the cliff overlooking this [Kotosa] city as I waited for a response. The dev hasn't responded to my question since I defeated that tentacle thing earlier. I could only suppose that she went for a short bathroom break or something. God knows that her tone left nothing to the imagination in terms of how she was feeling.
"How long is she gonna be gone though..."
It's been a few minutes, and with her leaving me alone without warning, I was left to my own devices as I kept myself busy just admiring the world that she built with her own two hands. I mean, not that I could really attest to the beauty of our own world when compared to a literal fantasy setting, but the detail even from afar was just... superb. Whatever joint Guidance was smoking when she designed this world was probably top-notch if she somehow managed to make a city with another city floating above it on a miniature moon. Granted, it probably wasn't that hard to think up of especially if you're creatively inclined, but having the necessary skill to properly bring one's vision to life? Now that was a rare talent for someone to have.
*O-okay... Sorry about that...*
The knocks and sounds of something hastily hitting a desk marked the return of my unwilling navigator as she seemed to reorient herself back in wherever it was she lived in back in the old world. The clinking of what I could only describe as silverware hitting a plate was something I didn't expect to hear, however.
"You're eating, aren't you?"
The sound of her gulping water was heard for a brief second before she responded, *I-I was hungry. I haven't had breakfast yet, so...*
I visibly recoiled at her explanation. I just knew that I was probably the cause of that even happening. I'll never fault anyone that would stop working in favor of taking an early break to eat. Hell, I've done it before numerous times. Sometimes even in front of the microscope, no less.
When you're hungry, you eat. It was the few things that my family constantly talked about during familial gatherings.
"So you mean to tell me that you haven't eaten after all this time?" I asked incredulously, deftly hiding my shame from causing the scenario in the first place.
Your gift is the motivation for my creation. Give me more motivation!
Creation is hard, cheer me up!
I heard her audibly swallow before she replied, *I-I didn't have the time... At best, I managed to heat some water for noodles again...*
Oof... That sounded absolutely miserable, "I see. I'll let you eat before I ask you some stuff again. So eat up, yeah?"
*T-thanks...*
I shook my head in commiseration as I returned to my current pastime of staring at the marvel of impossible physics in front of me. The sound of nature was at least soothing to my ears, barring the occasional slurping noises that Guidance made into my ear. I could only imagine the taste of cheap-ass noodles sliding down her throat right now. Not that I'm dissing instant noodles, but there was a certain trick to enjoying them that made it all the more tolerable to eat...
Okay, I'm lying. I actually like instant noodles as much as the next broke-ass guy off of college. It was a reminder of how mortal we are in terms of being broke and miserable as college students. But I wasn't lying in that there were ways to enjoy instant noodles beyond savoring their ridiculously salty goodness.
But enough about reminiscing about the old times. I'm kind of itching to see what I have to work with. "Say. Think you can at least tell me how to open up my stats?"
A mighty slurp preceded Guidance's answer as I heard her place her theoretical bowl down her desk, *I- err... honestly don't know how you'd do it without a keyboard, Moriya.*
I scoffed, "Figures. Still, can't you at least give me some ideas?"
Another round of slurping echoed from the starry void as Guidance clearly took her hunger seriously, *I've told you about 'alt-s,' right?*
"Yes. And?"
*I-I don't know... Can you try to imagine it on some kind of... mental keyboard?*
Huh... A mental keyboard... It wasn't the worst control scheme to ever imagine, but it was infinitely better than nothing. "I'll try it out then."
Closing my eyes, I tried picturing a one-to-one image of my own worn keyboard back home. Using my fearsome intellect and ability to project images into my brain, I now saw myself looking at my old desk and pressing 'alt-s' on my keyboard. For added measure, I imagined a stats window popping up on my screen; my stats and skills all being shown to my face as I smirked to myself. Heh.. Maybe it might just work in some kind of roundabout way.
Opening my eyes, my smirk fell instantly at the same time I realized that I had already done this exact same thing just over an hour ago. And same as last time, nothing appeared in my vision beyond my HUD and bars. The bright halo above my head was still there, and Guidance's enjoyment of her breakfast was the only thing I heard amid the silent ambiance of the forest behind me.
For some reason, I couldn't even bring myself to get mad. I didn't really know what I expected.
*D-did it work?*
"Do you think?" I sarcastically stared at the void above, hoping that I somehow manage to deliver my annoyance back to the woman that was sitting behind a desktop. "No, Guidance. It didn't."
*Damn... I thought that would work...*
I raised an eyebrow at that. She actually sounded pissed with that small whisper. It was honestly kind of endearing. Still, I was far from even opening this mythical stats screen, let alone adding some points to some of my desired specs. I couldn't even begin to theorize on what I should try and build into since I have no idea what each stat even did in relation to my abilities.
"Got any more ideas?"
Returning to my old strat of trying out random gestures in hopes of activating something in this system, I just sat patiently as I waited for Guidance to either finish eating or to give me another idea to try. Not that I was expecting her to, really. It wasn't her that was stuck in this place.
A small part of me was jealous when I heard Guidance give her breakfast one last swig of slurping before a mighty thud echoed from the void. That was probably her bowl making an impact on her desk. *Let's see... Have you tried just... saying it out loud?*
I raised an eyebrow, "Like what? Just yell out 'Stats Screen' and it'll just show up?"
I could already hear her recoiling from my tone as she responded, *I-I err... just try it...*
I chuckled, "Sure." I mean, what else have I got to lose in trying?
I didn't even know why I was standing up as I found myself staring at the floating rock in the distance. The winds were gently blowing against my face, and my weapons were magically attached to my back as if I had holsters for them.
Weird, I know.
Still, "I can't believe I'm doing this..."
Casually yelling out one-liners was fine by me. A bit cringe, but it's fine for my own tastes. Shouting out attack moves and other gamey stuff, however? That was where I unfortunately drew the line. It was like shouting out gibberish in Japanese when it probably just made you look like a fool while doing so.
Oh god... "Okay... Stats Screen!"
...
...
Nothing's happening. Please let something happen for my own shame to be justified.
In the distance of the void, I heard giggles from one Guidance that clearly looked like she was enjoying my misery. "L-Laugh it up back there, Guidance!"
*I-I'm sorry!* the woman apologized in between chuckles. *it's just... HAHA- I mean, maybe it's not what it's called?*
I felt my eye twitch at the indignation she was putting me through, "Well?! What is it called then?!"
*I- HAHAHA!*
For heaven's sake... "Hey! It's not like my life's on the line if I can't get stronger, right?!"
Guidance audibly struggled to hold in her enjoyment of my misery, *I-I can't help it! I'm sorry!*
"Oh my god..."
And once again, I'm debating taking back everything I just said about Guidance's beautiful game.
⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛
Your gift is the motivation for my creation. Give me more motivation!
Creation is hard, cheer me up!
Paragraph comment
Paragraph comment feature is now on the Web! Move mouse over any paragraph and click the icon to add your comment.
Also, you can always turn it off/on in Settings.
GOT IT