Prelude: The Final Patch
My name was Sato—not that Satou, just a regular, overworked software engineer named Sato Kaito. I died the way most legends start: face-planted on a mechanical keyboard during a 72-hour bug-fixing marathon.
The last thing I remember was a line of code: Fatal Error: System Overload.
Then, there was the void. No goddess, no "Go save the world," just a flickering blue light and a text box that looked suspiciously like the Menu UI from the project I was debugging.
[Booting...]
[Hardware: Soul-Container detected.]
[Installing Utility Suite: COPY / SYNTHESIS / STORAGE]
[Warning: AI module corrupted. Proceeding in Manual Mode.]
'Manual mode? Wait, where's my tutorial? Where's the annoying fairy who tells me I'm the chosen one?' I thought, panicked.
I tried to scream, but I didn't have a throat. I was just a consciousness floating in a loading screen. I reached out—or imagined I did—and "clicked" on the Status Panel.
Name: Sato Kaito
Level: 1
HP: 10/10
MP: 10/10
Traits: [None]
'Ten? Ten HP?! A stiff breeze would delete my save file! And what do you mean "Traits: None"? I spent twenty years learning Java! That has to count for something!'
Suddenly, the void cracked. A blinding light poured in, smelling of pine needles and horse manure.
[World Data Synchronized: Shiga Kingdom.]
[Location: Outskirts of Seiryuu City.]
I felt gravity hit me like a physical truck. I slammed into the dirt, coughing up dust. I was wearing my coffee-stained "I Code, Therefore I Suffer" t-shirt and jeans.
I looked at my hands. They were shaking. I looked at the horizon and saw the massive walls of Seiryuu City in the distance.
'Okay. Okay, Kaito. Stay calm. You're in a fantasy world. You have a system. You have...' I tapped the air, and a cold, silent menu appeared. [COPY]. [SYNTHESIS]. [STORAGE].
'No AI. No voice in my head. Just me and a bunch of buttons. This is literally just a dev-tool interface. I'm not a Hero; I'm a glorified Debug Console.'
A rustle in the bushes caught my attention. A small, blue-furred rabbit hopped out. It had a tiny horn on its head. A Horned Rabbit.
'Target acquired. It's cute. It's fluffy. It probably wants to gash my throat open. If I can just... touch it...'
I crawled forward on my stomach, sweating. 'This is it. My legendary journey begins with me stalking a bunny in a dirty t-shirt. I hope nobody is recording this.'
I lunged. My hand brushed against its fur just as it tried to leap away.
[COPY] Initialized.
Target: Horned Rabbit.
Select Trait: [Leg Strength - Low] / [Enhanced Hearing] / [Quick Flight].
'Gimme those legs! I need to be able to run away from literally everything!'
[COPY] Successful. [Leg Strength - Low] moved to STORAGE.
I sat back on my heels, breathing hard. The rabbit scrambled away, looking offended. I opened my SYNTHESIS menu and dragged the "Leg Strength" icon onto my Status Panel.
My calves suddenly felt like they were made of pressurized springs.
'Oh... oh, I see how this works. I don't need to train. I don't need to "believe in the heart of the cards." I just need to be the ultimate creep. Everyone in this world has something I want, and I'm going to poke them until I'm a god.'
I stood up, adjusted my glasses, and looked toward the city.
'Watch out, Shiga Kingdom. The most socially awkward predator in history has just logged in