Riku stood in the clearing, breathing heavily, the moonlight casting long shadows across the shattered trees and scorched earth. His body was a mess—bloodied, bruised, bones bent in the wrong direction, but standing nonetheless. Then—
Ding![Regeneration has leveled up: Level 4 → Level 7]
[New Description: Heals broken bones and surface wounds instantly. Damaged internal organs heal slowly. Severed limbs require days to regenerate. Cannot recover from decapitation or a destroyed heart.]
He blinked, tilting his head, confused. "What? I thought the system shut down." His eyes narrowed, suspicion giving way to hope. "I guess only the draw and gacha features are locked out... but that means the skills still function… and regeneration can level up. Thank fucking god."
He raised his hand and tried to cloak it in cursed energy—only for a spark and fizz to flicker out. His fingers trembled.
"Shit… I'm out of cursed energy." He gritted his teeth. "I burned through all of it during the fight. Kaioken ×2 is no joke. The strain on my body… my stamina's gone and everything hurts like I've been chewed up and spat out by a meat grinder."
And yet, despite everything—he smirked. He had lived. Barely, but he had.He began the slow walk back home, every step feeling like fire crawling through his nerves, muttering to himself in a half-delirious daze.
"Note to self... never use Kaioken x2 without knowing what you're doing first. What am I? Goku with brain damage?" He limped, rubbing his shoulder.
"Freaking curse had everything. Speed, power, fangs, creepy-ass grin... And it just knew how to fight. Shadow Stitching? Multi-layer Perception? What am I—fighting a cursed version of Batman on crack?" He laughed weakly, then winced as his ribs protested.
"Still... I kept up. Barely. But I did. And I'm improving, faster than I ever thought possible. That Accelerated Development skill is no joke. I felt it. Mid-fight. My body was learning from every blow, every dodge. Like instinct evolving in real-time."
He paused outside his apartment building, looking up at the window. The usual way through the door felt too far, too loud, too civilian.
"Alright... ninja time." He scaled the fire escape, slipped through his window with a thud, and collapsed face-first onto his bed, letting out a muffled groan into the pillow.
He rolled over and stared at the ceiling, when suddenly—
"Shit—I almost forgot!" He snapped upright, reaching into thin air.
"Inventory."
A soft glow appeared, and he retrieved a small green bean.
"One of the best damn things I've ever drawn." He popped it into his mouth and chewed. Almost instantly, the burning ache in his muscles began to fade. His vision cleared. His bones no longer felt like glass. He stood up, flexing his limbs.
"Whew. Alright. That's way better." He stretched, rolling his shoulders." I should have… what? Three of these left? Gotta use 'em wisely."
But then, something stirred in him. That itch again. The restlessness that never left him after a good fight.
He dropped into push-up position, cursed energy flickering weakly around his body, armament haki covering his limbs like ink-black armor. His face tightened in focus.
"Let's go."
15,000 push-ups.
15,000 sit-ups.
25,000 jumping jacks.
Sweat dripped from his brow. His chest heaved with every rep. But his eyes burned with focus.
'Accelerated Development is so fucking overpowered. I feel ten times stronger just from that fight alone. But… I can feel it. I'm being bottlenecked. My progress is slowing unless I keep challenging myself. That means stronger opponents. Curses that can push me past my limits... again and again.'
He sat cross-legged, breath steadying. For a moment, it was quiet. Peaceful.
But then his eyes shifted to the corner of his desk… where a small piece of paper sat.
He walked over to it slowly, picked it up, and stared at the numbers scribbled there. The three girls from earlier… the pink-haired one especially came to mind.
'I did just get a new phone.' He looked at it, still nearly unused.
'I mean… everyone deserves a break from all this cursed energy, fighting, monsters, trauma, near-death experiences… right?' A small smile crept on his face. 'Friends. Yeah. This could be good. Normal.'
He added their numbers one by one, fingers hovering over the screen as he opened the messaging app.
'What now? What do I say?' His thumb hovered. 'Do I just say "Hey, it's me"? That sounds like a scam text. Or desperate. Maybe "Yo"? Too casual. Damn it, I never learned how to people.'
He started typing:
"Hey, it's the guy you met two days ago in town."
Then deleted it.
Typed again:
"Hi, sorry if this is random, but we met two days ago on the street—" Delete.
He sat down on the bed, took a deep breath, clenched his jaw, and finally just typed:
"Hey. It's the guy you met on the street two days ago." Send.
He tossed the phone down and exhaled. "Okay. Step one done. Step two: try not to sound like a stalker."
After a long, relaxing bath, he changed into his nightwear and collapsed onto the bed again, hair still damp, body finally at ease.
He reached for the phone, and to his surprise—4 new messages.
His eyes widened as he unlocked the screen.
Oh hello!
Sorry for just giving you our numbers without any explanation.
My name is Akari Minazuki!
May I know your name? :)
Riku stared at the messages, blinking.
"…What do I do now?" He whispered aloud.
He thought for a moment, then started typing:
"My name is Riku Yamadera. It's alright—I was just confused about what happened, but no harm done." He hovered, then nodded. Send.
He put the phone to the side, laid back, and stared at the ceiling again.
"Let's figure that out tomorrow."
The soft glow of the phone dimmed, and Riku slowly closed his eyes, letting the weight of battle, tension, and the faint warmth of human connection lull him into sleep.
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Hey guys yes I know this is super late and I apologize. I was not sure on what to do and then I remember someone saying that his interactions are limited and so I thought I might add a little romance aspect but keep in mind I have no experience writing romance or being in one but I'll try my best for you guys.
Quick question do you guys listen to these books or actually read them. Cause sometimes I like to just listen to them while doing something else.