Ayaka had not been expecting this. When she and Aoi came back from the sleepover, she had not been expecting to see her mother humming a tune in the kitchen, wearing what looked like her dad's shirt with nothing else, and swaying slightly as she cooked.
The shirt, far too large for her mother's frame, slipped off one shoulder, and the sight of Anastasia's bare legs beneath it confirmed Ayaka's suspicions. She didn't need to be a genius to put two and two together.
"Ew, I didn't need that in my head first thing in the morning," she groaned dramatically, drawing her mother's attention.
"Kids, you're back!" Anastasia said with a huge smile.
'Arg,' Ayaka thought. It was weird seeing her mother smile this brightly. Not to say she didn't smile, just that she was normally reserved about it, her default expression a gentle, controlled calm that helped her in her company.
Now it was unnerving seeing her beam with all her teeth, a radiant, almost dizzying happiness that seemed to emanate from her entire being and light up the ordinarily mundane kitchen. It was the smile of someone completely and utterly satisfied.
"Are you feeling okay, Mum?" Aoi asked cautiously, her voice quiet. It seemed even she was unsure of how to proceed with this version of their mother. Their mum was a good mum, no doubt, and she always tried to make sure they were happy, but she herself rarely showed this much personal joy.
Now, she was smiling brighter than anything they had seen in a long time, the kind of untainted happiness Ayaka usually only saw on television.
"I'm feeling quite good, Aoi," Anastasia replied as she moved past the girl to grab something, giving her daughter a quick kiss on the hair. The motion was full of an energy that usually wasn't there so early in the day for their mother.
"Mum is very happy today," Ren added simply from where he was sitting at the dining table, oblivious to the deeper context but not the vibrant mood shift. He pointed his spoon at his mother, confirming the observation.
"Mum is just well rested today, my little boy," Anastasia cooed, her eyes twinkling with a shared secret that Ren was too young to grasp.
"Well rested indeed," Ayaka muttered slyly, giving her mother a coy, knowing smirk. 'Good job, Dad,' Ayaka thought to herself. She could already guess what had happened and had to give the old man credit if he could make Mum glow like this.
Anastasia, seeing the look of impish triumph on her eldest's face, grabbed the nearest weapon, the kitchen rag, and playfully smacked her with it, making Ayaka burst into laughter as she dodged. It seemed to be a few seconds before Aoi finally understood the implication behind her mother's glowing state and Ayaka's teasing, and she gasped, her face turning crimson as she sputtered.
"Get your minds out of there!" Anastasia huffed, attempting to look stern but failing completely as a new wave of giggles escaped her. She chased them upstairs to go and get ready for breakfast, knowing they hadn't eaten since arriving home.
"Where's Dad?" Aoi asked when she was heading up, seeking a safe, non-blushing topic of her parents doing it.
"Your father went out for an early morning run. He should be back soon," Anastasia said with a brilliant, satisfied smile that sent Aoi's blush spiking again.
Aoi nodded quickly and retreated to her room with Ayaka.
Oh, Anastasia just couldn't help herself; she continued her humming, swaying gently as she worked the stove, the memory of the night before lingering like a warm embrace.
Last night was wonderful, a reunion that felt both desperately needed and satisfying. It was even better than what she remembered from their past times together, a connection deeper and more primal than ever before, almost as if he'd returned with a renewed, ferocious energy.
After the first round, it just kept getting better, and at some point, she was even starting to wonder if he had unlimited stamina. They had kept going for a while before deciding to rest, well, mostly her, as she made sure he was satisfied at the very least. Things really were going well.
She swayed as she hummed louder. Oh, they were definitely going to be going at it more often, they just had to find a way to keep the kids away.
With Kenji.
Kenji took his time as he trained in his Empty ID., nothing much, just the normal basic training that even a normal person could do to gain. It might have seemed like a pointless thing to do for someone of his strength, especially after such massive system gains he had gotten recently, but that was where most people would be wrong.
For him, Training was never pointless. As a gamer, he just had to find the best way to increase his stats faster, it was all about how he maximized his unique advantages. Now, Thanks to his Nen ability, Stat Shift, he could move his physical stats into his mental ones as he trained.
While Stat Shift didn't last forever, when he shifted the stats, he could use his Gamer System to train and gain stats far more efficiently, after all its when youre weak that you gain the most in trainning, and now that he could ecentially become 'weak' for a while and train, well This was the ultimate cheat code for progression, making becoming stronger almost ridiculously easy for him.
He was currently using the weights he had gotten back when he was a mid class, for his stats that were not just at the high end of low class, this was a serious workout. He continued pushing himself until time passed.
After looking at the time, it had been nearly two hours, and while he would love to spend more time training, pushing the limits of his new efficiency, he would not miss family breakfast just for that.
After all, he was getting stronger not just to protect himself, but his family too. He needed to get to spend time with them without the fear of losing them. He had to keep that vision clear.
Never lose sight of why you do something, or you'll lose yourself in the process. He didn't want to become someone just chasing power and not have anything to enjoy with, to not have anyone to be by his side.
He paused and felt an ache of sadness hit him. His past life, he couldn't remember it, but he caught glimpses sometimes, and he knew he was extremely lonely, it caused him pain just remembering. He had no one there and had all but died alone. He didn't want that here.
He stepped out of his Empty ID and headed home. The transition from the empty world he used for training back to the warm, familiar reality was nice. While the ID was the same in everything, there was a slight warmth you won't understand until you've spent time in both sides.
Breakfast with his family was something he truly enjoyed, a soothing balm to his life. He took in the scene, the playful teases from his eldest as she wiggled her eyebrows at him and his wife, his second oldest's face turning a charming red whenever she looked at her mother, and then the littlest one, Ren, as he ate his food and talked animatedly, telling a lengthy, nonsensical tale to anyone who was listening at the moment.
He savored the moment, and his body relaxed completely. He missed this. Sure, to them, he wasn't gone at all, but to him, it had been four long months since he saw them, and he just couldn't help but cherish their presence.
Later, after breakfast, everyone went to do their own things, and Kenji relaxed in the living room, a TV show playing in the background. Or at least, that's what it must have looked like to anyone watching him. His real attention was fixed on his System screen, scrolling through the mountain of rewards and gains he had gotten.
The sheer list of benefits from his last venture scrolled before him. The acquisition of an entire mafia family, while messy, had been immensely profitable, providing him with a terrifying new asset and a huge leap in personal power.
EXP Gained: 2,500,000 EXP
EXP Gained: 5,000,000 EXP
STAT INCREASES
Strength: +15 (40 → 55.36)
Speed: +15 (36 → 51.44)
Endurance: +15 (55 → 70.81)
Intelligence: +10 (35 → 45.25)
Wisdom: +5 (54 → 59.9)
Charisma: +8 (32 → 40.035)
Luck: 95.0035
SKILL UPGRADES:
Sword Mastery (LV 12 → LV 16)
Physical Resistance (LV 9 → LV 13)
Pain Resistance (LV 8 → LV 12)
Adept Combat (LV 18 → LV 32)
Mana Control (LV 13 → LV 22) (Synergized with Nen control)
Observation (LV 9 → LV 20)
Spatial Awareness (LV 12 → LV 24)
Danger Sense (LV 9 → LV 21)
Meditation (LV 25 → LV 30)
NEW SKILL: Nen Proficiency (LV 10)
BONUS REWARD: "Heaven's Arena Prodigy"
For completing the 200-floor climb in record time, Kenji receives:
Title: Floor Master. Grants +10% to all stats while inside any structured combat arena or tournament setting.
A Random Box. Gacha Ticket(+3)
SKILL UPGRADES:
Blunt Weapon Mastery (LV 7 → LV 12)
Spear Mastery (LV 6 → LV 10)
Power Smash (LV 17 → LV 22)
Mana Punch (LV 15 → LV 20) - Evolves into Nen-Infused Strike.
Gravity Manipulation (LV 9 → LV 14)
Instant Dungeon Creation (LV 7 → LV 12)
Negotiation (LV 7 → LV 10) - Evolves into Intimidation (LV 12).
Material Analysis (LV 7 → LV 11)
NEW SKILL: Assassination Arts (LV 8) – Knowledge of pressure points, silent movement, and quick kills.
NEW SKILL: Warfare Tactics (LV 10) – Bonus to perception and planning in city environments.
PERKS UNLOCKED:
Mafia Boss's Dread: Your reputation precedes you. Weaker-willed enemies may flee or surrender at the start of combat. Greatly increases intimidation effectiveness.
Nen Conscript: The effects of your Contract Chain are now permanent, and you may have up to 3 active contracts simultaneously without locking your other Nen abilities. The mafia family head is your first conscript.
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LOOT & EQUIPMENT REWARDS
Weapons Cache: Dozens of high-quality firearms, knives, and body armor
Luxury Goods: Jewelry, watches, and illicit goods worth 200,000,000 Jenny.
Black Market Contacts: A ledger full of names and numbers.
-Brawler's Heart. A tattoo that, when activated with Nen, increases Strength and Endurance by 15% for 5 minutes. (Cooldown: 1 hour).
- Phasing Bolt Pendant. Using and storing Nen and helps the wearer phase through physical barriers to strike a target directly.
- Puppet Master's Thread. A spool of nearly invisible Nen thread. Can be used to subtly manipulate objects or, with great skill, limbs of the weak-willed. Very durable thread.
-Venom-Fang Dagger. A dagger that releases a paralytic neurotoxin upon piercing flesh.
-The Don's Authority (Suit): An impeccably tailored suit reinforced with Nen. Functions as light armor with high durability. Grants a passive Aura of Command, making subordinates more loyal and compliant.
-Family Treasury Key: Access to the family's main vault, containing 1,000,000,000 Jenny, rare gemstones, and a single Mysterious Nen Scroll (contents unknown).
-Mafia's Cane: A powerful defensive item that can absorb a single energy-based attack completely. It must then dissipate the energy over 24 hours before it can be used again.
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GRAND TOTAL REWARDS SUMMARY
Level: 140 (From 115)
Total Free Stat Points to Allocate: 469
Wealth: ~1.8 Billion Jenny + 500 Million Jenny (Heaven's Arena)
Major New Perks: Nen Conscript, Floor Master
Notable New Items: Brawler's Heart Tattoo, Phasing Bolt Pendant, The Don's Authority Suit, Nen-Absorbing Cane.
New Assets: mafia family under his Contract Chain.
Kenji chuckled. Hmm, the loot and rewards weren't all that impressive to him. He paused, then looked at the rewards again and let out a little chuckle. Had he really gotten to the point where he could just brush off this much improvement and loot?
Though it was odd that his stats now had decimals, he understood. These were the gains from Player Reward after all, as a lower-tier stat is not equal to a higher-tier stat, so they make up for it in small numbers, representing fractional, continuous growth.
The true highlight, however, was the 469 free stat points he had saved up. This was his ticket to the next phase. He took a deep breath. Guess it's time to finally break through. He'd finally enter the ultimate class with these.
He started to spend his points, systematically boosting each base attribute until, one by one, they all settled at a perfect 100. He spent precisely 280 free points to round everything up to the cap, and the moment the last one hit, a prominent, glowing Rank Up button appeared at the edge of his vision.
He was about to push it when he froze.
Something is wrong, he thought as he paused and looked at the screen. Everything was in order, Stats at 100, the button waiting, the conditions met. But something just felt off.
'I've already ranked up twice, so I don't know why I should be worried. I've gone through this already. Stats reach 100, a message pops up, and then I rank up. So I don't understan...'
He then froze again, staring at the empty space above the button. That was it. That was why he felt something was up.
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