AN: As always thanks for the power stones DragonConquer1 and SparkleEyeMole! and thank you to both of you as well GalacticBaseballer and AshlesSmiley!
PS: I also have updated the AUX chapter for the characters! I update the Express crew list and other characters adding those who are appeared in Volume 2.
Alright see you next Wednesday!
Enjoy~ and do share your comments I love reading those~
----<< START >> ----
Dragon's Valley, DesuMachi World.
Hachiman stared in deadpan at the translucent screen floating before him, while Mei gently stopped Sora from poking it. They waited for Akon Kagura to explain this so‑called reward.
"I came up with this 'cheat' back in a parallel Japan," Akon said, blowing across her cup of hot chocolate before taking a sip. "I was reading some web novels, and then it hit me, let's make the same system and give it to someone so they can live out that classic 'ORE TUEEE' moment."
Hachiman's cheek twitched as Mei gave a soft, knowing smile. Though raised as a refined young lady, she wasn't entirely ignorant of such things. Back in her academy days, she'd often overhear her male classmates talk about overpowered protagonists and self‑insert adventures.
After joining the Astral Express, she had grown used to the anime, manga, light novels, and games that Hachiman, Hajime, and Noah often enjoyed and occasionally dragged her and the rest of the crew into.
Akon Kagura puffed her chest proudly, like a child eager to show off a drawing. "Since this world follows the concepts of levels and skills, isn't that just perfect?!" Her eyes twinkled in excitement. "We've got demons and demon lords, gods and heroes! Isn't this the perfect stage for it all?!"
Sora nodded sagely, pretending to understand. In truth, her imagination was already running wild. 'Will I be able to control different elements like Lumi-nee? Or maybe create black holes like Hajime-nii? Or shoot arrows of love like Ellie-nee? Oh! Or even call down meteors like Hachi-nii! That would be so cool!' she thought, her eyes glowing with childish wonder.
"Although this system might be a bit redundant for the three of you, since you're already stronger than most beings in this world, it'll at least help hide your real status." Akon Kagura exhaled, calming herself down before taking another sip of her drink.
Without a word, Mei reached for a tissue and gently wiped a smudge of chocolate from Akon's lips. The dragon god blinked in surprise, then giggled softly, looking more like a mischievous child than a deity.
Hachiman blinked, caught off guard by the oddly wholesome sight. Before he realized it, his expression softened. "You're saying this system can hide our status?" he asked, voice calm but curious.
"Yes," she replied, swinging her legs with playful energy. "This system will have two panels, one for your public status and one for your real one. I designed it so others will underestimate the user, never realizing that the strongest one is right in front of them."
A mischievous grin spread across her face. "Just imagine it! The bullied kid, the outcast, suddenly revealing their true power, everyone's jaws dropping, ahhh, it's just so cool!" She kicked her feet excitedly, the twinkle in eyes returned, like a child watching her favorite character do a comeback.
Hachiman let out a groan, dragging a hand down his face. 'Why does this feel painfully familiar… A bullied kid, ignored and mocked, who hides another side, the one who ends up saving everyone, yet no one ever knows.' His lips twitched faintly. 'Yeah… story of my life.'
"Hmm…" Sora tilted her head, tapping her chin. "Strange… I feel like I've heard that kind of story before."
"Hikigaya-kun," Mei's calm voice pulled Hachiman back from his thoughts.
"Yeah?" he answered, straightening a little.
"I think this reward might actually solve our problem with the appraisal abilities of the locals," she said thoughtfully. "If it can create a fake or double status, we can control what others see and keep our real information hidden."
Hachiman blinked, then slowly nodded. "You're right… that's actually perfect." He leaned back, exhaling through his nose. "Guess this reward is what we needed most."
"Oh? So you like it then?" Akon Kagura perked up at the hint of approval in his voice.
"Yes," Hachiman replied evenly. "The ability to mask our true stats from public view is exactly what we need right now."
"Good! Good!" Akon clapped her hands, smiling wide. "Then what are you waiting for? Go on—accept it already!"
Mei and Hachiman exchanged a brief glance, silent understanding passing between them. Just as they were about to act, Sora, who had been silently humming to herself, trying not to interrupt, suddenly reached out and tapped the screen in front of her.
"Sora?!" "Sora-chan?!"
Both teens turned toward the humming girl, who only smiled sweetly at their startled faces.
"Teehee~," Sora winked and stuck out her tongue, placing one hand behind her head in mock apology. "You two were taking too long, so I pressed it first!"
Mei sighed, shoulders dropping. "Honestly… this child."
Hachiman just rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Of course it'd be her who starts it."
Still, there was no use arguing now. Both teens exchanged a resigned look, then turned back toward the screens floating before them.
"Let's just get it over with," Hachiman muttered.
"Yeah," she agreed, pressing he finger against the glowing prompt.
Together, they accepted the system.
[YOU HAVE CHOSEN TO ACCEPT]
[NOTICE]
[GAMER SYSTEM INITIALIZING]
[INSTALLING: 0%…. 15%…. 45%…. 78%…. 96%…. 100%]
[SYSTEM INSTALLATION COMPLETE]
[REBOOTING….. COMPLETE]
[GAMER SYSTEM V11.5 INITIALIZATION COMPLETE]
[CONGRATUALATIONS ON BECOMING A GAMER]
[MAY YOUR JOURNEY BE GLORIOUS.]
[NEW INTERFACE UNLOCKED]
— [STATUS MENU]
— [QUEST LOG]
— [SKILLS TAB]
— [INVENTORY]
'It really does look like a game interface,' Hachiman thought, watching the panels appear before his eyes. When he glanced at Akon Kagura, calmly sipping her hot chocolate, he spotted words floating above her head.
[AKON KAGURA – LV. ???]
[TITLE: DRAGON GOD]
He raised an eyebrow, then set his gaze to a nearby lizardkin.
[LIZARDKIN – LV. 50]
[TITLE: LIZARDKIN SOLDIER]
'Strange… I can see his level but not Akon Kagura's…' he mused, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. Turning toward the two girls beside him, new lines of text appeared.
[SORA HIKIGAYA–RAIDEN – LV. 99]
[TITLE: NAMELESS OF THE ASTRAL EXPRESS]
[MEI RAIDEN – LV. ???]
[TITLE: HERRSCHER OF THUNDER, NAMELESS OF THE ASTRAL EXPRESS, HERRSCHER OF DINNER, QUEEN OF THUNDER…]
Hachiman blinked. "That's… a lot of titles," he muttered. 'Like Akon Kagura… Raiden's level is also not showing and yet Sora's is visible? Is this some kind of bug?'
"Ehh? Is this broken, Akon-chan?" Sora called out, peering at the screen with a puzzled frown. Akon Kagura looked up from her cup, one brow raised. "Why are the levels of Hachi-nii, Mei-nee, and yours just a bunch of question marks?"
"Huh? So it's also showing like that for you, Sora-chan?" Mei asked curiously, glancing at her own panel.
"Yes." Sora pouted, puffing her cheeks. "Aside from your names and titles, I can't see your levels at all."
'So it's not just me…' Hachiman's eyes widened slightly at that realization.
Akon chuckled, setting her cup down with a soft clink. "Ah, no worries. I can also only see the same question marks for the levels of you, Hero and Maiden of Thunder." She smiled faintly. "It simply means that even with the power of this world, it can't properly access or identify your exact strength."
"I see," Hachiman murmured, narrowing his eyes as the idea clicked. "This system you made.. Perhaps actually connected to the world's core system. It's like a computer accessing a central server, pulling the existing data within it..... Which means once we leave this world, the system won't function anymore."
"Ahh… yeah, you're right about that," Akon admitted with a sheepish laugh, rubbing her cheek. "I linked the system to the world's core so it could analyze, grant skills, measure levels, issue quests, and handle all those game-like features as long as the user is within this world."
"Hmm? So this system is like Noah-nii's cape?" Sora tilted her head curiously.
"It's similar," Hachiman replied, "but ours is more like a smartphone or computer. We can only access what's available, we can't add or edit anything ourselves. Noah's Crowned Clown, on the other hand, has administrator privileges. He can completely rewrite the system, whether to add, remove, or change anything he wants."
Sora blinked in awe. "Oh… so what we have is the player account, and Noah-nii has the GM account?"
A small grin tugged at Hachiman's lips. "That's one way to put it… and yeah, it's mostly correct."
"Wait—hold on!" Akon Kagura nearly dropped her cup, eyes wide. "Did you just say.. whoever this Noah is... has Creator-level privileges?!"
The trio blinked at her sudden outburst.
"Ah… yes," Mei said softly, setting her cup down. "Our Captain and Leader, Noah, can access the world's core system and perform actions that only the gods of that world are usually allowed to."
"Wha—WHAT?! JUST HOW IS THAT POSSIBLE??!!" Akon Kagura shot up, almost falling from her chair. "JUST WHO IS THAT?! IS HE SOME KIND OF GOD OR SOMETHING?!"
"No, Noah is human like us," Hachiman said with his usual dry tone, giving a small shrug. "Just… a bit special. The kind of person who could mess in any world if he ever felt like it, but thankfully doesn't."
'...and maybe someone who's closer to a god than he lets anyone realize,' he added in his mind, the corner of his mouth twitching in a knowing smirk.
Akon Kagura just sat there, eyes wide, her cup trembling slightly in her hands. Mei, Sora, and even the nearby lizardkin peeked at her, waiting for any sign of life.
"Akon-chan? Hellooo? Are you still there?" Sora leaned forward and waved a hand in front of the dragon god's face.
No response.
Mei glanced at Hachiman, who picked up his now-cold coffee and took a sip like this was nothing new. She sighed softly. "Aren't you too used to this kind of situation?"
"I long ago realized that anything is possible in the universe," He shrugged again. "I mean look at us, we travel across the universe in a cosmic train."
Mei blinked, then chuckled under her breath. 'I guess… this really is just a norm for us now.'
'Have confidence in that,' the other Mei's voice called in her mind, a faint trace of amusement in her tone. 'Because even for a Herrscher like me, I'm starting to think the same.'
Sighing with a small smile, Mei rose from her seat and walked to the kitchen, filling the kettle with practiced ease. As the water began to boil, she glanced over her shoulder at Akon, still frozen in disbelief.
'Hmm… I suppose this is the price of living as beings who've long passed what the world calls normal,' she chuckled in her mind, pouring hot water into mugs. 'And strangely enough… I don't hate it.'
—----
While Akon Kagura's mind was still buffering, Hachiman decided to make use of the quiet moment to study his new system. His field of vision now displayed additional layers of information, like some VR game overlay. In the upper right corner, a mini‑map was displayed. At the center was him, with two green dots beside him and two faint blue ones ahead. At the bottom, three bars marked HP, MP, and Stamina, each with different colors to differentiate each. The left side was mostly blank, while the right was lined with several icons waiting to be tapped.
He took a sip from his cup, set it down, then using only his thoughts, he controlled the system and selected the first icon. A holographic window appeared before him, displaying his name, title, level, job, status, and a few lines that felt suspiciously like a game's character sheet.
[NAME: Hachiman Hikigaya]
[LVL: ???]
[EXP: 0%]
[TITLE: Nameless of the Astral Express, Joker, Messiah, Unsung Hero, Shadow Monarch, Child of Remembrance]
[RACE: HUMAN(?)]
[JOB: Trailblazer]
[HIT POINTS: Depends. Emotional or physical?]
[MAGIC POINTS: Fueled by sarcasm]
[STAMINA: Runs on caffeine MAX brand]
[STR: Can lift a bag full of regrets.]
[VIT: Survived multiple social interactions. Miracle.]
[DEX: Adaptive. Especially when excuses are required.]
[AGI: Fast enough to leave the group chat before it gets awkward.]
[INT: Really high. Unfortunately used exclusively for overthinking.]
[MND: Unbreakable, but constantly exhausted.]
Hachiman's eyes went dead.... well, dead than usual... even his will and soul had gone towards the unknown. Technically, he didn't have a soul anymore since he was now a living memory, but… you get the idea.
Seeing his own status screen, complete with sarcastic commentary, drained whatever energy he had left. 'Great, even this system is picking on me… the story of my life.'
Running a hand down his face, he released a long, defeated sigh. His shoulders slumped as he tried not to let the rising sting in his eyes turn into actual tears. Before he could spiral further, a cup of fresh coffee slid gently in front of him. He blinked, glancing up to see Mei watching him with calm eyes and a faint, curious tilt of her head.
"Hmm?" she murmured softly.
"Thank you, Raiden…" thanking her then wrapping his hands around the warm cup. The first sip hit just right, the sweetness and creaminess washing away the bitterness of both his system status and his mood. 'Akon Kagura was right… Raiden really is an amazing waifu..... Did I just think that?'
A small groan escaped him, earning a puzzled glance from Mei. She shook her head slightly, the corner of her lips turning upward before she returned to placing freshly brewed drinks in front of the others.
"Sora-chan, come back to your seat. Let Akon Kagura-san process the revelation," Mei said gently.
"Okay, Mei-nee~!" Sora chirped, hopping back to her chair with a bright smile, unknown to everyone how the strongest nameless lost to sarcasm itself.
Upon leaving the cup of steaming hot chocolate in front of Akon Kagura, the dragon god finally twitched, her nose catching the sweet aroma. Without hesitation, she grabbed the cup and downed it in one go.
"Ah! Careful!!" Sora cried out, reaching forward too late.
"HOOT!!!" As expected, Akon Kagura yelped, clutching her throat as steam puffed from her mouth like an overexcited kettle.
"Please be careful, Akon Kagura-san," Mei said firmly but gently, setting down a glass of cold water in front of her. "I know you're shocked, but you still have to mind what you drink."
"Zoori ahd thaft que, Mhaden ah Thadcher (Sorry and thank you, Maiden of Thunder)," Akon mumbled through her burned tongue, eyes watery.
Mei sighed, smiling wryly before patting the dragon god's head. "As long as you understand."
Hachiman looked up from his cup, deadpan. 'Why does Raiden look more like a mom taking care of her kid?' he thought, letting out a silent sigh.
Akon Kagura tried to sip again, blowing carefully this time, but winced at the faint sting left on her tongue. Pouting, she placed the cup back on the table with a defeated little whimper. The sight made Mei's heart soften.
"Would you like me to make it cold instead?" she asked kindly.
"You can do that?!" Akon Kagura's eyes lit up instantly, all the godly dignity in her gone, replaced with the excitement of a child promised with a treat.
"Well, yes. Just give me a moment." Mei smiled warmly before taking her cup and heading back to the kitchen.
As Mei began preparing the drink, the dragon god swayed in her seat, humming a soft, cheerful tune. For a being revered as god, she looked far more like a child waiting excitedly for a snack than a deity.
"Hehehe, Akon-chan is cute!" Sora giggled, her expression melting at the sight of the fluffy, harmless-looking dragon god.
Akon puffed her cheeks, pretending to be offended but clearly pleased by the praise. "Mhm! Of course I am!" she declared proudly.
Just as Mei returned with the drink, Akon suddenly gasped, startling everyone. "Ah! I remember now!!" she exclaimed, causing Sora to jump while Mei nearly spilled the cup. Hachiman simply blinked, clearly too used to the chaos to react.
"I might have been in a frenzy state before so it slipped in my mind, but you people mentioned that you're all visitors from the stars, right?!"
"That's right!" Sora stood on her chair proudly, raising her fist as if making a heroic declaration. "We are the Nameless! Practitioners of the Path of Trailblaze! Famous explorers of the universe!"
"Sora, don't stand on the chair. That's dangerous," Hachiman scolded, positioning himself just in case he needed to catch her. "And maybe tone down the dramatic pose before you fall."
"Ehehe~ sorry," Sora giggled, sitting back down with a grin.
"Oh!!!... That's not it!!" Akon clapped her hands, her eyes twinkling with childlike excitement before snapping back to the topic. "It's cool and all—but that's not my point right now!!"
She waved her arms animatedly, her energy filling the room as the trio exchanged confused looks. "What I want to know is—how in the world did you guys even find this world and manage to even come here?!"
"Yes?" Mei and Hachiman responded at the same time, blinking in confusion.
"Ehh?" Sora tilted her head innocently. "We came by riding a space train?"
"S-space train?!" Akon's eyes twinkled in awe before she suddenly pouted. "That sounds so cool!—Hey, stop derailing me!!"
Hachiman sighed. "Pun intended, I'm sure," he muttered, earning a small giggle from Mei.
Akon Kagura shook her head to refocus, the playful tone fading as her expression hardened. Her eyes turned sharp, her presence switched from that of a curious child to that of a god who experienced a tragedy.
"It all started thirty thousand years ago," she began, her tone went from excited child to a serious befitting for a god. "Our world was invaded by forces from beyond the stars, beings made from some unknown metallic material. Their very presence radiates the power of destruction. They came in wave after wave, covering the skies with their almost endless army. Bringing destruction to everything in their path."
Her tone softened, but her expression had the hint of sadness. "Me, the Seven Pillar Gods, even the Demon God himself, all band together to push the invaders back into the sea of void."
The room went cold. Sora's small gasp broke the silence as Mei's eyes widened, the image of destruction clear in her eyes. Hachiman's brow furrowed, his mind immediately connecting the pieces. The description of merciless invaders of destruction, fit too well with something they knew.
'The Legion sure worked hard… that even this far away world wasn't spared from their grasp,' he thought grimly. 'It seems... that this world is not as detached from the universe as we thought…'
"Although we won and survived to this day, the damage to the planet and the countless lives lost were far too great," Akon Kagura said softly, her tone heavy with memory. "So, we gods of this world decided to take drastic measures."
She closed her eyes. "Using the faith of humanity as our power, we cast an invisible barrier around the planet, hiding it from the rest of the stars and all who roam them."
Her words stunned the three listeners. Hachiman's thoughts raced as he tried to piece everything together. 'A world hidden from the universe itself… and yet Noah was able to find it.'
His jaw tightened, glancing briefly at Mei and Sora. 'No… maybe that was his real intention. Raiden's still new, and Sora's still a child. Sending us here keeps us out of reach from the factions who set their eyes on us, while they deal with them.'
He sighed as a mix of realization and admiration appeared across his expression.
Akon Kagura continued, her voice calm but solemn. "That barrier's strength comes from humanity's faith in us. And if that faith were ever to waver, if something ever shaken or threatened that, divine punishment would fall upon them. They would be erased completely, without mercy."
Mei's body flinched, her shoulders tensing as memories made their way back. Images of that day, the moment she lost herself and let her other self, the Herrscher, descend and destroy Nagazora, flashed behind her eyes. Screams, the sight where bodies dissolve under the radiation of Honkai energy. Those who didn't melt turned into the undead, mindless monsters who attack anything that is living. It was a memory she will never forget nor even dare to forget. For her, it was a sin she will forever carry.
Sora's bright expression dimmed, her usual cheer fading. The reminder of her own experience when the Honkai Impact came and nearly claimed her life before Hachiman found her. A cold shiver down her spine. Under the table, her small hands reached for Mei's and Hachiman's, gripping them tightly. She sought their warmth, the simple proof that they were still here, still alive.
Akon Kagura exhaled deeply, brows furrowed as conflicting emotions crossed her face. "Which is why this situation makes me… worried, curious, and confused all at once," she admitted.
"How in the world did you find us? Did the barrier fail? Did the Demon God finally lose patience and wage war on the outsiders?" Her expression hardened. "Will more visitors from the stars start coming to our world?"
She raised her head and let her eyes directly meet Hachiman, Mei and Sora's eyes.
"Tell me," she asked, but her tone made it feel like a demand. "Is your presence here an omen? Will the same catastrophe from thirty thousand years ago… happen again?"
======