A day before fighting Ray, Zurio received a message in his room.
[Welcome to the System, Zurio Langley.]
Surprised, he spent hours trying to understand how the System worked. He soon realized it operated via voice commands, displayed the status of people within his field of vision, and provided information about items and equipment.
There was a section called "Shop" and another called "Quests," but neither of them was functional. What surprised him the most, however, was the "Skills" section.
[New Skill (LVL 1/10): Zenite. Each use will cost 1 million kerrys. Each time you use this skill, you have a 1% chance of gaining a new ability. DMG: 1000.]
Zurio currently had access to a fortune of 200 million kerrys, a wealth accumulated through decades of his parents' hard work. In practice, this meant he could use Zenite 200 more times before needing to sell his belongings.
He also discovered that the Zenite skill could be leveled up, but it would cost 12 million kerrys per level, meaning a total of 108 million to max it out.
At first, he thought all this information was a hallucination or a dream, but he was forced to test the System when Ray tried to humiliate him in public—and confirmed it was all real.
Now, confident in the System's information, he wanted to figure out how to use it in the best way possible.
"All it cost me was a million kerrys."
He stood up, excited.
"Right, System?"
[Welcome back, Zurio.]
"Unbelievable. What are the odds of getting an RPG System on the day of my 18th birthday? Looks like my luck didn't run out when I was born here."
Zurio had died at 18 while resisting a robbery on Earth. What was supposed to be the end became a new beginning when he was reborn into this new world as a noble heir.
He stared at the System interface, which had just appeared before him.
"From what I noticed during the fight with Ray, only I can see this interface."
He placed his right hand on his chin and began pacing around the room, thinking.
"There was a huge pile of gold in a locked room at the castle. The System said that's where the kerrys would be drawn from. Does part of the gold just vanish each time I use a skill? That's crazy."
He stopped for a moment.
"System, show me my status again."
[Name: Zurio
Age: 18 years
Level: 1
HP: 10
MP: 10
Attack: 2
Magic: 1
Vitality: 1
Agility: 1
Sense: 1
EXP: 0/9]
"I'm still so weak. I didn't gain any experience from defeating that noble idiot. Is it because he just fainted? Is there a way to level up besides gaining experience?"
[You can pay 100 million kerrys to level up once.]
"What? That's robbery!" He looked at the System's notification window. "Although… there's a section in my status showing how much EXP I need to level up. If the amount gets too high later, maybe paying to level up will be useful in the future."
Langley kept examining his stats.
"System, what exactly is 'Sense'?"
[Your ability to inspect enemies, items, and equipment, see the flow of mana, and sense danger.]
"Wow, that sounds important. Anything else I didn't check yesterday?"
[The shop will unlock at level 5. I can also show you your inventory.]
"Interesting, I think reaching level 5 as soon as possible is a good idea," he said excitedly. "Inventory? How does that work?"
[You can store up to 10 items of interest in your inventory, such as weapons, armor, books, and scrolls. It is not possible to store anything too large.]
"I'd like to store my sword."
In an instant, the sword at Zurio's waist glowed and vanished.
[Iron Sword stored.]
"Tell me more about this weapon."
[Name: Iron Sword.
A basic sword that grants +1 Attack.]
"So I only had 2 Attack because of the sword," Zurio sighed. "Summon sword."
The sword materialized in his hand.
"I think that's everything."
[You gained a new Skill when you last used Zenite.]
"Wait, what? Wasn't the chance of receiving a new skill only 1%? I actually got a skill on the first use? That's some serious luck!"
Before he could find out what the skill was, he heard knocking at his door. He went to see what it was about.
"Zurio, you're really here. I looked for you in your classroom and no one knew where you were," said a breathless student.
"Ah, yeah, I guess this is the first time I've skipped class since I came here, haha." He looked at the student's state. "What happened? Is it urgent?"
"Desmond is being beaten up outside the school."
"Who?"
"Desmond!" Realizing Zurio was still confused, he explained, "Ah, you probably don't know, but he's the one who called class 3-A to help you with Ray, even though you didn't need it. Now people are saying someone from 3-A gave you a powerful buff, and that's why you won."
"Really? That was nice of him."
"Yeah, and he's my classmate. Please, help me beat up the guys who are hurting him. They're all from your class, but you shouldn't have any trouble since you beat Ray so easily."
Zurio hesitated. He was grateful for Desmond's gesture, but he couldn't afford to use his skills too many times, considering his money was limited. He had to be strategic.
"Look, I'd really like to help, but have you tried calling a teacher?"
"I've talked to several, but none of them want to get involved. They say they can't do anything since it's happening outside school grounds. Please, help him, Zurio! You're the only one I can turn to right now."
"The only one? What do you mean? I…"
[Tutorial Quest started.
Description: defeat the three bullies harassing Desmond.
Time limit: none.
Reward: 9 experience points.]
"Tutorial? This is my first quest…" he whispered.
"What?" the other student didn't hear Zurio well.
"I said let's defeat them!"