The lunch bell rang, and classes began. Naoto sat in his place, focused on the lesson. When school ended, Naoto hurriedly left the school.
"Oh, it seems you can't wait to beat me up, coming here so fast," Akihiro said sarcastically as he stood in front of Naoto.
"Do you think I'm rushing because of you? Your mother is waiting for me at home," Naoto retorted sarcastically.
"You bastard, if your goal is to make me angry, you succeeded."
Ding!! The Host gained 15 anger points.
Akihiro rushed toward Naoto. Naoto tried to hold Akihiro so he could use his skill, but Akihiro delivered a swift punch to Naoto's face.
Naoto groaned from the severity of the punch and fell to the ground, unable to get up again. The punch was so strong he couldn't move or respond with any powerful strike. His body was full of pain and weakness, and he couldn't stand or defend himself.
Lying on the ground, Naoto felt frustrated and lost. He felt like he had failed to protect himself and to resist the violence. He had no ability to fight back or defend himself, which made him feel weak and helpless.
"What is this? Is the system deceiving me?"
Naoto wondered if the system he trained with was fooling him or not. He decided the system could not be the reason for his failure; there must be something else.
He got up from the ground with difficulty and tried to gather his remaining energy, attempting to deliver at least one strike, but Akihiro intercepted with a kick.
"Hey, are you even trying? Where did your pathetic courage go a moment ago?"
Akihiro showered Naoto with a barrage of kicks and punches, and Naoto couldn't respond. Their fight was watched by students leaving the school.
Naoto looked at them with a gaze full of pain and bewilderment. He wondered why no one intervened to help him. He felt lonely and lost, questioning if this was the reality of the world he lived in.
While desperately trying to defend himself on the playground, frustration swelled inside him. He felt he could not win this battle and could not change the harsh reality he lived in.
Suddenly Akihiro stopped hitting Naoto and smiled mockingly. Then he said loudly, "I think I've fought you enough. I'll let you rest a little before I come back to hit you again."
As Akihiro walked away, Naoto could do nothing but lie on the ground and groan in pain. He felt defeated and weak, wondering if this was the truth of his life.
Naoto stood up and headed home. Upon entering, his grandmother saw him with clothes full of dust and bruises clearly visible on his body.
"Oh my God, Naoto, who did this to you?"
"It's nothing, grandma, I just tripped," Naoto replied smiling at her, trying to hide the pain and weakness he felt. But his grandmother knew he was lying; she just didn't want to interfere in something he didn't want to talk about.
"Well then, go upstairs and take a shower."
Naoto climbed the stairs and went to the bathtub. While showering, he thought about his grandmother's words and how she could tell something was wrong. He felt sad and confused that he couldn't keep his secret or face bullying alone.
Sitting in the bath, tears flowed from his eyes. He felt weak and frustrated, wondering if his life would always be like this.
Suddenly, a voice sounded beside him and a blue screen appeared before him.
"Congratulations, Host, you've gained 10 experience points."
"What are you congratulating me for, you bastard? You deceive me and cause me to get beaten up!"
"Say that again and I'll call you a trickster. And what happened is the result of your decisions."
"Shut up, you deceiver. You must not have read the status window carefully."
"Huh?"
Status
Name: Hijai Naoto
Age: 15 years
Level: 3 (20/100)
Strength: 7 (normal for age 15)
Endurance: 6 (normal for age 13)
Agility: 5 (normal for age 11)
Intelligence: 11
Status Points: –
Emotion Points: 296
Skills, Shop, Inventory, Quests
"As you can see, all stats are below normal. So how does the Host want to defeat someone with normal stats?"
"Oh God, others get cheat systems, but I get a system that makes me weaker than normal. Why me? Why am I the only one suffering?"
"The Host is not suffering; he's been given a chance to overcome his weakness."
"I can't overcome bullying or protect myself. I can't trust anyone, not even the system. What should I do?"
At that moment, Naoto felt despair and weakness seep into every cell of his body. He felt helpless and frustrated, wondering if there was any hope for him to overcome bullying and find confidence.
"Well, you know what? I'll trust you this once."
"And the system won't disappoint the Host."
"Then explain how I gained experience points and where they came from."
"You gain experience points through battles. Even if you lose, you still earn experience. If the Host defeats an enemy, he gets enough to level up. You earned points from the sympathy others felt seeing you in that state."
"Then system, show me the path to strength."
"Consider it done."