The next day arrived swiftly and Kazuki's eyes snapped open by instincts, he jolted up right and the first thing he saw was a holographic panel hovering in his sights.
[Ding! Daily quests has arrived!]
[Push-ups: 0/20]
[Sit-ups: 0/20]
[Squats: 0/20]
[Running: 0/20km]
He sat hard on it.
On one hand, system errors permitted to skip the daily quest and he'd still be given the rewards even if he skipped it. But he had another theory.
"If the system errors removes all penalty for completing the daily quests and still gives me the rewards, I wonder what will happen if I actually complete the quest?"
He fell to the floor, hands sideways and legs stretched back, then he began.
He struggled, but with each drop of sweat he forced himself up until he had done twenty push-ups, finishing the first quest.
Then he fell into a squat, and before he knew it, he completed the quests and all that remained was the 20km run which he sprang into immediately.
By the time he arrived back in his room, sweat dripped down his entire body like a stream, his breathing became ragged and he looked like he was about to pass out any moment.
"S-Shadow recovery." A blinding light engulfed him, and in mere seconds, all his exhaustion and fatigue vanished without a trace. And he felt reborn.
[Running: 20/20km]
[You have completed the daily quests!]
[+5 strength]
[+5 speed]
[+5 stamina]
"A-awesome..." His guess was spot on, by completing the daily quests, the rewards administered by the broken system doubled, usually stats points were required to level up his physical stats, but there were other means to it.
He chuckled.
It didn't matter if he completed the daily quest or not, he'd still be rewarded and if he did, it only doubled. This error might prove to be ineffective in the long run but for now, it only made him stronger in the short amount of time he had left.
To him, the system wasn't broken. It wasn't fixed either.
To him, the system rearranged itself to his cause.
But there was a catch — his Soul-Energy was unaffected by the double rewards.
It was undoubtedly another side effect from the broken parameters.
"The system parameters might be broken in certain aspects, but it seems it doesn't apply to my Soul-Energy. That's right, nothing is ever given for free in this cruel world."
The system was just a helping hand in his quest for strength, sure the errors made it a whole lot easier, but it didn't mean he'd get everything handed to him on a silver platter.
"Who's in he-" A petite voice came from behind him the moment he removed his sweaty shirt, and as he glanced over his shoulder, he found his little sister standing right in front of his door.
She had purple hair and eyes, wore a white school shirt, tucked into a short black skirt, and knee-high socks.
"Ka-Ka..." She teared up before rushing over and wrapping her arms around him in a tight hug. Then she started crying.
The words refused to escape her mouth.
"It's alright Kazue, I'm here now, and I won't ever leave you ever again." He patted her back with assurance.
"I'm so glad you're okay." She sniffled and drawed away from him immediately after realizing he was sweating and worst of all, stinky.
"Huh?" Her cries stopped immediately. "Have you been working out?" She noticed the changes in his body, from his slightly chiseled jawline, to his six pack abs. They weren't that much developed, but at first glance, it was obvious.
"Hm?" He examined his body carefully, and it finally struck him. By leaping ahead by five levels at once, his form had already reshaped itself into the state it would naturally reach upon attaining level five.
"Yeah... I guess so, hang on a second, aren't you supposed to be in school?"
"Well yes, but before I could leave I found the living room doors opened and mud all over the floor leading to your room. And I thought it was must have been Kirito again, but I found you."
"Oh." He scratched the back of his head nervously, he only just remembered, he left the doors open after nearly fainting from the 20km run.
"I bet you must be hungry, I'll fix something up for you!"
"No, go to school Kazue." He stretched a little before replying.
"No! You only just came back from the hospital, and you must be starving, I don't mind skipping school just for that."
Kazuki sighed.
"I know you're excited and all to see me, but go to school, besides I have somewhere I have to be so I won't be home much longer."
"Fine." She frowned and left the room, he could tell she was upset, after all she hasn't got the chance to spend time with him. But he wasn't going to let the money he paid for her schooling fee go down the drain.
Before he could focus on the matter at hand, her head poked in through his door.
"Kazuki." She called out to him in a soft voice.
"What is it?"
"I'm really glad you're okay, I don't know what I would have done if I lost you too."
Her concerns pulled him out of his thoughts, and a smile lit up his face. "I'm glad to, now go to school!" He hurled his sweaty shirt at her.
Like a distressed rat being chased by a cat, she ran away from his room door and out of the house immediately. "Ew!!!"
"That's what you get for disobeying me." He picked up his shirt and tossed it into the laundry bin.
"Alright." He attended to his personal hygiene, had his breakfast and left for the Soul-Hunters Association.
It took an hour to arrive on foot, and when he did, he locked his eyes with the towering building that stood in the middle of the Capital.
This was it. The next step to his survival for what was coming.
"Ah, there you are, I was starting to wonder if you were ever going to show up." His eyes locked on to the entrance of the association's building and there he was, the 11th vice captain of the 14 Soul-Squads.
"Vice Captain Livinus, I didn't expect to see you so soon." They both stepped into the building as Livinus led the way.
"Well you're a special exception, the news of you qualifying for the second selection was made recently so not every captain is aware. Captain Hiro was originally supposed to take you there himself, but something came up, now I have to lead you there myself."
"I see, so what's this second selection all about?" He asked, titling his head slightly.
"You'll see when we get there, but can I ask you something kid?"
"Sure."
"That Soul-Beast that emerged from the orange gate, you said it could talk, did it say anything?" Livinus asked.
"Yes it did, if you count insulting the human race as a reasonable conversation. It didn't say much, but it was in a hurry to finish us off, it appeared like it was looking for something."
Kazuki replied, now that he thought about it, the Soul-Beast acted based off agendas, given how eager it was to kill them before reinforcements came.
"I see." As they conversed, they walked into the building. "This is it kid, are you ready?" He asked.
Kazuki took a deep breath, thinking back, every step was a journey, even with the difficult times he faced he still managed to pull through. There was no way he wasn't prepared for what happens next.
"I'm ready." He answered.
The Soul-Hunters Association was divided into fourteen different units. Each unit had it's own debriefing hall, training grounds and captain quarters.
In a matter of seconds, they arrived at the large doors of the eleventh unit.
Livinus pushed the large doors open, and their eyes immediately met those of the many participants who had passed the first selection, along with a man standing before them all.
"Huh? Kazuki!?" Kirito was part of those participants, and he couldn't believe his eyes when he saw his best friend standing side by side with a captain.
"I-It can't be..." Takashi stammered.