Gacha System in a Game-Like World

[Congratulations, Host. You have awakened the title: Battleborn Prodigy.]

[View (Yes / No)]

Tony stared at the screen for several seconds before letting out a breathless, snappy laugh. Kratos glanced at him from the side but didn’t utter a word as he returned his focus to the skewer of meat he was savoring.

’Yes.’

Biting a chunk out of the meat he held in hand, Tony watched as the screen disappeared and reappeared with a replacement.

[Battleborn Prodigy]: Every battle hastens your growth. That is to say, the greater the danger, the faster your mastery over skills, instincts, and combat abilities becomes. Your body and mind evolve continuously to overcome stronger opponents.

Crossing his legs and changing his sitting position, Tony imagined what it was that could have led to him awakening this title. He could only think of two possible scenarios.

The first being that he hadn’t made use of [Blade Awakening] during the whole battle and had relied wholly on his actual combat abilities, with just one or two offensive skills. Although it wasn’t enough to lead him through to the end, for once, he couldn’t help but be grateful for how handy becoming powerful without cheat abilities can be.

That notwithstanding, he felt he still needed to put in more work honing his natural skills. He thought his instincts and body’s stimulus time, too, were lacking.

Even though the arachnids were on a different level, he felt he should have been able to catch up with that sneak attack that almost plunged him to his death, considering his stat points. Or was that really how overpoweredly boosted those monsters were?

Phew.

Now, there was the second fact that his leveling up had been the cause. In fact, from the moment of the system’s appearance, that is the most basic explanation to give.

He looked to his side, catching sight of Kratos, who seemed careless and was busy with his mouth as he chewed the meat in his hand and took sips of water from the water bottle they had purchased earlier.

’I wish I had stayed awake to watch your battle,’ Tony mused.

Actually, the fact was that Tony had woken and caught sight of Kratos fighting. All he could see then were streaks of white light streaming in the air like sparks.

Kratos had singlehandedly manhandled those monsters — so easily — in a way that made it look like they were actual "chickens." Even he had not taken down the giant rabbits with that much ease.

This left Tony to once again question and compare Kratos’ ability.

Should he really be comparing someone like him with S-rank players of this world? Are they even going to match in the slightest bit? If he was right, it could possibly be that Kratos hadn’t even used his full potential during that battle.

He tried to justify his doubts by placing himself as the example. He imagined himself actually becoming an S-rank player.

Will he even be on the same level with them? With his fellows?

He was merely F-rank, yet he’s able to easily achieve what most A-rank players would struggle to. This, once again, made him worry.

Why does it feel like it was only his part of the tutorial ground that received such an evil boost? Was this what Rain Indigo faced? How about Aaron and other newbies? Will they face the same fate?

And the most stranger thing of all was the fact that the monsters kept disappearing into motes of light after being defeated and traveling towards—

Tony washed his mouth with water and swallowed it before looking up forward, towards the east.

He hadn’t paid it any attention then. But now, each time each monster was killed, their light mote went toward the eastern way. Even while he had been in the cave, this was not a foreign case.

In that case, their lead to finding who’s behind all these evil boosts is traveling by the east route.

"Can you stop thinking, little brother?" Kratos’ calm voice snapped Tony back to reality.

"Uh... I’m not thinking, am I?" Tony retorted. "I’m just worrying."

"Is there any difference?"

Tony clicked his tongue. "Difference? Of course... of course there is a difference. Both literally and logically."

"Literally, I tell you, they look the same," Tony continued and shook his head. "But thinking goes further to search for answers while the latter leaves you with the consequences. One asks, ’What can I do?’ And the other is limited to, ’This and this keep happening,’ without a defined mindset backing it up. Without a clear goal or possible action following."

Tony stood from the log he had been sitting on and began loosening the blood-stained bandage wrapped around his torso. All the while, he didn’t stop speaking.

"If I don’t consider the worst possibility, I will never prepare for it. But if all I do is actually identify this possibility, consider certain scenarios following, and take no action to either ascertain or disavow such a possibility, then I’m no different from prey waiting to be eaten."

He flung the loosened blood-stained bandage away to float several seconds in the air before falling to the ground and lifted his sword lying beside Kratos.

Kratos, on the other hand, stared at him for a moment before chuckling, then suddenly laughing out loud.

"You are awfully philosophical for someone who almost died an hour ago. You could have just told me the conceptual difference, if there really is any."

Tony’s gaze drifted toward the eastern horizon once more as he sheathed his sword in its scabbard and affixed it to his side as usual. Then, he collected his clothes that Kratos was handing him and put them on.

For a while, it seemed Tony had totally ignored Kratos’ claim, but once he was prepared in his full apparel, his hand gripped the hilt of his sword as he once again continued speaking, eyes still on the eastern horizon.

"Nearly dying is a good teacher. It forces you to feel and actually identify what you’d otherwise ignore." Now, he turned to Kratos. "Perhaps experience is the best teacher.

"That was why, even though we had easily identified that these monsters were receiving evil boosts from an unknown source, I presume you must have figured that it’s not a coincidence before I could."

Tony exhaled and adjusted his grip on the sword’s hilt again.

"You seem indifferently calm amidst this storm. That left me wondering, is that your way of solving things? Or was I mistaken? Did you actually not figure it out yet?"

"Are you referring to the carcasses of these monsters disintegrating into motes of light?" Kratos asked, rising from his crouch and strapping their re-packed backpack across his chest.

"Of course... yes, of course."

TAP. TAP.

With two gentle, practical taps on Tony’s shoulder, Kratos stepped forward and passed him without saying a word.

Tony understood the meaning behind those taps and sighed.

’I would rather assume there’s a source until proven otherwise.’

Dismissing that last thought, Tony stepped forward and trailed behind Kratos, towards the eastern horizon.

They didn’t travel for up to ten minutes before a portal suddenly appeared before them. This time around, instead of the three-way portal of the cave, it was only one.

It looked more like a constellation of different colors than what met the eye. On a closer look, it is actually a spectacle of both crimson and violet, swirling violently in a churning way, as though the moment one stepped in, they would be ground into dust.

The duo paused in their steps and considered moving forward. And honestly, that happened to be the only decision. There was no going back now.

Meanwhile, in the midst of the twisting crimson-violet portal, right in its center, a metal door materialized, adorned with silver frames that ran like rims.

Atop the frame were the clear letters: NIGHTMARE.

Tony gulped and steadied himself. Vanquishing any fear that was about to step in.

He was ready. He was really ready to face what was waiting for them.

With one step forward, Kratos set the motion once again, and Tony followed. Together, they crossed through the metal door that had just opened to reveal a shining cosmos of nothing.

Together, they ventured into the nightmarish dungeon.

***

Tony opened his eyes after a fleeting moment of feeling nothing, only to find that they had appeared in the middle of a circle.

The circle wouldn’t have been creepy if not for the fact of what his sight bellowed — a formation, set by some creepy tools, accompanied by three familiar monster figures and two foreign ones.

Kratos clicked his tongue at the sight and shook his head.

"I must admit, little brother, you were right. Coincidence is indeed the refuge of lazy thinking. Sorry, I mean, worry... well, you get what I mean, don’t you?"

"..."