“So, firstly. What is the system?”
Hatsumi paused for a moment before answering her own question.
“The system is a gathering of measurable information about yourself or the world around you. One that is defined by your patron god’s level of involvement in your life.”
She stopped, waiting for any questions I may suddenly pose, continuing after a moment.
“The system also changes based on your class, which in a moment we’ll confirm. It should be adventurer right now, nothing after.”
Pausing, Hatsumi crossed her legs.
“You don’t have to say it out loud. Just think that you want to see your system information, and it should make itself visible to just you.”
At Hatsumi’s instruction, I thought of the same display I had been given yesterday, and it appeared in my vision.
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Name: Kiyomi Jormanr
Age: 8
Race: Lower Demon (High Demon, unattributed)
Sex: Female
Class: Adventurer (– Unattributed)
Level: 8 (16)
HP: 1000/1000
MP: 1000/1000
Constitution: 3 (7)
Strength: 8 (17)
Dexterity: 8 (16)
Intelligence: 7 (15)
Wisdom: 6 (12)
Charisma: 8 (17)
Thirst: 1000/1000
Hunger: 1000/1000
Titles: (Hidden), (Hidden), (Hidden)
Status: (Passive skill, Disguise, in effect. All skills, hidden, can be reviewed at any time)
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Upon going over my information again, I was able to see that Disguise* was still activated. And that my selected class definitely had more to it than it should have. But I thought to keep that information to myself. If it’s too out of the norm, I’d rather not make trouble.
“Can you see it?”
Hatsumi grabbed my attention.
“Mhmm, yes, ma’am.”
Hatsumi clicked her tongue at my response.
“Cut the “ma’am”. We are not strangers, call me by my name.”
Was it that irritating? Did it make her feel old?
“Okay, Hatsumi.”
“Good girl~.”
And there was a bubbly response.
She straightened her posture after praising me suddenly.
“So, you should see general information about yourself. That will change based on your patron god. It varies from person to person, so I can’t answer questions related directly to it. You should see your age, class, and level. Do you see them?”
I nodded slowly.
“Okay, so firstly your age and level. These two should coincide; your level should never equal or surpass your age if you live a normal civil life.”
She started.
So, there was my first red flag. My level was not just higher, but twice my age.
“However, if you maintain any activity outside of general life, your level can and usually will surpass your age.”
Maybe not? Wait, what did this body deal with to make it a level twice its age?! Okay, calm calm. First question, uuuhhh-oh, got it!
“How much can it pass your age?”
This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
I asked, trying to make the question not seem strange.
“Hmmm, I would say it depends on what you’ve done. In my case, while I’m twenty-five, my level is thirty-two. Lorn is in the latter half of her hundreds, and we sorta lost count since she’s refused to tell us her current level in years. The only time she ever told us, it was just over seven hundred I think. It’s probably raised since then, though.”
She was rubbing her chin, thinking over my question with her ears standing at attention. After a moment, her ears relaxed, and she uncrossed her legs.
“You don’t need to tell me now, but you will later.”
Ah, that could have gone badly. She saw through my question some; thankfully it wasn’t too concerning.
For a moment, I felt relieved and relaxed some, lowering the sword some in the process.
“Did I say to relax?”
“No!”
I immediately corrected my stance. Hatsumi was not backing off of me making the full half-hour.
“Next is class. It should just be Adventurer. Is it?”
Hatsumi looked at me expectantly, I wanted to answer with the complete truth, but it felt off. Like I shouldn’t tell her something unnecessarily.
“Mhmm, adventurer.”
Hatsumi exhaled as if she were relieved.
“Okay, so in the case of your class. It determines your skills you can select for the most part. It can’t be changed, but that doesn’t mean you can’t do something else should you want to move on. From there, we have ability points. It should be something similar to con, str, dex. Yes?”
I nodded.
“Do you know what each of those is?”
I nodded once more.
“Alright, we’ll. From there, we have skills left. But those will come later; we’ll teach you some in a few years. For now, it would be crazy to teach a kid your age any skills.”
Am I that out of the norm? I’m pretty sure I have something about titles too?! I want to feel like I was just someone normal right now, but me just being able to remember my life is already out of the norm. I would really like to have some time to think all this over still.
“Hey, Kiyomi.”
“Yes?”
Hatsumi broke me from my train of thought.
“Times up.”
She pointed to the sand dial, and the last few grains had fallen; seeing this, I could feel my arms give out finally.
Just in time for muscle failure to hit. Did Callum anticipate it?
I could hear Hatsumi laugh lightly as she stood up, proceeding to walk over to me and lifting the sword from my grip. Freeing my arms from the weight. Placing the sword in the corner, she then grabbed some of the clothes from one of the cloth bags. In her hands were a simple pair of panties, spat shorts, and a cotton tee.
Ahhh, thank god for the simple things. I’m glad they let me get house clothes. I didn’t particularly appreciate having to dress up just to walk from room to room.
I stood there for a moment, waiting for her to bring me the clothes or toss them to me. But she simply stood there, grinning.
Oh, for the love of...god damnit, I can dress myself! It’s a t-shirt and shorts, for Christ’s sake.
“H-Hatsumi?”
“Yes, Kiyomi?”
She responded flatly.
“I c-can dress myself.”
“Ohhh? Can you with your legs even wobbling like that?”
Looking down, her observation wasn’t incorrect. My legs were trembling, and my tail was between my legs some.
God damnit, women, don’t you know it’s from you and not the standing!?
Sadly, even though I thought so. My legs soon gave out, and she walked up to me. Crouching down, she placed the house clothes to the ground and began stripping me.
After I was dressed, Hatsumi stopped with the playing. She helped me to the bed, then moved to undress herself; she’d changed into an outfit not dissimilar to my own. The difference was instead of a simple tee; her top looked like a tunic.
“Alright, time for bed.”
She said in an exhausted tone.
“I’ll try to keep quiet so you can sleep."
Perfect! Time to actually think about stuff.
And now came the time where my mind can be left to my own devices.
Ahhh, this is much nicer than before~.
After Hatsumi had helped me in bed, my mind was now overwhelmed with my thoughts. To the point of which I would have very much appreciated a notebook and pen at the moment. However, that would have only been an issue if they could somehow comprehend what languages I did know. I didn’t want to throw myself into unnecessary risk, especially for something like organizing my thoughts. At this moment, Hatsumi was still up, reading from a book whilst sitting next to me under the blankets. If I did anything other than sit here or sleep, it definitely would have attracted some questions.
I looked over my shoulder to see if she was still reading or managed to doze off. Unfortunately, our eyes managed to lock onto each other. She was just smiling softly, and I could feel her tail shift under the covers before moving from under the blanket and over me.
Wait, did she see this morning?
After looking at each other for a moment, I got my answer when she returned her gaze to her book and barely shifted her tail at all.
If she’s offering…A little while wouldn’t hurt.
After I knew her attention was firmly back on her book, I softly grabbed her tail and shifted it between us, holding it in my hands as I lay there. It was calming, and at the least, aside from that, it kept me from brooding over my thoughts improperly. No more words or glances were shared when I did this, confirming her intention.
Now that I was uninterrupted in my thoughts, my position felt surreal. The clothes on my body, the flow of air, the still cool feeling of the sheets and blankets, I could even feel my tail if I focused on it.
This…what it in the fuck happened to me?
I shifted my tongue in my mouth, investigating the subject of my teeth that had been brought up earlier. I never noticed because the entire interior was different than before. It was shifted and melded to mesh together naturally, the teeth no longer felt human, and the canines were extended.
This body is not human…I am not who I was before. Let alone the issue that my prick is gone and that I don’t know a single thing about who I am right now because of the loss of the Diary. My teeth, my horns, and my tail. These were so out of place because they were entirely alien to the biology I had just a day before. On that thought, did I even die yesterday?!
I struggled to keep myself from grimacing. I didn’t want to trouble Hatsumi. If I showed any negative emotions, it might cause her to ask about whatever the issue was.
The least of all fucking issues that I need, is some fucking question of whether I’m possessing some stolen body or just thrown into an already dead person or what the fuck ever.
It was to the point I was cursing at myself within my mind. What was this? Was it possession? Was this body left barren before I was thrown in?
Or, for fuck all sake, was this my body all along? And I’m just along for another fucking ride…thanks…to…
I began locking up for a moment. The possibilities were all terrifying, only for different reasons. I was stealing away some innocent girl's life in the case of possession. If that were the case, I wouldn’t even be able to live with it. I’m sure if I found that to be the case, it would probably drive me to kill myself to free us both if it came to it. If I were in a body that somehow expired… In that case, what happens if I met someone that knew this Kiyomi? Should I just pick up where her life left off if it came to it? Then there was the final possibility. The one that locked any other thoughts I’d have at the moment clearly out of my mind. It was terrifying, not for how it affected the original Kiyomi, but for myself.
I died, I can tell that damn much, but—but what if I didn’t simply wake up after being sent here? What…what if there is simply something I don’t remember?
I flexed my stomach without moving my body. Keeping myself from voiding my stomach suddenly and concealing the action from Hatsumi.
If this were the case, then…I’d been in this body from the beginning…..somehow…I hope the second possibility is the true one…if the third is…I need to find my past…it doesn’t matter what happened…I need to know now.
I started to clench down slightly on Hatsumi’s tail reflexively. Not to the degree of pain, but it was like I was now hugging it, subconsciously searching for comfort. I could see her look down at me momentarily before placing the book on the nightstand and sliding down further under the covers.
Ah, sorry.
Hatsumi moved slightly closer, giving more range of movement to her tail, which she used to curl it in my arms.
I…need to thank her somehow for this some time.
From there, she said goodnight and closed her eyes. She was facing me, and I couldn’t tell if she really went to sleep after a while or not.
Back to my first thoughts, I died. That’s the only possibility, but fuckin how?
I pondered for a few minutes, clenching my teeth. It didn’t matter, but I felt I at least wanted closure on it.
So I was either shot, blown up, or it was my health. But why? Ugh.
I decided to move on from the thought. It was smart if I just did my best to set myself up from this point forth. Sighing mentally, I closed my eyes, allowing myself to rest fully. I suddenly felt as if Hatsumi’s tail moved to caress my face, the soft fur ushering me closer to sleep, and soon, my consciousness faded back out. But this time, rather than from a sudden event, or from my life leaving my body, it was to the comfort of a soft bed and a protective guardian.