Extra Chapter 1 - Kazue is trying her best... Kinda

A thousand thoughts raced through Kazue's mind at that moment. She couldn't comprehend how she managed to endure so many emotions all at once. What was happening now was something she had been dreaming about forever.

Completely exhausted both mentally and physically, the girl opened the door to what was now her room and collapsed onto the bed she had just bought. It was as soft and comfortable as the one she remembered from her childhood. Sleep quickly began to overtake her, making it increasingly difficult to stay awake, despite the strong, heart-pounding excitement she felt in her chest.

"Maybe just a little nap..."

She didn't know when she fell asleep or if she dreamed about anything in particular, but after several hours, she violently opened her eyes, jumping up and looking around despite feeling dizzy from the sudden movement right after waking.

She scanned the room from top to bottom without missing a detail... a closed door, a new bed, food stored in one corner, and clothes in unopened boxes. It wasn’t a dream! She was really there!

The joy and excitement on Kazue's face reached such levels that anyone who saw her might have been concerned about the enormous smile she wore. This expression didn't fade even when she ran to open a packet of instant soup to eat, only to realize she had nowhere to cook it, nor any bowls or utensils. Oh well, it was true that this place didn't give you anything, and she had exhausted all her points on the comforts she now had.

"Well, what does it matter"

She thought to herself, opening the packet of noodles and sprinkling the seasoning on top before proceeding to eat them raw. It wasn't the first time, nor would it be the last, that she ate raw noodles. She'd learned long ago to survive on them after... Well, now wasn't the time to dwell on those memories. She needed to eat quickly and get to work; there was a lot to see and a lot to do.

*Chomp chomp*

She didn't take long to finish eating and felt well enough to start. First things first, she needed to change her clothes; she was still in her usual pajamas. She also realized that, for some reason, she still had the coat one of the survivors in the last scenario had given her... Huh, she didn't know you could take things from there. Well, it didn't matter. She wouldn't use it, but it wouldn't hurt to keep it as an extra blanket.

All the new clothes she had bought were in a box next to her bed. She opened it with great excitement, pulling out all the contents and spreading them out on her mattress. It was wonderful how much she had been able to buy for such a low price. The store had allowed her to purchase several items together for just one point.

"I think I want... something comfortable"

Kazue mused to herself, she had a lot to choose from, even a casual floral dress that was rather tacky but seemed to appeal to her. She decided to put that on. After dressing and slipping on the only pair of sneakers she had bought, giving her a rather mismatched look, she left her room excitedly, kicking the door open.

"Good morniiiiiing! What do we have to do today?!"

The girl exclaimed, greeting all her companions and hoping to start a new session of mysteries and fantastic explanations... But no one responded, because there was no one there. Kazue had stepped out, and the only thing there was the enormous white room, empty and illuminated as always, making it impossible to know what time it was.

“Oh… Well”

It didn’t matter anyway; she didn’t need the others to get excited about the idea of returning to the shop and browsing for more skills. Even though she didn’t have any points to buy anything at the moment, the thought of checking out the options and planning what she’d like to purchase later was enough to keep her spirits high.

She soon approached the shop area, skipping with joy, feeling a mix of excitement, happiness, and freedom she had never felt before, or at least didn’t remember feeling. Maybe in... No, enough, she didn’t have time for negative thoughts. Her epic adventure was waiting for her.

Upon arriving at the cubes in the area where they had made purchases the previous day, Kazue made a hand gesture to summon the shop screen. It appeared quickly, bringing another smile to her face. She still couldn’t believe all this was happening. An adventure in another world, companions with all kinds of personalities, dangerous missions, horrendous monsters, points for missions, and countless skills to acquire—it was a storyline that could have been taken from any of her favorite series and mangas, a dream come true where she was the protagonist.

While her attitude was commendable, she seemed to have a somewhat distorted perception of what was happening around her. She had been extremely lucky not to get injured or hurt in any way during the previous story, except for losing consciousness at the end, despite the insane difficulty it had. As a result, she still viewed this as if it were a game, believing she was someone special to whom nothing bad could happen.

She had even witnessed the deaths of several people, soldiers, and survivors who had been devoured by specters right before her eyes, not to mention that both Teo and Leila were no longer with them. How could she remain so calm? The truth was that she was strongly dissociating from reality, ignoring important details and only focusing on the things she wanted to see.

But for now, it seemed to be working for her, especially since all she had on her mind was searching for skills and items in the store that met her demanding fantasy criteria.

⌠Filter bar: Thunder Piercing⌡ ⌠Searching…⌡ ⌠Searching…⌡ ⌠Total Results: 250⌡

Her first idea was to search for any skills similar to the one she already had, thinking that maybe she could specialize in being a character who controlled electricity. Wouldn't it be wonderful? In her mind, she envisioned Kazue floating with lightning in her hands and surrounded by electric energy, with glowing sparks emanating from her eyes.

“Hehe… Let’s see”

There were many results, but Kazue still spent a good amount of time reading through them all. She realized that not everything shown was related to her technique; some merely shared names, while others were specific variants and techniques of the same style. After thinking it over a bit more, she selected a few that caught her attention enough to keep them in mind and remember to purchase them when she had enough points.

⌠Thunder Piercing Kick Lv1: 50pts⌡ ⌠Additional Information⌡ ⌠Technique. It envelops the user's legs in a constant flow of electricity that produces a very high-pitched sound.⌡

⌠Thunder Piercing Body Circulation Lv1: 200pts⌡ ⌠Additional Information⌡ ⌠Technique. It envelops the user's entire body in a constant flow of electricity in a thorn-like appearance that produces a very high-pitched sound.⌡

⌠Thunder Piercing Blast Lv1: 250pts⌡ ⌠Additional Information⌡ ⌠Technique. It releases the accumulated electricity from the user's hand in a straight shot at a very high speed, with a high piercing power.⌡

⌠Thunder Piercing Drill Finger Lv1: 2500pts⌡ ⌠Additional Information⌡ ⌠Technique. It envelops two of the user’s fingers in a constant flow of spinning electric energy, similar to a drill. It has an extreme piercing power and produces the passive skill ‘[Barrier Breaker Lv1]’ while in use.⌡

Not bad, but in total, everything cost three thousand points. She wasn’t sure what the average score per scenario was, aside from the 100 base points that she and the other blonde guy had earned for doing almost nothing. Maybe she still had a lot to save, but she was confident she would get there eventually. Besides, that wasn’t the only thing she wanted to obtain; there were also various items and techniques she had in mind, all inspired by the hundreds of stories she had read and watched over the years.

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She might not just focus on using electricity; she would be lying if she said she didn’t like the idea of a more mixed style. Maybe she’d get a sword, a scythe, a huge mechanized and futuristic hammer, or even shoot lasers... It was too much; she had too many options, and it was almost overwhelming to think about it in detail.

Kazue spent who knows how much more time checking the store—perhaps hours; it was hard to tell in that place—until she finally had enough for the moment and decided to close the shopping window, satisfied with everything she had found. What should she try next? Oh, right, her status window; she had almost forgotten. It was the window many of her heroes had, where they could see all their progress and statistics.

“Status window, open!”

Said the girl aloud as she used a finger to summon her status. It wasn’t really necessary to say it out loud, and she knew that, but she enjoyed the idea of shouting the skill name when she was going to use it. It felt very cool, and the most concrete proof she had was Jin, who had shouted the names of the spells he used. Maybe in his case, it was a requirement, but it didn't matter; it was awesome anyway.

⌠Name: Kazue Rima⌡ ⌠Age: 19⌡ ⌠Species: Human - Rank F⌡ ⌠Points: 0⌡ ⌠Potential: F⌡ ⌠Titles: None⌡ ⌠Skills:⌡ ⌠Analyze Lv1⌡ ⌠Thunder Piercing Hand Lv1⌡ ⌠Treasures:⌡ ⌠Thunder energy battery (Consumable) - Rank F⌡

“Hmm… There isn’t like attribute stats or something like that?”

After viewing her data, a hint of disappointment crossed Kazue's face, as she had expected a table of numbers for each of her attributes, like in many manhwas she had read. However, just thinking about it, an additional message appeared on her status screen.

⌠Accessing the "statistics" tab⌡ ⌠Error: The user does not have a skill that allows converting intangible data into alphanumeric values.⌡

“Oh?”

Wow, it looks like there is a way to see what she wanted, although she can’t access it yet. What skill allows you to view that information? Despite spending a lot of time browsing the store, she didn’t waste any time going back to search again, trying all the combinations she could think of in the search bar, but she didn’t find anything concrete. Hmm, maybe she should ask Adam—after all, he has those strange eyes that let him see additional information. Yes, that seems like the best option.

Kazue began to tremble slightly and hugged herself tightly, as if she were suddenly very cold, even though the lobby temperature was quite pleasant. She couldn't help but curl up with her legs drawn in, trying to hold back tears and the fear she felt.

She remained in that position for what felt like an eternity, whether it was seconds or minutes, until the sound of a door opening startled her so much that she almost jumped to her feet, nearly tripping over herself.

“Huh? Kazue?”

“Yes!”

Barely able to maintain her balance, Kazue turned to see that the person who had come out was Drake. He looked surprised not only after seeing her outside but also at her reaction.

"Are you okay?"

“Yes, yes, I'm totally fine haha”

The atmosphere grew quite awkward quickly, so Kazue tried to find something to say to divert attention.

"Now that you're here, will you help me test something? Haha!"

“O-okay?”

One thing led to another, and Kazue finally managed to convince her companion to supervise her while she used the technique she had purchased. Although the battery that would provide the energy only had two charges, it was better to understand how it worked so she could use the second one wisely.

“Ready?”

The girl said as she held the [Thunder Energy Battery] in her right hand and pressed the activation button. She immediately felt a tingling sensation from the object that began to spread throughout her body, so she wasted no time shouting the name of her technique at the top of her lungs.

“Thunder Piercing Hand!”

For a brief moment, it seemed that everything had worked, as a surge of crackling energy quickly accumulated into a mass of electricity right in the girl’s hand, something both of them watched in amazement. However, almost immediately, a tremendous pain surged through Kazue's arm and then her entire body.

“Aaaahhh!”

At the scream of pain, the girl bent over so much that she began to collapse to the floor as her skill deactivated. Her consciousness faded almost immediately, and the last thing she saw was Drake rushing toward her with an extremely horrified expression, shouting her name. What had happened?

When she finally opened her eyes, she realized she was in a room she didn’t recognize, lying on a bed that wasn’t hers, surrounded by… Nothing. There was little else besides the bed, doors likely leading to a bathroom and another room, and an open door leading to the lobby.

“Whew, I was scared thinking something might have happened to you.”

Next to her was Drake, sitting in a small wooden chair and watching her worried. Did this mean that this was his room?

“Wait, what? What am I doing here?!”

Slowly misunderstanding the situation, the girl became frightened and moved backward, rolling off the mattress to touch the floor again.

"Why was I in your bed? Did you do something to me?!"

“WHAT? Oh God no, no, don’t you remember? You fainted after trying your skill”

Drake looked completely scandalized by the accusation, frantically shaking his hands to deny having done anything. This at least gave Kazue time to calm down and think more clearly despite the initial confusion. Yes, now that she remembered, she had tried using her technique, which had caused her sharp pain, so intense that she lost consciousness.

"I tried to take you to your room, but the door wouldn't open, so I had no choice but to bring you here. But seriously, you've just been lying down and recovering. The door has always been open, I swear."

"Okay, okay, I understand. Don’t worry... I just want to know what happened."

Now that the initial shock had passed, Kazue noticed that her right arm was still somewhat numb. Although she didn’t feel pain, it was still difficult to move it fully.

"Well, according to what Mr. Li told me when I knocked on his door for help, your body couldn’t handle that amount of electricity from your technique, so basically, you electrocuted yourself. But don't worry, when he saw you, he said it wasn't serious since your skill deactivated immediately, so he compared it to sticking a finger in an electrical outlet, pretty much."

“Oh… Well, that sucks”

It seemed there was much more complexity than what met the eye, but that was alright; blunders like these were normal for heroes in every story, after all. After a few more minutes of conversation, Kazue left the blonde’s room and headed to her own, understanding and appreciating that no one could enter another’s room without permission.

Once inside, she focused on eating a bit more and seriously thinking things through. By "seriously thinking," she meant daydreaming again about what she could do with her electric technique. Despite the significant disadvantage she faced at the moment, she had seen that she had indeed managed to use it. She, the ordinary and simple Kazue, had wielded a power that only existed in her wildest fantasies.

Hours later, her arm was fully recovered, and she had changed into new clothes—shorts and a t-shirt ideal for easier movement. She opened her room door and took a deep breath, taking in the start of another great adventure and the new people who had appeared in the lobby. She couldn't imagine another place she’d rather be than right there.