Chapter 59: Dream

Seiji opened his system after hanging up on Chiaki .

Thanks to all the extra unexpected points he received from his new [gifts] option, he had managed to gather the 75 points required for activating the [Bullet Time] skill tonight!

Compared to [actions], it seemed quite easy to rack up the points using [gifts] . . . Should he attempt to become a popular idol for real?

Seiji imagined what the hypothetical scenario would be in his mind . He would have to sing and dance passionately on stage, act in deep, emotional scenes on television, and he'd be surrounded by fans at all times . . . and so on .

'Yep, I'd much rather just be an otaku!'

He resolved to follow his heart .

Even though he didn't particularly dislike the feeling of being admired, he decided against developing himself in this direction . He felt that he'd get tired of it eventually, and perhaps he'd even get depressed about it...

Seiji didn't want to make a living which relied on others' adulation .

The system was only supposed to be a cheat to help him live more comfortably . If he had to do things he didn't enjoy in order to obtain more points, then it wouldn't serve its purpose anymore .

It was much like trying to obtain a reward in some game and having to stay up all night grinding a certain level over and over again . The game would be playing you, instead of you playing the game .

Getting more points was indeed important, but doing the things he truly enjoyed came first . That was what Seiji wholeheartedly believed .

Well, it was all simply ordinary logic .

And now, he finally obtained the ability he had desired for so long .

Just like when he purchased and activated the [fighting] card, a swirl of light surrounded the card as it hovered in front of him . A black shadow facing countless silver bullets was depicted on the card .

Activate!

This time, Seiji was mentally prepared for what would happen next . He ground his teeth while laying on his bed as his brain absorbed the knowledge . . .

He regained consciousness some time later .

'This learning process kinda sucks . ' He rubbed his aching temple .

Seiji finally stood up and slowly observed his surroundings .

He could feel as if he'd changed imperceptibly . There was only one problem: how should he test out his new skill?

'I can't exactly go rushing into traffic to test myself against cars, can I . . . ?'

Seiji came up with an idea within several seconds .

He went to the kitchen in his apartment and took out a sharp vegetable knife, which flashed with a metallic glint .

Seiji took the knife to the middle of his room before taking a deep breath to prepare himself .

Then, he suddenly chucked the knife upwards!

The knife spun upwards at a high speed, almost reaching the ceiling before dropping back down towards Seiji .

Seiji concentrated fully on the falling knife .

A sudden burning sensation rushed through his body, activating his hidden potential .

[Bullet Time], activate!

[Bullet Time], activate!

A subtle electric shock coursed through his entire body .

After that, Seiji felt as if the rapidly descending knife was actually falling down in slow motion .

Just like how movies would slow action scenes down for audiences .

He could vividly detect each and every knife rotation; he could tell exactly where it would land, and he even swung his hand through the twirling knife successfully without getting injured!

It was just like what that triple sword user in One Piece could do .

But that character relied on astonishing luck, while Seiji relied on his newfound skill!

The knife was almost about to hit the floor as it came within centimeters of his right hand .

Seiji reached out with his foot and caught the knife handle with his toes right before the knife was about to hit the ground .

[Bullet Time] ended .

Seiji suddenly felt like his body became heavy, and his breathing turned labored . It was as if a switch had turned off part of the energy in his body .

So that was the price for using the [Bullet Time] limit break ability . . . Right after it ended, his body would be temporarily weakened for a period of time .

Well, as long as he rested properly, Seiji would quickly recover with his body's current strength level .

But if he activated [Bullet Time] again during his weakened state, it would sap even more of his energy afterwards .

Seiji figured that if he activated it many times in quick succession, it might even exhaust him to death!

But if he ever met with such a dangerous situation, he should probably just load as the main priority .

But if he ever met with such a dangerous situation, he should probably just load as the main priority .

At any rate, just like the [fighting] card's activation, this skill was even stronger than Seiji expected, making him feel like he'd received a good deal!

Of course it was a good deal! It was because Seiji was able to obtain it for half-price—75 instead of 150 points!

So, no matter what, this was an excellent exchange .

Seiji opened up his system again, filled with self-satisfaction .

Unlike when he purchased the [fighting] card, no new options appeared in his system .

This was within Seiji's expectations; after all, [Bullet Time] was simply a skill card that was also a reward, not a skill tree activation card . If he wanted new abilities such as [Bullet Time lvl . 2], he'd probably have to complete a specific action or become stronger to unlock it .

Seiji began thinking about the next ability to exchange for after confirming that no new options had appeared .

'Should I continue increasing my fighting prowess or begin improving something else? Considering what I might face in the future, perhaps it'll be reassuring to raise my combat ability, but . . . '

Even with the new [gifts] option, Seiji still felt like he wasn't accumulating points quickly enough .

Rather than continuing to increase his skills in the [fighting] ability tree, perhaps he should activate more skill trees instead, so that he could have additional [actions] in order to grind points quicker, resulting in more skills at a faster pace . . . ?

"This is almost like a strategy game... Should I recruit a stronger army and increase my military strength, or do I increase my economic production, so that I can hire a higher-level army in the future . . . A decision like that," Seiji muttered to himself .

He recalled a vastly time-consuming famous strategy game from his previous life .

The game had been wonderfully intricate with numerous development strategies . Every move the player took would have an effect later down the road .

The sense of instant accomplishment the game had on gamers would make them unable to stop themselves from playing once they got hooked!

"Just one more turn . . . Eh, when did it get light outside?" This was a phrase that became popular due to the game's influence .

Seiji had played that game in his past life as well . Not very deeply, but he knew the basics .

"Just one more turn . . . Eh, when did it get light outside?" This was a phrase that became popular due to the game's influence .

Seiji had played that game in his past life as well . Not very deeply, but he knew the basics .

At any rate, he believed that even though such a game had many choices, there were only two major directions—obtaining strength immediately, or accumulating resources in order to become stronger at a later point in time .

In that game, he always chose the latter option .

As for the current situation . . . Seiji glanced at his system indecisively . Finally, he came to a decision .

'I don't know what's going to happen in the future, so there's no way I could make the right decision .

In that case, I might as well just do what I originally preferred to do in the first place!'

Besides, he could simply make a save file at this point in time . He had prepared himself .

'Next, I'm going to exchange for the [academics—writing activation card] . '

Seiji's [academics] stat had reached a high number as he'd grinded for points .

He was full of hopes for what might happen to him after he activated the [writing] ability!

If he had the skill, he wanted to write his own novels . . . light novels!!

Novels which weren't from his previous world; he wanted to create brand-new stories that were completely his own—ones that everybody loved reading!!!

Instead of simply being a reader, Seiji desired to author one of his favorite mediums . This was one of Seiji's unrealized dreams from his previous life .

In this new world, he absolutely had to realize his dream!

Otherwise, what difference would there be from his previous life an ordinary, unremarkable person!?

'On Earth, I was merely an idle fish at the bottom of the lake, and now . . . it's time for me to go ashore . ' Seiji's grin grew wider as he considered the endless possibilities the future held .