Exploration
Exploring the village is not as excited as I thought it would be. There are interesting landmarks like the Hokage Monument and the giant fire statue in the cemetery but everything else just looks like an old fashioned Japanese town mixed with some modern technology like electricity and light bulbs. It does have its own charm but I thought the village will be more… fantasy-like.
After a while, I got bored exploring the village so I start to test out some things on the Game. The first thing I did was try to see if I can access the Game without speaking out loud.
'Store.' I think loudly in my head.
[Store:
Items
Skills
Bloodline
GP - 100]
'Oh, right I got 100 GP from the starter package. Let's see what the store has to offer then.' I click on the Items section.
[Items:
100 Ryo - 1 GP
1,000 Ryo - 10 GP
10,000 Ryo - 100 GP
Set of Kunai - 10 GP
Set of Shuriken - 10 GP
…
Lucky Draw Card - 50,000 GP
Kubikiribocho - 700,000 GP
Samehada - 1,000,000 GP
Benihisago - 10,000,000 GP
…]
There are a lot of items but all the interesting one cost more than I currently have. Not to mention all the more powerful items like the Seven Swords of the Mist or the Six Path Sacred Treasures cost way too much. Let's see what the skills shop have to offer.
[Skills:
Substitution - 10 GP
Transformation - 10 GP
Clone - 10 GP
…
Observe - 500 GP
Eidetic Memory - 1,000 GP
Shadow Clone - 10,000 GP
Multi Shadow Clone - 50,000 GP
…
Strength of 100 Seal - 900,000 GP
Flying Thunder God - 1,000,000 GP
…
Perfect Stealth - 100,000,000 GP]
When I saw the price for Perfect Stealth, I almost yell in shock before I remember that I'm in the middle of a street and calm myself down. Still, like the items, all the useful skills are really expensive. All of the skills and Jutsu look good but after looking through it, the least expensive one I want to get is Observe and Eidetic Memory. Even then I still don't have enough GP.
'Game, how can I get more GP?'
[GP can be earned from Lucky Draw, Quest, and by trading Ryo.]
I don't have any Lucky Draw and I don't have any quest yet.
'How much GP would I get if I traded in my Ryo?'
[10,000 Ryo will get 50 GP]
'50? I can get 10,000 Ryo by using 100 GP but I can only get 50 GP using 10,000 Ryo?'
[It's set up to prevent the Gamer from taking advantage of the Store function.]
'Taking advantage? How would I do that?'
[A set of Kunai can be sold from somewhere around 1,000 Ryo to 1,200 Ryo.]
'...'
I haven't even think about doing that yet and the Game already created countermeasures for it. I guess trying to exploit this Game will be harder than other Gamer systems I read about.
Since the good skills and items are expensive, I wonder if I can get them without buying them. I mean I can probably learn Jutsu so I can probably get other skills like Observe by trying to observe things.
I pick up a random stone from the ground and observe it. I figure just looking at something isn't going to get me a skill so I try to see whatever I can figure out about the stone. Things like how much I think its weight, its size, and other things I can think of. After a minute of looking at the stone, I finally got it.
[Ding! Skill created
Observe - Find the basic stats, condition, and information of a target.]
[Stone - A small stone often found on the side of roadways.]
'YES!' I celebrate in my head. Don't want to suddenly yell out right now.
[Ding!
Hidden Quest Complete: Create a Skill
Reward: Substitution, Transformation, Clone, 200 GP]
'Sweet! And I got the 3 academy Jutsu too. I guess I won't need to pretend like I forgot the Jutsu just so I can ask a teacher or student about them.'
When I was done looking at my stats, I look up and spotted the back of a familiar looking girl hiding behind a pole.
'I wonder if… Observe.'
[Name: Hyuga Hinata
Age: 10
Rank: F
HP: 100%
CP: 100%
Kekkei Genkai: Byakugan
Vitality: F-
Strength: F-
Agility: F+
Chakra: F+
Chakra Control: F
The heiress of the Hyuga clan.]
'Wonder what she's doing here?' I look at what Hinata is looking at and see Naruto. 'So, she already started stalking Naruto.'
Thinking it'll be fun, I sneak up behind Hinata. I didn't use Perfect Stealth but with Hinata focused on Naruto, she didn't notice me getting near her.
"Boo." I said once right behind her.
"WAA!" Hinata yelled in surprise, almost falling forward but I caught her by the neck of her shirt.
"Hahahaha, you should be more careful. What if you fall and hurt yourself." I said as I put her down.
Hinata's face went bright red, she gave a small bow and said: "Thank you for your help."
I stared at her for a few seconds making her look a little uncomfortable.
"Umm… Is there something you need?" Hinata asks. She didn't stutter. I guess she only does that when she's near Naruto.
"So you thank the guy that almost made you fall by surprising you?"
Hinata looks confused for a second before remembering what happened. "Well… I… umm…" Her face went redder as she tries to think of something to say.
"Hahaha, I'm just messing with you." She relaxed a little after hearing me only to blush again when I ask "So what were you doing behind that pole?"
"Umm…" Hinata looks back at the spot where Naruto was to see no one there.
Her shoulders slump a little when she couldn't find him after looking for a while. She also seems to have forgotten that I'm here in her search for Naruto.
I stand right next to her looking at the spot she was looking at. "Are we looking for someone?"
"Waa!" Hinata jumps in surprised again when she heard me next to her. She blushes again after she noticed me. She gets embarrassed way to easily.
"You know, you should really pay more attention to your surroundings if you want to want to become a ninja."
"How do you know I'm going to be a ninja?"
"I…" Wait, 'Game, am I also attending the ninja academy too?'
[Yes, you are currently in the same class as Hyuga Neji and Rock Lee.]
'Oh,' "I saw you a few times at the academy. You're Hinata Hyuga right?"
"Umm… yes?" Hinata said, unsure.
"I'm J-... Sen Hiroki. You can call me Hiro. I'm in the same class as your cousin Neji." I introduce myself.
"Neji-niisan?"
"Yes, he talked about you a bit while in class."
"He did?" Hinata asked sounding a little happy.
"He always went on about how everything is fated to happen whenever he beat someone in a fight and about how you're weak whenever there is a conversation involving the Hyuga heir."
"Oh… that does sound like Nii-san." Hinata said dejectedly.
"Hey, don't be sad. Anyone will look weak if they are compared to a genius like Neji. Besides, you're younger than him so it's not uncommon for you to be weaker than him." I said trying to cheer her up.
"Yeah," Hinata said with a small smile before looking away but even I can tell that her smile was fake.
After a while, she looks back at me and asks "So, do you believe in what Nii-san talk about?"
"Yes, I believe that everyone has their own fate but unlike Neji, I also believe people can change their fate."
It seems to have caught her interest. "People can change their fate?"
"Yes, it'll be easy for some people and harder for others but fate is never set in stone."
"How do people change their fate?"
"There are many ways to change your fate but it all comes down to decisions and willpower. For example, imagine that you are the son or daughter of a farmer. When you're born, it will be fated for you to be a farmer like your parents but if you decide that you want to be a ninja instead, you can always ask your parents to send you to a ninja academy.
For some people, their parents will agree and their fate change from being a farmer to being a ninja but for others, their parents will deny them that chance due to the danger of being a ninja. That's where willpower comes in. If you don't have enough willpower and give up when you're parents say so. Then you won't be able to change your fate but if you work hard and train, someone will recognize your effort and help you become a ninja. Even if no one did, as long as you don't give up, when you're old enough to make your own decision, you can always go sign up as a ninja. If you keep up your training, then there is no chance for the village to reject you."
Hinata went quiet thinking about what I just said. After a while, she spoke up, "What if after all that, the village reject you?"
"They won't. Not unless you slack off on training, only saying that you want to change something but never actually doing anything about it won't change anything."
Hinata thinks about it again but she doesn't reply.
"You don't seem convinced." I said staring at her
She blushed and looked away "It..."
I cut her off, "Let me show you then. You see, Neji always goes on about how it's fated for him to be the top shinobi of our grade due to his background and talent. It's true since no one bothers to beat him or can't beat him at all but now that I met you, I decide to change that by becoming the top shinobi of my grade."
"Eh? Why?" Hinata asks tilting her head. She looks really cute like that.
"Because I want to prove a point." there is also the fact that I want to be on Guy's team but I won't tell her that.
She blinks, "That's it?"
"Also because you're cute and I want to get back at Neji for saying bad things about you." I tease her making redder than before. I didn't think someone can get that red.
I snap my fingers in front of her face to distract her otherwise she might faint from having too much blood going to her head. She hears the snap and turn to look at me only to quickly turn away again as she blushes. At least she's not in danger of passing out anymore.
I was going to say something else but a voice cuts me off.
"Hinata-sama!"