Chapter 1: A New Life With New Little Sisters! (2)
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Would you like to use Mysterious Lottery?
Warning! The ability will enter 100 hours cool-down period!
Yes ←
No
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The notification popped up in Haru's field of vision right after he wanted to activate the Mysterious Lottery.
Haru carefully weighed his options for a while before choosing the 'Yes' option.
Then, another notification popped up in his field of vision.
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You have used Mysterious Lottery!
You have obtained A Random Prize!
A Random Prize has been stored in the Item Box!
Mysterious Lottery has entered a cool-down period: 100 hours until the cool-down ends!
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'I wonder what I have gotten,' Haru wondered and turned his attention to his Item Box.
Then, Haru realized that he didn't know how to access Item Box. Thankfully, the system sent the information into his brain directly. At the very least, this time wasn't as painful as the time he got his predecessor's memory.
After Haru's headache subsided, he closed his eyes and accessed his Item Box according to the information that he'd received.
At first, Haru's field of vision was dominated by vast darkness. But, the next moment, ever-shifting colors replaced the pitch darkness. Haru understood that he'd successfully accessed the interior of Item Box.
Haru turned his attention to the only item floating in Item Box and discovered that it was a glass vial, which contained unknown glowing white liquid.
As Haru 'Appraised' the suspicious liquid, new information appeared in his mind. The unpleasant yet bearable sensation assaulted his head, but he endured it without problems. He had adapted to the inconvenience of a sudden rush of information.
'Large-sized Liquid EXP, huh? It grants one hundred points of EXP. How many level-ups can I get with one hundred points?'
Haru felt curious. He then summoned the vial of liquid EXP into the real world.
The item disappeared from the Item Box, and Haru heard something dropped on the floor. He opened his eyes in a hurry and felt relieved when the vial wasn't broken.
Haru took the vial and raised it in front of his eyes. 'As I thought, this stuff looks like glowing semen, huh? Wait! The hell am I thinking? Let's forget about it! I hope that it has a good taste, at least,' Haru thought before uncorking the vial stopper.
Haru smelled the liquid and found that the smell reminded him of regular milk. He kept his wary gaze on the glowing white liquid for some time before gathering his resolve, after which he drank the content of the vial in one gulp.
"Huh? It tastes like normal milk," Haru muttered under his breath, pleasantly surprised by the taste. He felt stupid for his misgivings.
Then, several notifications popped up in Haru's field of vision.
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Level Up! You're now Level 2! You obtained 5 Stat Points!
Level Up! You're now Level 3! You obtained 5 Stat Points!
Level Up! You're now Level 4! You obtained 5 Stat Points!
Level Up! You're now Level 5! You obtained 5 Stat Points!
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You have unlocked a new Job's Ability!
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Haru became dumbfounded. However, he quickly snapped out of his shock and accessed his Status Board.
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[Status Board]
Haruka Kasugano — Human — Male — 16 (February 5th)
Job: Protagonist — Level: 5/10 — EXP: 50/0
Stats — STR: 0.7 — VIT: 0.8 — DEX: 0.9 — INT: 1.2 — MAG: (Locked)
Stats Points: 25
Status Effect: Not Available
…
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Haru's attention lingered on his Level and EXP. He felt curious about the increase of EXP per Level's increment and then did quick math.
After Haru did the quick math, he found that the required EXP at Level 2 were 20 points, 30 points at Level 3, and the increment was ten with each level up. At Level 5, he needed 50 points of EXP.
Haru predicted that he would need 60 EXP at Level 6, 70 EXP at Level 7, and so on until 100 EXP at Level 10.
Haru wrapped up the matter concerning his Level and EXP and turned his attention on the next thing.
'Next, my new ability.'
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Job's Abilities: Plot Armor
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'Plot Armor, huh?'
Haru unconsciously made a wry smile when he saw the name of his new ability. He felt that the god who killed him and gave him this system was making fun of him.
After regaining his composure, Haru 'Appraised' his new ability.
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[Plot Armor]
Protagonists are creatures who have an extraordinary destiny; they always have something called Plot Armor. This ability affects the reality to increase good luck, survival chance in a life-and-death situation, and the probability of the fated encounters. However, there are always downsides to balance the upsides. There will be troubles and moments of foolishness and tunnel vision that happens at random.
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After appraising his new ability, Haru's impression of Plot Armor drastically changed. Although it had such a stupid sounding name and troublesome downsides, it actually was an overpowered ability.
Admittedly, Haru had mixed feelings about it.
Although the upsides of Plot Armor were ridiculously good, its downsides were concerning. Granted, all protagonists had their stupid moments and always got into trouble. But, Haru preferred if he had no such problems.
'Well, it is a good skill to have, in spite of its downsides. I only need to be careful in the future. Anyway, I do need that good luck since I am in a pinch now. Without luck at my side, I can't live together with Sora and Suzuka because of many things to consider! Mostly, it is money! Of course, it is always money! Either it is in my previous world or this new world, you need money to live! Goddammit!'
Haru's mood instantly soured when he remembered his present situation.
In truth, Haru didn't only assimilate Haruka Kasugano's memory; he had also absorbed his predecessor's experiences and feelings. Due to that, he also experienced his predecessor's sadness when Mr. and Ms. Kasugano died.
In fact, their funeral happened only a few days ago. They died in a traffic accident around two weeks ago.
The memory was still fresh in Haru's mind.
Haru was an orphan in his past life. He lived alone and had no family to support him. The staff of the orphanages only fulfilled the bare minimum of their responsibility and didn't really care about their wards. They only cared about their wages.
Because of that, Haru had grown up into an extremely independent boy.
At this moment, Haru had new memories where he experienced the warmth and happiness of a family. However, he was unable to experience it directly.
Haru felt that it was very unfair!
In addition, Haru inherited his predecessor's feelings for his sisters. He loved both Sora and Suzuka romantically, and it complicated things!
"Haaah~" Haru sighed out of frustration and resignation, "Nothing changes even if I complain. What's important is how I should tackle the problem in front of me."
Haru really had it hard. Right after starting his new life, he had to deal with such troublesome matters.
"Very well, then. I will use my free time to find a way to support my family. So, the problem is money. We only have our inheritance and money from insurance. However, it won't be enough. I need money to pay our living expenses and Suzuka's school tuition fee."
Haru recalled that the monthly rent of his family apartment was ¥350,000, heat, water, cable, Wi-Fi, gas, and electric bills included. However, it might go up all of a sudden.
Then, there was Suzuka's school tuition fee. Haru discovered that Suzuka attended a prestigious all-girls school called Hakuo Academy. It was the same school that Suzuka Nagami attended in 'My Sister, My Writer!'
In fact, Sora had attended this school before the death of their parents. She had been in 10th grade, while Suzuka was still in 9th grade. Meanwhile, Haru's predecessor had once attended a public high school near his apartment.
"Sora and I have dropped out of our schools, and it helped us with our finance. However, the main problem is Suzuka's tuition fee. It's expensive."
Haru decided to think of other things. Nothing would change even if he whined and threw temper-tantrum.
"After my predecessor dropped out of school, he had a fight with Suzuka because she wanted to transfer to a cheaper school. However, my predecessor strongly opposed to it. Well, in the end, she agreed to continue attending Hakuo Academy after their fight."
Haru had to agree with his predecessor that it was a pity if Suzuka transferred to another junior high school.
Suzuka was already in her last year. She would face the national exam soon, and the stress from moving into a new environment could affect the results of her test.
Haru wanted the best result for his new precious people.
"Although Sora and I dropped out of school, I still need to make money to support our lives, huh? What kind of job I can do," Haru mused loudly while looking around his room.
Suddenly, Haru stopped his at his study table; on there was his laptop. He had an idea after he recalled his past life hobby and the plot of 'My Sister, My Writer!'
"Perhaps, I can become a Novelist?" Haru contemplated carefully.
Haru was aware that famous light novel writers were quite wealthy because of the royalty of their works. If Haru could write a good story that attracted many loyal readers and fans, he could get enough money to support his family.
"Firstly, I need to survey the ACG industry of this world. After all, this world is an alternate version of my previous world. Maybe, I will discover something interesting," Haru mused as he approached his desk.