The Anime Trope System: Stone vs. Viper # 1, a LitRPG. (ATS) Read online

Work under: Your hostile detection isn’t high enough for this nor do you know the information to fill this in.

  Special: Your hostile detection isn’t high enough for this. Trial and error is your only method of finding out. Ouch.

  Weakness: Your hostile detection isn’t high enough for this, doofus. You’re stuck with trial and error.

  Resistances: See above.

  Secret: Your hostile detection, luck, and will isn’t high enough for this.

  Clyde sighed then made a run for it. He’d be stupid to attempt to take on a freaking level fourteen guy with his pathetic stats. What if he had a gun?

  "Hey!" the man shouted behind him. "Dammit. I’ll see you again. And I’ll fuck you up, kid. No one humiliates us."

  Clyde let out a breath of relief as the bus door closed behind him. His phone buzzed. Chika. She thanked Clyde for the advice. She no longer had to marry. Her father even apologized in tears. She asked Clyde for his address.

  "Why?" Clyde said, curious.

  "I want to stop by to see you and thank you in person. I also need someone to try the new sweets I made."

  Clyde shrugged, not seeing the harm in it. Besides, a girl coming to visit him? What could possibly stroke his ego harder?

  "Sure, I guess," he said then gave her the address.

  "I’ll be over in a few."

  Episode 3 (Part 2)

  Sure enough, ten minutes after he got home, there was a knock on his door. He answered. The pretty girl smiled as she stepped in, first leaving her shoes at the door.

  "Welcome to my man cave," Clyde said. "It’s not much but make yourself at home I guess."

  "Not much?" Chika said as she sat a plastic bag of desserts on the counter. "This is nice. Are you hiding out on everyone?"

  Clyde chuckled but changed the subject. He made sure his footing was correct, hands in pocket, and in a position to prevent any awkward anime falls or groping. He would not be some dopy main character. He still had a personality, so that had to mean something right? Did he have a personality?

  He eyed the bag of sweets. His enemy. The diet killer. He wasn’t overly health conscious, but as an athlete, limitations existed. Besides, if he started with one, he’d probably eat another and another and another.

  "I see you and I have an eye in common," Chika said in his ear, causing him to blush.

  "Sorry," Clyde said then laughed slightly nervously. "No lunch."

  That wasn’t a lie.

  "Let’s order a pizza then," Chika said. "If you don’t mind celebrating a new friendship and all that lame jizz."

  He heard his wallet scream. Before he could object, Chika continued. "I know a place that will bring us one for free. Any move to impress my dad."

  "Well if you insist," Clyde said then sat down in the living room. "Take it away. Anyone that offers free food is a friend to me." He grinned. Chika laughed then sent out a few texts.

  [Your relationship with Chika has changed from curious to friend.]

  Clyde felt a little strange. He broke the slice of life thing, preventing Harumi from being imposed on him, but he did like her. She was kind. Treated him with hospitality no one has ever done for him until getting to know him. Gentle spirit.

  Of course, he wasn’t stupid enough to invite her over like some idiot. Girls had their pride too. Both she and Chika would probably feel insulted if he pulled an arrogant move like that. He needed allies and friends to get home. Not enemies.

  Chika sat beside him. Close. Like, beyond the "just friends" space, breaking the personal bubble. Her perfume was hypnotic. One could smell the expensiveness of it. Clyde’s anime trope senses rang. Oh well.

  "You’re different from everyone else," Chika said, gray eyes twinkling with joy. "No one…no one ever reached out to help before. They make assumptions, never take the time to actually get to know me. They let my father’s reputation shape up their image of me, like I’m some spoiled brat. But you were kind with your words. Offered to even let me stay here, a complete stranger. That’s why…I’d like to get to know you. If you don’t mind. I don’t really have any friends here because of my father."

  Clyde felt bad for her, but he refused to show her some look of pity. That’s not what she needed.

  "If you give me the honor, then I’d love to be your first and finest," he said then grinned.

  She gave him a sly smile.

  "Finest. Well, you’re doing pretty good in that department."

  Clyde sighed. Chika laughed then leaned over toward him. To Clyde’s annoyance, the doorbell sounded, breaking the moment. His heart pounded. He could imagine the awkwardness if that turned out to be the Harumi.

  "Hello," a feminine voice said. A voice that definitely sounded identical to Harumi’s. Shit. Shit, shit, shit.

  "I’ll answer," Clyde said. Chika gave him a playful pouty face but she stood too.

  "Let’s pretend to be a hyped-up married couple," she said.

  Before Clyde could object—because he strongly wanted to object—she grabbed his arm, walking him to the door. To his relief it was simply a delivery girl.

  "Here you go."

  The duo watched a couple of movies and talked, getting to know each other. Clyde didn’t tell her about his paranormal encounter that got him in this situation, but he gave out vague truths. She did push him for as much possible. Sometimes as if she just wanted to hear him talk.

  Chika told a nice chunk without involving a single thing about her father. She used to be apart of a garage band, just for fun, before moving to Satovia. Her two old friends still talk to her every now and then, even visited, but in this city, she felt alone.

  [Your relationship with Chika has changed from friend to friend- closer level 1. Warning, advancing beyond this point will dramatically increase sexual tension. Getting closer to any other female will be difficult if Chika is present at level 2 or higher. Jealousy can lead to dangerous or hilarious situations. Whatever tickles your thrill seeking. Take caution if jealousy levels are high.]

  Chika leaned over and whispered something into Clyde’s ear. He’d ask himself later why he was letting an anime girl get him excited. As she moved in for the starting kiss which promised more, her phone rang. She frowned as she answered.

  "Yeah. I know. I’m on the way. He’s a friend. Goes to my…okay…whatever. You did?" She sighed. "Fine, fine." She hung up. "Apparently there’s a cab waiting for me outside."

  "Worrywart parents?"

  "Yep. Gave me the ‘young college girl shouldn’t be at some guy’s house this late’ speech." Chika stood up, quickly kissed Clyde on the cheek then started for the door. She turned to him. "See you in class tomorrow?"

  "Of course."

  When Chika left, Clyde internally questioned himself. What the fuck was he doing? Allowing himself to get seduced by an anime girl? Sure, she was nearly irresistible, especially up close, and if the phone call didn’t happen, he’d have a story that could never be told to friends. They’d accuse him of playing with himself to hentai.

  Even if he did progress his relationship with the anime girl, he’d return to his dimension. She shouldn’t devote her time to someone who was only in this world temporarily.

  Clyde looked at the time. Eight. Time to go see if the monster appearances are true.

  He held out his hand and willed his sword out of his inventory, into his grasps then took off. The empty streets gave him chills. It felt like this place changed into something else entirely. A battlefield or dead zone—Clyde wasn’t sure.

  [Quest: Defeat one monster. Accept? Reward: $50.]

  He selected yes in his head. Despite accepting the task, he didn’t see anything. After fifteen minutes of walking down the dead streets, he decided to just go home. That’s when he felt the sense of danger.

  Click. Click. Click.

  He turned and saw…something in the distance. A shadow approached him slowly, head tilted to the side, moving step by step, muttering something. It took Clyde a moment to make out what it said.
/>   Episode 3 (Part 3)

  "Smells nice…. smells nice…hungry…smells nice."

  "Fuck this," Clyde snarled but for some reason he didn’t feel terrified… He was certain he would’ve taken off running like a normal person. Why did…Oh, his combat abilities.

  When the shadow stepped under a streetlight, he made out its features.

  It appeared be a puppet-like thing, about six feet tall with grotesque features, torn clothes, and wicked claws. Its head looked like a pumpkin with human eyes crying tears of blood. Razor sharp teeth paraded in its mouth. A snake-like tongue wiggled out, tasting the air. Tasting him. As if things weren’t obvious enough, the red outline of radiation was perfectly visible around it. Clyde analyzed it.

  Pumko.

  Level 3

  Type: monster.

  Work under: N/A

  Special: Your hostile detection isn’t high enough for this.

  Weakness: Your hostile detection isn’t high enough for this. Trial and error will do.

  Resistances: See above.

  Secret: Your hostile detection, luck, and will isn’t high enough for this.

  Clyde was really tired of the hostile detection restrictions. He needed to level it up as fast as possible or he’d be entering battles blindly. He unsheathed his sword and took aim.

  [You have entered combat!]

  Clyde dashed toward it, efficiently and quickly, and swung his sword. He surprised himself at his movements—just knowing—connecting the slash.

  [Enemy health dropped to 60%]

  The monster screeched then took a swipe at Clyde. He dodged, only taking a grazing, but the stinging pain reminded the young man that this wasn’t a game. The prompt revealed to him the enemy’s activation of a skill.

  [Enemy activates blistering howl.]

  The pumko let out a deafening howl that made Clyde instinctively cover his ears.

  [Your defense has dropped by 10%]

  The creature took that opportunity to swat Clyde. But it wasn’t a mere tap. The impact sent the young man flying a few yards. He hit the ground, stunned.

  [Your health is now at 80%.]

  The monster laughed.

  "Smells nice. So nice. Hungry."

  Clyde quickly got up, his fear of being chomped by this thing snapping him into full alert. As if matters weren’t bad enough, the thing blocked his sword. Clyde would have to fight it unarmed. He aimed one hand at it.

  [Activated energy ball.]

  This seemed to surprise the monster, as its eyes widened as the ball of energy rocketed toward it. It was the like a miniature sun, the size of a basketball. It hit with an impact strong enough to knock the monster over.

  [Enemy health dropped to 15%]

  [Your MP is now 80%.]

  Clyde wanted to activate energy ball again but noticed that it was grayed out within his head. A timer hovered above the text. Less than two minutes remained on the cooldown. Fuck. He shouldn’t be surprised that an attack this powerful with a knockback effect had limitations. Maybe if he leveled up more, the cooldown would reduce to nothing.

  He raced to his sword, scooped it up, and then plunged it through the monster’s skull before it had the chance to get back up. The monster burst into a purplish flame then vanished. A prompt made Clyde smile.

  [Battle completed. Victory! Reward: 100 EXP and $20.]

  [Congratulations, you have reached level 5! Stats increased! You have learned Roundhouse kick.]

  [Quest completed!]

  Clyde was about to take off when someone spoke behind him

  "To think someone gifted was my neighbor."

  He turned to see Harumi standing with her arms folded. He was a little surprised that she smiled at him.

  "It seems like I won’t have to fight those things on my own anymore. "

  "I kind of want no part of this," Clyde said, backing away. "But I wasn’t going to stand there and let it kill me."

  "I saw the entire fight," Harumi continued. "You’re among the gifted. Well…your power is different, almost foreign, as if you’re from another world. But that’s why I think if trained, you’ll be a force of nature. I’d love your help to make this city safe again."

  The minute she mentioned the good cause, Clyde relaxed. But…there’s no way this low-leveled…. when he analyzed her, his eyes widened.

  Harumi

  Level 15

  Type: gentle spirit.

  Relationship: friendly-associate

  HP: 90%

  MP: 40%

  Stats: Relationship isn’t high enough.

  Special abilities: Relationship isn’t high enough.

  Skills: how many times do I have to tell you, relationship isn’t high enough, you dolt.

  His eyes widened.

  "How are you so strong?"

  The pink-haired anime girl smiled.

  "You can read power I see." She winked. "I hide mine during the day to seem as harmless as possible."

  Clyde nodded.

  "If you don’t mind having a burden at your side."

  "Burden? Clyde, the magic you used is very rare. Maybe even lost." She gave him a glance over. "Meet me here tomorrow at eight. The best way to train is to keep killing those things. There are many demons out there and some of them are incredibly powerful. If we can locate the demon lord of the city, they’ll disappear."

  "Demons," Clyde said softly. "So, the demon appearances are due to demon lords. Stomp it out and we’re clear?"

  "Pretty much," Harumi said. "That won’t stop another from taking root though. In the meantime, we just keep getting stronger."

  "Have you ever faced one?"

  "No, but an old friend of mine told me she did before she moved," Harumi said. "She was the one that taught me everything I needed to know.... anyway, it’s getting late. Let’s head back. Tomorrow, we start strong. Also, good work on buying that awesome sword."

  [Harumi has joined your party! Know this, companions are very important. You have their back and they have yours. Do not go into battle without them.]

  That night, a smile curled across Clyde’s face. His stats were shaping up into something amazing. Soon, he’d drop noob-hood for something impressive.

  Name: Clyde.

  Level: 5

  Type: Main character/ Stone.

  HP: 100%

  MP: 100%

  Attack: 12 (+5)

  Defense: 10

  Speed: 14

  Luck: 9

  Will: 12

  Intellect: 17

  Form: 0

  Special: ???

  Special Abilities: none.

  Skills:

  - Athlete: 10% bonus to speed and Will. [Passive].

  -Hostile Detection 1: detects hostiles within a certain range of you. [Passive].

  -Heart Protection 1: you’re 25% less affected by unwanted mental magic or skills from enemies. You gain a 10% bonus to your ability to convince others to do anything that would protect their hearts. [Passive].

  - Secret sword and martial arts combination. Random unknown increases to speed, defense, and will during battle. Chance to critical increases by 2%. [Passive].

  -Round house kick. [Attack] – does physical damage. Change of knockdown at 5%.

  Combat level: basic. Combat style: basic.

  Magic:

  -Energy Ball. Type: spiritual. Class: mysterious.

  Talent:

  Main character stuff.

  Bonus:

  10% boost to relationship stats with Harumi and her friends.

  +5% damage for a physical attack.

  Inventory:

  $ 103

  -Map of Lot City, Satovia.

  -Smartphone.

  -Key.

  -Reminder for practice- note.

  Equipment:

  -Beginner’s sword- +5 to attack.

  -School uniform or casual clothes.

  -School shoes or casual shoes.

  -no accessory.

  -no rings.

  Classes: (year
1).

  -Satovia History 1.

  -Romance Literature 1.

  -Sciences 1.

  -Crafting 1.

  Phone numbers:

  -Chika.

  -Harumi.

  Quest log:

  -Find a printer. Optional step: raise money.

  Episode 4 (part 1): Charisma girl x Magical girl

  Wednesday. Week 1. Year 1.

  [You have triggered nightmarish sleep. Hidden stat: paranoia increased by 25% Defense down by 10% Attack increased by 7% Speed increased by 5% Will increased by 5% Special defense down by 15% Luck down by 3% Hidden stat: Composure down by 5% Hidden stat: Evasion up by 1%]

  [Let it be known that hidden stats will be revealed by their trigger conditions or if someone triggers them within a vicinity of you. You have only revealed a taste of the hidden stats.]

  [Quest: Meet with Harumi at 8PM. This quest is mandatory and cannot be refused.]

  Clyde felt like a shitty combination of sore, tired, and annoyed. Why are there hidden stats? Who came up with such a painfully inconvenient system? He stretched but then noticed a large round shape beneath his blankets. He felt his blood drain. What could it be? Should he just slip away? He felt paranoia rack his brain, threatening to make him burn down his entire apartment. Sweat trickled down his chin. He breathed deeper. What could be beneath the covers? A monster hellbent on avenging a buddy? The Viper turning out to be something disgusting and cruel and frightening?

  His will snapped back into play, fixing the lost composure with some reliable logic. Well, reliable in this world. His hostile detection detected nothing.