Author's note: Hey, sorry about the shorter chapter this time around. It's because we've been busy trying to get our new cover out! Hope you guys like it!

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“Wow, good job, Riley! I never knew you were a good fighter!”

Riley turned around to face Kyle, smiling as he did so.

“Well, I guess the reason why I never knew you were this strong is because I’ve never seen you fight. To think that all this while I’ve been trying to protect you from bullies. It just seems like I’ve been protecting them from you!”

Riley burst into laughter. He was extremely grateful to learn that Kyle had been protecting him the whole time they had been friends.

The bell started ringing. “Damn it, break’s already over! We have to run while eating!” Kyle took his sandwich wrapper and started running off to class. Riley smiled and followed suit.

“By the way, you talked differently while fighting those dead-weights.”

“It was just the heat of the moment. And that’s just how gamers talk. Got to release the saltiness somehow.”

“I see.”

"Also, it was a lot of fun."

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Riley spent the rest of school fantasizing about being the hero and saving the princess from the villain.

As the bell rang, signaling the end of school, Kyle and Riley said goodbye and parted ways.

Kyle headed home, whereas Riley eagerly headed to the baseball field for the session he had been looking forward to; baseball training. Entering the locker room, he greeted his teammates.

After getting changed, he went to the field together with the rest of his team. He was confident that [Blunt Weapon Proficiency] would help a lot with his batting.

After practicing a few shots with the pitcher, a window popped up.

“Due to the repetition of a certain action, the skill <Power Swing> has been gained!”

As soon as he saw the window, he called out to the pitcher and asked for a 5 minute break.

As he grabbed his bottle, he opened the “Skills” window to check out his new ability.

“<Power Swing> Active skill. When used, this skill will allow the user to swing an object at an increased speed and power of (20 (+50% of Strength))%. Mana cost 20.”

Riley smiled as he read the description. He was ready for more training, to level up both his [Blunt Weapon Proficiency] and his newly obtained <Power Swing>.

By the time training was over, he had managed to increase his [Blunt Weapon Proficiency] from level 3 to level 4, and his <Power Swing> up to level 3.

He had wanted to level up <Power Swing> even more, but his mana regeneration was much too slow for that.

After training, he stuffed his bat into his bag and started walking home. His body stiffly followed his usual path like an automaton. His mind was pondering the ways he could use his abilities to their maximum potential.

As he was walking, he took a turn into an alley, which was his usual shortcut. As he was still pondering, he felt a weird, but oddly familiar feeling going through his gut.

'What’s this feeling I’m getting? It popped up many times during the fight.'

“Through continued application of [Sense Danger], [Sense Danger]’s level went up by one!”

'I guess that answers the ques- Wait.'

The window pulled him back into reality, and he saw two men standing in front of him.

'Where did they come from? This doesn’t bode well for me. I should escape befo-'

As he turned back, he noticed a third man behind him. He stopped dead in his tracks. Riley placed his hand on the handle of his bat — which was sticking out of his backpack — yanked it out, and stretched his hands out in front of him, with his bat pointed upwards at an angle.

“Through a specific action, the skill <Quick Draw> has been learnt.”

He ignored this window and charged towards the sole thug in front of him. He would take on the other two later. In a fight where you were outnumbered, it was always best to strike first to try and even your odds.

As soon as he was in range, he executed <Power Swing>. The thug attempted to pull out a switchblade, but Riley proved to be faster. His attack was swift and powerful, instantly throwing the thug off his feet and into a conveniently-placed trash can.

'One down, Two to go!'

Without sparing another moment, he whipped his body around as fast as he could. He knew the other two would waste no time in attacking, considering he had a weapon. His suspicions proved to be correct.

'Two attacks again. Dejavu.'

He gripped his bat tightly, and waited for the perfect moment. The two remaining thugs were coming towards him at an incredible speed, one wielding a butterfly knife. Soon, after closing the gap to a mere meter, they split.

The unarmed thug on his right went for his bat, while the other attempted to stab him with the knife.

Just before they reached, Riley dropped his bat and dodged to the left. Thanks to [Dodge Step] he was able to avoid the knife. His bat, however, was in the hands of the thug, who was smirking.

Without breaking a sweat, Riley made his move. The thug who had tried to stab him had his left side wide open and had no time to react.

Riley <Power Punch>’ed him square in the face. This sent the thug flying back into a wall.

"Through continuous application, <Power Punch> has increased to level 2!"

Now he had to deal with the other one.

The thug charged at Riley, and swung wildly from the left.

Activating <Extreme Agility>, he caught the bat halfway with his left hand. Gripping tight, he punched the thug in the throat before tugging his bat away from the thug's grip.

Gasping for breath, he could see the thug's eyes widen with fear.

Before he could turn tail and run, Riley swung. The thug tried to block with his arm, but upon impact, both parties heard a loud crack.

"Fuck! You broke my arm!"

Riley picked up the butterfly knife that was lying on the floor.

"Your friend tried to stab me. Thanks for the knife by the way."

He gave the other thug a kick in the side for good measure before sprinting out of the alley. He had to get away in case anybody saw the fight and called the police, or the thugs still had some fight in them.

A window popped out, saying: “Battle ended. Experience gained: 120 exp.”

His EXP bar appeared, filling up from 100/122 to full, before resetting and filling up to 98/135.

“Congratulations, you have gained a new level! You are now level 4.”

“Nice!”

As he walked home, he summoned his stats and skill windows. He looked through his stats. He had nine skill points to spend. Neither his HP nor his MP had increased as of yet, remaining at 250 and 220 respectively.

'I probably have to increase my Vitality and Wisdom to increase my health and mana. Lame.'

Closing his stats window, he glanced at his skill window. He clicked on the second-latest icon, a head with buzz signs surrounding it; [Sense Danger].

It was a passive ability that would make him aware of people attacking him. The higher the skill level, the better he could detect malicious intent.

Oh, so that’s how I was able to notice attacks around me so easily. This ability, combined with [Dodge Step], makes for some serious awareness boosting.

As he approached his house, he smiled and thought to himself: Time for some serious training!

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Author’s Note:

Patch 7.0

- Rare Event

- New skill unlocked!

- <Power Swing> gained!

Name: Riley Petesgeralt

Age: 16

Job: The Roleplayer

Level: 4 (+1)

HP: 250

MP: 220

EXP: 98/135

Strength: 27

Dexterity: 23

Vitality: 25

Intelligence: 29

Wisdom: 22

Charisma: 25

Luck: 20

Skills:

Roleplayer’s Mind

Virtual Body

Analyze (Level 2)

Blunt Weapon Proficiency (Level 4) (+1)

Physical Endurance (Level 1)

The Cinderella Effect (Level 1)

Dodge Step (Level 1)

Counter Flip (Level 1)

Leg Sweep (Level 1)

Power Punch (Level 2) (+1)

Extreme Agility (Level 1)

Sense Danger (Level 2)

Trash Talk (Level 1)

Power Swing (Level 3) (+2)

Quick Draw (Level 1)