I collapsed onto my bed in my little container. It hadn’t even been a hard day, just tiring. Ishimaru had been as… entertaining… as always when I passed back the tools and my findings. He shared the same sentiment as me- it was a frame.

I dunno much more than that, nor did I want to be involved any further. I could smell a storm coming a mile away, and I didn’t want to be any closer than I had to. Unless they paid me more I guess… as long as it wasn’t a hit. I was fine with B&E, klepping, and even this new investigation shit, just not an assassination.

Well, now that I have come back home, I may as well look at this interface again. I realized on my way back to the Ryu Container Yard that I had been pretty dismissive of the whole thing. Maybe it was a defense against the unknown? Maybe it was because of how absurd the whole thing was?

Still, I couldn’t exactly deny its existence anymore. Quick Healing had fixed my wrist in a single night. Insight had helped immensely during this latest job. Only Fox’s Grace seemed to lag behind a bit, but maybe it just hadn’t had time to shine quite yet? Yep. Definitely not going to call it useless… that was a dangerous thought according to the useful Insight.

Okay, so I established it was real, and did work as advertised even if the ad had been lost in the wind. What now? How should I move forward knowing I could gain powers just as easily as putting in a point? It was a path to power, a rather easy one at that assuming I get the hang of acquiring these points. It was far cheaper than biomagical enhancements, cybernetics, or biotech, which made it far more accessible.

If I game it right, heh, this could potentially be my path to accomplish whatever I want. Which was… I dunno? I had been more focused on surviving Aythryn City than anything… What do I want?

Hmm… this was concerning. What had my parents wanted? Surely that's a good place to get inspiration… Maybe have a family? But… Did I really want one? Did I want to find a spouse, only for this cursed world to rip them away when I least expected it? Or worse, have a kid only to watch them spiral into depravity like so many others?

Maybe a long-term goal could wait until I more naturally found one. How about the short term? Hm… I- I want a shower of my own… How embarrassing. What a weak goal to have. It was a start though! So, I needed money. And the best way to get money, other than selling my soul to a corporation, was to become an Edgerunner… or at least a high-end merc.

I already had an in with a fixer in the vein of Ishimaru. Maybe I should try to find a non-gang-affiliated one? What about Uranau? She was one of the most connected fixers in town. I technically had an in with her through Nael, if he could help.

But my skills were sorely lacking compared to her standard. So now it boils down to git gud… I can do that. Probably. The best way to do so: check out the Perk Point! Oh, and show my other skills off to this weird interface thingy to get more!

I’d like to spend my Perk Point now interface-sama? Was that too cringe? Maybe I should just keep calling it interface. Or maybe System would work better? What should I call it? Well, that question doesn’t matter too much. I’m sure something will come to me eventually.

I’d like to spend my Perk Point!

「Spend a Perk Point?

Warning! Only use Perk Points when you are in a safe, well ventilated environment!」

Yes!

My vision blacked out as I felt my entire body collapse onto the bed.

…

…

…

Where am I?

It's so dark here. I waved my hand in front of my face, barely catching its movement. What happened? Oh no! Did that thing fry my brain?! I died, didn’t I!? Stupid Shiro using something you have no understanding of! Now you went and got yourself killed!

The darkness receded slightly and I found myself standing in front of a bookcase. At the top, in big bold letters, read “Stealth”. The bookcase was filled with books of all shapes and sizes. Different names were across each of the titles, and over half of them were grayed out. I shot the thing with a speculative glance.

So I just needed to pick a book from the shelf to get a Perk? My Insight was leading me to believe that was true. Oh, what would I do without you, my precious handhold? In all seriousness though, why books? This was the 21st century. One of the few times I had actually seen a book was at Nael’s clinic.

The space around me soundly faded away as a glitched screen effect blinded me. Before I could even follow what was happening, I stood in an ancient looking cave. Drops of water fell somewhere around me and pure darkness was everywhere. Everywhere except where I stood. “Stealth” was spelled on the cave wall with fire, and below it were tiny orbs each with a different name.

Interesting… so I could change this place to better fit my standards? Hm… what was with the cave then? I’d never been in one myself nor a library. Why was it so dingy? Shouldn’t it be something preem? What did I think was preem?

My entire surroundings combusted into flame and I found myself standing in darkness once more. A second passed and light surrounded me. I stood in an ancient looking pavilion of the Ukiyon flavor. The paper walls caged me, and a shelf holding even older-looking pieces of jade was the only thing in the room. A flickering fire sat in mid-air above the bookshelf.

A window off to the side gave me a preem view of the moon and a lone sakura tree dropping its petals in the wind. A small courtyard, similar to the one at the Dragoon Saloon, sat just outside the window.

It wasn’t necessarily preem, but it was peaceful. At least more peaceful than the bookshelf standing in the middle of darkness and the dark dingy cave. Even the scent here was refreshing. It was as if I were breathing in the cleanest air like some kind of corpo exec. It was also… a bit racist? Was this offered because I’m ukiyonese? Not that I hated it. It was nice, in a way.

Enough messing around. I still needed to pick a perk. I looked at the available list of jade slips. Hmm… can just these change to something else? It's kinda hard to read them.

As if my wish was the command for this place, the jade slips changed to what looked like ancient scrolls. Nova. And also a lot easier to read. The black ink was far better on the eye than green on green.

I looked through the list, and soon I realized the grayed-out ones all had some kind of requirement I hadn’t met. For instance one of them required I have two other perks and my Stealth to level twelve before I could take it. Most of the greyed-out ones simply required further levels though.

So should I just pick one that is immediately effective? Or should I pick one to unlock another down the line? Hmm… I can see the argument for both, but it was probably better to plan for the future? So, what looked good? Actually, what was the hardest one to get?

The ones near the top of the shelf were blurred as if there was some kind of smog obscuring them. They also seemed to gleam and shine with a light promising their power. It was like looking at a legendary in a game, and yet I didn’t meet the stat requirements to even see its effects.

I looked through the list, passing by quite a few perks as I tried to figure out the best one to go for. After a long time of looking, I finally settled on one.

「Illusive - At will, your form will become blurry like a shadow.

• Stealth 12

• Fox’s Paw
• Cold-blooded」

Its requirements weren’t too high compared to some of the others on the shelf. It stood out, not only because it sounded badass; all its requirements were reachable. Fox’s Paw and Cold-blooded were both unlockable right now. After looking between them, I decided on Fox’s Paw first.

「Fox’s Paw - Move with the silence and grace of Fox.」

Um… now what? I picked one. Do I need to do something with the scroll? I looked around, noticing an easel in the middle of the room that definitely hadn’t been there before. I walked over and rested the scroll on it.

As if by magic - which probably wasn’t far off from the truth considering how surreal all of this was - the scroll unrolled itself, revealing a beautiful painting of a sleeping fox curled up on a rock. The moonlight, shaded pink by the nearby Sakura leaves, graced the fox’s fur with a brilliant glow that made the creature seem ethereal.

I blinked, my eyes twitching as I realized it wasn’t just a painting. I now stood a ways off, matching the perspective of the painting as I watched the fox blissfully bask in the light of the moon. A garden wrapped around me. Long extinct plants and flowers bloomed under the moonlight as rich silky grass filled the place. I stood on a wooden deck next to a rather large rock garden. On the opposite side of the garden sat the fox’s rock.

「Reach the other end without her hearing you!」

Well… that didn’t sound ominous. And it can’t be that hard right? I stepped off the deck into the rock garden, careful to not make a sound. And then my foot hit the ground. Almost immediately, sharp screeching pain arced along every part of my foot as I yelped at the sudden agony. My balance was thrown off and I hit the ground hard. All across my body, similar pain ruthlessly stabbed into me from all directions, as if the rock garden was an illusion hiding a bed of nails and glass. Blood poured everywhere, staining the rock garden red as I felt a nail stab through my retina, popping my eye.

The fox on the other side turned and met my remaining eyes as she gloatingly laughed as if to mock me for being a failure-

And then I was back standing on the deck as if nothing happened. I shakingly checked myself for injuries, but nothing showed. Not even a patch of red skin. Not even the ground where I fell was red. Even the damn fox looked as though she hadn’t twitched.

What the fuck? What kind of sadistic game was this?! There's no way I’m playing around with a sadist! I ain’t a masochist! Surely there's a secondary way out of here.

I walked off the deck, intent on doing just that. I got a sense of danger, but I ignored it as I moved away. Just as my foot touched the soft grass, the sky above rumbled. I couldn’t even react as a bolt of lightning struck me, seeming to settle in my body as pure electrifying agony coursed through my flesh. I could feel my flesh sloughing off, my bones burning, and my eyes turning to goo as I lost vision-

And then I was back on the deck, staring at the snoozing fox. Damnit!

I took a jittery step, going a different direction; back towards the pavilion. The second I stepped off, lightning seemed to hunt me down as it embraced my body. Desperate tears were already beginning to fall as I appeared once more and went in the other direction. And then I was back.

My legs gave way, phantom pains of electricity still coursing through them. I hit the deck hard as I literally tried to pull myself together. It didn’t work as I curled into a ball and sobbed. The pain had gone away, but the memory hadn’t. No person should have to feel their brain turn to liquid in their own head as it leaked out their ears, and yet still be perfectly fine a second later. The worst part? The lightning hadn’t even hurt as bad as the nails popping my flesh…

C-c’mon Shiro! P-pull yourself together! The pain wasn’t that bad- A shudder went down my spine as the memory of a nail popping my squishy eye replayed again and again. It brought back memories, dipping me further into trauma.

I don’t know how long it took me, but I eventually managed to calm down enough to take a breath without choking on a sob. Near the end, I wasn’t just crying from the memories of pain. My emotions had finally boiled over, and the grief I had been suppressing from years ago surfaced. It- it almost felt good, in a way. Therapeutic. To release it all.

I lifted my head and met the gaze of the fox sitting on the rock. She had a slightly guilty look in her gaze as she stared warmly at me. The next moment she harrumphed as if disappointed and settled back onto the rock to take a nap.

That- that bitch! I felt renewed vigor. This was all that damn animal's fault! The perk was named Fox’s Paw; why hadn't I noticed before?! I stood up and began walking towards her. When I get my hands on it-

I slipped midthought as my face once again met the nails.

And then I was back, shaken anew.