It was the day after Ren’s brush with death. He woke up late in the afternoon, tied to his mother’s bosom with a sling wrap. The orange sunlight filtered through the forest canopy warmed his mother’s face and dyed it pink.

For a moment he just stared at the swaying scenery in a daze. After a while he registered the pulsing white notification in his field of vision.

[Achievement unlocked: Close call

– You have survived a deadly mushroom infection. Hmmm, mushrooms didn’t work, let’s try something else next time – how do you feel about carnivorous bacteria? (≖ ͜ʖ≖)

Rewards: Pain resistance: Lv. 2 → Lv. 3, Drug resistance: Lv. 1 → Lv. 2, Name: Tesha

– You didn’t overcome this crisis on your own. And you still get rewards?! In the name of fairness, you will also receive punishment.

Punishment: Permanent damage to lungs and vocal cords, Muteness, Decreased resistance against airborne diseases, 5% loss of Soul energy, Health: 50 → 30, Mana: 50 → 45, Stamina: 50 → 25, Vitality: 10 → 3.]

…

Ren felt too weak to retort at the system. He had no illusions that the damned thing was his ally, it was clear that it was no different from all the other bullies he had to deal with in his past life. He decided that he wouldn’t react to the system’s trolling going forward, not just because it was exhausting, but also because it seemed to increase the level of his ‘Calm mind’ skill.

Still, I don’t know if I’m happy about this name. I mean I have one already… Oh, well… Ren thought and decided to pull up his status, to look it over, since there were several changes lately.

Status.

 

[Name: Tesha, Child of Erin / Takahashi Ren][Level 1]

[Health: 30/30][Mana: 45/45][Stamina: 25/25]

[Age: 0 (+31)]

[Race: Tanuki]

[Gender: female]

[Current condition: conscious, parched, famished, weak, damaged lungs and vocal cords, mute]

[Current location: En route, Denroe Great Forest, Denroe continent, Fortima 7. View map HERE.]

[Strength: 1]

[Agility: 1]

[Vitality: 3]

[Endurance: 1]

[Intelligence: 34]

[Charisma: 10]

[Luck: -100]

[Basic skills: Code breaking Lv. 2, Friend of fish Lv. 1, Petty thief Lv. 1, Calm mind Lv. 3, Drug resistance Lv. 2, Pain resistance Lv. 3, Shut in Lv. 1]

[Innate skills: Night vision, Beast’s nose, Sharp ears, Balancing tail]

[Martial arts: Club wielder Lv. 1]

[Arcane arts: Transformation]

[Unique skills: Unlucky bastard, Walking disaster]

 

…

Well, I suppose, it couldn’t be helped that ‘Health’, ‘Stamina’ and ‘Vitality’ decreased due to the permanent damages I contracted from the infection. And it’s great that ‘Code breaking’ has leveled up, I wonder, if it’s because I learned mother’s language. Still… why did ‘Mana’ decrease too? Oi, System, I have a question!

 

[Chatroom activated.]

Administrator F7 has joined the Chatroom.

Why did my ‘Mana’ decrease? Is it because of the loss of Soul energy? What does that mean?

[Correct. The total amount of mana you possess has been reduced by 5 percent due to the damage to your soul, the cause of which is the ‘Shroom’s Wrath’ disease, host Ren just recovered from. The damage to your soul will recover in time, however. Because mana is a type of energy generated by the soul, due to the damage you have suffered, you can’t use as much of it as you normally could for a while.]

…I see. You can go now.

[Chatroom deactivated.]

Administrator F7 has left the Chatroom.

 

Ren sighed, and looked up at his mother, who hearing him looked right back at him.

“Tesha, sweety, you are awake!”– she exclaimed with obvious relief. “How do you feel? Are you thirsty?”

Ren was thirsty. And hungry. Even his status said ‘parched’ and 'famished' at the information of his current condition.

“Un. Thirsty… also hungry...” – Ren’s voice came out as a faint whisper, and as he tried to talk, there was an intense, scrapey pain in his throat. He frowned in discomfort. Erin still heard him though, and despite Ren being able to eat solid foods now, she quickly and without hesitation revealed her left breast to feed him. Ren briefly considered advising his mother not to expose herself in the middle of a dangerous forest like this, but he quickly shoved the thought aside. His mother was a badass demigod after all, who have probably lived for hundreds of years. She didn’t need him to preach to her. Without further ado, he suckled on the offered teat, and drank until he felt full.

“Tesha…?” – he asked her when he finished and her mother covered herself again.

“Yes, dear. You fought so hard not to give in to those awful mushrooms. Mommy was really moved, that’s why I named you Tesha, meaning survivor. Do you like it?”

“Un. T-thank you, it sounds really cool. And thank you for saving me also.” – he smiled up at her faintly. “Now that I think about it, I don’t know Mom’s name. What is it?”

“Hm? My name is Erin, but you can call me Mommy!” – she joked and winked at him with conspiratorial grin.

Ren of course knew Erin’s name, as it was shown next to his own in the stat window. It didn’t seemed like others had systems and statuses in this world beside him, which was an observation Ren based on his mother’s behavior. He also couldn’t be able to explain what a game-like system was to someone, who never played computer games before, and besides, it wasn’t like he himself understood a lot about the system in the first place. Which is why he acted like he hadn’t known about their names before.

“What does your name mean, Mommy?” – Ren asked her with a whisper, smiling back. He thought it would be okay to indulge her, and behave in a more childlike manner.

“Peace, dear.”

“Did your mommy named you too?”

“Yes, she hoped I could bring peace to the land.”

“And did you? Bring peace.”

“Not yet.”

“Are you going to?”

“Yes, when Mommy becomes a goddess.”

“A goddess?” – Ren was a bit surprised to hear his mother suddenly bring that up so casually.

“Yup. Tesha can become one too, when she grows up.” – she said and tickled his chin.

“Heheh…” – Ren giggled. His laughter soon ended in fierce coughs, and his mother quickly stopped her tickling and began to gently rub his back. When Ren calmed down a bit, he was able to ask another question, that has been on his mind since he woke up.

“Where are we going?”

“To the nearest town, to buy a few necessities we can’t get in the forest. Why don’t you sleep some more while we get there?”

Ren nodded and closed his eyes.

 

---

 

F7 was miffed. They didn’t understood it either, as they usually didn't care about anything their targets said about them. But now, they seemed to be fuming at Ren, who acted completely ungrateful towards them, even though it was thanks to F7’s efforts he didn’t die. They were infuriated at the unfairness of it all.

“'You can go now'... 'YOU CAN GO NOW'?! He has the nerve to dismiss me like that?! That ungrateful, little bastard! Who do you think you are?! It’s not even me, who messed with him this time! And he wouldn’t even be alive, if it wasn’t for me! Who woke up your stupid mother, huhh?! Who was it, who raised back up your Health, Mana, Stamina and Vitality from zero, when that hacker messed with your bad luck?! You should be thanking me, that I saved your life, instead of cutting my losses and incinerating you with my Gamma lazer! Which I could have totally done if I wanted to!” – F7 shouted at particularly no-one in the solitude of his observatory.

[Quiery: would master like serious answers to your questions?] – the quantum computer’s AI asked in a pleasant and melodious female voice.

…

“...No.”