Second Draft - Reincarnated Into a Game in Impossible Mode

Returning to the room from earlier, Ryoshu found that everything had completely vanished, including the Elite D-rank monster. The surrounding rock and soil structure remained intact. This was the Temple's passive ability to prevent anyone from escaping.

Ryoshu discovered crystals scattered on the ground that were even brighter than his own F-rank Mana Crystals.

The lower-grade Mana Crystals had been blown away in the explosion. In total, he had pocketed two E-rank crystals and the most valuable one—a D-rank Magic Crystal.

Each E-rank Mana Crystals could sell for about 5-15 RC depending on its quality. In the case of E-minus, it would only fetch around 5 RC.

'But this D-rank magic crystal can be sold for up to 50 RC!'

For a hardcore gamer like him, 50 RC was almost enough to buy a new AAA game.

'But many would say it's too little compared to the effort or risk they took to get one... But this world isn't meant for the weak. The Temple's challenges were created with the purpose of producing strong Awakened ones... not for them to make profit.' - Ryoshu stored the crystals in the ring on his hand.

This inadvertently created class divisions in the game's society. Those who were already strong would become even stronger, while the weak would always serve the powerful.

That was one of the many obstacles Ryoshu needed to overcome if he was determined to follow the main storyline and enter the academy with the main characters.

[You have completed the Condition: Hit a target from 50m distance when "Archery" potential is above E-rank] 

[Unlocked skill "Sniping" (Level I)]

This was the first time Ryoshu had heard of this condition mechanism. Perhaps when creating this new version, they came up with additional rewards to keep Players constantly trying their best.

"System, show me the newly acquired skill." - He quickly opened it to check right away.

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[Archery] (F+) 

Description: You are more familiar with using a bow. But there's still a long way to go before you become a master. 

-Sniping (Level I) (New!) 

Assists the User in targeting. 

When the User hits the designated target, increase "Critical Rate" by 10% for that attack.

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"A rather useful skill. But I wonder if it has any use other than sniping?"

Ryoshu raised his hand to check the time. 

[00:28]

More than half a day had passed since he entered this place. Ryoshu's body was now in a state of complete exhaustion. He really needed a proper day of rest... But perhaps that wish was still too far away.

Ryoshu sighed when thinking about the unfinished tasks. He temporarily pushed them out of his mind and took out a plastic water bottle from his ring. Then Ryoshu poured the water straight into his parched throat.

'Must eat to keep going... huh?' - Thinking and doing, Ryoshu got right to work.

"Let's go find some food, Fumiya."

Ryoshu summoned the sand form of his beloved bow. Fumiya appeared and floated in the air. But it looked quite tiring.

He looked at the child lacking vitality and couldn't help but smile helplessly.

"Hungry? Then let's get some food and sleep."

He took Fumiya around the cave for a while to find more food. Fortunately, in the old game version, Ryoshu had learned a lot about foraging.

"What the heck is this? Carrots... and potatoes growing naturally in a cave?" - Ryoshu was crawling into a tiny crevice and accidentally found a rudimentary field.

'Perhaps this dungeon was created on top of an old village or something?'

Normally he would also encounter various fruits. But perhaps, at least within the Temple, carrots and potatoes were the first he had seen.

Suddenly Fumiya brought something to the face of its astonished master.

"Shiitake mushrooms too... this is excellent." - Ryoshu picked it up and inspected it to be sure.

The reason he was gathering food like this was because cooking in the game was very important. It played a quite significant role in battles both big and small. Because food in the game would temporarily boost stats and provide unique effects for Players.

'Previously, cooking was also a strategy to help complete the game faster, right? But later they used game exploits instead so cooking wasn't necessary anymore...'

Although exploits were good for speedrunning, now that every bug was important, Ryoshu increasingly saw that he should utilize more unlimited resources. And food was one of those resources.

Ryoshu set up a campfire quite quickly as if he was already familiar with it. His hands swiftly took out firewood and lit it skillfully. Next, he took out the iron pot and placed it on the cleaned grill.

Then, he poured water in to boil. While waiting for the water to boil, he peeled the potatoes and cut the carrots he had just collected. And of course, there would be a spectator observing his every move and action.

Fumiya moved around its master looking quite energetic.

When the sound of boiling water continuously bubbled, it was also when Ryoshu finished slicing the carrots. He put the two ingredients he had just prepared straight into the pot.

Then Ryoshu finished the meal by adding some shiitake mushrooms to the pot. Finally, he just needed to wait for ten minutes for the broth to be filled with flavor.

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[Ryoshu's Stewed Potatoes] (F-) 

Description: A delicious potato stew in Amemura Ryoshu's "unique" style. 

-Relaxation 

Will fall asleep a little faster than normal.

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"Not too bad, huh? First time I've cooked something that comes with an effect like this..." - Ryoshu looked at the dish he had just made with pride.

"Thanks for the meal."

He clasped his hands together and said grace, specifically here just to Fumiya.

"By the way... what do you eat?" - Ryoshu looked straight at the sand swirling above his head and asked.

It seemed not to understand his question much. He already knew that but still asked just in case.

"Or... do you eat my Mana?"

Ryoshu raised his index finger. After a moment, a flow of Mana appeared and surrounded his finger.

Fumiya, upon seeing the Mana, looked quite curious. It approached him slowly, seeming quite cautious. The pile of sand touched the bright green Mana flow.

"Stop for a bit, Fumiya... I'm about to pass out..." - Ryoshu almost collapsed and fainted.

It stopped immediately. But Fumiya still looked quite hungry.

'So... Fumiya needs to absorb Mana?' - Ryoshu looked at the hungry kid with great curiosity.

Usually, each soul weapon would have a different consumption method, such as scrap metal or monster carcasses. But the rarest would be Mana, not because the weapon would be stronger than other weapons. Simply put, nurturing such a weapon would be much more costly.

Ryoshu could use Mana Crystals to feed Fumiya. But since he was too poor, that option was certainly impossible.

"Maybe in the future, I'll find another way for you to eat your fill."

----0w0----

Ryoshu had lain down and was watching the fire and the cave environment around him. He was thinking about something else while looking into the void.

'Although I've been shooting the bow all day today, the Archery potential is still stuck at F+ rank. I know that advancing to a new rank will be difficult... but if possible, the chance of defeating the boss tomorrow would increase significantly... at least 1%.'

Fumiya was lying and hugging his body while receiving warmth from the campfire that was about to go out.

'But the unlocked skill must truly be able to connect with what I currently have... That can completely determine my life or death...'

Although Ryoshu could choose to stay longer and increase the survival rate as much as possible, the monsters in the Challenge would not respawn, so the only option was to practice dry.

But practicing without targets would take a lot of time and effort while food and water would soon be depleted.

'Stop overthinking, I'll deal with it after meeting the boss tomorrow.'

He dismissed all the meaningless thoughts and tried to quickly fall asleep.

'Come to think of it, this is the first time I've slept in a cave like this. It's been a long time since I've felt this relaxed.'

Some wonderful memories from the past surfaced.

"I miss you so much, Mom and Dad."

Ryoshu really missed them; when he learned they were gone, the legs of that child that should have been very active instinctively lost all strength.

The world at that time had lost two sources of light more important to him than the sun.

"I wonder how you two are living in heaven? Still arguing over childish reasons?"

Ryoshu recalled how they used to quarrel with each other a lot for all kinds of reasons that were so silly that even a child like him knew it. His tears unconsciously flowed, soaking his pillow.

"I-I'm so sorry, Mom and Dad..." - Ryoshu felt as if his voice had broken when saying those words.

Suddenly he could feel the embrace of his companion growing tighter. Ryoshu sniffled and stopped the tears from flowing.

"Fumiya, you're still awake? Sorry for waking you up. Let's sleep together... we have a lot to do tomorrow." - Ryoshu turned toward where Fumiya was hugging him to make it easier to fall asleep.

"Good night. And... good night Mom and Dad too."

He tried to say the good night wishes with the most affectionate tone possible to the people he loved most in the world.

And very quickly, the cave returned to its usual peaceful and quiet state, with only the sound of his even breathing. After a while, the campfire went out completely and brought darkness to all the surrounding space.

That night both Ryoshu and Fumiya had a very good sleep.