Level Is Everything

Past and Present

*Whack*

A wooden stick was swung by a man and hit a three years old boy.

"*sob sob* That hurts…"

"Ryou! You need to maintain your stance! How many times have I told you that you can't lower your arms even when it hurts! Our Ogasawara family lineage can be traced back to the shogun era and has been proud of our archery. Look at your big brother, he makes me proud and didn't fail the family name."

*whack*

"Stop crying or I'll add another ten minutes to your stance practice!"

With sore arms and crying face, Ryou is trying his best not to make any other sound. The training was harsh but there's nothing else that Ryou can do because after all he is being compared to his brother which is known as the archery prodigy.

Ryou's big brother is older by twelve years. When he is seven years old, he won his first archery competition. When he is ten years old, he is named as the best archer in the country. When he is twelve years old, he won the gold medal for the world Olympics. That is why his father always go comparing Ryou with his big brother.

"Alright, time is up. Next is 1000 arrows shooting at the target."

Without being given enough time to rest, all the training that is given to him by his father actually pushed Ryou to the outmost limit that his body can handle. It was safe to say that the bow and arrow that he used are also smaller than the normal to suit his body.

By the time he was four, it was when everything changed. His brother won the gold medal for the world Olympic at the age of sixteen. Since it was held out of the country, his father went to accompany his brother. His mother decided to pick them up at the airport, leaving the little Ryou at his home to practice his archery which wasn't allowed to be neglected even for a day without training as ordered by his father.

However, they never returned. Leaving the little Ryou all alone in the world with only distant relatives taking care of him. They say that it was an accident and Ryou was left with a large amount of inheritance from insurance. Some also said that the accident are being set up on purpose since Ryou's family have long destined enemy. Rumours are flying around but one thing was sure, that their body never been found. The police said that their body was burned to the point not even a bone remained, only ashes left behind. It was come into conclusion after one year since the accident that they are still missing and the flying car turbines explosion was indeed high enough in temperatures to melt the bone.

"Father, mother, brother, why are you guys leaving me alone? Is it because I can't finish the archery stance training? Or is it because I can't shoot 1000 arrows within an hour? I promise that I will finish all of the training within your expectation. Please, come back to me!"

That was the day where Ryou cried to the point that no more tears can comes out. After that day, some distant relatives are taking care of him for the sake of inheritance left behind by his parents. When they found out that only a small amount can be disbursed every month, they leave him behind. His parent's lawyer has stated that only Ryou himself can inherit the money and the house certificate left behind when he reaches 17 years old. Before that, only a small amount can be used for everyday use which leave Ryou to be thrifty and considered as a poor guy. It is only when he got some scholarship which leaves the money for the tuition can be used as some pocket change that he used to buy the Syder.

Since that day, Ryou has been training his archery every day. The scholarship he got was also because he has some achievements in the field of archery. He somehow decided to never participate in the Olympic because it can be said as the root of the tragedy. Another thing that is changing is his heart which has been closed to the people around him due to his experience with his relatives. He was forced to think maturely before the time which still sometimes show some hint of inexperienced and innocence behind because no one is giving him guidance.

Back to the present, Ryou is finding another monster to kill. It didn't take long for him to find the second wind wolf and he take it down with ease just like how he defeated the first wind wolf.

「You have defeated the wind wolf. You gain 500 EXP(experience). 」

「You gained wolf pelt x 1. You gained wolf tooth x 1. 」

「You have leveled up! You gain 3 stats points and 1 skill point. 」

"Finally, I am getting stronger. [Status]! Allocate 3 stats points to strength."

Ryou didn't know that his levelling speed can be considered as fast. Not even an hour after logging in, he levelled up to level 2. The average time needed for a player to level up to level 2 was three hours due to the lack of monster and the large numbers of player. Some expert virtual reality gamer however managed to achieve the same feat in just fifteen minutes. Although higher stats mean stronger, but player skills and capabilities still counts.

"Right, I finally gained a skill point. I guess I should check out the archer class skill. [Skill]! Now, which one should I learn?"

(Extra)

Explaining of the technology used in the story. Since this was taking place in the future the first technology that was introduced today was the flying car. I guess a flying car was the normal means of travel for people in the future. Even the bus that Ryou took to commute from home to school was flying. If an accident happen, although the explosion caused wasn't big it was high enough in temperatures to melt human bones due to the engine used need to provide enough combustion in order to make the car fly. Cars flying in the air, this is really the future.