12 Hours After - Chapter 151 - Preparation For The Main Game, Part III

Sakimori Kagami plays a VRMMORPG called Arch Earth Online. He is a veteran player with the name and appearance similar to an elderly bearded wizard from a certain book about a ring.

One day he purchases an appearance change item as a last resort to spend expiring currency and gets the idea of choosing what he would want to look like if his character was ever a girl.

Falling asleep should have suspended the game, but Kagami wakes up still online and feels the game has has gotten a bit more realistic. Did Arch Earth Online finally get a long-awaited update?

Warning This fiction contains:

Graphic Violence Profanity Sensitive Content

Summary – Level 1:

Delve is an isekai litrpg that follows an average guy who just happened to wake up in a forest one day. He wasn’t summoned to defeat the demon lord or to save the world or anything like that, at least as far as he can tell. The only creature there to greet him was a regular old squirrel.

Soon enough, he meets other people, only to discover that he can’t speak the language, and that not everybody immediately trusts random pajama-wearing strangers they met in the middle of the wilderness. Things generally go downhill from there, at least until the blue boxes start appearing.

Delve is a story about finding your way in a new, strange, and dangerous world. It’s about avoiding death, figuring out what the heck is going on, and trying to make some friends along the way. It’s not about getting home, so much as finding a new one.

Did I mention that there will be math?

Summary – Level 2:

Okay, but what are you in for, really?

Well, this story is supposed to be realistic, or at least, as realistic as a fantasy litrpg can be. The main character doesn’t instantly become an all-powerful god and murder-hobo his way across the universe. Delve is, at its heart, a progression fantasy, but that progression is meant to feel earned. The numbers in this story actually mean something. Everything is calculated, and if you find a rounding error, I expect you to tell me about it. That said, if math isn’t your cup of tea, there is plenty more that the story has to offer. Characters are meant to feel real, and progression isn’t only about personal power; it’s also about allies, connections, and above all, knowledge. Figuring out how the system works is a significant theme.

...

What, you want more details? Okay, fine, but this is going to get a bit spoiler-y. Are you sure?

Yes!

Really sure? I mean, this summary is practically half as long as the first chap–

Now!

Okay, okay!

The main character becomes a magic user, but he takes a route that is not very popular in adventurer culture, namely that of a support. There is a full magic system with various spells, skills, and abilities, but our MC decides that aura magic is the way to go, and that the only stat worth investing in is mana regeneration. Most people at the Adventurer’s Guild think that this makes him a bit of a dumbass, but he’s playing the long game. We’ll see how that works out for him, won’t we?

Because of his build, the MC levels up fast, at least compared to normal people. There are no cheats, though, and he is limited in other ways. There are some clear and pretty obvious downsides to his build. That’s what makes it fun, no?

Morals? Our MC has them. Again, we’ll see how that works out for him. Realism, remember? Would you be okay with killing someone and looting their body? I sure hope not.

POV? The focus is on the main character, but there will be occasional varying perspectives from people around him, or involved in the events related to the main plot. It isn’t going to jump all over the place.

Tech is standard medieval stasis. No smartphones, but the MC does have a technical background. Computers and their programming might be involved. There might even be a bit of uplifting down the road, who knows? Anyway, it isn’t the focus. He isn’t going to invent the gun in chapter 1 and change the face of warfare.

Romance is not a major focus. Friendships are more the name of the game, though there will be some characters in romantic relationships.

There is exploration, though not as much of the geographical nature as you might expect. It is more about exploration of the system and the culture.

The pace is slow and detailed, sometimes verging on slice-of-life. The action is meant to be realistic and grounded in the numbers, and it is intended to have meaning beyond simply punching things until they stop moving.

The general tone of the story is grey, and some parts can get quite dark. People die. Sometimes, people with names, but not anywhere near GoT level. There is plenty of light, too, though, to balance the darkness. The world is dangerous, but overcoming that danger is why we’re all here, isn’t it?

Anyway, if you’ve made it this far through the summary, you clearly like words. I hope you enjoy the story!

Yu Yuehan is the usual rich, perfect, aloof president—the richest man in City H; but one day, a female toddler suddenly appears in his life as his daughter! Despite being certain that he has never touched a woman before, DNA tests certify that the toddler is his! He soon becomes a good ‘daddi’ for the little toddler, Xiao Liuliu.

Two years later, for some inexplicable reason, Xiao Liuliu becomes very fond of a trial nurse, Nian Xiaomu, hired to take care of her. Nian Xiaomu has a strong personality and refuses to let anyone bully her. Constantly wary that anyone might cause harm to his daughter, Yu Yuehan keeps a constant watch over Nian Xiaomu. However, his black-bellied daughter has plans for her father up her sleeves… Over time, Nian Xiaomu reveals her charming side bit by bit; and for the first time in his life, Yu Yuehan is drawn in by this mysterious woman…

“Daddi, you are so handsome!” Xiao Liuliu blushes.

“Daddi, I want hugs!” Xiao Liuliu coos.

“Daddi, I want a younger sister! Quick make one with Mommi.”

“Daddi…”

Yu Yuehan says in a deadpan fashion, “I have never slept with any woman! How can I have a daughter!?”

“Did Mommi sleep with you without you realizing it?”

Yu Yuehan: “…”

Hao Ren was born in another world and has lived for over twenty-two years being nothing but a definition of the word, average. After a high school reunion, the young man sat down on the beach shore, and mumbled to the sky, “God of Novels, you are unfair. I spent forty years of my life doing nothing but reading books and stories written by others. I worked hard to manifest this rebirth, and yet you did not bless me with anything. Why?”A voice echoed in his mind, “Host, you have the Omnipotent Husband System.”Hao Ren scoffed and scolded the system, “What is the use of having you when you are not even active? Are you shitting with me, you bastard?!”The system replied, “Host the condition for activating the system is to get married.”Hao Ren could not handle it anymore and cried out loud as he complained about this condition. He was not good-looking, and neither was he wealthy, who was going to marry him?Tired, he spent the on the beach. When he was returning home, he passed by the marriage registering center. He sighed for his fate but suddenly, a beautiful lady asked him, “Hey, do you have any identity card on you?”Hao Ren nodded in a daze, and the lady dragged him inside the office. The young man was yet to register what happened to him when an automated voice sounded, “Host, congratulations on getting married. Omnipotent Husband System is now activated.”...Years later, Hao Ren became an entity many people wished to meet. However, Hao Ren never stayed outside, to everything he had one reply, “I have to go home and cook for my wife.”Would you like to know his journey from an average to an over-achieving person standing at the apex of power and prestige?