The Anime Trope System: Stone vs. Viper # 1, a LitRPG. (ATS)

by Alvin Atwater

  The Anime Trope System : Stone vs. the Viper # 1, a LitRPG.

  by Syr456 (Alvin Atwater)

  Episode 1 (part 1): What did I get myself into....LEVEL UP!

  In a void of darkness more expansive than his eyes could see, Clyde stood, confused. One moment, he was on his way to basketball practice, the next he found himself…somewhere else. Someone or something floated in the air, a yard from him, eyes red in the darkness. Eight inches tall, dressed in a suit and tie, the thing housed metallic bat-like wings on its back. Pointed nose, a shark-like grin, blue skin and pointed ears, Clyde felt his soul melt. A slight, reddish radiation outlined its body. It spoke in a what seemed to be a humorous tone.

  "Hello Clyde, today is your lucky day. Or at least, our lucky day and boy do I have quite a bit to tell you. Or force onto you depending on the perspective." He smiled in a way that friendly neighbors greeted each other. That finally brought out the panic stored in the young man. But he couldn’t move. He couldn’t run.

  "What’s going on—who are you? Why are you—"

  The thing interrupted Clyde.

  "Look, I’d love to sit here and listen to the overdone human whining. This would be like my…thirtieth time? So, listen up, mortal, you’re going to be an obedient dog and maybe I’ll cut you some slack. Do you like doggy treats?"

  Rage snuffed into Clyde’s veins. Normally he was slow to anger, but this just wasn’t the time to hold back.

  "Fuck you," he snarled, his voice not even a shout. "I don’t know what’s going on, what you’re doing to me—not sure if this is just some vivid dream, but I’m not going to sit here and listen to some bat thing in a tie berate me."

  "You call that a berate, mortal. Ha. Thicken your skin because you’re going to listen and obey. Unless, you know, killing you and all."

  "Well you’re just going to have to kill me," Clyde said. "I’m not going to sit here and take shit from some Pinocchio-wannabe. Go back to Tinklebell and Neverland."

  The shark-like smile of knife-sharp teeth didn’t fade from the thing. He floated right in front of the defiant young man’s face then turned and pointed forward to the void. Clyde gave him a confused look. That’s when a giant video-like image appeared. An image of pure nightmare. It revealed every friend and family member dying in gruesome ways. Some were thrown into massive grinders, others chopped into pieces by building-sized knives, burned by lava, and the list went on. All shown at the same time. Clyde fell onto his knees, breathing rapidly, hands shaking, focus falling from his eyes. His body felt cold, his heart quivered with extreme depression.

  "It hasn’t happened yet," the thing said. "But if you don’t stop wasting my time, I’ll kill them all. I’ll make you have a front row seat to each death then when its all said and done, create evidence that will lead the police right to you." He let out a dark, unsettling laugh for a moment then shifted back to his composed state. "Don’t give me a reason Clyde. I’m simply conveying what the masters want. But, if you want everyone around you to die, naively believing that this is some dream, then be my guest."

  Clyde looked at him, terror within his soul. He took a deep breath, composed himself, then stood.

  "What do they want with me? A random college student."

  "Who knows? Simply listen. Intake."

  The dark scenery began to flicker like dying lightbulbs.

  "You are about to join a game," the thing said. "And I am somewhat of your guide, for now. Just call me Mortem." The scenery flickered faster with dim light. "I will be taking you to a world called Satovia. You are the stone. Somewhere in this world is the Viper. Kill it and I set you back in your timeline."

  "Let me guess, there is more to it than that," Clyde said then folded his arms.

  "You’re catching on," Mortem said then clapped. "But if you fail, well, let’s just say kapeesh for planet earth. Isn’t this fun?" He winked. Clyde choked down his fear and anger. The flickering stopped, and one infinitely large bright green light briefly covered everything. That’s when he noticed they were somewhere unreal.

  Clyde looked around, but the people…if they could be called people were on the other side of the street, ignoring him.

  "Don’t worry, you can’t be seen right now. I haven’t finished the transfer."

  Clyde took a moment to process everything. He seemed to be somehow in a world that was in fact an anime. The city, the people—all of it looked like a seriously high-quality Japanese animation.

  Clyde would love to deny this experience, but he knew he just stepped out of his house, ready to go about with his usual routine. Shit, if he was here, that meant he’d not only be missing practice, but also the chance to get in some last-minute studying for his exam in the morning. His perfect score would be ruined. He’d lose the number one spot at his college. He’d—

  "Tsk, tsk, Clyde, impressive world, is it not?"

  "What’s going on?" Clyde said, his heart pounding. He knew how to keep calm on the outside, but inside, the young man was terrified.

  "Kill the Viper. If you want to go home. If you want to save your pathetic little planet. Kill it."

  "I still need answers," Clyde said.

  "Well too bad you’re stuck figuring that out on your own. Oh, and you’ll never know when the Viper will appear. Could be a few months from now, a year, who knows. What you need to do is simply live. In this city. Increase your level, find rare items, gain abilities, fight enemies and bosses, so on."

  "You’re speaking game talk to me," Clyde said. "And what’s this have to do with a viper? God, I hope you’re not sending me to kill a snake because I don’t like snakes."

  Mortem stared at him then shook his head.

  "Human take this time to focus and access your stat page. The knowledge to do so has been implanted in your mind. Right now, you can say you’re in the anime world. This place, Satovia, is real, every person here has a consciousness, a life, a trope, so on. But they act exactly like the character archetypes you’ve seen in the shows. No one made those up. It’s a secret to your world of course. Just remember one thing, if you trigger the wrong trope, hurt someone’s feelings to the point of mind breaking or creating something like a yandere, well, whatever happens is on you."

  "This is crazy—send me back," Clyde snarled. "Find someone else suited for this."

  "That choice isn’t yours, mortal," Mortem said, his voice dark. "Remember what I said. Kapeesh."

  Clyde swallowed, sensing the intensity in that voice. He couldn’t chance it. He’d have to just defeat this Viper and hope that the mystical dickhead of a being kept his word.

  "Access your stats page, so we can continue."

  Clyde focused. Within is mind, prompt appeared. It looked like something one would see from a freaking computer game.

  Name: Clyde.

  Level: 1.

  Type: Main character/ Stone.

  HP: 100%

  MP: 100%

  Attack: 4.

  Defense: 2.

  Speed: 6.

  Luck: 1.

  Will: 4.

  Intellect: 9.

  Form: 0.

  Special: ???.

  Special Abilities: none.

  Skills: Athlete: 10% bonus to speed and Will.

  Magic: None learned.

  Talent: Main character stuff.

  Clyde willed the window to vanish, overwhelmed at what he saw. He had so many questions but decided to ask the most important.

  "What should I do and where do I go from here?"

  "We have a place prepared for you," Mortem said. "It will appear in your inventory. Access that the same way you do your st
at page. As for now, you will go attend classes at Sato Academy. Will the map to appear in your vision. You also have the option to simply follow an arrow with a countdown of meters until your destination is reached. Starting money will be in your inventory; however, you will be responsible for earning more through quests, selling items, or whatever method you see fit."

  "Is there a manual for all of this?" Clyde asked, annoyed.

  "Do you need a manual to learn to walk? Just don’t give up and your world will be fine."

  Clyde shuddered internally, doing his best not to widen his eyes. He willed his inventory to appear.

  Episode 1 (part 2)

  Inventory:

  100 dollars.

  Map of Lot City, Satovia.

  Smartphone.

  Key.

  Clyde willed it out of his vision. Only one hundred bucks. Couldn’t these godlike beings give him more than that? Cheap, kidnapping assholes. Great. Clyde pushed his anger aside, ready to just start this hopeless quest.

  "You’re free to go anywhere you’d wish," Mortem continued. "But I’d recommend getting a map of that place before doing so. No map, no arrows, meters, or sense of direction. You’ll be hopelessly lost, wandering like a sad puppy. Then kapeesh." He winked. "Now, I’m going to mark on your map the locations of your apartment, which is number one zero two, and school. Your alarm will wake you in the mornings to attend, so thank me.

  "Oh and within your talent, you have the ability to analyze anything, anyone. The more you increase your relationship with someone, the more you’ll see. Including secrets, without their knowledge. They may even tell you things. So be kind."

  The way Mortem said the word, kind, tipped Clyde off a little. Main characters of anime trait? No, don’t overthink it, Clyde. He needed to keep his head straight and get out as soon as possible. If that meant leveling up, he’d do so. Like an RPG, right?

  This didn’t have to be all bad. If the being was true to his word, they’d take him back to his timeline and he’d shake off this whole thing like a bad hangover. Not that Clyde drank. He wasn’t good with alcohol. He became a master of excuses to avoid attending his friends’ parties just so he wouldn’t be urged into drinking. He’d turn it down; peer pressure wasn’t a problem—but people would get curious. Ask too many questions. Call him out.

  "Before I go," Mortem said, "Remember this. All rules of anime apply here. Oh and…you may want to invest in a bus pass or a bike. Bye."

  "Wait!"

  Too late. The being vanished and time resumed. The map icon appeared on the corner of his mind’s eye. Fortunately, his apartment wasn’t too far away.

  As he walked, Clyde couldn’t help but be amazed that he was actually living in an anime. The setting, the people, everything. It’s surprising they didn’t make him deal with Yen, the Japanese currency. Dollars? How boring.

  When he rounded a corner, he caught sight of a wallet on the ground. No one else seemed to care, so he picked it up and glanced at the ID. Some pink-haired girl named Harumi Akagi. Or if one wanted to be full weaboo, reverse the first and last name, Clyde thought.

  The culprit just happened to be the person walking away, dressed in a school uniform.

  Something inside Clyde stirred. A warning sign. This could be his awfully annoying, cliched start to his own anime. Still, there was no need to be a dick. He didn’t want anyone to steal this girl’s money. He bet she lived alone like a lot of anime characters did and depended on it for survival. If so, she was clumsy. Fucking careless. But hey, shit happened right? Maybe he being here is more of a coincidence and arrogance.

  Just then, a prompt appeared in Clyde’s vision.

  [QUEST: return the wallet to Harumi. Accept: Yes or No. If you do not accept, you will be suspected for theft. Reward: 5 EXP and 5 dollars.]

  Well, there goes that choice, Clyde thought as he accepted the quest. Easy experience and five dollars. Better than nothing, Clyde guessed. He hurried to the girl.

  "Excuse me."

  She turned around to look at him.

  "You dropped your wallet."

  The anime girl gasped and blushed.

  "Thank you so much," she said as she gave him a short Japanese-style bow.

  [QUEST COMPLETED. You have received the reward. Your relationship with Harumi has changed from Stranger to Friendly. Returning someone’s wallet to them without stealing from it truly shows your character. In a cold world, you are a warm light.]

  "It’s no problem. Just be careful." Clyde headed off before she could say another word. Or so he thought he was going to be long gone.

  "It looks like we’re heading in the same direction," the girl, Harumi said. She held out a hand. "I’m Harumi."

  Clyde was thankful they didn’t do the honorifics here—he didn’t want his life to be even more of a pain in the ass. He accepted her handshake.

  "Clyde. I’m new in town," he said. "Heading to my apartment."

  "Wait. You must be the new neighbor I heard we were getting," Harumi said. "They loaded the vacant apartment next to mine with a bunch of furniture and stuff."

  Clyde held his neutral expression, but inside, he was baffled. He didn’t want to deal with any annoying anime tropes, yet they were fluttering to him, like blood-starved leeches. If he got sucked into some weird shit, he’d never get home. Hell, he could be even killed by a…yandere. Just like Mortem warned. They were rare in anime, but one could never be too careful. He’d try to avoid raising the relationship stat. Pink-haired anime girls were dangerous.

  "Let me buy you lunch before we head back to the apartments," Harumi said. As if on cue, Clyde’s stomach growled, anime-style. He sighed as hunger flooded through him. He couldn’t ignore basic needs.

  "If…you don’t mind," he said then gave the girl a sheepish smile.

  [SECRET QUEST COMPLETED. By accepting Harumi’s kind hospitality, you received the following rewards: 10 EXP. A 5 % boost to your relationship gain with Harumi and any of her friends. 5 dollars. Making friends is an important step of adapting to your new life here.]

  Clyde didn’t like the sound of that but thanked Harumi for treating him. While they ate ramen, he unintentionally got to know her a little better. It turned out that the uniform she wore, which was a blue shirt and skirt combo, belonged to the academy in which he’d be attending. Clyde just fucking knew she’d be in his class. The system had him by the throat. She’d probably call after him as he left to walk home together. This…was a slice of life trap and if Clyde didn’t do anything, he’d be stuck in it. How would he level up if he’s stuck at a slow pace? Level grind at night. Risk sleep? A good way to end up with debuffs for the day.

  He pushed the thoughts aside as they reached the apartments.

  "Do you need any help settling in?" Harumi said. Clyde kind of felt bad for his thinking earlier. What was it Mortem said: everyone here had consciousness, a life. Maybe he won’t find himself sucked into any tropes after all. He knew he’d be naïve to believe that, but hey, a guy could dream.

  "That’s okay, you’ve helped me a lot already," Clyde said then smiled. "See you around."

  Harumi’s door was only some feet away from his, so she smiled warmly at him as she slowly unlocked the door to her place. He accessed his inventory and willed the key to appear in his pocket. To his relief, it did. He reached into his pocket, pulled out the golden key, and unlocked the door.

  The apartment looked incredibly luxurious. Fully furnished, with a TV included. The kitchen had shiny floors of marble accompanied by a stainless-steel fridge, granite countertops, stove, microwave, toaster and even a blender. Clyde hoped he didn’t have to pay any rent—because he’d be screwed. The place may look like anime, but as if the artist put years into the details. This wasn’t a two-dimensional plane of existence, but everything still had the appearance of a two-dimensional anime. Maybe on steroids.

  The large living room had nice fluffy black sofas accompanied with a fifty-inch smart TV. Glossy floors. Clyde’s room was nice and tidy.
He peeked into a closet full of casual clothing and school uniforms. A paper awaited him on a nightstand. It revealed that the academy was a college. He knew it’d be run like an anime high school. He kept his status as first year. His eyes widened when it said all earned credits would be transferred into his record on earth. His time wasn’t wasted. Good.

  His list of classes wasn’t too strange. Well except for one. Thankfully, next to them indicated how it will be transferred to earth.

  Classes:

  Satovia History 1

  Romance Literature 1

  Sciences 1

  Crafting 1

  Clyde could live with this. He checked the clock on his nightstand. Five. The only thing that really kept him from losing his shit was the Mortem’s warning. The words promising to return Clyde to his timeline.

  He opened a drawer and found what he was looking for. School supplies. He wrote a reminder to himself, accessed his inventory and placed the note inside. No use of being completely unprepared for practice. Clyde knew assumptions and false hopes, so pushed aside the thought of home for the moment. He was really in an anime world. He rushed to the bathroom and stared at what he saw reflected back. An anime version of himself. He flinched, but focused. To his relief, the illusion went transparent. There, reflected his true self. He was still alive, not in some afterlife, maybe after having some ridiculous heart attack. Mortem and his masters were playing a game. He and this Viper were the pieces. That thought infuriated Clyde, but what could he do?

  He wasn’t a big believer of the supernatural, but neither a denier. Not at first. This was the proof presented to him in which revealed that the world is more mysterious than he thought.

  Just then, there was a knock on his door. Only one person knew he existed in this apartment. Clyde shook his head. This couldn’t be the cliché girl visiting to cook. The young man had his answer when he opened the door. Harumi smiled.

  "Hi."