The day dawned and remained truly beautiful, with a light blue sky and a few white clouds dancing across it. I feel a gentle breeze passing over my face, making my features relax. I stop to think for a moment and realize that my situation, even after several days, is still difficult to process as reality in my mind. A situation that I had only seen in anime, manga, and novels in my past life. Yes, amazingly enough, this is my second life.
I have few memories of my past self. I remember I was a Japanese girl, and I was in my final year of high school. I was a relatively ordinary girl from a traditional Japanese family. My family had roots dating back to the samurai era, with my ancestor being a relatively powerful figure at the time, which brought prestige to my family over the years. Of course, with prestige came the rigidity in my education. Perfection was the minimum expected. Studies, sports, ceremonies, martial arts, everything. I think it was because of all this effort that I met my end.
But well, putting that aside, after my death, I found myself waking up in a completely different place from what I was used to and in a body that technically wasn't mine before. In this life, I was born into a prestigious high-class Japanese family. We had a famous dojo that only a select few could learn from. Fortunately, even though my parents in this life were strict as well, they were gentler than my old father. Combined with the lessons I had learned before, this life has been smoother. And with the bonus of them spending most of their time abroad, I managed to live a freer life and do everything I wanted to do in my past life.
My name is Minamoto Tomoe, I'm 16 years old and in my first year at Fujimi High School in Tokonosu. My name was given to me in honor of Tomoe Gozen, a legendary Japanese warrior who lived during the Heian period.
Of course, you must be thinking the same thing I am. Fujimi High School? Exactly, I was reborn into the world of the anime High School of the Dead. An anime that in my past life was set in a zombie apocalypse concept with a pathetic protagonist and a lot of unnecessary ecchi. Despite everything, it's an interesting work.
And my famous reincarnation cheat? I received a system called the Survival System. A very cliché name, I know, but it's something that will help me when the apocalypse comes. As the name suggests, it provides me with enhancements for survival. Let me explain it better. The system consists of the following functions: status, inventory, missions, gacha, and the shop.
The status obviously shows my stats, and I can also see other people's stats. Regarding mine, with the help of status points or focused exercises, I can increase my attributes.
The inventory function is the classic RPG feature. A space where I can store most of the things I want, of course with a size limit and the restriction of not being able to store living beings inside.
The missions, at least so far, have given me the classic daily mission where I can earn attribute points by completing certain tasks, mostly exercises. Random missions related to my current activities like socializing, physical or mental experiments also trigger missions.
The gacha is the classic gacha from games and other entertainment forms. For a certain amount of system coins, I can get random prizes. However, there's one thing. In this system, fantasy items from other anime worlds or works of fiction do not exist. The items provided, both in the gacha and the store, are 100% realistic. They are mostly objects forged by knowledge or science. The most "fantastical" would be knowledge books, where after acquiring a book on a certain subject, the knowledge is automatically transferred to your brain. Of course, there are different tiers of knowledge.
And finally, the store, where a huge range of products is sold for system coins. Whether it's food, medicine, weapons, etc.
Of course, you must be wondering. How do I get system coins to spend? Well, there are three ways. Two that I figured out on my own and one that the system told me about.
Well, the ways are: Through missions provided by the system, converting real money into system coins at a rate of 1000:1, meaning 1000 yen for one system coin, which is quite expensive. And finally, by killing zombies/people, which is something the system explained to me when I asked if there were more efficient ways.
As the heir to a high-status family, you might think I have a large amount of money to spend on whatever I want. In part, you're right, but it comes with countless unnecessary conversations that I've had to endure on the phone with my parents.
But well, you must be curious about my current stats, so I'll show you.
[ Status Opened! ]
[ Name: Tomoe Minamoto. ]
[ Age: 16 ]
[ Strength: 47 (Average adult male: 25) ]
[ Agility: 53 ]
[ Endurance: 45 ]
[ Speed: 55 ]
[ Intelligence: 70 ]
[ Skills: ] [ Swordsman: lv 7 ] [ Archery: lv 6 ] [ Shooting: lv 6 ] [ Medicine: lv 3 ] [ Biology: lv 2 ] [ Chemistry: lv 2 ] [ Mechanics: lv 1 ]
[ Inventory: ] [ Eastern Sword: Nodachi (Sakura no Kagayaki) x1 ] [ Basic First Aid Kit x23 ] [ 5L Bottles of Purified Water x50 ] [ Portable Filter Packs x70 ] [ Purification Tablets x50 ] [ Variety of Canned Food x34 ] [ Portable Stove x2 ] [ Flint x5 ] [ Camping Tent x2 ] [ Thermal Blankets x5 ] [ Plastic Tarp (200m) x5 ] [ Various Thermal Clothing x30 ] [ Casual Clothing x20 ] [ Axe x1 ] [ Shovel x1 ] [ Hammer x1 ] [ Steel Tool Kit x1 ] [ Heavy Precision Rifle (PGM Hecate II) x1 ] [ Ammo Box x200 ]
Impressive, right? Well, regarding my stats being well above the average adult male, it's mainly due to daily missions and random missions, as it's already been almost a year since I was reborn in this world. But I'm still proud. As for the skills, Swordsman and Archery are things I gained from my past life. The others came from books I bought from the system's store using the currency conversion. Some are more basic than others, but they will be useful throughout this situation that will unfold.
Now, let's talk about all the items in my inventory. The sword is a nodachi, which is a family heirloom and was a gift for my 16th birthday. Using the Tennen Rishin-ryū style, which focuses on quick and precise cuts, with the reach of my sword and my high agility, it will make melee combat more pleasant. The other products are things I thought would be useful to stock up on, like food, water, medical supplies, and utilities that will be hard to get after a while. Of course, I plan to grab some seeds and other things related to mechanics and electromechanics.
And finally, my weapon. It's a classic French precision rifle, 12.7x99mm, with an effective range of up to 1800 meters. This was another thing I focused on having in case of need since we're in a modern world, and melee combat, especially against humans, won't always be efficient.
But well, enough of this topic for now.
At the moment, it's Monday morning. From my knowledge of my past life, the apocalypse will start tomorrow, Tuesday, April 6th.
Well, let's talk about my relationship with the main characters. My closest relationship is with Bushijima Saeko, the swordswoman senpai who had a relationship with the protagonist. In my opinion, someone as pathetic as the protagonist only got together with her for plot reasons, but who am I to judge? Maybe it's just my envious gay self for him having her. But well, my relationship with her is quite close. Because we come from families with similar backgrounds, our families were friends, and I had easy access to her. I can even say that we are very close... not quite at the point of being considered girlfriends, but close. Some issues that hinder this relationship are our traditional families and our age, but fortunately, I know she likes me just as I like her.
The rest of the characters, being from bigger series, I've only had some indirect contacts with through the school hallways or at certain events. Honestly, I don't give much importance to them, but I'd like to keep the plot as faithful as possible. After all, I'd rather have control over something I know than venture into the unknown.
With all the explanations done, let's talk about what's happening right now.
At the moment, it's lunch break. I usually have lunch with Saeko, but today she had some responsibilities with the kendo club, so we couldn't have lunch together. I offered to help her at first, but she said it wasn't necessary. So, here I am, at the classic place where cliché protagonists go to reflect: the rooftop.
In my hands, I have a small notebook where I jot down important information about what might happen whenever I remember something and store it in my inventory in case I need it. After all, special knowledge like this, I can't afford to lose.
Haa... I'm feeling a strange sensation right now. I know a catastrophe will happen tomorrow. I know what's likely to follow, and I know what I should do. Yet, a certain anxiety still lingers in my mind. It's really tiring...
Well, I have to wait and see.
Slowly, I close my eyes and enjoy the little peace I still have. Let the problems come.