Chapter 5: Realization

After one of the most awkward twenty minutes of his life, Nobu, once again, found himself alone in his room. In hindsight, he realized he could have asked the old woman for answers, but, at the time, the only thing he was thinking about was how much longer the bath was going to take...

"I swear, once I get out of these bindings, I'm never letting anyone tie me up again...there must be something seriously wrong with people who enjoy this..."

Forming that resolve in his heart, Nobu adopted a seated position before awkwardly retrieving the tablet with his toes. His greatest frustration at the moment was that his arms were firmly bound. He had never even thought about trying to operate a touch screen with his toes. He was also the exact opposite of limber, not because he was unfamiliar with stretching, but because his current body was little more than skin and bones.

All of the muscles he had spent the better part of a decade sculpting were nowhere to be seen. His joints even creaked and popped every time he fully extended his arms and legs, so, while he wanted nothing more than to learn more about the strange tablet, his situation made doing so remarkably difficult. This didn't deter him, of course, but, compared to the ease in which he could navigate his previous phone, handling the tablet was a nightmare.

From what Nobu had been able to ascertain so far, there were only three apps available on the strange device. Based on the icons alone, he could assume that the first was a camera function. It looked like one of those canon cameras that hipsters made use of, but, unlike the devices from his homeworld, this one had runes engraved around the lens. As for the other icons, the second looked like a message bubble while the final icon appeared to be a glass sphere.

Though the camera had failed to excite him, the message bubble caused Nobu to feel giddy. One of the tropes that had been gaining popularity on Earth were novels that had the MC gain access to some kind of interdimensional chat room. This allowed them to chat with people from other realms, and, in some instances, they could even travel to the worlds of various fictional characters.

Eager to confirm his suspicions, Nobu attempted to use his big toe to press the pale-golden bubble that vaguely resembled the flying nimbus from the anime Dragon Ball Z. Unfortunately, trying to hit a specific icon with his big toe while hunched over was easier said than done. As a result, he ended up inadvertently tapping the glass sphere. This caused the screen to momentarily grow dark until a series of logos, much like what you would see after booting up a game, cycled on screen.

Since the stone tablet lacked the three navigation buttons present on most modern smartphones, Nobu had no idea how to navigate back to the main menu or close the app he had just opened. All he could do was wait patiently as nearly twenty different logos flashed on the screen. Then, just as his tensions reached an all-time high, the app loaded to reveal the same glass sphere that had been present on the tablet's home screen.

Suppressing his disappointment as much as possible, Nobu scrutinized the glass sphere for any tell-tale signs of its purpose. He noticed that, while it resembled an empty glass container set against a grey backdrop, there was an almost indiscernible aura surrounding its edges. This reminded him of the giant cookie players would first encounter when starting a new game of Cookie Clicker, so, after a very brief moment of hesitation, Nobu did what he had always done best and started tapping the screen with his toe.

Immediately after the first tap, Nobu's heart began beating rapidly as a 0.001 appeared along with the words: Achievement Unlocked: The First Click. At the same time, an icon appeared near the top of the screen with a tiny exclamation mark, clearly indicating it was an Achievement Tab.

Unable to contain his excitement, an almost perverse grin spread across Nobu's face as he softly exclaimed, "No fucking way! My cheat is a Clicker App!? Is this for real...!?"

Though he had yet to verify the app was anything more than a time sink, Nobu's instincts told him the app was special. There was even a chance it was directly linked to his cultivation base, so, after recovering from his momentary stupor, his eyes resembled those of a gambling addict as he began to furiously tap the screen with his toe. This caused the number above the sphere to increase from 0.001 to 0.037. Unfortunately, just as he was about to press it again, the glass sphere momentarily darkened as a '1s' indicator appeared in the center.

Furrowing his brows, Nobu moved his foot to the side as he muttered, "Don't tell me there is a limit on the number of clicks I can do...that defeats the entire fucking purpose of having a clicker app...!"

Fortunately, long before Nobu had finished cursing, the 1s icon vanished. It was only then that he noticed a tiny indicator near the bottom right of the sphere. It had been red during the period of time in which the sphere was greyed out. Now, however, it was counting up at a rate of roughly 1 per second.

Though he still wanted to complain, Nobu felt greatly relieved by this turn of events. Sure, it might prevent him from spamming clicks until he reached the absolute pinnacle of the world, but, at the same time, it meant he could stockpile clicks while he was busy with other things. There was even a chance he could upgrade the accumulation rate, so, with high hopes for the future, he began to tap the screen at a rate of one click per second...

....

...

.

After roughly forty minutes of rhythmic tapping, Nobu's point total had only increased to a mere 2.4. Were it not for the subtle tingling sensation spreading through his abdomen, he might have already given up for the day. He was also afraid there might be an upper limit to the number of clicks that could be stockpiled. If he awoke after a full night's rest to discover he had only saved up something along the lines of 100, the odds of him throwing the tablet against the wall were higher than he would like to admit.

Undoubtedly as a result of the bullying he had endured in his childhood, Nobu had never been the most level-headed individual. He appeared borderline apathetic to most people, but, the moment anyone tried to push his buttons, they would quickly discover he wasn't someone just anyone could mess around with. This led to him spending several nights in prison, and, had it not been his mom pleading for a more lenient sentence, he might have spent the latter half of his High School career in a juvenile detention facility.

Thinking of his mother, Nobu recalled that it had been a few days since their last conversation. He would need to call her pretty soon...or...

As the notion of calling his mother entered his mind, Nobu's movements gradually ceased until he was frozen in place atop his bed. The realization that he would never be able to talk with her again had just hit him like a ton of bricks. His heart began to beat faster, and, though he did his best to suppress it, an extremely sour sensation spread through his nose as tears began to swell within his eyes.

Unsure of how to put what he was feeling into words, Nobu began to mutter, "Fuck...fuck...fuck...!" with increasing intensity. His sudden encounter with the Goddess, combined with his reincarnation into a fantasy world, had momentarily suppressed his acknowledgment of the truth. He had, in fact, died. Everyone he ever knew and loved was now an impossible distance from him. Even if he did his best to reach the absolute pinnacle of this world, the odds of him ever seeing them again were slim to none. Instead, he was alone in a foreign world, and, due to his selfish decision to keep his former age and appearance, he compromised his chances of adjusting to a new family and making friends in his youth...

Unable to suppress the rage and indignation building in his heart, Nobu raised his face towards the ceiling and screamed, "FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK...!" at the top of his lungs. This caused the owl that had been observing him to emanate a luminous glow, but, with his attention focused on other things, Nobu failed to take notice of this. Instead, he began to thrash around on the bed, desperate to free himself from his bindings so that he might punch something, anything, to relieve the anguish he was currently feeling...

---

Contrary to Nobu's expectations, the owl watching over him hadn't been active the entire time. The ability to link senses with a construct was something that typically only existed above the Rank of a Platinum Hero. The few people that could use it at lower levels needed to focus their minds to the extreme, so, more often than not, they needed to enter a deep meditative state just to maintain the connection.

Yui, despite being one of the most exceptional practitioners of her generation, was no exception to this rule. Thus, shortly after dropping Nobu, she departed the Inn to complete the business that had brought her to the city.

Despite having just turned eighteen, Yui belonged to one of the most prestigious warrior families supporting the Oda Clan. Her Great Great Great Grandfather had fought alongside the founder of the Oda Clan as his sworn brother. Since then, the Yoshitsune had dutifully served as the retainers of the Oda Clan, a relationship that had persisted nearly six-thousand-years.

At present, Yui was completing the task that would ensure her position as an official warrior of the Yoshitsune Clan. This was generally very difficult for females, but, thanks to her talent and strength of will, Yui had been spared the fate of becoming a Concubine to one of the Young Masters of the Oda Clan.

Though she wasn't particularly against the idea of fulfilling her ancestral duty, Yui had lost interest in marrying into the Oda Clan after her original spouse succumbed to a serious illness. It wasn't an exaggeration to say she had been bred for this purpose, so, after learning of his death, she avoided the fate of being married off to an older member of the family by dedicating herself wholeheartedly to her training. This was the only way she could choose her own fate, so, while many within her own family had opposed it, Yui was determined to go down in history as one of Nian's strongest female warriors.

With this ambition guiding her, Yui soon found herself outside a hut located a short distance away from the city proper. Her duty was to investigate the disappearance of one of the Oda Clan's former retainers, an elderly gentleman named Nanamori Natsu. He had been missing for nearly two years, but, according to rumors, his grandson was still alive and well. Her task was to track him down, and, if possible, ascertain the truth related to Nanamori's disappearance.

Unfortunately, just as she had arrived outside the ruins of Nanamori's cottage, Yui's eyes began to release a pale glow as her sight linked up with the Scouting Owl she left back in the city. She hadn't been expecting this, so, while she normally had flawless balance, Yui narrowly avoided an intimate reunion with the ground after twisting her ankle on a rock.

Hissing in response to the pain, Yui instinctually grasped her ankle, pale golden light emanating from her palms as she attempted to prevent swelling. At the same time, she found herself cursing her decision to pick up a random person from the streets, but, seeing said man thrashing around on the bed as if he were in extreme pain, the curse fell short of reaching her lips...