A newcomer, about to face a relentless grind.

“I should use Trait Points to quickly grow up first.”

Reg felt his body was too small. In this forest, he would surely be crushed by other animals, or simply starve to death.

《Acquired Protection: Controllable Trait Point Sales Store》

Therefore, consuming Trait Points to increase his age seemed like a good choice. And he was inherently afraid of pain! Even after becoming a Hero, he still couldn’t avoid fearing pain.

Trait Points were a versatile wish-granting mechanism. Reg considered them a system-like entity, the true nature of which even the gods of that time couldn’t fathom. As long as his mind collapsed, his body died, or he was sealed, this reversal would gradually activate, triggered by his own will.

“But surely there’s nothing left that can make me despair, right?”

Consuming one Trait Point, Reg struggled to control this infant body, which was as fragile as a newborn sprout. It was like force-feeding an excessive amount of nutrients to a tiny seedling that had just broken ground. The intense pain and itching from bone stretching and muscle fibers forcibly growing made his small eyebrows furrow tightly, and cold sweat instantly soaked his sparse baby hair.

His vision flickered between blurry and clear. The vulnerability of infancy was being forcibly expelled, replaced by a sense of presence that was both long-lost and strange.

“A whole 300,000 points just to catalyze myself back into a teenager?”

His core consciousness as the ‘Flawless Hero’ was struggling to pilot this extremely poor vessel.

《Acquired Protection: Adaptive Body Control》

“Phew…”

When the tearing sensation from growth finally subsided, Reg looked down at himself. He was about the height of a twelve or thirteen-year-old child. Although still slender, he was no longer an infant who could barely roll over. His limbs were thin but contained a trace of almost negligible Ki that he had forcibly condensed with his will.

《Acquired Protection: Hero Exclusive Skill: Presence (Ki)》

He tried again to hold his fingers together like a sword, and gently slashed at a half-human-high weathered rock nearby.

There was no majestic sword aura capable of splitting mountains or cracking stones, only a subtle, almost invisible line of Ki carrying a faint white glow, silently slicing through the air.

Whoosh.

With a soft sound, the stubborn rock split open in the middle with a smooth, straight fissure, the cross-section like a mirror. On the edge of the cut, a faint but extremely pure aura of cutting intent lingered, a remnant of the Flawless Swordsmanship he had honed over countless eons in the past.

“As expected… my full Presence has completely vanished, and none of my exclusive Hero Medals have loaded either. Only the most essential attribute protection and sword technique inheritance have carried over?”

Reg looked at his fingers, a complicated expression of helplessness and satisfaction on his tender face.

“This tiny bit of Ki is fine for dealing with stones, but against a real Youkai…” He shook his head, recalling the powerful, soaring beings from his blurred memory of Gensokyo.

《Acquired Protection: Temporary Memory Sorting Ability》

These Youkai were completely playing by the Spell Card rules. Even at that level, he couldn’t keep up. And deep in his memory, there was a scene of torment; the speed of that individual would make it extremely difficult for him to fight, even if he reached a very high realm. Unless he entered the Flawless State, but Flawless was essentially a self-destructive program, abandoning everything—a true suicide attack strategy. Although the probability of death was 80%, having the Death Reversal skill basically meant infinite usage, right?

The foundation of this body was too weak, like wielding a peerless sword technique with a blunt knife; the power was less than one percent of its potential. Thankfully, the profound understanding of the sword, the technique of severing all things, hadn’t completely vanished with the body’s weakness and the memory’s blurring; it was settled deep in his soul. He had to quickly adapt to this weak form and regain more of his sense of the sword.

《Acquired Protection: Perception • Weak》

This was an unfamiliar mountain forest. The air was filled with a faint Youkai aura and the smell of decaying vegetation. He moved his still-wobbly little legs, barefoot, cautiously heading towards the edge of the woods.

He hadn’t walked far when the bushes in front rustled violently, accompanied by a foul stench.

“Hiss! Hiss!”

A distorted figure emerged.

“Oh my god! That’s great. I encountered a weak starter monster right after being born?! This really brings back the feeling of being an adventurer, what a shame…” Reg saw a figure emerge and his face lit up with excitement.

It looked like a humanoid figure forcibly twisted together from countless vines, topped by a large, putrid-smelling carnivorous flower bud. Dense, barbed tendrils poked out from the stamens. A few jagged-edged leaves covered the critical parts of its torso, serving as rudimentary armor.

It was a Vine Youkai, a low-level nature spirit common in forests, subsisting on small animals and decaying matter. Its eyes, formed by two moldy berries, greedily locked onto Reg, clearly mistaking him for a tasty little snack.

“Hold on, let me re-evaluate. If it’s just a Vine Youkai, maybe this isn’t Gensokyo? At least there should be Youkai as ubiquitous as Yujiro [Hanma] here, right?” Reg thought Yujiro would still have to act like a woman if he came to Gensokyo, because the Youkai’s bodies were simply too strong.

He spread his hands, watching the Youkai. No, this guy seems to be a bit brainless, clearly the type that’s weak but has a puffed-up presence—a Haki-Vine.

The Vine Youkai let out a hoarse growl, and two vines, as thick as human arms, suddenly shot out, whistling through the air, trying to coil around Reg’s legs and drag him down.

《Acquired Protection: Presence Guard》

Although his body was weak, the instinct to react to attacks was deeply etched into his bones. Wait, why are there so many protections coming now? I need to organize the Protections I have at some point. Otherwise, what if the slots burst when I really need them? That would be true bad luck.

He didn’t retreat. Just as the coiling vines were about to reach him, his right index finger and middle finger swiftly snapped together, and he seemingly casually tapped the two vines—one left, one right.

There was no grand display of force, only two nearly imperceptible faint glows that flashed and disappeared into the air.

Puff! Puff!

《Acquired Protection: Anti-Plant Youkai Special Attack》

The aggressive ends of the two vines were instantly severed, the cuts equally smooth as a mirror. No sap flowed from the wound; instead, the cuts showed a withered, charred blackness, as if burned by an invisible flame. The broken vines dropped to the ground like dead snakes, limp and lifeless.

The Vine Youkai let out a piercing howl, its remaining vines thrashing wildly, seemingly unable to comprehend what had happened.

“Oh, come on! Why did a huge swarm of bees suddenly appear? That’s terrible!” What the heck! Getting stung would hurt so much!

《Acquired Protection: Puncture Resistance》

Reg looked up at the sky. His body talent used to be strong, allowing him to grow through combat, but this current body was so impoverished that even he felt it was excessive. Moreover, his body’s natural strength was too weak, making the previous combat-based growth difficult to achieve. Even as a Hero, possessing the cockroach-like vitality of immortality should be normal.

A dense buzzing sound came from above, and a large, dark cloud of fist-sized Venom Bees descended. These Venom Bees had clear compound eyes and their stingers gleamed coldly—they were clearly Youkai Bees. They seemed to have been attracted by the commotion of the Vine Youkai, but upon spotting Reg’s fresh flesh, they immediately changed their target, diving down like a rain of arrows.

Reg didn’t even frown. “Oh, oh, little fellows, aren’t you afraid of being eaten by me?”

Reg used his mouth to eat some while performing other actions. He was too experienced in dealing with such numerous but individually fragile cluster attacks.

He raised the finger that had just severed the vines and, pointing towards the direction the swarm was coming from, rapidly vibrated his wrist several times. With each vibration, a thread of sword aura, thinner than a strand of hair, silently shot out from his fingertip.

In an instant, a deadly sword-flower seemed to bloom in the air.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

A dense, almost inaudible cutting sound echoed.

Like a hot knife slicing through butter, the diving swarm of Venom Bees abruptly froze. Then, like dumplings falling into a pot, they began to drop down rapidly. Every dropping Venom Bee instantly disintegrated upon impact, turning into several charred fragments, as if instantaneously dismembered and scorched by an invisible sharp blade.

“Your nutrition value is so low. Fighting you cost me a lot of Presence instead.” Reg looked down on everything. Is this really the Gensokyo of my memory? Weren’t all Youkai supposed to be able to beat me up? How have I become a protagonist like Long Aotian?

In a single breath, the aggressive swarm of bees disappeared by more than half. The few remaining ones scattered in terror.

The Vine Youkai seemed terrified by the fate of its companions. It let out a shriek of panic, and the carnivorous flower bud on its head suddenly opened, spitting out a large cloud of acrid, corrosive purple poisonous mist, trying to block Reg, while its body frantically shrank backward.

The poisonous mist billowed, obscuring vision and carrying strong corrosive properties; the surrounding grass and trees instantly withered and blackened.

“Don’t get me wrong! Your vitality is surprisingly strong! Too bad your Youkai power seems to have no effect on me. I’ve already acquired that Protection!”

Reg stood his ground, his small body looking somewhat frail in the poisonous mist. He held his breath, his eyes penetrating the sparse mist, locking onto the Vine Youkai’s retreating path. He slowly raised his right hand, spread his five fingers, and then, facing the Vine Youkai’s direction, fiercely clenched his fist in the air!

No sword aura shot out.

But an aura of extreme sharpness suddenly descended!

“36 Chirps • Intentional Ki Slash!”

It was the convergence of the Hero’s intent to sever all things! Although limited by his body, making it impossible for substantial sword aura to leave his body and attack from a distance, this Intent itself was enough to shock the mind and interfere with reality!

The retreating Vine Youkai’s body suddenly stiffened, as if choked by invisible shackles. Its thrashing vines instantly lagged, and even the poisonous mist it was spitting paused momentarily. Its berry eyes were filled with incomprehensible, massive fear.

“Take this, Super Turtle Kick!”

It was in this moment of hesitation that Reg moved! His small figure suddenly rushed forward, moving so fast that he left an afterimage in the poisonous mist. He didn’t use his faint Ki for this move; instead, he channeled power into his legs, leaping high into the air with the momentum of his charge.

“Ah, Super Turtle Fist!”

While in mid-air, his right index finger and middle finger were snapped together again and extended forward. The pitifully weak Ki within his body was completely condensed at his fingertip, forming a luminous white streak, more concentrated than before. This time, he didn’t tap; he thrust towards the core of the Vine Youkai’s carnivorous flower bud.

“Rest in peace.”

The white streak flashed and vanished!

Puff!

A soft sound.

The Vine Youkai’s movements completely solidified. A finger-sized hole appeared in the center of the large carnivorous flower bud on its head. No explosion, no sap splashing, only a burst of light mist poured out from the hole. Immediately after, the entire flower bud, along with the tough vines connected to it, rapidly withered and shriveled into flying ash, as if all life force had been drained, and fell away.

Only a small pile of ashes and a few dry, withered vine remnants were left in place.

“I was so cool… but I’m exhausted!”

The poisonous mist, deprived of its source, was quickly scattered by the mountain wind. Reg landed lightly, his small face slightly pale from the sudden exertion, his breathing somewhat rapid. This body was truly too weak; simply condensing that little Ki for a single thrust had consumed most of his physical strength.

He looked at the ashes of the Vine Youkai on the ground, his mind completely unfazed. This low-level monster didn’t even qualify for his attention in his prime. Now, it was merely clearing away small stones on the path.

Just as he was about to continue, his gaze was drawn by a dull reflection in the ashes.

《Acquired Protection: Youkai Will Always Drop Loot》

He used his toe to push aside the ashes and found a dark green crystalline shard, the size of a fingernail and irregularly shaped. It seemed to contain extremely faint wood-attribute energy fluctuations, likely a fragment of the Youkai Core that the Vine Youkai had condensed within its body before being destroyed by his sword Ki.

Holy cow, a Golden Legend! It’s rare to find a Core in a Youkai this weak, but this Core is so flimsy! The energy content looks very low, and it’s tiny.

“Better than nothing, I’ll eat it.” Reg curled his lip, intending to pick it up and examine it, maybe it could provide some negligible energy supplement.

However, just as he bent down, CRASH!

A huge sound came from behind and to the side! The ground suddenly shook! A boss fight right after the mini-boss? Reg’s mind momentarily blanked. The previous fight had already made him a bit tired. If a strong enemy came now, it might really kill him.

“Protection, save me! Protection, save me!”

《Acquired Protection: Temporary Stamina Recovery》