Chapter 2 Life Has More Than a Cold Family
I've woken up three times today. The nightmare still won't leave me alone.
The nightmare of becoming a character in a game.
To escape being everyone's punching bag, I thought about running away to some distant city. Maybe I could avoid football completely, stay clear of the game's main story. That way, I'd never have to meet him—the protagonist, Gorozzo.
But looking at my family's situation? I can't do it.
Assarun's family had five members. Zefur, the father. Agnes, the mother. Assarun, the eldest son—that's me now. And the twins: Levina, the older sister, and Truno, the younger brother.
Zefur worked as a district officer. His salary barely kept five people fed. He was the kind of man who worked hard, stayed honest, never even thought about corruption. The result of all that goodness?
Poverty.
We were so broke that some days we ate salt just to survive. Mom worked at a clothing store from dawn to dusk, every single day, just to help keep us afloat.
How could I run away from this? Everything costs money. Everything.
And football? I couldn't just quit or pretend I wasn't interested. This was a football game world, after all. Football was everything here. Being a footballer was like being a hero in some fantasy adventure—slaying monsters, saving kingdoms.
Sure, it meant exhausting training. Sure, it meant risking your life. But the rewards made it all worthwhile.
Right now, Assarun—I—was getting paid as a trainee for the city football club. This income was keeping my family alive. It was practically the only way an eleven-year-old could earn decent money.
So until I found another job to replace this income, I couldn't quit. For my family's sake, I had to keep playing football.
I never knew Assarun had such a difficult childhood. It was heartbreaking, really.
Poverty killed choices. Whether in the real world or a game world, it was all the same.
Whatever.
Assarun wouldn't meet the story's protagonist Gorozzo until he was twenty-five or twenty-six anyway. Right now, he still looked like some seventeen-year-old high schooler. There was time to change his fate.
For now, I'd just struggle as hard as I could.
I walked to the bathroom to wash my face. When I looked in the mirror, the answer to who I was now stared back at me.
A young man, maybe seventeen or eighteen. Sharp, intense features. Bright golden hair spiked in some unnaturally wild way. And those ultra-cool distinguishing marks—an X-shaped scar on his left cheek and a cut over his right eye.
What the hell was the character designer thinking? Even if Assarun was supposed to be some delinquent leader, he was still a high school student! Where did these hardcore scars come from?
I frowned at my reflection, confused. Then something startling appeared—a character information window from G.O.A.T TRICKS, showing my power levels and status.
Assarun . LV3
Position: Forward
Height: 179 cm
Weight: 69 kg
Dominant foot: Right
Status
Shooting Power: LV0 Speed: LV0 Physicality: LV0 Strength: LV0 Offense: LV0 Defense: LV0 Technique: LV1 Mentality: LV7 NEX: LV1 HP: 130 MANA: 100 Experience Points: 0/100 Skills: None Nickname: None Description: Completely useless, utterly pathetic
The status window was interesting. It reminded me of all those grinding games from my past life.
But I couldn't smile. Almost every stat was basically zero.
And that description? Wasn't it a bit too harsh? Too unprofessional?
This didn't make sense. Assarun was supposed to be a punching bag, sure, but in his first fight, he held his own against the protagonist Gorozzo pretty well. His skill level should be above average. At minimum, he should have his signature move "Cyclone Crash" in the skills section.
Maybe my reincarnation had completely reset all of Assarun's abilities.
Damn. This was really unlucky.
When people crossed into other worlds, they usually started with godly stats, godly skills, godly items—completely overpowered.
But mine was all zeros. I was sick of it already.
At least my mental strength stood out a bit.
I left the bathroom with a tiny spark of hope.
Walking into the living room, I saw my little sister Levina standing in the kitchen. Her small frame balanced on a wooden chair that swayed back and forth. She was trying to cook something. Truno, the younger twin, stood beside her, holding the chair legs steady.
An eleven-year-old's height didn't reach the stove, so she had to climb up. But Mom had already made breakfast before leaving for work. What were these two doing?
"Sister Levina, I don't think you should do this," the little boy said, worry filling his eyes. "Mom told us kids shouldn't use the kitchen or fire. There could be a dangerous accident."
"Just hold the chair legs properly, Truno," the little girl replied, stirring with a ladle that looked way too big for her hands. "If I master cooking, I can help Mom with work. She won't have to get tired cooking alone anymore."
The sight made me feel both affectionate toward the twins and ashamed of myself. Mom had to leave for work early in the morning, and here was this useless delinquent older brother while little sister tried to learn housework and cooking.
Adorable and pitiful—my little siblings.
Geez, Assarun. Having such a wonderful family, why did you still become such a worthless delinquent?
Then again, I couldn't really blame the character. The person who deserved criticism was the game's scriptwriter.
"Hey, you two. Isn't this dangerous? If you're going to use the kitchen and fire, you should have your older brother watching too."
I spoke gently, concerned rather than angry.
Both twins startled at my arrival. Truno trembled with guilt, but Levina turned around smiling and responded with shocking words:
"Hmm~ So if little sister wants to ignite the fire of lust, does she need big brother there too?"
What the hell?!
Wait, wait. That wasn't right!
Levina, Assarun's little sister, shouldn't talk like this! She was a minor character who only appeared when Assarun got injured and had to go to the hospital. Her character was a tomboy—cheerful, honest, loved justice like her father. A polite, innocent girl who gently took care of her brother whenever he got hurt.
So what was this? What kind of suggestive talk was this?!
"Who are you? Give me back my angel little sister right now!"
When I shouted, the girl scrunched up her face like she was about to cry. She didn't actually cry, but turned back to face the fried egg in the pan. Actually, it looked so messy it was more like scrambled eggs.
She wasn't shaken at all, but I could hear her sobbing breath. Truno, seeing his sister like this, also looked ready to cry.
"Uh, sorry about that. I got a bit too emotional."
"It's okay. It's my fault for speaking inappropriately for my age. You didn't do anything wrong," Levina replied, wiping away tears. She took a deep breath and turned around with a sweet, lovely smile, even though her eyes still showed traces of sadness.
Oh no. I made my little sister sad.
"Truno, stop crying now. Brother, let's hurry and eat. The food will get cold," Levina said, wiping Truno's tears and taking his hand to lead him to the dining table.
An angel. Definitely a goddess. My little sister was incredibly cute right now.
But what was that suggestive joke from before? Was she hitting puberty? I couldn't let this continue.
During breakfast, I started teaching my little sister.
"Hey Levina, those jokes from earlier aren't very good, you know."
"Jokes from earlier? You mean the suggestive ones?"
"Something like that."
She said 'suggestive' with a completely straight face. An eleven-year-old girl shouldn't be so familiar with this stuff.
Whose influence was this? Who dared to corrupt my pure little sister?
It had to be friends from school. I couldn't let this slide—I needed to teach them a lesson!
"If it's not good, then why does big brother always like to make jokes like this?"
It was my own influence?!
Right. Assarun was the leader of a delinquent gang. When teenage boys got together, there were bound to be crude jokes and constant suggestive talk. Levina must have accidentally overheard some of it.
"Uh, well, it's different. Girls like you shouldn't play with or listen to jokes like this," I said, clearing my throat awkwardly.
"Huh? But Mom is also a woman. Why can Mom make those jokes then?" Levina blinked innocently.
Mom did this too?!
"What? Our mom likes to make jokes like that too? When did you hear this? Who does Mom make suggestive jokes with?"
Levina kept a blank expression for a while, then answered:
"With big brother, of course. You two do it every single day without getting tired of it. Now Truno and I want to join in too—those suggestive jokes."
"Okay, you two shouldn't make these kinds of jokes with other people, alright?"
"Who counts as 'other people'?" Levina asked.
"Everyone who isn't me or Mom."
The faces of both twins perked up, returning to happy smiles. The sadness hidden in their eyes completely disappeared.
What was this? Did permission to make suggestive jokes really make them this happy?
Whatever. Before teaching my little sister, I guess I needed to teach Mom first.
[Relationship level with Levina increased to LV2. Acquired special move 'Spark Arrow']
[Relationship level with Truno increased to LV2. Acquired special move 'Spark Dribble']
Hey?!
What was that?! Suddenly there was this cool voice in my head.
Could it be the game system's voice?
What did it say? Relationship level increased and I got special moves?
Talking with other characters, increasing relationship levels, hearing system announcements, then receiving new special moves—that wasn't strange in this game.
When it was the story's protagonist doing it.
In other words, the ability to develop relationships to gain new special moves was a privilege only the story's protagonist could use.
This cheat ability was what made the protagonist character stronger and develop faster than others.
But it seemed like I was getting that privilege now.
I'd gained the protagonist's cheat ability.
What did this mean? Was I becoming the story's protagonist?
And what was most shocking—the special moves 'Spark Arrow' and 'Spark Dribble.' I didn't even know what these moves were or how to use them. They'd never appeared before. They weren't any character's special moves. They'd never existed in the game.
Heh, heh, haha!
I didn't know what was going on, but getting mysterious special moves like this, getting the protagonist's abilities—it looked like the fate of being a punching bag was starting to fade away.
This had to be the godly power I deserved from crossing dimensions.
Yes! Escaping fate and fighting to change fate were different things. Now that new possibilities were shining before me, I'd take control of my own destiny.
I'd use this protagonist power to fight and change my fate.
I'd change the miserable destiny of the great punching bag god Assarun!
Wooohoooo!