The Twelve Trials Starting from Zero

As a self-proclaimed "school-phobic shut-in," Natsuki Subaru could understand, but having just arrived in another world, he was filled with unease and really didn't want to face this completely unfamiliar world alone. So he couldn't help but ask, "But... what if we encounter a danger that one person can't handle? Doesn't Su Qi-san feel even a little bit uneasy?"

“Impossible.” Su Qi said decisively, “I will never encounter any danger that I cannot handle. As for anxiety… I have none at all. Right now, I am actually very interested in this strange world full of novelties and can’t wait to go.”

"Why? Why is Su Qisang so confident?"

He smiled, whether jokingly or seriously, and said, "Because I'm a genius, I can quickly learn anything I don't understand; because I'm a strong person, I have the confidence to deal with all kinds of difficulties, it's that simple."

Natsuki Subaru was speechless. Looking into the other's calm, confident, and bright eyes, without a trace of confusion, he even felt a little inferior and envious. They were both from that world (referring to the otaku), and both had just been transported to this other world. Compared to the other, he, who was still feeling apprehensive, was far too inferior in terms of magnanimity.

"Don't underestimate yourself, Natsuki-san."

Sensing his wavering, Su Qi patted his shoulder lightly. "No one is born steadfast and fearless. I am who I am today because I have gone through many trials. And since you were chosen along with me, you must also have the corresponding potential."

Su Qi's words were not just a casual remark. Unlike Natsuki Subaru, he was already a man in his twenties when he transmigrated, and as an orphan who had survived alone until now, he had a great advantage over Natsuki Subaru, a seventeen-year-old high school student who hid at home and did not go to school because he was rejected by others, in terms of self-reliance and resilience.

After experiencing trials in two different worlds, the gap widened to the point where they were practically on different levels.

"Ah, Su Qisang's words are so inspiring and heartwarming, I almost cried from being moved."

A slight warmth welled up in his heart from the other person's encouragement, but Natsuki Subaru's somewhat awkward personality led him to cover it up with a witty remark.

"Please don't, I don't want to be looked at strangely by others." Su Qi said as he withdrew his hand. "Well then, let's end the conversation here. Finally, Natsuki-san, you must rely on yourself. I believe in you. See you again someday."

After saying that, he waved his hand, turned around and left, blending into the crowd on the street.

"Wait……"

Natsuki Subaru opened his lips, instinctively wanting to call out to Su Qi, but then immediately stopped.

I'm so scared, I'm about to cry, so please, please don't leave me, please don't abandon me here alone, please let me go with you... Although he still feels uneasy, can he say that? Of course not.

Putting aside the fact that doing so would be extremely selfish, Subaru Natsuki's remaining self-respect would not allow him to beg a stranger he had only recently met.

"Sigh, I'm all alone again."

Natsuki Subaru sighed. The series of unexpected events made him feel a little irritable and confused. He looked around at the bustling street and the crowd still observing him, then found a small alley nearby and slipped inside.

Does one have to rely on oneself...?

Although he longed to escape all the troubles as before, the place where he could hide was probably gone forever. He could only calm himself down and find a way to survive in this world.

On the other side, Su Qi, who was walking slowly in the crowd, had a slight glint in his eyes. His gaze passed through the crowd and landed on three ragged thugs on the side of the street.

With their malicious gazes and statures of varying heights—one tall, one medium, and one short—according to the original storyline, these three are probably the beginner monsters who will later rob Subaru Natsuki…

Just as he instantly identified the three men, the trio of thugs opposite him also realized that their prey seemed to have spotted them.

"Hey, that kid's looking this way. Could he have spotted us?"

"What's there to be afraid of? He's just one person, while we have three... Those two kids are clearly outsiders, they don't look very strong, yet they're wearing such nice clothes... This is a rare find, we absolutely can't let this opportunity slip by!"

“That’s right, we have the bigger advantage no matter how you look at it. We’ll have one of us follow him while we deal with the one in the alley first, then we’ll meet up and take down this fat sheep as well.”

At that moment, Su Qi used the "eyewitnessing" technique from swordsmanship to inject killing intent into his gaze and glared at him coldly.

Instantly, the three of them froze, feeling as if the whole world had been frozen, and a terrifying chill seeped into their bodies, making even their bones feel damp and cold.

Cold sweat broke out.

“I think…” someone swallowed hard, “I think our plan needs to be changed.”

“No…that’s right.” The other person’s hand trembled slightly as he calmly analyzed, “That person had nothing on him except his clothes. The one left in the alley looks like he’s got more money.”

"Ha...haha..." The last man chuckled dryly, his face stiff, and stubbornly insisted, "Then let that guy off this time and go find the one in the alley?"

"agree."

"That's it."

"Let's go then."

In the end, the three of them readily removed Su Qi from their list of targets and watched him walk away before heading towards the narrow alley where Subaru Natsuki was waiting.

Chapter Four: No Comparison, No Harm

"The story is about to begin."

Su Qi didn't leave immediately; he simply moved out of the trio's sight and secretly observed them. With his True Sight, even from thousands of meters away, across a small mountain, he could see every single hair on their heads as clearly as if they were standing right in front of him, so the thugs wouldn't notice him.

Afterwards, seeing the trio of thugs going to find Natsuki Subaru in the alley, he turned into another deserted narrow alley nearby to lighten his load, easily leaped onto the roof, and silently sneaked over.

On the other side, in the quiet, narrow alley, Natsuki Subaru was sitting on the flat ground paved with stone slabs, inspecting his beginner equipment.

"A phone that's almost out of battery, a wallet full of video rental store membership cards, a tonkotsu cup noodle bought from a convenience store, a corn chowder flavored snack bought from the same place, plus his favorite gray tracksuit, and two-year-old sneakers on his feet—that's all the equipment that novice hero Natsuki Subaru has."

Looking at the items lined up on the ground in front of him, he sighed in frustration, "Damn it, the benefits for this hero are terrible. With these things, forget about starting an adventure or defeating the Demon King, it's even hard for me to survive in this other world. I really want to complain to the guy who summoned me. At least give me a Sword of Excalibur or something, right? If not, a smartphone that never runs out of power and is always connected to the internet would be fine too."

I hope this was just a nightmare, or some exaggerated prank show by a radio station...

Clinging to the last shred of luck and a sliver of hope, he looked up through the narrow alleyway and saw that the main street was still bustling with traffic and people in all sorts of strange costumes walking around. The scene was so vivid and real that it was almost impossible to fake, and so his last hope was shattered.

"There's no other way. I'll just have to make the best use of what I have and try to survive. Maybe Su Qisang is right, and I do have some hidden talent that will allow me to shine on the stage of this other world?"

Natsuki slapped his face to encourage himself, then packed up his things, picked up the plastic bag, and walked out of the alley.

Fortunately, the people in this world speak Japanese, so basic communication isn't a problem. The next step is to find a way to sell some of my belongings to get the local currency, otherwise I'll soon be starving…

As he walked to the alley entrance, just about to leave, he suddenly... bang, bumped into someone.

What followed was almost identical to the original storyline: Natsuki Subaru was dragged into an alley and robbed by three groups of thugs.

Oh no, a forced event has been triggered. Following the typical light novel formula, these three should be beginner monsters giving the protagonist experience points, and the protagonist will awaken their true power in battle against them… Right, maybe it's me too! Su Qisang also said I definitely have corresponding potential, could it be… that the time for awakening is now?

Wow, thinking about it like that, it feels like an endless stream of power is surging up... I can win! Just three novice monsters, as the hero, I'm sure I can win!

Fueled by confidence gleaned from light novels and Su Qi, and unwilling to see his meager survival supplies taken away, he impulsively charged forward. Leveraging the muscles he'd built during middle school kendo training, along with his healthy and powerful modern physique, he initially gained the upper hand.

But soon, as one of them pulled out a gleaming knife, Natsuki Subaru, a modern civilized man who had never truly seen blood, instantly lost all courage and knelt down begging for mercy. Subaru, having struck first, was then brutally beaten by the trio of thugs.

We shouldn't have surrendered...

On a rooftop on the right side of the alley, Su Qi sat steadily on the ridge, silently looking down at the battle in the alley below. He saw Natsuki Subaru kneel down and beg for mercy as soon as the enemy drew his knife, and he couldn't help but shake his head slightly.

At that time, the other two were temporarily knocked to the ground, and the remaining one was thin and weak, with no good intentions, and only had a dagger in his hand; while Natsuki Takashi was strong and healthy, and had studied swordsmanship. As long as he could remain calm and composed, he would have a good chance of defeating the knife-wielding enemy.

Unfortunately, he lacked the courage to resist and surrendered his life to the enemy. The enemy was three enraged thugs. Even thugs in his original world would impulsively kill someone, let alone in this other world where the legal system was weak and deaths were commonplace. Therefore, his actions were extremely unwise, but... considering his background, age, and personality, although unwise, they were understandable.

"You dare to resist! Move again, you piece of trash!"

“If he dares to look down on us, we’ll beat this kid so badly he can’t move, then strip him naked and throw him into the stinking ditch to feed the rats.”

"Ouch! Ouch! Ouch! Stop hitting me! I'll give you everything!"

"That was originally ours, die, you piece of trash!"

……

In the alley below, Natsuki Subaru was beaten black and blue, crying out for mercy, while Su Qi on the rooftop just watched silently, showing no intention of making a move.

To meet the requirements for clearing the game, he needed to minimize Subaru's deaths while maintaining the original storyline. At the same time, to gain Subaru's trust without making him overly reliant on him, he needed to play the role of someone with humanity who wouldn't readily offer help, possessing extraordinary power but not being overly strong… That was his plan.

In a world starting from scratch, the above is actually not easy to achieve.

First and foremost, we must try to maintain the original storyline. The plot of this world is intricately linked, full of plot holes, and the characters are all very good at reading people. Most of the characters are also very shrewd, so maintaining the original storyline with Su Qi as a variable is an extremely troublesome task.

Next is Natsuki Subaru. As an ordinary Japanese high school student, his only outstanding advantage is his ability to use Return by Death, but one of the system's evaluation criteria is that the fewer times he dies, the better. This limits his greatest advantage... How to make the limited Natsuki Subaru contribute more in clearing the game is another troublesome matter.

Finally, there's the role-playing. How to gain Subaru's trust, to what extent, how to avoid being resented while standing by, how to gain the trust of others, and how to prevent those suspicious and clever characters from discovering flaws—this is still a troublesome matter.

So overall, clearing this world isn't necessarily difficult, but clearing it properly is definitely very troublesome. Therefore, in order for Emilia to save Subaru Natsuki and for Subaru to fall for Emilia, thus triggering a series of main events, he can't act now.

Looking back now, I was actually much luckier than him...

Looking at Natsuki Subaru's miserable state below, Su Qi recalled the time when he had just transmigrated.

In comparison, his first death was swift and decisive, without the humiliation and beating he suffered; moreover, he knew from the beginning that he could resurrect infinitely and rest in the pure white space for an infinite amount of time after death, which was far better than what 486 received.

Thinking this way, I couldn't help but feel a little more pity for Subaru Natsuki.

As Mr. Gao Xiaosong aptly put it, comparison is the thief of joy. Su Qi used to complain that his system wasn't as useful as those of other protagonists in wish-fulfillment novels, but now… although we're both from the same Tianya forum, little bro, your life is much more miserable than mine…

"They're here..."

Just as I was marveling at this, I suddenly noticed a petite figure rushing towards us.

Chapter Five: Oh no, it's the feeling of falling in love!

With her short blonde hair tied with a black headband, seemingly determined red eyes, an adorable face brimming with energy, and slightly arrogant fangs, coupled with the flat-chested figure of a fourteen or fifteen-year-old loli, the newcomer was undoubtedly Felt, the royal noblewoman who would later suddenly rise to power.

But for now, that dramatic moment has not yet arrived; she is still just a thief struggling to survive in the slums.

"Make way! Make way! Everyone in front, get out of the way, or I won't be responsible if you get hit!"

Having just stolen the badge from Emilia, Felt ran through the streets shouting and yelling. Her petite body moved nimbly through the crowd as she rushed towards this place, intending to use the complex alleyways of the capital to escape her pursuers.

No… the plot has changed. If this continues, Felt will pass through the narrow alleyway ahead, not the one Subaru is currently walking down, and Emilia, who is following behind, might also miss it…

Just then, Su Qi, who was observing her from a rooftop not far away, subtly shifted his gaze. From her gaze, eyes, body posture, and the rhythm of her exertion, he instantly deduced her most likely subsequent path and discovered the point of divergence between reality and the original plot.

People's thoughts are ever-changing. Although they are both near the fruit stand, it is very subjective which alley Subaru will choose and which alley Felt will choose. A change of thought in an instant can lead to a divergence. It is entirely a coincidence (the author's) fate (the conspiracy) that they happen to choose the same narrow alley.

Now, due to the influence of Su Qi on Subaru Natsuki, the timeline has clearly deviated.

"It can't fall apart at the very beginning."

With a thought, Su Qi conjured up a figure that looked remarkably like the Super Light Energy Messenger, only the size of a figurine, invisible to ordinary people. The next second, the floor at the entrance of the alley ahead suddenly shattered and was pushed open, revealing a tall stone wall, the upper half of which was covered with sharp spikes, that abruptly rose up, completely blocking the alley entrance.

Then, just as he expected, Ferut suddenly turned and skillfully rushed towards the alley blocked by the wall, and then...

"Whoa! Why did a wall suddenly appear?! And it's covered in thorns!"

She was startled and almost crashed head-on, but fortunately, the wind protected her. Already used to high-speed movement, she finally reacted a moment before the impact, leaped up, stepped onto the wall, and then did a beautiful somersault, landing steadily.

But because of this delay, the pursuers took the opportunity to get closer.

"Thief in front, give me back my things!"

The beautiful, clear, and melodious sound, like the tinkling of silver bells, rippled through the air, yet carried a hint of chilling coldness.

Before she could finish speaking, several fist-sized ice blocks whistled past Felt, crashing heavily against the wall behind her and shattering with a series of loud bangs, releasing a chilling aura.

"Tch, what an naive young lady..."

She pursed her lips in annoyance, then immediately started the engine and sped off into another alley ahead.