Dragged Into Another World Because of My Otaku Friend

Chapter 28: New System

"And then, I woke up and received the ability."

For a full hour straight, I explained my entire experience in the Realm-in-Between to Bob. His face was locked in full concentration, like he was watching the season finale of his favorite anime. I told him everything. Well, almost everything. I may have exaggerated a few parts for dramatic effect... and, of course, completely skipped the part where I cried like a baby.

By the time I finished, my throat felt like a desert. I grabbed a cup, muttered the chant Bob had taught me to summon water, and took a big gulp. It was cold, clean, and refreshing. This was indeed the best skill that I ever hoped.

"Wait, wait, wait," Bob said, eyebrows furrowed. "That old geezer actually said I didn’t use the skill properly and sent you back here to teach me the right way?"

"Yup, and he said I’m the one who will unlock the true power of this skill," I exaggerated, but I was sure that’s what the old man meant... right?

Bob stood with his arms folded, eyes closed, deep in thought. I headed to my bed and slid the bag filled with the treasure we took from the Black Eagle underneath it. I didn’t want to run into that group ever again. As I pushed the bag further in, I noticed the magic ring I’d gotten from Bob. It was cracked now, just like the sword that had shattered into pieces during the last battle.

"Hey, Bob. I’m really sorry about this ring... it’s broken now," I said, holding it up for him to see.

Bob blinked out of his thoughts, looked over, and replied casually, "Oh, that thing? It’s useless anyway."

He continued muttering to himself, "Why did he say I didn’t use the skill properly? Hmmm... Status!"

A red-colored screen appeared in front of Bob.

And for the first time in this world, I saw a status panel.

"Bob... is that a status panel?" I stood up, eyes wide, and pointed at the screen.

"Yes, you’re right," he nodded. Then he froze, staring at me. "Wait a minute... You can actually see this? That means you were really given power by that old man. My power." He squinted at me suspiciously.

"Hey, I’m not the one who wanted your skill. That man said all the other skills were already taken. Yours was the only one that could create a link with someone else. You were the one who chose it."

"Hehe... just kidding. If it’s you, I don’t mind sharing my skill. This will make us the chosen one...well, the chosen two," he said excitedly.

"So, how do I open this status panel?" I asked, barely able to contain my excitement.

"Just say ’Status’ and it’ll appear."

"Okay... erm, Status!"

And there it was, my status panel, glowing in a calm blue hue. The feeling was just like unboxing a brand-new phone. But before I could explore it further, both my and Bob’s status screens started glitching, flickering wildly before merging together.

The fused panel expanded, growing to the size of a 64-inch TV. A soft chime played, like the startup sound of a computer, and then, in glowing text, the first message appeared:

[Welcome to the Limitless Bond System]

"Whoaa," Bob said, clearly amazed. I felt the same way. We both sat down on the floor as Bob reached out and touched the screen.

At the top of the status screen, it read: [Limitless Bond System]. The design was sleek and futuristic, with small lights moving in horizontal lines across the screen.

Below the title, several categories were displayed from left to right:

Stats

Equipment & Items

Skills & Abilities

Classes

Shop

Inbox

???

???

And after that, there were several sections marked with ??? on the right side.

"Bob, is this similar to your previous one?" I asked.

Bob, still absorbed in the screen, his eyes reflecting its glowing light, shook his head slightly. "No, this one is different. My previous system only had stats, equipment, and skills. And those ’???’ sections... that means there’s more waiting to be unlocked. This is so interesting!"

"Let’s check our stats first," I said to Bob.

He tapped the [Stat] category, and the screen shifted. The word "STAT" expanded dramatically before shrinking down and floating smoothly to the center, all with an incredibly polished animation. Whoever designed this system really knew what they were doing.

On the stat page, a rotating 3D model of both me and Bob appeared, just like character selection screens in classic fighting games.

A pop-up appeared with a brief explanation:

[In this section, the host can monitor level progression, attribute growth, and other status-related information.]

I squinted at my data, trying to take it all in...

---

Name: Alan

Bond Level: 2 (Leveled up!)

Current Class: Nil

Trait: Burden of a Loner

Attributes:

HP: 30

MP: 90

ATK: 8

DEF: 8

INT: 20

AGI: 1

Titles Equipped: (0/5)

So, we’ve leveled up, huh. But wait a minute... why is my Agility just 1?

I stared at the screen in disbelief.

Agility is for speed, right? Does that mean I’m as fast as a tortoise? And if this is my Agility at level 2... does that mean it was 0 at level 1!?

The stat page kept scrolling down, way too long, like reading a full-blown essay.

Bob glanced over at mine and raised an eyebrow.

"What’s a ’Trait’? Is that like a skill or something?"

I explained it to Bob, quoting what the old man from the Realm In-Between told us. Naturally, Bob burst into laughter when I told him what my Trait was. He said it suited me way too well.

His Trait, on the other hand, was called "Unashamed." We had no idea what it actually did, but Bob wore it like a badge of honor.

Then, without hesitation, he shamelessly skipped ahead to the next section while I was still trying to read mine.

"Hey! I was reading that!" I said, annoyed.

Bob ignored me, silently scrolling through the Equipment and Item section. There was only one item listed: the Gaia Sword, the same one we both used in our fight against Black Eagle.

I was surprised when he suddenly summoned the Gaia Sword. It glowed red, with floating particles swirling around it.

"Alan, try summon this sword," Bob said.

I was confused but decided to give it a try. When I thought of the Gaia Sword, the sword in Bob’s hand dissolved into red particles. Then, it reformed in my hand, this time as blue particles, then becoming a blue Gaia Sword in my hand.

"That confirms it!" Bob exclaimed. "If we choose the same item, only the latest person to equip it can summon it. My weapon turns red, and yours turns blue."

I nodded. "So it’s quite unique, huh?"

We moved on to the next section: Skills and Abilities. Only seven skills were available, the four elemental spells, Heal, Dash Slash and Grace Hero. Just like Gaia Sword, each appeared as a card with their names in bold capital letters. The four elemental skills and Dash Slash were marked with UC, Heal had an R, and the final one, Grace Hero, had UR and featured a beautifully intricate design that stood out from the rest.

Bo scratched his head and explained, "Before this, whenever I leveled up, I used to get skill points to unlock skills from thousands of choice. But now... that feature’s gone. My passive sword mastery skill is also gone."

"How are we supposed to get new skills and weapons now?" He looked visibly irritated.

He navigated to the next section , the Shop.

As we opened it, an animation played, almost like a flashy advertisement. A woman’s voice echoed in a clear, welcoming tone:

[Welcome to the Shop section. This is the main feature of the Limitless Bond System. Here, you can purchase cards that will aid you in your journey. The cards come in various rarities: Common (C) > Uncommon (UC) > Rare (R) > Super Rare (SR) > Ultra Rare (UR) > Legendary (L) > Mythic (M) > ???/???]

"What’s with all these question marks? They’re not scamming us, right?" I said.

"Shooo," Bob hushed me, clearly wanting to focus.

The system continued:

[Cards are categorized into various types: equipment, classes, skills, abilities, pets, summons, utilities, supplies, and more. To purchase cards, you can select from different options. Currently, only ’Single Card,’ ’Booster Pack,’ and ’Booster Box’ are available. As you progress in your journey, more packs and options will become unlocked.]

The screen then shifted to the shop section. A new set of categories appeared on the left side of the screen, styled like a digital binder with labeled tabs.

---

Single Card

Booster Pack

Booster Box

???

???

---

...and more question marks.

He then opened the "Single Card" category. Inside, it was further divided into sub-categories, equipment, class, and more. The system’s organization was impressively well-structured.

Bob tapped on the "Equipment" section. Hundreds, no, thousands of cards were neatly arranged in rows and columns.

"Wow, this is amazing!" Bob exclaimed as he scrolled through the equipment.

"Are these all weapons?" I said, equally amazed. The screen displayed a wide variety of weapons: swords, spears, guns, axes, and even gear like shields and armor. Most items were ranked from Common to SR, and a few were even UR.

Bob pressed on a fancy-looking double sword named Heaven and Earth. The card expanded, revealing its full properties. The rarity? UR. Absolutely top-tier.

The attribute boosts were insane.

"Women will start gathering around me if they see me wielding this fella," Bob grinned with his usual pervy face.

Then, he scrolled all the way down to the card’s final detail:

[Price: 100 million Bond Points]

"100 million!?" Both of us shouted in unison, stunned.

"How many points do we have, Bob?" I asked quickly. If we had a ton of points, we could power up right from the start.

We scoured every corner of the screen until our eyes landed on the number in the top right corner:

1000 Bond Points (BP).

Silence filled the room.

"What a money grabber!" I snapped.

"Chill, dude. Let’s check out the other cards. There must be some cheap ones, right?" Bob tried to stay optimistic.

Thirty minutes later...after endless scrolling and tapping...

"What the fricking system?! Why is the lowest price for an R-rarity card is 100k bond points?!" Bob finally lost it.

From what we could tell, only common and uncommon weapons were under 1k BP, some even spiked as high as 10k.

"Bob, there’s a plus sign on our BP. Press that."

Bob tapped it. A new page opened: [Loan Bond Point]. At the top left, a pixelated cartoon character bounced in place, raising its hand. A spiky speech bubble popped out:

[Not enough Bond Points? We’ll give you some and you can pay later in installments!]

Why does that sound so familiar?

The screen displayed a list of tempting packages. Bob picked one that offered 100,000 BP.

[Receive 100,000 Bond Points now and pay back 2,000 BP every day for 60 days!]

It was tempting... but I quickly did the math in my head.

60 days × 2,000 BP... that’s 120,000 BP! That’s a 20% interest!

"What a loan shark!" I shouted at Bob. "Don’t get tempted, dude. This system is just trying to choke us with Bond Point debt. We don’t even know if we can make 2,000 BP a day!"

Bob looked disappointed. "But we’d get 100k instantly. We could roll more cards and get stronger."

This right here was the mindset of someone who most likely would became a victim of a loan shark.

"Let’s check the Booster Pack section first," I said, tapping on it, praying for at least one pack under 1,000 BP.