Chapter 11: A Beginner's Tutorial That Ends Before It Begins

"Ding! Congratulations to the host for eliminating a high-level evil spirit. You have successfully advanced to High-Level Exorcist and earned 500 spirit coins." As the bird-headed evil spirit's corpse disintegrated, the system notification once again echoed in Hikigaya Hachiman's mind. Confirming that the evil spirit was truly dead, the tension in his body instantly relaxed. With a thud, Hikigaya Hachiman fell onto the school field, lying on his back and looking skyward. Just as he was feeling utterly exhausted, eyelids trembling with the desire to close, the system automatically brought up his status panel. Name: Hikigaya Hachiman Age: Seventeen Profession: High-Level Exorcist Spirit Power: 2/100 Abilities: Spirit Flow Technique (Beginner Level) Weapon: Intermediate Demon-Slaying Blade Spirit Coins: 1125 "So I'm actually this rich now?" Seeing the number of spirit coins at the bottom of the status panel, Hikigaya Hachiman couldn't help but sigh. Just before entering the instance, he was a broke guy who couldn't even scrape together 200 coins. After one dungeon run, not only did he upgrade his weapon and learn a skill, but he also became a "spirit coin millionaire"... Almost instinctively, he slid the panel to the shop page. Upon seeing the contents of the shop, his previous sleepiness was instantly swept away. "This... this is the stuff in the advanced shop?" Seeing the dazzling array of goods, Hikigaya's dead-fish eyes widened. At beginner and intermediate levels, there had only been a couple of items in the shop. He had thought that even at advanced level there would only be a few more. Who knew the system would replace a convenience store with a department store? "In the beginning, it was for selecting a suitable host. Now that the host meets the binding criteria, the Exorcist System is fully unlocked." Perhaps sensing Hikigaya's confusion, the system took the initiative to explain the sudden expansion of goods. "So I was just a backup option before?" Hearing this, Hikigaya Hachiman raised an eyebrow, a wave of dissatisfaction rising within him. That feeling—when you've done everything well enough, but to someone else you're still just an optional substitute—is really hard to swallow. "Not exactly. The host was indeed the most suitable candidate selected by the system in this world. However, as a precaution, the Creator added additional criteria to determine whether the host is truly worthy of the binding." "Like what?" "Not committing any evil deeds for three months after gaining power, or risking your life to save someone once." ...Well, okay. Upon hearing the two conditions, Hikigaya shrugged helplessly. Apparently, he had completed both of them around the same time. "So now that my permissions are fully unlocked, besides more items in the shop, what else is new?" "Nothing." "!" Hikigaya Hachiman was utterly baffled. He had just unlocked all permissions, and yet the only change was an increase in available shop items? "The host's power increased too quickly. The system no longer has anything to teach you." For the first time, Hikigaya heard a trace of helplessness in the system's usually cold tone. The system had never anticipated that Hikigaya would defeat a high-level evil spirit without any assistance. After all, before entering the instance, he was still just a beginner exorcist wielding basic gear. Who would've thought the first mid-level evil spirit would be such a pushover, allowing Hikigaya to level up instantly? After that, Hikigaya went on to defeat both the samurai evil spirit and the bird-headed one with just beginner equipment. It was the first time the system had encountered such an absurd storyline. Originally, it had planned to accompany Hikigaya through a proper beginner's tutorial. But Hikigaya had directly completed the final beginner task: defeating a high-level evil spirit. What could the system do? It was helpless. "Uh... So you're saying you were originally supposed to teach me stuff?" Hearing this, a vein popped on Hikigaya's forehead. It seemed he had accidentally done something ridiculous. "Yes. Once the host reached mid-level exorcist, I was supposed to guide you through a period of training. After all, high-level evil spirits are exponentially more powerful than mid-level ones..." Perhaps because it was about to leave, the usually tight-lipped system suddenly became talkative. "But I didn't feel like that bird-headed spirit was much stronger than the samurai one." Hikigaya scratched his head, sounding just a bit smug. Still, he was being honest—the samurai evil spirit had almost killed him. In comparison, the bird-headed one, which just used tornado attacks, wasn't much of a threat. "That high-level evil spirit was far more powerful than it showed." The system's tone was full of disdain when referring to that creature. "Once it takes to the air, its speed increases drastically, and it can launch wind blades. Fighting it on open ground is a serious disadvantage. But it stayed on the ground because it didn't want to abandon its prey. That, I didn't expect." The system ended with a sigh. What was this situation? It had expected to stay with this host for several months, yet suddenly got dragged into a high-level instance and was immediately forced into early retirement. These days, even being a system wasn't easy. "Well, now that the host has completed the beginner tutorial, the Intelligent Assistant will take its leave." "Wait, you're leaving?" Hearing this, Hikigaya sensed something was wrong. If the system left, wouldn't he return to how things were months ago? "Don't worry. Only I, the intelligent assistant, will be leaving. The system will still reside within the host." Having explained this many times, the assistant gave a very clear answer. "Then where are you going?" Relieved that his current lifestyle wouldn't vanish, Hikigaya grew curious about the assistant's destination. "Of course I'll randomly jump to the next world to find a new host. Maybe someday I'll even need your help. Hopefully, you won't refuse when the time comes..." "You have a distress-call feature?!" Hikigaya's eyes widened. Why had he never used such a function? "The distress-call function is only unlocked after the second certification. But the host completed the beginner tutorial during the second certification." The system explained, sounding a bit aggrieved. "Alright... so what does the distress-call feature even do?" "It's used when the current host is overwhelmed. It summons the previous host to help out!" The system replied in a "how do you not get this?" tone. It's literally called the "distress-call" function—what else could it possibly be for? "Wait, only the previous host?" "Correct. Only the last host can be summoned. Otherwise, the power disparity would be too great, and the current host might gain powerful abilities without effort. That's what the Creator wants to prevent." "Alright, I've got no more questions." Having asked everything he needed, Hikigaya shrugged, signaling the system to leave already before he got annoyed again. "Then I hope when the distress-call signal activates, the host will respond quickly." Seeing that Hikigaya was already discarding it like used underwear, the intelligent assistant didn't linger. It left him with one last reminder before vanishing from his mind.