Haruto vs. The Gob-uh-lin Chief

Haruto let out a cough as the air was forced from his lungs. A single punch had thrown him across the room and slammed him into a wall. His HP bar emptied before his eyes, and beyond it, the Gob-uh-lin chief charged toward him, swinging his club and aiming for his head.

Haruto switched to Blue Tie Assassin, using the bonus agility to slide under the strike. He wrapped his tie around the chief's leg, pulling himself out of the way as he brought his club down, smashing a crater into the stone floor. Haruto rolled to his feet to see three Gob-uh-lins jumping at him, bringing their scimitars down. He dove out of the way, avoiding the attacks, only to put himself in the range of another he couldn't react to.

"You said I'm on defense, right?" the System said, flying to the rescue. The sound of metal clanged as their swords bounced off of the System's side.

Haruto quickly changed between Fan Service Delivery Boy and Blue Tie Assassin, causing hesitation in the smaller Gob-uh-lins actions and taking them out. The chief charged undaunted by Haruto's sparkly and beautiful visage. He had only a moment to position a Gob-uh-lin between him and his attacker, blocking the club's mighty swing. The club grazed him. Haruto screamed as his arm shattered.

He changed to Stress Management Consultant. "It's okay, Haruto. You can get through anything if you just breathe." He said to himself, activating his Stress Management Advice skill on himself, reducing the pain he felt.

Aki watched from behind the throne. Haruto was outmatched by everything in this room when it came to direct conflict. He was barely taking out the small ones with the System helping block them. She cycled through the potions she had pulled from her recovered bag, choosing a bright green one.

"Please do what you're supposed to!" She prayed to it. "Haruto! Regen potion!"

Aki threw the potion. Haruto dove for it, catching it as the System covered him. He popped the top and downed it with no hesitation. He felt the energy fill him, his arm straightening and popping back into place, his wounds mending.

"Yes! It worked!" Aki said, before the sound of dice rolling filled the room. "Oh, no..."

Haruto began to glow with green light. It flashed bright as power filled his body. The Gob-uh-lins shielded their eyes, and Haruto began to change.

As the light faded, Haruto stood unharmed but smaller and green. Everyone towered over him, and he couldn't tell why. A notification popped up. New Job Unlocked: Frog.

Haruto blinked at the popup. He looked at tiny green hands with large sticky balls for fingertips. The Gob-uh-lin chief towered over him as the others laughed at him.

"You might just be one of the least lucky slaves ever." The chief rasped. "Any last words?"

Froguto cleared his throat and held up his froggy middle finger. "Ribbit!"

In a moment, Froguto was smashed into the ground, the chief's club bouncing his little froggy body up into the air. He only had 1 hit point in this form. Once again, just like his first death, he had been crushed by a large object, falling at incredible speeds.

"Haruto!" the System screamed.

This is how it ended... Again. He hadn't had a chance to do anything with his new life. At the same time, he felt that this one had been more fulfilling anyway. How sad is that? With his last moment, he looked at the System. It seems he won't learn about his suspicious answers in the cell. He looked at Aki. This is how she changes his life in exchange for rescue. Pretty typical for Haruto.

His thoughts were a whirl of negativity. The whole situation annoyed him to no end. Just when he thought it was over, a notification popped up. And then... he healed.

Passive Activated: Survivor.

Not understanding what happened, he took the chance anyway. He landed on his little froggy feet and jumped toward the Gob-uh-lin chief. He knew this was a challenge he couldn't win, but he refused to be killed without landing at least one hit.

The chief laughed, ready to swat Froguto out of the air. The club came fast, but Froguto threw out a froggy kick to retaliate, and the sound of dice filled the room once more. His kick made contact with the club, sending it flying from the chief's hand and cratering the wall, leaving both wide-eyed and stunned.

The chief, mouth agape, sweat dripping from his forehead, looked at his weapon in disbelief and then back to Froguto. Froguto opened his menu in shock, checking his status. He found the potion effects in a section titled "Temporary Passives."

Regeneration Potion
Regenerate 1 hit point per second.
Unlucky Alchemist Effects: Frog Form, Strength Up: 5000%

Froguto looked at his strength of 1, doing some quick math. He was only a frog, but his strength stat was 50 now. He turned to look at the chief, and his little froggy lips curled into an evil grin.

"He can't beat us! He's just a frog!" The chief bellowed, ordering his underlings. "Get him!"

"Ribbit!" Froguto said, croaking the coolest one-liner ever.

The Gob-uh-lins charged. Froguto jumped, bouncing between walls, ceiling, and Gob-uh-lin skulls like a pinball with anger issues. He didn't have access to Blue Tie Assassin, but he mimicked the moves with his tongue, swinging it around and breaking necks. The Gob-uh-lins were strewn around the room in defeat.

"Yeah! That's my boy!" the System cheered.

"Whooo! Go Haruto!" Aki screamed.

A gleam shone in his eye as Froguto turned his attention to the chief. He held up his hands in surrender, backing away. Froguto took a wet slapping footstep forward.

"Let's talk this over." The chief said. "We kind of have the women coming over tonight. We need them happy, so why don't you just leave so we can clean up?"

"Ribbit!" Froguto said sadistically. "Riiiibbit!"

Froguto jumped forward, ready to end this. The chief turned to run away, moving just in time. Froguto crashed down, creating crater after crater as he kicked and punched at the fleeing Gob-uh-lin chief.

Cornered with nowhere to run, the chief pressed himself against the wall. Froguto jumped up, rearing back to return the punch that he had received at the start of this fight. The chief screamed in fear, and then, poof, Haruto's fist landed in his face.

It wasn't a powerful punch, but it was solid as his froggy strength left him. The potion had worn off. As his fist made a light smack sound, the chief spit some blood and looked at Haruto with a smile of jagged teeth.

"Well, I think you've learned your lesson." Haruto said, trying to walk away. "We'll just leave now."

The chief grabbed him by the shoulder and shook his head slowly. Haruto sighed, changing to Blue Tie Assassin. He swung his tie, attempting to wrap him up preemptively, but couldn't connect as another punch came his way.

As the two traded blows and dodges, the System looked around the cave for something to turn the tide. Using its greater observational skills, it notices a small title floating over a pile of firewood. Flying over to it, he begins to flash with digital light.

"Come on. Come on!" the System said to itself. "Make hands!"

Haruto took blow after blow. New Job Unlocked: Human Punching Bag. Haruto changed to it, tanking multiple hits and returning with weak ones of his own. He couldn't take advantage of Blue Tie Assassin properly in this situation. This was a straight brawl he was going to lose.

The System continued flashing and failing. It wanted to help, and it found a way but kept failing. He couldn't just let such an event come to pass.

"Just do it!" The System screamed as digital hands slapped what would be considered his cheeks. Its eye went wide, and it screamed. It dug through the pile of wood, throwing things out of the way until it reached its goal. "Haruto, catch!"

The delivery flew through the air. Haruto raised his hand and caught it. The Holy Blade Yggdrasil!

Haruto changed to Stick Hero, parrying the chief's attacks with newfound fluidity. In an instant he became unhittable, but that didn't change his lack of offense. Haruto swung Yggdrasil as hard as he could, breaking it against the Gob-uh-lin's face and expending all of his Barrage Stacks, multiplying the number of hits he took.

Stunned by taking five hits to the face at once, the chief staggered. Haruto tackled him, slamming the chief to the ground, driving the broken stick straight into his eye. He screamed and convulsed, causing Haruto to drive the stick deeper until he quit squirming.

Bloodied and bruised, Haruto sat upon his foe. He raised his broken stick to the sky, blood running down his arm. He let out a roar of victory.

Stick Hero's Level has increased.