A Brief Introduction

Endless Levels is an isekai novel about a 19-year-old shut-in high school graduate called, Tosokami Hikari. After a harsh reminder of reality in his previous life, he is sent to a fantasy world which is about ×10 the size of Earth, where he must possess high stats to survive.

Word From The Author

Hey, it's me, the author of this novel. I intend for this to be a fun little novel as well as some sort of novel writing experience grind. English laws (If they exist) will be ignored here and there, but overall I hope it's enjoyable.

Let's begin...

Hey, my name is Tosokami Hikari. It's been over a year since I graduated from high school, haven't felt the urge to jump onto college for some reason.

I spend most of my time indoors playing video games and watching anime. In some occasions, I take part in online VS debates. We pretty much go on and on about which character can beat which or what weapon is better than which, though it seems like a waste of time to normal humans, for otakus it's a way of life. Would you believe me if I told you a human which can stop time can beat a god of speed given certain conditions? In these VS debates, we dissect every single bit about whatever character. A fun fantasy way to pass time, not to mention the glorious feeling when your favourite character is proven to be able to defeat other powerful anime characters.

' Man!!, today's temperature is through the roof,' I speak out while getting up from the computer chair in my room. It's mid-summer, so temperatures can get really brutal, especially if there's no cloud cover. I walk towards the window and notice that it's afternoon.

' The Sun will set soon, I should go eat out for a change, 'I say to myself while looking outside the window. I live with my mom in a city apartment. She's always at work, meaning I'm always home alone. Admittedly, I know I'm useless, which is why I try not to cause any trouble or stress for her. Making sure the house is always clean is my priority, though It's not much, it gives mom a bit of motivation to keep working. I am able to buy a bit of food with the money I make from content creating, so that's a thing.

Chasing riches is a dream I gave up on after realizing how tough life after high school is. With that realization, I decided to just do what I love; If I make a bit of income out of it, that's cool and If I don't, that's fine with me. I didn't feel like I belonged to this world anyway, so why try so hard? Depriving yourself of fun and building wealth which can be lost at any moment seemed like a painful way to live.

I took my backpack which contained a bottle of water, a flashlight, a solar small power bank, Vol.3 of Journey To Surpassing A God (My favourite manga series) and some candy. These are just items I love to carry around just in case I get bored while waiting for my ramen dish at that old geezers spot. The flashlight is for emergencies such as power cuts, which happen a fair bit in this block.

The part of the city we lived in was not that fancy. Though the universe didn't give me a rich family, it gave me the best mom, which was more than enough for me.

I took the elevator to the ground floor and made my way outside. The breeze felt nice on my skin. It was a bit uncomfortable as the city was always crowded.

After a few minutes, I reached the ramen spot. I'm not a frequent customer, but the old geezer knows me pretty well. Why wouldn't he when his always hitting on my mom. This thought made me a bit annoyed.

Luckily, the place was not too packed, so I could place my order without waiting too much in line.

' Toso my boy, how is your mom doing eh?, 'the old man said with a smirk.

' She's fine, thanks for asking, 'seemingly annoyed, I placed my order.

The old man laughed as usual. I wasn't really annoyed by him wanting to be with my mom, what annoyed me was what my old man did to my mom. Long story short, they divorced.

' AGH, whatever, 'I sigh and proceeded to take my sit on the birch wooden dining set to await my ramen dish. At least the old geezer makes god tier dishes, I thought to myself.

After a few minutes of waiting, a young long silky dark hair waitress approached me with my order. Her name is Yumei, and she's a part-time waitress at this dining spot. She's doing her last year in high school, so our age difference ain't that far apart.

' Gotta admit, she looks more and more beautiful every time I see her, 'I say to myself. I mean, she is definitely attractive, but I just didn't have any feelings towards her whatsoever. We do have casual talks, but that's pretty much it, besides I'm not really the "suitable guy" according to today's standards.

' Hey Toso, I see you finally came to eat out again, 'she said.

' Hey Yumei, still working for the old geezer I see, 'I replied.

' You shouldn't call him that, Mr Moto is still in his 30s, 'she replied while placing my order on the birch table.

' Anyway, here's your order, I'm going to serve other customers now, 'she said while turning to walk away.

' Yumei, 'I call out to her. She stops to listen.

' Um...thanks for serving me. I appreciate it, 'I say to her in a relaxed voice. She turns and smiles at me before walking away to carry on with her job.

' She better not get any ideas, 'I think to myself before pouncing on the ramen dish that was in front of me.

I enjoyed the dish a lot, it's really up there below my moms super delicious meals. After eating, I drank some of the water I had brought with me in my backpack. I sat for a few minutes, then left the spot.

The sun would set soon, so I decided to visit the park and relax there for a bit. I mean I had been indoors all this time so why not stroll around for a bit. While on my way there, I made a few stops at gaming hardware stores to check out some GPU cards. I can't afford them, but there's nothing wrong about drooling over them.

I reached the city park, which was not too crowded. The air felt fresh, tree's reacted to the blowing wind which was really calming. I took a sit at one of the benches and looked up in the sky. It was clear, nothing but bird's could be seen. Moments passed by, and I started thinking to myself, 'What is the point of life?' Though this question seemed weird, it's a question I had been asking myself every time I looked out the window.

While lost in thought I fell asleep on the bench. The atmosphere in the park was so calm that I couldn't help but take a nap. I made sure to sleep on top of my backpack, that way I would know if someone tried to pull a little something. I wasn't carrying that important of items so I wasn't too concerned. My smartphone would be safe in my chest jackets pocket.

Moments passed...

I managed to take roughly a 30 minutes nap before waking up to a cold breeze. The sun had already set.

' It's already dark. Let me go back home, mom is probably on her way, ' I said to myself.

The city park was already empty. Probably a few people still lurking around the entrance so I grabbed my stuff and began making my way out. While walking I could hear some faint cries for help. It sounded like someone who was so sick they could barely even speak.

' Mmh, thats strange nobody should still be in this section of the park by now, ' I thought to myself.

As I approached the trees I could make out that the voice was of a young woman. If I had to guess she's probably about the same age as me. Suddenly I heard middle aged male voices. I felt the urge to rush to the site. I had alot of questions on my mind but everything would be clarified once I got beyond those trees, deep in the parks forestry.

' Hey are you oka..., ' I said loudly while coming out of the trees but...

' Who the hell is this kid?, ' One of the middle aged man asked.

I froze in disbelief. Never in my entire life had I seen such a scene. My predictions of the girl had been correct but I couldn't even make out her face from all the bruises and blood. She was barely dressed and was at the verge of death. Horrified, I stood there with a face of despair.

Suddenly fear started to arise, I felt sick to my stomach.

'Hey kid what are you doing at this time? You got a death wish or something,' one of the guys said.

Poor girl seemed to have been violated and beaten to the point where she could die at any moment. I took a deep breath while shaking and said,' Please let her go, you have done enough already. '

The man just stood there and laughed at me. I was blind, sleeping on the park bench like this world was heaven. Having spent most of my time as a shut in meant I was completely unaware of this harsh reality. Today the outside world had came to say hello to me.

The more I looked at the two man, the more I could sense their intense aura. It was filled with murderous intent. I knew right then that I'm not coming out untouched. The 2 man had a masculine build. Their upper arms had tattoos which seemed to represent a deadly gang.

' They've killed, ' I said to myself

I regretted coming to check what had happened and decided to make a run for it, however one of the man tackled me. I could feel the force of that tackle. It was clear to me that I must do what I can to survive.

' Please, Please Stop! I will give you all my belongings, just stop!, ' I said while screaming in pain. The park was large so nobody could hear a thing, especially at this time. Never in my life had I felt such pain.

' Stop? Why should I? You have seen us so the best way to keep you shut is for you to join this girl here, ' one of the guys said while laughing.

' Look man I won't tell anyone I swear, ' I said in a scared voice. In that moment I just felt like a wimp.

I attempted to escape again but another vicious tackle resisted my efforts. As I was about to look up a fist followed right on my left cheek. It felt like I took a metal bat to the face. All I could do is spit out broken teeth and the blood which had flooded my mouth.

Realizing that there's no escaping this I decided to fight back. Luckily both their attention was on me now so the girl could still be saved.

' Man ladies can be a pain, ' I said while standing up, wiping the blood on my lips with my hand. My chances of victory where about 5%. The only option I had was to brawl with them for a bit, making them believe I had given up on escaping. With that thought, I could catch them off guard and run away which would prompt a chase. There's 2 of them though and they outclass me in all physical aspects so its gonna be a risky move but my only chance of saving both me and the girl.

Well...I was completely delusional. One of the man took hold of me, his grip was strong. The other one dished out combos at me. The pain was unbearable. My screams started to fade slowly with my consciousness as time went by. To list all my injuries after a few minutes of the beating, I had a: fractured skull, internal bleeding, a broken leg, shattered ribs from the force of his punches, a shattered jaw and many other I didn't know about.

My whole body felt shattered. I was losing alot of blood every second. It became clear to me that my fate had been sealed. All that came into my fading consciousness was my mother, my loving mother. Everything became so bright it was blinding.

' So this is how I go out huh? Death for trying to help a girl i don't even know. Wonder what's on the other side?, ' I said in my head as I finally dropped. I Tosokami Hikari had passed on.

' Man this kid was stubborn, in the end he didn't even last as long as the girl over there haha, ' one of the guys said.

' Hahaha, finish off the girl while I loot this runt, ' the other one replied and proceeded to loot my body and backpack.

That was it. In the end the only thing I treasured the most in this world was my mom. I lived a shut in and got punished for it, punished by my ignorance of the outside world.

Moments went by. After a while I could feel myself regaining consciousness. What was happening? Did I get saved? Those questions popped up while still under the process of regaining consciousness.