Rise of the Gamer [Hiatus]

Chapter 4

~~ 2 Months Later ~~

"I CAN WALK! LOOK AT ME! IM WALKING! WHO'S THE BABY? IM THE BABY! WOOO!" I shouted out in baby talk as I happily stumble-walked around like a drunk on the streets at 3am on a Tuesday, smiling like I had just won the lottery. The sibling closest to my age whose name continues to escape me due to the stupid language barrier, screamed excitedly behind me as she shadowed me around the room.

'If I had that stupid Observe ability, I would know her name by now but nooo I gotta learn her name the hard way like everyone else.'

She was by far the favorite of my six sisters mainly due to her excitable nature and willingness to do whatever it was that I was doing. Like eating. Or sleeping. Or as of today, walking, or at least my latest attempts at walking. Perhaps she was simply glad to have a younger sibling. Perhaps it was because she was most likely two years old and therefore excited about everything. Not knowing her name, I had nicknamed her 'Favorite'. Yes, a most creative nickname, most creative indeed.

My second youngest sister, whom I had nicknamed 'Explorer' due to her nose constantly being glued to a map of some kind, was also in the room with us. Also, calling her Mapper sounded quite silly, so Explorer it was. This map of hers was in the shape of a scroll that reminded me of a rolled-up newspaper from back in the day, but more compact and thicker in width. I had no idea what was so interesting about this map, but she spent hours every day just looking at this map.

"Wonder if that map leads to any pirate treasures or mysterious artifacts? Heck I'll even settle for dinosaur bones. It better be something cool. How can she spend hours every day looking at the same map? I don't get it", I wondered out loud in baby talk as I paced the room in a squiggly circle, my arms stretched out at various shifting angles trying to balance myself, Favorite pacing right behind me while giggling excitedly the entire time.

I had found out that 'kaa-san', which is what Explorer and Favorite kept referring to new mom as, was really patient. Even though I know that she comes home directly from the farming fields and is likely super tired from working with wooden farming equipment, yet she still spends an hour or two every night after dinner with the eager Explorer and reluctant Favorite, guiding them on how to speak simple words and numbers.

It was during one of these sessions with Kaa-san, that I learnt how to say one to ten in Japanese, among other simple words. I couldn't actually speak a single Japanese word out loud yet due to poor motor control over my tongue or the other regions of my mouth responsible for speaking, but that didn't stop me from trying to overcome this language barrier.

"Rumi-chan! #### ##### ##### ##### ##### ##### ##### ##### ####", said my grandfather to Explorer, while gesturing in the direction of Favorite and I.

'Oh, is that Explorer's name? Rumi? Rumi. Huh. Simple enough. How did I not get her name previously?'

|[ You have learnt something new. Your intelligence increases by 1. ]|

'Er what? I learn how to say one to ten in Japanese and I don't get anything, but finding out Explorer's name gets me one point in Intelligence? Are you kidding me? What kind of broken system is this?'

Stomping my right foot once in frustration, I heard an excitable giggle-scream behind me. Turning to look at her, I noticed that she too had stomped her right foot on the wooden floor.

'Is Favorite copying my every move? Is this a game to her? Huh, so cute. Well, I suppose she is nicknamed Favorite for a reason. Should I call her Stomper now? No, that sounds like the name of a character from The Land Before Time.'