Anime: Passive Inheritance System

In the mountainous border region of Iraq, a streak of dim silver light flashed under the scorching sun. The next moment, a man in black appeared atop a sand-covered rocky hill.

[Beep! Travel complete. Host has successfully arrived at the designated world. Beginning world data scan!]

[Scan complete. Host's current location: northeastern border mountains of Iraq. World time: July 18, 2023, 11:43 AM.]

As two system prompts rang out in his mind, Kai slowly opened his eyes. The midday sun was glaring, and the barren, sand-covered stone hills around him felt lifeless.

"Iraq..."

Recalling the system prompt just now, Kai frowned slightly.

If it were a unique location like the dungeon or Orario from DanMachi, he could instantly tell what world he was in. But Iraq… that name was far too vague. Many anime and novels based on real-world settings used it.

"System."

Shaking his head to stop dwelling on which world he'd landed in, Kai softly called out to the system. At his voice, a familiar pale-blue light screen appeared in front of him.

Name: Kai Takashina

Race: Primordial Force False God (Pseudo)

Profession: Adventurer Lv.3 (0/100000) – Hestia Familia

Age: 23 (???)

Height: 181 cm

Weight: 75 kg

Spirit: 100 (500)

Strength: 100 (500)

Agility: 100 (500)

Endurance: 100 (500)

Constitution: 100 (500)

Class Inheritance: [Black Swordsman]

Energy: 378825.19 / 1000000

After slaying multiple high-level monsters in the dungeon, Kai had already overflowed his Lv.2 experience bar. Upon reaching the 100th floor, as the first Lv.2 adventurer in history to step foot that deep, the feat pushed him to Lv.3, raising all his attribute caps to 500.

Looking at the absurd stats displayed on the system interface, Kai couldn't help feeling a bit emotional.

In just two months, he'd gone from a complete rookie with single-digit stats and instinct-based fighting to someone who could be called a proper warrior.

Repeated life-and-death battles—either be eliminated and left as a corpse or adapt quickly and climb the ranks atop corpses to the main stage.

There was never such a thing as a smooth life or success without a price. Ever since Kai received the system and chose to accept the inheritance, he'd been fated to walk a bloodstained path.

There was effort and there was gain—a brutally fair and impartial system... unlike those systems in the novels he'd read that were voiced by mature onee-sans or tsundere lolis. His ended up as a downsized version.

Sighing slightly, Kai said, "Start the random draw."

[Ding! Class inheritance random draw starting!]

As the cold system voice rang out, a golden wheel—previously seen when he inherited the [Black Swordsman] class—reappeared before him and began spinning rapidly.

Countless tiny job icons dragged golden light trails. When the wheel stopped, the pointer landed on a symbol of a katana crossed with a hand cannon.

The katana was understandable, but the hand cannon… Was this new class turning him into a gun specialist?

Just as Kai was making a weird face, the system prompt arrived.

[Congratulations, Host. You have obtained the [Phantom Gunsmith] class inheritance. Exclusive skill tree unlocked!]

"Phantom Gunsmith?"

Seeing the words [Phantom Gunsmith] appear next to [Black Swordsman] in his class inheritance panel, Kai was confused.

He knew plenty of gun-using characters, but ones that fit the term "phantom"… honestly, nothing came to mind.

Clicking into the skill tree for [Phantom Gunsmith], he saw the same inverted pyramid layout as [Black Swordsman]. At the bottom were four basic passive skills, followed by two advanced passives, one core passive, and one ultimate.

Focusing on the eight vertically-aligned skill nodes, Kai began examining them one by one.

The four basic passives were: [Firearm Mastery], [Focus], [Hawkeye], [Instinct]. The two advanced passives: [Gun Combat Arts] and [Powder Frenzy]. Core passive: [Phantom Gun Construction]. Ultimate move: [Azure Flame Form].

"So it really is a gunner class… but Azure Flame Form? Why does that look so familiar..."

Staring at the topmost skill, Kai suddenly had a flash of realization. A black-haired, twin-tailed girl's image popped into his mind.

"Black Rock Shooter?!"

Black Rock Shooter—originally a character born from the sorrow of a girl named Mato Kuroi—was a fan-created design that grew popular enough to get its own game and anime, becoming a standalone character.

All otaku loved her. Back when the anime was airing, people used to say, "The world may be moe, but Black Rock is cool."

Think about what anime aired in the same season—school harem romances, isekai harem romances, urban ensemble harem romances, multi-party NTR harem romances, BL-coded harem romances, and some fighting-titled but still harem shows... Compared to all that, Black Rock Shooter was refreshingly unique. Bullets and blood flew across the screen, and though there were light yuri undertones, over 90% of fans watched it for the girl whose eye blazed with azure fire.

As a long-time otaku, Kai was more than familiar with the anime's characters—especially the protagonist, Black Rock Shooter. Her poster used to hang on the ceiling of his bedroom, and even before he transmigrated to Orario, he had a special illustration of her framed on his wall.

Inheriting her class was definitely cool… but a grown man using a little girl's class inheritance still felt kind of weird.

Rubbing his nose awkwardly, Kai didn't dwell on it. He immediately activated the only skill currently available: [Firearm Mastery].

As his finger tapped the skill, the silver-white skill icon turned gold, and two system notifications rang out.

[Ding! Congratulations, Host. Skill tree for [Phantom Gunsmith] successfully activated. Skill [Firearm Mastery] unlocked at Level 1. Please continue progressing to unlock more classes.]

[Detected that Host has activated [Phantom Gunsmith] class inheritance. Trial quest countdown begins! Remaining time: 1499 days, 11:58:24.]

A blood-red countdown appeared at the top of the skill tree.

"1499:11:58:23"

Glancing at the timer, Kai was surprised by how much prep time this trial gave him. But having already gone through one trial, he quickly looked away and began inspecting his new skill.

[Firearm Mastery Lv.1 (0/5000): Allows decent proficiency with light firearms. Slightly increases control over light firearms.]

Compared to [Black Swordsman]'s starting passive [One-Handed Sword], [Firearm Mastery] was a bit too bland. No stat boosts, no battle instincts—just a basic proficiency with light firearms. What you see is what you get.

But with Kai's current stats—700 total points once his [Solo-player] bonuses stacked—he wasn't too concerned about minor changes.

After reading the skill, he closed the system screen and started descending the mountain with his hand resting on his sword hilt.

In the distance, black smoke rose from a city made of earthen buildings.

In a war-torn place like Iraq, bloodshed was never in short supply.

Kai walked toward the smoke-filled town, fingers slowly tightening around his sword hilt.

Behind brown clay walls built from a mixture of soil, bran, and straw, five fully armed girls around sixteen or seventeen years old sat on the ground, breathing heavily.

Their hair and eye colors varied, and their facial features differed slightly. Three had distinct Western features—deep-set and sharp—while the other two had the soft, reserved traits common among Asians.

Despite their diverse backgrounds, they shared one clear trait: identical black combat uniforms, both in color and style. On the left arm of each uniform was a silver-white eagle spreading its wings, ready to take flight.

The "Divine Eagle Military Professional Management Company."

Commonly known as CDI, or by some, the Divine Eagle Mercenary Corps. (Note: Real-world mercenary companies typically do not recruit women, and the minimum age for service is at least 17. Please do not assume otherwise.)

These five girls were part of CDI's wartime task force, Squad 7. Though still in their youth, each one was an elite, skilled in explosives, interrogation, close combat, and gunfighting. Every one of them had taken at least a dozen lives—some, dozens.

Compared to so-called "military elites" in regular armies, they might not match in physical training, but on the battlefield, when it came to killing, they were undoubtedly top-tier.

But now, these five elite mercenaries were in trouble.

"Floria, give me an analysis."

The blonde girl in the center tried to steady her breathing as she turned to the pink-haired girl on her left.

"Yes, Captain."

Floria's fingers swiped quickly across her tablet. A translucent hologram appeared in the air, showing an overhead view of the town.

"Enemy reinforcements are approaching from three directions. Both the east and west have at least three squads. Only the southern route hasn't formed a full firepower blockade. But with our current ammo count… escaping is unlikely."

As she spoke, red inverted triangle markers appeared over the east and west on the map. Only the south showed scattered red dots.

After studying the map, the blonde girl suddenly pointed to the empty north side.

"Why not break out from the north?"

"Impossible..."

Floria smiled bitterly and tapped the screen. The hologram zoomed in, revealing a wide, open plain.

Seeing the flat, empty terrain, the blonde girl fell silent.

No cover. Just a vast, open field. If they tried to escape that way, a single volley would reduce them to swiss cheese.

"...Understood. Everyone, get ready. We'll rest five more minutes, then break out from the south."

She took a deep breath and issued her order.

At her words, the other girls began checking their gear. Loaded bullets were removed and reloaded again.

A heavy, oppressive atmosphere settled between them. Aside from the sounds of prepping weapons, no one said a word.

Five minutes passed quickly. The blonde girl racked the bolt of her FAL rifle and switched it to semi-auto. As she stood, the others followed, each holding a loaded weapon with the safety off.

"The mission is to break through. The priority is survival. You're not rookies—don't try to be heroes. Understood?"

"Yes, Captain!"

Her eyes swept over the determined, youthful faces of her teammates. She turned, leaned against the wall, peeked out carefully, and raised a hand with a ready signal.

The next moment, she swept her hand down and darted out, keeping low and silent.

"Go!"

The rest followed in single file.

---

In a narrow alley surrounded by crude clay buildings, Kai walked at a steady pace.

As he moved, he scanned his surroundings.

The black smoke visible from afar was rising from these buildings. Since entering the town, the faint scent of blood had lingered in his nose.

It was subtle—much weaker than when he wiped out an entire dungeon floor—but it was there.

And blood on a battlefield only meant one thing: someone had died.

Kai noticed corpses casually discarded in alley shadows like stray animals. The corners of his lips curled up.

As expected from a place teeming with international terrorists and mercenaries... it didn't disappoint.

Just as his smile deepened, several rapid footsteps echoed nearby.

Turning his head, he saw several bearded men in headscarves holding rifles appear at the end of the street.

They locked eyes for a moment. Then the men, clearly hostile, pulled back their bolts in sync.

Kai raised his left hand and said with an innocent smile, "If I said I was just passing through, would you believe—"

RATATATATATATAT—

Before he could finish, gunfire erupted from the other side of the street.

Muzzle flashes lit up, dozens of bullets forming a deadly net aimed straight at him.

"...So rude."

Instead of faltering, Kai's smile grew even brighter.

His figure flickered and vanished, reappearing at the end of the street.

Clack—

His blue sword slid into its sheath with a crisp sound. Only then did the afterimage he left behind begin to fade.

Behind him, the gunmen collapsed—each one pierced cleanly through the back of the skull. Instant death, no pain.

"Getting older makes me kinder, huh…"

Looking back at the mess of corpses, Kai shook his head and continued walking deeper into the city.

As he walked, he toyed casually with a new weapon in his hand.

Clack clack—

Quickly disassembling and reassembling the guns taken from the men earlier, Kai was clearly enjoying himself.

Thanks to the effects of [Firearm Mastery], he felt an innate sense of familiarity and ease with the weapons, almost immediately understanding their structure and performance upon picking them up.

It would be nice if a few people showed up now so he could test-fire them...

With that thought floating in his head, Kai wandered expectantly through the smoke-filled town.