Chương 2

'' System!'' Ethan shouted with glee. Nothing happened.'' Status!'''' Open the status panel!'''' Initialize the system!'''' Interface.'''' Stats.'''' Inventory.'''' Quest log.'''' Titles.'' … Ethan glared at the murder plant, which had gone oddly quiet in the middle of munching on its snack, and repeated some more commands inside his head. When that failed, he tried to visualize a status page. Not getting any response, he tried to communicate with the strange energy in his body.

Eventually, he clicked his tongue, giving up.'' Maybe I'm not allowed to have a system as I'm not a native of this world. Or there are some requirements I'm not aware of. In any case, fuck'em. I'll get my own system in the meantime,'' he murmured.

''Ani, get me a status screen, like the ones I used to have at the beginning of VR games. Also, convert this energy that I've got into bonus stats.''' Understood.' Status: Level 1 Name: Ethan Walker Race: Human Age: 138 Health: 43/70 Mana: 110/110 Stamina: 12/70 Vitality: 7 Strength: 9 Endurance: 7 Agility: 10 Intelligence: 11 Perception: 8 *Available stats: 10 Wincing a little after seeing his age, ''Hey, let's not count the years where both my mind and body had been frozen, shall we?'' he asked, amused.

Ani confirmed, and the number next to his age turned to 18. Ethan looked at his stats with anticipation. They were the same numbers he'd seen many times before, whenever he'd played realistic VRMMORPGs back on Earth. Although there were a few missing ones. Depending on the type of virtual reality game, there would also be stats like Wisdom, Will, Charisma, or even Luck. However, he knew why Ani hadn't included any of those. The mysterious energy he'd gained offered to improve only these six aspects.

No, it seemed almost eager to be utilized, guiding him on how to do it. Naturally, Ani was feeling everything he felt. Almost like an instinct, Ethan knew that if he led the energy to his skin, bones, and organs, and let it nourish them, they would gain defensive qualities, getting tougher and more resilient. This seemed to increase his stamina as well, allowing him to perform tiresome tasks a little longer.

If he were to distribute them equally to his body and let it cleanse certain areas, it would get rid of the damaged and sickly cells and create new healthy ones. Kind of like autophagy and stem cell production on steroids. This would directly enhance his overall health. The former was the Endurance stat, while the latter was Vitality, and just like these, Ethan gained an intuitive understanding of all the stats. Some of them were pretty confusing, though.

Intelligence, for example, needed mind and heart coherence for the energy to travel somewhere outside of his body. The process would also leave him with improved thinking and calculating abilities. He wouldn't really become smarter, but his thought process would become smoother. Other than that, he had no idea what was going on there.'' It should be about mana,'' he speculated, smiling ear to ear. His eyes shone with expectation, feeling a childlike excitement.

''I can't believe this is all real! Looks like this is how those giant monsters get stronger. As long as I keep killing the ones around my level, I can also become like them, maybe even more. Where do I sign for the fireball spell? No, forget that. I want lightning powers with a rare and cool color!'' It took him a few more minutes of daydreaming to realize that he was still bleeding and drooling profusely in front of an ominous plant.

Reluctantly, he shook his head and ordered Ani to allocate his free stats–3 Vitality, 3 Endurance, and 4 Agility, to be precise. Sure, he could've done that himself, but why not have some fun by gamifying this bizarre situation even more? Suddenly, pure adrenaline shot through his veins, making time seem to slow down. His body went through a series of demolitions and constructions on a molecular level that was so fast, he didn't even feel the slightest inconvenience.

On the contrary, it was a warm and fuzzy feeling like that of a hot spring after a grueling day. He wished for it to continue as much as possible. Alas, it was gone after only a moment. Yet, its effects were left behind. Ethan felt the power up in his bones, quite literally. The bleeding on his leg slowed down to the point of stopping while the injuries on his arms shrank in size. In such a short time, he felt like he had rested for a few hours, but more importantly, he noticed his body become more… nimble.

Clenching and unclenching his fingers, he found himself speechless in the presence of instantaneous growth. Especially in his profession, this news was huge. His base stats were a result of years of hard work. Even then, they were only a few points higher than what he originally had. The ones like Intelligence and Perception were at most a single digit higher after his years of mad training in the VR. On Earth's standards, this was a great achievement and pretty much the end of the road.

Even the best athletes had one or two physical stats at 10 points or higher. In this world though, all it took him was to kill a big rat to pass the old ceiling. Magic opened a path beyond the realm of reason. The future was full of possibilities, and he was determined to seize them. The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement. I can't get complacent. I'm literally at the level of rats right now. One wrong step, and I wouldn't even know how I died here.

He took a deep breath and let it out slowly, narrowing his eyes. Now, finding low level mobs and killing them is a no-brainer, but if I want some edge, I'll have to find some skills and spells. Needless to say, I'll keep exploring this place and look for books and scrolls. I should also try getting general skills myself. Just like the novels and the games I know, as long as I show some proficiency, I should get basic skills and improve them at a faster rate.

Even if I can't unlock the system just yet, Ani can let me know whether my mastery has increased or not. Similarly, I should start physical training. Who knows, maybe it's possible to grow some stats through hard work? And lastly, I need a damn weapon! Something like a spear would be nice, but I doubt I'll get that lucky. While his expertise lay in knives and daggers, Ethan was somewhat skilled at all kinds of weapons.

In the past, he'd tried to have some kind of capability with every cold weapon, not only to be ready for extreme circumstances, but also to understand his enemies' way of fighting. Unfortunately, these efforts were rather meaningless against magical beasts, and there were no weapons in sight as of yet. It took about an hour for the sedative's effects to pass completely. During this time, he tried to learn some skills like [Meditation], [Focus], and [Multi-Tasking], but couldn't see any progress.

As the numbness of his leg passed, a throbbing pain made an appearance, though it wasn't as bad as he feared. He tore off a piece of his shirt and bandaged his leg under his jeans, hoping to find something to clean the wound any time soon. Then, he switched to physical exercises and let Ani observe his stat points, converting them into decimal figures to monitor closely. After an hour of bodyweight workouts, he decided to stop as there was no development on that front either. Still, he didn't give up hope.

Perhaps the experience would be stacking over time, or maybe there was some threshold to be crossed. Whatever the case, time would tell. As one of his sneakers was near the murder plant, he eventually left to explore the city barefoot, cursing and threatening the oblivious herb one last time. The afternoon sun sneaked in through the canopy of the otherworldly trees, casting light upon the forgotten city and its denizens.

A tranquil silence was intertwined with occasional cries and screeches that were both soothing and terrifying. Monsters of various species minded their own business, leaving their territories every so often but never going too far. Ethan kept a tab on them and stayed under the shadows as he traveled, hoping that his black jeans and white t-shirt wouldn't be too eye-catching. He visited the buildings one after another and left no stone unturned, pocketing anything slightly useful.

Remnants of the books, magazines, parchments, and scrolls were all recorded through his biochip, and anything that resembled a weapon was collected in a bundle of old bed linen that was getting bigger and bigger. Noticing that he had arrived in a different part of the town with a slightly higher altitude, he decided to climb onto another roof and took another look at his surroundings, mapping the place as much as possible.

He left his bundle next to a thick bush and made his way up through the cracked mortar joints and deep window sills. A new scene greeted him on the roof. The tree canopy was closer to the buildings in this area, blocking most of his view but still offering small gaps opening to the neighbourhood. Beyond the trees in the northwest, he spotted a vast purple bamboo forest, starting shortly after the temple and stretching to the horizon.

Just when he was trying to discern whether there were any other monsters in the area, the answer became apparent. An ominous growl reached his ears. He looked for the source on alert, but couldn't see anything. A deep bellow boomed through the city the next moment, coming from just a few blocks away. And with it, a heavy presence enveloped the surroundings. Ethan felt terror deep in his bones. His mind went blank. His body froze. A hefty pressure fell onto his shoulders, making his knees weak.

Time seemed to stop as seconds felt like hours. Then, it disappeared at once. The aura, or whatever that was, withdrew. It took him a good while to process what had just happened, and that he still wasn't breathing. It was all too familiar: the despair, the unfairness, the feeling of being trapped. It was him against impossible odds, again. His lips curled into a mirthless smile as his eyes turned cold. It's like I never left the Drains. Very well, then. Bring it on.

An icy calmness washed him over as his heartbeats started to slow down. Once again, he tried to see the beasts, but failed. They were on the ground and behind the buildings and trees. Thankfully, the dispute didn't escalate into a fight. With calculated eyes, he waited for another half an hour and left the roof quietly. Getting his stuff back, he left the baleful area as soon as possible.

In the backyard of the fifth place he visited after the recent wake-up call, he decided not to push his luck anymore and got to work. It was time to spill his spoils on the ground and try to decide a winner. Sadly, there was nothing that could be turned into a polearm, but before stumbling upon another beast, he wanted to have some kind of weapon to defend himself. Finally, among all the junk, he picked a classic chef's knife and a cleaver. While durable, they were both in terrible condition.

Ethan walked toward the edge of the garden and knelt beside the cracked stone wall, his fingers tracing spongy patches of green lichen creeping over the stones. His fingers scraped up a small handful. It smelled woody and rather sharp. Placing it on a flat cobble, he started grinding it with another stone. Quickly, the damp patch of lichen oozed a thin, milky juice. He mixed this with tiny bits of soil until it turned into a sludge of the desired consistency.

Then, he let out the stones he'd stuffed into his pocket from the houses he visited. A good finger stone had to have a certain texture, kind of like emery but also tough and resistant. Thankfully, they weren't hard to find. Ethan picked one of the chipped ones and dipped it into the solution before placing it on his finger and starting to scrub it against the moldy cleaver.

He used slow, rhythmic strokes to scrape away the rust, pressing just firmly enough to strip off the corrosion without biting too deep into the metal. It did nothing at first, but over time, the dull orange-brown started to flake off, leaving a cleaner surface underneath. Done with each side, he switched to sharpening the blade. The cleaver required an hour in total, while the chef's knife took a little less time, but not much.

At the end, despite his aching back and neck, he caught sight of his satisfied smile from the reflection of the blades, clear as a mirror. Truth be told, he looked ridiculous with a cleaver in one hand and a kitchen knife in another, giving the vibes of a psycho on a low budget or an ambitious masterchef participant. Regardless, he felt a lot safer with his new toys. As the darkness was about to descend, he decided to spend the night there.

For a few more hours, he depleted his stamina as he tried to get familiar with the knives, all the while hoping for skills like [Blade Mastery], [Basic Footwork], or [Physical Conditioning]. There weren't any. Even so, he loved the feeling of his advanced mobility and would train all night if he hadn't become dog-tired at some point.

Curling up at the debris-free corner, he slept in his bloody and sweaty clothes, thinking about the times he used to get out of a long hot shower, put on his comfy PJs, and crawl into the clean sheets that smelled like heaven. To be frank, with survival at stake, the lack of basic comforts didn't bother him that much. On the contrary, he was simply happy to be alive and have a chance to become something more.

Before deciding to join the expedition, he merely wanted to leave behind the nefarious image he'd gained, have a real adventure and explore the world that possibly had intelligent life, and perhaps, build genuine relationships with new, trustworthy friends without pretending to be someone else, the kind of companions he'd trust with his life as they would do to him. His original goals didn't really change, but now there was a new addition, which might or might not lead him to shooting lightning from his eyes.

In either case, he was an addict of his own progression, and this world already offered a way to pass beyond his limitations with staggering rewards for his efforts. There was no way he'd say no to such generosity and not make the best of it. Waking up after a number of chaotic dreams, he immediately checked his leg and sighed in relief. The spot where the rat had bitten him wasn't infected. He was afraid of having to cauterize the wound as he didn't have any antiseptics. Hell, he didn't even have water.

But it seemed that the extra Vitality and Endurance stats did the job. Or maybe he'd just gotten lucky. Either way, he was okay, and it was time for payback. He had a treacherous vegetable to chop. But before that, he wanted to see one last time how in the world he ended up in this place. Sitting with a straight back, Ethan closed his eyes.

''Ani, show me the memory of my last two minutes on the ship.''