The day ended uneventfully. This was the first time in a long while that Sol was able to go home on time like the other normal employees. He looked around his co-workers, everyone was cleaning up their desks, fixing their items and was preparing to head on home or head out with their other co-workers. Sol felt lost at first. However, a smile bloomed on his face as he realized he gained more time for himself while his workload lessened. He felt happier with his decision to stick with his job and soldier. He felt he was being rewarded with his hard work and perseverance. He stuck all his items in his bag and headed out their office at the same time as everybody else.

He decided to splurge a bit on himself and bought the more expensive meat from the grocer. He wanted to cook his own food since he had a lot of time to prepare. He bought some beers to go with his food. He was always eating take-outs or instant food. He felt I was time for his body to eat something healthier. He thought it would be better to start cooking for himself if his workload would be like today, every day.

He was humming a tune while the sizzling of the meat can be heard from the pan. He ate contented from the food. He looked at the time and it was only 8 pm. He used to have arrived home during that time before. Now we had more leisure time to spend so he went to his computer to play. However, he had spent only an hour playing when he grew tired of it. He stretched his arms before pushing his chair back from his computer. It was only half-past nine but he decided it was better to sleep. He was rather excited and full of expectations once he entered his dream world. He did not know when he fell asleep. When he closed his eyes and darkness swallowed him.

Once Sol opened his eyes, he was back at the room. His armor lay on the table with all of his other equipment. He carefully equipped his armor like clockwork. It was yesterday when he defeated the boss-like monster. He thought he was about to die when he was facing the monster. Looking back at the fight, He felt that some of the parts were not real. He felt like a third person watching his body move on its own. This was something that bothered him. He wondered if he will be able to experience that feeling again.

“Oh right! My stats.”

Sol

Level:1 (exp 37.00%)

Race: Human

Age:27

Stats:

Health:40

Mana:0

Strength:3

Vitality:2

Intelligence:4

Dexterity:3

Luck:0

Skills learned:

[Throw lv.0 (exp.0.02%)

Use objects as a projectile to attack enemies.]

[Shield Bash lv. 0 (exp 12.00%)

Use the shield to attack enemies head-on. Small chance of stunning enemies]

[Sword Stab lv. 0 (30.00%)

Use sword to stab enemies.]

[Dash lv. 0 (8.00%)

A movement skill using a sudden burst of forwarding movement.]

[Sliding Dash lv. 0 (exp 5.40%)

Using dash as momentum, one can slide on the floor depending on the speed of one’s dashing power.]

Trait:

?????????????? Lv. ??

1. Impending Crisis – will activate in times of crisis.
2. ????
3. ????
4. ????
5. ????

‘Whoa, I’m finally level one though I don’t know how big of an achievement that is, this still feels great. I still have a couple of experience points left over from killing that boss. My stats also got an increase but by only one stat point.

Huh, how come my luck stat did not increase? Am I unable to level this like my other stats?’

He looked at all of his stats and compared it before his level. Scrolling down, he was surprised that there was additional information which was Trait. He read the information written but it only leads to more questions. Basically, it was filled with question marks. There was information which was opened and the explanation was not helpful at all.

‘Impending Crisis will activate in times of crisis.

Hmm, Does crisis mean about to die?

Cause that was what I felt the gravity of the situation at that time.

Was it able to remove the sensitivity to pain? Although I was bleeding profusely and my arm was broken, I was able to move unhindered like normal.’

Sol thought about the time where he felt more of an observer than a participant in the fight. It must have been the effect of the trait.

‘Is this normal?’

He wanted to get more information but as he was the only player in the current stage, there was no one who was able to help him. The system was unreliable, no matter how much the phrase or word his question, the system didn’t bother to answer. He was still unaware of how the thing works so he experimented each time he arrived at this place.

He knew that the system was able to identify tangible objects like the things inside his storage bag for example. However, there are things that he could not identities like his current armor or his weapon.

‘Was this too plain for the system to acknowledge?’

It could not also identify the monsters that appeared. Usually, in games, the monsters could be identified, their characteristics and sometimes behavioral patterns are explained but he was unable to gain information. This was the reason he kept calling the monster that appeared, “centipede-like monster.” Sol did not know what to call it, therefore, he used the similarities of its body to a centipede.

Either the system was bugged or not functioning properly or he was missing something entirely different.

Sol stood in the middle of the room waiting for the light to appear on the magic circle. If he calculated the time, it should be time. This was something he thought about once more. He was wearing the items before he slept; however, his watch that he did not remove was not brought into his dream. It did not happen just once. He was the type who would go to sleep without removing his watch if he was too tired to do so.

It was the only thing he could consider as an accessory on his body. He was able to notice these small things because, in the back of his mind, he was beginning to identify the place as “real” unlike his first believe that it was a dream. The continuity made him doubt his mind. Although he was not about to spread this information in the real world, he did not want to be labeled as someone crazy. However, he was starting to believe that his dream was as real as his real world.

GlacierPace

I apologize with the delay. I have been busy in RL and was not able to do any writing.