She was in her bed. She almost wept in relief; it was all a dream. She wasn’t crazy, she didn’t need to deal with people, she didn’t almost die a second ago. She was in her bed, and everything was right with the world. There were no tutorials. No Systems. No Pacts. No blue dot- There was a blue dot. And it didn’t go away when she closed her eyes. And it was expanding and showing her her Status.

And her status page had changed. Perception had increased by two points and her attributes- mana, stamina, health, and their regeneration- had marginally increased. Despite the change, James didn’t feel any different for it. She had also earned a Title, whatever the heck that was. The name was certainly concerning though, Mark of the Censured and Censored? The System seemed to respond to her prompt, changing her status page to the new Title.

Mark of the Censured and Censored: While many have theorized of its existence, the Mark of the Censured and Censored is so notoriously hard to gain that many only believe in it in theory. Appearing exclusively on those who have managed to remain alive while still being removed from their Tutorial, such a feat is in it of itself a small wonder. Gives a permanent 10% boost to all stats and Permanent Skill A Thousand Questions.

She was right to worry. The description did not inspire confidence. She was sure others had also gotten the Title. She just wasn’t sure any of them stayed alive long enough to show it off to others.

Refusing to go down that thought path, she moved on. It seemed then that the displayed stats values were the lowest whole number. Her real number for Wisdom, for example, would have been 9.9 with this new Title. Even if the System simply rounded, she would have had 10 Wisdom. Clearly its effect on her attributes was more noticeable. James theorized it was because the System would use the unrounded numbers in its calculations.

She wondered if the title would affect any future Status points she gained, she sure hoped so, 10% felt high. Glad she had discovered something, after all she didn’t have a Tutorial anymore, she tried to think about the Permanent Skill so it would also get explained. Like with Mark of the Censured and Censored, the Permanent Skill appeared in front of her.

A Thousand Questions [Rare]: Learning things the hard way is hard. Gain instinctive knowledge of all languages in your vicinity. May you question and learn more easily now that you understand the answers. Marginally increases the likelihood that you'll ask the right question.

She could feel a path getting seared in her head, at the middle left bit of her brain. It felt exactly like a panic attack, but she could still think through it, making her dismiss that theory. She idly recalled that that was exactly where languages were stored in the brain. Gritting her teeth against the strain, it left in the same way it came, suddenly. Deciding to determine once and for all if all these notifications were real, she went and got her tablet. The events from the morning had definitely happened: she was still wearing her grass-stained leggings, and her tablet still lacked WiFi.

Seeking to test her new Permanent Skill, she went to the downloaded books on her tablet. She had been trying to learn Russian and had prematurely gotten some books before she was ready to really read them.

Opening up Crime and Punishment, a book chosen solely because she had already read it in English class, she started from her last bookmark. To her shock, she had no trouble reading it, needing to check for a second if it really was in Russian. The words did look a bit funny and sometimes didn’t fit right on the page, but it was as easy as reading English. She could even comprehend the connotation behind the words, something her trusty dictionary lacked.

Normally she would have been beyond ecstatic at this discovery, but right now she was just weary. No gift was free, though she supposed she only got this one for not dying. She couldn’t decide if the price was too high or too low, though. A rare skill certainly felt important, but she didn’t really have anything to compare it to. And there was no way to rectify her ignorance.

Glancing at her front door, she sighed to herself. She would have to brave it at one point or another.

But not right now. Her clothes were dirty and if she was going to interact with more people, she was going to take a shower. None of this was in her plan for the day! At least this was a situation she could do something about. With that set, she nodded to herself and grabbed some clothes that would fit the Tutorial better: jeans and a T-shirt, and went to the shower.

Now cleaned off and ready to go she laid her hand on the door handle. Catching her breath, she quickly put a change of clothes, a spare toothbrush, and her tablet inside a small backpack which she slung over her shoulder. Muttering small encouragements to herself and sincerely hoping she wouldn’t see a bunch of people, James squared her shoulders and opened the door.