Chase woke up refreshed for a long time. He could think about why. Was it because school was canceled due to the incident? Or was it because he had done something meaningful in his life? He wasn't sure.
He groaned and stretched, then got up from the bed. He walked to the bathroom, brushed his teeth, and then walked out. It was then he remembered. The system that had started this. He had forgotten.
"Maybe it's gone." He muttered. "Maybe."
But it wouldn't hurt to try. He imagined a holographic text popping up in his face, and then the exact thing happened.
[COMBAT SYSTEM ACTIVATED]
[WELCOME, CHASE STUNNNER]
Chase inhaled a deep breath. It was still around. That was a huge relief. At least one good thing came out of the whole ordeal. He willed his status screen to appear and it did.
[Status Screen]
Name: Chase Stunnner
Age: 18
Strength: E
Stamina: E
Agility: E
Dexterity: E
Weapon handling: E
Martial Arts prowess: E
Everything still looked the same to him. He had no improvements. He was genuinely baffled. Wasn't it supposed to be like a game where his stats leveled up with completing missions? Then he remembered something.
"I forgot about the reward." He muttered to himself.
Immediately, a holographic text appeared in his face, nearly making him jump.
[Would you like to receive the package?]
[Y/N]
Chase willed yes in his mind and then the text disappeared with a new one popping up immediately.
[The Newbie Gift Package has been op
ended. ]
[Physique Evolution pill x2: This pill can improve your Physique to the next level. But be warned that the user undergoes excruciating pain, but it is beneficial to success.]
[Karate martial arts: include a variety of strikes, including punches and kicks, sometimes elbows and knees.]
[Bullet time: This is the ability to slow down time by seconds, increasing to minutes the more you get stronger. This ability can easily change your fate and dodge fatal strikes that would have been impossible.]
Chase gasped at the rewards laid before him. He hadn't expected things like this, and yet they were before him. But what was he going to do with them?
'Does the system want me to be a vigilante or what?' He thought, pondering over the matter.
He shrugged, giving up and placing the thought at the back of his head.
'Maybe I should check the pills.' He thought.
He stretched out his hand into the screen before him, imagining removing the pill, and he brought it out. In his hand was a smooth red capsule that looked unassuming, bland, and not in the least special.
Chase stared at it blankly not knowing whether to drink it with water or just swallow it like that.
"Didn't the system say the process would be painful?" He muttered to himself.
He stared at it for a minute.
"Ah, fuck it." He said, popping it into his mouth. He swallowed it, noticing there was no taste and easy to swallow. For a long, treacherous moment, there was nothing. He felt nothing.
He smiled a relieved smile.
"Looks like the system was messing with.....fuck!!!!"
Chase folded in two and dropped to his knees as the pain registered in his body. A pain he won't be forgetting anytime soon. He screamed as his bones snapped, veins sprouting over his neck as he rolled in pain.
Excruciating pain that will make a bodybuilder piss himself. His eyes rolled to the back of his head as his ribs were break dancing and his muscles twisting and turning. It was like his body was rewiring itself and becoming anew.
Then it stopped. Chase, in a pile of sweat and groaning, softly got up.
"Fuck!" He cursed. "Why did I open my mouth?"
He got up and walked to the mirror and then he froze.
"Is that me?" He muttered, shocked as he stared at his reflection.
He had broad shoulders now, lean muscles carved into smooth functional lines. Rock-hard abs that shone like the sun. His entire body was ripped and smooth. And it was just from one tiny pill. Then imagine if he takes another one.
Suddenly, a screen popped up in his face.
[The Muscle Physique pill can only be taken once a month, and when the host reaches its peak Physique, the pill will lose function. ]
As soon as he read it, his excitement deflated like a balloon. He grumbled under his breath and removed his sweaty cloth and thoroughly cleaned himself up. He felt reborn. He didn't look scrawny or weak. He felt fresh.
Now Prince and his cohorts couldn't disturb him. Physical encounters won't end with him on the receiving end. He could stop a lot of problems in his life.
Then he remembered Travis.
Travis was in detention now awaiting trial. The evidence against him was severe. Everybody knew he was the shooter. CCTV had caught him. There was no way, and there will be no way for him to ever go scot-free.
And he blamed himself for it. If he had noticed it, he nay have stopped Travis from going this route. He sighed in sadness. He wasn't dumb enough to know that Chase was gonna be tried as an adult. He had just turned eighteen and was already looking at life imprisonment without the possibility of parole.
He had ruined himself. Chase could still remember the plans they had made on what they would do after graduation, and Travis had just ruined that with a squeeze of a trigger.
Chase mopped his forehead and walked back into the room.
[Would you like to enter the playground?]
[Y/N]
Chase stared at the screen in confusion. What was the system on about? Playground? He wasn't a kid. But the system made it look important, and Chase wasn't sure that if he said no, the option would still come again. He didn't want to lose a feature that might make him get stronger.
At that thought, Chase chuckled to himself. He hadn't thought that he would come to depend on the system. Maybe he had finally accepted it after his body worked up a freaking miracle.
"Yes." He finally answered.
[Yes confirmed.]
[Transporting the host to the playground.]
Chase's smile evaporated like mist.
"Huh?"
The air was trusted in the room. Chase felt himself become like a feather. The room vanished, and then Chase felt himself falling into darkness.
"Oh, shit!" He screamed. "What the hell did I just do!"