Jin-woo settled against the log he slept next to. He allowed his enhanced frame a moment of mental rest. The fire's warmth reached him, but now that he had a chance to really watch it, it left an itch in his brain. Something about the perpetual nature and lack of fuel source. How the flames danced the same exact way without any variation. Another anomaly he refused to study and look at, instead all he did was record it into his ‘anomalous notes’ section and turned a blind eye to it. There were far more important matters to use his mental energies than something he figured he wouldn’t solve without proper tools.
Important matters such as reviewing his situation in hopes of figuring something he had missed.
"Let's review the situation," he said aloud, hoping that vocalizing his thoughts would bring him some inspiration."I'm trapped in an alien body, in a dungeon full of mutated rats, trying to understand magical stones using coding and debugging protocols." Then he repeated it three more times. And yet nothing miraculous happened. No new ground breaking ideas. No sudden remembering about how to get out. Nothing worth the effort or time.
Dr. Chen would definitely say this counts as karma.
[5 STAT POINTS AVAILABLE!]
[ALLOCATION REQUIRED!]
The system must have noticed he was no longer preoccupied. It began its stream of–
[5 STAT POINTS AVAILABLE!]
[ALLOCATION REQUIRED!]
[5 STAT POINTS AVAILABLE!]
[ALLOCATION REQUIRED!]
[5 STAT POINTS AVAILABLE!]
[ALLOCATION REQUIRED!]
"I get it!" he shouted as another four notifications popped up. "I need a user manual about optimal stat distribution."
C’mon Demina! He waited with baited breath. After a few moments of silence, he allowed his shoulders to sag. She was already pulling her weight; he just hoped for better options than his generalized understanding of the stats. Considering there were hidden stats he could unlock, he had no clue what would be the most efficient method, or the most effective method to maximize every single stat point.
His decisions carried weight he didn’t want to handle yet. Each point represented a potential survival advantage in future encounters. The rats had taught him harsh lessons about the importance of both offensive and defensive capabilities. Worse yet was his inability to use his Mana as an offensive tool as well.
[STATUS:]
Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
[LEVEL 2: 90/2000]
[STRENGTH: 16]
[AGILITY: 11]
[VITALITY: 10]
[INTELLIGENCE: 25 (+15)]
[SPIRIT: 12 (+2)]
[MANA: 1432/1600]
[AVAILABLE STAT POINTS: 5]
[SKILLS TAB: SELECT TO EXPAND]
[ADDITIONAL STAT TYPES UNAVAILABLE CURRENTLY]
"I don't suppose this dungeon has a marketplace for rare crystals?" he asked the flame. It crackled in response, but otherwise did nothing else.
Jin-woo studied his status screen with the same intensity he'd applied to studying the matrix of codes that was the Earth Stone. Each stat point represented survival potential in this hostile environment. Each one gave a generic description when prompted similar to what he received from the Spirit stat a while back. But otherwise, it still left him in a difficult spot.
Eventually, he was forced to make a decision based on what he’d seen in combat. While it wasn’t much overall, it was better than the random guess he was about to commit to. After witnessing how the rats had shrugged off non-lethal wounds, his choices became clearer. He could have gone for more mana, but his SystemArchitect skill was currently limited to resources he wasn’t sure he would ever find. For all he knew, they could be the rarest items on the planet.
Strength didn’t help him much in his fights with the smaller faster monsters he’d been fighting. His every stab and swing was devastating already to them. While agility and spirit were both viable options, he considered a simple fact. He was not willing to become a glass cannon. Point and simple. He’d seen how things always seem to go wrong, even when the rats were forced into attack patterns without variation when forcefully prompted. If he became some min-maxed hyper focused build, he’d end up dead from an ambush before he could fulfil his potential.
“I don’t like this,” He whispered to himself, but understood why it needed to be done. Demina gave her opinion on the matter as well:
[STATUS ASSESSMENT:]
[CURRENT LEVEL: 2]
[AVAILABLE POINTS: 5]
[PRIORITY: Combat survivability]
"Vitality it is," he decided. Eyes focused on the numbers change. "I’m hoping that minimal recovery boost is more than barebones." The number climbed, promising greater resilience against the horrors that awaited. But Jin-woo still felt unsatisfied. Leveling should be better, more dopamine, more ecstasy, right? Instead it was a necessity that he required in order to survive.
He had applied four points into Vitality and one into Agility.
Jin-woo took off his leather torso armor. It was pretty much a mess of massive holes and cuts. Only being held up by a single strap on his shoulder. Without any source of resources, water, or anything to help clean them, he was stuck with the scraps of clothes he had. He placed it in the fire for a few moments until he could see the beginnings of it burning. The smell was awful, but he had been through worse already with the horrible odor that wafted off the rats.
His system interface flickered with updated parameters:
[VITALITY INCREASED] x5
[Damage resistance improved]
[Regeneration rate enhanced]
[Overall durability strengthened]
[AGILITY INCREASED] x1
[Movement speed enhanced]
[Reaction time improved]
[Combat flexibility strengthened]
[Overall coordination refined]
Jin-woo waited but nothing happened. Wasn’t there supposed to be a noticeable change? He got up and started to jog and sprint checking if his agility had gotten better, but was left disappointed.
On the other hand, how was he supposed to test if his vitality actually got better? He wasn’t going to cut himself, that was forsure. He was stuck on an impasse that he couldn’t–
He dropped like a sack of bricks. Consciousness fading. Jin-woo fought to stay awake or get up. Or move anything at all. He was paralyzed.
No! No! No–
[SYSTEM UPDATE!]
[CONGRATULATIONS ON INCREASED STATS]
[APPROXIMATE TIME: 8h:39m:12s]
[WARNING: Find a safe and comfy area!]
…