At first, I was so disappointed, but then a familiar warm, cozy feeling came over me.

Though it started to be uncomfortable and then slowly turned into a burning sensation.

Then I started to hear it, louder and louder. My head began to hurt and I wandered the streets with my head in my hands.

[Skill [Thinking LVL. 50] threshold reached. [Thinking LVL. 50] -> [Thinking LVL. 51]]

[Skill [Breathing LVL. 145] threshold reached. [Breathing LVL. 145] -> [Breathing LVL. 146]]

[Skill [Metabolism LVL. 160] threshold reached. [Metabolism LVL. 160] -> [Metabolism LVL. 161]]

[Skill [Sight LVL. 114] threshold reached. [Sight LVL. 114] -> [Sight LVL. 115]]

[Skill [Regeneration LVL. 60] threshold reached. [Regeneration LVL. 60] -> [Regeneration LVL. 61]]

[Skill [Blood Flow LVL. 190] threshold reached. [Blood Flow LVL. 190] -> [Blood Flow LVL. 191]]

[Skill [Muscular System. 80] threshold reached. [Muscular System. 80] -> [Muscular System. 81]]

[Skill [Aura LVL. 17] threshold reached. [Aura LVL. 17] -> [Aura LVL. 18]]

[Skill [Recovery LVL. 66] threshold reached. [Recovery LVL. 66] -> [Recovery LVL. 67]]

[Skill [Mana FLow LVL. 12] threshold reached. [Mana FLow LVL. 12] -> [Mana FLow LVL. 13]]

[[9459055]] Messages Remaining

[Skill [Sanity LVL. 100] decrease threshold reached. [Sanity LVL. 100] -> [Sanity LVL. 99]]

Every single second more and more voices rang in my head. At first they were just Faye's system voice, though after a while different ones started. I could barely make them out within the haze of hundreds of voices talking over each other.

I ran into an alley.

[Skill [Running LVL. 78] threshold reached. [Running LVL. 78] -> [Running LVL. 79]]

[Skill [Running LVL. 79] threshold reached. [Running LVL. 79] -> [Running LVL. 80]]

[Skill [Running LVL. 80] threshold reached. [Running LVL. 80] -> [Running LVL. 81]]

[Skill [Running LVL. 81] threshold reached. [Running LVL. 81] -> [Running LVL. 82]]

[Skill [Running LVL. 82] threshold reached. [Running LVL. 82] -> [Running LVL. 83]]

[Skill [Running LVL. 83] threshold reached. [Running LVL. 83] -> [Running LVL. 84]]

[Skill [Running LVL. 84] threshold reached. [Running LVL. 84] -> [Running LVL. 85]]

[Skill [Running LVL. 85] threshold reached. [Running LVL. 85] -> [Running LVL. 86]]

[Skill [Running LVL. 86] threshold reached. [Running LVL. 86] -> [Running LVL. 87]]

[Skill [Running LVL. 87] threshold reached. [Running LVL. 87] -> [Running LVL. 88]]

[Skill [Running LVL. 88] threshold reached. [Running LVL. 88] -> [Running LVL. 89]]

[Skill [Running LVL. 89] threshold reached. [Running LVL. 89] -> [Running LVL. 90]]

[[42940598 Messages Remaining]]

"Faye...?" I managed to mumble, before blacking out.

Love what you're reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on.

[Skill [Sanity LVL. 99] decrease threshold reached. [Sanity LVL. 99] -> [Sanity LVL. 98]]

“Stand up,” Faye said, she was sitting in a chair by a white table, just waiting in a void similar to the heavenly one I first met Alexandra in.

I rubbed my head while standing up. The headache was still there but the voices were dulled. It was like in the far-off distance, I could still hear them.

“Turn that shit off. It gives me a headache. Where we at anyway?”

“It is the void in which I wait,” she said very plainly.

"Could you replace it with something more comfortable?" I asked, "I could use a bit of R&R."

In a split second, the empty void was replaced with a lush green meadow.

I sat down in one of the new chairs which sprang up next to the table,

“So, what’s happening?”

“You didn’t know how your skill worked.”

“How could I have? There couldn’t have been anyone in the whole fucking world who could. That skill is unique to me, remember?”

She didn’t answer, if she had been capable of human emotion I guess she was pouting.

“Fine. Please, Faye, oh highest of the Paragons, could you explain it to me then?”

“Only because the Goddess said I should watch over you.

You thought that the skill would increase the next buff for 10%, right?”

“Yeah.”

“That’s half true. Applied it more than once you thought that it would be increased by 20%

36500% in the end, correct?”

“Makes sense to me, boss.”

“Wrong. It would increase the amount that had been increased by 10% by another 10%. In your case, the 100% experienced buff would be increased to 110% then to 121% then to 133%.”

“By God, I stacked it 3650 times.”

“And you broke your system by doing that.

The experience gain is so out of line that even skills that are not supposed to show up when leveling up will give you a notification.”

“It was a 100% XP buff that lasted 10 minutes, whats the values now?”

“It increased to about twelve quinquinquagintillion one hundred fourteen quattuorquinquagintillion three hundred sixty-nine trequinquagintillion eight hundred twenty-three duoquinquagintillion two hundred ninety-five unquinquagintillion eight hundred fifteen quinquagintillion. That’s a 1 with 169 zeroes after it.

In this world, it will last about trequinquagintillion years.”

The sheer amount of notifications you receive by doing anything eat away at your mental health..”

“Oh shit. Hey, you’re supposed to be my Guardian, right? Isn’t there anything you can do?”

“I don’t control it anymore, you broke it. The only thing that is to be done on my part is to mute it for your active conscious. Your subconscious will still be damaged by it and your sanity level will still rapidly decrease.”

“Man, I'm screwed.”