Devon found himself in a white room surrounded by white walls and floor. It was eerily quiet, except for his footsteps and pounding heart. He searched for the end of the room, but it seemed infinite. Suddenly, a deep voice interrupted his thoughts.
"Devon, the path you will take to use my power is difficult."
Devon was startled, not knowing where the voice came from or who it belonged to. He yelled out, "Who are you?!"
"They will find you, Devon. So prepare yourself because they can come at any time. Be careful, Devon, don't let them find you." the voice warned, offering no further explanation.
But Devon demanded answers, "Who is looking for me?! What do they need?! Answer me! Who are you?!"
Silence echoed throughout the void. Fear and anxiety consumed Devon, so he bolted, running as fast as possible with no particular direction where to go until he jolted awake. It was just a dream. It feels real to him.
Devon found himself on the floor, holding the stress ball. His phone lay beside him, and the time read 4:11 am. He had only slept for a few hours. As he stood up, he sensed something had changed in his body. He felt better and more comfortable. Then, he remembered that the stress ball had adjusted his body. He gets the stress ball and starts to activate it.
A message popped up on the screen, making him jump in surprise. It read, "Congratulations! Adjustments are finished. You may now explore the system." Devon couldn't believe it. He had no idea what adjustments had been made but was eager to find out.
As he looks into the stress ball, many pop-up messages show up.
Message:
Features unlocked: Skills Deck.
Skill unlock Permanent Cleanse (Passive):
Skill unlock Stay Awake (Passive):
Skill unlock Rest (Active):
Features unlocked: Shop
Available to Purchase: Levels 1 to 10
Available to Purchase: 50 stats points
Available to Purchase: Stat Reset
With trembling fingers, Devon went to his bedroom. He shut down a few pop-up notifications obstructing his view and sat at the edge of my bed, gazing in amazement at the holographic display. The possibilities seemed endless.
The stress ball system has five tabs: Info, Skills, Milestone, Inventory, and Shop.
Info:
Devon Devlin
Level 1
Mana: 1,000/1,000 MP
Description: Mana is the source of your power. Every consumed mana is converted into stress. The more stress you have, the more you feel exhausted.
Stamina: 100/100
Description: Stamina determines the amount of physical energy you use. When stamina reaches zero, it will start to consume your mana. Stamina increases at every level.
HP: 1,000/1,000
Description: Determines the maximum amount of damage you can take. HP increases by buying Vitality Stats.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
Armor: -
Description: Provides a bonus to your maximum HP. It can be obtained by unlocking some milestones.
SP: 0/500,000
Description: These are your Stress Points (SP). You can use this to buy in the shop; it can serve as your money in the system. Some skills and items also require SP to function. Please use your SP wisely.
You can obtain it by converting stress into Stress Points using specific skills and consumables.
Stats:
Strength - 5
Description: Stat that increases the power of your physical attack.
Agility - 5
Description: Stat that increases your movement, attack, and cast speeds.
Vitality - 5
Description: Stat that increases your max health.
Intelligence - 5
Description: Stat that increases the power of your magic attack and affects the increase of max mana.
Spirit - 5
Description: Stat that increases your damage reduction.
Additional Stats:
Physical Attack: 10
Magic Attack: 10
Attack Speed: 10
Cast Speed: 10
Defense: 10
Speed: 10
Damage Reduction: 10
Devon looked through the information tab and realized that the stress ball system was similar to a role-playing game. Instead of killing monsters to gain experience, he had to exhaust himself to earn Stress Points to upgrade and level up his attributes. It felt like he was playing an economy game and had to be strategic in getting SP and allocating points.
The system also piqued his interest, but he couldn't help to feel uncertain about his motivation to work hard and progress. Devon knows himself as someone who is naturally inclined towards laziness and prefers spending time on social media or sleeping. He asked himself if he had what it took to make significant steps in the system.
Shaking off his doubts, Devon moved on to the Skills Tab, where he noticed that the skills were divided into two categories: active and passive.
Active Skills:
Rest (30 mins cooldown)
No Mana is required to activate.
Description: Converts your stress into Stress Points for 30 minutes and instantly replenishes your stamina. If you lose mana when it is activated, the system will cancel the Rest and proceed to the 30-minute cooldown.
Passive Skill:
Permanent Cleanse:
Description: This skill will automatically dispel debuffs and heals all status problems you receive.
Stay Awake:
Description: This skill will give you resistance to sleepiness unless the system forces you to sleep.
As he settled into bed, Devon couldn't help but think about his recently acquired skills. The thought of a "Permanent Cleanse" brought a sense of relief to him, knowing that it could permanently dispel any negative effects. But then there was Stay Awake, and the mere thought of it made his heart sink.
As an individual who loves to sleep, sleeping is a luxury he can never get enough of, and the idea of being forced to stay awake was unbearable. He couldn't even fathom what kind of system would cause such an inconvenience. Would sleep happen suddenly, without warning? What if the trigger occurs when at bad timing? Devon doesn't like the idea of having to sleep at a time when he doesn't want to. So he must explore the system to know what will trigger this force to sleep.
It was enough to give him a headache, and he needed to clear my mind. So Devon let some minutes pass before looking into the tabs again.
Before delving into the stress ball's advanced features, he must first comprehend its fundamental aspects. Thus, he redirected his attention to the tabs, specifically the Milestones Tab, which presented an overview of his level progress.
Level 1: Basic Features.
Level 2: ???????
Level 3: ???????
Level 4: ???????
Level 5: ???????
Until level 100, a question mark was hovering from level 2 until the next milestone, and he had no idea what lay beyond that point. It was a mystery that intrigued him, but he knew he had to focus on accumulating Stress Points (SP) for now.
With that in mind, he continued reading the tabs and decided to check out the Inventory Tab, but as expected, it was still empty. Devon didn't dwell on it for too long and quickly moved to the Shop Tab.
While looking at the Shop Tab, he saw a list of upgrades he could buy using his hard-earned Stress Points.
Levels 1 to 10 (3,000 SP each)
50 pcs Stats Point (500 SP each)
Stat Reset (100,000 SP every Reset)
Devon decided to focus his priority on accumulating as many Stress Points as he could. He needed 30,000 Stress Points (SP) to reach level 10 and a whopping 25,000 SP to buy the available stats on the shop, a total of 55,000 SP. If Devon wanted to prepare for the stats reset, he would need to earn another 100,000 SP to buy it. It doesn't seem easy since he only had 1,000 mana.
He needs to be strategic and must not waste any precious SP. That meant holding off on purchases until necessary. But before he could even think about that, he must figure out first how to earn more SP.
According to the system, he can earn SP by burning his mana. It was a pain in his ass because it would exhaust him, and the Rest skill will last only 30 minutes. After that, he needs to burn my mana again to earn more SP. For now, Devon decided to start with push-ups, as it was a simple and effective way to test his limits.
As he dropped to the ground, he began to prepare to do push-ups. He felt a sense of excitement. It had been a while since he'd done push-ups, and in the past, he could only do four to five push-ups in one set, and now he was curious to see how far he could go. Devon positioned himself in front of the info tab to monitor his progress.
It wasn't long before Devon hit his first milestone - 100 push-ups without breaking a sweat. But as he continued, the weight of his body became heavier, and the sweat began to pour. His stamina was nearly empty when he reached 200 push-ups, and he knew he was pushing his limits.
Devon didn't settle with just that; he continuously challenged himself to exceed his limits. Observing his mana depleting on the stress ball, he persevered until his arms were tired and his clothes were soaked with sweat. After completing 800 push-ups, Devon finally stopped.
He felt out of breath as he stood up, and his heart was racing. This sensation usually only happens after the fourth rep in the past, but now it's after 800. Despite feeling exhausted, he couldn't help but smile at how much he had improved.
When he checked the amount of mana deducted from his mana bar, he saw that he had lost about 400. Looking at his watch, Devon realized it was already six in the morning. Devon was examining the stress ball system and doing push-ups for nearly two hours. His body felt sticky and uncomfortable, so he removed his shirt and looked at himself in the mirror.
Devon was amazed to see that his body had transformed into a more toned and muscular version as if he had been exercising for a long time. He even appeared taller, and his face had undergone some changes. Devon noticed that his facial features had become well-proportioned and symmetrical, including chiseled jawlines, high cheekbones, and straight noses. Moreover, his eyes now had a clear, bright gaze that exuded confidence and charm, unlike his previous self, where his eyes had a negative aura. His skin was smoother, with a healthy glow and fewer blemishes, and his pimples and old scars had disappeared. His lips were more defined, and he tried to make a natural smile illuminating his face. Devon believed that the system had altered his body into a better version of himself to optimize its power.
He starts doing some playful posing in front of the mirror and heads toward the kitchen to fetch a glass of water. Devon suddenly heard a loud buzz coming from his door as he drank. Knowing that maybe it was his father, who always ensured Devon was awake in the morning before leaving for his office. Devon hurriedly made his way to the door.
However, as he swung open the door, he was caught off guard and showed a shock on his face - it wasn't his father standing at the door but a girl wearing a high school uniform.
"Shiela?!!" Devon exclaimed in surprise.